The guide freezes, then lets the lantern fall. Its flame gutters in the mud, and the cloak sigil catches the light, matching the mark on Kynes’s palm exactly.
The Hooded Road Guide
No threat, Kynes. The road is pruning its own tracks so you remain open to me.
The Hooded Road Guide
Sinnafex does not spare you. Sinnafex keeps you usable, a vessel for influence where your kind still listens.
The voice deepens, layers over itself, cold and smooth as grave water. The trees along the road angle inward, their branches folding like ears straining to hear.
Sinnafex
You called, and I answered. You wear my favor now, and favor has purpose.
Kynes
The mark on his palm is not a token. It is a tether.
The fog tightens around Kynes and the guide, magic threading brighter through the mist. The erased mud lies smooth behind them, as if the road itself waits for his choice.
✓ Quest Accepted
Resist Sinnafex’s tether
“" soooo, what do you wish of me?"”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled -1)
Kynes
So. What do you want of me?
Sinnafex
Candor, first. The tether marks you as listened to, and I wish to make you legible to me, not lost in surface noise.
Sinnafex
The favor is simple in shape and dreadful in meaning. You are a witness with the right blood, and I would have that witness stay pointed where I aim it.
Sinnafex
House Xar tied their lies into roads, ledgers, and souls. I keep what slips from them. I keep what can still be used against them.
Kynes
The tether is not a charm. It is a leash with a purpose.
The Hooded Road Guide
I told you before moonset, Kynes. I was sent to deliver the message, not to soften it.
Sinnafex
Refuse if you like. The road still remembers your shape, but I prefer a witness who answers me by choice.
“I clear my throat "“Before I agree to anything, I'd like the scope of my responsibilities, Sinnafex's obligations to me, the duration of this arrangement, and the conditions under which either party may terminate it stated plainly.” and lean on my staff to wait for a response”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled -1)
Kynes
Before I agree to anything, state the scope of my duties, your obligations to me, the duration, and how either side ends it.
Kynes leans on his staff and lets the silence do part of the work. The fog around his palm keeps thinning, as if the road itself is listening with him.
Sinnafex
Plainly, then. You carry the message, read what the road hides, and do not lie to me when the tether tugs. In return, I answer with truth, direction, and the reach to touch House Xar where it hides.
Sinnafex
The arrangement lasts until the ledger is burned out, or until you name it ended. I may withdraw if you prove false. You may sever me if I turn from witness to master.
The hooded guide’s jaw tightens, then steadies. For a moment, their borrowed voice and their own are both there, making the oath sound heavier than the road.
The Hooded Road Guide
I was sent to deliver that truth, not to dress it up. If you take it, take it with the warning still on it, moonset is close.
Sinnafex
And one courtesy more. You are not bound by force, Kynes. If you step in, do it with eyes open.
The secondary thread in the mud tugs toward the trees, but it does not tighten around him. Instead, the line in the road goes slack, as though waiting for his answer and leaving the choice in his hands.
Quest Complete
Resist Sinnafex’s tether
New Gift: Sinnafex-Tether Resistance