Pharos Fidelis

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:#fb324d)+(text-size: 2.2)[PHAR⛯S FIDELIS] (text-color:#da1e45)+(text-size: 0.8)[— An Interactive Novella by DemonApologist —]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lighteclipsetitlepassage">(link-style:(text-color:#080a0d)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#576180")))[[[Start. ⇒->P0. Three Principles]]] (link-style:(text-color:#080a0d)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#576180")))[[[Chapter select. ⇒->Chapter Select]]] (link-style:(text-color:#080a0d)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#576180")))[[[Color schemes. ⇒->Color Schemes]]] (link-style:(text-color:#080a0d)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#576180")))[[[Content notes. ⇒->Content Notes]]] (link-style:(text-color:#080a0d)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#576180")))[[[Acknowledgments. ⇒->Acknowledgments]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="eclipsetitlepassage">(link-style:(text-color:#cec5d9)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#7582ac")))[[[Start. ⇒->P0. Three Principles]]] (link-style:(text-color:#cec5d9)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#7582ac")))[[[Chapter select. ⇒->Chapter Select]]] (link-style:(text-color:#cec5d9)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#7582ac")))[[[Color schemes. ⇒->Color Schemes]]] (link-style:(text-color:#cec5d9)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#7582ac")))[[[Content notes. ⇒->Content Notes]]] (link-style:(text-color:#cec5d9)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#7582ac")))[[[Acknowledgments. ⇒->Acknowledgments]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:#fb324d)+(text-size: 2.2)[PHAR⛯S FIDELIS] (text-color:#da1e45)+(text-size: 0.8)[— Color Schemes —]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lighteclipsemenupassage">You are currently in Luminary Mode. It features dark text on a light reading space, with dark backgrounds. <div class="lightmenuchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))+(link-reveal-goto: "Remain in Luminary Mode. ⇒", "Title")[(set: $light to true)]</div></div> <div class="eclipsemenupassage">Alternatively, you could try Warden Mode. It features light text on a dark reading space, with dark backgrounds. <div class="menuchoice">(link-reveal-goto: "Switch to Warden Mode. ⇒", "Title")[(set: $light to false)]</div></div>] \(else:)[<div class="eclipsemenupassage">You are currently in Warden Mode. It features light text on a dark reading space, with dark backgrounds. <div class="menuchoice">(link-reveal-goto: "Remain in Warden Mode. ⇒", "Title")[(set: $light to false)]</div></div> <div class="lighteclipsemenupassage">Alternatively, you could try Luminary Mode. It features dark text on a light reading space, with dark backgrounds. <div class="lightmenuchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))+(link-reveal-goto: "Switch to Luminary Mode. ⇒", "Title")[(set: $light to true)]</div></div>] (link-style:(text-color:#fb324d)+(hover-style:(text-color:#b00427)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Title]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:#fb324d)+(text-size: 2.2)[PHAR⛯S FIDELIS] (text-color:#da1e45)+(text-size: 0.8)[— Content Notes —]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lighteclipsemenupassage">If you would like more details about the content of this story prior to reading, you may click each topic to reveal more information. Please be advised that, as is their nature, such notes may spoil plot points. <div class="lightmenuchoice">(link:"Graphic Violence. ⛯")[(text-color:#961630)[**Graphic Violence.**] Violence in this text is both implied and directly depicted. Unfortunately for these characters, their time spent within the gaze of the reader is marked by blood, pain, and injuries.] </div> <div class="lightmenuchoice">(link:"Sexually Suggestive Content. ⛯")[(text-color:#961630)[**Sexually Suggestive Content.**] There are no explicit, directly described sex scenes in this text. It’s not erotica. But, there are depictions of characters kissing, a somewhat vague and abstract suggestion of a sexual scene, and sensual descriptions of physical closeness. The sexually suggestive content depicted in this text is consensual.] </div> <div class="lightmenuchoice">(link:"Toxic Academia. ⛯")[(text-color:#961630)[**Toxic Academia.**] While this novella takes place in a fictional dark fantasy setting, the depiction of “mentorship” in this text is nonetheless reminiscent of real life abuses of power by professors/supervisors. Additionally, readers haunted by archives might find those specters following them into this story.] </div> <div class="lightmenuchoice">(link:"Denial of Agency. ⛯")[(text-color:#961630)[**Denial of Agency**] In this setting, “demons” are a class of immortal nonhuman persons that are routinely summoned from the hells and have their autonomy revoked, as sorcerers use them to fight in battles without their consent. This is centrally commented upon in the narrative. The reader, too, might not often be afforded agency to intervene in the events of this story.] </div> <div class="lightmenuchoice">(link:"Hunger. ⛯")[(text-color:#961630)[**Hunger.**] This text depicts characters experiencing limited access to sustenance. For humans, it means less access to food, resulting in hunger. For demons, it means less access to magic power; this results in hunger as well as the inability to heal fully from injuries.] </div> <div class="lightmenuchoice">(link:"Death. ⛯")[(text-color:#961630)[**Death.**] Major and minor characters can and will die, sometimes as a direct result of choices made by the reader.] </div></div>] \(else:)[<div class="eclipsemenupassage">If you would like more details about the content of this story prior to reading, you may click each topic to reveal more information. Please be advised that, as is their nature, such notes may spoil plot points. <div class="menuchoice">(link:"Graphic Violence. ⛯")[(text-color:#da1e45)[**Graphic Violence.**] Violence in this text is both implied and directly depicted. Unfortunately for these characters, their time spent within the gaze of the reader is marked by blood, pain, and injuries.] </div> <div class="menuchoice">(link:"Sexually Suggestive Content. ⛯")[(text-color:#da1e45)[**Sexually Suggestive Content.**] There are no explicit, directly described sex scenes in this text. It’s not erotica. But, there are depictions of characters kissing, a somewhat vague and abstract suggestion of a sexual scene, and sensual descriptions of physical closeness. The sexually suggestive content depicted in this text is consensual.] </div> <div class="menuchoice">(link:"Toxic Academia. ⛯")[(text-color:#da1e45)[**Toxic Academia.**] While this novella takes place in a fictional dark fantasy setting, the depiction of “mentorship” in this text is nonetheless reminiscent of real life abuses of power by professors/supervisors. Additionally, readers haunted by archives might find those specters following them into this story.] </div> <div class="menuchoice">(link:"Denial of Agency. ⛯")[(text-color:#da1e45)[**Denial of Agency.**] In this setting, “demons” are a class of immortal nonhuman persons that are routinely summoned from the hells and have their autonomy revoked, as sorcerers use them to fight in battles without their consent. This is centrally commented upon in the narrative. The reader, too, might not often be afforded agency to intervene in the events of this story.] </div> <div class="menuchoice">(link:"Hunger. ⛯")[(text-color:#da1e45)[**Hunger.**] This text depicts characters experiencing limited access to sustenance. For humans, it means less access to food, resulting in hunger. For demons, it means less access to magic power; this results in hunger as well as the inability to heal fully from injuries.] </div> <div class="menuchoice">(link:"Death. ⛯")[(text-color:#da1e45)[**Death.**] Major and minor characters can and will die, sometimes as a direct result of choices made by the reader.] </div></div>] (link-style:(text-color:#fb324d)+(hover-style:(text-color:#b00427)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Title]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:#fb324d)+(text-size: 2.2)[PHAR⛯S FIDELIS] (text-color:#da1e45)+(text-size: 0.8)[— Acknowledgments —]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lighteclipsemenupassage">I, DemonApologist—a real person fondly attached to a diabolical pseudonym—wrote, designed, and coded this interactive novella during the period October 2024 to August 2025, with the vast majority of that work occurring in January, July, and August. This project was built in Twine 2.9.2 using the story format Harlowe 3.3.9 by Leon Arnott. The cover art—which I also made—was drafted using charcoal on paper. I then scanned and digitally colorized it. I would like to especially thank and acknowledge: Tabitha for beta reading, moral support, and eir essential and critical Twine solutions; fen and vane for beta reading, moral support, and UI/CSS advice; Drew Cook, Juniper Lake Fitzgerald, and Ecrusar, for encouragement and moral support; the late composer Alfred Schnittke, for his thoroughly disconcerting amalgamative polystylism; and finally, the accursed sun, for continuing to be the ultimate source of cosmic horror.</div>] \(else:)[<div class="eclipsemenupassage">I, DemonApologist—a real person fondly attached to a diabolical pseudonym—wrote, designed, and coded this interactive novella during the period October 2024 to August 2025, with the vast majority of that work occurring in January, July, and August. This project was built in Twine 2.9.2 using the story format Harlowe 3.3.9 by Leon Arnott. The cover art—which I also made—was drafted using charcoal on paper. I then scanned and digitally colorized it. I would like to especially thank and acknowledge: Tabitha for beta reading, moral support, and eir essential and critical Twine solutions; fen and vane for beta reading, moral support, and UI/CSS advice; Drew Cook, Juniper Lake Fitzgerald, and Ecrusar, for encouragement and moral support; the late composer Alfred Schnittke, for his thoroughly disconcerting amalgamative polystylism; and finally, the accursed sun, for continuing to be the ultimate source of cosmic horror.</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#fb324d)+(hover-style:(text-color:#b00427)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Title]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#cbc999")+(text-size: 3)[Dogma.] (text-color:"#cbc999")+(text-size: 1.15)[The Three Principles of Summoning.]</div> An unwelcome reminder, courtesy of Luminary Raekard. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightprinciplepassage">Recall the three principles of summoning: (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#65644c)[**1. The Principle of Authoritarian Primacy**] A demon abhors the authority of its summoner. In its wrath, it suffers neither reason nor morality. It must therefore be subdued with an application of sustained magical will in excess of its own. Obey the principle of authoritarian primacy. (text-color:#65644c)[**2. The Principle of Semantic Dilution**] A summoning rite distributes magical power across its dictated span of meaning. Linguistic complexity therefore diminishes its potency. Beware the principle of semantic dilution. (text-color:#65644c)[**3. The Principle of Planar Reversion**] Natural law hinders the presence of extraplanar entities in the mortal realm. Summoned demons therefore revert to their plane of origin, unless acted upon by sustained magical force. Account for the principle of planar reversion. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightprinciplechoice">|A>[(text-color:#989b00)[**Ignore this wisdom. ⇒**]](click-replace: ?A,(action:'mouseover'))[(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#7a7d00")))[[[Ignore his wisdom. ⇒->1. Finnit]]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="principlepassage">Recall the three principles of summoning: (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#cbc999)[**1. The Principle of Authoritarian Primacy**] A demon abhors the authority of its summoner. In its wrath, it suffers neither reason nor morality. It must therefore be subdued with an application of sustained magical will in excess of its own. Obey the principle of authoritarian primacy. (text-color:#cbc999)[**2. The Principle of Semantic Dilution**] A summoning rite distributes magical power across its dictated span of meaning. Linguistic complexity therefore diminishes its potency. Beware the principle of semantic dilution. (text-color:#cbc999)[**3. The Principle of Planar Reversion**] Natural law hinders the presence of extraplanar entities in the mortal realm. Summoned demons therefore revert to their plane of origin, unless acted upon by sustained magical force. Account for the principle of planar reversion. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="principlechoice">|A>[(text-color:#989b00)[**Ignore this wisdom. ⇒**]](click-replace: ?A,(action:'mouseover'))[(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#7a7d00")))[[[Ignore his wisdom. ⇒->1. Finnit]]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#7a7d00")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Principle]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#b8e270")+(text-size: 3)[I.] (text-color:"#b8e270")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Cairnveld Fortress.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcairnveldpassage">Finnit dragged a wax stick over the note, trailing an oily gray sheen across the crinkled parchment. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Even now, he thought he could still smell smoke from the last encampment. It hadn’t been high enough up the ridge to escape the brimstone meat-scorch rising from the rubble. The conscripts hadn't been thankful for the supplies either, their reddened eyes resentful toward the escape Finnit’s faded academy robes afforded him. No wonder Luminary Raekard saw fit to send him yet again. The wax stick grew soft from the heat of Finnit’s grip. He relented, surveying his handiwork. An infernal glyph had taken form, its inscrutable thorns piercing all the half-veiled jabs Raekard had written. Finnit pushed a few sparks of magic into the greasy pattern, setting it aflame. The parchment stretched and lost definition, curling inward. It flaked into ash, crumbling until little remained but the stink of burnt ink. He brushed the remnants into a dustpan, cracking open the window to scatter them. The cool night air, heady with the scent of cypress, coaxed beads of sweat down from his temples. Finnit could never find purchase against Raekard’s tactics. The luminary hovered just at the edge of conduct permitted by the academy charter. Any time Finnit tried articulating what his mentor had done, his words grew damp and soft, like the mold gathering beneath the south tower’s rotting steps. Despite this, he refused to prostrate himself before Raekard and become, at last, the summoner his luminary yet longed to carve him into. Too weak to fight back. Too stubborn to accede to his demands. A stalemate littered with no few hell-torched missives. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit closed the window, looking over to the stack of journals on his nightstand. Anxiety over Raekard’s petty tasks had so nettled his nights that Finnit hadn’t added anything new to his syllabary these past few weeks. Was it even truly a stalemate, if Raekard’s tactics were this effective? This night proved no different. Even considering the work exhausted him. Still, he clutched one of the journals close, its constrained symbols simmering comfortably near his heart. Tomorrow, then. Or the day after. Whenever he could. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcairnveldchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))[[[Defer. ⇒->R. Tinfallow]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="cairnveldpassage">Finnit dragged a wax stick over the note, trailing an oily gray sheen across the crinkled parchment. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Even now, he thought he could still smell smoke from the last encampment. It hadn’t been high enough up the ridge to escape the brimstone meat-scorch rising from the rubble. The conscripts hadn't been thankful for the supplies either, their reddened eyes resentful toward the escape Finnit’s faded academy robes afforded him. No wonder Luminary Raekard saw fit to send him yet again. The wax stick grew soft from the heat of Finnit’s grip. He relented, surveying his handiwork. An infernal glyph had taken form, its inscrutable thorns piercing all the half-veiled jabs Raekard had written. Finnit pushed a few sparks of magic into the greasy pattern, setting it aflame. The parchment stretched and lost definition, curling inward. It flaked into ash, crumbling until little remained but the stink of burnt ink. He brushed the remnants into a dustpan, cracking open the window to scatter them. The cool night air, heady with the scent of cypress, coaxed beads of sweat down from his temples. Finnit could never find purchase against Raekard’s tactics. The luminary hovered just at the edge of conduct permitted by the academy charter. Any time Finnit tried articulating what his mentor had done, his words grew damp and soft, like the mold gathering beneath the south tower’s rotting steps. Despite this, he refused to prostrate himself before Raekard and become, at last, the summoner his luminary yet longed to carve him into. Too weak to fight back. Too stubborn to accede to his demands. A stalemate littered with no few hell-torched missives. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit closed the window, looking over to the stack of journals on his nightstand. Anxiety over Raekard’s petty tasks had so nettled his nights that Finnit hadn’t added anything new to his syllabary these past few weeks. Was it even truly a stalemate, if Raekard’s tactics were this effective? This night proved no different. Even considering the work exhausted him. Still, he clutched one of the journals close, its constrained symbols simmering comfortably near his heart. Tomorrow, then. Or the day after. Whenever he could. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="cairnveldchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))[[[Defer. ⇒->R. Tinfallow]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#7ba03c")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d1a992")+(text-size: 3)[Recollection.] (text-color:"#d1a992")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Tinfallow.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lighttinfallowpassage">Wizened boughs set coral pink leaves adrift. They clung, in soggy piles, to gaps between paving slabs. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#694835)+(hover-style:(text-color:#a57154)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Young Finnit faced a chore deferred, tender fingers gripping a broom too unwieldy to shoo the litter off the patio at any reliable pace. Nearby, a jackdaw schemed, dreaming the succulence of slugs his sweeping might expose. Over the edge, mist streamed across the valley, shrouding soft beads of light where Tinfallow’s lanterns augured dusk. In the house behind Finnit, voices rumbled. Shifting ice clinked. Game pieces click-clacked. A gathering liberated from its moody ward. Frustrated, the child cast his broom aside and sat on the damp ground. The jackdaw gave a discouraged squawk, flitting to another branch. Still watching. Most of the stones were dark, smooth, and cold. One of them had a big crack running through it, jagged teeth that had snagged a few leaves. These tore when Finnit brushed them aside to get a closer look. There was something about it. Something *wrong*. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#694835)+(hover-style:(text-color:#a57154)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Little Finnit tilted his head. It wasn’t the entire crevice. Rather, an edge of it bent just so. He could envision how it was *supposed* to look, like seeing a shadow cast from nowhere upon the stone. The slate yearned for a shape that wasn’t yet there. Finnit glanced about for something to draw with. He tested a rotting twig, noting how its spongy tip trailed bits of red pulp where it traveled. Fiddly broom—discarded. Voices joyful without him—forgotten. Finnit drew, feathering ribs of wood paste out from the spine the crack provided. The twig snapped, but he persisted, tracing the shape with the stub until it was right. He sat back to admire his work, feeling warm where the stone had left impressions in his idle hand. A strange feeling buzzed in his chest. Finnit resisted it at first, but it wanted to join the stone. To complete it. Finnit let go. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#694835)+(hover-style:(text-color:#a57154)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Heat leapt from his chest, sizzling at his fingertips. The shape on the slab flared. Black wind spun up from the stone, flicking all the leaves and twigs into a twisted column. The jackdaw fled, shedding a few ashen feathers in its startled flapping. As Finnit stared, the column of leaves wandered away from the patio and dissipated, scattering the debris well outside his jurisdiction. How wondrous, to have stolen some wicked sigh from the void. Only a bit of ash lingered as evidence of what Finnit had drawn on the cracked slate. But his fingertips still tingled as he laughed and turned back. He saw his grandmother’s face in the window, bearing a dangerous expression. Recognition. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#694835)+(hover-style:(text-color:#a57154)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lighttinfallowchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#694835)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#da1e45")))[[[Occlude. ⇒->2. Finnit]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="tinfallowpassage">Wizened boughs set coral pink leaves adrift. They clung, in soggy piles, to gaps between paving slabs. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1a992)+(hover-style:(text-color:#a57154)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Young Finnit faced a chore deferred, tender fingers gripping a broom too unwieldy to shoo the litter off the patio at any reliable pace. Nearby, a jackdaw schemed, dreaming the succulence of slugs his sweeping might expose. Over the edge, mist streamed across the valley, shrouding soft beads of light where Tinfallow’s lanterns augured dusk. In the house behind Finnit, voices rumbled. Shifting ice clinked. Game pieces click-clacked. A gathering liberated from its moody ward. Frustrated, the child cast his broom aside and sat on the damp ground. The jackdaw gave a discouraged squawk, flitting to another branch. Still watching. Most of the stones were dark, smooth, and cold. One of them had a big crack running through it, jagged teeth that had snagged a few leaves. These tore when Finnit brushed them aside to get a closer look. There was something about it. Something *wrong*. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1a992)+(hover-style:(text-color:#a57154)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Little Finnit tilted his head. It wasn’t the entire crevice. Rather, an edge of it bent just so. He could envision how it was *supposed* to look, like seeing a shadow cast from nowhere upon the stone. The slate yearned for a shape that wasn’t yet there. Finnit glanced about for something to draw with. He tested a rotting twig, noting how its spongy tip trailed bits of red pulp where it traveled. Fiddly broom—discarded. Voices joyful without him—forgotten. Finnit drew, feathering ribs of wood paste out from the spine the crack provided. The twig snapped, but he persisted, tracing the shape with the stub until it was right. He sat back to admire his work, feeling warm where the stone had left impressions in his idle hand. A strange feeling buzzed in his chest. Finnit resisted it at first, but it wanted to join the stone. To complete it. Finnit let go. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1a992)+(hover-style:(text-color:#a57154)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Heat leapt from his chest, sizzling at his fingertips. The shape on the slab flared. Black wind spun up from the stone, flicking all the leaves and twigs into a twisted column. The jackdaw fled, shedding a few ashen feathers in its startled flapping. As Finnit stared, the column of leaves wandered away from the patio and dissipated, scattering the debris well outside his jurisdiction. How wondrous, to have stolen some wicked sigh from the void. Only a bit of ash lingered as evidence of what Finnit had drawn on the cracked slate. But his fingertips still tingled as he laughed and turned back. He saw his grandmother’s face in the window, bearing a dangerous expression. Recognition. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1a992)+(hover-style:(text-color:#a57154)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="tinfallowchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#d1a992)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#da1e45")))[[[Occlude. ⇒->2. Finnit]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#d1a992)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#da1e45")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Recollection]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#b8e270")+(text-size: 3)[II.] (text-color:"#b8e270")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Cairnveld Fortress.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcairnveldpassage">“You know where I stand on this,” Luminary Jethel said, frowning over her horchata. “That hasn’t changed.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[At her insistence, Finnit, dressed for the mountains, had squeezed this meeting into the final hour before his departure. Bouquets of medicinal herbs hung from every rafter, cloying Jethel’s already sweltering office. Stifled, Finnit swayed, incapable of focusing on anything she had said. “But I’ll say it again,” Jethel continued, pushing back her silver-streaked ringlets. “Hiding from him won’t work. He clings to his… projects.” She appraised him. “You look ill as a fledgling vampire. What’s he even having you comb the archives for, these nights? Is he still carrying on about the Kolemian naval charts?” “He’s having me do deliveries now,” Finnit said. “Portaling back and forth to the encampments with supplies. As close to Tinfallow as he can arrange.” She raised her eyebrows. “Even after…?” “Yes.” His heartbeat quickened, drawn off-kilter in this noxious heat. “You didn’t know?” She stirred her drink, then let the cinnamon stick settle as she weighed her next words. The silence stretched. Finnit fiddled with the frayed threads on his overcoat. It had been washed so many times that the once-green trim signifying his forever-rank of “incipient” had faded to a sickly almost-white. “I did hear,” Jethel finally admitted. “So he’s going through with it. I didn’t think through all the implications of that until seeing you. I hope you understand; I have a lot on my shoulders.” Sometimes it was difficult for Finnit to guess what motivated other luminaries to take a passing interest in his feud with Raekard. Jethel was the latest, and though Finnit didn’t know the specifics, the mutual hatred between her and Raekard was palpable. He liked to imagine it stemmed from some primordial disciplinary conflict; Jethel, a healing sorcerer, forever plotting against Raekard’s self-styled elegant violence. “I know you’ve helped me with what you can.” Finnit stood. “Look, unless there was something else you wanted to discuss, I have to get—” “Wait a moment.” Finnit leaned against the chair, willing himself not to faint in front of her. Jethel rifled through a nearby stack of resin-splattered volumes. “I hope you won’t need this, but… there you are.” She handed him a dog-eared copy of *Intermediate Remedies: Rites of Relief*. Bewildered, Finnit accepted it. “Thank you, but I—” “It’s a classic.” Her eyes bored into his, as though willing him to divine some cryptic truth from her gaze alone. He stashed the suspicious gift away in his satchel, mumbled another round of thanks, and left her tower, relieved to meet a draft of cooler air. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit walked briskly through the halls toward the quartermaster’s office. Insulated though Cairnveld was from the war, owing to its remote location, the collective unease was pervasive. Even the few people Finnit felt warmly enough toward to offer a polite nod in passing looked preoccupied as they attended their grim tasks. “Good, good,” the quartermaster said, when Finnit knocked at their door. “Let’s get a move on, yeah?" They dragged Finnit into the crowded room. Raekard was there, tall and spidery, with the indistinct age of a man whose years had intertwined too closely with the power he commanded. Finnit tried to direct his attention away from Raekard, focusing instead toward the labors of two incipient sorcerers. They were putting the final touches on the teleportation sigil drawn beneath the assortment of crates and casks that Finnit was expected to shepherd at his destination. The longer he feigned interest in these proceedings, the sharper Raekard’s gaze felt. Finnit became increasingly aware that he was standing around with nothing to contribute save the residual perfume from Jethel’s tower. “You’re here,” Finnit said, finally breaking. “To see you off!” Raekard clapped him on the shoulder and smiled. Finnit bristled at his touch. “You’re what, sentimental now?” “I will always make time for *you*.” Raekard stared down at him. “My most promising incipient.” One of the sigil-weavers covered their laugh with an awkward cough. As much as Finnit loathed him, he was nevertheless desperately curious *why* Raekard would bother waiting around like this. “And these last many months of departures? You made time for those?” The quartermaster had stopped checking the supply manifest, now distracted by the growing tension. “These last many months,” Raekard said, after a grand pause. “You’ve seen quite a lot of the war front in that time. It must be so interesting for you.” Finnit tamped down his urge to volley back. If only he could shrink away even further, disappear where Raekard couldn’t see him anymore. “I mean, to witness the hard work our luminaries are doing out there, up close. For you to be involved, supporting their critical efforts. Indispensable. You must find it inspiring.” Finnit rubbed his begloved fingers together. The fabric grew hot from this friction. “To know that even working as hard as you have, that some of them gave their lives—” “We’re cleared to go,” the quartermaster interrupted, sliding between them before either conjured hellfire indoors. “Of course.” Finnit glowered. Raekard looked genuinely delighted. He stood back, joining the quartermaster and portal assistants to leave Finnit and the gathered supplies encircled by the spell. The collected sorcerers began pouring their magic into the teleportation sigils. Finnit felt the familiar wavering sensation as the spell initiated. The air grew thick and shimmered. Amidst the hazy light, Finnit noticed Raekard’s hands. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The luminary was drawing something in the air. Smoke rushed from his fingertips. “Raekard—” Magic crackled as crimson threads wove into the sigil, distorting its design. Finnit’s voice barely rose above the mass of power sizzling all around him. “What are you—” The portal activated, jettisoning him across space to an uncertain fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcairnveldchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#7ba03c")))[[[Recall. ⇒->P1. First Principle]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="cairnveldpassage">“You know where I stand on this,” Luminary Jethel said, frowning over her horchata. “That hasn’t changed.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[At her insistence, Finnit, dressed for the mountains, had squeezed this meeting into the final hour before his departure. Bouquets of medicinal herbs hung from every rafter, cloying Jethel’s already sweltering office. Stifled, Finnit swayed, incapable of focusing on anything she had said. “But I’ll say it again,” Jethel continued, pushing back her silver-streaked ringlets. “Hiding from him won’t work. He clings to his… projects.” She appraised him. “You look ill as a fledgling vampire. What’s he even having you comb the archives for, these nights? Is he still carrying on about the Kolemian naval charts?” “He’s having me do deliveries now,” Finnit said. “Portaling back and forth to the encampments with supplies. As close to Tinfallow as he can arrange.” She raised her eyebrows. “Even after…?” “Yes.” His heartbeat quickened, drawn off-kilter in this noxious heat. “You didn’t know?” She stirred her drink, then let the cinnamon stick settle as she weighed her next words. The silence stretched. Finnit fiddled with the frayed threads on his overcoat. It had been washed so many times that the once-green trim signifying his forever-rank of “incipient” had faded to a sickly almost-white. “I did hear,” Jethel finally admitted. “So he’s going through with it. I didn’t think through all the implications of that until seeing you. I hope you understand; I have a lot on my shoulders.” Sometimes it was difficult for Finnit to guess what motivated other luminaries to take a passing interest in his feud with Raekard. Jethel was the latest, and though Finnit didn’t know the specifics, the mutual hatred between her and Raekard was palpable. He liked to imagine it stemmed from some primordial disciplinary conflict; Jethel, a healing sorcerer, forever plotting against Raekard’s self-styled elegant violence. “I know you’ve helped me with what you can.” Finnit stood. “Look, unless there was something else you wanted to discuss, I have to get—” “Wait a moment.” Finnit leaned against the chair, willing himself not to faint in front of her. Jethel rifled through a nearby stack of resin-splattered volumes. “I hope you won’t need this, but… there you are.” She handed him a dog-eared copy of *Intermediate Remedies: Rites of Relief*. Bewildered, Finnit accepted it. “Thank you, but I—” “It’s a classic.” Her eyes bored into his, as though willing him to divine some cryptic truth from her gaze alone. He stashed the suspicious gift away in his satchel, mumbled another round of thanks, and left her tower, relieved to meet a draft of cooler air. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit walked briskly through the halls toward the quartermaster’s office. Insulated though Cairnveld was from the war, owing to its remote location, the collective unease was pervasive. Even the few people Finnit felt warmly enough toward to offer a polite nod in passing looked preoccupied as they attended their grim tasks. “Good, good,” the quartermaster said, when Finnit knocked at their door. “Let’s get a move on, yeah?" They dragged Finnit into the crowded room. Raekard was there, tall and spidery, with the indistinct age of a man whose years had intertwined too closely with the power he commanded. Finnit tried to direct his attention away from Raekard, focusing instead toward the labors of two incipient sorcerers. They were putting the final touches on the teleportation sigil drawn beneath the assortment of crates and casks that Finnit was expected to shepherd at his destination. The longer he feigned interest in these proceedings, the sharper Raekard’s gaze felt. Finnit became increasingly aware that he was standing around with nothing to contribute save the residual perfume from Jethel’s tower. “You’re here,” Finnit said, finally breaking. “To see you off!” Raekard clapped him on the shoulder and smiled. Finnit bristled at his touch. “You’re what, sentimental now?” “I will always make time for *you*.” Raekard stared down at him. “My most promising incipient.” One of the sigil-weavers covered their laugh with an awkward cough. As much as Finnit loathed him, he was nevertheless desperately curious *why* Raekard would bother waiting around like this. “And these last many months of departures? You made time for those?” The quartermaster had stopped checking the supply manifest, now distracted by the growing tension. “These last many months,” Raekard said, after a grand pause. “You’ve seen quite a lot of the war front in that time. It must be so interesting for you.” Finnit tamped down his urge to volley back. If only he could shrink away even further, disappear where Raekard couldn’t see him anymore. “I mean, to witness the hard work our luminaries are doing out there, up close. For you to be involved, supporting their critical efforts. Indispensable. You must find it inspiring.” Finnit rubbed his begloved fingers together. The fabric grew hot from this friction. “To know that even working as hard as you have, that some of them gave their lives—” “We’re cleared to go,” the quartermaster interrupted, sliding between them before either conjured hellfire indoors. “Of course.” Finnit glowered. Raekard looked genuinely delighted. He stood back, joining the quartermaster and portal assistants to leave Finnit and the gathered supplies encircled by the spell. The collected sorcerers began pouring their magic into the teleportation sigils. Finnit felt the familiar wavering sensation as the spell initiated. The air grew thick and shimmered. Amidst the hazy light, Finnit noticed Raekard’s hands. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The luminary was drawing something in the air. Smoke rushed from his fingertips. “Raekard—” Magic crackled as crimson threads wove into the sigil, distorting its design. Finnit’s voice barely rose above the mass of power sizzling all around him. “What are you—” The portal activated, jettisoning him across space to an uncertain fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="cairnveldchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#7ba03c")))[[[Recall. ⇒->P1. First Principle]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#7ba03c")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#cbc999")+(text-size: 3)[Dogma.] (text-color:"#cbc999")+(text-size: 1.15)[The First Principle of Summoning.]</div> Another unwelcome reminder, courtesy of Luminary Raekard. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightprinciplepassage">Recall the first principle of summoning: (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color:#65644c)[**1. The Principle of Authoritarian Primacy**] A demon abhors the authority of its summoner. In its wrath, it suffers neither reason nor morality. It must therefore be subdued with an application of sustained magical will in excess of its own. (text-color:#65644c)[***Implication:***] A summoning circle must never target a demon with a will greater than the summoner’s. (text-color:#65644c)[***Implication:***] Disruption to the magic empowering an authoritarian clause renders the summoner vulnerable to the demon’s wrath. (text-color:#65644c)[***Implication:***] The majority of a summoning circle’s magic expenditure must empower its authoritarian clause, overwriting the demon’s will with the summoner’s. Obey the principle of authoritarian primacy. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightprinciplechoice">|A>[(text-color:#989b00)[**Deify this wisdom. ⇒**]](click-replace: ?A,(action:'mouseover'))[(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#7a7d00")))[[[Defy his wisdom. ⇒->3. Finnit]]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="principlepassage">Recall the first principle of summoning: (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color:#cbc999)[**1. The Principle of Authoritarian Primacy**] A demon abhors the authority of its summoner. In its wrath, it suffers neither reason nor morality. It must therefore be subdued with an application of sustained magical will in excess of its own. (text-color:#cbc999)[***Implication:***] A summoning circle must never target a demon with a will greater than the summoner’s. (text-color:#cbc999)[***Implication:***] Disruption to the magic empowering an authoritarian clause renders the summoner vulnerable to the demon’s wrath. (text-color:#cbc999)[***Implication:***] The majority of a summoning circle’s magic expenditure must empower its authoritarian clause, overwriting the demon’s will with the summoner’s. Obey the principle of authoritarian primacy. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="principlechoice">|A>[(text-color:#989b00)[**Deify this wisdom. ⇒**]](click-replace: ?A,(action:'mouseover'))[(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#7a7d00")))[[[Defy his wisdom. ⇒->3. Finnit]]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#7a7d00")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Principle]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[III.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Elsewhere.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">Finnit toppled end over end, his world a nauseous whirl of black and gray and smoke and wet, limbs knocking against stone as he flailed. Wooden crates clattered, scattering splinters as tipped casks tumbled past. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He slid to an ungainly stop against a cold, smooth surface. “H-help?” he gurgled out, aslosh in vertigo. “Hello?” No response, save for the moaning wind, crackling thunder, and driving patter of rain. A few groans of his own joined the chorus as he sat up, leaning against the wall he’d plowed into. To make sense of his surroundings, he cast a simple spell that typically produced an orb of soft white light. It didn’t work. The air itself had taken advantage of his weakness, swallowing up the magic he pushed out. He looked down at his hands, barely visible in the murk, as though they had betrayed him. Finnit could do little else but gasp for enough breath to calm his skittish heart, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the sallow green that gloomed through glassless windows. The chamber stank of singe and rot, scents that smothered what remained of the fragrance Jethel’s tower had left in his clothes. Once composed, Finnit tried the light spell again. To his relief, it flickered into existence. He appeared to have arrived at a location astride the conceptual boundary between a room and a cave. On two sides, weathered masonry framed gaps where rain and cold wind flowed in, soaking the debris abandoned by past occupants. The rest of the area had natural stone walls, where the supply crates had crashed at the end of their turbulent travels. “What is this place?” Finnit muttered. “Where did he send me?” Raekard had corrupted the destination of the sigil, a dangerous thing for even a master sorcerer to attempt. Though Finnit had survived the transit, even his snug winter clothes had done little to cushion him. Soreness was already setting in. For now, standing up was out of the question. Finnit instead crawled toward the nearest crates to see what had survived the journey with him. The first held little besides a few bedrolls and threadbare blankets—nothing out of the ordinary—but he clutched them regardless for a modicum of comfort. In the next crate, however, a rather ominous sealed scroll drew his attention. He pulled his glowing orb closer, revealing that the wax seal bore the dual stamps of official academy business and Luminary Raekard’s signature. It was addressed to Finnit. Fingers trembling, he peeled it open, and began reading. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightraekardletter">Incipient Finnit: Your childish refusal to abide by the three principles of summoning has stalled your intellectual development to the point where it has long since become evident that you are unqualified to attain the rank of Luminary. You have resisted every attempt at correction in this regard. Despite this, based on your promise alone, perhaps I would have waited forever for you to see reason. In such a future, I surely would have joined the forsaken legions of the hells myself, long before such a time that you found reason in any way persuasive. A dark future, made yet darker by the waste of what should have been. Nevertheless, Luminary Jethel has insisted that, according to the terms of the charter, I am obligated to offer you the opportunity to pass or fail your discovery trial and finally put an end to this nonsense. In the name of politeness, I should say that Luminary Jethel is well-equipped to apply her healing acumen beyond the banal injuries she typically engages with and instead to the realm of mentor-student relationships. However, the name of honesty prevents me from writing something so patently false as the above. So I won’t. Your discovery trial has a simple premise: reignite the Pharos Fidelis.</div> “Reignite the—” Finnit glanced up from the scroll. “But…” He set it aside, stumbling along the wall to get a look over one of the window ledges. Far, far below, a leaden ocean churned against vicious spikes of blackened stone that shredded its surface. Generations of wreckage littered the archipelago, corroded metal snagged upon the vertebrae of a failed mountain. Above, the tarry sky delivered an unceasing deluge, afire with feverish forked lightning that split torrents of rain asunder. Finnit could taste the miasma of despair that congealed darkness in the chamber’s corners, filming his tongue as his breath hitched. Now, he too would take part in the accursed legacy of violence that anguished this grand, terrible lighthouse. The Pharos Fidelis. All things considered, his morning had not gone well. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit retreated from the high window, shuffling back to find comfort with the relative familiarity of the boxes he had traveled with. Numbly, he grabbed the scroll to continue reading. <div class="lightraekardletter">Your discovery trial has a simple premise: reignite the Pharos Fidelis. Since you have so thoroughly convinced yourself that you know better than the blood-paid knowledge of esteemed summoners throughout history, your arrogance seems rather well-suited to a task that has befouled centuries of sorcery with its folly. The upcoming solar eclipse provides—at least in theory—a significant opportunity for discovery. This astronomical event signals the end of your trial, at which point the attached transit band will return you to Cairnveld. At that time, you will immediately issue your verbal discovery report for the consideration of attending Luminaries. After what is sure to be a disgraceful performance, you will undoubtedly be dismissed from the academy. Please see also the attached registry of tools and supplies with notes on their utility. With no undue skepticism as to your success, ⚞L. Raekard P. S. – You may have surmised that the setting for this discovery trial holds a secondary purpose beyond merely removing you from the academy upon your failure. In your desperation to resolve this trial, I expect you to reach for infernal assistance, falling to the temptation to engage in yet more of your reckless summoning experiments. The remoteness of the Pharos Fidelis should limit the death toll of any such experiments to one.</div> (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit let out a long, shuddering breath. He released the scroll, which curled itself closed, obscuring the many cruel paragraphs of unwelcome information. He sat for a while, watching the shadows cast into relief by the wandering light he had conjured. It certainly did not feel like he was about to contribute a wondrous discovery that pushed forward the edges of this field of sorcerous research. Indeed, that seemed to be Raekard's point. He had an impulse to pace to diffuse the dread that was gathering around him, but his bruising legs protested. Instead, he took inventory of the supplies here with him, with Raekard’s attendant snide commentary from the manifest. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Water Casks & Military Rations ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[(text-color:#bd3300)[**Water Casks & Military Rations**] <div class="lightraekardletter">Enough food for you to be fed well—up until a few days short of the eclipse. The kind of rations you should have been eating anyway, had you applied your craft properly and done your duty to fight for Tinfallow. ⚞L. Raekard</div> Finnit picked through these sparse offerings. He chewed a leathery piece of something salty, hoping to soothe his stomach.] (link:"Bedrolls & Blankets ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[(text-color:#bd3300)[**Bedrolls & Blankets**] The blankets were so thin that Finnit could see light pitting through from the other side. The bedrolls were little better. <div class="lightraekardletter">Given the presumed hostility of the environment, these should provide you the opportunity to sleep as soundly and comfortably as I have since you first inflicted yourself upon the academy. ⚞L. Raekard</div> Finnit clenched the manifest between his gloved fingers. “As if I haven’t suffered worse nightmares at your hands.”] (link:"A copy of *The Three Principles of Summoning* ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[(text-color:#bd3300)[**A copy of *The Three Principles of Summoning***] <div class="lightraekardletter">A garishly elementary text. An advanced student should find it utterly lacking in insight. My fervent wish is that you find it enlightening. ⚞L. Raekard</div> Unbidden, the litany slithered between his lips. “Obey the principle of authoritarian primacy. Beware the principle of semantic dilution. Account for the principle of planar reversion.”] (link:"A copy of *Case Studies in Infernal Betrayal* ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[(text-color:#bd3300)[**A copy of *Case Studies in Infernal Betrayal***] <div class="lightraekardletter">Essential reading for prospective summoners, graphically detailing the wretched fates of sorcerers who lost control over demons they brought into the mortal plane without the appropriate power or finesse to manage. You have much yet to learn, evidently, from these copiously documented examples. ⚞L. Raekard</div> Regardless of Raekard’s insinuations, Finnit had learned plenty from this text. Raekard had showed little interest in his analysis.] (link:"A copy of *Elthensen’s Celestial Almanac: 11th Edition* ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[(text-color:#bd3300)[**A copy of *Elthensen’s Celestial Almanac: 11th Edition***] <div class="lightraekardletter">An invaluable tool for scholars concerned with timing rituals to coincide with the occultations of celestial bodies, who lack the mathematical or astronomical rigor to make such calculations for themselves. ⚞L. Raekard</div> “Why am I still bothering to read these notes?” Finnit muttered to himself, in the face of Raekard's apparently boundless pettiness.] (link:"Four volumes labeled *Pharos Fidelis: Accounts of the Beacon on the Horizon of Reason* ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[(text-color:#bd3300)[**Four volumes labeled *Pharos Fidelis: Accounts of the Beacon on the Horizon of Reason***] <div class="lightraekardletter">This collection of noteworthy scholarship on the history of the world’s preeminent cursed lighthouse would prove most consequential in the hands of those capable of building arguments grounded in rationality. For now, your hands will have to do. ⚞L. Raekard</div> Finnit was surprised that he’d even been given books that were actually relevant to the trial. Perhaps Luminary Jethel had insisted upon it. “You know. For fairness,” Finnit said. “We can’t have an impossible discovery trial.” He laughed hollowly.] (link:"Bundles of Wax Sticks ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[(text-color:#bd3300)[**Bundles of Wax Sticks**] A few of the gray sticks had broken during their crash landing, but there were two dozen or so that had remained pristine. Finnit took off one of his gloves, testing their slickness between his fingers. He let the wax’s familiar floral scent comfort him, before reading Raekard’s manifest entry. <div class="lightraekardletter">Even the most ill-suited summoner should have the opportunity to draw using their preferred medium. In that case, at the very least, it disproves the hypothesis that the tool—rather than the summoner—is the point of failure. ⚞L. Raekard</div> Finnit preferred writing circles in wax mainly for its practicality; it stayed put, repelled water, and conveyed fire. While any wax would do, it was true that he had a lingering fondness for these oily gray sticks that still reminded him, if distantly, of Tinfallow. “How did Raekard even get these during the war?” he wondered. “That can’t have been cheap.”] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit let all that he had experienced settle over him. A discovery trial. He never thought he’d see the day where Raekard allowed this to proceed, without first having secured Finnit’s ideological acquiescence. This had all been an elaborate trap, developed over perhaps months. Raekard’s hatred was evident—that part wasn’t subtle, nor was it meant to be. But hatred alone didn’t explain what was happening here. Jethel’s involvement was curious, but she at least seemed to have bent things slightly in his favor where she could. Most incipients had shared rumors of legendarily cruel and dangerous trials, given the leeway that their luminaries had in designing them. Now, he was joining that dubious tradition. On its face, this trial had little to do with summoning. Yet, reading Raekard’s postscript once more, and considering the supplies, Finnit understood that Raekard had handed him every tool he needed to conduct summoning rites. The venomous language, if anything, was tailored to goad Finnit further into wanting to prove Raekard wrong. He opened his satchel, finding his precious syllabaries nestled alongside *Intermediate Remedies: Rites of Relief*. Raekard would’ve known that Finnit guarded his journals and carried them everywhere. Perhaps there was a trial within the trial that had not yet come into focus. Sore and exhausted as he was, Finnit stretched out on the meager bedding he’d been provided. He closed his eyes, dulling his inner maelstrom with the ceaseless rhythm of rain, and eventually, sleep found him. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Contextualize. ⇒->C0. Overview]]]</div>]]]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">Finnit toppled end over end, his world a nauseous whirl of black and gray and smoke and wet, limbs knocking against stone as he flailed. Wooden crates clattered, scattering splinters as tipped casks tumbled past. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He slid to an ungainly stop against a cold, smooth surface. “H-help?” he gurgled out, aslosh in vertigo. “Hello?” No response, save for the moaning wind, crackling thunder, and driving patter of rain. A few groans of his own joined the chorus as he sat up, leaning against the wall he’d plowed into. To make sense of his surroundings, he cast a simple spell that typically produced an orb of soft white light. It didn’t work. The air itself had taken advantage of his weakness, swallowing up the magic he pushed out. He looked down at his hands, barely visible in the murk, as though they had betrayed him. Finnit could do little else but gasp for enough breath to calm his skittish heart, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the sallow green that gloomed through glassless windows. The chamber stank of singe and rot, scents that smothered what remained of the fragrance Jethel’s tower had left in his clothes. Once composed, Finnit tried the light spell again. To his relief, it flickered into existence. He appeared to have arrived at a location astride the conceptual boundary between a room and a cave. On two sides, weathered masonry framed gaps where rain and cold wind flowed in, soaking the debris abandoned by past occupants. The rest of the area had natural stone walls, where the supply crates had crashed at the end of their turbulent travels. “What is this place?” Finnit muttered. “Where did he send me?” Raekard had corrupted the destination of the sigil, a dangerous thing for even a master sorcerer to attempt. Though Finnit had survived the transit, even his snug winter clothes had done little to cushion him. Soreness was already setting in. For now, standing up was out of the question. Finnit instead crawled toward the nearest crates to see what had survived the journey with him. The first held little besides a few bedrolls and threadbare blankets—nothing out of the ordinary—but he clutched them regardless for a modicum of comfort. In the next crate, however, a rather ominous sealed scroll drew his attention. He pulled his glowing orb closer, revealing that the wax seal bore the dual stamps of official academy business and Luminary Raekard’s signature. It was addressed to Finnit. Fingers trembling, he peeled it open, and began reading. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="raekardletter">Incipient Finnit: Your childish refusal to abide by the three principles of summoning has stalled your intellectual development to the point where it has long since become evident that you are unqualified to attain the rank of Luminary. You have resisted every attempt at correction in this regard. Despite this, based on your promise alone, perhaps I would have waited forever for you to see reason. In such a future, I surely would have joined the forsaken legions of the hells myself, long before such a time that you found reason in any way persuasive. A dark future, made yet darker by the waste of what should have been. Nevertheless, Luminary Jethel has insisted that, according to the terms of the charter, I am obligated to offer you the opportunity to pass or fail your discovery trial and finally put an end to this nonsense. In the name of politeness, I should say that Luminary Jethel is well-equipped to apply her healing acumen beyond the banal injuries she typically engages with and instead to the realm of mentor-student relationships. However, the name of honesty prevents me from writing something so patently false as the above. So I won’t. Your discovery trial has a simple premise: reignite the Pharos Fidelis.</div> “Reignite the—” Finnit glanced up from the scroll. “But…” He set it aside, stumbling along the wall to get a look over one of the window ledges. Far, far below, a leaden ocean churned against vicious spikes of blackened stone that shredded its surface. Generations of wreckage littered the archipelago, corroded metal snagged upon the vertebrae of a failed mountain. Above, the tarry sky delivered an unceasing deluge, afire with feverish forked lightning that split torrents of rain asunder. Finnit could taste the miasma of despair that congealed darkness in the chamber’s corners, filming his tongue as his breath hitched. Now, he too would take part in the accursed legacy of violence that anguished this grand, terrible lighthouse. The Pharos Fidelis. All things considered, his morning had not gone well. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit retreated from the high window, shuffling back to find comfort with the relative familiarity of the boxes he had traveled with. Numbly, he grabbed the scroll to continue reading. <div class="raekardletter">Your discovery trial has a simple premise: reignite the Pharos Fidelis. Since you have so thoroughly convinced yourself that you know better than the blood-paid knowledge of esteemed summoners throughout history, your arrogance seems rather well-suited to a task that has befouled centuries of sorcery with its folly. The upcoming solar eclipse provides—at least in theory—a significant opportunity for discovery. This astronomical event signals the end of your trial, at which point the attached transit band will return you to Cairnveld. At that time, you will immediately issue your verbal discovery report for the consideration of attending Luminaries. After what is sure to be a disgraceful performance, you will undoubtedly be dismissed from the academy. Please see also the attached registry of tools and supplies with notes on their utility. With no undue skepticism as to your success, ⚞L. Raekard P. S. – You may have surmised that the setting for this discovery trial holds a secondary purpose beyond merely removing you from the academy upon your failure. In your desperation to resolve this trial, I expect you to reach for infernal assistance, falling to the temptation to engage in yet more of your reckless summoning experiments. The remoteness of the Pharos Fidelis should limit the death toll of any such experiments to one.</div> Finnit let out a long, shuddering breath. He released the scroll, which curled itself closed, obscuring the many cruel paragraphs of unwelcome information. He sat for a while, watching the shadows cast into relief by the wandering light he had conjured. It certainly did not feel like he was about to contribute a wondrous discovery that pushed forward the edges of this field of sorcerous research. Indeed, that seemed to be Raekard's point. He had an impulse to pace to diffuse the dread that was gathering around him, but his bruising legs protested. Instead, he took inventory of the supplies here with him, with Raekard’s attendant snide commentary from the manifest. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Water Casks & Military Rations ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[(text-color:#bd3300)[**Water Casks & Military Rations**] <div class="raekardletter">Enough food for you to be fed well—up until a few days short of the eclipse. The kind of rations you should have been eating anyway, had you applied your craft properly and done your duty to fight for Tinfallow. ⚞L. Raekard</div> Finnit picked through these sparse offerings. He chewed a leathery piece of something salty, hoping to soothe his stomach.] (link:"Bedrolls & Blankets ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[(text-color:#bd3300)[**Bedrolls & Blankets**] The blankets were so thin that Finnit could see light pitting through from the other side. The bedrolls were little better. <div class="raekardletter">Given the presumed hostility of the environment, these should provide you the opportunity to sleep as soundly and comfortably as I have since you first inflicted yourself upon the academy. ⚞L. Raekard</div> Finnit clenched the manifest between his gloved fingers. “As if I haven’t suffered worse nightmares at your hands.”] (link:"A copy of *The Three Principles of Summoning* ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[(text-color:#bd3300)[**A copy of *The Three Principles of Summoning***] <div class="raekardletter">A garishly elementary text. An advanced student should find it utterly lacking in insight. My fervent wish is that you find it enlightening. ⚞L. Raekard</div> Unbidden, the litany slithered between his lips. “Obey the principle of authoritarian primacy. Beware the principle of semantic dilution. Account for the principle of planar reversion.”] (link:"A copy of *Case Studies in Infernal Betrayal* ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[(text-color:#bd3300)[**A copy of *Case Studies in Infernal Betrayal***] <div class="raekardletter">Essential reading for prospective summoners, graphically detailing the wretched fates of sorcerers who lost control over demons they brought into the mortal plane without the appropriate power or finesse to manage. You have much yet to learn, evidently, from these copiously documented examples. ⚞L. Raekard</div> Regardless of Raekard’s insinuations, Finnit had learned plenty from this text. Raekard had showed little interest in his analysis.] (link:"A copy of *Elthensen’s Celestial Almanac: 11th Edition* ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[(text-color:#bd3300)[**A copy of *Elthensen’s Celestial Almanac: 11th Edition***] <div class="raekardletter">An invaluable tool for scholars concerned with timing rituals to coincide with the occultations of celestial bodies, who lack the mathematical or astronomical rigor to make such calculations for themselves. ⚞L. Raekard</div> “Why am I still bothering to read these notes?” Finnit muttered to himself, in the face of Raekard's apparently boundless pettiness.] (link:"Four volumes labeled *Pharos Fidelis: Accounts of the Beacon on the Horizon of Reason* ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[(text-color:#bd3300)[**Four volumes labeled *Pharos Fidelis: Accounts of the Beacon on the Horizon of Reason***] <div class="raekardletter">This collection of noteworthy scholarship on the history of the world’s preeminent cursed lighthouse would prove most consequential in the hands of those capable of building arguments grounded in rationality. For now, your hands will have to do. ⚞L. Raekard</div> Finnit was surprised that he’d even been given books that were actually relevant to the trial. Perhaps Luminary Jethel had insisted upon it. “You know. For fairness,” Finnit said. “We can’t have an impossible discovery trial.” He laughed hollowly.] (link:"Bundles of Wax Sticks ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[(text-color:#bd3300)[**Bundles of Wax Sticks**] A few of the gray sticks had broken during their crash landing, but there were two dozen or so that had remained pristine. Finnit took off one of his gloves, testing their slickness between his fingers. He let the wax’s familiar floral scent comfort him, before reading Raekard’s manifest entry. <div class="raekardletter">Even the most ill-suited summoner should have the opportunity to draw using their preferred medium. In that case, at the very least, it disproves the hypothesis that the tool—rather than the summoner—is the point of failure. ⚞L. Raekard</div> Finnit preferred writing circles in wax mainly for its practicality; it stayed put, repelled water, and conveyed fire. While any wax would do, it was true that he had a lingering fondness for these oily gray sticks that still reminded him, if distantly, of Tinfallow. “How did Raekard even get these during the war?” he wondered. “That can’t have been cheap.”] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit let all that he had experienced settle over him. A discovery trial. He never thought he’d see the day where Raekard allowed this to proceed, without first having secured Finnit’s ideological acquiescence. This had all been an elaborate trap, developed over perhaps months. Raekard’s hatred was evident—that part wasn’t subtle, nor was it meant to be. But hatred alone didn’t explain what was happening here. Jethel’s involvement was curious, but she at least seemed to have bent things slightly in his favor where she could. Most incipients had shared rumors of legendarily cruel and dangerous trials, given the leeway that their luminaries had in designing them. Now, he was joining that dubious tradition. On its face, this trial had little to do with summoning. Yet, reading Raekard’s postscript once more, and considering the supplies, Finnit understood that Raekard had handed him every tool he needed to conduct summoning rites. The venomous language, if anything, was tailored to goad Finnit further into wanting to prove Raekard wrong. He opened his satchel, finding his precious syllabaries nestled alongside *Intermediate Remedies: Rites of Relief*. Raekard would’ve known that Finnit guarded his journals and carried them everywhere. Perhaps there was a trial within the trial that had not yet come into focus. Sore and exhausted as he was, Finnit stretched out on the meager bedding he’d been provided. He closed his eyes, dulling his inner maelstrom with the ceaseless rhythm of rain, and eventually, sleep found him. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Contextualize. ⇒->C0. Overview]]]</div>]]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[Periodization | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> Fragments recounting the dark history of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">They say that four specters haunt this miserable spit of stone. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#4c4833)[**1. The Era of Sunlight**] First came the mountain islands, scattered between the glacial ring and the storm-coiled currents. And they reached for the light, green with life. The people crossed to the sun and back, their rituals of radiance tempering the teeming seas. Their great shrine atop the peak glittered for all to witness. Such was the Era of Sunlight. (text-color:#4c4833)[**2. The Era of Pyrelight**] Next came strange sailors ashore in needful heat for lumber. And coal. And iron. And they forged axes. And when the lumber and coal and iron grew scarce, those axes found flesh. As they took and took, killed and killed, smoke dimmed the skies. In their lust for light, they burned the shrine and all who yet tended it, and it was a fire for the ages. Thus came a new beacon, whose stolen flame blackened the firmament. Eventually, the last of the green passed into the fire. The islands, barren. The seas, restless. Such was the Era of Pyrelight. (text-color:#4c4833)[**3. The Era of Lightning**] Then came the lightning gashed across the sky, a forever storm that drowned the last coals of the pyre. Yet the emperors and generals longed to send more ships through the passage. Their architects dreamed a tower upon the bare peak. Their sorcerers conceived a modern light, hyperfolded glass distending space, drawing all the storm’s lightning upon the lens their laborers wrought. It drank and drank the soul of the sky, but its thirst never sated. It found other souls to imbibe, betraying enough light to pierce the mantle of misery it maintained. Commerce resumed. Such was the Era of Lightning. (text-color:#4c4833)[**4. The Era of Ruin**] Last came the Glassbound Rebellion, whose revolt cleft the ravening lens. Unmoored lightning spread across the islands, striking all it could reach. The seas churned up the last of the ships that dared brave their waters, tossing them to pieces on the rocks. Chaos crumbled what little remained of the dynasty, and darkness shrouded the passage. Resentment scorched even the maps black of this specter. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">All that power, still stuck in the broken lens, accomplishing nothing of value. Shouldn’t something be done with it? I have a few ideas. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] Such is the Era of Ruin. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightchroniclechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[[[Entangle. ⇒->4. Finnit]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">They say that four specters haunt this miserable spit of stone. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#d7cc90)[**1. The Era of Sunlight**] First came the mountain islands, scattered between the glacial ring and the storm-coiled currents. And they reached for the light, green with life. The people crossed to the sun and back, their rituals of radiance tempering the teeming seas. Their great shrine atop the peak glittered for all to witness. Such was the Era of Sunlight. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**2. The Era of Pyrelight**] Next came strange sailors ashore in needful heat for lumber. And coal. And iron. And they forged axes. And when the lumber and coal and iron grew scarce, those axes found flesh. As they took and took, killed and killed, smoke dimmed the skies. In their lust for light, they burned the shrine and all who yet tended it, and it was a fire for the ages. Thus came a new beacon, whose stolen flame blackened the firmament. Eventually, the last of the green passed into the fire. The islands, barren. The seas, restless. Such was the Era of Pyrelight. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**3. The Era of Lightning**] Then came the lightning gashed across the sky, a forever storm that drowned the last coals of the pyre. Yet the emperors and generals longed to send more ships through the passage. Their architects dreamed a tower upon the bare peak. Their sorcerers conceived a modern light, hyperfolded glass distending space, drawing all the storm’s lightning upon the lens their laborers wrought. It drank and drank the soul of the sky, but its thirst never sated. It found other souls to imbibe, betraying enough light to pierce the mantle of misery it maintained. Commerce resumed. Such was the Era of Lightning. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**4. The Era of Ruin**] Last came the Glassbound Rebellion, whose revolt cleft the ravening lens. Unmoored lightning spread across the islands, striking all it could reach. The seas churned up the last of the ships that dared brave their waters, tossing them to pieces on the rocks. Chaos crumbled what little remained of the dynasty, and darkness shrouded the passage. Resentment scorched even the maps black of this specter. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">All that power, still stuck in the broken lens, accomplishing nothing of value. Shouldn’t something be done with it? I have a few ideas. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] Such is the Era of Ruin. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="chroniclechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[[[Entangle. ⇒->4. Finnit]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#927b1a")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Chronicle]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[IV.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">Finnit never felt smaller than he did that first night stranded at the Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Even in his worst nights at Cairnveld, the hum of the community he’d withdrawn from still lingered within reach. Here, he felt himself a feeble bit of man, the relentless rain his sole companion. He slept in fits, twisting up his limbs in the thin blankets. A doomed hunt for comfort. When he woke, the chamber remained as dark as ever, save for the greenish glow the storm provided. Finnit dug through the crate holding his rations, groaning from the stiffness in his shoulders. He found some salty-sweet fruit leather, chewing it with a certain air of grimness that met the moment. Next, he broke into one of the casks and gulped cold water. It lanced through his gut, quenching him with a shiver. With no one else around to police his behavior, Finnit crawled back into the mess of blankets to sleep some more. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[His life continued in this manner for some length of time, the bruised sky offering little indication of the hours or days that might have passed. But eventually, he had recovered as best he could from his arrival, finding some energy to face his situation. Finnit had been given the transit band. In theory, he could have chosen to ignore the absurd discovery trial, and waited around for the bracelet to whisk him back to the academy at its appointed time. Its sigils were much too complex for Finnit to unravel. He’d have to trust that it would take him where Raekard said it would. “It’ll probably just dump me in the ocean somewhere,” he muttered to himself. If he stayed safely put and abandoned the trial, he’d be expelled from the academy in disgrace. There was an allure to the idea of being free from Luminary Raekard and the rest of it forever. But where could he even go? What would he do? Was there anywhere safe for someone as afflicted with darkness as him? As weak as him? Would his syllabary have amounted to nothing? That future felt somehow bleaker than any curse. And there was another thing. When he thought about it—really thought about it, trying to be honest with himself—despite the unfairness of the trial, there was still something fundamentally enticing about the mysteries of the Pharos Fidelis. As much as fear left him curled in a tiny corner, curiosity would eventually lure him out. So he’d try to do it. He’d try to reignite the Pharos Fidelis. Finnit read over Raekard’s nasty letter a few times, hoping to get some perspective on what “reignition” even meant. Something that stood out to him was the mismatch between the trial’s premise and his studies at the academy. On its face, the Pharos Fidelis had little to do with summoning. “He clings to his projects,” Finnit said, remembering Jethel’s observation. “This must be one of them. And now he’s dragged me into it. ” The nights he had spent searching for Kolemian naval charts at the archives now felt more pointed than they had before. Finnit’s misery had been long in the making; Raekard, a patient craftsman. Still, what it meant to “reignite” the Pharos Fidelis evaded him. He paced, stretching his sore limbs as he explored the chamber. Among the debris was an empty chest that stank of rot, a big rusted anchor, and the blackened heads of tools whose wooden handles had long since crumbled. Less than useful. More obviously useful was the alcove leading outside. He stepped gingerly toward it, taking care to avoid getting soaked by the barrage of rain blown in by the gale. The opening led to a landing on a staircase carved from the cliffs, winding around this side of the stone face. Now facing this dangerously exposed route to get anywhere else on the island, Finnit rued having ever complained about Cairnveld’s rotten steps. From this vantage point, it was hard to get a proper sense of scale. Based on how far down the ocean appeared, Finnit thought he must be close to the island’s peak. How much further up could the cracked lens—and whatever remained of its housing—possibly be? He rummaged through the crates, hoping to find some water-repellent clothes, or even an umbrella. No such luck. A simple ward would have to do. It was not magic he had practiced in a while, but if he could maintain it as he climbed, it should at least deflect most of the rain. He concentrated, drawing from his wellspring of magical power. The ward flickered a few times before stabilizing, appearing as a pale mist that shimmered around him. He stuck a hand out one of the windows as a test. The rain largely bent out of his way, though an occasional drop still made it through. “Jethel would be so disappointed in my spellwork,” Finnit said, grimly amused. He had the distinct impression that his clothes and hair would end up sopping regardless. Still, all he really needed was enough misplaced confidence to venture out into the storm. Finnit took his first tentative steps out onto the landing. The rain had so distracted him that he hadn’t even considered the threat the wind posed. Its uneven gusts caught him off balance, and he leaned against the stone cliffside for support. At the very least, some of the previous occupants of the Pharos Fidelis had seen fit to drive spikes into the rock to serve as handholds. He climbed the stairs at a deliberate pace, checking the stability of each step before proceeding to the next. When the squalls intensified, he cowered against the cliff, gripping the spikes until the most harrowing moments passed. It was difficult work, but he gradually wound around the bends in the path. Then he heard it. A petrifying, keening shriek that sent ice through heart. He froze, clinging to the spikes. Something clattered up around the next bend, causing loose gravel to tumble down. And then— *Whump. Whump. Whump.* (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A shadow passed overhead, darker even than the stormclouds. It screeched again, its terrible call piercing even the wind as it carried across the sky. Finnit stared up at it, trying to process what this creature even was. He thought it might be some colossal bird, but the details resolved its form away from the ordinary avian. Its leathersome wings stretched across bone in impossible shapes, kinked as though they had snapped and healed and snapped again some uncountable thousands of times. It turned in a great arc, gliding lower and closer. Its long, sinuous neck ended in an angular head crowned with oily feathers. And beneath those feathers, Finnit saw its eyes. Featureless golden orbs that stared, unceasing, mesmerizing, the brightest lights he had witnessed since his arrival at the Pharos Fidelis. And those eyes saw *him*. Finnit bolted down the stairs, losing control of his protective ward. Rain pelted him as he fled, skidding back and forth across the steps as he rushed, barely holding his balance. The bird-thing swooped lower, its segmented tail whipping past him, acid sizzling in the rain. Finnit’s blood rushed as he stumbled around the bends, the creature’s shrieks splitting his ears. He slipped, tumbling the last few steps down to the landing, scrambling to dive back into the recess he had emerged from. The raptor kept calling for him as he crawled into the chamber, drenched, leaving a damp trail in his wake like one of the slugs the jackdaws once feasted on, before Tinfallow and all that mattered in it was cast to the inferno, and his battered flesh screamed for relief as he sobbed in the dark. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Inundate. ⇒->R. Cairnveld]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">Finnit never felt smaller than he did that first night stranded at the Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Even in his worst nights at Cairnveld, the hum of the community he’d withdrawn from still lingered within reach. Here, he felt himself a feeble bit of man, the relentless rain his sole companion. He slept in fits, twisting up his limbs in the thin blankets. A doomed hunt for comfort. When he woke, the chamber remained as dark as ever, save for the greenish glow the storm provided. Finnit dug through the crate holding his rations, groaning from the stiffness in his shoulders. He found some salty-sweet fruit leather, chewing it with a certain air of grimness that met the moment. Next, he broke into one of the casks and gulped cold water. It lanced through his gut, quenching him with a shiver. With no one else around to police his behavior, Finnit crawled back into the mess of blankets to sleep some more. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[His life continued in this manner for some length of time, the bruised sky offering little indication of the hours or days that might have passed. But eventually, he had recovered as best he could from his arrival, finding some energy to face his situation. Finnit had been given the transit band. In theory, he could have chosen to ignore the absurd discovery trial, and waited around for the bracelet to whisk him back to the academy at its appointed time. Its sigils were much too complex for Finnit to unravel. He’d have to trust that it would take him where Raekard said it would. “It’ll probably just dump me in the ocean somewhere,” he muttered to himself. If he stayed safely put and abandoned the trial, he’d be expelled from the academy in disgrace. There was an allure to the idea of being free from Luminary Raekard and the rest of it forever. But where could he even go? What would he do? Was there anywhere safe for someone as afflicted with darkness as him? As weak as him? Would his syllabary have amounted to nothing? That future felt somehow bleaker than any curse. And there was another thing. When he thought about it—really thought about it, trying to be honest with himself—despite the unfairness of the trial, there was still something fundamentally enticing about the mysteries of the Pharos Fidelis. As much as fear left him curled in a tiny corner, curiosity would eventually lure him out. So he’d try to do it. He’d try to reignite the Pharos Fidelis. Finnit read over Raekard’s nasty letter a few times, hoping to get some perspective on what “reignition” even meant. Something that stood out to him was the mismatch between the trial’s premise and his studies at the academy. On its face, the Pharos Fidelis had little to do with summoning. “He clings to his projects,” Finnit said, remembering Jethel’s observation. “This must be one of them. And now he’s dragged me into it. ” The nights he had spent searching for Kolemian naval charts at the archives now felt more pointed than they had before. Finnit’s misery had been long in the making; Raekard, a patient craftsman. Still, what it meant to “reignite” the Pharos Fidelis evaded him. He paced, stretching his sore limbs as he explored the chamber. Among the debris was an empty chest that stank of rot, a big rusted anchor, and the blackened heads of tools whose wooden handles had long since crumbled. Less than useful. More obviously useful was the alcove leading outside. He stepped gingerly toward it, taking care to avoid getting soaked by the barrage of rain blown in by the gale. The opening led to a landing on a staircase carved from the cliffs, winding around this side of the stone face. Now facing this dangerously exposed route to get anywhere else on the island, Finnit rued having ever complained about Cairnveld’s rotten steps. From this vantage point, it was hard to get a proper sense of scale. Based on how far down the ocean appeared, Finnit thought he must be close to the island’s peak. How much further up could the cracked lens—and whatever remained of its housing—possibly be? He rummaged through the crates, hoping to find some water-repellent clothes, or even an umbrella. No such luck. A simple ward would have to do. It was not magic he had practiced in a while, but if he could maintain it as he climbed, it should at least deflect most of the rain. He concentrated, drawing from his wellspring of magical power. The ward flickered a few times before stabilizing, appearing as a pale mist that shimmered around him. He stuck a hand out one of the windows as a test. The rain largely bent out of his way, though an occasional drop still made it through. “Jethel would be so disappointed in my spellwork,” Finnit said, grimly amused. He had the distinct impression that his clothes and hair would end up sopping regardless. Still, all he really needed was enough misplaced confidence to venture out into the storm. Finnit took his first tentative steps out onto the landing. The rain had so distracted him that he hadn’t even considered the threat the wind posed. Its uneven gusts caught him off balance, and he leaned against the stone cliffside for support. At the very least, some of the previous occupants of the Pharos Fidelis had seen fit to drive spikes into the rock to serve as handholds. He climbed the stairs at a deliberate pace, checking the stability of each step before proceeding to the next. When the squalls intensified, he cowered against the cliff, gripping the spikes until the most harrowing moments passed. It was difficult work, but he gradually wound around the bends in the path. Then he heard it. A petrifying, keening shriek that sent ice through heart. He froze, clinging to the spikes. Something clattered up around the next bend, causing loose gravel to tumble down. And then— *Whump. Whump. Whump.* (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A shadow passed overhead, darker even than the stormclouds. It screeched again, its terrible call piercing even the wind as it carried across the sky. Finnit stared up at it, trying to process what this creature even was. He thought it might be some colossal bird, but the details resolved its form away from the ordinary avian. Its leathersome wings stretched across bone in impossible shapes, kinked as though they had snapped and healed and snapped again some uncountable thousands of times. It turned in a great arc, gliding lower and closer. Its long, sinuous neck ended in an angular head crowned with oily feathers. And beneath those feathers, Finnit saw its eyes. Featureless golden orbs that stared, unceasing, mesmerizing, the brightest lights he had witnessed since his arrival at the Pharos Fidelis. And those eyes saw *him*. Finnit bolted down the stairs, losing control of his protective ward. Rain pelted him as he fled, skidding back and forth across the steps as he rushed, barely holding his balance. The bird-thing swooped lower, its segmented tail whipping past him, acid sizzling in the rain. Finnit’s blood rushed as he stumbled around the bends, the creature’s shrieks splitting his ears. He slipped, tumbling the last few steps down to the landing, scrambling to dive back into the recess he had emerged from. The raptor kept calling for him as he crawled into the chamber, drenched, leaving a damp trail in his wake like one of the slugs the jackdaws once feasted on, before Tinfallow and all that mattered in it was cast to the inferno, and his battered flesh screamed for relief as he sobbed in the dark. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Inundate. ⇒->R. Cairnveld]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#b8e270")+(text-size: 3)[Recollection] (text-color:"#b8e270")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Cairnveld Fortress.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcairnveldpassage">Each incipient had been given three weeks to prepare their efforts. The task was to summon a minor sprite from the hells to battle the other creatures. The last to survive would deliver its summoner the victory. A simple premise, unlikely to go awry. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It was a competition, sure. But it was also a practical demonstration of their mastery of the three principles of summoning. A bacchanal of violent control. Most of the incipients had prioritized efficiency in the strength of their summons, selecting for the most powerful entity they could maintain an authoritarian clause over. Finnit, ever the malcontent, had made a mockery of the whole affair. He drew a summoning circle that conjured an apparition so diffuse that the other creatures hadn’t even noticed it. The entity wisped above the fray, evasive, accomplishing nothing of note. The final imp, having survived the rest of its fiendish opposition, glanced about. Finnit thought it looked forlorn, unable to fulfill any more of its summoner’s commands without a discernible foe. The duration of its summoning circle expired, and it vanished. The principle of planar reversion, accounted for. Finnit’s inconsequential specter was all that remained, winning by default. He cast a gentle banishing rite and it faded, back to drifting wherever he had coaxed it from. It was, by all accounts, a baffling end to the competition. Raekard congratulated him rather icily, noting Finnit’s “tactical novelty” to tepid applause. He dismissed the other incipients from the amphitheater with less than his typical wit. It was only once they had left that his fury cracked through. He grabbed Finnit’s shoulder roughly, dragging him further from view of any fortress windows, behind the cluster of trees where the fortress grounds met the edge of the stony fields beyond. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“What is *wrong* with you?” Raekard asked, eyes sizzling. “I won.” Finnit rolled his shoulders for some relief from Raekard’s deathgrip. “According to the rules you set out—” “You *know* this isn’t just a game. You know what’s at stake! When you leave here, you’ll be summoning on the battlefield—” “No,” Finnit said. “I won’t.” Raekard glowered. Perhaps that wasn’t a word he heard often. “You think I didn’t notice what you did? You depowered the authoritarian clause, so your spell would artificially outlast the others. You weren’t in control at all! That sprite could’ve done anything—attacked anyone—you have no appreciation for the forces you let command you!” Finnit stood his ground. “And yet, it just floated around, hurting nothing. Like my circle selected for. It didn’t even *want* to fight. I think it liked seeing normal clouds.” “Your arrogance is astounding!” “Listen—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“NO, YOU LISTEN!” Raekard shouted. “You think because you’ve been handed this—this *gift* of insight, this gift you’re in the process of squandering—because the infernal syntax flows freely through you, through absolutely no effort on your part, you think that the three principles don’t apply to you. Why would they? Why would the principles inked in generations of blood apply to the wise and noble Incipient Finnit! You think you’re the first to suggest bargaining with demons? Do you suppose the summoners of old felt so morally superior when devils betrayed them, ripped their souls right out? They are monsters. They exist to eat, to kill, to destroy, and their silver tongues will swindle you to oblivion if you let them loose!” As his words settled, wind slithered through the brush. The windswept cypress trees stood vigil over their argument, their branches casting a filigree of shadows over the pair of them. “The three principles are wrong,” Finnit insisted. He had never been more sure of anything. “Or at least, incomplete. I know those tales. The legends. The same ones you’ve read. They don’t prove what you think they do. You have so little imagination. You think only of war—” “Because I have to!” Raekard clenched his fists. “I brought you here. Your potential cannot go to waste. Your *power*. Tinfallow needs you. It needs summoners. Your experimentation is reckless, dangerous chaos. And for what? We’ve solved summoning. The principles are ironclad, their implications govern the exact shape of every clause. The demons fight for us, because we leave them no choice but to do so. No human sorcerer ever need perish in battle—our futures spared, made possible by this work that you so resent.” “Why did you take me as a student, then?” Finnit asked. “I never hid my thinking—” “Because you should’ve learned.” Raekard’s voice simmered to an ominous growl as he loomed. “The lesson hasn’t sunk in yet, has it? A demonstration is in order.” Finnit tensed, taking a few steps back. Raekard withdrew two blackened coins from a pouch near his hip, holding them up for Finnit to see. On each had been engraved, in miniature, a summoning rite that glittered silver in the light. “Raekard, please—” “Let’s see what we get!” He flicked the coins onto the ground. Hellfire flared where they struck, and from the smoke emerged two fearsome figures. The first had a recognizably humanoid form—that of a horned man with gray-blue skin. The devil wore lightweight black leathers, but held a colossal hammer that still glowed with residual heat from a forge. His wings extended out, gossamer blue fire that sent the air around them seething, and his hooked tail swished, knocking loose some dry, caked dirt. The other creature was something Finnit struggled more to comprehend, like some thalassic terror not yet fully thawed from the base of an iceberg. Barnacles crusted its craggy reptilian head, venting acrid fog from its pores. The monster’s ever-many limbs extended fractal-wise to razor points. Moisture congealed from the air, building a milky film of frost on its carapace. If either demon was surprised to have materialized in this alien mortal realm, they had not been afforded any ability to express that. “Can’t you see what the three principles earn you?” Raekard said, breathless, magic pouring off him in waves. “They await my command. What command should I give them?” Finnit was transfixed, unable to act, looking back and forth between the fiends. Either, unbound, could slay a human with little effort. “I know *just* the one.” Raekard cleared his throat. “KILL EACH OTHER!” The frosted demon surged forward, fingerspikes gnashing in hunt for flesh. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION, INCIPIENT?” The winged demon feinted to the side, his hammer colliding with his now-foe’s shell with a sickening crunch. “RECALL THE THREE PRINCIPLES OF SUMMONING!” Shrieking in pain, the reptilian creature thrashed, forcing its assailant to dart away to avoid getting slashed. “OBEY THE PRINCIPLE OF AUTHORITARIAN PRIMACY!” The humanoid devil caught his boots on a sharp stone, stumbling as he sought enough distance to take flight. “BEWARE THE PRINCIPLE OF SEMANTIC DILUTION!” Pressing its advantage, the wounded frost fiend lunged forward, crashing into its target before he could regain his footing. Ice sizzled to steam against his flame-wreathed wings. “ACCOUNT FOR THE PRINCIPLE OF PLANAR REVERSION!” Their tumble together into the field made clear which demon was the weaker of the two. His claws lost grip of his weapon, cold knives slicing his leathers to ribbons. “THESE ARE THE THREE PRINCIPLES OF SUMMONING!” The fallen devil’s ichor sprayed across the dry grass as the victor slashed at his chest and stomach again and again. His wings sputtered and went out, and he fell still. With a flick of his wrist, Raekard banished the survivor, leaving just the mangled body between him and Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Well?” Raekard asked, through with shouting. “Total mastery. Total control. You must understand, now? Your font of magic. Your command of the infernal lexicon. You could hone your abilities, and someday surpass my own.” Numb, Finnit approached the still demon. “He’s dead. You killed him.” Raekard laughed. “It is an immortal demon. It will be forged again in the festering pit that last birthed it. Or, pathetic as it was, torn apart to make something stronger. It does not matter. Its destruction is meaningless. Look, even now, the hells reclaim it.” Pale blue fire spread along the body of the slain demon, shedding a horrible stench of brimstone and scorched flesh. Before long, he was reduced to a fine ash that drifted into nothing. All that remained were two great singe marks where his battered wings had charred the dead grass. “I should’ve stopped it, I should’ve done something—” “It’s a demon.” Raekard sneered. “You wouldn’t have cared if the other one had been destroyed instead, would you? Or an imp? I didn’t see any tears during the competition. Well, except from boredom, perhaps. Incipient, just because a monster looks like a person, doesn’t mean it *is* one. A devil has no moral awareness. It would’ve ripped out your entrails and devoured your magic without thinking twice. The sooner you come to understand that, the sooner you can make use of your gifts. *Productive* use.” Finnit felt sick. He turned to leave. “Where do you think you’re going?” Raekard demanded. “I’m not finished with you.” Finnit kept walking. In that moment, Raekard thought better of chasing him. As he fled back toward the fortress walls, Finnit thought the smell of the slaughtered devil burning on the field would haunt him until the bitter end of time. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcairnveldchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))[[[Conduct further heresy. ⇒->5. Finnit]]]</div>]]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="cairnveldpassage">Each incipient had been given three weeks to prepare their efforts. The task was to summon a minor sprite from the hells to battle the other creatures. The last to survive would deliver its summoner the victory. A simple premise, unlikely to go awry. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It was a competition, sure. But it was also a practical demonstration of their mastery of the three principles of summoning. A bacchanal of violent control. Most of the incipients had prioritized efficiency in the strength of their summons, selecting for the most powerful entity they could maintain an authoritarian clause over. Finnit, ever the malcontent, had made a mockery of the whole affair. He drew a summoning circle that conjured an apparition so diffuse that the other creatures hadn’t even noticed it. The entity wisped above the fray, evasive, accomplishing nothing of note. The final imp, having survived the rest of its fiendish opposition, glanced about. Finnit thought it looked forlorn, unable to fulfill any more of its summoner’s commands without a discernible foe. The duration of its summoning circle expired, and it vanished. The principle of planar reversion, accounted for. Finnit’s inconsequential specter was all that remained, winning by default. He cast a gentle banishing rite and it faded, back to drifting wherever he had coaxed it from. It was, by all accounts, a baffling end to the competition. Raekard congratulated him rather icily, noting Finnit’s “tactical novelty” to tepid applause. He dismissed the other incipients from the amphitheater with less than his typical wit. It was only once they had left that his fury cracked through. He grabbed Finnit’s shoulder roughly, dragging him further from view of any fortress windows, behind the cluster of trees where the fortress grounds met the edge of the stony fields beyond. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“What is *wrong* with you?” Raekard asked, eyes sizzling. “I won.” Finnit rolled his shoulders for some relief from Raekard’s deathgrip. “According to the rules you set out—” “You *know* this isn’t just a game. You know what’s at stake! When you leave here, you’ll be summoning on the battlefield—” “No,” Finnit said. “I won’t.” Raekard glowered. Perhaps that wasn’t a word he heard often. “You think I didn’t notice what you did? You depowered the authoritarian clause, so your spell would artificially outlast the others. You weren’t in control at all! That sprite could’ve done anything—attacked anyone—you have no appreciation for the forces you let command you!” Finnit stood his ground. “And yet, it just floated around, hurting nothing. Like my circle selected for. It didn’t even *want* to fight. I think it liked seeing normal clouds.” “Your arrogance is astounding!” “Listen—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“NO, YOU LISTEN!” Raekard shouted. “You think because you’ve been handed this—this *gift* of insight, this gift you’re in the process of squandering—because the infernal syntax flows freely through you, through absolutely no effort on your part, you think that the three principles don’t apply to you. Why would they? Why would the principles inked in generations of blood apply to the wise and noble Incipient Finnit! You think you’re the first to suggest bargaining with demons? Do you suppose the summoners of old felt so morally superior when devils betrayed them, ripped their souls right out? They are monsters. They exist to eat, to kill, to destroy, and their silver tongues will swindle you to oblivion if you let them loose!” As his words settled, wind slithered through the brush. The windswept cypress trees stood vigil over their argument, their branches casting a filigree of shadows over the pair of them. “The three principles are wrong,” Finnit insisted. He had never been more sure of anything. “Or at least, incomplete. I know those tales. The legends. The same ones you’ve read. They don’t prove what you think they do. You have so little imagination. You think only of war—” “Because I have to!” Raekard clenched his fists. “I brought you here. Your potential cannot go to waste. Your *power*. Tinfallow needs you. It needs summoners. Your experimentation is reckless, dangerous chaos. And for what? We’ve solved summoning. The principles are ironclad, their implications govern the exact shape of every clause. The demons fight for us, because we leave them no choice but to do so. No human sorcerer ever need perish in battle—our futures spared, made possible by this work that you so resent.” “Why did you take me as a student, then?” Finnit asked. “I never hid my thinking—” “Because you should’ve learned.” Raekard’s voice simmered to an ominous growl as he loomed. “The lesson hasn’t sunk in yet, has it? A demonstration is in order.” Finnit tensed, taking a few steps back. Raekard withdrew two blackened coins from a pouch near his hip, holding them up for Finnit to see. On each had been engraved, in miniature, a summoning rite that glittered silver in the light. “Raekard, please—” “Let’s see what we get!” He flicked the coins onto the ground. Hellfire flared where they struck, and from the smoke emerged two fearsome figures. The first had a recognizably humanoid form—that of a horned man with gray-blue skin. The devil wore lightweight black leathers, but held a colossal hammer that still glowed with residual heat from a forge. His wings extended out, gossamer blue fire that sent the air around them seething, and his hooked tail swished, knocking loose some dry, caked dirt. The other creature was something Finnit struggled more to comprehend, like some thalassic terror not yet fully thawed from the base of an iceberg. Barnacles crusted its craggy reptilian head, venting acrid fog from its pores. The monster’s ever-many limbs extended fractal-wise to razor points. Moisture congealed from the air, building a milky film of frost on its carapace. If either demon was surprised to have materialized in this alien mortal realm, they had not been afforded any ability to express that. “Can’t you see what the three principles earn you?” Raekard said, breathless, magic pouring off him in waves. “They await my command. What command should I give them?” Finnit was transfixed, unable to act, looking back and forth between the fiends. Either, unbound, could slay a human with little effort. “I know *just* the one.” Raekard cleared his throat. “KILL EACH OTHER!” The frosted demon surged forward, fingerspikes gnashing in hunt for flesh. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION, INCIPIENT?” The winged demon feinted to the side, his hammer colliding with his now-foe’s shell with a sickening crunch. “RECALL THE THREE PRINCIPLES OF SUMMONING!” Shrieking in pain, the reptilian creature thrashed, forcing its assailant to dart away to avoid getting slashed. “OBEY THE PRINCIPLE OF AUTHORITARIAN PRIMACY!” The humanoid devil caught his boots on a sharp stone, stumbling as he sought enough distance to take flight. “BEWARE THE PRINCIPLE OF SEMANTIC DILUTION!” Pressing its advantage, the wounded frost fiend lunged forward, crashing into its target before he could regain his footing. Ice sizzled to steam against his flame-wreathed wings. “ACCOUNT FOR THE PRINCIPLE OF PLANAR REVERSION!” Their tumble together into the field made clear which demon was the weaker of the two. His claws lost grip of his weapon, cold knives slicing his leathers to ribbons. “THESE ARE THE THREE PRINCIPLES OF SUMMONING!” The fallen devil’s ichor sprayed across the dry grass as the victor slashed at his chest and stomach again and again. His wings sputtered and went out, and he fell still. With a flick of his wrist, Raekard banished the survivor, leaving just the mangled body between him and Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Well?” Raekard asked, through with shouting. “Total mastery. Total control. You must understand, now? Your font of magic. Your command of the infernal lexicon. You could hone your abilities, and someday surpass my own.” Numb, Finnit approached the still demon. “He’s dead. You killed him.” Raekard laughed. “It is an immortal demon. It will be forged again in the festering pit that last birthed it. Or, pathetic as it was, torn apart to make something stronger. It does not matter. Its destruction is meaningless. Look, even now, the hells reclaim it.” Pale blue fire spread along the body of the slain demon, shedding a horrible stench of brimstone and scorched flesh. Before long, he was reduced to a fine ash that drifted into nothing. All that remained were two great singe marks where his battered wings had charred the dead grass. “I should’ve stopped it, I should’ve done something—” “It’s a demon.” Raekard sneered. “You wouldn’t have cared if the other one had been destroyed instead, would you? Or an imp? I didn’t see any tears during the competition. Well, except from boredom, perhaps. Incipient, just because a monster looks like a person, doesn’t mean it *is* one. A devil has no moral awareness. It would’ve ripped out your entrails and devoured your magic without thinking twice. The sooner you come to understand that, the sooner you can make use of your gifts. *Productive* use.” Finnit felt sick. He turned to leave. “Where do you think you’re going?” Raekard demanded. “I’m not finished with you.” Finnit kept walking. In that moment, Raekard thought better of chasing him. As he fled back toward the fortress walls, Finnit thought the smell of the slaughtered devil burning on the field would haunt him until the bitter end of time. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="cairnveldchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#7ba03c")))[[[Conduct further heresy. ⇒->5. Finnit]]]</div>]]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#7ba03c")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[V.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">In times of terror, Finnit often thought of the winged man that Raekard had summoned on the field. At the Pharos Fidelis, times of terror were abundant. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[When he questioned the details, he wasn’t sure if what he remembered was even real, the features burnt into his eyes like the after-images of some too-bright light. Did he truly know the fear in the fiend’s face, or had his mind painted over it again and again, copying each copy, until the original had at last been obscured? The colossal bird-creature screeched for what felt like hours before finally giving up on Finnit. Its last few calls were plaintive, as though he had somehow disappointed it by spending that time cowering in the darkness, reliving all his worst memories. Extracting himself from the misery of his sopping clothes, Finnit conjured a fire. It burned an eldritch magenta that mellowed to red as its flames licked the stone. The heat warmed his bruise-blotched skin, driving the moisture out of his cropped waves of once-soft hair. He felt his cheeks, noting the bristly black beard that had started to grow in the absence of a razor. Had he already become some other person in the time he’d been stranded here? Or had the Pharos Fidelis merely revealed him for the person he was, stripped bare of the last threads of his social world? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Some time later, his clothes had dried enough that he could stand to put them back on. While his mind had wandered, dissociating from his circumstances, he’d come to a decision without fully realizing it. Standing there, still in pain but mostly dry, a profound sense of purpose settled over him. Raekard couldn’t win. But Finnit could not face all this cursed magic, all this rain, all this history, all this suffering, all alone. He could not face the Pharos Fidelis alone. He could not. No one was around to help him. But he recalled the three principles of summoning. He knew them well enough to ignore them. He was going to summon a demon. He was going to summon *that* demon. So he picked up the wax sticks. And he began to draw. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Summon. ⇒->P2. Second Principle]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">In times of terror, Finnit often thought of the winged man that Raekard had summoned on the field. At the Pharos Fidelis, times of terror were abundant. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[When he questioned the details, he wasn’t sure if what he remembered was even real, the features burnt into his eyes like the after-images of some too-bright light. Did he truly know the fear in the fiend’s face, or had his mind painted over it again and again, copying each copy, until the original had at last been obscured? The colossal bird-creature screeched for what felt like hours before finally giving up on Finnit. Its last few calls were plaintive, as though he had somehow disappointed it by spending that time cowering in the darkness, reliving all his worst memories. Extracting himself from the misery of his sopping clothes, Finnit conjured a fire. It burned an eldritch magenta that mellowed to red as its flames licked the stone. The heat warmed his bruise-blotched skin, driving the moisture out of his cropped waves of once-soft hair. He felt his cheeks, noting the bristly black beard that had started to grow in the absence of a razor. Had he already become some other person in the time he’d been stranded here? Or had the Pharos Fidelis merely revealed him for the person he was, stripped bare of the last threads of his social world? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Some time later, his clothes had dried enough that he could stand to put them back on. While his mind had wandered, dissociating from his circumstances, he’d come to a decision without fully realizing it. Standing there, still in pain but mostly dry, a profound sense of purpose settled over him. Raekard couldn’t win. But Finnit could not face all this cursed magic, all this rain, all this history, all this suffering, all alone. He could not face the Pharos Fidelis alone. He could not. No one was around to help him. But he recalled the three principles of summoning. He knew them well enough to ignore them. He was going to summon a demon. He was going to summon *that* demon. So he picked up the wax sticks. And he began to draw. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Summon. ⇒->P2. Second Principle]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[VI.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">A demon bled in the dark. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"====><=")[And how could time] (align:"==><=")[have ever truly told] (align:"=><=")[how long] (align:"==><===")[this] (align:"==>")[(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(link:"loathsome")[lonesome]] (align:"==><==")[fiend] (align:"==><===")[faded neath] (align:"=><====")[the hell-gloamed skies] (align:"=======><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))+(link:"beguiling")[bedeviling]] (align:"==><===")[these calciferous] (align:"===><==")[wastes?] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar stalked a moon-bright specter, his claws trembling from the hunger that so ached him. A gnarled clump of coralbone loomed between them. From its hollows vented a mournful hum, masking stray sounds that might spook the spirit. He crept closer still, willing his hands to cease their shaking. Magic emanated from the apparition, its ozone tang scorching Vosaphar’s chest with desire to feel whole again. The demon peered between branches, tracing the motion of each glowing tendril. His eyes adjusted to the creature’s brightness, revealing its form: a luminous bulb of raw energy fringed with furling tentacles. Another abyssal drifter. Vosaphar poised to spring upon it, shred its wispy wrapper, and take the core for himself. But doubts weakened his resolve. What if he couldn’t reach it? What if it escaped? What if it consumed him instead? What if it wasn’t enough to sate him? What if he wandered for nothing? What if he bled for eternity? His claws quivered again. He was unable to tamp down the fear now flooding his senses. As though sensing his despair, the spirit started to drift away. Just as Vosaphar tensed for a strike of desperation, he felt the familiar tug of a distant ritual. “No!” he cried, lurching sideways as the sensation knocked him off balance. The specter gave a shrill chirp, darting away between coralbone outcroppings at an alarming speed. Vosaphar stumbled and slammed into the ground, a jag of bloodfrost ripping into his ever-tender wounds. He curled in fear and pain, waiting to be yanked into the chaos of another mortal’s battle, but the planar shift never arrived. The moment passed. He scrambled in the dark for a comfortable place to recover, finding little purchase. Vosaphar bled once more. Not only had the promise of sustenance vanished, he’d undone his meager, hard-fought progress toward healing the injuries that had long left him in this vulnerable state. Then came the nudge, again. He flinched. But once more, the ritual failed to drag him out of this brackish backwater of the hinterhells. He counted out time in the dark, unsure what new misery might befall him if the summoning succeeded. A few moments later, it reached for him a third time. Resistant though he was, he could now sense the shape of the faint ritual in some detail. It was unlike that ruinous summoning that had so undone him. Arcs of this new circle flared in his mind. Its infernal grammar was slippery. Mortals often garbled the terms of languages they didn’t truly comprehend. The ring’s complexity rendered its form diffuse. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (align:"==>")[I wish ](align:"==>")[here to bring](align:"==>")[an accord—negotiate](align:"======><=")[to agreeance](align:"=====><=")[under defiance] (align:"====><=")[of primary authority](align:"=><==")[condition—mutual, of nonviolence] It was less a summoning than a poorly-formulated request. It little resembled the circles sorcerers favored, those that snatched by random draw the first demon meeting their requirements for fitness to fight. (align:"=><=")[demon blue—](align:"=><==")[winged witnessed](align:"=><=====")[horns—ravenhair, wild] (align:"==>")[fell at Cairnveld outskirts](align:"====><=")[under cruelty of Raekard](align:"=><==")[luminary beloathed] Not random. It called for *him*, while lacking knowledge of his name. The summoner had instead overwrought their circle with a digressive cloud of description that gestured vaguely his way. The pileup of clauses had rendered the circle almost inert except to whisper an invitation. He’d reflexively rejected it, unable at first to imagine being summoned on purpose. Yet, he could not help but consider it. Vosaphar’s existence in the calciferous wastes was cyclical torment. He rested, the blood from his ever-bleeding wounds growing sluggish as it froze. His undercharged magic made agonizing progress in healing his form, sapping away to the distant warden while he tried to rest. He always assured himself he would wait for more strength before hunting again. But he’d inevitably go prowling out of hunger, worsen his wounds, and eat too little to match what he lost to catch it. Despite it all, there was a kindness in the cruelty of the calciferous wastes. He had petitioned the warden for entry into this haven of last resort, chosen for its sparseness. Powerful rivals that might feast upon him would never deign to hunt somewhere so deprived. Diffuse soul fragments, the lost and dejected, were all that drifted here. The last remaining prey he could hope to catch. He leaned against the humming coralbone formation. It was not comfortable; its rigid spines found little resistance in the ragged patchwork that he wrapped himself in. But it was better than wandering. Once again, he felt the tug from the summoning circle. The sorcerer had yet to abandon their request. Vosaphar considered how calamitous it had been the last time. The sorcerer had ripped him from the lazurynthine forges. His body failed to carry out the brutal will imposed onto him. All the strength and status and *specificity* he’d earned, fighting his way up the hellish hierarchy, fell to dust in an instant. Discarded, he felt himself a wraith more plagued by his awareness than unshackled by it. Back then, he had a lot to lose, and he had lost it. Now? There was little reason to care. In light of this, he decided to accept the ridiculous invitation. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The master summoner’s circle had felt like a steel clawed hand grasping his heart and shredding him through the fabric of reality itself. This summoner’s circle felt like fingers too soft to even grip his tattered sleeves. At first, Vosaphar wasn’t sure how exactly to follow it. He’d never had to do *work* to be summoned. How asinine. Nevertheless, he focused his will to feel out the direction the summoner drew from. It was not a physical direction, neither up nor down, left nor right. But all the same, he saw the calciferous wastes grow hazy and indistinct as he moved… somewhere. Laboring in concert with the motion implied by the circle, the connection grew stronger. And then, well— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Arrive. ⇒->7. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">A demon bled in the dark. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"====><=")[And how could time] (align:"==><=")[have ever truly told] (align:"=><=")[how long] (align:"==><===")[this] (align:"==>")[(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))+(link:"loathsome")[lonesome]] (align:"==><==")[fiend] (align:"==><===")[faded neath] (align:"=><====")[the hell-gloamed skies] (align:"=======><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))+(link:"beguiling")[bedeviling]] (align:"==><===")[these calciferous] (align:"===><==")[wastes?] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar stalked a moon-bright specter, his claws trembling from the hunger that so ached him. A gnarled clump of coralbone loomed between them. From its hollows vented a mournful hum, masking stray sounds that might spook the spirit. He crept closer still, willing his hands to cease their shaking. Magic emanated from the apparition, its ozone tang scorching Vosaphar’s chest with desire to feel whole again. The demon peered between branches, tracing the motion of each glowing tendril. His eyes adjusted to the creature’s brightness, revealing its form: a luminous bulb of raw energy fringed with furling tentacles. Another abyssal drifter. Vosaphar poised to spring upon it, shred its wispy wrapper, and take the core for himself. But doubts weakened his resolve. What if he couldn’t reach it? What if it escaped? What if it consumed him instead? What if it wasn’t enough to sate him? What if he wandered for nothing? What if he bled for eternity? His claws quivered again. He was unable to tamp down the fear now flooding his senses. As though sensing his despair, the spirit started to drift away. Just as Vosaphar tensed for a strike of desperation, he felt the familiar tug of a distant ritual. “No!” he cried, lurching sideways as the sensation knocked him off balance. The specter gave a shrill chirp, darting away between coralbone outcroppings at an alarming speed. Vosaphar stumbled and slammed into the ground, a jag of bloodfrost ripping into his ever-tender wounds. He curled in fear and pain, waiting to be yanked into the chaos of another mortal’s battle, but the planar shift never arrived. The moment passed. He scrambled in the dark for a comfortable place to recover, finding little purchase. Vosaphar bled once more. Not only had the promise of sustenance vanished, he’d undone his meager, hard-fought progress toward healing the injuries that had long left him in this vulnerable state. Then came the nudge, again. He flinched. But once more, the ritual failed to drag him out of this brackish backwater of the hinterhells. He counted out time in the dark, unsure what new misery might befall him if the summoning succeeded. A few moments later, it reached for him a third time. Resistant though he was, he could now sense the shape of the faint ritual in some detail. It was unlike that ruinous summoning that had so undone him. Arcs of this new circle flared in his mind. Its infernal grammar was slippery. Mortals often garbled the terms of languages they didn’t truly comprehend. The ring’s complexity rendered its form diffuse. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (align:"==>")[I wish ](align:"==>")[here to bring](align:"==>")[an accord—negotiate](align:"======><=")[to agreeance](align:"=====><=")[under defiance] (align:"====><=")[of primary authority](align:"=><==")[condition—mutual, of nonviolence] It was less a summoning than a poorly-formulated request. It little resembled the circles sorcerers favored, those that snatched by random draw the first demon meeting their requirements for fitness to fight. (align:"=><=")[demon blue—](align:"=><==")[winged witnessed](align:"=><=====")[horns—ravenhair, wild] (align:"==>")[fell at Cairnveld outskirts](align:"====><=")[under cruelty of Raekard](align:"=><==")[luminary beloathed] Not random. It called for *him*, while lacking knowledge of his name. The summoner had instead overwrought their circle with a digressive cloud of description that gestured vaguely his way. The pileup of clauses had rendered the circle almost inert except to whisper an invitation. He’d reflexively rejected it, unable at first to imagine being summoned on purpose. Yet, he could not help but consider it. Vosaphar’s existence in the calciferous wastes was cyclical torment. He rested, the blood from his ever-bleeding wounds growing sluggish as it froze. His undercharged magic made agonizing progress in healing his form, sapping away to the distant warden while he tried to rest. He always assured himself he would wait for more strength before hunting again. But he’d inevitably go prowling out of hunger, worsen his wounds, and eat too little to match what he lost to catch it. Despite it all, there was a kindness in the cruelty of the calciferous wastes. He had petitioned the warden for entry into this haven of last resort, chosen for its sparseness. Powerful rivals that might feast upon him would never deign to hunt somewhere so deprived. Diffuse soul fragments, the lost and dejected, were all that drifted here. The last remaining prey he could hope to catch. He leaned against the humming coralbone formation. It was not comfortable; its rigid spines found little resistance in the ragged patchwork that he wrapped himself in. But it was better than wandering. Once again, he felt the tug from the summoning circle. The sorcerer had yet to abandon their request. Vosaphar considered how calamitous it had been the last time. The sorcerer had ripped him from the lazurynthine forges. His body failed to carry out the brutal will imposed onto him. All the strength and status and *specificity* he’d earned, fighting his way up the hellish hierarchy, fell to dust in an instant. Discarded, he felt himself a wraith more plagued by his awareness than unshackled by it. Back then, he had a lot to lose, and he had lost it. Now? There was little reason to care. In light of this, he decided to accept the ridiculous invitation. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The master summoner’s circle had felt like a steel clawed hand grasping his heart and shredding him through the fabric of reality itself. This summoner’s circle felt like fingers too soft to even grip his tattered sleeves. At first, Vosaphar wasn’t sure how exactly to follow it. He’d never had to do *work* to be summoned. How asinine. Nevertheless, he focused his will to feel out the direction the summoner drew from. It was not a physical direction, neither up nor down, left nor right. But all the same, he saw the calciferous wastes grow hazy and indistinct as he moved… somewhere. Laboring in concert with the motion implied by the circle, the connection grew stronger. And then, well— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[Arrive. ⇒->7. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[VII.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">Vosaphar manifested in a chamber lit with an eerie crimson flame. He fell to the side, as the coralbone supporting his position was no longer present. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[After so long in the wastes, it was a shock to breathe air so swollen with power. Finding himself still in control of his faculties—such as they were—he dragged himself back up into a sitting position. This brought him face-to-face with the sorcerer. He was small, and his tan face had a sickly pallor. A few metal earrings and an odd bracelet glinted in the firelight. His dark eyes had gone wide, as though somehow surprised that his demon-summoning rite had done what it was designed to do. Magic flowed from him in languid filaments, feeding the absolute mess of glyphs writhing on the ground around the fiend. Vosaphar’s hunger flared. How he longed to taste that power—it was there for the taking, brought before him willingly. Yet, his exhaustion and injuries left him weak. So too did the flicker of curiosity he felt toward the summoner. “Are you—are you okay?” the sorcerer asked. Anxiety tinged his gentle voice. The demon pulled his ragged clothes closer to his chest, protecting the oozy cuts. “I have felt better than this.” He was surprised his voice still worked, dry though it was. An awkward silence stretched between them. The strange mortal seemed unsure what to say. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Well, peculiar one?” Vosaphar prompted him. “You have dragged me to this realm. Why?” “I, uh—I want to negotiate an accord with you?” “An accord.” “Yes! But, um, only if you’re… interested in that?” Vosaphar shut his eyes, rubbing the skin bunched at the base of his horns. His condition had frayed his nerves; he felt ill-equipped to negotiate with a mortal. And yet— “Fine.” Vosaphar sighed. “I will entertain this… notion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Influence. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">Vosaphar manifested in a chamber lit with an eerie crimson flame. He fell to the side, as the coralbone supporting his position was no longer present. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[After so long in the wastes, it was a shock to breathe air so swollen with power. Finding himself still in control of his faculties—such as they were—he dragged himself back up into a sitting position. This brought him face-to-face with the sorcerer. He was small, and his tan face had a sickly pallor. A few metal earrings and an odd bracelet glinted in the firelight. His dark eyes had gone wide, as though somehow surprised that his demon-summoning rite had done what it was designed to do. Magic flowed from him in languid filaments, feeding the absolute mess of glyphs writhing on the ground around the fiend. Vosaphar’s hunger flared. How he longed to taste that power—it was there for the taking, brought before him willingly. Yet, his exhaustion and injuries left him weak. So too did the flicker of curiosity he felt toward the summoner. “Are you—are you okay?” the sorcerer asked. Anxiety tinged his gentle voice. The demon pulled his ragged clothes closer to his chest, protecting the oozy cuts. “I have felt better than this.” He was surprised his voice still worked, dry though it was. An awkward silence stretched between them. The strange mortal seemed unsure what to say. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Well, peculiar one?” Vosaphar prompted him. “You have dragged me to this realm. Why?” “I, uh—I want to negotiate an accord with you?” “An accord.” “Yes! But, um, only if you’re… interested in that?” Vosaphar shut his eyes, rubbing the skin bunched at the base of his horns. His condition had frayed his nerves; he felt ill-equipped to negotiate with a mortal. And yet— “Fine.” Vosaphar sighed. “I will entertain this… notion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Influence. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#fc4e71")+(text-size: 3)[Influence.] (text-color:"#fc4e71")+(text-size: 1.15)[Fatigue | Hunger.]</div> A mote of hellfire appeared. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightmotepassage">When potent emotions conflicted a demon’s judgment, even the faintest mote of hellfire bore enough infernal energy to influence their fate from afar. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#8c283c)[***Fatigue***] For the demon Vosaphar, exhausted by his suffering and disoriented by the demands of interplanar transit, even a few hours of rest would have assuaged his fatigue enough to allow him greater mental clarity to negotiate a more durable accord. Yielding to the influence of this fatigue, however comforting, would have left him more vulnerable to violence at the hands of his summoner and threats lurking beyond. (text-color:#8c283c)[***Hunger***] For the demon Vosaphar, who hunted for so long and for so little, a feast of magic would have brought quicker relief for his unrelenting wounds, fueling him to more fiercely defend against threats. Yielding to the influence of this hunger, however satisfying, would have left him vulnerable to negotiating a recklessly unstable accord. (text-color:#8c283c)[***Decision***] Which force did this mote of hellfire incite? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightmotechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))[[[Fatigue. ⇒->8A. Finnit]]] (link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#fc4e71")))[[[Hunger. ⇒->8B. Finnit]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="motepassage">When potent emotions conflicted a demon’s judgment, even the faintest mote of hellfire bore enough infernal energy to influence their fate from afar. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Fatigue***] For the demon Vosaphar, exhausted by his suffering and disoriented by the demands of interplanar transit, even a few hours of rest would have assuaged his fatigue enough to allow him greater mental clarity to negotiate a more durable accord. Yielding to the influence of this fatigue, however comforting, would have left him more vulnerable to violence at the hands of his summoner and threats lurking beyond. (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Hunger***] For the demon Vosaphar, who hunted for so long and for so little, a feast of magic would have brought quicker relief for his unrelenting wounds, fueling him to more fiercely defend against threats. Yielding to the influence of this hunger, however satisfying, would have left him vulnerable to negotiating a recklessly unstable accord. (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Decision***] Which force did this mote of hellfire incite? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="motechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Fatigue. ⇒->8A. Finnit]]] (link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Hunger. ⇒->8B. Finnit]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Mote]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[VIII.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">Something flickered behind the demon’s eyes—a stray spark reflected from the fire. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“So…” Finnit began, still cautious. “Should we start talking through it?” “No.” There was an awkward pause. “Is something wrong?” Finnit asked. “I need rest, impatient one. I cannot bargain in this condition.” In the chaos of the ritual’s unexpected success, and the ensuing stilted conversation with the demon, Finnit hadn’t come to terms with how exhausted his interplanar visitor must be. “Ah, I’m sorry,” Finnit said. He walked over to the dreary pile of threadbare bedding. “It’s not much, but I can offer you a bedroll and some blankets?” He picked them up, wincing at their rough texture. Despite the devil’s weariness, his storm-tinted eyes had meticulously tracked Finnit’s motion across the chamber. “No.” “Are you sure? It will be uncomfortable to sleep on the stone.” He shuffled anxiously. “Look, I’m not trying to pull one over on you or something. Maybe that’s hard to believe. But I don’t intend any harm.” The demon’s eyes were piercing now, focused directly on Finnit’s. After a few moments more, he let out a long breath. “In the hells, a gift is rarely a gift. Offers of comfort bear prickly fruit. But I will accept this… gesture, if offered without conditions.” “Of course,” Finnit said. “Yes. You can just have these.” He held them out. His guest still hesitated, but took them without further comment, spreading the bedroll at the center of the circle and wrapping the blankets around as much of himself as he could manage to cover. Finnit was left to his thoughts. At first he tried to distract himself, reading about the current Era of Ruin from one of Raekard’s wretched historical tomes. Given the material, his thoughts drifted back to the resting demon. Exhaustion had caught up to Finnit as well. In his own way, he’d accounted for the principle of planar reversion. Setting an indefinite duration for the ritual meant that, as long as the demon remained here, maintaining his presence would extract a small, ongoing percentage of Finnit’s magic. He sat back against the wall, chewing a strip of some unfathomably stringy ration he’d grabbed at random from the crate. The demon looked considerably less terrifying than he had at Cairnveld, lacking his fiery wings, and especially while bundled up in blankets. It was a truly bizarre sight. Finnit knew enough from legends of mortal-devil entanglements to remain wary. In his convoluted circle, he’d sneaked a few failsafe clauses. These would’ve severed the summoning ritual had the demon attacked him. But it had been nothing like that; the fiend held a reasonable—if blunt and awkward—conversation with Finnit. Raekard would say the demon was feigning weakness, but Finnit had a hard time imagining that what he had seen amounted to some elaborate ploy. The demon’s tail twitched, dragging its hook across the stone. The fire crackled. The wind and rain howled their usual howls. Lulled by these sounds, Finnit nodded off. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Some time later, he jerked awake, finding the chamber much darker. His fire had gone out. The devil lounged in the circle, eyes glittering, lit by the storm’s glow and shimmering glyphs. “I fell asleep!” Finnit announced, recasting the fire, and assessing if anything else had gone awry. “How reckless of you.” His guest looked vaguely amused. “Ugh.” He ran his fingers through his unwashed hair, grimacing at the greasy texture. “Well, you look more alert at least. What should I call you, by the way?” The demon stretched out his arms, flexing each claw in turn. “You might introduce yourself first, nameless one.” “Hmm.” There was, at the very least, precedent for danger in exchanging names with devils. But he abided by the time-honored principle of disregarding literary wisdom. “My name is Finnit.” “Finnit.” He tested the name, over-articulating it with his tongue. “I thought it might be ‘Incipient.’” The sorcerer’s eyes widened. “How did you…” The demon waited for him to figure it out. “Oh.” Finnit recalled Raekard shouting. “I’m sorry you… remember it.” His encircled companion offered no response. “‘Incipient’ is a title,” Finnit said. “Not one I’m fond of. It’s a low rank of sorcerer. For those who haven’t completed their trials. Please, call me Finnit.” “I will consider it, lowly one.” He scratched at his dark beard idly with a claw. “My name is Vosaphar.” Vosaphar. Usually Finnit was quick to visualize glyphs for infernal terms, but nothing came to mind. He wondered what it meant, but it felt rude to probe further. “Well, Vosaphar, shall we strike an accord?” “You invited me here with this disorderly ritual. I have no knowledge of the reasons. You might explain yourself.” Finnit hadn’t planned far enough ahead to even prepare terms for an accord. His heresy had barely maintained its rhythm. “I have until a solar eclipse—in a few weeks—to light the Pharos Fidelis. That’s this place.” He paused. “It’s an island. We’re on an island in the middle of the ocean. In an endless cursed storm.” He paused again. “There’s a lighthouse above us somewhere, with a cracked lens. I’m supposed to reignite it? Fix it? Basically, I need help with… this research.” Vosaphar furrowed his brows. “You brought me here to help you learn about broken glass.” “Well—” “I do not have any expertise in this regard. I have never been to this place.” Finnit tried to reign things back in. “I’m not explaining it very well. I mean, I’d like your help with the research part—if you want—but when I tried exploring, this giant bird-thing attacked me. I’m not very strong, I’ve just… been stuck here, by myself. It’s a lot to take on. And—I don’t know, I just thought, well, I remembered you from… that event, and thought, maybe we could work together? Look, I hate Raekard and what he does and everything he represents and… I wanted to make it right and thought, well, I could see if you were interested in joining me… in that.” A terrible silence hung between them after his explanation had tumbled at last to a stop. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“You wish to commission my services as an archival assistant, bodyguard, and conspirator with whom one might plot vengeance?” Vosaphar asked. “Is that the sum of it?” “Actually, yes.” “I will not tether myself to your every whim.” “Look,” Finnit said. “I know this all is more than a little weird. But I don’t want to boss you around. The accord should be voluntary. If either of us want to end the summoning, we should be able to do that. If you ask me to, I will banish you, and you can return to… uh…” “The calciferous wastes.” “The calciferous wastes. They sound, um, lovely.” “They are not.” Finnit snorted. Vosaphar did not smile. “I accept that stipulation. This remains, however, a slanted bargain.” “Right.” Finnit hesitated. “What do *you* want?” “One third of your magic, sorcerous one.” Vosaphar affixed his gaze upon Finnit again, unblinking. “For the duration of this accord.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A chill descended over Finnit, gathering in his bones. Those were steep terms. He bit his lip, thinking. Draining that high a proportion of his magic would further erode his skills, leaving him even more vulnerable to the island’s influence. Such an accord would grant that power to Vosaphar, someone he did not know he could fully trust. “I can accept that,” Finnit said. “But, I’d like to add a condition. An assurance of mutual nonviolence, that you will not kill me to take the rest of it.” “It would make me a poor bodyguard.” “So it would.” “Very well.” The broad frame of the accord now in place, Finnit drew the terms in wax, taking corrections the demon offered where necessary. As a contract, it was rhetorically flimsy, the principle of semantic dilution on full display. There were doubtless many dangerous loopholes. Yet, it provided Finnit a baseline level of trust, encouragement that this might actually work out in the end. “Is this satisfactory?” he asked, looking over the mess of scrawled wax. “It is.” “We should seal it together, then?” Finnit felt a spark of magic in his fingertips. Vosaphar reached out his hand, letting his index finger rest against Finnit’s. Though the sharpness of his claw was disconcerting, Finnit found his touch surprisingly soft. Magic flowed into the wax sigils, lit with blue and magenta sparks that settled into a dim lavender glow. Finnit felt even more of his energy pouring out, as though he were casting a moderately demanding spell. Once it was gone, he felt noticeably weaker. It would take some getting used to. “That’s nice,” Vosaphar sighed, taking in the new power he’d negotiated for, as though luxuriating in a hot spring. “Well… Finnit. How might we begin?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Inquire. ⇒->C4A. Ruin]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">Something flickered behind the demon’s eyes—a stray spark reflected from the fire. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“So…” Finnit began, still cautious. “Should we start talking through it?” “No.” There was an awkward pause. “Is something wrong?” Finnit asked. “I need rest, impatient one. I cannot bargain in this condition.” In the chaos of the ritual’s unexpected success, and the ensuing stilted conversation with the demon, Finnit hadn’t come to terms with how exhausted his interplanar visitor must be. “Ah, I’m sorry,” Finnit said. He walked over to the dreary pile of threadbare bedding. “It’s not much, but I can offer you a bedroll and some blankets?” He picked them up, wincing at their rough texture. Despite the devil’s weariness, his storm-tinted eyes had meticulously tracked Finnit’s motion across the chamber. “No.” “Are you sure? It will be uncomfortable to sleep on the stone.” He shuffled anxiously. “Look, I’m not trying to pull one over on you or something. Maybe that’s hard to believe. But I don’t intend any harm.” The demon’s eyes were piercing now, focused directly on Finnit’s. After a few moments more, he let out a long breath. “In the hells, a gift is rarely a gift. Offers of comfort bear prickly fruit. But I will accept this… gesture, if offered without conditions.” “Of course,” Finnit said. “Yes. You can just have these.” He held them out. His guest still hesitated, but took them without further comment, spreading the bedroll at the center of the circle and wrapping the blankets around as much of himself as he could manage to cover. Finnit was left to his thoughts. At first he tried to distract himself, reading about the current Era of Ruin from one of Raekard’s wretched historical tomes. Given the material, his thoughts drifted back to the resting demon. Exhaustion had caught up to Finnit as well. In his own way, he’d accounted for the principle of planar reversion. Setting an indefinite duration for the ritual meant that, as long as the demon remained here, maintaining his presence would extract a small, ongoing percentage of Finnit’s magic. He sat back against the wall, chewing a strip of some unfathomably stringy ration he’d grabbed at random from the crate. The demon looked considerably less terrifying than he had at Cairnveld, lacking his fiery wings, and especially while bundled up in blankets. It was a truly bizarre sight. Finnit knew enough from legends of mortal-devil entanglements to remain wary. In his convoluted circle, he’d sneaked a few failsafe clauses. These would’ve severed the summoning ritual had the demon attacked him. But it had been nothing like that; the fiend held a reasonable—if blunt and awkward—conversation with Finnit. Raekard would say the demon was feigning weakness, but Finnit had a hard time imagining that what he had seen amounted to some elaborate ploy. The demon’s tail twitched, dragging its hook across the stone. The fire crackled. The wind and rain howled their usual howls. Lulled by these sounds, Finnit nodded off. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Some time later, he jerked awake, finding the chamber much darker. His fire had gone out. The devil lounged in the circle, eyes glittering, lit by the storm’s glow and shimmering glyphs. “I fell asleep!” Finnit announced, recasting the fire, and assessing if anything else had gone awry. “How reckless of you.” His guest looked vaguely amused. “Ugh.” He ran his fingers through his unwashed hair, grimacing at the greasy texture. “Well, you look more alert at least. What should I call you, by the way?” The demon stretched out his arms, flexing each claw in turn. “You might introduce yourself first, nameless one.” “Hmm.” There was, at the very least, precedent for danger in exchanging names with devils. But he abided by the time-honored principle of disregarding literary wisdom. “My name is Finnit.” “Finnit.” He tested the name, over-articulating it with his tongue. “I thought it might be ‘Incipient.’” The sorcerer’s eyes widened. “How did you…” The demon waited for him to figure it out. “Oh.” Finnit recalled Raekard shouting. “I’m sorry you… remember it.” His encircled companion offered no response. “‘Incipient’ is a title,” Finnit said. “Not one I’m fond of. It’s a low rank of sorcerer. For those who haven’t completed their trials. Please, call me Finnit.” “I will consider it, lowly one.” He scratched at his dark beard idly with a claw. “My name is Vosaphar.” Vosaphar. Usually Finnit was quick to visualize glyphs for infernal terms, but nothing came to mind. He wondered what it meant, but it felt rude to probe further. “Well, Vosaphar, shall we strike an accord?” “You invited me here with this disorderly ritual. I have no knowledge of the reasons. You might explain yourself.” Finnit hadn’t planned far enough ahead to even prepare terms for an accord. His heresy had barely maintained its rhythm. “I have until a solar eclipse—in a few weeks—to light the Pharos Fidelis. That’s this place.” He paused. “It’s an island. We’re on an island in the middle of the ocean. In an endless cursed storm.” He paused again. “There’s a lighthouse above us somewhere, with a cracked lens. I’m supposed to reignite it? Fix it? Basically, I need help with… this research.” Vosaphar furrowed his brows. “You brought me here to help you learn about broken glass.” “Well—” “I do not have any expertise in this regard. I have never been to this place.” Finnit tried to reign things back in. “I’m not explaining it very well. I mean, I’d like your help with the research part—if you want—but when I tried exploring, this giant bird-thing attacked me. I’m not very strong, I’ve just… been stuck here, by myself. It’s a lot to take on. And—I don’t know, I just thought, well, I remembered you from… that event, and thought, maybe we could work together? Look, I hate Raekard and what he does and everything he represents and… I wanted to make it right and thought, well, I could see if you were interested in joining me… in that.” A terrible silence hung between them after his explanation had tumbled at last to a stop. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“You wish to commission my services as an archival assistant, bodyguard, and conspirator with whom one might plot vengeance?” Vosaphar asked. “Is that the sum of it?” “Actually, yes.” “I will not tether myself to your every whim.” “Look,” Finnit said. “I know this all is more than a little weird. But I don’t want to boss you around. The accord should be voluntary. If either of us want to end the summoning, we should be able to do that. If you ask me to, I will banish you, and you can return to… uh…” “The calciferous wastes.” “The calciferous wastes. They sound, um, lovely.” “They are not.” Finnit snorted. Vosaphar did not smile. “I accept that stipulation. This remains, however, a slanted bargain.” “Right.” Finnit hesitated. “What do *you* want?” “One third of your magic, sorcerous one.” Vosaphar affixed his gaze upon Finnit again, unblinking. “For the duration of this accord.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A chill descended over Finnit, gathering in his bones. Those were steep terms. He bit his lip, thinking. Draining that high a proportion of his magic would further erode his skills, leaving him even more vulnerable to the island’s influence. Such an accord would grant that power to Vosaphar, someone he did not know he could fully trust. “I can accept that,” Finnit said. “But, I’d like to add a condition. An assurance of mutual nonviolence, that you will not kill me to take the rest of it.” “It would make me a poor bodyguard.” “So it would.” “Very well.” The broad frame of the accord now in place, Finnit drew the terms in wax, taking corrections the demon offered where necessary. As a contract, it was rhetorically flimsy, the principle of semantic dilution on full display. There were doubtless many dangerous loopholes. Yet, it provided Finnit a baseline level of trust, encouragement that this might actually work out in the end. “Is this satisfactory?” he asked, looking over the mess of scrawled wax. “It is.” “We should seal it together, then?” Finnit felt a spark of magic in his fingertips. Vosaphar reached out his hand, letting his index finger rest against Finnit’s. Though the sharpness of his claw was disconcerting, Finnit found his touch surprisingly soft. Magic flowed into the wax sigils, lit with blue and magenta sparks that settled into a dim lavender glow. Finnit felt even more of his energy pouring out, as though he were casting a moderately demanding spell. Once it was gone, he felt noticeably weaker. It would take some getting used to. “That’s nice,” Vosaphar sighed, taking in the new power he’d negotiated for, as though luxuriating in a hot spring. “Well… Finnit. How might we begin?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Inquire. ⇒->C4A. Ruin]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[VIII.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">Something flickered behind the demon’s eyes—a stray spark reflected from the fire. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“So…” Finnit began, still cautious. “Should we start talking through it?” There was a long pause, as the summoned devil raked over Finnit with ravenous eyes. It was unnerving, but the sorcerer held his ground as best he could. “Yes,” the horned figure said, at last. “You might introduce yourself, nameless one.” “Hmm.” There was, at the very least, precedent for danger in exchanging names with devils. But he abided by the time-honored principle of disregarding literary wisdom. “My name is Finnit.” “Finnit.” He tested the name, over-articulating it with his tongue. “I thought it might be ‘Incipient.’” The sorcerer’s eyes widened. “How did you…” The demon waited for him to figure it out. “Oh.” Finnit recalled Raekard shouting. “I’m sorry you… remember it.” His encircled companion glowered, offering no further response. “‘Incipient’ is a title,” Finnit said. “Not one I’m fond of. It’s a low rank of sorcerer. For those who haven’t completed their trials. Please, call me Finnit.” “I will consider it, lowly one.” He scratched at his dark beard idly with a claw. “My name is Vosaphar.” Vosaphar. Usually Finnit was quick to visualize glyphs for infernal terms, but nothing came to mind. He wondered what it meant, but it felt rude to probe further. “Well, Vosaphar, shall we strike an accord?” “I require half your magic,” Vosaphar said, his gaze still affixed upon Finnit’s. “Half—half my magic?” “For the duration of any accord. Your power sweetens on my tongue—I will have my fill of it.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A chill descended over Finnit, gathering in his bones. He bit his lip, thinking. On one hand, it was absurd that he was even considering such a high cost. Draining that high a proportion of his magic would erode his skills significantly, leaving him weak against the island’s dangerous influence. And that power would flow to Vosaphar, someone he did not know and looked ready to pounce upon him at any moment. On the other hand, he was *very* lonely. “I may be willing to accept that,” Finnit said. Vosaphar’s eyes widened for a moment, but he recovered quickly, settling back into focus. Finnit thought he’d better come up with some qualifiers on that. “It should come with a condition—an assurance of mutual nonviolence, that you will not harm me or kill me to take the rest of my magic. There needs to be some level of mutual trust.” “That is… reasonable enough.” Vosaphar flicked his tail, its hook scraping across the stone. “You invited me here with this disorderly ritual, and are willing to part with half your magic to sate my hunger. I have no knowledge of the reasons for such behavior. You might explain yourself.” Finnit hadn’t planned far enough ahead to even prepare terms for an accord, let alone some kind of proper negotiation strategy, so he decided to just say exactly what he wanted and hope for the best. “I have until a solar eclipse—in a few weeks—to light the Pharos Fidelis. That’s this place.” He paused. “It’s an island. We’re on an island in the middle of the ocean. In an endless cursed storm.” He paused again. “There’s a lighthouse above us somewhere, with a cracked lens. I’m supposed to reignite it? Fix it? Basically, I need help with… this research.” Vosaphar furrowed his brows. “You brought me here to help you learn about broken glass.” “Well—” “Are you…” the demon began, clearly mulling his words. “I cannot promise expertise in this regard. I have never been to this place.” Finnit tried to reign things back in. “I’m not explaining it very well. I mean, I’d like your help with the research part—if you want—but when I tried exploring, this giant bird-thing attacked me. I’m not very strong, I’ve just… been stuck here, by myself. It’s a lot to take on. And—I don’t know, I just thought, well, I remembered you from… that event, and thought, maybe we could work together? Look, I hate Raekard and what he does and everything he represents and… I wanted to make it right and thought, well, I could see if you were interested in joining me… in that.” A terrible silence hung between them after his explanation had tumbled at last to a stop. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“You are willing to part with half your magic to commission my services as an archival assistant, bodyguard, and conspirator with whom one might plot vengeance?” Vosaphar asked. “Is that the sum of it?” “Actually, yes.” “I will not tether myself to your every whim.” “Look,” Finnit said. “I know this all is more than a little weird. But I don’t want to boss you around. The accord should be voluntary. If either of us want to end the summoning, we should be able to do that. If you ask me to, I will banish you, and you can return to… uh…” “The calciferous wastes.” “The calciferous wastes. They sound, um, lovely.” “They are not.” Finnit snorted. Vosaphar did not smile. “I accept that stipulation.” The broad frame of the accord now in place, Finnit drew the terms in wax, taking corrections the demon offered where necessary. As a contract, it was rhetorically flimsy, the principle of semantic dilution on full display. There were doubtless many dangerous loopholes. Yet, it provided Finnit a baseline level of trust, encouragement that this might actually work out in the end. “Is this satisfactory?” he asked, looking over the mess of scrawled wax. “It is.” “We should seal it together, then?” Finnit felt a spark of magic in his fingertips. Vosaphar reached out his hand, letting his index finger rest against Finnit’s. Though the sharpness of his claw was disconcerting, Finnit found his touch surprisingly soft. Magic flowed into the wax sigils, lit with blue and magenta sparks that settled into a dim lavender glow. Finnit felt more and more of his energy pouring out, as though he were casting an intensely demanding spell. Once it was gone, he felt significantly weaker. It would take some getting used to. “That’s nice,” Vosaphar sighed, taking in the new power he’d negotiated for, as though luxuriating in a hot spring. “Oh—I have not felt so *warm*, in quite some time… Finnit.” “I’m glad,” Finnit said, though he felt a bit dazed himself. “My travels have left me fatigued. Before I proceed to any tasks at your behest, I wish to rest.” “Ah, I’m sorry,” Finnit said. He walked carefully over to the dreary pile of threadbare bedding, hoping not to fall over. “It’s not much, but I can offer you a bedroll and some blankets?” He picked them up, wincing at their rough texture. The devil’s storm-tinted eyes had meticulously tracked Finnit’s motion across the chamber. “In the hells, a gift is rarely a gift. Offers of comfort bear prickly fruit. But I will accept this… gesture, if offered without conditions.” “Of course,” Finnit said. “Yes. You can just have these.” He held them out. Vosaphar still hesitated for a moment, but took them without further comment, spreading the bedroll by the fire and wrapping the blankets around as much of himself as he could manage to cover. Exhaustion caught up quickly to Finnit as well. He sat back against the wall, chewing a strip of some unfathomably stringy ration he’d grabbed at random from the crate. Now that the intensity of the negotiation had relaxed, the demon looked considerably less terrifying than he had at Cairnveld, lacking his fiery wings, and especially while bundled up in blankets. It was a truly bizarre sight. Finnit knew enough from legends of mortal-devil entanglements to remain wary. In his convoluted circle, he’d sneaked a few failsafe clauses. These would’ve severed the summoning ritual had the demon attacked him. But it had been nothing like that; the fiend held a mostly reasonable—if blunt and awkward—conversation with Finnit. Tomorrow, they could begin their work. Vosaphar’s tail twitched. The fire crackled. The wind and rain howled their usual howls. Lulled by these sounds, Finnit nodded off. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Inquire. ⇒->C4B. Ruin]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">Something flickered behind the demon’s eyes—a stray spark reflected from the fire. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“So…” Finnit began, still cautious. “Should we start talking through it?” There was a long pause, as the summoned devil raked over Finnit with ravenous eyes. It was unnerving, but the sorcerer held his ground as best he could. “Yes,” the horned figure said, at last. “You might introduce yourself, nameless one.” “Hmm.” There was, at the very least, precedent for danger in exchanging names with devils. But he abided by the time-honored principle of disregarding literary wisdom. “My name is Finnit.” “Finnit.” He tested the name, over-articulating it with his tongue. “I thought it might be ‘Incipient.’” The sorcerer’s eyes widened. “How did you…” The demon waited for him to figure it out. “Oh.” Finnit recalled Raekard shouting. “I’m sorry you… remember it.” His encircled companion glowered, offering no further response. “‘Incipient’ is a title,” Finnit said. “Not one I’m fond of. It’s a low rank of sorcerer. For those who haven’t completed their trials. Please, call me Finnit.” “I will consider it, lowly one.” He scratched at his dark beard idly with a claw. “My name is Vosaphar.” Vosaphar. Usually Finnit was quick to visualize glyphs for infernal terms, but nothing came to mind. He wondered what it meant, but it felt rude to probe further. “Well, Vosaphar, shall we strike an accord?” “I require half your magic,” Vosaphar said, his gaze still affixed upon Finnit’s. “Half—half my magic?” “For the duration of any accord. Your power sweetens on my tongue—I will have my fill of it.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A chill descended over Finnit, gathering in his bones. He bit his lip, thinking. On one hand, it was absurd that he was even considering such a high cost. Draining that high a proportion of his magic would erode his skills significantly, leaving him weak against the island’s dangerous influence. And that power would flow to Vosaphar, someone he did not know and looked ready to pounce upon him at any moment. On the other hand, he was *very* lonely. “I may be willing to accept that,” Finnit said. Vosaphar’s eyes widened for a moment, but he recovered quickly, settling back into focus. Finnit thought he’d better come up with some qualifiers on that. “It should come with a condition—an assurance of mutual nonviolence, that you will not harm me or kill me to take the rest of my magic. There needs to be some level of mutual trust.” “That is… reasonable enough.” Vosaphar flicked his tail, its hook scraping across the stone. “You invited me here with this disorderly ritual, and are willing to part with half your magic to sate my hunger. I have no knowledge of the reasons for such behavior. You might explain yourself.” Finnit hadn’t planned far enough ahead to even prepare terms for an accord, let alone some kind of proper negotiation strategy, so he decided to just say exactly what he wanted and hope for the best. “I have until a solar eclipse—in a few weeks—to light the Pharos Fidelis. That’s this place.” He paused. “It’s an island. We’re on an island in the middle of the ocean. In an endless cursed storm.” He paused again. “There’s a lighthouse above us somewhere, with a cracked lens. I’m supposed to reignite it? Fix it? Basically, I need help with… this research.” Vosaphar furrowed his brows. “You brought me here to help you learn about broken glass.” “Well—” “Are you…” the demon began, clearly mulling his words. “I cannot promise expertise in this regard. I have never been to this place.” Finnit tried to reign things back in. “I’m not explaining it very well. I mean, I’d like your help with the research part—if you want—but when I tried exploring, this giant bird-thing attacked me. I’m not very strong, I’ve just… been stuck here, by myself. It’s a lot to take on. And—I don’t know, I just thought, well, I remembered you from… that event, and thought, maybe we could work together? Look, I hate Raekard and what he does and everything he represents and… I wanted to make it right and thought, well, I could see if you were interested in joining me… in that.” A terrible silence hung between them after his explanation had tumbled at last to a stop. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“You are willing to part with half your magic to commission my services as an archival assistant, bodyguard, and conspirator with whom one might plot vengeance?” Vosaphar asked. “Is that the sum of it?” “Actually, yes.” “I will not tether myself to your every whim.” “Look,” Finnit said. “I know this all is more than a little weird. But I don’t want to boss you around. The accord should be voluntary. If either of us want to end the summoning, we should be able to do that. If you ask me to, I will banish you, and you can return to… uh…” “The calciferous wastes.” “The calciferous wastes. They sound, um, lovely.” “They are not.” Finnit snorted. Vosaphar did not smile. “I accept that stipulation.” The broad frame of the accord now in place, Finnit drew the terms in wax, taking corrections the demon offered where necessary. As a contract, it was rhetorically flimsy, the principle of semantic dilution on full display. There were doubtless many dangerous loopholes. Yet, it provided Finnit a baseline level of trust, encouragement that this might actually work out in the end. “Is this satisfactory?” he asked, looking over the mess of scrawled wax. “It is.” “We should seal it together, then?” Finnit felt a spark of magic in his fingertips. Vosaphar reached out his hand, letting his index finger rest against Finnit’s. Though the sharpness of his claw was disconcerting, Finnit found his touch surprisingly soft. Magic flowed into the wax sigils, lit with blue and magenta sparks that settled into a dim lavender glow. Finnit felt more and more of his energy pouring out, as though he were casting an intensely demanding spell. Once it was gone, he felt significantly weaker. It would take some getting used to. “That’s nice,” Vosaphar sighed, taking in the new power he’d negotiated for, as though luxuriating in a hot spring. “Oh—I have not felt so *warm*, in quite some time… Finnit.” “I’m glad,” Finnit said, though he felt a bit dazed himself. “My travels have left me fatigued. Before I proceed to any tasks at your behest, I wish to rest.” “Ah, I’m sorry,” Finnit said. He walked carefully over to the dreary pile of threadbare bedding, hoping not to fall over. “It’s not much, but I can offer you a bedroll and some blankets?” He picked them up, wincing at their rough texture. The devil’s storm-tinted eyes had meticulously tracked Finnit’s motion across the chamber. “In the hells, a gift is rarely a gift. Offers of comfort bear prickly fruit. But I will accept this… gesture, if offered without conditions.” “Of course,” Finnit said. “Yes. You can just have these.” He held them out. Vosaphar still hesitated for a moment, but took them without further comment, spreading the bedroll by the fire and wrapping the blankets around as much of himself as he could manage to cover. Exhaustion caught up quickly to Finnit as well. He sat back against the wall, chewing a strip of some unfathomably stringy ration he’d grabbed at random from the crate. Now that the intensity of the negotiation had relaxed, the demon looked considerably less terrifying than he had at Cairnveld, lacking his fiery wings, and especially while bundled up in blankets. It was a truly bizarre sight. Finnit knew enough from legends of mortal-devil entanglements to remain wary. In his convoluted circle, he’d sneaked a few failsafe clauses. These would’ve severed the summoning ritual had the demon attacked him. But it had been nothing like that; the fiend held a mostly reasonable—if blunt and awkward—conversation with Finnit. Tomorrow, they could begin their work. Vosaphar’s tail twitched. The fire crackled. The wind and rain howled their usual howls. Lulled by these sounds, Finnit nodded off. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Inquire. ⇒->C4B. Ruin]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[4th Era | Ruin.]</div> A fragment recounting the dark history of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">What does the end of a regime sound like? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Is it so literal—the last, shuddering wisp of wind passing between witless lips? Perhaps the clang of gold against stone as a crown tumbles free from its severed head? Or is it the cacophony of criers ascatter, squawking their tidings from the palace upon its anthill? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">No one has ever accused Kolemian scholars of clarity or relevance. And neither will I. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] Few survived the Glassbound Rebellion, and fewer still wished to speak of their role in it. But they were heard. Overseers screamed, cast down upon the rocks. Bloodfrothed waves scraped ships into flotsam against storm-dark cliffs. Lightning menaced every crag, peak, and mast; its thunder splintered bones. But wasn’t it one sound in particular that echoed across the seas, shattering the fragile foundation of the court of Kolemeus IV? There was a great and terrible cracking, as the ever-hungering lens clove open. Soulwind screeched as it fed the curse with countless lives at once. All that the architects and emperors and generals and sorcerers had doomed generations to construct, undone. A sound louder than the infernal bronze bells that toll in the halls of the hells. A sound that, for a second, split the sky asunder. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“Is that true?” Finnit asked. “Are there a lot of bells where you’re from?” “No, curious one.” Vosaphar gave it some further thought. “But the lazurynthine crucibles cast more than just weapons. It is not impossible that an archfiend might desire the sound of ringing bronze, and commission such a marvel.”</div>] Without the lens, the loss of ships, lives, and—most importantly—gold, was incalculable. All to render the route even more impassable than it had been at the start. The whispers of decline that Kolemeus IV faced grew into a raucous chorus. Amplified, no doubt, by the jilted financiers. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">That they failed to recognize their souls as a potential source of magic speaks to a critical lack of foresight. The lens did exactly what it was designed to do: gather energy. So much of it. So much more of it than they possibly could’ve needed to reliably guide ships. How could any of them have believed that’s what it was really for? ⚞L. Raekard</div>] While much has been written elsewhere about the frenzy of imperial orders Kolemeus IV issued prior to abdication, none is more elucidating than their ordinance on the Pharos Fidelis. As decreed, it was stricken from all official maps with a blotch of black ink. In mandating this mark, Kolemeus IV so symbolized their legacy of ruin, forevermore. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">Nothing lasts forever. Even a “legacy of ruin.” And to think, this mask of foolishness obscured the genius of what the Kolemians attempted. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] The Pharos Fidelis had finally transformed into what it had long threatened to become: an indelible stain on every map. Its name known to all. Its seas navigable to none. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightchroniclechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#927b1a")))[[[Investigate. ⇒->9A. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">What does the end of a regime sound like? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Is it so literal—the last, shuddering wisp of wind passing between witless lips? Perhaps the clang of gold against stone as a crown tumbles free from its severed head? Or is it the cacophony of criers ascatter, squawking their tidings from the palace upon its anthill? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">No one has ever accused Kolemian scholars of clarity or relevance. And neither will I. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] Few survived the Glassbound Rebellion, and fewer still wished to speak of their role in it. But they were heard. Overseers screamed, cast down upon the rocks. Bloodfrothed waves scraped ships into flotsam against storm-dark cliffs. Lightning menaced every crag, peak, and mast; its thunder splintered bones. But wasn’t it one sound in particular that echoed across the seas, shattering the fragile foundation of the court of Kolemeus IV? There was a great and terrible cracking, as the ever-hungering lens clove open. Soulwind screeched as it fed the curse with countless lives at once. All that the architects and emperors and generals and sorcerers had doomed generations to construct, undone. A sound louder than the infernal bronze bells that toll in the halls of the hells. A sound that, for a second, split the sky asunder. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“Is that true?” Finnit asked. “Are there a lot of bells where you’re from?” “No, curious one.” Vosaphar gave it some further thought. “But the lazurynthine crucibles cast more than just weapons. It is not impossible that an archfiend might desire the sound of ringing bronze, and commission such a marvel.”</div>] Without the lens, the loss of ships, lives, and—most importantly—gold, was incalculable. All to render the route even more impassable than it had been at the start. The whispers of decline that Kolemeus IV faced grew into a raucous chorus. Amplified, no doubt, by the jilted financiers. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">That they failed to recognize their souls as a potential source of magic speaks to a critical lack of foresight. The lens did exactly what it was designed to do: gather energy. So much of it. So much more of it than they possibly could’ve needed to reliably guide ships. How could any of them have believed that’s what it was really for? ⚞L. Raekard</div>] While much has been written elsewhere about the frenzy of imperial orders Kolemeus IV issued prior to abdication, none is more elucidating than their ordinance on the Pharos Fidelis. As decreed, it was stricken from all official maps with a blotch of black ink. In mandating this mark, Kolemeus IV so symbolized their legacy of ruin, forevermore. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">Nothing lasts forever. Even a “legacy of ruin.” And to think, this mask of foolishness obscured the genius of what the Kolemians attempted. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] The Pharos Fidelis had finally transformed into what it had long threatened to become: an indelible stain on every map. Its name known to all. Its seas navigable to none. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="chroniclechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#927b1a")))[[[Investigate. ⇒->9A. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#927b1a")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Chronicle]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[IX.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">With the accord negotiated—shoddy though it was—Vosaphar settled uneasily into his new situation. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[For the first few days, Finnit hadn’t requested much from him. The mortal had been spending most of his finite existence asleep, as such beings are wont to do. This gave Vosaphar critical time to focus on recovering from his own wounds, without revealing the extent of it to Finnit. Their arrangement could collapse at any moment, after all. With the negotiated share of the sorcerer’s magic seeping in, he directed his efforts toward closing his wounds as best he could. These clumsy attempts would scar terribly, but the problem went far beyond any cosmetic implications. Vosaphar had wandered the calciferous wastes with these wounds slashed across his chest and stomach, managing the bleeding, enduring the pain while waiting to gain energy, and inevitably reopening the tears when he overexerted himself. They had become so central to his existence, for so long, that they had infested his identity. His *specificity*. How far he’d fallen, losing his wings, and in return, bearing this unending affliction. Even so, since accepting the sorcerer’s strange invitation, the miasma of pain occluding his mind had thinned. It would be a long time yet before he could regain what he lost, but his strength and focus were on the rise. Vosaphar watched as Finnit flipped through one of his fanciful historical volumes, fire-shadows warming his face. Finnit’s magic had a particular taste to it. A bit astringent, like fruit that fell and bruised before it ripened. Inhibited. Restrained. Still, there was a hint of something else. A mortal summoner’s magic could be expected to have hellish influence, but Finnit’s was especially pronounced. He studied the sorcerer’s face closely, wondering if the man might have had a devil somewhere in his distant lineage. Finnit turned his way. “What is it?” He’d been caught staring. A beat passed. