The clearing stills as a tall stranger steps through the disturbed brush. Shinma’s gait is easy, almost casual, while the treeline trembles behind him with the sound of distant hunters. The air around him feels older, quieter.
Shinma
Easy. If I meant harm, you would know it already.
He stops where moonlight cuts across the grass and studies Vinn’s stitched shape with open, unreadable curiosity. The herb-gatherer lingers near the lowered basket, watching both of them without stepping back.
Shinma
That mark on you is not a trinket. It calls things that hunt by scent and oath.
Shinma
And you... you are not a born thing. Dark work made you.
The hunters’ noise grows nearer, then seems to lose shape for a moment, muffled by the stranger’s presence. The clearing waits for Vinn’s answer.
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn what Shinma knows about Vinn's creation
✓ Quest Accepted
Get Shinma to draw the hunters away
““Listen, I don’t want any trouble. If you can lead the hunters away from here I’ll gladly continue our conversation on what else you might know.””
SUCCESS (Good Willpower, rolled -3)
Vinn keeps their voice low, and the clearing answers with a small, careful hush. Shinma’s gaze shifts past them toward the shaking treeline, then back again, as if weighing distance and consequence in the same breath.
Vinn
I do not want trouble. If you lead the hunters away, I will continue this conversation and hear what you know.
Shinma
That is a fair bargain.
Shinma lifts two fingers, and the air beyond the brush seems to bend toward him. The muffled hunter-noise drifts off to the left, pulled into the trees like smoke into a vent.
Shinma
Your mark is not merely a target. It is a claim, old as buried night. Something made to be found carried that sign into you.
The herb-gatherer loosens a shoulder at the sudden quiet, though their eyes stay wide. Near the grass, Moxxi remains still where she fell, the forest light trembling over her body.
Shinma
Stay a moment longer, Vinn. If you truly want the shape of your beginning, I can tell you where to start looking.
Quest Complete
Get Shinma to draw the hunters away
““Im ready to listen to whatever it is you have to say in order to help guide me.” I’ll listen to Shinman and pay attention to what they have to say.”
SUCCESS (Good Willpower, rolled +0)
Vinn falls quiet and lets the answer arrive. Shinma studies them for a breath, then lowers his hand from the treeline, his attention settling like a cloak over the clearing.
Shinma
What was made to find you did not make you whole. It left a seam, and the mark on you is where the seam shows.
Shinma
If you want the beginning, do not search for a cradle. Search for the hand that stitched the first lie into you.
The herb-gatherer draws in a small, careful breath, while the quiet around Moxxi and the bent grass holds steady.
Vinn
A hand that stitched the first lie into me.
Shinma
I can point you toward names, old places, and the kind of darkness that remembers such work.
Shinma
But first, tell me this, Vinn, do you want the truth as it is, or only the part you can carry?
““I need not wish to carry extra weight with me on my journey, so I wish only to hear the parts that I may be able to carry.””
SUCCESS (Good Willpower, rolled +1)
Vinn
I need not carry extra weight on my journey. Tell me only the parts I can bear.
Shinma gives a slight nod, and the clearing seems to hold its breath around him.
Shinma
Then hear this much. You were not born by accident. You were assembled with intent, and the intent was old before it was cruel.
Shinma
The mark on you is not decoration. It is a claim, or a key, something written where your maker expected the world to notice.
Shinma
If you want more than that, follow the thread of dark work that calls itself inheritance. It will lead you toward the hand that lied first.
The herb-gatherer’s shoulders ease a fraction at the plainness of it, while Shinma keeps his gaze on Vinn, waiting for what Vinn can carry next.
Quest Complete
Learn what Shinma knows about Vinn's creation
Attribute Upgrade: Willpower Good→Great