Fantasy Terrorchild: Awakening

[K0mori]

1. From the Heart - "...What did Rigatte say to you, when she spoke to you for the first time?" you question the darkened world around you. You're surprised with yourself; the question sprang up as if from nowhere. "I didn't want her to die. I just wanted her back," you continue. "I still do... I think she's all I have left of my family, now."

By the time you finish speaking, a change befalls your surroundings. You aren't quite sure what it is, but you no longer feel alone - and after checking over your shoulder and turning about, and seeing nothing, you take a breath and remind yourself not to pray. A chill runs up your spine, and for a moment, as you close your eyes, you think you feel the brush of someone else's fingers interlocking with your own and giving your hand a gentle squeeze - a reassuring presence. The next moment, you open your eyes and it dissipates, like a vivid memory.

This all feels very real.

"...Syrith," you say, concentrating on the words and their meaning, and divorcing them from any spiritual embellishments that the church you once attended might have affixed to them. Your eyes shut tight as you force the words out: "I'm not running away, anymore! This power of mine... I still don't fully understand it, but I can learn, with the help of... you... and my sisters in the coven. I accept it... I accept all of it...!"

You open your eyes and find the world around you has slowed to a stop. Only now do you realize that the subtle change you thought you felt before was the deadening of sound and the absence of rainfall. The pillars of shadow from all the trees nearby seem to shift slowly, bending inwards, towards you, until the largest and most central shadow of all - the jagged stump of the fallen oak - looms over you in the shape of a towering presence, its face an imperceptible blur.

It's the shadowy figure from your nightmares - the one that walks the placid black ocean that emerged from your shadow and destroyed all which you once held dear. Since you arrived in Tashlaan, it was joined by Corrinth, Ika, and the other witches - Nytha, Faran, and Embryx. You can't take your eyes off the void of its face, searching it for the eyes you know are examining you, but you're unable to find purchase within. The formless form raises a hand toward you, and in silence, you watch as it nears your chest. The ground beneath you has become like that endless expanse from your dreams, and the hand disappears into the inky nothing behind it.

You're unable to see as it makes contact with your body, but you feel it. It sucks the wind out of you and lights your pneuma on fire. Magic swirls and burns beneath your skin as you cry out, but you're paralyzed - speared through the heart and lifted from the ground by the apparition. You can't do anything except wait, and hope that amidst this agony there will be answers.

At last, a familiar voice speaks to you.

"You're amazing, Agranne," she says. You can barely open your eyes through the blinding pain, but as you do you find yourself looking through the body of the apparition into a void which you can only assume is death itself. And that, it seems, is perfectly fitting...

...Because standing within this void, looking up at your skewered body, is your sister Rigatte.

You can't overcome the pain and speak; all of your willpower is invested into your silence, your commitment to hear the words which are about to be spoken to you. Your sister's smile is like a second spear through your body, and you are connected in this frozen moment of time.

"...I told her, all I wanted was to get us out of the life we came from," Rigatte says, before reaching out and taking your hand, and you realize that it was her, bridging the gap between life and death, even before this portal could put you face to face again. You draw in a cold breath, and the pain dissipates for a fleeting moment, enough time to ask a single question.

Dealer's Choice: Ask - (Players: Respond with a single unique question. Several will be selected and used as dialogue.)

 

[Damian0358]

Through the pain, Agranne's face barely contorted into one of disgust. "W-why... are you like this, Syrith?" she asked, looking right into her sister's eyes. No matter how real she felt, Agranne couldn't let herself be blinded by her heart, for Rigatte could just be a mirage puppeted by Syrith, using her memory to draw her in. Syrith could have just given you the answer straight, and yet she felt compelled to use the voice of someone she helped 'get out of the life' they came from... Expletives race through her mind... ones she never thought she knew.

 

[hardcore.munchkin]

Can you help me hone my powers?

 

[Breadman]

Fear, anger, indignation and disgust start to form at the back of your throat. You choose to speak with your true feelings to Syrith, you open your heart to her and embrace her gifts. Yet this is how she would treat you. Torturing you both in body and soul! A sick poetry to engulf your heart in the flames of your own pneuma and then to stab right through it with that face. Her face.