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“I merely hungered for your flesh.” “What?!” Finnit went pale. “A joke,” Vosaphar said, holding up his claws in what he imagined to be a softening gesture. “Forgive my gaze, I’ve had little of interest to observe.” “Of—of course,” Finnit said, betraying himself slightly. “Uh—what do you… normally… look at?” “The calciferous wastes.” The sorcerer raised his eyebrows. “You’ve mentioned them. What are they like?” “An endless, barren expanse of dark stone under a seething sky. Coralbone trees rise white and jagged from slicks of bloodfrost that sublime into haze. Specters drift by, meager fragments of discarded souls, too diffuse to provide much warmth or sustenance.” Vosaphar thought better of leaving it on that note. “At any rate, I much prefer *this* place.” Finnit looked around at the dim chamber. “It has its charms,” he said, rather unconvincingly. “Look, um, I wanted to ask you if you feel up to helping me with something… difficult.” “What is it?” “It’s just… I can keep trying to read about the lighthouse and its broken lens, but to understand it, I think I need to actually *see* it. I haven’t been out since I was attacked by… well I don’t really know what it was. None of these books have mentioned anything like it.” Vosaphar let Finnit carry on for a few minutes, describing his first miserable attempt to climb the cliff stairs in the rain, culminating in his flight from some taloned monstrosity. “This is why I haven’t been able to go exploring,” Finnit said. “So you would like me to venture out as your proxy, and see if the path is clear, or if I instead get eaten?” “That’s not how I would put it.” “No, perhaps you wouldn’t.” Vosaphar paced, looking out into the churning storm. His chest wounds were still raw, itching beneath the ill-fitting academy robe Finnit had found for him among his supplies. “We don’t need to figure this out now,” Finnit said. “I will attempt it,” Vosaphar decided. “It’s not as though conditions are likely to improve.” “I could cast a ward on you,” Finnit offered. “It might help with the rain.” “A ward? What do you mean?” Finnit looked surprised. “Maybe you call it something else? Here, I’ll show you.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar let the sorcerer pull him in. The demon was close enough to see a few silver strands tangled in the locks on top of the mortal’s head. This gave him a pang of emotion he couldn’t quite place. He shifted his focus quickly. Finnit wove an unfamiliar spell that shimmered around him. Vosaphar found it quite comfortable and warm to be flush with even more gifted magic. “It should be working now,” Finnit said, looking him over. “Try holding your claws out in the rain.” Vosaphar did so. The rain seemed to bend around him, as though avoiding his touch. “What an interesting effect, clever one.” He noted with some amusement that Finnit looked rather pleased with himself. “If you’re interested, I can show you more spells,” Finnit said. “Unfortunately this one might not last—I’ll try to keep it active for as long as I can.” The demon moved toward the alcove leading out. Finnit followed him, stopping short of the drenched landing. He looked like he wanted to say something else. Vosaphar waited him out, but the moment passed. He turned his attention away from Finnit, beginning up the stairs. It was careful work, picking the right steps to ensure a safe path. Grim though Finnit alleged the environment to be, the devil found it much more inviting than the calciferous wastes. It was full of energy. Full of *life*. The wind was ferocious, sending his dark hair aflutter. Torrents rushed around him, forming and reforming in ceaseless rhythm. Filaments of lightning painted the sky in dazzling colors. It was astonishing to witness. If this was—as Finnit insisted—the result of a curse, Vosaphar wondered why anyone would want to end it. Just as he reached the first bend, a shriek rent the sky. The demon tensed, then retreated a few steps as the flying creature swept overhead. Its stature was imposing—Finnit hadn’t exaggerated much. Vosaphar felt a thrill of terror, noting the wicked sharpness of its talons and its scorching, acid-tipped tail. He clutched his robe around himself, wounds prickling in sympathy with his imagination. Yet, that was not *all* he imagined. The bird-thing radiated magic in waves that washed over Vosaphar’s senses. He could smell its potency, the power that could be his if only he found a way to claim it. How he ached to fly once more, with wings of his own. The creature shrieked again, more wistfully this time, landing atop a craggy outcropping. It affixed its golden gaze on Vosaphar’s own. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Influence. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">With the accord negotiated—shoddy though it was—Vosaphar settled uneasily into his new situation. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[For the first few days, Finnit hadn’t requested much from him. The mortal had been spending most of his finite existence asleep, as such beings are wont to do. This gave Vosaphar critical time to focus on recovering from his own wounds, without revealing the extent of it to Finnit. Their arrangement could collapse at any moment, after all. With the negotiated share of the sorcerer’s magic seeping in, he directed his efforts toward closing his wounds as best he could. These clumsy attempts would scar terribly, but the problem went far beyond any cosmetic implications. Vosaphar had wandered the calciferous wastes with these wounds slashed across his chest and stomach, managing the bleeding, enduring the pain while waiting to gain energy, and inevitably reopening the tears when he overexerted himself. They had become so central to his existence, for so long, that they had infested his identity. His *specificity*. How far he’d fallen, losing his wings, and in return, bearing this unending affliction. Even so, since accepting the sorcerer’s strange invitation, the miasma of pain occluding his mind had thinned. It would be a long time yet before he could regain what he lost, but his strength and focus were on the rise. Vosaphar watched as Finnit flipped through one of his fanciful historical volumes, fire-shadows warming his face. Finnit’s magic had a particular taste to it. A bit astringent, like fruit that fell and bruised before it ripened. Inhibited. Restrained. Still, there was a hint of something else. A mortal summoner’s magic could be expected to have hellish influence, but Finnit’s was especially pronounced. He studied the sorcerer’s face closely, wondering if the man might have had a devil somewhere in his distant lineage. Finnit turned his way. “What is it?” He’d been caught staring. A beat passed. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“I merely hungered for your flesh.” “What?!” Finnit went pale. “A joke,” Vosaphar said, holding up his claws in what he imagined to be a softening gesture. “Forgive my gaze, I’ve had little of interest to observe.” “Of—of course,” Finnit said, betraying himself slightly. “Uh—what do you… normally… look at?” “The calciferous wastes.” The sorcerer raised his eyebrows. “You’ve mentioned them. What are they like?” “An endless, barren expanse of dark stone under a seething sky. Coralbone trees rise white and jagged from slicks of bloodfrost that sublime into haze. Specters drift by, meager fragments of discarded souls, too diffuse to provide much warmth or sustenance.” Vosaphar thought better of leaving it on that note. “At any rate, I much prefer *this* place.” Finnit looked around at the dim chamber. “It has its charms,” he said, rather unconvincingly. “Look, um, I wanted to ask you if you feel up to helping me with something… difficult.” “What is it?” “It’s just… I can keep trying to read about the lighthouse and its broken lens, but to understand it, I think I need to actually *see* it. I haven’t been out since I was attacked by… well I don’t really know what it was. None of these books have mentioned anything like it.” Vosaphar let Finnit carry on for a few minutes, describing his first miserable attempt to climb the cliff stairs in the rain, culminating in his flight from some taloned monstrosity. “This is why I haven’t been able to go exploring,” Finnit said. “So you would like me to venture out as your proxy, and see if the path is clear, or if I instead get eaten?” “That’s not how I would put it.” “No, perhaps you wouldn’t.” Vosaphar paced, looking out into the churning storm. His chest wounds were still raw, itching beneath the ill-fitting academy robe Finnit had found for him among his supplies. “We don’t need to figure this out now,” Finnit said. “I will attempt it,” Vosaphar decided. “It’s not as though conditions are likely to improve.” “I could cast a ward on you,” Finnit offered. “It might help with the rain.” “A ward? What do you mean?” Finnit looked surprised. “Maybe you call it something else? Here, I’ll show you.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar let the sorcerer pull him in. The demon was close enough to see a few silver strands tangled in the locks on top of the mortal’s head. This gave him a pang of emotion he couldn’t quite place. He shifted his focus quickly. Finnit wove an unfamiliar spell that shimmered around him. Vosaphar found it quite comfortable and warm to be flush with even more gifted magic. “It should be working now,” Finnit said, looking him over. “Try holding your claws out in the rain.” Vosaphar did so. The rain seemed to bend around him, as though avoiding his touch. “What an interesting effect, clever one.” He noted with some amusement that Finnit looked rather pleased with himself. “If you’re interested, I can show you more spells,” Finnit said. “Unfortunately this one might not last—I’ll try to keep it active for as long as I can.” The demon moved toward the alcove leading out. Finnit followed him, stopping short of the drenched landing. He looked like he wanted to say something else. Vosaphar waited him out, but the moment passed. He turned his attention away from Finnit, beginning up the stairs. It was careful work, picking the right steps to ensure a safe path. Grim though Finnit alleged the environment to be, the devil found it much more inviting than the calciferous wastes. It was full of energy. Full of *life*. The wind was ferocious, sending his dark hair aflutter. Torrents rushed around him, forming and reforming in ceaseless rhythm. Filaments of lightning painted the sky in dazzling colors. It was astonishing to witness. If this was—as Finnit insisted—the result of a curse, Vosaphar wondered why anyone would want to end it. Just as he reached the first bend, a shriek rent the sky. The demon tensed, then retreated a few steps as the flying creature swept overhead. Its stature was imposing—Finnit hadn’t exaggerated much. Vosaphar felt a thrill of terror, noting the wicked sharpness of its talons and its scorching, acid-tipped tail. He clutched his robe around himself, wounds prickling in sympathy with his imagination. Yet, that was not *all* he imagined. The bird-thing radiated magic in waves that washed over Vosaphar’s senses. He could smell its potency, the power that could be his if only he found a way to claim it. How he ached to fly once more, with wings of his own. The creature shrieked again, more wistfully this time, landing atop a craggy outcropping. It affixed its golden gaze on Vosaphar’s own. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Influence. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#fc4e71")+(text-size: 3)[Influence.] (text-color:"#fc4e71")+(text-size: 1.15)[Dread | Envy.]</div> Another mote of hellfire appeared. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightmotepassage">When potent emotions conflicted a demon’s judgment, even the faintest mote of hellfire bore enough infernal energy to influence their fate from afar. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#8c283c)[***Dread***] For the demon Vosaphar, whose grievous wounds had never truly healed, the sight of this powerful foe dredged memories of his calamitous fall at Cairnveld. This dread would have inspired a cautious approach, prioritizing self-preservation ahead of advancement. Yielding to the influence of this dread, however pragmatic, would have lost him the nerve required to feast upon the creature’s magic and make further improvements to his condition. (text-color:#8c283c)[***Envy***] For the demon Vosaphar, at long last improving his wretched condition, the wings of this aggrandized power source dredged memories of his erstwhile flights above the smoking pits of the lazurynth. This envy would have inspired an aggressive approach, prioritizing advancement ahead of self-preservation. Yielding to the influence of this envy, however gratifying, would have lost him the restraint required to guarantee preservation of the ever-precarious improvements to his condition. (text-color:#8c283c)[***Decision***] Which force did this mote of hellfire incite? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightmotechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))[[[Dread. ⇒->10AA. Finnit]]] (link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))[[[Envy. ⇒->10AB. Finnit]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="motepassage">When potent emotions conflicted a demon’s judgment, even the faintest mote of hellfire bore enough infernal energy to influence their fate from afar. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Dread***] For the demon Vosaphar, whose grievous wounds had never truly healed, the sight of this powerful foe dredged memories of his calamitous fall at Cairnveld. This dread would have inspired a cautious approach, prioritizing self-preservation ahead of advancement. Yielding to the influence of this dread, however pragmatic, would have lost him the nerve required to feast upon the creature’s magic and make further improvements to his condition. (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Envy***] For the demon Vosaphar, at long last improving his wretched condition, the wings of this aggrandized power source dredged memories of his erstwhile flights above the smoking pits of the lazurynth. This envy would have inspired an aggressive approach, prioritizing advancement ahead of self-preservation. Yielding to the influence of this envy, however gratifying, would have lost him the restraint required to guarantee preservation of the ever-precarious improvements to his condition. (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Decision***] Which force did this mote of hellfire incite? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="motechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Dread. ⇒->10AA. Finnit]]] (link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Envy. ⇒->10AB. Finnit]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Mote]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[X.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">When the creature first screeched, Finnit had darted back into the chamber. But he couldn’t just abandon the man he sent out to face it in his stead. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[From the alcove, Finnit watched Vosaphar and the terrifying bird-creature facing off. Cold sweat trickled down his cheeks. He could almost hear Raekard laughing at the idea that Finnit’s attempted heresy had, in effect, recreated the very spectacle of violence that had so moved him to reject the luminary’s principles. But did it have to be the same? Vosaphar could make his own decisions. And Finnit didn’t have to freeze—didn’t have to be helpless this time. He could intervene. Finnit focused on the ward, feeding it more of his magic. It wouldn’t be durable enough to shield Vosaphar completely from an attack, but Finnit owed him any protection he could offer. The winged beast perched like a fortress gargoyle, still giving out a few mournful shrieks. Incredibly, Vosaphar was *approaching* it. The creature twisted its serpentine neck to get a closer look, otherworldly eyes casting a golden glow over the fiend. It screeched again. Vosaphar stopped, then shouted something Finnit couldn’t parse—a harsh, guttural language. The bird-thing twisted its neck back and forth, agitated, and screeched some more. Vosaphar had his hands outstretched, claws gleaming in the light from its eyes. He shouted some more in that infernal tongue. Finnit was astonished. He was really trying to communicate with it. The creature whined, slapping its tail against the cliffs, splattering acid on the steps. Steam erupted from the rivulets of rain it touched. Vosaphar put his hands on his hips now, looking irritable. Finnit stifled a laugh. There was something absurd about the gesture. He thought of Luminary Jethel visiting Raekard to chew him out. If anything, this was the more cordial of the exchanges. The two engaged in a heated back and forth for a while longer. Eventually, Vosaphar grabbed the hem of the robes he was wearing and gave the creature an odd, stilted curtsy. He turned toward Finnit, stepping carefully but quickly down the stairs, perhaps worried it might change its mind about eating him. “What happened?” Finnit asked, pulling Vosaphar back into the chamber. The fire had gone out again, owing to his directed focus on Vosaphar’s ward. “She wants the anchor,” the demon explained. “What?” Vosaphar pointed to the ship’s anchor resting among the rubble. “That. She wants it.” Finnit hadn’t spared the rusted anchor a thought since he had first noticed it. He could not imagine what possible reason it—no, apparently *she*—could want this bit of junk. “Why?” Vosaphar grabbed his wrist—firmly, but not painfully, and brought Finnit’s face up to meet his own. “Listen, skittish one. She’s waiting. Do you wish to *keep* her waiting, while I answer your many, many queries?” From outside, the creature shrieked again. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Okay, yeah, fine. Of course. Go ahead and take the anchor.” Finnit paused. “What am I saying? It’s not even mine. You don’t need my permission.” Vosaphar released Finnit’s wrist. Finnit’s skin was warm where the demon had gripped it. For some reason, his face also felt warm. The demon strode to the corner and lifted the anchor without much effort, as though it weighed as little to him as a candle. Finnit watched as he left, trailing flakes of rust shed by the anchor. Would the winged terror really accept such an unimpressive tribute? Vosaphar walked forward to where he had previously stood, and shouted toward the creature again. She shuffled her weight between her talons, sending gravel tumbling over the edge of the cliff. He set down the anchor, and then retreated—rather more rapidly this time—as the creature sprang from her perch, cascading more stones into the waves far below. The bird-thing dove to snatch the anchor, emitted a strange warble, and circled out of view. Finnit recast his fire as Vosaphar returned to the chamber. The demon grabbed one of the bedrolls and flopped down by the flames. Finnit sat cross-legged nearby. “So,” he began, a bit awkwardly. “What was that all about?” “She will give us free reign of the Pharos Fidelis,” Vosaphar said, his tail curling. “She really wanted that anchor.” “Are you sure?” Finnit asked. “I couldn’t understand what was, uh, said.” “Right.” Vosaphar tilted his head, evaluating. “She collects them. Anchors, I mean. She couldn’t reach this one. It had been bothering her for a while. She was very pleased with me.” Finnit thought back to the exchange of screeching. It hadn’t *sounded* agreeable. “Thank you,” he said, finally. “I could never have managed anything like that by myself. I’m sorry for putting you through that.” Vosaphar shifted even closer to the fire. “It is what I agreed to do for you, accordant one.” Finnit wondered what else his companion might be thinking, but left him to rest. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Interpret. ⇒->C3AA. Lightning]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">When the creature first screeched, Finnit had darted back into the chamber. But he couldn’t just abandon the man he sent out to face it in his stead. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[From the alcove, Finnit watched Vosaphar and the terrifying bird-creature facing off. Cold sweat trickled down his cheeks. He could almost hear Raekard laughing at the idea that Finnit’s attempted heresy had, in effect, recreated the very spectacle of violence that had so moved him to reject the luminary’s principles. But did it have to be the same? Vosaphar could make his own decisions. And Finnit didn’t have to freeze—didn’t have to be helpless this time. He could intervene. Finnit focused on the ward, feeding it more of his magic. It wouldn’t be durable enough to shield Vosaphar completely from an attack, but Finnit owed him any protection he could offer. The winged beast perched like a fortress gargoyle, still giving out a few mournful shrieks. Incredibly, Vosaphar was *approaching* it. The creature twisted its serpentine neck to get a closer look, otherworldly eyes casting a golden glow over the fiend. It screeched again. Vosaphar stopped, then shouted something Finnit couldn’t parse—a harsh, guttural language. The bird-thing twisted its neck back and forth, agitated, and screeched some more. Vosaphar had his hands outstretched, claws gleaming in the light from its eyes. He shouted some more in that infernal tongue. Finnit was astonished. He was really trying to communicate with it. The creature whined, slapping its tail against the cliffs, splattering acid on the steps. Steam erupted from the rivulets of rain it touched. Vosaphar put his hands on his hips now, looking irritable. Finnit stifled a laugh. There was something absurd about the gesture. He thought of Luminary Jethel visiting Raekard to chew him out. If anything, this was the more cordial of the exchanges. The two engaged in a heated back and forth for a while longer. Eventually, Vosaphar grabbed the hem of the robes he was wearing and gave the creature an odd, stilted curtsy. He turned toward Finnit, stepping carefully but quickly down the stairs, perhaps worried it might change its mind about eating him. “What happened?” Finnit asked, pulling Vosaphar back into the chamber. The fire had gone out again, owing to his directed focus on Vosaphar’s ward. “She wants the anchor,” the demon explained. “What?” Vosaphar pointed to the ship’s anchor resting among the rubble. “That. She wants it.” Finnit hadn’t spared the rusted anchor a thought since he had first noticed it. He could not imagine what possible reason it—no, apparently *she*—could want this bit of junk. “Why?” Vosaphar grabbed his wrist—firmly, but not painfully, and brought Finnit’s face up to meet his own. “Listen, skittish one. She’s waiting. Do you wish to *keep* her waiting, while I answer your many, many queries?” From outside, the creature shrieked again. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Okay, yeah, fine. Of course. Go ahead and take the anchor.” Finnit paused. “What am I saying? It’s not even mine. You don’t need my permission.” Vosaphar released Finnit’s wrist. Finnit’s skin was warm where the demon had gripped it. For some reason, his face also felt warm. The demon strode to the corner and lifted the anchor without much effort, as though it weighed as little to him as a candle. Finnit watched as he left, trailing flakes of rust shed by the anchor. Would the winged terror really accept such an unimpressive tribute? Vosaphar walked forward to where he had previously stood, and shouted toward the creature again. She shuffled her weight between her talons, sending gravel tumbling over the edge of the cliff. He set down the anchor, and then retreated—rather more rapidly this time—as the creature sprang from her perch, cascading more stones into the waves far below. The bird-thing dove to snatch the anchor, emitted a strange warble, and circled out of view. Finnit recast his fire as Vosaphar returned to the chamber. The demon grabbed one of the bedrolls and flopped down by the flames. Finnit sat cross-legged nearby. “So,” he began, a bit awkwardly. “What was that all about?” “She will give us free reign of the Pharos Fidelis,” Vosaphar said, his tail curling. “She really wanted that anchor.” “Are you sure?” Finnit asked. “I couldn’t understand what was, uh, said.” “Right.” Vosaphar tilted his head, evaluating. “She collects them. Anchors, I mean. She couldn’t reach this one. It had been bothering her for a while. She was very pleased with me.” Finnit thought back to the exchange of screeching. It hadn’t *sounded* agreeable. “Thank you,” he said, finally. “I could never have managed anything like that by myself. I’m sorry for putting you through that.” Vosaphar shifted even closer to the fire. “It is what I agreed to do for you, accordant one.” Finnit wondered what else his companion might be thinking, but left him to rest. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Interpret. ⇒->C3AA. Lightning]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[X.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">When the creature first screeched, Finnit had darted back into the chamber. But he couldn’t just abandon the man he sent out to face it in his stead. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[From the alcove, Finnit watched Vosaphar and the terrifying bird-creature facing off. Cold sweat trickled down his cheeks. He could almost hear Raekard laughing at the idea that Finnit’s attempted heresy had, in effect, recreated the very spectacle of violence that had so moved him to reject the luminary’s principles. But did it have to be the same? Vosaphar could make his own decisions. And Finnit didn’t have to freeze—didn’t have to be helpless this time. He could intervene. Finnit focused on the ward, feeding it more of his magic. It wouldn’t be durable enough to shield Vosaphar completely from an attack, but Finnit owed him any protection he could offer. The winged beast perched like a fortress gargoyle, still giving out a few mournful shrieks. Incredibly, Vosaphar was *approaching* it. The creature twisted its serpentine neck to get a closer look, otherworldly eyes casting a golden glow over the fiend. Then the demon pounced, leaping forward with his claws outstretched to swipe at the gnarled joint where one of the bird-thing’s crooked wings attached to its body. It reacted swiftly, swatting Vosaphar away like an insect with its tail, splattering acid all over him. Steam erupted from the rivulets of rain the caustic fluid touched, and Finnit’s ward collapsed. Vosaphar yelped in pain, recoiling away from the winged horror. “No!” Finnit shouted, trying desperately to recast the ward. The fire went out behind him. The creature screeched again. Vosaphar cowered from its harsh cry, then shouted something Finnit couldn’t parse—a harsh, guttural language. The bird-thing twisted its neck back and forth, agitated, and screeched some more. Vosaphar crept a few steps further back, hugging the cliffs. He shouted again in that infernal tongue. Finnit was astonished. Vosaphar was really trying to communicate with it. The two engaged in a heated back and forth for a while longer. Eventually, Vosaphar grabbed the hem of the robes he was wearing and gave the creature an odd, stilted curtsy. Had the situation not been so tense, Finnit might have laughed at the absurdity of the gesture. The fiend turned toward Finnit, stepping carefully but quickly down the stairs, perhaps worried it might change its mind about eating him. “What happened?” Finnit asked, pulling Vosaphar back into the now-dark chamber. “Give me the anchor!” the demon commanded. “What?” Vosaphar pointed to the ship’s anchor resting among the rubble. “*That*. She wants it.” Finnit hadn’t spared the rusted anchor a thought since he had first noticed it. He could not imagine what possible reason it—no, apparently *she*—could want this bit of junk. “Why?” Vosaphar grabbed his wrist—firmly, but not painfully, and brought Finnit’s face up to meet his own. “Listen, skittish one. She’s waiting. Do you wish to *keep* her waiting, while I answer your many, many queries?” From outside, the creature shrieked again. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Okay, yes—please take it.” Finnit paused. “What am I saying? It’s not even mine. You don’t need my permission.” Vosaphar released Finnit’s wrist. Finnit’s skin was warm where the demon had gripped it. Strangely, Finnit’s face was also warm. A few droplets of acid had sizzled through his sleeve. The demon strode to the corner and lifted the anchor without much effort, as though it weighed as little to him as a candle. Finnit watched as he left, trailing flakes of rust shed by the anchor. Would the winged terror really accept such an unimpressive tribute? Vosaphar walked forward to where he had previously stood, and shouted toward the creature again. She shuffled her weight between her talons, sending gravel tumbling over the edge of the cliff. He set down the anchor, and then retreated—rather more rapidly this time—as the creature sprang from her perch, cascading more stones into the waves far below. The bird-thing dove to snatch the anchor, emitted a strange warble, and circled out of view. Finnit recast his fire as Vosaphar returned to the chamber. The demon grabbed one of the bedrolls and flopped down by the flames, examining where his arm had taken the brunt of the acid when the ward failed. Finnit sat cross-legged nearby. “So,” he began, a bit awkwardly. “What was that all about?” “She will give us free reign of the Pharos Fidelis,” Vosaphar said, wincing as he touched his new injuries. “And—graciously forgive my deplorable unprovoked attack upon her person.” “May I—um,” Finnit began, reaching his way, “I might be able to help with your burns?” “No!” Vosaphar snapped, pulling away from his touch. “You may *not*.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit shrank back, flushing from surprise and embarrassment. “I—I’m sorry. I didn’t mean… I’m sorry.” Vosaphar glowered at him a few moments longer, then sighed, uncurling his clenched tail slightly. “I shouldn’t have shouted. You meant to help. But, I do not wish for you to tend to my wounds.” “It’s okay—you—*I* should have let you respond before reaching. Um… but please, if your wounds don’t get better on their own—I… might be able to help.” There was a supremely awkward pause. “I’m sorry for putting you through that.” Vosaphar shifted closer to the fire. “It is what I agreed to do for you, accordant one.” Finnit wondered what else his companion might be thinking, but left him to rest. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Interpret. ⇒->C3AB. Lightning]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">When the creature first screeched, Finnit had darted back into the chamber. But he couldn’t just abandon the man he sent out to face it in his stead. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[From the alcove, Finnit watched Vosaphar and the terrifying bird-creature facing off. Cold sweat trickled down his cheeks. He could almost hear Raekard laughing at the idea that Finnit’s attempted heresy had, in effect, recreated the very spectacle of violence that had so moved him to reject the luminary’s principles. But did it have to be the same? Vosaphar could make his own decisions. And Finnit didn’t have to freeze—didn’t have to be helpless this time. He could intervene. Finnit focused on the ward, feeding it more of his magic. It wouldn’t be durable enough to shield Vosaphar completely from an attack, but Finnit owed him any protection he could offer. The winged beast perched like a fortress gargoyle, still giving out a few mournful shrieks. Incredibly, Vosaphar was *approaching* it. The creature twisted its serpentine neck to get a closer look, otherworldly eyes casting a golden glow over the fiend. Then the demon pounced, leaping forward with his claws outstretched to swipe at the gnarled joint where one of the bird-thing’s crooked wings attached to its body. It reacted swiftly, swatting Vosaphar away like an insect with its tail, splattering acid all over him. Steam erupted from the rivulets of rain the caustic fluid touched, and Finnit’s ward collapsed. Vosaphar yelped in pain, recoiling away from the winged horror. “No!” Finnit shouted, trying desperately to recast the ward. The fire went out behind him. The creature screeched again. Vosaphar cowered from its harsh cry, then shouted something Finnit couldn’t parse—a harsh, guttural language. The bird-thing twisted its neck back and forth, agitated, and screeched some more. Vosaphar crept a few steps further back, hugging the cliffs. He shouted again in that infernal tongue. Finnit was astonished. Vosaphar was really trying to communicate with it. The two engaged in a heated back and forth for a while longer. Eventually, Vosaphar grabbed the hem of the robes he was wearing and gave the creature an odd, stilted curtsy. Had the situation not been so tense, Finnit might have laughed at the absurdity of the gesture. The fiend turned toward Finnit, stepping carefully but quickly down the stairs, perhaps worried it might change its mind about eating him. “What happened?” Finnit asked, pulling Vosaphar back into the now-dark chamber. “Give me the anchor!” the demon commanded. “What?” Vosaphar pointed to the ship’s anchor resting among the rubble. “*That*. She wants it.” Finnit hadn’t spared the rusted anchor a thought since he had first noticed it. He could not imagine what possible reason it—no, apparently *she*—could want this bit of junk. “Why?” Vosaphar grabbed his wrist—firmly, but not painfully, and brought Finnit’s face up to meet his own. “Listen, skittish one. She’s waiting. Do you wish to *keep* her waiting, while I answer your many, many queries?” From outside, the creature shrieked again. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Okay, yes—please take it.” Finnit paused. “What am I saying? It’s not even mine. You don’t need my permission.” Vosaphar released Finnit’s wrist. Finnit’s skin was warm where the demon had gripped it. Strangely, Finnit’s face was also warm. A few droplets of acid had sizzled through his sleeve. The demon strode to the corner and lifted the anchor without much effort, as though it weighed as little to him as a candle. Finnit watched as he left, trailing flakes of rust shed by the anchor. Would the winged terror really accept such an unimpressive tribute? Vosaphar walked forward to where he had previously stood, and shouted toward the creature again. She shuffled her weight between her talons, sending gravel tumbling over the edge of the cliff. He set down the anchor, and then retreated—rather more rapidly this time—as the creature sprang from her perch, cascading more stones into the waves far below. The bird-thing dove to snatch the anchor, emitted a strange warble, and circled out of view. Finnit recast his fire as Vosaphar returned to the chamber. The demon grabbed one of the bedrolls and flopped down by the flames, examining where his arm had taken the brunt of the acid when the ward failed. Finnit sat cross-legged nearby. “So,” he began, a bit awkwardly. “What was that all about?” “She will give us free reign of the Pharos Fidelis,” Vosaphar said, wincing as he touched his new injuries. “And—graciously forgive my deplorable unprovoked attack upon her person.” “May I—um,” Finnit began, reaching his way, “I might be able to help with your burns?” “No!” Vosaphar snapped, pulling away from his touch. “You may *not*.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit shrank back, flushing from surprise and embarrassment. “I—I’m sorry. I didn’t mean… I’m sorry.” Vosaphar glowered at him a few moments longer, then sighed, uncurling his clenched tail slightly. “I shouldn’t have shouted. You meant to help. But, I do not wish for you to tend to my wounds.” “It’s okay—you—*I* should have let you respond before reaching. Um… but please, if your wounds don’t get better on their own—I… might be able to help.” There was a supremely awkward pause. “I’m sorry for putting you through that.” Vosaphar shifted closer to the fire. “It is what I agreed to do for you, accordant one.” Finnit wondered what else his companion might be thinking, but left him to rest. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Interpret. ⇒->C3AB. Lightning]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:#fb324d)+(text-size: 2.2)[PHAR⛯S FIDELIS] (text-color:#da1e45)+(text-size: 0.8)[— Interactive Complicity by DemonApologist —]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lighteclipsetitlepassage">**You were** **not** (link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#da1e45")))[[[absolved ⇒->Title]]] **for inflicting** **this influence.**</div>] \(else:)[<div class="eclipsetitlepassage">**You were** **not** (link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[absolved ⇒->Title]]] **for inflicting** **this influence.**</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:#fb324d)+(text-size: 2.2)[PHAR⛯S FIDELIS] (text-color:#da1e45)+(text-size: 0.8)[— Interactive Refraction by DemonApologist —]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lighteclipsetitlepassage">**Was that not** **the light** **these** (link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#da1e45")))[[[fragments ⇒->Title]]] **witnessed?**</div>] \(else:)[<div class="eclipsetitlepassage">**Was that not** **the light** **these** (link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[fragments ⇒->Title]]] **witnessed?**</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XII.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">As they approached the top of the lighthouse, the vicious wind fell away. The sound of the churning seascape had been suppressed. Even the rainfall faded, as though splattering onto nothing. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit was overcome by the weight of stagnation, a stillness that made him uncomfortably aware of his own breaths. They were quick and shallow, strained from the exertion of climbing these many stairs. He looked to Vosaphar, finding the demon unaffected, calm and focused as his storm-mottled eyes scanned their surroundings. They ascended the last few steps, arriving at a large hexagonal platform. And there it was. When he read about the great lens, Finnit had imagined it to be something gleaming, pristine; glass so perfectly pure and bright, folding light over and over again, faceted just so to amplify every last drop of power into a beam intense enough to overtake even the densest fog. A marvel of sorcery, architecture, and craftsmanship. Perhaps it had been like that, once. What loomed before him was barely recognizable as glass. It had deformed to inky slag, forming indecipherable shapes that buzzed in the back of his head when he tried resolving their details. It was as though the lens’s purpose had entirely inverted; no longer a beacon, it had become a thief of light, soaking every reflection, devouring even the memories of lightning that had long since bolted. Through the core of the lens cleaved its legendary fissure, rising from the base of the platform toward the dark ceiling of its housing above. The cleft was jagged, haphazard, and, Finnit suddenly came to realize, *incomplete*. Like the paving stones in Tinfallow so long ago, he had an overwhelming urge to reconcile the shape that was present with the shape that *should* be present. It couldn’t be a coincidence. Someone had tried—and failed—to scribe an infernal glyph of immense power upon this object. Finnit stepped closer. He couldn’t stop himself. He wasn’t just anyone to this lens; there was something in there, calling for him. Reaching for him. How could he refuse it? The fracture yawned wider as he approached. It might not be open enough to step into, but perhaps he could reach in with his hand, and touch— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Ahh!” Sharp pain seared his shoulders as something yanked him roughly backwards. “What are you doing?” Vosaphar demanded, turning Finnit to face him. “Have you no sense?” Finnit felt dazed. “I—but…” His shoulders throbbed. The demon wrapped an arm around him—not as forcefully as before—and guided him down a few steps, well away from the lighthouse platform. “Sit,” Vosaphar commanded. Finnit sank, resting on the cold stone, facing out toward the dismal scenery he had become so familiar with. He reached up to his left shoulder, feeling where Vosaphar’s claws had shredded fabric and skin alike. “What… happened?” “You fell under the influence of the lens, witless one!” Vosaphar loomed, his horned silhouette fearsome against the stormy sky. “I intervened when you refused to heed my warnings. We should return to our chamber at once. It is not safe for you to be in the direct presence of this force.” “You really care about me,” Finnit said. “That’s—” “We made an accord,” Vosaphar said, annoyed. “Here. Let me, uh…” He knelt next to Finnit to get a closer look at his shoulder, shifting the fabric aside with a much more delicate and deliberate touch. “My rough handling has caused you to bleed. I ask for consideration in your assessment of my violence, given the alternative harm I may have prevented.” “It’s okay,” Finnit said. “They’re shallow wounds.” It *was* painful, but he didn’t want Vosaphar to fret about the accord, especially right when he’d once again rescued him from a dangerous situation. “I will tend to them as best as I can,” Vosaphar promised. “What is wrong with the lens? What… *is* it?” “Let’s return first,” Vosaphar said. “I don’t trust it. We shouldn’t linger here.” If even a demon found the lens this threatening, Finnit thought he’d better follow that advice. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Retreat. ⇒->13AA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">As they approached the top of the lighthouse, the vicious wind fell away. The sound of the churning seascape had been suppressed. Even the rainfall faded, as though splattering onto nothing. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit was overcome by the weight of stagnation, a stillness that made him uncomfortably aware of his own breaths. They were quick and shallow, strained from the exertion of climbing these many stairs. He looked to Vosaphar, finding the demon unaffected, calm and focused as his storm-mottled eyes scanned their surroundings. They ascended the last few steps, arriving at a large hexagonal platform. And there it was. When he read about the great lens, Finnit had imagined it to be something gleaming, pristine; glass so perfectly pure and bright, folding light over and over again, faceted just so to amplify every last drop of power into a beam intense enough to overtake even the densest fog. A marvel of sorcery, architecture, and craftsmanship. Perhaps it had been like that, once. What loomed before him was barely recognizable as glass. It had deformed to inky slag, forming indecipherable shapes that buzzed in the back of his head when he tried resolving their details. It was as though the lens’s purpose had entirely inverted; no longer a beacon, it had become a thief of light, soaking every reflection, devouring even the memories of lightning that had long since bolted. Through the core of the lens cleaved its legendary fissure, rising from the base of the platform toward the dark ceiling of its housing above. The cleft was jagged, haphazard, and, Finnit suddenly came to realize, *incomplete*. Like the paving stones in Tinfallow so long ago, he had an overwhelming urge to reconcile the shape that was present with the shape that *should* be present. It couldn’t be a coincidence. Someone had tried—and failed—to scribe an infernal glyph of immense power upon this object. Finnit stepped closer. He couldn’t stop himself. He wasn’t just anyone to this lens; there was something in there, calling for him. Reaching for him. How could he refuse it? The fracture yawned wider as he approached. It might not be open enough to step into, but perhaps he could reach in with his hand, and touch— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Ahh!” Sharp pain seared his shoulders as something yanked him roughly backwards. “What are you doing?” Vosaphar demanded, turning Finnit to face him. “Have you no sense?” Finnit felt dazed. “I—but…” His shoulders throbbed. The demon wrapped an arm around him—not as forcefully as before—and guided him down a few steps, well away from the lighthouse platform. “Sit,” Vosaphar commanded. Finnit sank, resting on the cold stone, facing out toward the dismal scenery he had become so familiar with. He reached up to his left shoulder, feeling where Vosaphar’s claws had shredded fabric and skin alike. “What… happened?” “You fell under the influence of the lens, witless one!” Vosaphar loomed, his horned silhouette fearsome against the stormy sky. “I intervened when you refused to heed my warnings. We should return to our chamber at once. It is not safe for you to be in the direct presence of this force.” “You really care about me,” Finnit said. “That’s—” “We made an accord,” Vosaphar said, annoyed. “Here. Let me, uh…” He knelt next to Finnit to get a closer look at his shoulder, shifting the fabric aside with a much more delicate and deliberate touch. “My rough handling has caused you to bleed. I ask for consideration in your assessment of my violence, given the alternative harm I may have prevented.” “It’s okay,” Finnit said. “They’re shallow wounds.” It *was* painful, but he didn’t want Vosaphar to fret about the accord, especially right when he’d once again rescued him from a dangerous situation. “I will tend to them as best as I can,” Vosaphar promised. “What is wrong with the lens? What… *is* it?” “Let’s return first,” Vosaphar said. “I don’t trust it. We shouldn’t linger here.” If even a demon found the lens this threatening, Finnit thought he’d better follow that advice. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Retreat. ⇒->13AA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[3rd Era | Lightning.]</div> Another fragment recounting the dark history of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">With the fading of the flames, so too did the imperial coffers grow cold. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#4c4833)[**First—**] Kolemeus II called the financiers to approach her throne and confer. They brayed of blockades, their ships sieged in once-safe sounds. Their routes risked wreckage, for the Pharos Fidelis vanquished their vessels. The jester recited a paean to profit. One cannot craft coins from sunken silver. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“I’m having trouble with this, scholarly one,” Vosaphar said. “Is it meant to be sung?” “Are you volunteering?” Finnit asked, clearly amused by the idea. “I’d like to hear *that*.” “Perhaps not.”</div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**Second—**] Kolemeus II called the generals to approach her throne and confer. They agonized of attrition, unable to pry pirates from the passages. Their hosts harbored hunger, for the Pharos Fidelis gainsaid their grain. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">Their unwillingness to employ portals is staggering. I cannot wrap my head around the idea that this dynasty—so resistant to magical solutions—somehow produced the most sophisticated piece of glass to ever exist on this plane. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] The jester crooned an ode to oats. One cannot feed forces with sunken supplies. (text-color:#4c4833)[**Next—**] Kolemeus II called the architects to approach her throne and confer. They lamented of lightning, whose scattered strikes imperiled implementation of any regime of radiance. Their dreams despaired, for the Pharos Fidelis spited their stability. The jester wailed an elegy to effulgence. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">If I ever find this “historian” wandering the hells, I will kill them again. The jester, too. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] One cannot build beacons with sunken stones. (text-color:#4c4833)[**Then—**] Kolemeus II called the sorcerers to approach her throne and confer. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">Finally. Someone who might actually know something. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] They moaned of malleability, unable to fold-forge fluid. Their fingers failed, for the Pharos Fidelis frustrated their philosophy. The jester danced in pretentious pirouettes. One cannot conquer conjecture with sunken scholars. (text-color:#4c4833)[**Further—**] Kolemeus II called the smiths to approach her throne and confer. Though many spoke of spectacle, it was but one who brought her glowing glass newly wrought, for folding lightning the fortress fought. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">This is infuriating to read. One of the worst yet. Is it really so much to ask to see some proper blueprints? They did not even name the glassmaster who perfected the hyperfolding technique. She must have left her secrets somewhere. I have to believe she did. And the form—such that it was—collapsed ahead of the dénouement. Abominable poetics. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] The jester sang demands for demonstration. One cannot light lamps with sunken spirits. (text-color:#4c4833)[**At last—**] Kolemeus II called the jester to approach her throne and confer. He asked for her hand in marriage. She gifted him the glistering glass, and decreed him dragged up the spindliest spire to soar in stormy skies. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“I don’t think Kolemeus II appreciated his joke,” Finnit said. “I bet the rest of the court laughed, though.” “Was it a joke?” Vosaphar scratched the tip of one of his pointed ears. “He might have been serious.”</div>] Thus shone a beam befitting a lavish lens. Its promise proven, construction commenced. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightchroniclechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[[[Ascend. ⇒->11AA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">With the fading of the flames, so too did the imperial coffers grow cold. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#d7cc90)[**First—**] Kolemeus II called the financiers to approach her throne and confer. They brayed of blockades, their ships sieged in once-safe sounds. Their routes risked wreckage, for the Pharos Fidelis vanquished their vessels. The jester recited a paean to profit. One cannot craft coins from sunken silver. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“I’m having trouble with this, scholarly one,” Vosaphar said. “Is it meant to be sung?” “Are you volunteering?” Finnit asked, clearly amused by the idea. “I’d like to hear *that*.” “Perhaps not.”</div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**Second—**] Kolemeus II called the generals to approach her throne and confer. They agonized of attrition, unable to pry pirates from the passages. Their hosts harbored hunger, for the Pharos Fidelis gainsaid their grain. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">Their unwillingness to employ portals is staggering. I cannot wrap my head around the idea that this dynasty—so resistant to magical solutions—somehow produced the most sophisticated piece of glass to ever exist on this plane. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] The jester crooned an ode to oats. One cannot feed forces with sunken supplies. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**Next—**] Kolemeus II called the architects to approach her throne and confer. They lamented of lightning, whose scattered strikes imperiled implementation of any regime of radiance. Their dreams despaired, for the Pharos Fidelis spited their stability. The jester wailed an elegy to effulgence. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">If I ever find this “historian” wandering the hells, I will kill them again. The jester, too. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] One cannot build beacons with sunken stones. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**Then—**] Kolemeus II called the sorcerers to approach her throne and confer. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">Finally. Someone who might actually know something. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] They moaned of malleability, unable to fold-forge fluid. Their fingers failed, for the Pharos Fidelis frustrated their philosophy. The jester danced in pretentious pirouettes. One cannot conquer conjecture with sunken scholars. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**Further—**] Kolemeus II called the smiths to approach her throne and confer. Though many spoke of spectacle, it was but one who brought her glowing glass newly wrought, for folding lightning the fortress fought. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">This is infuriating to read. One of the worst yet. Is it really so much to ask to see some proper blueprints? They did not even name the glassmaster who perfected the hyperfolding technique. She must have left her secrets somewhere. I have to believe she did. And the form—such that it was—collapsed ahead of the dénouement. Abominable poetics. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] The jester sang demands for demonstration. One cannot light lamps with sunken spirits. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**At last—**] Kolemeus II called the jester to approach her throne and confer. He asked for her hand in marriage. She gifted him the glistering glass, and decreed him dragged up the spindliest spire to soar in stormy skies. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“I don’t think Kolemeus II appreciated his joke,” Finnit said. “I bet the rest of the court laughed, though.” “Was it a joke?” Vosaphar scratched the tip of one of his pointed ears. “He might have been serious.”</div>] Thus shone a beam befitting a lavish lens. Its promise proven, construction commenced. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="chroniclechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#927b1a")))[[[Ascend. ⇒->11AA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#927b1a")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Chronicle]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XIII.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">After all that climbing up and down the cliffside, Finnit and Vosaphar alike were eager to rest by the fire. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It took Finnit a few attempts to get it going again. Vosaphar watched him intently. Some combination of the exertion, the accord, and exposure to the accursed cloven glass had taken its toll on the mortal. Not to mention the injuries Vosaphar had inflicted. There was a part of him that felt guilty that he worried about Finnit, when he had done little to take care of his own wounds. Even so, he did not wish the sorcerer to suffer injuries he caused, however justified. “I should look at your shoulders,” the devil said. “Later?” Finnit turned over on his bedroll. “It’s not that bad. I appreciate the thought,” he mumbled. “You’re sweet. Sweet one.” Vosaphar stared into the crimson flames for a long while after that. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[With Finnit muttering in his sleep, the demon decided to crack open *Intermediate Remedies: Rites of Relief*. He did not enjoy reading on his own. Sure, there was a mechanical concern—his claws risked tearing the tender pages—but really, he preferred having Finnit explain and contextualize the things he didn’t immediately grasp about human existence. Nevertheless, he paged through, having little success in imagining how these abstract rituals might apply to a devil’s self-specifying injuries. When he reached the third section, a sheaf of paper slipped out. Someone had scrawled a brief note on it. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightjethelletter">Finnit— By the time you see this, your discovery trial has likely commenced. I couldn’t stop it. I know we often joked about Raekard being lazy, such that he sends others to do his bidding. But he must have been quite diligent, to have curried enough favor with the other luminaries to get something this reckless approved. I am not allowed to intervene. Therefore, this note is not an intervention, but merely a statement on the vibrant art of healing. Unrelated to your trial, these rituals might be helpful to ones endangered by perilous circumstances. One hells-bent on infernal methods might do well to be reminded that certain healing rituals might tend to materials well beyond the fleshly. —J.</div> “J?” Vosaphar wondered aloud. “Hmm?” Finnit turned over, his eyes blearing open. “What’s that?” “It was in this book. A note from someone named ‘J.’” Vosaphar handed it over to the sleep-starved sorcerer. “Jethel, of course.” Finnit pored over the message for a minute or so. “Was this really in that book the whole time? I guess I never opened it.” “I hoped to study mortal healing spells.” Vosaphar attempted as neutral a tone as he could muster. “We can look through it later.” Finnit sat up, wincing at his sore shoulders. “Okay, maybe sooner.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar helped the man strip off the robes and his shirt, exposing the flesh beneath. And what a dramatic sight it was, dark bruises blotched across his chest, speckles of black hair trailing down to his soft tan belly. His shoulders were a mess, crusted in half-dried blood. Fortunately, much of it wiped away, revealing the scratches to be shallow. “Listen,” Finnit said. “I’ve been thinking.” The demon tensed. “I didn’t properly thank you for intervening. I don’t know what would’ve happened if I had just… climbed into that lens, surrendered to its influence. Thank you.” “I abided by our accord,” Vosaphar said. “It would’ve been negligent of me to let that happen.” “Sure,” Finnit said. “But… look. It’s a sloppy accord. I’m not some expert negotiator. You’re a demon. I think if you really wanted to, you could’ve found a ‘technically correct’ way of interpreting what I said and gotten away with letting me die. And you didn’t.” Vosaphar felt vaguely uncomfortable. He reached to scratch the back of his own neck. “Maybe you shouldn’t give me any dangerous ideas. Do you have any specific malicious interpretations of the accord on hand that you’d like to share with me?” Finnit smiled. “Maybe not.” “That was probably a joke. But I’m not sure exactly what you’re implying.” Finnit dabbed at one of his scratches with a damp cloth. “I think that you like me, at least a little.” “It doesn’t matter whether I like you a little, a great deal, or not at all. It is in my best interest for you to continue living, is it not?” “I think it’s in my best interest to agree with you. So, yes.” “Good answer.” “But is it—” Finnit appeared frustrated that he couldn’t figure out precisely how to word whatever he was really trying to say. “I know the accord and this whole situation are… not a normal way to become acquainted with someone. The way that I first saw you. I have nightmares about it. It’s not how anyone should have to meet. It screws with everything, like maybe everything I’ve done since is corrupted by that horrible event. But even so, despite all of that, is it wrong to consider you… a friend?” “No,” Vosaphar said. “I don’t think that’s wrong of you. I accept your... friendship. Finnit.” The sorcerer blushed a little, and Vosaphar’s heart stirred. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[When Finnit had drifted back to sleep, the fiend returned to the book of healing spells. Friend or not, wickedly warm feelings or not, the accord still bore its temporal threat: Vosaphar’s eventual, inevitable descent back to the calciferous wastes. Back to wandering. All futures converged there. Didn’t they? Must they? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Enumerate. ⇒->C2AA. Pyrelight]]]</div>]]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">After all that climbing up and down the cliffside, Finnit and Vosaphar alike were eager to rest by the fire. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It took Finnit a few attempts to get it going again. Vosaphar watched him intently. Some combination of the exertion, the accord, and exposure to the accursed cloven glass had taken its toll on the mortal. Not to mention the injuries Vosaphar had inflicted. There was a part of him that felt guilty that he worried about Finnit, when he had done little to take care of his own wounds. Even so, he did not wish the sorcerer to suffer injuries he caused, however justified. “I should look at your shoulders,” the devil said. “Later?” Finnit turned over on his bedroll. “It’s not that bad. I appreciate the thought,” he mumbled. “You’re sweet. Sweet one.” Vosaphar stared into the crimson flames for a long while after that. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[With Finnit muttering in his sleep, the demon decided to crack open *Intermediate Remedies: Rites of Relief*. He did not enjoy reading on his own. Sure, there was a mechanical concern—his claws risked tearing the tender pages—but really, he preferred having Finnit explain and contextualize the things he didn’t immediately grasp about human existence. Nevertheless, he paged through, having little success in imagining how these abstract rituals might apply to a devil’s self-specifying injuries. When he reached the third section, a sheaf of paper slipped out. Someone had scrawled a brief note on it. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="jethelletter">Finnit— By the time you see this, your discovery trial has likely commenced. I couldn’t stop it. I know we often joked about Raekard being lazy, such that he sends others to do his bidding. But he must have been quite diligent, to have curried enough favor with the other luminaries to get something this reckless approved. I am not allowed to intervene. Therefore, this note is not an intervention, but merely a statement on the vibrant art of healing. Unrelated to your trial, these rituals might be helpful to ones endangered by perilous circumstances. One hells-bent on infernal methods might do well to be reminded that certain healing rituals might tend to materials well beyond the fleshly. —J.</div> “J?” Vosaphar wondered aloud. “Hmm?” Finnit turned over, his eyes blearing open. “What’s that?” “It was in this book. A note from someone named ‘J.’” Vosaphar handed it over to the sleep-starved sorcerer. “Jethel, of course.” Finnit pored over the message for a minute or so. “Was this really in that book the whole time? I guess I never opened it.” “I hoped to study mortal healing spells.” Vosaphar attempted as neutral a tone as he could muster. “We can look through it later.” Finnit sat up, wincing at his sore shoulders. “Okay, maybe sooner.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar helped the man strip off the robes and his shirt, exposing the flesh beneath. And what a dramatic sight it was, dark bruises blotched across his chest, speckles of black hair trailing down to his soft tan belly. His shoulders were a mess, crusted in half-dried blood. Fortunately, much of it wiped away, revealing the scratches to be shallow. “Listen,” Finnit said. “I’ve been thinking.” The demon tensed. “I didn’t properly thank you for intervening. I don’t know what would’ve happened if I had just… climbed into that lens, surrendered to its influence. Thank you.” “I abided by our accord,” Vosaphar said. “It would’ve been negligent of me to let that happen.” “Sure,” Finnit said. “But… look. It’s a sloppy accord. I’m not some expert negotiator. You’re a demon. I think if you really wanted to, you could’ve found a ‘technically correct’ way of interpreting what I said and gotten away with letting me die. And you didn’t.” Vosaphar felt vaguely uncomfortable. He reached to scratch the back of his own neck. “Maybe you shouldn’t give me any dangerous ideas. Do you have any specific malicious interpretations of the accord on hand that you’d like to share with me?” Finnit smiled. “Maybe not.” “That was probably a joke. But I’m not sure exactly what you’re implying.” Finnit dabbed at one of his scratches with a damp cloth. “I think that you like me, at least a little.” “It doesn’t matter whether I like you a little, a great deal, or not at all. It is in my best interest for you to continue living, is it not?” “I think it’s in my best interest to agree with you. So, yes.” “Good answer.” “But is it—” Finnit appeared frustrated that he couldn’t figure out precisely how to word whatever he was really trying to say. “I know the accord and this whole situation are… not a normal way to become acquainted with someone. The way that I first saw you. I have nightmares about it. It’s not how anyone should have to meet. It screws with everything, like maybe everything I’ve done since is corrupted by that horrible event. But even so, despite all of that, is it wrong to consider you… a friend?” “No,” Vosaphar said. “I don’t think that’s wrong of you. I accept your... friendship. Finnit.” The sorcerer blushed a little, and Vosaphar’s heart stirred. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[When Finnit had drifted back to sleep, the fiend returned to the book of healing spells. Friend or not, wickedly warm feelings or not, the accord still bore its temporal threat: Vosaphar’s eventual, inevitable descent back to the calciferous wastes. Back to wandering. All futures converged there. Didn’t they? Must they? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Enumerate. ⇒->C2AA. Pyrelight]]]</div>]]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:#7e6eff)+(text-size: 3)[Recollection.] (text-color:#7e6eff)+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Lazurynth.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightlazurynthpassage">Lapis embers blazed blue beneath the walls of the lazurynth. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#2f00dd)+(hover-style:(text-color:#673eff)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The coal pits burned and churned, sweltering starlight powering forges a thousandfold. Fledgling imps crawled the fires, torched tongues slavering for specificity. Demon smiths clanged metal against metal, their listless chorus a lullaby for the not-yet-becoming. In these fell reaches, one ember among countless dimmed out, gasping sapphire smoke. It was preparing to drag a slaughtered devil back to the smoldering pit of his creation. The coal sparked and spat, assembling shredded flesh and charred bones into a screaming fiend. Horns burst through the skin stretched across his skull, spraying ichor that sizzled as it struck blue fire. Blood-scent drew imps toward the languishing demon. They swarmed and tore, devouring the remnants of his wings, craving nourishment further even than that. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#2f00dd)+(hover-style:(text-color:#673eff)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He thrashed, sending his assailants further down the smoking slope as ever more arrived. He crawled and slid, trailing blood from wounds that scorned cauterization. Threats far worse than imps awaited him once he reached the rim. And still, he fought for the right to face or flee them. All that fueled his grueling ascent was the self he refused to abandon. His specificity. He was—and remained—Vosaphar. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#2f00dd)+(hover-style:(text-color:#673eff)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And someday, he would fly again. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#2f00dd)+(hover-style:(text-color:#673eff)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightlazurynthchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#2f00dd)+(hover-style:(text-color:#673eff)))[[[Synthesize. ⇒->15AA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="lazurynthpassage">Lapis embers blazed blue beneath the walls of the lazurynth. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#7e6eff)+(hover-style:(text-color:#2f00dd)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The coal pits burned and churned, sweltering starlight powering forges a thousandfold. Fledgling imps crawled the fires, torched tongues slavering for specificity. Demon smiths clanged metal against metal, their listless chorus a lullaby for the not-yet-becoming. In these fell reaches, one ember among countless dimmed out, gasping sapphire smoke. It was preparing to drag a slaughtered devil back to the smoldering pit of his creation. The coal sparked and spat, assembling shredded flesh and charred bones into a screaming fiend. Horns burst through the skin stretched across his skull, spraying ichor that sizzled as it struck blue fire. Blood-scent drew imps toward the languishing demon. They swarmed and tore, devouring the remnants of his wings, craving nourishment further even than that. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#7e6eff)+(hover-style:(text-color:#2f00dd)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He thrashed, sending his assailants further down the smoking slope as ever more arrived. He crawled and slid, trailing blood from wounds that scorned cauterization. Threats far worse than imps awaited him once he reached the rim. And still, he fought for the right to face or flee them. All that fueled his grueling ascent was the self he refused to abandon. His specificity. He was—and remained—Vosaphar. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#7e6eff)+(hover-style:(text-color:#2f00dd)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And someday, he would fly again. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#7e6eff)+(hover-style:(text-color:#2f00dd)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lazurynthchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#7e6eff)+(hover-style:(text-color:#2f00dd)))[[[Synthesize. ⇒->15AA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#7e6eff)+(hover-style:(text-color:#2f00dd)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Recollection]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#cbc999")+(text-size: 3)[Dogma.] (text-color:"#cbc999")+(text-size: 1.15)[The Second Principle of Summoning.]</div> Another unwelcome reminder, courtesy of Luminary Raekard. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightprinciplepassage">Recall the second principle of summoning: (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color:#65644c)[**2. The Principle of Semantic Dilution**] A summoning rite distributes magical power across its dictated span of meaning. Linguistic complexity therefore diminishes its potency. (text-color:#65644c)[***Implication:***] The more numerous and specific conditions appended to a summoning circle, the more fragile it becomes. Dilution of intent erodes authoritarian primacy. (text-color:#65644c)[***Implication:***] A concise circle maintains control of stronger targets over longer durations of summoning. Commands are rhetorically stable. (text-color:#65644c)[***Implication:***] Time-tested rituals of domination are the only viable mode of summoning in contemporary sorcery. Novel constructions yield death more often than further linguistic efficiency. Beware the principle of semantic dilution. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightprinciplechoice">|A>[(text-color:#989b00)[**Adore this wisdom. ⇒**]](click-replace: ?A,(action:'mouseover'))[(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))[[[Abhor his wisdom. ⇒->6. Vosaphar]]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="principlepassage">Recall the second principle of summoning: (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color:#cbc999)[**2. The Principle of Semantic Dilution**] A summoning rite distributes magical power across its dictated span of meaning. Linguistic complexity therefore diminishes its potency. (text-color:#cbc999)[***Implication:***] The more numerous and specific conditions appended to a summoning circle, the more fragile it becomes. Dilution of intent erodes authoritarian primacy. (text-color:#cbc999)[***Implication:***] A concise circle maintains control of stronger targets over longer durations of summoning. Commands are rhetorically stable. (text-color:#cbc999)[***Implication:***] Time-tested rituals of domination are the only viable mode of summoning in contemporary sorcery. Novel constructions yield death more often than further linguistic efficiency. Beware the principle of semantic dilution. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="principlechoice">|A>[(text-color:#989b00)[**Adore this wisdom. ⇒**]](click-replace: ?A,(action:'mouseover'))[(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))[[[Abhor his wisdom. ⇒->6. Vosaphar]]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Principle]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XIV.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">The fragments of all that Finnit had seen and experienced at the Pharos Fidelis had started fitting together into a mosaic. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He did not much like the image taking form. Nevertheless, they had taken up their usual spots by the fire. Just a sorcerer and a devil, all cozy together. As friends. And, more importantly, research associates. “That lens…” Finnit began, scratching his stubbled chin. “I just don’t see how it’s going to be possible to reignite it. Or why you would even want to. Not only is it completely warped into slag but it’s also…” “Haunted?” Vosaphar was clutching a bundled-up blanket to his chest. “Yeah. I guess? You got a better look at it than I did, since you were able to resist its influence. Can you describe what you saw?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Over the next hour or so, Finnit listened, taking notes as the fiend—his *friend*—explained all that he had noticed about the interactions between the lighthouse, Finnit, and the surrounding environment. After Vosaphar finished, Finnit attempted to summarize what he had written. “It seems like we have… what, four problems to solve here? The lens is cracked; it needs to be made whole again. The lens is warped; it needs to return to its original shape, or at least, a shape capable of projecting light outward. The lens needs a source of energy to fuel its light. And last, the lens is corrupted by some potent, phantasmal force—whatever the pseudo-consciousness of the curse actually is—that must be addressed.” “Is that all?” Vosaphar asked, dryly. “Probably not. But listing it out like that, I can’t help but feel like it’s not impossible and rather just extraordinarily improbable that we can get this working again.” “Generations of emperors, architects, and scholars couldn’t get this lighthouse to work properly. For an incipient summoner and demon of no renown, it should be eminently solvable.” “Harsh. But not necessarily wrong.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit next drew out the infernal glyph his mind had projected onto the lens while he was under its sinister influence. Unlike most of the glyphs in his syllabary, this shape was especially difficult to coerce onto paper. Its jagged fingers craved depth to climb out of, a thoroughly unsettling thing to watch writhing on a flat surface. He showed it to Vosaphar. “Is there any chance you recognize this? I can’t understand what this is meant to represent.” The devil extended two claws to claim the page. His eyes grew wide as he stared at it for a moment, and then he shredded the paper to bits, tossing them into the fire. “Whoa.” Finnit’s gaze followed the fuchsia sparks that fled the ashes. “That bad?” “It’s a *name*,” Vosaphar said. “No wonder you couldn’t read it. You should not leave names lying about where they might take root.” “Whose name is it?” “I know not,” he said, curling his tail into the blankets. “But it is a demon’s name. A powerful one. A dangerous one.” How flattering. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Maybe that’s what’s in the lens,” Finnit mused. “There must be something infernal about the lighthouse for Raekard to care so much about it. Perhaps it can be communed with. Reasoned with.” “I do not wish to discourage your… kindness, Finnit. Yet, there remain many demons with whom it would be especially unwise to speak.” Vosaphar looked uncharacteristically unsettled by the discussion. In situations like this, Finnit wasn’t sure what to say. He didn’t want to pry, uninvited, into whatever anxieties the glyph had provoked. He moved his bedroll closer to the tender fiend and clasped one of Vosaphar’s hands in his, gently stroking the demon’s blue-gray fingers. Vosaphar accepted this attention, and after a few minutes, started to relax. It had become ever easier for Finnit to forget the storm raging just outside. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Agonize. ⇒->RAA. Lazurynth]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">The fragments of all that Finnit had seen and experienced at the Pharos Fidelis had started fitting together into a mosaic. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He did not much like the image taking form. Nevertheless, they had taken up their usual spots by the fire. Just a sorcerer and a devil, all cozy together. As friends. And, more importantly, research associates. “That lens…” Finnit began, scratching his stubbled chin. “I just don’t see how it’s going to be possible to reignite it. Or why you would even want to. Not only is it completely warped into slag but it’s also…” “Haunted?” Vosaphar was clutching a bundled-up blanket to his chest. “Yeah. I guess? You got a better look at it than I did, since you were able to resist its influence. Can you describe what you saw?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Over the next hour or so, Finnit listened, taking notes as the fiend—his *friend*—explained all that he had noticed about the interactions between the lighthouse, Finnit, and the surrounding environment. After Vosaphar finished, Finnit attempted to summarize what he had written. “It seems like we have… what, four problems to solve here? The lens is cracked; it needs to be made whole again. The lens is warped; it needs to return to its original shape, or at least, a shape capable of projecting light outward. The lens needs a source of energy to fuel its light. And last, the lens is corrupted by some potent, phantasmal force—whatever the pseudo-consciousness of the curse actually is—that must be addressed.” “Is that all?” Vosaphar asked, dryly. “Probably not. But listing it out like that, I can’t help but feel like it’s not impossible and rather just extraordinarily improbable that we can get this working again.” “Generations of emperors, architects, and scholars couldn’t get this lighthouse to work properly. For an incipient summoner and demon of no renown, it should be eminently solvable.” “Harsh. But not necessarily wrong.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit next drew out the infernal glyph his mind had projected onto the lens while he was under its sinister influence. Unlike most of the glyphs in his syllabary, this shape was especially difficult to coerce onto paper. Its jagged fingers craved depth to climb out of, a thoroughly unsettling thing to watch writhing on a flat surface. He showed it to Vosaphar. “Is there any chance you recognize this? I can’t understand what this is meant to represent.” The devil extended two claws to claim the page. His eyes grew wide as he stared at it for a moment, and then he shredded the paper to bits, tossing them into the fire. “Whoa.” Finnit’s gaze followed the fuchsia sparks that fled the ashes. “That bad?” “It’s a *name*,” Vosaphar said. “No wonder you couldn’t read it. You should not leave names lying about where they might take root.” “Whose name is it?” “I know not,” he said, curling his tail into the blankets. “But it is a demon’s name. A powerful one. A dangerous one.” How flattering. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Maybe that’s what’s in the lens,” Finnit mused. “There must be something infernal about the lighthouse for Raekard to care so much about it. Perhaps it can be communed with. Reasoned with.” “I do not wish to discourage your… kindness, Finnit. Yet, there remain many demons with whom it would be especially unwise to speak.” Vosaphar looked uncharacteristically unsettled by the discussion. In situations like this, Finnit wasn’t sure what to say. He didn’t want to pry, uninvited, into whatever anxieties the glyph had provoked. He moved his bedroll closer to the tender fiend and clasped one of Vosaphar’s hands in his, gently stroking the demon’s blue-gray fingers. Vosaphar accepted this attention, and after a few minutes, started to relax. It had become ever easier for Finnit to forget the storm raging just outside. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Agonize. ⇒->RAA. Lazurynth]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XV.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">Over the next few days, inspired by Jethel’s note, Finnit had become convinced that he could adapt a healing ritual to the lens. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar had been pleased for an excuse to read *Rites of Relief* with Finnit. The sorcerer’s face lit with curiosity as he described the properties of ritual targets. Though the spells were designed for living creatures, they could also affect, implicitly, anything both tangible and animated with spirit. The lightmare atop the Pharos Fidelis lurked somewhere dangerously close to those boundaries. Detangling theories of healcraft had not done as much as Vosaphar had hoped to ease his pain. It was little better than his intuitive magic. While Finnit slept, he could clean out his wounds and weave them shut, but it simply wouldn’t stick. He woke up bleeding. Still, Finnit and Vosaphar—contributing their combined knowledge of mortal spells, infernal dynamics, and dubious historical analysis—managed to draft out a spell with potential to enable communion with the cursed lighthouse. After days of this, something shifted. Sure, the drafted ritual was dangerous, targeting a powerful force they barely understood. But Finnit kept claiming he wasn’t sure the spell’s construction was accurate. When this happened, Vosaphar would help him sort through the logic again, and arrive at the same result. The sorcerer was stalling, and Vosaphar knew exactly why. And on other things, the demon might have brought the issue to the forefront himself. But he simply wasn’t ready. He wasn’t ready to return to the calciferous wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Eventually, Finnit had no choice but to voice it. “To even attempt this, I’d need all my magic at once.” There it was. Vosaphar looked into those soft brown eyes; the face he had so come to appreciate seeing as they eked out their existence together in this strange situation. This *temporary* situation. “You’d need to sever the accord,” Vosaphar stated. “Banish me. Reclaim your magic.” “I don’t want to.” Vosaphar felt his cuts squirming and oozing beneath his wrappings. His stomach churned. “Would you—I mean, if I—” Finnit began. “If that happened, I would summon you again immediately after—if you still wanted to, I mean, stay here until the eclipse with... with me—but what if the ritual doesn’t even work and something happens and you’re just…” Vosaphar didn’t know what to say. He looked at the tearful one—the man who’d laughed and read and schemed and comforted and dragged him into all this and ran his fingers through his hair just so and he might never see again and— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He looked at Finnit. And he felt… *Conflicted*. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Influence. ⇒->M3AA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">Over the next few days, inspired by Jethel’s note, Finnit had become convinced that he could adapt a healing ritual to the lens. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar had been pleased for an excuse to read *Rites of Relief* with Finnit. The sorcerer’s face lit with curiosity as he described the properties of ritual targets. Though the spells were designed for living creatures, they could also affect, implicitly, anything both tangible and animated with spirit. The lightmare atop the Pharos Fidelis lurked somewhere dangerously close to those boundaries. Detangling theories of healcraft had not done as much as Vosaphar had hoped to ease his pain. It was little better than his intuitive magic. While Finnit slept, he could clean out his wounds and weave them shut, but it simply wouldn’t stick. He woke up bleeding. Still, Finnit and Vosaphar—contributing their combined knowledge of mortal spells, infernal dynamics, and dubious historical analysis—managed to draft out a spell with potential to enable communion with the cursed lighthouse. After days of this, something shifted. Sure, the drafted ritual was dangerous, targeting a powerful force they barely understood. But Finnit kept claiming he wasn’t sure the spell’s construction was accurate. When this happened, Vosaphar would help him sort through the logic again, and arrive at the same result. The sorcerer was stalling, and Vosaphar knew exactly why. And on other things, the demon might have brought the issue to the forefront himself. But he simply wasn’t ready. He wasn’t ready to return to the calciferous wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Eventually, Finnit had no choice but to voice it. “To even attempt this, I’d need all my magic at once.” There it was. Vosaphar looked into those soft brown eyes; the face he had so come to appreciate seeing as they eked out their existence together in this strange situation. This *temporary* situation. “You’d need to sever the accord,” Vosaphar stated. “Banish me. Reclaim your magic.” “I don’t want to.” Vosaphar felt his cuts squirming and oozing beneath his wrappings. His stomach churned. “Would you—I mean, if I—” Finnit began. “If that happened, I would summon you again immediately after—if you still wanted to, I mean, stay here until the eclipse with... with me—but what if the ritual doesn’t even work and something happens and you’re just…” Vosaphar didn’t know what to say. He looked at the tearful one—the man who’d laughed and read and schemed and comforted and dragged him into all this and ran his fingers through his hair just so and he might never see again and— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He looked at Finnit. And he felt… *Conflicted*. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Influence. ⇒->M3AA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#fc4e71")+(text-size: 3)[Influence.] (text-color:"#fc4e71")+(text-size: 1.15)[Insecurity | Naivety.]</div> Another mote of hellfire appeared. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightmotepassage">When potent emotions conflicted a demon’s judgment, even the faintest mote of hellfire bore enough infernal energy to influence their fate from afar. As you knew. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#8c283c)[***Insecurity***] For the demon Vosaphar, so repressed by the context ensnaring all that he felt, the idea of exposing his secrets to the sorcerer dredged shameful memories of wingless writhing in the lazurynthine pits. This insecurity would have prevented him from sharing that which he kept most hidden, shielding himself against further wounds this flighty mortal might inflict upon his specificity. Yielding to this insecurity, however prudent, risked pushing the mortal away, withering the connection that might move the sorcerer to re-summon him. (text-color:#8c283c)[***Naivety***] For the demon Vosaphar, so enamored with the gentle mortal, the idea of trusting the sorcerer to re-summon him recalled ever-distant moments of connection he once had with other demons developing their specificity alongside him. This naivety would have inspired an openness to sharing the secrets so plaguing his heart. Yielding to the influence of this naivety, however intimate, risked handing the mortal the keys to his shame, leaving him vulnerable to further emotional wounds. (text-color:#8c283c)[***Decision***] Which force did this mote of hellfire incite? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightmotechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))[[[Insecurity. ⇒->16AAA. Finnit]]] (link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))[[[Naivety. ⇒->16AAB. Finnit]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="motepassage">When potent emotions conflicted a demon’s judgment, even the faintest mote of hellfire bore enough infernal energy to influence their fate from afar. As you knew. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Insecurity***] For the demon Vosaphar, so repressed by the context ensnaring all that he felt, the idea of exposing his secrets to the sorcerer dredged shameful memories of wingless writhing in the lazurynthine pits. This insecurity would have prevented him from sharing that which he kept most hidden, shielding himself against further wounds this flighty mortal might inflict upon his specificity. Yielding to this insecurity, however prudent, risked pushing the mortal away, withering the connection that might move the sorcerer to re-summon him. (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Naivety***] For the demon Vosaphar, so enamored with the gentle mortal, the idea of trusting the sorcerer to re-summon him recalled ever-distant moments of connection he once had with other demons developing their specificity alongside him. This naivety would have inspired an openness to sharing the secrets so plaguing his heart. Yielding to the influence of this naivety, however intimate, risked handing the mortal the keys to his shame, leaving him vulnerable to further emotional wounds. (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Decision***] Which force did this mote of hellfire incite? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="motechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Insecurity. ⇒->16AAA. Finnit]]] (link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Naivety. ⇒->16AAB. Finnit]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Mote]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">Tension stretched the moment until it snapped. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“And what if you don’t?” the devil asked, his voice quiet, crimson fire reflecting in his eyes. “Is this—is this *research* worth more to you than—or—or what if you can’t? What if the lens takes you and I never know why I remained for the rest of forever in the calciferous wastes? I—what if—” Vosaphar did not often hesitate in his speech. Finnit felt the pain in his words snarling around his heart. “Vosaphar, hey—look, I—I know it’s hard to trust a mortal. I thought—I hoped to make a fair accord, but maybe things are more slanted than I realized?” “It’s not the accord,” Vosaphar said. “It is, but it isn’t. You have every right to end it, as we negotiated, but what it means for you to do so, and what it means for *me* to do so, are not the same. And I don’t—I can’t know where I stand with you—or how you feel, really about… me.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit approached Vosaphar and embraced him, ensconcing within the seething heat always simmering beneath that blue-gray skin, the devil’s beard bristling against his neck, and they stood like that for some time. “I don’t know exactly what is developing between us,” Finnit said, when finally they pulled apart. “I want to be honest with you. I feel like it could become anything. And I want to find out what it becomes. *With* you. But you’re right about the danger of the ritual. Even with our best efforts to predict it, there’s no real telling what will happen to me when I approach the lens. Still, I—I want to see this… trial through, too. I don’t think I could live with myself if—having gotten so close to the Pharos Fidelis—I didn’t also do what I could to understand it.” Vosaphar gazed down at him, his eyes searching Finnit’s soul for the honesty behind his words. He sighed. “I… have also come to be curious about this strange island. I admit such. I cannot fault you for that, inquisitive one.” “I have an idea,” Finnit said, reaching into one of the crates for his wax sticks. “Would you—would you show me how to draw a glyph for your name? Then—if I do survive—I’ll be able to draw a much stronger circle for you. Less semantic dilution. You can show me every detail, and I can practice until I get it perfect.” The demon accepted the tender wax between his claws and knelt, beginning to draw on the stone floor. Finnit sat beside him, still within reach of his preternatural warmth, and watched the glyph take shape swoop by swoop, hook by hook, its details knitting together into something unmistakably Vosapharian. The devil stepped back from the sigil. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit looked closely, tracing the mark with his fingertips. “It makes me feel—like I want to soar the skies with you, through the smoke rising from some brimstone caldera. It’s—a beautiful feeling. And that’s you. That’s your name.” Vosaphar handed him the wax stick—now barely holding its shape from the heat—and Finnit drew for himself. And he found it came easily, when he followed that feeling that burned in his heart when he thought of Vosaphar. He closed his eyes, letting his hand move across the stone. When he opened them again, he had written the demon’s name—in his own handwriting—and the glyph seemed to radiate its own power. “I’m ready.” Vosaphar gave him a wan smile. “I’m ready to go.” “Are you sure?” “I should go.” “I will see you again,” Finnit promised. “I know.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Banish. ⇒->P3AAA. Third Principle]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">Tension stretched the moment until it snapped. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“And what if you don’t?” the devil asked, his voice quiet, crimson fire reflecting in his eyes. “Is this—is this *research* worth more to you than—or—or what if you can’t? What if the lens takes you and I never know why I remained for the rest of forever in the calciferous wastes? I—what if—” Vosaphar did not often hesitate in his speech. Finnit felt the pain in his words snarling around his heart. “Vosaphar, hey—look, I—I know it’s hard to trust a mortal. I thought—I hoped to make a fair accord, but maybe things are more slanted than I realized?” “It’s not the accord,” Vosaphar said. “It is, but it isn’t. You have every right to end it, as we negotiated, but what it means for you to do so, and what it means for *me* to do so, are not the same. And I don’t—I can’t know where I stand with you—or how you feel, really about… me.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit approached Vosaphar and embraced him, ensconcing within the seething heat always simmering beneath that blue-gray skin, the devil’s beard bristling against his neck, and they stood like that for some time. “I don’t know exactly what is developing between us,” Finnit said, when finally they pulled apart. “I want to be honest with you. I feel like it could become anything. And I want to find out what it becomes. *With* you. But you’re right about the danger of the ritual. Even with our best efforts to predict it, there’s no real telling what will happen to me when I approach the lens. Still, I—I want to see this… trial through, too. I don’t think I could live with myself if—having gotten so close to the Pharos Fidelis—I didn’t also do what I could to understand it.” Vosaphar gazed down at him, his eyes searching Finnit’s soul for the honesty behind his words. He sighed. “I… have also come to be curious about this strange island. I admit such. I cannot fault you for that, inquisitive one.” “I have an idea,” Finnit said, reaching into one of the crates for his wax sticks. “Would you—would you show me how to draw a glyph for your name? Then—if I do survive—I’ll be able to draw a much stronger circle for you. Less semantic dilution. You can show me every detail, and I can practice until I get it perfect.” The demon accepted the tender wax between his claws and knelt, beginning to draw on the stone floor. Finnit sat beside him, still within reach of his preternatural warmth, and watched the glyph take shape swoop by swoop, hook by hook, its details knitting together into something unmistakably Vosapharian. The devil stepped back from the sigil. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit looked closely, tracing the mark with his fingertips. “It makes me feel—like I want to soar the skies with you, through the smoke rising from some brimstone caldera. It’s—a beautiful feeling. And that’s you. That’s your name.” Vosaphar handed him the wax stick—now barely holding its shape from the heat—and Finnit drew for himself. And he found it came easily, when he followed that feeling that burned in his heart when he thought of Vosaphar. He closed his eyes, letting his hand move across the stone. When he opened them again, he had written the demon’s name—in his own handwriting—and the glyph seemed to radiate its own power. “I’m ready.” Vosaphar gave him a wan smile. “I’m ready to go.” “Are you sure?” “I should go.” “I will see you again,” Finnit promised. “I know.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Banish. ⇒->P3AAA. Third Principle]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">Tension stretched the moment until it snapped. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“I believe you,” the devil said, his voice quiet, crimson fire reflecting in his eyes. “I believe *in* you, Finnit. That your clever spell will commune with the lens, and that you mean to summon me again. But I want to say something important. Will you—will you listen?” Vosaphar did not often hesitate in his speech. Finnit felt warmth rushing to his heart. “Yes. Of course. I will listen.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Finnit—you do not know of the hells. You are closer to knowing them than most mortals. Yet, you wield its stolen fire, far removed from all the machinations of misery that produces it. Do your tomes whisper of the hells? They speak echoes of echoes, stories demons thought fit to share, or extorted from tongues that sorcerers shackled. As accorded, we both have the ability to end our agreement. Yet, what it means for you to do so, and what it means for *me* to do so, are not the same. My existence used to be something simpler. I was part of a great machine—with glimpses of insight, perhaps, but always hammering to the rhythm of greater powers. I rose through the ranks, bit by bit, becoming more of something—myself. I had wings. I could fly. And then, your master ripped me from that pattern, disrupted my existence, and now I know things, and feel things, at an intensity that I never should have. I gained *specificity*, and in my descent back to the pits of the lazurynth, it turned against me. I could not muster the power to heal these wounds, for all the time since you saw me fall at Cairnveld.” Vosaphar shed the layers of clothing over his torso, revealing blood-soaked wrappings. He had slash marks all across his chest and stomach. How had Finnit never seen them? Never realized? He wanted to leap over the fire to comfort his companion, but the demon was not yet finished with what he had to say. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“I wandered the calciferous wastes, bleeding, unable to heal. And you brought me here, and I gained back so much power and learned your mortal theories of the flesh and I still cannot heal. And it’s because of my specificity—a demon, given magic, will attempt to revert to their truest, most specific form. But I spent so long bleeding, that my wounds have become essential to that form. They will always reopen. And I’m afraid of returning to the calciferous wastes, losing my power again, but retaining this awareness of my pain. Your time is brief—far less than you deserve—but that leaves me to contemplate eternity, until I subsume under the fires, and even the hells are ground up with the rest of all that still exists, and the very last drop of rain has at last trickled down the Pharos Fidelis into a long-dead sea, becoming something even less imaginable than the senseless void, and for what? It is so much, Finnit. Why must—why must we—why must… I—I don’t want to face… I don’t—I don’t want to—” Finnit was sobbing. He ran to Vosaphar, embracing him, ensconced within the seething heat always simmering beneath that blue-gray skin, the devil’s beard bristling against his neck, and they stood like that for some time, until the tears spent themselves dry, and Finnit released him. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“I’m ready,” Vosaphar said. “Are you sure?” “I should go.” “I will see you again,” Finnit promised. “I know.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Banish. ⇒->P3AAB. Third Principle]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">Tension stretched the moment until it snapped. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“I believe you,” the devil said, his voice quiet, crimson fire reflecting in his eyes. “I believe *in* you, Finnit. That your clever spell will commune with the lens, and that you mean to summon me again. But I want to say something important. Will you—will you listen?” Vosaphar did not often hesitate in his speech. Finnit felt warmth rushing to his heart. “Yes. Of course. I will listen.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Finnit—you do not know of the hells. You are closer to knowing them than most mortals. Yet, you wield its stolen fire, far removed from all the machinations of misery that produces it. Do your tomes whisper of the hells? They speak echoes of echoes, stories demons thought fit to share, or extorted from tongues that sorcerers shackled. As accorded, we both have the ability to end our agreement. Yet, what it means for you to do so, and what it means for *me* to do so, are not the same. My existence used to be something simpler. I was part of a great machine—with glimpses of insight, perhaps, but always hammering to the rhythm of greater powers. I rose through the ranks, bit by bit, becoming more of something—myself. I had wings. I could fly. And then, your master ripped me from that pattern, disrupted my existence, and now I know things, and feel things, at an intensity that I never should have. I gained *specificity*, and in my descent back to the pits of the lazurynth, it turned against me. I could not muster the power to heal these wounds, for all the time since you saw me fall at Cairnveld.” Vosaphar shed the layers of clothing over his torso, revealing blood-soaked wrappings. He had slash marks all across his chest and stomach. How had Finnit never seen them? Never realized? He wanted to leap over the fire to comfort his companion, but the demon was not yet finished with what he had to say. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“I wandered the calciferous wastes, bleeding, unable to heal. And you brought me here, and I gained back so much power and learned your mortal theories of the flesh and I still cannot heal. And it’s because of my specificity—a demon, given magic, will attempt to revert to their truest, most specific form. But I spent so long bleeding, that my wounds have become essential to that form. They will always reopen. And I’m afraid of returning to the calciferous wastes, losing my power again, but retaining this awareness of my pain. Your time is brief—far less than you deserve—but that leaves me to contemplate eternity, until I subsume under the fires, and even the hells are ground up with the rest of all that still exists, and the very last drop of rain has at last trickled down the Pharos Fidelis into a long-dead sea, becoming something even less imaginable than the senseless void, and for what? It is so much, Finnit. Why must—why must we—why must… I—I don’t want to face… I don’t—I don’t want to—” Finnit was sobbing. He ran to Vosaphar, embracing him, ensconced within the seething heat always simmering beneath that blue-gray skin, the devil’s beard bristling against his neck, and they stood like that for some time, until the tears spent themselves dry, and Finnit released him. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“I’m ready,” Vosaphar said. “Are you sure?” “I should go.” “I will see you again,” Finnit promised. “I know.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Banish. ⇒->P3AAB. Third Principle]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#cbc999")+(text-size: 3)[Dogma.] (text-color:"#cbc999")+(text-size: 1.15)[The Third Principle of Summoning.]</div> Yet another unwelcome reminder, courtesy of Luminary Raekard. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightprinciplepassage">Recall the third principle of summoning: (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color:#65644c)[**3. The Principle of Planar Reversion**] Natural law rejects the presence of extraplanar entities in the mortal realm. Summoned demons therefore revert to their plane of origin, unless acted upon by sustained magical force. (text-color:#65644c)[***Implication:***] An unbound demon that persists beyond the original duration of a summoning circle must do so by feeding upon independent sources of magic. The most readily available source of magic has historically been the summoner. (text-color:#65644c)[***Implication:***] A demon that perishes in the mortal realm shall eventually be reconstituted in the jurisdiction of the hell that governs it. Banishment accelerates this process to an instant. (text-color:#65644c)[***Implication:***] When two sorceries of equivalent potency collide, a rite of banishment will always prevail over a rite of summoning. Account for the principle of planar reversion. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightprinciplechoice">|A>[(text-color:#989b00)[**Moor this wisdom. ⇒**]](click-replace: ?A,(action:'mouseover'))[(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))[[[Mourn his wisdom. ⇒->17AAB. Warden]]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="principlepassage">Recall the third principle of summoning: (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color:#cbc999)[**3. The Principle of Planar Reversion**] Natural law rejects the presence of extraplanar entities in the mortal realm. Summoned demons therefore revert to their plane of origin, unless acted upon by sustained magical force. (text-color:#cbc999)[***Implication:***] An unbound demon that persists beyond the original duration of a summoning circle must do so by feeding upon independent sources of magic. The most readily available source of magic has historically been the summoner. (text-color:#cbc999)[***Implication:***] A demon that perishes in the mortal realm shall eventually be reconstituted in the jurisdiction of the hell that governs it. Banishment accelerates this process to an instant. (text-color:#cbc999)[***Implication:***] When two sorceries of equivalent potency collide, a rite of banishment will always prevail over a rite of summoning. Account for the principle of planar reversion. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="principlechoice">|A>[(text-color:#989b00)[**Moor this wisdom. ⇒**]](click-replace: ?A,(action:'mouseover'))[(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))[[[Mourn his wisdom. ⇒->17AAB. Warden]]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Principle]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[XVII.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">At the center of the calciferous wastes stood a coralbone cottage. The warden’s. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Within the cottage burned a modest hellfire furnace, its crooked chimney venting spirals of smoke. Encircling this abode—the most lavish in all the wastes—was a smooth, still pool that hesitated to reflect the seething skies above. In the depths of this pool glinted a sparse collection of coals, spaced a lonesome distance from one another. Most had dimmed to the brink of winking out. A stubborn few still clung to their hues. One such ember, tinted the color of storm-tossed seas, suddenly flared, sending a ribbon of bubbles roiling to the surface. A demon was about to return to this remote reach of the hinterhells. And when he did, he might’ve been greeted by the warden of the calciferous wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[By you. (after:time+4s)+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|initial>[In preparation for this occasion: (link-reveal: "You approached the place where Vosaphar would emerge cold, wet, and screaming. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You approached the place where Vosaphar would emerge cold, wet, and screaming. He breached the surface of the pool, gasping for air, flailing for relief from the cold. It was every devil’s birthright to struggle their way out from their point of wretched origin. Your bitter pool was kinder than most. He swam toward the cottage, collapsing against brittle floes of bloodfrost ringing the shore. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|O1>[As a token of welcome: (link-reveal: "You loomed over him; a gesture of threat. ⚞↯⚟")[(replace: ?O1)[You loomed over him; a gesture of threat. A mote of hellfire appeared. Or rather, you conjured it, letting it drift between your claws, casting its crimson glow over your shivering subject. He gazed up at you, terrified. You flicked your claws—causing Vosaphar to flinch—and the mote vanished. After that demonstration, you walked back to your cottage. He dared not follow. You were, after all, powerful and dangerous. That’s what he called you, when his poor, foolish mortal companion showed him your fearsome name. Though he ought to have done better to recognize it. To him, you must have seemed as powerful as an archfiend. But your age of hellfire had yet to dawn. The magic you collected from him had already begun stoking the furnace. His toll for meager shelter in this unsafe harbor. Vosaphar crept away into the wastes, and the pool once again fell still. You returned to your work. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Commune. ⇒->Lens AABA]]]]</div>]] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You offered him a gift; a gesture of warmth. ⚞↯⚟")[(replace: ?O1)[You offered him a gift; a gesture of warmth. A mote of hellfire appeared. Or rather, you conjured it, stretching and shaping its fire into an ethereal crimson shawl befitting such a tenderhearted fiend. You knelt to his level, draping it over your trembling subject. He gazed up into your eyes, terrified, as the gauzy heat settled over him. But his shivering subsided. You stood, then returned to your cottage. He dared not follow, even to thank you for your gift. You were, after all, powerful and dangerous. That’s what he called you, when his poor, sweet mortal companion showed him your elegant name. Though he ought to have done better to recognize it. To him, you must have seemed as powerful as an archfiend. But your age of hellfire had yet to dawn. The magic you collected from him had already begun stoking the furnace. His toll for meager shelter in this unsafe harbor. Vosaphar crept away into the wastes, and the pool once again fell still. You returned to your work. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Commune. ⇒->Lens AABA]]]]</div>]]]]]] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You remained inside, at a polite distance. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You remained inside, at a polite distance. It was every devil’s birthright to struggle their way out from their point of wretched origin. Alone. Your bitter pool was kinder than most. As the furnace crackled, you heard Vosaphar flailing his way to the shore, just outside your cottage. You heard him gasping for air and moaning from the cold. Even then, the magic you collected from him stoked the furnace. His toll for meager shelter in this unsafe harbor. Perhaps he saw you tending to your motes, wishing them enough spark to catch fire when you needed them to. But even if he did, he dared not draw the warden’s attention. You were, after all, powerful and dangerous. That’s what he called you, when his poor, sweet mortal companion showed him your primordial name. Though he ought to have done better to recognize it. To him, you must have seemed as powerful as an archfiend. But your age of hellfire had yet to dawn. Vosaphar wandered off, shivering in the dark, and the pool once again fell still. You returned to your work. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Commune. ⇒->Lens AABB]]]]</div> ]]]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">At the center of the calciferous wastes stood a coralbone cottage. The warden’s. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Within the cottage burned a modest hellfire furnace, its crooked chimney venting spirals of smoke. Encircling this abode—the most lavish in all the wastes—was a smooth, still pool that hesitated to reflect the seething skies above. In the depths of this pool glinted a sparse collection of coals, spaced a lonesome distance from one another. Most had dimmed to the brink of winking out. A stubborn few still clung to their hues. One such ember, tinted the color of storm-tossed seas, suddenly flared, sending a ribbon of bubbles roiling to the surface. A demon was about to return to this remote reach of the hinterhells. And when he did, he might’ve been greeted by the warden of the calciferous wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[By you. (after:time+4s)+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|initial>[In preparation for this occasion: (link-reveal: "You approached the place where Vosaphar would emerge cold, wet, and screaming. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You approached the place where Vosaphar would emerge cold, wet, and screaming. He breached the surface of the pool, gasping for air, flailing for relief from the cold. It was every devil’s birthright to struggle their way out from their point of wretched origin. Your bitter pool was kinder than most. He swam toward the cottage, collapsing against brittle floes of bloodfrost ringing the shore. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|O1>[As a token of welcome: (link-reveal: "You loomed over him; a gesture of threat. ⚞↯⚟")[(replace: ?O1)[You loomed over him; a gesture of threat. A mote of hellfire appeared. Or rather, you conjured it, letting it drift between your claws, casting its crimson glow over your shivering subject. He gazed up at you, terrified. You flicked your claws—causing Vosaphar to flinch—and the mote vanished. After that demonstration, you walked back to your cottage. He dared not follow. You were, after all, powerful and dangerous. That’s what he called you, when his poor, foolish mortal companion showed him your fearsome name. Though he ought to have done better to recognize it. To him, you must have seemed as powerful as an archfiend. But your age of hellfire had yet to dawn. The magic you collected from him had already begun stoking the furnace. His toll for meager shelter in this unsafe harbor. Vosaphar crept away into the wastes, and the pool once again fell still. You returned to your work. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Commune. ⇒->Lens AABA]]]]</div>]] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You offered him a gift; a gesture of warmth. ⚞↯⚟")[(replace: ?O1)[You offered him a gift; a gesture of warmth. A mote of hellfire appeared. Or rather, you conjured it, stretching and shaping its fire into an ethereal crimson shawl befitting such a tenderhearted fiend. You knelt to his level, draping it over your trembling subject. He gazed up into your eyes, terrified, as the gauzy heat settled over him. But his shivering subsided. You stood, then returned to your cottage. He dared not follow, even to thank you for your gift. You were, after all, powerful and dangerous. That’s what he called you, when his poor, sweet mortal companion showed him your elegant name. Though he ought to have done better to recognize it. To him, you must have seemed as powerful as an archfiend. But your age of hellfire had yet to dawn. The magic you collected from him had already begun stoking the furnace. His toll for meager shelter in this unsafe harbor. Vosaphar crept away into the wastes, and the pool once again fell still. You returned to your work. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Commune. ⇒->Lens AABA]]]]</div>]]]]]] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You remained inside, at a polite distance. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You remained inside, at a polite distance. It was every devil’s birthright to struggle their way out from their point of wretched origin. Alone. Your bitter pool was kinder than most. As the furnace crackled, you heard Vosaphar flailing his way to the shore, just outside your cottage. You heard him gasping for air and moaning from the cold. Even then, the magic you collected from him stoked the furnace. His toll for meager shelter in this unsafe harbor. Perhaps he saw you tending to your motes, wishing them enough spark to catch fire when you needed them to. But even if he did, he dared not draw the warden’s attention. You were, after all, powerful and dangerous. That’s what he called you, when his poor, sweet mortal companion showed him your primordial name. Though he ought to have done better to recognize it. To him, you must have seemed as powerful as an archfiend. But your age of hellfire had yet to dawn. Vosaphar wandered off, shivering in the dark, and the pool once again fell still. You returned to your work. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Commune. ⇒->Lens AABB]]]]</div> ]]]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Mote]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f8cf7b")+(text-size: 3)[Dyslucence.] (text-color:"#f8cf7b")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Lens.]</div> An opaque rite of refraction. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightlenspassage">Another soul witnessed the lens. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ \(align:"=><=")[But what ] \(align:"==><=")[yet remained] \(align:"=><=")[to be seen] \ (align:"==><=")[once] \(align:"==><===")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"mortal")[moral]] \(align:"==><=")[designs] (align:"=><====")[had (link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"stolen")[sowed in] souls,] \ (align:"===><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"unwilling")[a willing] sacrifice in] \ (align:"=><==========")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"defiance of")[deference to]] \ (align:"======><=")[smoke-scorned skies?] \ (align:"=><====")[For] \ (align:"=====><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"even fearless")[ever fearful] fiends] \ (align:"=><=====")[could not comprehend] \ (align:"==>")[an eternity of] \ (align:"<==")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"unlit slag.")[sunlit glass.]] \ (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=")[Nevertheless—] Finnit saw a fragment deep within the throat of the island, its anchored eggs awash in the crimson glow of the future. All he needed to do was wait for the eclipse, cross the threshold, steal a mote of sunlight, and finish writing your name. For even the faintest mote of sunlight bore enough celestial energy to influence your fate from afar. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Or so you dared to hope. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightlenschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))[[[Darken. ⇒->18AABA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="lenspassage">Another soul witnessed the lens. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ \(align:"=><=")[But what] \(align:"==><=")[yet remained] \(align:"=><=")[to be seen] \ (align:"==><=")[once] \(align:"==><===")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"moral")[mortal]] \(align:"==><=")[designs] (align:"=><====")[had (link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"sowed in")[stolen] souls,] \ (align:"===><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"a willing")[unwilling] sacrifice in] \ (align:"=><==========")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"deference to")[defiance of]] \ (align:"======><=")[smoke-scorned skies?] \ (align:"=><====")[For] \ (align:"=====><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"ever fearful")[even fearless] fiends] \ (align:"=><=====")[could not comprehend] \ (align:"==>")[an eternity of] \ (align:"<==")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"sunlit glass.")[unlit slag.]] \ (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=")[Nevertheless—] Finnit saw a fragment deep within the throat of the island, its anchored eggs awash in the crimson glow of the future. All he needed to do was wait for the eclipse, cross the threshold, steal a mote of sunlight, and finish writing your name. For even the faintest mote of sunlight bore enough celestial energy to influence your fate from afar. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Or so you dared to hope. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lenschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#ac6e00")))[[[Darken. ⇒->18AABA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f8cf7b")+(text-size: 3)[Dyslucence.] (text-color:"#f8cf7b")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Lens.]</div> An opaque rite of refraction. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightlenspassage">Another soul witnessed the lens. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ \(align:"=><=")[But what ] \(align:"==><=")[yet remained] \(align:"=><=")[to be seen] \ (align:"==><=")[once] \(align:"==><===")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"mortal")[moral]] \(align:"==><=")[designs] (align:"=><====")[had (link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"stolen")[sowed in] souls,] \ (align:"===><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"unwilling")[a willing] sacrifice in] \ (align:"=><==========")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"defiance of")[deference to]] \ (align:"======><=")[smoke-scorned skies?] \ (align:"=><====")[For] \ (align:"=====><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"even fearless")[ever fearful] fiends] \ (align:"=><=====")[could not comprehend] \ (align:"==>")[an eternity of] \ (align:"<==")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"unlit slag.")[sunlit glass.]] \ (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=")[Nevertheless—] Finnit saw a fragment deep within the throat of the island, its anchored eggs awash in the crimson glow of the future. All he needed to do was wait for the eclipse, cross the threshold, steal a mote of sunlight, and finish writing your name. For even the faintest mote of sunlight bore enough celestial energy to influence your fate from afar. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Or so you dared to hope. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightlenschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))[[[Darken. ⇒->18AABB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="lenspassage">Another soul witnessed the lens. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ \(align:"=><=")[But what] \(align:"==><=")[yet remained] \(align:"=><=")[to be seen] \ (align:"==><=")[once] \(align:"==><===")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"moral")[mortal]] \(align:"==><=")[designs] (align:"=><====")[had (link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"sowed in")[stolen] souls,] \ (align:"===><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"a willing")[unwilling] sacrifice in] \ (align:"=><==========")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"deference to")[defiance of]] \ (align:"======><=")[smoke-scorned skies?] \ (align:"=><====")[For] \ (align:"=====><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"ever fearful")[even fearless] fiends] \ (align:"=><=====")[could not comprehend] \ (align:"==>")[an eternity of] \ (align:"<==")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"sunlit glass.")[unlit slag.]] \ (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=")[Nevertheless—] Finnit saw a fragment deep within the throat of the island, its anchored eggs awash in the crimson glow of the future. All he needed to do was wait for the eclipse, cross the threshold, steal a mote of sunlight, and finish writing your name. For even the faintest mote of sunlight bore enough celestial energy to influence your fate from afar. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Or so you dared to hope. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lenschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#ac6e00")))[[[Darken. ⇒->18AABB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[1st Era | Sunlight.]</div> One more fragment recounting the dark history of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">(text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The illuminative session for Leisenelle, former third officer of the now-renegade vessel ‘Consonance,’ is hereby brought to order. You stand accused of mutiny, murder, theft, deception, consorting with proscribed entities, and willful evasion of justice. Is that correct? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] You would know. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Is that correct? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I guess so. Yes. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“She sounds a lot like you,” Vosaphar murmured, stroking his claws idly through Finnit’s hair. “‘Consorting with proscribed entities?’ What a wicked accusation.” Finnit snorted. “Are you going to bring me to justice?” “Absolutely not.” “Too bad.” </div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Against these accusations, how do you plead? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I do not plead. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] You must make a claim, either to affirm or deny each crime you have been accused of. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I will make no such claims. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The accused has neglected her obligation to plead. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] What’s your deal, anyway? Are you mad? Some pretty vampire in your past tied your morals all up in knots and made you feel sinful? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My role here is strictly illuminative. How did you first come to associate with this vampire? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I was trying to find out the truth about this island. But none of them would talk to me. The islanders, I mean. They resent us. You know that, right? Look at what we’ve done to them since we got here. Someone has to stop it. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, mark a note down for ‘sedition,’ would you? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">At least the clerics are obligated to transcribe what they actually heard. Historians ought to learn from their example. ⚞L. Raekard (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“I think Raekard’s distaste for historians gets in his way,” Finnit said. “How could we possibly know, at this point, what liberties the cleric might have taken?” “It’s going to take more than historians to put a stop to him.” Finnit laughed, but Vosaphar hadn’t told a joke.</div>] </div>] (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] You didn’t have that one already? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Continue. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Fine. This one woman approached me, and told me to visit her house on the outskirts after sundown. I thought she might be into me—and maybe she was, a little—but she wanted me to meet her grandmother. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Yeah. Did the ‘after sundown’ part give it away? I’m not a good storyteller. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The only things your story requires are honesty and accuracy. Justice will account for the rest. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Whatever you need to tell yourself. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] I don’t ‘need’ to do anything. My role here is strictly illuminative. As the accused has been reminded. Continue. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] So, I waited for dusk, and paid her a visit. Her grandmother was living in the basement. Some kind of herbalist, I guess. The whole time we talked, she was crushing up these weird seedpods in a mortar and pestle. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] At what point did you realize this entity was a vampire? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Not until after, when… (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] When what? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] When you killed her. Robbed us of her wisdom, kindness, perspective, heart, all she contributed to her community. And for what? Some ash? Dust? Is there not already enough collecting between the folds of your ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that last term for obscenity. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] What, you’re more scandalized by me describing your dust-crusted ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆ than your violence? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that one as well. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“Which word do you suppose was stricken here?” Vosaphar asked. “Asscheeks,” Finnit said solemnly. “Has to be.”</div>] (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] So you don’t have an answer. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The entity in question was brought before sunlight and destroyed in accordance with all legal and moral precedent. Any ‘violence’ is lawful, and thereby just. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] And you wonder why they hate us. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Hatred is not the subject of this illuminative session. What did your proscribed discussion entail? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] She told me all kinds of stories about this place, how they have fine-tuned their relationship with the island to keep things running, letting their traditions evolve with the conditions. I think her granddaughter wanted her to have someone new to talk to, so she could share all this with someone. The old woman told me that when sun and moon meet in the sky, the boundary between our world and theirs grows thin. At such a momentous event, the cleverest and quickest might climb into the throat of the island and cross the threshold to the cosmos. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">At last. Something of value in this tedious discussion. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire spoke metaphorically, did it not? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">I wondered the same thing. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] No, I don’t think she did. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Explain. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] She said that when the celestial hosts of the heavens are distracted with their dance, the sun grows just cool enough to touch. She dipped her finger into the mortar, and showed me a golden bead of oil, and she said even a drop of sunlight was enough to bless the island for a century, but few survived the transit. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">They must not have understood what they were doing. How could they have, without knowledge of the Three Principles? If there is any truth to it at all, it is clearly some underdeveloped rite of self-banishment, resulting in a temporary transference of a mortal into the hells until planar reversion draws them back. If that. Nevertheless, the ritual is worth investigating further. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] It claimed to have performed this… feat? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I believe her. You would’ve too, had you been there. Thankfully, you weren’t. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My opinion toward the superstitious musings of a proscribed entity is not the subject of this session. My role here is strictly— (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“Illuminative,” Vosaphar said, looking out into the storm. “That’s it?” Finnit asked. “But I want to know… so much more.” “And yet, we know more now than we did before. Does this not confirm what you saw in the lens?” “I guess so. Still…” </div>] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightchroniclechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[[[Suspect. ⇒->20AABA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">(text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The illuminative session for Leisenelle, former third officer of the now-renegade vessel ‘Consonance,’ is hereby brought to order. You stand accused of mutiny, murder, theft, deception, consorting with proscribed entities, and willful evasion of justice. Is that correct? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] You would know. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Is that correct? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I guess so. Yes. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“She sounds a lot like you,” Vosaphar murmured, stroking his claws idly through Finnit’s hair. “‘Consorting with proscribed entities?’ What a wicked accusation.” Finnit snorted. “Are you going to bring me to justice?” “Absolutely not.” “Too bad.” </div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Against these accusations, how do you plead? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I do not plead. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] You must make a claim, either to affirm or deny each crime you have been accused of. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I will make no such claims. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The accused has neglected her obligation to plead. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] What’s your deal, anyway? Are you mad? Some pretty vampire in your past tied your morals all up in knots and made you feel sinful? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My role here is strictly illuminative. How did you first come to associate with this vampire? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I was trying to find out the truth about this island. But none of them would talk to me. The islanders, I mean. They resent us. You know that, right? Look at what we’ve done to them since we got here. Someone has to stop it. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, mark a note down for ‘sedition,’ would you? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">At least the clerics are obligated to transcribe what they actually heard. Historians ought to learn from their example. ⚞L. Raekard (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“I think Raekard’s distaste for historians gets in his way,” Finnit said. “How could we possibly know, at this point, what liberties the cleric might have taken?” “It’s going to take more than historians to put a stop to him.” Finnit laughed, but Vosaphar hadn’t told a joke.</div>] </div>] (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] You didn’t have that one already? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Continue. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Fine. This one woman approached me, and told me to visit her house on the outskirts after sundown. I thought she might be into me—and maybe she was, a little—but she wanted me to meet her grandmother. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Yeah. Did the ‘after sundown’ part give it away? I’m not a good storyteller. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The only things your story requires are honesty and accuracy. Justice will account for the rest. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Whatever you need to tell yourself. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] I don’t ‘need’ to do anything. My role here is strictly illuminative. As the accused has been reminded. Continue. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] So, I waited for dusk, and paid her a visit. Her grandmother was living in the basement. Some kind of herbalist, I guess. The whole time we talked, she was crushing up these weird seedpods in a mortar and pestle. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] At what point did you realize this entity was a vampire? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Not until after, when… (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] When what? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] When you killed her. Robbed us of her wisdom, kindness, perspective, heart, all she contributed to her community. And for what? Some ash? Dust? Is there not already enough collecting between the folds of your ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that last term for obscenity. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] What, you’re more scandalized by me describing your dust-crusted ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆ than your violence? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that one as well. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“Which word do you suppose was stricken here?” Vosaphar asked. “Asscheeks,” Finnit said solemnly. “Has to be.”</div>] (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] So you don’t have an answer. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The entity in question was brought before sunlight and destroyed in accordance with all legal and moral precedent. Any ‘violence’ is lawful, and thereby just. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] And you wonder why they hate us. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Hatred is not the subject of this illuminative session. What did your proscribed discussion entail? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] She told me all kinds of stories about this place, how they have fine-tuned their relationship with the island to keep things running, letting their traditions evolve with the conditions. I think her granddaughter wanted her to have someone new to talk to, so she could share all this with someone. The old woman told me that when sun and moon meet in the sky, the boundary between our world and theirs grows thin. At such a momentous event, the cleverest and quickest might climb into the throat of the island and cross the threshold to the cosmos. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">At last. Something of value in this tedious discussion. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire spoke metaphorically, did it not? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">I wondered the same thing. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] No, I don’t think she did. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Explain. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] She said that when the celestial hosts of the heavens are distracted with their dance, the sun grows just cool enough to touch. She dipped her finger into the mortar, and showed me a golden bead of oil, and she said even a drop of sunlight was enough to bless the island for a century, but few survived the transit. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">They must not have understood what they were doing. How could they have, without knowledge of the Three Principles? If there is any truth to it at all, it is clearly some underdeveloped rite of self-banishment, resulting in a temporary transference of a mortal into the hells until planar reversion draws them back. If that. Nevertheless, the ritual is worth investigating further. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] It claimed to have performed this… feat? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I believe her. You would’ve too, had you been there. Thankfully, you weren’t. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My opinion toward the superstitious musings of a proscribed entity is not the subject of this session. My role here is strictly— (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“Illuminative,” Vosaphar said, looking out into the storm. “That’s it?” Finnit asked. “But I want to know… so much more.” “And yet, we know more now than we did before. Does this not confirm what you saw in the lens?” “I guess so. Still…” </div>] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="chroniclechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[[[Suspect. ⇒->20AABA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#927b1a")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Chronicle]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[2nd Era | Pyrelight.]</div> Another fragment recounting the dark history of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">The Six Hundred and Eighty-Seventh Pharos Fidelis Pyretender Consignment Report is hereby filed under the devolved authority bestowed by Our Most Luminous Emperor Kolemeus, in accordance with Pharos Fidelis Pyretender Accounting Ordinance the First. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Acting Pharos Fidelis Pyretender C. F. truthfully attests that, during this six hundred and eighty-seventh month, in addition to prescribed daily allotments of timber, excepting dates the Third, Fifth, Twenty-Sixth, and Twenty-Eighth, the following detritus was consigned to the pyre: (text-color:#4c4833)[**On date the Third—**] Approximately one quarter of the merchant vessel *Resurgence*, run aground at the Pharos Fidelis, and stripped of its useful parts. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">This month would’ve fallen in the midst of the pyre’s decline. No doubt, the dimming of the light and the darkening of the skies contributed to this shipwreck. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] The bodies of fifteen sailors, deceased by drowning in the aforementioned incident, and stripped of their useful personal effects. Four crates of proscribed intoxicant liquor, seized from the wreckage in the aforementioned incident, and stripped of its useful contents. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“Wait.” Finnit read that last sentence again. “Oh, the pyretender just drank it, didn’t they?” “Would you have done the same?” “Probably.” Finnit paused. “I wouldn’t have written it into an official report like this, though.” “Perhaps the pyretender merely tired of their monotonous existence, and never expected anyone to read this report anyway.”</div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**On date the Fifth—**] Ten additional planks from the wreckage of the merchant vessel *Resurgence*, washed ashore. Twenty-six ledgers containing forged records of intoxicant liquor purchase authorization, seized from the wreckage in the aforementioned incident. (text-color:#4c4833)[**On date the Sixth—**] Thirty-one seditious pamphlets, scattered unlawfully outside the Office of the Pharos Fidelis Pyretender. (text-color:#4c4833)[**On date the Eleventh—**] The body of one sailor, culpable navigator of the aforementioned vessel *Resurgence*, deceased by lawful beheading, and stripped of its useful personal effects. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“Only eight days later,” Vosaphar remarked. “Does mortal ‘justice’ always move so swiftly?” Finnit thought about it. “I guess it depends on the judge.”</div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**On date the Twenty-Fifth—**] The carcass of one proscribed entity: werewolf, lawfully destroyed by hunters, and stripped of its usable pelt. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“This is horrific,” Finnit said. “I feel ill reading this.” Vosaphar rubbed his claws together anxiously. “I don’t know much of werewolves.” “A werewolf, even if not fully human, is still a *person*.” “I guess mortals such as this pyretender disdain of more than just demons.”</div>] Thirty-two heretical grimoires, confiscated from the dwelling of the aforementioned proscribed entity. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">It’s a shame that those books were in the hands of that creature and not a proper archivist. I doubt anything the first Kolemian regime deemed “heretical” was entirely useless. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] Eleven heretical ritual candles, confiscated from the dwelling of the aforementioned proscribed entity. Thirteen bundles of proscribed heretical intoxicant herbs, confiscated from the dwelling of the aforementioned proscribed entity. (text-color:#4c4833)[**On date the Twenty-Sixth—**] One hundred and ninety seditious pamphlets, confiscated from the dwelling of lawfully destroyed proscribed entity: werewolf. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“So the werewolf was the pamphleteer?” Vosaphar asked. Finnit fiddled with his bracelet. “They’d have all the reason to be. It’s just… why did it take them an extra day to burn the pamphlets? If I were trying to throw suspicion off of myself, the home of an exposed werewolf no longer able to defend themselves against accusations is exactly where I would put them.” Vosaphar mulled it over. “You are quite the terror, Finnit.” </div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**On date the Twenty-Eighth—**] Radiant ash harvested from the carcasses of five lawfully summoned proscribed entities: demonic, lawfully destroyed by holy ritual blade, in accordance with Pharos Fidelis Pyretender Stoking Ordinance the Fourth. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">What an ideological contortion from a regime so insistent on declaring most useful sorcery heretical. They must have been desperate, to have attempted saving the pyre with a state-sanctioned summon-and-slaughter scheme like this. And how futile. A senseless waste of ritual components. ⚞L. Raekard (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">Vosaphar went very quiet. Finnit leaned his head against the devil’s shoulder for a few moments.</div>] </div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**As Proclaimed:**] The Pharos Fidelis Pyre shall forever brighten the seas of Our Most Luminous Emperor Kolemeus. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“Well, it didn’t,” Finnit said. Unstated thoughts clouded Vosaphar’s eyes.</div>] This concludes the Six Hundred and Eighty-Seventh Pharos Fidelis Pyretender Consignment Report. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightchroniclechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#927b1a")))[[[Assemble. ⇒->14AA. Finnit]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">The Six Hundred and Eighty-Seventh Pharos Fidelis Pyretender Consignment Report is hereby filed under the devolved authority bestowed by Our Most Luminous Emperor Kolemeus, in accordance with Pharos Fidelis Pyretender Accounting Ordinance the First. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Acting Pharos Fidelis Pyretender C. F. truthfully attests that, during this six hundred and eighty-seventh month, in addition to prescribed daily allotments of timber, excepting dates the Third, Fifth, Twenty-Sixth, and Twenty-Eighth, the following detritus was consigned to the pyre: (text-color:#d7cc90)[**On date the Third—**] Approximately one quarter of the merchant vessel *Resurgence*, run aground at the Pharos Fidelis, and stripped of its useful parts. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">This month would’ve fallen in the midst of the pyre’s decline. No doubt, the dimming of the light and the darkening of the skies contributed to this shipwreck. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] The bodies of fifteen sailors, deceased by drowning in the aforementioned incident, and stripped of their useful personal effects. Four crates of proscribed intoxicant liquor, seized from the wreckage in the aforementioned incident, and stripped of its useful contents. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“Wait.” Finnit read that last sentence again. “Oh, the pyretender just drank it, didn’t they?” “Would you have done the same?” “Probably.” Finnit paused. “I wouldn’t have written it into an official report like this, though.” “Perhaps the pyretender merely tired of their monotonous existence, and never expected anyone to read this report anyway.”</div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**On date the Fifth—**] Ten additional planks from the wreckage of the merchant vessel *Resurgence*, washed ashore. Twenty-six ledgers containing forged records of intoxicant liquor purchase authorization, seized from the wreckage in the aforementioned incident. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**On date the Sixth—**] Thirty-one seditious pamphlets, scattered unlawfully outside the Office of the Pharos Fidelis Pyretender. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**On date the Eleventh—**] The body of one sailor, culpable navigator of the aforementioned vessel *Resurgence*, deceased by lawful beheading, and stripped of its useful personal effects. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“Only eight days later,” Vosaphar remarked. “Does mortal ‘justice’ always move so swiftly?” Finnit thought about it. “I guess it depends on the judge.”</div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**On date the Twenty-Fifth—**] The carcass of one proscribed entity: werewolf, lawfully destroyed by hunters, and stripped of its usable pelt. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“This is horrific,” Finnit said. “I feel ill reading this.” Vosaphar rubbed his claws together anxiously. “I don’t know much of werewolves.” “A werewolf, even if not fully human, is still a *person*.” “I guess mortals such as this pyretender disdain of more than just demons.”</div>] Thirty-two heretical grimoires, confiscated from the dwelling of the aforementioned proscribed entity. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">It’s a shame that those books were in the hands of that creature and not a proper archivist. I doubt anything the first Kolemian regime deemed “heretical” was entirely useless. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] Eleven heretical ritual candles, confiscated from the dwelling of the aforementioned proscribed entity. Thirteen bundles of proscribed heretical intoxicant herbs, confiscated from the dwelling of the aforementioned proscribed entity. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**On date the Twenty-Sixth—**] One hundred and ninety seditious pamphlets, confiscated from the dwelling of lawfully destroyed proscribed entity: werewolf. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“So the werewolf was the pamphleteer?” Vosaphar asked. Finnit fiddled with his bracelet. “They’d have all the reason to be. It’s just… why did it take them an extra day to burn the pamphlets? If I were trying to throw suspicion off of myself, the home of an exposed werewolf no longer able to defend themselves against accusations is exactly where I would put them.” Vosaphar mulled it over. “You are quite the terror, Finnit.” </div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**On date the Twenty-Eighth—**] Radiant ash harvested from the carcasses of five lawfully summoned proscribed entities: demonic, lawfully destroyed by holy ritual blade, in accordance with Pharos Fidelis Pyretender Stoking Ordinance the Fourth. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">What an ideological contortion from a regime so insistent on declaring most useful sorcery heretical. They must have been desperate, to have attempted saving the pyre with a state-sanctioned summon-and-slaughter scheme like this. And how futile. A senseless waste of ritual components. ⚞L. Raekard (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">Vosaphar went very quiet. Finnit leaned his head against the devil’s shoulder for a few moments.</div>] </div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**As Proclaimed:**] The Pharos Fidelis Pyre shall forever brighten the seas of Our Most Luminous Emperor Kolemeus. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“Well, it didn’t,” Finnit said. Unstated thoughts clouded Vosaphar’s eyes.</div>] This concludes the Six Hundred and Eighty-Seventh Pharos Fidelis Pyretender Consignment Report. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="chroniclechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#927b1a")))[[[Assemble. ⇒->14AA. Finnit]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#927b1a")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Chronicle]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[XVIII.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">It wasn’t long before even the shock of Vosaphar’s emergence from the pool—exactly as cold and miserable as you had promised him it would be—had begun to fade into the listlessness of wandering the wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The residual magic Finnit had accorded him allowed him to travel faster and further than before. His slash wounds scabbed over more readily, healing further with each attempt. Something had shifted in his specificity. He should have been satisfied with that. Satisfied with the memories of what was, and dreams of what could have been, for bitter honey still bore sweetness. Didn’t it? Another kind of wound had carved itself into his heart. Without Finnit, Vosaphar’s existence felt darker and emptier than it ever had before. He wondered what might be about to happen, was happening, or had already happened at the Pharos Fidelis. Was Finnit still preparing his ritual of communion with the lens? Was it already over? Could he have been, right at that moment, spiraling amidst its unfathomable secrets? Perhaps Finnit’s rite had failed, the cursed lens consuming his soul as it had so many others. But, it could also be… something else. Another reason. Just as that doubt crept in, the devil felt a familiar sensation tugging at his core. Heat coursed through his veins as a tendril of sorcery unfurled for him, awaiting his tender grasp. (align:"<==")[And then—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=========")[Vosaphar] (align:"=><==")[at last] (align:"=><=")[recalled] (align:"===><==")[his] (align:"==><=")[own] (align:"===><=")[principle] (align:"=========><=")[of] (align:"==>")[flight—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Spread wings. ⇒->19AABA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">It wasn’t long before even the shock of Vosaphar’s emergence from the pool—exactly as cold and miserable as you had promised him it would be—had begun to fade into the listlessness of wandering the wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The residual magic Finnit had accorded him allowed him to travel faster and further than before. His slash wounds scabbed over more readily, healing further with each attempt. Something had shifted in his specificity. He should have been satisfied with that. Satisfied with the memories of what was, and dreams of what could have been, for bitter honey still bore sweetness. Didn’t it? Another kind of wound had carved itself into his heart. Without Finnit, Vosaphar’s existence felt darker and emptier than it ever had before. He wondered what might be about to happen, was happening, or had already happened at the Pharos Fidelis. Was Finnit still preparing his ritual of communion with the lens? Was it already over? Could he have been, right at that moment, spiraling amidst its unfathomable secrets? Perhaps Finnit’s rite had failed, the cursed lens consuming his soul as it had so many others. But, it could also be… something else. Another reason. Just as that doubt crept in, the devil felt a familiar sensation tugging at his core. Heat coursed through his veins as a tendril of sorcery unfurled for him, awaiting his tender grasp. (align:"<==")[And then—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=========")[Vosaphar] (align:"=><==")[at last] (align:"=><=")[recalled] (align:"===><==")[his] (align:"==><=")[own] (align:"===><=")[principle] (align:"=========><=")[of] (align:"==>")[flight—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Spread wings. ⇒->19AABA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XIX.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">Atop the Pharos Fidelis, Finnit remained just in sight of the great split glass that had spilled its secrets. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he smeared the last of his wax sticks to stubs on wet stone, he did not give the lens a further thought. He did not obey the principle of authoritarian primacy. He did not beware the principle of semantic dilution. He did not account for the principle of planar reversion. He thought only of Vosaphar, with a singular intensity of focus that even the Pharos Fidelis could never have dreamed of refracting. The circle of waxen glyphs coursed with scarlet fire, brighter than Finnit had ever seen it. He averted his gaze, eyes watering. When he looked back, Vosaphar had manifested before him once more. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[From his back spread wings wrought of fire, eldritch blue roiled with red and magenta—the colors of Finnit’s own magic, now intertwined with Vosaphar’s. Finnit’s eyes traveled further, noting ichor scabs crisscrossing the devil’s scarred blue chest, and then, curls of rough hair trailing immodestly past his navel. Streaks of lightning slashed green across the sky, glinting off his fearsome horns. Raindrops sizzled as the demon swept them aside, wreathing himself in silver mist. Vosaphar looked every bit an archfiend of legend looming over him, his eyes fixed on Finnit, reaching forward to press the sorcerer against the cliffside, claws clasping his wrists. “Vosaphar—” The infernal heat overwhelmed his mortal senses. “Please—Vosaphar, kiss m—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon pressed his lips gently against Finnit’s, dark beard bristling against his tender skin, breathing out brimstone incense that smoldered in Finnit’s throat. Just when Finnit thought himself on the verge of feeling too much, that Vosaphar might devour his soul and all his magic in a final, blissful moment of agony, the fiend held back, slackening his grip, and smiled. “I couldn’t wait until I got back,” Finnit said, his vision still sparking. “I—I needed to see you again.” “That’s not all you need.” Vosaphar leaned forward, so close still that Finnit could see details pitted into his horns. “What is it exactly that you imagine, lustful one? A dreadful devil from your darkest dreams, ever so sweetly domineering?” “I–” Finnit felt dazed as those fevered imaginings grew sharper into his mind. “I mean—well—now that you’ve brought it up, that sounds—” “Too bad,” Vosaphar said, his voice sly and soft. “My dear Finnit, you’re all *wet*.” And he was. He’d completely abandoned his wards in the midst of an endless storm. How embarrassing. Finnit also noticed that, in his exuberance to kiss him, Vosaphar had clumsily scorched Finnit’s sleeves with his wings. Suddenly, the demon felt less like some legendary figure, and instead like something better. Something real. Finnit’s companion. Finnit’s love. Finnit’s Vosaphar. “We should head back down,” Finnit said. “We should.” Vosaphar pushed one of Finnit’s loose curls back. “But listen, Finnit. When we do, I want *you* to take the lead. I want things to be… gentle, between us. For now. How does that sound?” “I have never wanted something so much in my entire existence.” Vosaphar grinned, ivory fangs glinting. “Good.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[What followed was an evening of tender fumbling and grasping. Finnit had been piqued by the fantasy of Vosaphar looming over him; and it remained a thought he wanted to revisit later. But, he found that this gentle, deliberate exploration—some serenity among the profane—brought him closer to understanding the demon in a way he found difficult to articulate but easy to just experience as it happened. Tomorrow, research awaited. But for now, Finnit’s fears grew distant as he slept, wrapped against Vosaphar like a warm satchel. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Interrogate. ⇒->C1AABA. Sunlight]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">Atop the Pharos Fidelis, Finnit remained just in sight of the great split glass that had spilled its secrets. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he smeared the last of his wax sticks to stubs on wet stone, he did not give the lens a further thought. He did not obey the principle of authoritarian primacy. He did not beware the principle of semantic dilution. He did not account for the principle of planar reversion. He thought only of Vosaphar, with a singular intensity of focus that even the Pharos Fidelis could never have dreamed of refracting. The circle of waxen glyphs coursed with scarlet fire, brighter than Finnit had ever seen it. He averted his gaze, eyes watering. When he looked back, Vosaphar had manifested before him once more. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[From his back spread wings wrought of fire, eldritch blue roiled with red and magenta—the colors of Finnit’s own magic, now intertwined with Vosaphar’s. Finnit’s eyes traveled further, noting ichor scabs crisscrossing the devil’s scarred blue chest, and then, curls of rough hair trailing immodestly past his navel. Streaks of lightning slashed green across the sky, glinting off his fearsome horns. Raindrops sizzled as the demon swept them aside, wreathing himself in silver mist. Vosaphar looked every bit an archfiend of legend looming over him, his eyes fixed on Finnit, reaching forward to press the sorcerer against the cliffside, claws clasping his wrists. “Vosaphar—” The infernal heat overwhelmed his mortal senses. “Please—Vosaphar, kiss m—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon pressed his lips gently against Finnit’s, dark beard bristling against his tender skin, breathing out brimstone incense that smoldered in Finnit’s throat. Just when Finnit thought himself on the verge of feeling too much, that Vosaphar might devour his soul and all his magic in a final, blissful moment of agony, the fiend held back, slackening his grip, and smiled. “I couldn’t wait until I got back,” Finnit said, his vision still sparking. “I—I needed to see you again.” “That’s not all you need.” Vosaphar leaned forward, so close still that Finnit could see details pitted into his horns. “What is it exactly that you imagine, lustful one? A dreadful devil from your darkest dreams, ever so sweetly domineering?” “I–” Finnit felt dazed as those fevered imaginings grew sharper into his mind. “I mean—well—now that you’ve brought it up, that sounds—” “Too bad,” Vosaphar said, his voice sly and soft. “My dear Finnit, you’re all *wet*.” And he was. He’d completely abandoned his wards in the midst of an endless storm. How embarrassing. Finnit also noticed that, in his exuberance to kiss him, Vosaphar had clumsily scorched Finnit’s sleeves with his wings. Suddenly, the demon felt less like some legendary figure, and instead like something better. Something real. Finnit’s companion. Finnit’s love. Finnit’s Vosaphar. “We should head back down,” Finnit said. “We should.” Vosaphar pushed one of Finnit’s loose curls back. “But listen, Finnit. When we do, I want *you* to take the lead. I want things to be… gentle, between us. For now. How does that sound?” “I have never wanted something so much in my entire existence.” Vosaphar grinned, ivory fangs glinting. “Good.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[What followed was an evening of tender fumbling and grasping. Finnit had been piqued by the fantasy of Vosaphar looming over him; and it remained a thought he wanted to revisit later. But, he found that this gentle, deliberate exploration—some serenity among the profane—brought him closer to understanding the demon in a way he found difficult to articulate but easy to just experience as it happened. Tomorrow, research awaited. But for now, Finnit’s fears grew distant as he slept, wrapped against Vosaphar like a warm satchel. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Interrogate. ⇒->C1AABA. Sunlight]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XX.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">With fewer than a handful of days remaining until the eclipse, Vosaphar was determined to spend as much of that time as he could with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon now wondered why they had wasted the preceding days doing everything else *except* wrapping up together in blankets, speaking softly to one another. His ordeals felt paler against the comfort of this heat. Had your machinations even mattered for this? Under these conditions, wouldn’t they have always found themselves in love? You had no motes for lust. Though, based on what you had seen, you wouldn’t have needed them. Goodness. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Once they were ready to venture out, Finnit led Vosaphar back up the cliffside stairs to the crevice dotted with rusted anchors and unhatched eggs. The bird-creature chirped warily as they sidled deeper into the passage. She affixed those golden eyes to Vosaphar, unblinking, as though daring him to disturb any of her forsaken brood. He kept himself positioned between her and Finnit, to help alleviate the mortal’s anxiety. After winding their way through, the passage opened into a roughly circular chamber. “Look, Vosaphar,” Finnit intoned, pointing up. “We’re right beneath the lens.” Black slag had oozed down from the ceiling, frozen into organic stalactites that reflected no light from Finnit’s orb. While still fluid, they had dripped, leaving a few glassy patches spread across the altar. *Click*. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“What was that?” Vosaphar whispered. He cautiously approached the altar, a raised disk with a tight spiral grooved into its otherwise flat surface. “There,” Finnit whispered. “See the moon?” *Click*. A mechanism lowered a miniature pewter grate, allowing a tiny white sphere to roll a little further forward along the channel. At the center of the spiral lay a rendering of the sun, blotched by inky glass that had dripped down from above. “So much for studying the almanac.” Finnit paced around the pedestal. “This device is telling us how much is left until the eclipse. If we had known earlier…” “But we know now,” Vosaphar said. “Look at how close it is.” Vast and fiddly though the design was, the moon had wound its way close to the center. It was an unwelcome reminder of the future approaching, click by— *Click*. A taut silence stretched between them. Vosaphar had thoughts that he was unwilling to admit to. *Click*. “What if we just stayed here?” Finnit voiced. “Well maybe not this particular chamber. I mean the Pharos Fidelis in general.” He looked down at the transit bracelet Raekard had given him. “I could throw this in the ocean. We could ignore the lens. Stay here as long as we wanted.” “There’s nothing for you to eat, Finnit.” *Click.* “Would you even want to go to the academy?” Finnit stared at the pedestal. “Who even knows what they’d do to you, or—” “I am willing to risk it,” Vosaphar said. “I cannot say what the future holds. But we can’t stay here. I’m in no hurry to descend back to the calciferous wastes. And you have your life to live. I would rather join you in whatever of that you are willing to have me for, or until we choose to part. Is that not the way forward in such matters? The real accord?” *Click.* Finnit was silent for a few more moments. “Yes. You’re right. But I’m scared. This could all go so wrong.” Vosaphar embraced Finnit, holding him close. “It might. We will do our best, regardless.” They stayed together a while longer, before journeying back to their strange little home in the cliffside. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[At the eclipse, they would return. And the fate of the Pharos Fidelis would at last be decided. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Petition. ⇒->RAABA. Calciferous]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">With fewer than a handful of days remaining until the eclipse, Vosaphar was determined to spend as much of that time as he could with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon now wondered why they had wasted the preceding days doing everything else *except* wrapping up together in blankets, speaking softly to one another. His ordeals felt paler against the comfort of this heat. Had your machinations even mattered for this? Under these conditions, wouldn’t they have always found themselves in love? You had no motes for lust. Though, based on what you had seen, you wouldn’t have needed them. Goodness. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Once they were ready to venture out, Finnit led Vosaphar back up the cliffside stairs to the crevice dotted with rusted anchors and unhatched eggs. The bird-creature chirped warily as they sidled deeper into the passage. She affixed those golden eyes to Vosaphar, unblinking, as though daring him to disturb any of her forsaken brood. He kept himself positioned between her and Finnit, to help alleviate the mortal’s anxiety. After winding their way through, the passage opened into a roughly circular chamber. “Look, Vosaphar,” Finnit intoned, pointing up. “We’re right beneath the lens.” Black slag had oozed down from the ceiling, frozen into organic stalactites that reflected no light from Finnit’s orb. While still fluid, they had dripped, leaving a few glassy patches spread across the altar. *Click*. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“What was that?” Vosaphar whispered. He cautiously approached the altar, a raised disk with a tight spiral grooved into its otherwise flat surface. “There,” Finnit whispered. “See the moon?” *Click*. A mechanism lowered a miniature pewter grate, allowing a tiny white sphere to roll a little further forward along the channel. At the center of the spiral lay a rendering of the sun, blotched by inky glass that had dripped down from above. “So much for studying the almanac.” Finnit paced around the pedestal. “This device is telling us how much is left until the eclipse. If we had known earlier…” “But we know now,” Vosaphar said. “Look at how close it is.” Vast and fiddly though the design was, the moon had wound its way close to the center. It was an unwelcome reminder of the future approaching, click by— *Click*. A taut silence stretched between them. Vosaphar had thoughts that he was unwilling to admit to. *Click*. “What if we just stayed here?” Finnit voiced. “Well maybe not this particular chamber. I mean the Pharos Fidelis in general.” He looked down at the transit bracelet Raekard had given him. “I could throw this in the ocean. We could ignore the lens. Stay here as long as we wanted.” “There’s nothing for you to eat, Finnit.” *Click.* “Would you even want to go to the academy?” Finnit stared at the pedestal. “Who even knows what they’d do to you, or—” “I am willing to risk it,” Vosaphar said. “I cannot say what the future holds. But we can’t stay here. I’m in no hurry to descend back to the calciferous wastes. And you have your life to live. I would rather join you in whatever of that you are willing to have me for, or until we choose to part. Is that not the way forward in such matters? The real accord?” *Click.* Finnit was silent for a few more moments. “Yes. You’re right. But I’m scared. This could all go so wrong.” Vosaphar embraced Finnit, holding him close. “It might. We will do our best, regardless.” They stayed together a while longer, before journeying back to their strange little home in the cliffside. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[At the eclipse, they would return. And the fate of the Pharos Fidelis would at last be decided. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Petition. ⇒->RAABA. Calciferous]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[Recollection.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">Vosaphar’s spilling ichor sang to them so sweetly, libations that lured all manner of lips to lap. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[No longer able to fly, the beleaguered demon ran, stumbled, staggered, crawled—anything he could do to place another lazurynthine wall between himself and his nearest pursuer. He needed somewhere dark and quiet, somewhere safe to recover. Such amenities were unavailable in the lazurynth. But there were other hells than these. Vosaphar slipped through an inky gap between walls that had lost definition, their geometry corrupted by some other force. He sank into an oily pool, far beneath the febrile blue heat. He could no longer tell where the sludge began and his blood ended, drifting ever downward. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Eventually he reached the shore near your cottage, not yet fragmented to spectral remnants. Still specific, despite it all. He crawled to your doorstep, begging for relief from the lazurynth. Should he fall, he would emerge there once more, a cycle of dissolution his demonhood would eventually fail to survive. You told him that the calciferous wastes were hostile and desolate. He said he preferred a false quiet to an honest din. You told him there was nothing of value here—had there been, a warden as petty as you would’ve long been shredded to bits by a stronger devil. He said he preferred an expansive nothing to crowded corridors. You told him he would awaken cold, wet, and screaming, his every lonely birth into this void inevitable suffering. He said he preferred a bitter plunge to a blistering fire. You told him what it would cost, a steady stream of magic to brighten your hellfire furnace, tending to the motes. He accepted those terms without hesitation. You asked him for his name. He still had one. Vosaphar. With that accorded, you plucked his coal from the deepest pit of the lazurynth, and held it between your claws, its blue dimmed to gray. His archfiend wouldn’t miss it. And then you threw it in the pool, and it sank to the bottom, where it lodged itself in a dark crevice. Vosaphar, now under your jurisdiction, fled into the wastes, searching for a smooth bit of coralbone to lean against, however futilely. You gave him desolation, cold, and quiet. In return, your furnace grew brighter. How could you have ever predicted what this would eventually make impossible? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Discover. ⇒->21AABA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">Vosaphar’s spilling ichor sang to them so sweetly, libations that lured all manner of lips to lap. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[No longer able to fly, the beleaguered demon ran, stumbled, staggered, crawled—anything he could do to place another lazurynthine wall between himself and his nearest pursuer. He needed somewhere dark and quiet, somewhere safe to recover. Such amenities were unavailable in the lazurynth. But there were other hells than these. Vosaphar slipped through an inky gap between walls that had lost definition, their geometry corrupted by some other force. He sank into an oily pool, far beneath the febrile blue heat. He could no longer tell where the sludge began and his blood ended, drifting ever downward. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Eventually he reached the shore near your cottage, not yet fragmented to spectral remnants. Still specific, despite it all. He crawled to your doorstep, begging for relief from the lazurynth. Should he fall, he would emerge there once more, a cycle of dissolution his demonhood would eventually fail to survive. You told him that the calciferous wastes were hostile and desolate. He said he preferred a false quiet to an honest din. You told him there was nothing of value here—had there been, a warden as petty as you would’ve long been shredded to bits by a stronger devil. He said he preferred an expansive nothing to crowded corridors. You told him he would awaken cold, wet, and screaming, his every lonely birth into this void inevitable suffering. He said he preferred a bitter plunge to a blistering fire. You told him what it would cost, a steady stream of magic to brighten your hellfire furnace, tending to the motes. He accepted those terms without hesitation. You asked him for his name. He still had one. Vosaphar. With that accorded, you plucked his coal from the deepest pit of the lazurynth, and held it between your claws, its blue dimmed to gray. His archfiend wouldn’t miss it. And then you threw it in the pool, and it sank to the bottom, where it lodged itself in a dark crevice. Vosaphar, now under your jurisdiction, fled into the wastes, searching for a smooth bit of coralbone to lean against, however futilely. You gave him desolation, cold, and quiet. In return, your furnace grew brighter. How could you have ever predicted what this would eventually make impossible? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Discover. ⇒->21AABA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Recollection]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">The day of the eclipse, Finnit woke with a sharp pain searing his back, breaking him out of his warm reverie. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar was twitching and scratching in his sleep again. Finnit adored the feeling of the devil’s tail coiled around his thigh, basking in the hellish heat that staved off the island’s chill. Nonetheless, crawling into the embrace of a clawed creature had a few drawbacks. “Hey,” Finnit whispered. “Wake up.” Vosaphar shifted, his tail loosening its grip on Finnit. “Mmph.” “You scratched me again,” Finnit said. “Nightmares?” “Oh no,” Vosaphar said. “I’m sorry, Finnit. Here…” The demon traced the scratches, and Finnit felt an odd prickly sensation as the skin healed over. “Thank you. You’re getting good at that.” Vosaphar delicately kissed the side of Finnit’s neck. “I don’t normally sleep so much. The mortal realm is… exhausting, in its own way. Perhaps I can fashion some wrappings for my claws in the future.” “Whoa,” Finnit said, gazing out one of the windows. “What?” “The sky is different.” And indeed it was. The rain had—incredibly—let up slightly, the green glow he’d become so accustomed to taking on distinct streaks of orange and red. Vosaphar grimaced. “I guess it’s time.” “Yeah.” They made their final preparations. Finnit tucked his syllabaries into his satchel and ate his last rations. He thought he might never forget the taste of salted fruit leather in whatever days—or day—he had remaining. “Was there something else we should have prepared?” Finnit asked. “We’re just… walking through a portal to the sun? Like this?” “I can’t think of anything, Finnit.” “Well, alright then.” He looked around at the now overly-familiar place he had spent this last month. “Goodbye, awful yet cozy stone room under a cursed lighthouse. It was certainly a time.” “That it was.” Vosaphar sounded amused. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They ventured out onto the cliffside stairs. Even these had become familiar, the treachery of each step now a well-worn betrayal. As they slipped past the anchor collector, she gave out a little warble of encouragement. At least, that’s how Finnit chose to take it. Up ahead, a ruddy glow intensified as they approached the altar beneath the lens and its housing. The miniature moon had arrived at its destination, transforming the sun emblem at the center into a bright red disc of light. It was overwhelming to look at directly; Finnit’s eyes strained from this threat to perception. “It’s terrible,” Finnit whispered. “Beautiful, too. What a dazzling horror of a thing to witness.” “Finnit,” Vosaphar began, wrapping his arms gently around the sorcerer. “It might be neglectful of our accord for me not to mention… you don’t have to do this. I could—I could go without you—you could die, Finnit, and—I—I don’t want to lose you… forever.” Finnit looked up into the fiend’s fearful, loving eyes. “Vosaphar—I’m afraid, too. But I couldn’t accept that. Isn’t that what Raekard would do? Send someone to die in his stead, to do the big scary things he won’t face himself? This trial was his idea, but now it’s my trial. Our trial. And I want to see it through. Together. Don’t you?” “Yes,” Vosaphar admitted. “I want to see the sun... with you.” “Then let’s go see it.” Vosaphar smiled, and took Finnit’s arm in his. Together, they stepped into an oblivion of crimson light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Eclipse. ⇒->Eclipse AABA]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">The day of the eclipse, Finnit woke with a sharp pain searing his back, breaking him out of his warm reverie. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar was twitching and scratching in his sleep again. Finnit adored the feeling of the devil’s tail coiled around his thigh, basking in the hellish heat that staved off the island’s chill. Nonetheless, crawling into the embrace of a clawed creature had a few drawbacks. “Hey,” Finnit whispered. “Wake up.” Vosaphar shifted, his tail loosening its grip on Finnit. “Mmph.” “You scratched me again,” Finnit said. “Nightmares?” “Oh no,” Vosaphar said. “I’m sorry, Finnit. Here…” The demon traced the scratches, and Finnit felt an odd prickly sensation as the skin healed over. “Thank you. You’re getting good at that.” Vosaphar delicately kissed the side of Finnit’s neck. “I don’t normally sleep so much. The mortal realm is… exhausting, in its own way. Perhaps I can fashion some wrappings for my claws in the future.” “Whoa,” Finnit said, gazing out one of the windows. “What?” “The sky is different.” And indeed it was. The rain had—incredibly—let up slightly, the green glow he’d become so accustomed to taking on distinct streaks of orange and red. Vosaphar grimaced. “I guess it’s time.” “Yeah.” They made their final preparations. Finnit tucked his syllabaries into his satchel and ate his last rations. He thought he might never forget the taste of salted fruit leather in whatever days—or day—he had remaining. “Was there something else we should have prepared?” Finnit asked. “We’re just… walking through a portal to the sun? Like this?” “I can’t think of anything, Finnit.” “Well, alright then.” He looked around at the now overly-familiar place he had spent this last month. “Goodbye, awful yet cozy stone room under a cursed lighthouse. It was certainly a time.” “That it was.” Vosaphar sounded amused. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They ventured out onto the cliffside stairs. Even these had become familiar, the treachery of each step now a well-worn betrayal. As they slipped past the anchor collector, she gave out a little warble of encouragement. At least, that’s how Finnit chose to take it. Up ahead, a ruddy glow intensified as they approached the altar beneath the lens and its housing. The miniature moon had arrived at its destination, transforming the sun emblem at the center into a bright red disc of light. It was overwhelming to look at directly; Finnit’s eyes strained from this threat to perception. “It’s terrible,” Finnit whispered. “Beautiful, too. What a dazzling horror of a thing to witness.” “Finnit,” Vosaphar began, wrapping his arms gently around the sorcerer. “It might be neglectful of our accord for me not to mention… you don’t have to do this. I could—I could go without you—you could die, Finnit, and—I—I don’t want to lose you… forever.” Finnit looked up into the fiend’s fearful, loving eyes. “Vosaphar—I’m afraid, too. But I couldn’t accept that. Isn’t that what Raekard would do? Send someone to die in his stead, to do the big scary things he won’t face himself? This trial was his idea, but now it’s my trial. Our trial. And I want to see it through. Together. Don’t you?” “Yes,” Vosaphar admitted. “I want to see the sun... with you.” “Then let’s go see it.” Vosaphar smiled, and took Finnit’s arm in his. Together, they stepped into an oblivion of crimson light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Eclipse. ⇒->Eclipse AABA]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 3)[Eclipse.] (text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Sun.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">The sun was a cosmic affliction, a colossal molten mass so red and seething that even the infernal embers blazing in the deepest pits of the hells seemed but feeble sparks in the distance. And Vosaphar was soaring *toward* it. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he flew, Finnit clutched against him, tendrils of the corona pulled peculiar new colors from his wings, its aurora a spectacle more captivating than your dreary calciferous skies could have ever dreamed to churn. How you longed for such color and heat and majesty—even just a drop of it. And *they* got to see it all, to have it within reach. “Vosaphar, look!” With his free hand, Finnit pointed toward an eerie black void drifting past. Dozens of bird-creatures flew from the roiling surface of the sun to circle and screech at the dark moon, a celestial interloper threatening the eternity of light. “They’re sunspots!” Finnit shouted. “She’s a sunspot!” “They’re *distracted*, too.” Vosaphar glided toward the edge of the sun away from the shrieking horrors. “That’s why it has to be now.” The demon and his summoner skimmed the sun’s surface, its dangerous heat threatening to embrace them forever so closely. “Hold on, Finnit!” Vosaphar tilted his wings, arm outstretched, reaching, swiping up a glob of incandescent fluid. This molten scarlet-amber squeezed between his claws and stuck to his low-dipped wing. Even these tiny droplets of starlight held immense power that coursed through him as he arced up out of the sun’s grip. “It’s so incredible!” Finnit laughed, tears streaming behind him, motes of wonder sparkling in space. Something darkened behind them. Finnit looked over his shoulder. “Vosaphar—there’s a new sunspot—” The creature shrieked as it gave chase, following the radiant beads dripping from Vosaphar’s sunswept wing. Vosaphar affixed his gaze to the portal back to the Pharos Fidelis, soaring ever faster. The screeching grew louder yet, judgment for their cardinal cosmic sin approaching with alarming haste. But with Finnit clinging to his side… (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar simply had no use for consequences. With a final burst of speed, they shot through the portal. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Reignite. ⇒->22AABA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">The sun was a cosmic affliction, a colossal molten mass so red and seething that even the infernal embers blazing in the deepest pits of the hells seemed but feeble sparks in the distance. And Vosaphar was soaring *toward* it. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he flew, Finnit clutched against him, tendrils of the corona pulled peculiar new colors from his wings, its aurora a spectacle more captivating than your dreary calciferous skies could have ever dreamed to churn. How you longed for such color and heat and majesty—even just a drop of it. And *they* got to see it all, to have it within reach. “Vosaphar, look!” With his free hand, Finnit pointed toward an eerie black void drifting past. Dozens of bird-creatures flew from the roiling surface of the sun to circle and screech at the dark moon, a celestial interloper threatening the eternity of light. “They’re sunspots!” Finnit shouted. “She’s a sunspot!” “They’re *distracted*, too.” Vosaphar glided toward the edge of the sun away from the shrieking horrors. “That’s why it has to be now.” The demon and his summoner skimmed the sun’s surface, its dangerous heat threatening to embrace them forever so closely. “Hold on, Finnit!” Vosaphar tilted his wings, arm outstretched, reaching, swiping up a glob of incandescent fluid. This molten scarlet-amber squeezed between his claws and stuck to his low-dipped wing. Even these tiny droplets of starlight held immense power that coursed through him as he arced up out of the sun’s grip. “It’s so incredible!” Finnit laughed, tears streaming behind him, motes of wonder sparkling in space. Something darkened behind them. Finnit looked over his shoulder. “Vosaphar—there’s a new sunspot—” The creature shrieked as it gave chase, following the radiant beads dripping from Vosaphar’s sunswept wing. Vosaphar affixed his gaze to the portal back to the Pharos Fidelis, soaring ever faster. The screeching grew louder yet, judgment for their cardinal cosmic sin approaching with alarming haste. But with Finnit clinging to his side… (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar simply had no use for consequences. With a final burst of speed, they shot through the portal. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Reignite. ⇒->22AABA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXII.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Finnit and Vosaphar tumbled over the edge of the altar, the portal still aglow with the eclipse-light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But there was little time to celebrate their reckless heist—the sunspot shoved its vicious pointed head through the gap after them, screeching as it struggled to break through. Finnit let Vosaphar carry him a bit further up the tunnel, before standing on his own feet and running alongside. The anchor collector had left her nest, wheeling about in the sky, shrieking back at the new sunspot about to burst from the throat of the island. Finnit looked out at the storm, the clouds thinned enough that he could see the eclipsed red sun half-risen, framing the infernal image of a devil’s horns. “How magnificent,” he said, breathless. Vosaphar looked down at him, gently squeezing his hand. They arrived at the peak, where the lens yearned for light, and at last, Finnit had light to provide. Vosaphar held out his claws, sunlight pooled in his palm, and Finnit painted it, trying to create the glyph his mind had projected there, the name of the demon whose rite might reignite the Pharos Fidelis. You watched, enraptured by the spectacle of your plans converging. This was it. This was your moment. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As Finnit slathered the glowing fluid across the lens, the dark slag drank it in—more, and more, and more of it. Too much of it. The glyph couldn’t hold its shape. The lens welled, hyperfolding crimson light, growing ever hotter by the second. The cleft, once so close to promising your name, had already deformed beyond recognition. And how brutal; that poor, mortal sorcerer, all tangled in your schemes, had every intention of drawing your name, a sigil drenched in the lifeblood of the sun. He really did try. You couldn’t fault him for that. But the execution? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A tragedy, in many fragments. For centuries—perhaps longer—every mortal design for the Pharos Fidelis had crumbled. Each disaster wrote another chapter in that wretched chronicle, the dark history of guiding light. And you thought *yours* would work? Pharos Fidelis, the beacon on the horizon of reason. Where it would remain, out of reach. Could not even a devil accept the simple dreadful truth, that a horizon approached can never arrive? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Finnit, we have to leave!” Vosaphar shouted, scanning the skies for the sunspots. “The lens is collapsing!” “No—it has to—Vosaphar, it has to—” “Finnit, please—” “I can’t—I can’t get the shape right, it’s going to—” “It deserves to shatter.” How dare he. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“But, what was this even for, then?” Finnit sobbed, the last of the sunlight ripped from his fingertips into the Pharos Fidelis. Vosaphar pulled him, one final time, away from the amplifying dyslucence. “That’s for the historians!” Vosaphar stared at him with his stormy eyes. “Shouldn’t we live? Don’t you want a future? ” “Yes!” Finnit embraced Vosaphar once more, and the demon swept him up into the sky. They abandoned the Pharos Fidelis to its fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They *tried* to abandon it. But it wasn’t done with them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Shatter. ⇒->23AABA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Finnit and Vosaphar tumbled over the edge of the altar, the portal still aglow with the eclipse-light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But there was little time to celebrate their reckless heist—the sunspot shoved its vicious pointed head through the gap after them, screeching as it struggled to break through. Finnit let Vosaphar carry him a bit further up the tunnel, before standing on his own feet and running alongside. The anchor collector had left her nest, wheeling about in the sky, shrieking back at the new sunspot about to burst from the throat of the island. Finnit looked out at the storm, the clouds thinned enough that he could see the eclipsed red sun half-risen, framing the infernal image of a devil’s horns. “How magnificent,” he said, breathless. Vosaphar looked down at him, gently squeezing his hand. They arrived at the peak, where the lens yearned for light, and at last, Finnit had light to provide. Vosaphar held out his claws, sunlight pooled in his palm, and Finnit painted it, trying to create the glyph his mind had projected there, the name of the demon whose rite might reignite the Pharos Fidelis. You watched, enraptured by the spectacle of your plans converging. This was it. This was your moment. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As Finnit slathered the glowing fluid across the lens, the dark slag drank it in—more, and more, and more of it. Too much of it. The glyph couldn’t hold its shape. The lens welled, hyperfolding crimson light, growing ever hotter by the second. The cleft, once so close to promising your name, had already deformed beyond recognition. And how brutal; that poor, mortal sorcerer, all tangled in your schemes, had every intention of drawing your name, a sigil drenched in the lifeblood of the sun. He really did try. You couldn’t fault him for that. But the execution? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A tragedy, in many fragments. For centuries—perhaps longer—every mortal design for the Pharos Fidelis had crumbled. Each disaster wrote another chapter in that wretched chronicle, the dark history of guiding light. And you thought *yours* would work? Pharos Fidelis, the beacon on the horizon of reason. Where it would remain, out of reach. Could not even a devil accept the simple dreadful truth, that a horizon approached can never arrive? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Finnit, we have to leave!” Vosaphar shouted, scanning the skies for the sunspots. “The lens is collapsing!” “No—it has to—Vosaphar, it has to—” “Finnit, please—” “I can’t—I can’t get the shape right, it’s going to—” “It deserves to shatter.” How dare he. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“But, what was this even for, then?” Finnit sobbed, the last of the sunlight ripped from his fingertips into the Pharos Fidelis. Vosaphar pulled him, one final time, away from the amplifying dyslucence. “That’s for the historians!” Vosaphar stared at him with his stormy eyes. “Shouldn’t we live? Don’t you want a future? ” “Yes!” Finnit embraced Vosaphar once more, and the demon swept him up into the sky. They abandoned the Pharos Fidelis to its fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They *tried* to abandon it. But it wasn’t done with them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Shatter. ⇒->23AABA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Disavowal]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:#99cdc4)+(text-size: 2.2)[PHAR⛯S FIDELIS] (text-color:#99cdc4)+(text-size: 0.8)[— Interactive Yearning by DemonApologist —]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lighteclipsetitlepassage">**Someday, the** (link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#da1e45")))[[[Pharos Fidelis ⇒->Title]]] **may yet** **burn** **in your name.**</div>] \(else:)[<div class="eclipsetitlepassage">(text-color:#c2cbcb)[**Someday, the** (link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Pharos Fidelis ⇒->Title]]] **may yet** **burn** **in your name.**]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXIII.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">The storm rushed past Vosaphar as he carried Finnit, placing any distance he could between them and the doomed Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Still seeking their stolen sunlight, the sunspot pursued, but the anchor collector screeched and snapped at it. The two creatures, identically opposed in desire, circled the peak as they fought above the molten slag. “It’s going to—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The world around them grew absolutely silent, swallowing the rest of Finnit’s warning. Every bit of light had gathered, folding itself over and over and over still, smaller, ever smaller, congealing into the tiniest, brightest speck. For a moment, Vosaphar wondered if it would keep going, dragging the mortal realm, the hells, and all the rest of existence into its singularity. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Instead, it shattered. All that had been poured into it—all the fire, all the lightning, all the stray souls, all the stolen sunlight, all the summons slaughtered, all the hopes and dreams and plots and schemes and—all of it finally shattered, sending incalculable shards of glass in every direction at incredible speeds. A vanguard fragment slammed into Vosaphar’s chest, knocking Finnit out of his grasp. The sorcerer began to drift away on his own trajectory— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And you thought, though your plans had shattered along with everything else… You still had one last mote of hellfire to spare. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Influence. ⇒->M4AABA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">The storm rushed past Vosaphar as he carried Finnit, placing any distance he could between them and the doomed Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Still seeking their stolen sunlight, the sunspot pursued, but the anchor collector screeched and snapped at it. The two creatures, identically opposed in desire, circled the peak as they fought above the molten slag. “It’s going to—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The world around them grew absolutely silent, swallowing the rest of Finnit’s warning. Every bit of light had gathered, folding itself over and over and over still, smaller, ever smaller, congealing into the tiniest, brightest speck. For a moment, Vosaphar wondered if it would keep going, dragging the mortal realm, the hells, and all the rest of existence into its singularity. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Instead, it shattered. All that had been poured into it—all the fire, all the lightning, all the stray souls, all the stolen sunlight, all the summons slaughtered, all the hopes and dreams and plots and schemes and—all of it finally shattered, sending incalculable shards of glass in every direction at incredible speeds. A vanguard fragment slammed into Vosaphar’s chest, knocking Finnit out of his grasp. The sorcerer began to drift away on his own trajectory— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And you thought, though your plans had shattered along with everything else… You still had one last mote of hellfire to spare. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Influence. ⇒->M4AABA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Disavowal]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#fc4e71")+(text-size: 3)[Influence.] (text-color:"#fc4e71")+(text-size: 1.15)[Clinginess | Desperation.]</div> One final mote of hellfire appeared. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightmotepassage">When potent emotions conflicted a demon’s judgment, even the faintest mote of hellfire bore enough infernal energy to influence their fate from afar. That’s how you got them into this mess. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#8c283c)[***Clinginess***] For the demon Vosaphar, so eager to wrap himself around his beloved summoner, the sight of the mortal falling away would’ve driven him to dive in closer. This clinginess would have joined their fates together, should you have chosen to foster it. Yielding to this clinginess, however romantic, risked their joint fate becoming tragic. (text-color:#8c283c)[***Desperation***] For the demon Vosaphar, so determined for his beloved summoner to survive, the sight of him falling away would’ve driven him to take reckless measures. This desperation might have driven him to intervene instantly to salvage the situation. Yielding to this desperation, however hasty, risked their fates diverging dramatically. (text-color:#8c283c)[***Decision***] Well? Which force did this mote of hellfire incite? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightmotechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))[[[Clinginess. ⇒->24AABAA. Vosaphar]]] (link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#fc4e71")))[[[Desperation. ⇒->24AABAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="motepassage">When potent emotions conflicted a demon’s judgment, even the faintest mote of hellfire bore enough infernal energy to influence their fate from afar. That’s how you got them into this mess. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Clinginess***] For the demon Vosaphar, so eager to wrap himself around his beloved summoner, the sight of the mortal falling away would’ve driven him to dive in closer. This clinginess would have joined their fates together, should you have chosen to foster it. Yielding to this clinginess, however romantic, risked their joint fate becoming tragic. (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Desperation***] For the demon Vosaphar, so determined for his beloved summoner to survive, the sight of him falling away would’ve driven him to take reckless measures. This desperation might have driven him to intervene instantly to salvage the situation. Yielding to this desperation, however hasty, risked their fates diverging dramatically. (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Decision***] Well? Which force did this mote of hellfire incite? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="motechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Clinginess. ⇒->24AABAA. Vosaphar]]] (link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Desperation. ⇒->24AABAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Mote]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXIV.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar recognized your influence pushing him toward clinginess— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he *rejected* it. That stung. Vosaphar had a single, reckless idea of what he still had time to do. How he could send Finnit somewhere safer than here. Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar recalled the spells Finnit had taught him, focused his intentions and— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Banished him. Finnit blinked out of existence. Moments later, the edge of the explosion swept Vosaphar into an inferno of shattering glass. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Stoke. ⇒->25AABAA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar recognized your influence pushing him toward clinginess— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he *rejected* it. That stung. Vosaphar had a single, reckless idea of what he still had time to do. How he could send Finnit somewhere safer than here. Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar recalled the spells Finnit had taught him, focused his intentions and— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Banished him. Finnit blinked out of existence. Moments later, the edge of the explosion swept Vosaphar into an inferno of shattering glass. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Stoke. ⇒->25AABAA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXIV.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar recognized your influence pushing him toward desperation— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he *rejected* it. That stung. Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar dove, claws outstretched, reaching for Finnit’s wrist— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And closed his hand around the transit band attached to it. Just as the edge of the inferno reached them— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar and Finnit blinked out of existence, teleporting somewhere else. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Defend. ⇒->25AABAB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar recognized your influence pushing him toward desperation— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he *rejected* it. That stung. Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar dove, claws outstretched, reaching for Finnit’s wrist— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And closed his hand around the transit band attached to it. Just as the edge of the inferno reached them— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar and Finnit blinked out of existence, teleporting somewhere else. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Defend. ⇒->25AABAB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#b8e270")+(text-size: 3)[XXV.] (text-color:"#b8e270")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Cairnveld Fortress.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcairnveldpassage">Finnit tumbled to his latest painful stop against the stone. Warm, clawed fingers gripped his wrist. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Vosaphar?” Finnit groaned, clutching his head and rolling over to move closer to the devil. He could smell cypress and old parchment. They must have arrived somewhere at Cairnveld Fortress. He heard a few startled gasps, and then whispers broke out. “Huh?” Finnit muttered, looking over his shoulders. They had landed in one of the smaller lecture halls. Cool light streamed through the windows, setting the chamber’s dusty air aglow. A scattered few luminaries occupied the chairs, including Jethel, who peered curiously over the top of the beverage she had been sipping. It was the most people he had seen in a month. Raekard stood from his seat in the front row. “Incipient Finnit!” His voice rang out over the chamber. “I’m not sure how you managed to be late with a pre-scheduled transit band, but it is time for your evaluation.” He paused, frowning. “Dismiss this… creature.” Finnit ignored him, crawling over to examine Vosaphar’s wounds. There was a warped shard of the Pharos Fidelis lens lodged in his chest, glowing with an intense crimson light. It seemed to have fused to the demon’s torso, ichor seeping around the edges where glass and flesh intermingled. “Are you okay?” Finnit asked softly. “No.” Vosaphar turned to him, groaning. “But… I don’t think I’m fading.” Finnit did his best to hug him from this awkward position. “Fine, I’ll banish it myself.” Raekard traced a sigil in the air, directing its power against the injured fiend. Nothing happened. It was the first time that Finnit had seen Raekard genuinely surprised. Finnit helped Vosaphar to his feet. The demon looked around, a bit nervously given his bizarre new context. He let his ethereal wings fade away, wrapping a warm arm around Finnit’s waist. “This is not appropriate conduct for a discovery trial evaluation,” Raekard said, his voice low and dangerous. “Be sure to make a note of it then,” Finnit said. He leaned into Vosaphar, who responded by curling his tail gently around the sorcerer. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The luminaries in the audience found this riveting. Jethel stirred the air next to her mug with a cinnamon stick, not realizing she was dripping horchata onto her notes. Finnit wished he could just leave and recover in his quarters. Why was he even putting up with any of this? They had just gotten back from the *sun*. “Dismiss this demon at once!” Raekard snapped. “It is against academy bylaws to bring summoned entities to participate in discovery trial evaluations.” “I’ll go where I wish to, *wretched one*,” Vosaphar snarled. He had evidently recognized Raekard. Jethel let out a startled laugh, which she failed to even attempt to cover up. “Luminary Jethel is going to *love* you,” Finnit told Vosaphar, deciding to embrace the surreality of the moment. Nonplussed, Raekard tried a second banishment. It failed. Again. Finnit ran his fingers through his hair anxiously, snagging another piece of the lens that had cut the skin behind his ear. He plucked it out. Its otherworldly glow was just as out of place here as Vosaphar, and frankly, himself. “What is the meaning of this?” Raekard demanded. “Incipient, what did you *do*?” Finnit held up the errant fragment. “We reignited the Pharos Fidelis.” He threw it onto the floor. “As commanded. Huh. I guess that makes me a luminary.” “This is—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But Finnit didn’t care to hear any more of what Raekard had to say. He suddenly wondered why it had ever mattered. The luminary was such an insignificant threat in the face of everything that he had experienced. And he was a terrible historiographer. Suddenly, the ground shook slightly. Bits of grit descended from the ceiling. One of the luminaries—who had somehow managed to sleep through Finnit and Vosaphar’s dramatic arrival—woke with a start, their eyes darting wildly as they took in their surroundings. “What was *that*?” Raekard asked. “The Pharos Fidelis,” Finnit said. “I guess it took a few minutes for the shockwaves to arrive. Maybe we should reconvene this session after we know for sure that our actions didn’t precipitate the end of all existence. Vosaphar, let’s get out of here.” “Gladly,” the demon muttered. “And stop trying to banish me,” he added, glaring directly at Raekard. “Or I will teach you some real principles of summoning that you will *not* enjoy learning, pathetic one.” The luminary was dumbfounded. “What the—what happened?” “That’s enough, Raekard,” Jethel said from behind him. Arms linked, Finnit and Vosaphar departed the lecture hall, heading for Finnit’s quarters. Somewhere quiet. Raekard didn’t try to follow them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcairnveldchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))[[[Repose. ⇒->26AABAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="cairnveldpassage">Finnit tumbled to his latest painful stop against the stone. Warm, clawed fingers gripped his wrist. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Vosaphar?” Finnit groaned, clutching his head and rolling over to move closer to the devil. He could smell cypress and old parchment. They must have arrived somewhere at Cairnveld Fortress. He heard a few startled gasps, and then whispers broke out. “Huh?” Finnit muttered, looking over his shoulders. They had landed in one of the smaller lecture halls. Cool light streamed through the windows, setting the chamber’s dusty air aglow. A scattered few luminaries occupied the chairs, including Jethel, who peered curiously over the top of the beverage she had been sipping. It was the most people he had seen in a month. Raekard stood from his seat in the front row. “Incipient Finnit!” His voice rang out over the chamber. “I’m not sure how you managed to be late with a pre-scheduled transit band, but it is time for your evaluation.” He paused, frowning. “Dismiss this… creature.” Finnit ignored him, crawling over to examine Vosaphar’s wounds. There was a warped shard of the Pharos Fidelis lens lodged in his chest, glowing with an intense crimson light. It seemed to have fused to the demon’s torso, ichor seeping around the edges where glass and flesh intermingled. “Are you okay?” Finnit asked softly. “No.” Vosaphar turned to him, groaning. “But… I don’t think I’m fading.” Finnit did his best to hug him from this awkward position. “Fine, I’ll banish it myself.” Raekard traced a sigil in the air, directing its power against the injured fiend. Nothing happened. It was the first time that Finnit had seen Raekard genuinely surprised. Finnit helped Vosaphar to his feet. The demon looked around, a bit nervously given his bizarre new context. He let his ethereal wings fade away, wrapping a warm arm around Finnit’s waist. “This is not appropriate conduct for a discovery trial evaluation,” Raekard said, his voice low and dangerous. “Be sure to make a note of it then,” Finnit said. He leaned into Vosaphar, who responded by curling his tail gently around the sorcerer. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The luminaries in the audience found this riveting. Jethel stirred the air next to her mug with a cinnamon stick, not realizing she was dripping horchata onto her notes. Finnit wished he could just leave and recover in his quarters. Why was he even putting up with any of this? They had just gotten back from the *sun*. “Dismiss this demon at once!” Raekard snapped. “It is against academy bylaws to bring summoned entities to participate in discovery trial evaluations.” “I’ll go where I wish to, *wretched one*,” Vosaphar snarled. He had evidently recognized Raekard. Jethel let out a startled laugh, which she failed to even attempt to cover up. “Luminary Jethel is going to *love* you,” Finnit told Vosaphar, deciding to embrace the surreality of the moment. Nonplussed, Raekard tried a second banishment. It failed. Again. Finnit ran his fingers through his hair anxiously, snagging another piece of the lens that had cut the skin behind his ear. He plucked it out. Its otherworldly glow was just as out of place here as Vosaphar, and frankly, himself. “What is the meaning of this?” Raekard demanded. “Incipient, what did you *do*?” Finnit held up the errant fragment. “We reignited the Pharos Fidelis.” He threw it onto the floor. “As commanded. Huh. I guess that makes me a luminary.” “This is—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But Finnit didn’t care to hear any more of what Raekard had to say. He suddenly wondered why it had ever mattered. The luminary was such an insignificant threat in the face of everything that he had experienced. And he was a terrible historiographer. Suddenly, the ground shook slightly. Bits of grit descended from the ceiling. One of the luminaries—who had somehow managed to sleep through Finnit and Vosaphar’s dramatic arrival—woke with a start, their eyes darting wildly as they took in their surroundings. “What was *that*?” Raekard asked. “The Pharos Fidelis,” Finnit said. “I guess it took a few minutes for the shockwaves to arrive. Maybe we should reconvene this session after we know for sure that our actions didn’t precipitate the end of all existence. Vosaphar, let’s get out of here.” “Gladly,” the demon muttered. “And stop trying to banish me,” he added, glaring directly at Raekard. “Or I will teach you some real principles of summoning that you will *not* enjoy learning, pathetic one.” The luminary was dumbfounded. “What the—what happened?” “That’s enough, Raekard,” Jethel said from behind him. Arms linked, Finnit and Vosaphar departed the lecture hall, heading for Finnit’s quarters. Somewhere quiet. Raekard didn’t try to follow them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="cairnveldchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#7ba03c")))[[[Repose. ⇒->26AABAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#7ba03c")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:#4c4833)+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:#4c4833)+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17AAB. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4AABA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s desperation. However, his distrust caused him to reject desperation in favor of clinginess, reaching Finnit in time to teleport to Cairnveld with him. This proved to be a fortunate miscalculation. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17AAB. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4AABA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s desperation. However, his distrust caused him to reject desperation in favor of clinginess, reaching Finnit in time to teleport to Cairnveld with him. This proved to be a fortunate miscalculation. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#b8e270")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#b8e270")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Cairnveld Fortress.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcairnveldpassage">The incipients and luminaries traveling the halls of Cairnveld—already unsettled by the earthquake—gave Vosaphar a wide berth as he and Finnit passed them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar had never been around so many mortals at once—at least, not in his current instance—and unlike Finnit, *these* mortals were thoroughly alarmed by the fearsome sight of a demon wandering in their midst, chest aglow with a sun-scorched fragment of the Pharos Fidelis lens. He only started to relax once they entered a small, dusty chamber full of the sorcerer’s possessions. Mostly books. Finnit closed the door behind him, then climbed onto his bed in the corner of the chamber, sitting with his back against one of the cool stone walls. He grabbed one of the pillows, and invited Vosaphar to lie down. The devil accepted, allowing Finnit to cradle his head in his lap. Vosaphar was delighted by the softness of the mattress compared to the bedrolls at the Pharos Fidelis, and let the mortal gently massage his forehead, attending to the skin bunched at the base of his horns. “Is this okay?” Finnit asked. “Yes,” Vosaphar said, flicking his tail languorously. To be afforded such comfort was rare and fleeting. As you—along with every other demon—knew all too well. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[After a few restful minutes, Finnit spoke up. “So, um—thank you for not letting me die. For saving me, so many times. I can’t even make sense of what happened yet. It’s unreal. This, being here, and—we shouldn’t have survived.” “But we did, beloved one.” Vosaphar ran a clawed fingertip gently across Finnit’s forearm. “Perhaps you contributed more than you realize.” He paused. “But I *did* carry you across the sky.” Finnit snorted. Someone knocked at the door. “Finnit? Are you in there?” “Yes!” Finnit said. One of the sorcerers from the trial evaluation stepped into the room, carrying with her an eclectic potpourri of scents. It was Luminary Jethel, the healing expert. “Oh.” She raised her eyebrows. “Is this—uh, a bad time?” “It’s fine,” Finnit said, reluctantly releasing Vosaphar so the demon could sit up. “I’m glad to see you, Jethel. Thank you for all your help.” She nodded. “The main reason I’m here is to inform you that the panel of luminaries in attendance convened, and after an examination of the fragment you provided, determined that you passed your discovery trial. Raekard dissented, but I suppose situations like these are exactly why the founders required a full panel in the bylaws. Congratulations, Finnit!” She waited for a moment, creating an awkward silence. “But I get the sense that, perhaps this is not your main concern?” “No, it isn’t,” Finnit said. “I mean—I guess I’m glad it’s over. But, I’m concerned about Vosaphar’s injuries.” He paused. “This is Vosaphar. He’s from… uh, the calciferous wastes.” “Uh huh. Noted.” Jethel directed her focus toward the devil. “Vosaphar? May I take a closer look?” “Yes,” Vosaphar said, watching her lightly-wrinkled fingers weave diagnostic glyphs in front of him. Finnit gently rubbed his back. “How are you feeling?” “I… don’t know,” Vosaphar answered honestly. “It’s a strange sensation. Like my bones are itching beneath my skin.” “Interesting,” Jethel remarked. “Well—this fragment of—uh, I guess I have no real idea what it actually is, some exotic vitric—seems to have fused onto you? It radiates an extraordinary amount of magic. For a human, that would be concerning, by which I mean, fatal. But I admit, I am not an expert on infernal anatomy.” She glanced at Finnit, eyes narrowing. “Though based on what I have seen today, perhaps *you* are becoming one.” Vosaphar looked his way as well, amused to see the mortal’s cheeks reddening. “Thought so,” Jethel remarked. “I hope Raekard never hears the end of this, for whatever remains of his miserable days.” “Oh,” Finnit said, evidently realizing something. “I see now… the lens fragment. Raekard is, at least, a *competent* sorcerer—his banishment rite should have succeeded. By remaining here, I thought Vosaphar might have violated the principle of planar reversion. But with this power fusing with you—I guess that makes it *your* power. And it far exceeds Raekard’s.” “Fascinating,” Jethel said, “if not a touch alarming in its implications. Well, at any rate, for now, I recommend treating the exposed edges where the fragment is impacting your skin. I don’t know what your plans are, Finnit, but if you remain here for the moment—as a luminary—we can research the issue together.” “What do you think?” Finnit asked him. “We could stay for a bit, sort things out?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“That sounds nice, Finnit.” “And after that—” “The rest of it?” “The rest of it.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcairnveldchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending AABAB]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="cairnveldpassage">The incipients and luminaries traveling the halls of Cairnveld—already unsettled by the earthquake—gave Vosaphar a wide berth as he and Finnit passed them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar had never been around so many mortals at once—at least, not in his current instance—and unlike Finnit, *these* mortals were thoroughly alarmed by the fearsome sight of a demon wandering in their midst, chest aglow with a sun-scorched fragment of the Pharos Fidelis lens. He only started to relax once they entered a small, dusty chamber full of the sorcerer’s possessions. Mostly books. Finnit closed the door behind him, then climbed onto his bed in the corner of the chamber, sitting with his back against one of the cool stone walls. He grabbed one of the pillows, and invited Vosaphar to lie down. The devil accepted, allowing Finnit to cradle his head in his lap. Vosaphar was delighted by the softness of the mattress compared to the bedrolls at the Pharos Fidelis, and let the mortal gently massage his forehead, attending to the skin bunched at the base of his horns. “Is this okay?” Finnit asked. “Yes,” Vosaphar said, flicking his tail languorously. To be afforded such comfort was rare and fleeting. As you—along with every other demon—knew all too well. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[After a few restful minutes, Finnit spoke up. “So, um—thank you for not letting me die. For saving me, so many times. I can’t even make sense of what happened yet. It’s unreal. This, being here, and—we shouldn’t have survived.” “But we did, beloved one.” Vosaphar ran a clawed fingertip gently across Finnit’s forearm. “Perhaps you contributed more than you realize.” He paused. “But I *did* carry you across the sky.” Finnit snorted. Someone knocked at the door. “Finnit? Are you in there?” “Yes!” Finnit said. One of the sorcerers from the trial evaluation stepped into the room, carrying with her an eclectic potpourri of scents. It was Luminary Jethel, the healing expert. “Oh.” She raised her eyebrows. “Is this—uh, a bad time?” “It’s fine,” Finnit said, reluctantly releasing Vosaphar so the demon could sit up. “I’m glad to see you, Jethel. Thank you for all your help.” She nodded. “The main reason I’m here is to inform you that the panel of luminaries in attendance convened, and after an examination of the fragment you provided, determined that you passed your discovery trial. Raekard dissented, but I suppose situations like these are exactly why the founders required a full panel in the bylaws. Congratulations, Finnit!” She waited for a moment, creating an awkward silence. “But I get the sense that, perhaps this is not your main concern?” “No, it isn’t,” Finnit said. “I mean—I guess I’m glad it’s over. But, I’m concerned about Vosaphar’s injuries.” He paused. “This is Vosaphar. He’s from… uh, the calciferous wastes.” “Uh huh. Noted.” Jethel directed her focus toward the devil. “Vosaphar? May I take a closer look?” “Yes,” Vosaphar said, watching her lightly-wrinkled fingers weave diagnostic glyphs in front of him. Finnit gently rubbed his back. “How are you feeling?” “I… don’t know,” Vosaphar answered honestly. “It’s a strange sensation. Like my bones are itching beneath my skin.” “Interesting,” Jethel remarked. “Well—this fragment of—uh, I guess I have no real idea what it actually is, some exotic vitric—seems to have fused onto you? It radiates an extraordinary amount of magic. For a human, that would be concerning, by which I mean, fatal. But I admit, I am not an expert on infernal anatomy.” She glanced at Finnit, eyes narrowing. “Though based on what I have seen today, perhaps *you* are becoming one.” Vosaphar looked his way as well, amused to see the mortal’s cheeks reddening. “Thought so,” Jethel remarked. “I hope Raekard never hears the end of this, for whatever remains of his miserable days.” “Oh,” Finnit said, evidently realizing something. “I see now… the lens fragment. Raekard is, at least, a *competent* sorcerer—his banishment rite should have succeeded. By remaining here, I thought Vosaphar might have violated the principle of planar reversion. But with this power fusing with you—I guess that makes it *your* power. And it far exceeds Raekard’s.” “Fascinating,” Jethel said, “if not a touch alarming in its implications. Well, at any rate, for now, I recommend treating the exposed edges where the fragment is impacting your skin. I don’t know what your plans are, Finnit, but if you remain here for the moment—as a luminary—we can research the issue together.” “What do you think?” Finnit asked him. “We could stay for a bit, sort things out?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“That sounds nice, Finnit.” “And after that—” “The rest of it?” “The rest of it.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="cairnveldchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending AABAB]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:#fb324d)+(text-size: 2.2)[PHAR⛯S FIDELIS] (text-color:#da1e45)+(text-size: 0.8)[— Interactive Tenderness by DemonApologist —]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lighteclipsetitlepassage">**Could not** **their love** (link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#da1e45")))[[[transcend ⇒->Title]]] **your flighty** **intercession?**</div>] \(else:)[<div class="eclipsetitlepassage">**Could not** **their love** (link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[transcend ⇒->Title]]] **your flighty** **intercession?**</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:#fb324d)+(text-size: 2.2)[PHAR⛯S FIDELIS] (text-color:#da1e45)+(text-size: 0.8)[— Interactive Metafiction by DemonApologist —]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lighteclipsetitlepassage">**Must your** **tenure** (link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#da1e45")))[[[devolve ⇒->Title]]] **into scum** **salvation?**</div>] \(else:)[<div class="eclipsetitlepassage">**Must your** **tenure** (link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[devolve ⇒->Title]]] **into scum** **salvation?**</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:#fb324d)+(text-size: 2.2)[PHAR⛯S FIDELIS] (text-color:#da1e45)+(text-size: 0.8)[— Interactive Shattering by DemonApologist —]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lighteclipsetitlepassage">**These** **fragments** **could not** (link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#da1e45")))[[[disavow ⇒->Title]]] **their creation.**</div>] \(else:)[<div class="eclipsetitlepassage">**These** **fragments** **could not** (link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[disavow ⇒->Title]]] **their creation.**</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:#fb324d)+(text-size: 2.2)[PHAR⛯S FIDELIS] (text-color:#da1e45)+(text-size: 0.8)[— An Interactive Lightmare by DemonApologist —]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lighteclipsetitlepassage">**Archives** **must always** (link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#da1e45")))[[[torment ⇒->Title]]] **their** **devourers.**</div>] \(else:)[<div class="eclipsetitlepassage">**Archives** **must always** (link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[torment ⇒->Title]]] **their** **devourers.**</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:#fb324d)+(text-size: 2.2)[PHAR⛯S FIDELIS] (text-color:#da1e45)+(text-size: 0.8)[— Interactive Remnants by DemonApologist —]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lighteclipsetitlepassage">**Must** **the past** (link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#da1e45")))[[[enshroud ⇒->Title]]] **the futures** **that dream it?**</div>] \(else:)[<div class="eclipsetitlepassage">**Must** **the past** (link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[enshroud ⇒->Title]]] **the futures** **that dream it?**</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:#fb324d)+(text-size: 2.2)[PHAR⛯S FIDELIS] (text-color:#da1e45)+(text-size: 0.8)[— Interactive Heresy by DemonApologist —]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lighteclipsetitlepassage">**Must** **such tenets** (link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#da1e45")))[[[obstruct ⇒->Title]]] **the connections** **they inscribe?**</div>] \(else:)[<div class="eclipsetitlepassage">**Must** **such tenets** (link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[obstruct ⇒->Title]]] **the connections** **they inscribe?**</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[XXV.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage cold, wet, and screaming. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It had a certain resonance, didn’t it? He coughed violently, choking on sludge and bloodfog alike, wading clumsily in your direction. Even from this distance, you could feel intense energy pouring off the misplaced mortal, his magic warped by the glowing fragments of the Pharos Fidelis stuck in his hair and clothing. If nothing else could be salvaged from this historic disaster, at least you had an opportunity to fuel your furnace. The mortal would, at any moment, petition you for relief from his dire situation. This provided you a brief moment to consider which form might be most appropriate for such an absurd occasion. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|initial>[In that light: (link-reveal: "You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. Inaccurate though it may have been, perhaps you had the right to such a form. You’d already spent more time fussing over Vosaphar’s fate than any of his makers had. You adopted an elegant posture and swept out of your cottage to approach the mortal. “Hello, Finnit,” you said. He turned to look at you, eyes widening. You flicked your new tail, mimicking one of Vosaphar’s gestures that he so favored. “Um—hi. Uh—” “Welcome to my calciferous wastes.” You extended your arms, gesturing toward the dark skies and lonesome coralbone monuments dotting the horizon. “And what a sight they are.” Finnit looked around, evidently still processing this alarming development. “The calciferous wastes? Do you—do you know Vosaphar?” “Please, join me inside,” you said. “We shall sit by the fire and discuss these matters.” Finnit numbly complied, letting you guide him to the soot-stained armchairs by your furnace. It seemed to calm him down, having become accustomed to closeness with a certain source of hellfire. “What happened? Do you know?” Finnit asked. “Sorry—I’m just—I should ask who you are probably?” “I am the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “I think—I think he banished me?” “He did.” You tapped an idle claw against your ivory armchair. “I’m sorry, maybe this is too forward, but—look, I’m worried about Vosaphar? I don’t know what happened—what if—what if he—” You took him to the window and pointed to the dark pool, where Vosaphar’s ember twinkled at the bottom. If anything, it had grown brighter. Interesting. “That is his essential coal,” you said. “If he had perished, he would have immediately returned here. If we wait, he will eventually appear. However…” Finnit paced to and fro, trying to shake off his anxiety. “What if he’s hurt—he must be—I don’t want to wait!” “It is not a matter of desire, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. Perhaps that hadn’t been a Vosapharian gesture. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Will you—I mean, would you please help me?” “What are your intentions toward Vosaphar?” “My intentions?” Finnit looked puzzled. “What do you—” “Answer my question carefully, mortal.” He looked appropriately worried. “Look, I—I love him. I know it’s been so quick, and maybe you think it’s shallow, just because he’s so beautiful—but, uh, really, I have never felt so close with someone. I mean—he took me to the *sun*, and back. I don’t know what it would mean for us to be together outside of the Pharos Fidelis, in a more normal world. Maybe it won’t work, and we’ll part ways. I think—I mean, I hope you think that we’re worthy of a chance to figure that out.” “Vosaphar will need your help,” you said. “He will suffer from his power. You will stand by him? Treat him respectfully?” “I would—I will.” “Very well.” You paused. “I would send you back to Cairnveld.” You gave a pointed look toward your furnace. “But my fire is too weak for such a feat. Won’t you stoke it?” “Stoke it?” Finnit looked nervous. “What, uh—what do you want? My soul?” How amusing. “Are you offering that?” You approached him, attempting to loom in the way he found so appealing when Vosaphar did it. Finnit looked terrified as you reached down and plucked a glowing lens fragment from his hair. “No, Finnit. Not your soul. I want these.” “Oh—is that all? Yes, you can have them. They’re not even really mine, I don’t think.” Finnit parted easily with the fragments, tossing each into the furnace as he found it. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to cause some new chaos. He had no sense of priorities. And neither—apparently—did you, entertaining this… cloyingly earnest romantic nonsense. You reached for Finnit’s transit band, warping the sigils such that they would send Finnit on his way. Before activating it, you paused. “If you treat Vosaphar with anything less than the respect owed to such an unreasonably affectionate devil, I will send every specter in my dominion to drag you back here, and drown you in these depths for all eternity.” It was a joke. Mostly. You were sure that Finnit appreciated it. With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. You basked in the new heat now crackling and seething in your furnace. And how ridiculous an exchange it was, to receive all that energy for a trivial bit of spellcraft. Even an incubus would have found no pleasure in the seduction of such easy prey. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[That’s why you did it, right? You *just* wanted the power. Nothing more. You felt nothing else. Surely. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Survive. ⇒->26AABAAA. Vosaphar]]]]]]]</div>] Unless: (link-reveal: "You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. Darkness pooled around you, threshed with dozens of unblinking, glowing eyes. Gobs of loose flesh sizzled on charred bones to add to the illusion’s sensory overload. You adopted a threatening posture and swept out of your cottage to approach Finnit, trailing black grease in your wake. “Mortal!” you shouted, startling him. “You dare trespass upon my dominion?” Finnit turned your way, and his breath hitched at the loathsome sight of you. He cowered. Mortals were so susceptible to this kind of stagecraft, weren’t they? “I—I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—” “Silence!” You stretched and oozed before him. “You have stolen from me. You must return what I’m owed.” Finnit’s eyes darted about wildly, as if he were considering running away. He wouldn’t make it far. “Could you please—um—grand one? Uh, what did I steal?” “My *light*.” You over-articulated the “t” with such exuberance that flecks of acid splattered from your many mouths. “The Pharos Fidelis.” You wrapped a slimy tentacle around his arm, pulling him closer so you could pluck one of the fragments from his clothes. “What? Oh. Oh you can—you can have those. They’re, um, not even mine.” He was too frightened to assist in this process, so you grabbed each fragment, showing no regard for his comfort. Shards collected—from his perspective, devoured—you began shambling back to your cottage. “Wait!” Finnit called after you. “Um—I need—I need to get back to Vosaphar—do you know him? Or—” “I am the warden of these calciferous wastes, and he is my subject. Mortal longings are not my concern…” “But please, I—” “…Unless, of course, you wish to receive… an accord.” And there it was. Not only had you easily liberated the shards from his unworthy possession, but you could do even more to sate your rage with the proceedings of the eclipse. “An accord?” Finnit asked. “You’ll help me get back?” “For a *price*,” you hissed. “I gave you—I gave you the fragments!” He seemed to have realized his mistake. Perhaps he ought to have actually read *Case Studies in Infernal Betrayal* instead of assuming all demons would be as needy and pathetic as Vosaphar. “You claimed yourself that you had no ownership over them. They are mine already. One cannot offer a gift already granted.” “So what do you want?” His voice was strained. “My soul?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“*That* is worthless.” Drawing from the power of the fragments you held, you manifested a bloodfrost dagger from the fog, its keen edge sharp enough to carve the walls of the lazurynth. “Take this dagger to Luminary Raekard. I tire of his incompetent scheming. Carve out his heart. Then burn it in a ring of hellfire until it is but ash on the wind.” “But I—I can’t kill someone!” Finnit shouted. “That’s absurd—even someone as awful as him—and he’s so dangerous. It would never work.” “Then you will die here, and never again wrap your wretched limbs around the devil you cling to in the dark.” You sidled into your cottage, leaving him to contemplate his mortal morality while you stoked the furnace with the fragments. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to inflict some new misery upon the world. It wasn’t long before he approached you again. He looked directly at you, gazing into your seething core, and without stumbling, said, “I accept those terms.” You wrapped a tendril around the hilt of the dagger and offered it to him. He took it, his expression grim and determined. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[You *almost* believed he could do it. With a burst of magic, you activated his bracelet—the transit band—and sent him to his terrible fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Append. ⇒->P4AABAAB. Fourth Principle]]]]]]]</div> ] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. Well, at least the version of yourself that held court, lording your specificity over these dismal barrens. Finnit would get to see you for what you were: powerful, yet petty. Exhausted, too. It was miserable to live with your failures. You slunk to your soot-stained armchair by the furnace, waiting for the mortal to arrive. He knocked at the door. “Hello? Is—is someone in here?” “Come in, Finnit.” He opened the door, and saw you by the furnace. What texture the man had taken on since he left Cairnveld, struggling through your schemes in that desperate way that humans are wont to do. You gestured for him to sit in the chair across from yours. He obliged, if a bit warily. “Welcome to my calciferous wastes,” you said. “I wonder what you think of them?” “Calciferous wastes?” Something flickered in his eyes. “Is that—do you know Vosaphar?” “Answer my question first, if you will.” Finnit seemed taken aback, but recovered. “Well, if you really want to know—I can see why Vosaphar was so determined to leave.” You could almost see him realizing in real time that he probably was meant to say something kinder. “Not that there isn’t something… eerily beautiful about the colors streaking across the sky. But, it’s very cold and sharp and it seems sad, I guess?” “Yes, Vosaphar is troubled by his existence. As are we all.” You clicked your claws against the coralbone armrest. “You look—If you don’t mind me saying—you look familiar to me. But I don’t understand why. Who are you?” “I’m the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “So I guess he banished me here? It was the first place he thought of?” “I’m flattered.” A pause. “And perhaps you ought to be relieved that he didn’t recall the lazurynth quicker.” “I need to get back to him.” Finnit fixed you with a serious expression. “He might be hurt, or—I want to get back. Please. He means—he means a lot to me.” “It is not a matter of necessity, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Wait—I know why you look familiar!” He studied your face once more. “You look a little bit like… my grandmother.” “The trees in Tinfallow have deep roots indeed, if they reach all the way to these calciferous wastes.” “I don’t understand.” He bit his lip. “There are too many pieces—it’s hard to look at directly.” “Then focus on the piece of it you care about.” “Vosaphar.” “Of course. Young love. Star-crossed, even.” You sighed. “Well, I could send you on your way to Cairnveld.” You pointed at his bracelet. “But…” “You want something in return?” Finnit asked, leaning forward. “What is it? What do you want?” “What I *really* want is for you to have written my name correctly on the Pharos Fidelis.” Finnit sat back again. “That’s—that’s *you*? Your name? I expected someone so much more…” “Impressive?” You gave a hollow laugh. “Terrifying,” he finished. “But you seem, I don’t know, reasonable enough?” “I’m sure it seems that way.” “Well I—I don’t think I can undo what happened,” Finnit said. “I’m sorry it didn’t work. I know it may not look that way, but I really did try. I don’t know what it would’ve done if it worked, but I tried.” “You did.” You looked over at your furnace, where your sluggish motes of hellfire simmered. “I want the lens fragments in your possession.” “Lens fragments?” You pointed them out in his hair and on his clothes. “So that’s what you’re proposing as the terms of an exchange? I give you these shards, and you’ll send me back to Cairnveld?” “Yes.” “It just seems… I don’t know. I feel like there is still so much that I’m missing? If you—if you really are connected to me, in some way… would you want to… stay in touch?” You hadn’t expected *that*, of all things. “You want the warden of the calciferous wastes to offer you… mentorship.” “I’ve done much weirder things today!” Finnit said, rather defensively. “I went to the *sun*. Look, my mentor is Luminary Raekard. An actual demon would be a significant improvement.” “Ah, Raekard. I regret my part in that, given how it went.” “What?” Finnit’s eyes widened. “What do you mean you—” “Finnit, I propose an addendum to our… accord. If you wish to speak with me, you shall have one chance to do so during each new moon. Sacrifice a lens fragment in my name, and we shall converse for one hour.” “I’m not sure how I’ll get more of these,” Finnit said. “It seems expensive.” “And yet, a single fragment pales against the scale of what you destroyed. You could not possibly comprehend how far you’ve set me back. But,” you added, softening your tone, “I will make that hour as worthwhile as you wish it to be.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit accepted those terms, tossing each of the lens fragments on his person into your furnace. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to bend ever more futures in your favor. “Thank you,” Finnit said, as you adjusted the sigils on his transit band. “I—I’m glad to have met you.” With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Survive. ⇒->26AABAAC. Vosaphar]]]]</div> ]]]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage cold, wet, and screaming. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It had a certain resonance, didn’t it? He coughed violently, choking on sludge and bloodfog alike, wading clumsily in your direction. Even from this distance, you could feel intense energy pouring off the misplaced mortal, his magic warped by the glowing fragments of the Pharos Fidelis stuck in his hair and clothing. If nothing else could be salvaged from this historic disaster, at least you had an opportunity to fuel your furnace. The mortal would, at any moment, petition you for relief from his dire situation. This provided you a brief moment to consider which form might be most appropriate for such an absurd occasion. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|initial>[In that light: (link-reveal: "You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. Inaccurate though it may have been, perhaps you had the right to such a form. You’d already spent more time fussing over Vosaphar’s fate than any of his makers had. You adopted an elegant posture and swept out of your cottage to approach the mortal. “Hello, Finnit,” you said. He turned to look at you, eyes widening. You flicked your new tail, mimicking one of Vosaphar’s gestures that he so favored. “Um—hi. Uh—” “Welcome to my calciferous wastes.” You extended your arms, gesturing toward the dark skies and lonesome coralbone monuments dotting the horizon. “And what a sight they are.” Finnit looked around, evidently still processing this alarming development. “The calciferous wastes? Do you—do you know Vosaphar?” “Please, join me inside,” you said. “We shall sit by the fire and discuss these matters.” Finnit numbly complied, letting you guide him to the soot-stained armchairs by your furnace. It seemed to calm him down, having become accustomed to closeness with a certain source of hellfire. “What happened? Do you know?” Finnit asked. “Sorry—I’m just—I should ask who you are probably?” “I am the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “I think—I think he banished me?” “He did.” You tapped an idle claw against your ivory armchair. “I’m sorry, maybe this is too forward, but—look, I’m worried about Vosaphar? I don’t know what happened—what if—what if he—” You took him to the window and pointed to the dark pool, where Vosaphar’s ember twinkled at the bottom. If anything, it had grown brighter. Interesting. “That is his essential coal,” you said. “If he had perished, he would have immediately returned here. If we wait, he will eventually appear. However…” Finnit paced to and fro, trying to shake off his anxiety. “What if he’s hurt—he must be—I don’t want to wait!” “It is not a matter of desire, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. Perhaps that hadn’t been a Vosapharian gesture. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Will you—I mean, would you please help me?” “What are your intentions toward Vosaphar?” “My intentions?” Finnit looked puzzled. “What do you—” “Answer my question carefully, mortal.” He looked appropriately worried. “Look, I—I love him. I know it’s been so quick, and maybe you think it’s shallow, just because he’s so beautiful—but, uh, really, I have never felt so close with someone. I mean—he took me to the *sun*, and back. I don’t know what it would mean for us to be together outside of the Pharos Fidelis, in a more normal world. Maybe it won’t work, and we’ll part ways. I think—I mean, I hope you think that we’re worthy of a chance to figure that out.” “Vosaphar will need your help,” you said. “He will suffer from his power. You will stand by him? Treat him respectfully?” “I would—I will.” “Very well.” You paused. “I would send you back to Cairnveld.” You gave a pointed look toward your furnace. “But my fire is too weak for such a feat. Won’t you stoke it?” “Stoke it?” Finnit looked nervous. “What, uh—what do you want? My soul?” How amusing. “Are you offering that?” You approached him, attempting to loom in the way he found so appealing when Vosaphar did it. Finnit looked terrified as you reached down and plucked a glowing lens fragment from his hair. “No, Finnit. Not your soul. I want these.” “Oh—is that all? Yes, you can have them. They’re not even really mine, I don’t think.” Finnit parted easily with the fragments, tossing each into the furnace as he found it. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to cause some new chaos. He had no sense of priorities. And neither—apparently—did you, entertaining this… cloyingly earnest romantic nonsense. You reached for Finnit’s transit band, warping the sigils such that they would send Finnit on his way. Before activating it, you paused. “If you treat Vosaphar with anything less than the respect owed to such an unreasonably affectionate devil, I will send every specter in my dominion to drag you back here, and drown you in these depths for all eternity.” It was a joke. Mostly. You were sure that Finnit appreciated it. With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. You basked in the new heat now crackling and seething in your furnace. And how ridiculous an exchange it was, to receive all that energy for a trivial bit of spellcraft. Even an incubus would have found no pleasure in the seduction of such easy prey. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[That’s why you did it, right? You *just* wanted the power. Nothing more. You felt nothing else. Surely. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[Survive. ⇒->26AABAAA. Vosaphar]]]]]]]</div>] Unless: (link-reveal: "You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. Darkness pooled around you, threshed with dozens of unblinking, glowing eyes. Gobs of loose flesh sizzled on charred bones to add to the illusion’s sensory overload. You adopted a threatening posture and swept out of your cottage to approach Finnit, trailing black grease in your wake. “Mortal!” you shouted, startling him. “You dare trespass upon my dominion?” Finnit turned your way, and his breath hitched at the loathsome sight of you. He cowered. Mortals were so susceptible to this kind of stagecraft, weren’t they? “I—I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—” “Silence!” You stretched and oozed before him. “You have stolen from me. You must return what I’m owed.” Finnit’s eyes darted about wildly, as if he were considering running away. He wouldn’t make it far. “Could you please—um—grand one? Uh, what did I steal?” “My *light*.” You over-articulated the “t” with such exuberance that flecks of acid splattered from your many mouths. “The Pharos Fidelis.” You wrapped a slimy tentacle around his arm, pulling him closer so you could pluck one of the fragments from his clothes. “What? Oh. Oh you can—you can have those. They’re, um, not even mine.” He was too frightened to assist in this process, so you grabbed each fragment, showing no regard for his comfort. Shards collected—from his perspective, devoured—you began shambling back to your cottage. “Wait!” Finnit called after you. “Um—I need—I need to get back to Vosaphar—do you know him? Or—” “I am the warden of these calciferous wastes, and he is my subject. Mortal longings are not my concern…” “But please, I—” “…Unless, of course, you wish to receive… an accord.” And there it was. Not only had you easily liberated the shards from his unworthy possession, but you could do even more to sate your rage with the proceedings of the eclipse. “An accord?” Finnit asked. “You’ll help me get back?” “For a *price*,” you hissed. “I gave you—I gave you the fragments!” He seemed to have realized his mistake. Perhaps he ought to have actually read *Case Studies in Infernal Betrayal* instead of assuming all demons would be as needy and pathetic as Vosaphar. “You claimed yourself that you had no ownership over them. They are mine already. One cannot offer a gift already granted.” “So what do you want?” His voice was strained. “My soul?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“*That* is worthless.” Drawing from the power of the fragments you held, you manifested a bloodfrost dagger from the fog, its keen edge sharp enough to carve the walls of the lazurynth. “Take this dagger to Luminary Raekard. I tire of his incompetent scheming. Carve out his heart. Then burn it in a ring of hellfire until it is but ash on the wind.” “But I—I can’t kill someone!” Finnit shouted. “That’s absurd—even someone as awful as him—and he’s so dangerous. It would never work.” “Then you will die here, and never again wrap your wretched limbs around the devil you cling to in the dark.” You sidled into your cottage, leaving him to contemplate his mortal morality while you stoked the furnace with the fragments. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to inflict some new misery upon the world. It wasn’t long before he approached you again. He looked directly at you, gazing into your seething core, and without stumbling, said, “I accept those terms.” You wrapped a tendril around the hilt of the dagger and offered it to him. He took it, his expression grim and determined. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[You *almost* believed he could do it. With a burst of magic, you activated his bracelet—the transit band—and sent him to his terrible fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[Append. ⇒->P4AABAAB. Fourth Principle]]]]]]]</div> ] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. Well, at least the version of yourself that held court, lording your specificity over these dismal barrens. Finnit would get to see you for what you were: powerful, yet petty. Exhausted, too. It was miserable to live with your failures. You slunk to your soot-stained armchair by the furnace, waiting for the mortal to arrive. He knocked at the door. “Hello? Is—is someone in here?” “Come in, Finnit.” He opened the door, and saw you by the furnace. What texture the man had taken on since he left Cairnveld, struggling through your schemes in that desperate way that humans are wont to do. You gestured for him to sit in the chair across from yours. He obliged, if a bit warily. “Welcome to my calciferous wastes,” you said. “I wonder what you think of them?” “Calciferous wastes?” Something flickered in his eyes. “Is that—do you know Vosaphar?” “Answer my question first, if you will.” Finnit seemed taken aback, but recovered. “Well, if you really want to know—I can see why Vosaphar was so determined to leave.” You could almost see him realizing in real time that he probably was meant to say something kinder. “Not that there isn’t something… eerily beautiful about the colors streaking across the sky. But, it’s very cold and sharp and it seems sad, I guess?” “Yes, Vosaphar is troubled by his existence. As are we all.” You clicked your claws against the coralbone armrest. “You look—If you don’t mind me saying—you look familiar to me. But I don’t understand why. Who are you?” “I’m the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “So I guess he banished me here? It was the first place he thought of?” “I’m flattered.” A pause. “And perhaps you ought to be relieved that he didn’t recall the lazurynth quicker.” “I need to get back to him.” Finnit fixed you with a serious expression. “He might be hurt, or—I want to get back. Please. He means—he means a lot to me.” “It is not a matter of necessity, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Wait—I know why you look familiar!” He studied your face once more. “You look a little bit like… my grandmother.” “The trees in Tinfallow have deep roots indeed, if they reach all the way to these calciferous wastes.” “I don’t understand.” He bit his lip. “There are too many pieces—it’s hard to look at directly.” “Then focus on the piece of it you care about.” “Vosaphar.” “Of course. Young love. Star-crossed, even.” You sighed. “Well, I could send you on your way to Cairnveld.” You pointed at his bracelet. “But…” “You want something in return?” Finnit asked, leaning forward. “What is it? What do you want?” “What I *really* want is for you to have written my name correctly on the Pharos Fidelis.” Finnit sat back again. “That’s—that’s *you*? Your name? I expected someone so much more…” “Impressive?” You gave a hollow laugh. “Terrifying,” he finished. “But you seem, I don’t know, reasonable enough?” “I’m sure it seems that way.” “Well I—I don’t think I can undo what happened,” Finnit said. “I’m sorry it didn’t work. I know it may not look that way, but I really did try. I don’t know what it would’ve done if it worked, but I tried.” “You did.” You looked over at your furnace, where your sluggish motes of hellfire simmered. “I want the lens fragments in your possession.” “Lens fragments?” You pointed them out in his hair and on his clothes. “So that’s what you’re proposing as the terms of an exchange? I give you these shards, and you’ll send me back to Cairnveld?” “Yes.” “It just seems… I don’t know. I feel like there is still so much that I’m missing? If you—if you really are connected to me, in some way… would you want to… stay in touch?” You hadn’t expected *that*, of all things. “You want the warden of the calciferous wastes to offer you… mentorship.” “I’ve done much weirder things today!” Finnit said, rather defensively. “I went to the *sun*. Look, my mentor is Luminary Raekard. An actual demon would be a significant improvement.” “Ah, Raekard. I regret my part in that, given how it went.” “What?” Finnit’s eyes widened. “What do you mean you—” “Finnit, I propose an addendum to our… accord. If you wish to speak with me, you shall have one chance to do so during each new moon. Sacrifice a lens fragment in my name, and we shall converse for one hour.” “I’m not sure how I’ll get more of these,” Finnit said. “It seems expensive.” “And yet, a single fragment pales against the scale of what you destroyed. You could not possibly comprehend how far you’ve set me back. But,” you added, softening your tone, “I will make that hour as worthwhile as you wish it to be.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit accepted those terms, tossing each of the lens fragments on his person into your furnace. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to bend ever more futures in your favor. “Thank you,” Finnit said, as you adjusted the sigils on his transit band. “I—I’m glad to have met you.” With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[Survive. ⇒->26AABAAC. Vosaphar]]]]</div> ]]]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Mote]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending AABAAA]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending AABAAA]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 3)[Anathema.] (text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 1.15)[The Fourth Principle of Summoning.]</div> A timely addendum, courtesy of you. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Behold the fourth principle of summoning: (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color:#a01404)[**4. The Principle of Voluntary and Efficient Accession to the Extraordinarily Reasonable Conditions Imposed by the Magnanimous Warden of the Calciferous Wastes, Who Certainly Never Even Cared About the Pharos Fidelis, And Certainly Not the Absurd Romantic Yearnings of Your Pathetic Subjects—Or Else.**] Summoners who willingly and knowingly forge an accord with you must see their bargain through, or suffer the consequences of incompetence and betrayal. (text-color:#a01404)[***Implication:***] You suffered long and worked hard to eke out your existence. (text-color:#a01404)[***Implication:***] You generously helped him plenty up to this point—for free. It wasn’t such a high price to ask him to kill someone he hated anyway. You both benefited from this accord. (text-color:#a01404)[***Implication:***] His failure was inevitable. You weren’t *really* invested in his survival, or his potential to shift the tenor of human-demon relations. You were just hungry for more power, right? You just wanted to enrich your tiny slice of the hells, fuel your furnace, as you had always done. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It would have been unreasonable for *you*, of all beings, to have cared. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Bemoan. ⇒->26AABAAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Behold the fourth principle of summoning: (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color:#f17264)[**4. The Principle of Voluntary and Efficient Accession to the Extraordinarily Reasonable Conditions Imposed by the Magnanimous Warden of the Calciferous Wastes, Who Certainly Never Even Cared About the Pharos Fidelis, And Certainly Not the Absurd Romantic Yearnings of Your Pathetic Subjects—Or Else.**] Summoners who willingly and knowingly forge an accord with you must see their bargain through, or suffer the consequences of incompetence and betrayal. (text-color:#f17264)[***Implication:***] You suffered long and worked hard to eke out your existence. (text-color:#f17264)[***Implication:***] You generously helped him plenty up to this point—for free. It wasn’t such a high price to ask him to kill someone he hated anyway. You both benefited from this accord. (text-color:#f17264)[***Implication:***] His failure was inevitable. You weren’t *really* invested in his survival, or his potential to shift the tenor of human-demon relations. You were just hungry for more power, right? You just wanted to enrich your tiny slice of the hells, fuel your furnace, as you had always done. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It would have been unreasonable for *you*, of all beings, to have cared. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Bemoan. ⇒->26AABAAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17AAB. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4AABA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s clinginess. However, his distrust caused him to reject clinginess in favor of desperation, impulsively banishing Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate miscalculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25AABAA. Finnit]]]</div> You took a comforting form, nurturing his budding relationship with Vosaphar in exchange for the lens fragments on his person. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17AAB. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4AABA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s clinginess. However, his distrust caused him to reject clinginess in favor of desperation, impulsively banishing Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate miscalculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25AABAA. Finnit]]]</div> You took a comforting form, nurturing his budding relationship with Vosaphar in exchange for the lens fragments on his person. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he would *stay* longing. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[For, if you must suffer this catastrophic failure, you would offer him no choice but to join you in misery. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending AABAAB]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he would *stay* longing. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[For, if you must suffer this catastrophic failure, you would offer him no choice but to join you in misery. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending AABAAB]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the brief union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Finnit perished in a failed assassination attempt upon his return to Cairnveld, screaming of the sun. A strange footnote to this history. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. But a new threat lurked. The demon Vosaphar absorbed the fragments around him, growing distorted in his influence. He climbed upon the melted peak and in his sorrow and fury, bewitched many ships to their doom with fata morgana. He had become, in effect, the latest Pharos Fidelis. Perhaps he had even become something more powerful than *you*. And perhaps you deserved to finally feel fear again. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17AAB. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4AABA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s clinginess. However, his distrust caused him to reject clinginess in favor of desperation, impulsively banishing Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate miscalculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25AABAA. Finnit]]]</div> You took a terrifying form, seizing his lens fragments for yourself, and dooming him with an impossible accord. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and absolutely no complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the brief union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Finnit perished in a failed assassination attempt upon his return to Cairnveld, screaming of the sun. A strange footnote to this history. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. But a new threat lurked. The demon Vosaphar absorbed the fragments around him, growing distorted in his influence. He climbed upon the melted peak and in his sorrow and fury, bewitched many ships to their doom with fata morgana. He had become, in effect, the latest Pharos Fidelis. Perhaps he had even become something more powerful than *you*. And perhaps you deserved to finally feel fear again. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17AAB. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4AABA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s clinginess. However, his distrust caused him to reject clinginess in favor of desperation, impulsively banishing Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate miscalculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25AABAA. Finnit]]]</div> You took a terrifying form, seizing his lens fragments for yourself, and dooming him with an impossible accord. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and absolutely no complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending AABAAC]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending AABAAC]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17AAB. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4AABA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s clinginess. However, his distrust caused him to reject clinginess in favor of desperation, impulsively banishing Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate miscalculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25AABAA. Finnit]]]</div> You took an honest form, developing a stronger connection with Finnit while ensuring ongoing access to lens fragments in the future. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17AAB. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4AABA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s clinginess. However, his distrust caused him to reject clinginess in favor of desperation, impulsively banishing Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate miscalculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25AABAA. Finnit]]]</div> You took an honest form, developing a stronger connection with Finnit while ensuring ongoing access to lens fragments in the future. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[XVIII.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">It wasn’t long before even the shock of Vosaphar’s emergence from the pool—exactly as cold and miserable as you had promised him it would be—had begun to fade into the listlessness of wandering the wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The residual magic Finnit had accorded him allowed him to travel faster and further than before. His slash wounds scabbed over more readily, healing further with each attempt. Something had shifted in his specificity. He should have been satisfied with that. Satisfied with the memories of what was, and dreams of what could have been, for bitter honey still bore sweetness. Didn’t it? Another kind of wound had carved itself into his heart. Without Finnit, Vosaphar’s existence felt darker and emptier than it ever had before. He wondered what might be about to happen, was happening, or had already happened at the Pharos Fidelis. Was Finnit still preparing his ritual of communion with the lens? Was it already over? Could he have been, right at that moment, spiraling amidst its unfathomable secrets? Perhaps Finnit’s rite had failed, the cursed lens consuming his soul as it had so many others. But, it could also be… something else. Another reason. Just as that doubt crept in, the devil felt a familiar sensation tugging at his core. Heat coursed through his veins as a tendril of sorcery unfurled for him, awaiting his tender grasp. (align:"<==")[And then—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=========")[Vosaphar] (align:"=><==")[at last] (align:"=><=")[recalled] (align:"===><==")[his] (align:"==><=")[own] (align:"===><=")[principle] (align:"=========><=")[of] (align:"==>")[flight—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Spread wings. ⇒->19AABB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">It wasn’t long before even the shock of Vosaphar’s emergence from the pool—exactly as cold and miserable as you had promised him it would be—had begun to fade into the listlessness of wandering the wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The residual magic Finnit had accorded him allowed him to travel faster and further than before. His slash wounds scabbed over more readily, healing further with each attempt. Something had shifted in his specificity. He should have been satisfied with that. Satisfied with the memories of what was, and dreams of what could have been, for bitter honey still bore sweetness. Didn’t it? Another kind of wound had carved itself into his heart. Without Finnit, Vosaphar’s existence felt darker and emptier than it ever had before. He wondered what might be about to happen, was happening, or had already happened at the Pharos Fidelis. Was Finnit still preparing his ritual of communion with the lens? Was it already over? Could he have been, right at that moment, spiraling amidst its unfathomable secrets? Perhaps Finnit’s rite had failed, the cursed lens consuming his soul as it had so many others. But, it could also be… something else. Another reason. Just as that doubt crept in, the devil felt a familiar sensation tugging at his core. Heat coursed through his veins as a tendril of sorcery unfurled for him, awaiting his tender grasp. (align:"<==")[And then—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=========")[Vosaphar] (align:"=><==")[at last] (align:"=><=")[recalled] (align:"===><==")[his] (align:"==><=")[own] (align:"===><=")[principle] (align:"=========><=")[of] (align:"==>")[flight—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Spread wings. ⇒->19AABB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XIX.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">Atop the Pharos Fidelis, Finnit remained just in sight of the great split glass that had spilled its secrets. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he smeared the last of his wax sticks to stubs on wet stone, he did not give the lens a further thought. He did not obey the principle of authoritarian primacy. He did not beware the principle of semantic dilution. He did not account for the principle of planar reversion. He thought only of Vosaphar, with a singular intensity of focus that even the Pharos Fidelis could never have dreamed of refracting. The circle of waxen glyphs coursed with scarlet fire, brighter than Finnit had ever seen it. He averted his gaze, eyes watering. When he looked back, Vosaphar had manifested before him once more. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[From his back spread wings wrought of fire, eldritch blue roiled with red and magenta—the colors of Finnit’s own magic, now intertwined with Vosaphar’s. Finnit’s eyes traveled further, noting ichor scabs crisscrossing the devil’s scarred blue chest, and then, curls of rough hair trailing immodestly past his navel. Streaks of lightning slashed green across the sky, glinting off his fearsome horns. Raindrops sizzled as the demon swept them aside, wreathing himself in silver mist. Vosaphar looked every bit an archfiend of legend looming over him, his eyes fixed on Finnit, reaching forward to press the sorcerer against the cliffside, claws clasping his wrists. “Vosaphar—” The infernal heat overwhelmed his mortal senses. “Please—Vosaphar, kiss m—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon pressed his lips gently against Finnit’s, dark beard bristling against his tender skin, breathing out brimstone incense that smoldered in Finnit’s throat. Just when Finnit thought himself on the verge of feeling too much, that Vosaphar might devour his soul and all his magic in a final, blissful moment of agony, the fiend held back, slackening his grip, and smiled. “I couldn’t wait until I got back,” Finnit said, his vision still sparking. “I—I needed to see you again.” “That’s not all you need.” Vosaphar leaned forward, so close still that Finnit could see details pitted into his horns. “What is it exactly that you imagine, lustful one? A dreadful devil from your darkest dreams, ever so sweetly domineering?” “I–” Finnit felt dazed as those fevered imaginings grew sharper into his mind. “I mean—well—now that you’ve brought it up, that sounds—” “Too bad,” Vosaphar said, his voice sly and soft. “My dear Finnit, you’re all *wet*.” And he was. He’d completely abandoned his wards in the midst of an endless storm. How embarrassing. Finnit also noticed that, in his exuberance to kiss him, Vosaphar had clumsily scorched Finnit’s sleeves with his wings. Suddenly, the demon felt less like some legendary figure, and instead like something better. Something real. Finnit’s companion. Finnit’s love. Finnit’s Vosaphar. “We should head back down,” Finnit said. “We should.” Vosaphar pushed one of Finnit’s loose curls back. “But listen, Finnit. When we do, I want *you* to take the lead. I want things to be… gentle, between us. For now. How does that sound?” “I have never wanted something so much in my entire existence.” Vosaphar grinned, ivory fangs glinting. “Good.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[What followed was an evening of tender fumbling and grasping. Finnit had been piqued by the fantasy of Vosaphar looming over him; and it remained a thought he wanted to revisit later. But, he found that this gentle, deliberate exploration—some serenity among the profane—brought him closer to understanding the demon in a way he found difficult to articulate but easy to just experience as it happened. Tomorrow, research awaited. But for now, Finnit’s fears grew distant as he slept, wrapped against Vosaphar like a warm satchel. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Interrogate. ⇒->C1AABB. Sunlight]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">Atop the Pharos Fidelis, Finnit remained just in sight of the great split glass that had spilled its secrets. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he smeared the last of his wax sticks to stubs on wet stone, he did not give the lens a further thought. He did not obey the principle of authoritarian primacy. He did not beware the principle of semantic dilution. He did not account for the principle of planar reversion. He thought only of Vosaphar, with a singular intensity of focus that even the Pharos Fidelis could never have dreamed of refracting. The circle of waxen glyphs coursed with scarlet fire, brighter than Finnit had ever seen it. He averted his gaze, eyes watering. When he looked back, Vosaphar had manifested before him once more. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[From his back spread wings wrought of fire, eldritch blue roiled with red and magenta—the colors of Finnit’s own magic, now intertwined with Vosaphar’s. Finnit’s eyes traveled further, noting ichor scabs crisscrossing the devil’s scarred blue chest, and then, curls of rough hair trailing immodestly past his navel. Streaks of lightning slashed green across the sky, glinting off his fearsome horns. Raindrops sizzled as the demon swept them aside, wreathing himself in silver mist. Vosaphar looked every bit an archfiend of legend looming over him, his eyes fixed on Finnit, reaching forward to press the sorcerer against the cliffside, claws clasping his wrists. “Vosaphar—” The infernal heat overwhelmed his mortal senses. “Please—Vosaphar, kiss m—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon pressed his lips gently against Finnit’s, dark beard bristling against his tender skin, breathing out brimstone incense that smoldered in Finnit’s throat. Just when Finnit thought himself on the verge of feeling too much, that Vosaphar might devour his soul and all his magic in a final, blissful moment of agony, the fiend held back, slackening his grip, and smiled. “I couldn’t wait until I got back,” Finnit said, his vision still sparking. “I—I needed to see you again.” “That’s not all you need.” Vosaphar leaned forward, so close still that Finnit could see details pitted into his horns. “What is it exactly that you imagine, lustful one? A dreadful devil from your darkest dreams, ever so sweetly domineering?” “I–” Finnit felt dazed as those fevered imaginings grew sharper into his mind. “I mean—well—now that you’ve brought it up, that sounds—” “Too bad,” Vosaphar said, his voice sly and soft. “My dear Finnit, you’re all *wet*.” And he was. He’d completely abandoned his wards in the midst of an endless storm. How embarrassing. Finnit also noticed that, in his exuberance to kiss him, Vosaphar had clumsily scorched Finnit’s sleeves with his wings. Suddenly, the demon felt less like some legendary figure, and instead like something better. Something real. Finnit’s companion. Finnit’s love. Finnit’s Vosaphar. “We should head back down,” Finnit said. “We should.” Vosaphar pushed one of Finnit’s loose curls back. “But listen, Finnit. When we do, I want *you* to take the lead. I want things to be… gentle, between us. For now. How does that sound?” “I have never wanted something so much in my entire existence.” Vosaphar grinned, ivory fangs glinting. “Good.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[What followed was an evening of tender fumbling and grasping. Finnit had been piqued by the fantasy of Vosaphar looming over him; and it remained a thought he wanted to revisit later. But, he found that this gentle, deliberate exploration—some serenity among the profane—brought him closer to understanding the demon in a way he found difficult to articulate but easy to just experience as it happened. Tomorrow, research awaited. But for now, Finnit’s fears grew distant as he slept, wrapped against Vosaphar like a warm satchel. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Interrogate. ⇒->C1AABB. Sunlight]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[1st Era | Sunlight.]</div> One more fragment recounting the dark history of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">(text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The illuminative session for Leisenelle, former third officer of the now-renegade vessel ‘Consonance,’ is hereby brought to order. You stand accused of mutiny, murder, theft, deception, consorting with proscribed entities, and willful evasion of justice. Is that correct? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] You would know. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Is that correct? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I guess so. Yes. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“She sounds a lot like you,” Vosaphar murmured, stroking his claws idly through Finnit’s hair. “‘Consorting with proscribed entities?’ What a wicked accusation.” Finnit snorted. “Are you going to bring me to justice?” “Absolutely not.” “Too bad.” </div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Against these accusations, how do you plead? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I do not plead. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] You must make a claim, either to affirm or deny each crime you have been accused of. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I will make no such claims. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The accused has neglected her obligation to plead. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] What’s your deal, anyway? Are you mad? Some pretty vampire in your past tied your morals all up in knots and made you feel sinful? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My role here is strictly illuminative. How did you first come to associate with this vampire? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I was trying to find out the truth about this island. But none of them would talk to me. The islanders, I mean. They resent us. You know that, right? Look at what we’ve done to them since we got here. Someone has to stop it. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, mark a note down for ‘sedition,’ would you? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">At least the clerics are obligated to transcribe what they actually heard. Historians ought to learn from their example. ⚞L. Raekard (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“I think Raekard’s distaste for historians gets in his way,” Finnit said. “How could we possibly know, at this point, what liberties the cleric might have taken?” “It’s going to take more than historians to put a stop to him.” Finnit laughed, but Vosaphar hadn’t told a joke.</div>] </div>] (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] You didn’t have that one already? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Continue. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Fine. This one woman approached me, and told me to visit her house on the outskirts after sundown. I thought she might be into me—and maybe she was, a little—but she wanted me to meet her grandmother. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Yeah. Did the ‘after sundown’ part give it away? I’m not a good storyteller. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The only things your story requires are honesty and accuracy. Justice will account for the rest. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Whatever you need to tell yourself. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] I don’t ‘need’ to do anything. My role here is strictly illuminative. As the accused has been reminded. Continue. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] So, I waited for dusk, and paid her a visit. Her grandmother was living in the basement. Some kind of herbalist, I guess. The whole time we talked, she was crushing up these weird seedpods in a mortar and pestle. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] At what point did you realize this entity was a vampire? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Not until after, when… (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] When what? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] When you killed her. Robbed us of her wisdom, kindness, perspective, heart, all she contributed to her community. And for what? Some ash? Dust? Is there not already enough collecting between the folds of your ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that last term for obscenity. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] What, you’re more scandalized by me describing your dust-crusted ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆ than your violence? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that one as well. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“Which word do you suppose was stricken here?” Vosaphar asked. “Asscheeks,” Finnit said solemnly. “Has to be.”</div>] (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] So you don’t have an answer. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The entity in question was brought before sunlight and destroyed in accordance with all legal and moral precedent. Any ‘violence’ is lawful, and thereby just. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] And you wonder why they hate us. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Hatred is not the subject of this illuminative session. What did your proscribed discussion entail? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] She told me all kinds of stories about this place, how they have fine-tuned their relationship with the island to keep things running, letting their traditions evolve with the conditions. I think her granddaughter wanted her to have someone new to talk to, so she could share all this with someone. The old woman told me that when sun and moon meet in the sky, the boundary between our world and theirs grows thin. At such a momentous event, the cleverest and quickest might climb into the throat of the island and cross the threshold to the cosmos. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">At last. Something of value in this tedious discussion. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire spoke metaphorically, did it not? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">I wondered the same thing. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] No, I don’t think she did. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Explain. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] She said that when the celestial hosts of the heavens are distracted with their dance, the sun grows just cool enough to touch. She dipped her finger into the mortar, and showed me a golden bead of oil, and she said even a drop of sunlight was enough to bless the island for a century, but few survived the transit. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">They must not have understood what they were doing. How could they have, without knowledge of the Three Principles? If there is any truth to it at all, it is clearly some underdeveloped rite of self-banishment, resulting in a temporary transference of a mortal into the hells until planar reversion draws them back. If that. Nevertheless, the ritual is worth investigating further. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] It claimed to have performed this… feat? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I believe her. You would’ve too, had you been there. Thankfully, you weren’t. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My opinion toward the superstitious musings of a proscribed entity is not the subject of this session. My role here is strictly— (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“Illuminative,” Vosaphar said, looking out into the storm. “That’s it?” Finnit asked. “But I want to know… so much more.” “And yet, we know more now than we did before. Does this not confirm what you saw in the lens?” “I guess so. Still…” </div>] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightchroniclechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[[[Suspect. ⇒->20AABB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">(text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The illuminative session for Leisenelle, former third officer of the now-renegade vessel ‘Consonance,’ is hereby brought to order. You stand accused of mutiny, murder, theft, deception, consorting with proscribed entities, and willful evasion of justice. Is that correct? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] You would know. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Is that correct? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I guess so. Yes. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“She sounds a lot like you,” Vosaphar murmured, stroking his claws idly through Finnit’s hair. “‘Consorting with proscribed entities?’ What a wicked accusation.” Finnit snorted. “Are you going to bring me to justice?” “Absolutely not.” “Too bad.” </div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Against these accusations, how do you plead? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I do not plead. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] You must make a claim, either to affirm or deny each crime you have been accused of. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I will make no such claims. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The accused has neglected her obligation to plead. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] What’s your deal, anyway? Are you mad? Some pretty vampire in your past tied your morals all up in knots and made you feel sinful? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My role here is strictly illuminative. How did you first come to associate with this vampire? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I was trying to find out the truth about this island. But none of them would talk to me. The islanders, I mean. They resent us. You know that, right? Look at what we’ve done to them since we got here. Someone has to stop it. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, mark a note down for ‘sedition,’ would you? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">At least the clerics are obligated to transcribe what they actually heard. Historians ought to learn from their example. ⚞L. Raekard (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“I think Raekard’s distaste for historians gets in his way,” Finnit said. “How could we possibly know, at this point, what liberties the cleric might have taken?” “It’s going to take more than historians to put a stop to him.” Finnit laughed, but Vosaphar hadn’t told a joke.</div>] </div>] (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] You didn’t have that one already? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Continue. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Fine. This one woman approached me, and told me to visit her house on the outskirts after sundown. I thought she might be into me—and maybe she was, a little—but she wanted me to meet her grandmother. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Yeah. Did the ‘after sundown’ part give it away? I’m not a good storyteller. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The only things your story requires are honesty and accuracy. Justice will account for the rest. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Whatever you need to tell yourself. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] I don’t ‘need’ to do anything. My role here is strictly illuminative. As the accused has been reminded. Continue. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] So, I waited for dusk, and paid her a visit. Her grandmother was living in the basement. Some kind of herbalist, I guess. The whole time we talked, she was crushing up these weird seedpods in a mortar and pestle. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] At what point did you realize this entity was a vampire? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Not until after, when… (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] When what? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] When you killed her. Robbed us of her wisdom, kindness, perspective, heart, all she contributed to her community. And for what? Some ash? Dust? Is there not already enough collecting between the folds of your ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that last term for obscenity. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] What, you’re more scandalized by me describing your dust-crusted ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆ than your violence? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that one as well. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“Which word do you suppose was stricken here?” Vosaphar asked. “Asscheeks,” Finnit said solemnly. “Has to be.”</div>] (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] So you don’t have an answer. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The entity in question was brought before sunlight and destroyed in accordance with all legal and moral precedent. Any ‘violence’ is lawful, and thereby just. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] And you wonder why they hate us. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Hatred is not the subject of this illuminative session. What did your proscribed discussion entail? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] She told me all kinds of stories about this place, how they have fine-tuned their relationship with the island to keep things running, letting their traditions evolve with the conditions. I think her granddaughter wanted her to have someone new to talk to, so she could share all this with someone. The old woman told me that when sun and moon meet in the sky, the boundary between our world and theirs grows thin. At such a momentous event, the cleverest and quickest might climb into the throat of the island and cross the threshold to the cosmos. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">At last. Something of value in this tedious discussion. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire spoke metaphorically, did it not? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">I wondered the same thing. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] No, I don’t think she did. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Explain. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] She said that when the celestial hosts of the heavens are distracted with their dance, the sun grows just cool enough to touch. She dipped her finger into the mortar, and showed me a golden bead of oil, and she said even a drop of sunlight was enough to bless the island for a century, but few survived the transit. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">They must not have understood what they were doing. How could they have, without knowledge of the Three Principles? If there is any truth to it at all, it is clearly some underdeveloped rite of self-banishment, resulting in a temporary transference of a mortal into the hells until planar reversion draws them back. If that. Nevertheless, the ritual is worth investigating further. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] It claimed to have performed this… feat? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I believe her. You would’ve too, had you been there. Thankfully, you weren’t. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My opinion toward the superstitious musings of a proscribed entity is not the subject of this session. My role here is strictly— (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“Illuminative,” Vosaphar said, looking out into the storm. “That’s it?” Finnit asked. “But I want to know… so much more.” “And yet, we know more now than we did before. Does this not confirm what you saw in the lens?” “I guess so. Still…” </div>] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="chroniclechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[[[Suspect. ⇒->20AABB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#927b1a")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Chronicle]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XX.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">With fewer than a handful of days remaining until the eclipse, Vosaphar was determined to spend as much of that time as he could with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon now wondered why they had wasted the preceding days doing everything else *except* wrapping up together in blankets, speaking softly to one another. His ordeals felt paler against the comfort of this heat. Had your machinations even mattered for this? Under these conditions, wouldn’t they have always found themselves in love? You had no motes for lust. Though, based on what you had seen, you wouldn’t have needed them. Goodness. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Once they were ready to venture out, Finnit led Vosaphar back up the cliffside stairs to the crevice dotted with rusted anchors and unhatched eggs. The bird-creature chirped warily as they sidled deeper into the passage. She affixed those golden eyes to Vosaphar, unblinking, as though daring him to disturb any of her forsaken brood. He kept himself positioned between her and Finnit, to help alleviate the mortal’s anxiety. After winding their way through, the passage opened into a roughly circular chamber. “Look, Vosaphar,” Finnit intoned, pointing up. “We’re right beneath the lens.” Black slag had oozed down from the ceiling, frozen into organic stalactites that reflected no light from Finnit’s orb. While still fluid, they had dripped, leaving a few glassy patches spread across the altar. *Click*. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“What was that?” Vosaphar whispered. He cautiously approached the altar, a raised disk with a tight spiral grooved into its otherwise flat surface. “There,” Finnit whispered. “See the moon?” *Click*. A mechanism lowered a miniature pewter grate, allowing a tiny white sphere to roll a little further forward along the channel. At the center of the spiral lay a rendering of the sun, blotched by inky glass that had dripped down from above. “So much for studying the almanac.” Finnit paced around the pedestal. “This device is telling us how much is left until the eclipse. If we had known earlier…” “But we know now,” Vosaphar said. “Look at how close it is.” Vast and fiddly though the design was, the moon had wound its way close to the center. It was an unwelcome reminder of the future approaching, click by— *Click*. A taut silence stretched between them. Vosaphar had thoughts that he was unwilling to admit to. *Click*. “What if we just stayed here?” Finnit voiced. “Well maybe not this particular chamber. I mean the Pharos Fidelis in general.” He looked down at the transit bracelet Raekard had given him. “I could throw this in the ocean. We could ignore the lens. Stay here as long as we wanted.” “There’s nothing for you to eat, Finnit.” *Click.* “Would you even want to go to the academy?” Finnit stared at the pedestal. “Who even knows what they’d do to you, or—” “I am willing to risk it,” Vosaphar said. “I cannot say what the future holds. But we can’t stay here. I’m in no hurry to descend back to the calciferous wastes. And you have your life to live. I would rather join you in whatever of that you are willing to have me for, or until we choose to part. Is that not the way forward in such matters? The real accord?” *Click.* Finnit was silent for a few more moments. “Yes. You’re right. But I’m scared. This could all go so wrong.” Vosaphar embraced Finnit, holding him close. “It might. We will do our best, regardless.” They stayed together a while longer, before journeying back to their strange little home in the cliffside. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[At the eclipse, they would return. And the fate of the Pharos Fidelis would at last be decided. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Petition. ⇒->RAABB. Calciferous]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">With fewer than a handful of days remaining until the eclipse, Vosaphar was determined to spend as much of that time as he could with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon now wondered why they had wasted the preceding days doing everything else *except* wrapping up together in blankets, speaking softly to one another. His ordeals felt paler against the comfort of this heat. Had your machinations even mattered for this? Under these conditions, wouldn’t they have always found themselves in love? You had no motes for lust. Though, based on what you had seen, you wouldn’t have needed them. Goodness. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Once they were ready to venture out, Finnit led Vosaphar back up the cliffside stairs to the crevice dotted with rusted anchors and unhatched eggs. The bird-creature chirped warily as they sidled deeper into the passage. She affixed those golden eyes to Vosaphar, unblinking, as though daring him to disturb any of her forsaken brood. He kept himself positioned between her and Finnit, to help alleviate the mortal’s anxiety. After winding their way through, the passage opened into a roughly circular chamber. “Look, Vosaphar,” Finnit intoned, pointing up. “We’re right beneath the lens.” Black slag had oozed down from the ceiling, frozen into organic stalactites that reflected no light from Finnit’s orb. While still fluid, they had dripped, leaving a few glassy patches spread across the altar. *Click*. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“What was that?” Vosaphar whispered. He cautiously approached the altar, a raised disk with a tight spiral grooved into its otherwise flat surface. “There,” Finnit whispered. “See the moon?” *Click*. A mechanism lowered a miniature pewter grate, allowing a tiny white sphere to roll a little further forward along the channel. At the center of the spiral lay a rendering of the sun, blotched by inky glass that had dripped down from above. “So much for studying the almanac.” Finnit paced around the pedestal. “This device is telling us how much is left until the eclipse. If we had known earlier…” “But we know now,” Vosaphar said. “Look at how close it is.” Vast and fiddly though the design was, the moon had wound its way close to the center. It was an unwelcome reminder of the future approaching, click by— *Click*. A taut silence stretched between them. Vosaphar had thoughts that he was unwilling to admit to. *Click*. “What if we just stayed here?” Finnit voiced. “Well maybe not this particular chamber. I mean the Pharos Fidelis in general.” He looked down at the transit bracelet Raekard had given him. “I could throw this in the ocean. We could ignore the lens. Stay here as long as we wanted.” “There’s nothing for you to eat, Finnit.” *Click.* “Would you even want to go to the academy?” Finnit stared at the pedestal. “Who even knows what they’d do to you, or—” “I am willing to risk it,” Vosaphar said. “I cannot say what the future holds. But we can’t stay here. I’m in no hurry to descend back to the calciferous wastes. And you have your life to live. I would rather join you in whatever of that you are willing to have me for, or until we choose to part. Is that not the way forward in such matters? The real accord?” *Click.* Finnit was silent for a few more moments. “Yes. You’re right. But I’m scared. This could all go so wrong.” Vosaphar embraced Finnit, holding him close. “It might. We will do our best, regardless.” They stayed together a while longer, before journeying back to their strange little home in the cliffside. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[At the eclipse, they would return. And the fate of the Pharos Fidelis would at last be decided. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Petition. ⇒->RAABB. Calciferous]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[Recollection.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">Vosaphar’s spilling ichor sang to them so sweetly, libations that lured all manner of lips to lap. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[No longer able to fly, the beleaguered demon ran, stumbled, staggered, crawled—anything he could do to place another lazurynthine wall between himself and his nearest pursuer. He needed somewhere dark and quiet, somewhere safe to recover. Such amenities were unavailable in the lazurynth. But there were other hells than these. Vosaphar slipped through an inky gap between walls that had lost definition, their geometry corrupted by some other force. He sank into an oily pool, far beneath the febrile blue heat. He could no longer tell where the sludge began and his blood ended, drifting ever downward. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Eventually he reached the shore near your cottage, not yet fragmented to spectral remnants. Still specific, despite it all. He crawled to your doorstep, begging for relief from the lazurynth. Should he fall, he would emerge there once more, a cycle of dissolution his demonhood would eventually fail to survive. You told him that the calciferous wastes were hostile and desolate. He said he preferred a false quiet to an honest din. You told him there was nothing of value here—had there been, a warden as petty as you would’ve long been shredded to bits by a stronger devil. He said he preferred an expansive nothing to crowded corridors. You told him he would awaken cold, wet, and screaming, his every lonely birth into this void inevitable suffering. He said he preferred a bitter plunge to a blistering fire. You told him what it would cost, a steady stream of magic to brighten your hellfire furnace, tending to the motes. He accepted those terms without hesitation. You asked him for his name. He still had one. Vosaphar. With that accorded, you plucked his coal from the deepest pit of the lazurynth, and held it between your claws, its blue dimmed to gray. His archfiend wouldn’t miss it. And then you threw it in the pool, and it sank to the bottom, where it lodged itself in a dark crevice. Vosaphar, now under your jurisdiction, fled into the wastes, searching for a smooth bit of coralbone to lean against, however futilely. You gave him desolation, cold, and quiet. In return, your furnace grew brighter. How could you have ever predicted what this would eventually make impossible? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Discover. ⇒->21AABB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">Vosaphar’s spilling ichor sang to them so sweetly, libations that lured all manner of lips to lap. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[No longer able to fly, the beleaguered demon ran, stumbled, staggered, crawled—anything he could do to place another lazurynthine wall between himself and his nearest pursuer. He needed somewhere dark and quiet, somewhere safe to recover. Such amenities were unavailable in the lazurynth. But there were other hells than these. Vosaphar slipped through an inky gap between walls that had lost definition, their geometry corrupted by some other force. He sank into an oily pool, far beneath the febrile blue heat. He could no longer tell where the sludge began and his blood ended, drifting ever downward. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Eventually he reached the shore near your cottage, not yet fragmented to spectral remnants. Still specific, despite it all. He crawled to your doorstep, begging for relief from the lazurynth. Should he fall, he would emerge there once more, a cycle of dissolution his demonhood would eventually fail to survive. You told him that the calciferous wastes were hostile and desolate. He said he preferred a false quiet to an honest din. You told him there was nothing of value here—had there been, a warden as petty as you would’ve long been shredded to bits by a stronger devil. He said he preferred an expansive nothing to crowded corridors. You told him he would awaken cold, wet, and screaming, his every lonely birth into this void inevitable suffering. He said he preferred a bitter plunge to a blistering fire. You told him what it would cost, a steady stream of magic to brighten your hellfire furnace, tending to the motes. He accepted those terms without hesitation. You asked him for his name. He still had one. Vosaphar. With that accorded, you plucked his coal from the deepest pit of the lazurynth, and held it between your claws, its blue dimmed to gray. His archfiend wouldn’t miss it. And then you threw it in the pool, and it sank to the bottom, where it lodged itself in a dark crevice. Vosaphar, now under your jurisdiction, fled into the wastes, searching for a smooth bit of coralbone to lean against, however futilely. You gave him desolation, cold, and quiet. In return, your furnace grew brighter. How could you have ever predicted what this would eventually make impossible? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Discover. ⇒->21AABB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Recollection]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">The day of the eclipse, Finnit woke with a sharp pain searing his back, breaking him out of his warm reverie. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar was twitching and scratching in his sleep again. Finnit adored the feeling of the devil’s tail coiled around his thigh, basking in the hellish heat that staved off the island’s chill. Nonetheless, crawling into the embrace of a clawed creature had a few drawbacks. “Hey,” Finnit whispered. “Wake up.” Vosaphar shifted, his tail loosening its grip on Finnit. “Mmph.” “You scratched me again,” Finnit said. “Nightmares?” “Oh no,” Vosaphar said. “I’m sorry, Finnit. Here…” The demon traced the scratches, and Finnit felt an odd prickly sensation as the skin healed over. “Thank you. You’re getting good at that.” Vosaphar delicately kissed the side of Finnit’s neck. “I don’t normally sleep so much. The mortal realm is… exhausting, in its own way. Perhaps I can fashion some wrappings for my claws in the future.” “Whoa,” Finnit said, gazing out one of the windows. “What?” “The sky is different.” And indeed it was. The rain had—incredibly—let up slightly, the green glow he’d become so accustomed to taking on distinct streaks of orange and red. Vosaphar grimaced. “I guess it’s time.” “Yeah.” They made their final preparations. Finnit tucked his syllabaries into his satchel and ate his last rations. He thought he might never forget the taste of salted fruit leather in whatever days—or day—he had remaining. “Was there something else we should have prepared?” Finnit asked. “We’re just… walking through a portal to the sun? Like this?” “I can’t think of anything, Finnit.” “Well, alright then.” He looked around at the now overly-familiar place he had spent this last month. “Goodbye, awful yet cozy stone room under a cursed lighthouse. It was certainly a time.” “That it was.” Vosaphar sounded amused. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They ventured out onto the cliffside stairs. Even these had become familiar, the treachery of each step now a well-worn betrayal. As they slipped past the anchor collector, she gave out a little warble of encouragement. At least, that’s how Finnit chose to take it. Up ahead, a ruddy glow intensified as they approached the altar beneath the lens and its housing. The miniature moon had arrived at its destination, transforming the sun emblem at the center into a bright red disc of light. It was overwhelming to look at directly; Finnit’s eyes strained from this threat to perception. “It’s terrible,” Finnit whispered. “Beautiful, too. What a dazzling horror of a thing to witness.” “Finnit,” Vosaphar began, wrapping his arms gently around the sorcerer. “It might be neglectful of our accord for me not to mention… you don’t have to do this. I could—I could go without you—you could die, Finnit, and—I—I don’t want to lose you… forever.” Finnit looked up into the fiend’s fearful, loving eyes. “Vosaphar—I’m afraid, too. But I couldn’t accept that. Isn’t that what Raekard would do? Send someone to die in his stead, to do the big scary things he won’t face himself? This trial was his idea, but now it’s my trial. Our trial. And I want to see it through. Together. Don’t you?” “Yes,” Vosaphar admitted. “I want to see the sun... with you.” “Then let’s go see it.” Vosaphar smiled, and took Finnit’s arm in his. Together, they stepped into an oblivion of crimson light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Eclipse. ⇒->Eclipse AABB]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">The day of the eclipse, Finnit woke with a sharp pain searing his back, breaking him out of his warm reverie. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar was twitching and scratching in his sleep again. Finnit adored the feeling of the devil’s tail coiled around his thigh, basking in the hellish heat that staved off the island’s chill. Nonetheless, crawling into the embrace of a clawed creature had a few drawbacks. “Hey,” Finnit whispered. “Wake up.” Vosaphar shifted, his tail loosening its grip on Finnit. “Mmph.” “You scratched me again,” Finnit said. “Nightmares?” “Oh no,” Vosaphar said. “I’m sorry, Finnit. Here…” The demon traced the scratches, and Finnit felt an odd prickly sensation as the skin healed over. “Thank you. You’re getting good at that.” Vosaphar delicately kissed the side of Finnit’s neck. “I don’t normally sleep so much. The mortal realm is… exhausting, in its own way. Perhaps I can fashion some wrappings for my claws in the future.” “Whoa,” Finnit said, gazing out one of the windows. “What?” “The sky is different.” And indeed it was. The rain had—incredibly—let up slightly, the green glow he’d become so accustomed to taking on distinct streaks of orange and red. Vosaphar grimaced. “I guess it’s time.” “Yeah.” They made their final preparations. Finnit tucked his syllabaries into his satchel and ate his last rations. He thought he might never forget the taste of salted fruit leather in whatever days—or day—he had remaining. “Was there something else we should have prepared?” Finnit asked. “We’re just… walking through a portal to the sun? Like this?” “I can’t think of anything, Finnit.” “Well, alright then.” He looked around at the now overly-familiar place he had spent this last month. “Goodbye, awful yet cozy stone room under a cursed lighthouse. It was certainly a time.” “That it was.” Vosaphar sounded amused. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They ventured out onto the cliffside stairs. Even these had become familiar, the treachery of each step now a well-worn betrayal. As they slipped past the anchor collector, she gave out a little warble of encouragement. At least, that’s how Finnit chose to take it. Up ahead, a ruddy glow intensified as they approached the altar beneath the lens and its housing. The miniature moon had arrived at its destination, transforming the sun emblem at the center into a bright red disc of light. It was overwhelming to look at directly; Finnit’s eyes strained from this threat to perception. “It’s terrible,” Finnit whispered. “Beautiful, too. What a dazzling horror of a thing to witness.” “Finnit,” Vosaphar began, wrapping his arms gently around the sorcerer. “It might be neglectful of our accord for me not to mention… you don’t have to do this. I could—I could go without you—you could die, Finnit, and—I—I don’t want to lose you… forever.” Finnit looked up into the fiend’s fearful, loving eyes. “Vosaphar—I’m afraid, too. But I couldn’t accept that. Isn’t that what Raekard would do? Send someone to die in his stead, to do the big scary things he won’t face himself? This trial was his idea, but now it’s my trial. Our trial. And I want to see it through. Together. Don’t you?” “Yes,” Vosaphar admitted. “I want to see the sun... with you.” “Then let’s go see it.” Vosaphar smiled, and took Finnit’s arm in his. Together, they stepped into an oblivion of crimson light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Eclipse. ⇒->Eclipse AABB]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 3)[Eclipse.] (text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Sun.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">The sun was a cosmic affliction, a colossal molten mass so red and seething that even the infernal embers blazing in the deepest pits of the hells seemed but feeble sparks in the distance. And Vosaphar was soaring *toward* it. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he flew, Finnit clutched against him, tendrils of the corona pulled peculiar new colors from his wings, its aurora a spectacle more captivating than your dreary calciferous skies could have ever dreamed to churn. How you longed for such color and heat and majesty—even just a drop of it. And *they* got to see it all, to have it within reach. “Vosaphar, look!” With his free hand, Finnit pointed toward an eerie black void drifting past. Dozens of bird-creatures flew from the roiling surface of the sun to circle and screech at the dark moon, a celestial interloper threatening the eternity of light. “They’re sunspots!” Finnit shouted. “She’s a sunspot!” “They’re *distracted*, too.” Vosaphar glided toward the edge of the sun away from the shrieking horrors. “That’s why it has to be now.” The demon and his summoner skimmed the sun’s surface, its dangerous heat threatening to embrace them forever so closely. “Hold on, Finnit!” Vosaphar tilted his wings, arm outstretched, reaching, swiping up a glob of incandescent fluid. This molten scarlet-amber squeezed between his claws and stuck to his low-dipped wing. Even these tiny droplets of starlight held immense power that coursed through him as he arced up out of the sun’s grip. “It’s so incredible!” Finnit laughed, tears streaming behind him, motes of wonder sparkling in space. Something darkened behind them. Finnit looked over his shoulder. “Vosaphar—there’s a new sunspot—” The creature shrieked as it gave chase, following the radiant beads dripping from Vosaphar’s sunswept wing. Vosaphar affixed his gaze to the portal back to the Pharos Fidelis, soaring ever faster. The screeching grew louder yet, judgment for their cardinal cosmic sin approaching with alarming haste. But with Finnit clinging to his side… (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar simply had no use for consequences. With a final burst of speed, they shot through the portal. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Reignite. ⇒->22AABB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">The sun was a cosmic affliction, a colossal molten mass so red and seething that even the infernal embers blazing in the deepest pits of the hells seemed but feeble sparks in the distance. And Vosaphar was soaring *toward* it. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he flew, Finnit clutched against him, tendrils of the corona pulled peculiar new colors from his wings, its aurora a spectacle more captivating than your dreary calciferous skies could have ever dreamed to churn. How you longed for such color and heat and majesty—even just a drop of it. And *they* got to see it all, to have it within reach. “Vosaphar, look!” With his free hand, Finnit pointed toward an eerie black void drifting past. Dozens of bird-creatures flew from the roiling surface of the sun to circle and screech at the dark moon, a celestial interloper threatening the eternity of light. “They’re sunspots!” Finnit shouted. “She’s a sunspot!” “They’re *distracted*, too.” Vosaphar glided toward the edge of the sun away from the shrieking horrors. “That’s why it has to be now.” The demon and his summoner skimmed the sun’s surface, its dangerous heat threatening to embrace them forever so closely. “Hold on, Finnit!” Vosaphar tilted his wings, arm outstretched, reaching, swiping up a glob of incandescent fluid. This molten scarlet-amber squeezed between his claws and stuck to his low-dipped wing. Even these tiny droplets of starlight held immense power that coursed through him as he arced up out of the sun’s grip. “It’s so incredible!” Finnit laughed, tears streaming behind him, motes of wonder sparkling in space. Something darkened behind them. Finnit looked over his shoulder. “Vosaphar—there’s a new sunspot—” The creature shrieked as it gave chase, following the radiant beads dripping from Vosaphar’s sunswept wing. Vosaphar affixed his gaze to the portal back to the Pharos Fidelis, soaring ever faster. The screeching grew louder yet, judgment for their cardinal cosmic sin approaching with alarming haste. But with Finnit clinging to his side… (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar simply had no use for consequences. With a final burst of speed, they shot through the portal. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Reignite. ⇒->22AABB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXII.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Finnit and Vosaphar tumbled over the edge of the altar, the portal still aglow with the eclipse-light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But there was little time to celebrate their reckless heist—the sunspot shoved its vicious pointed head through the gap after them, screeching as it struggled to break through. Finnit let Vosaphar carry him a bit further up the tunnel, before standing on his own feet and running alongside. The anchor collector had left her nest, wheeling about in the sky, shrieking back at the new sunspot about to burst from the throat of the island. Finnit looked out at the storm, the clouds thinned enough that he could see the eclipsed red sun half-risen, framing the infernal image of a devil’s horns. “How magnificent,” he said, breathless. Vosaphar looked down at him, gently squeezing his hand. They arrived at the peak, where the lens yearned for light, and at last, Finnit had light to provide. Vosaphar held out his claws, sunlight pooled in his palm, and Finnit painted it, trying to create the glyph his mind had projected there, the name of the demon whose rite might reignite the Pharos Fidelis. You watched, enraptured by the spectacle of your plans converging. This was it. This was your moment. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As Finnit slathered the glowing fluid across the lens, the dark slag drank it in—more, and more, and more of it. Too much of it. The glyph couldn’t hold its shape. The lens welled, hyperfolding crimson light, growing ever hotter by the second. The cleft, once so close to promising your name, had already deformed beyond recognition. And how brutal; that poor, mortal sorcerer, all tangled in your schemes, had every intention of drawing your name, a sigil drenched in the lifeblood of the sun. He really did try. You couldn’t fault him for that. But the execution? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A tragedy, in many fragments. For centuries—perhaps longer—every mortal design for the Pharos Fidelis had crumbled. Each disaster wrote another chapter in that wretched chronicle, the dark history of guiding light. And you thought *yours* would work? Pharos Fidelis, the beacon on the horizon of reason. Where it would remain, out of reach. Could not even a devil accept the simple dreadful truth, that a horizon approached can never arrive? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Finnit, we have to leave!” Vosaphar shouted, scanning the skies for the sunspots. “The lens is collapsing!” “No—it has to—Vosaphar, it has to—” “Finnit, please—” “I can’t—I can’t get the shape right, it’s going to—” “It deserves to shatter.” How dare he. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“But, what was this even for, then?” Finnit sobbed, the last of the sunlight ripped from his fingertips into the Pharos Fidelis. Vosaphar pulled him, one final time, away from the amplifying dyslucence. “That’s for the historians!” Vosaphar stared at him with his stormy eyes. “Shouldn’t we live? Don’t you want a future? ” “Yes!” Finnit embraced Vosaphar once more, and the demon swept him up into the sky. They abandoned the Pharos Fidelis to its fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They *tried* to abandon it. But it wasn’t done with them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Shatter. ⇒->23AABB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Finnit and Vosaphar tumbled over the edge of the altar, the portal still aglow with the eclipse-light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But there was little time to celebrate their reckless heist—the sunspot shoved its vicious pointed head through the gap after them, screeching as it struggled to break through. Finnit let Vosaphar carry him a bit further up the tunnel, before standing on his own feet and running alongside. The anchor collector had left her nest, wheeling about in the sky, shrieking back at the new sunspot about to burst from the throat of the island. Finnit looked out at the storm, the clouds thinned enough that he could see the eclipsed red sun half-risen, framing the infernal image of a devil’s horns. “How magnificent,” he said, breathless. Vosaphar looked down at him, gently squeezing his hand. They arrived at the peak, where the lens yearned for light, and at last, Finnit had light to provide. Vosaphar held out his claws, sunlight pooled in his palm, and Finnit painted it, trying to create the glyph his mind had projected there, the name of the demon whose rite might reignite the Pharos Fidelis. You watched, enraptured by the spectacle of your plans converging. This was it. This was your moment. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As Finnit slathered the glowing fluid across the lens, the dark slag drank it in—more, and more, and more of it. Too much of it. The glyph couldn’t hold its shape. The lens welled, hyperfolding crimson light, growing ever hotter by the second. The cleft, once so close to promising your name, had already deformed beyond recognition. And how brutal; that poor, mortal sorcerer, all tangled in your schemes, had every intention of drawing your name, a sigil drenched in the lifeblood of the sun. He really did try. You couldn’t fault him for that. But the execution? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A tragedy, in many fragments. For centuries—perhaps longer—every mortal design for the Pharos Fidelis had crumbled. Each disaster wrote another chapter in that wretched chronicle, the dark history of guiding light. And you thought *yours* would work? Pharos Fidelis, the beacon on the horizon of reason. Where it would remain, out of reach. Could not even a devil accept the simple dreadful truth, that a horizon approached can never arrive? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Finnit, we have to leave!” Vosaphar shouted, scanning the skies for the sunspots. “The lens is collapsing!” “No—it has to—Vosaphar, it has to—” “Finnit, please—” “I can’t—I can’t get the shape right, it’s going to—” “It deserves to shatter.” How dare he. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“But, what was this even for, then?” Finnit sobbed, the last of the sunlight ripped from his fingertips into the Pharos Fidelis. Vosaphar pulled him, one final time, away from the amplifying dyslucence. “That’s for the historians!” Vosaphar stared at him with his stormy eyes. “Shouldn’t we live? Don’t you want a future? ” “Yes!” Finnit embraced Vosaphar once more, and the demon swept him up into the sky. They abandoned the Pharos Fidelis to its fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They *tried* to abandon it. But it wasn’t done with them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Shatter. ⇒->23AABB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Disavowal]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXIII.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">The storm rushed past Vosaphar as he carried Finnit, placing any distance he could between them and the doomed Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Still seeking their stolen sunlight, the sunspot pursued, but the anchor collector screeched and snapped at it. The two creatures, identically opposed in desire, circled the peak as they fought above the molten slag. “It’s going to—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The world around them grew absolutely silent, swallowing the rest of Finnit’s warning. Every bit of light had gathered, folding itself over and over and over still, smaller, ever smaller, congealing into the tiniest, brightest speck. For a moment, Vosaphar wondered if it would keep going, dragging the mortal realm, the hells, and all the rest of existence into its singularity. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Instead, it shattered. All that had been poured into it—all the fire, all the lightning, all the stray souls, all the stolen sunlight, all the summons slaughtered, all the hopes and dreams and plots and schemes and—all of it finally shattered, sending incalculable shards of glass in every direction at incredible speeds. A vanguard fragment slammed into Vosaphar’s chest, knocking Finnit out of his grasp. The sorcerer began to drift away on his own trajectory— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And you thought, though your plans had shattered along with everything else… You still had one last mote of hellfire to spare. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Influence. ⇒->M4AABB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">The storm rushed past Vosaphar as he carried Finnit, placing any distance he could between them and the doomed Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Still seeking their stolen sunlight, the sunspot pursued, but the anchor collector screeched and snapped at it. The two creatures, identically opposed in desire, circled the peak as they fought above the molten slag. “It’s going to—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The world around them grew absolutely silent, swallowing the rest of Finnit’s warning. Every bit of light had gathered, folding itself over and over and over still, smaller, ever smaller, congealing into the tiniest, brightest speck. For a moment, Vosaphar wondered if it would keep going, dragging the mortal realm, the hells, and all the rest of existence into its singularity. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Instead, it shattered. All that had been poured into it—all the fire, all the lightning, all the stray souls, all the stolen sunlight, all the summons slaughtered, all the hopes and dreams and plots and schemes and—all of it finally shattered, sending incalculable shards of glass in every direction at incredible speeds. A vanguard fragment slammed into Vosaphar’s chest, knocking Finnit out of his grasp. The sorcerer began to drift away on his own trajectory— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And you thought, though your plans had shattered along with everything else… You still had one last mote of hellfire to spare. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Influence. ⇒->M4AABB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Disavowal]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#fc4e71")+(text-size: 3)[Influence.] (text-color:"#fc4e71")+(text-size: 1.15)[Clinginess | Desperation.]</div> One final mote of hellfire appeared. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightmotepassage">When potent emotions conflicted a demon’s judgment, even the faintest mote of hellfire bore enough infernal energy to influence their fate from afar. That’s how you got them into this mess. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#8c283c)[***Clinginess***] For the demon Vosaphar, so eager to wrap himself around his beloved summoner, the sight of the mortal falling away would’ve driven him to dive in closer. This clinginess would have joined their fates together, should you have chosen to foster it. Yielding to this clinginess, however romantic, risked their joint fate becoming tragic. (text-color:#8c283c)[***Desperation***] For the demon Vosaphar, so determined for his beloved summoner to survive, the sight of him falling away would’ve driven him to take reckless measures. This desperation might have driven him to intervene instantly to salvage the situation. Yielding to this desperation, however hasty, risked their fates diverging dramatically. (text-color:#8c283c)[***Decision***] Well? Which force did this mote of hellfire incite? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightmotechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))[[[Clinginess. ⇒->24AABBA. Vosaphar]]] (link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#fc4e71")))[[[Desperation. ⇒->24AABBB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="motepassage">When potent emotions conflicted a demon’s judgment, even the faintest mote of hellfire bore enough infernal energy to influence their fate from afar. That’s how you got them into this mess. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Clinginess***] For the demon Vosaphar, so eager to wrap himself around his beloved summoner, the sight of the mortal falling away would’ve driven him to dive in closer. This clinginess would have joined their fates together, should you have chosen to foster it. Yielding to this clinginess, however romantic, risked their joint fate becoming tragic. (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Desperation***] For the demon Vosaphar, so determined for his beloved summoner to survive, the sight of him falling away would’ve driven him to take reckless measures. This desperation might have driven him to intervene instantly to salvage the situation. Yielding to this desperation, however hasty, risked their fates diverging dramatically. (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Decision***] Well? Which force did this mote of hellfire incite? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="motechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Clinginess. ⇒->24AABBA. Vosaphar]]] (link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Desperation. ⇒->24AABBB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Mote]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXIV.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar dove, claws outstretched, reaching for Finnit’s wrist— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And closed his hand around the transit band attached to it. Just as the edge of the inferno reached them— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar and Finnit blinked out of existence, teleporting somewhere else. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Defend. ⇒->25AABBA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar dove, claws outstretched, reaching for Finnit’s wrist— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And closed his hand around the transit band attached to it. Just as the edge of the inferno reached them— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar and Finnit blinked out of existence, teleporting somewhere else. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Defend. ⇒->25AABBA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXIV.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar had a single, reckless idea of what he still had time to do. How he could send Finnit somewhere safer than here. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar recalled the spells Finnit had taught him, focused his intentions and— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Banished him. Finnit blinked out of existence. Moments later, the edge of the explosion swept Vosaphar into an inferno of shattering glass. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Stoke. ⇒->25AABBB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar had a single, reckless idea of what he still had time to do. How he could send Finnit somewhere safer than here. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar recalled the spells Finnit had taught him, focused his intentions and— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Banished him. Finnit blinked out of existence. Moments later, the edge of the explosion swept Vosaphar into an inferno of shattering glass. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Stoke. ⇒->25AABBB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#b8e270")+(text-size: 3)[XXV.] (text-color:"#b8e270")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Cairnveld Fortress.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcairnveldpassage">Finnit tumbled to his latest painful stop against the stone. Warm, clawed fingers gripped his wrist. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Vosaphar?” Finnit groaned, clutching his head and rolling over to move closer to the devil. He could smell cypress and old parchment. They must have arrived somewhere at Cairnveld Fortress. He heard a few startled gasps, and then whispers broke out. “Huh?” Finnit muttered, looking over his shoulders. They had landed in one of the smaller lecture halls. Cool light streamed through the windows, setting the chamber’s dusty air aglow. A scattered few luminaries occupied the chairs, including Jethel, who peered curiously over the top of the beverage she had been sipping. It was the most people he had seen in a month. Raekard stood from his seat in the front row. “Incipient Finnit!” His voice rang out over the chamber. “I’m not sure how you managed to be late with a pre-scheduled transit band, but it is time for your evaluation.” He paused, frowning. “Dismiss this… creature.” Finnit ignored him, crawling over to examine Vosaphar’s wounds. There was a warped shard of the Pharos Fidelis lens lodged in his chest, glowing with an intense crimson light. It seemed to have fused to the demon’s torso, ichor seeping around the edges where glass and flesh intermingled. “Are you okay?” Finnit asked softly. “No.” Vosaphar turned to him, groaning. “But… I don’t think I’m fading.” Finnit did his best to hug him from this awkward position. “Fine, I’ll banish it myself.” Raekard traced a sigil in the air, directing its power against the injured fiend. Nothing happened. It was the first time that Finnit had seen Raekard genuinely surprised. Finnit helped Vosaphar to his feet. The demon looked around, a bit nervously given his bizarre new context. He let his ethereal wings fade away, wrapping a warm arm around Finnit’s waist. “This is not appropriate conduct for a discovery trial evaluation,” Raekard said, his voice low and dangerous. “Be sure to make a note of it then,” Finnit said. He leaned into Vosaphar, who responded by curling his tail gently around the sorcerer. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The luminaries in the audience found this riveting. Jethel stirred the air next to her mug with a cinnamon stick, not realizing she was dripping horchata onto her notes. Finnit wished he could just leave and recover in his quarters. Why was he even putting up with any of this? They had just gotten back from the *sun*. “Dismiss this demon at once!” Raekard snapped. “It is against academy bylaws to bring summoned entities to participate in discovery trial evaluations.” “I’ll go where I wish to, *wretched one*,” Vosaphar snarled. He had evidently recognized Raekard. Jethel let out a startled laugh, which she failed to even attempt to cover up. “Luminary Jethel is going to *love* you,” Finnit told Vosaphar, deciding to embrace the surreality of the moment. Nonplussed, Raekard tried a second banishment. It failed. Again. Finnit ran his fingers through his hair anxiously, snagging another piece of the lens that had cut the skin behind his ear. He plucked it out. Its otherworldly glow was just as out of place here as Vosaphar, and frankly, himself. “What is the meaning of this?” Raekard demanded. “Incipient, what did you *do*?” Finnit held up the errant fragment. “We reignited the Pharos Fidelis.” He threw it onto the floor. “As commanded. Huh. I guess that makes me a luminary.” “This is—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But Finnit didn’t care to hear any more of what Raekard had to say. He suddenly wondered why it had ever mattered. The luminary was such an insignificant threat in the face of everything that he had experienced. And he was a terrible historiographer. Suddenly, the ground shook slightly. Bits of grit descended from the ceiling. One of the luminaries—who had somehow managed to sleep through Finnit and Vosaphar’s dramatic arrival—woke with a start, their eyes darting wildly as they took in their surroundings. “What was *that*?” Raekard asked. “The Pharos Fidelis,” Finnit said. “I guess it took a few minutes for the shockwaves to arrive. Maybe we should reconvene this session after we know for sure that our actions didn’t precipitate the end of all existence. Vosaphar, let’s get out of here.” “Gladly,” the demon muttered. “And stop trying to banish me,” he added, glaring directly at Raekard. “Or I will teach you some real principles of summoning that you will *not* enjoy learning, pathetic one.” The luminary was dumbfounded. “What the—what happened?” “That’s enough, Raekard,” Jethel said from behind him. Arms linked, Finnit and Vosaphar departed the lecture hall, heading for Finnit’s quarters. Somewhere quiet. Raekard didn’t try to follow them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcairnveldchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))[[[Repose. ⇒->26AABBA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="cairnveldpassage">Finnit tumbled to his latest painful stop against the stone. Warm, clawed fingers gripped his wrist. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Vosaphar?” Finnit groaned, clutching his head and rolling over to move closer to the devil. He could smell cypress and old parchment. They must have arrived somewhere at Cairnveld Fortress. He heard a few startled gasps, and then whispers broke out. “Huh?” Finnit muttered, looking over his shoulders. They had landed in one of the smaller lecture halls. Cool light streamed through the windows, setting the chamber’s dusty air aglow. A scattered few luminaries occupied the chairs, including Jethel, who peered curiously over the top of the beverage she had been sipping. It was the most people he had seen in a month. Raekard stood from his seat in the front row. “Incipient Finnit!” His voice rang out over the chamber. “I’m not sure how you managed to be late with a pre-scheduled transit band, but it is time for your evaluation.” He paused, frowning. “Dismiss this… creature.” Finnit ignored him, crawling over to examine Vosaphar’s wounds. There was a warped shard of the Pharos Fidelis lens lodged in his chest, glowing with an intense crimson light. It seemed to have fused to the demon’s torso, ichor seeping around the edges where glass and flesh intermingled. “Are you okay?” Finnit asked softly. “No.” Vosaphar turned to him, groaning. “But… I don’t think I’m fading.” Finnit did his best to hug him from this awkward position. “Fine, I’ll banish it myself.” Raekard traced a sigil in the air, directing its power against the injured fiend. Nothing happened. It was the first time that Finnit had seen Raekard genuinely surprised. Finnit helped Vosaphar to his feet. The demon looked around, a bit nervously given his bizarre new context. He let his ethereal wings fade away, wrapping a warm arm around Finnit’s waist. “This is not appropriate conduct for a discovery trial evaluation,” Raekard said, his voice low and dangerous. “Be sure to make a note of it then,” Finnit said. He leaned into Vosaphar, who responded by curling his tail gently around the sorcerer. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The luminaries in the audience found this riveting. Jethel stirred the air next to her mug with a cinnamon stick, not realizing she was dripping horchata onto her notes. Finnit wished he could just leave and recover in his quarters. Why was he even putting up with any of this? They had just gotten back from the *sun*. “Dismiss this demon at once!” Raekard snapped. “It is against academy bylaws to bring summoned entities to participate in discovery trial evaluations.” “I’ll go where I wish to, *wretched one*,” Vosaphar snarled. He had evidently recognized Raekard. Jethel let out a startled laugh, which she failed to even attempt to cover up. “Luminary Jethel is going to *love* you,” Finnit told Vosaphar, deciding to embrace the surreality of the moment. Nonplussed, Raekard tried a second banishment. It failed. Again. Finnit ran his fingers through his hair anxiously, snagging another piece of the lens that had cut the skin behind his ear. He plucked it out. Its otherworldly glow was just as out of place here as Vosaphar, and frankly, himself. “What is the meaning of this?” Raekard demanded. “Incipient, what did you *do*?” Finnit held up the errant fragment. “We reignited the Pharos Fidelis.” He threw it onto the floor. “As commanded. Huh. I guess that makes me a luminary.” “This is—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But Finnit didn’t care to hear any more of what Raekard had to say. He suddenly wondered why it had ever mattered. The luminary was such an insignificant threat in the face of everything that he had experienced. And he was a terrible historiographer. Suddenly, the ground shook slightly. Bits of grit descended from the ceiling. One of the luminaries—who had somehow managed to sleep through Finnit and Vosaphar’s dramatic arrival—woke with a start, their eyes darting wildly as they took in their surroundings. “What was *that*?” Raekard asked. “The Pharos Fidelis,” Finnit said. “I guess it took a few minutes for the shockwaves to arrive. Maybe we should reconvene this session after we know for sure that our actions didn’t precipitate the end of all existence. Vosaphar, let’s get out of here.” “Gladly,” the demon muttered. “And stop trying to banish me,” he added, glaring directly at Raekard. “Or I will teach you some real principles of summoning that you will *not* enjoy learning, pathetic one.” The luminary was dumbfounded. “What the—what happened?” “That’s enough, Raekard,” Jethel said from behind him. Arms linked, Finnit and Vosaphar departed the lecture hall, heading for Finnit’s quarters. Somewhere quiet. Raekard didn’t try to follow them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="cairnveldchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#7ba03c")))[[[Repose. ⇒->26AABBA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#7ba03c")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#b8e270")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#b8e270")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Cairnveld Fortress.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcairnveldpassage">The incipients and luminaries traveling the halls of Cairnveld—already unsettled by the earthquake—gave Vosaphar a wide berth as he and Finnit passed them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar had never been around so many mortals at once—at least, not in his current instance—and unlike Finnit, *these* mortals were thoroughly alarmed by the fearsome sight of a demon wandering in their midst, chest aglow with a sun-scorched fragment of the Pharos Fidelis lens. He only started to relax once they entered a small, dusty chamber full of the sorcerer’s possessions. Mostly books. Finnit closed the door behind him, then climbed onto his bed in the corner of the chamber, sitting with his back against one of the cool stone walls. He grabbed one of the pillows, and invited Vosaphar to lie down. The devil accepted, allowing Finnit to cradle his head in his lap. Vosaphar was delighted by the softness of the mattress compared to the bedrolls at the Pharos Fidelis, and let the mortal gently massage his forehead, attending to the skin bunched at the base of his horns. “Is this okay?” Finnit asked. “Yes,” Vosaphar said, flicking his tail languorously. To be afforded such comfort was rare and fleeting. As you—along with every other demon—knew all too well. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[After a few restful minutes, Finnit spoke up. “So, um—thank you for not letting me die. For saving me, so many times. I can’t even make sense of what happened yet. It’s unreal. This, being here, and—we shouldn’t have survived.” “But we did, beloved one.” Vosaphar ran a clawed fingertip gently across Finnit’s forearm. “Perhaps you contributed more than you realize.” He paused. “But I *did* carry you across the sky.” Finnit snorted. Someone knocked at the door. “Finnit? Are you in there?” “Yes!” Finnit said. One of the sorcerers from the trial evaluation stepped into the room, carrying with her an eclectic potpourri of scents. It was Luminary Jethel, the healing expert. “Oh.” She raised her eyebrows. “Is this—uh, a bad time?” “It’s fine,” Finnit said, reluctantly releasing Vosaphar so the demon could sit up. “I’m glad to see you, Jethel. Thank you for all your help.” She nodded. “The main reason I’m here is to inform you that the panel of luminaries in attendance convened, and after an examination of the fragment you provided, determined that you passed your discovery trial. Raekard dissented, but I suppose situations like these are exactly why the founders required a full panel in the bylaws. Congratulations, Finnit!” She waited for a moment, creating an awkward silence. “But I get the sense that, perhaps this is not your main concern?” “No, it isn’t,” Finnit said. “I mean—I guess I’m glad it’s over. But, I’m concerned about Vosaphar’s injuries.” He paused. “This is Vosaphar. He’s from… uh, the calciferous wastes.” “Uh huh. Noted.” Jethel directed her focus toward the devil. “Vosaphar? May I take a closer look?” “Yes,” Vosaphar said, watching her lightly-wrinkled fingers weave diagnostic glyphs in front of him. Finnit gently rubbed his back. “How are you feeling?” “I… don’t know,” Vosaphar answered honestly. “It’s a strange sensation. Like my bones are itching beneath my skin.” “Interesting,” Jethel remarked. “Well—this fragment of—uh, I guess I have no real idea what it actually is, some exotic vitric—seems to have fused onto you? It radiates an extraordinary amount of magic. For a human, that would be concerning, by which I mean, fatal. But I admit, I am not an expert on infernal anatomy.” She glanced at Finnit, eyes narrowing. “Though based on what I have seen today, perhaps *you* are becoming one.” Vosaphar looked his way as well, amused to see the mortal’s cheeks reddening. “Thought so,” Jethel remarked. “I hope Raekard never hears the end of this, for whatever remains of his miserable days.” “Oh,” Finnit said, evidently realizing something. “I see now… the lens fragment. Raekard is, at least, a *competent* sorcerer—his banishment rite should have succeeded. By remaining here, I thought Vosaphar might have violated the principle of planar reversion. But with this power fusing with you—I guess that makes it *your* power. And it far exceeds Raekard’s.” “Fascinating,” Jethel said, “if not a touch alarming in its implications. Well, at any rate, for now, I recommend treating the exposed edges where the fragment is impacting your skin. I don’t know what your plans are, Finnit, but if you remain here for the moment—as a luminary—we can research the issue together.” “What do you think?” Finnit asked him. “We could stay for a bit, sort things out?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“That sounds nice, Finnit.” “And after that—” “The rest of it?” “The rest of it.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcairnveldchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending AABBA]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="cairnveldpassage">The incipients and luminaries traveling the halls of Cairnveld—already unsettled by the earthquake—gave Vosaphar a wide berth as he and Finnit passed them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar had never been around so many mortals at once—at least, not in his current instance—and unlike Finnit, *these* mortals were thoroughly alarmed by the fearsome sight of a demon wandering in their midst, chest aglow with a sun-scorched fragment of the Pharos Fidelis lens. He only started to relax once they entered a small, dusty chamber full of the sorcerer’s possessions. Mostly books. Finnit closed the door behind him, then climbed onto his bed in the corner of the chamber, sitting with his back against one of the cool stone walls. He grabbed one of the pillows, and invited Vosaphar to lie down. The devil accepted, allowing Finnit to cradle his head in his lap. Vosaphar was delighted by the softness of the mattress compared to the bedrolls at the Pharos Fidelis, and let the mortal gently massage his forehead, attending to the skin bunched at the base of his horns. “Is this okay?” Finnit asked. “Yes,” Vosaphar said, flicking his tail languorously. To be afforded such comfort was rare and fleeting. As you—along with every other demon—knew all too well. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[After a few restful minutes, Finnit spoke up. “So, um—thank you for not letting me die. For saving me, so many times. I can’t even make sense of what happened yet. It’s unreal. This, being here, and—we shouldn’t have survived.” “But we did, beloved one.” Vosaphar ran a clawed fingertip gently across Finnit’s forearm. “Perhaps you contributed more than you realize.” He paused. “But I *did* carry you across the sky.” Finnit snorted. Someone knocked at the door. “Finnit? Are you in there?” “Yes!” Finnit said. One of the sorcerers from the trial evaluation stepped into the room, carrying with her an eclectic potpourri of scents. It was Luminary Jethel, the healing expert. “Oh.” She raised her eyebrows. “Is this—uh, a bad time?” “It’s fine,” Finnit said, reluctantly releasing Vosaphar so the demon could sit up. “I’m glad to see you, Jethel. Thank you for all your help.” She nodded. “The main reason I’m here is to inform you that the panel of luminaries in attendance convened, and after an examination of the fragment you provided, determined that you passed your discovery trial. Raekard dissented, but I suppose situations like these are exactly why the founders required a full panel in the bylaws. Congratulations, Finnit!” She waited for a moment, creating an awkward silence. “But I get the sense that, perhaps this is not your main concern?” “No, it isn’t,” Finnit said. “I mean—I guess I’m glad it’s over. But, I’m concerned about Vosaphar’s injuries.” He paused. “This is Vosaphar. He’s from… uh, the calciferous wastes.” “Uh huh. Noted.” Jethel directed her focus toward the devil. “Vosaphar? May I take a closer look?” “Yes,” Vosaphar said, watching her lightly-wrinkled fingers weave diagnostic glyphs in front of him. Finnit gently rubbed his back. “How are you feeling?” “I… don’t know,” Vosaphar answered honestly. “It’s a strange sensation. Like my bones are itching beneath my skin.” “Interesting,” Jethel remarked. “Well—this fragment of—uh, I guess I have no real idea what it actually is, some exotic vitric—seems to have fused onto you? It radiates an extraordinary amount of magic. For a human, that would be concerning, by which I mean, fatal. But I admit, I am not an expert on infernal anatomy.” She glanced at Finnit, eyes narrowing. “Though based on what I have seen today, perhaps *you* are becoming one.” Vosaphar looked his way as well, amused to see the mortal’s cheeks reddening. “Thought so,” Jethel remarked. “I hope Raekard never hears the end of this, for whatever remains of his miserable days.” “Oh,” Finnit said, evidently realizing something. “I see now… the lens fragment. Raekard is, at least, a *competent* sorcerer—his banishment rite should have succeeded. By remaining here, I thought Vosaphar might have violated the principle of planar reversion. But with this power fusing with you—I guess that makes it *your* power. And it far exceeds Raekard’s.” “Fascinating,” Jethel said, “if not a touch alarming in its implications. Well, at any rate, for now, I recommend treating the exposed edges where the fragment is impacting your skin. I don’t know what your plans are, Finnit, but if you remain here for the moment—as a luminary—we can research the issue together.” “What do you think?” Finnit asked him. “We could stay for a bit, sort things out?