Beyond the arch, Sil’Thalis enters a quiet stone settlement preserved beneath the coast. Unlit hearths and empty meeting places surround a central well, while the silver route back to Bren remains open.
His marked hand hangs numb at his side. Pale light gathers over the well, forming a translucent inscription that spreads across the surrounding stones.
the sanctuary inscription
We built no throne here. We preserved a place where strangers might meet, withdraw, and return without surrendering their names.
the sanctuary inscription
Those who enter must speak what they have witnessed, distinguish offering from command, and leave the road open for every refusal.
The inscription divides into three visible lines: WITNESS KEPT, CONSENT UNFORCED, RETURN GUARANTEED. Beneath them, a blank space waits for an account not yet given.
Sil'Thalis
The covenant demands a witness, but it has not yet heard mine.
Through the arch, Bren remains beside the basin, able to see only the sanctuary’s blue threshold and the open silver route. The preserved truth waits here, while her separate witness waits there.
✓ Quest Accepted
Complete the sanctuary’s witness covenant
“I stare at the waiting inscription for several moments, then sigh. “Very well. You want my witness? There was the Battle of Ilythiir…” I begin recounting the increasingly catastrophic sequence of decisions that ended with the Grand Arcane and an entire nation being bound to Lolth, each admission somehow worse than the one before it. I share every atrocity I have been apart of through out the Domini/ conflict, I share how I feel my growing attachment to Bren is unprecedented, unpredictable and how the feelings are alien. I share what I know of the archive and how I can see it becoming a weapon and a tool for enslavement for all beings involved. I also share what I know of the reiteration ritual and how I can't tell if I am a clone, a copy, a shared soul or what”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled -3)
Sil'Thalis
Very well. You want my witness? There was the Battle of Ilythiir, the Grand Arcane, and a nation bound to Lolth. I made decisions that ended in atrocity, and I will not soften any of them. I will speak of every crime I witnessed or took part in through the Domini conflict. I will speak of Bren, and of this unprecedented, unpredictable attachment that feels alien to me. I will speak of the archive, and how it could become a weapon of enslavement against every being involved. I will speak of the reiteration ritual, and admit that I do not know whether I am a clone, a copy, a shared soul, or something else.
Sil’Thalis recounts the full sequence without shortening its worst turns. The sanctuary’s empty hearths brighten one by one, while each admission settles into the stones as witnessed testimony rather than judgment.
He names the war’s decisions, the lives consumed by them, the archive’s capacity to become a tool of control, and every uncertainty surrounding the reiteration ritual. He leaves no distinction hidden behind silence.
the sanctuary inscription
WITNESS KEPT. Your account contains action, consequence, attachment, danger, and doubt. None is converted into command, absolution, or inherited identity.
The blank space beneath the covenant fills with his account in separate lines, preserving atrocity, attachment, archive-risk, and identity-uncertainty without merging them. The silver route to Bren remains open.
The cost arrives as the sanctuary draws the testimony through his marked hand. Numbness climbs to his elbow, and his casting fingers lock rigidly for a time, leaving the account complete but his magic briefly inaccessible.
the sanctuary inscription
CONSENT UNFORCED. RETURN GUARANTEED. Your witness is accepted as yours, and your uncertainty remains yours. You may withdraw without surrendering what you have spoken.
Quest Complete
Reach the oldest sanctuary
Quest Complete
Complete the sanctuary’s witness covenant