Yet as you part your lips to let the torrent out, they are reduced to mere droplets. As you look into her eyes your heart is pained again, but the grip is loosened. Now you feel another shadow move across your mind. A realization that you wish to resist, but you could feel the purpose of it all become so clear. Rigatte stood in front of you not as a mockery, but as a reminder through this torment. Your anchor, your guiding start and your reminder of what they took from you. The pain is the harsh reality of it all. Syrith may be cruel, but she was honest. This pain is nothing compared to what she went through. What they did to her.

Your heart ached again. Broken by the experience. You would fall to your knees if Syrith would allow it. As you look again to Rigatte's face, you feel the anger come back. Its growl echoing through your mind and transforming into hatred.

"Rigatte...how do I make them suffer?"

 

[Infab]

"Did you willingly come back to get me... or were you forced to?"

It seemed to be a running theme with the witches that you've encountered. The witch who rescued you, after you had killed the merchant, knocked you out and took you. Corrinth was going to force you to go with her, after your refusals to cooperate, until you unleashed your dark powers against her. She would have eventually tried another way to force you had you not caved just a little while ago.

Who's to say that Rigatte, as much as you loved her, hadn't been told to come and fetch you? They all knew you had such unbridled power within, that you were a hexblood. You also knew that the dark magic had eaten away at Rigatte as well, having the same empty look about her that the witch in the cart had.

Did she actually care about you anymore at that point? Was she told to care, as long as you went along with what they (and Syrith) were planning for you?

 

[joshuadim]

You feel your heart wrench with grief, the same as it did when you first learned of Rigatte's demise, and it washes over you like a river flood. After having been through so much in such a short period, you feel your emotions overwhelm you as you find yourself face to face with your sister. You missed her so much, and to be in her presence again has sent your mind into a turbulence. Tears of sorrow and joy streak down your cheeks as you look upon her, and you can't help but smile through the pain. You have so many questions to ask her, so many things you want to say, but almost no time to carry it all out. And so you settle on the only one that you can muster at this point in time, how it's like for her in death.

"...what's it like beyond the veil?" you manage to get out in between tears, hoping that Rigatte is at least not suffering any more than she had in life.

 

[K0mori]

You feel your heart wrench with grief, the same as it did when you first learned of Rigatte's demise, and it washes over you like a river flood. After having been through so much in such a short period, you feel your emotions overwhelm you as you find yourself face to face with your sister. You missed her so much, and to be in her presence again has sent your mind into a turbulence. Tears of sorrow and joy streak down your cheeks as you look upon her, and you can't help but smile through the pain. You have so many questions to ask her, so many things you want to say, but almost no time to carry it all out. And so you settle on the only one that you can muster at this point in time, how it's like for her in death.

"...what's it like beyond the veil?" you manage to get out in between tears, hoping that Rigatte is at least not suffering any more than she had in life.

Even though Rigatte seems to have anticipated your question, she's nonetheless moved by the emotions you can't contain. She looks away from your eyes, however, as if the answer is something she knows you don't want to hear. "...it isn't Paradise," she admits softly. "But it's not Hell, either. The path we've taken doesn't lead to an afterlife like the one we were fed as children. We become part of the Eldest's design, and serve the coven that yet lives. If," she says, pausing hopefully as she looks deep into your eyes, pleading, "we're remembered fondly... If we're needed..."

You watch as she loses composure, just as you have. You squeeze her hand tighter and descend deeper into this shadowy plane, and feel the pain which wrenches your heart soften. To your surprise, it's becoming easier to stay near to her, not harder.

"...We can cross the barrier and live again," she reveals. "It's been done, and it can be done again."

Despite kindling a spark of hope, however, Rigatte pulls back from you, nearly letting go of your hand in the process. The pain surges back into your chest, and you feel unnaturally light on your toes, as if the spear through your body is trying to lift you again. "H-how...?" you croak through clenched teeth, desperate for her to say anything, as long as she stays with you a while longer. Why is she letting me go!?

"I don't know," she answers quickly. "Seek your elders, the ones who walk these grounds and return. It's dangerous - listen, Agranne! - it's dangerous to be here with me. Don't you realize what Syrith has done, to make this possible?"

You suddenly realize what is happening: the world around you has slipped away, and all you see is darkness into infinity.

You're dead.

Fear, anger, indignation and disgust start to form at the back of your throat. You choose to speak with your true feelings to Syrith, you open your heart to her and embrace her gifts. Yet this is how she would treat you. Torturing you both in body and soul! A sick poetry to engulf your heart in the flames of your own pneuma and then to stab right through it with that face. Her face.