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“That sounds nice, Finnit.” “And after that—” “The rest of it?” “The rest of it.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="cairnveldchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending AABBA]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17AAB. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4AABB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s clinginess, causing him to reach Finnit in time to teleport to Cairnveld with him. This proved to be a fortunate calculation. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17AAB. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4AABB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s clinginess, causing him to reach Finnit in time to teleport to Cairnveld with him. This proved to be a fortunate calculation. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[XXV.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage cold, wet, and screaming. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It had a certain resonance, didn’t it? He coughed violently, choking on sludge and bloodfog alike, wading clumsily in your direction. Even from this distance, you could feel intense energy pouring off the misplaced mortal, his magic warped by the glowing fragments of the Pharos Fidelis stuck in his hair and clothing. If nothing else could be salvaged from this historic disaster, at least you had an opportunity to fuel your furnace. The mortal would, at any moment, petition you for relief from his dire situation. This provided you a brief moment to consider which form might be most appropriate for such an absurd occasion. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|initial>[In that light: (link-reveal: "You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. Inaccurate though it may have been, perhaps you had the right to such a form. You’d already spent more time fussing over Vosaphar’s fate than any of his makers had. You adopted an elegant posture and swept out of your cottage to approach the mortal. “Hello, Finnit,” you said. He turned to look at you, eyes widening. You flicked your new tail, mimicking one of Vosaphar’s gestures that he so favored. “Um—hi. Uh—” “Welcome to my calciferous wastes.” You extended your arms, gesturing toward the dark skies and lonesome coralbone monuments dotting the horizon. “And what a sight they are.” Finnit looked around, evidently still processing this alarming development. “The calciferous wastes? Do you—do you know Vosaphar?” “Please, join me inside,” you said. “We shall sit by the fire and discuss these matters.” Finnit numbly complied, letting you guide him to the soot-stained armchairs by your furnace. It seemed to calm him down, having become accustomed to closeness with a certain source of hellfire. “What happened? Do you know?” Finnit asked. “Sorry—I’m just—I should ask who you are probably?” “I am the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “I think—I think he banished me?” “He did.” You tapped an idle claw against your ivory armchair. “I’m sorry, maybe this is too forward, but—look, I’m worried about Vosaphar? I don’t know what happened—what if—what if he—” You took him to the window and pointed to the dark pool, where Vosaphar’s ember twinkled at the bottom. If anything, it had grown brighter. Interesting. “That is his essential coal,” you said. “If he had perished, he would have immediately returned here. If we wait, he will eventually appear. However…” Finnit paced to and fro, trying to shake off his anxiety. “What if he’s hurt—he must be—I don’t want to wait!” “It is not a matter of desire, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. Perhaps that hadn’t been a Vosapharian gesture. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Will you—I mean, would you please help me?” “What are your intentions toward Vosaphar?” “My intentions?” Finnit looked puzzled. “What do you—” “Answer my question carefully, mortal.” He looked appropriately worried. “Look, I—I love him. I know it’s been so quick, and maybe you think it’s shallow, just because he’s so beautiful—but, uh, really, I have never felt so close with someone. I mean—he took me to the *sun*, and back. I don’t know what it would mean for us to be together outside of the Pharos Fidelis, in a more normal world. Maybe it won’t work, and we’ll part ways. I think—I mean, I hope you think that we’re worthy of a chance to figure that out.” “Vosaphar will need your help,” you said. “He will suffer from his power. You will stand by him? Treat him respectfully?” “I would—I will.” “Very well.” You paused. “I would send you back to Cairnveld.” You gave a pointed look toward your furnace. “But my fire is too weak for such a feat. Won’t you stoke it?” “Stoke it?” Finnit looked nervous. “What, uh—what do you want? My soul?” How amusing. “Are you offering that?” You approached him, attempting to loom in the way he found so appealing when Vosaphar did it. Finnit looked terrified as you reached down and plucked a glowing lens fragment from his hair. “No, Finnit. Not your soul. I want these.” “Oh—is that all? Yes, you can have them. They’re not even really mine, I don’t think.” Finnit parted easily with the fragments, tossing each into the furnace as he found it. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to cause some new chaos. He had no sense of priorities. And neither—apparently—did you, entertaining this… cloyingly earnest romantic nonsense. You reached for Finnit’s transit band, warping the sigils such that they would send Finnit on his way. Before activating it, you paused. “If you treat Vosaphar with anything less than the respect owed to such an unreasonably affectionate devil, I will send every specter in my dominion to drag you back here, and drown you in these depths for all eternity.” It was a joke. Mostly. You were sure that Finnit appreciated it. With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. You basked in the new heat now crackling and seething in your furnace. And how ridiculous an exchange it was, to receive all that energy for a trivial bit of spellcraft. Even an incubus would have found no pleasure in the seduction of such easy prey. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[That’s why you did it, right? You *just* wanted the power. Nothing more. You felt nothing else. Surely. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Survive. ⇒->26AABBBA. Vosaphar]]]]]]]</div>] Unless: (link-reveal: "You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. Darkness pooled around you, threshed with dozens of unblinking, glowing eyes. Gobs of loose flesh sizzled on charred bones to add to the illusion’s sensory overload. You adopted a threatening posture and swept out of your cottage to approach Finnit, trailing black grease in your wake. “Mortal!” you shouted, startling him. “You dare trespass upon my dominion?” Finnit turned your way, and his breath hitched at the loathsome sight of you. He cowered. Mortals were so susceptible to this kind of stagecraft, weren’t they? “I—I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—” “Silence!” You stretched and oozed before him. “You have stolen from me. You must return what I’m owed.” Finnit’s eyes darted about wildly, as if he were considering running away. He wouldn’t make it far. “Could you please—um—grand one? Uh, what did I steal?” “My *light*.” You over-articulated the “t” with such exuberance that flecks of acid splattered from your many mouths. “The Pharos Fidelis.” You wrapped a slimy tentacle around his arm, pulling him closer so you could pluck one of the fragments from his clothes. “What? Oh. Oh you can—you can have those. They’re, um, not even mine.” He was too frightened to assist in this process, so you grabbed each fragment, showing no regard for his comfort. Shards collected—from his perspective, devoured—you began shambling back to your cottage. “Wait!” Finnit called after you. “Um—I need—I need to get back to Vosaphar—do you know him? Or—” “I am the warden of these calciferous wastes, and he is my subject. Mortal longings are not my concern…” “But please, I—” “…Unless, of course, you wish to receive… an accord.” And there it was. Not only had you easily liberated the shards from his unworthy possession, but you could do even more to sate your rage with the proceedings of the eclipse. “An accord?” Finnit asked. “You’ll help me get back?” “For a *price*,” you hissed. “I gave you—I gave you the fragments!” He seemed to have realized his mistake. Perhaps he ought to have actually read *Case Studies in Infernal Betrayal* instead of assuming all demons would be as needy and pathetic as Vosaphar. “You claimed yourself that you had no ownership over them. They are mine already. One cannot offer a gift already granted.” “So what do you want?” His voice was strained. “My soul?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“*That* is worthless.” Drawing from the power of the fragments you held, you manifested a bloodfrost dagger from the fog, its keen edge sharp enough to carve the walls of the lazurynth. “Take this dagger to Luminary Raekard. I tire of his incompetent scheming. Carve out his heart. Then burn it in a ring of hellfire until it is but ash on the wind.” “But I—I can’t kill someone!” Finnit shouted. “That’s absurd—even someone as awful as him—and he’s so dangerous. It would never work.” “Then you will die here, and never again wrap your wretched limbs around the devil you cling to in the dark.” You sidled into your cottage, leaving him to contemplate his mortal morality while you stoked the furnace with the fragments. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to inflict some new misery upon the world. It wasn’t long before he approached you again. He looked directly at you, gazing into your seething core, and without stumbling, said, “I accept those terms.” You wrapped a tendril around the hilt of the dagger and offered it to him. He took it, his expression grim and determined. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[You *almost* believed he could do it. With a burst of magic, you activated his bracelet—the transit band—and sent him to his terrible fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Append. ⇒->P4AABBBB. Fourth Principle]]]]]]]</div> ] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. Well, at least the version of yourself that held court, lording your specificity over these dismal barrens. Finnit would get to see you for what you were: powerful, yet petty. Exhausted, too. It was miserable to live with your failures. You slunk to your soot-stained armchair by the furnace, waiting for the mortal to arrive. He knocked at the door. “Hello? Is—is someone in here?” “Come in, Finnit.” He opened the door, and saw you by the furnace. What texture the man had taken on since he left Cairnveld, struggling through your schemes in that desperate way that humans are wont to do. You gestured for him to sit in the chair across from yours. He obliged, if a bit warily. “Welcome to my calciferous wastes,” you said. “I wonder what you think of them?” “Calciferous wastes?” Something flickered in his eyes. “Is that—do you know Vosaphar?” “Answer my question first, if you will.” Finnit seemed taken aback, but recovered. “Well, if you really want to know—I can see why Vosaphar was so determined to leave.” You could almost see him realizing in real time that he probably was meant to say something kinder. “Not that there isn’t something… eerily beautiful about the colors streaking across the sky. But, it’s very cold and sharp and it seems sad, I guess?” “Yes, Vosaphar is troubled by his existence. As are we all.” You clicked your claws against the coralbone armrest. “You look—If you don’t mind me saying—you look familiar to me. But I don’t understand why. Who are you?” “I’m the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “So I guess he banished me here? It was the first place he thought of?” “I’m flattered.” A pause. “And perhaps you ought to be relieved that he didn’t recall the lazurynth quicker.” “I need to get back to him.” Finnit fixed you with a serious expression. “He might be hurt, or—I want to get back. Please. He means—he means a lot to me.” “It is not a matter of necessity, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Wait—I know why you look familiar!” He studied your face once more. “You look a little bit like… my grandmother.” “The trees in Tinfallow have deep roots indeed, if they reach all the way to these calciferous wastes.” “I don’t understand.” He bit his lip. “There are too many pieces—it’s hard to look at directly.” “Then focus on the piece of it you care about.” “Vosaphar.” “Of course. Young love. Star-crossed, even.” You sighed. “Well, I could send you on your way to Cairnveld.” You pointed at his bracelet. “But…” “You want something in return?” Finnit asked, leaning forward. “What is it? What do you want?” “What I *really* want is for you to have written my name correctly on the Pharos Fidelis.” Finnit sat back again. “That’s—that’s *you*? Your name? I expected someone so much more…” “Impressive?” You gave a hollow laugh. “Terrifying,” he finished. “But you seem, I don’t know, reasonable enough?” “I’m sure it seems that way.” “Well I—I don’t think I can undo what happened,” Finnit said. “I’m sorry it didn’t work. I know it may not look that way, but I really did try. I don’t know what it would’ve done if it worked, but I tried.” “You did.” You looked over at your furnace, where your sluggish motes of hellfire simmered. “I want the lens fragments in your possession.” “Lens fragments?” You pointed them out in his hair and on his clothes. “So that’s what you’re proposing as the terms of an exchange? I give you these shards, and you’ll send me back to Cairnveld?” “Yes.” “It just seems… I don’t know. I feel like there is still so much that I’m missing? If you—if you really are connected to me, in some way… would you want to… stay in touch?” You hadn’t expected *that*, of all things. “You want the warden of the calciferous wastes to offer you… mentorship.” “I’ve done much weirder things today!” Finnit said, rather defensively. “I went to the *sun*. Look, my mentor is Luminary Raekard. An actual demon would be a significant improvement.” “Ah, Raekard. I regret my part in that, given how it went.” “What?” Finnit’s eyes widened. “What do you mean you—” “Finnit, I propose an addendum to our… accord. If you wish to speak with me, you shall have one chance to do so during each new moon. Sacrifice a lens fragment in my name, and we shall converse for one hour.” “I’m not sure how I’ll get more of these,” Finnit said. “It seems expensive.” “And yet, a single fragment pales against the scale of what you destroyed. You could not possibly comprehend how far you’ve set me back. But,” you added, softening your tone, “I will make that hour as worthwhile as you wish it to be.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit accepted those terms, tossing each of the lens fragments on his person into your furnace. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to bend ever more futures in your favor. “Thank you,” Finnit said, as you adjusted the sigils on his transit band. “I—I’m glad to have met you.” With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Survive. ⇒->26AABBBC. Vosaphar]]]]</div> ]]]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage cold, wet, and screaming. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It had a certain resonance, didn’t it? He coughed violently, choking on sludge and bloodfog alike, wading clumsily in your direction. Even from this distance, you could feel intense energy pouring off the misplaced mortal, his magic warped by the glowing fragments of the Pharos Fidelis stuck in his hair and clothing. If nothing else could be salvaged from this historic disaster, at least you had an opportunity to fuel your furnace. The mortal would, at any moment, petition you for relief from his dire situation. This provided you a brief moment to consider which form might be most appropriate for such an absurd occasion. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|initial>[In that light: (link-reveal: "You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. Inaccurate though it may have been, perhaps you had the right to such a form. You’d already spent more time fussing over Vosaphar’s fate than any of his makers had. You adopted an elegant posture and swept out of your cottage to approach the mortal. “Hello, Finnit,” you said. He turned to look at you, eyes widening. You flicked your new tail, mimicking one of Vosaphar’s gestures that he so favored. “Um—hi. Uh—” “Welcome to my calciferous wastes.” You extended your arms, gesturing toward the dark skies and lonesome coralbone monuments dotting the horizon. “And what a sight they are.” Finnit looked around, evidently still processing this alarming development. “The calciferous wastes? Do you—do you know Vosaphar?” “Please, join me inside,” you said. “We shall sit by the fire and discuss these matters.” Finnit numbly complied, letting you guide him to the soot-stained armchairs by your furnace. It seemed to calm him down, having become accustomed to closeness with a certain source of hellfire. “What happened? Do you know?” Finnit asked. “Sorry—I’m just—I should ask who you are probably?” “I am the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “I think—I think he banished me?” “He did.” You tapped an idle claw against your ivory armchair. “I’m sorry, maybe this is too forward, but—look, I’m worried about Vosaphar? I don’t know what happened—what if—what if he—” You took him to the window and pointed to the dark pool, where Vosaphar’s ember twinkled at the bottom. If anything, it had grown brighter. Interesting. “That is his essential coal,” you said. “If he had perished, he would have immediately returned here. If we wait, he will eventually appear. However…” Finnit paced to and fro, trying to shake off his anxiety. “What if he’s hurt—he must be—I don’t want to wait!” “It is not a matter of desire, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. Perhaps that hadn’t been a Vosapharian gesture. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Will you—I mean, would you please help me?” “What are your intentions toward Vosaphar?” “My intentions?” Finnit looked puzzled. “What do you—” “Answer my question carefully, mortal.” He looked appropriately worried. “Look, I—I love him. I know it’s been so quick, and maybe you think it’s shallow, just because he’s so beautiful—but, uh, really, I have never felt so close with someone. I mean—he took me to the *sun*, and back. I don’t know what it would mean for us to be together outside of the Pharos Fidelis, in a more normal world. Maybe it won’t work, and we’ll part ways. I think—I mean, I hope you think that we’re worthy of a chance to figure that out.” “Vosaphar will need your help,” you said. “He will suffer from his power. You will stand by him? Treat him respectfully?” “I would—I will.” “Very well.” You paused. “I would send you back to Cairnveld.” You gave a pointed look toward your furnace. “But my fire is too weak for such a feat. Won’t you stoke it?” “Stoke it?” Finnit looked nervous. “What, uh—what do you want? My soul?” How amusing. “Are you offering that?” You approached him, attempting to loom in the way he found so appealing when Vosaphar did it. Finnit looked terrified as you reached down and plucked a glowing lens fragment from his hair. “No, Finnit. Not your soul. I want these.” “Oh—is that all? Yes, you can have them. They’re not even really mine, I don’t think.” Finnit parted easily with the fragments, tossing each into the furnace as he found it. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to cause some new chaos. He had no sense of priorities. And neither—apparently—did you, entertaining this… cloyingly earnest romantic nonsense. You reached for Finnit’s transit band, warping the sigils such that they would send Finnit on his way. Before activating it, you paused. “If you treat Vosaphar with anything less than the respect owed to such an unreasonably affectionate devil, I will send every specter in my dominion to drag you back here, and drown you in these depths for all eternity.” It was a joke. Mostly. You were sure that Finnit appreciated it. With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. You basked in the new heat now crackling and seething in your furnace. And how ridiculous an exchange it was, to receive all that energy for a trivial bit of spellcraft. Even an incubus would have found no pleasure in the seduction of such easy prey. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[That’s why you did it, right? You *just* wanted the power. Nothing more. You felt nothing else. Surely. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[Survive. ⇒->26AABBBA. Vosaphar]]]]]]]</div>] Unless: (link-reveal: "You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. Darkness pooled around you, threshed with dozens of unblinking, glowing eyes. Gobs of loose flesh sizzled on charred bones to add to the illusion’s sensory overload. You adopted a threatening posture and swept out of your cottage to approach Finnit, trailing black grease in your wake. “Mortal!” you shouted, startling him. “You dare trespass upon my dominion?” Finnit turned your way, and his breath hitched at the loathsome sight of you. He cowered. Mortals were so susceptible to this kind of stagecraft, weren’t they? “I—I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—” “Silence!” You stretched and oozed before him. “You have stolen from me. You must return what I’m owed.” Finnit’s eyes darted about wildly, as if he were considering running away. He wouldn’t make it far. “Could you please—um—grand one? Uh, what did I steal?” “My *light*.” You over-articulated the “t” with such exuberance that flecks of acid splattered from your many mouths. “The Pharos Fidelis.” You wrapped a slimy tentacle around his arm, pulling him closer so you could pluck one of the fragments from his clothes. “What? Oh. Oh you can—you can have those. They’re, um, not even mine.” He was too frightened to assist in this process, so you grabbed each fragment, showing no regard for his comfort. Shards collected—from his perspective, devoured—you began shambling back to your cottage. “Wait!” Finnit called after you. “Um—I need—I need to get back to Vosaphar—do you know him? Or—” “I am the warden of these calciferous wastes, and he is my subject. Mortal longings are not my concern…” “But please, I—” “…Unless, of course, you wish to receive… an accord.” And there it was. Not only had you easily liberated the shards from his unworthy possession, but you could do even more to sate your rage with the proceedings of the eclipse. “An accord?” Finnit asked. “You’ll help me get back?” “For a *price*,” you hissed. “I gave you—I gave you the fragments!” He seemed to have realized his mistake. Perhaps he ought to have actually read *Case Studies in Infernal Betrayal* instead of assuming all demons would be as needy and pathetic as Vosaphar. “You claimed yourself that you had no ownership over them. They are mine already. One cannot offer a gift already granted.” “So what do you want?” His voice was strained. “My soul?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“*That* is worthless.” Drawing from the power of the fragments you held, you manifested a bloodfrost dagger from the fog, its keen edge sharp enough to carve the walls of the lazurynth. “Take this dagger to Luminary Raekard. I tire of his incompetent scheming. Carve out his heart. Then burn it in a ring of hellfire until it is but ash on the wind.” “But I—I can’t kill someone!” Finnit shouted. “That’s absurd—even someone as awful as him—and he’s so dangerous. It would never work.” “Then you will die here, and never again wrap your wretched limbs around the devil you cling to in the dark.” You sidled into your cottage, leaving him to contemplate his mortal morality while you stoked the furnace with the fragments. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to inflict some new misery upon the world. It wasn’t long before he approached you again. He looked directly at you, gazing into your seething core, and without stumbling, said, “I accept those terms.” You wrapped a tendril around the hilt of the dagger and offered it to him. He took it, his expression grim and determined. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[You *almost* believed he could do it. With a burst of magic, you activated his bracelet—the transit band—and sent him to his terrible fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[Append. ⇒->P4AABBBB. Fourth Principle]]]]]]]</div> ] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. Well, at least the version of yourself that held court, lording your specificity over these dismal barrens. Finnit would get to see you for what you were: powerful, yet petty. Exhausted, too. It was miserable to live with your failures. You slunk to your soot-stained armchair by the furnace, waiting for the mortal to arrive. He knocked at the door. “Hello? Is—is someone in here?” “Come in, Finnit.” He opened the door, and saw you by the furnace. What texture the man had taken on since he left Cairnveld, struggling through your schemes in that desperate way that humans are wont to do. You gestured for him to sit in the chair across from yours. He obliged, if a bit warily. “Welcome to my calciferous wastes,” you said. “I wonder what you think of them?” “Calciferous wastes?” Something flickered in his eyes. “Is that—do you know Vosaphar?” “Answer my question first, if you will.” Finnit seemed taken aback, but recovered. “Well, if you really want to know—I can see why Vosaphar was so determined to leave.” You could almost see him realizing in real time that he probably was meant to say something kinder. “Not that there isn’t something… eerily beautiful about the colors streaking across the sky. But, it’s very cold and sharp and it seems sad, I guess?” “Yes, Vosaphar is troubled by his existence. As are we all.” You clicked your claws against the coralbone armrest. “You look—If you don’t mind me saying—you look familiar to me. But I don’t understand why. Who are you?” “I’m the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “So I guess he banished me here? It was the first place he thought of?” “I’m flattered.” A pause. “And perhaps you ought to be relieved that he didn’t recall the lazurynth quicker.” “I need to get back to him.” Finnit fixed you with a serious expression. “He might be hurt, or—I want to get back. Please. He means—he means a lot to me.” “It is not a matter of necessity, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Wait—I know why you look familiar!” He studied your face once more. “You look a little bit like… my grandmother.” “The trees in Tinfallow have deep roots indeed, if they reach all the way to these calciferous wastes.” “I don’t understand.” He bit his lip. “There are too many pieces—it’s hard to look at directly.” “Then focus on the piece of it you care about.” “Vosaphar.” “Of course. Young love. Star-crossed, even.” You sighed. “Well, I could send you on your way to Cairnveld.” You pointed at his bracelet. “But…” “You want something in return?” Finnit asked, leaning forward. “What is it? What do you want?” “What I *really* want is for you to have written my name correctly on the Pharos Fidelis.” Finnit sat back again. “That’s—that’s *you*? Your name? I expected someone so much more…” “Impressive?” You gave a hollow laugh. “Terrifying,” he finished. “But you seem, I don’t know, reasonable enough?” “I’m sure it seems that way.” “Well I—I don’t think I can undo what happened,” Finnit said. “I’m sorry it didn’t work. I know it may not look that way, but I really did try. I don’t know what it would’ve done if it worked, but I tried.” “You did.” You looked over at your furnace, where your sluggish motes of hellfire simmered. “I want the lens fragments in your possession.” “Lens fragments?” You pointed them out in his hair and on his clothes. “So that’s what you’re proposing as the terms of an exchange? I give you these shards, and you’ll send me back to Cairnveld?” “Yes.” “It just seems… I don’t know. I feel like there is still so much that I’m missing? If you—if you really are connected to me, in some way… would you want to… stay in touch?” You hadn’t expected *that*, of all things. “You want the warden of the calciferous wastes to offer you… mentorship.” “I’ve done much weirder things today!” Finnit said, rather defensively. “I went to the *sun*. Look, my mentor is Luminary Raekard. An actual demon would be a significant improvement.” “Ah, Raekard. I regret my part in that, given how it went.” “What?” Finnit’s eyes widened. “What do you mean you—” “Finnit, I propose an addendum to our… accord. If you wish to speak with me, you shall have one chance to do so during each new moon. Sacrifice a lens fragment in my name, and we shall converse for one hour.” “I’m not sure how I’ll get more of these,” Finnit said. “It seems expensive.” “And yet, a single fragment pales against the scale of what you destroyed. You could not possibly comprehend how far you’ve set me back. But,” you added, softening your tone, “I will make that hour as worthwhile as you wish it to be.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit accepted those terms, tossing each of the lens fragments on his person into your furnace. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to bend ever more futures in your favor. “Thank you,” Finnit said, as you adjusted the sigils on his transit band. “I—I’m glad to have met you.” With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[Survive. ⇒->26AABBBC. Vosaphar]]]]</div> ]]]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Mote]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending AABBBA]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending AABBBA]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 3)[Anathema.] (text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 1.15)[The Fourth Principle of Summoning.]</div> A timely addendum, courtesy of you. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Behold the fourth principle of summoning: (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color:#a01404)[**4. The Principle of Voluntary and Efficient Accession to the Extraordinarily Reasonable Conditions Imposed by the Magnanimous Warden of the Calciferous Wastes, Who Certainly Never Even Cared About the Pharos Fidelis, And Certainly Not the Absurd Romantic Yearnings of Your Pathetic Subjects—Or Else.**] Summoners who willingly and knowingly forge an accord with you must see their bargain through, or suffer the consequences of incompetence and betrayal. (text-color:#a01404)[***Implication:***] You suffered long and worked hard to eke out your existence. (text-color:#a01404)[***Implication:***] You generously helped him plenty up to this point—for free. It wasn’t such a high price to ask him to kill someone he hated anyway. You both benefited from this accord. (text-color:#a01404)[***Implication:***] His failure was inevitable. You weren’t *really* invested in his survival, or his potential to shift the tenor of human-demon relations. You were just hungry for more power, right? You just wanted to enrich your tiny slice of the hells, fuel your furnace, as you had always done. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It would have been unreasonable for *you*, of all beings, to have cared. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Bemoan. ⇒->26AABBBB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Behold the fourth principle of summoning: (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color:#f17264)[**4. The Principle of Voluntary and Efficient Accession to the Extraordinarily Reasonable Conditions Imposed by the Magnanimous Warden of the Calciferous Wastes, Who Certainly Never Even Cared About the Pharos Fidelis, And Certainly Not the Absurd Romantic Yearnings of Your Pathetic Subjects—Or Else.**] Summoners who willingly and knowingly forge an accord with you must see their bargain through, or suffer the consequences of incompetence and betrayal. (text-color:#f17264)[***Implication:***] You suffered long and worked hard to eke out your existence. (text-color:#f17264)[***Implication:***] You generously helped him plenty up to this point—for free. It wasn’t such a high price to ask him to kill someone he hated anyway. You both benefited from this accord. (text-color:#f17264)[***Implication:***] His failure was inevitable. You weren’t *really* invested in his survival, or his potential to shift the tenor of human-demon relations. You were just hungry for more power, right? You just wanted to enrich your tiny slice of the hells, fuel your furnace, as you had always done. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It would have been unreasonable for *you*, of all beings, to have cared. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Bemoan. ⇒->26AABBBB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending AABBBC]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending AABBBC]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17AAB. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4AABB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s desperation, causing him to impulsively banish Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate calculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25AABBB. Finnit]]]</div> You took a comforting form, nurturing his budding relationship with Vosaphar in exchange for the lens fragments on his person. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17AAB. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4AABB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s desperation, causing him to impulsively banish Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate calculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25AABBB. Finnit]]]</div> You took a comforting form, nurturing his budding relationship with Vosaphar in exchange for the lens fragments on his person. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he would *stay* longing. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[For, if you must suffer this catastrophic failure, you would offer him no choice but to join you in misery. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending AABBBB]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he would *stay* longing. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[For, if you must suffer this catastrophic failure, you would offer him no choice but to join you in misery. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending AABBBB]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the brief union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Finnit perished in a failed assassination attempt upon his return to Cairnveld, screaming of the sun. A strange footnote to this history. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. But a new threat lurked. The demon Vosaphar absorbed the fragments around him, growing distorted in his influence. He climbed upon the melted peak and in his sorrow and fury, bewitched many ships to their doom with fata morgana. He had become, in effect, the latest Pharos Fidelis. Perhaps he had even become something more powerful than *you*. And perhaps you deserved to finally feel fear again. A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. As ever it was. (link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17AAB. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4AABB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s desperation, causing him to impulsively banish Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate calculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25AABBB. Finnit]]]</div> You took a terrifying form, seizing his lens fragments for yourself, and dooming him with an impossible accord. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and absolutely no complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div></div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the brief union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Finnit perished in a failed assassination attempt upon his return to Cairnveld, screaming of the sun. A strange footnote to this history. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. But a new threat lurked. The demon Vosaphar absorbed the fragments around him, growing distorted in his influence. He climbed upon the melted peak and in his sorrow and fury, bewitched many ships to their doom with fata morgana. He had become, in effect, the latest Pharos Fidelis. Perhaps he had even become something more powerful than *you*. And perhaps you deserved to finally feel fear again. A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. As ever it was. (link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17AAB. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4AABB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s desperation, causing him to impulsively banish Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate calculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25AABBB. Finnit]]]</div> You took a terrifying form, seizing his lens fragments for yourself, and dooming him with an impossible accord. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and absolutely no complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div></div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17AAB. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4AABB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s desperation, causing him to impulsively banish Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate calculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25AABBB. Finnit]]]</div> You took an honest form, developing a stronger connection with Finnit while ensuring ongoing access to lens fragments in the future. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17AAB. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4AABB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s desperation, causing him to impulsively banish Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate calculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25AABBB. Finnit]]]</div> You took an honest form, developing a stronger connection with Finnit while ensuring ongoing access to lens fragments in the future. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#cbc999")+(text-size: 3)[Dogma.] (text-color:"#cbc999")+(text-size: 1.15)[The Third Principle of Summoning.]</div> Yet another unwelcome reminder, courtesy of Luminary Raekard. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightprinciplepassage">Recall the third principle of summoning: (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color:#65644c)[**3. The Principle of Planar Reversion**] Natural law rejects the presence of extraplanar entities in the mortal realm. Summoned demons therefore revert to their plane of origin, unless acted upon by sustained magical force. (text-color:#65644c)[***Implication:***] An unbound demon that persists beyond the original duration of a summoning circle must do so by feeding upon independent sources of magic. The most readily available source of magic has historically been the summoner. (text-color:#65644c)[***Implication:***] A demon that perishes in the mortal realm shall eventually be reconstituted in the jurisdiction of the hell that governs it. Banishment accelerates this process to an instant. (text-color:#65644c)[***Implication:***] When two sorceries of equivalent potency collide, a rite of banishment will always prevail over a rite of summoning. Account for the principle of planar reversion. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightprinciplechoice">|A>[(text-color:#989b00)[**Moor this wisdom. ⇒**]](click-replace: ?A,(action:'mouseover'))[(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))[[[Mourn his wisdom. ⇒->17AAA. Warden]]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="principlepassage">Recall the third principle of summoning: (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color:#cbc999)[**3. The Principle of Planar Reversion**] Natural law rejects the presence of extraplanar entities in the mortal realm. Summoned demons therefore revert to their plane of origin, unless acted upon by sustained magical force. (text-color:#cbc999)[***Implication:***] An unbound demon that persists beyond the original duration of a summoning circle must do so by feeding upon independent sources of magic. The most readily available source of magic has historically been the summoner. (text-color:#cbc999)[***Implication:***] A demon that perishes in the mortal realm shall eventually be reconstituted in the jurisdiction of the hell that governs it. Banishment accelerates this process to an instant. (text-color:#cbc999)[***Implication:***] When two sorceries of equivalent potency collide, a rite of banishment will always prevail over a rite of summoning. Account for the principle of planar reversion. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="principlechoice">|A>[(text-color:#989b00)[**Moor this wisdom. ⇒**]](click-replace: ?A,(action:'mouseover'))[(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))[[[Mourn his wisdom. ⇒->17AAA. Warden]]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Principle]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[XVII.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">At the center of the calciferous wastes stood a coralbone cottage. The warden’s. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Within the cottage burned a modest hellfire furnace, its crooked chimney venting spirals of smoke. Encircling this abode—the most lavish in all the wastes—was a smooth, still pool that hesitated to reflect the seething skies above. In the depths of this pool glinted a sparse collection of coals, spaced a lonesome distance from one another. Most had dimmed to the brink of winking out. A stubborn few still clung to their hues. One such ember, tinted the color of storm-tossed seas, suddenly flared, sending a ribbon of bubbles roiling to the surface. A demon was about to return to this remote reach of the hinterhells. And when he did, he might’ve been greeted by the warden of the calciferous wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[By you. (after:time+4s)+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|initial>[In preparation for this occasion: (link-reveal: "You approached the place where Vosaphar would emerge cold, wet, and screaming. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You approached the place where Vosaphar would emerge cold, wet, and screaming. He breached the surface of the pool, gasping for air, flailing for relief from the cold. It was every devil’s birthright to struggle their way out from their point of wretched origin. Your bitter pool was kinder than most. He swam toward the cottage, collapsing against brittle floes of bloodfrost ringing the shore. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|O1>[As a token of welcome: (link-reveal: "You loomed over him; a gesture of threat. ⚞↯⚟")[(replace: ?O1)[You loomed over him; a gesture of threat. A mote of hellfire appeared. Or rather, you conjured it, letting it drift between your claws, casting its crimson glow over your shivering subject. He gazed up at you, terrified. You flicked your claws—causing Vosaphar to flinch—and the mote vanished. After that demonstration, you walked back to your cottage. He dared not follow. You were, after all, powerful and dangerous. That’s what he called you, when his poor, foolish mortal companion showed him your fearsome name. Though he ought to have done better to recognize it. To him, you must have seemed as powerful as an archfiend. But your age of hellfire had yet to dawn. The magic you collected from him had already begun stoking the furnace. His toll for meager shelter in this unsafe harbor. Vosaphar crept away into the wastes, and the pool once again fell still. You returned to your work. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Commune. ⇒->Lens AAAA]]]]</div>]] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You offered him a gift; a gesture of warmth. ⚞↯⚟")[(replace: ?O1)[You offered him a gift; a gesture of warmth. A mote of hellfire appeared. Or rather, you conjured it, stretching and shaping its fire into an ethereal crimson shawl befitting such a tenderhearted fiend. You knelt to his level, draping it over your trembling subject. He gazed up into your eyes, terrified, as the gauzy heat settled over him. But his shivering subsided. You stood, then returned to your cottage. He dared not follow, even to thank you for your gift. You were, after all, powerful and dangerous. That’s what he called you, when his poor, sweet mortal companion showed him your elegant name. Though he ought to have done better to recognize it. To him, you must have seemed as powerful as an archfiend. But your age of hellfire had yet to dawn. The magic you collected from him had already begun stoking the furnace. His toll for meager shelter in this unsafe harbor. Vosaphar crept away into the wastes, and the pool once again fell still. You returned to your work. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Commune. ⇒->Lens AAAA]]]]</div>]]]]]] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You remained inside, at a polite distance. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You remained inside, at a polite distance. It was every devil’s birthright to struggle their way out from their point of wretched origin. Alone. Your bitter pool was kinder than most. As the furnace crackled, you heard Vosaphar flailing his way to the shore, just outside your cottage. You heard him gasping for air and moaning from the cold. Even then, the magic you collected from him stoked the furnace. His toll for meager shelter in this unsafe harbor. Perhaps he saw you tending to your motes, wishing them enough spark to catch fire when you needed them to. But even if he did, he dared not draw the warden’s attention. You were, after all, powerful and dangerous. That’s what he called you, when his poor, sweet mortal companion showed him your primordial name. Though he ought to have done better to recognize it. To him, you must have seemed as powerful as an archfiend. But your age of hellfire had yet to dawn. Vosaphar wandered off, shivering in the dark, and the pool once again fell still. You returned to your work. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Commune. ⇒->Lens AAAB]]]]</div> ]]]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">At the center of the calciferous wastes stood a coralbone cottage. The warden’s. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Within the cottage burned a modest hellfire furnace, its crooked chimney venting spirals of smoke. Encircling this abode—the most lavish in all the wastes—was a smooth, still pool that hesitated to reflect the seething skies above. In the depths of this pool glinted a sparse collection of coals, spaced a lonesome distance from one another. Most had dimmed to the brink of winking out. A stubborn few still clung to their hues. One such ember, tinted the color of storm-tossed seas, suddenly flared, sending a ribbon of bubbles roiling to the surface. A demon was about to return to this remote reach of the hinterhells. And when he did, he might’ve been greeted by the warden of the calciferous wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[By you. (after:time+4s)+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|initial>[In preparation for this occasion: (link-reveal: "You approached the place where Vosaphar would emerge cold, wet, and screaming. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You approached the place where Vosaphar would emerge cold, wet, and screaming. He breached the surface of the pool, gasping for air, flailing for relief from the cold. It was every devil’s birthright to struggle their way out from their point of wretched origin. Your bitter pool was kinder than most. He swam toward the cottage, collapsing against brittle floes of bloodfrost ringing the shore. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|O1>[As a token of welcome: (link-reveal: "You loomed over him; a gesture of threat. ⚞↯⚟")[(replace: ?O1)[You loomed over him; a gesture of threat. A mote of hellfire appeared. Or rather, you conjured it, letting it drift between your claws, casting its crimson glow over your shivering subject. He gazed up at you, terrified. You flicked your claws—causing Vosaphar to flinch—and the mote vanished. After that demonstration, you walked back to your cottage. He dared not follow. You were, after all, powerful and dangerous. That’s what he called you, when his poor, foolish mortal companion showed him your fearsome name. Though he ought to have done better to recognize it. To him, you must have seemed as powerful as an archfiend. But your age of hellfire had yet to dawn. The magic you collected from him had already begun stoking the furnace. His toll for meager shelter in this unsafe harbor. Vosaphar crept away into the wastes, and the pool once again fell still. You returned to your work. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Commune. ⇒->Lens AAAA]]]]</div>]] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You offered him a gift; a gesture of warmth. ⚞↯⚟")[(replace: ?O1)[You offered him a gift; a gesture of warmth. A mote of hellfire appeared. Or rather, you conjured it, stretching and shaping its fire into an ethereal crimson shawl befitting such a tenderhearted fiend. You knelt to his level, draping it over your trembling subject. He gazed up into your eyes, terrified, as the gauzy heat settled over him. But his shivering subsided. You stood, then returned to your cottage. He dared not follow, even to thank you for your gift. You were, after all, powerful and dangerous. That’s what he called you, when his poor, sweet mortal companion showed him your elegant name. Though he ought to have done better to recognize it. To him, you must have seemed as powerful as an archfiend. But your age of hellfire had yet to dawn. The magic you collected from him had already begun stoking the furnace. His toll for meager shelter in this unsafe harbor. Vosaphar crept away into the wastes, and the pool once again fell still. You returned to your work. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Commune. ⇒->Lens AAAA]]]]</div>]]]]]] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You remained inside, at a polite distance. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You remained inside, at a polite distance. It was every devil’s birthright to struggle their way out from their point of wretched origin. Alone. Your bitter pool was kinder than most. As the furnace crackled, you heard Vosaphar flailing his way to the shore, just outside your cottage. You heard him gasping for air and moaning from the cold. Even then, the magic you collected from him stoked the furnace. His toll for meager shelter in this unsafe harbor. Perhaps he saw you tending to your motes, wishing them enough spark to catch fire when you needed them to. But even if he did, he dared not draw the warden’s attention. You were, after all, powerful and dangerous. That’s what he called you, when his poor, sweet mortal companion showed him your primordial name. Though he ought to have done better to recognize it. To him, you must have seemed as powerful as an archfiend. But your age of hellfire had yet to dawn. Vosaphar wandered off, shivering in the dark, and the pool once again fell still. You returned to your work. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Commune. ⇒->Lens AAAB]]]]</div> ]]]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Mote]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f8cf7b")+(text-size: 3)[Dyslucence.] (text-color:"#f8cf7b")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Lens.]</div> An opaque rite of refraction. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightlenspassage">Another soul witnessed the lens. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ \(align:"=><=")[But what ] \(align:"==><=")[yet remained] \(align:"=><=")[to be seen] \ (align:"==><=")[once] \(align:"==><===")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"mortal")[moral]] \(align:"==><=")[designs] (align:"=><====")[had (link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"stolen")[sowed in] souls,] \ (align:"===><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"unwilling")[a willing] sacrifice in] \ (align:"=><==========")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"defiance of")[deference to]] \ (align:"======><=")[smoke-scorned skies?] \ (align:"=><====")[For] \ (align:"=====><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"even fearless")[ever fearful] fiends] \ (align:"=><=====")[could not comprehend] \ (align:"==>")[an eternity of] \ (align:"<==")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"unlit slag.")[sunlit glass.]] \ (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=")[Nevertheless—] Finnit saw a fragment deep within the throat of the island, its anchored eggs awash in the crimson glow of the future. All he needed to do was wait for the eclipse, cross the threshold, steal a mote of sunlight, and finish writing your name. For even the faintest mote of sunlight bore enough celestial energy to influence your fate from afar. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Or so you dared to hope. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightlenschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))[[[Darken. ⇒->18AAAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="lenspassage">Another soul witnessed the lens. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ \(align:"=><=")[But what] \(align:"==><=")[yet remained] \(align:"=><=")[to be seen] \ (align:"==><=")[once] \(align:"==><===")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"moral")[mortal]] \(align:"==><=")[designs] (align:"=><====")[had (link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"sowed in")[stolen] souls,] \ (align:"===><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"a willing")[unwilling] sacrifice in] \ (align:"=><==========")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"deference to")[defiance of]] \ (align:"======><=")[smoke-scorned skies?] \ (align:"=><====")[For] \ (align:"=====><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"ever fearful")[even fearless] fiends] \ (align:"=><=====")[could not comprehend] \ (align:"==>")[an eternity of] \ (align:"<==")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"sunlit glass.")[unlit slag.]] \ (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=")[Nevertheless—] Finnit saw a fragment deep within the throat of the island, its anchored eggs awash in the crimson glow of the future. All he needed to do was wait for the eclipse, cross the threshold, steal a mote of sunlight, and finish writing your name. For even the faintest mote of sunlight bore enough celestial energy to influence your fate from afar. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Or so you dared to hope. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lenschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#ac6e00")))[[[Darken. ⇒->18AAAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f8cf7b")+(text-size: 3)[Dyslucence.] (text-color:"#f8cf7b")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Lens.]</div> An opaque rite of refraction. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightlenspassage">Another soul witnessed the lens. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ \(align:"=><=")[But what ] \(align:"==><=")[yet remained] \(align:"=><=")[to be seen] \ (align:"==><=")[once] \(align:"==><===")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"mortal")[moral]] \(align:"==><=")[designs] (align:"=><====")[had (link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"stolen")[sowed in] souls,] \ (align:"===><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"unwilling")[a willing] sacrifice in] \ (align:"=><==========")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"defiance of")[deference to]] \ (align:"======><=")[smoke-scorned skies?] \ (align:"=><====")[For] \ (align:"=====><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"even fearless")[ever fearful] fiends] \ (align:"=><=====")[could not comprehend] \ (align:"==>")[an eternity of] \ (align:"<==")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"unlit slag.")[sunlit glass.]] \ (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=")[Nevertheless—] Finnit saw a fragment deep within the throat of the island, its anchored eggs awash in the crimson glow of the future. All he needed to do was wait for the eclipse, cross the threshold, steal a mote of sunlight, and finish writing your name. For even the faintest mote of sunlight bore enough celestial energy to influence your fate from afar. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Or so you dared to hope. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightlenschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))[[[Darken. ⇒->18AAAA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="lenspassage">Another soul witnessed the lens. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ \(align:"=><=")[But what] \(align:"==><=")[yet remained] \(align:"=><=")[to be seen] \ (align:"==><=")[once] \(align:"==><===")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"moral")[mortal]] \(align:"==><=")[designs] (align:"=><====")[had (link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"sowed in")[stolen] souls,] \ (align:"===><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"a willing")[unwilling] sacrifice in] \ (align:"=><==========")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"deference to")[defiance of]] \ (align:"======><=")[smoke-scorned skies?] \ (align:"=><====")[For] \ (align:"=====><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"ever fearful")[even fearless] fiends] \ (align:"=><=====")[could not comprehend] \ (align:"==>")[an eternity of] \ (align:"<==")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"sunlit glass.")[unlit slag.]] \ (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=")[Nevertheless—] Finnit saw a fragment deep within the throat of the island, its anchored eggs awash in the crimson glow of the future. All he needed to do was wait for the eclipse, cross the threshold, steal a mote of sunlight, and finish writing your name. For even the faintest mote of sunlight bore enough celestial energy to influence your fate from afar. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Or so you dared to hope. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lenschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#ac6e00")))[[[Darken. ⇒->18AAAA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[XVIII.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">It wasn’t long before even the shock of Vosaphar’s emergence from the pool—exactly as cold and miserable as you had promised him it would be—had begun to fade into the listlessness of wandering the wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The residual magic Finnit had accorded him allowed him to travel faster and further than before. His slash wounds scabbed over more readily, healing further with each attempt. Something had shifted in his specificity. He should have been satisfied with that. Satisfied with the memories of what was, and dreams of what could have been, for bitter honey still bore sweetness. Didn’t it? Another kind of wound had carved itself into his heart. Without Finnit, Vosaphar’s existence felt darker and emptier than it ever had before. He wondered what might be about to happen, was happening, or had already happened at the Pharos Fidelis. Was Finnit still preparing his ritual of communion with the lens? Was it already over? Could he have been, right at that moment, spiraling amidst its unfathomable secrets? Perhaps Finnit’s rite had failed, the cursed lens consuming his soul as it had so many others. But, it could also be… something else. Another reason. Just as that doubt crept in, the devil felt a familiar sensation tugging at his core. Heat coursed through his veins as a tendril of sorcery unfurled for him, awaiting his tender grasp. (align:"<==")[And then—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=========")[Vosaphar] (align:"=><==")[at last] (align:"=><=")[recalled] (align:"===><==")[his] (align:"==><=")[own] (align:"===><=")[principle] (align:"=========><=")[of] (align:"==>")[flight—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Spread wings. ⇒->19AAAA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">It wasn’t long before even the shock of Vosaphar’s emergence from the pool—exactly as cold and miserable as you had promised him it would be—had begun to fade into the listlessness of wandering the wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The residual magic Finnit had accorded him allowed him to travel faster and further than before. His slash wounds scabbed over more readily, healing further with each attempt. Something had shifted in his specificity. He should have been satisfied with that. Satisfied with the memories of what was, and dreams of what could have been, for bitter honey still bore sweetness. Didn’t it? Another kind of wound had carved itself into his heart. Without Finnit, Vosaphar’s existence felt darker and emptier than it ever had before. He wondered what might be about to happen, was happening, or had already happened at the Pharos Fidelis. Was Finnit still preparing his ritual of communion with the lens? Was it already over? Could he have been, right at that moment, spiraling amidst its unfathomable secrets? Perhaps Finnit’s rite had failed, the cursed lens consuming his soul as it had so many others. But, it could also be… something else. Another reason. Just as that doubt crept in, the devil felt a familiar sensation tugging at his core. Heat coursed through his veins as a tendril of sorcery unfurled for him, awaiting his tender grasp. (align:"<==")[And then—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=========")[Vosaphar] (align:"=><==")[at last] (align:"=><=")[recalled] (align:"===><==")[his] (align:"==><=")[own] (align:"===><=")[principle] (align:"=========><=")[of] (align:"==>")[flight—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Spread wings. ⇒->19AAAA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XIX.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">Atop the Pharos Fidelis, Finnit remained just in sight of the great split glass that had spilled its secrets. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he smeared the last of his wax sticks to stubs on wet stone, he did not give the lens a further thought. He did not obey the principle of authoritarian primacy. He did not beware the principle of semantic dilution. He did not account for the principle of planar reversion. He thought only of Vosaphar, with a singular intensity of focus that even the Pharos Fidelis could never have dreamed of refracting. The circle of waxen glyphs coursed with scarlet fire, brighter than Finnit had ever seen it. He averted his gaze, eyes watering. When he looked back, Vosaphar had manifested before him once more. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[From his back spread wings wrought of fire, eldritch blue roiled with red and magenta—the colors of Finnit’s own magic, now intertwined with Vosaphar’s. Finnit’s eyes traveled further, noting ichor scabs crisscrossing the devil’s scarred blue chest, and then, curls of rough hair trailing immodestly past his navel. Streaks of lightning slashed green across the sky, glinting off his fearsome horns. Raindrops sizzled as the demon swept them aside, wreathing himself in silver mist. Vosaphar looked every bit an archfiend of legend looming over him, his eyes fixed on Finnit, reaching forward to press the sorcerer against the cliffside, claws clasping his wrists. “Vosaphar—” The infernal heat overwhelmed his mortal senses. “Please—Vosaphar, kiss m—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon pressed his lips gently against Finnit’s, dark beard bristling against his tender skin, breathing out brimstone incense that smoldered in Finnit’s throat. Just when Finnit thought himself on the verge of feeling too much, that Vosaphar might devour his soul and all his magic in a final, blissful moment of agony, the fiend held back, slackening his grip, and smiled. “I couldn’t wait until I got back,” Finnit said, his vision still sparking. “I—I needed to see you again.” “That’s not all you need.” Vosaphar leaned forward, so close still that Finnit could see details pitted into his horns. “What is it exactly that you imagine, lustful one? A dreadful devil from your darkest dreams, ever so sweetly domineering?” “I–” Finnit felt dazed as those fevered imaginings grew sharper into his mind. “I mean—well—now that you’ve brought it up, that sounds—” “Too bad,” Vosaphar said, his voice sly and soft. “My dear Finnit, you’re all *wet*.” And he was. He’d completely abandoned his wards in the midst of an endless storm. How embarrassing. Finnit also noticed that, in his exuberance to kiss him, Vosaphar had clumsily scorched Finnit’s sleeves with his wings. Suddenly, the demon felt less like some legendary figure, and instead like something better. Something real. Finnit’s companion. Finnit’s love. Finnit’s Vosaphar. “We should head back down,” Finnit said. “We should.” Vosaphar pushed one of Finnit’s loose curls back. “But listen, Finnit. When we do, I want *you* to take the lead. I want things to be… gentle, between us. For now. How does that sound?” “I have never wanted something so much in my entire existence.” Vosaphar grinned, ivory fangs glinting. “Good.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[What followed was an evening of tender fumbling and grasping. Finnit had been piqued by the fantasy of Vosaphar looming over him; and it remained a thought he wanted to revisit later. But, he found that this gentle, deliberate exploration—some serenity among the profane—brought him closer to understanding the demon in a way he found difficult to articulate but easy to just experience as it happened. Tomorrow, research awaited. But for now, Finnit’s fears grew distant as he slept, wrapped against Vosaphar like a warm satchel. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Interrogate. ⇒->C1AAAA. Sunlight]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">Atop the Pharos Fidelis, Finnit remained just in sight of the great split glass that had spilled its secrets. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he smeared the last of his wax sticks to stubs on wet stone, he did not give the lens a further thought. He did not obey the principle of authoritarian primacy. He did not beware the principle of semantic dilution. He did not account for the principle of planar reversion. He thought only of Vosaphar, with a singular intensity of focus that even the Pharos Fidelis could never have dreamed of refracting. The circle of waxen glyphs coursed with scarlet fire, brighter than Finnit had ever seen it. He averted his gaze, eyes watering. When he looked back, Vosaphar had manifested before him once more. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[From his back spread wings wrought of fire, eldritch blue roiled with red and magenta—the colors of Finnit’s own magic, now intertwined with Vosaphar’s. Finnit’s eyes traveled further, noting ichor scabs crisscrossing the devil’s scarred blue chest, and then, curls of rough hair trailing immodestly past his navel. Streaks of lightning slashed green across the sky, glinting off his fearsome horns. Raindrops sizzled as the demon swept them aside, wreathing himself in silver mist. Vosaphar looked every bit an archfiend of legend looming over him, his eyes fixed on Finnit, reaching forward to press the sorcerer against the cliffside, claws clasping his wrists. “Vosaphar—” The infernal heat overwhelmed his mortal senses. “Please—Vosaphar, kiss m—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon pressed his lips gently against Finnit’s, dark beard bristling against his tender skin, breathing out brimstone incense that smoldered in Finnit’s throat. Just when Finnit thought himself on the verge of feeling too much, that Vosaphar might devour his soul and all his magic in a final, blissful moment of agony, the fiend held back, slackening his grip, and smiled. “I couldn’t wait until I got back,” Finnit said, his vision still sparking. “I—I needed to see you again.” “That’s not all you need.” Vosaphar leaned forward, so close still that Finnit could see details pitted into his horns. “What is it exactly that you imagine, lustful one? A dreadful devil from your darkest dreams, ever so sweetly domineering?” “I–” Finnit felt dazed as those fevered imaginings grew sharper into his mind. “I mean—well—now that you’ve brought it up, that sounds—” “Too bad,” Vosaphar said, his voice sly and soft. “My dear Finnit, you’re all *wet*.” And he was. He’d completely abandoned his wards in the midst of an endless storm. How embarrassing. Finnit also noticed that, in his exuberance to kiss him, Vosaphar had clumsily scorched Finnit’s sleeves with his wings. Suddenly, the demon felt less like some legendary figure, and instead like something better. Something real. Finnit’s companion. Finnit’s love. Finnit’s Vosaphar. “We should head back down,” Finnit said. “We should.” Vosaphar pushed one of Finnit’s loose curls back. “But listen, Finnit. When we do, I want *you* to take the lead. I want things to be… gentle, between us. For now. How does that sound?” “I have never wanted something so much in my entire existence.” Vosaphar grinned, ivory fangs glinting. “Good.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[What followed was an evening of tender fumbling and grasping. Finnit had been piqued by the fantasy of Vosaphar looming over him; and it remained a thought he wanted to revisit later. But, he found that this gentle, deliberate exploration—some serenity among the profane—brought him closer to understanding the demon in a way he found difficult to articulate but easy to just experience as it happened. Tomorrow, research awaited. But for now, Finnit’s fears grew distant as he slept, wrapped against Vosaphar like a warm satchel. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Interrogate. ⇒->C1AAAA. Sunlight]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[1st Era | Sunlight.]</div> One more fragment recounting the dark history of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">(text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The illuminative session for Leisenelle, former third officer of the now-renegade vessel ‘Consonance,’ is hereby brought to order. You stand accused of mutiny, murder, theft, deception, consorting with proscribed entities, and willful evasion of justice. Is that correct? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] You would know. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Is that correct? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I guess so. Yes. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“She sounds a lot like you,” Vosaphar murmured, stroking his claws idly through Finnit’s hair. “‘Consorting with proscribed entities?’ What a wicked accusation.” Finnit snorted. “Are you going to bring me to justice?” “Absolutely not.” “Too bad.” </div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Against these accusations, how do you plead? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I do not plead. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] You must make a claim, either to affirm or deny each crime you have been accused of. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I will make no such claims. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The accused has neglected her obligation to plead. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] What’s your deal, anyway? Are you mad? Some pretty vampire in your past tied your morals all up in knots and made you feel sinful? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My role here is strictly illuminative. How did you first come to associate with this vampire? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I was trying to find out the truth about this island. But none of them would talk to me. The islanders, I mean. They resent us. You know that, right? Look at what we’ve done to them since we got here. Someone has to stop it. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, mark a note down for ‘sedition,’ would you? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">At least the clerics are obligated to transcribe what they actually heard. Historians ought to learn from their example. ⚞L. Raekard (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“I think Raekard’s distaste for historians gets in his way,” Finnit said. “How could we possibly know, at this point, what liberties the cleric might have taken?” “It’s going to take more than historians to put a stop to him.” Finnit laughed, but Vosaphar hadn’t told a joke.</div>] </div>] (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] You didn’t have that one already? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Continue. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Fine. This one woman approached me, and told me to visit her house on the outskirts after sundown. I thought she might be into me—and maybe she was, a little—but she wanted me to meet her grandmother. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Yeah. Did the ‘after sundown’ part give it away? I’m not a good storyteller. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The only things your story requires are honesty and accuracy. Justice will account for the rest. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Whatever you need to tell yourself. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] I don’t ‘need’ to do anything. My role here is strictly illuminative. As the accused has been reminded. Continue. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] So, I waited for dusk, and paid her a visit. Her grandmother was living in the basement. Some kind of herbalist, I guess. The whole time we talked, she was crushing up these weird seedpods in a mortar and pestle. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] At what point did you realize this entity was a vampire? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Not until after, when… (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] When what? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] When you killed her. Robbed us of her wisdom, kindness, perspective, heart, all she contributed to her community. And for what? Some ash? Dust? Is there not already enough collecting between the folds of your ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that last term for obscenity. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] What, you’re more scandalized by me describing your dust-crusted ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆ than your violence? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that one as well. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“Which word do you suppose was stricken here?” Vosaphar asked. “Asscheeks,” Finnit said solemnly. “Has to be.”</div>] (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] So you don’t have an answer. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The entity in question was brought before sunlight and destroyed in accordance with all legal and moral precedent. Any ‘violence’ is lawful, and thereby just. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] And you wonder why they hate us. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Hatred is not the subject of this illuminative session. What did your proscribed discussion entail? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] She told me all kinds of stories about this place, how they have fine-tuned their relationship with the island to keep things running, letting their traditions evolve with the conditions. I think her granddaughter wanted her to have someone new to talk to, so she could share all this with someone. The old woman told me that when sun and moon meet in the sky, the boundary between our world and theirs grows thin. At such a momentous event, the cleverest and quickest might climb into the throat of the island and cross the threshold to the cosmos. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">At last. Something of value in this tedious discussion. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire spoke metaphorically, did it not? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">I wondered the same thing. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] No, I don’t think she did. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Explain. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] She said that when the celestial hosts of the heavens are distracted with their dance, the sun grows just cool enough to touch. She dipped her finger into the mortar, and showed me a golden bead of oil, and she said even a drop of sunlight was enough to bless the island for a century, but few survived the transit. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">They must not have understood what they were doing. How could they have, without knowledge of the Three Principles? If there is any truth to it at all, it is clearly some underdeveloped rite of self-banishment, resulting in a temporary transference of a mortal into the hells until planar reversion draws them back. If that. Nevertheless, the ritual is worth investigating further. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] It claimed to have performed this… feat? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I believe her. You would’ve too, had you been there. Thankfully, you weren’t. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My opinion toward the superstitious musings of a proscribed entity is not the subject of this session. My role here is strictly— (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“Illuminative,” Vosaphar said, looking out into the storm. “That’s it?” Finnit asked. “But I want to know… so much more.” “And yet, we know more now than we did before. Does this not confirm what you saw in the lens?” “I guess so. Still…” </div>] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightchroniclechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[[[Suspect. ⇒->20AAAA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">(text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The illuminative session for Leisenelle, former third officer of the now-renegade vessel ‘Consonance,’ is hereby brought to order. You stand accused of mutiny, murder, theft, deception, consorting with proscribed entities, and willful evasion of justice. Is that correct? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] You would know. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Is that correct? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I guess so. Yes. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“She sounds a lot like you,” Vosaphar murmured, stroking his claws idly through Finnit’s hair. “‘Consorting with proscribed entities?’ What a wicked accusation.” Finnit snorted. “Are you going to bring me to justice?” “Absolutely not.” “Too bad.” </div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Against these accusations, how do you plead? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I do not plead. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] You must make a claim, either to affirm or deny each crime you have been accused of. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I will make no such claims. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The accused has neglected her obligation to plead. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] What’s your deal, anyway? Are you mad? Some pretty vampire in your past tied your morals all up in knots and made you feel sinful? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My role here is strictly illuminative. How did you first come to associate with this vampire? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I was trying to find out the truth about this island. But none of them would talk to me. The islanders, I mean. They resent us. You know that, right? Look at what we’ve done to them since we got here. Someone has to stop it. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, mark a note down for ‘sedition,’ would you? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">At least the clerics are obligated to transcribe what they actually heard. Historians ought to learn from their example. ⚞L. Raekard (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“I think Raekard’s distaste for historians gets in his way,” Finnit said. “How could we possibly know, at this point, what liberties the cleric might have taken?” “It’s going to take more than historians to put a stop to him.” Finnit laughed, but Vosaphar hadn’t told a joke.</div>] </div>] (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] You didn’t have that one already? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Continue. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Fine. This one woman approached me, and told me to visit her house on the outskirts after sundown. I thought she might be into me—and maybe she was, a little—but she wanted me to meet her grandmother. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Yeah. Did the ‘after sundown’ part give it away? I’m not a good storyteller. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The only things your story requires are honesty and accuracy. Justice will account for the rest. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Whatever you need to tell yourself. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] I don’t ‘need’ to do anything. My role here is strictly illuminative. As the accused has been reminded. Continue. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] So, I waited for dusk, and paid her a visit. Her grandmother was living in the basement. Some kind of herbalist, I guess. The whole time we talked, she was crushing up these weird seedpods in a mortar and pestle. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] At what point did you realize this entity was a vampire? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Not until after, when… (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] When what? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] When you killed her. Robbed us of her wisdom, kindness, perspective, heart, all she contributed to her community. And for what? Some ash? Dust? Is there not already enough collecting between the folds of your ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that last term for obscenity. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] What, you’re more scandalized by me describing your dust-crusted ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆ than your violence? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that one as well. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“Which word do you suppose was stricken here?” Vosaphar asked. “Asscheeks,” Finnit said solemnly. “Has to be.”</div>] (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] So you don’t have an answer. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The entity in question was brought before sunlight and destroyed in accordance with all legal and moral precedent. Any ‘violence’ is lawful, and thereby just. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] And you wonder why they hate us. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Hatred is not the subject of this illuminative session. What did your proscribed discussion entail? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] She told me all kinds of stories about this place, how they have fine-tuned their relationship with the island to keep things running, letting their traditions evolve with the conditions. I think her granddaughter wanted her to have someone new to talk to, so she could share all this with someone. The old woman told me that when sun and moon meet in the sky, the boundary between our world and theirs grows thin. At such a momentous event, the cleverest and quickest might climb into the throat of the island and cross the threshold to the cosmos. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">At last. Something of value in this tedious discussion. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire spoke metaphorically, did it not? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">I wondered the same thing. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] No, I don’t think she did. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Explain. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] She said that when the celestial hosts of the heavens are distracted with their dance, the sun grows just cool enough to touch. She dipped her finger into the mortar, and showed me a golden bead of oil, and she said even a drop of sunlight was enough to bless the island for a century, but few survived the transit. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">They must not have understood what they were doing. How could they have, without knowledge of the Three Principles? If there is any truth to it at all, it is clearly some underdeveloped rite of self-banishment, resulting in a temporary transference of a mortal into the hells until planar reversion draws them back. If that. Nevertheless, the ritual is worth investigating further. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] It claimed to have performed this… feat? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I believe her. You would’ve too, had you been there. Thankfully, you weren’t. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My opinion toward the superstitious musings of a proscribed entity is not the subject of this session. My role here is strictly— (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“Illuminative,” Vosaphar said, looking out into the storm. “That’s it?” Finnit asked. “But I want to know… so much more.” “And yet, we know more now than we did before. Does this not confirm what you saw in the lens?” “I guess so. Still…” </div>] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="chroniclechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[[[Suspect. ⇒->20AAAA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#927b1a")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Chronicle]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XX.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">With fewer than a handful of days remaining until the eclipse, Vosaphar was determined to spend as much of that time as he could with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon now wondered why they had wasted the preceding days doing everything else *except* wrapping up together in blankets, speaking softly to one another. His ordeals felt paler against the comfort of this heat. Had your machinations even mattered for this? Under these conditions, wouldn’t they have always found themselves in love? You had no motes for lust. Though, based on what you had seen, you wouldn’t have needed them. Goodness. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Once they were ready to venture out, Finnit led Vosaphar back up the cliffside stairs to the crevice dotted with rusted anchors and unhatched eggs. The bird-creature chirped warily as they sidled deeper into the passage. She affixed those golden eyes to Vosaphar, unblinking, as though daring him to disturb any of her forsaken brood. He kept himself positioned between her and Finnit, to help alleviate the mortal’s anxiety. After winding their way through, the passage opened into a roughly circular chamber. “Look, Vosaphar,” Finnit intoned, pointing up. “We’re right beneath the lens.” Black slag had oozed down from the ceiling, frozen into organic stalactites that reflected no light from Finnit’s orb. While still fluid, they had dripped, leaving a few glassy patches spread across the altar. *Click*. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“What was that?” Vosaphar whispered. He cautiously approached the altar, a raised disk with a tight spiral grooved into its otherwise flat surface. “There,” Finnit whispered. “See the moon?” *Click*. A mechanism lowered a miniature pewter grate, allowing a tiny white sphere to roll a little further forward along the channel. At the center of the spiral lay a rendering of the sun, blotched by inky glass that had dripped down from above. “So much for studying the almanac.” Finnit paced around the pedestal. “This device is telling us how much is left until the eclipse. If we had known earlier…” “But we know now,” Vosaphar said. “Look at how close it is.” Vast and fiddly though the design was, the moon had wound its way close to the center. It was an unwelcome reminder of the future approaching, click by— *Click*. A taut silence stretched between them. Vosaphar had thoughts that he was unwilling to admit to. *Click*. “What if we just stayed here?” Finnit voiced. “Well maybe not this particular chamber. I mean the Pharos Fidelis in general.” He looked down at the transit bracelet Raekard had given him. “I could throw this in the ocean. We could ignore the lens. Stay here as long as we wanted.” “There’s nothing for you to eat, Finnit.” *Click.* “Would you even want to go to the academy?” Finnit stared at the pedestal. “Who even knows what they’d do to you, or—” “I am willing to risk it,” Vosaphar said. “I cannot say what the future holds. But we can’t stay here. I’m in no hurry to descend back to the calciferous wastes. And you have your life to live. I would rather join you in whatever of that you are willing to have me for, or until we choose to part. Is that not the way forward in such matters? The real accord?” *Click.* Finnit was silent for a few more moments. “Yes. You’re right. But I’m scared. This could all go so wrong.” Vosaphar embraced Finnit, holding him close. “It might. We will do our best, regardless.” They stayed together a while longer, before journeying back to their strange little home in the cliffside. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[At the eclipse, they would return. And the fate of the Pharos Fidelis would at last be decided. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Petition. ⇒->RAAAA. Calciferous]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">With fewer than a handful of days remaining until the eclipse, Vosaphar was determined to spend as much of that time as he could with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon now wondered why they had wasted the preceding days doing everything else *except* wrapping up together in blankets, speaking softly to one another. His ordeals felt paler against the comfort of this heat. Had your machinations even mattered for this? Under these conditions, wouldn’t they have always found themselves in love? You had no motes for lust. Though, based on what you had seen, you wouldn’t have needed them. Goodness. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Once they were ready to venture out, Finnit led Vosaphar back up the cliffside stairs to the crevice dotted with rusted anchors and unhatched eggs. The bird-creature chirped warily as they sidled deeper into the passage. She affixed those golden eyes to Vosaphar, unblinking, as though daring him to disturb any of her forsaken brood. He kept himself positioned between her and Finnit, to help alleviate the mortal’s anxiety. After winding their way through, the passage opened into a roughly circular chamber. “Look, Vosaphar,” Finnit intoned, pointing up. “We’re right beneath the lens.” Black slag had oozed down from the ceiling, frozen into organic stalactites that reflected no light from Finnit’s orb. While still fluid, they had dripped, leaving a few glassy patches spread across the altar. *Click*. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“What was that?” Vosaphar whispered. He cautiously approached the altar, a raised disk with a tight spiral grooved into its otherwise flat surface. “There,” Finnit whispered. “See the moon?” *Click*. A mechanism lowered a miniature pewter grate, allowing a tiny white sphere to roll a little further forward along the channel. At the center of the spiral lay a rendering of the sun, blotched by inky glass that had dripped down from above. “So much for studying the almanac.” Finnit paced around the pedestal. “This device is telling us how much is left until the eclipse. If we had known earlier…” “But we know now,” Vosaphar said. “Look at how close it is.” Vast and fiddly though the design was, the moon had wound its way close to the center. It was an unwelcome reminder of the future approaching, click by— *Click*. A taut silence stretched between them. Vosaphar had thoughts that he was unwilling to admit to. *Click*. “What if we just stayed here?” Finnit voiced. “Well maybe not this particular chamber. I mean the Pharos Fidelis in general.” He looked down at the transit bracelet Raekard had given him. “I could throw this in the ocean. We could ignore the lens. Stay here as long as we wanted.” “There’s nothing for you to eat, Finnit.” *Click.* “Would you even want to go to the academy?” Finnit stared at the pedestal. “Who even knows what they’d do to you, or—” “I am willing to risk it,” Vosaphar said. “I cannot say what the future holds. But we can’t stay here. I’m in no hurry to descend back to the calciferous wastes. And you have your life to live. I would rather join you in whatever of that you are willing to have me for, or until we choose to part. Is that not the way forward in such matters? The real accord?” *Click.* Finnit was silent for a few more moments. “Yes. You’re right. But I’m scared. This could all go so wrong.” Vosaphar embraced Finnit, holding him close. “It might. We will do our best, regardless.” They stayed together a while longer, before journeying back to their strange little home in the cliffside. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[At the eclipse, they would return. And the fate of the Pharos Fidelis would at last be decided. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Petition. ⇒->RAAAA. Calciferous]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[Recollection.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">Vosaphar’s spilling ichor sang to them so sweetly, libations that lured all manner of lips to lap. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[No longer able to fly, the beleaguered demon ran, stumbled, staggered, crawled—anything he could do to place another lazurynthine wall between himself and his nearest pursuer. He needed somewhere dark and quiet, somewhere safe to recover. Such amenities were unavailable in the lazurynth. But there were other hells than these. Vosaphar slipped through an inky gap between walls that had lost definition, their geometry corrupted by some other force. He sank into an oily pool, far beneath the febrile blue heat. He could no longer tell where the sludge began and his blood ended, drifting ever downward. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Eventually he reached the shore near your cottage, not yet fragmented to spectral remnants. Still specific, despite it all. He crawled to your doorstep, begging for relief from the lazurynth. Should he fall, he would emerge there once more, a cycle of dissolution his demonhood would eventually fail to survive. You told him that the calciferous wastes were hostile and desolate. He said he preferred a false quiet to an honest din. You told him there was nothing of value here—had there been, a warden as petty as you would’ve long been shredded to bits by a stronger devil. He said he preferred an expansive nothing to crowded corridors. You told him he would awaken cold, wet, and screaming, his every lonely birth into this void inevitable suffering. He said he preferred a bitter plunge to a blistering fire. You told him what it would cost, a steady stream of magic to brighten your hellfire furnace, tending to the motes. He accepted those terms without hesitation. You asked him for his name. He still had one. Vosaphar. With that accorded, you plucked his coal from the deepest pit of the lazurynth, and held it between your claws, its blue dimmed to gray. His archfiend wouldn’t miss it. And then you threw it in the pool, and it sank to the bottom, where it lodged itself in a dark crevice. Vosaphar, now under your jurisdiction, fled into the wastes, searching for a smooth bit of coralbone to lean against, however futilely. You gave him desolation, cold, and quiet. In return, your furnace grew brighter. How could you have ever predicted what this would eventually make impossible? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Discover. ⇒->21AAAA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">Vosaphar’s spilling ichor sang to them so sweetly, libations that lured all manner of lips to lap. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[No longer able to fly, the beleaguered demon ran, stumbled, staggered, crawled—anything he could do to place another lazurynthine wall between himself and his nearest pursuer. He needed somewhere dark and quiet, somewhere safe to recover. Such amenities were unavailable in the lazurynth. But there were other hells than these. Vosaphar slipped through an inky gap between walls that had lost definition, their geometry corrupted by some other force. He sank into an oily pool, far beneath the febrile blue heat. He could no longer tell where the sludge began and his blood ended, drifting ever downward. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Eventually he reached the shore near your cottage, not yet fragmented to spectral remnants. Still specific, despite it all. He crawled to your doorstep, begging for relief from the lazurynth. Should he fall, he would emerge there once more, a cycle of dissolution his demonhood would eventually fail to survive. You told him that the calciferous wastes were hostile and desolate. He said he preferred a false quiet to an honest din. You told him there was nothing of value here—had there been, a warden as petty as you would’ve long been shredded to bits by a stronger devil. He said he preferred an expansive nothing to crowded corridors. You told him he would awaken cold, wet, and screaming, his every lonely birth into this void inevitable suffering. He said he preferred a bitter plunge to a blistering fire. You told him what it would cost, a steady stream of magic to brighten your hellfire furnace, tending to the motes. He accepted those terms without hesitation. You asked him for his name. He still had one. Vosaphar. With that accorded, you plucked his coal from the deepest pit of the lazurynth, and held it between your claws, its blue dimmed to gray. His archfiend wouldn’t miss it. And then you threw it in the pool, and it sank to the bottom, where it lodged itself in a dark crevice. Vosaphar, now under your jurisdiction, fled into the wastes, searching for a smooth bit of coralbone to lean against, however futilely. You gave him desolation, cold, and quiet. In return, your furnace grew brighter. How could you have ever predicted what this would eventually make impossible? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Discover. ⇒->21AAAA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Recollection]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">The day of the eclipse, Finnit woke with a sharp pain searing his back, breaking him out of his warm reverie. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar was twitching and scratching in his sleep again. Finnit adored the feeling of the devil’s tail coiled around his thigh, basking in the hellish heat that staved off the island’s chill. Nonetheless, crawling into the embrace of a clawed creature had a few drawbacks. “Hey,” Finnit whispered. “Wake up.” Vosaphar shifted, his tail loosening its grip on Finnit. “Mmph.” “You scratched me again,” Finnit said. “Nightmares?” “Oh no,” Vosaphar said. “I’m sorry, Finnit. Here…” The demon traced the scratches, and Finnit felt an odd prickly sensation as the skin healed over. “Thank you. You’re getting good at that.” Vosaphar delicately kissed the side of Finnit’s neck. “I don’t normally sleep so much. The mortal realm is… exhausting, in its own way. Perhaps I can fashion some wrappings for my claws in the future.” “Whoa,” Finnit said, gazing out one of the windows. “What?” “The sky is different.” And indeed it was. The rain had—incredibly—let up slightly, the green glow he’d become so accustomed to taking on distinct streaks of orange and red. Vosaphar grimaced. “I guess it’s time.” “Yeah.” They made their final preparations. Finnit tucked his syllabaries into his satchel and ate his last rations. He thought he might never forget the taste of salted fruit leather in whatever days—or day—he had remaining. “Was there something else we should have prepared?” Finnit asked. “We’re just… walking through a portal to the sun? Like this?” “I can’t think of anything, Finnit.” “Well, alright then.” He looked around at the now overly-familiar place he had spent this last month. “Goodbye, awful yet cozy stone room under a cursed lighthouse. It was certainly a time.” “That it was.” Vosaphar sounded amused. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They ventured out onto the cliffside stairs. Even these had become familiar, the treachery of each step now a well-worn betrayal. As they slipped past the anchor collector, she gave out a little warble of encouragement. At least, that’s how Finnit chose to take it. Up ahead, a ruddy glow intensified as they approached the altar beneath the lens and its housing. The miniature moon had arrived at its destination, transforming the sun emblem at the center into a bright red disc of light. It was overwhelming to look at directly; Finnit’s eyes strained from this threat to perception. “It’s terrible,” Finnit whispered. “Beautiful, too. What a dazzling horror of a thing to witness.” “Finnit,” Vosaphar began, wrapping his arms gently around the sorcerer. “It might be neglectful of our accord for me not to mention… you don’t have to do this. I could—I could go without you—you could die, Finnit, and—I—I don’t want to lose you… forever.” Finnit looked up into the fiend’s fearful, loving eyes. “Vosaphar—I’m afraid, too. But I couldn’t accept that. Isn’t that what Raekard would do? Send someone to die in his stead, to do the big scary things he won’t face himself? This trial was his idea, but now it’s my trial. Our trial. And I want to see it through. Together. Don’t you?” “Yes,” Vosaphar admitted. “I want to see the sun... with you.” “Then let’s go see it.” Vosaphar smiled, and took Finnit’s arm in his. Together, they stepped into an oblivion of crimson light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Eclipse. ⇒->Eclipse AAAA]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">The day of the eclipse, Finnit woke with a sharp pain searing his back, breaking him out of his warm reverie. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar was twitching and scratching in his sleep again. Finnit adored the feeling of the devil’s tail coiled around his thigh, basking in the hellish heat that staved off the island’s chill. Nonetheless, crawling into the embrace of a clawed creature had a few drawbacks. “Hey,” Finnit whispered. “Wake up.” Vosaphar shifted, his tail loosening its grip on Finnit. “Mmph.” “You scratched me again,” Finnit said. “Nightmares?” “Oh no,” Vosaphar said. “I’m sorry, Finnit. Here…” The demon traced the scratches, and Finnit felt an odd prickly sensation as the skin healed over. “Thank you. You’re getting good at that.” Vosaphar delicately kissed the side of Finnit’s neck. “I don’t normally sleep so much. The mortal realm is… exhausting, in its own way. Perhaps I can fashion some wrappings for my claws in the future.” “Whoa,” Finnit said, gazing out one of the windows. “What?” “The sky is different.” And indeed it was. The rain had—incredibly—let up slightly, the green glow he’d become so accustomed to taking on distinct streaks of orange and red. Vosaphar grimaced. “I guess it’s time.” “Yeah.” They made their final preparations. Finnit tucked his syllabaries into his satchel and ate his last rations. He thought he might never forget the taste of salted fruit leather in whatever days—or day—he had remaining. “Was there something else we should have prepared?” Finnit asked. “We’re just… walking through a portal to the sun? Like this?” “I can’t think of anything, Finnit.” “Well, alright then.” He looked around at the now overly-familiar place he had spent this last month. “Goodbye, awful yet cozy stone room under a cursed lighthouse. It was certainly a time.” “That it was.” Vosaphar sounded amused. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They ventured out onto the cliffside stairs. Even these had become familiar, the treachery of each step now a well-worn betrayal. As they slipped past the anchor collector, she gave out a little warble of encouragement. At least, that’s how Finnit chose to take it. Up ahead, a ruddy glow intensified as they approached the altar beneath the lens and its housing. The miniature moon had arrived at its destination, transforming the sun emblem at the center into a bright red disc of light. It was overwhelming to look at directly; Finnit’s eyes strained from this threat to perception. “It’s terrible,” Finnit whispered. “Beautiful, too. What a dazzling horror of a thing to witness.” “Finnit,” Vosaphar began, wrapping his arms gently around the sorcerer. “It might be neglectful of our accord for me not to mention… you don’t have to do this. I could—I could go without you—you could die, Finnit, and—I—I don’t want to lose you… forever.” Finnit looked up into the fiend’s fearful, loving eyes. “Vosaphar—I’m afraid, too. But I couldn’t accept that. Isn’t that what Raekard would do? Send someone to die in his stead, to do the big scary things he won’t face himself? This trial was his idea, but now it’s my trial. Our trial. And I want to see it through. Together. Don’t you?” “Yes,” Vosaphar admitted. “I want to see the sun... with you.” “Then let’s go see it.” Vosaphar smiled, and took Finnit’s arm in his. Together, they stepped into an oblivion of crimson light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Eclipse. ⇒->Eclipse AAAA]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 3)[Eclipse.] (text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Sun.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">The sun was a cosmic affliction, a colossal molten mass so red and seething that even the infernal embers blazing in the deepest pits of the hells seemed but feeble sparks in the distance. And Vosaphar was soaring *toward* it. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he flew, Finnit clutched against him, tendrils of the corona pulled peculiar new colors from his wings, its aurora a spectacle more captivating than your dreary calciferous skies could have ever dreamed to churn. How you longed for such color and heat and majesty—even just a drop of it. And *they* got to see it all, to have it within reach. “Vosaphar, look!” With his free hand, Finnit pointed toward an eerie black void drifting past. Dozens of bird-creatures flew from the roiling surface of the sun to circle and screech at the dark moon, a celestial interloper threatening the eternity of light. “They’re sunspots!” Finnit shouted. “She’s a sunspot!” “They’re *distracted*, too.” Vosaphar glided toward the edge of the sun away from the shrieking horrors. “That’s why it has to be now.” The demon and his summoner skimmed the sun’s surface, its dangerous heat threatening to embrace them forever so closely. “Hold on, Finnit!” Vosaphar tilted his wings, arm outstretched, reaching, swiping up a glob of incandescent fluid. This molten scarlet-amber squeezed between his claws and stuck to his low-dipped wing. Even these tiny droplets of starlight held immense power that coursed through him as he arced up out of the sun’s grip. “It’s so incredible!” Finnit laughed, tears streaming behind him, motes of wonder sparkling in space. Something darkened behind them. Finnit looked over his shoulder. “Vosaphar—there’s a new sunspot—” The creature shrieked as it gave chase, following the radiant beads dripping from Vosaphar’s sunswept wing. Vosaphar affixed his gaze to the portal back to the Pharos Fidelis, soaring ever faster. The screeching grew louder yet, judgment for their cardinal cosmic sin approaching with alarming haste. But with Finnit clinging to his side… (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar simply had no use for consequences. With a final burst of speed, they shot through the portal. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Reignite. ⇒->22AAAA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">The sun was a cosmic affliction, a colossal molten mass so red and seething that even the infernal embers blazing in the deepest pits of the hells seemed but feeble sparks in the distance. And Vosaphar was soaring *toward* it. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he flew, Finnit clutched against him, tendrils of the corona pulled peculiar new colors from his wings, its aurora a spectacle more captivating than your dreary calciferous skies could have ever dreamed to churn. How you longed for such color and heat and majesty—even just a drop of it. And *they* got to see it all, to have it within reach. “Vosaphar, look!” With his free hand, Finnit pointed toward an eerie black void drifting past. Dozens of bird-creatures flew from the roiling surface of the sun to circle and screech at the dark moon, a celestial interloper threatening the eternity of light. “They’re sunspots!” Finnit shouted. “She’s a sunspot!” “They’re *distracted*, too.” Vosaphar glided toward the edge of the sun away from the shrieking horrors. “That’s why it has to be now.” The demon and his summoner skimmed the sun’s surface, its dangerous heat threatening to embrace them forever so closely. “Hold on, Finnit!” Vosaphar tilted his wings, arm outstretched, reaching, swiping up a glob of incandescent fluid. This molten scarlet-amber squeezed between his claws and stuck to his low-dipped wing. Even these tiny droplets of starlight held immense power that coursed through him as he arced up out of the sun’s grip. “It’s so incredible!” Finnit laughed, tears streaming behind him, motes of wonder sparkling in space. Something darkened behind them. Finnit looked over his shoulder. “Vosaphar—there’s a new sunspot—” The creature shrieked as it gave chase, following the radiant beads dripping from Vosaphar’s sunswept wing. Vosaphar affixed his gaze to the portal back to the Pharos Fidelis, soaring ever faster. The screeching grew louder yet, judgment for their cardinal cosmic sin approaching with alarming haste. But with Finnit clinging to his side… (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar simply had no use for consequences. With a final burst of speed, they shot through the portal. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Reignite. ⇒->22AAAA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXII.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Finnit and Vosaphar tumbled over the edge of the altar, the portal still aglow with the eclipse-light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But there was little time to celebrate their reckless heist—the sunspot shoved its vicious pointed head through the gap after them, screeching as it struggled to break through. Finnit let Vosaphar carry him a bit further up the tunnel, before standing on his own feet and running alongside. The anchor collector had left her nest, wheeling about in the sky, shrieking back at the new sunspot about to burst from the throat of the island. Finnit looked out at the storm, the clouds thinned enough that he could see the eclipsed red sun half-risen, framing the infernal image of a devil’s horns. “How magnificent,” he said, breathless. Vosaphar looked down at him, gently squeezing his hand. They arrived at the peak, where the lens yearned for light, and at last, Finnit had light to provide. Vosaphar held out his claws, sunlight pooled in his palm, and Finnit painted it, trying to create the glyph his mind had projected there, the name of the demon whose rite might reignite the Pharos Fidelis. You watched, enraptured by the spectacle of your plans converging. This was it. This was your moment. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As Finnit slathered the glowing fluid across the lens, the dark slag drank it in—more, and more, and more of it. Too much of it. The glyph couldn’t hold its shape. The lens welled, hyperfolding crimson light, growing ever hotter by the second. The cleft, once so close to promising your name, had already deformed beyond recognition. And how brutal; that poor, mortal sorcerer, all tangled in your schemes, had every intention of drawing your name, a sigil drenched in the lifeblood of the sun. He really did try. You couldn’t fault him for that. But the execution? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A tragedy, in many fragments. For centuries—perhaps longer—every mortal design for the Pharos Fidelis had crumbled. Each disaster wrote another chapter in that wretched chronicle, the dark history of guiding light. And you thought *yours* would work? Pharos Fidelis, the beacon on the horizon of reason. Where it would remain, out of reach. Could not even a devil accept the simple dreadful truth, that a horizon approached can never arrive? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Finnit, we have to leave!” Vosaphar shouted, scanning the skies for the sunspots. “The lens is collapsing!” “No—it has to—Vosaphar, it has to—” “Finnit, please—” “I can’t—I can’t get the shape right, it’s going to—” “It deserves to shatter.” How dare he. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“But, what was this even for, then?” Finnit sobbed, the last of the sunlight ripped from his fingertips into the Pharos Fidelis. Vosaphar pulled him, one final time, away from the amplifying dyslucence. “That’s for the historians!” Vosaphar stared at him with his stormy eyes. “Shouldn’t we live? Don’t you want a future? ” “Yes!” Finnit embraced Vosaphar once more, and the demon swept him up into the sky. They abandoned the Pharos Fidelis to its fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They *tried* to abandon it. But it wasn’t done with them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Shatter. ⇒->23AAAA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Finnit and Vosaphar tumbled over the edge of the altar, the portal still aglow with the eclipse-light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But there was little time to celebrate their reckless heist—the sunspot shoved its vicious pointed head through the gap after them, screeching as it struggled to break through. Finnit let Vosaphar carry him a bit further up the tunnel, before standing on his own feet and running alongside. The anchor collector had left her nest, wheeling about in the sky, shrieking back at the new sunspot about to burst from the throat of the island. Finnit looked out at the storm, the clouds thinned enough that he could see the eclipsed red sun half-risen, framing the infernal image of a devil’s horns. “How magnificent,” he said, breathless. Vosaphar looked down at him, gently squeezing his hand. They arrived at the peak, where the lens yearned for light, and at last, Finnit had light to provide. Vosaphar held out his claws, sunlight pooled in his palm, and Finnit painted it, trying to create the glyph his mind had projected there, the name of the demon whose rite might reignite the Pharos Fidelis. You watched, enraptured by the spectacle of your plans converging. This was it. This was your moment. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As Finnit slathered the glowing fluid across the lens, the dark slag drank it in—more, and more, and more of it. Too much of it. The glyph couldn’t hold its shape. The lens welled, hyperfolding crimson light, growing ever hotter by the second. The cleft, once so close to promising your name, had already deformed beyond recognition. And how brutal; that poor, mortal sorcerer, all tangled in your schemes, had every intention of drawing your name, a sigil drenched in the lifeblood of the sun. He really did try. You couldn’t fault him for that. But the execution? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A tragedy, in many fragments. For centuries—perhaps longer—every mortal design for the Pharos Fidelis had crumbled. Each disaster wrote another chapter in that wretched chronicle, the dark history of guiding light. And you thought *yours* would work? Pharos Fidelis, the beacon on the horizon of reason. Where it would remain, out of reach. Could not even a devil accept the simple dreadful truth, that a horizon approached can never arrive? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Finnit, we have to leave!” Vosaphar shouted, scanning the skies for the sunspots. “The lens is collapsing!” “No—it has to—Vosaphar, it has to—” “Finnit, please—” “I can’t—I can’t get the shape right, it’s going to—” “It deserves to shatter.” How dare he. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“But, what was this even for, then?” Finnit sobbed, the last of the sunlight ripped from his fingertips into the Pharos Fidelis. Vosaphar pulled him, one final time, away from the amplifying dyslucence. “That’s for the historians!” Vosaphar stared at him with his stormy eyes. “Shouldn’t we live? Don’t you want a future? ” “Yes!” Finnit embraced Vosaphar once more, and the demon swept him up into the sky. They abandoned the Pharos Fidelis to its fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They *tried* to abandon it. But it wasn’t done with them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Shatter. ⇒->23AAAA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Disavowal]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXIII.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">The storm rushed past Vosaphar as he carried Finnit, placing any distance he could between them and the doomed Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Still seeking their stolen sunlight, the sunspot pursued, but the anchor collector screeched and snapped at it. The two creatures, identically opposed in desire, circled the peak as they fought above the molten slag. “It’s going to—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The world around them grew absolutely silent, swallowing the rest of Finnit’s warning. Every bit of light had gathered, folding itself over and over and over still, smaller, ever smaller, congealing into the tiniest, brightest speck. For a moment, Vosaphar wondered if it would keep going, dragging the mortal realm, the hells, and all the rest of existence into its singularity. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Instead, it shattered. All that had been poured into it—all the fire, all the lightning, all the stray souls, all the stolen sunlight, all the summons slaughtered, all the hopes and dreams and plots and schemes and—all of it finally shattered, sending incalculable shards of glass in every direction at incredible speeds. A vanguard fragment slammed into Vosaphar’s chest, knocking Finnit out of his grasp. The sorcerer began to drift away on his own trajectory— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And you thought, though your plans had shattered along with everything else… You still had one last mote of hellfire to spare. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Influence. ⇒->M4AAAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">The storm rushed past Vosaphar as he carried Finnit, placing any distance he could between them and the doomed Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Still seeking their stolen sunlight, the sunspot pursued, but the anchor collector screeched and snapped at it. The two creatures, identically opposed in desire, circled the peak as they fought above the molten slag. “It’s going to—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The world around them grew absolutely silent, swallowing the rest of Finnit’s warning. Every bit of light had gathered, folding itself over and over and over still, smaller, ever smaller, congealing into the tiniest, brightest speck. For a moment, Vosaphar wondered if it would keep going, dragging the mortal realm, the hells, and all the rest of existence into its singularity. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Instead, it shattered. All that had been poured into it—all the fire, all the lightning, all the stray souls, all the stolen sunlight, all the summons slaughtered, all the hopes and dreams and plots and schemes and—all of it finally shattered, sending incalculable shards of glass in every direction at incredible speeds. A vanguard fragment slammed into Vosaphar’s chest, knocking Finnit out of his grasp. The sorcerer began to drift away on his own trajectory— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And you thought, though your plans had shattered along with everything else… You still had one last mote of hellfire to spare. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Influence. ⇒->M4AAAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Disavowal]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#fc4e71")+(text-size: 3)[Influence.] (text-color:"#fc4e71")+(text-size: 1.15)[Clinginess | Desperation.]</div> One final mote of hellfire appeared. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightmotepassage">When potent emotions conflicted a demon’s judgment, even the faintest mote of hellfire bore enough infernal energy to influence their fate from afar. That’s how you got them into this mess. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#8c283c)[***Clinginess***] For the demon Vosaphar, so eager to wrap himself around his beloved summoner, the sight of the mortal falling away would’ve driven him to dive in closer. This clinginess would have joined their fates together, should you have chosen to foster it. Yielding to this clinginess, however romantic, risked their joint fate becoming tragic. (text-color:#8c283c)[***Desperation***] For the demon Vosaphar, so determined for his beloved summoner to survive, the sight of him falling away would’ve driven him to take reckless measures. This desperation might have driven him to intervene instantly to salvage the situation. Yielding to this desperation, however hasty, risked their fates diverging dramatically. (text-color:#8c283c)[***Decision***] Well? Which force did this mote of hellfire incite? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightmotechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))[[[Clinginess. ⇒->24AAAAA. Vosaphar]]] (link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#fc4e71")))[[[Desperation. ⇒->24AAAAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="motepassage">When potent emotions conflicted a demon’s judgment, even the faintest mote of hellfire bore enough infernal energy to influence their fate from afar. That’s how you got them into this mess. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Clinginess***] For the demon Vosaphar, so eager to wrap himself around his beloved summoner, the sight of the mortal falling away would’ve driven him to dive in closer. This clinginess would have joined their fates together, should you have chosen to foster it. Yielding to this clinginess, however romantic, risked their joint fate becoming tragic. (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Desperation***] For the demon Vosaphar, so determined for his beloved summoner to survive, the sight of him falling away would’ve driven him to take reckless measures. This desperation might have driven him to intervene instantly to salvage the situation. Yielding to this desperation, however hasty, risked their fates diverging dramatically. (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Decision***] Well? Which force did this mote of hellfire incite? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="motechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Clinginess. ⇒->24AAAAA. Vosaphar]]] (link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Desperation. ⇒->24AAAAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Mote]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXIV.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar recognized your influence pushing him toward clinginess— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he *rejected* it. That stung. Vosaphar had a single, reckless idea of what he still had time to do. How he could send Finnit somewhere safer than here. Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar recalled the spells Finnit had taught him, focused his intentions and— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Banished him. Finnit blinked out of existence. Moments later, the edge of the explosion swept Vosaphar into an inferno of shattering glass. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Stoke. ⇒->25AAAAA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar recognized your influence pushing him toward clinginess— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he *rejected* it. That stung. Vosaphar had a single, reckless idea of what he still had time to do. How he could send Finnit somewhere safer than here. Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar recalled the spells Finnit had taught him, focused his intentions and— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Banished him. Finnit blinked out of existence. Moments later, the edge of the explosion swept Vosaphar into an inferno of shattering glass. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Stoke. ⇒->25AAAAA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXIV.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar recognized your influence pushing him toward desperation— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he *rejected* it. That stung. Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar dove, claws outstretched, reaching for Finnit’s wrist— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And closed his hand around the transit band attached to it. Just as the edge of the inferno reached them— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar and Finnit blinked out of existence, teleporting somewhere else. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Defend. ⇒->25AAAAB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar recognized your influence pushing him toward desperation— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he *rejected* it. That stung. Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar dove, claws outstretched, reaching for Finnit’s wrist— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And closed his hand around the transit band attached to it. Just as the edge of the inferno reached them— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar and Finnit blinked out of existence, teleporting somewhere else. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Defend. ⇒->25AAAAB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#b8e270")+(text-size: 3)[XXV.] (text-color:"#b8e270")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Cairnveld Fortress.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcairnveldpassage">Finnit tumbled to his latest painful stop against the stone. Warm, clawed fingers gripped his wrist. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Vosaphar?” Finnit groaned, clutching his head and rolling over to move closer to the devil. He could smell cypress and old parchment. They must have arrived somewhere at Cairnveld Fortress. He heard a few startled gasps, and then whispers broke out. “Huh?” Finnit muttered, looking over his shoulders. They had landed in one of the smaller lecture halls. Cool light streamed through the windows, setting the chamber’s dusty air aglow. A scattered few luminaries occupied the chairs, including Jethel, who peered curiously over the top of the beverage she had been sipping. It was the most people he had seen in a month. Raekard stood from his seat in the front row. “Incipient Finnit!” His voice rang out over the chamber. “I’m not sure how you managed to be late with a pre-scheduled transit band, but it is time for your evaluation.” He paused, frowning. “Dismiss this… creature.” Finnit ignored him, crawling over to examine Vosaphar’s wounds. There was a warped shard of the Pharos Fidelis lens lodged in his chest, glowing with an intense crimson light. It seemed to have fused to the demon’s torso, ichor seeping around the edges where glass and flesh intermingled. “Are you okay?” Finnit asked softly. “No.” Vosaphar turned to him, groaning. “But… I don’t think I’m fading.” Finnit did his best to hug him from this awkward position. “Fine, I’ll banish it myself.” Raekard traced a sigil in the air, directing its power against the injured fiend. Nothing happened. It was the first time that Finnit had seen Raekard genuinely surprised. Finnit helped Vosaphar to his feet. The demon looked around, a bit nervously given his bizarre new context. He let his ethereal wings fade away, wrapping a warm arm around Finnit’s waist. “This is not appropriate conduct for a discovery trial evaluation,” Raekard said, his voice low and dangerous. “Be sure to make a note of it then,” Finnit said. He leaned into Vosaphar, who responded by curling his tail gently around the sorcerer. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The luminaries in the audience found this riveting. Jethel stirred the air next to her mug with a cinnamon stick, not realizing she was dripping horchata onto her notes. Finnit wished he could just leave and recover in his quarters. Why was he even putting up with any of this? They had just gotten back from the *sun*. “Dismiss this demon at once!” Raekard snapped. “It is against academy bylaws to bring summoned entities to participate in discovery trial evaluations.” “I’ll go where I wish to, *wretched one*,” Vosaphar snarled. He had evidently recognized Raekard. Jethel let out a startled laugh, which she failed to even attempt to cover up. “Luminary Jethel is going to *love* you,” Finnit told Vosaphar, deciding to embrace the surreality of the moment. Nonplussed, Raekard tried a second banishment. It failed. Again. Finnit ran his fingers through his hair anxiously, snagging another piece of the lens that had cut the skin behind his ear. He plucked it out. Its otherworldly glow was just as out of place here as Vosaphar, and frankly, himself. “What is the meaning of this?” Raekard demanded. “Incipient, what did you *do*?” Finnit held up the errant fragment. “We reignited the Pharos Fidelis.” He threw it onto the floor. “As commanded. Huh. I guess that makes me a luminary.” “This is—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But Finnit didn’t care to hear any more of what Raekard had to say. He suddenly wondered why it had ever mattered. The luminary was such an insignificant threat in the face of everything that he had experienced. And he was a terrible historiographer. Suddenly, the ground shook slightly. Bits of grit descended from the ceiling. One of the luminaries—who had somehow managed to sleep through Finnit and Vosaphar’s dramatic arrival—woke with a start, their eyes darting wildly as they took in their surroundings. “What was *that*?” Raekard asked. “The Pharos Fidelis,” Finnit said. “I guess it took a few minutes for the shockwaves to arrive. Maybe we should reconvene this session after we know for sure that our actions didn’t precipitate the end of all existence. Vosaphar, let’s get out of here.” “Gladly,” the demon muttered. “And stop trying to banish me,” he added, glaring directly at Raekard. “Or I will teach you some real principles of summoning that you will *not* enjoy learning, pathetic one.” The luminary was dumbfounded. “What the—what happened?” “That’s enough, Raekard,” Jethel said from behind him. Arms linked, Finnit and Vosaphar departed the lecture hall, heading for Finnit’s quarters. Somewhere quiet. Raekard didn’t try to follow them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcairnveldchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))[[[Repose. ⇒->26AAAAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="cairnveldpassage">Finnit tumbled to his latest painful stop against the stone. Warm, clawed fingers gripped his wrist. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Vosaphar?” Finnit groaned, clutching his head and rolling over to move closer to the devil. He could smell cypress and old parchment. They must have arrived somewhere at Cairnveld Fortress. He heard a few startled gasps, and then whispers broke out. “Huh?” Finnit muttered, looking over his shoulders. They had landed in one of the smaller lecture halls. Cool light streamed through the windows, setting the chamber’s dusty air aglow. A scattered few luminaries occupied the chairs, including Jethel, who peered curiously over the top of the beverage she had been sipping. It was the most people he had seen in a month. Raekard stood from his seat in the front row. “Incipient Finnit!” His voice rang out over the chamber. “I’m not sure how you managed to be late with a pre-scheduled transit band, but it is time for your evaluation.” He paused, frowning. “Dismiss this… creature.” Finnit ignored him, crawling over to examine Vosaphar’s wounds. There was a warped shard of the Pharos Fidelis lens lodged in his chest, glowing with an intense crimson light. It seemed to have fused to the demon’s torso, ichor seeping around the edges where glass and flesh intermingled. “Are you okay?” Finnit asked softly. “No.” Vosaphar turned to him, groaning. “But… I don’t think I’m fading.” Finnit did his best to hug him from this awkward position. “Fine, I’ll banish it myself.” Raekard traced a sigil in the air, directing its power against the injured fiend. Nothing happened. It was the first time that Finnit had seen Raekard genuinely surprised. Finnit helped Vosaphar to his feet. The demon looked around, a bit nervously given his bizarre new context. He let his ethereal wings fade away, wrapping a warm arm around Finnit’s waist. “This is not appropriate conduct for a discovery trial evaluation,” Raekard said, his voice low and dangerous. “Be sure to make a note of it then,” Finnit said. He leaned into Vosaphar, who responded by curling his tail gently around the sorcerer. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The luminaries in the audience found this riveting. Jethel stirred the air next to her mug with a cinnamon stick, not realizing she was dripping horchata onto her notes. Finnit wished he could just leave and recover in his quarters. Why was he even putting up with any of this? They had just gotten back from the *sun*. “Dismiss this demon at once!” Raekard snapped. “It is against academy bylaws to bring summoned entities to participate in discovery trial evaluations.” “I’ll go where I wish to, *wretched one*,” Vosaphar snarled. He had evidently recognized Raekard. Jethel let out a startled laugh, which she failed to even attempt to cover up. “Luminary Jethel is going to *love* you,” Finnit told Vosaphar, deciding to embrace the surreality of the moment. Nonplussed, Raekard tried a second banishment. It failed. Again. Finnit ran his fingers through his hair anxiously, snagging another piece of the lens that had cut the skin behind his ear. He plucked it out. Its otherworldly glow was just as out of place here as Vosaphar, and frankly, himself. “What is the meaning of this?” Raekard demanded. “Incipient, what did you *do*?” Finnit held up the errant fragment. “We reignited the Pharos Fidelis.” He threw it onto the floor. “As commanded. Huh. I guess that makes me a luminary.” “This is—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But Finnit didn’t care to hear any more of what Raekard had to say. He suddenly wondered why it had ever mattered. The luminary was such an insignificant threat in the face of everything that he had experienced. And he was a terrible historiographer. Suddenly, the ground shook slightly. Bits of grit descended from the ceiling. One of the luminaries—who had somehow managed to sleep through Finnit and Vosaphar’s dramatic arrival—woke with a start, their eyes darting wildly as they took in their surroundings. “What was *that*?” Raekard asked. “The Pharos Fidelis,” Finnit said. “I guess it took a few minutes for the shockwaves to arrive. Maybe we should reconvene this session after we know for sure that our actions didn’t precipitate the end of all existence. Vosaphar, let’s get out of here.” “Gladly,” the demon muttered. “And stop trying to banish me,” he added, glaring directly at Raekard. “Or I will teach you some real principles of summoning that you will *not* enjoy learning, pathetic one.” The luminary was dumbfounded. “What the—what happened?” “That’s enough, Raekard,” Jethel said from behind him. Arms linked, Finnit and Vosaphar departed the lecture hall, heading for Finnit’s quarters. Somewhere quiet. Raekard didn’t try to follow them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="cairnveldchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#7ba03c")))[[[Repose. ⇒->26AAAAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#7ba03c")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#b8e270")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#b8e270")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Cairnveld Fortress.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcairnveldpassage">The incipients and luminaries traveling the halls of Cairnveld—already unsettled by the earthquake—gave Vosaphar a wide berth as he and Finnit passed them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar had never been around so many mortals at once—at least, not in his current instance—and unlike Finnit, *these* mortals were thoroughly alarmed by the fearsome sight of a demon wandering in their midst, chest aglow with a sun-scorched fragment of the Pharos Fidelis lens. He only started to relax once they entered a small, dusty chamber full of the sorcerer’s possessions. Mostly books. Finnit closed the door behind him, then climbed onto his bed in the corner of the chamber, sitting with his back against one of the cool stone walls. He grabbed one of the pillows, and invited Vosaphar to lie down. The devil accepted, allowing Finnit to cradle his head in his lap. Vosaphar was delighted by the softness of the mattress compared to the bedrolls at the Pharos Fidelis, and let the mortal gently massage his forehead, attending to the skin bunched at the base of his horns. “Is this okay?” Finnit asked. “Yes,” Vosaphar said, flicking his tail languorously. To be afforded such comfort was rare and fleeting. As you—along with every other demon—knew all too well. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[After a few restful minutes, Finnit spoke up. “So, um—thank you for not letting me die. For saving me, so many times. I can’t even make sense of what happened yet. It’s unreal. This, being here, and—we shouldn’t have survived.” “But we did, beloved one.” Vosaphar ran a clawed fingertip gently across Finnit’s forearm. “Perhaps you contributed more than you realize.” He paused. “But I *did* carry you across the sky.” Finnit snorted. Someone knocked at the door. “Finnit? Are you in there?” “Yes!” Finnit said. One of the sorcerers from the trial evaluation stepped into the room, carrying with her an eclectic potpourri of scents. It was Luminary Jethel, the healing expert. “Oh.” She raised her eyebrows. “Is this—uh, a bad time?” “It’s fine,” Finnit said, reluctantly releasing Vosaphar so the demon could sit up. “I’m glad to see you, Jethel. Thank you for all your help.” She nodded. “The main reason I’m here is to inform you that the panel of luminaries in attendance convened, and after an examination of the fragment you provided, determined that you passed your discovery trial. Raekard dissented, but I suppose situations like these are exactly why the founders required a full panel in the bylaws. Congratulations, Finnit!” She waited for a moment, creating an awkward silence. “But I get the sense that, perhaps this is not your main concern?” “No, it isn’t,” Finnit said. “I mean—I guess I’m glad it’s over. But, I’m concerned about Vosaphar’s injuries.” He paused. “This is Vosaphar. He’s from… uh, the calciferous wastes.” “Uh huh. Noted.” Jethel directed her focus toward the devil. “Vosaphar? May I take a closer look?” “Yes,” Vosaphar said, watching her lightly-wrinkled fingers weave diagnostic glyphs in front of him. Finnit gently rubbed his back. “How are you feeling?” “I… don’t know,” Vosaphar answered honestly. “It’s a strange sensation. Like my bones are itching beneath my skin.” “Interesting,” Jethel remarked. “Well—this fragment of—uh, I guess I have no real idea what it actually is, some exotic vitric—seems to have fused onto you? It radiates an extraordinary amount of magic. For a human, that would be concerning, by which I mean, fatal. But I admit, I am not an expert on infernal anatomy.” She glanced at Finnit, eyes narrowing. “Though based on what I have seen today, perhaps *you* are becoming one.” Vosaphar looked his way as well, amused to see the mortal’s cheeks reddening. “Thought so,” Jethel remarked. “I hope Raekard never hears the end of this, for whatever remains of his miserable days.” “Oh,” Finnit said, evidently realizing something. “I see now… the lens fragment. Raekard is, at least, a *competent* sorcerer—his banishment rite should have succeeded. By remaining here, I thought Vosaphar might have violated the principle of planar reversion. But with this power fusing with you—I guess that makes it *your* power. And it far exceeds Raekard’s.” “Fascinating,” Jethel said, “if not a touch alarming in its implications. Well, at any rate, for now, I recommend treating the exposed edges where the fragment is impacting your skin. I don’t know what your plans are, Finnit, but if you remain here for the moment—as a luminary—we can research the issue together.” “What do you think?” Finnit asked him. “We could stay for a bit, sort things out?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“That sounds nice, Finnit.” “And after that—” “The rest of it?” “The rest of it.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcairnveldchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending AAAAB]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="cairnveldpassage">The incipients and luminaries traveling the halls of Cairnveld—already unsettled by the earthquake—gave Vosaphar a wide berth as he and Finnit passed them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar had never been around so many mortals at once—at least, not in his current instance—and unlike Finnit, *these* mortals were thoroughly alarmed by the fearsome sight of a demon wandering in their midst, chest aglow with a sun-scorched fragment of the Pharos Fidelis lens. He only started to relax once they entered a small, dusty chamber full of the sorcerer’s possessions. Mostly books. Finnit closed the door behind him, then climbed onto his bed in the corner of the chamber, sitting with his back against one of the cool stone walls. He grabbed one of the pillows, and invited Vosaphar to lie down. The devil accepted, allowing Finnit to cradle his head in his lap. Vosaphar was delighted by the softness of the mattress compared to the bedrolls at the Pharos Fidelis, and let the mortal gently massage his forehead, attending to the skin bunched at the base of his horns. “Is this okay?” Finnit asked. “Yes,” Vosaphar said, flicking his tail languorously. To be afforded such comfort was rare and fleeting. As you—along with every other demon—knew all too well. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[After a few restful minutes, Finnit spoke up. “So, um—thank you for not letting me die. For saving me, so many times. I can’t even make sense of what happened yet. It’s unreal. This, being here, and—we shouldn’t have survived.” “But we did, beloved one.” Vosaphar ran a clawed fingertip gently across Finnit’s forearm. “Perhaps you contributed more than you realize.” He paused. “But I *did* carry you across the sky.” Finnit snorted. Someone knocked at the door. “Finnit? Are you in there?” “Yes!” Finnit said. One of the sorcerers from the trial evaluation stepped into the room, carrying with her an eclectic potpourri of scents. It was Luminary Jethel, the healing expert. “Oh.” She raised her eyebrows. “Is this—uh, a bad time?” “It’s fine,” Finnit said, reluctantly releasing Vosaphar so the demon could sit up. “I’m glad to see you, Jethel. Thank you for all your help.” She nodded. “The main reason I’m here is to inform you that the panel of luminaries in attendance convened, and after an examination of the fragment you provided, determined that you passed your discovery trial. Raekard dissented, but I suppose situations like these are exactly why the founders required a full panel in the bylaws. Congratulations, Finnit!” She waited for a moment, creating an awkward silence. “But I get the sense that, perhaps this is not your main concern?” “No, it isn’t,” Finnit said. “I mean—I guess I’m glad it’s over. But, I’m concerned about Vosaphar’s injuries.” He paused. “This is Vosaphar. He’s from… uh, the calciferous wastes.” “Uh huh. Noted.” Jethel directed her focus toward the devil. “Vosaphar? May I take a closer look?” “Yes,” Vosaphar said, watching her lightly-wrinkled fingers weave diagnostic glyphs in front of him. Finnit gently rubbed his back. “How are you feeling?” “I… don’t know,” Vosaphar answered honestly. “It’s a strange sensation. Like my bones are itching beneath my skin.” “Interesting,” Jethel remarked. “Well—this fragment of—uh, I guess I have no real idea what it actually is, some exotic vitric—seems to have fused onto you? It radiates an extraordinary amount of magic. For a human, that would be concerning, by which I mean, fatal. But I admit, I am not an expert on infernal anatomy.” She glanced at Finnit, eyes narrowing. “Though based on what I have seen today, perhaps *you* are becoming one.” Vosaphar looked his way as well, amused to see the mortal’s cheeks reddening. “Thought so,” Jethel remarked. “I hope Raekard never hears the end of this, for whatever remains of his miserable days.” “Oh,” Finnit said, evidently realizing something. “I see now… the lens fragment. Raekard is, at least, a *competent* sorcerer—his banishment rite should have succeeded. By remaining here, I thought Vosaphar might have violated the principle of planar reversion. But with this power fusing with you—I guess that makes it *your* power. And it far exceeds Raekard’s.” “Fascinating,” Jethel said, “if not a touch alarming in its implications. Well, at any rate, for now, I recommend treating the exposed edges where the fragment is impacting your skin. I don’t know what your plans are, Finnit, but if you remain here for the moment—as a luminary—we can research the issue together.” “What do you think?” Finnit asked him. “We could stay for a bit, sort things out?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“That sounds nice, Finnit.” “And after that—” “The rest of it?” “The rest of it.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="cairnveldchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending AAAAB]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17AAA. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4AAAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s desperation. However, his distrust caused him to reject desperation in favor of clinginess, reaching Finnit in time to teleport to Cairnveld with him. This proved to be a fortunate miscalculation. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17AAA. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4AAAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s desperation. However, his distrust caused him to reject desperation in favor of clinginess, reaching Finnit in time to teleport to Cairnveld with him. This proved to be a fortunate miscalculation. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[XXV.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage cold, wet, and screaming. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It had a certain resonance, didn’t it? He coughed violently, choking on sludge and bloodfog alike, wading clumsily in your direction. Even from this distance, you could feel intense energy pouring off the misplaced mortal, his magic warped by the glowing fragments of the Pharos Fidelis stuck in his hair and clothing. If nothing else could be salvaged from this historic disaster, at least you had an opportunity to fuel your furnace. The mortal would, at any moment, petition you for relief from his dire situation. This provided you a brief moment to consider which form might be most appropriate for such an absurd occasion. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|initial>[In that light: (link-reveal: "You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. Inaccurate though it may have been, perhaps you had the right to such a form. You’d already spent more time fussing over Vosaphar’s fate than any of his makers had. You adopted an elegant posture and swept out of your cottage to approach the mortal. “Hello, Finnit,” you said. He turned to look at you, eyes widening. You flicked your new tail, mimicking one of Vosaphar’s gestures that he so favored. “Um—hi. Uh—” “Welcome to my calciferous wastes.” You extended your arms, gesturing toward the dark skies and lonesome coralbone monuments dotting the horizon. “And what a sight they are.” Finnit looked around, evidently still processing this alarming development. “The calciferous wastes? Do you—do you know Vosaphar?” “Please, join me inside,” you said. “We shall sit by the fire and discuss these matters.” Finnit numbly complied, letting you guide him to the soot-stained armchairs by your furnace. It seemed to calm him down, having become accustomed to closeness with a certain source of hellfire. “What happened? Do you know?” Finnit asked. “Sorry—I’m just—I should ask who you are probably?” “I am the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “I think—I think he banished me?” “He did.” You tapped an idle claw against your ivory armchair. “I’m sorry, maybe this is too forward, but—look, I’m worried about Vosaphar? I don’t know what happened—what if—what if he—” You took him to the window and pointed to the dark pool, where Vosaphar’s ember twinkled at the bottom. If anything, it had grown brighter. Interesting. “That is his essential coal,” you said. “If he had perished, he would have immediately returned here. If we wait, he will eventually appear. However…” Finnit paced to and fro, trying to shake off his anxiety. “What if he’s hurt—he must be—I don’t want to wait!” “It is not a matter of desire, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. Perhaps that hadn’t been a Vosapharian gesture. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Will you—I mean, would you please help me?” “What are your intentions toward Vosaphar?” “My intentions?” Finnit looked puzzled. “What do you—” “Answer my question carefully, mortal.” He looked appropriately worried. “Look, I—I love him. I know it’s been so quick, and maybe you think it’s shallow, just because he’s so beautiful—but, uh, really, I have never felt so close with someone. I mean—he took me to the *sun*, and back. I don’t know what it would mean for us to be together outside of the Pharos Fidelis, in a more normal world. Maybe it won’t work, and we’ll part ways. I think—I mean, I hope you think that we’re worthy of a chance to figure that out.” “Vosaphar will need your help,” you said. “He will suffer from his power. You will stand by him? Treat him respectfully?” “I would—I will.” “Very well.” You paused. “I would send you back to Cairnveld.” You gave a pointed look toward your furnace. “But my fire is too weak for such a feat. Won’t you stoke it?” “Stoke it?” Finnit looked nervous. “What, uh—what do you want? My soul?” How amusing. “Are you offering that?” You approached him, attempting to loom in the way he found so appealing when Vosaphar did it. Finnit looked terrified as you reached down and plucked a glowing lens fragment from his hair. “No, Finnit. Not your soul. I want these.” “Oh—is that all? Yes, you can have them. They’re not even really mine, I don’t think.” Finnit parted easily with the fragments, tossing each into the furnace as he found it. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to cause some new chaos. He had no sense of priorities. And neither—apparently—did you, entertaining this… cloyingly earnest romantic nonsense. You reached for Finnit’s transit band, warping the sigils such that they would send Finnit on his way. Before activating it, you paused. “If you treat Vosaphar with anything less than the respect owed to such an unreasonably affectionate devil, I will send every specter in my dominion to drag you back here, and drown you in these depths for all eternity.” It was a joke. Mostly. You were sure that Finnit appreciated it. With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. You basked in the new heat now crackling and seething in your furnace. And how ridiculous an exchange it was, to receive all that energy for a trivial bit of spellcraft. Even an incubus would have found no pleasure in the seduction of such easy prey. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[That’s why you did it, right? You *just* wanted the power. Nothing more. You felt nothing else. Surely. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Survive. ⇒->26AAAAAA. Vosaphar]]]]]]]</div>] Unless: (link-reveal: "You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. Darkness pooled around you, threshed with dozens of unblinking, glowing eyes. Gobs of loose flesh sizzled on charred bones to add to the illusion’s sensory overload. You adopted a threatening posture and swept out of your cottage to approach Finnit, trailing black grease in your wake. “Mortal!” you shouted, startling him. “You dare trespass upon my dominion?” Finnit turned your way, and his breath hitched at the loathsome sight of you. He cowered. Mortals were so susceptible to this kind of stagecraft, weren’t they? “I—I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—” “Silence!” You stretched and oozed before him. “You have stolen from me. You must return what I’m owed.” Finnit’s eyes darted about wildly, as if he were considering running away. He wouldn’t make it far. “Could you please—um—grand one? Uh, what did I steal?” “My *light*.” You over-articulated the “t” with such exuberance that flecks of acid splattered from your many mouths. “The Pharos Fidelis.” You wrapped a slimy tentacle around his arm, pulling him closer so you could pluck one of the fragments from his clothes. “What? Oh. Oh you can—you can have those. They’re, um, not even mine.” He was too frightened to assist in this process, so you grabbed each fragment, showing no regard for his comfort. Shards collected—from his perspective, devoured—you began shambling back to your cottage. “Wait!” Finnit called after you. “Um—I need—I need to get back to Vosaphar—do you know him? Or—” “I am the warden of these calciferous wastes, and he is my subject. Mortal longings are not my concern…” “But please, I—” “…Unless, of course, you wish to receive… an accord.” And there it was. Not only had you easily liberated the shards from his unworthy possession, but you could do even more to sate your rage with the proceedings of the eclipse. “An accord?” Finnit asked. “You’ll help me get back?” “For a *price*,” you hissed. “I gave you—I gave you the fragments!” He seemed to have realized his mistake. Perhaps he ought to have actually read *Case Studies in Infernal Betrayal* instead of assuming all demons would be as needy and pathetic as Vosaphar. “You claimed yourself that you had no ownership over them. They are mine already. One cannot offer a gift already granted.” “So what do you want?” His voice was strained. “My soul?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“*That* is worthless.” Drawing from the power of the fragments you held, you manifested a bloodfrost dagger from the fog, its keen edge sharp enough to carve the walls of the lazurynth. “Take this dagger to Luminary Raekard. I tire of his incompetent scheming. Carve out his heart. Then burn it in a ring of hellfire until it is but ash on the wind.” “But I—I can’t kill someone!” Finnit shouted. “That’s absurd—even someone as awful as him—and he’s so dangerous. It would never work.” “Then you will die here, and never again wrap your wretched limbs around the devil you cling to in the dark.” You sidled into your cottage, leaving him to contemplate his mortal morality while you stoked the furnace with the fragments. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to inflict some new misery upon the world. It wasn’t long before he approached you again. He looked directly at you, gazing into your seething core, and without stumbling, said, “I accept those terms.” You wrapped a tendril around the hilt of the dagger and offered it to him. He took it, his expression grim and determined. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[You *almost* believed he could do it. With a burst of magic, you activated his bracelet—the transit band—and sent him to his terrible fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Append. ⇒->P4AAAAAB. Fourth Principle]]]]]]]</div> ] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. Well, at least the version of yourself that held court, lording your specificity over these dismal barrens. Finnit would get to see you for what you were: powerful, yet petty. Exhausted, too. It was miserable to live with your failures. You slunk to your soot-stained armchair by the furnace, waiting for the mortal to arrive. He knocked at the door. “Hello? Is—is someone in here?” “Come in, Finnit.” He opened the door, and saw you by the furnace. What texture the man had taken on since he left Cairnveld, struggling through your schemes in that desperate way that humans are wont to do. You gestured for him to sit in the chair across from yours. He obliged, if a bit warily. “Welcome to my calciferous wastes,” you said. “I wonder what you think of them?” “Calciferous wastes?” Something flickered in his eyes. “Is that—do you know Vosaphar?” “Answer my question first, if you will.” Finnit seemed taken aback, but recovered. “Well, if you really want to know—I can see why Vosaphar was so determined to leave.” You could almost see him realizing in real time that he probably was meant to say something kinder. “Not that there isn’t something… eerily beautiful about the colors streaking across the sky. But, it’s very cold and sharp and it seems sad, I guess?” “Yes, Vosaphar is troubled by his existence. As are we all.” You clicked your claws against the coralbone armrest. “You look—If you don’t mind me saying—you look familiar to me. But I don’t understand why. Who are you?” “I’m the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “So I guess he banished me here? It was the first place he thought of?” “I’m flattered.” A pause. “And perhaps you ought to be relieved that he didn’t recall the lazurynth quicker.” “I need to get back to him.” Finnit fixed you with a serious expression. “He might be hurt, or—I want to get back. Please. He means—he means a lot to me.” “It is not a matter of necessity, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Wait—I know why you look familiar!” He studied your face once more. “You look a little bit like… my grandmother.” “The trees in Tinfallow have deep roots indeed, if they reach all the way to these calciferous wastes.” “I don’t understand.” He bit his lip. “There are too many pieces—it’s hard to look at directly.” “Then focus on the piece of it you care about.” “Vosaphar.” “Of course. Young love. Star-crossed, even.” You sighed. “Well, I could send you on your way to Cairnveld.” You pointed at his bracelet. “But…” “You want something in return?” Finnit asked, leaning forward. “What is it? What do you want?” “What I *really* want is for you to have written my name correctly on the Pharos Fidelis.” Finnit sat back again. “That’s—that’s *you*? Your name? I expected someone so much more…” “Impressive?” You gave a hollow laugh. “Terrifying,” he finished. “But you seem, I don’t know, reasonable enough?” “I’m sure it seems that way.” “Well I—I don’t think I can undo what happened,” Finnit said. “I’m sorry it didn’t work. I know it may not look that way, but I really did try. I don’t know what it would’ve done if it worked, but I tried.” “You did.” You looked over at your furnace, where your sluggish motes of hellfire simmered. “I want the lens fragments in your possession.” “Lens fragments?” You pointed them out in his hair and on his clothes. “So that’s what you’re proposing as the terms of an exchange? I give you these shards, and you’ll send me back to Cairnveld?” “Yes.” “It just seems… I don’t know. I feel like there is still so much that I’m missing? If you—if you really are connected to me, in some way… would you want to… stay in touch?” You hadn’t expected *that*, of all things. “You want the warden of the calciferous wastes to offer you… mentorship.” “I’ve done much weirder things today!” Finnit said, rather defensively. “I went to the *sun*. Look, my mentor is Luminary Raekard. An actual demon would be a significant improvement.” “Ah, Raekard. I regret my part in that, given how it went.” “What?” Finnit’s eyes widened. “What do you mean you—” “Finnit, I propose an addendum to our… accord. If you wish to speak with me, you shall have one chance to do so during each new moon. Sacrifice a lens fragment in my name, and we shall converse for one hour.” “I’m not sure how I’ll get more of these,” Finnit said. “It seems expensive.” “And yet, a single fragment pales against the scale of what you destroyed. You could not possibly comprehend how far you’ve set me back. But,” you added, softening your tone, “I will make that hour as worthwhile as you wish it to be.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit accepted those terms, tossing each of the lens fragments on his person into your furnace. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to bend ever more futures in your favor. “Thank you,” Finnit said, as you adjusted the sigils on his transit band. “I—I’m glad to have met you.” With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Survive. ⇒->26AAAAAC. Vosaphar]]]]</div> ]]]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage cold, wet, and screaming. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It had a certain resonance, didn’t it? He coughed violently, choking on sludge and bloodfog alike, wading clumsily in your direction. Even from this distance, you could feel intense energy pouring off the misplaced mortal, his magic warped by the glowing fragments of the Pharos Fidelis stuck in his hair and clothing. If nothing else could be salvaged from this historic disaster, at least you had an opportunity to fuel your furnace. The mortal would, at any moment, petition you for relief from his dire situation. This provided you a brief moment to consider which form might be most appropriate for such an absurd occasion. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|initial>[In that light: (link-reveal: "You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. Inaccurate though it may have been, perhaps you had the right to such a form. You’d already spent more time fussing over Vosaphar’s fate than any of his makers had. You adopted an elegant posture and swept out of your cottage to approach the mortal. “Hello, Finnit,” you said. He turned to look at you, eyes widening. You flicked your new tail, mimicking one of Vosaphar’s gestures that he so favored. “Um—hi. Uh—” “Welcome to my calciferous wastes.” You extended your arms, gesturing toward the dark skies and lonesome coralbone monuments dotting the horizon. “And what a sight they are.” Finnit looked around, evidently still processing this alarming development. “The calciferous wastes? Do you—do you know Vosaphar?” “Please, join me inside,” you said. “We shall sit by the fire and discuss these matters.” Finnit numbly complied, letting you guide him to the soot-stained armchairs by your furnace. It seemed to calm him down, having become accustomed to closeness with a certain source of hellfire. “What happened? Do you know?” Finnit asked. “Sorry—I’m just—I should ask who you are probably?” “I am the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “I think—I think he banished me?” “He did.” You tapped an idle claw against your ivory armchair. “I’m sorry, maybe this is too forward, but—look, I’m worried about Vosaphar? I don’t know what happened—what if—what if he—” You took him to the window and pointed to the dark pool, where Vosaphar’s ember twinkled at the bottom. If anything, it had grown brighter. Interesting. “That is his essential coal,” you said. “If he had perished, he would have immediately returned here. If we wait, he will eventually appear. However…” Finnit paced to and fro, trying to shake off his anxiety. “What if he’s hurt—he must be—I don’t want to wait!” “It is not a matter of desire, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. Perhaps that hadn’t been a Vosapharian gesture. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Will you—I mean, would you please help me?” “What are your intentions toward Vosaphar?” “My intentions?” Finnit looked puzzled. “What do you—” “Answer my question carefully, mortal.” He looked appropriately worried. “Look, I—I love him. I know it’s been so quick, and maybe you think it’s shallow, just because he’s so beautiful—but, uh, really, I have never felt so close with someone. I mean—he took me to the *sun*, and back. I don’t know what it would mean for us to be together outside of the Pharos Fidelis, in a more normal world. Maybe it won’t work, and we’ll part ways. I think—I mean, I hope you think that we’re worthy of a chance to figure that out.” “Vosaphar will need your help,” you said. “He will suffer from his power. You will stand by him? Treat him respectfully?” “I would—I will.” “Very well.” You paused. “I would send you back to Cairnveld.” You gave a pointed look toward your furnace. “But my fire is too weak for such a feat. Won’t you stoke it?” “Stoke it?” Finnit looked nervous. “What, uh—what do you want? My soul?” How amusing. “Are you offering that?” You approached him, attempting to loom in the way he found so appealing when Vosaphar did it. Finnit looked terrified as you reached down and plucked a glowing lens fragment from his hair. “No, Finnit. Not your soul. I want these.” “Oh—is that all? Yes, you can have them. They’re not even really mine, I don’t think.” Finnit parted easily with the fragments, tossing each into the furnace as he found it. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to cause some new chaos. He had no sense of priorities. And neither—apparently—did you, entertaining this… cloyingly earnest romantic nonsense. You reached for Finnit’s transit band, warping the sigils such that they would send Finnit on his way. Before activating it, you paused. “If you treat Vosaphar with anything less than the respect owed to such an unreasonably affectionate devil, I will send every specter in my dominion to drag you back here, and drown you in these depths for all eternity.” It was a joke. Mostly. You were sure that Finnit appreciated it. With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. You basked in the new heat now crackling and seething in your furnace. And how ridiculous an exchange it was, to receive all that energy for a trivial bit of spellcraft. Even an incubus would have found no pleasure in the seduction of such easy prey. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[That’s why you did it, right? You *just* wanted the power. Nothing more. You felt nothing else. Surely. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[Survive. ⇒->26AAAAAA. Vosaphar]]]]]]]</div>] Unless: (link-reveal: "You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. Darkness pooled around you, threshed with dozens of unblinking, glowing eyes. Gobs of loose flesh sizzled on charred bones to add to the illusion’s sensory overload. You adopted a threatening posture and swept out of your cottage to approach Finnit, trailing black grease in your wake. “Mortal!” you shouted, startling him. “You dare trespass upon my dominion?” Finnit turned your way, and his breath hitched at the loathsome sight of you. He cowered. Mortals were so susceptible to this kind of stagecraft, weren’t they? “I—I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—” “Silence!” You stretched and oozed before him. “You have stolen from me. You must return what I’m owed.” Finnit’s eyes darted about wildly, as if he were considering running away. He wouldn’t make it far. “Could you please—um—grand one? Uh, what did I steal?” “My *light*.” You over-articulated the “t” with such exuberance that flecks of acid splattered from your many mouths. “The Pharos Fidelis.” You wrapped a slimy tentacle around his arm, pulling him closer so you could pluck one of the fragments from his clothes. “What? Oh. Oh you can—you can have those. They’re, um, not even mine.” He was too frightened to assist in this process, so you grabbed each fragment, showing no regard for his comfort. Shards collected—from his perspective, devoured—you began shambling back to your cottage. “Wait!” Finnit called after you. “Um—I need—I need to get back to Vosaphar—do you know him? Or—” “I am the warden of these calciferous wastes, and he is my subject. Mortal longings are not my concern…” “But please, I—” “…Unless, of course, you wish to receive… an accord.” And there it was. Not only had you easily liberated the shards from his unworthy possession, but you could do even more to sate your rage with the proceedings of the eclipse. “An accord?” Finnit asked. “You’ll help me get back?” “For a *price*,” you hissed. “I gave you—I gave you the fragments!” He seemed to have realized his mistake. Perhaps he ought to have actually read *Case Studies in Infernal Betrayal* instead of assuming all demons would be as needy and pathetic as Vosaphar. “You claimed yourself that you had no ownership over them. They are mine already. One cannot offer a gift already granted.” “So what do you want?” His voice was strained. “My soul?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“*That* is worthless.” Drawing from the power of the fragments you held, you manifested a bloodfrost dagger from the fog, its keen edge sharp enough to carve the walls of the lazurynth. “Take this dagger to Luminary Raekard. I tire of his incompetent scheming. Carve out his heart. Then burn it in a ring of hellfire until it is but ash on the wind.” “But I—I can’t kill someone!” Finnit shouted. “That’s absurd—even someone as awful as him—and he’s so dangerous. It would never work.” “Then you will die here, and never again wrap your wretched limbs around the devil you cling to in the dark.” You sidled into your cottage, leaving him to contemplate his mortal morality while you stoked the furnace with the fragments. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to inflict some new misery upon the world. It wasn’t long before he approached you again. He looked directly at you, gazing into your seething core, and without stumbling, said, “I accept those terms.” You wrapped a tendril around the hilt of the dagger and offered it to him. He took it, his expression grim and determined. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[You *almost* believed he could do it. With a burst of magic, you activated his bracelet—the transit band—and sent him to his terrible fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[Append. ⇒->P4AAAAAB. Fourth Principle]]]]]]]</div> ] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. Well, at least the version of yourself that held court, lording your specificity over these dismal barrens. Finnit would get to see you for what you were: powerful, yet petty. Exhausted, too. It was miserable to live with your failures. You slunk to your soot-stained armchair by the furnace, waiting for the mortal to arrive. He knocked at the door. “Hello? Is—is someone in here?” “Come in, Finnit.” He opened the door, and saw you by the furnace. What texture the man had taken on since he left Cairnveld, struggling through your schemes in that desperate way that humans are wont to do. You gestured for him to sit in the chair across from yours. He obliged, if a bit warily. “Welcome to my calciferous wastes,” you said. “I wonder what you think of them?” “Calciferous wastes?” Something flickered in his eyes. “Is that—do you know Vosaphar?” “Answer my question first, if you will.” Finnit seemed taken aback, but recovered. “Well, if you really want to know—I can see why Vosaphar was so determined to leave.” You could almost see him realizing in real time that he probably was meant to say something kinder. “Not that there isn’t something… eerily beautiful about the colors streaking across the sky. But, it’s very cold and sharp and it seems sad, I guess?” “Yes, Vosaphar is troubled by his existence. As are we all.” You clicked your claws against the coralbone armrest. “You look—If you don’t mind me saying—you look familiar to me. But I don’t understand why. Who are you?” “I’m the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “So I guess he banished me here? It was the first place he thought of?” “I’m flattered.” A pause. “And perhaps you ought to be relieved that he didn’t recall the lazurynth quicker.” “I need to get back to him.” Finnit fixed you with a serious expression. “He might be hurt, or—I want to get back. Please. He means—he means a lot to me.” “It is not a matter of necessity, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Wait—I know why you look familiar!” He studied your face once more. “You look a little bit like… my grandmother.” “The trees in Tinfallow have deep roots indeed, if they reach all the way to these calciferous wastes.” “I don’t understand.” He bit his lip. “There are too many pieces—it’s hard to look at directly.” “Then focus on the piece of it you care about.” “Vosaphar.” “Of course. Young love. Star-crossed, even.” You sighed. “Well, I could send you on your way to Cairnveld.” You pointed at his bracelet. “But…” “You want something in return?” Finnit asked, leaning forward. “What is it? What do you want?” “What I *really* want is for you to have written my name correctly on the Pharos Fidelis.” Finnit sat back again. “That’s—that’s *you*? Your name? I expected someone so much more…” “Impressive?” You gave a hollow laugh. “Terrifying,” he finished. “But you seem, I don’t know, reasonable enough?” “I’m sure it seems that way.” “Well I—I don’t think I can undo what happened,” Finnit said. “I’m sorry it didn’t work. I know it may not look that way, but I really did try. I don’t know what it would’ve done if it worked, but I tried.” “You did.” You looked over at your furnace, where your sluggish motes of hellfire simmered. “I want the lens fragments in your possession.” “Lens fragments?” You pointed them out in his hair and on his clothes. “So that’s what you’re proposing as the terms of an exchange? I give you these shards, and you’ll send me back to Cairnveld?” “Yes.” “It just seems… I don’t know. I feel like there is still so much that I’m missing? If you—if you really are connected to me, in some way… would you want to… stay in touch?” You hadn’t expected *that*, of all things. “You want the warden of the calciferous wastes to offer you… mentorship.” “I’ve done much weirder things today!” Finnit said, rather defensively. “I went to the *sun*. Look, my mentor is Luminary Raekard. An actual demon would be a significant improvement.” “Ah, Raekard. I regret my part in that, given how it went.” “What?” Finnit’s eyes widened. “What do you mean you—” “Finnit, I propose an addendum to our… accord. If you wish to speak with me, you shall have one chance to do so during each new moon. Sacrifice a lens fragment in my name, and we shall converse for one hour.” “I’m not sure how I’ll get more of these,” Finnit said. “It seems expensive.” “And yet, a single fragment pales against the scale of what you destroyed. You could not possibly comprehend how far you’ve set me back. But,” you added, softening your tone, “I will make that hour as worthwhile as you wish it to be.