Three weeks later, rain darkens the boarding-house steps in Baldur’s Gate. Kynes is inside with Bren when a small, slim young-adult figure waits beyond the door, her purple shadow-form flickering like smoke around a silver charm.
The Purple Shadow Figure
I am Nhal. I have traveled alone since we last spoke, and I am not here because I need rescuing.
The charm trembles above her palm. Nearby shadows lengthen across the threshold, whispering fragments of names in overlapping voices before falling abruptly silent.
Nhal
I learned to imitate a spell that makes shadows speak names. It was useful, mostly harmless, and mine to practice. Then this charm answered in a voice that was not mine.
Bren
Come inside, Nhal. You can explain it without standing in the rain, provided you are asking for conversation rather than surrendering your choices.
Nhal crosses the threshold, a young adult void-fed entity with a short, smoke-rippling pixie cut, large purple eyes, and a dark charcoal hooded cloak over her translucent form without lowering the charm. Violet wisps trail from her shoulders, and every shadow in the entryway turns subtly toward the silver metal.
Nhal
Yes. I want an honest conversation. But while I explain, it may speak again, and I do not yet know what it is trying to name.
✓ Quest Accepted
Determine what the silver charm is trying to name
✓ Quest Accepted
Protect Nhal’s independence from the charm’s influence
“" nhal, you always are welcome with me and Bren, never be afraid to ask for shelter or advice"'i say warmly”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled +2)
Kynes
Nhal, you are always welcome with me and Bren. Never be afraid to ask us for shelter or advice.
Kynes speaks warmly, without ceremony or conditions. Bren remains beside him in the entryway, her guarded posture easing as the rain whispers against the shutters.
Nhal
They mean it. I can come here without pretending to be helpless, and I can ask without surrendering myself.
Nhal
Thank you, Kynes. I was afraid welcome might mean being watched, repaired, or kept. This sounds different.
Bren
It is different, Nhal. You may stay, leave, ask questions, or offer answers. None of those choices make you ours to command.
Nhal’s purple form steadies, and the silver charm lowers slightly in her palm. The threshold no longer feels like a test, but like a place she may choose to cross.
Quest Complete
Protect Nhal’s independence from the charm’s influence
“" ok kiddo, what do you got." I say curiously”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled -1)
Kynes
Okay, kiddo. What do you have?
Nhal’s purple shadow-form gathers around the silver charm. Its trembling stops, and the nearby shadows lean toward her as though listening.
Nhal
I have the charm, the speaking spell, and three names it gave me. One is yours. One is Bren’s. The third belongs to someone neither of us invited.
Nhal lifts the charm between them. Violet script crawls across its silver surface, forming two familiar names before blurring the third into a dark knot.
Nhal
The voice says this person is already inside Baldur’s Gate, but it refuses to say where. I want to learn whether the charm is warning us, hunting them, or using me to find you.
Bren
Then we examine it together, Nhal. You keep control of the charm, and we learn what it knows without letting it choose what happens next.
“I examine the charm with Nhal”
SUCCESS (Legendary Arcana, rolled +0)
Kynes examines the silver charm beside Nhal, borrowing neither it nor her control. His arcane sight follows the violet script through its metal, shadow, and speaking spell.
The charm opens its hidden pattern to him. It is neither a warning nor a simple hunting tool: it is a listening beacon, using Nhal’s spell as a bridge toward the third name.
Nhal
So it is using my practice to reach you. I did not give it permission, but I understand the shape of the theft now.
Kynes traces the beacon’s return path and identifies the third presence as a concealed magical signature already moving through Baldur’s Gate, searching for both names rather than speaking its own.
The examination succeeds, but the charm catches a filament of Kynes’s own name. For one night, whoever made it can sense that he has found the beacon.
Nhal
It knows you understand it now. I can sever my spell from the charm, but that may destroy the only path leading us toward the hidden presence.
Bren
Then we know what it is and what it costs. Nhal keeps custody of the charm, and we decide whether that path is worth being noticed.
Quest Complete
Determine what the silver charm is trying to name
New Gift: Eldritch Name-Master