You try to breathe, and you can't. Your heart is stopped. Turning back, you now see a figure in the light behind you- the shadow of your own body under the moonlight, separated from your soul as Syrith cradles it. You feel a sense of betrayal, tempered only by self-loathing... Syrith has claimed your sister's soul, as she does to all who worship in her cult.

You have invited this fate upon yourself as well.

Despite the mortal danger, however, you press on. Syrith and her followers owe you answers. It's the least they can provide for the horrific situation you now find yourself in. You throw your other hand forward and grip Rigatte by the wrist, watching as her expression melts into one of horror as she tries to pull you off of her.

"Agranne!" she shouts, not realizing that you aren't doing this out of desperation for her company any longer. You need to know how long they planned to inflict this on you and your family.

"Did you willingly come back to get me... or were you forced to?"

It seemed to be a running theme with the witches that you've encountered. The witch who rescued you, after you had killed the merchant, knocked you out and took you. Corrinth was going to force you to go with her, after your refusals to cooperate, until you unleashed your dark powers against her. She would have eventually tried another way to force you had you not caved just a little while ago.

Who's to say that Rigatte, as much as you loved her, hadn't been told to come and fetch you? They all knew you had such unbridled power within, that you were a hexblood. You also knew that the dark magic had eaten away at Rigatte as well, having the same empty look about her that the witch in the cart had.

Did she actually care about you anymore at that point? Was she told to care, as long as you went along with what they (and Syrith) were planning for you?

"Forced to-? Agranne," Rigatte says, intensity rising in her expression as she finds herself momentarily responsible for your survival while also being interrogated on behalf of the coven. "If the coven had known that I was going to seek you out, then the witch hunters never would've had a chance," she declares, hotly. "I came back because you were starving. Look at you!" she says, gesturing at your generally boney physique. "Do you think I ever stopped wanting better for you!?"

She shoves you backwards with all her strength, literally trying to will you back to your body, back to life.

But you won't let go. "Is this better?" you cough, wincing with pain.

"It's what you make it!" Rigatte declares, frantically. "...And I should've made better of it. It's my fault I burned, not yours - you have to be stronger than me and smarter than me, and you're already halfway there, so please just go back and keep at it before too much time goes by and you can't!"

"Did you know?..." you wheeze. The spear through your heart is slackening, and you feel heavier, as if your feet will soon touch down on the inky surface of this eternal plane. "...about me?"

"No!" Rigatte explodes, hysterical for your survival and prying at your fingers. Your mind is reeling; there's so much more you want to know, so much you wish you could say to Rigatte, but the pain is torturous and the fear, spellbinding. Why hadn't Syrith spoken to you herself? Why place you in such a precarious position?

Is she just toying with you!?

Yet, as you part your lips to let the torrent out, they are reduced to mere droplets. As you look into her eyes, your heart is pained again, but the grip is loosened. Now you feel another shadow move across your mind - a realization that you wish to resist, but you can feel the purpose of it all become so clear: Rigatte stands in front of you not as a mockery, but as a reminder through this torment. Your anchor, your guiding star and your reminder of what they took from you. The pain is the harsh reality of it all - Syrith may be cruel, but she is also honest. This pain is nothing compared to what Rigatte went through. What they did to her.

Your heart aches again, broken by the experience. You would fall to your knees if Syrith would allow it. As you look again to Rigatte's face, you feel the anger come back. Its growl echoing through your mind and transforming into hatred.

"Rigatte... how do I make them suffer?"

"What?" she says. Then, a horrified gasp as she realizes that your hand is no longer in hers at all. You stand alone on the surface of the void, soul apparently severed from your body completely. "You- You stayed too long," she sputters.

"No," you reply as your wicked, inner-self has finally made sense of the situation. Others need magic from without to bend the world to their will, but you are not like them. Before you lost your grip on Rigatte's wrist, you began to consume your own magical power to maintain your lifeless audience. You suppose, if your pneuma exhausts itself before you're done, you'll be lost forever. But that moment hasn't come yet. "I have a moment longer," you declare, to her utter astonishment.

There's no pain as you stand and face Rigatte. "I want the ones who burned you to suffer!" you shout through your tears. "I want everyone who hurt us to feel this pain!"