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit accepted those terms, tossing each of the lens fragments on his person into your furnace. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to bend ever more futures in your favor. “Thank you,” Finnit said, as you adjusted the sigils on his transit band. “I—I’m glad to have met you.” With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[Survive. ⇒->26AAAAAC. Vosaphar]]]]</div> ]]]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Mote]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending AAAAAC]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending AAAAAC]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 3)[Anathema.] (text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 1.15)[The Fourth Principle of Summoning.]</div> A timely addendum, courtesy of you. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Behold the fourth principle of summoning: (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color:#a01404)[**4. The Principle of Voluntary and Efficient Accession to the Extraordinarily Reasonable Conditions Imposed by the Magnanimous Warden of the Calciferous Wastes, Who Certainly Never Even Cared About the Pharos Fidelis, And Certainly Not the Absurd Romantic Yearnings of Your Pathetic Subjects—Or Else.**] Summoners who willingly and knowingly forge an accord with you must see their bargain through, or suffer the consequences of incompetence and betrayal. (text-color:#a01404)[***Implication:***] You suffered long and worked hard to eke out your existence. (text-color:#a01404)[***Implication:***] You generously helped him plenty up to this point—for free. It wasn’t such a high price to ask him to kill someone he hated anyway. You both benefited from this accord. (text-color:#a01404)[***Implication:***] His failure was inevitable. You weren’t *really* invested in his survival, or his potential to shift the tenor of human-demon relations. You were just hungry for more power, right? You just wanted to enrich your tiny slice of the hells, fuel your furnace, as you had always done. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It would have been unreasonable for *you*, of all beings, to have cared. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Bemoan. ⇒->26AAAAAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Behold the fourth principle of summoning: (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color:#f17264)[**4. The Principle of Voluntary and Efficient Accession to the Extraordinarily Reasonable Conditions Imposed by the Magnanimous Warden of the Calciferous Wastes, Who Certainly Never Even Cared About the Pharos Fidelis, And Certainly Not the Absurd Romantic Yearnings of Your Pathetic Subjects—Or Else.**] Summoners who willingly and knowingly forge an accord with you must see their bargain through, or suffer the consequences of incompetence and betrayal. (text-color:#f17264)[***Implication:***] You suffered long and worked hard to eke out your existence. (text-color:#f17264)[***Implication:***] You generously helped him plenty up to this point—for free. It wasn’t such a high price to ask him to kill someone he hated anyway. You both benefited from this accord. (text-color:#f17264)[***Implication:***] His failure was inevitable. You weren’t *really* invested in his survival, or his potential to shift the tenor of human-demon relations. You were just hungry for more power, right? You just wanted to enrich your tiny slice of the hells, fuel your furnace, as you had always done. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It would have been unreasonable for *you*, of all beings, to have cared. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Bemoan. ⇒->26AAAAAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending AAAAAA]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending AAAAAA]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17AAA. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4AAAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s clinginess. However, his distrust caused him to reject clinginess in favor of desperation, impulsively banishing Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate miscalculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25AAAAA. Finnit]]]</div> You took a comforting form, nurturing his budding relationship with Vosaphar in exchange for the lens fragments on his person. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17AAA. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4AAAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s clinginess. However, his distrust caused him to reject clinginess in favor of desperation, impulsively banishing Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate miscalculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25AAAAA. Finnit]]]</div> You took a comforting form, nurturing his budding relationship with Vosaphar in exchange for the lens fragments on his person. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he would *stay* longing. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[For, if you must suffer this catastrophic failure, you would offer him no choice but to join you in misery. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending AAAAAB]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he would *stay* longing. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[For, if you must suffer this catastrophic failure, you would offer him no choice but to join you in misery. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending AAAAAB]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the brief union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Finnit perished in a failed assassination attempt upon his return to Cairnveld, screaming of the sun. A strange footnote to this history. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. But a new threat lurked. The demon Vosaphar absorbed the fragments around him, growing distorted in his influence. He climbed upon the melted peak and in his sorrow and fury, bewitched many ships to their doom with fata morgana. He had become, in effect, the latest Pharos Fidelis. Perhaps he had even become something more powerful than *you*. And perhaps you deserved to finally feel fear again. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17AAA. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4AAAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s clinginess. However, his distrust caused him to reject clinginess in favor of desperation, impulsively banishing Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate miscalculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25AAAAA. Finnit]]]</div> You took a terrifying form, seizing his lens fragments for yourself, and dooming him with an impossible accord. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and absolutely no complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the brief union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Finnit perished in a failed assassination attempt upon his return to Cairnveld, screaming of the sun. A strange footnote to this history. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. But a new threat lurked. The demon Vosaphar absorbed the fragments around him, growing distorted in his influence. He climbed upon the melted peak and in his sorrow and fury, bewitched many ships to their doom with fata morgana. He had become, in effect, the latest Pharos Fidelis. Perhaps he had even become something more powerful than *you*. And perhaps you deserved to finally feel fear again. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17AAA. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4AAAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s clinginess. However, his distrust caused him to reject clinginess in favor of desperation, impulsively banishing Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate miscalculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25AAAAA. Finnit]]]</div> You took a terrifying form, seizing his lens fragments for yourself, and dooming him with an impossible accord. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and absolutely no complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17AAA. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4AAAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s clinginess. However, his distrust caused him to reject clinginess in favor of desperation, impulsively banishing Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate miscalculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25AAAAA. Finnit]]]</div> You took an honest form, developing a stronger connection with Finnit while ensuring ongoing access to lens fragments in the future. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17AAA. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4AAAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s clinginess. However, his distrust caused him to reject clinginess in favor of desperation, impulsively banishing Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate miscalculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25AAAAA. Finnit]]]</div> You took an honest form, developing a stronger connection with Finnit while ensuring ongoing access to lens fragments in the future. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[XVIII.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">It wasn’t long before even the shock of Vosaphar’s emergence from the pool—exactly as cold and miserable as you had promised him it would be—had begun to fade into the listlessness of wandering the wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The residual magic Finnit had accorded him allowed him to travel faster and further than before. His slash wounds scabbed over more readily, healing further with each attempt. Something had shifted in his specificity. He should have been satisfied with that. Satisfied with the memories of what was, and dreams of what could have been, for bitter honey still bore sweetness. Didn’t it? Another kind of wound had carved itself into his heart. Without Finnit, Vosaphar’s existence felt darker and emptier than it ever had before. He wondered what might be about to happen, was happening, or had already happened at the Pharos Fidelis. Was Finnit still preparing his ritual of communion with the lens? Was it already over? Could he have been, right at that moment, spiraling amidst its unfathomable secrets? Perhaps Finnit’s rite had failed, the cursed lens consuming his soul as it had so many others. But, it could also be… something else. Another reason. Just as that doubt crept in, the devil felt a familiar sensation tugging at his core. Heat coursed through his veins as a tendril of sorcery unfurled for him, awaiting his tender grasp. (align:"<==")[And then—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=========")[Vosaphar] (align:"=><==")[at last] (align:"=><=")[recalled] (align:"===><==")[his] (align:"==><=")[own] (align:"===><=")[principle] (align:"=========><=")[of] (align:"==>")[flight—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Spread wings. ⇒->19AAAB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">It wasn’t long before even the shock of Vosaphar’s emergence from the pool—exactly as cold and miserable as you had promised him it would be—had begun to fade into the listlessness of wandering the wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The residual magic Finnit had accorded him allowed him to travel faster and further than before. His slash wounds scabbed over more readily, healing further with each attempt. Something had shifted in his specificity. He should have been satisfied with that. Satisfied with the memories of what was, and dreams of what could have been, for bitter honey still bore sweetness. Didn’t it? Another kind of wound had carved itself into his heart. Without Finnit, Vosaphar’s existence felt darker and emptier than it ever had before. He wondered what might be about to happen, was happening, or had already happened at the Pharos Fidelis. Was Finnit still preparing his ritual of communion with the lens? Was it already over? Could he have been, right at that moment, spiraling amidst its unfathomable secrets? Perhaps Finnit’s rite had failed, the cursed lens consuming his soul as it had so many others. But, it could also be… something else. Another reason. Just as that doubt crept in, the devil felt a familiar sensation tugging at his core. Heat coursed through his veins as a tendril of sorcery unfurled for him, awaiting his tender grasp. (align:"<==")[And then—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=========")[Vosaphar] (align:"=><==")[at last] (align:"=><=")[recalled] (align:"===><==")[his] (align:"==><=")[own] (align:"===><=")[principle] (align:"=========><=")[of] (align:"==>")[flight—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Spread wings. ⇒->19AAAB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XIX.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">Atop the Pharos Fidelis, Finnit remained just in sight of the great split glass that had spilled its secrets. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he smeared the last of his wax sticks to stubs on wet stone, he did not give the lens a further thought. He did not obey the principle of authoritarian primacy. He did not beware the principle of semantic dilution. He did not account for the principle of planar reversion. He thought only of Vosaphar, with a singular intensity of focus that even the Pharos Fidelis could never have dreamed of refracting. The circle of waxen glyphs coursed with scarlet fire, brighter than Finnit had ever seen it. He averted his gaze, eyes watering. When he looked back, Vosaphar had manifested before him once more. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[From his back spread wings wrought of fire, eldritch blue roiled with red and magenta—the colors of Finnit’s own magic, now intertwined with Vosaphar’s. Finnit’s eyes traveled further, noting ichor scabs crisscrossing the devil’s scarred blue chest, and then, curls of rough hair trailing immodestly past his navel. Streaks of lightning slashed green across the sky, glinting off his fearsome horns. Raindrops sizzled as the demon swept them aside, wreathing himself in silver mist. Vosaphar looked every bit an archfiend of legend looming over him, his eyes fixed on Finnit, reaching forward to press the sorcerer against the cliffside, claws clasping his wrists. “Vosaphar—” The infernal heat overwhelmed his mortal senses. “Please—Vosaphar, kiss m—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon pressed his lips gently against Finnit’s, dark beard bristling against his tender skin, breathing out brimstone incense that smoldered in Finnit’s throat. Just when Finnit thought himself on the verge of feeling too much, that Vosaphar might devour his soul and all his magic in a final, blissful moment of agony, the fiend held back, slackening his grip, and smiled. “I couldn’t wait until I got back,” Finnit said, his vision still sparking. “I—I needed to see you again.” “That’s not all you need.” Vosaphar leaned forward, so close still that Finnit could see details pitted into his horns. “What is it exactly that you imagine, lustful one? A dreadful devil from your darkest dreams, ever so sweetly domineering?” “I–” Finnit felt dazed as those fevered imaginings grew sharper into his mind. “I mean—well—now that you’ve brought it up, that sounds—” “Too bad,” Vosaphar said, his voice sly and soft. “My dear Finnit, you’re all *wet*.” And he was. He’d completely abandoned his wards in the midst of an endless storm. How embarrassing. Finnit also noticed that, in his exuberance to kiss him, Vosaphar had clumsily scorched Finnit’s sleeves with his wings. Suddenly, the demon felt less like some legendary figure, and instead like something better. Something real. Finnit’s companion. Finnit’s love. Finnit’s Vosaphar. “We should head back down,” Finnit said. “We should.” Vosaphar pushed one of Finnit’s loose curls back. “But listen, Finnit. When we do, I want *you* to take the lead. I want things to be… gentle, between us. For now. How does that sound?” “I have never wanted something so much in my entire existence.” Vosaphar grinned, ivory fangs glinting. “Good.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[What followed was an evening of tender fumbling and grasping. Finnit had been piqued by the fantasy of Vosaphar looming over him; and it remained a thought he wanted to revisit later. But, he found that this gentle, deliberate exploration—some serenity among the profane—brought him closer to understanding the demon in a way he found difficult to articulate but easy to just experience as it happened. Tomorrow, research awaited. But for now, Finnit’s fears grew distant as he slept, wrapped against Vosaphar like a warm satchel. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Interrogate. ⇒->C1AAAB. Sunlight]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">Atop the Pharos Fidelis, Finnit remained just in sight of the great split glass that had spilled its secrets. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he smeared the last of his wax sticks to stubs on wet stone, he did not give the lens a further thought. He did not obey the principle of authoritarian primacy. He did not beware the principle of semantic dilution. He did not account for the principle of planar reversion. He thought only of Vosaphar, with a singular intensity of focus that even the Pharos Fidelis could never have dreamed of refracting. The circle of waxen glyphs coursed with scarlet fire, brighter than Finnit had ever seen it. He averted his gaze, eyes watering. When he looked back, Vosaphar had manifested before him once more. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[From his back spread wings wrought of fire, eldritch blue roiled with red and magenta—the colors of Finnit’s own magic, now intertwined with Vosaphar’s. Finnit’s eyes traveled further, noting ichor scabs crisscrossing the devil’s scarred blue chest, and then, curls of rough hair trailing immodestly past his navel. Streaks of lightning slashed green across the sky, glinting off his fearsome horns. Raindrops sizzled as the demon swept them aside, wreathing himself in silver mist. Vosaphar looked every bit an archfiend of legend looming over him, his eyes fixed on Finnit, reaching forward to press the sorcerer against the cliffside, claws clasping his wrists. “Vosaphar—” The infernal heat overwhelmed his mortal senses. “Please—Vosaphar, kiss m—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon pressed his lips gently against Finnit’s, dark beard bristling against his tender skin, breathing out brimstone incense that smoldered in Finnit’s throat. Just when Finnit thought himself on the verge of feeling too much, that Vosaphar might devour his soul and all his magic in a final, blissful moment of agony, the fiend held back, slackening his grip, and smiled. “I couldn’t wait until I got back,” Finnit said, his vision still sparking. “I—I needed to see you again.” “That’s not all you need.” Vosaphar leaned forward, so close still that Finnit could see details pitted into his horns. “What is it exactly that you imagine, lustful one? A dreadful devil from your darkest dreams, ever so sweetly domineering?” “I–” Finnit felt dazed as those fevered imaginings grew sharper into his mind. “I mean—well—now that you’ve brought it up, that sounds—” “Too bad,” Vosaphar said, his voice sly and soft. “My dear Finnit, you’re all *wet*.” And he was. He’d completely abandoned his wards in the midst of an endless storm. How embarrassing. Finnit also noticed that, in his exuberance to kiss him, Vosaphar had clumsily scorched Finnit’s sleeves with his wings. Suddenly, the demon felt less like some legendary figure, and instead like something better. Something real. Finnit’s companion. Finnit’s love. Finnit’s Vosaphar. “We should head back down,” Finnit said. “We should.” Vosaphar pushed one of Finnit’s loose curls back. “But listen, Finnit. When we do, I want *you* to take the lead. I want things to be… gentle, between us. For now. How does that sound?” “I have never wanted something so much in my entire existence.” Vosaphar grinned, ivory fangs glinting. “Good.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[What followed was an evening of tender fumbling and grasping. Finnit had been piqued by the fantasy of Vosaphar looming over him; and it remained a thought he wanted to revisit later. But, he found that this gentle, deliberate exploration—some serenity among the profane—brought him closer to understanding the demon in a way he found difficult to articulate but easy to just experience as it happened. Tomorrow, research awaited. But for now, Finnit’s fears grew distant as he slept, wrapped against Vosaphar like a warm satchel. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Interrogate. ⇒->C1AAAB. Sunlight]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[1st Era | Sunlight.]</div> One more fragment recounting the dark history of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">(text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The illuminative session for Leisenelle, former third officer of the now-renegade vessel ‘Consonance,’ is hereby brought to order. You stand accused of mutiny, murder, theft, deception, consorting with proscribed entities, and willful evasion of justice. Is that correct? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] You would know. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Is that correct? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I guess so. Yes. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“She sounds a lot like you,” Vosaphar murmured, stroking his claws idly through Finnit’s hair. “‘Consorting with proscribed entities?’ What a wicked accusation.” Finnit snorted. “Are you going to bring me to justice?” “Absolutely not.” “Too bad.” </div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Against these accusations, how do you plead? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I do not plead. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] You must make a claim, either to affirm or deny each crime you have been accused of. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I will make no such claims. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The accused has neglected her obligation to plead. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] What’s your deal, anyway? Are you mad? Some pretty vampire in your past tied your morals all up in knots and made you feel sinful? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My role here is strictly illuminative. How did you first come to associate with this vampire? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I was trying to find out the truth about this island. But none of them would talk to me. The islanders, I mean. They resent us. You know that, right? Look at what we’ve done to them since we got here. Someone has to stop it. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, mark a note down for ‘sedition,’ would you? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">At least the clerics are obligated to transcribe what they actually heard. Historians ought to learn from their example. ⚞L. Raekard (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“I think Raekard’s distaste for historians gets in his way,” Finnit said. “How could we possibly know, at this point, what liberties the cleric might have taken?” “It’s going to take more than historians to put a stop to him.” Finnit laughed, but Vosaphar hadn’t told a joke.</div>] </div>] (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] You didn’t have that one already? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Continue. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Fine. This one woman approached me, and told me to visit her house on the outskirts after sundown. I thought she might be into me—and maybe she was, a little—but she wanted me to meet her grandmother. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Yeah. Did the ‘after sundown’ part give it away? I’m not a good storyteller. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The only things your story requires are honesty and accuracy. Justice will account for the rest. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Whatever you need to tell yourself. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] I don’t ‘need’ to do anything. My role here is strictly illuminative. As the accused has been reminded. Continue. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] So, I waited for dusk, and paid her a visit. Her grandmother was living in the basement. Some kind of herbalist, I guess. The whole time we talked, she was crushing up these weird seedpods in a mortar and pestle. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] At what point did you realize this entity was a vampire? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Not until after, when… (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] When what? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] When you killed her. Robbed us of her wisdom, kindness, perspective, heart, all she contributed to her community. And for what? Some ash? Dust? Is there not already enough collecting between the folds of your ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that last term for obscenity. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] What, you’re more scandalized by me describing your dust-crusted ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆ than your violence? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that one as well. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“Which word do you suppose was stricken here?” Vosaphar asked. “Asscheeks,” Finnit said solemnly. “Has to be.”</div>] (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] So you don’t have an answer. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The entity in question was brought before sunlight and destroyed in accordance with all legal and moral precedent. Any ‘violence’ is lawful, and thereby just. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] And you wonder why they hate us. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Hatred is not the subject of this illuminative session. What did your proscribed discussion entail? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] She told me all kinds of stories about this place, how they have fine-tuned their relationship with the island to keep things running, letting their traditions evolve with the conditions. I think her granddaughter wanted her to have someone new to talk to, so she could share all this with someone. The old woman told me that when sun and moon meet in the sky, the boundary between our world and theirs grows thin. At such a momentous event, the cleverest and quickest might climb into the throat of the island and cross the threshold to the cosmos. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">At last. Something of value in this tedious discussion. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire spoke metaphorically, did it not? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">I wondered the same thing. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] No, I don’t think she did. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Explain. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] She said that when the celestial hosts of the heavens are distracted with their dance, the sun grows just cool enough to touch. She dipped her finger into the mortar, and showed me a golden bead of oil, and she said even a drop of sunlight was enough to bless the island for a century, but few survived the transit. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">They must not have understood what they were doing. How could they have, without knowledge of the Three Principles? If there is any truth to it at all, it is clearly some underdeveloped rite of self-banishment, resulting in a temporary transference of a mortal into the hells until planar reversion draws them back. If that. Nevertheless, the ritual is worth investigating further. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] It claimed to have performed this… feat? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I believe her. You would’ve too, had you been there. Thankfully, you weren’t. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My opinion toward the superstitious musings of a proscribed entity is not the subject of this session. My role here is strictly— (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“Illuminative,” Vosaphar said, looking out into the storm. “That’s it?” Finnit asked. “But I want to know… so much more.” “And yet, we know more now than we did before. Does this not confirm what you saw in the lens?” “I guess so. Still…” </div>] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightchroniclechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[[[Suspect. ⇒->20AAAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">(text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The illuminative session for Leisenelle, former third officer of the now-renegade vessel ‘Consonance,’ is hereby brought to order. You stand accused of mutiny, murder, theft, deception, consorting with proscribed entities, and willful evasion of justice. Is that correct? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] You would know. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Is that correct? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I guess so. Yes. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“She sounds a lot like you,” Vosaphar murmured, stroking his claws idly through Finnit’s hair. “‘Consorting with proscribed entities?’ What a wicked accusation.” Finnit snorted. “Are you going to bring me to justice?” “Absolutely not.” “Too bad.” </div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Against these accusations, how do you plead? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I do not plead. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] You must make a claim, either to affirm or deny each crime you have been accused of. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I will make no such claims. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The accused has neglected her obligation to plead. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] What’s your deal, anyway? Are you mad? Some pretty vampire in your past tied your morals all up in knots and made you feel sinful? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My role here is strictly illuminative. How did you first come to associate with this vampire? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I was trying to find out the truth about this island. But none of them would talk to me. The islanders, I mean. They resent us. You know that, right? Look at what we’ve done to them since we got here. Someone has to stop it. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, mark a note down for ‘sedition,’ would you? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">At least the clerics are obligated to transcribe what they actually heard. Historians ought to learn from their example. ⚞L. Raekard (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“I think Raekard’s distaste for historians gets in his way,” Finnit said. “How could we possibly know, at this point, what liberties the cleric might have taken?” “It’s going to take more than historians to put a stop to him.” Finnit laughed, but Vosaphar hadn’t told a joke.</div>] </div>] (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] You didn’t have that one already? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Continue. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Fine. This one woman approached me, and told me to visit her house on the outskirts after sundown. I thought she might be into me—and maybe she was, a little—but she wanted me to meet her grandmother. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Yeah. Did the ‘after sundown’ part give it away? I’m not a good storyteller. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The only things your story requires are honesty and accuracy. Justice will account for the rest. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Whatever you need to tell yourself. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] I don’t ‘need’ to do anything. My role here is strictly illuminative. As the accused has been reminded. Continue. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] So, I waited for dusk, and paid her a visit. Her grandmother was living in the basement. Some kind of herbalist, I guess. The whole time we talked, she was crushing up these weird seedpods in a mortar and pestle. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] At what point did you realize this entity was a vampire? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Not until after, when… (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] When what? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] When you killed her. Robbed us of her wisdom, kindness, perspective, heart, all she contributed to her community. And for what? Some ash? Dust? Is there not already enough collecting between the folds of your ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that last term for obscenity. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] What, you’re more scandalized by me describing your dust-crusted ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆ than your violence? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that one as well. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“Which word do you suppose was stricken here?” Vosaphar asked. “Asscheeks,” Finnit said solemnly. “Has to be.”</div>] (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] So you don’t have an answer. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The entity in question was brought before sunlight and destroyed in accordance with all legal and moral precedent. Any ‘violence’ is lawful, and thereby just. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] And you wonder why they hate us. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Hatred is not the subject of this illuminative session. What did your proscribed discussion entail? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] She told me all kinds of stories about this place, how they have fine-tuned their relationship with the island to keep things running, letting their traditions evolve with the conditions. I think her granddaughter wanted her to have someone new to talk to, so she could share all this with someone. The old woman told me that when sun and moon meet in the sky, the boundary between our world and theirs grows thin. At such a momentous event, the cleverest and quickest might climb into the throat of the island and cross the threshold to the cosmos. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">At last. Something of value in this tedious discussion. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire spoke metaphorically, did it not? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">I wondered the same thing. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] No, I don’t think she did. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Explain. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] She said that when the celestial hosts of the heavens are distracted with their dance, the sun grows just cool enough to touch. She dipped her finger into the mortar, and showed me a golden bead of oil, and she said even a drop of sunlight was enough to bless the island for a century, but few survived the transit. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">They must not have understood what they were doing. How could they have, without knowledge of the Three Principles? If there is any truth to it at all, it is clearly some underdeveloped rite of self-banishment, resulting in a temporary transference of a mortal into the hells until planar reversion draws them back. If that. Nevertheless, the ritual is worth investigating further. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] It claimed to have performed this… feat? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I believe her. You would’ve too, had you been there. Thankfully, you weren’t. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My opinion toward the superstitious musings of a proscribed entity is not the subject of this session. My role here is strictly— (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“Illuminative,” Vosaphar said, looking out into the storm. “That’s it?” Finnit asked. “But I want to know… so much more.” “And yet, we know more now than we did before. Does this not confirm what you saw in the lens?” “I guess so. Still…” </div>] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="chroniclechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[[[Suspect. ⇒->20AAAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#927b1a")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Chronicle]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XX.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">With fewer than a handful of days remaining until the eclipse, Vosaphar was determined to spend as much of that time as he could with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon now wondered why they had wasted the preceding days doing everything else *except* wrapping up together in blankets, speaking softly to one another. His ordeals felt paler against the comfort of this heat. Had your machinations even mattered for this? Under these conditions, wouldn’t they have always found themselves in love? You had no motes for lust. Though, based on what you had seen, you wouldn’t have needed them. Goodness. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Once they were ready to venture out, Finnit led Vosaphar back up the cliffside stairs to the crevice dotted with rusted anchors and unhatched eggs. The bird-creature chirped warily as they sidled deeper into the passage. She affixed those golden eyes to Vosaphar, unblinking, as though daring him to disturb any of her forsaken brood. He kept himself positioned between her and Finnit, to help alleviate the mortal’s anxiety. After winding their way through, the passage opened into a roughly circular chamber. “Look, Vosaphar,” Finnit intoned, pointing up. “We’re right beneath the lens.” Black slag had oozed down from the ceiling, frozen into organic stalactites that reflected no light from Finnit’s orb. While still fluid, they had dripped, leaving a few glassy patches spread across the altar. *Click*. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“What was that?” Vosaphar whispered. He cautiously approached the altar, a raised disk with a tight spiral grooved into its otherwise flat surface. “There,” Finnit whispered. “See the moon?” *Click*. A mechanism lowered a miniature pewter grate, allowing a tiny white sphere to roll a little further forward along the channel. At the center of the spiral lay a rendering of the sun, blotched by inky glass that had dripped down from above. “So much for studying the almanac.” Finnit paced around the pedestal. “This device is telling us how much is left until the eclipse. If we had known earlier…” “But we know now,” Vosaphar said. “Look at how close it is.” Vast and fiddly though the design was, the moon had wound its way close to the center. It was an unwelcome reminder of the future approaching, click by— *Click*. A taut silence stretched between them. Vosaphar had thoughts that he was unwilling to admit to. *Click*. “What if we just stayed here?” Finnit voiced. “Well maybe not this particular chamber. I mean the Pharos Fidelis in general.” He looked down at the transit bracelet Raekard had given him. “I could throw this in the ocean. We could ignore the lens. Stay here as long as we wanted.” “There’s nothing for you to eat, Finnit.” *Click.* “Would you even want to go to the academy?” Finnit stared at the pedestal. “Who even knows what they’d do to you, or—” “I am willing to risk it,” Vosaphar said. “I cannot say what the future holds. But we can’t stay here. I’m in no hurry to descend back to the calciferous wastes. And you have your life to live. I would rather join you in whatever of that you are willing to have me for, or until we choose to part. Is that not the way forward in such matters? The real accord?” *Click.* Finnit was silent for a few more moments. “Yes. You’re right. But I’m scared. This could all go so wrong.” Vosaphar embraced Finnit, holding him close. “It might. We will do our best, regardless.” They stayed together a while longer, before journeying back to their strange little home in the cliffside. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[At the eclipse, they would return. And the fate of the Pharos Fidelis would at last be decided. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Petition. ⇒->RAAAB. Calciferous]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">With fewer than a handful of days remaining until the eclipse, Vosaphar was determined to spend as much of that time as he could with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon now wondered why they had wasted the preceding days doing everything else *except* wrapping up together in blankets, speaking softly to one another. His ordeals felt paler against the comfort of this heat. Had your machinations even mattered for this? Under these conditions, wouldn’t they have always found themselves in love? You had no motes for lust. Though, based on what you had seen, you wouldn’t have needed them. Goodness. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Once they were ready to venture out, Finnit led Vosaphar back up the cliffside stairs to the crevice dotted with rusted anchors and unhatched eggs. The bird-creature chirped warily as they sidled deeper into the passage. She affixed those golden eyes to Vosaphar, unblinking, as though daring him to disturb any of her forsaken brood. He kept himself positioned between her and Finnit, to help alleviate the mortal’s anxiety. After winding their way through, the passage opened into a roughly circular chamber. “Look, Vosaphar,” Finnit intoned, pointing up. “We’re right beneath the lens.” Black slag had oozed down from the ceiling, frozen into organic stalactites that reflected no light from Finnit’s orb. While still fluid, they had dripped, leaving a few glassy patches spread across the altar. *Click*. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“What was that?” Vosaphar whispered. He cautiously approached the altar, a raised disk with a tight spiral grooved into its otherwise flat surface. “There,” Finnit whispered. “See the moon?” *Click*. A mechanism lowered a miniature pewter grate, allowing a tiny white sphere to roll a little further forward along the channel. At the center of the spiral lay a rendering of the sun, blotched by inky glass that had dripped down from above. “So much for studying the almanac.” Finnit paced around the pedestal. “This device is telling us how much is left until the eclipse. If we had known earlier…” “But we know now,” Vosaphar said. “Look at how close it is.” Vast and fiddly though the design was, the moon had wound its way close to the center. It was an unwelcome reminder of the future approaching, click by— *Click*. A taut silence stretched between them. Vosaphar had thoughts that he was unwilling to admit to. *Click*. “What if we just stayed here?” Finnit voiced. “Well maybe not this particular chamber. I mean the Pharos Fidelis in general.” He looked down at the transit bracelet Raekard had given him. “I could throw this in the ocean. We could ignore the lens. Stay here as long as we wanted.” “There’s nothing for you to eat, Finnit.” *Click.* “Would you even want to go to the academy?” Finnit stared at the pedestal. “Who even knows what they’d do to you, or—” “I am willing to risk it,” Vosaphar said. “I cannot say what the future holds. But we can’t stay here. I’m in no hurry to descend back to the calciferous wastes. And you have your life to live. I would rather join you in whatever of that you are willing to have me for, or until we choose to part. Is that not the way forward in such matters? The real accord?” *Click.* Finnit was silent for a few more moments. “Yes. You’re right. But I’m scared. This could all go so wrong.” Vosaphar embraced Finnit, holding him close. “It might. We will do our best, regardless.” They stayed together a while longer, before journeying back to their strange little home in the cliffside. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[At the eclipse, they would return. And the fate of the Pharos Fidelis would at last be decided. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Petition. ⇒->RAAAB. Calciferous]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[Recollection.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">Vosaphar’s spilling ichor sang to them so sweetly, libations that lured all manner of lips to lap. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[No longer able to fly, the beleaguered demon ran, stumbled, staggered, crawled—anything he could do to place another lazurynthine wall between himself and his nearest pursuer. He needed somewhere dark and quiet, somewhere safe to recover. Such amenities were unavailable in the lazurynth. But there were other hells than these. Vosaphar slipped through an inky gap between walls that had lost definition, their geometry corrupted by some other force. He sank into an oily pool, far beneath the febrile blue heat. He could no longer tell where the sludge began and his blood ended, drifting ever downward. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Eventually he reached the shore near your cottage, not yet fragmented to spectral remnants. Still specific, despite it all. He crawled to your doorstep, begging for relief from the lazurynth. Should he fall, he would emerge there once more, a cycle of dissolution his demonhood would eventually fail to survive. You told him that the calciferous wastes were hostile and desolate. He said he preferred a false quiet to an honest din. You told him there was nothing of value here—had there been, a warden as petty as you would’ve long been shredded to bits by a stronger devil. He said he preferred an expansive nothing to crowded corridors. You told him he would awaken cold, wet, and screaming, his every lonely birth into this void inevitable suffering. He said he preferred a bitter plunge to a blistering fire. You told him what it would cost, a steady stream of magic to brighten your hellfire furnace, tending to the motes. He accepted those terms without hesitation. You asked him for his name. He still had one. Vosaphar. With that accorded, you plucked his coal from the deepest pit of the lazurynth, and held it between your claws, its blue dimmed to gray. His archfiend wouldn’t miss it. And then you threw it in the pool, and it sank to the bottom, where it lodged itself in a dark crevice. Vosaphar, now under your jurisdiction, fled into the wastes, searching for a smooth bit of coralbone to lean against, however futilely. You gave him desolation, cold, and quiet. In return, your furnace grew brighter. How could you have ever predicted what this would eventually make impossible? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Discover. ⇒->21AAAB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">Vosaphar’s spilling ichor sang to them so sweetly, libations that lured all manner of lips to lap. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[No longer able to fly, the beleaguered demon ran, stumbled, staggered, crawled—anything he could do to place another lazurynthine wall between himself and his nearest pursuer. He needed somewhere dark and quiet, somewhere safe to recover. Such amenities were unavailable in the lazurynth. But there were other hells than these. Vosaphar slipped through an inky gap between walls that had lost definition, their geometry corrupted by some other force. He sank into an oily pool, far beneath the febrile blue heat. He could no longer tell where the sludge began and his blood ended, drifting ever downward. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Eventually he reached the shore near your cottage, not yet fragmented to spectral remnants. Still specific, despite it all. He crawled to your doorstep, begging for relief from the lazurynth. Should he fall, he would emerge there once more, a cycle of dissolution his demonhood would eventually fail to survive. You told him that the calciferous wastes were hostile and desolate. He said he preferred a false quiet to an honest din. You told him there was nothing of value here—had there been, a warden as petty as you would’ve long been shredded to bits by a stronger devil. He said he preferred an expansive nothing to crowded corridors. You told him he would awaken cold, wet, and screaming, his every lonely birth into this void inevitable suffering. He said he preferred a bitter plunge to a blistering fire. You told him what it would cost, a steady stream of magic to brighten your hellfire furnace, tending to the motes. He accepted those terms without hesitation. You asked him for his name. He still had one. Vosaphar. With that accorded, you plucked his coal from the deepest pit of the lazurynth, and held it between your claws, its blue dimmed to gray. His archfiend wouldn’t miss it. And then you threw it in the pool, and it sank to the bottom, where it lodged itself in a dark crevice. Vosaphar, now under your jurisdiction, fled into the wastes, searching for a smooth bit of coralbone to lean against, however futilely. You gave him desolation, cold, and quiet. In return, your furnace grew brighter. How could you have ever predicted what this would eventually make impossible? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Discover. ⇒->21AAAB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Recollection]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">The day of the eclipse, Finnit woke with a sharp pain searing his back, breaking him out of his warm reverie. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar was twitching and scratching in his sleep again. Finnit adored the feeling of the devil’s tail coiled around his thigh, basking in the hellish heat that staved off the island’s chill. Nonetheless, crawling into the embrace of a clawed creature had a few drawbacks. “Hey,” Finnit whispered. “Wake up.” Vosaphar shifted, his tail loosening its grip on Finnit. “Mmph.” “You scratched me again,” Finnit said. “Nightmares?” “Oh no,” Vosaphar said. “I’m sorry, Finnit. Here…” The demon traced the scratches, and Finnit felt an odd prickly sensation as the skin healed over. “Thank you. You’re getting good at that.” Vosaphar delicately kissed the side of Finnit’s neck. “I don’t normally sleep so much. The mortal realm is… exhausting, in its own way. Perhaps I can fashion some wrappings for my claws in the future.” “Whoa,” Finnit said, gazing out one of the windows. “What?” “The sky is different.” And indeed it was. The rain had—incredibly—let up slightly, the green glow he’d become so accustomed to taking on distinct streaks of orange and red. Vosaphar grimaced. “I guess it’s time.” “Yeah.” They made their final preparations. Finnit tucked his syllabaries into his satchel and ate his last rations. He thought he might never forget the taste of salted fruit leather in whatever days—or day—he had remaining. “Was there something else we should have prepared?” Finnit asked. “We’re just… walking through a portal to the sun? Like this?” “I can’t think of anything, Finnit.” “Well, alright then.” He looked around at the now overly-familiar place he had spent this last month. “Goodbye, awful yet cozy stone room under a cursed lighthouse. It was certainly a time.” “That it was.” Vosaphar sounded amused. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They ventured out onto the cliffside stairs. Even these had become familiar, the treachery of each step now a well-worn betrayal. As they slipped past the anchor collector, she gave out a little warble of encouragement. At least, that’s how Finnit chose to take it. Up ahead, a ruddy glow intensified as they approached the altar beneath the lens and its housing. The miniature moon had arrived at its destination, transforming the sun emblem at the center into a bright red disc of light. It was overwhelming to look at directly; Finnit’s eyes strained from this threat to perception. “It’s terrible,” Finnit whispered. “Beautiful, too. What a dazzling horror of a thing to witness.” “Finnit,” Vosaphar began, wrapping his arms gently around the sorcerer. “It might be neglectful of our accord for me not to mention… you don’t have to do this. I could—I could go without you—you could die, Finnit, and—I—I don’t want to lose you… forever.” Finnit looked up into the fiend’s fearful, loving eyes. “Vosaphar—I’m afraid, too. But I couldn’t accept that. Isn’t that what Raekard would do? Send someone to die in his stead, to do the big scary things he won’t face himself? This trial was his idea, but now it’s my trial. Our trial. And I want to see it through. Together. Don’t you?” “Yes,” Vosaphar admitted. “I want to see the sun... with you.” “Then let’s go see it.” Vosaphar smiled, and took Finnit’s arm in his. Together, they stepped into an oblivion of crimson light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Eclipse. ⇒->Eclipse AAAB]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">The day of the eclipse, Finnit woke with a sharp pain searing his back, breaking him out of his warm reverie. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar was twitching and scratching in his sleep again. Finnit adored the feeling of the devil’s tail coiled around his thigh, basking in the hellish heat that staved off the island’s chill. Nonetheless, crawling into the embrace of a clawed creature had a few drawbacks. “Hey,” Finnit whispered. “Wake up.” Vosaphar shifted, his tail loosening its grip on Finnit. “Mmph.” “You scratched me again,” Finnit said. “Nightmares?” “Oh no,” Vosaphar said. “I’m sorry, Finnit. Here…” The demon traced the scratches, and Finnit felt an odd prickly sensation as the skin healed over. “Thank you. You’re getting good at that.” Vosaphar delicately kissed the side of Finnit’s neck. “I don’t normally sleep so much. The mortal realm is… exhausting, in its own way. Perhaps I can fashion some wrappings for my claws in the future.” “Whoa,” Finnit said, gazing out one of the windows. “What?” “The sky is different.” And indeed it was. The rain had—incredibly—let up slightly, the green glow he’d become so accustomed to taking on distinct streaks of orange and red. Vosaphar grimaced. “I guess it’s time.” “Yeah.” They made their final preparations. Finnit tucked his syllabaries into his satchel and ate his last rations. He thought he might never forget the taste of salted fruit leather in whatever days—or day—he had remaining. “Was there something else we should have prepared?” Finnit asked. “We’re just… walking through a portal to the sun? Like this?” “I can’t think of anything, Finnit.” “Well, alright then.” He looked around at the now overly-familiar place he had spent this last month. “Goodbye, awful yet cozy stone room under a cursed lighthouse. It was certainly a time.” “That it was.” Vosaphar sounded amused. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They ventured out onto the cliffside stairs. Even these had become familiar, the treachery of each step now a well-worn betrayal. As they slipped past the anchor collector, she gave out a little warble of encouragement. At least, that’s how Finnit chose to take it. Up ahead, a ruddy glow intensified as they approached the altar beneath the lens and its housing. The miniature moon had arrived at its destination, transforming the sun emblem at the center into a bright red disc of light. It was overwhelming to look at directly; Finnit’s eyes strained from this threat to perception. “It’s terrible,” Finnit whispered. “Beautiful, too. What a dazzling horror of a thing to witness.” “Finnit,” Vosaphar began, wrapping his arms gently around the sorcerer. “It might be neglectful of our accord for me not to mention… you don’t have to do this. I could—I could go without you—you could die, Finnit, and—I—I don’t want to lose you… forever.” Finnit looked up into the fiend’s fearful, loving eyes. “Vosaphar—I’m afraid, too. But I couldn’t accept that. Isn’t that what Raekard would do? Send someone to die in his stead, to do the big scary things he won’t face himself? This trial was his idea, but now it’s my trial. Our trial. And I want to see it through. Together. Don’t you?” “Yes,” Vosaphar admitted. “I want to see the sun... with you.” “Then let’s go see it.” Vosaphar smiled, and took Finnit’s arm in his. Together, they stepped into an oblivion of crimson light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Eclipse. ⇒->Eclipse AAAB]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 3)[Eclipse.] (text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Sun.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">The sun was a cosmic affliction, a colossal molten mass so red and seething that even the infernal embers blazing in the deepest pits of the hells seemed but feeble sparks in the distance. And Vosaphar was soaring *toward* it. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he flew, Finnit clutched against him, tendrils of the corona pulled peculiar new colors from his wings, its aurora a spectacle more captivating than your dreary calciferous skies could have ever dreamed to churn. How you longed for such color and heat and majesty—even just a drop of it. And *they* got to see it all, to have it within reach. “Vosaphar, look!” With his free hand, Finnit pointed toward an eerie black void drifting past. Dozens of bird-creatures flew from the roiling surface of the sun to circle and screech at the dark moon, a celestial interloper threatening the eternity of light. “They’re sunspots!” Finnit shouted. “She’s a sunspot!” “They’re *distracted*, too.” Vosaphar glided toward the edge of the sun away from the shrieking horrors. “That’s why it has to be now.” The demon and his summoner skimmed the sun’s surface, its dangerous heat threatening to embrace them forever so closely. “Hold on, Finnit!” Vosaphar tilted his wings, arm outstretched, reaching, swiping up a glob of incandescent fluid. This molten scarlet-amber squeezed between his claws and stuck to his low-dipped wing. Even these tiny droplets of starlight held immense power that coursed through him as he arced up out of the sun’s grip. “It’s so incredible!” Finnit laughed, tears streaming behind him, motes of wonder sparkling in space. Something darkened behind them. Finnit looked over his shoulder. “Vosaphar—there’s a new sunspot—” The creature shrieked as it gave chase, following the radiant beads dripping from Vosaphar’s sunswept wing. Vosaphar affixed his gaze to the portal back to the Pharos Fidelis, soaring ever faster. The screeching grew louder yet, judgment for their cardinal cosmic sin approaching with alarming haste. But with Finnit clinging to his side… (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar simply had no use for consequences. With a final burst of speed, they shot through the portal. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Reignite. ⇒->22AAAB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">The sun was a cosmic affliction, a colossal molten mass so red and seething that even the infernal embers blazing in the deepest pits of the hells seemed but feeble sparks in the distance. And Vosaphar was soaring *toward* it. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he flew, Finnit clutched against him, tendrils of the corona pulled peculiar new colors from his wings, its aurora a spectacle more captivating than your dreary calciferous skies could have ever dreamed to churn. How you longed for such color and heat and majesty—even just a drop of it. And *they* got to see it all, to have it within reach. “Vosaphar, look!” With his free hand, Finnit pointed toward an eerie black void drifting past. Dozens of bird-creatures flew from the roiling surface of the sun to circle and screech at the dark moon, a celestial interloper threatening the eternity of light. “They’re sunspots!” Finnit shouted. “She’s a sunspot!” “They’re *distracted*, too.” Vosaphar glided toward the edge of the sun away from the shrieking horrors. “That’s why it has to be now.” The demon and his summoner skimmed the sun’s surface, its dangerous heat threatening to embrace them forever so closely. “Hold on, Finnit!” Vosaphar tilted his wings, arm outstretched, reaching, swiping up a glob of incandescent fluid. This molten scarlet-amber squeezed between his claws and stuck to his low-dipped wing. Even these tiny droplets of starlight held immense power that coursed through him as he arced up out of the sun’s grip. “It’s so incredible!” Finnit laughed, tears streaming behind him, motes of wonder sparkling in space. Something darkened behind them. Finnit looked over his shoulder. “Vosaphar—there’s a new sunspot—” The creature shrieked as it gave chase, following the radiant beads dripping from Vosaphar’s sunswept wing. Vosaphar affixed his gaze to the portal back to the Pharos Fidelis, soaring ever faster. The screeching grew louder yet, judgment for their cardinal cosmic sin approaching with alarming haste. But with Finnit clinging to his side… (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar simply had no use for consequences. With a final burst of speed, they shot through the portal. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Reignite. ⇒->22AAAB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXII.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Finnit and Vosaphar tumbled over the edge of the altar, the portal still aglow with the eclipse-light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But there was little time to celebrate their reckless heist—the sunspot shoved its vicious pointed head through the gap after them, screeching as it struggled to break through. Finnit let Vosaphar carry him a bit further up the tunnel, before standing on his own feet and running alongside. The anchor collector had left her nest, wheeling about in the sky, shrieking back at the new sunspot about to burst from the throat of the island. Finnit looked out at the storm, the clouds thinned enough that he could see the eclipsed red sun half-risen, framing the infernal image of a devil’s horns. “How magnificent,” he said, breathless. Vosaphar looked down at him, gently squeezing his hand. They arrived at the peak, where the lens yearned for light, and at last, Finnit had light to provide. Vosaphar held out his claws, sunlight pooled in his palm, and Finnit painted it, trying to create the glyph his mind had projected there, the name of the demon whose rite might reignite the Pharos Fidelis. You watched, enraptured by the spectacle of your plans converging. This was it. This was your moment. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As Finnit slathered the glowing fluid across the lens, the dark slag drank it in—more, and more, and more of it. Too much of it. The glyph couldn’t hold its shape. The lens welled, hyperfolding crimson light, growing ever hotter by the second. The cleft, once so close to promising your name, had already deformed beyond recognition. And how brutal; that poor, mortal sorcerer, all tangled in your schemes, had every intention of drawing your name, a sigil drenched in the lifeblood of the sun. He really did try. You couldn’t fault him for that. But the execution? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A tragedy, in many fragments. For centuries—perhaps longer—every mortal design for the Pharos Fidelis had crumbled. Each disaster wrote another chapter in that wretched chronicle, the dark history of guiding light. And you thought *yours* would work? Pharos Fidelis, the beacon on the horizon of reason. Where it would remain, out of reach. Could not even a devil accept the simple dreadful truth, that a horizon approached can never arrive? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Finnit, we have to leave!” Vosaphar shouted, scanning the skies for the sunspots. “The lens is collapsing!” “No—it has to—Vosaphar, it has to—” “Finnit, please—” “I can’t—I can’t get the shape right, it’s going to—” “It deserves to shatter.” How dare he. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“But, what was this even for, then?” Finnit sobbed, the last of the sunlight ripped from his fingertips into the Pharos Fidelis. Vosaphar pulled him, one final time, away from the amplifying dyslucence. “That’s for the historians!” Vosaphar stared at him with his stormy eyes. “Shouldn’t we live? Don’t you want a future? ” “Yes!” Finnit embraced Vosaphar once more, and the demon swept him up into the sky. They abandoned the Pharos Fidelis to its fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They *tried* to abandon it. But it wasn’t done with them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Shatter. ⇒->23AAAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Finnit and Vosaphar tumbled over the edge of the altar, the portal still aglow with the eclipse-light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But there was little time to celebrate their reckless heist—the sunspot shoved its vicious pointed head through the gap after them, screeching as it struggled to break through. Finnit let Vosaphar carry him a bit further up the tunnel, before standing on his own feet and running alongside. The anchor collector had left her nest, wheeling about in the sky, shrieking back at the new sunspot about to burst from the throat of the island. Finnit looked out at the storm, the clouds thinned enough that he could see the eclipsed red sun half-risen, framing the infernal image of a devil’s horns. “How magnificent,” he said, breathless. Vosaphar looked down at him, gently squeezing his hand. They arrived at the peak, where the lens yearned for light, and at last, Finnit had light to provide. Vosaphar held out his claws, sunlight pooled in his palm, and Finnit painted it, trying to create the glyph his mind had projected there, the name of the demon whose rite might reignite the Pharos Fidelis. You watched, enraptured by the spectacle of your plans converging. This was it. This was your moment. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As Finnit slathered the glowing fluid across the lens, the dark slag drank it in—more, and more, and more of it. Too much of it. The glyph couldn’t hold its shape. The lens welled, hyperfolding crimson light, growing ever hotter by the second. The cleft, once so close to promising your name, had already deformed beyond recognition. And how brutal; that poor, mortal sorcerer, all tangled in your schemes, had every intention of drawing your name, a sigil drenched in the lifeblood of the sun. He really did try. You couldn’t fault him for that. But the execution? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A tragedy, in many fragments. For centuries—perhaps longer—every mortal design for the Pharos Fidelis had crumbled. Each disaster wrote another chapter in that wretched chronicle, the dark history of guiding light. And you thought *yours* would work? Pharos Fidelis, the beacon on the horizon of reason. Where it would remain, out of reach. Could not even a devil accept the simple dreadful truth, that a horizon approached can never arrive? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Finnit, we have to leave!” Vosaphar shouted, scanning the skies for the sunspots. “The lens is collapsing!” “No—it has to—Vosaphar, it has to—” “Finnit, please—” “I can’t—I can’t get the shape right, it’s going to—” “It deserves to shatter.” How dare he. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“But, what was this even for, then?” Finnit sobbed, the last of the sunlight ripped from his fingertips into the Pharos Fidelis. Vosaphar pulled him, one final time, away from the amplifying dyslucence. “That’s for the historians!” Vosaphar stared at him with his stormy eyes. “Shouldn’t we live? Don’t you want a future? ” “Yes!” Finnit embraced Vosaphar once more, and the demon swept him up into the sky. They abandoned the Pharos Fidelis to its fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They *tried* to abandon it. But it wasn’t done with them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Shatter. ⇒->23AAAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Disavowal]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXIII.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">The storm rushed past Vosaphar as he carried Finnit, placing any distance he could between them and the doomed Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Still seeking their stolen sunlight, the sunspot pursued, but the anchor collector screeched and snapped at it. The two creatures, identically opposed in desire, circled the peak as they fought above the molten slag. “It’s going to—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The world around them grew absolutely silent, swallowing the rest of Finnit’s warning. Every bit of light had gathered, folding itself over and over and over still, smaller, ever smaller, congealing into the tiniest, brightest speck. For a moment, Vosaphar wondered if it would keep going, dragging the mortal realm, the hells, and all the rest of existence into its singularity. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Instead, it shattered. All that had been poured into it—all the fire, all the lightning, all the stray souls, all the stolen sunlight, all the summons slaughtered, all the hopes and dreams and plots and schemes and—all of it finally shattered, sending incalculable shards of glass in every direction at incredible speeds. A vanguard fragment slammed into Vosaphar’s chest, knocking Finnit out of his grasp. The sorcerer began to drift away on his own trajectory— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And you thought, though your plans had shattered along with everything else… You still had one last mote of hellfire to spare. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Influence. ⇒->M4AAAB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">The storm rushed past Vosaphar as he carried Finnit, placing any distance he could between them and the doomed Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Still seeking their stolen sunlight, the sunspot pursued, but the anchor collector screeched and snapped at it. The two creatures, identically opposed in desire, circled the peak as they fought above the molten slag. “It’s going to—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The world around them grew absolutely silent, swallowing the rest of Finnit’s warning. Every bit of light had gathered, folding itself over and over and over still, smaller, ever smaller, congealing into the tiniest, brightest speck. For a moment, Vosaphar wondered if it would keep going, dragging the mortal realm, the hells, and all the rest of existence into its singularity. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Instead, it shattered. All that had been poured into it—all the fire, all the lightning, all the stray souls, all the stolen sunlight, all the summons slaughtered, all the hopes and dreams and plots and schemes and—all of it finally shattered, sending incalculable shards of glass in every direction at incredible speeds. A vanguard fragment slammed into Vosaphar’s chest, knocking Finnit out of his grasp. The sorcerer began to drift away on his own trajectory— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And you thought, though your plans had shattered along with everything else… You still had one last mote of hellfire to spare. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Influence. ⇒->M4AAAB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Disavowal]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#fc4e71")+(text-size: 3)[Influence.] (text-color:"#fc4e71")+(text-size: 1.15)[Clinginess | Desperation.]</div> One final mote of hellfire appeared. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightmotepassage">When potent emotions conflicted a demon’s judgment, even the faintest mote of hellfire bore enough infernal energy to influence their fate from afar. That’s how you got them into this mess. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#8c283c)[***Clinginess***] For the demon Vosaphar, so eager to wrap himself around his beloved summoner, the sight of the mortal falling away would’ve driven him to dive in closer. This clinginess would have joined their fates together, should you have chosen to foster it. Yielding to this clinginess, however romantic, risked their joint fate becoming tragic. (text-color:#8c283c)[***Desperation***] For the demon Vosaphar, so determined for his beloved summoner to survive, the sight of him falling away would’ve driven him to take reckless measures. This desperation might have driven him to intervene instantly to salvage the situation. Yielding to this desperation, however hasty, risked their fates diverging dramatically. (text-color:#8c283c)[***Decision***] Well? Which force did this mote of hellfire incite? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightmotechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))[[[Clinginess. ⇒->24AAABA. Vosaphar]]] (link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#fc4e71")))[[[Desperation. ⇒->24AAABB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="motepassage">When potent emotions conflicted a demon’s judgment, even the faintest mote of hellfire bore enough infernal energy to influence their fate from afar. That’s how you got them into this mess. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Clinginess***] For the demon Vosaphar, so eager to wrap himself around his beloved summoner, the sight of the mortal falling away would’ve driven him to dive in closer. This clinginess would have joined their fates together, should you have chosen to foster it. Yielding to this clinginess, however romantic, risked their joint fate becoming tragic. (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Desperation***] For the demon Vosaphar, so determined for his beloved summoner to survive, the sight of him falling away would’ve driven him to take reckless measures. This desperation might have driven him to intervene instantly to salvage the situation. Yielding to this desperation, however hasty, risked their fates diverging dramatically. (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Decision***] Well? Which force did this mote of hellfire incite? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="motechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Clinginess. ⇒->24AAABA. Vosaphar]]] (link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Desperation. ⇒->24AAABB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Mote]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXIV.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar had a single, reckless idea of what he still had time to do. How he could send Finnit somewhere safer than here. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar recalled the spells Finnit had taught him, focused his intentions and— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Banished him. Finnit blinked out of existence. Moments later, the edge of the explosion swept Vosaphar into an inferno of shattering glass. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Stoke. ⇒->25AAABB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar had a single, reckless idea of what he still had time to do. How he could send Finnit somewhere safer than here. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar recalled the spells Finnit had taught him, focused his intentions and— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Banished him. Finnit blinked out of existence. Moments later, the edge of the explosion swept Vosaphar into an inferno of shattering glass. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Stoke. ⇒->25AAABB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXIV.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar dove, claws outstretched, reaching for Finnit’s wrist— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And closed his hand around the transit band attached to it. Just as the edge of the inferno reached them— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar and Finnit blinked out of existence, teleporting somewhere else. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Defend. ⇒->25AAABA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar dove, claws outstretched, reaching for Finnit’s wrist— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And closed his hand around the transit band attached to it. Just as the edge of the inferno reached them— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar and Finnit blinked out of existence, teleporting somewhere else. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Defend. ⇒->25AAABA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#b8e270")+(text-size: 3)[XXV.] (text-color:"#b8e270")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Cairnveld Fortress.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcairnveldpassage">Finnit tumbled to his latest painful stop against the stone. Warm, clawed fingers gripped his wrist. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Vosaphar?” Finnit groaned, clutching his head and rolling over to move closer to the devil. He could smell cypress and old parchment. They must have arrived somewhere at Cairnveld Fortress. He heard a few startled gasps, and then whispers broke out. “Huh?” Finnit muttered, looking over his shoulders. They had landed in one of the smaller lecture halls. Cool light streamed through the windows, setting the chamber’s dusty air aglow. A scattered few luminaries occupied the chairs, including Jethel, who peered curiously over the top of the beverage she had been sipping. It was the most people he had seen in a month. Raekard stood from his seat in the front row. “Incipient Finnit!” His voice rang out over the chamber. “I’m not sure how you managed to be late with a pre-scheduled transit band, but it is time for your evaluation.” He paused, frowning. “Dismiss this… creature.” Finnit ignored him, crawling over to examine Vosaphar’s wounds. There was a warped shard of the Pharos Fidelis lens lodged in his chest, glowing with an intense crimson light. It seemed to have fused to the demon’s torso, ichor seeping around the edges where glass and flesh intermingled. “Are you okay?” Finnit asked softly. “No.” Vosaphar turned to him, groaning. “But… I don’t think I’m fading.” Finnit did his best to hug him from this awkward position. “Fine, I’ll banish it myself.” Raekard traced a sigil in the air, directing its power against the injured fiend. Nothing happened. It was the first time that Finnit had seen Raekard genuinely surprised. Finnit helped Vosaphar to his feet. The demon looked around, a bit nervously given his bizarre new context. He let his ethereal wings fade away, wrapping a warm arm around Finnit’s waist. “This is not appropriate conduct for a discovery trial evaluation,” Raekard said, his voice low and dangerous. “Be sure to make a note of it then,” Finnit said. He leaned into Vosaphar, who responded by curling his tail gently around the sorcerer. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The luminaries in the audience found this riveting. Jethel stirred the air next to her mug with a cinnamon stick, not realizing she was dripping horchata onto her notes. Finnit wished he could just leave and recover in his quarters. Why was he even putting up with any of this? They had just gotten back from the *sun*. “Dismiss this demon at once!” Raekard snapped. “It is against academy bylaws to bring summoned entities to participate in discovery trial evaluations.” “I’ll go where I wish to, *wretched one*,” Vosaphar snarled. He had evidently recognized Raekard. Jethel let out a startled laugh, which she failed to even attempt to cover up. “Luminary Jethel is going to *love* you,” Finnit told Vosaphar, deciding to embrace the surreality of the moment. Nonplussed, Raekard tried a second banishment. It failed. Again. Finnit ran his fingers through his hair anxiously, snagging another piece of the lens that had cut the skin behind his ear. He plucked it out. Its otherworldly glow was just as out of place here as Vosaphar, and frankly, himself. “What is the meaning of this?” Raekard demanded. “Incipient, what did you *do*?” Finnit held up the errant fragment. “We reignited the Pharos Fidelis.” He threw it onto the floor. “As commanded. Huh. I guess that makes me a luminary.” “This is—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But Finnit didn’t care to hear any more of what Raekard had to say. He suddenly wondered why it had ever mattered. The luminary was such an insignificant threat in the face of everything that he had experienced. And he was a terrible historiographer. Suddenly, the ground shook slightly. Bits of grit descended from the ceiling. One of the luminaries—who had somehow managed to sleep through Finnit and Vosaphar’s dramatic arrival—woke with a start, their eyes darting wildly as they took in their surroundings. “What was *that*?” Raekard asked. “The Pharos Fidelis,” Finnit said. “I guess it took a few minutes for the shockwaves to arrive. Maybe we should reconvene this session after we know for sure that our actions didn’t precipitate the end of all existence. Vosaphar, let’s get out of here.” “Gladly,” the demon muttered. “And stop trying to banish me,” he added, glaring directly at Raekard. “Or I will teach you some real principles of summoning that you will *not* enjoy learning, pathetic one.” The luminary was dumbfounded. “What the—what happened?” “That’s enough, Raekard,” Jethel said from behind him. Arms linked, Finnit and Vosaphar departed the lecture hall, heading for Finnit’s quarters. Somewhere quiet. Raekard didn’t try to follow them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcairnveldchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))[[[Repose. ⇒->26AAABA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="cairnveldpassage">Finnit tumbled to his latest painful stop against the stone. Warm, clawed fingers gripped his wrist. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Vosaphar?” Finnit groaned, clutching his head and rolling over to move closer to the devil. He could smell cypress and old parchment. They must have arrived somewhere at Cairnveld Fortress. He heard a few startled gasps, and then whispers broke out. “Huh?” Finnit muttered, looking over his shoulders. They had landed in one of the smaller lecture halls. Cool light streamed through the windows, setting the chamber’s dusty air aglow. A scattered few luminaries occupied the chairs, including Jethel, who peered curiously over the top of the beverage she had been sipping. It was the most people he had seen in a month. Raekard stood from his seat in the front row. “Incipient Finnit!” His voice rang out over the chamber. “I’m not sure how you managed to be late with a pre-scheduled transit band, but it is time for your evaluation.” He paused, frowning. “Dismiss this… creature.” Finnit ignored him, crawling over to examine Vosaphar’s wounds. There was a warped shard of the Pharos Fidelis lens lodged in his chest, glowing with an intense crimson light. It seemed to have fused to the demon’s torso, ichor seeping around the edges where glass and flesh intermingled. “Are you okay?” Finnit asked softly. “No.” Vosaphar turned to him, groaning. “But… I don’t think I’m fading.” Finnit did his best to hug him from this awkward position. “Fine, I’ll banish it myself.” Raekard traced a sigil in the air, directing its power against the injured fiend. Nothing happened. It was the first time that Finnit had seen Raekard genuinely surprised. Finnit helped Vosaphar to his feet. The demon looked around, a bit nervously given his bizarre new context. He let his ethereal wings fade away, wrapping a warm arm around Finnit’s waist. “This is not appropriate conduct for a discovery trial evaluation,” Raekard said, his voice low and dangerous. “Be sure to make a note of it then,” Finnit said. He leaned into Vosaphar, who responded by curling his tail gently around the sorcerer. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The luminaries in the audience found this riveting. Jethel stirred the air next to her mug with a cinnamon stick, not realizing she was dripping horchata onto her notes. Finnit wished he could just leave and recover in his quarters. Why was he even putting up with any of this? They had just gotten back from the *sun*. “Dismiss this demon at once!” Raekard snapped. “It is against academy bylaws to bring summoned entities to participate in discovery trial evaluations.” “I’ll go where I wish to, *wretched one*,” Vosaphar snarled. He had evidently recognized Raekard. Jethel let out a startled laugh, which she failed to even attempt to cover up. “Luminary Jethel is going to *love* you,” Finnit told Vosaphar, deciding to embrace the surreality of the moment. Nonplussed, Raekard tried a second banishment. It failed. Again. Finnit ran his fingers through his hair anxiously, snagging another piece of the lens that had cut the skin behind his ear. He plucked it out. Its otherworldly glow was just as out of place here as Vosaphar, and frankly, himself. “What is the meaning of this?” Raekard demanded. “Incipient, what did you *do*?” Finnit held up the errant fragment. “We reignited the Pharos Fidelis.” He threw it onto the floor. “As commanded. Huh. I guess that makes me a luminary.” “This is—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But Finnit didn’t care to hear any more of what Raekard had to say. He suddenly wondered why it had ever mattered. The luminary was such an insignificant threat in the face of everything that he had experienced. And he was a terrible historiographer. Suddenly, the ground shook slightly. Bits of grit descended from the ceiling. One of the luminaries—who had somehow managed to sleep through Finnit and Vosaphar’s dramatic arrival—woke with a start, their eyes darting wildly as they took in their surroundings. “What was *that*?” Raekard asked. “The Pharos Fidelis,” Finnit said. “I guess it took a few minutes for the shockwaves to arrive. Maybe we should reconvene this session after we know for sure that our actions didn’t precipitate the end of all existence. Vosaphar, let’s get out of here.” “Gladly,” the demon muttered. “And stop trying to banish me,” he added, glaring directly at Raekard. “Or I will teach you some real principles of summoning that you will *not* enjoy learning, pathetic one.” The luminary was dumbfounded. “What the—what happened?” “That’s enough, Raekard,” Jethel said from behind him. Arms linked, Finnit and Vosaphar departed the lecture hall, heading for Finnit’s quarters. Somewhere quiet. Raekard didn’t try to follow them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="cairnveldchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#7ba03c")))[[[Repose. ⇒->26AAABA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#7ba03c")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#b8e270")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#b8e270")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Cairnveld Fortress.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcairnveldpassage">The incipients and luminaries traveling the halls of Cairnveld—already unsettled by the earthquake—gave Vosaphar a wide berth as he and Finnit passed them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar had never been around so many mortals at once—at least, not in his current instance—and unlike Finnit, *these* mortals were thoroughly alarmed by the fearsome sight of a demon wandering in their midst, chest aglow with a sun-scorched fragment of the Pharos Fidelis lens. He only started to relax once they entered a small, dusty chamber full of the sorcerer’s possessions. Mostly books. Finnit closed the door behind him, then climbed onto his bed in the corner of the chamber, sitting with his back against one of the cool stone walls. He grabbed one of the pillows, and invited Vosaphar to lie down. The devil accepted, allowing Finnit to cradle his head in his lap. Vosaphar was delighted by the softness of the mattress compared to the bedrolls at the Pharos Fidelis, and let the mortal gently massage his forehead, attending to the skin bunched at the base of his horns. “Is this okay?” Finnit asked. “Yes,” Vosaphar said, flicking his tail languorously. To be afforded such comfort was rare and fleeting. As you—along with every other demon—knew all too well. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[After a few restful minutes, Finnit spoke up. “So, um—thank you for not letting me die. For saving me, so many times. I can’t even make sense of what happened yet. It’s unreal. This, being here, and—we shouldn’t have survived.” “But we did, beloved one.” Vosaphar ran a clawed fingertip gently across Finnit’s forearm. “Perhaps you contributed more than you realize.” He paused. “But I *did* carry you across the sky.” Finnit snorted. Someone knocked at the door. “Finnit? Are you in there?” “Yes!” Finnit said. One of the sorcerers from the trial evaluation stepped into the room, carrying with her an eclectic potpourri of scents. It was Luminary Jethel, the healing expert. “Oh.” She raised her eyebrows. “Is this—uh, a bad time?” “It’s fine,” Finnit said, reluctantly releasing Vosaphar so the demon could sit up. “I’m glad to see you, Jethel. Thank you for all your help.” She nodded. “The main reason I’m here is to inform you that the panel of luminaries in attendance convened, and after an examination of the fragment you provided, determined that you passed your discovery trial. Raekard dissented, but I suppose situations like these are exactly why the founders required a full panel in the bylaws. Congratulations, Finnit!” She waited for a moment, creating an awkward silence. “But I get the sense that, perhaps this is not your main concern?” “No, it isn’t,” Finnit said. “I mean—I guess I’m glad it’s over. But, I’m concerned about Vosaphar’s injuries.” He paused. “This is Vosaphar. He’s from… uh, the calciferous wastes.” “Uh huh. Noted.” Jethel directed her focus toward the devil. “Vosaphar? May I take a closer look?” “Yes,” Vosaphar said, watching her lightly-wrinkled fingers weave diagnostic glyphs in front of him. Finnit gently rubbed his back. “How are you feeling?” “I… don’t know,” Vosaphar answered honestly. “It’s a strange sensation. Like my bones are itching beneath my skin.” “Interesting,” Jethel remarked. “Well—this fragment of—uh, I guess I have no real idea what it actually is, some exotic vitric—seems to have fused onto you? It radiates an extraordinary amount of magic. For a human, that would be concerning, by which I mean, fatal. But I admit, I am not an expert on infernal anatomy.” She glanced at Finnit, eyes narrowing. “Though based on what I have seen today, perhaps *you* are becoming one.” Vosaphar looked his way as well, amused to see the mortal’s cheeks reddening. “Thought so,” Jethel remarked. “I hope Raekard never hears the end of this, for whatever remains of his miserable days.” “Oh,” Finnit said, evidently realizing something. “I see now… the lens fragment. Raekard is, at least, a *competent* sorcerer—his banishment rite should have succeeded. By remaining here, I thought Vosaphar might have violated the principle of planar reversion. But with this power fusing with you—I guess that makes it *your* power. And it far exceeds Raekard’s.” “Fascinating,” Jethel said, “if not a touch alarming in its implications. Well, at any rate, for now, I recommend treating the exposed edges where the fragment is impacting your skin. I don’t know what your plans are, Finnit, but if you remain here for the moment—as a luminary—we can research the issue together.” “What do you think?” Finnit asked him. “We could stay for a bit, sort things out?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“That sounds nice, Finnit.” “And after that—” “The rest of it?” “The rest of it.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcairnveldchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending AAABA]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="cairnveldpassage">The incipients and luminaries traveling the halls of Cairnveld—already unsettled by the earthquake—gave Vosaphar a wide berth as he and Finnit passed them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar had never been around so many mortals at once—at least, not in his current instance—and unlike Finnit, *these* mortals were thoroughly alarmed by the fearsome sight of a demon wandering in their midst, chest aglow with a sun-scorched fragment of the Pharos Fidelis lens. He only started to relax once they entered a small, dusty chamber full of the sorcerer’s possessions. Mostly books. Finnit closed the door behind him, then climbed onto his bed in the corner of the chamber, sitting with his back against one of the cool stone walls. He grabbed one of the pillows, and invited Vosaphar to lie down. The devil accepted, allowing Finnit to cradle his head in his lap. Vosaphar was delighted by the softness of the mattress compared to the bedrolls at the Pharos Fidelis, and let the mortal gently massage his forehead, attending to the skin bunched at the base of his horns. “Is this okay?” Finnit asked. “Yes,” Vosaphar said, flicking his tail languorously. To be afforded such comfort was rare and fleeting. As you—along with every other demon—knew all too well. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[After a few restful minutes, Finnit spoke up. “So, um—thank you for not letting me die. For saving me, so many times. I can’t even make sense of what happened yet. It’s unreal. This, being here, and—we shouldn’t have survived.” “But we did, beloved one.” Vosaphar ran a clawed fingertip gently across Finnit’s forearm. “Perhaps you contributed more than you realize.” He paused. “But I *did* carry you across the sky.” Finnit snorted. Someone knocked at the door. “Finnit? Are you in there?” “Yes!” Finnit said. One of the sorcerers from the trial evaluation stepped into the room, carrying with her an eclectic potpourri of scents. It was Luminary Jethel, the healing expert. “Oh.” She raised her eyebrows. “Is this—uh, a bad time?” “It’s fine,” Finnit said, reluctantly releasing Vosaphar so the demon could sit up. “I’m glad to see you, Jethel. Thank you for all your help.” She nodded. “The main reason I’m here is to inform you that the panel of luminaries in attendance convened, and after an examination of the fragment you provided, determined that you passed your discovery trial. Raekard dissented, but I suppose situations like these are exactly why the founders required a full panel in the bylaws. Congratulations, Finnit!” She waited for a moment, creating an awkward silence. “But I get the sense that, perhaps this is not your main concern?” “No, it isn’t,” Finnit said. “I mean—I guess I’m glad it’s over. But, I’m concerned about Vosaphar’s injuries.” He paused. “This is Vosaphar. He’s from… uh, the calciferous wastes.” “Uh huh. Noted.” Jethel directed her focus toward the devil. “Vosaphar? May I take a closer look?” “Yes,” Vosaphar said, watching her lightly-wrinkled fingers weave diagnostic glyphs in front of him. Finnit gently rubbed his back. “How are you feeling?” “I… don’t know,” Vosaphar answered honestly. “It’s a strange sensation. Like my bones are itching beneath my skin.” “Interesting,” Jethel remarked. “Well—this fragment of—uh, I guess I have no real idea what it actually is, some exotic vitric—seems to have fused onto you? It radiates an extraordinary amount of magic. For a human, that would be concerning, by which I mean, fatal. But I admit, I am not an expert on infernal anatomy.” She glanced at Finnit, eyes narrowing. “Though based on what I have seen today, perhaps *you* are becoming one.” Vosaphar looked his way as well, amused to see the mortal’s cheeks reddening. “Thought so,” Jethel remarked. “I hope Raekard never hears the end of this, for whatever remains of his miserable days.” “Oh,” Finnit said, evidently realizing something. “I see now… the lens fragment. Raekard is, at least, a *competent* sorcerer—his banishment rite should have succeeded. By remaining here, I thought Vosaphar might have violated the principle of planar reversion. But with this power fusing with you—I guess that makes it *your* power. And it far exceeds Raekard’s.” “Fascinating,” Jethel said, “if not a touch alarming in its implications. Well, at any rate, for now, I recommend treating the exposed edges where the fragment is impacting your skin. I don’t know what your plans are, Finnit, but if you remain here for the moment—as a luminary—we can research the issue together.” “What do you think?” Finnit asked him. “We could stay for a bit, sort things out?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“That sounds nice, Finnit.” “And after that—” “The rest of it?” “The rest of it.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="cairnveldchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending AAABA]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17AAA. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4AAAB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s clinginess, causing him to reach Finnit in time to teleport to Cairnveld with him. This proved to be a fortunate calculation. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17AAA. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4AAAB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s clinginess, causing him to reach Finnit in time to teleport to Cairnveld with him. This proved to be a fortunate calculation. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[XXV.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage cold, wet, and screaming. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It had a certain resonance, didn’t it? He coughed violently, choking on sludge and bloodfog alike, wading clumsily in your direction. Even from this distance, you could feel intense energy pouring off the misplaced mortal, his magic warped by the glowing fragments of the Pharos Fidelis stuck in his hair and clothing. If nothing else could be salvaged from this historic disaster, at least you had an opportunity to fuel your furnace. The mortal would, at any moment, petition you for relief from his dire situation. This provided you a brief moment to consider which form might be most appropriate for such an absurd occasion. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|initial>[In that light: (link-reveal: "You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. Inaccurate though it may have been, perhaps you had the right to such a form. You’d already spent more time fussing over Vosaphar’s fate than any of his makers had. You adopted an elegant posture and swept out of your cottage to approach the mortal. “Hello, Finnit,” you said. He turned to look at you, eyes widening. You flicked your new tail, mimicking one of Vosaphar’s gestures that he so favored. “Um—hi. Uh—” “Welcome to my calciferous wastes.” You extended your arms, gesturing toward the dark skies and lonesome coralbone monuments dotting the horizon. “And what a sight they are.” Finnit looked around, evidently still processing this alarming development. “The calciferous wastes? Do you—do you know Vosaphar?” “Please, join me inside,” you said. “We shall sit by the fire and discuss these matters.” Finnit numbly complied, letting you guide him to the soot-stained armchairs by your furnace. It seemed to calm him down, having become accustomed to closeness with a certain source of hellfire. “What happened? Do you know?” Finnit asked. “Sorry—I’m just—I should ask who you are probably?” “I am the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “I think—I think he banished me?” “He did.” You tapped an idle claw against your ivory armchair. “I’m sorry, maybe this is too forward, but—look, I’m worried about Vosaphar? I don’t know what happened—what if—what if he—” You took him to the window and pointed to the dark pool, where Vosaphar’s ember twinkled at the bottom. If anything, it had grown brighter. Interesting. “That is his essential coal,” you said. “If he had perished, he would have immediately returned here. If we wait, he will eventually appear. However…” Finnit paced to and fro, trying to shake off his anxiety. “What if he’s hurt—he must be—I don’t want to wait!” “It is not a matter of desire, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. Perhaps that hadn’t been a Vosapharian gesture. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Will you—I mean, would you please help me?” “What are your intentions toward Vosaphar?” “My intentions?” Finnit looked puzzled. “What do you—” “Answer my question carefully, mortal.” He looked appropriately worried. “Look, I—I love him. I know it’s been so quick, and maybe you think it’s shallow, just because he’s so beautiful—but, uh, really, I have never felt so close with someone. I mean—he took me to the *sun*, and back. I don’t know what it would mean for us to be together outside of the Pharos Fidelis, in a more normal world. Maybe it won’t work, and we’ll part ways. I think—I mean, I hope you think that we’re worthy of a chance to figure that out.” “Vosaphar will need your help,” you said. “He will suffer from his power. You will stand by him? Treat him respectfully?” “I would—I will.” “Very well.” You paused. “I would send you back to Cairnveld.” You gave a pointed look toward your furnace. “But my fire is too weak for such a feat. Won’t you stoke it?” “Stoke it?” Finnit looked nervous. “What, uh—what do you want? My soul?” How amusing. “Are you offering that?” You approached him, attempting to loom in the way he found so appealing when Vosaphar did it. Finnit looked terrified as you reached down and plucked a glowing lens fragment from his hair. “No, Finnit. Not your soul. I want these.” “Oh—is that all? Yes, you can have them. They’re not even really mine, I don’t think.” Finnit parted easily with the fragments, tossing each into the furnace as he found it. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to cause some new chaos. He had no sense of priorities. And neither—apparently—did you, entertaining this… cloyingly earnest romantic nonsense. You reached for Finnit’s transit band, warping the sigils such that they would send Finnit on his way. Before activating it, you paused. “If you treat Vosaphar with anything less than the respect owed to such an unreasonably affectionate devil, I will send every specter in my dominion to drag you back here, and drown you in these depths for all eternity.” It was a joke. Mostly. You were sure that Finnit appreciated it. With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. You basked in the new heat now crackling and seething in your furnace. And how ridiculous an exchange it was, to receive all that energy for a trivial bit of spellcraft. Even an incubus would have found no pleasure in the seduction of such easy prey. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[That’s why you did it, right? You *just* wanted the power. Nothing more. You felt nothing else. Surely. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Survive. ⇒->26AAABBA. Vosaphar]]]]]]]</div>] Unless: (link-reveal: "You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. Darkness pooled around you, threshed with dozens of unblinking, glowing eyes. Gobs of loose flesh sizzled on charred bones to add to the illusion’s sensory overload. You adopted a threatening posture and swept out of your cottage to approach Finnit, trailing black grease in your wake. “Mortal!” you shouted, startling him. “You dare trespass upon my dominion?” Finnit turned your way, and his breath hitched at the loathsome sight of you. He cowered. Mortals were so susceptible to this kind of stagecraft, weren’t they? “I—I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—” “Silence!” You stretched and oozed before him. “You have stolen from me. You must return what I’m owed.” Finnit’s eyes darted about wildly, as if he were considering running away. He wouldn’t make it far. “Could you please—um—grand one? Uh, what did I steal?” “My *light*.” You over-articulated the “t” with such exuberance that flecks of acid splattered from your many mouths. “The Pharos Fidelis.” You wrapped a slimy tentacle around his arm, pulling him closer so you could pluck one of the fragments from his clothes. “What? Oh. Oh you can—you can have those. They’re, um, not even mine.” He was too frightened to assist in this process, so you grabbed each fragment, showing no regard for his comfort. Shards collected—from his perspective, devoured—you began shambling back to your cottage. “Wait!” Finnit called after you. “Um—I need—I need to get back to Vosaphar—do you know him? Or—” “I am the warden of these calciferous wastes, and he is my subject. Mortal longings are not my concern…” “But please, I—” “…Unless, of course, you wish to receive… an accord.” And there it was. Not only had you easily liberated the shards from his unworthy possession, but you could do even more to sate your rage with the proceedings of the eclipse. “An accord?” Finnit asked. “You’ll help me get back?” “For a *price*,” you hissed. “I gave you—I gave you the fragments!” He seemed to have realized his mistake. Perhaps he ought to have actually read *Case Studies in Infernal Betrayal* instead of assuming all demons would be as needy and pathetic as Vosaphar. “You claimed yourself that you had no ownership over them. They are mine already. One cannot offer a gift already granted.” “So what do you want?” His voice was strained. “My soul?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“*That* is worthless.” Drawing from the power of the fragments you held, you manifested a bloodfrost dagger from the fog, its keen edge sharp enough to carve the walls of the lazurynth. “Take this dagger to Luminary Raekard. I tire of his incompetent scheming. Carve out his heart. Then burn it in a ring of hellfire until it is but ash on the wind.” “But I—I can’t kill someone!” Finnit shouted. “That’s absurd—even someone as awful as him—and he’s so dangerous. It would never work.” “Then you will die here, and never again wrap your wretched limbs around the devil you cling to in the dark.” You sidled into your cottage, leaving him to contemplate his mortal morality while you stoked the furnace with the fragments. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to inflict some new misery upon the world. It wasn’t long before he approached you again. He looked directly at you, gazing into your seething core, and without stumbling, said, “I accept those terms.” You wrapped a tendril around the hilt of the dagger and offered it to him. He took it, his expression grim and determined. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[You *almost* believed he could do it. With a burst of magic, you activated his bracelet—the transit band—and sent him to his terrible fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Append. ⇒->P4AAABBB. Fourth Principle]]]]]]]</div> ] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. Well, at least the version of yourself that held court, lording your specificity over these dismal barrens. Finnit would get to see you for what you were: powerful, yet petty. Exhausted, too. It was miserable to live with your failures. You slunk to your soot-stained armchair by the furnace, waiting for the mortal to arrive. He knocked at the door. “Hello? Is—is someone in here?” “Come in, Finnit.” He opened the door, and saw you by the furnace. What texture the man had taken on since he left Cairnveld, struggling through your schemes in that desperate way that humans are wont to do. You gestured for him to sit in the chair across from yours. He obliged, if a bit warily. “Welcome to my calciferous wastes,” you said. “I wonder what you think of them?” “Calciferous wastes?” Something flickered in his eyes. “Is that—do you know Vosaphar?” “Answer my question first, if you will.” Finnit seemed taken aback, but recovered. “Well, if you really want to know—I can see why Vosaphar was so determined to leave.” You could almost see him realizing in real time that he probably was meant to say something kinder. “Not that there isn’t something… eerily beautiful about the colors streaking across the sky. But, it’s very cold and sharp and it seems sad, I guess?” “Yes, Vosaphar is troubled by his existence. As are we all.” You clicked your claws against the coralbone armrest. “You look—If you don’t mind me saying—you look familiar to me. But I don’t understand why. Who are you?” “I’m the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “So I guess he banished me here? It was the first place he thought of?” “I’m flattered.” A pause. “And perhaps you ought to be relieved that he didn’t recall the lazurynth quicker.” “I need to get back to him.” Finnit fixed you with a serious expression. “He might be hurt, or—I want to get back. Please. He means—he means a lot to me.” “It is not a matter of necessity, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Wait—I know why you look familiar!” He studied your face once more. “You look a little bit like… my grandmother.” “The trees in Tinfallow have deep roots indeed, if they reach all the way to these calciferous wastes.” “I don’t understand.” He bit his lip. “There are too many pieces—it’s hard to look at directly.” “Then focus on the piece of it you care about.” “Vosaphar.” “Of course. Young love. Star-crossed, even.” You sighed. “Well, I could send you on your way to Cairnveld.” You pointed at his bracelet. “But…” “You want something in return?” Finnit asked, leaning forward. “What is it? What do you want?” “What I *really* want is for you to have written my name correctly on the Pharos Fidelis.” Finnit sat back again. “That’s—that’s *you*? Your name? I expected someone so much more…” “Impressive?” You gave a hollow laugh. “Terrifying,” he finished. “But you seem, I don’t know, reasonable enough?” “I’m sure it seems that way.” “Well I—I don’t think I can undo what happened,” Finnit said. “I’m sorry it didn’t work. I know it may not look that way, but I really did try. I don’t know what it would’ve done if it worked, but I tried.” “You did.” You looked over at your furnace, where your sluggish motes of hellfire simmered. “I want the lens fragments in your possession.” “Lens fragments?” You pointed them out in his hair and on his clothes. “So that’s what you’re proposing as the terms of an exchange? I give you these shards, and you’ll send me back to Cairnveld?” “Yes.” “It just seems… I don’t know. I feel like there is still so much that I’m missing? If you—if you really are connected to me, in some way… would you want to… stay in touch?” You hadn’t expected *that*, of all things. “You want the warden of the calciferous wastes to offer you… mentorship.” “I’ve done much weirder things today!” Finnit said, rather defensively. “I went to the *sun*. Look, my mentor is Luminary Raekard. An actual demon would be a significant improvement.” “Ah, Raekard. I regret my part in that, given how it went.” “What?” Finnit’s eyes widened. “What do you mean you—” “Finnit, I propose an addendum to our… accord. If you wish to speak with me, you shall have one chance to do so during each new moon. Sacrifice a lens fragment in my name, and we shall converse for one hour.” “I’m not sure how I’ll get more of these,” Finnit said. “It seems expensive.” “And yet, a single fragment pales against the scale of what you destroyed. You could not possibly comprehend how far you’ve set me back. But,” you added, softening your tone, “I will make that hour as worthwhile as you wish it to be.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit accepted those terms, tossing each of the lens fragments on his person into your furnace. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to bend ever more futures in your favor. “Thank you,” Finnit said, as you adjusted the sigils on his transit band. “I—I’m glad to have met you.” With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Survive. ⇒->26AAABBC. Vosaphar]]]]</div> ]]]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage cold, wet, and screaming. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It had a certain resonance, didn’t it? He coughed violently, choking on sludge and bloodfog alike, wading clumsily in your direction. Even from this distance, you could feel intense energy pouring off the misplaced mortal, his magic warped by the glowing fragments of the Pharos Fidelis stuck in his hair and clothing. If nothing else could be salvaged from this historic disaster, at least you had an opportunity to fuel your furnace. The mortal would, at any moment, petition you for relief from his dire situation. This provided you a brief moment to consider which form might be most appropriate for such an absurd occasion. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|initial>[In that light: (link-reveal: "You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. Inaccurate though it may have been, perhaps you had the right to such a form. You’d already spent more time fussing over Vosaphar’s fate than any of his makers had. You adopted an elegant posture and swept out of your cottage to approach the mortal. “Hello, Finnit,” you said. He turned to look at you, eyes widening. You flicked your new tail, mimicking one of Vosaphar’s gestures that he so favored. “Um—hi. Uh—” “Welcome to my calciferous wastes.” You extended your arms, gesturing toward the dark skies and lonesome coralbone monuments dotting the horizon. “And what a sight they are.” Finnit looked around, evidently still processing this alarming development. “The calciferous wastes? Do you—do you know Vosaphar?” “Please, join me inside,” you said. “We shall sit by the fire and discuss these matters.” Finnit numbly complied, letting you guide him to the soot-stained armchairs by your furnace. It seemed to calm him down, having become accustomed to closeness with a certain source of hellfire. “What happened? Do you know?” Finnit asked. “Sorry—I’m just—I should ask who you are probably?” “I am the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “I think—I think he banished me?” “He did.” You tapped an idle claw against your ivory armchair. “I’m sorry, maybe this is too forward, but—look, I’m worried about Vosaphar? I don’t know what happened—what if—what if he—” You took him to the window and pointed to the dark pool, where Vosaphar’s ember twinkled at the bottom. If anything, it had grown brighter. Interesting. “That is his essential coal,” you said. “If he had perished, he would have immediately returned here. If we wait, he will eventually appear. However…” Finnit paced to and fro, trying to shake off his anxiety. “What if he’s hurt—he must be—I don’t want to wait!” “It is not a matter of desire, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. Perhaps that hadn’t been a Vosapharian gesture. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Will you—I mean, would you please help me?” “What are your intentions toward Vosaphar?” “My intentions?” Finnit looked puzzled. “What do you—” “Answer my question carefully, mortal.” He looked appropriately worried. “Look, I—I love him. I know it’s been so quick, and maybe you think it’s shallow, just because he’s so beautiful—but, uh, really, I have never felt so close with someone. I mean—he took me to the *sun*, and back. I don’t know what it would mean for us to be together outside of the Pharos Fidelis, in a more normal world. Maybe it won’t work, and we’ll part ways. I think—I mean, I hope you think that we’re worthy of a chance to figure that out.” “Vosaphar will need your help,” you said. “He will suffer from his power. You will stand by him? Treat him respectfully?” “I would—I will.” “Very well.” You paused. “I would send you back to Cairnveld.” You gave a pointed look toward your furnace. “But my fire is too weak for such a feat. Won’t you stoke it?” “Stoke it?” Finnit looked nervous. “What, uh—what do you want? My soul?” How amusing. “Are you offering that?” You approached him, attempting to loom in the way he found so appealing when Vosaphar did it. Finnit looked terrified as you reached down and plucked a glowing lens fragment from his hair. “No, Finnit. Not your soul. I want these.” “Oh—is that all? Yes, you can have them. They’re not even really mine, I don’t think.” Finnit parted easily with the fragments, tossing each into the furnace as he found it. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to cause some new chaos. He had no sense of priorities. And neither—apparently—did you, entertaining this… cloyingly earnest romantic nonsense. You reached for Finnit’s transit band, warping the sigils such that they would send Finnit on his way. Before activating it, you paused. “If you treat Vosaphar with anything less than the respect owed to such an unreasonably affectionate devil, I will send every specter in my dominion to drag you back here, and drown you in these depths for all eternity.” It was a joke. Mostly. You were sure that Finnit appreciated it. With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. You basked in the new heat now crackling and seething in your furnace. And how ridiculous an exchange it was, to receive all that energy for a trivial bit of spellcraft. Even an incubus would have found no pleasure in the seduction of such easy prey. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[That’s why you did it, right? You *just* wanted the power. Nothing more. You felt nothing else. Surely. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[Survive. ⇒->26AAABBA. Vosaphar]]]]]]]</div>] Unless: (link-reveal: "You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. Darkness pooled around you, threshed with dozens of unblinking, glowing eyes. Gobs of loose flesh sizzled on charred bones to add to the illusion’s sensory overload. You adopted a threatening posture and swept out of your cottage to approach Finnit, trailing black grease in your wake. “Mortal!” you shouted, startling him. “You dare trespass upon my dominion?” Finnit turned your way, and his breath hitched at the loathsome sight of you. He cowered. Mortals were so susceptible to this kind of stagecraft, weren’t they? “I—I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—” “Silence!” You stretched and oozed before him. “You have stolen from me. You must return what I’m owed.” Finnit’s eyes darted about wildly, as if he were considering running away. He wouldn’t make it far. “Could you please—um—grand one? Uh, what did I steal?” “My *light*.” You over-articulated the “t” with such exuberance that flecks of acid splattered from your many mouths. “The Pharos Fidelis.” You wrapped a slimy tentacle around his arm, pulling him closer so you could pluck one of the fragments from his clothes. “What? Oh. Oh you can—you can have those. They’re, um, not even mine.” He was too frightened to assist in this process, so you grabbed each fragment, showing no regard for his comfort. Shards collected—from his perspective, devoured—you began shambling back to your cottage. “Wait!” Finnit called after you. “Um—I need—I need to get back to Vosaphar—do you know him? Or—” “I am the warden of these calciferous wastes, and he is my subject. Mortal longings are not my concern…” “But please, I—” “…Unless, of course, you wish to receive… an accord.” And there it was. Not only had you easily liberated the shards from his unworthy possession, but you could do even more to sate your rage with the proceedings of the eclipse. “An accord?” Finnit asked. “You’ll help me get back?” “For a *price*,” you hissed. “I gave you—I gave you the fragments!” He seemed to have realized his mistake. Perhaps he ought to have actually read *Case Studies in Infernal Betrayal* instead of assuming all demons would be as needy and pathetic as Vosaphar. “You claimed yourself that you had no ownership over them. They are mine already. One cannot offer a gift already granted.” “So what do you want?” His voice was strained. “My soul?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“*That* is worthless.” Drawing from the power of the fragments you held, you manifested a bloodfrost dagger from the fog, its keen edge sharp enough to carve the walls of the lazurynth. “Take this dagger to Luminary Raekard. I tire of his incompetent scheming. Carve out his heart. Then burn it in a ring of hellfire until it is but ash on the wind.” “But I—I can’t kill someone!” Finnit shouted. “That’s absurd—even someone as awful as him—and he’s so dangerous. It would never work.” “Then you will die here, and never again wrap your wretched limbs around the devil you cling to in the dark.” You sidled into your cottage, leaving him to contemplate his mortal morality while you stoked the furnace with the fragments. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to inflict some new misery upon the world. It wasn’t long before he approached you again. He looked directly at you, gazing into your seething core, and without stumbling, said, “I accept those terms.” You wrapped a tendril around the hilt of the dagger and offered it to him. He took it, his expression grim and determined. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[You *almost* believed he could do it. With a burst of magic, you activated his bracelet—the transit band—and sent him to his terrible fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[Append. ⇒->P4AAABBB. Fourth Principle]]]]]]]</div> ] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. Well, at least the version of yourself that held court, lording your specificity over these dismal barrens. Finnit would get to see you for what you were: powerful, yet petty. Exhausted, too. It was miserable to live with your failures. You slunk to your soot-stained armchair by the furnace, waiting for the mortal to arrive. He knocked at the door. “Hello? Is—is someone in here?” “Come in, Finnit.” He opened the door, and saw you by the furnace. What texture the man had taken on since he left Cairnveld, struggling through your schemes in that desperate way that humans are wont to do. You gestured for him to sit in the chair across from yours. He obliged, if a bit warily. “Welcome to my calciferous wastes,” you said. “I wonder what you think of them?” “Calciferous wastes?” Something flickered in his eyes. “Is that—do you know Vosaphar?” “Answer my question first, if you will.” Finnit seemed taken aback, but recovered. “Well, if you really want to know—I can see why Vosaphar was so determined to leave.” You could almost see him realizing in real time that he probably was meant to say something kinder. “Not that there isn’t something… eerily beautiful about the colors streaking across the sky. But, it’s very cold and sharp and it seems sad, I guess?” “Yes, Vosaphar is troubled by his existence. As are we all.” You clicked your claws against the coralbone armrest. “You look—If you don’t mind me saying—you look familiar to me. But I don’t understand why. Who are you?” “I’m the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “So I guess he banished me here? It was the first place he thought of?” “I’m flattered.” A pause. “And perhaps you ought to be relieved that he didn’t recall the lazurynth quicker.” “I need to get back to him.” Finnit fixed you with a serious expression. “He might be hurt, or—I want to get back. Please. He means—he means a lot to me.” “It is not a matter of necessity, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Wait—I know why you look familiar!” He studied your face once more. “You look a little bit like… my grandmother.” “The trees in Tinfallow have deep roots indeed, if they reach all the way to these calciferous wastes.” “I don’t understand.” He bit his lip. “There are too many pieces—it’s hard to look at directly.” “Then focus on the piece of it you care about.” “Vosaphar.” “Of course. Young love. Star-crossed, even.” You sighed. “Well, I could send you on your way to Cairnveld.” You pointed at his bracelet. “But…” “You want something in return?” Finnit asked, leaning forward. “What is it? What do you want?” “What I *really* want is for you to have written my name correctly on the Pharos Fidelis.” Finnit sat back again. “That’s—that’s *you*? Your name? I expected someone so much more…” “Impressive?” You gave a hollow laugh. “Terrifying,” he finished. “But you seem, I don’t know, reasonable enough?” “I’m sure it seems that way.” “Well I—I don’t think I can undo what happened,” Finnit said. “I’m sorry it didn’t work. I know it may not look that way, but I really did try. I don’t know what it would’ve done if it worked, but I tried.” “You did.” You looked over at your furnace, where your sluggish motes of hellfire simmered. “I want the lens fragments in your possession.” “Lens fragments?” You pointed them out in his hair and on his clothes. “So that’s what you’re proposing as the terms of an exchange? I give you these shards, and you’ll send me back to Cairnveld?” “Yes.” “It just seems… I don’t know. I feel like there is still so much that I’m missing? If you—if you really are connected to me, in some way… would you want to… stay in touch?” You hadn’t expected *that*, of all things. “You want the warden of the calciferous wastes to offer you… mentorship.” “I’ve done much weirder things today!” Finnit said, rather defensively. “I went to the *sun*. Look, my mentor is Luminary Raekard. An actual demon would be a significant improvement.” “Ah, Raekard. I regret my part in that, given how it went.” “What?” Finnit’s eyes widened. “What do you mean you—” “Finnit, I propose an addendum to our… accord. If you wish to speak with me, you shall have one chance to do so during each new moon. Sacrifice a lens fragment in my name, and we shall converse for one hour.” “I’m not sure how I’ll get more of these,” Finnit said. “It seems expensive.” “And yet, a single fragment pales against the scale of what you destroyed. You could not possibly comprehend how far you’ve set me back. But,” you added, softening your tone, “I will make that hour as worthwhile as you wish it to be.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit accepted those terms, tossing each of the lens fragments on his person into your furnace. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to bend ever more futures in your favor. “Thank you,” Finnit said, as you adjusted the sigils on his transit band. “I—I’m glad to have met you.” With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[Survive. ⇒->26AAABBC. Vosaphar]]]]</div> ]]]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Mote]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending AAABBA]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending AAABBA]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 3)[Anathema.] (text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 1.15)[The Fourth Principle of Summoning.]</div> A timely addendum, courtesy of you. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Behold the fourth principle of summoning: (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color:#a01404)[**4. The Principle of Voluntary and Efficient Accession to the Extraordinarily Reasonable Conditions Imposed by the Magnanimous Warden of the Calciferous Wastes, Who Certainly Never Even Cared About the Pharos Fidelis, And Certainly Not the Absurd Romantic Yearnings of Your Pathetic Subjects—Or Else.**] Summoners who willingly and knowingly forge an accord with you must see their bargain through, or suffer the consequences of incompetence and betrayal. (text-color:#a01404)[***Implication:***] You suffered long and worked hard to eke out your existence. (text-color:#a01404)[***Implication:***] You generously helped him plenty up to this point—for free. It wasn’t such a high price to ask him to kill someone he hated anyway. You both benefited from this accord. (text-color:#a01404)[***Implication:***] His failure was inevitable. You weren’t *really* invested in his survival, or his potential to shift the tenor of human-demon relations. You were just hungry for more power, right? You just wanted to enrich your tiny slice of the hells, fuel your furnace, as you had always done. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It would have been unreasonable for *you*, of all beings, to have cared. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Bemoan. ⇒->26AAABBB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Behold the fourth principle of summoning: (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color:#f17264)[**4. The Principle of Voluntary and Efficient Accession to the Extraordinarily Reasonable Conditions Imposed by the Magnanimous Warden of the Calciferous Wastes, Who Certainly Never Even Cared About the Pharos Fidelis, And Certainly Not the Absurd Romantic Yearnings of Your Pathetic Subjects—Or Else.**] Summoners who willingly and knowingly forge an accord with you must see their bargain through, or suffer the consequences of incompetence and betrayal. (text-color:#f17264)[***Implication:***] You suffered long and worked hard to eke out your existence. (text-color:#f17264)[***Implication:***] You generously helped him plenty up to this point—for free. It wasn’t such a high price to ask him to kill someone he hated anyway. You both benefited from this accord. (text-color:#f17264)[***Implication:***] His failure was inevitable. You weren’t *really* invested in his survival, or his potential to shift the tenor of human-demon relations. You were just hungry for more power, right? You just wanted to enrich your tiny slice of the hells, fuel your furnace, as you had always done. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It would have been unreasonable for *you*, of all beings, to have cared. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Bemoan. ⇒->26AAABBB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending AAABBC]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending AAABBC]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17AAA. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4AAAB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s desperation, causing him to impulsively banish Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate calculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25AAABB. Finnit]]]</div> You took a comforting form, nurturing his budding relationship with Vosaphar in exchange for the lens fragments on his person. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17AAA. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4AAAB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s desperation, causing him to impulsively banish Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate calculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25AAABB. Finnit]]]</div> You took a comforting form, nurturing his budding relationship with Vosaphar in exchange for the lens fragments on his person. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he would *stay* longing. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[For, if you must suffer this catastrophic failure, you would offer him no choice but to join you in misery. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending AAABBB]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he would *stay* longing. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[For, if you must suffer this catastrophic failure, you would offer him no choice but to join you in misery. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending AAABBB]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the brief union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Finnit perished in a failed assassination attempt upon his return to Cairnveld, screaming of the sun. A strange footnote to this history. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. But a new threat lurked. The demon Vosaphar absorbed the fragments around him, growing distorted in his influence. He climbed upon the melted peak and in his sorrow and fury, bewitched many ships to their doom with fata morgana. He had become, in effect, the latest Pharos Fidelis. Perhaps he had even become something more powerful than *you*. And perhaps you deserved to finally feel fear again. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17AAA. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4AAAB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s desperation, causing him to impulsively banish Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate calculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25AAABB. Finnit]]]</div> You took a terrifying form, seizing his lens fragments for yourself, and dooming him with an impossible accord. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and absolutely no complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the brief union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Finnit perished in a failed assassination attempt upon his return to Cairnveld, screaming of the sun. A strange footnote to this history. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. But a new threat lurked. The demon Vosaphar absorbed the fragments around him, growing distorted in his influence. He climbed upon the melted peak and in his sorrow and fury, bewitched many ships to their doom with fata morgana. He had become, in effect, the latest Pharos Fidelis. Perhaps he had even become something more powerful than *you*. And perhaps you deserved to finally feel fear again. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17AAA. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4AAAB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s desperation, causing him to impulsively banish Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate calculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25AAABB. Finnit]]]</div> You took a terrifying form, seizing his lens fragments for yourself, and dooming him with an impossible accord. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and absolutely no complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17AAA. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4AAAB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s desperation, causing him to impulsively banish Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate calculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25AAABB. Finnit]]]</div> You took an honest form, developing a stronger connection with Finnit while ensuring ongoing access to lens fragments in the future. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17AAA. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4AAAB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s desperation, causing him to impulsively banish Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate calculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25AAABB. Finnit]]]</div> You took an honest form, developing a stronger connection with Finnit while ensuring ongoing access to lens fragments in the future. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[3rd Era | Lightning.]</div> Another fragment recounting the dark history of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">With the fading of the flames, so too did the imperial coffers grow cold. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#4c4833)[**First—**] Kolemeus II called the financiers to approach her throne and confer. They brayed of blockades, their ships sieged in once-safe sounds. Their routes risked wreckage, for the Pharos Fidelis vanquished their vessels. The jester recited a paean to profit. One cannot craft coins from sunken silver. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“I’m having trouble with this, scholarly one,” Vosaphar said. “Is it meant to be sung?” “Are you volunteering?” Finnit asked, clearly amused by the idea. “I’d like to hear *that*.” “Perhaps not.”</div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**Second—**] Kolemeus II called the generals to approach her throne and confer. They agonized of attrition, unable to pry pirates from the passages. Their hosts harbored hunger, for the Pharos Fidelis gainsaid their grain. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">Their unwillingness to employ portals is staggering. I cannot wrap my head around the idea that this dynasty—so resistant to magical solutions—somehow produced the most sophisticated piece of glass to ever exist on this plane. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] The jester crooned an ode to oats. One cannot feed forces with sunken supplies. (text-color:#4c4833)[**Next—**] Kolemeus II called the architects to approach her throne and confer. They lamented of lightning, whose scattered strikes imperiled implementation of any regime of radiance. Their dreams despaired, for the Pharos Fidelis spited their stability. The jester wailed an elegy to effulgence. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">If I ever find this “historian” wandering the hells, I will kill them again. The jester, too. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] One cannot build beacons with sunken stones. (text-color:#4c4833)[**Then—**] Kolemeus II called the sorcerers to approach her throne and confer. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">Finally. Someone who might actually know something. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] They moaned of malleability, unable to fold-forge fluid. Their fingers failed, for the Pharos Fidelis frustrated their philosophy. The jester danced in pretentious pirouettes. One cannot conquer conjecture with sunken scholars. (text-color:#4c4833)[**Further—**] Kolemeus II called the smiths to approach her throne and confer. Though many spoke of spectacle, it was but one who brought her glowing glass newly wrought, for folding lightning the fortress fought. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">This is infuriating to read. One of the worst yet. Is it really so much to ask to see some proper blueprints? They did not even name the glassmaster who perfected the hyperfolding technique. She must have left her secrets somewhere. I have to believe she did. And the form—such that it was—collapsed ahead of the dénouement. Abominable poetics. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] The jester sang demands for demonstration. One cannot light lamps with sunken spirits. (text-color:#4c4833)[**At last—**] Kolemeus II called the jester to approach her throne and confer. He asked for her hand in marriage. She gifted him the glistering glass, and decreed him dragged up the spindliest spire to soar in stormy skies. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“I don’t think Kolemeus II appreciated his joke,” Finnit said. “I bet the rest of the court laughed, though.” “Was it a joke?” Vosaphar scratched the tip of one of his pointed ears. “He might have been serious.”</div>] Thus shone a beam befitting a lavish lens. Its promise proven, construction commenced. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightchroniclechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[[[Ascend. ⇒->11AB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">With the fading of the flames, so too did the imperial coffers grow cold. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#d7cc90)[**First—**] Kolemeus II called the financiers to approach her throne and confer. They brayed of blockades, their ships sieged in once-safe sounds. Their routes risked wreckage, for the Pharos Fidelis vanquished their vessels. The jester recited a paean to profit. One cannot craft coins from sunken silver. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“I’m having trouble with this, scholarly one,” Vosaphar said. “Is it meant to be sung?” “Are you volunteering?” Finnit asked, clearly amused by the idea. “I’d like to hear *that*.” “Perhaps not.”</div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**Second—**] Kolemeus II called the generals to approach her throne and confer. They agonized of attrition, unable to pry pirates from the passages. Their hosts harbored hunger, for the Pharos Fidelis gainsaid their grain. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">Their unwillingness to employ portals is staggering. I cannot wrap my head around the idea that this dynasty—so resistant to magical solutions—somehow produced the most sophisticated piece of glass to ever exist on this plane. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] The jester crooned an ode to oats. One cannot feed forces with sunken supplies. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**Next—**] Kolemeus II called the architects to approach her throne and confer. They lamented of lightning, whose scattered strikes imperiled implementation of any regime of radiance. Their dreams despaired, for the Pharos Fidelis spited their stability. The jester wailed an elegy to effulgence. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">If I ever find this “historian” wandering the hells, I will kill them again. The jester, too. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] One cannot build beacons with sunken stones. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**Then—**] Kolemeus II called the sorcerers to approach her throne and confer. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">Finally. Someone who might actually know something. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] They moaned of malleability, unable to fold-forge fluid. Their fingers failed, for the Pharos Fidelis frustrated their philosophy. The jester danced in pretentious pirouettes. One cannot conquer conjecture with sunken scholars. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**Further—**] Kolemeus II called the smiths to approach her throne and confer. Though many spoke of spectacle, it was but one who brought her glowing glass newly wrought, for folding lightning the fortress fought. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">This is infuriating to read. One of the worst yet. Is it really so much to ask to see some proper blueprints? They did not even name the glassmaster who perfected the hyperfolding technique. She must have left her secrets somewhere. I have to believe she did. And the form—such that it was—collapsed ahead of the dénouement. Abominable poetics. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] The jester sang demands for demonstration. One cannot light lamps with sunken spirits. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**At last—**] Kolemeus II called the jester to approach her throne and confer. He asked for her hand in marriage. She gifted him the glistering glass, and decreed him dragged up the spindliest spire to soar in stormy skies. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“I don’t think Kolemeus II appreciated his joke,” Finnit said. “I bet the rest of the court laughed, though.” “Was it a joke?” Vosaphar scratched the tip of one of his pointed ears. “He might have been serious.”</div>] Thus shone a beam befitting a lavish lens. Its promise proven, construction commenced. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="chroniclechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#927b1a")))[[[Ascend. ⇒->11AB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#927b1a")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Chronicle]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XII.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">As they approached the top of the lighthouse, the vicious wind fell away. The sound of the churning seascape had been suppressed. Even the rainfall faded, as though splattering onto nothing. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit was overcome by the weight of stagnation, a stillness that made him uncomfortably aware of his own breaths. They were quick and shallow, strained from the exertion of climbing these many stairs. He looked to Vosaphar, finding the demon unaffected, calm and focused as his storm-mottled eyes scanned their surroundings. They ascended the last few steps, arriving at a large hexagonal platform. And there it was. When he read about the great lens, Finnit had imagined it to be something gleaming, pristine; glass so perfectly pure and bright, folding light over and over again, faceted just so to amplify every last drop of power into a beam intense enough to overtake even the densest fog. A marvel of sorcery, architecture, and craftsmanship. Perhaps it had been like that, once. What loomed before him was barely recognizable as glass. It had deformed to inky slag, forming indecipherable shapes that buzzed in the back of his head when he tried resolving their details. It was as though the lens’s purpose had entirely inverted; no longer a beacon, it had become a thief of light, soaking every reflection, devouring even the memories of lightning that had long since bolted. Through the core of the lens cleaved its legendary fissure, rising from the base of the platform toward the dark ceiling of its housing above. The cleft was jagged, haphazard, and, Finnit suddenly came to realize, *incomplete*. Like the paving stones in Tinfallow so long ago, he had an overwhelming urge to reconcile the shape that was present with the shape that *should* be present. It couldn’t be a coincidence. Someone had tried—and failed—to scribe an infernal glyph of immense power upon this object. Finnit stepped closer. He couldn’t stop himself. He wasn’t just anyone to this lens; there was something in there, calling for him. Reaching for him. How could he refuse it? The fracture yawned wider as he approached. It might not be open enough to step into, but perhaps he could reach in with his hand, and touch— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Ahh!” Sharp pain seared his shoulders as something yanked him roughly backwards. “What are you doing?” Vosaphar demanded, turning Finnit to face him. “Have you no sense?” Finnit felt dazed. “I—but…” His shoulders throbbed. The demon wrapped an arm around him—not as forcefully as before—and guided him down a few steps, well away from the lighthouse platform. “Sit,” Vosaphar commanded. Finnit sank, resting on the cold stone, facing out toward the dismal scenery he had become so familiar with. He reached up to his left shoulder, feeling where Vosaphar’s claws had shredded fabric and skin alike. “What… happened?” “You fell under the influence of the lens, witless one!” Vosaphar loomed, his horned silhouette fearsome against the stormy sky. “I intervened when you refused to heed my warnings. We should return to our chamber at once. It is not safe for you to be in the direct presence of this force.” “You really care about me,” Finnit said. “That’s—” “We made an accord,” Vosaphar said, annoyed. “Here. Let me, uh…” He knelt next to Finnit to get a closer look at his shoulder, shifting the fabric aside with a much more delicate and deliberate touch. “My rough handling has caused you to bleed. I ask for lenience in your assessment of my violence, given the alternative harm I may have prevented.” “It’s okay,” Finnit insisted. “They’re shallow wounds.” It *was* painful, but he didn’t want Vosaphar to fret about the accord, especially right when he’d once again rescued him from a dangerous situation. “I will tend to them as best as I can,” Vosaphar promised. That struck Finnit as unfair, somehow. Why did Vosaphar feel he owed Finnit that care, but wouldn’t accept it for himself? He decided not to press the issue for the moment. “What is wrong with the lens? What… *is* it?” “Let’s return first,” Vosaphar said. “I don’t trust it. We shouldn’t linger here.” If even a demon found the lens this threatening, Finnit thought he’d better follow that advice. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Retreat. ⇒->13AB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">As they approached the top of the lighthouse, the vicious wind fell away. The sound of the churning seascape had been suppressed. Even the rainfall faded, as though splattering onto nothing. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit was overcome by the weight of stagnation, a stillness that made him uncomfortably aware of his own breaths. They were quick and shallow, strained from the exertion of climbing these many stairs. He looked to Vosaphar, finding the demon unaffected, calm and focused as his storm-mottled eyes scanned their surroundings. They ascended the last few steps, arriving at a large hexagonal platform. And there it was. When he read about the great lens, Finnit had imagined it to be something gleaming, pristine; glass so perfectly pure and bright, folding light over and over again, faceted just so to amplify every last drop of power into a beam intense enough to overtake even the densest fog. A marvel of sorcery, architecture, and craftsmanship. Perhaps it had been like that, once. What loomed before him was barely recognizable as glass. It had deformed to inky slag, forming indecipherable shapes that buzzed in the back of his head when he tried resolving their details. It was as though the lens’s purpose had entirely inverted; no longer a beacon, it had become a thief of light, soaking every reflection, devouring even the memories of lightning that had long since bolted. Through the core of the lens cleaved its legendary fissure, rising from the base of the platform toward the dark ceiling of its housing above. The cleft was jagged, haphazard, and, Finnit suddenly came to realize, *incomplete*. Like the paving stones in Tinfallow so long ago, he had an overwhelming urge to reconcile the shape that was present with the shape that *should* be present. It couldn’t be a coincidence. Someone had tried—and failed—to scribe an infernal glyph of immense power upon this object. Finnit stepped closer. He couldn’t stop himself. He wasn’t just anyone to this lens; there was something in there, calling for him. Reaching for him. How could he refuse it? The fracture yawned wider as he approached. It might not be open enough to step into, but perhaps he could reach in with his hand, and touch— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Ahh!” Sharp pain seared his shoulders as something yanked him roughly backwards. “What are you doing?” Vosaphar demanded, turning Finnit to face him. “Have you no sense?” Finnit felt dazed. “I—but…” His shoulders throbbed. The demon wrapped an arm around him—not as forcefully as before—and guided him down a few steps, well away from the lighthouse platform. “Sit,” Vosaphar commanded. Finnit sank, resting on the cold stone, facing out toward the dismal scenery he had become so familiar with. He reached up to his left shoulder, feeling where Vosaphar’s claws had shredded fabric and skin alike. “What… happened?” “You fell under the influence of the lens, witless one!” Vosaphar loomed, his horned silhouette fearsome against the stormy sky. “I intervened when you refused to heed my warnings. We should return to our chamber at once. It is not safe for you to be in the direct presence of this force.” “You really care about me,” Finnit said. “That’s—” “We made an accord,” Vosaphar said, annoyed. “Here. Let me, uh…” He knelt next to Finnit to get a closer look at his shoulder, shifting the fabric aside with a much more delicate and deliberate touch. “My rough handling has caused you to bleed. I ask for lenience in your assessment of my violence, given the alternative harm I may have prevented.” “It’s okay,” Finnit insisted. “They’re shallow wounds.” It *was* painful, but he didn’t want Vosaphar to fret about the accord, especially right when he’d once again rescued him from a dangerous situation. “I will tend to them as best as I can,” Vosaphar promised. That struck Finnit as unfair, somehow. Why did Vosaphar feel he owed Finnit that care, but wouldn’t accept it for himself? He decided not to press the issue for the moment. “What is wrong with the lens? What… *is* it?” “Let’s return first,” Vosaphar said. “I don’t trust it. We shouldn’t linger here.” If even a demon found the lens this threatening, Finnit thought he’d better follow that advice. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Retreat. ⇒->13AB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XIII.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">After all that climbing up and down the cliffside, Finnit and Vosaphar alike were eager to rest by the fire. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It took Finnit a few attempts to get it going again. Vosaphar watched him intently. Some combination of the exertion, the accord, and exposure to the accursed cloven glass had taken its toll on the mortal. Not to mention the injuries Vosaphar had inflicted. There was a part of him that felt guilty that he worried about Finnit, when he had done little to take care of his own wounds. Even so, he did not wish the sorcerer to suffer injuries he caused, however justified. “I should look at your shoulders,” the devil said. “Later?” Finnit turned over on his bedroll. “It’s not that bad. I appreciate the thought,” he mumbled. “You’re sweet. Sweet one.” Vosaphar stared into the crimson flames for a long while after that. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[With Finnit muttering in his sleep, the demon decided to crack open *Intermediate Remedies: Rites of Relief*. He did not enjoy reading on his own. Sure, there was a mechanical concern—his claws risked tearing the tender pages—but really, he preferred having Finnit explain and contextualize the things he didn’t immediately grasp about human existence. Nevertheless, he paged through, having little success in imagining how these abstract rituals might apply to a devil’s self-specifying injuries. When he reached the third section, a sheaf of paper slipped out. Someone had scrawled a brief note on it. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightjethelletter">Finnit— By the time you see this, your discovery trial has likely commenced. I couldn’t stop it. I know we often joked about Raekard being lazy, such that he sends others to do his bidding. But he must have been quite diligent, to have curried enough favor with the other luminaries to get something this reckless approved. I am not allowed to intervene. Therefore, this note is not an intervention, but merely a statement on the vibrant art of healing. Unrelated to your trial, these rituals might be helpful to ones endangered by perilous circumstances. One hells-bent on infernal methods might do well to be reminded that certain healing rituals might tend to materials well beyond the fleshly. —J.</div> “J?” Vosaphar wondered aloud. “Hmm?” Finnit turned over, his eyes blearing open. “What’s that?” “It was in this book. A note from someone named ‘J.’” Vosaphar handed it over to the sleep-starved sorcerer. “Jethel, of course.” Finnit pored over the message for a minute or so. “Was this really in that book the whole time? I guess I never opened it.” “I hoped to study mortal healing spells.” Vosaphar attempted as neutral a tone as he could muster. “We can look through it later.” Finnit sat up, wincing at his sore shoulders. “Okay, maybe sooner.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar helped the man strip off the robes and his shirt, exposing the flesh beneath. And what a dramatic sight it was, dark bruises blotched across his chest, speckles of black hair trailing down to his soft tan belly. His shoulders were a mess, crusted in half-dried blood. Fortunately, much of it wiped away, revealing the scratches to be shallow. “Listen,” Finnit said. “I’ve been thinking.” The demon tensed. “I didn’t properly thank you for intervening. I don’t know what would’ve happened if I had just… climbed into that lens, surrendered to its influence. Thank you.” “I abided by our accord,” Vosaphar said. “It would’ve been negligent of me to let that happen.” “Sure,” Finnit said. “But… look. It’s a sloppy accord. I’m not some expert negotiator. You’re a demon. I think if you really wanted to, you could’ve found a ‘technically correct’ way of interpreting what I said and gotten away with letting me die. And you didn’t.” Vosaphar felt vaguely uncomfortable. He reached to scratch the back of his own neck. “Maybe you shouldn’t give me any dangerous ideas. Do you have any specific malicious interpretations of the accord on hand that you’d like to share with me?” Finnit smiled. “Maybe not.” “That was probably a joke. But I’m not sure exactly what you’re implying.” Finnit dabbed at one of his scratches with a damp cloth. “I think that you like me, at least a little.” “It doesn’t matter whether I like you a little, a great deal, or not at all. It is in my best interest for you to continue living, is it not?” “I think it’s in my best interest to agree with you. So, yes.” “Good answer.” “But is it—” Finnit appeared frustrated that he couldn’t figure out precisely how to word whatever he was really trying to say. “I know the accord and this whole situation are… not a normal way to become acquainted with someone. The way that I first saw you. I have nightmares about it. It’s not how anyone should have to meet. It screws with everything, like maybe everything I’ve done since is corrupted by that horrible event. But even so, despite all of that, is it wrong to consider you… a friend?” “No,” Vosaphar said. “I don’t think that’s wrong of you. I accept your... friendship. Finnit.” The sorcerer blushed a little, and Vosaphar’s heart stirred. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[When Finnit had drifted back to sleep, the fiend returned to the book of healing spells. Friend or not, wickedly warm feelings or not, the accord still bore its temporal threat: Vosaphar’s eventual, inevitable descent back to the calciferous wastes. Back to wandering. All futures converged there. Didn’t they? Must they? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Enumerate. ⇒->C2AB. Pyrelight]]]</div>]]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">After all that climbing up and down the cliffside, Finnit and Vosaphar alike were eager to rest by the fire. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It took Finnit a few attempts to get it going again. Vosaphar watched him intently. Some combination of the exertion, the accord, and exposure to the accursed cloven glass had taken its toll on the mortal. Not to mention the injuries Vosaphar had inflicted. There was a part of him that felt guilty that he worried about Finnit, when he had done little to take care of his own wounds. Even so, he did not wish the sorcerer to suffer injuries he caused, however justified. “I should look at your shoulders,” the devil said. “Later?” Finnit turned over on his bedroll. “It’s not that bad. I appreciate the thought,” he mumbled. “You’re sweet. Sweet one.” Vosaphar stared into the crimson flames for a long while after that. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[With Finnit muttering in his sleep, the demon decided to crack open *Intermediate Remedies: Rites of Relief*. He did not enjoy reading on his own. Sure, there was a mechanical concern—his claws risked tearing the tender pages—but really, he preferred having Finnit explain and contextualize the things he didn’t immediately grasp about human existence. Nevertheless, he paged through, having little success in imagining how these abstract rituals might apply to a devil’s self-specifying injuries. When he reached the third section, a sheaf of paper slipped out. Someone had scrawled a brief note on it. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="jethelletter">Finnit— By the time you see this, your discovery trial has likely commenced. I couldn’t stop it. I know we often joked about Raekard being lazy, such that he sends others to do his bidding. But he must have been quite diligent, to have curried enough favor with the other luminaries to get something this reckless approved. I am not allowed to intervene. Therefore, this note is not an intervention, but merely a statement on the vibrant art of healing. Unrelated to your trial, these rituals might be helpful to ones endangered by perilous circumstances. One hells-bent on infernal methods might do well to be reminded that certain healing rituals might tend to materials well beyond the fleshly. —J.</div> “J?” Vosaphar wondered aloud. “Hmm?” Finnit turned over, his eyes blearing open. “What’s that?” “It was in this book. A note from someone named ‘J.’” Vosaphar handed it over to the sleep-starved sorcerer. “Jethel, of course.” Finnit pored over the message for a minute or so. “Was this really in that book the whole time? I guess I never opened it.” “I hoped to study mortal healing spells.” Vosaphar attempted as neutral a tone as he could muster. “We can look through it later.” Finnit sat up, wincing at his sore shoulders. “Okay, maybe sooner.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar helped the man strip off the robes and his shirt, exposing the flesh beneath. And what a dramatic sight it was, dark bruises blotched across his chest, speckles of black hair trailing down to his soft tan belly. His shoulders were a mess, crusted in half-dried blood. Fortunately, much of it wiped away, revealing the scratches to be shallow. “Listen,” Finnit said. “I’ve been thinking.” The demon tensed. “I didn’t properly thank you for intervening. I don’t know what would’ve happened if I had just… climbed into that lens, surrendered to its influence. Thank you.” “I abided by our accord,” Vosaphar said. “It would’ve been negligent of me to let that happen.” “Sure,” Finnit said. “But… look. It’s a sloppy accord. I’m not some expert negotiator. You’re a demon. I think if you really wanted to, you could’ve found a ‘technically correct’ way of interpreting what I said and gotten away with letting me die. And you didn’t.” Vosaphar felt vaguely uncomfortable. He reached to scratch the back of his own neck. “Maybe you shouldn’t give me any dangerous ideas. Do you have any specific malicious interpretations of the accord on hand that you’d like to share with me?” Finnit smiled. “Maybe not.” “That was probably a joke. But I’m not sure exactly what you’re implying.” Finnit dabbed at one of his scratches with a damp cloth. “I think that you like me, at least a little.” “It doesn’t matter whether I like you a little, a great deal, or not at all. It is in my best interest for you to continue living, is it not?” “I think it’s in my best interest to agree with you. So, yes.” “Good answer.” “But is it—” Finnit appeared frustrated that he couldn’t figure out precisely how to word whatever he was really trying to say. “I know the accord and this whole situation are… not a normal way to become acquainted with someone. The way that I first saw you. I have nightmares about it. It’s not how anyone should have to meet. It screws with everything, like maybe everything I’ve done since is corrupted by that horrible event. But even so, despite all of that, is it wrong to consider you… a friend?” “No,” Vosaphar said. “I don’t think that’s wrong of you. I accept your... friendship. Finnit.” The sorcerer blushed a little, and Vosaphar’s heart stirred. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[When Finnit had drifted back to sleep, the fiend returned to the book of healing spells. Friend or not, wickedly warm feelings or not, the accord still bore its temporal threat: Vosaphar’s eventual, inevitable descent back to the calciferous wastes. Back to wandering. All futures converged there. Didn’t they? Must they? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Enumerate. ⇒->C2AB. Pyrelight]]]</div>]]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[2nd Era | Pyrelight.]</div> Another fragment recounting the dark history of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">The Six Hundred and Eighty-Seventh Pharos Fidelis Pyretender Consignment Report is hereby filed under the devolved authority bestowed by Our Most Luminous Emperor Kolemeus, in accordance with Pharos Fidelis Pyretender Accounting Ordinance the First. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Acting Pharos Fidelis Pyretender C. F. truthfully attests that, during this six hundred and eighty-seventh month, in addition to prescribed daily allotments of timber, excepting dates the Third, Fifth, Twenty-Sixth, and Twenty-Eighth, the following detritus was consigned to the pyre: (text-color:#4c4833)[**On date the Third—**] Approximately one quarter of the merchant vessel *Resurgence*, run aground at the Pharos Fidelis, and stripped of its useful parts. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">This month would’ve fallen in the midst of the pyre’s decline. No doubt, the dimming of the light and the darkening of the skies contributed to this shipwreck. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] The bodies of fifteen sailors, deceased by drowning in the aforementioned incident, and stripped of their useful personal effects. Four crates of proscribed intoxicant liquor, seized from the wreckage in the aforementioned incident, and stripped of its useful contents. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“Wait.” Finnit read that last sentence again. “Oh, the pyretender just drank it, didn’t they?” “Would you have done the same?” “Probably.” Finnit paused. “I wouldn’t have written it into an official report like this, though.” “Perhaps the pyretender merely tired of their monotonous existence, and never expected anyone to read this report anyway.”</div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**On date the Fifth—**] Ten additional planks from the wreckage of the merchant vessel *Resurgence*, washed ashore. Twenty-six ledgers containing forged records of intoxicant liquor purchase authorization, seized from the wreckage in the aforementioned incident. (text-color:#4c4833)[**On date the Sixth—**] Thirty-one seditious pamphlets, scattered unlawfully outside the Office of the Pharos Fidelis Pyretender. (text-color:#4c4833)[**On date the Eleventh—**] The body of one sailor, culpable navigator of the aforementioned vessel *Resurgence*, deceased by lawful beheading, and stripped of its useful personal effects. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“Only eight days later,” Vosaphar remarked. “Does mortal ‘justice’ always move so swiftly?” Finnit thought about it. “I guess it depends on the judge.”</div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**On date the Twenty-Fifth—**] The carcass of one proscribed entity: werewolf, lawfully destroyed by hunters, and stripped of its usable pelt. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“This is horrific,” Finnit said. “I feel ill reading this.” Vosaphar rubbed his claws together anxiously. “I don’t know much of werewolves.” “A werewolf, even if not fully human, is still a *person*.” “I guess mortals such as this pyretender disdain of more than just demons.”</div>] Thirty-two heretical grimoires, confiscated from the dwelling of the aforementioned proscribed entity. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">It’s a shame that those books were in the hands of that creature and not a proper archivist. I doubt anything the first Kolemian regime deemed “heretical” was entirely useless. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] Eleven heretical ritual candles, confiscated from the dwelling of the aforementioned proscribed entity. Thirteen bundles of proscribed heretical intoxicant herbs, confiscated from the dwelling of the aforementioned proscribed entity. (text-color:#4c4833)[**On date the Twenty-Sixth—**] One hundred and ninety seditious pamphlets, confiscated from the dwelling of lawfully destroyed proscribed entity: werewolf. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“So the werewolf was the pamphleteer?” Vosaphar asked. Finnit fiddled with his bracelet. “They’d have all the reason to be. It’s just… why did it take them an extra day to burn the pamphlets? If I were trying to throw suspicion off of myself, the home of an exposed werewolf no longer able to defend themselves against accusations is exactly where I would put them.” Vosaphar mulled it over. “You are quite the terror, Finnit.” </div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**On date the Twenty-Eighth—**] Radiant ash harvested from the carcasses of five lawfully summoned proscribed entities: demonic, lawfully destroyed by holy ritual blade, in accordance with Pharos Fidelis Pyretender Stoking Ordinance the Fourth. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">What an ideological contortion from a regime so insistent on declaring most useful sorcery heretical. They must have been desperate, to have attempted saving the pyre with a state-sanctioned summon-and-slaughter scheme like this. And how futile. A senseless waste of ritual components. ⚞L. Raekard (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">Vosaphar went very quiet. Finnit leaned his head against the devil’s shoulder for a few moments.</div>] </div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**As Proclaimed:**] The Pharos Fidelis Pyre shall forever brighten the seas of Our Most Luminous Emperor Kolemeus. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“Well, it didn’t,” Finnit said. Unstated thoughts clouded Vosaphar’s eyes.</div>] This concludes the Six Hundred and Eighty-Seventh Pharos Fidelis Pyretender Consignment Report. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightchroniclechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#927b1a")))[[[Assemble. ⇒->14AB. Finnit]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">The Six Hundred and Eighty-Seventh Pharos Fidelis Pyretender Consignment Report is hereby filed under the devolved authority bestowed by Our Most Luminous Emperor Kolemeus, in accordance with Pharos Fidelis Pyretender Accounting Ordinance the First. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Acting Pharos Fidelis Pyretender C. F. truthfully attests that, during this six hundred and eighty-seventh month, in addition to prescribed daily allotments of timber, excepting dates the Third, Fifth, Twenty-Sixth, and Twenty-Eighth, the following detritus was consigned to the pyre: (text-color:#d7cc90)[**On date the Third—**] Approximately one quarter of the merchant vessel *Resurgence*, run aground at the Pharos Fidelis, and stripped of its useful parts. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">This month would’ve fallen in the midst of the pyre’s decline. No doubt, the dimming of the light and the darkening of the skies contributed to this shipwreck. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] The bodies of fifteen sailors, deceased by drowning in the aforementioned incident, and stripped of their useful personal effects. Four crates of proscribed intoxicant liquor, seized from the wreckage in the aforementioned incident, and stripped of its useful contents. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“Wait.” Finnit read that last sentence again. “Oh, the pyretender just drank it, didn’t they?” “Would you have done the same?” “Probably.” Finnit paused. “I wouldn’t have written it into an official report like this, though.” “Perhaps the pyretender merely tired of their monotonous existence, and never expected anyone to read this report anyway.”</div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**On date the Fifth—**] Ten additional planks from the wreckage of the merchant vessel *Resurgence*, washed ashore. Twenty-six ledgers containing forged records of intoxicant liquor purchase authorization, seized from the wreckage in the aforementioned incident. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**On date the Sixth—**] Thirty-one seditious pamphlets, scattered unlawfully outside the Office of the Pharos Fidelis Pyretender. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**On date the Eleventh—**] The body of one sailor, culpable navigator of the aforementioned vessel *Resurgence*, deceased by lawful beheading, and stripped of its useful personal effects. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“Only eight days later,” Vosaphar remarked. “Does mortal ‘justice’ always move so swiftly?” Finnit thought about it. “I guess it depends on the judge.”</div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**On date the Twenty-Fifth—**] The carcass of one proscribed entity: werewolf, lawfully destroyed by hunters, and stripped of its usable pelt. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“This is horrific,” Finnit said. “I feel ill reading this.” Vosaphar rubbed his claws together anxiously. “I don’t know much of werewolves.” “A werewolf, even if not fully human, is still a *person*.” “I guess mortals such as this pyretender disdain of more than just demons.”</div>] Thirty-two heretical grimoires, confiscated from the dwelling of the aforementioned proscribed entity. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">It’s a shame that those books were in the hands of that creature and not a proper archivist. I doubt anything the first Kolemian regime deemed “heretical” was entirely useless. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] Eleven heretical ritual candles, confiscated from the dwelling of the aforementioned proscribed entity. Thirteen bundles of proscribed heretical intoxicant herbs, confiscated from the dwelling of the aforementioned proscribed entity. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**On date the Twenty-Sixth—**] One hundred and ninety seditious pamphlets, confiscated from the dwelling of lawfully destroyed proscribed entity: werewolf. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“So the werewolf was the pamphleteer?” Vosaphar asked. Finnit fiddled with his bracelet. “They’d have all the reason to be. It’s just… why did it take them an extra day to burn the pamphlets? If I were trying to throw suspicion off of myself, the home of an exposed werewolf no longer able to defend themselves against accusations is exactly where I would put them.” Vosaphar mulled it over. “You are quite the terror, Finnit.” </div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**On date the Twenty-Eighth—**] Radiant ash harvested from the carcasses of five lawfully summoned proscribed entities: demonic, lawfully destroyed by holy ritual blade, in accordance with Pharos Fidelis Pyretender Stoking Ordinance the Fourth. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">What an ideological contortion from a regime so insistent on declaring most useful sorcery heretical. They must have been desperate, to have attempted saving the pyre with a state-sanctioned summon-and-slaughter scheme like this. And how futile. A senseless waste of ritual components. ⚞L. Raekard (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">Vosaphar went very quiet. Finnit leaned his head against the devil’s shoulder for a few moments.</div>] </div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**As Proclaimed:**] The Pharos Fidelis Pyre shall forever brighten the seas of Our Most Luminous Emperor Kolemeus. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“Well, it didn’t,” Finnit said. Unstated thoughts clouded Vosaphar’s eyes.</div>] This concludes the Six Hundred and Eighty-Seventh Pharos Fidelis Pyretender Consignment Report. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="chroniclechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#927b1a")))[[[Assemble. ⇒->14AB. Finnit]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#927b1a")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Chronicle]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XIV.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">The fragments of all that Finnit had seen and experienced at the Pharos Fidelis had started fitting together into a mosaic. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He did not much like the image taking form. Nevertheless, they had taken up their usual spots by the fire. Just a sorcerer and a devil, all cozy together. As friends. And, more importantly, research associates. “That lens…” Finnit began, scratching his stubbled chin. “I just don’t see how it’s going to be possible to reignite it. Or why you would even want to. Not only is it completely warped into slag but it’s also…” “Haunted?” Vosaphar was clutching a bundled-up blanket to his chest. “Yeah. I guess? You got a better look at it than I did, since you were able to resist its influence. Can you describe what you saw?