The Domini saga : lich lords favor

The riverside road climbs through damp grass toward Phandalin’s wooded outskirts. Distant rooftops and thin smoke mark the living settlement ahead beneath the clearing grey sky.

Avaris walks beside Kynes in the slender grey traveling coat they chose, violet light muted beneath the fabric. Bren and Nhal keep pace behind them.

At a fork, a weathered wooden sign points toward Phandalin. Beneath it, a smaller arrow marks a narrow path for travelers seeking shelter among the trees.

The road to Phandalin rises beneath darkening branches, while the shelter path disappears between wet ferns. The companions pause beside the sign, leaving the choice ahead to Kynes.

Over two clear days, Kynes guides the company along woodland tracks and high country paths, choosing firm ground, sheltered rests, and quiet crossings. Morningstar rises ahead on the second evening, its welcoming lights scattered among the trees.

Near the town gate, a young adult elf woman with copper-brown skin, braided black hair, and a green wool cloak offers directions beside a broad-shouldered older man whose carved wooden staff bears Morningstar’s mark.

Avaris slows beneath the gate’s carved arch, watching violet-skinned residents, shadow-bodied artisans, and ordinary travelers share the lantern-lit street without ceremony or fear.

Kynes walks with Avaris beneath Morningstar’s lanterns, leaving the gate behind. Bren follows at an easy distance, watching the town without crowding the conversation.

Avaris’s violet features settle into a more ordinary expression, and their stride becomes less careful. A nearby workshop door remains open, its owner listening without interrupting.

The open workshop’s lantern brightens as its unseen owner approaches the threshold. A practical path has appeared before Avaris, offered without claim or condition.

Kynes shrugs and looks past Avaris toward a knot of children playing beneath the lanterns. Their laughter rises freely through the street, careless of what they may become.

Avaris watches the children, then lets their shoulders ease. The fear of pleasing every imagined judge leaves their posture, replaced by a quiet, deliberate attention to their own answer.

A young adult woman steps from the workshop, brown-skinned and broad-shouldered, with copper goggles pushed into short dark hair and a soot-marked blue apron over russet clothes. Behind her, colored glass glows on crowded shelves.

Avaris glances from Kynes to the glowing shelves, their violet features easing at the uncomplicated invitation. The glasswright waits by the open door, giving them room to choose.

Nhal’s purple shadow gathers loosely at Avaris’s side without touching them. The choice settles cleanly, leaving Kynes and Bren free to seek the town’s evening noise.

Avaris steps inside beside the glasswright, while Nhal follows at an easy distance. Bren gestures toward the lantern-lit street, inviting Kynes onward toward the taverns.