Rigatte regards you, speechlessly, proud, disarmed, and heartbroken all the same, before rushing in to embrace you. "I just want you to grow up strong and be happy, Agranne. You don't have to prove anything to me - I promise." She lets go of you, and you drift away, the rage you tapped into ebbing from your heart by the moment. Now, you're certain, there is no time left.

"...Will you help me be strong?"

Rigatte watches as your soul floats upwards, back to that fading light from which you appeared, adamant as she answers you:

"I always have."

---
​

You awaken on the forest floor, cold and damp from the rain. All is normal now, and tiredly, you pull your legs up beneath the brim of your hat and hug them as tightly as you wish you could Rigatte. For a time, all you can do is mourn, overwhelmed with your experience of walking in the afterlife. You're also exhausted to the point of near-collapse. You could not have remained in that place for more than a few seconds longer, or else the last ounce of your power would have been expended on the effort and you would never have seen the light of day again.

You make a solemn promise:

0. Seek Escape - Having seen the monstrous form of Syrith's projection into the mortal world, you can't possibly walk the path that enslaved Rigatte's soul. There must be a way out, surely! (Not Available.)

1. Seek Rigatte - Rigatte wants you to climb the ranks and seek a way to bridge the gap between life and death. The secrets to this magic are closely guarded by Lythrefang's elder sisters, who probably rule the coven from seats of power in faraway capital cities. You won't rest until you've undone the mistakes of your past and brought Rigatte back to life.

2. Seek Power - Rigatte wants to see you grow stronger, and now that you've tasted real power, you can't disagree that you want more of it. You let go of the morality of the situation and commit yourself to do more than 'climb the ranks.' You will rule this coven one day, and mold it to your design.

3. Seek Vengeance - Rigatte pleaded with you to not obsess over her death, but you will never know the peace she wants for you until you've rid the world of the ones responsible for her death. You won't just eliminate the witch hunters, but their hypocritical enablers within that farce of a church you once wasted your allegiance on!

 

[joshuadim]

1

 

[Damian0358]

02002002 00200000 02200002 02202202 00200000 02200222 02202222 02202002 02202220 02200222 00200000 02220200 02202222 00200000 02202022 02202002 02202200 02202200 00200000 02020022 02222002 02220020 02202002 02220200 02202000 00202220

 

[dikdik]

3

 

[hardcore.munchkin]

3

 

[Infab]

1, I guess.

 

[Breadman]

3

 

[bat_hacker]

2

 

[turtwigwins]

1

 

[K0mori]

The vote is tied - DEALER'S CHOICE:

1. Seek Rigatte - Rigatte wants you to climb the ranks and seek a way to bridge the gap between life and death. The secrets to this magic are closely guarded by Lythrefang's elder sisters, who probably rule the coven from seats of power in faraway capital cities. You won't rest until you've undone the mistakes of your past and brought Rigatte back to life.

Shakily rising to your feet, you struggle to remember what had even led to this moment... Today began with Lachlaen's visit to Iona's tavern. You and Ika had followed him, hoping for a bit of messy drama, and had almost exposed yourselves as witches in a truly embarrassing fashion. To make it up to her, you bought her a bottle of rum, and decided to rob the liquor cart when its merchant owner took advantage of your naivety. It all seems so adolescent. How did it come to this?

You didn't realize that by offering yourself up to the coven, you were in fact offering your immortal soul to Syrith. Now that it's been done, you aren't sure there's any way back, and Corrinth probably knew that this is exactly what would happen to you the whole time. Part of you wants to kill her, but another part is thinking even darker thoughts. It's taking all of your willpower not to plot the death of your sister's killers after seeing what's happened to her.

She wants you to be better than that, and to move on with your life. But how can you!? Can you really stomach calling Corrinth your sister? Maybe Ika, but Corrinth!?

You hope Ika will already be drunk and asleep off the bottles you stole, and you and Corrinth can have a drink of what's left and discuss the wicked acts she committed while wearing your face. And when she's through, you can tell her exactly what you'll do to her if she ever impersonates you again. You reach the edge of town and quietly make your way back to the old hovel and slip into the door. Instead of what you expected, however, you find Ika stone-sober and looking genuinely distressed, while Corrinth lounges on a stool with her back against the corners of the room, crunching on an apple yet again.

"...Do you eat anything else?" you ask, annoyed. "You eat more apples than the horses do."