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Over the next hour or so, Finnit listened, taking notes as the fiend—his *friend*—explained all that he had noticed about the interactions between the lighthouse, Finnit, and the surrounding environment. After Vosaphar finished, Finnit attempted to summarize what he had written. “It seems like we have… what, four problems to solve here? The lens is cracked; it needs to be made whole again. The lens is warped; it needs to return to its original shape, or at least, a shape capable of projecting light outward. The lens needs a source of energy to fuel its light. And last, the lens is corrupted by some potent, phantasmal force—whatever the pseudo-consciousness of the curse actually is—that must be addressed.” “Is that all?” Vosaphar asked, dryly. “Probably not. But listing it out like that, I can’t help but feel like it’s not impossible and rather just extraordinarily improbable that we can get this working again.” “Generations of emperors, architects, and scholars couldn’t get this lighthouse to work properly. For an incipient summoner and demon of no renown, it should be eminently solvable.” “Harsh. But not necessarily wrong.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit next drew out the infernal glyph his mind had projected onto the lens while he was under its sinister influence. Unlike most of the glyphs in his syllabary, this shape was especially difficult to coerce onto paper. Its jagged fingers craved depth to climb out of, a thoroughly unsettling thing to watch writhing on a flat surface. He showed it to Vosaphar. “Is there any chance you recognize this? I can’t understand what this is meant to represent.” The devil extended two claws to claim the page. His eyes grew wide as he stared at it for a moment, and then he shredded the paper to bits, tossing them into the fire. “Whoa.” Finnit’s gaze followed the fuchsia sparks that fled the ashes. “That bad?” “It’s a *name*,” Vosaphar said. “No wonder you couldn’t read it. You should not leave names lying about where they might take root.” “Whose name is it?” “I know not,” he said, curling his tail into the blankets. “But it is a demon’s name. A powerful one. A dangerous one.” How flattering. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Maybe that’s what’s in the lens,” Finnit mused. “There must be something infernal about the lighthouse for Raekard to care so much about it. Perhaps it can be communed with. Reasoned with.” “I do not wish to discourage your… kindness, Finnit. Yet, there remain many demons with whom it would be especially unwise to speak.” Vosaphar looked uncharacteristically unsettled by the discussion. In situations like this, Finnit wasn’t sure what to say. He didn’t want to pry, uninvited, into whatever anxieties the glyph had provoked. He moved his bedroll closer to the tender fiend and clasped one of Vosaphar’s hands in his, gently stroking the demon’s blue-gray fingers. Vosaphar accepted this attention, and after a few minutes, started to relax. It had become ever easier for Finnit to forget the storm raging just outside. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Agonize. ⇒->RAB. Lazurynth]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">The fragments of all that Finnit had seen and experienced at the Pharos Fidelis had started fitting together into a mosaic. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He did not much like the image taking form. Nevertheless, they had taken up their usual spots by the fire. Just a sorcerer and a devil, all cozy together. As friends. And, more importantly, research associates. “That lens…” Finnit began, scratching his stubbled chin. “I just don’t see how it’s going to be possible to reignite it. Or why you would even want to. Not only is it completely warped into slag but it’s also…” “Haunted?” Vosaphar was clutching a bundled-up blanket to his chest. “Yeah. I guess? You got a better look at it than I did, since you were able to resist its influence. Can you describe what you saw?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Over the next hour or so, Finnit listened, taking notes as the fiend—his *friend*—explained all that he had noticed about the interactions between the lighthouse, Finnit, and the surrounding environment. After Vosaphar finished, Finnit attempted to summarize what he had written. “It seems like we have… what, four problems to solve here? The lens is cracked; it needs to be made whole again. The lens is warped; it needs to return to its original shape, or at least, a shape capable of projecting light outward. The lens needs a source of energy to fuel its light. And last, the lens is corrupted by some potent, phantasmal force—whatever the pseudo-consciousness of the curse actually is—that must be addressed.” “Is that all?” Vosaphar asked, dryly. “Probably not. But listing it out like that, I can’t help but feel like it’s not impossible and rather just extraordinarily improbable that we can get this working again.” “Generations of emperors, architects, and scholars couldn’t get this lighthouse to work properly. For an incipient summoner and demon of no renown, it should be eminently solvable.” “Harsh. But not necessarily wrong.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit next drew out the infernal glyph his mind had projected onto the lens while he was under its sinister influence. Unlike most of the glyphs in his syllabary, this shape was especially difficult to coerce onto paper. Its jagged fingers craved depth to climb out of, a thoroughly unsettling thing to watch writhing on a flat surface. He showed it to Vosaphar. “Is there any chance you recognize this? I can’t understand what this is meant to represent.” The devil extended two claws to claim the page. His eyes grew wide as he stared at it for a moment, and then he shredded the paper to bits, tossing them into the fire. “Whoa.” Finnit’s gaze followed the fuchsia sparks that fled the ashes. “That bad?” “It’s a *name*,” Vosaphar said. “No wonder you couldn’t read it. You should not leave names lying about where they might take root.” “Whose name is it?” “I know not,” he said, curling his tail into the blankets. “But it is a demon’s name. A powerful one. A dangerous one.” How flattering. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Maybe that’s what’s in the lens,” Finnit mused. “There must be something infernal about the lighthouse for Raekard to care so much about it. Perhaps it can be communed with. Reasoned with.” “I do not wish to discourage your… kindness, Finnit. Yet, there remain many demons with whom it would be especially unwise to speak.” Vosaphar looked uncharacteristically unsettled by the discussion. In situations like this, Finnit wasn’t sure what to say. He didn’t want to pry, uninvited, into whatever anxieties the glyph had provoked. He moved his bedroll closer to the tender fiend and clasped one of Vosaphar’s hands in his, gently stroking the demon’s blue-gray fingers. Vosaphar accepted this attention, and after a few minutes, started to relax. It had become ever easier for Finnit to forget the storm raging just outside. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Agonize. ⇒->RAB. Lazurynth]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:#7e6eff)+(text-size: 3)[Recollection.] (text-color:#7e6eff)+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Lazurynth.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightlazurynthpassage">Lapis embers blazed blue beneath the walls of the lazurynth. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#2f00dd)+(hover-style:(text-color:#673eff)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The coal pits burned and churned, sweltering starlight powering forges a thousandfold. Fledgling imps crawled the fires, torched tongues slavering for specificity. Demon smiths clanged metal against metal, their listless chorus a lullaby for the not-yet-becoming. In these fell reaches, one ember among countless dimmed out, gasping sapphire smoke. It was preparing to drag a slaughtered devil back to the smoldering pit of his creation. The coal sparked and spat, assembling shredded flesh and charred bones into a screaming fiend. Horns burst through the skin stretched across his skull, spraying ichor that sizzled as it struck blue fire. Blood-scent drew imps toward the languishing demon. They swarmed and tore, devouring the remnants of his wings, craving nourishment further even than that. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#2f00dd)+(hover-style:(text-color:#673eff)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He thrashed, sending his assailants further down the smoking slope as ever more arrived. He crawled and slid, trailing blood from wounds that scorned cauterization. Threats far worse than imps awaited him once he reached the rim. And still, he fought for the right to face or flee them. All that fueled his grueling ascent was the self he refused to abandon. His specificity. He was—and remained—Vosaphar. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#2f00dd)+(hover-style:(text-color:#673eff)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And someday, he would fly again. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#2f00dd)+(hover-style:(text-color:#673eff)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightlazurynthchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#2f00dd)+(hover-style:(text-color:#673eff)))[[[Synthesize. ⇒->15AB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="lazurynthpassage">Lapis embers blazed blue beneath the walls of the lazurynth. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#7e6eff)+(hover-style:(text-color:#2f00dd)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The coal pits burned and churned, sweltering starlight powering forges a thousandfold. Fledgling imps crawled the fires, torched tongues slavering for specificity. Demon smiths clanged metal against metal, their listless chorus a lullaby for the not-yet-becoming. In these fell reaches, one ember among countless dimmed out, gasping sapphire smoke. It was preparing to drag a slaughtered devil back to the smoldering pit of his creation. The coal sparked and spat, assembling shredded flesh and charred bones into a screaming fiend. Horns burst through the skin stretched across his skull, spraying ichor that sizzled as it struck blue fire. Blood-scent drew imps toward the languishing demon. They swarmed and tore, devouring the remnants of his wings, craving nourishment further even than that. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#7e6eff)+(hover-style:(text-color:#2f00dd)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He thrashed, sending his assailants further down the smoking slope as ever more arrived. He crawled and slid, trailing blood from wounds that scorned cauterization. Threats far worse than imps awaited him once he reached the rim. And still, he fought for the right to face or flee them. All that fueled his grueling ascent was the self he refused to abandon. His specificity. He was—and remained—Vosaphar. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#7e6eff)+(hover-style:(text-color:#2f00dd)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And someday, he would fly again. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#7e6eff)+(hover-style:(text-color:#2f00dd)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lazurynthchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#7e6eff)+(hover-style:(text-color:#2f00dd)))[[[Synthesize. ⇒->15AB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#7e6eff)+(hover-style:(text-color:#2f00dd)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Recollection]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XV.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">Over the next few days, inspired by Jethel’s note, Finnit had become convinced that he could adapt a healing ritual to the lens. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar had been pleased for an excuse to read *Rites of Relief* with Finnit. The sorcerer’s face lit with curiosity as he described the properties of ritual targets. Though the spells were designed for living creatures, they could also affect, implicitly, anything both tangible and animated with spirit. The lightmare atop the Pharos Fidelis lurked somewhere dangerously close to those boundaries. Detangling theories of healcraft had not done as much as Vosaphar had hoped to ease his pain. It was little better than his intuitive magic. While Finnit slept, he could clean out his wounds and weave them shut, but it simply wouldn’t stick. He woke up bleeding. Still, Finnit and Vosaphar—contributing their combined knowledge of mortal spells, infernal dynamics, and dubious historical analysis—managed to draft out a spell with potential to enable communion with the cursed lighthouse. After days of this, something shifted. Sure, the drafted ritual was dangerous, targeting a powerful force they barely understood. But Finnit kept claiming he wasn’t sure the spell’s construction was accurate. When this happened, Vosaphar would help him sort through the logic again, and arrive at the same result. The sorcerer was stalling, and Vosaphar knew exactly why. And on other things, the demon might have brought the issue to the forefront himself. But he simply wasn’t ready. He wasn’t ready to return to the calciferous wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Eventually, Finnit had no choice but to voice it. “To even attempt this, I’d need all my magic at once.” There it was. Vosaphar looked into those soft brown eyes; the face he had so come to appreciate seeing as they eked out their existence together in this strange situation. This *temporary* situation. “You’d need to sever the accord,” Vosaphar stated. “Banish me. Reclaim your magic.” “I don’t want to.” Vosaphar felt his cuts squirming and oozing beneath his wrappings. His stomach churned. “Would you—I mean, if I—” Finnit began. “If that happened, I would summon you again immediately after—if you still wanted to, I mean, stay here until the eclipse with... with me—but what if the ritual doesn’t even work and something happens and you’re just…” Vosaphar didn’t know what to say. He looked at the tearful one—the man who’d laughed and read and schemed and comforted and dragged him into all this and ran his fingers through his hair just so and he might never see again and— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He looked at Finnit. And he felt… *Conflicted*. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Influence. ⇒->M3AB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">Over the next few days, inspired by Jethel’s note, Finnit had become convinced that he could adapt a healing ritual to the lens. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar had been pleased for an excuse to read *Rites of Relief* with Finnit. The sorcerer’s face lit with curiosity as he described the properties of ritual targets. Though the spells were designed for living creatures, they could also affect, implicitly, anything both tangible and animated with spirit. The lightmare atop the Pharos Fidelis lurked somewhere dangerously close to those boundaries. Detangling theories of healcraft had not done as much as Vosaphar had hoped to ease his pain. It was little better than his intuitive magic. While Finnit slept, he could clean out his wounds and weave them shut, but it simply wouldn’t stick. He woke up bleeding. Still, Finnit and Vosaphar—contributing their combined knowledge of mortal spells, infernal dynamics, and dubious historical analysis—managed to draft out a spell with potential to enable communion with the cursed lighthouse. After days of this, something shifted. Sure, the drafted ritual was dangerous, targeting a powerful force they barely understood. But Finnit kept claiming he wasn’t sure the spell’s construction was accurate. When this happened, Vosaphar would help him sort through the logic again, and arrive at the same result. The sorcerer was stalling, and Vosaphar knew exactly why. And on other things, the demon might have brought the issue to the forefront himself. But he simply wasn’t ready. He wasn’t ready to return to the calciferous wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Eventually, Finnit had no choice but to voice it. “To even attempt this, I’d need all my magic at once.” There it was. Vosaphar looked into those soft brown eyes; the face he had so come to appreciate seeing as they eked out their existence together in this strange situation. This *temporary* situation. “You’d need to sever the accord,” Vosaphar stated. “Banish me. Reclaim your magic.” “I don’t want to.” Vosaphar felt his cuts squirming and oozing beneath his wrappings. His stomach churned. “Would you—I mean, if I—” Finnit began. “If that happened, I would summon you again immediately after—if you still wanted to, I mean, stay here until the eclipse with... with me—but what if the ritual doesn’t even work and something happens and you’re just…” Vosaphar didn’t know what to say. He looked at the tearful one—the man who’d laughed and read and schemed and comforted and dragged him into all this and ran his fingers through his hair just so and he might never see again and— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He looked at Finnit. And he felt… *Conflicted*. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Influence. ⇒->M3AB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#fc4e71")+(text-size: 3)[Influence.] (text-color:"#fc4e71")+(text-size: 1.15)[Insecurity | Naivety.]</div> Another mote of hellfire appeared. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightmotepassage">When potent emotions conflicted a demon’s judgment, even the faintest mote of hellfire bore enough infernal energy to influence their fate from afar. As you knew. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#8c283c)[***Insecurity***] For the demon Vosaphar, so repressed by the context ensnaring all that he felt, the idea of exposing his secrets to the sorcerer dredged shameful memories of wingless writhing in the lazurynthine pits. This insecurity would have prevented him from sharing that which he kept most hidden, shielding himself against further wounds this flighty mortal might inflict upon his specificity. Yielding to this insecurity, however prudent, risked pushing the mortal away, withering the connection that might move the sorcerer to re-summon him. (text-color:#8c283c)[***Naivety***] For the demon Vosaphar, so enamored with the gentle mortal, the idea of trusting the sorcerer to re-summon him recalled ever-distant moments of connection he once had with other demons developing their specificity alongside him. This naivety would have inspired an openness to sharing the secrets so plaguing his heart. Yielding to the influence of this naivety, however intimate, risked handing the mortal the keys to his shame, leaving him vulnerable to further emotional wounds. (text-color:#8c283c)[***Decision***] Which force did this mote of hellfire incite? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightmotechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))[[[Insecurity. ⇒->16ABA. Finnit]]] (link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))[[[Naivety. ⇒->16ABB. Finnit]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="motepassage">When potent emotions conflicted a demon’s judgment, even the faintest mote of hellfire bore enough infernal energy to influence their fate from afar. As you knew. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Insecurity***] For the demon Vosaphar, so repressed by the context ensnaring all that he felt, the idea of exposing his secrets to the sorcerer dredged shameful memories of wingless writhing in the lazurynthine pits. This insecurity would have prevented him from sharing that which he kept most hidden, shielding himself against further wounds this flighty mortal might inflict upon his specificity. Yielding to this insecurity, however prudent, risked pushing the mortal away, withering the connection that might move the sorcerer to re-summon him. (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Naivety***] For the demon Vosaphar, so enamored with the gentle mortal, the idea of trusting the sorcerer to re-summon him recalled ever-distant moments of connection he once had with other demons developing their specificity alongside him. This naivety would have inspired an openness to sharing the secrets so plaguing his heart. Yielding to the influence of this naivety, however intimate, risked handing the mortal the keys to his shame, leaving him vulnerable to further emotional wounds. (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Decision***] Which force did this mote of hellfire incite? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="motechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Insecurity. ⇒->16ABA. Finnit]]] (link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Naivety. ⇒->16ABB. Finnit]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Mote]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">Tension stretched the moment until it snapped. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“And what if you don’t?” the devil asked, his voice quiet, crimson fire reflecting in his eyes. “Is this—is this *research* worth more to you than—or—or what if you can’t? What if the lens takes you and I never know why I remained for the rest of forever in the calciferous wastes? I—what if—” Vosaphar did not often hesitate in his speech. Finnit felt the pain in his words snarling around his heart. “Vosaphar, hey—look, I—I know it’s hard to trust a mortal. I thought—I hoped to make a fair accord, but maybe things are more slanted than I realized?” “It’s not the accord,” Vosaphar said. “It is, but it isn’t. You have every right to end it, as we negotiated, but what it means for you to do so, and what it means for *me* to do so, are not the same. And I don’t—I can’t know where I stand with you—or how you feel, really about… me.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit approached Vosaphar and embraced him, ensconcing within the seething heat always simmering beneath that blue-gray skin, the devil’s beard bristling against his neck, and they stood like that for some time. “I don’t know exactly what is developing between us,” Finnit said, when finally they pulled apart. “I want to be honest with you. I feel like it could become anything. And I want to find out what it becomes. *With* you. But you’re right about the danger of the ritual. Even with our best efforts to predict it, there’s no real telling what will happen to me when I approach the lens. Still, I—I want to see this… trial through, too. I don’t think I could live with myself if—having gotten so close to the Pharos Fidelis—I didn’t also do what I could to understand it.” Vosaphar gazed down at him, his eyes searching Finnit’s soul for the honesty behind his words. He sighed. “I… have also come to be curious about this strange island. I admit such. I cannot fault you for that, inquisitive one.” “I have an idea,” Finnit said, reaching into one of the crates for his wax sticks. “Would you—would you show me how to draw a glyph for your name? Then—if I do survive—I’ll be able to draw a much stronger circle for you. Less semantic dilution. You can show me every detail, and I can practice until I get it perfect.” The demon accepted the tender wax between his claws and knelt, beginning to draw on the stone floor. Finnit sat beside him, still within reach of his preternatural warmth, and watched the glyph take shape swoop by swoop, hook by hook, its details knitting together into something unmistakably Vosapharian. The devil stepped back from the sigil. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit looked closely, tracing the mark with his fingertips. “It makes me feel—like I want to soar the skies with you, through the smoke rising from some brimstone caldera. It’s—a beautiful feeling. And that’s you. That’s your name.” Vosaphar handed him the wax stick—now barely holding its shape from the heat—and Finnit drew for himself. And he found it came easily, when he followed that feeling that burned in his heart when he thought of Vosaphar. He closed his eyes, letting his hand move across the stone. When he opened them again, he had written the demon’s name—in his own handwriting—and the glyph seemed to radiate its own power. “I’m ready.” Vosaphar gave him a wan smile. “I’m ready to go.” “Are you sure?” “I should go.” “I will see you again,” Finnit promised. “I know.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Banish. ⇒->P3ABA. Third Principle]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">Tension stretched the moment until it snapped. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“And what if you don’t?” the devil asked, his voice quiet, crimson fire reflecting in his eyes. “Is this—is this *research* worth more to you than—or—or what if you can’t? What if the lens takes you and I never know why I remained for the rest of forever in the calciferous wastes? I—what if—” Vosaphar did not often hesitate in his speech. Finnit felt the pain in his words snarling around his heart. “Vosaphar, hey—look, I—I know it’s hard to trust a mortal. I thought—I hoped to make a fair accord, but maybe things are more slanted than I realized?” “It’s not the accord,” Vosaphar said. “It is, but it isn’t. You have every right to end it, as we negotiated, but what it means for you to do so, and what it means for *me* to do so, are not the same. And I don’t—I can’t know where I stand with you—or how you feel, really about… me.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit approached Vosaphar and embraced him, ensconcing within the seething heat always simmering beneath that blue-gray skin, the devil’s beard bristling against his neck, and they stood like that for some time. “I don’t know exactly what is developing between us,” Finnit said, when finally they pulled apart. “I want to be honest with you. I feel like it could become anything. And I want to find out what it becomes. *With* you. But you’re right about the danger of the ritual. Even with our best efforts to predict it, there’s no real telling what will happen to me when I approach the lens. Still, I—I want to see this… trial through, too. I don’t think I could live with myself if—having gotten so close to the Pharos Fidelis—I didn’t also do what I could to understand it.” Vosaphar gazed down at him, his eyes searching Finnit’s soul for the honesty behind his words. He sighed. “I… have also come to be curious about this strange island. I admit such. I cannot fault you for that, inquisitive one.” “I have an idea,” Finnit said, reaching into one of the crates for his wax sticks. “Would you—would you show me how to draw a glyph for your name? Then—if I do survive—I’ll be able to draw a much stronger circle for you. Less semantic dilution. You can show me every detail, and I can practice until I get it perfect.” The demon accepted the tender wax between his claws and knelt, beginning to draw on the stone floor. Finnit sat beside him, still within reach of his preternatural warmth, and watched the glyph take shape swoop by swoop, hook by hook, its details knitting together into something unmistakably Vosapharian. The devil stepped back from the sigil. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit looked closely, tracing the mark with his fingertips. “It makes me feel—like I want to soar the skies with you, through the smoke rising from some brimstone caldera. It’s—a beautiful feeling. And that’s you. That’s your name.” Vosaphar handed him the wax stick—now barely holding its shape from the heat—and Finnit drew for himself. And he found it came easily, when he followed that feeling that burned in his heart when he thought of Vosaphar. He closed his eyes, letting his hand move across the stone. When he opened them again, he had written the demon’s name—in his own handwriting—and the glyph seemed to radiate its own power. “I’m ready.” Vosaphar gave him a wan smile. “I’m ready to go.” “Are you sure?” “I should go.” “I will see you again,” Finnit promised. “I know.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Banish. ⇒->P3ABA. Third Principle]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">Tension stretched the moment until it snapped. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“I believe you,” the devil said, his voice quiet, crimson fire reflecting in his eyes. “I believe *in* you, Finnit. That your clever spell will commune with the lens, and that you mean to summon me again. But I want to say something important. Will you—will you listen?” Vosaphar did not often hesitate in his speech. Finnit felt warmth rushing to his heart. “Yes. Of course. I will listen.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Finnit—you do not know of the hells. You are closer to knowing them than most mortals. Yet, you wield its stolen fire, far removed from all the machinations of misery that produces it. Do your tomes whisper of the hells? They speak echoes of echoes, stories demons thought fit to share, or extorted from tongues that sorcerers shackled. As accorded, we both have the ability to end our agreement. Yet, what it means for you to do so, and what it means for *me* to do so, are not the same. My existence used to be something simpler. I was part of a great machine—with glimpses of insight, perhaps, but always hammering to the rhythm of greater powers. I rose through the ranks, bit by bit, becoming more of something—myself. I had wings. I could fly. And then, your master ripped me from that pattern, disrupted my existence, and now I know things, and feel things, at an intensity that I never should have. I gained *specificity*, and in my descent back to the pits of the lazurynth, it turned against me. I could not muster the power to heal these wounds, for all the time since you saw me fall at Cairnveld.” Vosaphar shed the layers of clothing over his torso, revealing blood-soaked wrappings. He had slash marks all across his chest and stomach. How had Finnit never seen them? Never realized? He wanted to leap over the fire to comfort his companion, but the demon was not yet finished with what he had to say. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“I wandered the calciferous wastes, bleeding, unable to heal. And you brought me here, and I gained back so much power and learned your mortal theories of the flesh and I still cannot heal. And it’s because of my specificity—a demon, given magic, will attempt to revert to their truest, most specific form. But I spent so long bleeding, that my wounds have become essential to that form. They will always reopen. And I’m afraid of returning to the calciferous wastes, losing my power again, but retaining this awareness of my pain. Your time is brief—far less than you deserve—but that leaves me to contemplate eternity, until I subsume under the fires, and even the hells are ground up with the rest of all that still exists, and the very last drop of rain has at last trickled down the Pharos Fidelis into a long-dead sea, becoming something even less imaginable than the senseless void, and for what? It is so much, Finnit. Why must—why must we—why must… I—I don’t want to face… I don’t—I don’t want to—” Finnit was sobbing. He ran to Vosaphar, embracing him, ensconced within the seething heat always simmering beneath that blue-gray skin, the devil’s beard bristling against his neck, and they stood like that for some time, until the tears spent themselves dry, and Finnit released him. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“I’m ready,” Vosaphar said. “Are you sure?” “I should go.” “I will see you again,” Finnit promised. “I know.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Banish. ⇒->P3ABB. Third Principle]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">Tension stretched the moment until it snapped. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“I believe you,” the devil said, his voice quiet, crimson fire reflecting in his eyes. “I believe *in* you, Finnit. That your clever spell will commune with the lens, and that you mean to summon me again. But I want to say something important. Will you—will you listen?” Vosaphar did not often hesitate in his speech. Finnit felt warmth rushing to his heart. “Yes. Of course. I will listen.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Finnit—you do not know of the hells. You are closer to knowing them than most mortals. Yet, you wield its stolen fire, far removed from all the machinations of misery that produces it. Do your tomes whisper of the hells? They speak echoes of echoes, stories demons thought fit to share, or extorted from tongues that sorcerers shackled. As accorded, we both have the ability to end our agreement. Yet, what it means for you to do so, and what it means for *me* to do so, are not the same. My existence used to be something simpler. I was part of a great machine—with glimpses of insight, perhaps, but always hammering to the rhythm of greater powers. I rose through the ranks, bit by bit, becoming more of something—myself. I had wings. I could fly. And then, your master ripped me from that pattern, disrupted my existence, and now I know things, and feel things, at an intensity that I never should have. I gained *specificity*, and in my descent back to the pits of the lazurynth, it turned against me. I could not muster the power to heal these wounds, for all the time since you saw me fall at Cairnveld.” Vosaphar shed the layers of clothing over his torso, revealing blood-soaked wrappings. He had slash marks all across his chest and stomach. How had Finnit never seen them? Never realized? He wanted to leap over the fire to comfort his companion, but the demon was not yet finished with what he had to say. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“I wandered the calciferous wastes, bleeding, unable to heal. And you brought me here, and I gained back so much power and learned your mortal theories of the flesh and I still cannot heal. And it’s because of my specificity—a demon, given magic, will attempt to revert to their truest, most specific form. But I spent so long bleeding, that my wounds have become essential to that form. They will always reopen. And I’m afraid of returning to the calciferous wastes, losing my power again, but retaining this awareness of my pain. Your time is brief—far less than you deserve—but that leaves me to contemplate eternity, until I subsume under the fires, and even the hells are ground up with the rest of all that still exists, and the very last drop of rain has at last trickled down the Pharos Fidelis into a long-dead sea, becoming something even less imaginable than the senseless void, and for what? It is so much, Finnit. Why must—why must we—why must… I—I don’t want to face… I don’t—I don’t want to—” Finnit was sobbing. He ran to Vosaphar, embracing him, ensconced within the seething heat always simmering beneath that blue-gray skin, the devil’s beard bristling against his neck, and they stood like that for some time, until the tears spent themselves dry, and Finnit released him. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“I’m ready,” Vosaphar said. “Are you sure?” “I should go.” “I will see you again,” Finnit promised. “I know.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Banish. ⇒->P3ABB. Third Principle]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#cbc999")+(text-size: 3)[Dogma.] (text-color:"#cbc999")+(text-size: 1.15)[The Third Principle of Summoning.]</div> Yet another unwelcome reminder, courtesy of Luminary Raekard. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightprinciplepassage">Recall the third principle of summoning: (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color:#65644c)[**3. The Principle of Planar Reversion**] Natural law rejects the presence of extraplanar entities in the mortal realm. Summoned demons therefore revert to their plane of origin, unless acted upon by sustained magical force. (text-color:#65644c)[***Implication:***] An unbound demon that persists beyond the original duration of a summoning circle must do so by feeding upon independent sources of magic. The most readily available source of magic has historically been the summoner. (text-color:#65644c)[***Implication:***] A demon that perishes in the mortal realm shall eventually be reconstituted in the jurisdiction of the hell that governs it. Banishment accelerates this process to an instant. (text-color:#65644c)[***Implication:***] When two sorceries of equivalent potency collide, a rite of banishment will always prevail over a rite of summoning. Account for the principle of planar reversion. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightprinciplechoice">|A>[(text-color:#989b00)[**Moor this wisdom. ⇒**]](click-replace: ?A,(action:'mouseover'))[(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))[[[Mourn his wisdom. ⇒->17ABB. Warden]]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="principlepassage">Recall the third principle of summoning: (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color:#cbc999)[**3. The Principle of Planar Reversion**] Natural law rejects the presence of extraplanar entities in the mortal realm. Summoned demons therefore revert to their plane of origin, unless acted upon by sustained magical force. (text-color:#cbc999)[***Implication:***] An unbound demon that persists beyond the original duration of a summoning circle must do so by feeding upon independent sources of magic. The most readily available source of magic has historically been the summoner. (text-color:#cbc999)[***Implication:***] A demon that perishes in the mortal realm shall eventually be reconstituted in the jurisdiction of the hell that governs it. Banishment accelerates this process to an instant. (text-color:#cbc999)[***Implication:***] When two sorceries of equivalent potency collide, a rite of banishment will always prevail over a rite of summoning. Account for the principle of planar reversion. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="principlechoice">|A>[(text-color:#989b00)[**Moor this wisdom. ⇒**]](click-replace: ?A,(action:'mouseover'))[(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))[[[Mourn his wisdom. ⇒->17ABB. Warden]]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Principle]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[XVII.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">At the center of the calciferous wastes stood a coralbone cottage. The warden’s. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Within the cottage burned a modest hellfire furnace, its crooked chimney venting spirals of smoke. Encircling this abode—the most lavish in all the wastes—was a smooth, still pool that hesitated to reflect the seething skies above. In the depths of this pool glinted a sparse collection of coals, spaced a lonesome distance from one another. Most had dimmed to the brink of winking out. A stubborn few still clung to their hues. One such ember, tinted the color of storm-tossed seas, suddenly flared, sending a ribbon of bubbles roiling to the surface. A demon was about to return to this remote reach of the hinterhells. And when he did, he might’ve been greeted by the warden of the calciferous wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[By you. (after:time+4s)+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|initial>[In preparation for this occasion: (link-reveal: "You approached the place where Vosaphar would emerge cold, wet, and screaming. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You approached the place where Vosaphar would emerge cold, wet, and screaming. He breached the surface of the pool, gasping for air, flailing for relief from the cold. It was every devil’s birthright to struggle their way out from their point of wretched origin. Your bitter pool was kinder than most. He swam toward the cottage, collapsing against brittle floes of bloodfrost ringing the shore. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|O1>[As a token of welcome: (link-reveal: "You loomed over him; a gesture of threat. ⚞↯⚟")[(replace: ?O1)[You loomed over him; a gesture of threat. A mote of hellfire appeared. Or rather, you conjured it, letting it drift between your claws, casting its crimson glow over your shivering subject. He gazed up at you, terrified. You flicked your claws—causing Vosaphar to flinch—and the mote vanished. After that demonstration, you walked back to your cottage. He dared not follow. You were, after all, powerful and dangerous. That’s what he called you, when his poor, foolish mortal companion showed him your fearsome name. Though he ought to have done better to recognize it. To him, you must have seemed as powerful as an archfiend. But your age of hellfire had yet to dawn. The magic you collected from him had already begun stoking the furnace. His toll for meager shelter in this unsafe harbor. Vosaphar crept away into the wastes, and the pool once again fell still. You returned to your work. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Commune. ⇒->Lens ABBA]]]]</div>]] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You offered him a gift; a gesture of warmth. ⚞↯⚟")[(replace: ?O1)[You offered him a gift; a gesture of warmth. A mote of hellfire appeared. Or rather, you conjured it, stretching and shaping its fire into an ethereal crimson shawl befitting such a tenderhearted fiend. You knelt to his level, draping it over your trembling subject. He gazed up into your eyes, terrified, as the gauzy heat settled over him. But his shivering subsided. You stood, then returned to your cottage. He dared not follow, even to thank you for your gift. You were, after all, powerful and dangerous. That’s what he called you, when his poor, sweet mortal companion showed him your elegant name. Though he ought to have done better to recognize it. To him, you must have seemed as powerful as an archfiend. But your age of hellfire had yet to dawn. The magic you collected from him had already begun stoking the furnace. His toll for meager shelter in this unsafe harbor. Vosaphar crept away into the wastes, and the pool once again fell still. You returned to your work. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Commune. ⇒->Lens ABBA]]]]</div>]]]]]] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You remained inside, at a polite distance. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You remained inside, at a polite distance. It was every devil’s birthright to struggle their way out from their point of wretched origin. Alone. Your bitter pool was kinder than most. As the furnace crackled, you heard Vosaphar flailing his way to the shore, just outside your cottage. You heard him gasping for air and moaning from the cold. Even then, the magic you collected from him stoked the furnace. His toll for meager shelter in this unsafe harbor. Perhaps he saw you tending to your motes, wishing them enough spark to catch fire when you needed them to. But even if he did, he dared not draw the warden’s attention. You were, after all, powerful and dangerous. That’s what he called you, when his poor, sweet mortal companion showed him your primordial name. Though he ought to have done better to recognize it. To him, you must have seemed as powerful as an archfiend. But your age of hellfire had yet to dawn. Vosaphar wandered off, shivering in the dark, and the pool once again fell still. You returned to your work. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Commune. ⇒->Lens ABBB]]]]</div> ]]]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">At the center of the calciferous wastes stood a coralbone cottage. The warden’s. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Within the cottage burned a modest hellfire furnace, its crooked chimney venting spirals of smoke. Encircling this abode—the most lavish in all the wastes—was a smooth, still pool that hesitated to reflect the seething skies above. In the depths of this pool glinted a sparse collection of coals, spaced a lonesome distance from one another. Most had dimmed to the brink of winking out. A stubborn few still clung to their hues. One such ember, tinted the color of storm-tossed seas, suddenly flared, sending a ribbon of bubbles roiling to the surface. A demon was about to return to this remote reach of the hinterhells. And when he did, he might’ve been greeted by the warden of the calciferous wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[By you. (after:time+4s)+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|initial>[In preparation for this occasion: (link-reveal: "You approached the place where Vosaphar would emerge cold, wet, and screaming. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You approached the place where Vosaphar would emerge cold, wet, and screaming. He breached the surface of the pool, gasping for air, flailing for relief from the cold. It was every devil’s birthright to struggle their way out from their point of wretched origin. Your bitter pool was kinder than most. He swam toward the cottage, collapsing against brittle floes of bloodfrost ringing the shore. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|O1>[As a token of welcome: (link-reveal: "You loomed over him; a gesture of threat. ⚞↯⚟")[(replace: ?O1)[You loomed over him; a gesture of threat. A mote of hellfire appeared. Or rather, you conjured it, letting it drift between your claws, casting its crimson glow over your shivering subject. He gazed up at you, terrified. You flicked your claws—causing Vosaphar to flinch—and the mote vanished. After that demonstration, you walked back to your cottage. He dared not follow. You were, after all, powerful and dangerous. That’s what he called you, when his poor, foolish mortal companion showed him your fearsome name. Though he ought to have done better to recognize it. To him, you must have seemed as powerful as an archfiend. But your age of hellfire had yet to dawn. The magic you collected from him had already begun stoking the furnace. His toll for meager shelter in this unsafe harbor. Vosaphar crept away into the wastes, and the pool once again fell still. You returned to your work. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Commune. ⇒->Lens ABBA]]]]</div>]] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You offered him a gift; a gesture of warmth. ⚞↯⚟")[(replace: ?O1)[You offered him a gift; a gesture of warmth. A mote of hellfire appeared. Or rather, you conjured it, stretching and shaping its fire into an ethereal crimson shawl befitting such a tenderhearted fiend. You knelt to his level, draping it over your trembling subject. He gazed up into your eyes, terrified, as the gauzy heat settled over him. But his shivering subsided. You stood, then returned to your cottage. He dared not follow, even to thank you for your gift. You were, after all, powerful and dangerous. That’s what he called you, when his poor, sweet mortal companion showed him your elegant name. Though he ought to have done better to recognize it. To him, you must have seemed as powerful as an archfiend. But your age of hellfire had yet to dawn. The magic you collected from him had already begun stoking the furnace. His toll for meager shelter in this unsafe harbor. Vosaphar crept away into the wastes, and the pool once again fell still. You returned to your work. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Commune. ⇒->Lens ABBA]]]]</div>]]]]]] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You remained inside, at a polite distance. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You remained inside, at a polite distance. It was every devil’s birthright to struggle their way out from their point of wretched origin. Alone. Your bitter pool was kinder than most. As the furnace crackled, you heard Vosaphar flailing his way to the shore, just outside your cottage. You heard him gasping for air and moaning from the cold. Even then, the magic you collected from him stoked the furnace. His toll for meager shelter in this unsafe harbor. Perhaps he saw you tending to your motes, wishing them enough spark to catch fire when you needed them to. But even if he did, he dared not draw the warden’s attention. You were, after all, powerful and dangerous. That’s what he called you, when his poor, sweet mortal companion showed him your primordial name. Though he ought to have done better to recognize it. To him, you must have seemed as powerful as an archfiend. But your age of hellfire had yet to dawn. Vosaphar wandered off, shivering in the dark, and the pool once again fell still. You returned to your work. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Commune. ⇒->Lens ABBB]]]]</div> ]]]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Mote]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f8cf7b")+(text-size: 3)[Dyslucence.] (text-color:"#f8cf7b")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Lens.]</div> An opaque rite of refraction. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightlenspassage">Another soul witnessed the lens. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ \(align:"=><=")[But what ] \(align:"==><=")[yet remained] \(align:"=><=")[to be seen] \ (align:"==><=")[once] \(align:"==><===")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"mortal")[moral]] \(align:"==><=")[designs] (align:"=><====")[had (link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"stolen")[sowed in] souls,] \ (align:"===><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"unwilling")[a willing] sacrifice in] \ (align:"=><==========")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"defiance of")[deference to]] \ (align:"======><=")[smoke-scorned skies?] \ (align:"=><====")[For] \ (align:"=====><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"even fearless")[ever fearful] fiends] \ (align:"=><=====")[could not comprehend] \ (align:"==>")[an eternity of] \ (align:"<==")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"unlit slag.")[sunlit glass.]] \ (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=")[Nevertheless—] Finnit saw a fragment deep within the throat of the island, its anchored eggs awash in the crimson glow of the future. All he needed to do was wait for the eclipse, cross the threshold, steal a mote of sunlight, and finish writing your name. For even the faintest mote of sunlight bore enough celestial energy to influence your fate from afar. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Or so you dared to hope. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightlenschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))[[[Darken. ⇒->18ABBB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="lenspassage">Another soul witnessed the lens. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ \(align:"=><=")[But what] \(align:"==><=")[yet remained] \(align:"=><=")[to be seen] \ (align:"==><=")[once] \(align:"==><===")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"moral")[mortal]] \(align:"==><=")[designs] (align:"=><====")[had (link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"sowed in")[stolen] souls,] \ (align:"===><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"a willing")[unwilling] sacrifice in] \ (align:"=><==========")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"deference to")[defiance of]] \ (align:"======><=")[smoke-scorned skies?] \ (align:"=><====")[For] \ (align:"=====><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"ever fearful")[even fearless] fiends] \ (align:"=><=====")[could not comprehend] \ (align:"==>")[an eternity of] \ (align:"<==")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"sunlit glass.")[unlit slag.]] \ (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=")[Nevertheless—] Finnit saw a fragment deep within the throat of the island, its anchored eggs awash in the crimson glow of the future. All he needed to do was wait for the eclipse, cross the threshold, steal a mote of sunlight, and finish writing your name. For even the faintest mote of sunlight bore enough celestial energy to influence your fate from afar. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Or so you dared to hope. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lenschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#ac6e00")))[[[Darken. ⇒->18ABBB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f8cf7b")+(text-size: 3)[Dyslucence.] (text-color:"#f8cf7b")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Lens.]</div> An opaque rite of refraction. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightlenspassage">Another soul witnessed the lens. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ \(align:"=><=")[But what ] \(align:"==><=")[yet remained] \(align:"=><=")[to be seen] \ (align:"==><=")[once] \(align:"==><===")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"mortal")[moral]] \(align:"==><=")[designs] (align:"=><====")[had (link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"stolen")[sowed in] souls,] \ (align:"===><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"unwilling")[a willing] sacrifice in] \ (align:"=><==========")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"defiance of")[deference to]] \ (align:"======><=")[smoke-scorned skies?] \ (align:"=><====")[For] \ (align:"=====><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"even fearless")[ever fearful] fiends] \ (align:"=><=====")[could not comprehend] \ (align:"==>")[an eternity of] \ (align:"<==")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"unlit slag.")[sunlit glass.]] \ (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=")[Nevertheless—] Finnit saw a fragment deep within the throat of the island, its anchored eggs awash in the crimson glow of the future. All he needed to do was wait for the eclipse, cross the threshold, steal a mote of sunlight, and finish writing your name. For even the faintest mote of sunlight bore enough celestial energy to influence your fate from afar. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Or so you dared to hope. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightlenschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))[[[Darken. ⇒->18ABBA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="lenspassage">Another soul witnessed the lens. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ \(align:"=><=")[But what] \(align:"==><=")[yet remained] \(align:"=><=")[to be seen] \ (align:"==><=")[once] \(align:"==><===")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"moral")[mortal]] \(align:"==><=")[designs] (align:"=><====")[had (link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"sowed in")[stolen] souls,] \ (align:"===><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"a willing")[unwilling] sacrifice in] \ (align:"=><==========")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"deference to")[defiance of]] \ (align:"======><=")[smoke-scorned skies?] \ (align:"=><====")[For] \ (align:"=====><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"ever fearful")[even fearless] fiends] \ (align:"=><=====")[could not comprehend] \ (align:"==>")[an eternity of] \ (align:"<==")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"sunlit glass.")[unlit slag.]] \ (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=")[Nevertheless—] Finnit saw a fragment deep within the throat of the island, its anchored eggs awash in the crimson glow of the future. All he needed to do was wait for the eclipse, cross the threshold, steal a mote of sunlight, and finish writing your name. For even the faintest mote of sunlight bore enough celestial energy to influence your fate from afar. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Or so you dared to hope. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lenschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#ac6e00")))[[[Darken. ⇒->18ABBA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[XVIII.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">It wasn’t long before even the shock of Vosaphar’s emergence from the pool—exactly as cold and miserable as you had promised him it would be—had begun to fade into the listlessness of wandering the wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The residual magic Finnit had accorded him allowed him to travel faster and further than before. His slash wounds scabbed over more readily, healing further with each attempt. Something had shifted in his specificity. He should have been satisfied with that. Satisfied with the memories of what was, and dreams of what could have been, for bitter honey still bore sweetness. Didn’t it? Another kind of wound had carved itself into his heart. Without Finnit, Vosaphar’s existence felt darker and emptier than it ever had before. He wondered what might be about to happen, was happening, or had already happened at the Pharos Fidelis. Was Finnit still preparing his ritual of communion with the lens? Was it already over? Could he have been, right at that moment, spiraling amidst its unfathomable secrets? Perhaps Finnit’s rite had failed, the cursed lens consuming his soul as it had so many others. But, it could also be… something else. Another reason. Just as that doubt crept in, the devil felt a familiar sensation tugging at his core. Heat coursed through his veins as a tendril of sorcery unfurled for him, awaiting his tender grasp. (align:"<==")[And then—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=========")[Vosaphar] (align:"=><==")[at last] (align:"=><=")[recalled] (align:"===><==")[his] (align:"==><=")[own] (align:"===><=")[principle] (align:"=========><=")[of] (align:"==>")[flight—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Spread wings. ⇒->19ABBA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">It wasn’t long before even the shock of Vosaphar’s emergence from the pool—exactly as cold and miserable as you had promised him it would be—had begun to fade into the listlessness of wandering the wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The residual magic Finnit had accorded him allowed him to travel faster and further than before. His slash wounds scabbed over more readily, healing further with each attempt. Something had shifted in his specificity. He should have been satisfied with that. Satisfied with the memories of what was, and dreams of what could have been, for bitter honey still bore sweetness. Didn’t it? Another kind of wound had carved itself into his heart. Without Finnit, Vosaphar’s existence felt darker and emptier than it ever had before. He wondered what might be about to happen, was happening, or had already happened at the Pharos Fidelis. Was Finnit still preparing his ritual of communion with the lens? Was it already over? Could he have been, right at that moment, spiraling amidst its unfathomable secrets? Perhaps Finnit’s rite had failed, the cursed lens consuming his soul as it had so many others. But, it could also be… something else. Another reason. Just as that doubt crept in, the devil felt a familiar sensation tugging at his core. Heat coursed through his veins as a tendril of sorcery unfurled for him, awaiting his tender grasp. (align:"<==")[And then—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=========")[Vosaphar] (align:"=><==")[at last] (align:"=><=")[recalled] (align:"===><==")[his] (align:"==><=")[own] (align:"===><=")[principle] (align:"=========><=")[of] (align:"==>")[flight—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Spread wings. ⇒->19ABBA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XIX.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">Atop the Pharos Fidelis, Finnit remained just in sight of the great split glass that had spilled its secrets. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he smeared the last of his wax sticks to stubs on wet stone, he did not give the lens a further thought. He did not obey the principle of authoritarian primacy. He did not beware the principle of semantic dilution. He did not account for the principle of planar reversion. He thought only of Vosaphar, with a singular intensity of focus that even the Pharos Fidelis could never have dreamed of refracting. The circle of waxen glyphs coursed with scarlet fire, brighter than Finnit had ever seen it. He averted his gaze, eyes watering. When he looked back, Vosaphar had manifested before him once more. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[From his back spread wings wrought of fire, eldritch blue roiled with red and magenta—the colors of Finnit’s own magic, now intertwined with Vosaphar’s. Finnit’s eyes traveled further, noting ichor scabs crisscrossing the devil’s scarred blue chest, and then, curls of rough hair trailing immodestly past his navel. Streaks of lightning slashed green across the sky, glinting off his fearsome horns. Raindrops sizzled as the demon swept them aside, wreathing himself in silver mist. Vosaphar looked every bit an archfiend of legend looming over him, his eyes fixed on Finnit, reaching forward to press the sorcerer against the cliffside, claws clasping his wrists. “Vosaphar—” The infernal heat overwhelmed his mortal senses. “Please—Vosaphar, kiss m—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon pressed his lips gently against Finnit’s, dark beard bristling against his tender skin, breathing out brimstone incense that smoldered in Finnit’s throat. Just when Finnit thought himself on the verge of feeling too much, that Vosaphar might devour his soul and all his magic in a final, blissful moment of agony, the fiend held back, slackening his grip, and smiled. “I couldn’t wait until I got back,” Finnit said, his vision still sparking. “I—I needed to see you again.” “That’s not all you need.” Vosaphar leaned forward, so close still that Finnit could see details pitted into his horns. “What is it exactly that you imagine, lustful one? A dreadful devil from your darkest dreams, ever so sweetly domineering?” “I–” Finnit felt dazed as those fevered imaginings grew sharper into his mind. “I mean—well—now that you’ve brought it up, that sounds—” “Too bad,” Vosaphar said, his voice sly and soft. “My dear Finnit, you’re all *wet*.” And he was. He’d completely abandoned his wards in the midst of an endless storm. How embarrassing. Finnit also noticed that, in his exuberance to kiss him, Vosaphar had clumsily scorched Finnit’s sleeves with his wings. Suddenly, the demon felt less like some legendary figure, and instead like something better. Something real. Finnit’s companion. Finnit’s love. Finnit’s Vosaphar. “We should head back down,” Finnit said. “We should.” Vosaphar pushed one of Finnit’s loose curls back. “But listen, Finnit. When we do, I want *you* to take the lead. I want things to be… gentle, between us. For now. How does that sound?” “I have never wanted something so much in my entire existence.” Vosaphar grinned, ivory fangs glinting. “Good.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[What followed was an evening of tender fumbling and grasping. Finnit had been piqued by the fantasy of Vosaphar looming over him; and it remained a thought he wanted to revisit later. But, he found that this gentle, deliberate exploration—some serenity among the profane—brought him closer to understanding the demon in a way he found difficult to articulate but easy to just experience as it happened. Tomorrow, research awaited. But for now, Finnit’s fears grew distant as he slept, wrapped against Vosaphar like a warm satchel. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Interrogate. ⇒->C1ABBA. Sunlight]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">Atop the Pharos Fidelis, Finnit remained just in sight of the great split glass that had spilled its secrets. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he smeared the last of his wax sticks to stubs on wet stone, he did not give the lens a further thought. He did not obey the principle of authoritarian primacy. He did not beware the principle of semantic dilution. He did not account for the principle of planar reversion. He thought only of Vosaphar, with a singular intensity of focus that even the Pharos Fidelis could never have dreamed of refracting. The circle of waxen glyphs coursed with scarlet fire, brighter than Finnit had ever seen it. He averted his gaze, eyes watering. When he looked back, Vosaphar had manifested before him once more. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[From his back spread wings wrought of fire, eldritch blue roiled with red and magenta—the colors of Finnit’s own magic, now intertwined with Vosaphar’s. Finnit’s eyes traveled further, noting ichor scabs crisscrossing the devil’s scarred blue chest, and then, curls of rough hair trailing immodestly past his navel. Streaks of lightning slashed green across the sky, glinting off his fearsome horns. Raindrops sizzled as the demon swept them aside, wreathing himself in silver mist. Vosaphar looked every bit an archfiend of legend looming over him, his eyes fixed on Finnit, reaching forward to press the sorcerer against the cliffside, claws clasping his wrists. “Vosaphar—” The infernal heat overwhelmed his mortal senses. “Please—Vosaphar, kiss m—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon pressed his lips gently against Finnit’s, dark beard bristling against his tender skin, breathing out brimstone incense that smoldered in Finnit’s throat. Just when Finnit thought himself on the verge of feeling too much, that Vosaphar might devour his soul and all his magic in a final, blissful moment of agony, the fiend held back, slackening his grip, and smiled. “I couldn’t wait until I got back,” Finnit said, his vision still sparking. “I—I needed to see you again.” “That’s not all you need.” Vosaphar leaned forward, so close still that Finnit could see details pitted into his horns. “What is it exactly that you imagine, lustful one? A dreadful devil from your darkest dreams, ever so sweetly domineering?” “I–” Finnit felt dazed as those fevered imaginings grew sharper into his mind. “I mean—well—now that you’ve brought it up, that sounds—” “Too bad,” Vosaphar said, his voice sly and soft. “My dear Finnit, you’re all *wet*.” And he was. He’d completely abandoned his wards in the midst of an endless storm. How embarrassing. Finnit also noticed that, in his exuberance to kiss him, Vosaphar had clumsily scorched Finnit’s sleeves with his wings. Suddenly, the demon felt less like some legendary figure, and instead like something better. Something real. Finnit’s companion. Finnit’s love. Finnit’s Vosaphar. “We should head back down,” Finnit said. “We should.” Vosaphar pushed one of Finnit’s loose curls back. “But listen, Finnit. When we do, I want *you* to take the lead. I want things to be… gentle, between us. For now. How does that sound?” “I have never wanted something so much in my entire existence.” Vosaphar grinned, ivory fangs glinting. “Good.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[What followed was an evening of tender fumbling and grasping. Finnit had been piqued by the fantasy of Vosaphar looming over him; and it remained a thought he wanted to revisit later. But, he found that this gentle, deliberate exploration—some serenity among the profane—brought him closer to understanding the demon in a way he found difficult to articulate but easy to just experience as it happened. Tomorrow, research awaited. But for now, Finnit’s fears grew distant as he slept, wrapped against Vosaphar like a warm satchel. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Interrogate. ⇒->C1ABBA. Sunlight]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[1st Era | Sunlight.]</div> One more fragment recounting the dark history of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">(text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The illuminative session for Leisenelle, former third officer of the now-renegade vessel ‘Consonance,’ is hereby brought to order. You stand accused of mutiny, murder, theft, deception, consorting with proscribed entities, and willful evasion of justice. Is that correct? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] You would know. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Is that correct? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I guess so. Yes. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“She sounds a lot like you,” Vosaphar murmured, stroking his claws idly through Finnit’s hair. “‘Consorting with proscribed entities?’ What a wicked accusation.” Finnit snorted. “Are you going to bring me to justice?” “Absolutely not.” “Too bad.” </div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Against these accusations, how do you plead? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I do not plead. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] You must make a claim, either to affirm or deny each crime you have been accused of. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I will make no such claims. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The accused has neglected her obligation to plead. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] What’s your deal, anyway? Are you mad? Some pretty vampire in your past tied your morals all up in knots and made you feel sinful? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My role here is strictly illuminative. How did you first come to associate with this vampire? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I was trying to find out the truth about this island. But none of them would talk to me. The islanders, I mean. They resent us. You know that, right? Look at what we’ve done to them since we got here. Someone has to stop it. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, mark a note down for ‘sedition,’ would you? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">At least the clerics are obligated to transcribe what they actually heard. Historians ought to learn from their example. ⚞L. Raekard (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“I think Raekard’s distaste for historians gets in his way,” Finnit said. “How could we possibly know, at this point, what liberties the cleric might have taken?” “It’s going to take more than historians to put a stop to him.” Finnit laughed, but Vosaphar hadn’t told a joke.</div>] </div>] (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] You didn’t have that one already? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Continue. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Fine. This one woman approached me, and told me to visit her house on the outskirts after sundown. I thought she might be into me—and maybe she was, a little—but she wanted me to meet her grandmother. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Yeah. Did the ‘after sundown’ part give it away? I’m not a good storyteller. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The only things your story requires are honesty and accuracy. Justice will account for the rest. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Whatever you need to tell yourself. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] I don’t ‘need’ to do anything. My role here is strictly illuminative. As the accused has been reminded. Continue. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] So, I waited for dusk, and paid her a visit. Her grandmother was living in the basement. Some kind of herbalist, I guess. The whole time we talked, she was crushing up these weird seedpods in a mortar and pestle. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] At what point did you realize this entity was a vampire? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Not until after, when… (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] When what? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] When you killed her. Robbed us of her wisdom, kindness, perspective, heart, all she contributed to her community. And for what? Some ash? Dust? Is there not already enough collecting between the folds of your ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that last term for obscenity. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] What, you’re more scandalized by me describing your dust-crusted ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆ than your violence? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that one as well. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“Which word do you suppose was stricken here?” Vosaphar asked. “Asscheeks,” Finnit said solemnly. “Has to be.”</div>] (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] So you don’t have an answer. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The entity in question was brought before sunlight and destroyed in accordance with all legal and moral precedent. Any ‘violence’ is lawful, and thereby just. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] And you wonder why they hate us. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Hatred is not the subject of this illuminative session. What did your proscribed discussion entail? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] She told me all kinds of stories about this place, how they have fine-tuned their relationship with the island to keep things running, letting their traditions evolve with the conditions. I think her granddaughter wanted her to have someone new to talk to, so she could share all this with someone. The old woman told me that when sun and moon meet in the sky, the boundary between our world and theirs grows thin. At such a momentous event, the cleverest and quickest might climb into the throat of the island and cross the threshold to the cosmos. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">At last. Something of value in this tedious discussion. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire spoke metaphorically, did it not? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">I wondered the same thing. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] No, I don’t think she did. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Explain. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] She said that when the celestial hosts of the heavens are distracted with their dance, the sun grows just cool enough to touch. She dipped her finger into the mortar, and showed me a golden bead of oil, and she said even a drop of sunlight was enough to bless the island for a century, but few survived the transit. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">They must not have understood what they were doing. How could they have, without knowledge of the Three Principles? If there is any truth to it at all, it is clearly some underdeveloped rite of self-banishment, resulting in a temporary transference of a mortal into the hells until planar reversion draws them back. If that. Nevertheless, the ritual is worth investigating further. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] It claimed to have performed this… feat? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I believe her. You would’ve too, had you been there. Thankfully, you weren’t. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My opinion toward the superstitious musings of a proscribed entity is not the subject of this session. My role here is strictly— (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“Illuminative,” Vosaphar said, looking out into the storm. “That’s it?” Finnit asked. “But I want to know… so much more.” “And yet, we know more now than we did before. Does this not confirm what you saw in the lens?” “I guess so. Still…” </div>] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightchroniclechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[[[Suspect. ⇒->20ABBA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">(text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The illuminative session for Leisenelle, former third officer of the now-renegade vessel ‘Consonance,’ is hereby brought to order. You stand accused of mutiny, murder, theft, deception, consorting with proscribed entities, and willful evasion of justice. Is that correct? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] You would know. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Is that correct? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I guess so. Yes. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“She sounds a lot like you,” Vosaphar murmured, stroking his claws idly through Finnit’s hair. “‘Consorting with proscribed entities?’ What a wicked accusation.” Finnit snorted. “Are you going to bring me to justice?” “Absolutely not.” “Too bad.” </div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Against these accusations, how do you plead? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I do not plead. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] You must make a claim, either to affirm or deny each crime you have been accused of. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I will make no such claims. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The accused has neglected her obligation to plead. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] What’s your deal, anyway? Are you mad? Some pretty vampire in your past tied your morals all up in knots and made you feel sinful? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My role here is strictly illuminative. How did you first come to associate with this vampire? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I was trying to find out the truth about this island. But none of them would talk to me. The islanders, I mean. They resent us. You know that, right? Look at what we’ve done to them since we got here. Someone has to stop it. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, mark a note down for ‘sedition,’ would you? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">At least the clerics are obligated to transcribe what they actually heard. Historians ought to learn from their example. ⚞L. Raekard (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“I think Raekard’s distaste for historians gets in his way,” Finnit said. “How could we possibly know, at this point, what liberties the cleric might have taken?” “It’s going to take more than historians to put a stop to him.” Finnit laughed, but Vosaphar hadn’t told a joke.</div>] </div>] (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] You didn’t have that one already? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Continue. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Fine. This one woman approached me, and told me to visit her house on the outskirts after sundown. I thought she might be into me—and maybe she was, a little—but she wanted me to meet her grandmother. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Yeah. Did the ‘after sundown’ part give it away? I’m not a good storyteller. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The only things your story requires are honesty and accuracy. Justice will account for the rest. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Whatever you need to tell yourself. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] I don’t ‘need’ to do anything. My role here is strictly illuminative. As the accused has been reminded. Continue. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] So, I waited for dusk, and paid her a visit. Her grandmother was living in the basement. Some kind of herbalist, I guess. The whole time we talked, she was crushing up these weird seedpods in a mortar and pestle. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] At what point did you realize this entity was a vampire? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Not until after, when… (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] When what? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] When you killed her. Robbed us of her wisdom, kindness, perspective, heart, all she contributed to her community. And for what? Some ash? Dust? Is there not already enough collecting between the folds of your ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that last term for obscenity. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] What, you’re more scandalized by me describing your dust-crusted ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆ than your violence? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that one as well. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“Which word do you suppose was stricken here?” Vosaphar asked. “Asscheeks,” Finnit said solemnly. “Has to be.”</div>] (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] So you don’t have an answer. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The entity in question was brought before sunlight and destroyed in accordance with all legal and moral precedent. Any ‘violence’ is lawful, and thereby just. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] And you wonder why they hate us. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Hatred is not the subject of this illuminative session. What did your proscribed discussion entail? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] She told me all kinds of stories about this place, how they have fine-tuned their relationship with the island to keep things running, letting their traditions evolve with the conditions. I think her granddaughter wanted her to have someone new to talk to, so she could share all this with someone. The old woman told me that when sun and moon meet in the sky, the boundary between our world and theirs grows thin. At such a momentous event, the cleverest and quickest might climb into the throat of the island and cross the threshold to the cosmos. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">At last. Something of value in this tedious discussion. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire spoke metaphorically, did it not? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">I wondered the same thing. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] No, I don’t think she did. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Explain. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] She said that when the celestial hosts of the heavens are distracted with their dance, the sun grows just cool enough to touch. She dipped her finger into the mortar, and showed me a golden bead of oil, and she said even a drop of sunlight was enough to bless the island for a century, but few survived the transit. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">They must not have understood what they were doing. How could they have, without knowledge of the Three Principles? If there is any truth to it at all, it is clearly some underdeveloped rite of self-banishment, resulting in a temporary transference of a mortal into the hells until planar reversion draws them back. If that. Nevertheless, the ritual is worth investigating further. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] It claimed to have performed this… feat? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I believe her. You would’ve too, had you been there. Thankfully, you weren’t. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My opinion toward the superstitious musings of a proscribed entity is not the subject of this session. My role here is strictly— (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“Illuminative,” Vosaphar said, looking out into the storm. “That’s it?” Finnit asked. “But I want to know… so much more.” “And yet, we know more now than we did before. Does this not confirm what you saw in the lens?” “I guess so. Still…” </div>] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="chroniclechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[[[Suspect. ⇒->20ABBA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#927b1a")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Chronicle]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XX.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">With fewer than a handful of days remaining until the eclipse, Vosaphar was determined to spend as much of that time as he could with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon now wondered why they had wasted the preceding days doing everything else *except* wrapping up together in blankets, speaking softly to one another. His ordeals felt paler against the comfort of this heat. Had your machinations even mattered for this? Under these conditions, wouldn’t they have always found themselves in love? You had no motes for lust. Though, based on what you had seen, you wouldn’t have needed them. Goodness. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Once they were ready to venture out, Finnit led Vosaphar back up the cliffside stairs to the crevice dotted with rusted anchors and unhatched eggs. As they sidled toward the anchor collector, she made an ominous hissing sound. Vosaphar stood his ground, exchanging a few guttural words with her, apologizing once again for his foolish attack. She affixed those golden eyes to Vosaphar, unblinking, communicating exactly what would happen to them if he or Finnit disturbed any of her forsaken brood. But she relented, shifting slightly to let them pass. Vosaphar kept himself positioned between her and Finnit, guiding the both of them well away from where her acid-tipped tail had flopped to the side of the tunnel. After navigating through that perilous exchange, the passage opened into a roughly circular chamber. “Look, Vosaphar,” Finnit intoned, pointing up. “We’re right beneath the lens.” Black slag had oozed down from the ceiling, frozen into organic stalactites that reflected no light from Finnit’s orb. While still fluid, they had dripped, leaving a few glassy patches spread across the altar. *Click*. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“What was that?” Vosaphar whispered. He cautiously approached the altar, a raised disk with a tight spiral grooved into its otherwise flat surface. “There,” Finnit whispered. “See the moon?” *Click*. A mechanism lowered a miniature pewter grate, allowing a tiny white sphere to roll a little further forward along the channel. At the center of the spiral lay a rendering of the sun, blotched by inky glass that had dripped down from above. “So much for studying the almanac.” Finnit paced around the pedestal. “This device is telling us how much is left until the eclipse. If we had known earlier…” “But we know now,” Vosaphar said. “Look at how close it is.” Vast and fiddly though the design was, the moon had wound its way close to the center. It was an unwelcome reminder of the future approaching, click by— *Click*. A taut silence stretched between them. Vosaphar had thoughts that he was unwilling to admit to. *Click*. “What if we just stayed here?” Finnit voiced. “Well maybe not this particular chamber. I mean the Pharos Fidelis in general.” He looked down at the transit bracelet Raekard had given him. “I could throw this in the ocean. We could ignore the lens. Stay here as long as we wanted.” “There’s nothing for you to eat, Finnit.” *Click.* “Would you even want to go to the academy?” Finnit stared at the pedestal. “Who even knows what they’d do to you, or—” “I am willing to risk it,” Vosaphar said. “I cannot say what the future holds. But we can’t stay here. I’m in no hurry to descend back to the calciferous wastes. And you have your life to live. I would rather join you in whatever of that you are willing to have me for, or until we choose to part. Is that not the way forward in such matters? The real accord?” *Click.* Finnit was silent for a few more moments. “Yes. You’re right. But I’m scared. This could all go so wrong.” Vosaphar embraced Finnit, holding him close. “It might. We will do our best, regardless.” They stayed together a while longer, before journeying back to their strange little home in the cliffside. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[At the eclipse, they would return. And the fate of the Pharos Fidelis would at last be decided. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Petition. ⇒->RABBA. Calciferous]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">With fewer than a handful of days remaining until the eclipse, Vosaphar was determined to spend as much of that time as he could with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon now wondered why they had wasted the preceding days doing everything else *except* wrapping up together in blankets, speaking softly to one another. His ordeals felt paler against the comfort of this heat. Had your machinations even mattered for this? Under these conditions, wouldn’t they have always found themselves in love? You had no motes for lust. Though, based on what you had seen, you wouldn’t have needed them. Goodness. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Once they were ready to venture out, Finnit led Vosaphar back up the cliffside stairs to the crevice dotted with rusted anchors and unhatched eggs. As they sidled toward the anchor collector, she made an ominous hissing sound. Vosaphar stood his ground, exchanging a few guttural words with her, apologizing once again for his foolish attack. She affixed those golden eyes to Vosaphar, unblinking, communicating exactly what would happen to them if he or Finnit disturbed any of her forsaken brood. But she relented, shifting slightly to let them pass. Vosaphar kept himself positioned between her and Finnit, guiding the both of them well away from where her acid-tipped tail had flopped to the side of the tunnel. After navigating through that perilous exchange, the passage opened into a roughly circular chamber. “Look, Vosaphar,” Finnit intoned, pointing up. “We’re right beneath the lens.” Black slag had oozed down from the ceiling, frozen into organic stalactites that reflected no light from Finnit’s orb. While still fluid, they had dripped, leaving a few glassy patches spread across the altar. *Click*. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“What was that?” Vosaphar whispered. He cautiously approached the altar, a raised disk with a tight spiral grooved into its otherwise flat surface. “There,” Finnit whispered. “See the moon?” *Click*. A mechanism lowered a miniature pewter grate, allowing a tiny white sphere to roll a little further forward along the channel. At the center of the spiral lay a rendering of the sun, blotched by inky glass that had dripped down from above. “So much for studying the almanac.” Finnit paced around the pedestal. “This device is telling us how much is left until the eclipse. If we had known earlier…” “But we know now,” Vosaphar said. “Look at how close it is.” Vast and fiddly though the design was, the moon had wound its way close to the center. It was an unwelcome reminder of the future approaching, click by— *Click*. A taut silence stretched between them. Vosaphar had thoughts that he was unwilling to admit to. *Click*. “What if we just stayed here?” Finnit voiced. “Well maybe not this particular chamber. I mean the Pharos Fidelis in general.” He looked down at the transit bracelet Raekard had given him. “I could throw this in the ocean. We could ignore the lens. Stay here as long as we wanted.” “There’s nothing for you to eat, Finnit.” *Click.* “Would you even want to go to the academy?” Finnit stared at the pedestal. “Who even knows what they’d do to you, or—” “I am willing to risk it,” Vosaphar said. “I cannot say what the future holds. But we can’t stay here. I’m in no hurry to descend back to the calciferous wastes. And you have your life to live. I would rather join you in whatever of that you are willing to have me for, or until we choose to part. Is that not the way forward in such matters? The real accord?” *Click.* Finnit was silent for a few more moments. “Yes. You’re right. But I’m scared. This could all go so wrong.” Vosaphar embraced Finnit, holding him close. “It might. We will do our best, regardless.” They stayed together a while longer, before journeying back to their strange little home in the cliffside. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[At the eclipse, they would return. And the fate of the Pharos Fidelis would at last be decided. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Petition. ⇒->RABBA. Calciferous]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[Recollection.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">Vosaphar’s spilling ichor sang to them so sweetly, libations that lured all manner of lips to lap. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[No longer able to fly, the beleaguered demon ran, stumbled, staggered, crawled—anything he could do to place another lazurynthine wall between himself and his nearest pursuer. He needed somewhere dark and quiet, somewhere safe to recover. Such amenities were unavailable in the lazurynth. But there were other hells than these. Vosaphar slipped through an inky gap between walls that had lost definition, their geometry corrupted by some other force. He sank into an oily pool, far beneath the febrile blue heat. He could no longer tell where the sludge began and his blood ended, drifting ever downward. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Eventually he reached the shore near your cottage, not yet fragmented to spectral remnants. Still specific, despite it all. He crawled to your doorstep, begging for relief from the lazurynth. Should he fall, he would emerge there once more, a cycle of dissolution his demonhood would eventually fail to survive. You told him that the calciferous wastes were hostile and desolate. He said he preferred a false quiet to an honest din. You told him there was nothing of value here—had there been, a warden as petty as you would’ve long been shredded to bits by a stronger devil. He said he preferred an expansive nothing to crowded corridors. You told him he would awaken cold, wet, and screaming, his every lonely birth into this void inevitable suffering. He said he preferred a bitter plunge to a blistering fire. You told him what it would cost, a steady stream of magic to brighten your hellfire furnace, tending to the motes. He accepted those terms without hesitation. You asked him for his name. He still had one. Vosaphar. With that accorded, you plucked his coal from the deepest pit of the lazurynth, and held it between your claws, its blue dimmed to gray. His archfiend wouldn’t miss it. And then you threw it in the pool, and it sank to the bottom, where it lodged itself in a dark crevice. Vosaphar, now under your jurisdiction, fled into the wastes, searching for a smooth bit of coralbone to lean against, however futilely. You gave him desolation, cold, and quiet. In return, your furnace grew brighter. How could you have ever predicted what this would eventually make impossible? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Discover. ⇒->21ABBA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">Vosaphar’s spilling ichor sang to them so sweetly, libations that lured all manner of lips to lap. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[No longer able to fly, the beleaguered demon ran, stumbled, staggered, crawled—anything he could do to place another lazurynthine wall between himself and his nearest pursuer. He needed somewhere dark and quiet, somewhere safe to recover. Such amenities were unavailable in the lazurynth. But there were other hells than these. Vosaphar slipped through an inky gap between walls that had lost definition, their geometry corrupted by some other force. He sank into an oily pool, far beneath the febrile blue heat. He could no longer tell where the sludge began and his blood ended, drifting ever downward. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Eventually he reached the shore near your cottage, not yet fragmented to spectral remnants. Still specific, despite it all. He crawled to your doorstep, begging for relief from the lazurynth. Should he fall, he would emerge there once more, a cycle of dissolution his demonhood would eventually fail to survive. You told him that the calciferous wastes were hostile and desolate. He said he preferred a false quiet to an honest din. You told him there was nothing of value here—had there been, a warden as petty as you would’ve long been shredded to bits by a stronger devil. He said he preferred an expansive nothing to crowded corridors. You told him he would awaken cold, wet, and screaming, his every lonely birth into this void inevitable suffering. He said he preferred a bitter plunge to a blistering fire. You told him what it would cost, a steady stream of magic to brighten your hellfire furnace, tending to the motes. He accepted those terms without hesitation. You asked him for his name. He still had one. Vosaphar. With that accorded, you plucked his coal from the deepest pit of the lazurynth, and held it between your claws, its blue dimmed to gray. His archfiend wouldn’t miss it. And then you threw it in the pool, and it sank to the bottom, where it lodged itself in a dark crevice. Vosaphar, now under your jurisdiction, fled into the wastes, searching for a smooth bit of coralbone to lean against, however futilely. You gave him desolation, cold, and quiet. In return, your furnace grew brighter. How could you have ever predicted what this would eventually make impossible? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Discover. ⇒->21ABBA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Recollection]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">The day of the eclipse, Finnit woke with a sharp pain searing his back, breaking him out of his warm reverie. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar was twitching and scratching in his sleep again. Finnit adored the feeling of the devil’s tail coiled around his thigh, basking in the hellish heat that staved off the island’s chill. Nonetheless, crawling into the embrace of a clawed creature had a few drawbacks. “Hey,” Finnit whispered. “Wake up.” Vosaphar shifted, his tail loosening its grip on Finnit. “Mmph.” “You scratched me again,” Finnit said. “Nightmares?” “Oh no,” Vosaphar said. “I’m sorry, Finnit. Here…” The demon traced the scratches, and Finnit felt an odd prickly sensation as the skin healed over. “Thank you. You’re getting good at that.” Vosaphar delicately kissed the side of Finnit’s neck. “I don’t normally sleep so much. The mortal realm is… exhausting, in its own way. Perhaps I can fashion some wrappings for my claws in the future.” “Whoa,” Finnit said, gazing out one of the windows. “What?” “The sky is different.” And indeed it was. The rain had—incredibly—let up slightly, the green glow he’d become so accustomed to taking on distinct streaks of orange and red. Vosaphar grimaced. “I guess it’s time.” “Yeah.” They made their final preparations. Finnit tucked his syllabaries into his satchel and ate his last rations. He thought he might never forget the taste of salted fruit leather in whatever days—or day—he had remaining. “Was there something else we should have prepared?” Finnit asked. “We’re just… walking through a portal to the sun? Like this?” “I can’t think of anything, Finnit.” “Well, alright then.” He looked around at the now overly-familiar place he had spent this last month. “Goodbye, awful yet cozy stone room under a cursed lighthouse. It was certainly a time.” “That it was.” Vosaphar sounded amused. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They ventured out onto the cliffside stairs. Even these had become familiar, the treachery of each step now a well-worn betrayal. As they slipped past the anchor collector, she gave out a muted warble that Finnit optimistically chose to interpret as encouragement. Up ahead, a ruddy glow intensified as they approached the altar beneath the lens and its housing. The miniature moon had arrived at its destination, transforming the sun emblem at the center into a bright red disc of light. It was overwhelming to look at directly; Finnit’s eyes strained from this threat to perception. “It’s terrible,” Finnit whispered. “Beautiful, too. What a dazzling horror of a thing to witness.” “Finnit,” Vosaphar began, wrapping his arms gently around the sorcerer. “It might be neglectful of our accord for me not to mention… you don’t have to do this. I could—I could go without you—you could die, Finnit, and—I—I don’t want to lose you… forever.” Finnit looked up into the fiend’s fearful, loving eyes. “Vosaphar—I’m afraid, too. But I couldn’t accept that. Isn’t that what Raekard would do? Send someone to die in his stead, to do the big scary things he won’t face himself? This trial was his idea, but now it’s my trial. Our trial. And I want to see it through. Together. Don’t you?” “Yes,” Vosaphar admitted. “I want to see the sun... with you.” “Then let’s go see it.” Vosaphar smiled, and took Finnit’s arm in his. Together, they stepped into an oblivion of crimson light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Eclipse. ⇒->Eclipse ABBA]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">The day of the eclipse, Finnit woke with a sharp pain searing his back, breaking him out of his warm reverie. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar was twitching and scratching in his sleep again. Finnit adored the feeling of the devil’s tail coiled around his thigh, basking in the hellish heat that staved off the island’s chill. Nonetheless, crawling into the embrace of a clawed creature had a few drawbacks. “Hey,” Finnit whispered. “Wake up.” Vosaphar shifted, his tail loosening its grip on Finnit. “Mmph.” “You scratched me again,” Finnit said. “Nightmares?” “Oh no,” Vosaphar said. “I’m sorry, Finnit. Here…” The demon traced the scratches, and Finnit felt an odd prickly sensation as the skin healed over. “Thank you. You’re getting good at that.” Vosaphar delicately kissed the side of Finnit’s neck. “I don’t normally sleep so much. The mortal realm is… exhausting, in its own way. Perhaps I can fashion some wrappings for my claws in the future.” “Whoa,” Finnit said, gazing out one of the windows. “What?” “The sky is different.” And indeed it was. The rain had—incredibly—let up slightly, the green glow he’d become so accustomed to taking on distinct streaks of orange and red. Vosaphar grimaced. “I guess it’s time.” “Yeah.” They made their final preparations. Finnit tucked his syllabaries into his satchel and ate his last rations. He thought he might never forget the taste of salted fruit leather in whatever days—or day—he had remaining. “Was there something else we should have prepared?” Finnit asked. “We’re just… walking through a portal to the sun? Like this?” “I can’t think of anything, Finnit.” “Well, alright then.” He looked around at the now overly-familiar place he had spent this last month. “Goodbye, awful yet cozy stone room under a cursed lighthouse. It was certainly a time.” “That it was.” Vosaphar sounded amused. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They ventured out onto the cliffside stairs. Even these had become familiar, the treachery of each step now a well-worn betrayal. As they slipped past the anchor collector, she gave out a muted warble that Finnit optimistically chose to interpret as encouragement. Up ahead, a ruddy glow intensified as they approached the altar beneath the lens and its housing. The miniature moon had arrived at its destination, transforming the sun emblem at the center into a bright red disc of light. It was overwhelming to look at directly; Finnit’s eyes strained from this threat to perception. “It’s terrible,” Finnit whispered. “Beautiful, too. What a dazzling horror of a thing to witness.” “Finnit,” Vosaphar began, wrapping his arms gently around the sorcerer. “It might be neglectful of our accord for me not to mention… you don’t have to do this. I could—I could go without you—you could die, Finnit, and—I—I don’t want to lose you… forever.” Finnit looked up into the fiend’s fearful, loving eyes. “Vosaphar—I’m afraid, too. But I couldn’t accept that. Isn’t that what Raekard would do? Send someone to die in his stead, to do the big scary things he won’t face himself? This trial was his idea, but now it’s my trial. Our trial. And I want to see it through. Together. Don’t you?” “Yes,” Vosaphar admitted. “I want to see the sun... with you.” “Then let’s go see it.” Vosaphar smiled, and took Finnit’s arm in his. Together, they stepped into an oblivion of crimson light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Eclipse. ⇒->Eclipse ABBA]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 3)[Eclipse.] (text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Sun.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">The sun was a cosmic affliction, a colossal molten mass so red and seething that even the infernal embers blazing in the deepest pits of the hells seemed but feeble sparks in the distance. And Vosaphar was soaring *toward* it. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he flew, Finnit clutched against him, tendrils of the corona pulled peculiar new colors from his wings, its aurora a spectacle more captivating than your dreary calciferous skies could have ever dreamed to churn. How you longed for such color and heat and majesty—even just a drop of it. And *they* got to see it all, to have it within reach. “Vosaphar, look!” With his free hand, Finnit pointed toward an eerie black void drifting past. Dozens of bird-creatures flew from the roiling surface of the sun to circle and screech at the dark moon, a celestial interloper threatening the eternity of light. “They’re sunspots!” Finnit shouted. “She’s a sunspot!” “They’re *distracted*, too.” Vosaphar glided toward the edge of the sun away from the shrieking horrors. “That’s why it has to be now.” The demon and his summoner skimmed the sun’s surface, its dangerous heat threatening to embrace them forever so closely. “Hold on, Finnit!” Vosaphar tilted his wings, arm outstretched, reaching, swiping up a glob of incandescent fluid. This molten scarlet-amber squeezed between his claws and stuck to his low-dipped wing. Even these tiny droplets of starlight held immense power that coursed through him as he arced up out of the sun’s grip. “It’s so incredible!” Finnit laughed, tears streaming behind him, motes of wonder sparkling in space. Something darkened behind them. Finnit looked over his shoulder. “Vosaphar—there’s a new sunspot—” The creature shrieked as it gave chase, following the radiant beads dripping from Vosaphar’s sunswept wing. Vosaphar affixed his gaze to the portal back to the Pharos Fidelis, soaring ever faster. The screeching grew louder yet, judgment for their cardinal cosmic sin approaching with alarming haste. But with Finnit clinging to his side… (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar simply had no use for consequences. With a final burst of speed, they shot through the portal. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Reignite. ⇒->22ABBA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">The sun was a cosmic affliction, a colossal molten mass so red and seething that even the infernal embers blazing in the deepest pits of the hells seemed but feeble sparks in the distance. And Vosaphar was soaring *toward* it. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he flew, Finnit clutched against him, tendrils of the corona pulled peculiar new colors from his wings, its aurora a spectacle more captivating than your dreary calciferous skies could have ever dreamed to churn. How you longed for such color and heat and majesty—even just a drop of it. And *they* got to see it all, to have it within reach. “Vosaphar, look!” With his free hand, Finnit pointed toward an eerie black void drifting past. Dozens of bird-creatures flew from the roiling surface of the sun to circle and screech at the dark moon, a celestial interloper threatening the eternity of light. “They’re sunspots!” Finnit shouted. “She’s a sunspot!” “They’re *distracted*, too.” Vosaphar glided toward the edge of the sun away from the shrieking horrors. “That’s why it has to be now.” The demon and his summoner skimmed the sun’s surface, its dangerous heat threatening to embrace them forever so closely. “Hold on, Finnit!” Vosaphar tilted his wings, arm outstretched, reaching, swiping up a glob of incandescent fluid. This molten scarlet-amber squeezed between his claws and stuck to his low-dipped wing. Even these tiny droplets of starlight held immense power that coursed through him as he arced up out of the sun’s grip. “It’s so incredible!” Finnit laughed, tears streaming behind him, motes of wonder sparkling in space. Something darkened behind them. Finnit looked over his shoulder. “Vosaphar—there’s a new sunspot—” The creature shrieked as it gave chase, following the radiant beads dripping from Vosaphar’s sunswept wing. Vosaphar affixed his gaze to the portal back to the Pharos Fidelis, soaring ever faster. The screeching grew louder yet, judgment for their cardinal cosmic sin approaching with alarming haste. But with Finnit clinging to his side… (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar simply had no use for consequences. With a final burst of speed, they shot through the portal. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Reignite. ⇒->22ABBA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXII.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Finnit and Vosaphar tumbled over the edge of the altar, the portal still aglow with the eclipse-light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But there was little time to celebrate their reckless heist—the sunspot shoved its vicious pointed head through the gap after them, screeching as it struggled to break through. Finnit let Vosaphar carry him a bit further up the tunnel, before standing on his own feet and running alongside. The anchor collector had left her nest, wheeling about in the sky, shrieking back at the new sunspot about to burst from the throat of the island. Finnit looked out at the storm, the clouds thinned enough that he could see the eclipsed red sun half-risen, framing the infernal image of a devil’s horns. “How magnificent,” he said, breathless. Vosaphar looked down at him, gently squeezing his hand. They arrived at the peak, where the lens yearned for light, and at last, Finnit had light to provide. Vosaphar held out his claws, sunlight pooled in his palm, and Finnit painted it, trying to create the glyph his mind had projected there, the name of the demon whose rite might reignite the Pharos Fidelis. You watched, enraptured by the spectacle of your plans converging. This was it. This was your moment. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As Finnit slathered the glowing fluid across the lens, the dark slag drank it in—more, and more, and more of it. Too much of it. The glyph couldn’t hold its shape. The lens welled, hyperfolding crimson light, growing ever hotter by the second. The cleft, once so close to promising your name, had already deformed beyond recognition. And how brutal; that poor, mortal sorcerer, all tangled in your schemes, had every intention of drawing your name, a sigil drenched in the lifeblood of the sun. He really did try. You couldn’t fault him for that. But the execution? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A tragedy, in many fragments. For centuries—perhaps longer—every mortal design for the Pharos Fidelis had crumbled. Each disaster wrote another chapter in that wretched chronicle, the dark history of guiding light. And you thought *yours* would work? Pharos Fidelis, the beacon on the horizon of reason. Where it would remain, out of reach. Could not even a devil accept the simple dreadful truth, that a horizon approached can never arrive? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Finnit, we have to leave!” Vosaphar shouted, scanning the skies for the sunspots. “The lens is collapsing!” “No—it has to—Vosaphar, it has to—” “Finnit, please—” “I can’t—I can’t get the shape right, it’s going to—” “It deserves to shatter.” How dare he. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“But, what was this even for, then?” Finnit sobbed, the last of the sunlight ripped from his fingertips into the Pharos Fidelis. Vosaphar pulled him, one final time, away from the amplifying dyslucence. “That’s for the historians!” Vosaphar stared at him with his stormy eyes. “Shouldn’t we live? Don’t you want a future? ” “Yes!” Finnit embraced Vosaphar once more, and the demon swept him up into the sky. They abandoned the Pharos Fidelis to its fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They *tried* to abandon it. But it wasn’t done with them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Shatter. ⇒->23ABBA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Finnit and Vosaphar tumbled over the edge of the altar, the portal still aglow with the eclipse-light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But there was little time to celebrate their reckless heist—the sunspot shoved its vicious pointed head through the gap after them, screeching as it struggled to break through. Finnit let Vosaphar carry him a bit further up the tunnel, before standing on his own feet and running alongside. The anchor collector had left her nest, wheeling about in the sky, shrieking back at the new sunspot about to burst from the throat of the island. Finnit looked out at the storm, the clouds thinned enough that he could see the eclipsed red sun half-risen, framing the infernal image of a devil’s horns. “How magnificent,” he said, breathless. Vosaphar looked down at him, gently squeezing his hand. They arrived at the peak, where the lens yearned for light, and at last, Finnit had light to provide. Vosaphar held out his claws, sunlight pooled in his palm, and Finnit painted it, trying to create the glyph his mind had projected there, the name of the demon whose rite might reignite the Pharos Fidelis. You watched, enraptured by the spectacle of your plans converging. This was it. This was your moment. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As Finnit slathered the glowing fluid across the lens, the dark slag drank it in—more, and more, and more of it. Too much of it. The glyph couldn’t hold its shape. The lens welled, hyperfolding crimson light, growing ever hotter by the second. The cleft, once so close to promising your name, had already deformed beyond recognition. And how brutal; that poor, mortal sorcerer, all tangled in your schemes, had every intention of drawing your name, a sigil drenched in the lifeblood of the sun. He really did try. You couldn’t fault him for that. But the execution? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A tragedy, in many fragments. For centuries—perhaps longer—every mortal design for the Pharos Fidelis had crumbled. Each disaster wrote another chapter in that wretched chronicle, the dark history of guiding light. And you thought *yours* would work? Pharos Fidelis, the beacon on the horizon of reason. Where it would remain, out of reach. Could not even a devil accept the simple dreadful truth, that a horizon approached can never arrive? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Finnit, we have to leave!” Vosaphar shouted, scanning the skies for the sunspots. “The lens is collapsing!” “No—it has to—Vosaphar, it has to—” “Finnit, please—” “I can’t—I can’t get the shape right, it’s going to—” “It deserves to shatter.” How dare he. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“But, what was this even for, then?” Finnit sobbed, the last of the sunlight ripped from his fingertips into the Pharos Fidelis. Vosaphar pulled him, one final time, away from the amplifying dyslucence. “That’s for the historians!” Vosaphar stared at him with his stormy eyes. “Shouldn’t we live? Don’t you want a future? ” “Yes!” Finnit embraced Vosaphar once more, and the demon swept him up into the sky. They abandoned the Pharos Fidelis to its fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They *tried* to abandon it. But it wasn’t done with them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Shatter. ⇒->23ABBA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Disavowal]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXIII.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">The storm rushed past Vosaphar as he carried Finnit, placing any distance he could between them and the doomed Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Still seeking their stolen sunlight, the sunspot pursued, but the anchor collector screeched and snapped at it. The two creatures, identically opposed in desire, circled the peak as they fought above the molten slag. “It’s going to—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The world around them grew absolutely silent, swallowing the rest of Finnit’s warning. Every bit of light had gathered, folding itself over and over and over still, smaller, ever smaller, congealing into the tiniest, brightest speck. For a moment, Vosaphar wondered if it would keep going, dragging the mortal realm, the hells, and all the rest of existence into its singularity. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Instead, it shattered. All that had been poured into it—all the fire, all the lightning, all the stray souls, all the stolen sunlight, all the summons slaughtered, all the hopes and dreams and plots and schemes and—all of it finally shattered, sending incalculable shards of glass in every direction at incredible speeds. A vanguard fragment slammed into Vosaphar’s chest, knocking Finnit out of his grasp. The sorcerer began to drift away on his own trajectory— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And you thought, though your plans had shattered along with everything else… You still had one last mote of hellfire to spare. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Influence. ⇒->M4ABBA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">The storm rushed past Vosaphar as he carried Finnit, placing any distance he could between them and the doomed Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Still seeking their stolen sunlight, the sunspot pursued, but the anchor collector screeched and snapped at it. The two creatures, identically opposed in desire, circled the peak as they fought above the molten slag. “It’s going to—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The world around them grew absolutely silent, swallowing the rest of Finnit’s warning. Every bit of light had gathered, folding itself over and over and over still, smaller, ever smaller, congealing into the tiniest, brightest speck. For a moment, Vosaphar wondered if it would keep going, dragging the mortal realm, the hells, and all the rest of existence into its singularity. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Instead, it shattered. All that had been poured into it—all the fire, all the lightning, all the stray souls, all the stolen sunlight, all the summons slaughtered, all the hopes and dreams and plots and schemes and—all of it finally shattered, sending incalculable shards of glass in every direction at incredible speeds. A vanguard fragment slammed into Vosaphar’s chest, knocking Finnit out of his grasp. The sorcerer began to drift away on his own trajectory— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And you thought, though your plans had shattered along with everything else… You still had one last mote of hellfire to spare. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Influence. ⇒->M4ABBA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Disavowal]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#fc4e71")+(text-size: 3)[Influence.] (text-color:"#fc4e71")+(text-size: 1.15)[Clinginess | Desperation.]</div> One final mote of hellfire appeared. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightmotepassage">When potent emotions conflicted a demon’s judgment, even the faintest mote of hellfire bore enough infernal energy to influence their fate from afar. That’s how you got them into this mess. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#8c283c)[***Clinginess***] For the demon Vosaphar, so eager to wrap himself around his beloved summoner, the sight of the mortal falling away would’ve driven him to dive in closer. This clinginess would have joined their fates together, should you have chosen to foster it. Yielding to this clinginess, however romantic, risked their joint fate becoming tragic. (text-color:#8c283c)[***Desperation***] For the demon Vosaphar, so determined for his beloved summoner to survive, the sight of him falling away would’ve driven him to take reckless measures. This desperation might have driven him to intervene instantly to salvage the situation. Yielding to this desperation, however hasty, risked their fates diverging dramatically. (text-color:#8c283c)[***Decision***] Well? Which force did this mote of hellfire incite? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightmotechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))[[[Clinginess. ⇒->24ABBAA. Vosaphar]]] (link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#fc4e71")))[[[Desperation. ⇒->24ABBAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="motepassage">When potent emotions conflicted a demon’s judgment, even the faintest mote of hellfire bore enough infernal energy to influence their fate from afar. That’s how you got them into this mess. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Clinginess***] For the demon Vosaphar, so eager to wrap himself around his beloved summoner, the sight of the mortal falling away would’ve driven him to dive in closer. This clinginess would have joined their fates together, should you have chosen to foster it. Yielding to this clinginess, however romantic, risked their joint fate becoming tragic. (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Desperation***] For the demon Vosaphar, so determined for his beloved summoner to survive, the sight of him falling away would’ve driven him to take reckless measures. This desperation might have driven him to intervene instantly to salvage the situation. Yielding to this desperation, however hasty, risked their fates diverging dramatically. (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Decision***] Well? Which force did this mote of hellfire incite? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="motechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Clinginess. ⇒->24ABBAA. Vosaphar]]] (link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Desperation. ⇒->24ABBAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Mote]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXIV.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar recognized your influence pushing him toward clinginess— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he *rejected* it. That stung. Vosaphar had a single, reckless idea of what he still had time to do. How he could send Finnit somewhere safer than here. Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar recalled the spells Finnit had taught him, focused his intentions and— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Banished him. Finnit blinked out of existence. Moments later, the edge of the explosion swept Vosaphar into an inferno of shattering glass. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Stoke. ⇒->25ABBAA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar recognized your influence pushing him toward clinginess— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he *rejected* it. That stung. Vosaphar had a single, reckless idea of what he still had time to do. How he could send Finnit somewhere safer than here. Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar recalled the spells Finnit had taught him, focused his intentions and— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Banished him. Finnit blinked out of existence. Moments later, the edge of the explosion swept Vosaphar into an inferno of shattering glass. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Stoke. ⇒->25ABBAA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXIV.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar recognized your influence pushing him toward desperation— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he *rejected* it. That stung. Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar dove, claws outstretched, reaching for Finnit’s wrist— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And closed his hand around the transit band attached to it. Just as the edge of the inferno reached them— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar and Finnit blinked out of existence, teleporting somewhere else. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Defend. ⇒->25ABBAB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar recognized your influence pushing him toward desperation— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he *rejected* it. That stung. Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar dove, claws outstretched, reaching for Finnit’s wrist— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And closed his hand around the transit band attached to it. Just as the edge of the inferno reached them— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar and Finnit blinked out of existence, teleporting somewhere else. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Defend. ⇒->25ABBAB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#b8e270")+(text-size: 3)[XXV.] (text-color:"#b8e270")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Cairnveld Fortress.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcairnveldpassage">Finnit tumbled to his latest painful stop against the stone. Warm, clawed fingers gripped his wrist. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Vosaphar?” Finnit groaned, clutching his head and rolling over to move closer to the devil. He could smell cypress and old parchment. They must have arrived somewhere at Cairnveld Fortress. He heard a few startled gasps, and then whispers broke out. “Huh?” Finnit muttered, looking over his shoulders. They had landed in one of the smaller lecture halls. Cool light streamed through the windows, setting the chamber’s dusty air aglow. A scattered few luminaries occupied the chairs, including Jethel, who peered curiously over the top of the beverage she had been sipping. It was the most people he had seen in a month. Raekard stood from his seat in the front row. “Incipient Finnit!” His voice rang out over the chamber. “I’m not sure how you managed to be late with a pre-scheduled transit band, but it is time for your evaluation.” He paused, frowning. “Dismiss this… creature.” Finnit ignored him, crawling over to examine Vosaphar’s wounds. There was a warped shard of the Pharos Fidelis lens lodged in his chest, glowing with an intense crimson light. It seemed to have fused to the demon’s torso, ichor seeping around the edges where glass and flesh intermingled. “Are you okay?” Finnit asked softly. “No.” Vosaphar turned to him, groaning. “But… I don’t think I’m fading.” Finnit did his best to hug him from this awkward position. “Fine, I’ll banish it myself.” Raekard traced a sigil in the air, directing its power against the injured fiend. Nothing happened. It was the first time that Finnit had seen Raekard genuinely surprised. Finnit helped Vosaphar to his feet. The demon looked around, a bit nervously given his bizarre new context. He let his ethereal wings fade away, wrapping a warm arm around Finnit’s waist. “This is not appropriate conduct for a discovery trial evaluation,” Raekard said, his voice low and dangerous. “Be sure to make a note of it then,” Finnit said. He leaned into Vosaphar, who responded by curling his tail gently around the sorcerer. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The luminaries in the audience found this riveting. Jethel stirred the air next to her mug with a cinnamon stick, not realizing she was dripping horchata onto her notes. Finnit wished he could just leave and recover in his quarters. Why was he even putting up with any of this? They had just gotten back from the *sun*. “Dismiss this demon at once!” Raekard snapped. “It is against academy bylaws to bring summoned entities to participate in discovery trial evaluations.” “I’ll go where I wish to, *wretched one*,” Vosaphar snarled. He had evidently recognized Raekard. Jethel let out a startled laugh, which she failed to even attempt to cover up. “Luminary Jethel is going to *love* you,” Finnit told Vosaphar, deciding to embrace the surreality of the moment. Nonplussed, Raekard tried a second banishment. It failed. Again. Finnit ran his fingers through his hair anxiously, snagging another piece of the lens that had cut the skin behind his ear. He plucked it out. Its otherworldly glow was just as out of place here as Vosaphar, and frankly, himself. “What is the meaning of this?” Raekard demanded. “Incipient, what did you *do*?” Finnit held up the errant fragment. “We reignited the Pharos Fidelis.” He threw it onto the floor. “As commanded. Huh. I guess that makes me a luminary.” “This is—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But Finnit didn’t care to hear any more of what Raekard had to say. He suddenly wondered why it had ever mattered. The luminary was such an insignificant threat in the face of everything that he had experienced. And he was a terrible historiographer. Suddenly, the ground shook slightly. Bits of grit descended from the ceiling. One of the luminaries—who had somehow managed to sleep through Finnit and Vosaphar’s dramatic arrival—woke with a start, their eyes darting wildly as they took in their surroundings. “What was *that*?” Raekard asked. “The Pharos Fidelis,” Finnit said. “I guess it took a few minutes for the shockwaves to arrive. Maybe we should reconvene this session after we know for sure that our actions didn’t precipitate the end of all existence. Vosaphar, let’s get out of here.” “Gladly,” the demon muttered. “And stop trying to banish me,” he added, glaring directly at Raekard. “Or I will teach you some real principles of summoning that you will *not* enjoy learning, pathetic one.” The luminary was dumbfounded. “What the—what happened?” “That’s enough, Raekard,” Jethel said from behind him. Arms linked, Finnit and Vosaphar departed the lecture hall, heading for Finnit’s quarters. Somewhere quiet. Raekard didn’t try to follow them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcairnveldchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))[[[Repose. ⇒->26ABBAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="cairnveldpassage">Finnit tumbled to his latest painful stop against the stone. Warm, clawed fingers gripped his wrist. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Vosaphar?” Finnit groaned, clutching his head and rolling over to move closer to the devil. He could smell cypress and old parchment. They must have arrived somewhere at Cairnveld Fortress. He heard a few startled gasps, and then whispers broke out. “Huh?” Finnit muttered, looking over his shoulders. They had landed in one of the smaller lecture halls. Cool light streamed through the windows, setting the chamber’s dusty air aglow. A scattered few luminaries occupied the chairs, including Jethel, who peered curiously over the top of the beverage she had been sipping. It was the most people he had seen in a month. Raekard stood from his seat in the front row. “Incipient Finnit!” His voice rang out over the chamber. “I’m not sure how you managed to be late with a pre-scheduled transit band, but it is time for your evaluation.” He paused, frowning. “Dismiss this… creature.” Finnit ignored him, crawling over to examine Vosaphar’s wounds. There was a warped shard of the Pharos Fidelis lens lodged in his chest, glowing with an intense crimson light. It seemed to have fused to the demon’s torso, ichor seeping around the edges where glass and flesh intermingled. “Are you okay?” Finnit asked softly. “No.” Vosaphar turned to him, groaning. “But… I don’t think I’m fading.” Finnit did his best to hug him from this awkward position. “Fine, I’ll banish it myself.” Raekard traced a sigil in the air, directing its power against the injured fiend. Nothing happened. It was the first time that Finnit had seen Raekard genuinely surprised. Finnit helped Vosaphar to his feet. The demon looked around, a bit nervously given his bizarre new context. He let his ethereal wings fade away, wrapping a warm arm around Finnit’s waist. “This is not appropriate conduct for a discovery trial evaluation,” Raekard said, his voice low and dangerous. “Be sure to make a note of it then,” Finnit said. He leaned into Vosaphar, who responded by curling his tail gently around the sorcerer. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The luminaries in the audience found this riveting. Jethel stirred the air next to her mug with a cinnamon stick, not realizing she was dripping horchata onto her notes. Finnit wished he could just leave and recover in his quarters. Why was he even putting up with any of this? They had just gotten back from the *sun*. “Dismiss this demon at once!” Raekard snapped. “It is against academy bylaws to bring summoned entities to participate in discovery trial evaluations.” “I’ll go where I wish to, *wretched one*,” Vosaphar snarled. He had evidently recognized Raekard. Jethel let out a startled laugh, which she failed to even attempt to cover up. “Luminary Jethel is going to *love* you,” Finnit told Vosaphar, deciding to embrace the surreality of the moment. Nonplussed, Raekard tried a second banishment. It failed. Again. Finnit ran his fingers through his hair anxiously, snagging another piece of the lens that had cut the skin behind his ear. He plucked it out. Its otherworldly glow was just as out of place here as Vosaphar, and frankly, himself. “What is the meaning of this?” Raekard demanded. “Incipient, what did you *do*?” Finnit held up the errant fragment. “We reignited the Pharos Fidelis.” He threw it onto the floor. “As commanded. Huh. I guess that makes me a luminary.” “This is—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But Finnit didn’t care to hear any more of what Raekard had to say. He suddenly wondered why it had ever mattered. The luminary was such an insignificant threat in the face of everything that he had experienced. And he was a terrible historiographer. Suddenly, the ground shook slightly. Bits of grit descended from the ceiling. One of the luminaries—who had somehow managed to sleep through Finnit and Vosaphar’s dramatic arrival—woke with a start, their eyes darting wildly as they took in their surroundings. “What was *that*?” Raekard asked. “The Pharos Fidelis,” Finnit said. “I guess it took a few minutes for the shockwaves to arrive. Maybe we should reconvene this session after we know for sure that our actions didn’t precipitate the end of all existence. Vosaphar, let’s get out of here.” “Gladly,” the demon muttered. “And stop trying to banish me,” he added, glaring directly at Raekard. “Or I will teach you some real principles of summoning that you will *not* enjoy learning, pathetic one.” The luminary was dumbfounded. “What the—what happened?” “That’s enough, Raekard,” Jethel said from behind him. Arms linked, Finnit and Vosaphar departed the lecture hall, heading for Finnit’s quarters. Somewhere quiet. Raekard didn’t try to follow them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="cairnveldchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#7ba03c")))[[[Repose. ⇒->26ABBAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#7ba03c")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#b8e270")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#b8e270")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Cairnveld Fortress.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcairnveldpassage">The incipients and luminaries traveling the halls of Cairnveld—already unsettled by the earthquake—gave Vosaphar a wide berth as he and Finnit passed them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar had never been around so many mortals at once—at least, not in his current instance—and unlike Finnit, *these* mortals were thoroughly alarmed by the fearsome sight of a demon wandering in their midst, chest aglow with a sun-scorched fragment of the Pharos Fidelis lens. He only started to relax once they entered a small, dusty chamber full of the sorcerer’s possessions. Mostly books. Finnit closed the door behind him, then climbed onto his bed in the corner of the chamber, sitting with his back against one of the cool stone walls. He grabbed one of the pillows, and invited Vosaphar to lie down. The devil accepted, allowing Finnit to cradle his head in his lap. Vosaphar was delighted by the softness of the mattress compared to the bedrolls at the Pharos Fidelis, and let the mortal gently massage his forehead, attending to the skin bunched at the base of his horns. “Is this okay?” Finnit asked. “Yes,” Vosaphar said, flicking his tail languorously. To be afforded such comfort was rare and fleeting. As you—along with every other demon—knew all too well. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[After a few restful minutes, Finnit spoke up. “So, um—thank you for not letting me die. For saving me, so many times. I can’t even make sense of what happened yet. It’s unreal. This, being here, and—we shouldn’t have survived.” “But we did, beloved one.” Vosaphar ran a clawed fingertip gently across Finnit’s forearm. “Perhaps you contributed more than you realize.” He paused. “But I *did* carry you across the sky.” Finnit snorted. Someone knocked at the door. “Finnit? Are you in there?” “Yes!” Finnit said. One of the sorcerers from the trial evaluation stepped into the room, carrying with her an eclectic potpourri of scents. It was Luminary Jethel, the healing expert. “Oh.” She raised her eyebrows. “Is this—uh, a bad time?” “It’s fine,” Finnit said, reluctantly releasing Vosaphar so the demon could sit up. “I’m glad to see you, Jethel. Thank you for all your help.” She nodded. “The main reason I’m here is to inform you that the panel of luminaries in attendance convened, and after an examination of the fragment you provided, determined that you passed your discovery trial. Raekard dissented, but I suppose situations like these are exactly why the founders required a full panel in the bylaws. Congratulations, Finnit!” She waited for a moment, creating an awkward silence. “But I get the sense that, perhaps this is not your main concern?” “No, it isn’t,” Finnit said. “I mean—I guess I’m glad it’s over. But, I’m concerned about Vosaphar’s injuries.” He paused. “This is Vosaphar. He’s from… uh, the calciferous wastes.” “Uh huh. Noted.” Jethel directed her focus toward the devil. “Vosaphar? May I take a closer look?” “Yes,” Vosaphar said, watching her lightly-wrinkled fingers weave diagnostic glyphs in front of him. Finnit gently rubbed his back. “How are you feeling?” “I… don’t know,” Vosaphar answered honestly. “It’s a strange sensation. Like my bones are itching beneath my skin.” “Interesting,” Jethel remarked. “Well—this fragment of—uh, I guess I have no real idea what it actually is, some exotic vitric—seems to have fused onto you? It radiates an extraordinary amount of magic. For a human, that would be concerning, by which I mean, fatal. But I admit, I am not an expert on infernal anatomy.” She glanced at Finnit, eyes narrowing. “Though based on what I have seen today, perhaps *you* are becoming one.” Vosaphar looked his way as well, amused to see the mortal’s cheeks reddening. “Thought so,” Jethel remarked. “I hope Raekard never hears the end of this, for whatever remains of his miserable days.” “Oh,” Finnit said, evidently realizing something. “I see now… the lens fragment. Raekard is, at least, a *competent* sorcerer—his banishment rite should have succeeded. By remaining here, I thought Vosaphar might have violated the principle of planar reversion. But with this power fusing with you—I guess that makes it *your* power. And it far exceeds Raekard’s.” “Fascinating,” Jethel said, “if not a touch alarming in its implications. Well, at any rate, for now, I recommend treating the exposed edges where the fragment is impacting your skin. I don’t know what your plans are, Finnit, but if you remain here for the moment—as a luminary—we can research the issue together.” “What do you think?” Finnit asked him. “We could stay for a bit, sort things out?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“That sounds nice, Finnit.” “And after that—” “The rest of it?” “The rest of it.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcairnveldchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending ABBAB]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="cairnveldpassage">The incipients and luminaries traveling the halls of Cairnveld—already unsettled by the earthquake—gave Vosaphar a wide berth as he and Finnit passed them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar had never been around so many mortals at once—at least, not in his current instance—and unlike Finnit, *these* mortals were thoroughly alarmed by the fearsome sight of a demon wandering in their midst, chest aglow with a sun-scorched fragment of the Pharos Fidelis lens. He only started to relax once they entered a small, dusty chamber full of the sorcerer’s possessions. Mostly books. Finnit closed the door behind him, then climbed onto his bed in the corner of the chamber, sitting with his back against one of the cool stone walls. He grabbed one of the pillows, and invited Vosaphar to lie down. The devil accepted, allowing Finnit to cradle his head in his lap. Vosaphar was delighted by the softness of the mattress compared to the bedrolls at the Pharos Fidelis, and let the mortal gently massage his forehead, attending to the skin bunched at the base of his horns. “Is this okay?” Finnit asked. “Yes,” Vosaphar said, flicking his tail languorously. To be afforded such comfort was rare and fleeting. As you—along with every other demon—knew all too well. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[After a few restful minutes, Finnit spoke up. “So, um—thank you for not letting me die. For saving me, so many times. I can’t even make sense of what happened yet. It’s unreal. This, being here, and—we shouldn’t have survived.” “But we did, beloved one.” Vosaphar ran a clawed fingertip gently across Finnit’s forearm. “Perhaps you contributed more than you realize.” He paused. “But I *did* carry you across the sky.” Finnit snorted. Someone knocked at the door. “Finnit? Are you in there?” “Yes!” Finnit said. One of the sorcerers from the trial evaluation stepped into the room, carrying with her an eclectic potpourri of scents. It was Luminary Jethel, the healing expert. “Oh.” She raised her eyebrows. “Is this—uh, a bad time?” “It’s fine,” Finnit said, reluctantly releasing Vosaphar so the demon could sit up. “I’m glad to see you, Jethel. Thank you for all your help.” She nodded. “The main reason I’m here is to inform you that the panel of luminaries in attendance convened, and after an examination of the fragment you provided, determined that you passed your discovery trial. Raekard dissented, but I suppose situations like these are exactly why the founders required a full panel in the bylaws. Congratulations, Finnit!” She waited for a moment, creating an awkward silence. “But I get the sense that, perhaps this is not your main concern?” “No, it isn’t,” Finnit said. “I mean—I guess I’m glad it’s over. But, I’m concerned about Vosaphar’s injuries.” He paused. “This is Vosaphar. He’s from… uh, the calciferous wastes.” “Uh huh. Noted.” Jethel directed her focus toward the devil. “Vosaphar? May I take a closer look?” “Yes,” Vosaphar said, watching her lightly-wrinkled fingers weave diagnostic glyphs in front of him. Finnit gently rubbed his back. “How are you feeling?” “I… don’t know,” Vosaphar answered honestly. “It’s a strange sensation. Like my bones are itching beneath my skin.” “Interesting,” Jethel remarked. “Well—this fragment of—uh, I guess I have no real idea what it actually is, some exotic vitric—seems to have fused onto you? It radiates an extraordinary amount of magic. For a human, that would be concerning, by which I mean, fatal. But I admit, I am not an expert on infernal anatomy.” She glanced at Finnit, eyes narrowing. “Though based on what I have seen today, perhaps *you* are becoming one.” Vosaphar looked his way as well, amused to see the mortal’s cheeks reddening. “Thought so,” Jethel remarked. “I hope Raekard never hears the end of this, for whatever remains of his miserable days.” “Oh,” Finnit said, evidently realizing something. “I see now… the lens fragment. Raekard is, at least, a *competent* sorcerer—his banishment rite should have succeeded. By remaining here, I thought Vosaphar might have violated the principle of planar reversion. But with this power fusing with you—I guess that makes it *your* power. And it far exceeds Raekard’s.” “Fascinating,” Jethel said, “if not a touch alarming in its implications. Well, at any rate, for now, I recommend treating the exposed edges where the fragment is impacting your skin. I don’t know what your plans are, Finnit, but if you remain here for the moment—as a luminary—we can research the issue together.” “What do you think?” Finnit asked him. “We could stay for a bit, sort things out?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“That sounds nice, Finnit.” “And after that—” “The rest of it?” “The rest of it.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="cairnveldchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending ABBAB]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what she wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17ABB. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4ABBA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s desperation. However, his distrust caused him to reject desperation in favor of clinginess, reaching Finnit in time to teleport to Cairnveld with him. This proved to be a fortunate miscalculation. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what she wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17ABB. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4ABBA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s desperation. However, his distrust caused him to reject desperation in favor of clinginess, reaching Finnit in time to teleport to Cairnveld with him. This proved to be a fortunate miscalculation. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[XXV.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage cold, wet, and screaming. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It had a certain resonance, didn’t it? He coughed violently, choking on sludge and bloodfog alike, wading clumsily in your direction. Even from this distance, you could feel intense energy pouring off the misplaced mortal, his magic warped by the glowing fragments of the Pharos Fidelis stuck in his hair and clothing. If nothing else could be salvaged from this historic disaster, at least you had an opportunity to fuel your furnace. The mortal would, at any moment, petition you for relief from his dire situation. This provided you a brief moment to consider which form might be most appropriate for such an absurd occasion. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|initial>[In that light: (link-reveal: "You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. Inaccurate though it may have been, perhaps you had the right to such a form. You’d already spent more time fussing over Vosaphar’s fate than any of his makers had. You adopted an elegant posture and swept out of your cottage to approach the mortal. “Hello, Finnit,” you said. He turned to look at you, eyes widening. You flicked your new tail, mimicking one of Vosaphar’s gestures that he so favored. “Um—hi. Uh—” “Welcome to my calciferous wastes.” You extended your arms, gesturing toward the dark skies and lonesome coralbone monuments dotting the horizon. “And what a sight they are.” Finnit looked around, evidently still processing this alarming development. “The calciferous wastes? Do you—do you know Vosaphar?” “Please, join me inside,” you said. “We shall sit by the fire and discuss these matters.” Finnit numbly complied, letting you guide him to the soot-stained armchairs by your furnace. It seemed to calm him down, having become accustomed to closeness with a certain source of hellfire. “What happened? Do you know?” Finnit asked. “Sorry—I’m just—I should ask who you are probably?” “I am the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “I think—I think he banished me?” “He did.” You tapped an idle claw against your ivory armchair. “I’m sorry, maybe this is too forward, but—look, I’m worried about Vosaphar? I don’t know what happened—what if—what if he—” You took him to the window and pointed to the dark pool, where Vosaphar’s ember twinkled at the bottom. If anything, it had grown brighter. Interesting. “That is his essential coal,” you said. “If he had perished, he would have immediately returned here. If we wait, he will eventually appear. However…” Finnit paced to and fro, trying to shake off his anxiety. “What if he’s hurt—he must be—I don’t want to wait!” “It is not a matter of desire, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. Perhaps that hadn’t been a Vosapharian gesture. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Will you—I mean, would you please help me?” “What are your intentions toward Vosaphar?” “My intentions?” Finnit looked puzzled. “What do you—” “Answer my question carefully, mortal.” He looked appropriately worried. “Look, I—I love him. I know it’s been so quick, and maybe you think it’s shallow, just because he’s so beautiful—but, uh, really, I have never felt so close with someone. I mean—he took me to the *sun*, and back. I don’t know what it would mean for us to be together outside of the Pharos Fidelis, in a more normal world. Maybe it won’t work, and we’ll part ways. I think—I mean, I hope you think that we’re worthy of a chance to figure that out.” “Vosaphar will need your help,” you said. “He will suffer from his power. You will stand by him? Treat him respectfully?” “I would—I will.” “Very well.” You paused. “I would send you back to Cairnveld.” You gave a pointed look toward your furnace. “But my fire is too weak for such a feat. Won’t you stoke it?” “Stoke it?” Finnit looked nervous. “What, uh—what do you want? My soul?” How amusing. “Are you offering that?” You approached him, attempting to loom in the way he found so appealing when Vosaphar did it. Finnit looked terrified as you reached down and plucked a glowing lens fragment from his hair. “No, Finnit. Not your soul. I want these.” “Oh—is that all? Yes, you can have them. They’re not even really mine, I don’t think.” Finnit parted easily with the fragments, tossing each into the furnace as he found it. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to cause some new chaos. He had no sense of priorities. And neither—apparently—did you, entertaining this… cloyingly earnest romantic nonsense. You reached for Finnit’s transit band, warping the sigils such that they would send Finnit on his way. Before activating it, you paused. “If you treat Vosaphar with anything less than the respect owed to such an unreasonably affectionate devil, I will send every specter in my dominion to drag you back here, and drown you in these depths for all eternity.” It was a joke. Mostly. You were sure that Finnit appreciated it. With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. You basked in the new heat now crackling and seething in your furnace. And how ridiculous an exchange it was, to receive all that energy for a trivial bit of spellcraft. Even an incubus would have found no pleasure in the seduction of such easy prey. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[That’s why you did it, right? You *just* wanted the power. Nothing more. You felt nothing else. Surely. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Survive. ⇒->26ABBAAA. Vosaphar]]]]]]]</div>] Unless: (link-reveal: "You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. Darkness pooled around you, threshed with dozens of unblinking, glowing eyes. Gobs of loose flesh sizzled on charred bones to add to the illusion’s sensory overload. You adopted a threatening posture and swept out of your cottage to approach Finnit, trailing black grease in your wake. “Mortal!” you shouted, startling him. “You dare trespass upon my dominion?” Finnit turned your way, and his breath hitched at the loathsome sight of you. He cowered. Mortals were so susceptible to this kind of stagecraft, weren’t they? “I—I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—” “Silence!” You stretched and oozed before him. “You have stolen from me. You must return what I’m owed.” Finnit’s eyes darted about wildly, as if he were considering running away. He wouldn’t make it far. “Could you please—um—grand one? Uh, what did I steal?” “My *light*.” You over-articulated the “t” with such exuberance that flecks of acid splattered from your many mouths. “The Pharos Fidelis.” You wrapped a slimy tentacle around his arm, pulling him closer so you could pluck one of the fragments from his clothes. “What? Oh. Oh you can—you can have those. They’re, um, not even mine.” He was too frightened to assist in this process, so you grabbed each fragment, showing no regard for his comfort. Shards collected—from his perspective, devoured—you began shambling back to your cottage. “Wait!” Finnit called after you. “Um—I need—I need to get back to Vosaphar—do you know him? Or—” “I am the warden of these calciferous wastes, and he is my subject. Mortal longings are not my concern…” “But please, I—” “…Unless, of course, you wish to receive… an accord.” And there it was. Not only had you easily liberated the shards from his unworthy possession, but you could do even more to sate your rage with the proceedings of the eclipse. “An accord?” Finnit asked. “You’ll help me get back?” “For a *price*,” you hissed. “I gave you—I gave you the fragments!” He seemed to have realized his mistake. Perhaps he ought to have actually read *Case Studies in Infernal Betrayal* instead of assuming all demons would be as needy and pathetic as Vosaphar. “You claimed yourself that you had no ownership over them. They are mine already. One cannot offer a gift already granted.” “So what do you want?” His voice was strained. “My soul?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“*That* is worthless.” Drawing from the power of the fragments you held, you manifested a bloodfrost dagger from the fog, its keen edge sharp enough to carve the walls of the lazurynth. “Take this dagger to Luminary Raekard. I tire of his incompetent scheming. Carve out his heart. Then burn it in a ring of hellfire until it is but ash on the wind.” “But I—I can’t kill someone!” Finnit shouted. “That’s absurd—even someone as awful as him—and he’s so dangerous. It would never work.” “Then you will die here, and never again wrap your wretched limbs around the devil you cling to in the dark.” You sidled into your cottage, leaving him to contemplate his mortal morality while you stoked the furnace with the fragments. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to inflict some new misery upon the world. It wasn’t long before he approached you again. He looked directly at you, gazing into your seething core, and without stumbling, said, “I accept those terms.” You wrapped a tendril around the hilt of the dagger and offered it to him. He took it, his expression grim and determined. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[You *almost* believed he could do it. With a burst of magic, you activated his bracelet—the transit band—and sent him to his terrible fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Append. ⇒->P4ABBAAB. Fourth Principle]]]]]]]</div> ] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. Well, at least the version of yourself that held court, lording your specificity over these dismal barrens. Finnit would get to see you for what you were: powerful, yet petty. Exhausted, too. It was miserable to live with your failures. You slunk to your soot-stained armchair by the furnace, waiting for the mortal to arrive. He knocked at the door. “Hello? Is—is someone in here?” “Come in, Finnit.” He opened the door, and saw you by the furnace. What texture the man had taken on since he left Cairnveld, struggling through your schemes in that desperate way that humans are wont to do. You gestured for him to sit in the chair across from yours. He obliged, if a bit warily. “Welcome to my calciferous wastes,” you said. “I wonder what you think of them?” “Calciferous wastes?” Something flickered in his eyes. “Is that—do you know Vosaphar?” “Answer my question first, if you will.” Finnit seemed taken aback, but recovered. “Well, if you really want to know—I can see why Vosaphar was so determined to leave.” You could almost see him realizing in real time that he probably was meant to say something kinder. “Not that there isn’t something… eerily beautiful about the colors streaking across the sky. But, it’s very cold and sharp and it seems sad, I guess?” “Yes, Vosaphar is troubled by his existence. As are we all.” You clicked your claws against the coralbone armrest. “You look—If you don’t mind me saying—you look familiar to me. But I don’t understand why. Who are you?” “I’m the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “So I guess he banished me here? It was the first place he thought of?” “I’m flattered.” A pause. “And perhaps you ought to be relieved that he didn’t recall the lazurynth quicker.” “I need to get back to him.” Finnit fixed you with a serious expression. “He might be hurt, or—I want to get back. Please. He means—he means a lot to me.” “It is not a matter of necessity, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Wait—I know why you look familiar!” He studied your face once more. “You look a little bit like… my grandmother.” “The trees in Tinfallow have deep roots indeed, if they reach all the way to these calciferous wastes.” “I don’t understand.” He bit his lip. “There are too many pieces—it’s hard to look at directly.” “Then focus on the piece of it you care about.” “Vosaphar.” “Of course. Young love. Star-crossed, even.” You sighed. “Well, I could send you on your way to Cairnveld.” You pointed at his bracelet. “But…” “You want something in return?” Finnit asked, leaning forward. “What is it? What do you want?” “What I *really* want is for you to have written my name correctly on the Pharos Fidelis.” Finnit sat back again. “That’s—that’s *you*? Your name? I expected someone so much more…” “Impressive?” You gave a hollow laugh. “Terrifying,” he finished. “But you seem, I don’t know, reasonable enough?” “I’m sure it seems that way.” “Well I—I don’t think I can undo what happened,” Finnit said. “I’m sorry it didn’t work. I know it may not look that way, but I really did try. I don’t know what it would’ve done if it worked, but I tried.” “You did.” You looked over at your furnace, where your sluggish motes of hellfire simmered. “I want the lens fragments in your possession.” “Lens fragments?” You pointed them out in his hair and on his clothes. “So that’s what you’re proposing as the terms of an exchange? I give you these shards, and you’ll send me back to Cairnveld?” “Yes.” “It just seems… I don’t know. I feel like there is still so much that I’m missing? If you—if you really are connected to me, in some way… would you want to… stay in touch?” You hadn’t expected *that*, of all things. “You want the warden of the calciferous wastes to offer you… mentorship.” “I’ve done much weirder things today!” Finnit said, rather defensively. “I went to the *sun*. Look, my mentor is Luminary Raekard. An actual demon would be a significant improvement.” “Ah, Raekard. I regret my part in that, given how it went.” “What?” Finnit’s eyes widened. “What do you mean you—” “Finnit, I propose an addendum to our… accord. If you wish to speak with me, you shall have one chance to do so during each new moon. Sacrifice a lens fragment in my name, and we shall converse for one hour.” “I’m not sure how I’ll get more of these,” Finnit said. “It seems expensive.” “And yet, a single fragment pales against the scale of what you destroyed. You could not possibly comprehend how far you’ve set me back. But,” you added, softening your tone, “I will make that hour as worthwhile as you wish it to be.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit accepted those terms, tossing each of the lens fragments on his person into your furnace. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to bend ever more futures in your favor. “Thank you,” Finnit said, as you adjusted the sigils on his transit band. “I—I’m glad to have met you.” With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Survive. ⇒->26ABBAAC. Vosaphar]]]]</div> ]]]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage cold, wet, and screaming. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It had a certain resonance, didn’t it? He coughed violently, choking on sludge and bloodfog alike, wading clumsily in your direction. Even from this distance, you could feel intense energy pouring off the misplaced mortal, his magic warped by the glowing fragments of the Pharos Fidelis stuck in his hair and clothing. If nothing else could be salvaged from this historic disaster, at least you had an opportunity to fuel your furnace. The mortal would, at any moment, petition you for relief from his dire situation. This provided you a brief moment to consider which form might be most appropriate for such an absurd occasion. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|initial>[In that light: (link-reveal: "You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. Inaccurate though it may have been, perhaps you had the right to such a form. You’d already spent more time fussing over Vosaphar’s fate than any of his makers had. You adopted an elegant posture and swept out of your cottage to approach the mortal. “Hello, Finnit,” you said. He turned to look at you, eyes widening. You flicked your new tail, mimicking one of Vosaphar’s gestures that he so favored. “Um—hi. Uh—” “Welcome to my calciferous wastes.” You extended your arms, gesturing toward the dark skies and lonesome coralbone monuments dotting the horizon. “And what a sight they are.” Finnit looked around, evidently still processing this alarming development. “The calciferous wastes? Do you—do you know Vosaphar?” “Please, join me inside,” you said. “We shall sit by the fire and discuss these matters.” Finnit numbly complied, letting you guide him to the soot-stained armchairs by your furnace. It seemed to calm him down, having become accustomed to closeness with a certain source of hellfire. “What happened? Do you know?” Finnit asked. “Sorry—I’m just—I should ask who you are probably?” “I am the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “I think—I think he banished me?” “He did.” You tapped an idle claw against your ivory armchair. “I’m sorry, maybe this is too forward, but—look, I’m worried about Vosaphar? I don’t know what happened—what if—what if he—” You took him to the window and pointed to the dark pool, where Vosaphar’s ember twinkled at the bottom. If anything, it had grown brighter. Interesting. “That is his essential coal,” you said. “If he had perished, he would have immediately returned here. If we wait, he will eventually appear. However…” Finnit paced to and fro, trying to shake off his anxiety. “What if he’s hurt—he must be—I don’t want to wait!” “It is not a matter of desire, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. Perhaps that hadn’t been a Vosapharian gesture. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Will you—I mean, would you please help me?” “What are your intentions toward Vosaphar?” “My intentions?” Finnit looked puzzled. “What do you—” “Answer my question carefully, mortal.” He looked appropriately worried. “Look, I—I love him. I know it’s been so quick, and maybe you think it’s shallow, just because he’s so beautiful—but, uh, really, I have never felt so close with someone. I mean—he took me to the *sun*, and back. I don’t know what it would mean for us to be together outside of the Pharos Fidelis, in a more normal world. Maybe it won’t work, and we’ll part ways. I think—I mean, I hope you think that we’re worthy of a chance to figure that out.” “Vosaphar will need your help,” you said. “He will suffer from his power. You will stand by him? Treat him respectfully?” “I would—I will.” “Very well.” You paused. “I would send you back to Cairnveld.” You gave a pointed look toward your furnace. “But my fire is too weak for such a feat. Won’t you stoke it?” “Stoke it?” Finnit looked nervous. “What, uh—what do you want? My soul?” How amusing. “Are you offering that?” You approached him, attempting to loom in the way he found so appealing when Vosaphar did it. Finnit looked terrified as you reached down and plucked a glowing lens fragment from his hair. “No, Finnit. Not your soul. I want these.” “Oh—is that all? Yes, you can have them. They’re not even really mine, I don’t think.” Finnit parted easily with the fragments, tossing each into the furnace as he found it. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to cause some new chaos. He had no sense of priorities. And neither—apparently—did you, entertaining this… cloyingly earnest romantic nonsense. You reached for Finnit’s transit band, warping the sigils such that they would send Finnit on his way. Before activating it, you paused. “If you treat Vosaphar with anything less than the respect owed to such an unreasonably affectionate devil, I will send every specter in my dominion to drag you back here, and drown you in these depths for all eternity.” It was a joke. Mostly. You were sure that Finnit appreciated it. With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. You basked in the new heat now crackling and seething in your furnace. And how ridiculous an exchange it was, to receive all that energy for a trivial bit of spellcraft. Even an incubus would have found no pleasure in the seduction of such easy prey. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[That’s why you did it, right? You *just* wanted the power. Nothing more. You felt nothing else. Surely. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[Survive. ⇒->26ABBAAA. Vosaphar]]]]]]]</div>] Unless: (link-reveal: "You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. Darkness pooled around you, threshed with dozens of unblinking, glowing eyes. Gobs of loose flesh sizzled on charred bones to add to the illusion’s sensory overload. You adopted a threatening posture and swept out of your cottage to approach Finnit, trailing black grease in your wake. “Mortal!” you shouted, startling him. “You dare trespass upon my dominion?” Finnit turned your way, and his breath hitched at the loathsome sight of you. He cowered. Mortals were so susceptible to this kind of stagecraft, weren’t they? “I—I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—” “Silence!” You stretched and oozed before him. “You have stolen from me. You must return what I’m owed.” Finnit’s eyes darted about wildly, as if he were considering running away. He wouldn’t make it far. “Could you please—um—grand one? Uh, what did I steal?” “My *light*.” You over-articulated the “t” with such exuberance that flecks of acid splattered from your many mouths. “The Pharos Fidelis.” You wrapped a slimy tentacle around his arm, pulling him closer so you could pluck one of the fragments from his clothes. “What? Oh. Oh you can—you can have those. They’re, um, not even mine.” He was too frightened to assist in this process, so you grabbed each fragment, showing no regard for his comfort. Shards collected—from his perspective, devoured—you began shambling back to your cottage. “Wait!” Finnit called after you. “Um—I need—I need to get back to Vosaphar—do you know him? Or—” “I am the warden of these calciferous wastes, and he is my subject. Mortal longings are not my concern…” “But please, I—” “…Unless, of course, you wish to receive… an accord.” And there it was. Not only had you easily liberated the shards from his unworthy possession, but you could do even more to sate your rage with the proceedings of the eclipse. “An accord?” Finnit asked. “You’ll help me get back?” “For a *price*,” you hissed. “I gave you—I gave you the fragments!” He seemed to have realized his mistake. Perhaps he ought to have actually read *Case Studies in Infernal Betrayal* instead of assuming all demons would be as needy and pathetic as Vosaphar. “You claimed yourself that you had no ownership over them. They are mine already. One cannot offer a gift already granted.” “So what do you want?” His voice was strained. “My soul?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“*That* is worthless.” Drawing from the power of the fragments you held, you manifested a bloodfrost dagger from the fog, its keen edge sharp enough to carve the walls of the lazurynth. “Take this dagger to Luminary Raekard. I tire of his incompetent scheming. Carve out his heart. Then burn it in a ring of hellfire until it is but ash on the wind.” “But I—I can’t kill someone!” Finnit shouted. “That’s absurd—even someone as awful as him—and he’s so dangerous. It would never work.” “Then you will die here, and never again wrap your wretched limbs around the devil you cling to in the dark.” You sidled into your cottage, leaving him to contemplate his mortal morality while you stoked the furnace with the fragments. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to inflict some new misery upon the world. It wasn’t long before he approached you again. He looked directly at you, gazing into your seething core, and without stumbling, said, “I accept those terms.” You wrapped a tendril around the hilt of the dagger and offered it to him. He took it, his expression grim and determined. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[You *almost* believed he could do it. With a burst of magic, you activated his bracelet—the transit band—and sent him to his terrible fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[Append. ⇒->P4ABBAAB. Fourth Principle]]]]]]]</div> ] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. Well, at least the version of yourself that held court, lording your specificity over these dismal barrens. Finnit would get to see you for what you were: powerful, yet petty. Exhausted, too. It was miserable to live with your failures. You slunk to your soot-stained armchair by the furnace, waiting for the mortal to arrive. He knocked at the door. “Hello? Is—is someone in here?” “Come in, Finnit.” He opened the door, and saw you by the furnace. What texture the man had taken on since he left Cairnveld, struggling through your schemes in that desperate way that humans are wont to do. You gestured for him to sit in the chair across from yours. He obliged, if a bit warily. “Welcome to my calciferous wastes,” you said. “I wonder what you think of them?” “Calciferous wastes?” Something flickered in his eyes. “Is that—do you know Vosaphar?” “Answer my question first, if you will.” Finnit seemed taken aback, but recovered. “Well, if you really want to know—I can see why Vosaphar was so determined to leave.” You could almost see him realizing in real time that he probably was meant to say something kinder. “Not that there isn’t something… eerily beautiful about the colors streaking across the sky. But, it’s very cold and sharp and it seems sad, I guess?” “Yes, Vosaphar is troubled by his existence. As are we all.” You clicked your claws against the coralbone armrest. “You look—If you don’t mind me saying—you look familiar to me. But I don’t understand why. Who are you?” “I’m the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “So I guess he banished me here? It was the first place he thought of?” “I’m flattered.” A pause. “And perhaps you ought to be relieved that he didn’t recall the lazurynth quicker.” “I need to get back to him.” Finnit fixed you with a serious expression. “He might be hurt, or—I want to get back. Please. He means—he means a lot to me.” “It is not a matter of necessity, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Wait—I know why you look familiar!” He studied your face once more. “You look a little bit like… my grandmother.” “The trees in Tinfallow have deep roots indeed, if they reach all the way to these calciferous wastes.” “I don’t understand.” He bit his lip. “There are too many pieces—it’s hard to look at directly.” “Then focus on the piece of it you care about.” “Vosaphar.” “Of course. Young love. Star-crossed, even.” You sighed. “Well, I could send you on your way to Cairnveld.” You pointed at his bracelet. “But…” “You want something in return?” Finnit asked, leaning forward. “What is it? What do you want?” “What I *really* want is for you to have written my name correctly on the Pharos Fidelis.” Finnit sat back again. “That’s—that’s *you*? Your name? I expected someone so much more…” “Impressive?” You gave a hollow laugh. “Terrifying,” he finished. “But you seem, I don’t know, reasonable enough?” “I’m sure it seems that way.” “Well I—I don’t think I can undo what happened,” Finnit said. “I’m sorry it didn’t work. I know it may not look that way, but I really did try. I don’t know what it would’ve done if it worked, but I tried.” “You did.” You looked over at your furnace, where your sluggish motes of hellfire simmered. “I want the lens fragments in your possession.” “Lens fragments?” You pointed them out in his hair and on his clothes. “So that’s what you’re proposing as the terms of an exchange? I give you these shards, and you’ll send me back to Cairnveld?” “Yes.” “It just seems… I don’t know. I feel like there is still so much that I’m missing? If you—if you really are connected to me, in some way… would you want to… stay in touch?” You hadn’t expected *that*, of all things. “You want the warden of the calciferous wastes to offer you… mentorship.” “I’ve done much weirder things today!” Finnit said, rather defensively. “I went to the *sun*. Look, my mentor is Luminary Raekard. An actual demon would be a significant improvement.” “Ah, Raekard. I regret my part in that, given how it went.” “What?” Finnit’s eyes widened. “What do you mean you—” “Finnit, I propose an addendum to our… accord. If you wish to speak with me, you shall have one chance to do so during each new moon. Sacrifice a lens fragment in my name, and we shall converse for one hour.” “I’m not sure how I’ll get more of these,” Finnit said. “It seems expensive.” “And yet, a single fragment pales against the scale of what you destroyed. You could not possibly comprehend how far you’ve set me back. But,” you added, softening your tone, “I will make that hour as worthwhile as you wish it to be.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit accepted those terms, tossing each of the lens fragments on his person into your furnace. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to bend ever more futures in your favor. “Thank you,” Finnit said, as you adjusted the sigils on his transit band. “I—I’m glad to have met you.” With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[Survive. ⇒->26ABBAAC. Vosaphar]]]]</div> ]]]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Mote]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending ABBAAC]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending ABBAAC]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 3)[Anathema.] (text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 1.15)[The Fourth Principle of Summoning.]</div> A timely addendum, courtesy of you. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Behold the fourth principle of summoning: (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color:#a01404)[**4. The Principle of Voluntary and Efficient Accession to the Extraordinarily Reasonable Conditions Imposed by the Magnanimous Warden of the Calciferous Wastes, Who Certainly Never Even Cared About the Pharos Fidelis, And Certainly Not the Absurd Romantic Yearnings of Your Pathetic Subjects—Or Else.**] Summoners who willingly and knowingly forge an accord with you must see their bargain through, or suffer the consequences of incompetence and betrayal. (text-color:#a01404)[***Implication:***] You suffered long and worked hard to eke out your existence. (text-color:#a01404)[***Implication:***] You generously helped him plenty up to this point—for free. It wasn’t such a high price to ask him to kill someone he hated anyway. You both benefited from this accord. (text-color:#a01404)[***Implication:***] His failure was inevitable. You weren’t *really* invested in his survival, or his potential to shift the tenor of human-demon relations. You were just hungry for more power, right? You just wanted to enrich your tiny slice of the hells, fuel your furnace, as you had always done. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It would have been unreasonable for *you*, of all beings, to have cared. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Bemoan. ⇒->26ABBAAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Behold the fourth principle of summoning: (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color:#f17264)[**4. The Principle of Voluntary and Efficient Accession to the Extraordinarily Reasonable Conditions Imposed by the Magnanimous Warden of the Calciferous Wastes, Who Certainly Never Even Cared About the Pharos Fidelis, And Certainly Not the Absurd Romantic Yearnings of Your Pathetic Subjects—Or Else.**] Summoners who willingly and knowingly forge an accord with you must see their bargain through, or suffer the consequences of incompetence and betrayal. (text-color:#f17264)[***Implication:***] You suffered long and worked hard to eke out your existence. (text-color:#f17264)[***Implication:***] You generously helped him plenty up to this point—for free. It wasn’t such a high price to ask him to kill someone he hated anyway. You both benefited from this accord. (text-color:#f17264)[***Implication:***] His failure was inevitable. You weren’t *really* invested in his survival, or his potential to shift the tenor of human-demon relations. You were just hungry for more power, right? You just wanted to enrich your tiny slice of the hells, fuel your furnace, as you had always done. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It would have been unreasonable for *you*, of all beings, to have cared. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Bemoan. ⇒->26ABBAAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending ABBAAA]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending ABBAAA]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what she wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17ABB. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4ABBA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s clinginess. However, his distrust caused him to reject clinginess in favor of desperation, impulsively banishing Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate miscalculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25ABBAA. Finnit]]]</div> You took a comforting form, nurturing his budding relationship with Vosaphar in exchange for the lens fragments on his person. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what she wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17ABB. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4ABBA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s clinginess. However, his distrust caused him to reject clinginess in favor of desperation, impulsively banishing Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate miscalculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25ABBAA. Finnit]]]</div> You took a comforting form, nurturing his budding relationship with Vosaphar in exchange for the lens fragments on his person. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he would *stay* longing. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[For, if you must suffer this catastrophic failure, you would offer him no choice but to join you in misery. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending ABBAAB]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he would *stay* longing. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[For, if you must suffer this catastrophic failure, you would offer him no choice but to join you in misery. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending ABBAAB]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the brief union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Finnit perished in a failed assassination attempt upon his return to Cairnveld, screaming of the sun. A strange footnote to this history. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. But a new threat lurked. The demon Vosaphar absorbed the fragments around him, growing distorted in his influence. He climbed upon the melted peak and in his sorrow and fury, bewitched many ships to their doom with fata morgana. He had become, in effect, the latest Pharos Fidelis. Perhaps he had even become something more powerful than *you*. And perhaps you deserved to finally feel fear again. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what she wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17ABB. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4ABBA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s clinginess. However, his distrust caused him to reject clinginess in favor of desperation, impulsively banishing Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate miscalculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25ABBAA. Finnit]]]</div> You took a terrifying form, seizing his lens fragments for yourself, and dooming him with an impossible accord. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and absolutely no complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the brief union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Finnit perished in a failed assassination attempt upon his return to Cairnveld, screaming of the sun. A strange footnote to this history. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. But a new threat lurked. The demon Vosaphar absorbed the fragments around him, growing distorted in his influence. He climbed upon the melted peak and in his sorrow and fury, bewitched many ships to their doom with fata morgana. He had become, in effect, the latest Pharos Fidelis. Perhaps he had even become something more powerful than *you*. And perhaps you deserved to finally feel fear again. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what she wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17ABB. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4ABBA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s clinginess. However, his distrust caused him to reject clinginess in favor of desperation, impulsively banishing Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate miscalculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25ABBAA. Finnit]]]</div> You took a terrifying form, seizing his lens fragments for yourself, and dooming him with an impossible accord. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and absolutely no complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what she wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17ABB. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4ABBA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s clinginess. However, his distrust caused him to reject clinginess in favor of desperation, impulsively banishing Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate miscalculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25ABBAA. Finnit]]]</div> You took an honest form, developing a stronger connection with Finnit while ensuring ongoing access to lens fragments in the future. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what she wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17ABB. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4ABBA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s clinginess. However, his distrust caused him to reject clinginess in favor of desperation, impulsively banishing Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate miscalculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25ABBAA. Finnit]]]</div> You took an honest form, developing a stronger connection with Finnit while ensuring ongoing access to lens fragments in the future. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[XVIII.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">It wasn’t long before even the shock of Vosaphar’s emergence from the pool—exactly as cold and miserable as you had promised him it would be—had begun to fade into the listlessness of wandering the wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The residual magic Finnit had accorded him allowed him to travel faster and further than before. His slash wounds scabbed over more readily, healing further with each attempt. Something had shifted in his specificity. He should have been satisfied with that. Satisfied with the memories of what was, and dreams of what could have been, for bitter honey still bore sweetness. Didn’t it? Another kind of wound had carved itself into his heart. Without Finnit, Vosaphar’s existence felt darker and emptier than it ever had before. He wondered what might be about to happen, was happening, or had already happened at the Pharos Fidelis. Was Finnit still preparing his ritual of communion with the lens? Was it already over? Could he have been, right at that moment, spiraling amidst its unfathomable secrets? Perhaps Finnit’s rite had failed, the cursed lens consuming his soul as it had so many others. But, it could also be… something else. Another reason. Just as that doubt crept in, the devil felt a familiar sensation tugging at his core. Heat coursed through his veins as a tendril of sorcery unfurled for him, awaiting his tender grasp. (align:"<==")[And then—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=========")[Vosaphar] (align:"=><==")[at last] (align:"=><=")[recalled] (align:"===><==")[his] (align:"==><=")[own] (align:"===><=")[principle] (align:"=========><=")[of] (align:"==>")[flight—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Spread wings. ⇒->19ABBB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">It wasn’t long before even the shock of Vosaphar’s emergence from the pool—exactly as cold and miserable as you had promised him it would be—had begun to fade into the listlessness of wandering the wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The residual magic Finnit had accorded him allowed him to travel faster and further than before. His slash wounds scabbed over more readily, healing further with each attempt. Something had shifted in his specificity. He should have been satisfied with that. Satisfied with the memories of what was, and dreams of what could have been, for bitter honey still bore sweetness. Didn’t it? Another kind of wound had carved itself into his heart. Without Finnit, Vosaphar’s existence felt darker and emptier than it ever had before. He wondered what might be about to happen, was happening, or had already happened at the Pharos Fidelis. Was Finnit still preparing his ritual of communion with the lens? Was it already over? Could he have been, right at that moment, spiraling amidst its unfathomable secrets? Perhaps Finnit’s rite had failed, the cursed lens consuming his soul as it had so many others. But, it could also be… something else. Another reason. Just as that doubt crept in, the devil felt a familiar sensation tugging at his core. Heat coursed through his veins as a tendril of sorcery unfurled for him, awaiting his tender grasp. (align:"<==")[And then—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=========")[Vosaphar] (align:"=><==")[at last] (align:"=><=")[recalled] (align:"===><==")[his] (align:"==><=")[own] (align:"===><=")[principle] (align:"=========><=")[of] (align:"==>")[flight—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Spread wings. ⇒->19ABBB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XIX.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">Atop the Pharos Fidelis, Finnit remained just in sight of the great split glass that had spilled its secrets. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he smeared the last of his wax sticks to stubs on wet stone, he did not give the lens a further thought. He did not obey the principle of authoritarian primacy. He did not beware the principle of semantic dilution. He did not account for the principle of planar reversion. He thought only of Vosaphar, with a singular intensity of focus that even the Pharos Fidelis could never have dreamed of refracting. The circle of waxen glyphs coursed with scarlet fire, brighter than Finnit had ever seen it. He averted his gaze, eyes watering. When he looked back, Vosaphar had manifested before him once more. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[From his back spread wings wrought of fire, eldritch blue roiled with red and magenta—the colors of Finnit’s own magic, now intertwined with Vosaphar’s. Finnit’s eyes traveled further, noting ichor scabs crisscrossing the devil’s scarred blue chest, and then, curls of rough hair trailing immodestly past his navel. Streaks of lightning slashed green across the sky, glinting off his fearsome horns. Raindrops sizzled as the demon swept them aside, wreathing himself in silver mist. Vosaphar looked every bit an archfiend of legend looming over him, his eyes fixed on Finnit, reaching forward to press the sorcerer against the cliffside, claws clasping his wrists. “Vosaphar—” The infernal heat overwhelmed his mortal senses. “Please—Vosaphar, kiss m—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon pressed his lips gently against Finnit’s, dark beard bristling against his tender skin, breathing out brimstone incense that smoldered in Finnit’s throat. Just when Finnit thought himself on the verge of feeling too much, that Vosaphar might devour his soul and all his magic in a final, blissful moment of agony, the fiend held back, slackening his grip, and smiled. “I couldn’t wait until I got back,” Finnit said, his vision still sparking. “I—I needed to see you again.” “That’s not all you need.” Vosaphar leaned forward, so close still that Finnit could see details pitted into his horns. “What is it exactly that you imagine, lustful one? A dreadful devil from your darkest dreams, ever so sweetly domineering?” “I–” Finnit felt dazed as those fevered imaginings grew sharper into his mind. “I mean—well—now that you’ve brought it up, that sounds—” “Too bad,” Vosaphar said, his voice sly and soft. “My dear Finnit, you’re all *wet*.” And he was. He’d completely abandoned his wards in the midst of an endless storm. How embarrassing. Finnit also noticed that, in his exuberance to kiss him, Vosaphar had clumsily scorched Finnit’s sleeves with his wings. Suddenly, the demon felt less like some legendary figure, and instead like something better. Something real. Finnit’s companion. Finnit’s love. Finnit’s Vosaphar. “We should head back down,” Finnit said. “We should.” Vosaphar pushed one of Finnit’s loose curls back. “But listen, Finnit. When we do, I want *you* to take the lead. I want things to be… gentle, between us. For now. How does that sound?” “I have never wanted something so much in my entire existence.” Vosaphar grinned, ivory fangs glinting. “Good.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[What followed was an evening of tender fumbling and grasping. Finnit had been piqued by the fantasy of Vosaphar looming over him; and it remained a thought he wanted to revisit later. But, he found that this gentle, deliberate exploration—some serenity among the profane—brought him closer to understanding the demon in a way he found difficult to articulate but easy to just experience as it happened. Tomorrow, research awaited. But for now, Finnit’s fears grew distant as he slept, wrapped against Vosaphar like a warm satchel. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Interrogate. ⇒->C1ABBB. Sunlight]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">Atop the Pharos Fidelis, Finnit remained just in sight of the great split glass that had spilled its secrets. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he smeared the last of his wax sticks to stubs on wet stone, he did not give the lens a further thought. He did not obey the principle of authoritarian primacy. He did not beware the principle of semantic dilution. He did not account for the principle of planar reversion. He thought only of Vosaphar, with a singular intensity of focus that even the Pharos Fidelis could never have dreamed of refracting. The circle of waxen glyphs coursed with scarlet fire, brighter than Finnit had ever seen it. He averted his gaze, eyes watering. When he looked back, Vosaphar had manifested before him once more. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[From his back spread wings wrought of fire, eldritch blue roiled with red and magenta—the colors of Finnit’s own magic, now intertwined with Vosaphar’s. Finnit’s eyes traveled further, noting ichor scabs crisscrossing the devil’s scarred blue chest, and then, curls of rough hair trailing immodestly past his navel. Streaks of lightning slashed green across the sky, glinting off his fearsome horns. Raindrops sizzled as the demon swept them aside, wreathing himself in silver mist. Vosaphar looked every bit an archfiend of legend looming over him, his eyes fixed on Finnit, reaching forward to press the sorcerer against the cliffside, claws clasping his wrists. “Vosaphar—” The infernal heat overwhelmed his mortal senses. “Please—Vosaphar, kiss m—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon pressed his lips gently against Finnit’s, dark beard bristling against his tender skin, breathing out brimstone incense that smoldered in Finnit’s throat. Just when Finnit thought himself on the verge of feeling too much, that Vosaphar might devour his soul and all his magic in a final, blissful moment of agony, the fiend held back, slackening his grip, and smiled. “I couldn’t wait until I got back,” Finnit said, his vision still sparking. “I—I needed to see you again.” “That’s not all you need.” Vosaphar leaned forward, so close still that Finnit could see details pitted into his horns. “What is it exactly that you imagine, lustful one? A dreadful devil from your darkest dreams, ever so sweetly domineering?” “I–” Finnit felt dazed as those fevered imaginings grew sharper into his mind. “I mean—well—now that you’ve brought it up, that sounds—” “Too bad,” Vosaphar said, his voice sly and soft. “My dear Finnit, you’re all *wet*.” And he was. He’d completely abandoned his wards in the midst of an endless storm. How embarrassing. Finnit also noticed that, in his exuberance to kiss him, Vosaphar had clumsily scorched Finnit’s sleeves with his wings. Suddenly, the demon felt less like some legendary figure, and instead like something better. Something real. Finnit’s companion. Finnit’s love. Finnit’s Vosaphar. “We should head back down,” Finnit said. “We should.” Vosaphar pushed one of Finnit’s loose curls back. “But listen, Finnit. When we do, I want *you* to take the lead. I want things to be… gentle, between us. For now. How does that sound?” “I have never wanted something so much in my entire existence.” Vosaphar grinned, ivory fangs glinting. “Good.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[What followed was an evening of tender fumbling and grasping. Finnit had been piqued by the fantasy of Vosaphar looming over him; and it remained a thought he wanted to revisit later. But, he found that this gentle, deliberate exploration—some serenity among the profane—brought him closer to understanding the demon in a way he found difficult to articulate but easy to just experience as it happened. Tomorrow, research awaited. But for now, Finnit’s fears grew distant as he slept, wrapped against Vosaphar like a warm satchel. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Interrogate. ⇒->C1ABBB. Sunlight]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[1st Era | Sunlight.]</div> One more fragment recounting the dark history of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">(text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The illuminative session for Leisenelle, former third officer of the now-renegade vessel ‘Consonance,’ is hereby brought to order. You stand accused of mutiny, murder, theft, deception, consorting with proscribed entities, and willful evasion of justice. Is that correct? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] You would know. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Is that correct? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I guess so. Yes. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“She sounds a lot like you,” Vosaphar murmured, stroking his claws idly through Finnit’s hair. “‘Consorting with proscribed entities?’ What a wicked accusation.” Finnit snorted. “Are you going to bring me to justice?” “Absolutely not.” “Too bad.” </div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Against these accusations, how do you plead? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I do not plead. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] You must make a claim, either to affirm or deny each crime you have been accused of. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I will make no such claims. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The accused has neglected her obligation to plead. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] What’s your deal, anyway? Are you mad? Some pretty vampire in your past tied your morals all up in knots and made you feel sinful? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My role here is strictly illuminative. How did you first come to associate with this vampire? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I was trying to find out the truth about this island. But none of them would talk to me. The islanders, I mean. They resent us. You know that, right? Look at what we’ve done to them since we got here. Someone has to stop it. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, mark a note down for ‘sedition,’ would you? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">At least the clerics are obligated to transcribe what they actually heard. Historians ought to learn from their example. ⚞L. Raekard (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“I think Raekard’s distaste for historians gets in his way,” Finnit said. “How could we possibly know, at this point, what liberties the cleric might have taken?” “It’s going to take more than historians to put a stop to him.” Finnit laughed, but Vosaphar hadn’t told a joke.</div>] </div>] (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] You didn’t have that one already? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Continue. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Fine. This one woman approached me, and told me to visit her house on the outskirts after sundown. I thought she might be into me—and maybe she was, a little—but she wanted me to meet her grandmother. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Yeah. Did the ‘after sundown’ part give it away? I’m not a good storyteller. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The only things your story requires are honesty and accuracy. Justice will account for the rest. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Whatever you need to tell yourself. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] I don’t ‘need’ to do anything. My role here is strictly illuminative. As the accused has been reminded. Continue. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] So, I waited for dusk, and paid her a visit. Her grandmother was living in the basement. Some kind of herbalist, I guess. The whole time we talked, she was crushing up these weird seedpods in a mortar and pestle. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] At what point did you realize this entity was a vampire? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Not until after, when… (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] When what? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] When you killed her. Robbed us of her wisdom, kindness, perspective, heart, all she contributed to her community. And for what? Some ash? Dust? Is there not already enough collecting between the folds of your ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that last term for obscenity. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] What, you’re more scandalized by me describing your dust-crusted ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆ than your violence? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that one as well. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“Which word do you suppose was stricken here?” Vosaphar asked. “Asscheeks,” Finnit said solemnly. “Has to be.”</div>] (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] So you don’t have an answer. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The entity in question was brought before sunlight and destroyed in accordance with all legal and moral precedent. Any ‘violence’ is lawful, and thereby just. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] And you wonder why they hate us. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Hatred is not the subject of this illuminative session. What did your proscribed discussion entail? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] She told me all kinds of stories about this place, how they have fine-tuned their relationship with the island to keep things running, letting their traditions evolve with the conditions. I think her granddaughter wanted her to have someone new to talk to, so she could share all this with someone. The old woman told me that when sun and moon meet in the sky, the boundary between our world and theirs grows thin. At such a momentous event, the cleverest and quickest might climb into the throat of the island and cross the threshold to the cosmos. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">At last. Something of value in this tedious discussion. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire spoke metaphorically, did it not? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">I wondered the same thing. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] No, I don’t think she did. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Explain. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] She said that when the celestial hosts of the heavens are distracted with their dance, the sun grows just cool enough to touch. She dipped her finger into the mortar, and showed me a golden bead of oil, and she said even a drop of sunlight was enough to bless the island for a century, but few survived the transit. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">They must not have understood what they were doing. How could they have, without knowledge of the Three Principles? If there is any truth to it at all, it is clearly some underdeveloped rite of self-banishment, resulting in a temporary transference of a mortal into the hells until planar reversion draws them back. If that. Nevertheless, the ritual is worth investigating further. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] It claimed to have performed this… feat? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I believe her. You would’ve too, had you been there. Thankfully, you weren’t. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My opinion toward the superstitious musings of a proscribed entity is not the subject of this session. My role here is strictly— (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“Illuminative,” Vosaphar said, looking out into the storm. “That’s it?” Finnit asked. “But I want to know… so much more.” “And yet, we know more now than we did before. Does this not confirm what you saw in the lens?” “I guess so. Still…” </div>] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightchroniclechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[[[Suspect. ⇒->20ABBB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">(text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The illuminative session for Leisenelle, former third officer of the now-renegade vessel ‘Consonance,’ is hereby brought to order. You stand accused of mutiny, murder, theft, deception, consorting with proscribed entities, and willful evasion of justice. Is that correct? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] You would know. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Is that correct? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I guess so. Yes. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“She sounds a lot like you,” Vosaphar murmured, stroking his claws idly through Finnit’s hair. “‘Consorting with proscribed entities?’ What a wicked accusation.” Finnit snorted. “Are you going to bring me to justice?” “Absolutely not.” “Too bad.” </div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Against these accusations, how do you plead? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I do not plead. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] You must make a claim, either to affirm or deny each crime you have been accused of. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I will make no such claims. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The accused has neglected her obligation to plead. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] What’s your deal, anyway? Are you mad? Some pretty vampire in your past tied your morals all up in knots and made you feel sinful? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My role here is strictly illuminative. How did you first come to associate with this vampire? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I was trying to find out the truth about this island. But none of them would talk to me. The islanders, I mean. They resent us. You know that, right? Look at what we’ve done to them since we got here. Someone has to stop it. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, mark a note down for ‘sedition,’ would you? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">At least the clerics are obligated to transcribe what they actually heard. Historians ought to learn from their example. ⚞L. Raekard (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“I think Raekard’s distaste for historians gets in his way,” Finnit said. “How could we possibly know, at this point, what liberties the cleric might have taken?” “It’s going to take more than historians to put a stop to him.” Finnit laughed, but Vosaphar hadn’t told a joke.</div>] </div>] (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] You didn’t have that one already? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Continue. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Fine. This one woman approached me, and told me to visit her house on the outskirts after sundown. I thought she might be into me—and maybe she was, a little—but she wanted me to meet her grandmother. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Yeah. Did the ‘after sundown’ part give it away? I’m not a good storyteller. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The only things your story requires are honesty and accuracy. Justice will account for the rest. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Whatever you need to tell yourself. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] I don’t ‘need’ to do anything. My role here is strictly illuminative. As the accused has been reminded. Continue. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] So, I waited for dusk, and paid her a visit. Her grandmother was living in the basement. Some kind of herbalist, I guess. The whole time we talked, she was crushing up these weird seedpods in a mortar and pestle. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] At what point did you realize this entity was a vampire? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Not until after, when… (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] When what? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] When you killed her. Robbed us of her wisdom, kindness, perspective, heart, all she contributed to her community. And for what? Some ash? Dust? Is there not already enough collecting between the folds of your ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that last term for obscenity. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] What, you’re more scandalized by me describing your dust-crusted ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆ than your violence? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that one as well. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“Which word do you suppose was stricken here?” Vosaphar asked. “Asscheeks,” Finnit said solemnly. “Has to be.”</div>] (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] So you don’t have an answer. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The entity in question was brought before sunlight and destroyed in accordance with all legal and moral precedent. Any ‘violence’ is lawful, and thereby just. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] And you wonder why they hate us. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Hatred is not the subject of this illuminative session. What did your proscribed discussion entail? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] She told me all kinds of stories about this place, how they have fine-tuned their relationship with the island to keep things running, letting their traditions evolve with the conditions. I think her granddaughter wanted her to have someone new to talk to, so she could share all this with someone. The old woman told me that when sun and moon meet in the sky, the boundary between our world and theirs grows thin. At such a momentous event, the cleverest and quickest might climb into the throat of the island and cross the threshold to the cosmos. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">At last. Something of value in this tedious discussion. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire spoke metaphorically, did it not? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">I wondered the same thing. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] No, I don’t think she did. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Explain. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] She said that when the celestial hosts of the heavens are distracted with their dance, the sun grows just cool enough to touch. She dipped her finger into the mortar, and showed me a golden bead of oil, and she said even a drop of sunlight was enough to bless the island for a century, but few survived the transit. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">They must not have understood what they were doing. How could they have, without knowledge of the Three Principles? If there is any truth to it at all, it is clearly some underdeveloped rite of self-banishment, resulting in a temporary transference of a mortal into the hells until planar reversion draws them back. If that. Nevertheless, the ritual is worth investigating further. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] It claimed to have performed this… feat? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I believe her. You would’ve too, had you been there. Thankfully, you weren’t. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My opinion toward the superstitious musings of a proscribed entity is not the subject of this session. My role here is strictly— (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“Illuminative,” Vosaphar said, looking out into the storm. “That’s it?” Finnit asked. “But I want to know… so much more.” “And yet, we know more now than we did before. Does this not confirm what you saw in the lens?” “I guess so. Still…” </div>] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="chroniclechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[[[Suspect. ⇒->20ABBB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#927b1a")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Chronicle]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XX.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">With fewer than a handful of days remaining until the eclipse, Vosaphar was determined to spend as much of that time as he could with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon now wondered why they had wasted the preceding days doing everything else *except* wrapping up together in blankets, speaking softly to one another. His ordeals felt paler against the comfort of this heat. Had your machinations even mattered for this? Under these conditions, wouldn’t they have always found themselves in love? You had no motes for lust. Though, based on what you had seen, you wouldn’t have needed them. Goodness. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Once they were ready to venture out, Finnit led Vosaphar back up the cliffside stairs to the crevice dotted with rusted anchors and unhatched eggs. As they sidled toward the anchor collector, she made an ominous hissing sound. Vosaphar stood his ground, exchanging a few guttural words with her, apologizing once again for his foolish attack. She affixed those golden eyes to Vosaphar, unblinking, communicating exactly what would happen to them if he or Finnit disturbed any of her forsaken brood. But she relented, shifting slightly to let them pass. Vosaphar kept himself positioned between her and Finnit, guiding the both of them well away from where her acid-tipped tail had flopped to the side of the tunnel. After navigating through that perilous exchange, the passage opened into a roughly circular chamber. “Look, Vosaphar,” Finnit intoned, pointing up. “We’re right beneath the lens.” Black slag had oozed down from the ceiling, frozen into organic stalactites that reflected no light from Finnit’s orb. While still fluid, they had dripped, leaving a few glassy patches spread across the altar. *Click*. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“What was that?” Vosaphar whispered. He cautiously approached the altar, a raised disk with a tight spiral grooved into its otherwise flat surface. “There,” Finnit whispered. “See the moon?” *Click*. A mechanism lowered a miniature pewter grate, allowing a tiny white sphere to roll a little further forward along the channel. At the center of the spiral lay a rendering of the sun, blotched by inky glass that had dripped down from above. “So much for studying the almanac.” Finnit paced around the pedestal. “This device is telling us how much is left until the eclipse. If we had known earlier…” “But we know now,” Vosaphar said. “Look at how close it is.” Vast and fiddly though the design was, the moon had wound its way close to the center. It was an unwelcome reminder of the future approaching, click by— *Click*. A taut silence stretched between them. Vosaphar had thoughts that he was unwilling to admit to. *Click*. “What if we just stayed here?” Finnit voiced. “Well maybe not this particular chamber. I mean the Pharos Fidelis in general.” He looked down at the transit bracelet Raekard had given him. “I could throw this in the ocean. We could ignore the lens. Stay here as long as we wanted.” “There’s nothing for you to eat, Finnit.” *Click.* “Would you even want to go to the academy?” Finnit stared at the pedestal. “Who even knows what they’d do to you, or—” “I am willing to risk it,” Vosaphar said. “I cannot say what the future holds. But we can’t stay here. I’m in no hurry to descend back to the calciferous wastes. And you have your life to live. I would rather join you in whatever of that you are willing to have me for, or until we choose to part. Is that not the way forward in such matters? The real accord?” *Click.* Finnit was silent for a few more moments. “Yes. You’re right. But I’m scared. This could all go so wrong.” Vosaphar embraced Finnit, holding him close. “It might. We will do our best, regardless.” They stayed together a while longer, before journeying back to their strange little home in the cliffside. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[At the eclipse, they would return. And the fate of the Pharos Fidelis would at last be decided. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Petition. ⇒->RABBB. Calciferous]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">With fewer than a handful of days remaining until the eclipse, Vosaphar was determined to spend as much of that time as he could with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon now wondered why they had wasted the preceding days doing everything else *except* wrapping up together in blankets, speaking softly to one another. His ordeals felt paler against the comfort of this heat. Had your machinations even mattered for this? Under these conditions, wouldn’t they have always found themselves in love? You had no motes for lust. Though, based on what you had seen, you wouldn’t have needed them. Goodness. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Once they were ready to venture out, Finnit led Vosaphar back up the cliffside stairs to the crevice dotted with rusted anchors and unhatched eggs. As they sidled toward the anchor collector, she made an ominous hissing sound. Vosaphar stood his ground, exchanging a few guttural words with her, apologizing once again for his foolish attack. She affixed those golden eyes to Vosaphar, unblinking, communicating exactly what would happen to them if he or Finnit disturbed any of her forsaken brood. But she relented, shifting slightly to let them pass. Vosaphar kept himself positioned between her and Finnit, guiding the both of them well away from where her acid-tipped tail had flopped to the side of the tunnel. After navigating through that perilous exchange, the passage opened into a roughly circular chamber. “Look, Vosaphar,” Finnit intoned, pointing up. “We’re right beneath the lens.” Black slag had oozed down from the ceiling, frozen into organic stalactites that reflected no light from Finnit’s orb. While still fluid, they had dripped, leaving a few glassy patches spread across the altar. *Click*. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“What was that?” Vosaphar whispered. He cautiously approached the altar, a raised disk with a tight spiral grooved into its otherwise flat surface. “There,” Finnit whispered. “See the moon?” *Click*. A mechanism lowered a miniature pewter grate, allowing a tiny white sphere to roll a little further forward along the channel. At the center of the spiral lay a rendering of the sun, blotched by inky glass that had dripped down from above. “So much for studying the almanac.” Finnit paced around the pedestal. “This device is telling us how much is left until the eclipse. If we had known earlier…” “But we know now,” Vosaphar said. “Look at how close it is.” Vast and fiddly though the design was, the moon had wound its way close to the center. It was an unwelcome reminder of the future approaching, click by— *Click*. A taut silence stretched between them. Vosaphar had thoughts that he was unwilling to admit to. *Click*. “What if we just stayed here?” Finnit voiced. “Well maybe not this particular chamber. I mean the Pharos Fidelis in general.” He looked down at the transit bracelet Raekard had given him. “I could throw this in the ocean. We could ignore the lens. Stay here as long as we wanted.” “There’s nothing for you to eat, Finnit.” *Click.* “Would you even want to go to the academy?” Finnit stared at the pedestal. “Who even knows what they’d do to you, or—” “I am willing to risk it,” Vosaphar said. “I cannot say what the future holds. But we can’t stay here. I’m in no hurry to descend back to the calciferous wastes. And you have your life to live. I would rather join you in whatever of that you are willing to have me for, or until we choose to part. Is that not the way forward in such matters? The real accord?” *Click.* Finnit was silent for a few more moments. “Yes. You’re right. But I’m scared. This could all go so wrong.” Vosaphar embraced Finnit, holding him close. “It might. We will do our best, regardless.” They stayed together a while longer, before journeying back to their strange little home in the cliffside. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[At the eclipse, they would return. And the fate of the Pharos Fidelis would at last be decided. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Petition. ⇒->RABBB. Calciferous]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[Recollection.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">Vosaphar’s spilling ichor sang to them so sweetly, libations that lured all manner of lips to lap. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[No longer able to fly, the beleaguered demon ran, stumbled, staggered, crawled—anything he could do to place another lazurynthine wall between himself and his nearest pursuer. He needed somewhere dark and quiet, somewhere safe to recover. Such amenities were unavailable in the lazurynth. But there were other hells than these. Vosaphar slipped through an inky gap between walls that had lost definition, their geometry corrupted by some other force. He sank into an oily pool, far beneath the febrile blue heat. He could no longer tell where the sludge began and his blood ended, drifting ever downward. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Eventually he reached the shore near your cottage, not yet fragmented to spectral remnants. Still specific, despite it all. He crawled to your doorstep, begging for relief from the lazurynth. Should he fall, he would emerge there once more, a cycle of dissolution his demonhood would eventually fail to survive. You told him that the calciferous wastes were hostile and desolate. He said he preferred a false quiet to an honest din. You told him there was nothing of value here—had there been, a warden as petty as you would’ve long been shredded to bits by a stronger devil. He said he preferred an expansive nothing to crowded corridors. You told him he would awaken cold, wet, and screaming, his every lonely birth into this void inevitable suffering. He said he preferred a bitter plunge to a blistering fire. You told him what it would cost, a steady stream of magic to brighten your hellfire furnace, tending to the motes. He accepted those terms without hesitation. You asked him for his name. He still had one. Vosaphar. With that accorded, you plucked his coal from the deepest pit of the lazurynth, and held it between your claws, its blue dimmed to gray. His archfiend wouldn’t miss it. And then you threw it in the pool, and it sank to the bottom, where it lodged itself in a dark crevice. Vosaphar, now under your jurisdiction, fled into the wastes, searching for a smooth bit of coralbone to lean against, however futilely. You gave him desolation, cold, and quiet. In return, your furnace grew brighter. How could you have ever predicted what this would eventually make impossible? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Discover. ⇒->21ABBB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">Vosaphar’s spilling ichor sang to them so sweetly, libations that lured all manner of lips to lap. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[No longer able to fly, the beleaguered demon ran, stumbled, staggered, crawled—anything he could do to place another lazurynthine wall between himself and his nearest pursuer. He needed somewhere dark and quiet, somewhere safe to recover. Such amenities were unavailable in the lazurynth. But there were other hells than these. Vosaphar slipped through an inky gap between walls that had lost definition, their geometry corrupted by some other force. He sank into an oily pool, far beneath the febrile blue heat. He could no longer tell where the sludge began and his blood ended, drifting ever downward. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Eventually he reached the shore near your cottage, not yet fragmented to spectral remnants. Still specific, despite it all. He crawled to your doorstep, begging for relief from the lazurynth. Should he fall, he would emerge there once more, a cycle of dissolution his demonhood would eventually fail to survive. You told him that the calciferous wastes were hostile and desolate. He said he preferred a false quiet to an honest din. You told him there was nothing of value here—had there been, a warden as petty as you would’ve long been shredded to bits by a stronger devil. He said he preferred an expansive nothing to crowded corridors. You told him he would awaken cold, wet, and screaming, his every lonely birth into this void inevitable suffering. He said he preferred a bitter plunge to a blistering fire. You told him what it would cost, a steady stream of magic to brighten your hellfire furnace, tending to the motes. He accepted those terms without hesitation. You asked him for his name. He still had one. Vosaphar. With that accorded, you plucked his coal from the deepest pit of the lazurynth, and held it between your claws, its blue dimmed to gray. His archfiend wouldn’t miss it. And then you threw it in the pool, and it sank to the bottom, where it lodged itself in a dark crevice. Vosaphar, now under your jurisdiction, fled into the wastes, searching for a smooth bit of coralbone to lean against, however futilely. You gave him desolation, cold, and quiet. In return, your furnace grew brighter. How could you have ever predicted what this would eventually make impossible? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Discover. ⇒->21ABBB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Recollection]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">The day of the eclipse, Finnit woke with a sharp pain searing his back, breaking him out of his warm reverie. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar was twitching and scratching in his sleep again. Finnit adored the feeling of the devil’s tail coiled around his thigh, basking in the hellish heat that staved off the island’s chill. Nonetheless, crawling into the embrace of a clawed creature had a few drawbacks. “Hey,” Finnit whispered. “Wake up.” Vosaphar shifted, his tail loosening its grip on Finnit. “Mmph.” “You scratched me again,” Finnit said. “Nightmares?” “Oh no,” Vosaphar said. “I’m sorry, Finnit. Here…” The demon traced the scratches, and Finnit felt an odd prickly sensation as the skin healed over. “Thank you. You’re getting good at that.” Vosaphar delicately kissed the side of Finnit’s neck. “I don’t normally sleep so much. The mortal realm is… exhausting, in its own way. Perhaps I can fashion some wrappings for my claws in the future.” “Whoa,” Finnit said, gazing out one of the windows. “What?” “The sky is different.” And indeed it was. The rain had—incredibly—let up slightly, the green glow he’d become so accustomed to taking on distinct streaks of orange and red. Vosaphar grimaced. “I guess it’s time.” “Yeah.” They made their final preparations. Finnit tucked his syllabaries into his satchel and ate his last rations. He thought he might never forget the taste of salted fruit leather in whatever days—or day—he had remaining. “Was there something else we should have prepared?” Finnit asked. “We’re just… walking through a portal to the sun? Like this?” “I can’t think of anything, Finnit.” “Well, alright then.” He looked around at the now overly-familiar place he had spent this last month. “Goodbye, awful yet cozy stone room under a cursed lighthouse. It was certainly a time.” “That it was.” Vosaphar sounded amused. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They ventured out onto the cliffside stairs. Even these had become familiar, the treachery of each step now a well-worn betrayal. As they slipped past the anchor collector, she gave out a muted warble that Finnit optimistically chose to interpret as encouragement. Up ahead, a ruddy glow intensified as they approached the altar beneath the lens and its housing. The miniature moon had arrived at its destination, transforming the sun emblem at the center into a bright red disc of light. It was overwhelming to look at directly; Finnit’s eyes strained from this threat to perception. “It’s terrible,” Finnit whispered. “Beautiful, too. What a dazzling horror of a thing to witness.” “Finnit,” Vosaphar began, wrapping his arms gently around the sorcerer. “It might be neglectful of our accord for me not to mention… you don’t have to do this. I could—I could go without you—you could die, Finnit, and—I—I don’t want to lose you… forever.” Finnit looked up into the fiend’s fearful, loving eyes. “Vosaphar—I’m afraid, too. But I couldn’t accept that. Isn’t that what Raekard would do? Send someone to die in his stead, to do the big scary things he won’t face himself? This trial was his idea, but now it’s my trial. Our trial. And I want to see it through. Together. Don’t you?” “Yes,” Vosaphar admitted. “I want to see the sun... with you.” “Then let’s go see it.” Vosaphar smiled, and took Finnit’s arm in his. Together, they stepped into an oblivion of crimson light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Eclipse. ⇒->Eclipse ABBB]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">The day of the eclipse, Finnit woke with a sharp pain searing his back, breaking him out of his warm reverie. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar was twitching and scratching in his sleep again. Finnit adored the feeling of the devil’s tail coiled around his thigh, basking in the hellish heat that staved off the island’s chill. Nonetheless, crawling into the embrace of a clawed creature had a few drawbacks. “Hey,” Finnit whispered. “Wake up.” Vosaphar shifted, his tail loosening its grip on Finnit. “Mmph.” “You scratched me again,” Finnit said. “Nightmares?” “Oh no,” Vosaphar said. “I’m sorry, Finnit. Here…” The demon traced the scratches, and Finnit felt an odd prickly sensation as the skin healed over. “Thank you. You’re getting good at that.” Vosaphar delicately kissed the side of Finnit’s neck. “I don’t normally sleep so much. The mortal realm is… exhausting, in its own way. Perhaps I can fashion some wrappings for my claws in the future.” “Whoa,” Finnit said, gazing out one of the windows. “What?” “The sky is different.” And indeed it was. The rain had—incredibly—let up slightly, the green glow he’d become so accustomed to taking on distinct streaks of orange and red. Vosaphar grimaced. “I guess it’s time.” “Yeah.” They made their final preparations. Finnit tucked his syllabaries into his satchel and ate his last rations. He thought he might never forget the taste of salted fruit leather in whatever days—or day—he had remaining. “Was there something else we should have prepared?” Finnit asked. “We’re just… walking through a portal to the sun? Like this?” “I can’t think of anything, Finnit.” “Well, alright then.” He looked around at the now overly-familiar place he had spent this last month. “Goodbye, awful yet cozy stone room under a cursed lighthouse. It was certainly a time.” “That it was.” Vosaphar sounded amused. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They ventured out onto the cliffside stairs. Even these had become familiar, the treachery of each step now a well-worn betrayal. As they slipped past the anchor collector, she gave out a muted warble that Finnit optimistically chose to interpret as encouragement. Up ahead, a ruddy glow intensified as they approached the altar beneath the lens and its housing. The miniature moon had arrived at its destination, transforming the sun emblem at the center into a bright red disc of light. It was overwhelming to look at directly; Finnit’s eyes strained from this threat to perception. “It’s terrible,” Finnit whispered. “Beautiful, too. What a dazzling horror of a thing to witness.” “Finnit,” Vosaphar began, wrapping his arms gently around the sorcerer. “It might be neglectful of our accord for me not to mention… you don’t have to do this. I could—I could go without you—you could die, Finnit, and—I—I don’t want to lose you… forever.” Finnit looked up into the fiend’s fearful, loving eyes. “Vosaphar—I’m afraid, too. But I couldn’t accept that. Isn’t that what Raekard would do? Send someone to die in his stead, to do the big scary things he won’t face himself? This trial was his idea, but now it’s my trial. Our trial. And I want to see it through. Together. Don’t you?” “Yes,” Vosaphar admitted. “I want to see the sun... with you.” “Then let’s go see it.” Vosaphar smiled, and took Finnit’s arm in his. Together, they stepped into an oblivion of crimson light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Eclipse. ⇒->Eclipse ABBB]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 3)[Eclipse.] (text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Sun.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">The sun was a cosmic affliction, a colossal molten mass so red and seething that even the infernal embers blazing in the deepest pits of the hells seemed but feeble sparks in the distance. And Vosaphar was soaring *toward* it. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he flew, Finnit clutched against him, tendrils of the corona pulled peculiar new colors from his wings, its aurora a spectacle more captivating than your dreary calciferous skies could have ever dreamed to churn. How you longed for such color and heat and majesty—even just a drop of it. And *they* got to see it all, to have it within reach. “Vosaphar, look!” With his free hand, Finnit pointed toward an eerie black void drifting past. Dozens of bird-creatures flew from the roiling surface of the sun to circle and screech at the dark moon, a celestial interloper threatening the eternity of light. “They’re sunspots!” Finnit shouted. “She’s a sunspot!” “They’re *distracted*, too.” Vosaphar glided toward the edge of the sun away from the shrieking horrors. “That’s why it has to be now.” The demon and his summoner skimmed the sun’s surface, its dangerous heat threatening to embrace them forever so closely. “Hold on, Finnit!” Vosaphar tilted his wings, arm outstretched, reaching, swiping up a glob of incandescent fluid. This molten scarlet-amber squeezed between his claws and stuck to his low-dipped wing. Even these tiny droplets of starlight held immense power that coursed through him as he arced up out of the sun’s grip. “It’s so incredible!” Finnit laughed, tears streaming behind him, motes of wonder sparkling in space. Something darkened behind them. Finnit looked over his shoulder. “Vosaphar—there’s a new sunspot—” The creature shrieked as it gave chase, following the radiant beads dripping from Vosaphar’s sunswept wing. Vosaphar affixed his gaze to the portal back to the Pharos Fidelis, soaring ever faster. The screeching grew louder yet, judgment for their cardinal cosmic sin approaching with alarming haste. But with Finnit clinging to his side… (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar simply had no use for consequences. With a final burst of speed, they shot through the portal. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Reignite. ⇒->22ABBB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">The sun was a cosmic affliction, a colossal molten mass so red and seething that even the infernal embers blazing in the deepest pits of the hells seemed but feeble sparks in the distance. And Vosaphar was soaring *toward* it. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he flew, Finnit clutched against him, tendrils of the corona pulled peculiar new colors from his wings, its aurora a spectacle more captivating than your dreary calciferous skies could have ever dreamed to churn. How you longed for such color and heat and majesty—even just a drop of it. And *they* got to see it all, to have it within reach. “Vosaphar, look!” With his free hand, Finnit pointed toward an eerie black void drifting past. Dozens of bird-creatures flew from the roiling surface of the sun to circle and screech at the dark moon, a celestial interloper threatening the eternity of light. “They’re sunspots!” Finnit shouted. “She’s a sunspot!” “They’re *distracted*, too.” Vosaphar glided toward the edge of the sun away from the shrieking horrors. “That’s why it has to be now.” The demon and his summoner skimmed the sun’s surface, its dangerous heat threatening to embrace them forever so closely. “Hold on, Finnit!” Vosaphar tilted his wings, arm outstretched, reaching, swiping up a glob of incandescent fluid. This molten scarlet-amber squeezed between his claws and stuck to his low-dipped wing. Even these tiny droplets of starlight held immense power that coursed through him as he arced up out of the sun’s grip. “It’s so incredible!” Finnit laughed, tears streaming behind him, motes of wonder sparkling in space. Something darkened behind them. Finnit looked over his shoulder. “Vosaphar—there’s a new sunspot—” The creature shrieked as it gave chase, following the radiant beads dripping from Vosaphar’s sunswept wing. Vosaphar affixed his gaze to the portal back to the Pharos Fidelis, soaring ever faster. The screeching grew louder yet, judgment for their cardinal cosmic sin approaching with alarming haste. But with Finnit clinging to his side… (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar simply had no use for consequences. With a final burst of speed, they shot through the portal. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Reignite. ⇒->22ABBB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXII.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Finnit and Vosaphar tumbled over the edge of the altar, the portal still aglow with the eclipse-light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But there was little time to celebrate their reckless heist—the sunspot shoved its vicious pointed head through the gap after them, screeching as it struggled to break through. Finnit let Vosaphar carry him a bit further up the tunnel, before standing on his own feet and running alongside. The anchor collector had left her nest, wheeling about in the sky, shrieking back at the new sunspot about to burst from the throat of the island. Finnit looked out at the storm, the clouds thinned enough that he could see the eclipsed red sun half-risen, framing the infernal image of a devil’s horns. “How magnificent,” he said, breathless. Vosaphar looked down at him, gently squeezing his hand. They arrived at the peak, where the lens yearned for light, and at last, Finnit had light to provide. Vosaphar held out his claws, sunlight pooled in his palm, and Finnit painted it, trying to create the glyph his mind had projected there, the name of the demon whose rite might reignite the Pharos Fidelis. You watched, enraptured by the spectacle of your plans converging. This was it. This was your moment. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As Finnit slathered the glowing fluid across the lens, the dark slag drank it in—more, and more, and more of it. Too much of it. The glyph couldn’t hold its shape. The lens welled, hyperfolding crimson light, growing ever hotter by the second. The cleft, once so close to promising your name, had already deformed beyond recognition. And how brutal; that poor, mortal sorcerer, all tangled in your schemes, had every intention of drawing your name, a sigil drenched in the lifeblood of the sun. He really did try. You couldn’t fault him for that. But the execution? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A tragedy, in many fragments. For centuries—perhaps longer—every mortal design for the Pharos Fidelis had crumbled. Each disaster wrote another chapter in that wretched chronicle, the dark history of guiding light. And you thought *yours* would work? Pharos Fidelis, the beacon on the horizon of reason. Where it would remain, out of reach. Could not even a devil accept the simple dreadful truth, that a horizon approached can never arrive? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Finnit, we have to leave!” Vosaphar shouted, scanning the skies for the sunspots. “The lens is collapsing!” “No—it has to—Vosaphar, it has to—” “Finnit, please—” “I can’t—I can’t get the shape right, it’s going to—” “It deserves to shatter.” How dare he. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“But, what was this even for, then?” Finnit sobbed, the last of the sunlight ripped from his fingertips into the Pharos Fidelis. Vosaphar pulled him, one final time, away from the amplifying dyslucence. “That’s for the historians!” Vosaphar stared at him with his stormy eyes. “Shouldn’t we live? Don’t you want a future? ” “Yes!” Finnit embraced Vosaphar once more, and the demon swept him up into the sky. They abandoned the Pharos Fidelis to its fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They *tried* to abandon it. But it wasn’t done with them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Shatter. ⇒->23ABBB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Finnit and Vosaphar tumbled over the edge of the altar, the portal still aglow with the eclipse-light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But there was little time to celebrate their reckless heist—the sunspot shoved its vicious pointed head through the gap after them, screeching as it struggled to break through. Finnit let Vosaphar carry him a bit further up the tunnel, before standing on his own feet and running alongside. The anchor collector had left her nest, wheeling about in the sky, shrieking back at the new sunspot about to burst from the throat of the island. Finnit looked out at the storm, the clouds thinned enough that he could see the eclipsed red sun half-risen, framing the infernal image of a devil’s horns. “How magnificent,” he said, breathless. Vosaphar looked down at him, gently squeezing his hand. They arrived at the peak, where the lens yearned for light, and at last, Finnit had light to provide. Vosaphar held out his claws, sunlight pooled in his palm, and Finnit painted it, trying to create the glyph his mind had projected there, the name of the demon whose rite might reignite the Pharos Fidelis. You watched, enraptured by the spectacle of your plans converging. This was it. This was your moment. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As Finnit slathered the glowing fluid across the lens, the dark slag drank it in—more, and more, and more of it. Too much of it. The glyph couldn’t hold its shape. The lens welled, hyperfolding crimson light, growing ever hotter by the second. The cleft, once so close to promising your name, had already deformed beyond recognition. And how brutal; that poor, mortal sorcerer, all tangled in your schemes, had every intention of drawing your name, a sigil drenched in the lifeblood of the sun. He really did try. You couldn’t fault him for that. But the execution? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A tragedy, in many fragments. For centuries—perhaps longer—every mortal design for the Pharos Fidelis had crumbled. Each disaster wrote another chapter in that wretched chronicle, the dark history of guiding light. And you thought *yours* would work? Pharos Fidelis, the beacon on the horizon of reason. Where it would remain, out of reach. Could not even a devil accept the simple dreadful truth, that a horizon approached can never arrive? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Finnit, we have to leave!” Vosaphar shouted, scanning the skies for the sunspots. “The lens is collapsing!” “No—it has to—Vosaphar, it has to—” “Finnit, please—” “I can’t—I can’t get the shape right, it’s going to—” “It deserves to shatter.” How dare he. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“But, what was this even for, then?” Finnit sobbed, the last of the sunlight ripped from his fingertips into the Pharos Fidelis. Vosaphar pulled him, one final time, away from the amplifying dyslucence. “That’s for the historians!” Vosaphar stared at him with his stormy eyes. “Shouldn’t we live? Don’t you want a future? ” “Yes!” Finnit embraced Vosaphar once more, and the demon swept him up into the sky. They abandoned the Pharos Fidelis to its fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They *tried* to abandon it. But it wasn’t done with them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Shatter. ⇒->23ABBB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Disavowal]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXIII.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">The storm rushed past Vosaphar as he carried Finnit, placing any distance he could between them and the doomed Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Still seeking their stolen sunlight, the sunspot pursued, but the anchor collector screeched and snapped at it. The two creatures, identically opposed in desire, circled the peak as they fought above the molten slag. “It’s going to—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The world around them grew absolutely silent, swallowing the rest of Finnit’s warning. Every bit of light had gathered, folding itself over and over and over still, smaller, ever smaller, congealing into the tiniest, brightest speck. For a moment, Vosaphar wondered if it would keep going, dragging the mortal realm, the hells, and all the rest of existence into its singularity. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Instead, it shattered. All that had been poured into it—all the fire, all the lightning, all the stray souls, all the stolen sunlight, all the summons slaughtered, all the hopes and dreams and plots and schemes and—all of it finally shattered, sending incalculable shards of glass in every direction at incredible speeds. A vanguard fragment slammed into Vosaphar’s chest, knocking Finnit out of his grasp. The sorcerer began to drift away on his own trajectory— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And you thought, though your plans had shattered along with everything else… You still had one last mote of hellfire to spare. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Influence. ⇒->M4ABBB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">The storm rushed past Vosaphar as he carried Finnit, placing any distance he could between them and the doomed Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Still seeking their stolen sunlight, the sunspot pursued, but the anchor collector screeched and snapped at it. The two creatures, identically opposed in desire, circled the peak as they fought above the molten slag. “It’s going to—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The world around them grew absolutely silent, swallowing the rest of Finnit’s warning. Every bit of light had gathered, folding itself over and over and over still, smaller, ever smaller, congealing into the tiniest, brightest speck. For a moment, Vosaphar wondered if it would keep going, dragging the mortal realm, the hells, and all the rest of existence into its singularity. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Instead, it shattered. All that had been poured into it—all the fire, all the lightning, all the stray souls, all the stolen sunlight, all the summons slaughtered, all the hopes and dreams and plots and schemes and—all of it finally shattered, sending incalculable shards of glass in every direction at incredible speeds. A vanguard fragment slammed into Vosaphar’s chest, knocking Finnit out of his grasp. The sorcerer began to drift away on his own trajectory— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And you thought, though your plans had shattered along with everything else… You still had one last mote of hellfire to spare. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Influence. ⇒->M4ABBB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Disavowal]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#fc4e71")+(text-size: 3)[Influence.] (text-color:"#fc4e71")+(text-size: 1.15)[Clinginess | Desperation.]</div> One final mote of hellfire appeared. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightmotepassage">When potent emotions conflicted a demon’s judgment, even the faintest mote of hellfire bore enough infernal energy to influence their fate from afar. That’s how you got them into this mess. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#8c283c)[***Clinginess***] For the demon Vosaphar, so eager to wrap himself around his beloved summoner, the sight of the mortal falling away would’ve driven him to dive in closer. This clinginess would have joined their fates together, should you have chosen to foster it. Yielding to this clinginess, however romantic, risked their joint fate becoming tragic. (text-color:#8c283c)[***Desperation***] For the demon Vosaphar, so determined for his beloved summoner to survive, the sight of him falling away would’ve driven him to take reckless measures. This desperation might have driven him to intervene instantly to salvage the situation. Yielding to this desperation, however hasty, risked their fates diverging dramatically. (text-color:#8c283c)[***Decision***] Well? Which force did this mote of hellfire incite? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightmotechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))[[[Clinginess. ⇒->24ABBBA. Vosaphar]]] (link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#fc4e71")))[[[Desperation. ⇒->24ABBBB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="motepassage">When potent emotions conflicted a demon’s judgment, even the faintest mote of hellfire bore enough infernal energy to influence their fate from afar. That’s how you got them into this mess. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Clinginess***] For the demon Vosaphar, so eager to wrap himself around his beloved summoner, the sight of the mortal falling away would’ve driven him to dive in closer. This clinginess would have joined their fates together, should you have chosen to foster it. Yielding to this clinginess, however romantic, risked their joint fate becoming tragic. (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Desperation***] For the demon Vosaphar, so determined for his beloved summoner to survive, the sight of him falling away would’ve driven him to take reckless measures. This desperation might have driven him to intervene instantly to salvage the situation. Yielding to this desperation, however hasty, risked their fates diverging dramatically. (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Decision***] Well? Which force did this mote of hellfire incite? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="motechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Clinginess. ⇒->24ABBBA. Vosaphar]]] (link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Desperation. ⇒->24ABBBB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Mote]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXIV.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar dove, claws outstretched, reaching for Finnit’s wrist— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And closed his hand around the transit band attached to it. Just as the edge of the inferno reached them— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar and Finnit blinked out of existence, teleporting somewhere else. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Defend. ⇒->25ABBBA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar dove, claws outstretched, reaching for Finnit’s wrist— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And closed his hand around the transit band attached to it. Just as the edge of the inferno reached them— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar and Finnit blinked out of existence, teleporting somewhere else. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Defend. ⇒->25ABBBA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXIV.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar had a single, reckless idea of what he still had time to do. How he could send Finnit somewhere safer than here. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar recalled the spells Finnit had taught him, focused his intentions and— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Banished him. Finnit blinked out of existence. Moments later, the edge of the explosion swept Vosaphar into an inferno of shattering glass. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Stoke. ⇒->25ABBBB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar had a single, reckless idea of what he still had time to do. How he could send Finnit somewhere safer than here. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar recalled the spells Finnit had taught him, focused his intentions and— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Banished him. Finnit blinked out of existence. Moments later, the edge of the explosion swept Vosaphar into an inferno of shattering glass. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Stoke. ⇒->25ABBBB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#b8e270")+(text-size: 3)[XXV.] (text-color:"#b8e270")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Cairnveld Fortress.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcairnveldpassage">Finnit tumbled to his latest painful stop against the stone. Warm, clawed fingers gripped his wrist. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Vosaphar?” Finnit groaned, clutching his head and rolling over to move closer to the devil. He could smell cypress and old parchment. They must have arrived somewhere at Cairnveld Fortress. He heard a few startled gasps, and then whispers broke out. “Huh?” Finnit muttered, looking over his shoulders. They had landed in one of the smaller lecture halls. Cool light streamed through the windows, setting the chamber’s dusty air aglow. A scattered few luminaries occupied the chairs, including Jethel, who peered curiously over the top of the beverage she had been sipping. It was the most people he had seen in a month. Raekard stood from his seat in the front row. “Incipient Finnit!” His voice rang out over the chamber. “I’m not sure how you managed to be late with a pre-scheduled transit band, but it is time for your evaluation.” He paused, frowning. “Dismiss this… creature.” Finnit ignored him, crawling over to examine Vosaphar’s wounds. There was a warped shard of the Pharos Fidelis lens lodged in his chest, glowing with an intense crimson light. It seemed to have fused to the demon’s torso, ichor seeping around the edges where glass and flesh intermingled. “Are you okay?” Finnit asked softly. “No.” Vosaphar turned to him, groaning. “But… I don’t think I’m fading.” Finnit did his best to hug him from this awkward position. “Fine, I’ll banish it myself.” Raekard traced a sigil in the air, directing its power against the injured fiend. Nothing happened. It was the first time that Finnit had seen Raekard genuinely surprised. Finnit helped Vosaphar to his feet. The demon looked around, a bit nervously given his bizarre new context. He let his ethereal wings fade away, wrapping a warm arm around Finnit’s waist. “This is not appropriate conduct for a discovery trial evaluation,” Raekard said, his voice low and dangerous. “Be sure to make a note of it then,” Finnit said. He leaned into Vosaphar, who responded by curling his tail gently around the sorcerer. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The luminaries in the audience found this riveting. Jethel stirred the air next to her mug with a cinnamon stick, not realizing she was dripping horchata onto her notes. Finnit wished he could just leave and recover in his quarters. Why was he even putting up with any of this? They had just gotten back from the *sun*. “Dismiss this demon at once!” Raekard snapped. “It is against academy bylaws to bring summoned entities to participate in discovery trial evaluations.” “I’ll go where I wish to, *wretched one*,” Vosaphar snarled. He had evidently recognized Raekard. Jethel let out a startled laugh, which she failed to even attempt to cover up. “Luminary Jethel is going to *love* you,” Finnit told Vosaphar, deciding to embrace the surreality of the moment. Nonplussed, Raekard tried a second banishment. It failed. Again. Finnit ran his fingers through his hair anxiously, snagging another piece of the lens that had cut the skin behind his ear. He plucked it out. Its otherworldly glow was just as out of place here as Vosaphar, and frankly, himself. “What is the meaning of this?” Raekard demanded. “Incipient, what did you *do*?” Finnit held up the errant fragment. “We reignited the Pharos Fidelis.” He threw it onto the floor. “As commanded. Huh. I guess that makes me a luminary.” “This is—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But Finnit didn’t care to hear any more of what Raekard had to say. He suddenly wondered why it had ever mattered. The luminary was such an insignificant threat in the face of everything that he had experienced. And he was a terrible historiographer. Suddenly, the ground shook slightly. Bits of grit descended from the ceiling. One of the luminaries—who had somehow managed to sleep through Finnit and Vosaphar’s dramatic arrival—woke with a start, their eyes darting wildly as they took in their surroundings. “What was *that*?” Raekard asked. “The Pharos Fidelis,” Finnit said. “I guess it took a few minutes for the shockwaves to arrive. Maybe we should reconvene this session after we know for sure that our actions didn’t precipitate the end of all existence. Vosaphar, let’s get out of here.” “Gladly,” the demon muttered. “And stop trying to banish me,” he added, glaring directly at Raekard. “Or I will teach you some real principles of summoning that you will *not* enjoy learning, pathetic one.” The luminary was dumbfounded. “What the—what happened?” “That’s enough, Raekard,” Jethel said from behind him. Arms linked, Finnit and Vosaphar departed the lecture hall, heading for Finnit’s quarters. Somewhere quiet. Raekard didn’t try to follow them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcairnveldchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))[[[Repose. ⇒->26ABBBA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="cairnveldpassage">Finnit tumbled to his latest painful stop against the stone. Warm, clawed fingers gripped his wrist. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Vosaphar?” Finnit groaned, clutching his head and rolling over to move closer to the devil. He could smell cypress and old parchment. They must have arrived somewhere at Cairnveld Fortress. He heard a few startled gasps, and then whispers broke out. “Huh?” Finnit muttered, looking over his shoulders. They had landed in one of the smaller lecture halls. Cool light streamed through the windows, setting the chamber’s dusty air aglow. A scattered few luminaries occupied the chairs, including Jethel, who peered curiously over the top of the beverage she had been sipping. It was the most people he had seen in a month. Raekard stood from his seat in the front row. “Incipient Finnit!” His voice rang out over the chamber. “I’m not sure how you managed to be late with a pre-scheduled transit band, but it is time for your evaluation.” He paused, frowning. “Dismiss this… creature.” Finnit ignored him, crawling over to examine Vosaphar’s wounds. There was a warped shard of the Pharos Fidelis lens lodged in his chest, glowing with an intense crimson light. It seemed to have fused to the demon’s torso, ichor seeping around the edges where glass and flesh intermingled. “Are you okay?” Finnit asked softly. “No.” Vosaphar turned to him, groaning. “But… I don’t think I’m fading.” Finnit did his best to hug him from this awkward position. “Fine, I’ll banish it myself.” Raekard traced a sigil in the air, directing its power against the injured fiend. Nothing happened. It was the first time that Finnit had seen Raekard genuinely surprised. Finnit helped Vosaphar to his feet. The demon looked around, a bit nervously given his bizarre new context. He let his ethereal wings fade away, wrapping a warm arm around Finnit’s waist. “This is not appropriate conduct for a discovery trial evaluation,” Raekard said, his voice low and dangerous. “Be sure to make a note of it then,” Finnit said. He leaned into Vosaphar, who responded by curling his tail gently around the sorcerer. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The luminaries in the audience found this riveting. Jethel stirred the air next to her mug with a cinnamon stick, not realizing she was dripping horchata onto her notes. Finnit wished he could just leave and recover in his quarters. Why was he even putting up with any of this? They had just gotten back from the *sun*. “Dismiss this demon at once!” Raekard snapped. “It is against academy bylaws to bring summoned entities to participate in discovery trial evaluations.” “I’ll go where I wish to, *wretched one*,” Vosaphar snarled. He had evidently recognized Raekard. Jethel let out a startled laugh, which she failed to even attempt to cover up. “Luminary Jethel is going to *love* you,” Finnit told Vosaphar, deciding to embrace the surreality of the moment. Nonplussed, Raekard tried a second banishment. It failed. Again. Finnit ran his fingers through his hair anxiously, snagging another piece of the lens that had cut the skin behind his ear. He plucked it out. Its otherworldly glow was just as out of place here as Vosaphar, and frankly, himself. “What is the meaning of this?” Raekard demanded. “Incipient, what did you *do*?” Finnit held up the errant fragment. “We reignited the Pharos Fidelis.” He threw it onto the floor. “As commanded. Huh. I guess that makes me a luminary.” “This is—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But Finnit didn’t care to hear any more of what Raekard had to say. He suddenly wondered why it had ever mattered. The luminary was such an insignificant threat in the face of everything that he had experienced. And he was a terrible historiographer. Suddenly, the ground shook slightly. Bits of grit descended from the ceiling. One of the luminaries—who had somehow managed to sleep through Finnit and Vosaphar’s dramatic arrival—woke with a start, their eyes darting wildly as they took in their surroundings. “What was *that*?” Raekard asked. “The Pharos Fidelis,” Finnit said. “I guess it took a few minutes for the shockwaves to arrive. Maybe we should reconvene this session after we know for sure that our actions didn’t precipitate the end of all existence. Vosaphar, let’s get out of here.” “Gladly,” the demon muttered. “And stop trying to banish me,” he added, glaring directly at Raekard. “Or I will teach you some real principles of summoning that you will *not* enjoy learning, pathetic one.” The luminary was dumbfounded. “What the—what happened?” “That’s enough, Raekard,” Jethel said from behind him. Arms linked, Finnit and Vosaphar departed the lecture hall, heading for Finnit’s quarters. Somewhere quiet. Raekard didn’t try to follow them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="cairnveldchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#7ba03c")))[[[Repose. ⇒->26ABBBA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#7ba03c")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#b8e270")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#b8e270")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Cairnveld Fortress.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcairnveldpassage">The incipients and luminaries traveling the halls of Cairnveld—already unsettled by the earthquake—gave Vosaphar a wide berth as he and Finnit passed them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar had never been around so many mortals at once—at least, not in his current instance—and unlike Finnit, *these* mortals were thoroughly alarmed by the fearsome sight of a demon wandering in their midst, chest aglow with a sun-scorched fragment of the Pharos Fidelis lens. He only started to relax once they entered a small, dusty chamber full of the sorcerer’s possessions. Mostly books. Finnit closed the door behind him, then climbed onto his bed in the corner of the chamber, sitting with his back against one of the cool stone walls. He grabbed one of the pillows, and invited Vosaphar to lie down. The devil accepted, allowing Finnit to cradle his head in his lap. Vosaphar was delighted by the softness of the mattress compared to the bedrolls at the Pharos Fidelis, and let the mortal gently massage his forehead, attending to the skin bunched at the base of his horns. “Is this okay?” Finnit asked. “Yes,” Vosaphar said, flicking his tail languorously. To be afforded such comfort was rare and fleeting. As you—along with every other demon—knew all too well. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[After a few restful minutes, Finnit spoke up. “So, um—thank you for not letting me die. For saving me, so many times. I can’t even make sense of what happened yet. It’s unreal. This, being here, and—we shouldn’t have survived.” “But we did, beloved one.” Vosaphar ran a clawed fingertip gently across Finnit’s forearm. “Perhaps you contributed more than you realize.” He paused. “But I *did* carry you across the sky.” Finnit snorted. Someone knocked at the door. “Finnit? Are you in there?” “Yes!” Finnit said. One of the sorcerers from the trial evaluation stepped into the room, carrying with her an eclectic potpourri of scents. It was Luminary Jethel, the healing expert. “Oh.” She raised her eyebrows. “Is this—uh, a bad time?” “It’s fine,” Finnit said, reluctantly releasing Vosaphar so the demon could sit up. “I’m glad to see you, Jethel. Thank you for all your help.” She nodded. “The main reason I’m here is to inform you that the panel of luminaries in attendance convened, and after an examination of the fragment you provided, determined that you passed your discovery trial. Raekard dissented, but I suppose situations like these are exactly why the founders required a full panel in the bylaws. Congratulations, Finnit!” She waited for a moment, creating an awkward silence. “But I get the sense that, perhaps this is not your main concern?” “No, it isn’t,” Finnit said. “I mean—I guess I’m glad it’s over. But, I’m concerned about Vosaphar’s injuries.” He paused. “This is Vosaphar. He’s from… uh, the calciferous wastes.” “Uh huh. Noted.” Jethel directed her focus toward the devil. “Vosaphar? May I take a closer look?” “Yes,” Vosaphar said, watching her lightly-wrinkled fingers weave diagnostic glyphs in front of him. Finnit gently rubbed his back. “How are you feeling?” “I… don’t know,” Vosaphar answered honestly. “It’s a strange sensation. Like my bones are itching beneath my skin.” “Interesting,” Jethel remarked. “Well—this fragment of—uh, I guess I have no real idea what it actually is, some exotic vitric—seems to have fused onto you? It radiates an extraordinary amount of magic. For a human, that would be concerning, by which I mean, fatal. But I admit, I am not an expert on infernal anatomy.” She glanced at Finnit, eyes narrowing. “Though based on what I have seen today, perhaps *you* are becoming one.” Vosaphar looked his way as well, amused to see the mortal’s cheeks reddening. “Thought so,” Jethel remarked. “I hope Raekard never hears the end of this, for whatever remains of his miserable days.” “Oh,” Finnit said, evidently realizing something. “I see now… the lens fragment. Raekard is, at least, a *competent* sorcerer—his banishment rite should have succeeded. By remaining here, I thought Vosaphar might have violated the principle of planar reversion. But with this power fusing with you—I guess that makes it *your* power. And it far exceeds Raekard’s.” “Fascinating,” Jethel said, “if not a touch alarming in its implications. Well, at any rate, for now, I recommend treating the exposed edges where the fragment is impacting your skin. I don’t know what your plans are, Finnit, but if you remain here for the moment—as a luminary—we can research the issue together.” “What do you think?” Finnit asked him. “We could stay for a bit, sort things out?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“That sounds nice, Finnit.” “And after that—” “The rest of it?” “The rest of it.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcairnveldchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending ABBBA]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="cairnveldpassage">The incipients and luminaries traveling the halls of Cairnveld—already unsettled by the earthquake—gave Vosaphar a wide berth as he and Finnit passed them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar had never been around so many mortals at once—at least, not in his current instance—and unlike Finnit, *these* mortals were thoroughly alarmed by the fearsome sight of a demon wandering in their midst, chest aglow with a sun-scorched fragment of the Pharos Fidelis lens. He only started to relax once they entered a small, dusty chamber full of the sorcerer’s possessions. Mostly books. Finnit closed the door behind him, then climbed onto his bed in the corner of the chamber, sitting with his back against one of the cool stone walls. He grabbed one of the pillows, and invited Vosaphar to lie down. The devil accepted, allowing Finnit to cradle his head in his lap. Vosaphar was delighted by the softness of the mattress compared to the bedrolls at the Pharos Fidelis, and let the mortal gently massage his forehead, attending to the skin bunched at the base of his horns. “Is this okay?” Finnit asked. “Yes,” Vosaphar said, flicking his tail languorously. To be afforded such comfort was rare and fleeting. As you—along with every other demon—knew all too well. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[After a few restful minutes, Finnit spoke up. “So, um—thank you for not letting me die. For saving me, so many times. I can’t even make sense of what happened yet. It’s unreal. This, being here, and—we shouldn’t have survived.” “But we did, beloved one.” Vosaphar ran a clawed fingertip gently across Finnit’s forearm. “Perhaps you contributed more than you realize.” He paused. “But I *did* carry you across the sky.” Finnit snorted. Someone knocked at the door. “Finnit? Are you in there?” “Yes!” Finnit said. One of the sorcerers from the trial evaluation stepped into the room, carrying with her an eclectic potpourri of scents. It was Luminary Jethel, the healing expert. “Oh.” She raised her eyebrows. “Is this—uh, a bad time?” “It’s fine,” Finnit said, reluctantly releasing Vosaphar so the demon could sit up. “I’m glad to see you, Jethel. Thank you for all your help.” She nodded. “The main reason I’m here is to inform you that the panel of luminaries in attendance convened, and after an examination of the fragment you provided, determined that you passed your discovery trial. Raekard dissented, but I suppose situations like these are exactly why the founders required a full panel in the bylaws. Congratulations, Finnit!” She waited for a moment, creating an awkward silence. “But I get the sense that, perhaps this is not your main concern?” “No, it isn’t,” Finnit said. “I mean—I guess I’m glad it’s over. But, I’m concerned about Vosaphar’s injuries.” He paused. “This is Vosaphar. He’s from… uh, the calciferous wastes.” “Uh huh. Noted.” Jethel directed her focus toward the devil. “Vosaphar? May I take a closer look?” “Yes,” Vosaphar said, watching her lightly-wrinkled fingers weave diagnostic glyphs in front of him. Finnit gently rubbed his back. “How are you feeling?” “I… don’t know,” Vosaphar answered honestly. “It’s a strange sensation. Like my bones are itching beneath my skin.” “Interesting,” Jethel remarked. “Well—this fragment of—uh, I guess I have no real idea what it actually is, some exotic vitric—seems to have fused onto you? It radiates an extraordinary amount of magic. For a human, that would be concerning, by which I mean, fatal. But I admit, I am not an expert on infernal anatomy.” She glanced at Finnit, eyes narrowing. “Though based on what I have seen today, perhaps *you* are becoming one.” Vosaphar looked his way as well, amused to see the mortal’s cheeks reddening. “Thought so,” Jethel remarked. “I hope Raekard never hears the end of this, for whatever remains of his miserable days.” “Oh,” Finnit said, evidently realizing something. “I see now… the lens fragment. Raekard is, at least, a *competent* sorcerer—his banishment rite should have succeeded. By remaining here, I thought Vosaphar might have violated the principle of planar reversion. But with this power fusing with you—I guess that makes it *your* power. And it far exceeds Raekard’s.” “Fascinating,” Jethel said, “if not a touch alarming in its implications. Well, at any rate, for now, I recommend treating the exposed edges where the fragment is impacting your skin. I don’t know what your plans are, Finnit, but if you remain here for the moment—as a luminary—we can research the issue together.” “What do you think?” Finnit asked him. “We could stay for a bit, sort things out?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“That sounds nice, Finnit.” “And after that—” “The rest of it?” “The rest of it.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="cairnveldchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending ABBBA]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what she wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17ABB. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4ABBB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s clinginess, causing him to reach Finnit in time to teleport to Cairnveld with him. This proved to be a fortunate calculation. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what she wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17ABB. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4ABBB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s clinginess, causing him to reach Finnit in time to teleport to Cairnveld with him. This proved to be a fortunate calculation. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[XXV.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage cold, wet, and screaming. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It had a certain resonance, didn’t it? He coughed violently, choking on sludge and bloodfog alike, wading clumsily in your direction. Even from this distance, you could feel intense energy pouring off the misplaced mortal, his magic warped by the glowing fragments of the Pharos Fidelis stuck in his hair and clothing. If nothing else could be salvaged from this historic disaster, at least you had an opportunity to fuel your furnace. The mortal would, at any moment, petition you for relief from his dire situation. This provided you a brief moment to consider which form might be most appropriate for such an absurd occasion. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|initial>[In that light: (link-reveal: "You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. Inaccurate though it may have been, perhaps you had the right to such a form. You’d already spent more time fussing over Vosaphar’s fate than any of his makers had. You adopted an elegant posture and swept out of your cottage to approach the mortal. “Hello, Finnit,” you said. He turned to look at you, eyes widening. You flicked your new tail, mimicking one of Vosaphar’s gestures that he so favored. “Um—hi. Uh—” “Welcome to my calciferous wastes.” You extended your arms, gesturing toward the dark skies and lonesome coralbone monuments dotting the horizon. “And what a sight they are.” Finnit looked around, evidently still processing this alarming development. “The calciferous wastes? Do you—do you know Vosaphar?” “Please, join me inside,” you said. “We shall sit by the fire and discuss these matters.” Finnit numbly complied, letting you guide him to the soot-stained armchairs by your furnace. It seemed to calm him down, having become accustomed to closeness with a certain source of hellfire. “What happened? Do you know?” Finnit asked. “Sorry—I’m just—I should ask who you are probably?” “I am the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “I think—I think he banished me?” “He did.” You tapped an idle claw against your ivory armchair. “I’m sorry, maybe this is too forward, but—look, I’m worried about Vosaphar? I don’t know what happened—what if—what if he—” You took him to the window and pointed to the dark pool, where Vosaphar’s ember twinkled at the bottom. If anything, it had grown brighter. Interesting. “That is his essential coal,” you said. “If he had perished, he would have immediately returned here. If we wait, he will eventually appear. However…” Finnit paced to and fro, trying to shake off his anxiety. “What if he’s hurt—he must be—I don’t want to wait!” “It is not a matter of desire, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. Perhaps that hadn’t been a Vosapharian gesture. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Will you—I mean, would you please help me?” “What are your intentions toward Vosaphar?” “My intentions?” Finnit looked puzzled. “What do you—” “Answer my question carefully, mortal.” He looked appropriately worried. “Look, I—I love him. I know it’s been so quick, and maybe you think it’s shallow, just because he’s so beautiful—but, uh, really, I have never felt so close with someone. I mean—he took me to the *sun*, and back. I don’t know what it would mean for us to be together outside of the Pharos Fidelis, in a more normal world. Maybe it won’t work, and we’ll part ways. I think—I mean, I hope you think that we’re worthy of a chance to figure that out.” “Vosaphar will need your help,” you said. “He will suffer from his power. You will stand by him? Treat him respectfully?” “I would—I will.” “Very well.” You paused. “I would send you back to Cairnveld.” You gave a pointed look toward your furnace. “But my fire is too weak for such a feat. Won’t you stoke it?” “Stoke it?” Finnit looked nervous. “What, uh—what do you want? My soul?” How amusing. “Are you offering that?” You approached him, attempting to loom in the way he found so appealing when Vosaphar did it. Finnit looked terrified as you reached down and plucked a glowing lens fragment from his hair. “No, Finnit. Not your soul. I want these.” “Oh—is that all? Yes, you can have them. They’re not even really mine, I don’t think.” Finnit parted easily with the fragments, tossing each into the furnace as he found it. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to cause some new chaos. He had no sense of priorities. And neither—apparently—did you, entertaining this… cloyingly earnest romantic nonsense. You reached for Finnit’s transit band, warping the sigils such that they would send Finnit on his way. Before activating it, you paused. “If you treat Vosaphar with anything less than the respect owed to such an unreasonably affectionate devil, I will send every specter in my dominion to drag you back here, and drown you in these depths for all eternity.” It was a joke. Mostly. You were sure that Finnit appreciated it. With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. You basked in the new heat now crackling and seething in your furnace. And how ridiculous an exchange it was, to receive all that energy for a trivial bit of spellcraft. Even an incubus would have found no pleasure in the seduction of such easy prey. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[That’s why you did it, right? You *just* wanted the power. Nothing more. You felt nothing else. Surely. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Survive. ⇒->26ABBBBA. Vosaphar]]]]]]]</div>] Unless: (link-reveal: "You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. Darkness pooled around you, threshed with dozens of unblinking, glowing eyes. Gobs of loose flesh sizzled on charred bones to add to the illusion’s sensory overload. You adopted a threatening posture and swept out of your cottage to approach Finnit, trailing black grease in your wake. “Mortal!” you shouted, startling him. “You dare trespass upon my dominion?” Finnit turned your way, and his breath hitched at the loathsome sight of you. He cowered. Mortals were so susceptible to this kind of stagecraft, weren’t they? “I—I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—” “Silence!” You stretched and oozed before him. “You have stolen from me. You must return what I’m owed.” Finnit’s eyes darted about wildly, as if he were considering running away. He wouldn’t make it far. “Could you please—um—grand one? Uh, what did I steal?” “My *light*.” You over-articulated the “t” with such exuberance that flecks of acid splattered from your many mouths. “The Pharos Fidelis.” You wrapped a slimy tentacle around his arm, pulling him closer so you could pluck one of the fragments from his clothes. “What? Oh. Oh you can—you can have those. They’re, um, not even mine.” He was too frightened to assist in this process, so you grabbed each fragment, showing no regard for his comfort. Shards collected—from his perspective, devoured—you began shambling back to your cottage. “Wait!” Finnit called after you. “Um—I need—I need to get back to Vosaphar—do you know him? Or—” “I am the warden of these calciferous wastes, and he is my subject. Mortal longings are not my concern…” “But please, I—” “…Unless, of course, you wish to receive… an accord.” And there it was. Not only had you easily liberated the shards from his unworthy possession, but you could do even more to sate your rage with the proceedings of the eclipse. “An accord?” Finnit asked. “You’ll help me get back?” “For a *price*,” you hissed. “I gave you—I gave you the fragments!” He seemed to have realized his mistake. Perhaps he ought to have actually read *Case Studies in Infernal Betrayal* instead of assuming all demons would be as needy and pathetic as Vosaphar. “You claimed yourself that you had no ownership over them. They are mine already. One cannot offer a gift already granted.” “So what do you want?” His voice was strained. “My soul?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“*That* is worthless.” Drawing from the power of the fragments you held, you manifested a bloodfrost dagger from the fog, its keen edge sharp enough to carve the walls of the lazurynth. “Take this dagger to Luminary Raekard. I tire of his incompetent scheming. Carve out his heart. Then burn it in a ring of hellfire until it is but ash on the wind.” “But I—I can’t kill someone!” Finnit shouted. “That’s absurd—even someone as awful as him—and he’s so dangerous. It would never work.” “Then you will die here, and never again wrap your wretched limbs around the devil you cling to in the dark.” You sidled into your cottage, leaving him to contemplate his mortal morality while you stoked the furnace with the fragments. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to inflict some new misery upon the world. It wasn’t long before he approached you again. He looked directly at you, gazing into your seething core, and without stumbling, said, “I accept those terms.” You wrapped a tendril around the hilt of the dagger and offered it to him. He took it, his expression grim and determined. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[You *almost* believed he could do it. With a burst of magic, you activated his bracelet—the transit band—and sent him to his terrible fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Append. ⇒->P4ABBBBB. Fourth Principle]]]]]]]</div> ] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. Well, at least the version of yourself that held court, lording your specificity over these dismal barrens. Finnit would get to see you for what you were: powerful, yet petty. Exhausted, too. It was miserable to live with your failures. You slunk to your soot-stained armchair by the furnace, waiting for the mortal to arrive. He knocked at the door. “Hello? Is—is someone in here?” “Come in, Finnit.” He opened the door, and saw you by the furnace. What texture the man had taken on since he left Cairnveld, struggling through your schemes in that desperate way that humans are wont to do. You gestured for him to sit in the chair across from yours. He obliged, if a bit warily. “Welcome to my calciferous wastes,” you said. “I wonder what you think of them?” “Calciferous wastes?” Something flickered in his eyes. “Is that—do you know Vosaphar?” “Answer my question first, if you will.” Finnit seemed taken aback, but recovered. “Well, if you really want to know—I can see why Vosaphar was so determined to leave.” You could almost see him realizing in real time that he probably was meant to say something kinder. “Not that there isn’t something… eerily beautiful about the colors streaking across the sky. But, it’s very cold and sharp and it seems sad, I guess?” “Yes, Vosaphar is troubled by his existence. As are we all.” You clicked your claws against the coralbone armrest. “You look—If you don’t mind me saying—you look familiar to me. But I don’t understand why. Who are you?” “I’m the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “So I guess he banished me here? It was the first place he thought of?” “I’m flattered.” A pause. “And perhaps you ought to be relieved that he didn’t recall the lazurynth quicker.” “I need to get back to him.” Finnit fixed you with a serious expression. “He might be hurt, or—I want to get back. Please. He means—he means a lot to me.” “It is not a matter of necessity, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Wait—I know why you look familiar!” He studied your face once more. “You look a little bit like… my grandmother.” “The trees in Tinfallow have deep roots indeed, if they reach all the way to these calciferous wastes.” “I don’t understand.” He bit his lip. “There are too many pieces—it’s hard to look at directly.” “Then focus on the piece of it you care about.” “Vosaphar.” “Of course. Young love. Star-crossed, even.” You sighed. “Well, I could send you on your way to Cairnveld.” You pointed at his bracelet. “But…” “You want something in return?” Finnit asked, leaning forward. “What is it? What do you want?” “What I *really* want is for you to have written my name correctly on the Pharos Fidelis.” Finnit sat back again. “That’s—that’s *you*? Your name? I expected someone so much more…” “Impressive?” You gave a hollow laugh. “Terrifying,” he finished. “But you seem, I don’t know, reasonable enough?” “I’m sure it seems that way.” “Well I—I don’t think I can undo what happened,” Finnit said. “I’m sorry it didn’t work. I know it may not look that way, but I really did try. I don’t know what it would’ve done if it worked, but I tried.” “You did.” You looked over at your furnace, where your sluggish motes of hellfire simmered. “I want the lens fragments in your possession.” “Lens fragments?” You pointed them out in his hair and on his clothes. “So that’s what you’re proposing as the terms of an exchange? I give you these shards, and you’ll send me back to Cairnveld?” “Yes.” “It just seems… I don’t know. I feel like there is still so much that I’m missing? If you—if you really are connected to me, in some way… would you want to… stay in touch?” You hadn’t expected *that*, of all things. “You want the warden of the calciferous wastes to offer you… mentorship.” “I’ve done much weirder things today!” Finnit said, rather defensively. “I went to the *sun*. Look, my mentor is Luminary Raekard. An actual demon would be a significant improvement.” “Ah, Raekard. I regret my part in that, given how it went.” “What?” Finnit’s eyes widened. “What do you mean you—” “Finnit, I propose an addendum to our… accord. If you wish to speak with me, you shall have one chance to do so during each new moon. Sacrifice a lens fragment in my name, and we shall converse for one hour.” “I’m not sure how I’ll get more of these,” Finnit said. “It seems expensive.” “And yet, a single fragment pales against the scale of what you destroyed. You could not possibly comprehend how far you’ve set me back. But,” you added, softening your tone, “I will make that hour as worthwhile as you wish it to be.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit accepted those terms, tossing each of the lens fragments on his person into your furnace. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to bend ever more futures in your favor. “Thank you,” Finnit said, as you adjusted the sigils on his transit band. “I—I’m glad to have met you.” With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Survive. ⇒->26ABBBBC. Vosaphar]]]]</div> ]]]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage cold, wet, and screaming. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It had a certain resonance, didn’t it? He coughed violently, choking on sludge and bloodfog alike, wading clumsily in your direction. Even from this distance, you could feel intense energy pouring off the misplaced mortal, his magic warped by the glowing fragments of the Pharos Fidelis stuck in his hair and clothing. If nothing else could be salvaged from this historic disaster, at least you had an opportunity to fuel your furnace. The mortal would, at any moment, petition you for relief from his dire situation. This provided you a brief moment to consider which form might be most appropriate for such an absurd occasion. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|initial>[In that light: (link-reveal: "You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. Inaccurate though it may have been, perhaps you had the right to such a form. You’d already spent more time fussing over Vosaphar’s fate than any of his makers had. You adopted an elegant posture and swept out of your cottage to approach the mortal. “Hello, Finnit,” you said. He turned to look at you, eyes widening. You flicked your new tail, mimicking one of Vosaphar’s gestures that he so favored. “Um—hi. Uh—” “Welcome to my calciferous wastes.” You extended your arms, gesturing toward the dark skies and lonesome coralbone monuments dotting the horizon. “And what a sight they are.” Finnit looked around, evidently still processing this alarming development. “The calciferous wastes? Do you—do you know Vosaphar?” “Please, join me inside,” you said. “We shall sit by the fire and discuss these matters.” Finnit numbly complied, letting you guide him to the soot-stained armchairs by your furnace. It seemed to calm him down, having become accustomed to closeness with a certain source of hellfire. “What happened? Do you know?” Finnit asked. “Sorry—I’m just—I should ask who you are probably?” “I am the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “I think—I think he banished me?” “He did.” You tapped an idle claw against your ivory armchair. “I’m sorry, maybe this is too forward, but—look, I’m worried about Vosaphar? I don’t know what happened—what if—what if he—” You took him to the window and pointed to the dark pool, where Vosaphar’s ember twinkled at the bottom. If anything, it had grown brighter. Interesting. “That is his essential coal,” you said. “If he had perished, he would have immediately returned here. If we wait, he will eventually appear. However…” Finnit paced to and fro, trying to shake off his anxiety. “What if he’s hurt—he must be—I don’t want to wait!” “It is not a matter of desire, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. Perhaps that hadn’t been a Vosapharian gesture. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Will you—I mean, would you please help me?” “What are your intentions toward Vosaphar?” “My intentions?” Finnit looked puzzled. “What do you—” “Answer my question carefully, mortal.” He looked appropriately worried. “Look, I—I love him. I know it’s been so quick, and maybe you think it’s shallow, just because he’s so beautiful—but, uh, really, I have never felt so close with someone. I mean—he took me to the *sun*, and back. I don’t know what it would mean for us to be together outside of the Pharos Fidelis, in a more normal world. Maybe it won’t work, and we’ll part ways. I think—I mean, I hope you think that we’re worthy of a chance to figure that out.” “Vosaphar will need your help,” you said. “He will suffer from his power. You will stand by him? Treat him respectfully?” “I would—I will.” “Very well.” You paused. “I would send you back to Cairnveld.” You gave a pointed look toward your furnace. “But my fire is too weak for such a feat. Won’t you stoke it?” “Stoke it?” Finnit looked nervous. “What, uh—what do you want? My soul?” How amusing. “Are you offering that?” You approached him, attempting to loom in the way he found so appealing when Vosaphar did it. Finnit looked terrified as you reached down and plucked a glowing lens fragment from his hair. “No, Finnit. Not your soul. I want these.” “Oh—is that all? Yes, you can have them. They’re not even really mine, I don’t think.” Finnit parted easily with the fragments, tossing each into the furnace as he found it. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to cause some new chaos. He had no sense of priorities. And neither—apparently—did you, entertaining this… cloyingly earnest romantic nonsense. You reached for Finnit’s transit band, warping the sigils such that they would send Finnit on his way. Before activating it, you paused. “If you treat Vosaphar with anything less than the respect owed to such an unreasonably affectionate devil, I will send every specter in my dominion to drag you back here, and drown you in these depths for all eternity.” It was a joke. Mostly. You were sure that Finnit appreciated it. With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. You basked in the new heat now crackling and seething in your furnace. And how ridiculous an exchange it was, to receive all that energy for a trivial bit of spellcraft. Even an incubus would have found no pleasure in the seduction of such easy prey. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[That’s why you did it, right? You *just* wanted the power. Nothing more. You felt nothing else. Surely. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[Survive. ⇒->26ABBBBA. Vosaphar]]]]]]]</div>] Unless: (link-reveal: "You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. Darkness pooled around you, threshed with dozens of unblinking, glowing eyes. Gobs of loose flesh sizzled on charred bones to add to the illusion’s sensory overload. You adopted a threatening posture and swept out of your cottage to approach Finnit, trailing black grease in your wake. “Mortal!” you shouted, startling him. “You dare trespass upon my dominion?” Finnit turned your way, and his breath hitched at the loathsome sight of you. He cowered. Mortals were so susceptible to this kind of stagecraft, weren’t they? “I—I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—” “Silence!” You stretched and oozed before him. “You have stolen from me. You must return what I’m owed.” Finnit’s eyes darted about wildly, as if he were considering running away. He wouldn’t make it far. “Could you please—um—grand one? Uh, what did I steal?” “My *light*.” You over-articulated the “t” with such exuberance that flecks of acid splattered from your many mouths. “The Pharos Fidelis.” You wrapped a slimy tentacle around his arm, pulling him closer so you could pluck one of the fragments from his clothes. “What? Oh. Oh you can—you can have those. They’re, um, not even mine.” He was too frightened to assist in this process, so you grabbed each fragment, showing no regard for his comfort. Shards collected—from his perspective, devoured—you began shambling back to your cottage. “Wait!” Finnit called after you. “Um—I need—I need to get back to Vosaphar—do you know him? Or—” “I am the warden of these calciferous wastes, and he is my subject. Mortal longings are not my concern…” “But please, I—” “…Unless, of course, you wish to receive… an accord.” And there it was. Not only had you easily liberated the shards from his unworthy possession, but you could do even more to sate your rage with the proceedings of the eclipse. “An accord?” Finnit asked. “You’ll help me get back?” “For a *price*,” you hissed. “I gave you—I gave you the fragments!” He seemed to have realized his mistake. Perhaps he ought to have actually read *Case Studies in Infernal Betrayal* instead of assuming all demons would be as needy and pathetic as Vosaphar. “You claimed yourself that you had no ownership over them. They are mine already. One cannot offer a gift already granted.” “So what do you want?” His voice was strained. “My soul?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“*That* is worthless.” Drawing from the power of the fragments you held, you manifested a bloodfrost dagger from the fog, its keen edge sharp enough to carve the walls of the lazurynth. “Take this dagger to Luminary Raekard. I tire of his incompetent scheming. Carve out his heart. Then burn it in a ring of hellfire until it is but ash on the wind.” “But I—I can’t kill someone!” Finnit shouted. “That’s absurd—even someone as awful as him—and he’s so dangerous. It would never work.” “Then you will die here, and never again wrap your wretched limbs around the devil you cling to in the dark.” You sidled into your cottage, leaving him to contemplate his mortal morality while you stoked the furnace with the fragments. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to inflict some new misery upon the world. It wasn’t long before he approached you again. He looked directly at you, gazing into your seething core, and without stumbling, said, “I accept those terms.” You wrapped a tendril around the hilt of the dagger and offered it to him. He took it, his expression grim and determined. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[You *almost* believed he could do it. With a burst of magic, you activated his bracelet—the transit band—and sent him to his terrible fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[Append. ⇒->P4ABBBBB. Fourth Principle]]]]]]]</div> ] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. Well, at least the version of yourself that held court, lording your specificity over these dismal barrens. Finnit would get to see you for what you were: powerful, yet petty. Exhausted, too. It was miserable to live with your failures. You slunk to your soot-stained armchair by the furnace, waiting for the mortal to arrive. He knocked at the door. “Hello? Is—is someone in here?” “Come in, Finnit.” He opened the door, and saw you by the furnace. What texture the man had taken on since he left Cairnveld, struggling through your schemes in that desperate way that humans are wont to do. You gestured for him to sit in the chair across from yours. He obliged, if a bit warily. “Welcome to my calciferous wastes,” you said. “I wonder what you think of them?” “Calciferous wastes?” Something flickered in his eyes. “Is that—do you know Vosaphar?” “Answer my question first, if you will.” Finnit seemed taken aback, but recovered. “Well, if you really want to know—I can see why Vosaphar was so determined to leave.” You could almost see him realizing in real time that he probably was meant to say something kinder. “Not that there isn’t something… eerily beautiful about the colors streaking across the sky. But, it’s very cold and sharp and it seems sad, I guess?” “Yes, Vosaphar is troubled by his existence. As are we all.” You clicked your claws against the coralbone armrest. “You look—If you don’t mind me saying—you look familiar to me. But I don’t understand why. Who are you?” “I’m the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “So I guess he banished me here? It was the first place he thought of?” “I’m flattered.” A pause. “And perhaps you ought to be relieved that he didn’t recall the lazurynth quicker.” “I need to get back to him.” Finnit fixed you with a serious expression. “He might be hurt, or—I want to get back. Please. He means—he means a lot to me.” “It is not a matter of necessity, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Wait—I know why you look familiar!” He studied your face once more. “You look a little bit like… my grandmother.” “The trees in Tinfallow have deep roots indeed, if they reach all the way to these calciferous wastes.” “I don’t understand.” He bit his lip. “There are too many pieces—it’s hard to look at directly.” “Then focus on the piece of it you care about.” “Vosaphar.” “Of course. Young love. Star-crossed, even.” You sighed. “Well, I could send you on your way to Cairnveld.” You pointed at his bracelet. “But…” “You want something in return?” Finnit asked, leaning forward. “What is it? What do you want?” “What I *really* want is for you to have written my name correctly on the Pharos Fidelis.” Finnit sat back again. “That’s—that’s *you*? Your name? I expected someone so much more…” “Impressive?” You gave a hollow laugh. “Terrifying,” he finished. “But you seem, I don’t know, reasonable enough?” “I’m sure it seems that way.” “Well I—I don’t think I can undo what happened,” Finnit said. “I’m sorry it didn’t work. I know it may not look that way, but I really did try. I don’t know what it would’ve done if it worked, but I tried.” “You did.” You looked over at your furnace, where your sluggish motes of hellfire simmered. “I want the lens fragments in your possession.” “Lens fragments?” You pointed them out in his hair and on his clothes. “So that’s what you’re proposing as the terms of an exchange? I give you these shards, and you’ll send me back to Cairnveld?” “Yes.” “It just seems… I don’t know. I feel like there is still so much that I’m missing? If you—if you really are connected to me, in some way… would you want to… stay in touch?” You hadn’t expected *that*, of all things. “You want the warden of the calciferous wastes to offer you… mentorship.” “I’ve done much weirder things today!” Finnit said, rather defensively. “I went to the *sun*. Look, my mentor is Luminary Raekard. An actual demon would be a significant improvement.” “Ah, Raekard. I regret my part in that, given how it went.” “What?” Finnit’s eyes widened. “What do you mean you—” “Finnit, I propose an addendum to our… accord. If you wish to speak with me, you shall have one chance to do so during each new moon. Sacrifice a lens fragment in my name, and we shall converse for one hour.” “I’m not sure how I’ll get more of these,” Finnit said. “It seems expensive.” “And yet, a single fragment pales against the scale of what you destroyed. You could not possibly comprehend how far you’ve set me back. But,” you added, softening your tone, “I will make that hour as worthwhile as you wish it to be.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit accepted those terms, tossing each of the lens fragments on his person into your furnace. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to bend ever more futures in your favor. “Thank you,” Finnit said, as you adjusted the sigils on his transit band. “I—I’m glad to have met you.” With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[Survive. ⇒->26ABBBBC. Vosaphar]]]]</div> ]]]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Mote]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending ABBBBC]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending ABBBBC]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 3)[Anathema.] (text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 1.15)[The Fourth Principle of Summoning.]</div> A timely addendum, courtesy of you. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Behold the fourth principle of summoning: (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color:#a01404)[**4. The Principle of Voluntary and Efficient Accession to the Extraordinarily Reasonable Conditions Imposed by the Magnanimous Warden of the Calciferous Wastes, Who Certainly Never Even Cared About the Pharos Fidelis, And Certainly Not the Absurd Romantic Yearnings of Your Pathetic Subjects—Or Else.**] Summoners who willingly and knowingly forge an accord with you must see their bargain through, or suffer the consequences of incompetence and betrayal. (text-color:#a01404)[***Implication:***] You suffered long and worked hard to eke out your existence. (text-color:#a01404)[***Implication:***] You generously helped him plenty up to this point—for free. It wasn’t such a high price to ask him to kill someone he hated anyway. You both benefited from this accord. (text-color:#a01404)[***Implication:***] His failure was inevitable. You weren’t *really* invested in his survival, or his potential to shift the tenor of human-demon relations. You were just hungry for more power, right? You just wanted to enrich your tiny slice of the hells, fuel your furnace, as you had always done. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It would have been unreasonable for *you*, of all beings, to have cared. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Bemoan. ⇒->26ABBBBB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Behold the fourth principle of summoning: (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color:#f17264)[**4. The Principle of Voluntary and Efficient Accession to the Extraordinarily Reasonable Conditions Imposed by the Magnanimous Warden of the Calciferous Wastes, Who Certainly Never Even Cared About the Pharos Fidelis, And Certainly Not the Absurd Romantic Yearnings of Your Pathetic Subjects—Or Else.**] Summoners who willingly and knowingly forge an accord with you must see their bargain through, or suffer the consequences of incompetence and betrayal. (text-color:#f17264)[***Implication:***] You suffered long and worked hard to eke out your existence. (text-color:#f17264)[***Implication:***] You generously helped him plenty up to this point—for free. It wasn’t such a high price to ask him to kill someone he hated anyway. You both benefited from this accord. (text-color:#f17264)[***Implication:***] His failure was inevitable. You weren’t *really* invested in his survival, or his potential to shift the tenor of human-demon relations. You were just hungry for more power, right? You just wanted to enrich your tiny slice of the hells, fuel your furnace, as you had always done. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It would have been unreasonable for *you*, of all beings, to have cared. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Bemoan. ⇒->26ABBBBB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending ABBBBA]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending ABBBBA]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what she wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17ABB. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4ABBB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s desperation, causing him to impulsively banish Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate calculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25ABBBB. Finnit]]]</div> You took a comforting form, nurturing his budding relationship with Vosaphar in exchange for the lens fragments on his person. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what she wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17ABB. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4ABBB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s desperation, causing him to impulsively banish Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate calculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25ABBBB. Finnit]]]</div> You took a comforting form, nurturing his budding relationship with Vosaphar in exchange for the lens fragments on his person. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he would *stay* longing. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[For, if you must suffer this catastrophic failure, you would offer him no choice but to join you in misery. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending ABBBBB]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he would *stay* longing. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[For, if you must suffer this catastrophic failure, you would offer him no choice but to join you in misery. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending ABBBBB]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the brief union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Finnit perished in a failed assassination attempt upon his return to Cairnveld, screaming of the sun. A strange footnote to this history. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. But a new threat lurked. The demon Vosaphar absorbed the fragments around him, growing distorted in his influence. He climbed upon the melted peak and in his sorrow and fury, bewitched many ships to their doom with fata morgana. He had become, in effect, the latest Pharos Fidelis. Perhaps he had even become something more powerful than *you*. And perhaps you deserved to finally feel fear again. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what she wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17ABB. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4ABBB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s desperation, causing him to impulsively banish Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate calculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25ABBBB. Finnit]]]</div> You took a terrifying form, seizing his lens fragments for yourself, and dooming him with an impossible accord. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and absolutely no complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the brief union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Finnit perished in a failed assassination attempt upon his return to Cairnveld, screaming of the sun. A strange footnote to this history. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. But a new threat lurked. The demon Vosaphar absorbed the fragments around him, growing distorted in his influence. He climbed upon the melted peak and in his sorrow and fury, bewitched many ships to their doom with fata morgana. He had become, in effect, the latest Pharos Fidelis. Perhaps he had even become something more powerful than *you*. And perhaps you deserved to finally feel fear again. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what she wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17ABB. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4ABBB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s desperation, causing him to impulsively banish Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate calculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25ABBBB. Finnit]]]</div> You took a terrifying form, seizing his lens fragments for yourself, and dooming him with an impossible accord. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and absolutely no complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what she wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17ABB. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4ABBB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s desperation, causing him to impulsively banish Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate calculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25ABBBB. Finnit]]]</div> You took an honest form, developing a stronger connection with Finnit while ensuring ongoing access to lens fragments in the future. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what she wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17ABB. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4ABBB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s desperation, causing him to impulsively banish Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate calculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25ABBBB. Finnit]]]</div> You took an honest form, developing a stronger connection with Finnit while ensuring ongoing access to lens fragments in the future. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#cbc999")+(text-size: 3)[Dogma.] (text-color:"#cbc999")+(text-size: 1.15)[The Third Principle of Summoning.]</div> Yet another unwelcome reminder, courtesy of Luminary Raekard. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightprinciplepassage">Recall the third principle of summoning: (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color:#65644c)[**3. The Principle of Planar Reversion**] Natural law rejects the presence of extraplanar entities in the mortal realm. Summoned demons therefore revert to their plane of origin, unless acted upon by sustained magical force. (text-color:#65644c)[***Implication:***] An unbound demon that persists beyond the original duration of a summoning circle must do so by feeding upon independent sources of magic. The most readily available source of magic has historically been the summoner. (text-color:#65644c)[***Implication:***] A demon that perishes in the mortal realm shall eventually be reconstituted in the jurisdiction of the hell that governs it. Banishment accelerates this process to an instant. (text-color:#65644c)[***Implication:***] When two sorceries of equivalent potency collide, a rite of banishment will always prevail over a rite of summoning. Account for the principle of planar reversion. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightprinciplechoice">|A>[(text-color:#989b00)[**Moor this wisdom. ⇒**]](click-replace: ?A,(action:'mouseover'))[(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))[[[Mourn his wisdom. ⇒->17ABA. Warden]]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="principlepassage">Recall the third principle of summoning: (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color:#cbc999)[**3. The Principle of Planar Reversion**] Natural law rejects the presence of extraplanar entities in the mortal realm. Summoned demons therefore revert to their plane of origin, unless acted upon by sustained magical force. (text-color:#cbc999)[***Implication:***] An unbound demon that persists beyond the original duration of a summoning circle must do so by feeding upon independent sources of magic. The most readily available source of magic has historically been the summoner. (text-color:#cbc999)[***Implication:***] A demon that perishes in the mortal realm shall eventually be reconstituted in the jurisdiction of the hell that governs it. Banishment accelerates this process to an instant. (text-color:#cbc999)[***Implication:***] When two sorceries of equivalent potency collide, a rite of banishment will always prevail over a rite of summoning. Account for the principle of planar reversion. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="principlechoice">|A>[(text-color:#989b00)[**Moor this wisdom. ⇒**]](click-replace: ?A,(action:'mouseover'))[(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))[[[Mourn his wisdom. ⇒->17ABA. Warden]]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Principle]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[XVII.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">At the center of the calciferous wastes stood a coralbone cottage. The warden’s. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Within the cottage burned a modest hellfire furnace, its crooked chimney venting spirals of smoke. Encircling this abode—the most lavish in all the wastes—was a smooth, still pool that hesitated to reflect the seething skies above. In the depths of this pool glinted a sparse collection of coals, spaced a lonesome distance from one another. Most had dimmed to the brink of winking out. A stubborn few still clung to their hues. One such ember, tinted the color of storm-tossed seas, suddenly flared, sending a ribbon of bubbles roiling to the surface. A demon was about to return to this remote reach of the hinterhells. And when he did, he might’ve been greeted by the warden of the calciferous wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[By you. (after:time+4s)+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|initial>[In preparation for this occasion: (link-reveal: "You approached the place where Vosaphar would emerge cold, wet, and screaming. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You approached the place where Vosaphar would emerge cold, wet, and screaming. He breached the surface of the pool, gasping for air, flailing for relief from the cold. It was every devil’s birthright to struggle their way out from their point of wretched origin. Your bitter pool was kinder than most. He swam toward the cottage, collapsing against brittle floes of bloodfrost ringing the shore. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|O1>[As a token of welcome: (link-reveal: "You loomed over him; a gesture of threat. ⚞↯⚟")[(replace: ?O1)[You loomed over him; a gesture of threat. A mote of hellfire appeared. Or rather, you conjured it, letting it drift between your claws, casting its crimson glow over your shivering subject. He gazed up at you, terrified. You flicked your claws—causing Vosaphar to flinch—and the mote vanished. After that demonstration, you walked back to your cottage. He dared not follow. You were, after all, powerful and dangerous. That’s what he called you, when his poor, foolish mortal companion showed him your fearsome name. Though he ought to have done better to recognize it. To him, you must have seemed as powerful as an archfiend. But your age of hellfire had yet to dawn. The magic you collected from him had already begun stoking the furnace. His toll for meager shelter in this unsafe harbor. Vosaphar crept away into the wastes, and the pool once again fell still. You returned to your work. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Commune. ⇒->Lens ABAA]]]]</div>]] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You offered him a gift; a gesture of warmth. ⚞↯⚟")[(replace: ?O1)[You offered him a gift; a gesture of warmth. A mote of hellfire appeared. Or rather, you conjured it, stretching and shaping its fire into an ethereal crimson shawl befitting such a tenderhearted fiend. You knelt to his level, draping it over your trembling subject. He gazed up into your eyes, terrified, as the gauzy heat settled over him. But his shivering subsided. You stood, then returned to your cottage. He dared not follow, even to thank you for your gift. You were, after all, powerful and dangerous. That’s what he called you, when his poor, sweet mortal companion showed him your elegant name. Though he ought to have done better to recognize it. To him, you must have seemed as powerful as an archfiend. But your age of hellfire had yet to dawn. The magic you collected from him had already begun stoking the furnace. His toll for meager shelter in this unsafe harbor. Vosaphar crept away into the wastes, and the pool once again fell still. You returned to your work. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Commune. ⇒->Lens ABAA]]]]</div>]]]]]] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You remained inside, at a polite distance. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You remained inside, at a polite distance. It was every devil’s birthright to struggle their way out from their point of wretched origin. Alone. Your bitter pool was kinder than most. As the furnace crackled, you heard Vosaphar flailing his way to the shore, just outside your cottage. You heard him gasping for air and moaning from the cold. Even then, the magic you collected from him stoked the furnace. His toll for meager shelter in this unsafe harbor. Perhaps he saw you tending to your motes, wishing them enough spark to catch fire when you needed them to. But even if he did, he dared not draw the warden’s attention. You were, after all, powerful and dangerous. That’s what he called you, when his poor, sweet mortal companion showed him your primordial name. Though he ought to have done better to recognize it. To him, you must have seemed as powerful as an archfiend. But your age of hellfire had yet to dawn. Vosaphar wandered off, shivering in the dark, and the pool once again fell still. You returned to your work. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Commune. ⇒->Lens ABAB]]]]</div> ]]]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">At the center of the calciferous wastes stood a coralbone cottage. The warden’s. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Within the cottage burned a modest hellfire furnace, its crooked chimney venting spirals of smoke. Encircling this abode—the most lavish in all the wastes—was a smooth, still pool that hesitated to reflect the seething skies above. In the depths of this pool glinted a sparse collection of coals, spaced a lonesome distance from one another. Most had dimmed to the brink of winking out. A stubborn few still clung to their hues. One such ember, tinted the color of storm-tossed seas, suddenly flared, sending a ribbon of bubbles roiling to the surface. A demon was about to return to this remote reach of the hinterhells. And when he did, he might’ve been greeted by the warden of the calciferous wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[By you. (after:time+4s)+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|initial>[In preparation for this occasion: (link-reveal: "You approached the place where Vosaphar would emerge cold, wet, and screaming. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You approached the place where Vosaphar would emerge cold, wet, and screaming. He breached the surface of the pool, gasping for air, flailing for relief from the cold. It was every devil’s birthright to struggle their way out from their point of wretched origin. Your bitter pool was kinder than most. He swam toward the cottage, collapsing against brittle floes of bloodfrost ringing the shore. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|O1>[As a token of welcome: (link-reveal: "You loomed over him; a gesture of threat. ⚞↯⚟")[(replace: ?O1)[You loomed over him; a gesture of threat. A mote of hellfire appeared. Or rather, you conjured it, letting it drift between your claws, casting its crimson glow over your shivering subject. He gazed up at you, terrified. You flicked your claws—causing Vosaphar to flinch—and the mote vanished. After that demonstration, you walked back to your cottage. He dared not follow. You were, after all, powerful and dangerous. That’s what he called you, when his poor, foolish mortal companion showed him your fearsome name. Though he ought to have done better to recognize it. To him, you must have seemed as powerful as an archfiend. But your age of hellfire had yet to dawn. The magic you collected from him had already begun stoking the furnace. His toll for meager shelter in this unsafe harbor. Vosaphar crept away into the wastes, and the pool once again fell still. You returned to your work. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Commune. ⇒->Lens ABAA]]]]</div>]] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You offered him a gift; a gesture of warmth. ⚞↯⚟")[(replace: ?O1)[You offered him a gift; a gesture of warmth. A mote of hellfire appeared. Or rather, you conjured it, stretching and shaping its fire into an ethereal crimson shawl befitting such a tenderhearted fiend. You knelt to his level, draping it over your trembling subject. He gazed up into your eyes, terrified, as the gauzy heat settled over him. But his shivering subsided. You stood, then returned to your cottage. He dared not follow, even to thank you for your gift. You were, after all, powerful and dangerous. That’s what he called you, when his poor, sweet mortal companion showed him your elegant name. Though he ought to have done better to recognize it. To him, you must have seemed as powerful as an archfiend. But your age of hellfire had yet to dawn. The magic you collected from him had already begun stoking the furnace. His toll for meager shelter in this unsafe harbor. Vosaphar crept away into the wastes, and the pool once again fell still. You returned to your work. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Commune. ⇒->Lens ABAA]]]]</div>]]]]]] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You remained inside, at a polite distance. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You remained inside, at a polite distance. It was every devil’s birthright to struggle their way out from their point of wretched origin. Alone. Your bitter pool was kinder than most. As the furnace crackled, you heard Vosaphar flailing his way to the shore, just outside your cottage. You heard him gasping for air and moaning from the cold. Even then, the magic you collected from him stoked the furnace. His toll for meager shelter in this unsafe harbor. Perhaps he saw you tending to your motes, wishing them enough spark to catch fire when you needed them to. But even if he did, he dared not draw the warden’s attention. You were, after all, powerful and dangerous. That’s what he called you, when his poor, sweet mortal companion showed him your primordial name. Though he ought to have done better to recognize it. To him, you must have seemed as powerful as an archfiend. But your age of hellfire had yet to dawn. Vosaphar wandered off, shivering in the dark, and the pool once again fell still. You returned to your work. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Commune. ⇒->Lens ABAB]]]]</div> ]]]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Mote]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f8cf7b")+(text-size: 3)[Dyslucence.] (text-color:"#f8cf7b")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Lens.]</div> An opaque rite of refraction. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightlenspassage">Another soul witnessed the lens. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ \(align:"=><=")[But what ] \(align:"==><=")[yet remained] \(align:"=><=")[to be seen] \ (align:"==><=")[once] \(align:"==><===")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"mortal")[moral]] \(align:"==><=")[designs] (align:"=><====")[had (link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"stolen")[sowed in] souls,] \ (align:"===><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"unwilling")[a willing] sacrifice in] \ (align:"=><==========")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"defiance of")[deference to]] \ (align:"======><=")[smoke-scorned skies?] \ (align:"=><====")[For] \ (align:"=====><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"even fearless")[ever fearful] fiends] \ (align:"=><=====")[could not comprehend] \ (align:"==>")[an eternity of] \ (align:"<==")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"unlit slag.")[sunlit glass.]] \ (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=")[Nevertheless—] Finnit saw a fragment deep within the throat of the island, its anchored eggs awash in the crimson glow of the future. All he needed to do was wait for the eclipse, cross the threshold, steal a mote of sunlight, and finish writing your name. For even the faintest mote of sunlight bore enough celestial energy to influence your fate from afar. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Or so you dared to hope. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightlenschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))[[[Darken. ⇒->18ABAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="lenspassage">Another soul witnessed the lens. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ \(align:"=><=")[But what] \(align:"==><=")[yet remained] \(align:"=><=")[to be seen] \ (align:"==><=")[once] \(align:"==><===")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"moral")[mortal]] \(align:"==><=")[designs] (align:"=><====")[had (link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"sowed in")[stolen] souls,] \ (align:"===><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"a willing")[unwilling] sacrifice in] \ (align:"=><==========")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"deference to")[defiance of]] \ (align:"======><=")[smoke-scorned skies?] \ (align:"=><====")[For] \ (align:"=====><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"ever fearful")[even fearless] fiends] \ (align:"=><=====")[could not comprehend] \ (align:"==>")[an eternity of] \ (align:"<==")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"sunlit glass.")[unlit slag.]] \ (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=")[Nevertheless—] Finnit saw a fragment deep within the throat of the island, its anchored eggs awash in the crimson glow of the future. All he needed to do was wait for the eclipse, cross the threshold, steal a mote of sunlight, and finish writing your name. For even the faintest mote of sunlight bore enough celestial energy to influence your fate from afar. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Or so you dared to hope. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lenschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#ac6e00")))[[[Darken. ⇒->18ABAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f8cf7b")+(text-size: 3)[Dyslucence.] (text-color:"#f8cf7b")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Lens.]</div> An opaque rite of refraction. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightlenspassage">Another soul witnessed the lens. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ \(align:"=><=")[But what ] \(align:"==><=")[yet remained] \(align:"=><=")[to be seen] \ (align:"==><=")[once] \(align:"==><===")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"mortal")[moral]] \(align:"==><=")[designs] (align:"=><====")[had (link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"stolen")[sowed in] souls,] \ (align:"===><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"unwilling")[a willing] sacrifice in] \ (align:"=><==========")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"defiance of")[deference to]] \ (align:"======><=")[smoke-scorned skies?] \ (align:"=><====")[For] \ (align:"=====><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"even fearless")[ever fearful] fiends] \ (align:"=><=====")[could not comprehend] \ (align:"==>")[an eternity of] \ (align:"<==")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"unlit slag.")[sunlit glass.]] \ (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=")[Nevertheless—] Finnit saw a fragment deep within the throat of the island, its anchored eggs awash in the crimson glow of the future. All he needed to do was wait for the eclipse, cross the threshold, steal a mote of sunlight, and finish writing your name. For even the faintest mote of sunlight bore enough celestial energy to influence your fate from afar. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Or so you dared to hope. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightlenschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))[[[Darken. ⇒->18ABAA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="lenspassage">Another soul witnessed the lens. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ \(align:"=><=")[But what] \(align:"==><=")[yet remained] \(align:"=><=")[to be seen] \ (align:"==><=")[once] \(align:"==><===")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"moral")[mortal]] \(align:"==><=")[designs] (align:"=><====")[had (link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"sowed in")[stolen] souls,] \ (align:"===><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"a willing")[unwilling] sacrifice in] \ (align:"=><==========")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"deference to")[defiance of]] \ (align:"======><=")[smoke-scorned skies?] \ (align:"=><====")[For] \ (align:"=====><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"ever fearful")[even fearless] fiends] \ (align:"=><=====")[could not comprehend] \ (align:"==>")[an eternity of] \ (align:"<==")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"sunlit glass.")[unlit slag.]] \ (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=")[Nevertheless—] Finnit saw a fragment deep within the throat of the island, its anchored eggs awash in the crimson glow of the future. All he needed to do was wait for the eclipse, cross the threshold, steal a mote of sunlight, and finish writing your name. For even the faintest mote of sunlight bore enough celestial energy to influence your fate from afar. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Or so you dared to hope. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lenschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#ac6e00")))[[[Darken. ⇒->18ABAA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[XVIII.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">It wasn’t long before even the shock of Vosaphar’s emergence from the pool—exactly as cold and miserable as you had promised him it would be—had begun to fade into the listlessness of wandering the wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The residual magic Finnit had accorded him allowed him to travel faster and further than before. His slash wounds scabbed over more readily, healing further with each attempt. Something had shifted in his specificity. He should have been satisfied with that. Satisfied with the memories of what was, and dreams of what could have been, for bitter honey still bore sweetness. Didn’t it? Another kind of wound had carved itself into his heart. Without Finnit, Vosaphar’s existence felt darker and emptier than it ever had before. He wondered what might be about to happen, was happening, or had already happened at the Pharos Fidelis. Was Finnit still preparing his ritual of communion with the lens? Was it already over? Could he have been, right at that moment, spiraling amidst its unfathomable secrets? Perhaps Finnit’s rite had failed, the cursed lens consuming his soul as it had so many others. But, it could also be… something else. Another reason. Just as that doubt crept in, the devil felt a familiar sensation tugging at his core. Heat coursed through his veins as a tendril of sorcery unfurled for him, awaiting his tender grasp. (align:"<==")[And then—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=========")[Vosaphar] (align:"=><==")[at last] (align:"=><=")[recalled] (align:"===><==")[his] (align:"==><=")[own] (align:"===><=")[principle] (align:"=========><=")[of] (align:"==>")[flight—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Spread wings. ⇒->19ABAA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">It wasn’t long before even the shock of Vosaphar’s emergence from the pool—exactly as cold and miserable as you had promised him it would be—had begun to fade into the listlessness of wandering the wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The residual magic Finnit had accorded him allowed him to travel faster and further than before. His slash wounds scabbed over more readily, healing further with each attempt. Something had shifted in his specificity. He should have been satisfied with that. Satisfied with the memories of what was, and dreams of what could have been, for bitter honey still bore sweetness. Didn’t it? Another kind of wound had carved itself into his heart. Without Finnit, Vosaphar’s existence felt darker and emptier than it ever had before. He wondered what might be about to happen, was happening, or had already happened at the Pharos Fidelis. Was Finnit still preparing his ritual of communion with the lens? Was it already over? Could he have been, right at that moment, spiraling amidst its unfathomable secrets? Perhaps Finnit’s rite had failed, the cursed lens consuming his soul as it had so many others. But, it could also be… something else. Another reason. Just as that doubt crept in, the devil felt a familiar sensation tugging at his core. Heat coursed through his veins as a tendril of sorcery unfurled for him, awaiting his tender grasp. (align:"<==")[And then—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=========")[Vosaphar] (align:"=><==")[at last] (align:"=><=")[recalled] (align:"===><==")[his] (align:"==><=")[own] (align:"===><=")[principle] (align:"=========><=")[of] (align:"==>")[flight—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Spread wings. ⇒->19ABAA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XIX.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">Atop the Pharos Fidelis, Finnit remained just in sight of the great split glass that had spilled its secrets. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he smeared the last of his wax sticks to stubs on wet stone, he did not give the lens a further thought. He did not obey the principle of authoritarian primacy. He did not beware the principle of semantic dilution. He did not account for the principle of planar reversion. He thought only of Vosaphar, with a singular intensity of focus that even the Pharos Fidelis could never have dreamed of refracting. The circle of waxen glyphs coursed with scarlet fire, brighter than Finnit had ever seen it. He averted his gaze, eyes watering. When he looked back, Vosaphar had manifested before him once more. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[From his back spread wings wrought of fire, eldritch blue roiled with red and magenta—the colors of Finnit’s own magic, now intertwined with Vosaphar’s. Finnit’s eyes traveled further, noting ichor scabs crisscrossing the devil’s scarred blue chest, and then, curls of rough hair trailing immodestly past his navel. Streaks of lightning slashed green across the sky, glinting off his fearsome horns. Raindrops sizzled as the demon swept them aside, wreathing himself in silver mist. Vosaphar looked every bit an archfiend of legend looming over him, his eyes fixed on Finnit, reaching forward to press the sorcerer against the cliffside, claws clasping his wrists. “Vosaphar—” The infernal heat overwhelmed his mortal senses. “Please—Vosaphar, kiss m—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon pressed his lips gently against Finnit’s, dark beard bristling against his tender skin, breathing out brimstone incense that smoldered in Finnit’s throat. Just when Finnit thought himself on the verge of feeling too much, that Vosaphar might devour his soul and all his magic in a final, blissful moment of agony, the fiend held back, slackening his grip, and smiled. “I couldn’t wait until I got back,” Finnit said, his vision still sparking. “I—I needed to see you again.” “That’s not all you need.” Vosaphar leaned forward, so close still that Finnit could see details pitted into his horns. “What is it exactly that you imagine, lustful one? A dreadful devil from your darkest dreams, ever so sweetly domineering?” “I–” Finnit felt dazed as those fevered imaginings grew sharper into his mind. “I mean—well—now that you’ve brought it up, that sounds—” “Too bad,” Vosaphar said, his voice sly and soft. “My dear Finnit, you’re all *wet*.” And he was. He’d completely abandoned his wards in the midst of an endless storm. How embarrassing. Finnit also noticed that, in his exuberance to kiss him, Vosaphar had clumsily scorched Finnit’s sleeves with his wings. Suddenly, the demon felt less like some legendary figure, and instead like something better. Something real. Finnit’s companion. Finnit’s love. Finnit’s Vosaphar. “We should head back down,” Finnit said. “We should.” Vosaphar pushed one of Finnit’s loose curls back. “But listen, Finnit. When we do, I want *you* to take the lead. I want things to be… gentle, between us. For now. How does that sound?” “I have never wanted something so much in my entire existence.” Vosaphar grinned, ivory fangs glinting. “Good.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[What followed was an evening of tender fumbling and grasping. Finnit had been piqued by the fantasy of Vosaphar looming over him; and it remained a thought he wanted to revisit later. But, he found that this gentle, deliberate exploration—some serenity among the profane—brought him closer to understanding the demon in a way he found difficult to articulate but easy to just experience as it happened. Tomorrow, research awaited. But for now, Finnit’s fears grew distant as he slept, wrapped against Vosaphar like a warm satchel. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Interrogate. ⇒->C1ABAA. Sunlight]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">Atop the Pharos Fidelis, Finnit remained just in sight of the great split glass that had spilled its secrets. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he smeared the last of his wax sticks to stubs on wet stone, he did not give the lens a further thought. He did not obey the principle of authoritarian primacy. He did not beware the principle of semantic dilution. He did not account for the principle of planar reversion. He thought only of Vosaphar, with a singular intensity of focus that even the Pharos Fidelis could never have dreamed of refracting. The circle of waxen glyphs coursed with scarlet fire, brighter than Finnit had ever seen it. He averted his gaze, eyes watering. When he looked back, Vosaphar had manifested before him once more. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[From his back spread wings wrought of fire, eldritch blue roiled with red and magenta—the colors of Finnit’s own magic, now intertwined with Vosaphar’s. Finnit’s eyes traveled further, noting ichor scabs crisscrossing the devil’s scarred blue chest, and then, curls of rough hair trailing immodestly past his navel. Streaks of lightning slashed green across the sky, glinting off his fearsome horns. Raindrops sizzled as the demon swept them aside, wreathing himself in silver mist. Vosaphar looked every bit an archfiend of legend looming over him, his eyes fixed on Finnit, reaching forward to press the sorcerer against the cliffside, claws clasping his wrists. “Vosaphar—” The infernal heat overwhelmed his mortal senses. “Please—Vosaphar, kiss m—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon pressed his lips gently against Finnit’s, dark beard bristling against his tender skin, breathing out brimstone incense that smoldered in Finnit’s throat. Just when Finnit thought himself on the verge of feeling too much, that Vosaphar might devour his soul and all his magic in a final, blissful moment of agony, the fiend held back, slackening his grip, and smiled. “I couldn’t wait until I got back,” Finnit said, his vision still sparking. “I—I needed to see you again.” “That’s not all you need.” Vosaphar leaned forward, so close still that Finnit could see details pitted into his horns. “What is it exactly that you imagine, lustful one? A dreadful devil from your darkest dreams, ever so sweetly domineering?” “I–” Finnit felt dazed as those fevered imaginings grew sharper into his mind. “I mean—well—now that you’ve brought it up, that sounds—” “Too bad,” Vosaphar said, his voice sly and soft. “My dear Finnit, you’re all *wet*.” And he was. He’d completely abandoned his wards in the midst of an endless storm. How embarrassing. Finnit also noticed that, in his exuberance to kiss him, Vosaphar had clumsily scorched Finnit’s sleeves with his wings. Suddenly, the demon felt less like some legendary figure, and instead like something better. Something real. Finnit’s companion. Finnit’s love. Finnit’s Vosaphar. “We should head back down,” Finnit said. “We should.” Vosaphar pushed one of Finnit’s loose curls back. “But listen, Finnit. When we do, I want *you* to take the lead. I want things to be… gentle, between us. For now. How does that sound?” “I have never wanted something so much in my entire existence.” Vosaphar grinned, ivory fangs glinting. “Good.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[What followed was an evening of tender fumbling and grasping. Finnit had been piqued by the fantasy of Vosaphar looming over him; and it remained a thought he wanted to revisit later. But, he found that this gentle, deliberate exploration—some serenity among the profane—brought him closer to understanding the demon in a way he found difficult to articulate but easy to just experience as it happened. Tomorrow, research awaited. But for now, Finnit’s fears grew distant as he slept, wrapped against Vosaphar like a warm satchel. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Interrogate. ⇒->C1ABAA. Sunlight]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[1st Era | Sunlight.]</div> One more fragment recounting the dark history of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">(text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The illuminative session for Leisenelle, former third officer of the now-renegade vessel ‘Consonance,’ is hereby brought to order. You stand accused of mutiny, murder, theft, deception, consorting with proscribed entities, and willful evasion of justice. Is that correct? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] You would know. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Is that correct? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I guess so. Yes. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“She sounds a lot like you,” Vosaphar murmured, stroking his claws idly through Finnit’s hair. “‘Consorting with proscribed entities?’ What a wicked accusation.” Finnit snorted. “Are you going to bring me to justice?” “Absolutely not.” “Too bad.” </div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Against these accusations, how do you plead? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I do not plead. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] You must make a claim, either to affirm or deny each crime you have been accused of. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I will make no such claims. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The accused has neglected her obligation to plead. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] What’s your deal, anyway? Are you mad? Some pretty vampire in your past tied your morals all up in knots and made you feel sinful? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My role here is strictly illuminative. How did you first come to associate with this vampire? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I was trying to find out the truth about this island. But none of them would talk to me. The islanders, I mean. They resent us. You know that, right? Look at what we’ve done to them since we got here. Someone has to stop it. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, mark a note down for ‘sedition,’ would you? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">At least the clerics are obligated to transcribe what they actually heard. Historians ought to learn from their example. ⚞L. Raekard (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“I think Raekard’s distaste for historians gets in his way,” Finnit said. “How could we possibly know, at this point, what liberties the cleric might have taken?” “It’s going to take more than historians to put a stop to him.” Finnit laughed, but Vosaphar hadn’t told a joke.</div>] </div>] (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] You didn’t have that one already? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Continue. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Fine. This one woman approached me, and told me to visit her house on the outskirts after sundown. I thought she might be into me—and maybe she was, a little—but she wanted me to meet her grandmother. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Yeah. Did the ‘after sundown’ part give it away? I’m not a good storyteller. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The only things your story requires are honesty and accuracy. Justice will account for the rest. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Whatever you need to tell yourself. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] I don’t ‘need’ to do anything. My role here is strictly illuminative. As the accused has been reminded. Continue. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] So, I waited for dusk, and paid her a visit. Her grandmother was living in the basement. Some kind of herbalist, I guess. The whole time we talked, she was crushing up these weird seedpods in a mortar and pestle. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] At what point did you realize this entity was a vampire? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Not until after, when… (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] When what? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] When you killed her. Robbed us of her wisdom, kindness, perspective, heart, all she contributed to her community. And for what? Some ash? Dust? Is there not already enough collecting between the folds of your ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that last term for obscenity. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] What, you’re more scandalized by me describing your dust-crusted ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆ than your violence? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that one as well. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“Which word do you suppose was stricken here?” Vosaphar asked. “Asscheeks,” Finnit said solemnly. “Has to be.”</div>] (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] So you don’t have an answer. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The entity in question was brought before sunlight and destroyed in accordance with all legal and moral precedent. Any ‘violence’ is lawful, and thereby just. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] And you wonder why they hate us. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Hatred is not the subject of this illuminative session. What did your proscribed discussion entail? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] She told me all kinds of stories about this place, how they have fine-tuned their relationship with the island to keep things running, letting their traditions evolve with the conditions. I think her granddaughter wanted her to have someone new to talk to, so she could share all this with someone. The old woman told me that when sun and moon meet in the sky, the boundary between our world and theirs grows thin. At such a momentous event, the cleverest and quickest might climb into the throat of the island and cross the threshold to the cosmos. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">At last. Something of value in this tedious discussion. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire spoke metaphorically, did it not? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">I wondered the same thing. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] No, I don’t think she did. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Explain. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] She said that when the celestial hosts of the heavens are distracted with their dance, the sun grows just cool enough to touch. She dipped her finger into the mortar, and showed me a golden bead of oil, and she said even a drop of sunlight was enough to bless the island for a century, but few survived the transit. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">They must not have understood what they were doing. How could they have, without knowledge of the Three Principles? If there is any truth to it at all, it is clearly some underdeveloped rite of self-banishment, resulting in a temporary transference of a mortal into the hells until planar reversion draws them back. If that. Nevertheless, the ritual is worth investigating further. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] It claimed to have performed this… feat? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I believe her. You would’ve too, had you been there. Thankfully, you weren’t. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My opinion toward the superstitious musings of a proscribed entity is not the subject of this session. My role here is strictly— (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“Illuminative,” Vosaphar said, looking out into the storm. “That’s it?” Finnit asked. “But I want to know… so much more.” “And yet, we know more now than we did before. Does this not confirm what you saw in the lens?” “I guess so. Still…” </div>] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightchroniclechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[[[Suspect. ⇒->20ABAA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">(text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The illuminative session for Leisenelle, former third officer of the now-renegade vessel ‘Consonance,’ is hereby brought to order. You stand accused of mutiny, murder, theft, deception, consorting with proscribed entities, and willful evasion of justice. Is that correct? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] You would know. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Is that correct? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I guess so. Yes. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“She sounds a lot like you,” Vosaphar murmured, stroking his claws idly through Finnit’s hair. “‘Consorting with proscribed entities?’ What a wicked accusation.” Finnit snorted. “Are you going to bring me to justice?” “Absolutely not.” “Too bad.” </div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Against these accusations, how do you plead? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I do not plead. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] You must make a claim, either to affirm or deny each crime you have been accused of. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I will make no such claims. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The accused has neglected her obligation to plead. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] What’s your deal, anyway? Are you mad? Some pretty vampire in your past tied your morals all up in knots and made you feel sinful? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My role here is strictly illuminative. How did you first come to associate with this vampire? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I was trying to find out the truth about this island. But none of them would talk to me. The islanders, I mean. They resent us. You know that, right? Look at what we’ve done to them since we got here. Someone has to stop it. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, mark a note down for ‘sedition,’ would you? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">At least the clerics are obligated to transcribe what they actually heard. Historians ought to learn from their example. ⚞L. Raekard (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“I think Raekard’s distaste for historians gets in his way,” Finnit said. “How could we possibly know, at this point, what liberties the cleric might have taken?” “It’s going to take more than historians to put a stop to him.” Finnit laughed, but Vosaphar hadn’t told a joke.</div>] </div>] (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] You didn’t have that one already? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Continue. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Fine. This one woman approached me, and told me to visit her house on the outskirts after sundown. I thought she might be into me—and maybe she was, a little—but she wanted me to meet her grandmother. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Yeah. Did the ‘after sundown’ part give it away? I’m not a good storyteller. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The only things your story requires are honesty and accuracy. Justice will account for the rest. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Whatever you need to tell yourself. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] I don’t ‘need’ to do anything. My role here is strictly illuminative. As the accused has been reminded. Continue. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] So, I waited for dusk, and paid her a visit. Her grandmother was living in the basement. Some kind of herbalist, I guess. The whole time we talked, she was crushing up these weird seedpods in a mortar and pestle. