The open stair waits beneath the milestone while the orchard settles into silence. Bren studies the two violet threads, one descending into the route and one answering within her living pattern.
Bren
Before we enter, describe the bond as you understand it: what it can reach, what it costs, and whether either of us can change or end it.
The thread within Bren’s chest brightens when she speaks, but does not pull. The other trembles down the stair, carrying faint impressions of stone, ash, and distant recorded voices.
Bren
I can feel your life, not your thoughts. That distinction matters. If the bond changes my choices, I need to know before we trust it.
Behind them, the wounded traveler and Ilyra Voss remain beneath the orchard trees, their bodies outside the stair’s boundary. No other companion follows; the way below belongs only to Sil’Thalis and Bren.
Bren
I will descend with you if we examine the terms together. If the route claims either of us, we stop, record the claim, and return while return remains possible.
She extends one hand toward the stair without touching either thread, leaving the decision and the first answer to Sil’Thalis. Below, the fracture chamber waits in the dark.
✓ Quest Accepted
Establish mutually agreed terms for the life-bond
“" a part of my life force is in you now, meaning I've shortened my life span to give you more. An average drow will live 700 years. I am apparently very hard to kill." I look at her. " You can not read my mind nor I yours, well through the bond." I say. We can stop it at any point.. the cost has already been delivered, no refunds." I say”
SUCCESS (Great Reasoning, rolled -1)
Sil'Thalis
A part of my life force is in you now. I shortened my life to give you more. An average drow lives seven hundred years, and I am apparently very hard to kill.
Sil'Thalis
You cannot read my mind, nor I yours through the bond. We can stop it at any point, but the cost has already been delivered. There are no refunds.
The thread within Bren answers with a quiet warmth, carrying no thought or command. Its connection settles into a clear boundary, joining life without opening either mind.
Bren
Then I understand the terms. Your life sustains mine, but neither of us owns the other’s choices or thoughts. Ending it will not restore what you spent.
Bren places her hand over her chest without touching the violet thread. A brief ache passes through her, and the bond records the sensation without taking control.
Bren
I accept that the cost cannot be undone. If we end the bond, we do so because we choose to, not because the route or any house commands it.
The descending thread opens fully, while the living thread remains separate and steady. The bond’s terms are now witnessed: shared life, private minds, and mutual release.
Quest Complete
Establish mutually agreed terms for the life-bond