Corrinth smiles. "I like the ones that grow around here. It's been a few weeks since I've had one. That place where you grew up, Ryggander? Yikes. What exactly did you eat, growing up? Dirt?"

"Tomatoes, pumpkins, cereal grains," you answer irritably. "Crows and rats if we could catch any."

Corrinth's smile is replaced by a grimace. "Gross. But we all make do with what we can, right? Your family is still holding on, after all."

You glare at her. If your pneuma wasn't depleted, she'd be dead before she could finish her thought. "What did you do?"

"Relax, Agranne. I just stopped by - not as you, of course. I told them I was a priest, looking for information about you so I could pass it along to the hunters. They didn't tell me much, but I left them a bit of money anyway and offered my condolences for their loss," she explains with a rotten smile. "The next day, you were dead, and I hit the road."

Your disgust for Corrinth eats at you, but your magic is dormant. You need to rest and allow it to return, but you still haven't gotten to the heart of the matter. "...I spoke to Syrith," you say, changing the subject.

"And?" Corrinth replies eagerly. Her expression is calm on the surface, but you know her anticipation must be extreme. To be the one who brings a coveted hexblood into the coven's ranks must be a great big feather in her cap. Ika, meanwhile seems to breathe a sigh of relief immediately.

But then, you find yourself struggling for words. What happened was so unbelievable and life-changing that you can't be sure if anyone will really believe it. "She... She didn't say anything, alright? She was just this dark creature that stood over me, and then reached out and... She took my soul. I was dead - for a little while at least."

Now, Corrinth's eyes light up with fascination, and she glances over to Ika, who's positively awestruck as well. "Now that's different," Corrinth says. "Usually she appears and listens to those who call her name, and doesn't speak, like you said. If she judges you to be ready, she'll reach out and put a brand on your soul. To us, it was painless, but you had your whole soul ripped out and put back? That must have been excruciating..."

"...yeah," you reply, plainly annoyed at the obviousness of her conclusion. "So you're saying my soul was 'branded' by her touch, then?"

Corrinth nods, sagely, before taking one last bite of her apple and talking with her mouth full. "If you're not making this up, she sure did."

You watch her take out her wand.

"May I?" she asks, but before you can answer, she casts a spell, and you feel the same horrible cold settle over your body as when she tried to compel your movements before, but this time, it seems not to have worked. That is, until she asks you a question.

"You're not lying, are you?" she asks.

"No." The response came from you involuntarily. You find yourself unable to control your tongue at all!

"Why would she kill you?"

"She let me speak with my sister Rigatte and then Rigatte told me about the eternity of servitude that awaits us and I asked why she came back to get me last year and if she knew that I was a hexblood then and she said no and that-"

The words pour out of you like a flash flood, without space to breathe or separate your thoughts until, with a flick of her wand, Corrinth releases you. You take a deep breath, steady yourself, and then punch her in the mouth. "Don't you ever cast on me again," you warn her.

Suddenly, her smug attitude is gone, replaced with pure fear as she holds her mouth and cowers in the corner. You realize that if you hadn't spent your pneuma talking to Rigatte, you could have caved in Corrinth's skull just like you did to the strongbox and the liquor cabinet earlier tonight.

"D-did you exhaust yourself?" she sputters apologetically as a trickle of blood runs down from her lip. "I thought if you weren't okay with it, you would have stopped me-"

"You take too many liberties, crossing lines just because you can. You visited my family just to fuck with me, so let's not pretend it's anything else. ~Oh, I can be anyone I want for as long as I want!~ You think you're so special," you mock, viciously. "Well here's the truth, Corrinth: I used up my pneuma tonight keeping my body alive with a stopped heart just so I could talk a bit longer with my dead sister. Stop playing with me; just because you can get away with it right now doesn't mean I won't catch up with you later - and I know where your mother lives, too."

The words you just spoke came from that dark and terrible place within you, the same one screaming for church blood. You pause a moment and breathe, deciding what you're going to do now. "...I'm going to bed," you say as soon as you realize that you don't have to do anything more. "I'll talk to you both in the morning."

"Goodnight, zizter," Ika says quietly as you leave.

END OF CHAPTER 2

---
​

You wake up in the inn, and notice that the light that peeks through the cracks is dull and somewhere between pink and gold. It's dawn. You stretch and dress yourself before stepping outside the inn and having a look about.

