Smoke threads between the fractured ridges as the tremor dies. The Inquisitor sags against the stone, one hand pressed to his ribs, eyes fixed on the sealed seam in Surazal's chest.
The Inquisitor
The scouts are already moving. If the Holy Order's mages find this place, they will read the hive in you.
The Inquisitor
Take my path out of the Crags. Fast. Quiet. It is the only way to keep them blind long enough to survive.
Surazal
He knows the hive is there. He also knows what the Order will do if they confirm it.
A faint, hungry pulse stirs under Surazal's sternum, answering the warning. Below the ledge, wind howls through a narrow cleft that drops into the mountain shadows.
The Inquisitor
Choose quickly, mage. Hide the thing inside you, or let the Order tear the mountains open looking for it.
✓ Quest Accepted
Discover the Inquisitor's motive for assistance
✓ Quest Accepted
Decide whether to consume the Inquisitor's essence to restore health
“Does the Inquisitor truly believe his path will lead me to safety?”
YES (Likely, rolled 46)
Surazal
His eyes are clear of deceit. He is not leading me into a trap, but into the only shadow deep enough to hide what I have become.
The Inquisitor
I have walked those tunnels for years to hunt men like you. If you follow the path, you will find the silence you crave, and I will finally be rid of the burden of your trail.
“I ask why he is helping me”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled -2)
Surazal
Why help me now?
The Inquisitor lowers his chin a fraction, and the smoke around the fractured ridge curls through the gap between them. His hand tightens on the rock as if it pains him to stand upright.
The Inquisitor
Because the Order is hunting more than you. They are hunting what wakes when you bleed on their doors.
The Inquisitor
I have spent years feeding false trails to keep them from finding it. Keep the hidden path, and I lose your shadow from my trail.
He looks past Surazal, not at him, toward the broken line of the crags and the distant, unseen road beyond.
The Inquisitor
Take the route if you trust me. Refuse it, and I will still stand between you and their scouts, because I am tired of burning for their lies.
The seam of light in Surazal's chest gives one thin pulse, and a few grains of black grit slide from the Inquisitor's sleeve to the stone as he waits for an answer.
Quest Complete
Discover the Inquisitor's motive for assistance
“"so...you would rather have a quiet life...oddly I can respect that do you have a family inquisitor?"”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled +2)
Surazal lets the silence sit a moment, then gives the Inquisitor a small, controlled tilt of his head. The smoke parts between them, and the chest seam gives a thin, steady glow.
Surazal
So you would rather have a quiet life. Oddly, I can respect that. Do you have a family, Inquisitor?
The Inquisitor
His jaw tightens at once, but he does not look away. The question lands harder than a blade.
The Inquisitor
I did. A wife, once. A son who used to climb the chapel steps and race the bells.
He shifts his weight off the rock and lowers his blade a fraction, the suspicion in his posture giving way to something older and worn.
The Inquisitor
The Order took them when my service made me useful, then inconvenient. I was told it was mercy.
His gaze drops to the fractured stone, then lifts back to Surazal with grim clarity. The hidden path remains unspoken between them, but his answer makes the offer feel less like a trap and more like a bargain paid in blood.
“is all he has told me the truth?”
NO, AND WORSE (Likely, rolled 95)
Surazal
The man speaks with the practiced cadence of a confessor, yet the rhythm of his pulse betrays a hidden, jagged dissonance.
Surazal senses the lie beneath the Inquisitor's grief, a cold and calculated fabrication designed to lead him not to safety, but into a prepared snare.
The Inquisitor
He is listening too closely. If he suspects the path is a grave, I must push harder before the scouts arrive.
“"I won't lie...I considered getting rid of you...but I can't do it to someone who has also suffered...I will trust you and follow the path you have given me but one more thing inquisitor" as he has let down his guard from me accepting I hold out my hand draining every drop of his lifeforce "your lies will hurt no one else"”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled +0)
Surazal extends his hand. The Inquisitor, still half-bent on the ridge, does not have time to retreat before the spell takes hold.
The seam in Surazal's chest flares once, then drinks deep. The man's breath catches hard, and his blade dips toward the stone.
The Inquisitor
So this is the price. No warning, no mercy... only the end I delayed.
Color drains from the Inquisitor's face as his knees buckle. Loose pebbles jump under his boots, and smoke curls between them in thin grey threads.
Surazal
Your lies will hurt no one else.
The last of his strength leaves him into Surazal's grasp. The Inquisitor sags forward, his weapon slipping from numb fingers and clattering on fractured stone.
The ridge falls quiet except for the wind. Far off, the hidden path waits in shadow, while the dead man's warning hangs unanswered in the cold air.
Quest Complete
Decide whether to consume the Inquisitor's essence to restore health
New Gift: Inquisitor's Essence Absorption