The bog settles to a low, rhythmic throbbing. Cold water rings the stone circle, and the three of you stand in a hush that feels borrowed.
Kaelus
It was my sister’s face. I gave the bog the memory of her laughter.
Kaelus
I can still feel the shape of it gone.
Elias
That is what you traded? Not a name, not a hand, a person?
Elias keeps his weapon raised, but the hard edge in his voice wavers. Kaelus does not look up.
Kaelus
She was already dead. I thought the bog would take only the grief. It took the warmth too.
Imogen
The water is blacker near the stones.
A long silence follows. Elias lowers the muzzle a fraction. Kaelus bows his head, trembling, as if waiting to be struck.
Elias
Then speak plainly. What is left of you after that?
The thrumming continues, steady as a distant heart. For the first time, no one moves to interrupt the answer.
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn what remains of Kaelus
“Observe the black water near the stones for signs of his lost memories.”
FAILURE (Great Perception, rolled -3)
Imogen leans toward the black water, and the surface tightens like a lid over something holding its breath.
Imogen
The water takes the light instead of reflecting it.
A pale shape turns under the surface, not a body, not quite a hand, just a smear of remembered motion snagged in mud.
Kaelus
That is what remains. What the bog could not keep using.
The shape flickers, and for one heartbeat it seems to wear a child’s grin, then breaks apart into silt and bubble trails.
Elias
Not gone, then. Broken into pieces it can still reach.
The water answers with a thin, distant cry from beneath the stones, and the ripples creep toward Imogen’s boots as if searching for a way out.
“I ask Kaelus what remains of him”
FAILURE (Good Psychology, rolled -1)
Imogen
Kaelus, what is left of you?
The question hangs over the water. Kaelus does not answer at once, and the pause is worse than refusal.
Kaelus
Enough to remember the shape of loss. Not enough to go back.
He touches the scar at his wrist. The mark pulses once, dull and obedient, and his throat works as if it hurts to make the next truth fit through it.
Kaelus
My sister's laughter is gone. My own name is mostly gone. What remains keeps the bargain fed.
Elias
And the rest of him is what the bog uses to speak.
Kaelus flinches at that, not in denial, but in recognition. The black water goes still again, as if listening for whether anyone dares name the last empty place inside him.
Quest Complete
Learn what remains of Kaelus
Attribute Upgrade: Perception Great→Superb