The early-risers are out and about, getting a headstart on their work for the day. You sigh, realizing that, despite your otherworldly adventure the prior night, you're expected down at the stables again. Your clothes are still a bit damp around the edges from the rain, so you figure it's best to ask for another set, sometime soon, so that you can dry one outfit while wearing the other. You wonder how long it'll be before you bump into Corrinth. Doubtlessly, she was up late sending crows to other circles, telling them of a new sister. Hopefully, she kept your hexblood status a secret.

You remember threatening her and her mother, last night, and feel more than a little ashamed. You let your anger get the better of you, and now you wonder how exactly she's going to react when you-

"Hey!" Corrinth shouts with a big, goofy smile from around a nearby corner. She runs up to you, and before you know it, she's giving you an unwanted bear hug. Releasing you, she sighs and says with palpable sincerity, "...I'm so sorry for last night. I just - I wanted to be sure, after everything I went through... But nevermind that!" she says, positively giddy before adding in a whisper: "Sister...!"

1. Sarcastic: "So what now?" You reply, quietly and without any attempt to feign an exuberance to match hers. "...Do I learn the secret Lythrefang handshake?"

2. Direct: "Apology accepted, I guess. ...I'm still wet. I need a second outfit to wear - preferably something that isn't black," you reply flatly.

3. Encouraging: You give a halfhearted smile. "I get it. The things we do - they mess with our minds. But no more secrets, and no more games, alright?" you bargain with her.

 

[Infab]

1

 

[joshuadim]

1

 

[hardcore.munchkin]

1

 

[dikdik]

2

 

[asphodelus]

1

 

[Breadman]

2

 

[turtwigwins]

2

 

[bat_hacker]

1

 

[K0mori]

1. Sarcastic: "So what now?" You reply, quietly and without any attempt to feign an exuberance to match hers. "...Do I learn the secret Lythrefang handshake?"

Corrinth's excitement fades just a bit before she laughs off your discomforting attitude. "Actually, I was planning on letting - you - decide what to learn next. Now that you're in, my mind is an open book," she says. With a bow, she adds in a comical voice: "...I am at your service!"

You walk past her, annoyed with all the theatrics. "I need to get to work, Corrinth," you tell her without looking back.

"Oh... well, okay..." you hear her voice trail off.

---
​

Another day passes in the stables, where you tend to horses in silent disgust, doing as Jakom tells you. Unlike some of the other men you've met in this town, he at least treats you with a degree of respect, even if he's so laconic in his speech that it's often hard to tell how he feels about anything.

As the day comes to an end, however, he remarks on your smell as he hands over your pay. If a man of so few words was moved to say something, it must be bad, you figure. He lets you take a bit of soap from the wash basin in the stables and you ashamedly move along.

As you're pumping some water in the late afternoon for yourself to wash with, you're approached by another member of the circle: Embryx, a drow. She, like you, is young and inexperienced, but she carries herself as if she'll be a great and powerful witch someday. Other than that, you don't know much about her - you suspect that Corrinth instructed the other witches to keep you at arm's length while she was away and you were avoiding the coven. Now, apparently, she can speak freely with you.

"Hey, sis," she says, hanging an elbow on your shoulder which you quickly shrug off. You're not in the mood to be anyone's buddy, right now. "...Corrinth said you were a bit touchy today; I guess she was right."

"Am I dead yet?" you ask, irritably. "Word was supposed to have made it to town by now that the 'other' Agranne in Zuklanar is dead."

Embryx shrugs. "I haven't been at the tavern much today, but most of the talk was about the fire last night and the smash-and-grab on Warrik's liquor stand. Corrinth said it's only a matter of time before someone comes along and spreads the word." She pauses a moment, then seems to have a realization. "...Hey, wasn't your whole cover story that you're stuck here until the other Agranne bites the dust? What now?"

1. Leave - You hadn't thought about it, but Embryx is right. The whole town is going to be expecting you to return to Zuklanar now that Corrinth has closed the book on your past life for you. "...I guess I can't stay here much longer," you reply, a flicker of hope kindling within that you might be able to start over again soon, but with a nice amount of starting funds.

2. Stay - "You're right. I guess I'll need a new excuse, now," you reply, glumly. You want to move on, but you're on the verge of learning some truly useful abilities. Perhaps it would be best to just linger for a few more weeks?