The blood-bond ward on the buyer still crackles behind them, a red thread of pressure tugging at the corridor like a hooked nerve. Ahead, the passage narrows past shelves of crumbling scrolls, and the scratch of unseen quills grows louder.
Slaan follows the violet pulse to the half-open iron door. The heartbeat in the dark answers her step, steady and hungry, as if something inside has been expecting her.
Kynes
That rhythm is not the room. It is feeding from somewhere beyond it.
Nhal
The ink is moving by itself. Not alive, but directed.
A quill skates across a ledger on the shelf, dragging a fresh violet line. The line points straight to the ajar door, then stops as if waiting to be read.
Master Hest
Come in, then. You have followed the trail well enough.
Beyond the door, a shadowed figure waits among ink-stained tables and sealed memory jars, one hand resting over a blackened seal. The stolen trail is here. The source is close.
✓ Quest Accepted
Recover the stolen memories
“I look to Kynes " this is where they normally monologue or some vapid crap and we're supposed to act kinda of enraged or scared right?" Completely dismissing hest.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled +0)
Slaan
I glance at Kynes. This is the part where they usually monologue and expect us to get angry or scared, right?
Kynes
Usually, yes. He is waiting for a response he can use.
Nhal
He wants attention. Denying it may starve the shape he is trying to build.
Slaan keeps her gaze flat on the shelves instead of the figure beyond them. The dark corridor does not change for it, and that is the point.
Master Hest
A careful little tactic. You come with sharp minds, then.
Kynes gives the faintest side-eye toward Slaan, the edge of tension easing into something like approval. Behind them, the blood-bond glow keeps tugging at the trapped buyer, but no one turns back.
“" your puppy is going to choke on his leash I left him on" I tell hest”
SUCCESS (Good Intimidation, rolled +0)
Slaan
Your puppy is going to choke on the leash I left him on.
Slaan lets the threat hang in the dark, cool and precise. The words land like a blade laid flat across the throat of the room.
Master Hest
...So that is your play. You found my leash.
Hest’s irritation tightens, then stills. He looks past Slaan, toward the corridor where the trapped buyer strains at the blood-bond glow.
Kynes
He hears you now.
Nhal
The shape of him shifts. Attention makes him thinner.
A long pause follows. Hest lowers his hand from the seal, and the smugness in his posture gives way to calculation.
Master Hest
Then speak plainly, elf. What do you want from me?