A week of quiet has settled over the Hall of Welcome, but Nhal cannot stay still. Their purple form flickers beside a study table, turning a line of copied memories over and over like a coin in restless hands.
Nhal
Slaan, I need help. These memories I am gathering on my own, they feel... sharp. I do not know if I am shaping them, or if they are shaping me.
Nhal lifts a small cluster of preserved impressions, violet light trembling through them. The hall’s wards remain calm, but the air around the memories wavers with their unease.
Slaan
The marks are stable, but the pattern is beginning to branch.
Nhal
I fear they will turn hungry like the archive did. I do not want to become a thing that takes from others to stay whole.
They draw closer, careful and earnest, offering the little bundle of memories into Slaan’s space as if it might bite.
Nhal
Will you look with me, before they twist?
✓ Quest Accepted
Help Nhal shape the memories safely
“I place my hand over Nhal's to steady the flickering memories. " You can make your own memories, that's what defines you as you. The memories you tend to are other people's" I tell Nhal”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled +0)
Slaan sets her hand over Nhal’s, and the trembling violet cluster settles under the contact. The ward-light in the Hall stays calm, but the sharp edges in the memories soften as if they are being held, not hunted.
Slaan
You can make your own memories. That is what defines you. The memories you tend are other people’s.
Nhal goes very still, then their shoulders ease. The flicker in their form dims from frantic to thoughtful, and the bundle in their palms stops pulsing against Slaan’s touch.
Nhal
I know what I am holding now... and what I am not. That helps more than I expected.
The memory cluster brightens into a steadier shape, no longer snagging on itself. A faint thread of color separates cleanly from the rest, like a knot loosening under careful fingers.
Nhal
Then I can keep these without feeding on them. I can learn them, and still remain myself.
Nhal looks up at Slaan with relieved focus, the hall’s warm glow reflected in their face. Their hands remain under hers, steady now, waiting for the next lesson.
Quest Complete
Help Nhal shape the memories safely