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] At what point did you realize this entity was a vampire? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Not until after, when… (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] When what? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] When you killed her. Robbed us of her wisdom, kindness, perspective, heart, all she contributed to her community. And for what? Some ash? Dust? Is there not already enough collecting between the folds of your ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that last term for obscenity. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] What, you’re more scandalized by me describing your dust-crusted ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆ than your violence? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that one as well. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“Which word do you suppose was stricken here?” Vosaphar asked. “Asscheeks,” Finnit said solemnly. “Has to be.”</div>] (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] So you don’t have an answer. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The entity in question was brought before sunlight and destroyed in accordance with all legal and moral precedent. Any ‘violence’ is lawful, and thereby just. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] And you wonder why they hate us. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Hatred is not the subject of this illuminative session. What did your proscribed discussion entail? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] She told me all kinds of stories about this place, how they have fine-tuned their relationship with the island to keep things running, letting their traditions evolve with the conditions. I think her granddaughter wanted her to have someone new to talk to, so she could share all this with someone. The old woman told me that when sun and moon meet in the sky, the boundary between our world and theirs grows thin. At such a momentous event, the cleverest and quickest might climb into the throat of the island and cross the threshold to the cosmos. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">At last. Something of value in this tedious discussion. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire spoke metaphorically, did it not? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">I wondered the same thing. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] No, I don’t think she did. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Explain. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] She said that when the celestial hosts of the heavens are distracted with their dance, the sun grows just cool enough to touch. She dipped her finger into the mortar, and showed me a golden bead of oil, and she said even a drop of sunlight was enough to bless the island for a century, but few survived the transit. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">They must not have understood what they were doing. How could they have, without knowledge of the Three Principles? If there is any truth to it at all, it is clearly some underdeveloped rite of self-banishment, resulting in a temporary transference of a mortal into the hells until planar reversion draws them back. If that. Nevertheless, the ritual is worth investigating further. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] It claimed to have performed this… feat? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I believe her. You would’ve too, had you been there. Thankfully, you weren’t. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My opinion toward the superstitious musings of a proscribed entity is not the subject of this session. My role here is strictly— (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“Illuminative,” Vosaphar said, looking out into the storm. “That’s it?” Finnit asked. “But I want to know… so much more.” “And yet, we know more now than we did before. Does this not confirm what you saw in the lens?” “I guess so. Still…” </div>] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="chroniclechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[[[Suspect. ⇒->20ABAA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#927b1a")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Chronicle]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XX.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">With fewer than a handful of days remaining until the eclipse, Vosaphar was determined to spend as much of that time as he could with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon now wondered why they had wasted the preceding days doing everything else *except* wrapping up together in blankets, speaking softly to one another. His ordeals felt paler against the comfort of this heat. Had your machinations even mattered for this? Under these conditions, wouldn’t they have always found themselves in love? You had no motes for lust. Though, based on what you had seen, you wouldn’t have needed them. Goodness. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Once they were ready to venture out, Finnit led Vosaphar back up the cliffside stairs to the crevice dotted with rusted anchors and unhatched eggs. As they sidled toward the anchor collector, she made an ominous hissing sound. Vosaphar stood his ground, exchanging a few guttural words with her, apologizing once again for his foolish attack. She affixed those golden eyes to Vosaphar, unblinking, communicating exactly what would happen to them if he or Finnit disturbed any of her forsaken brood. But she relented, shifting slightly to let them pass. Vosaphar kept himself positioned between her and Finnit, guiding the both of them well away from where her acid-tipped tail had flopped to the side of the tunnel. After navigating through that perilous exchange, the passage opened into a roughly circular chamber. “Look, Vosaphar,” Finnit intoned, pointing up. “We’re right beneath the lens.” Black slag had oozed down from the ceiling, frozen into organic stalactites that reflected no light from Finnit’s orb. While still fluid, they had dripped, leaving a few glassy patches spread across the altar. *Click*. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“What was that?” Vosaphar whispered. He cautiously approached the altar, a raised disk with a tight spiral grooved into its otherwise flat surface. “There,” Finnit whispered. “See the moon?” *Click*. A mechanism lowered a miniature pewter grate, allowing a tiny white sphere to roll a little further forward along the channel. At the center of the spiral lay a rendering of the sun, blotched by inky glass that had dripped down from above. “So much for studying the almanac.” Finnit paced around the pedestal. “This device is telling us how much is left until the eclipse. If we had known earlier…” “But we know now,” Vosaphar said. “Look at how close it is.” Vast and fiddly though the design was, the moon had wound its way close to the center. It was an unwelcome reminder of the future approaching, click by— *Click*. A taut silence stretched between them. Vosaphar had thoughts that he was unwilling to admit to. *Click*. “What if we just stayed here?” Finnit voiced. “Well maybe not this particular chamber. I mean the Pharos Fidelis in general.” He looked down at the transit bracelet Raekard had given him. “I could throw this in the ocean. We could ignore the lens. Stay here as long as we wanted.” “There’s nothing for you to eat, Finnit.” *Click.* “Would you even want to go to the academy?” Finnit stared at the pedestal. “Who even knows what they’d do to you, or—” “I am willing to risk it,” Vosaphar said. “I cannot say what the future holds. But we can’t stay here. I’m in no hurry to descend back to the calciferous wastes. And you have your life to live. I would rather join you in whatever of that you are willing to have me for, or until we choose to part. Is that not the way forward in such matters? The real accord?” *Click.* Finnit was silent for a few more moments. “Yes. You’re right. But I’m scared. This could all go so wrong.” Vosaphar embraced Finnit, holding him close. “It might. We will do our best, regardless.” They stayed together a while longer, before journeying back to their strange little home in the cliffside. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[At the eclipse, they would return. And the fate of the Pharos Fidelis would at last be decided. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Petition. ⇒->RABAA. Calciferous]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">With fewer than a handful of days remaining until the eclipse, Vosaphar was determined to spend as much of that time as he could with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon now wondered why they had wasted the preceding days doing everything else *except* wrapping up together in blankets, speaking softly to one another. His ordeals felt paler against the comfort of this heat. Had your machinations even mattered for this? Under these conditions, wouldn’t they have always found themselves in love? You had no motes for lust. Though, based on what you had seen, you wouldn’t have needed them. Goodness. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Once they were ready to venture out, Finnit led Vosaphar back up the cliffside stairs to the crevice dotted with rusted anchors and unhatched eggs. As they sidled toward the anchor collector, she made an ominous hissing sound. Vosaphar stood his ground, exchanging a few guttural words with her, apologizing once again for his foolish attack. She affixed those golden eyes to Vosaphar, unblinking, communicating exactly what would happen to them if he or Finnit disturbed any of her forsaken brood. But she relented, shifting slightly to let them pass. Vosaphar kept himself positioned between her and Finnit, guiding the both of them well away from where her acid-tipped tail had flopped to the side of the tunnel. After navigating through that perilous exchange, the passage opened into a roughly circular chamber. “Look, Vosaphar,” Finnit intoned, pointing up. “We’re right beneath the lens.” Black slag had oozed down from the ceiling, frozen into organic stalactites that reflected no light from Finnit’s orb. While still fluid, they had dripped, leaving a few glassy patches spread across the altar. *Click*. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“What was that?” Vosaphar whispered. He cautiously approached the altar, a raised disk with a tight spiral grooved into its otherwise flat surface. “There,” Finnit whispered. “See the moon?” *Click*. A mechanism lowered a miniature pewter grate, allowing a tiny white sphere to roll a little further forward along the channel. At the center of the spiral lay a rendering of the sun, blotched by inky glass that had dripped down from above. “So much for studying the almanac.” Finnit paced around the pedestal. “This device is telling us how much is left until the eclipse. If we had known earlier…” “But we know now,” Vosaphar said. “Look at how close it is.” Vast and fiddly though the design was, the moon had wound its way close to the center. It was an unwelcome reminder of the future approaching, click by— *Click*. A taut silence stretched between them. Vosaphar had thoughts that he was unwilling to admit to. *Click*. “What if we just stayed here?” Finnit voiced. “Well maybe not this particular chamber. I mean the Pharos Fidelis in general.” He looked down at the transit bracelet Raekard had given him. “I could throw this in the ocean. We could ignore the lens. Stay here as long as we wanted.” “There’s nothing for you to eat, Finnit.” *Click.* “Would you even want to go to the academy?” Finnit stared at the pedestal. “Who even knows what they’d do to you, or—” “I am willing to risk it,” Vosaphar said. “I cannot say what the future holds. But we can’t stay here. I’m in no hurry to descend back to the calciferous wastes. And you have your life to live. I would rather join you in whatever of that you are willing to have me for, or until we choose to part. Is that not the way forward in such matters? The real accord?” *Click.* Finnit was silent for a few more moments. “Yes. You’re right. But I’m scared. This could all go so wrong.” Vosaphar embraced Finnit, holding him close. “It might. We will do our best, regardless.” They stayed together a while longer, before journeying back to their strange little home in the cliffside. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[At the eclipse, they would return. And the fate of the Pharos Fidelis would at last be decided. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Petition. ⇒->RABAA. Calciferous]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[Recollection.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">Vosaphar’s spilling ichor sang to them so sweetly, libations that lured all manner of lips to lap. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[No longer able to fly, the beleaguered demon ran, stumbled, staggered, crawled—anything he could do to place another lazurynthine wall between himself and his nearest pursuer. He needed somewhere dark and quiet, somewhere safe to recover. Such amenities were unavailable in the lazurynth. But there were other hells than these. Vosaphar slipped through an inky gap between walls that had lost definition, their geometry corrupted by some other force. He sank into an oily pool, far beneath the febrile blue heat. He could no longer tell where the sludge began and his blood ended, drifting ever downward. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Eventually he reached the shore near your cottage, not yet fragmented to spectral remnants. Still specific, despite it all. He crawled to your doorstep, begging for relief from the lazurynth. Should he fall, he would emerge there once more, a cycle of dissolution his demonhood would eventually fail to survive. You told him that the calciferous wastes were hostile and desolate. He said he preferred a false quiet to an honest din. You told him there was nothing of value here—had there been, a warden as petty as you would’ve long been shredded to bits by a stronger devil. He said he preferred an expansive nothing to crowded corridors. You told him he would awaken cold, wet, and screaming, his every lonely birth into this void inevitable suffering. He said he preferred a bitter plunge to a blistering fire. You told him what it would cost, a steady stream of magic to brighten your hellfire furnace, tending to the motes. He accepted those terms without hesitation. You asked him for his name. He still had one. Vosaphar. With that accorded, you plucked his coal from the deepest pit of the lazurynth, and held it between your claws, its blue dimmed to gray. His archfiend wouldn’t miss it. And then you threw it in the pool, and it sank to the bottom, where it lodged itself in a dark crevice. Vosaphar, now under your jurisdiction, fled into the wastes, searching for a smooth bit of coralbone to lean against, however futilely. You gave him desolation, cold, and quiet. In return, your furnace grew brighter. How could you have ever predicted what this would eventually make impossible? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Discover. ⇒->21ABAA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">Vosaphar’s spilling ichor sang to them so sweetly, libations that lured all manner of lips to lap. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[No longer able to fly, the beleaguered demon ran, stumbled, staggered, crawled—anything he could do to place another lazurynthine wall between himself and his nearest pursuer. He needed somewhere dark and quiet, somewhere safe to recover. Such amenities were unavailable in the lazurynth. But there were other hells than these. Vosaphar slipped through an inky gap between walls that had lost definition, their geometry corrupted by some other force. He sank into an oily pool, far beneath the febrile blue heat. He could no longer tell where the sludge began and his blood ended, drifting ever downward. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Eventually he reached the shore near your cottage, not yet fragmented to spectral remnants. Still specific, despite it all. He crawled to your doorstep, begging for relief from the lazurynth. Should he fall, he would emerge there once more, a cycle of dissolution his demonhood would eventually fail to survive. You told him that the calciferous wastes were hostile and desolate. He said he preferred a false quiet to an honest din. You told him there was nothing of value here—had there been, a warden as petty as you would’ve long been shredded to bits by a stronger devil. He said he preferred an expansive nothing to crowded corridors. You told him he would awaken cold, wet, and screaming, his every lonely birth into this void inevitable suffering. He said he preferred a bitter plunge to a blistering fire. You told him what it would cost, a steady stream of magic to brighten your hellfire furnace, tending to the motes. He accepted those terms without hesitation. You asked him for his name. He still had one. Vosaphar. With that accorded, you plucked his coal from the deepest pit of the lazurynth, and held it between your claws, its blue dimmed to gray. His archfiend wouldn’t miss it. And then you threw it in the pool, and it sank to the bottom, where it lodged itself in a dark crevice. Vosaphar, now under your jurisdiction, fled into the wastes, searching for a smooth bit of coralbone to lean against, however futilely. You gave him desolation, cold, and quiet. In return, your furnace grew brighter. How could you have ever predicted what this would eventually make impossible? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Discover. ⇒->21ABAA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Recollection]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">The day of the eclipse, Finnit woke with a sharp pain searing his back, breaking him out of his warm reverie. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar was twitching and scratching in his sleep again. Finnit adored the feeling of the devil’s tail coiled around his thigh, basking in the hellish heat that staved off the island’s chill. Nonetheless, crawling into the embrace of a clawed creature had a few drawbacks. “Hey,” Finnit whispered. “Wake up.” Vosaphar shifted, his tail loosening its grip on Finnit. “Mmph.” “You scratched me again,” Finnit said. “Nightmares?” “Oh no,” Vosaphar said. “I’m sorry, Finnit. Here…” The demon traced the scratches, and Finnit felt an odd prickly sensation as the skin healed over. “Thank you. You’re getting good at that.” Vosaphar delicately kissed the side of Finnit’s neck. “I don’t normally sleep so much. The mortal realm is… exhausting, in its own way. Perhaps I can fashion some wrappings for my claws in the future.” “Whoa,” Finnit said, gazing out one of the windows. “What?” “The sky is different.” And indeed it was. The rain had—incredibly—let up slightly, the green glow he’d become so accustomed to taking on distinct streaks of orange and red. Vosaphar grimaced. “I guess it’s time.” “Yeah.” They made their final preparations. Finnit tucked his syllabaries into his satchel and ate his last rations. He thought he might never forget the taste of salted fruit leather in whatever days—or day—he had remaining. “Was there something else we should have prepared?” Finnit asked. “We’re just… walking through a portal to the sun? Like this?” “I can’t think of anything, Finnit.” “Well, alright then.” He looked around at the now overly-familiar place he had spent this last month. “Goodbye, awful yet cozy stone room under a cursed lighthouse. It was certainly a time.” “That it was.” Vosaphar sounded amused. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They ventured out onto the cliffside stairs. Even these had become familiar, the treachery of each step now a well-worn betrayal. As they slipped past the anchor collector, she gave out a muted warble that Finnit optimistically chose to interpret as encouragement. Up ahead, a ruddy glow intensified as they approached the altar beneath the lens and its housing. The miniature moon had arrived at its destination, transforming the sun emblem at the center into a bright red disc of light. It was overwhelming to look at directly; Finnit’s eyes strained from this threat to perception. “It’s terrible,” Finnit whispered. “Beautiful, too. What a dazzling horror of a thing to witness.” “Finnit,” Vosaphar began, wrapping his arms gently around the sorcerer. “It might be neglectful of our accord for me not to mention… you don’t have to do this. I could—I could go without you—you could die, Finnit, and—I—I don’t want to lose you… forever.” Finnit looked up into the fiend’s fearful, loving eyes. “Vosaphar—I’m afraid, too. But I couldn’t accept that. Isn’t that what Raekard would do? Send someone to die in his stead, to do the big scary things he won’t face himself? This trial was his idea, but now it’s my trial. Our trial. And I want to see it through. Together. Don’t you?” “Yes,” Vosaphar admitted. “I want to see the sun... with you.” “Then let’s go see it.” Vosaphar smiled, and took Finnit’s arm in his. Together, they stepped into an oblivion of crimson light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Eclipse. ⇒->Eclipse ABAA]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">The day of the eclipse, Finnit woke with a sharp pain searing his back, breaking him out of his warm reverie. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar was twitching and scratching in his sleep again. Finnit adored the feeling of the devil’s tail coiled around his thigh, basking in the hellish heat that staved off the island’s chill. Nonetheless, crawling into the embrace of a clawed creature had a few drawbacks. “Hey,” Finnit whispered. “Wake up.” Vosaphar shifted, his tail loosening its grip on Finnit. “Mmph.” “You scratched me again,” Finnit said. “Nightmares?” “Oh no,” Vosaphar said. “I’m sorry, Finnit. Here…” The demon traced the scratches, and Finnit felt an odd prickly sensation as the skin healed over. “Thank you. You’re getting good at that.” Vosaphar delicately kissed the side of Finnit’s neck. “I don’t normally sleep so much. The mortal realm is… exhausting, in its own way. Perhaps I can fashion some wrappings for my claws in the future.” “Whoa,” Finnit said, gazing out one of the windows. “What?” “The sky is different.” And indeed it was. The rain had—incredibly—let up slightly, the green glow he’d become so accustomed to taking on distinct streaks of orange and red. Vosaphar grimaced. “I guess it’s time.” “Yeah.” They made their final preparations. Finnit tucked his syllabaries into his satchel and ate his last rations. He thought he might never forget the taste of salted fruit leather in whatever days—or day—he had remaining. “Was there something else we should have prepared?” Finnit asked. “We’re just… walking through a portal to the sun? Like this?” “I can’t think of anything, Finnit.” “Well, alright then.” He looked around at the now overly-familiar place he had spent this last month. “Goodbye, awful yet cozy stone room under a cursed lighthouse. It was certainly a time.” “That it was.” Vosaphar sounded amused. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They ventured out onto the cliffside stairs. Even these had become familiar, the treachery of each step now a well-worn betrayal. As they slipped past the anchor collector, she gave out a muted warble that Finnit optimistically chose to interpret as encouragement. Up ahead, a ruddy glow intensified as they approached the altar beneath the lens and its housing. The miniature moon had arrived at its destination, transforming the sun emblem at the center into a bright red disc of light. It was overwhelming to look at directly; Finnit’s eyes strained from this threat to perception. “It’s terrible,” Finnit whispered. “Beautiful, too. What a dazzling horror of a thing to witness.” “Finnit,” Vosaphar began, wrapping his arms gently around the sorcerer. “It might be neglectful of our accord for me not to mention… you don’t have to do this. I could—I could go without you—you could die, Finnit, and—I—I don’t want to lose you… forever.” Finnit looked up into the fiend’s fearful, loving eyes. “Vosaphar—I’m afraid, too. But I couldn’t accept that. Isn’t that what Raekard would do? Send someone to die in his stead, to do the big scary things he won’t face himself? This trial was his idea, but now it’s my trial. Our trial. And I want to see it through. Together. Don’t you?” “Yes,” Vosaphar admitted. “I want to see the sun... with you.” “Then let’s go see it.” Vosaphar smiled, and took Finnit’s arm in his. Together, they stepped into an oblivion of crimson light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Eclipse. ⇒->Eclipse ABAA]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 3)[Eclipse.] (text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Sun.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">The sun was a cosmic affliction, a colossal molten mass so red and seething that even the infernal embers blazing in the deepest pits of the hells seemed but feeble sparks in the distance. And Vosaphar was soaring *toward* it. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he flew, Finnit clutched against him, tendrils of the corona pulled peculiar new colors from his wings, its aurora a spectacle more captivating than your dreary calciferous skies could have ever dreamed to churn. How you longed for such color and heat and majesty—even just a drop of it. And *they* got to see it all, to have it within reach. “Vosaphar, look!” With his free hand, Finnit pointed toward an eerie black void drifting past. Dozens of bird-creatures flew from the roiling surface of the sun to circle and screech at the dark moon, a celestial interloper threatening the eternity of light. “They’re sunspots!” Finnit shouted. “She’s a sunspot!” “They’re *distracted*, too.” Vosaphar glided toward the edge of the sun away from the shrieking horrors. “That’s why it has to be now.” The demon and his summoner skimmed the sun’s surface, its dangerous heat threatening to embrace them forever so closely. “Hold on, Finnit!” Vosaphar tilted his wings, arm outstretched, reaching, swiping up a glob of incandescent fluid. This molten scarlet-amber squeezed between his claws and stuck to his low-dipped wing. Even these tiny droplets of starlight held immense power that coursed through him as he arced up out of the sun’s grip. “It’s so incredible!” Finnit laughed, tears streaming behind him, motes of wonder sparkling in space. Something darkened behind them. Finnit looked over his shoulder. “Vosaphar—there’s a new sunspot—” The creature shrieked as it gave chase, following the radiant beads dripping from Vosaphar’s sunswept wing. Vosaphar affixed his gaze to the portal back to the Pharos Fidelis, soaring ever faster. The screeching grew louder yet, judgment for their cardinal cosmic sin approaching with alarming haste. But with Finnit clinging to his side… (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar simply had no use for consequences. With a final burst of speed, they shot through the portal. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Reignite. ⇒->22ABAA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">The sun was a cosmic affliction, a colossal molten mass so red and seething that even the infernal embers blazing in the deepest pits of the hells seemed but feeble sparks in the distance. And Vosaphar was soaring *toward* it. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he flew, Finnit clutched against him, tendrils of the corona pulled peculiar new colors from his wings, its aurora a spectacle more captivating than your dreary calciferous skies could have ever dreamed to churn. How you longed for such color and heat and majesty—even just a drop of it. And *they* got to see it all, to have it within reach. “Vosaphar, look!” With his free hand, Finnit pointed toward an eerie black void drifting past. Dozens of bird-creatures flew from the roiling surface of the sun to circle and screech at the dark moon, a celestial interloper threatening the eternity of light. “They’re sunspots!” Finnit shouted. “She’s a sunspot!” “They’re *distracted*, too.” Vosaphar glided toward the edge of the sun away from the shrieking horrors. “That’s why it has to be now.” The demon and his summoner skimmed the sun’s surface, its dangerous heat threatening to embrace them forever so closely. “Hold on, Finnit!” Vosaphar tilted his wings, arm outstretched, reaching, swiping up a glob of incandescent fluid. This molten scarlet-amber squeezed between his claws and stuck to his low-dipped wing. Even these tiny droplets of starlight held immense power that coursed through him as he arced up out of the sun’s grip. “It’s so incredible!” Finnit laughed, tears streaming behind him, motes of wonder sparkling in space. Something darkened behind them. Finnit looked over his shoulder. “Vosaphar—there’s a new sunspot—” The creature shrieked as it gave chase, following the radiant beads dripping from Vosaphar’s sunswept wing. Vosaphar affixed his gaze to the portal back to the Pharos Fidelis, soaring ever faster. The screeching grew louder yet, judgment for their cardinal cosmic sin approaching with alarming haste. But with Finnit clinging to his side… (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar simply had no use for consequences. With a final burst of speed, they shot through the portal. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Reignite. ⇒->22ABAA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXII.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Finnit and Vosaphar tumbled over the edge of the altar, the portal still aglow with the eclipse-light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But there was little time to celebrate their reckless heist—the sunspot shoved its vicious pointed head through the gap after them, screeching as it struggled to break through. Finnit let Vosaphar carry him a bit further up the tunnel, before standing on his own feet and running alongside. The anchor collector had left her nest, wheeling about in the sky, shrieking back at the new sunspot about to burst from the throat of the island. Finnit looked out at the storm, the clouds thinned enough that he could see the eclipsed red sun half-risen, framing the infernal image of a devil’s horns. “How magnificent,” he said, breathless. Vosaphar looked down at him, gently squeezing his hand. They arrived at the peak, where the lens yearned for light, and at last, Finnit had light to provide. Vosaphar held out his claws, sunlight pooled in his palm, and Finnit painted it, trying to create the glyph his mind had projected there, the name of the demon whose rite might reignite the Pharos Fidelis. You watched, enraptured by the spectacle of your plans converging. This was it. This was your moment. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As Finnit slathered the glowing fluid across the lens, the dark slag drank it in—more, and more, and more of it. Too much of it. The glyph couldn’t hold its shape. The lens welled, hyperfolding crimson light, growing ever hotter by the second. The cleft, once so close to promising your name, had already deformed beyond recognition. And how brutal; that poor, mortal sorcerer, all tangled in your schemes, had every intention of drawing your name, a sigil drenched in the lifeblood of the sun. He really did try. You couldn’t fault him for that. But the execution? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A tragedy, in many fragments. For centuries—perhaps longer—every mortal design for the Pharos Fidelis had crumbled. Each disaster wrote another chapter in that wretched chronicle, the dark history of guiding light. And you thought *yours* would work? Pharos Fidelis, the beacon on the horizon of reason. Where it would remain, out of reach. Could not even a devil accept the simple dreadful truth, that a horizon approached can never arrive? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Finnit, we have to leave!” Vosaphar shouted, scanning the skies for the sunspots. “The lens is collapsing!” “No—it has to—Vosaphar, it has to—” “Finnit, please—” “I can’t—I can’t get the shape right, it’s going to—” “It deserves to shatter.” How dare he. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“But, what was this even for, then?” Finnit sobbed, the last of the sunlight ripped from his fingertips into the Pharos Fidelis. Vosaphar pulled him, one final time, away from the amplifying dyslucence. “That’s for the historians!” Vosaphar stared at him with his stormy eyes. “Shouldn’t we live? Don’t you want a future? ” “Yes!” Finnit embraced Vosaphar once more, and the demon swept him up into the sky. They abandoned the Pharos Fidelis to its fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They *tried* to abandon it. But it wasn’t done with them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Shatter. ⇒->23ABAA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Finnit and Vosaphar tumbled over the edge of the altar, the portal still aglow with the eclipse-light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But there was little time to celebrate their reckless heist—the sunspot shoved its vicious pointed head through the gap after them, screeching as it struggled to break through. Finnit let Vosaphar carry him a bit further up the tunnel, before standing on his own feet and running alongside. The anchor collector had left her nest, wheeling about in the sky, shrieking back at the new sunspot about to burst from the throat of the island. Finnit looked out at the storm, the clouds thinned enough that he could see the eclipsed red sun half-risen, framing the infernal image of a devil’s horns. “How magnificent,” he said, breathless. Vosaphar looked down at him, gently squeezing his hand. They arrived at the peak, where the lens yearned for light, and at last, Finnit had light to provide. Vosaphar held out his claws, sunlight pooled in his palm, and Finnit painted it, trying to create the glyph his mind had projected there, the name of the demon whose rite might reignite the Pharos Fidelis. You watched, enraptured by the spectacle of your plans converging. This was it. This was your moment. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As Finnit slathered the glowing fluid across the lens, the dark slag drank it in—more, and more, and more of it. Too much of it. The glyph couldn’t hold its shape. The lens welled, hyperfolding crimson light, growing ever hotter by the second. The cleft, once so close to promising your name, had already deformed beyond recognition. And how brutal; that poor, mortal sorcerer, all tangled in your schemes, had every intention of drawing your name, a sigil drenched in the lifeblood of the sun. He really did try. You couldn’t fault him for that. But the execution? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A tragedy, in many fragments. For centuries—perhaps longer—every mortal design for the Pharos Fidelis had crumbled. Each disaster wrote another chapter in that wretched chronicle, the dark history of guiding light. And you thought *yours* would work? Pharos Fidelis, the beacon on the horizon of reason. Where it would remain, out of reach. Could not even a devil accept the simple dreadful truth, that a horizon approached can never arrive? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Finnit, we have to leave!” Vosaphar shouted, scanning the skies for the sunspots. “The lens is collapsing!” “No—it has to—Vosaphar, it has to—” “Finnit, please—” “I can’t—I can’t get the shape right, it’s going to—” “It deserves to shatter.” How dare he. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“But, what was this even for, then?” Finnit sobbed, the last of the sunlight ripped from his fingertips into the Pharos Fidelis. Vosaphar pulled him, one final time, away from the amplifying dyslucence. “That’s for the historians!” Vosaphar stared at him with his stormy eyes. “Shouldn’t we live? Don’t you want a future? ” “Yes!” Finnit embraced Vosaphar once more, and the demon swept him up into the sky. They abandoned the Pharos Fidelis to its fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They *tried* to abandon it. But it wasn’t done with them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Shatter. ⇒->23ABAA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Disavowal]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXIII.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">The storm rushed past Vosaphar as he carried Finnit, placing any distance he could between them and the doomed Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Still seeking their stolen sunlight, the sunspot pursued, but the anchor collector screeched and snapped at it. The two creatures, identically opposed in desire, circled the peak as they fought above the molten slag. “It’s going to—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The world around them grew absolutely silent, swallowing the rest of Finnit’s warning. Every bit of light had gathered, folding itself over and over and over still, smaller, ever smaller, congealing into the tiniest, brightest speck. For a moment, Vosaphar wondered if it would keep going, dragging the mortal realm, the hells, and all the rest of existence into its singularity. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Instead, it shattered. All that had been poured into it—all the fire, all the lightning, all the stray souls, all the stolen sunlight, all the summons slaughtered, all the hopes and dreams and plots and schemes and—all of it finally shattered, sending incalculable shards of glass in every direction at incredible speeds. A vanguard fragment slammed into Vosaphar’s chest, knocking Finnit out of his grasp. The sorcerer began to drift away on his own trajectory— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And you thought, though your plans had shattered along with everything else… You still had one last mote of hellfire to spare. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Influence. ⇒->M4ABAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">The storm rushed past Vosaphar as he carried Finnit, placing any distance he could between them and the doomed Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Still seeking their stolen sunlight, the sunspot pursued, but the anchor collector screeched and snapped at it. The two creatures, identically opposed in desire, circled the peak as they fought above the molten slag. “It’s going to—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The world around them grew absolutely silent, swallowing the rest of Finnit’s warning. Every bit of light had gathered, folding itself over and over and over still, smaller, ever smaller, congealing into the tiniest, brightest speck. For a moment, Vosaphar wondered if it would keep going, dragging the mortal realm, the hells, and all the rest of existence into its singularity. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Instead, it shattered. All that had been poured into it—all the fire, all the lightning, all the stray souls, all the stolen sunlight, all the summons slaughtered, all the hopes and dreams and plots and schemes and—all of it finally shattered, sending incalculable shards of glass in every direction at incredible speeds. A vanguard fragment slammed into Vosaphar’s chest, knocking Finnit out of his grasp. The sorcerer began to drift away on his own trajectory— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And you thought, though your plans had shattered along with everything else… You still had one last mote of hellfire to spare. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Influence. ⇒->M4ABAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Disavowal]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#fc4e71")+(text-size: 3)[Influence.] (text-color:"#fc4e71")+(text-size: 1.15)[Clinginess | Desperation.]</div> One final mote of hellfire appeared. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightmotepassage">When potent emotions conflicted a demon’s judgment, even the faintest mote of hellfire bore enough infernal energy to influence their fate from afar. That’s how you got them into this mess. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#8c283c)[***Clinginess***] For the demon Vosaphar, so eager to wrap himself around his beloved summoner, the sight of the mortal falling away would’ve driven him to dive in closer. This clinginess would have joined their fates together, should you have chosen to foster it. Yielding to this clinginess, however romantic, risked their joint fate becoming tragic. (text-color:#8c283c)[***Desperation***] For the demon Vosaphar, so determined for his beloved summoner to survive, the sight of him falling away would’ve driven him to take reckless measures. This desperation might have driven him to intervene instantly to salvage the situation. Yielding to this desperation, however hasty, risked their fates diverging dramatically. (text-color:#8c283c)[***Decision***] Well? Which force did this mote of hellfire incite? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightmotechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))[[[Clinginess. ⇒->24ABAAA. Vosaphar]]] (link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#fc4e71")))[[[Desperation. ⇒->24ABAAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="motepassage">When potent emotions conflicted a demon’s judgment, even the faintest mote of hellfire bore enough infernal energy to influence their fate from afar. That’s how you got them into this mess. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Clinginess***] For the demon Vosaphar, so eager to wrap himself around his beloved summoner, the sight of the mortal falling away would’ve driven him to dive in closer. This clinginess would have joined their fates together, should you have chosen to foster it. Yielding to this clinginess, however romantic, risked their joint fate becoming tragic. (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Desperation***] For the demon Vosaphar, so determined for his beloved summoner to survive, the sight of him falling away would’ve driven him to take reckless measures. This desperation might have driven him to intervene instantly to salvage the situation. Yielding to this desperation, however hasty, risked their fates diverging dramatically. (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Decision***] Well? Which force did this mote of hellfire incite? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="motechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Clinginess. ⇒->24ABAAA. Vosaphar]]] (link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Desperation. ⇒->24ABAAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Mote]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXIV.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar recognized your influence pushing him toward clinginess— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he *rejected* it. That stung. Vosaphar had a single, reckless idea of what he still had time to do. How he could send Finnit somewhere safer than here. Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar recalled the spells Finnit had taught him, focused his intentions and— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Banished him. Finnit blinked out of existence. Moments later, the edge of the explosion swept Vosaphar into an inferno of shattering glass. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Stoke. ⇒->25ABAAA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar recognized your influence pushing him toward clinginess— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he *rejected* it. That stung. Vosaphar had a single, reckless idea of what he still had time to do. How he could send Finnit somewhere safer than here. Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar recalled the spells Finnit had taught him, focused his intentions and— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Banished him. Finnit blinked out of existence. Moments later, the edge of the explosion swept Vosaphar into an inferno of shattering glass. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Stoke. ⇒->25ABAAA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXIV.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar recognized your influence pushing him toward desperation— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he *rejected* it. That stung. Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar dove, claws outstretched, reaching for Finnit’s wrist— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And closed his hand around the transit band attached to it. Just as the edge of the inferno reached them— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar and Finnit blinked out of existence, teleporting somewhere else. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Defend. ⇒->25ABAAB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar recognized your influence pushing him toward desperation— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he *rejected* it. That stung. Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar dove, claws outstretched, reaching for Finnit’s wrist— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And closed his hand around the transit band attached to it. Just as the edge of the inferno reached them— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar and Finnit blinked out of existence, teleporting somewhere else. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Defend. ⇒->25ABAAB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#b8e270")+(text-size: 3)[XXV.] (text-color:"#b8e270")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Cairnveld Fortress.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcairnveldpassage">Finnit tumbled to his latest painful stop against the stone. Warm, clawed fingers gripped his wrist. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Vosaphar?” Finnit groaned, clutching his head and rolling over to move closer to the devil. He could smell cypress and old parchment. They must have arrived somewhere at Cairnveld Fortress. He heard a few startled gasps, and then whispers broke out. “Huh?” Finnit muttered, looking over his shoulders. They had landed in one of the smaller lecture halls. Cool light streamed through the windows, setting the chamber’s dusty air aglow. A scattered few luminaries occupied the chairs, including Jethel, who peered curiously over the top of the beverage she had been sipping. It was the most people he had seen in a month. Raekard stood from his seat in the front row. “Incipient Finnit!” His voice rang out over the chamber. “I’m not sure how you managed to be late with a pre-scheduled transit band, but it is time for your evaluation.” He paused, frowning. “Dismiss this… creature.” Finnit ignored him, crawling over to examine Vosaphar’s wounds. There was a warped shard of the Pharos Fidelis lens lodged in his chest, glowing with an intense crimson light. It seemed to have fused to the demon’s torso, ichor seeping around the edges where glass and flesh intermingled. “Are you okay?” Finnit asked softly. “No.” Vosaphar turned to him, groaning. “But… I don’t think I’m fading.” Finnit did his best to hug him from this awkward position. “Fine, I’ll banish it myself.” Raekard traced a sigil in the air, directing its power against the injured fiend. Nothing happened. It was the first time that Finnit had seen Raekard genuinely surprised. Finnit helped Vosaphar to his feet. The demon looked around, a bit nervously given his bizarre new context. He let his ethereal wings fade away, wrapping a warm arm around Finnit’s waist. “This is not appropriate conduct for a discovery trial evaluation,” Raekard said, his voice low and dangerous. “Be sure to make a note of it then,” Finnit said. He leaned into Vosaphar, who responded by curling his tail gently around the sorcerer. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The luminaries in the audience found this riveting. Jethel stirred the air next to her mug with a cinnamon stick, not realizing she was dripping horchata onto her notes. Finnit wished he could just leave and recover in his quarters. Why was he even putting up with any of this? They had just gotten back from the *sun*. “Dismiss this demon at once!” Raekard snapped. “It is against academy bylaws to bring summoned entities to participate in discovery trial evaluations.” “I’ll go where I wish to, *wretched one*,” Vosaphar snarled. He had evidently recognized Raekard. Jethel let out a startled laugh, which she failed to even attempt to cover up. “Luminary Jethel is going to *love* you,” Finnit told Vosaphar, deciding to embrace the surreality of the moment. Nonplussed, Raekard tried a second banishment. It failed. Again. Finnit ran his fingers through his hair anxiously, snagging another piece of the lens that had cut the skin behind his ear. He plucked it out. Its otherworldly glow was just as out of place here as Vosaphar, and frankly, himself. “What is the meaning of this?” Raekard demanded. “Incipient, what did you *do*?” Finnit held up the errant fragment. “We reignited the Pharos Fidelis.” He threw it onto the floor. “As commanded. Huh. I guess that makes me a luminary.” “This is—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But Finnit didn’t care to hear any more of what Raekard had to say. He suddenly wondered why it had ever mattered. The luminary was such an insignificant threat in the face of everything that he had experienced. And he was a terrible historiographer. Suddenly, the ground shook slightly. Bits of grit descended from the ceiling. One of the luminaries—who had somehow managed to sleep through Finnit and Vosaphar’s dramatic arrival—woke with a start, their eyes darting wildly as they took in their surroundings. “What was *that*?” Raekard asked. “The Pharos Fidelis,” Finnit said. “I guess it took a few minutes for the shockwaves to arrive. Maybe we should reconvene this session after we know for sure that our actions didn’t precipitate the end of all existence. Vosaphar, let’s get out of here.” “Gladly,” the demon muttered. “And stop trying to banish me,” he added, glaring directly at Raekard. “Or I will teach you some real principles of summoning that you will *not* enjoy learning, pathetic one.” The luminary was dumbfounded. “What the—what happened?” “That’s enough, Raekard,” Jethel said from behind him. Arms linked, Finnit and Vosaphar departed the lecture hall, heading for Finnit’s quarters. Somewhere quiet. Raekard didn’t try to follow them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcairnveldchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))[[[Repose. ⇒->26ABAAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="cairnveldpassage">Finnit tumbled to his latest painful stop against the stone. Warm, clawed fingers gripped his wrist. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Vosaphar?” Finnit groaned, clutching his head and rolling over to move closer to the devil. He could smell cypress and old parchment. They must have arrived somewhere at Cairnveld Fortress. He heard a few startled gasps, and then whispers broke out. “Huh?” Finnit muttered, looking over his shoulders. They had landed in one of the smaller lecture halls. Cool light streamed through the windows, setting the chamber’s dusty air aglow. A scattered few luminaries occupied the chairs, including Jethel, who peered curiously over the top of the beverage she had been sipping. It was the most people he had seen in a month. Raekard stood from his seat in the front row. “Incipient Finnit!” His voice rang out over the chamber. “I’m not sure how you managed to be late with a pre-scheduled transit band, but it is time for your evaluation.” He paused, frowning. “Dismiss this… creature.” Finnit ignored him, crawling over to examine Vosaphar’s wounds. There was a warped shard of the Pharos Fidelis lens lodged in his chest, glowing with an intense crimson light. It seemed to have fused to the demon’s torso, ichor seeping around the edges where glass and flesh intermingled. “Are you okay?” Finnit asked softly. “No.” Vosaphar turned to him, groaning. “But… I don’t think I’m fading.” Finnit did his best to hug him from this awkward position. “Fine, I’ll banish it myself.” Raekard traced a sigil in the air, directing its power against the injured fiend. Nothing happened. It was the first time that Finnit had seen Raekard genuinely surprised. Finnit helped Vosaphar to his feet. The demon looked around, a bit nervously given his bizarre new context. He let his ethereal wings fade away, wrapping a warm arm around Finnit’s waist. “This is not appropriate conduct for a discovery trial evaluation,” Raekard said, his voice low and dangerous. “Be sure to make a note of it then,” Finnit said. He leaned into Vosaphar, who responded by curling his tail gently around the sorcerer. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The luminaries in the audience found this riveting. Jethel stirred the air next to her mug with a cinnamon stick, not realizing she was dripping horchata onto her notes. Finnit wished he could just leave and recover in his quarters. Why was he even putting up with any of this? They had just gotten back from the *sun*. “Dismiss this demon at once!” Raekard snapped. “It is against academy bylaws to bring summoned entities to participate in discovery trial evaluations.” “I’ll go where I wish to, *wretched one*,” Vosaphar snarled. He had evidently recognized Raekard. Jethel let out a startled laugh, which she failed to even attempt to cover up. “Luminary Jethel is going to *love* you,” Finnit told Vosaphar, deciding to embrace the surreality of the moment. Nonplussed, Raekard tried a second banishment. It failed. Again. Finnit ran his fingers through his hair anxiously, snagging another piece of the lens that had cut the skin behind his ear. He plucked it out. Its otherworldly glow was just as out of place here as Vosaphar, and frankly, himself. “What is the meaning of this?” Raekard demanded. “Incipient, what did you *do*?” Finnit held up the errant fragment. “We reignited the Pharos Fidelis.” He threw it onto the floor. “As commanded. Huh. I guess that makes me a luminary.” “This is—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But Finnit didn’t care to hear any more of what Raekard had to say. He suddenly wondered why it had ever mattered. The luminary was such an insignificant threat in the face of everything that he had experienced. And he was a terrible historiographer. Suddenly, the ground shook slightly. Bits of grit descended from the ceiling. One of the luminaries—who had somehow managed to sleep through Finnit and Vosaphar’s dramatic arrival—woke with a start, their eyes darting wildly as they took in their surroundings. “What was *that*?” Raekard asked. “The Pharos Fidelis,” Finnit said. “I guess it took a few minutes for the shockwaves to arrive. Maybe we should reconvene this session after we know for sure that our actions didn’t precipitate the end of all existence. Vosaphar, let’s get out of here.” “Gladly,” the demon muttered. “And stop trying to banish me,” he added, glaring directly at Raekard. “Or I will teach you some real principles of summoning that you will *not* enjoy learning, pathetic one.” The luminary was dumbfounded. “What the—what happened?” “That’s enough, Raekard,” Jethel said from behind him. Arms linked, Finnit and Vosaphar departed the lecture hall, heading for Finnit’s quarters. Somewhere quiet. Raekard didn’t try to follow them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="cairnveldchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#7ba03c")))[[[Repose. ⇒->26ABAAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#7ba03c")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#b8e270")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#b8e270")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Cairnveld Fortress.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcairnveldpassage">The incipients and luminaries traveling the halls of Cairnveld—already unsettled by the earthquake—gave Vosaphar a wide berth as he and Finnit passed them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar had never been around so many mortals at once—at least, not in his current instance—and unlike Finnit, *these* mortals were thoroughly alarmed by the fearsome sight of a demon wandering in their midst, chest aglow with a sun-scorched fragment of the Pharos Fidelis lens. He only started to relax once they entered a small, dusty chamber full of the sorcerer’s possessions. Mostly books. Finnit closed the door behind him, then climbed onto his bed in the corner of the chamber, sitting with his back against one of the cool stone walls. He grabbed one of the pillows, and invited Vosaphar to lie down. The devil accepted, allowing Finnit to cradle his head in his lap. Vosaphar was delighted by the softness of the mattress compared to the bedrolls at the Pharos Fidelis, and let the mortal gently massage his forehead, attending to the skin bunched at the base of his horns. “Is this okay?” Finnit asked. “Yes,” Vosaphar said, flicking his tail languorously. To be afforded such comfort was rare and fleeting. As you—along with every other demon—knew all too well. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[After a few restful minutes, Finnit spoke up. “So, um—thank you for not letting me die. For saving me, so many times. I can’t even make sense of what happened yet. It’s unreal. This, being here, and—we shouldn’t have survived.” “But we did, beloved one.” Vosaphar ran a clawed fingertip gently across Finnit’s forearm. “Perhaps you contributed more than you realize.” He paused. “But I *did* carry you across the sky.” Finnit snorted. Someone knocked at the door. “Finnit? Are you in there?” “Yes!” Finnit said. One of the sorcerers from the trial evaluation stepped into the room, carrying with her an eclectic potpourri of scents. It was Luminary Jethel, the healing expert. “Oh.” She raised her eyebrows. “Is this—uh, a bad time?” “It’s fine,” Finnit said, reluctantly releasing Vosaphar so the demon could sit up. “I’m glad to see you, Jethel. Thank you for all your help.” She nodded. “The main reason I’m here is to inform you that the panel of luminaries in attendance convened, and after an examination of the fragment you provided, determined that you passed your discovery trial. Raekard dissented, but I suppose situations like these are exactly why the founders required a full panel in the bylaws. Congratulations, Finnit!” She waited for a moment, creating an awkward silence. “But I get the sense that, perhaps this is not your main concern?” “No, it isn’t,” Finnit said. “I mean—I guess I’m glad it’s over. But, I’m concerned about Vosaphar’s injuries.” He paused. “This is Vosaphar. He’s from… uh, the calciferous wastes.” “Uh huh. Noted.” Jethel directed her focus toward the devil. “Vosaphar? May I take a closer look?” “Yes,” Vosaphar said, watching her lightly-wrinkled fingers weave diagnostic glyphs in front of him. Finnit gently rubbed his back. “How are you feeling?” “I… don’t know,” Vosaphar answered honestly. “It’s a strange sensation. Like my bones are itching beneath my skin.” “Interesting,” Jethel remarked. “Well—this fragment of—uh, I guess I have no real idea what it actually is, some exotic vitric—seems to have fused onto you? It radiates an extraordinary amount of magic. For a human, that would be concerning, by which I mean, fatal. But I admit, I am not an expert on infernal anatomy.” She glanced at Finnit, eyes narrowing. “Though based on what I have seen today, perhaps *you* are becoming one.” Vosaphar looked his way as well, amused to see the mortal’s cheeks reddening. “Thought so,” Jethel remarked. “I hope Raekard never hears the end of this, for whatever remains of his miserable days.” “Oh,” Finnit said, evidently realizing something. “I see now… the lens fragment. Raekard is, at least, a *competent* sorcerer—his banishment rite should have succeeded. By remaining here, I thought Vosaphar might have violated the principle of planar reversion. But with this power fusing with you—I guess that makes it *your* power. And it far exceeds Raekard’s.” “Fascinating,” Jethel said, “if not a touch alarming in its implications. Well, at any rate, for now, I recommend treating the exposed edges where the fragment is impacting your skin. I don’t know what your plans are, Finnit, but if you remain here for the moment—as a luminary—we can research the issue together.” “What do you think?” Finnit asked him. “We could stay for a bit, sort things out?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“That sounds nice, Finnit.” “And after that—” “The rest of it?” “The rest of it.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcairnveldchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending ABAAB]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="cairnveldpassage">The incipients and luminaries traveling the halls of Cairnveld—already unsettled by the earthquake—gave Vosaphar a wide berth as he and Finnit passed them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar had never been around so many mortals at once—at least, not in his current instance—and unlike Finnit, *these* mortals were thoroughly alarmed by the fearsome sight of a demon wandering in their midst, chest aglow with a sun-scorched fragment of the Pharos Fidelis lens. He only started to relax once they entered a small, dusty chamber full of the sorcerer’s possessions. Mostly books. Finnit closed the door behind him, then climbed onto his bed in the corner of the chamber, sitting with his back against one of the cool stone walls. He grabbed one of the pillows, and invited Vosaphar to lie down. The devil accepted, allowing Finnit to cradle his head in his lap. Vosaphar was delighted by the softness of the mattress compared to the bedrolls at the Pharos Fidelis, and let the mortal gently massage his forehead, attending to the skin bunched at the base of his horns. “Is this okay?” Finnit asked. “Yes,” Vosaphar said, flicking his tail languorously. To be afforded such comfort was rare and fleeting. As you—along with every other demon—knew all too well. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[After a few restful minutes, Finnit spoke up. “So, um—thank you for not letting me die. For saving me, so many times. I can’t even make sense of what happened yet. It’s unreal. This, being here, and—we shouldn’t have survived.” “But we did, beloved one.” Vosaphar ran a clawed fingertip gently across Finnit’s forearm. “Perhaps you contributed more than you realize.” He paused. “But I *did* carry you across the sky.” Finnit snorted. Someone knocked at the door. “Finnit? Are you in there?” “Yes!” Finnit said. One of the sorcerers from the trial evaluation stepped into the room, carrying with her an eclectic potpourri of scents. It was Luminary Jethel, the healing expert. “Oh.” She raised her eyebrows. “Is this—uh, a bad time?” “It’s fine,” Finnit said, reluctantly releasing Vosaphar so the demon could sit up. “I’m glad to see you, Jethel. Thank you for all your help.” She nodded. “The main reason I’m here is to inform you that the panel of luminaries in attendance convened, and after an examination of the fragment you provided, determined that you passed your discovery trial. Raekard dissented, but I suppose situations like these are exactly why the founders required a full panel in the bylaws. Congratulations, Finnit!” She waited for a moment, creating an awkward silence. “But I get the sense that, perhaps this is not your main concern?” “No, it isn’t,” Finnit said. “I mean—I guess I’m glad it’s over. But, I’m concerned about Vosaphar’s injuries.” He paused. “This is Vosaphar. He’s from… uh, the calciferous wastes.” “Uh huh. Noted.” Jethel directed her focus toward the devil. “Vosaphar? May I take a closer look?” “Yes,” Vosaphar said, watching her lightly-wrinkled fingers weave diagnostic glyphs in front of him. Finnit gently rubbed his back. “How are you feeling?” “I… don’t know,” Vosaphar answered honestly. “It’s a strange sensation. Like my bones are itching beneath my skin.” “Interesting,” Jethel remarked. “Well—this fragment of—uh, I guess I have no real idea what it actually is, some exotic vitric—seems to have fused onto you? It radiates an extraordinary amount of magic. For a human, that would be concerning, by which I mean, fatal. But I admit, I am not an expert on infernal anatomy.” She glanced at Finnit, eyes narrowing. “Though based on what I have seen today, perhaps *you* are becoming one.” Vosaphar looked his way as well, amused to see the mortal’s cheeks reddening. “Thought so,” Jethel remarked. “I hope Raekard never hears the end of this, for whatever remains of his miserable days.” “Oh,” Finnit said, evidently realizing something. “I see now… the lens fragment. Raekard is, at least, a *competent* sorcerer—his banishment rite should have succeeded. By remaining here, I thought Vosaphar might have violated the principle of planar reversion. But with this power fusing with you—I guess that makes it *your* power. And it far exceeds Raekard’s.” “Fascinating,” Jethel said, “if not a touch alarming in its implications. Well, at any rate, for now, I recommend treating the exposed edges where the fragment is impacting your skin. I don’t know what your plans are, Finnit, but if you remain here for the moment—as a luminary—we can research the issue together.” “What do you think?” Finnit asked him. “We could stay for a bit, sort things out?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“That sounds nice, Finnit.” “And after that—” “The rest of it?” “The rest of it.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="cairnveldchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending ABAAB]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what she wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17ABA. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4ABAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s desperation. However, his distrust caused him to reject desperation in favor of clinginess, reaching Finnit in time to teleport to Cairnveld with him. This proved to be a fortunate miscalculation. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what she wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17ABA. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4ABAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s desperation. However, his distrust caused him to reject desperation in favor of clinginess, reaching Finnit in time to teleport to Cairnveld with him. This proved to be a fortunate miscalculation. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[XXV.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage cold, wet, and screaming. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It had a certain resonance, didn’t it? He coughed violently, choking on sludge and bloodfog alike, wading clumsily in your direction. Even from this distance, you could feel intense energy pouring off the misplaced mortal, his magic warped by the glowing fragments of the Pharos Fidelis stuck in his hair and clothing. If nothing else could be salvaged from this historic disaster, at least you had an opportunity to fuel your furnace. The mortal would, at any moment, petition you for relief from his dire situation. This provided you a brief moment to consider which form might be most appropriate for such an absurd occasion. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|initial>[In that light: (link-reveal: "You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. Inaccurate though it may have been, perhaps you had the right to such a form. You’d already spent more time fussing over Vosaphar’s fate than any of his makers had. You adopted an elegant posture and swept out of your cottage to approach the mortal. “Hello, Finnit,” you said. He turned to look at you, eyes widening. You flicked your new tail, mimicking one of Vosaphar’s gestures that he so favored. “Um—hi. Uh—” “Welcome to my calciferous wastes.” You extended your arms, gesturing toward the dark skies and lonesome coralbone monuments dotting the horizon. “And what a sight they are.” Finnit looked around, evidently still processing this alarming development. “The calciferous wastes? Do you—do you know Vosaphar?” “Please, join me inside,” you said. “We shall sit by the fire and discuss these matters.” Finnit numbly complied, letting you guide him to the soot-stained armchairs by your furnace. It seemed to calm him down, having become accustomed to closeness with a certain source of hellfire. “What happened? Do you know?” Finnit asked. “Sorry—I’m just—I should ask who you are probably?” “I am the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “I think—I think he banished me?” “He did.” You tapped an idle claw against your ivory armchair. “I’m sorry, maybe this is too forward, but—look, I’m worried about Vosaphar? I don’t know what happened—what if—what if he—” You took him to the window and pointed to the dark pool, where Vosaphar’s ember twinkled at the bottom. If anything, it had grown brighter. Interesting. “That is his essential coal,” you said. “If he had perished, he would have immediately returned here. If we wait, he will eventually appear. However…” Finnit paced to and fro, trying to shake off his anxiety. “What if he’s hurt—he must be—I don’t want to wait!” “It is not a matter of desire, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. Perhaps that hadn’t been a Vosapharian gesture. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Will you—I mean, would you please help me?” “What are your intentions toward Vosaphar?” “My intentions?” Finnit looked puzzled. “What do you—” “Answer my question carefully, mortal.” He looked appropriately worried. “Look, I—I love him. I know it’s been so quick, and maybe you think it’s shallow, just because he’s so beautiful—but, uh, really, I have never felt so close with someone. I mean—he took me to the *sun*, and back. I don’t know what it would mean for us to be together outside of the Pharos Fidelis, in a more normal world. Maybe it won’t work, and we’ll part ways. I think—I mean, I hope you think that we’re worthy of a chance to figure that out.” “Vosaphar will need your help,” you said. “He will suffer from his power. You will stand by him? Treat him respectfully?” “I would—I will.” “Very well.” You paused. “I would send you back to Cairnveld.” You gave a pointed look toward your furnace. “But my fire is too weak for such a feat. Won’t you stoke it?” “Stoke it?” Finnit looked nervous. “What, uh—what do you want? My soul?” How amusing. “Are you offering that?” You approached him, attempting to loom in the way he found so appealing when Vosaphar did it. Finnit looked terrified as you reached down and plucked a glowing lens fragment from his hair. “No, Finnit. Not your soul. I want these.” “Oh—is that all? Yes, you can have them. They’re not even really mine, I don’t think.” Finnit parted easily with the fragments, tossing each into the furnace as he found it. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to cause some new chaos. He had no sense of priorities. And neither—apparently—did you, entertaining this… cloyingly earnest romantic nonsense. You reached for Finnit’s transit band, warping the sigils such that they would send Finnit on his way. Before activating it, you paused. “If you treat Vosaphar with anything less than the respect owed to such an unreasonably affectionate devil, I will send every specter in my dominion to drag you back here, and drown you in these depths for all eternity.” It was a joke. Mostly. You were sure that Finnit appreciated it. With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. You basked in the new heat now crackling and seething in your furnace. And how ridiculous an exchange it was, to receive all that energy for a trivial bit of spellcraft. Even an incubus would have found no pleasure in the seduction of such easy prey. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[That’s why you did it, right? You *just* wanted the power. Nothing more. You felt nothing else. Surely. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Survive. ⇒->26ABAAAA. Vosaphar]]]]]]]</div>] Unless: (link-reveal: "You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. Darkness pooled around you, threshed with dozens of unblinking, glowing eyes. Gobs of loose flesh sizzled on charred bones to add to the illusion’s sensory overload. You adopted a threatening posture and swept out of your cottage to approach Finnit, trailing black grease in your wake. “Mortal!” you shouted, startling him. “You dare trespass upon my dominion?” Finnit turned your way, and his breath hitched at the loathsome sight of you. He cowered. Mortals were so susceptible to this kind of stagecraft, weren’t they? “I—I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—” “Silence!” You stretched and oozed before him. “You have stolen from me. You must return what I’m owed.” Finnit’s eyes darted about wildly, as if he were considering running away. He wouldn’t make it far. “Could you please—um—grand one? Uh, what did I steal?” “My *light*.” You over-articulated the “t” with such exuberance that flecks of acid splattered from your many mouths. “The Pharos Fidelis.” You wrapped a slimy tentacle around his arm, pulling him closer so you could pluck one of the fragments from his clothes. “What? Oh. Oh you can—you can have those. They’re, um, not even mine.” He was too frightened to assist in this process, so you grabbed each fragment, showing no regard for his comfort. Shards collected—from his perspective, devoured—you began shambling back to your cottage. “Wait!” Finnit called after you. “Um—I need—I need to get back to Vosaphar—do you know him? Or—” “I am the warden of these calciferous wastes, and he is my subject. Mortal longings are not my concern…” “But please, I—” “…Unless, of course, you wish to receive… an accord.” And there it was. Not only had you easily liberated the shards from his unworthy possession, but you could do even more to sate your rage with the proceedings of the eclipse. “An accord?” Finnit asked. “You’ll help me get back?” “For a *price*,” you hissed. “I gave you—I gave you the fragments!” He seemed to have realized his mistake. Perhaps he ought to have actually read *Case Studies in Infernal Betrayal* instead of assuming all demons would be as needy and pathetic as Vosaphar. “You claimed yourself that you had no ownership over them. They are mine already. One cannot offer a gift already granted.” “So what do you want?” His voice was strained. “My soul?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“*That* is worthless.” Drawing from the power of the fragments you held, you manifested a bloodfrost dagger from the fog, its keen edge sharp enough to carve the walls of the lazurynth. “Take this dagger to Luminary Raekard. I tire of his incompetent scheming. Carve out his heart. Then burn it in a ring of hellfire until it is but ash on the wind.” “But I—I can’t kill someone!” Finnit shouted. “That’s absurd—even someone as awful as him—and he’s so dangerous. It would never work.” “Then you will die here, and never again wrap your wretched limbs around the devil you cling to in the dark.” You sidled into your cottage, leaving him to contemplate his mortal morality while you stoked the furnace with the fragments. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to inflict some new misery upon the world. It wasn’t long before he approached you again. He looked directly at you, gazing into your seething core, and without stumbling, said, “I accept those terms.” You wrapped a tendril around the hilt of the dagger and offered it to him. He took it, his expression grim and determined. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[You *almost* believed he could do it. With a burst of magic, you activated his bracelet—the transit band—and sent him to his terrible fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Append. ⇒->P4ABAAAB. Fourth Principle]]]]]]]</div> ] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. Well, at least the version of yourself that held court, lording your specificity over these dismal barrens. Finnit would get to see you for what you were: powerful, yet petty. Exhausted, too. It was miserable to live with your failures. You slunk to your soot-stained armchair by the furnace, waiting for the mortal to arrive. He knocked at the door. “Hello? Is—is someone in here?” “Come in, Finnit.” He opened the door, and saw you by the furnace. What texture the man had taken on since he left Cairnveld, struggling through your schemes in that desperate way that humans are wont to do. You gestured for him to sit in the chair across from yours. He obliged, if a bit warily. “Welcome to my calciferous wastes,” you said. “I wonder what you think of them?” “Calciferous wastes?” Something flickered in his eyes. “Is that—do you know Vosaphar?” “Answer my question first, if you will.” Finnit seemed taken aback, but recovered. “Well, if you really want to know—I can see why Vosaphar was so determined to leave.” You could almost see him realizing in real time that he probably was meant to say something kinder. “Not that there isn’t something… eerily beautiful about the colors streaking across the sky. But, it’s very cold and sharp and it seems sad, I guess?” “Yes, Vosaphar is troubled by his existence. As are we all.” You clicked your claws against the coralbone armrest. “You look—If you don’t mind me saying—you look familiar to me. But I don’t understand why. Who are you?” “I’m the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “So I guess he banished me here? It was the first place he thought of?” “I’m flattered.” A pause. “And perhaps you ought to be relieved that he didn’t recall the lazurynth quicker.” “I need to get back to him.” Finnit fixed you with a serious expression. “He might be hurt, or—I want to get back. Please. He means—he means a lot to me.” “It is not a matter of necessity, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Wait—I know why you look familiar!” He studied your face once more. “You look a little bit like… my grandmother.” “The trees in Tinfallow have deep roots indeed, if they reach all the way to these calciferous wastes.” “I don’t understand.” He bit his lip. “There are too many pieces—it’s hard to look at directly.” “Then focus on the piece of it you care about.” “Vosaphar.” “Of course. Young love. Star-crossed, even.” You sighed. “Well, I could send you on your way to Cairnveld.” You pointed at his bracelet. “But…” “You want something in return?” Finnit asked, leaning forward. “What is it? What do you want?” “What I *really* want is for you to have written my name correctly on the Pharos Fidelis.” Finnit sat back again. “That’s—that’s *you*? Your name? I expected someone so much more…” “Impressive?” You gave a hollow laugh. “Terrifying,” he finished. “But you seem, I don’t know, reasonable enough?” “I’m sure it seems that way.” “Well I—I don’t think I can undo what happened,” Finnit said. “I’m sorry it didn’t work. I know it may not look that way, but I really did try. I don’t know what it would’ve done if it worked, but I tried.” “You did.” You looked over at your furnace, where your sluggish motes of hellfire simmered. “I want the lens fragments in your possession.” “Lens fragments?” You pointed them out in his hair and on his clothes. “So that’s what you’re proposing as the terms of an exchange? I give you these shards, and you’ll send me back to Cairnveld?” “Yes.” “It just seems… I don’t know. I feel like there is still so much that I’m missing? If you—if you really are connected to me, in some way… would you want to… stay in touch?” You hadn’t expected *that*, of all things. “You want the warden of the calciferous wastes to offer you… mentorship.” “I’ve done much weirder things today!” Finnit said, rather defensively. “I went to the *sun*. Look, my mentor is Luminary Raekard. An actual demon would be a significant improvement.” “Ah, Raekard. I regret my part in that, given how it went.” “What?” Finnit’s eyes widened. “What do you mean you—” “Finnit, I propose an addendum to our… accord. If you wish to speak with me, you shall have one chance to do so during each new moon. Sacrifice a lens fragment in my name, and we shall converse for one hour.” “I’m not sure how I’ll get more of these,” Finnit said. “It seems expensive.” “And yet, a single fragment pales against the scale of what you destroyed. You could not possibly comprehend how far you’ve set me back. But,” you added, softening your tone, “I will make that hour as worthwhile as you wish it to be.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit accepted those terms, tossing each of the lens fragments on his person into your furnace. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to bend ever more futures in your favor. “Thank you,” Finnit said, as you adjusted the sigils on his transit band. “I—I’m glad to have met you.” With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Survive. ⇒->26ABAAAC. Vosaphar]]]]</div> ]]]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage cold, wet, and screaming. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It had a certain resonance, didn’t it? He coughed violently, choking on sludge and bloodfog alike, wading clumsily in your direction. Even from this distance, you could feel intense energy pouring off the misplaced mortal, his magic warped by the glowing fragments of the Pharos Fidelis stuck in his hair and clothing. If nothing else could be salvaged from this historic disaster, at least you had an opportunity to fuel your furnace. The mortal would, at any moment, petition you for relief from his dire situation. This provided you a brief moment to consider which form might be most appropriate for such an absurd occasion. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|initial>[In that light: (link-reveal: "You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. Inaccurate though it may have been, perhaps you had the right to such a form. You’d already spent more time fussing over Vosaphar’s fate than any of his makers had. You adopted an elegant posture and swept out of your cottage to approach the mortal. “Hello, Finnit,” you said. He turned to look at you, eyes widening. You flicked your new tail, mimicking one of Vosaphar’s gestures that he so favored. “Um—hi. Uh—” “Welcome to my calciferous wastes.” You extended your arms, gesturing toward the dark skies and lonesome coralbone monuments dotting the horizon. “And what a sight they are.” Finnit looked around, evidently still processing this alarming development. “The calciferous wastes? Do you—do you know Vosaphar?” “Please, join me inside,” you said. “We shall sit by the fire and discuss these matters.” Finnit numbly complied, letting you guide him to the soot-stained armchairs by your furnace. It seemed to calm him down, having become accustomed to closeness with a certain source of hellfire. “What happened? Do you know?” Finnit asked. “Sorry—I’m just—I should ask who you are probably?” “I am the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “I think—I think he banished me?” “He did.” You tapped an idle claw against your ivory armchair. “I’m sorry, maybe this is too forward, but—look, I’m worried about Vosaphar? I don’t know what happened—what if—what if he—” You took him to the window and pointed to the dark pool, where Vosaphar’s ember twinkled at the bottom. If anything, it had grown brighter. Interesting. “That is his essential coal,” you said. “If he had perished, he would have immediately returned here. If we wait, he will eventually appear. However…” Finnit paced to and fro, trying to shake off his anxiety. “What if he’s hurt—he must be—I don’t want to wait!” “It is not a matter of desire, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. Perhaps that hadn’t been a Vosapharian gesture. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Will you—I mean, would you please help me?” “What are your intentions toward Vosaphar?” “My intentions?” Finnit looked puzzled. “What do you—” “Answer my question carefully, mortal.” He looked appropriately worried. “Look, I—I love him. I know it’s been so quick, and maybe you think it’s shallow, just because he’s so beautiful—but, uh, really, I have never felt so close with someone. I mean—he took me to the *sun*, and back. I don’t know what it would mean for us to be together outside of the Pharos Fidelis, in a more normal world. Maybe it won’t work, and we’ll part ways. I think—I mean, I hope you think that we’re worthy of a chance to figure that out.” “Vosaphar will need your help,” you said. “He will suffer from his power. You will stand by him? Treat him respectfully?” “I would—I will.” “Very well.” You paused. “I would send you back to Cairnveld.” You gave a pointed look toward your furnace. “But my fire is too weak for such a feat. Won’t you stoke it?” “Stoke it?” Finnit looked nervous. “What, uh—what do you want? My soul?” How amusing. “Are you offering that?” You approached him, attempting to loom in the way he found so appealing when Vosaphar did it. Finnit looked terrified as you reached down and plucked a glowing lens fragment from his hair. “No, Finnit. Not your soul. I want these.” “Oh—is that all? Yes, you can have them. They’re not even really mine, I don’t think.” Finnit parted easily with the fragments, tossing each into the furnace as he found it. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to cause some new chaos. He had no sense of priorities. And neither—apparently—did you, entertaining this… cloyingly earnest romantic nonsense. You reached for Finnit’s transit band, warping the sigils such that they would send Finnit on his way. Before activating it, you paused. “If you treat Vosaphar with anything less than the respect owed to such an unreasonably affectionate devil, I will send every specter in my dominion to drag you back here, and drown you in these depths for all eternity.” It was a joke. Mostly. You were sure that Finnit appreciated it. With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. You basked in the new heat now crackling and seething in your furnace. And how ridiculous an exchange it was, to receive all that energy for a trivial bit of spellcraft. Even an incubus would have found no pleasure in the seduction of such easy prey. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[That’s why you did it, right? You *just* wanted the power. Nothing more. You felt nothing else. Surely. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[Survive. ⇒->26ABAAAA. Vosaphar]]]]]]]</div>] Unless: (link-reveal: "You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. Darkness pooled around you, threshed with dozens of unblinking, glowing eyes. Gobs of loose flesh sizzled on charred bones to add to the illusion’s sensory overload. You adopted a threatening posture and swept out of your cottage to approach Finnit, trailing black grease in your wake. “Mortal!” you shouted, startling him. “You dare trespass upon my dominion?” Finnit turned your way, and his breath hitched at the loathsome sight of you. He cowered. Mortals were so susceptible to this kind of stagecraft, weren’t they? “I—I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—” “Silence!” You stretched and oozed before him. “You have stolen from me. You must return what I’m owed.” Finnit’s eyes darted about wildly, as if he were considering running away. He wouldn’t make it far. “Could you please—um—grand one? Uh, what did I steal?” “My *light*.” You over-articulated the “t” with such exuberance that flecks of acid splattered from your many mouths. “The Pharos Fidelis.” You wrapped a slimy tentacle around his arm, pulling him closer so you could pluck one of the fragments from his clothes. “What? Oh. Oh you can—you can have those. They’re, um, not even mine.” He was too frightened to assist in this process, so you grabbed each fragment, showing no regard for his comfort. Shards collected—from his perspective, devoured—you began shambling back to your cottage. “Wait!” Finnit called after you. “Um—I need—I need to get back to Vosaphar—do you know him? Or—” “I am the warden of these calciferous wastes, and he is my subject. Mortal longings are not my concern…” “But please, I—” “…Unless, of course, you wish to receive… an accord.” And there it was. Not only had you easily liberated the shards from his unworthy possession, but you could do even more to sate your rage with the proceedings of the eclipse. “An accord?” Finnit asked. “You’ll help me get back?” “For a *price*,” you hissed. “I gave you—I gave you the fragments!” He seemed to have realized his mistake. Perhaps he ought to have actually read *Case Studies in Infernal Betrayal* instead of assuming all demons would be as needy and pathetic as Vosaphar. “You claimed yourself that you had no ownership over them. They are mine already. One cannot offer a gift already granted.” “So what do you want?” His voice was strained. “My soul?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“*That* is worthless.” Drawing from the power of the fragments you held, you manifested a bloodfrost dagger from the fog, its keen edge sharp enough to carve the walls of the lazurynth. “Take this dagger to Luminary Raekard. I tire of his incompetent scheming. Carve out his heart. Then burn it in a ring of hellfire until it is but ash on the wind.” “But I—I can’t kill someone!” Finnit shouted. “That’s absurd—even someone as awful as him—and he’s so dangerous. It would never work.” “Then you will die here, and never again wrap your wretched limbs around the devil you cling to in the dark.” You sidled into your cottage, leaving him to contemplate his mortal morality while you stoked the furnace with the fragments. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to inflict some new misery upon the world. It wasn’t long before he approached you again. He looked directly at you, gazing into your seething core, and without stumbling, said, “I accept those terms.” You wrapped a tendril around the hilt of the dagger and offered it to him. He took it, his expression grim and determined. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[You *almost* believed he could do it. With a burst of magic, you activated his bracelet—the transit band—and sent him to his terrible fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[Append. ⇒->P4ABAAAB. Fourth Principle]]]]]]]</div> ] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. Well, at least the version of yourself that held court, lording your specificity over these dismal barrens. Finnit would get to see you for what you were: powerful, yet petty. Exhausted, too. It was miserable to live with your failures. You slunk to your soot-stained armchair by the furnace, waiting for the mortal to arrive. He knocked at the door. “Hello? Is—is someone in here?” “Come in, Finnit.” He opened the door, and saw you by the furnace. What texture the man had taken on since he left Cairnveld, struggling through your schemes in that desperate way that humans are wont to do. You gestured for him to sit in the chair across from yours. He obliged, if a bit warily. “Welcome to my calciferous wastes,” you said. “I wonder what you think of them?” “Calciferous wastes?” Something flickered in his eyes. “Is that—do you know Vosaphar?” “Answer my question first, if you will.” Finnit seemed taken aback, but recovered. “Well, if you really want to know—I can see why Vosaphar was so determined to leave.” You could almost see him realizing in real time that he probably was meant to say something kinder. “Not that there isn’t something… eerily beautiful about the colors streaking across the sky. But, it’s very cold and sharp and it seems sad, I guess?” “Yes, Vosaphar is troubled by his existence. As are we all.” You clicked your claws against the coralbone armrest. “You look—If you don’t mind me saying—you look familiar to me. But I don’t understand why. Who are you?” “I’m the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “So I guess he banished me here? It was the first place he thought of?” “I’m flattered.” A pause. “And perhaps you ought to be relieved that he didn’t recall the lazurynth quicker.” “I need to get back to him.” Finnit fixed you with a serious expression. “He might be hurt, or—I want to get back. Please. He means—he means a lot to me.” “It is not a matter of necessity, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Wait—I know why you look familiar!” He studied your face once more. “You look a little bit like… my grandmother.” “The trees in Tinfallow have deep roots indeed, if they reach all the way to these calciferous wastes.” “I don’t understand.” He bit his lip. “There are too many pieces—it’s hard to look at directly.” “Then focus on the piece of it you care about.” “Vosaphar.” “Of course. Young love. Star-crossed, even.” You sighed. “Well, I could send you on your way to Cairnveld.” You pointed at his bracelet. “But…” “You want something in return?” Finnit asked, leaning forward. “What is it? What do you want?” “What I *really* want is for you to have written my name correctly on the Pharos Fidelis.” Finnit sat back again. “That’s—that’s *you*? Your name? I expected someone so much more…” “Impressive?” You gave a hollow laugh. “Terrifying,” he finished. “But you seem, I don’t know, reasonable enough?” “I’m sure it seems that way.” “Well I—I don’t think I can undo what happened,” Finnit said. “I’m sorry it didn’t work. I know it may not look that way, but I really did try. I don’t know what it would’ve done if it worked, but I tried.” “You did.” You looked over at your furnace, where your sluggish motes of hellfire simmered. “I want the lens fragments in your possession.” “Lens fragments?” You pointed them out in his hair and on his clothes. “So that’s what you’re proposing as the terms of an exchange? I give you these shards, and you’ll send me back to Cairnveld?” “Yes.” “It just seems… I don’t know. I feel like there is still so much that I’m missing? If you—if you really are connected to me, in some way… would you want to… stay in touch?” You hadn’t expected *that*, of all things. “You want the warden of the calciferous wastes to offer you… mentorship.” “I’ve done much weirder things today!” Finnit said, rather defensively. “I went to the *sun*. Look, my mentor is Luminary Raekard. An actual demon would be a significant improvement.” “Ah, Raekard. I regret my part in that, given how it went.” “What?” Finnit’s eyes widened. “What do you mean you—” “Finnit, I propose an addendum to our… accord. If you wish to speak with me, you shall have one chance to do so during each new moon. Sacrifice a lens fragment in my name, and we shall converse for one hour.” “I’m not sure how I’ll get more of these,” Finnit said. “It seems expensive.” “And yet, a single fragment pales against the scale of what you destroyed. You could not possibly comprehend how far you’ve set me back. But,” you added, softening your tone, “I will make that hour as worthwhile as you wish it to be.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit accepted those terms, tossing each of the lens fragments on his person into your furnace. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to bend ever more futures in your favor. “Thank you,” Finnit said, as you adjusted the sigils on his transit band. “I—I’m glad to have met you.” With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[Survive. ⇒->26ABAAAC. Vosaphar]]]]</div> ]]]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Mote]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending ABAAAC]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending ABAAAC]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 3)[Anathema.] (text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 1.15)[The Fourth Principle of Summoning.]</div> A timely addendum, courtesy of you. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Behold the fourth principle of summoning: (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color:#a01404)[**4. The Principle of Voluntary and Efficient Accession to the Extraordinarily Reasonable Conditions Imposed by the Magnanimous Warden of the Calciferous Wastes, Who Certainly Never Even Cared About the Pharos Fidelis, And Certainly Not the Absurd Romantic Yearnings of Your Pathetic Subjects—Or Else.**] Summoners who willingly and knowingly forge an accord with you must see their bargain through, or suffer the consequences of incompetence and betrayal. (text-color:#a01404)[***Implication:***] You suffered long and worked hard to eke out your existence. (text-color:#a01404)[***Implication:***] You generously helped him plenty up to this point—for free. It wasn’t such a high price to ask him to kill someone he hated anyway. You both benefited from this accord. (text-color:#a01404)[***Implication:***] His failure was inevitable. You weren’t *really* invested in his survival, or his potential to shift the tenor of human-demon relations. You were just hungry for more power, right? You just wanted to enrich your tiny slice of the hells, fuel your furnace, as you had always done. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It would have been unreasonable for *you*, of all beings, to have cared. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Bemoan. ⇒->26ABAAAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Behold the fourth principle of summoning: (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color:#f17264)[**4. The Principle of Voluntary and Efficient Accession to the Extraordinarily Reasonable Conditions Imposed by the Magnanimous Warden of the Calciferous Wastes, Who Certainly Never Even Cared About the Pharos Fidelis, And Certainly Not the Absurd Romantic Yearnings of Your Pathetic Subjects—Or Else.**] Summoners who willingly and knowingly forge an accord with you must see their bargain through, or suffer the consequences of incompetence and betrayal. (text-color:#f17264)[***Implication:***] You suffered long and worked hard to eke out your existence. (text-color:#f17264)[***Implication:***] You generously helped him plenty up to this point—for free. It wasn’t such a high price to ask him to kill someone he hated anyway. You both benefited from this accord. (text-color:#f17264)[***Implication:***] His failure was inevitable. You weren’t *really* invested in his survival, or his potential to shift the tenor of human-demon relations. You were just hungry for more power, right? You just wanted to enrich your tiny slice of the hells, fuel your furnace, as you had always done. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It would have been unreasonable for *you*, of all beings, to have cared. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Bemoan. ⇒->26ABAAAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending ABAAAA]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending ABAAAA]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what she wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17ABA. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4ABAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s clinginess. However, his distrust caused him to reject clinginess in favor of desperation, impulsively banishing Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate miscalculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25ABAAA. Finnit]]]</div> You took a comforting form, nurturing his budding relationship with Vosaphar in exchange for the lens fragments on his person. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what she wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17ABA. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4ABAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s clinginess. However, his distrust caused him to reject clinginess in favor of desperation, impulsively banishing Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate miscalculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25ABAAA. Finnit]]]</div> You took a comforting form, nurturing his budding relationship with Vosaphar in exchange for the lens fragments on his person. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he would *stay* longing. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[For, if you must suffer this catastrophic failure, you would offer him no choice but to join you in misery. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending ABAAAB]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he would *stay* longing. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[For, if you must suffer this catastrophic failure, you would offer him no choice but to join you in misery. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending ABAAAB]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the brief union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Finnit perished in a failed assassination attempt upon his return to Cairnveld, screaming of the sun. A strange footnote to this history. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. But a new threat lurked. The demon Vosaphar absorbed the fragments around him, growing distorted in his influence. He climbed upon the melted peak and in his sorrow and fury, bewitched many ships to their doom with fata morgana. He had become, in effect, the latest Pharos Fidelis. Perhaps he had even become something more powerful than *you*. And perhaps you deserved to finally feel fear again. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what she wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17ABA. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4ABAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s clinginess. However, his distrust caused him to reject clinginess in favor of desperation, impulsively banishing Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate miscalculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25ABAAA. Finnit]]]</div> You took a terrifying form, seizing his lens fragments for yourself, and dooming him with an impossible accord. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and absolutely no complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the brief union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Finnit perished in a failed assassination attempt upon his return to Cairnveld, screaming of the sun. A strange footnote to this history. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. But a new threat lurked. The demon Vosaphar absorbed the fragments around him, growing distorted in his influence. He climbed upon the melted peak and in his sorrow and fury, bewitched many ships to their doom with fata morgana. He had become, in effect, the latest Pharos Fidelis. Perhaps he had even become something more powerful than *you*. And perhaps you deserved to finally feel fear again. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what she wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17ABA. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4ABAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s clinginess. However, his distrust caused him to reject clinginess in favor of desperation, impulsively banishing Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate miscalculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25ABAAA. Finnit]]]</div> You took a terrifying form, seizing his lens fragments for yourself, and dooming him with an impossible accord. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and absolutely no complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what she wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17ABA. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4ABAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s clinginess. However, his distrust caused him to reject clinginess in favor of desperation, impulsively banishing Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate miscalculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25ABAAA. Finnit]]]</div> You took an honest form, developing a stronger connection with Finnit while ensuring ongoing access to lens fragments in the future. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what she wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17ABA. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4ABAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s clinginess. However, his distrust caused him to reject clinginess in favor of desperation, impulsively banishing Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate miscalculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25ABAAA. Finnit]]]</div> You took an honest form, developing a stronger connection with Finnit while ensuring ongoing access to lens fragments in the future. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[XVIII.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">It wasn’t long before even the shock of Vosaphar’s emergence from the pool—exactly as cold and miserable as you had promised him it would be—had begun to fade into the listlessness of wandering the wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The residual magic Finnit had accorded him allowed him to travel faster and further than before. His slash wounds scabbed over more readily, healing further with each attempt. Something had shifted in his specificity. He should have been satisfied with that. Satisfied with the memories of what was, and dreams of what could have been, for bitter honey still bore sweetness. Didn’t it? Another kind of wound had carved itself into his heart. Without Finnit, Vosaphar’s existence felt darker and emptier than it ever had before. He wondered what might be about to happen, was happening, or had already happened at the Pharos Fidelis. Was Finnit still preparing his ritual of communion with the lens? Was it already over? Could he have been, right at that moment, spiraling amidst its unfathomable secrets? Perhaps Finnit’s rite had failed, the cursed lens consuming his soul as it had so many others. But, it could also be… something else. Another reason. Just as that doubt crept in, the devil felt a familiar sensation tugging at his core. Heat coursed through his veins as a tendril of sorcery unfurled for him, awaiting his tender grasp. (align:"<==")[And then—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=========")[Vosaphar] (align:"=><==")[at last] (align:"=><=")[recalled] (align:"===><==")[his] (align:"==><=")[own] (align:"===><=")[principle] (align:"=========><=")[of] (align:"==>")[flight—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Spread wings. ⇒->19ABAB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">It wasn’t long before even the shock of Vosaphar’s emergence from the pool—exactly as cold and miserable as you had promised him it would be—had begun to fade into the listlessness of wandering the wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The residual magic Finnit had accorded him allowed him to travel faster and further than before. His slash wounds scabbed over more readily, healing further with each attempt. Something had shifted in his specificity. He should have been satisfied with that. Satisfied with the memories of what was, and dreams of what could have been, for bitter honey still bore sweetness. Didn’t it? Another kind of wound had carved itself into his heart. Without Finnit, Vosaphar’s existence felt darker and emptier than it ever had before. He wondered what might be about to happen, was happening, or had already happened at the Pharos Fidelis. Was Finnit still preparing his ritual of communion with the lens? Was it already over? Could he have been, right at that moment, spiraling amidst its unfathomable secrets? Perhaps Finnit’s rite had failed, the cursed lens consuming his soul as it had so many others. But, it could also be… something else. Another reason. Just as that doubt crept in, the devil felt a familiar sensation tugging at his core. Heat coursed through his veins as a tendril of sorcery unfurled for him, awaiting his tender grasp. (align:"<==")[And then—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=========")[Vosaphar] (align:"=><==")[at last] (align:"=><=")[recalled] (align:"===><==")[his] (align:"==><=")[own] (align:"===><=")[principle] (align:"=========><=")[of] (align:"==>")[flight—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Spread wings. ⇒->19ABAB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XIX.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">Atop the Pharos Fidelis, Finnit remained just in sight of the great split glass that had spilled its secrets. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he smeared the last of his wax sticks to stubs on wet stone, he did not give the lens a further thought. He did not obey the principle of authoritarian primacy. He did not beware the principle of semantic dilution. He did not account for the principle of planar reversion. He thought only of Vosaphar, with a singular intensity of focus that even the Pharos Fidelis could never have dreamed of refracting. The circle of waxen glyphs coursed with scarlet fire, brighter than Finnit had ever seen it. He averted his gaze, eyes watering. When he looked back, Vosaphar had manifested before him once more. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[From his back spread wings wrought of fire, eldritch blue roiled with red and magenta—the colors of Finnit’s own magic, now intertwined with Vosaphar’s. Finnit’s eyes traveled further, noting ichor scabs crisscrossing the devil’s scarred blue chest, and then, curls of rough hair trailing immodestly past his navel. Streaks of lightning slashed green across the sky, glinting off his fearsome horns. Raindrops sizzled as the demon swept them aside, wreathing himself in silver mist. Vosaphar looked every bit an archfiend of legend looming over him, his eyes fixed on Finnit, reaching forward to press the sorcerer against the cliffside, claws clasping his wrists. “Vosaphar—” The infernal heat overwhelmed his mortal senses. “Please—Vosaphar, kiss m—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon pressed his lips gently against Finnit’s, dark beard bristling against his tender skin, breathing out brimstone incense that smoldered in Finnit’s throat. Just when Finnit thought himself on the verge of feeling too much, that Vosaphar might devour his soul and all his magic in a final, blissful moment of agony, the fiend held back, slackening his grip, and smiled. “I couldn’t wait until I got back,” Finnit said, his vision still sparking. “I—I needed to see you again.” “That’s not all you need.” Vosaphar leaned forward, so close still that Finnit could see details pitted into his horns. “What is it exactly that you imagine, lustful one? A dreadful devil from your darkest dreams, ever so sweetly domineering?” “I–” Finnit felt dazed as those fevered imaginings grew sharper into his mind. “I mean—well—now that you’ve brought it up, that sounds—” “Too bad,” Vosaphar said, his voice sly and soft. “My dear Finnit, you’re all *wet*.” And he was. He’d completely abandoned his wards in the midst of an endless storm. How embarrassing. Finnit also noticed that, in his exuberance to kiss him, Vosaphar had clumsily scorched Finnit’s sleeves with his wings. Suddenly, the demon felt less like some legendary figure, and instead like something better. Something real. Finnit’s companion. Finnit’s love. Finnit’s Vosaphar. “We should head back down,” Finnit said. “We should.” Vosaphar pushed one of Finnit’s loose curls back. “But listen, Finnit. When we do, I want *you* to take the lead. I want things to be… gentle, between us. For now. How does that sound?” “I have never wanted something so much in my entire existence.” Vosaphar grinned, ivory fangs glinting. “Good.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[What followed was an evening of tender fumbling and grasping. Finnit had been piqued by the fantasy of Vosaphar looming over him; and it remained a thought he wanted to revisit later. But, he found that this gentle, deliberate exploration—some serenity among the profane—brought him closer to understanding the demon in a way he found difficult to articulate but easy to just experience as it happened. Tomorrow, research awaited. But for now, Finnit’s fears grew distant as he slept, wrapped against Vosaphar like a warm satchel. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Interrogate. ⇒->C1ABAB. Sunlight]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">Atop the Pharos Fidelis, Finnit remained just in sight of the great split glass that had spilled its secrets. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he smeared the last of his wax sticks to stubs on wet stone, he did not give the lens a further thought. He did not obey the principle of authoritarian primacy. He did not beware the principle of semantic dilution. He did not account for the principle of planar reversion. He thought only of Vosaphar, with a singular intensity of focus that even the Pharos Fidelis could never have dreamed of refracting. The circle of waxen glyphs coursed with scarlet fire, brighter than Finnit had ever seen it. He averted his gaze, eyes watering. When he looked back, Vosaphar had manifested before him once more. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[From his back spread wings wrought of fire, eldritch blue roiled with red and magenta—the colors of Finnit’s own magic, now intertwined with Vosaphar’s. Finnit’s eyes traveled further, noting ichor scabs crisscrossing the devil’s scarred blue chest, and then, curls of rough hair trailing immodestly past his navel. Streaks of lightning slashed green across the sky, glinting off his fearsome horns. Raindrops sizzled as the demon swept them aside, wreathing himself in silver mist. Vosaphar looked every bit an archfiend of legend looming over him, his eyes fixed on Finnit, reaching forward to press the sorcerer against the cliffside, claws clasping his wrists. “Vosaphar—” The infernal heat overwhelmed his mortal senses. “Please—Vosaphar, kiss m—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon pressed his lips gently against Finnit’s, dark beard bristling against his tender skin, breathing out brimstone incense that smoldered in Finnit’s throat. Just when Finnit thought himself on the verge of feeling too much, that Vosaphar might devour his soul and all his magic in a final, blissful moment of agony, the fiend held back, slackening his grip, and smiled. “I couldn’t wait until I got back,” Finnit said, his vision still sparking. “I—I needed to see you again.” “That’s not all you need.” Vosaphar leaned forward, so close still that Finnit could see details pitted into his horns. “What is it exactly that you imagine, lustful one? A dreadful devil from your darkest dreams, ever so sweetly domineering?” “I–” Finnit felt dazed as those fevered imaginings grew sharper into his mind. “I mean—well—now that you’ve brought it up, that sounds—” “Too bad,” Vosaphar said, his voice sly and soft. “My dear Finnit, you’re all *wet*.” And he was. He’d completely abandoned his wards in the midst of an endless storm. How embarrassing. Finnit also noticed that, in his exuberance to kiss him, Vosaphar had clumsily scorched Finnit’s sleeves with his wings. Suddenly, the demon felt less like some legendary figure, and instead like something better. Something real. Finnit’s companion. Finnit’s love. Finnit’s Vosaphar. “We should head back down,” Finnit said. “We should.” Vosaphar pushed one of Finnit’s loose curls back. “But listen, Finnit. When we do, I want *you* to take the lead. I want things to be… gentle, between us. For now. How does that sound?” “I have never wanted something so much in my entire existence.” Vosaphar grinned, ivory fangs glinting. “Good.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[What followed was an evening of tender fumbling and grasping. Finnit had been piqued by the fantasy of Vosaphar looming over him; and it remained a thought he wanted to revisit later. But, he found that this gentle, deliberate exploration—some serenity among the profane—brought him closer to understanding the demon in a way he found difficult to articulate but easy to just experience as it happened. Tomorrow, research awaited. But for now, Finnit’s fears grew distant as he slept, wrapped against Vosaphar like a warm satchel. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Interrogate. ⇒->C1ABAB. Sunlight]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[1st Era | Sunlight.]</div> One more fragment recounting the dark history of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">(text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The illuminative session for Leisenelle, former third officer of the now-renegade vessel ‘Consonance,’ is hereby brought to order. You stand accused of mutiny, murder, theft, deception, consorting with proscribed entities, and willful evasion of justice. Is that correct? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] You would know. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Is that correct? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I guess so. Yes. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“She sounds a lot like you,” Vosaphar murmured, stroking his claws idly through Finnit’s hair. “‘Consorting with proscribed entities?’ What a wicked accusation.” Finnit snorted. “Are you going to bring me to justice?” “Absolutely not.” “Too bad.” </div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Against these accusations, how do you plead? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I do not plead. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] You must make a claim, either to affirm or deny each crime you have been accused of. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I will make no such claims. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The accused has neglected her obligation to plead. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] What’s your deal, anyway? Are you mad? Some pretty vampire in your past tied your morals all up in knots and made you feel sinful? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My role here is strictly illuminative. How did you first come to associate with this vampire? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I was trying to find out the truth about this island. But none of them would talk to me. The islanders, I mean. They resent us. You know that, right? Look at what we’ve done to them since we got here. Someone has to stop it. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, mark a note down for ‘sedition,’ would you? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">At least the clerics are obligated to transcribe what they actually heard. Historians ought to learn from their example. ⚞L. Raekard (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“I think Raekard’s distaste for historians gets in his way,” Finnit said. “How could we possibly know, at this point, what liberties the cleric might have taken?” “It’s going to take more than historians to put a stop to him.” Finnit laughed, but Vosaphar hadn’t told a joke.</div>] </div>] (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] You didn’t have that one already? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Continue. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Fine. This one woman approached me, and told me to visit her house on the outskirts after sundown. I thought she might be into me—and maybe she was, a little—but she wanted me to meet her grandmother. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Yeah. Did the ‘after sundown’ part give it away? I’m not a good storyteller. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The only things your story requires are honesty and accuracy. Justice will account for the rest. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Whatever you need to tell yourself. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] I don’t ‘need’ to do anything. My role here is strictly illuminative. As the accused has been reminded. Continue. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] So, I waited for dusk, and paid her a visit. Her grandmother was living in the basement. Some kind of herbalist, I guess. The whole time we talked, she was crushing up these weird seedpods in a mortar and pestle. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] At what point did you realize this entity was a vampire? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Not until after, when… (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] When what? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] When you killed her. Robbed us of her wisdom, kindness, perspective, heart, all she contributed to her community. And for what? Some ash? Dust? Is there not already enough collecting between the folds of your ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that last term for obscenity. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] What, you’re more scandalized by me describing your dust-crusted ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆ than your violence? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that one as well. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“Which word do you suppose was stricken here?” Vosaphar asked. “Asscheeks,” Finnit said solemnly. “Has to be.”</div>] (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] So you don’t have an answer. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The entity in question was brought before sunlight and destroyed in accordance with all legal and moral precedent. Any ‘violence’ is lawful, and thereby just. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] And you wonder why they hate us. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Hatred is not the subject of this illuminative session. What did your proscribed discussion entail? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] She told me all kinds of stories about this place, how they have fine-tuned their relationship with the island to keep things running, letting their traditions evolve with the conditions. I think her granddaughter wanted her to have someone new to talk to, so she could share all this with someone. The old woman told me that when sun and moon meet in the sky, the boundary between our world and theirs grows thin. At such a momentous event, the cleverest and quickest might climb into the throat of the island and cross the threshold to the cosmos. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">At last. Something of value in this tedious discussion. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire spoke metaphorically, did it not? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">I wondered the same thing. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] No, I don’t think she did. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Explain. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] She said that when the celestial hosts of the heavens are distracted with their dance, the sun grows just cool enough to touch. She dipped her finger into the mortar, and showed me a golden bead of oil, and she said even a drop of sunlight was enough to bless the island for a century, but few survived the transit. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">They must not have understood what they were doing. How could they have, without knowledge of the Three Principles? If there is any truth to it at all, it is clearly some underdeveloped rite of self-banishment, resulting in a temporary transference of a mortal into the hells until planar reversion draws them back. If that. Nevertheless, the ritual is worth investigating further. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] It claimed to have performed this… feat? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I believe her. You would’ve too, had you been there. Thankfully, you weren’t. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My opinion toward the superstitious musings of a proscribed entity is not the subject of this session. My role here is strictly— (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“Illuminative,” Vosaphar said, looking out into the storm. “That’s it?” Finnit asked. “But I want to know… so much more.” “And yet, we know more now than we did before. Does this not confirm what you saw in the lens?” “I guess so. Still…” </div>] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightchroniclechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[[[Suspect. ⇒->20ABAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">(text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The illuminative session for Leisenelle, former third officer of the now-renegade vessel ‘Consonance,’ is hereby brought to order. You stand accused of mutiny, murder, theft, deception, consorting with proscribed entities, and willful evasion of justice. Is that correct? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] You would know. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Is that correct? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I guess so. Yes. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“She sounds a lot like you,” Vosaphar murmured, stroking his claws idly through Finnit’s hair. “‘Consorting with proscribed entities?’ What a wicked accusation.” Finnit snorted. “Are you going to bring me to justice?” “Absolutely not.” “Too bad.” </div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Against these accusations, how do you plead? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I do not plead. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] You must make a claim, either to affirm or deny each crime you have been accused of. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I will make no such claims. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The accused has neglected her obligation to plead. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] What’s your deal, anyway? Are you mad? Some pretty vampire in your past tied your morals all up in knots and made you feel sinful? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My role here is strictly illuminative. How did you first come to associate with this vampire? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I was trying to find out the truth about this island. But none of them would talk to me. The islanders, I mean. They resent us. You know that, right? Look at what we’ve done to them since we got here. Someone has to stop it. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, mark a note down for ‘sedition,’ would you? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">At least the clerics are obligated to transcribe what they actually heard. Historians ought to learn from their example. ⚞L. Raekard (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“I think Raekard’s distaste for historians gets in his way,” Finnit said. “How could we possibly know, at this point, what liberties the cleric might have taken?” “It’s going to take more than historians to put a stop to him.” Finnit laughed, but Vosaphar hadn’t told a joke.</div>] </div>] (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] You didn’t have that one already? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Continue. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Fine. This one woman approached me, and told me to visit her house on the outskirts after sundown. I thought she might be into me—and maybe she was, a little—but she wanted me to meet her grandmother. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Yeah. Did the ‘after sundown’ part give it away? I’m not a good storyteller. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The only things your story requires are honesty and accuracy. Justice will account for the rest. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Whatever you need to tell yourself. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] I don’t ‘need’ to do anything. My role here is strictly illuminative. As the accused has been reminded. Continue. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] So, I waited for dusk, and paid her a visit. Her grandmother was living in the basement. Some kind of herbalist, I guess. The whole time we talked, she was crushing up these weird seedpods in a mortar and pestle. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] At what point did you realize this entity was a vampire? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Not until after, when… (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] When what? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] When you killed her. Robbed us of her wisdom, kindness, perspective, heart, all she contributed to her community. And for what? Some ash? Dust? Is there not already enough collecting between the folds of your ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that last term for obscenity. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] What, you’re more scandalized by me describing your dust-crusted ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆ than your violence? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that one as well. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“Which word do you suppose was stricken here?” Vosaphar asked. “Asscheeks,” Finnit said solemnly. “Has to be.”</div>] (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] So you don’t have an answer. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The entity in question was brought before sunlight and destroyed in accordance with all legal and moral precedent. Any ‘violence’ is lawful, and thereby just. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] And you wonder why they hate us. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Hatred is not the subject of this illuminative session. What did your proscribed discussion entail? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] She told me all kinds of stories about this place, how they have fine-tuned their relationship with the island to keep things running, letting their traditions evolve with the conditions. I think her granddaughter wanted her to have someone new to talk to, so she could share all this with someone. The old woman told me that when sun and moon meet in the sky, the boundary between our world and theirs grows thin. At such a momentous event, the cleverest and quickest might climb into the throat of the island and cross the threshold to the cosmos. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">At last. Something of value in this tedious discussion. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire spoke metaphorically, did it not? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">I wondered the same thing. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] No, I don’t think she did. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Explain. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] She said that when the celestial hosts of the heavens are distracted with their dance, the sun grows just cool enough to touch. She dipped her finger into the mortar, and showed me a golden bead of oil, and she said even a drop of sunlight was enough to bless the island for a century, but few survived the transit. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">They must not have understood what they were doing. How could they have, without knowledge of the Three Principles? If there is any truth to it at all, it is clearly some underdeveloped rite of self-banishment, resulting in a temporary transference of a mortal into the hells until planar reversion draws them back. If that. Nevertheless, the ritual is worth investigating further. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] It claimed to have performed this… feat? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I believe her. You would’ve too, had you been there. Thankfully, you weren’t. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My opinion toward the superstitious musings of a proscribed entity is not the subject of this session. My role here is strictly— (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“Illuminative,” Vosaphar said, looking out into the storm. “That’s it?” Finnit asked. “But I want to know… so much more.” “And yet, we know more now than we did before. Does this not confirm what you saw in the lens?” “I guess so. Still…” </div>] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="chroniclechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[[[Suspect. ⇒->20ABAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#927b1a")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Chronicle]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XX.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">With fewer than a handful of days remaining until the eclipse, Vosaphar was determined to spend as much of that time as he could with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon now wondered why they had wasted the preceding days doing everything else *except* wrapping up together in blankets, speaking softly to one another. His ordeals felt paler against the comfort of this heat. Had your machinations even mattered for this? Under these conditions, wouldn’t they have always found themselves in love? You had no motes for lust. Though, based on what you had seen, you wouldn’t have needed them. Goodness. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Once they were ready to venture out, Finnit led Vosaphar back up the cliffside stairs to the crevice dotted with rusted anchors and unhatched eggs. As they sidled toward the anchor collector, she made an ominous hissing sound. Vosaphar stood his ground, exchanging a few guttural words with her, apologizing once again for his foolish attack. She affixed those golden eyes to Vosaphar, unblinking, communicating exactly what would happen to them if he or Finnit disturbed any of her forsaken brood. But she relented, shifting slightly to let them pass. Vosaphar kept himself positioned between her and Finnit, guiding the both of them well away from where her acid-tipped tail had flopped to the side of the tunnel. After navigating through that perilous exchange, the passage opened into a roughly circular chamber. “Look, Vosaphar,” Finnit intoned, pointing up. “We’re right beneath the lens.” Black slag had oozed down from the ceiling, frozen into organic stalactites that reflected no light from Finnit’s orb. While still fluid, they had dripped, leaving a few glassy patches spread across the altar. *Click*. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“What was that?” Vosaphar whispered. He cautiously approached the altar, a raised disk with a tight spiral grooved into its otherwise flat surface. “There,” Finnit whispered. “See the moon?” *Click*. A mechanism lowered a miniature pewter grate, allowing a tiny white sphere to roll a little further forward along the channel. At the center of the spiral lay a rendering of the sun, blotched by inky glass that had dripped down from above. “So much for studying the almanac.” Finnit paced around the pedestal. “This device is telling us how much is left until the eclipse. If we had known earlier…” “But we know now,” Vosaphar said. “Look at how close it is.” Vast and fiddly though the design was, the moon had wound its way close to the center. It was an unwelcome reminder of the future approaching, click by— *Click*. A taut silence stretched between them. Vosaphar had thoughts that he was unwilling to admit to. *Click*. “What if we just stayed here?” Finnit voiced. “Well maybe not this particular chamber. I mean the Pharos Fidelis in general.” He looked down at the transit bracelet Raekard had given him. “I could throw this in the ocean. We could ignore the lens. Stay here as long as we wanted.” “There’s nothing for you to eat, Finnit.” *Click.* “Would you even want to go to the academy?” Finnit stared at the pedestal. “Who even knows what they’d do to you, or—” “I am willing to risk it,” Vosaphar said. “I cannot say what the future holds. But we can’t stay here. I’m in no hurry to descend back to the calciferous wastes. And you have your life to live. I would rather join you in whatever of that you are willing to have me for, or until we choose to part. Is that not the way forward in such matters? The real accord?” *Click.* Finnit was silent for a few more moments. “Yes. You’re right. But I’m scared. This could all go so wrong.” Vosaphar embraced Finnit, holding him close. “It might. We will do our best, regardless.” They stayed together a while longer, before journeying back to their strange little home in the cliffside. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[At the eclipse, they would return. And the fate of the Pharos Fidelis would at last be decided. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Petition. ⇒->RABAB. Calciferous]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">With fewer than a handful of days remaining until the eclipse, Vosaphar was determined to spend as much of that time as he could with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon now wondered why they had wasted the preceding days doing everything else *except* wrapping up together in blankets, speaking softly to one another. His ordeals felt paler against the comfort of this heat. Had your machinations even mattered for this? Under these conditions, wouldn’t they have always found themselves in love? You had no motes for lust. Though, based on what you had seen, you wouldn’t have needed them. Goodness. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Once they were ready to venture out, Finnit led Vosaphar back up the cliffside stairs to the crevice dotted with rusted anchors and unhatched eggs. As they sidled toward the anchor collector, she made an ominous hissing sound. Vosaphar stood his ground, exchanging a few guttural words with her, apologizing once again for his foolish attack. She affixed those golden eyes to Vosaphar, unblinking, communicating exactly what would happen to them if he or Finnit disturbed any of her forsaken brood. But she relented, shifting slightly to let them pass. Vosaphar kept himself positioned between her and Finnit, guiding the both of them well away from where her acid-tipped tail had flopped to the side of the tunnel. After navigating through that perilous exchange, the passage opened into a roughly circular chamber. “Look, Vosaphar,” Finnit intoned, pointing up. “We’re right beneath the lens.” Black slag had oozed down from the ceiling, frozen into organic stalactites that reflected no light from Finnit’s orb. While still fluid, they had dripped, leaving a few glassy patches spread across the altar. *Click*. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“What was that?” Vosaphar whispered. He cautiously approached the altar, a raised disk with a tight spiral grooved into its otherwise flat surface. “There,” Finnit whispered. “See the moon?” *Click*. A mechanism lowered a miniature pewter grate, allowing a tiny white sphere to roll a little further forward along the channel. At the center of the spiral lay a rendering of the sun, blotched by inky glass that had dripped down from above. “So much for studying the almanac.” Finnit paced around the pedestal. “This device is telling us how much is left until the eclipse. If we had known earlier…” “But we know now,” Vosaphar said. “Look at how close it is.” Vast and fiddly though the design was, the moon had wound its way close to the center. It was an unwelcome reminder of the future approaching, click by— *Click*. A taut silence stretched between them. Vosaphar had thoughts that he was unwilling to admit to. *Click*. “What if we just stayed here?” Finnit voiced. “Well maybe not this particular chamber. I mean the Pharos Fidelis in general.” He looked down at the transit bracelet Raekard had given him. “I could throw this in the ocean. We could ignore the lens. Stay here as long as we wanted.” “There’s nothing for you to eat, Finnit.” *Click.* “Would you even want to go to the academy?” Finnit stared at the pedestal. “Who even knows what they’d do to you, or—” “I am willing to risk it,” Vosaphar said. “I cannot say what the future holds. But we can’t stay here. I’m in no hurry to descend back to the calciferous wastes. And you have your life to live. I would rather join you in whatever of that you are willing to have me for, or until we choose to part. Is that not the way forward in such matters? The real accord?” *Click.* Finnit was silent for a few more moments. “Yes. You’re right. But I’m scared. This could all go so wrong.” Vosaphar embraced Finnit, holding him close. “It might. We will do our best, regardless.” They stayed together a while longer, before journeying back to their strange little home in the cliffside. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[At the eclipse, they would return. And the fate of the Pharos Fidelis would at last be decided. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Petition. ⇒->RABAB. Calciferous]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[Recollection.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">Vosaphar’s spilling ichor sang to them so sweetly, libations that lured all manner of lips to lap. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[No longer able to fly, the beleaguered demon ran, stumbled, staggered, crawled—anything he could do to place another lazurynthine wall between himself and his nearest pursuer. He needed somewhere dark and quiet, somewhere safe to recover. Such amenities were unavailable in the lazurynth. But there were other hells than these. Vosaphar slipped through an inky gap between walls that had lost definition, their geometry corrupted by some other force. He sank into an oily pool, far beneath the febrile blue heat. He could no longer tell where the sludge began and his blood ended, drifting ever downward. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Eventually he reached the shore near your cottage, not yet fragmented to spectral remnants. Still specific, despite it all. He crawled to your doorstep, begging for relief from the lazurynth. Should he fall, he would emerge there once more, a cycle of dissolution his demonhood would eventually fail to survive. You told him that the calciferous wastes were hostile and desolate. He said he preferred a false quiet to an honest din. You told him there was nothing of value here—had there been, a warden as petty as you would’ve long been shredded to bits by a stronger devil. He said he preferred an expansive nothing to crowded corridors. You told him he would awaken cold, wet, and screaming, his every lonely birth into this void inevitable suffering. He said he preferred a bitter plunge to a blistering fire. You told him what it would cost, a steady stream of magic to brighten your hellfire furnace, tending to the motes. He accepted those terms without hesitation. You asked him for his name. He still had one. Vosaphar. With that accorded, you plucked his coal from the deepest pit of the lazurynth, and held it between your claws, its blue dimmed to gray. His archfiend wouldn’t miss it. And then you threw it in the pool, and it sank to the bottom, where it lodged itself in a dark crevice. Vosaphar, now under your jurisdiction, fled into the wastes, searching for a smooth bit of coralbone to lean against, however futilely. You gave him desolation, cold, and quiet. In return, your furnace grew brighter. How could you have ever predicted what this would eventually make impossible? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Discover. ⇒->21ABAB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">Vosaphar’s spilling ichor sang to them so sweetly, libations that lured all manner of lips to lap. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[No longer able to fly, the beleaguered demon ran, stumbled, staggered, crawled—anything he could do to place another lazurynthine wall between himself and his nearest pursuer. He needed somewhere dark and quiet, somewhere safe to recover. Such amenities were unavailable in the lazurynth. But there were other hells than these. Vosaphar slipped through an inky gap between walls that had lost definition, their geometry corrupted by some other force. He sank into an oily pool, far beneath the febrile blue heat. He could no longer tell where the sludge began and his blood ended, drifting ever downward. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Eventually he reached the shore near your cottage, not yet fragmented to spectral remnants. Still specific, despite it all. He crawled to your doorstep, begging for relief from the lazurynth. Should he fall, he would emerge there once more, a cycle of dissolution his demonhood would eventually fail to survive. You told him that the calciferous wastes were hostile and desolate. He said he preferred a false quiet to an honest din. You told him there was nothing of value here—had there been, a warden as petty as you would’ve long been shredded to bits by a stronger devil. He said he preferred an expansive nothing to crowded corridors. You told him he would awaken cold, wet, and screaming, his every lonely birth into this void inevitable suffering. He said he preferred a bitter plunge to a blistering fire. You told him what it would cost, a steady stream of magic to brighten your hellfire furnace, tending to the motes. He accepted those terms without hesitation. You asked him for his name. He still had one. Vosaphar. With that accorded, you plucked his coal from the deepest pit of the lazurynth, and held it between your claws, its blue dimmed to gray. His archfiend wouldn’t miss it. And then you threw it in the pool, and it sank to the bottom, where it lodged itself in a dark crevice. Vosaphar, now under your jurisdiction, fled into the wastes, searching for a smooth bit of coralbone to lean against, however futilely. You gave him desolation, cold, and quiet. In return, your furnace grew brighter. How could you have ever predicted what this would eventually make impossible? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Discover. ⇒->21ABAB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Recollection]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">The day of the eclipse, Finnit woke with a sharp pain searing his back, breaking him out of his warm reverie. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar was twitching and scratching in his sleep again. Finnit adored the feeling of the devil’s tail coiled around his thigh, basking in the hellish heat that staved off the island’s chill. Nonetheless, crawling into the embrace of a clawed creature had a few drawbacks. “Hey,” Finnit whispered. “Wake up.” Vosaphar shifted, his tail loosening its grip on Finnit. “Mmph.” “You scratched me again,” Finnit said. “Nightmares?” “Oh no,” Vosaphar said. “I’m sorry, Finnit. Here…” The demon traced the scratches, and Finnit felt an odd prickly sensation as the skin healed over. “Thank you. You’re getting good at that.” Vosaphar delicately kissed the side of Finnit’s neck. “I don’t normally sleep so much. The mortal realm is… exhausting, in its own way. Perhaps I can fashion some wrappings for my claws in the future.” “Whoa,” Finnit said, gazing out one of the windows. “What?” “The sky is different.” And indeed it was. The rain had—incredibly—let up slightly, the green glow he’d become so accustomed to taking on distinct streaks of orange and red. Vosaphar grimaced. “I guess it’s time.” “Yeah.” They made their final preparations. Finnit tucked his syllabaries into his satchel and ate his last rations. He thought he might never forget the taste of salted fruit leather in whatever days—or day—he had remaining. “Was there something else we should have prepared?” Finnit asked. “We’re just… walking through a portal to the sun? Like this?” “I can’t think of anything, Finnit.” “Well, alright then.” He looked around at the now overly-familiar place he had spent this last month. “Goodbye, awful yet cozy stone room under a cursed lighthouse. It was certainly a time.” “That it was.” Vosaphar sounded amused. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They ventured out onto the cliffside stairs. Even these had become familiar, the treachery of each step now a well-worn betrayal. As they slipped past the anchor collector, she gave out a muted warble that Finnit optimistically chose to interpret as encouragement. Up ahead, a ruddy glow intensified as they approached the altar beneath the lens and its housing. The miniature moon had arrived at its destination, transforming the sun emblem at the center into a bright red disc of light. It was overwhelming to look at directly; Finnit’s eyes strained from this threat to perception. “It’s terrible,” Finnit whispered. “Beautiful, too. What a dazzling horror of a thing to witness.” “Finnit,” Vosaphar began, wrapping his arms gently around the sorcerer. “It might be neglectful of our accord for me not to mention… you don’t have to do this. I could—I could go without you—you could die, Finnit, and—I—I don’t want to lose you… forever.” Finnit looked up into the fiend’s fearful, loving eyes. “Vosaphar—I’m afraid, too. But I couldn’t accept that. Isn’t that what Raekard would do? Send someone to die in his stead, to do the big scary things he won’t face himself? This trial was his idea, but now it’s my trial. Our trial. And I want to see it through. Together. Don’t you?” “Yes,” Vosaphar admitted. “I want to see the sun... with you.” “Then let’s go see it.” Vosaphar smiled, and took Finnit’s arm in his. Together, they stepped into an oblivion of crimson light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Eclipse. ⇒->Eclipse ABAB]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">The day of the eclipse, Finnit woke with a sharp pain searing his back, breaking him out of his warm reverie. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar was twitching and scratching in his sleep again. Finnit adored the feeling of the devil’s tail coiled around his thigh, basking in the hellish heat that staved off the island’s chill. Nonetheless, crawling into the embrace of a clawed creature had a few drawbacks. “Hey,” Finnit whispered. “Wake up.” Vosaphar shifted, his tail loosening its grip on Finnit. “Mmph.” “You scratched me again,” Finnit said. “Nightmares?” “Oh no,” Vosaphar said. “I’m sorry, Finnit. Here…” The demon traced the scratches, and Finnit felt an odd prickly sensation as the skin healed over. “Thank you. You’re getting good at that.” Vosaphar delicately kissed the side of Finnit’s neck. “I don’t normally sleep so much. The mortal realm is… exhausting, in its own way. Perhaps I can fashion some wrappings for my claws in the future.” “Whoa,” Finnit said, gazing out one of the windows. “What?” “The sky is different.” And indeed it was. The rain had—incredibly—let up slightly, the green glow he’d become so accustomed to taking on distinct streaks of orange and red. Vosaphar grimaced. “I guess it’s time.” “Yeah.” They made their final preparations. Finnit tucked his syllabaries into his satchel and ate his last rations. He thought he might never forget the taste of salted fruit leather in whatever days—or day—he had remaining. “Was there something else we should have prepared?” Finnit asked. “We’re just… walking through a portal to the sun? Like this?” “I can’t think of anything, Finnit.” “Well, alright then.” He looked around at the now overly-familiar place he had spent this last month. “Goodbye, awful yet cozy stone room under a cursed lighthouse. It was certainly a time.” “That it was.” Vosaphar sounded amused. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They ventured out onto the cliffside stairs. Even these had become familiar, the treachery of each step now a well-worn betrayal. As they slipped past the anchor collector, she gave out a muted warble that Finnit optimistically chose to interpret as encouragement. Up ahead, a ruddy glow intensified as they approached the altar beneath the lens and its housing. The miniature moon had arrived at its destination, transforming the sun emblem at the center into a bright red disc of light. It was overwhelming to look at directly; Finnit’s eyes strained from this threat to perception. “It’s terrible,” Finnit whispered. “Beautiful, too. What a dazzling horror of a thing to witness.” “Finnit,” Vosaphar began, wrapping his arms gently around the sorcerer. “It might be neglectful of our accord for me not to mention… you don’t have to do this. I could—I could go without you—you could die, Finnit, and—I—I don’t want to lose you… forever.” Finnit looked up into the fiend’s fearful, loving eyes. “Vosaphar—I’m afraid, too. But I couldn’t accept that. Isn’t that what Raekard would do? Send someone to die in his stead, to do the big scary things he won’t face himself? This trial was his idea, but now it’s my trial. Our trial. And I want to see it through. Together. Don’t you?” “Yes,” Vosaphar admitted. “I want to see the sun... with you.” “Then let’s go see it.” Vosaphar smiled, and took Finnit’s arm in his. Together, they stepped into an oblivion of crimson light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Eclipse. ⇒->Eclipse ABAB]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 3)[Eclipse.] (text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Sun.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">The sun was a cosmic affliction, a colossal molten mass so red and seething that even the infernal embers blazing in the deepest pits of the hells seemed but feeble sparks in the distance. And Vosaphar was soaring *toward* it. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he flew, Finnit clutched against him, tendrils of the corona pulled peculiar new colors from his wings, its aurora a spectacle more captivating than your dreary calciferous skies could have ever dreamed to churn. How you longed for such color and heat and majesty—even just a drop of it. And *they* got to see it all, to have it within reach. “Vosaphar, look!” With his free hand, Finnit pointed toward an eerie black void drifting past. Dozens of bird-creatures flew from the roiling surface of the sun to circle and screech at the dark moon, a celestial interloper threatening the eternity of light. “They’re sunspots!” Finnit shouted. “She’s a sunspot!” “They’re *distracted*, too.” Vosaphar glided toward the edge of the sun away from the shrieking horrors. “That’s why it has to be now.” The demon and his summoner skimmed the sun’s surface, its dangerous heat threatening to embrace them forever so closely. “Hold on, Finnit!” Vosaphar tilted his wings, arm outstretched, reaching, swiping up a glob of incandescent fluid. This molten scarlet-amber squeezed between his claws and stuck to his low-dipped wing. Even these tiny droplets of starlight held immense power that coursed through him as he arced up out of the sun’s grip. “It’s so incredible!” Finnit laughed, tears streaming behind him, motes of wonder sparkling in space. Something darkened behind them. Finnit looked over his shoulder. “Vosaphar—there’s a new sunspot—” The creature shrieked as it gave chase, following the radiant beads dripping from Vosaphar’s sunswept wing. Vosaphar affixed his gaze to the portal back to the Pharos Fidelis, soaring ever faster. The screeching grew louder yet, judgment for their cardinal cosmic sin approaching with alarming haste. But with Finnit clinging to his side… (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar simply had no use for consequences. With a final burst of speed, they shot through the portal. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Reignite. ⇒->22ABAB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">The sun was a cosmic affliction, a colossal molten mass so red and seething that even the infernal embers blazing in the deepest pits of the hells seemed but feeble sparks in the distance. And Vosaphar was soaring *toward* it. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he flew, Finnit clutched against him, tendrils of the corona pulled peculiar new colors from his wings, its aurora a spectacle more captivating than your dreary calciferous skies could have ever dreamed to churn. How you longed for such color and heat and majesty—even just a drop of it. And *they* got to see it all, to have it within reach. “Vosaphar, look!” With his free hand, Finnit pointed toward an eerie black void drifting past. Dozens of bird-creatures flew from the roiling surface of the sun to circle and screech at the dark moon, a celestial interloper threatening the eternity of light. “They’re sunspots!” Finnit shouted. “She’s a sunspot!” “They’re *distracted*, too.” Vosaphar glided toward the edge of the sun away from the shrieking horrors. “That’s why it has to be now.” The demon and his summoner skimmed the sun’s surface, its dangerous heat threatening to embrace them forever so closely. “Hold on, Finnit!” Vosaphar tilted his wings, arm outstretched, reaching, swiping up a glob of incandescent fluid. This molten scarlet-amber squeezed between his claws and stuck to his low-dipped wing. Even these tiny droplets of starlight held immense power that coursed through him as he arced up out of the sun’s grip. “It’s so incredible!” Finnit laughed, tears streaming behind him, motes of wonder sparkling in space. Something darkened behind them. Finnit looked over his shoulder. “Vosaphar—there’s a new sunspot—” The creature shrieked as it gave chase, following the radiant beads dripping from Vosaphar’s sunswept wing. Vosaphar affixed his gaze to the portal back to the Pharos Fidelis, soaring ever faster. The screeching grew louder yet, judgment for their cardinal cosmic sin approaching with alarming haste. But with Finnit clinging to his side… (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar simply had no use for consequences. With a final burst of speed, they shot through the portal. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Reignite. ⇒->22ABAB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXII.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Finnit and Vosaphar tumbled over the edge of the altar, the portal still aglow with the eclipse-light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But there was little time to celebrate their reckless heist—the sunspot shoved its vicious pointed head through the gap after them, screeching as it struggled to break through. Finnit let Vosaphar carry him a bit further up the tunnel, before standing on his own feet and running alongside. The anchor collector had left her nest, wheeling about in the sky, shrieking back at the new sunspot about to burst from the throat of the island. Finnit looked out at the storm, the clouds thinned enough that he could see the eclipsed red sun half-risen, framing the infernal image of a devil’s horns. “How magnificent,” he said, breathless. Vosaphar looked down at him, gently squeezing his hand. They arrived at the peak, where the lens yearned for light, and at last, Finnit had light to provide. Vosaphar held out his claws, sunlight pooled in his palm, and Finnit painted it, trying to create the glyph his mind had projected there, the name of the demon whose rite might reignite the Pharos Fidelis. You watched, enraptured by the spectacle of your plans converging. This was it. This was your moment. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As Finnit slathered the glowing fluid across the lens, the dark slag drank it in—more, and more, and more of it. Too much of it. The glyph couldn’t hold its shape. The lens welled, hyperfolding crimson light, growing ever hotter by the second. The cleft, once so close to promising your name, had already deformed beyond recognition. And how brutal; that poor, mortal sorcerer, all tangled in your schemes, had every intention of drawing your name, a sigil drenched in the lifeblood of the sun. He really did try. You couldn’t fault him for that. But the execution? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A tragedy, in many fragments. For centuries—perhaps longer—every mortal design for the Pharos Fidelis had crumbled. Each disaster wrote another chapter in that wretched chronicle, the dark history of guiding light. And you thought *yours* would work? Pharos Fidelis, the beacon on the horizon of reason. Where it would remain, out of reach. Could not even a devil accept the simple dreadful truth, that a horizon approached can never arrive? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Finnit, we have to leave!” Vosaphar shouted, scanning the skies for the sunspots. “The lens is collapsing!” “No—it has to—Vosaphar, it has to—” “Finnit, please—” “I can’t—I can’t get the shape right, it’s going to—” “It deserves to shatter.” How dare he. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“But, what was this even for, then?” Finnit sobbed, the last of the sunlight ripped from his fingertips into the Pharos Fidelis. Vosaphar pulled him, one final time, away from the amplifying dyslucence. “That’s for the historians!” Vosaphar stared at him with his stormy eyes. “Shouldn’t we live? Don’t you want a future? ” “Yes!” Finnit embraced Vosaphar once more, and the demon swept him up into the sky. They abandoned the Pharos Fidelis to its fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They *tried* to abandon it. But it wasn’t done with them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Shatter. ⇒->23ABAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Finnit and Vosaphar tumbled over the edge of the altar, the portal still aglow with the eclipse-light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But there was little time to celebrate their reckless heist—the sunspot shoved its vicious pointed head through the gap after them, screeching as it struggled to break through. Finnit let Vosaphar carry him a bit further up the tunnel, before standing on his own feet and running alongside. The anchor collector had left her nest, wheeling about in the sky, shrieking back at the new sunspot about to burst from the throat of the island. Finnit looked out at the storm, the clouds thinned enough that he could see the eclipsed red sun half-risen, framing the infernal image of a devil’s horns. “How magnificent,” he said, breathless. Vosaphar looked down at him, gently squeezing his hand. They arrived at the peak, where the lens yearned for light, and at last, Finnit had light to provide. Vosaphar held out his claws, sunlight pooled in his palm, and Finnit painted it, trying to create the glyph his mind had projected there, the name of the demon whose rite might reignite the Pharos Fidelis. You watched, enraptured by the spectacle of your plans converging. This was it. This was your moment. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As Finnit slathered the glowing fluid across the lens, the dark slag drank it in—more, and more, and more of it. Too much of it. The glyph couldn’t hold its shape. The lens welled, hyperfolding crimson light, growing ever hotter by the second. The cleft, once so close to promising your name, had already deformed beyond recognition. And how brutal; that poor, mortal sorcerer, all tangled in your schemes, had every intention of drawing your name, a sigil drenched in the lifeblood of the sun. He really did try. You couldn’t fault him for that. But the execution? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A tragedy, in many fragments. For centuries—perhaps longer—every mortal design for the Pharos Fidelis had crumbled. Each disaster wrote another chapter in that wretched chronicle, the dark history of guiding light. And you thought *yours* would work? Pharos Fidelis, the beacon on the horizon of reason. Where it would remain, out of reach. Could not even a devil accept the simple dreadful truth, that a horizon approached can never arrive? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Finnit, we have to leave!” Vosaphar shouted, scanning the skies for the sunspots. “The lens is collapsing!” “No—it has to—Vosaphar, it has to—” “Finnit, please—” “I can’t—I can’t get the shape right, it’s going to—” “It deserves to shatter.” How dare he. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“But, what was this even for, then?” Finnit sobbed, the last of the sunlight ripped from his fingertips into the Pharos Fidelis. Vosaphar pulled him, one final time, away from the amplifying dyslucence. “That’s for the historians!” Vosaphar stared at him with his stormy eyes. “Shouldn’t we live? Don’t you want a future? ” “Yes!” Finnit embraced Vosaphar once more, and the demon swept him up into the sky. They abandoned the Pharos Fidelis to its fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They *tried* to abandon it. But it wasn’t done with them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Shatter. ⇒->23ABAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Disavowal]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXIII.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">The storm rushed past Vosaphar as he carried Finnit, placing any distance he could between them and the doomed Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Still seeking their stolen sunlight, the sunspot pursued, but the anchor collector screeched and snapped at it. The two creatures, identically opposed in desire, circled the peak as they fought above the molten slag. “It’s going to—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The world around them grew absolutely silent, swallowing the rest of Finnit’s warning. Every bit of light had gathered, folding itself over and over and over still, smaller, ever smaller, congealing into the tiniest, brightest speck. For a moment, Vosaphar wondered if it would keep going, dragging the mortal realm, the hells, and all the rest of existence into its singularity. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Instead, it shattered. All that had been poured into it—all the fire, all the lightning, all the stray souls, all the stolen sunlight, all the summons slaughtered, all the hopes and dreams and plots and schemes and—all of it finally shattered, sending incalculable shards of glass in every direction at incredible speeds. A vanguard fragment slammed into Vosaphar’s chest, knocking Finnit out of his grasp. The sorcerer began to drift away on his own trajectory— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And you thought, though your plans had shattered along with everything else… You still had one last mote of hellfire to spare. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Influence. ⇒->M4ABAB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">The storm rushed past Vosaphar as he carried Finnit, placing any distance he could between them and the doomed Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Still seeking their stolen sunlight, the sunspot pursued, but the anchor collector screeched and snapped at it. The two creatures, identically opposed in desire, circled the peak as they fought above the molten slag. “It’s going to—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The world around them grew absolutely silent, swallowing the rest of Finnit’s warning. Every bit of light had gathered, folding itself over and over and over still, smaller, ever smaller, congealing into the tiniest, brightest speck. For a moment, Vosaphar wondered if it would keep going, dragging the mortal realm, the hells, and all the rest of existence into its singularity. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Instead, it shattered. All that had been poured into it—all the fire, all the lightning, all the stray souls, all the stolen sunlight, all the summons slaughtered, all the hopes and dreams and plots and schemes and—all of it finally shattered, sending incalculable shards of glass in every direction at incredible speeds. A vanguard fragment slammed into Vosaphar’s chest, knocking Finnit out of his grasp. The sorcerer began to drift away on his own trajectory— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And you thought, though your plans had shattered along with everything else… You still had one last mote of hellfire to spare. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Influence. ⇒->M4ABAB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Disavowal]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#fc4e71")+(text-size: 3)[Influence.] (text-color:"#fc4e71")+(text-size: 1.15)[Clinginess | Desperation.]</div> One final mote of hellfire appeared. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightmotepassage">When potent emotions conflicted a demon’s judgment, even the faintest mote of hellfire bore enough infernal energy to influence their fate from afar. That’s how you got them into this mess. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#8c283c)[***Clinginess***] For the demon Vosaphar, so eager to wrap himself around his beloved summoner, the sight of the mortal falling away would’ve driven him to dive in closer. This clinginess would have joined their fates together, should you have chosen to foster it. Yielding to this clinginess, however romantic, risked their joint fate becoming tragic. (text-color:#8c283c)[***Desperation***] For the demon Vosaphar, so determined for his beloved summoner to survive, the sight of him falling away would’ve driven him to take reckless measures. This desperation might have driven him to intervene instantly to salvage the situation. Yielding to this desperation, however hasty, risked their fates diverging dramatically. (text-color:#8c283c)[***Decision***] Well? Which force did this mote of hellfire incite? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightmotechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))[[[Clinginess. ⇒->24ABABA. Vosaphar]]] (link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#fc4e71")))[[[Desperation. ⇒->24ABABB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="motepassage">When potent emotions conflicted a demon’s judgment, even the faintest mote of hellfire bore enough infernal energy to influence their fate from afar. That’s how you got them into this mess. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Clinginess***] For the demon Vosaphar, so eager to wrap himself around his beloved summoner, the sight of the mortal falling away would’ve driven him to dive in closer. This clinginess would have joined their fates together, should you have chosen to foster it. Yielding to this clinginess, however romantic, risked their joint fate becoming tragic. (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Desperation***] For the demon Vosaphar, so determined for his beloved summoner to survive, the sight of him falling away would’ve driven him to take reckless measures. This desperation might have driven him to intervene instantly to salvage the situation. Yielding to this desperation, however hasty, risked their fates diverging dramatically. (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Decision***] Well? Which force did this mote of hellfire incite? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="motechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Clinginess. ⇒->24ABABA. Vosaphar]]] (link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Desperation. ⇒->24ABABB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Mote]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXIV.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar dove, claws outstretched, reaching for Finnit’s wrist— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And closed his hand around the transit band attached to it. Just as the edge of the inferno reached them— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar and Finnit blinked out of existence, teleporting somewhere else. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Defend. ⇒->25ABABA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar dove, claws outstretched, reaching for Finnit’s wrist— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And closed his hand around the transit band attached to it. Just as the edge of the inferno reached them— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar and Finnit blinked out of existence, teleporting somewhere else. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Defend. ⇒->25ABABA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXIV.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar had a single, reckless idea of what he still had time to do. How he could send Finnit somewhere safer than here. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar recalled the spells Finnit had taught him, focused his intentions and— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Banished him. Finnit blinked out of existence. Moments later, the edge of the explosion swept Vosaphar into an inferno of shattering glass. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Stoke. ⇒->25ABABB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar had a single, reckless idea of what he still had time to do. How he could send Finnit somewhere safer than here. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar recalled the spells Finnit had taught him, focused his intentions and— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Banished him. Finnit blinked out of existence. Moments later, the edge of the explosion swept Vosaphar into an inferno of shattering glass. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Stoke. ⇒->25ABABB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#b8e270")+(text-size: 3)[XXV.] (text-color:"#b8e270")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Cairnveld Fortress.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcairnveldpassage">Finnit tumbled to his latest painful stop against the stone. Warm, clawed fingers gripped his wrist. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Vosaphar?” Finnit groaned, clutching his head and rolling over to move closer to the devil. He could smell cypress and old parchment. They must have arrived somewhere at Cairnveld Fortress. He heard a few startled gasps, and then whispers broke out. “Huh?” Finnit muttered, looking over his shoulders. They had landed in one of the smaller lecture halls. Cool light streamed through the windows, setting the chamber’s dusty air aglow. A scattered few luminaries occupied the chairs, including Jethel, who peered curiously over the top of the beverage she had been sipping. It was the most people he had seen in a month. Raekard stood from his seat in the front row. “Incipient Finnit!” His voice rang out over the chamber. “I’m not sure how you managed to be late with a pre-scheduled transit band, but it is time for your evaluation.” He paused, frowning. “Dismiss this… creature.” Finnit ignored him, crawling over to examine Vosaphar’s wounds. There was a warped shard of the Pharos Fidelis lens lodged in his chest, glowing with an intense crimson light. It seemed to have fused to the demon’s torso, ichor seeping around the edges where glass and flesh intermingled. “Are you okay?” Finnit asked softly. “No.” Vosaphar turned to him, groaning. “But… I don’t think I’m fading.” Finnit did his best to hug him from this awkward position. “Fine, I’ll banish it myself.” Raekard traced a sigil in the air, directing its power against the injured fiend. Nothing happened. It was the first time that Finnit had seen Raekard genuinely surprised. Finnit helped Vosaphar to his feet. The demon looked around, a bit nervously given his bizarre new context. He let his ethereal wings fade away, wrapping a warm arm around Finnit’s waist. “This is not appropriate conduct for a discovery trial evaluation,” Raekard said, his voice low and dangerous. “Be sure to make a note of it then,” Finnit said. He leaned into Vosaphar, who responded by curling his tail gently around the sorcerer. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The luminaries in the audience found this riveting. Jethel stirred the air next to her mug with a cinnamon stick, not realizing she was dripping horchata onto her notes. Finnit wished he could just leave and recover in his quarters. Why was he even putting up with any of this? They had just gotten back from the *sun*. “Dismiss this demon at once!” Raekard snapped. “It is against academy bylaws to bring summoned entities to participate in discovery trial evaluations.” “I’ll go where I wish to, *wretched one*,” Vosaphar snarled. He had evidently recognized Raekard. Jethel let out a startled laugh, which she failed to even attempt to cover up. “Luminary Jethel is going to *love* you,” Finnit told Vosaphar, deciding to embrace the surreality of the moment. Nonplussed, Raekard tried a second banishment. It failed. Again. Finnit ran his fingers through his hair anxiously, snagging another piece of the lens that had cut the skin behind his ear. He plucked it out. Its otherworldly glow was just as out of place here as Vosaphar, and frankly, himself. “What is the meaning of this?” Raekard demanded. “Incipient, what did you *do*?” Finnit held up the errant fragment. “We reignited the Pharos Fidelis.” He threw it onto the floor. “As commanded. Huh. I guess that makes me a luminary.” “This is—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But Finnit didn’t care to hear any more of what Raekard had to say. He suddenly wondered why it had ever mattered. The luminary was such an insignificant threat in the face of everything that he had experienced. And he was a terrible historiographer. Suddenly, the ground shook slightly. Bits of grit descended from the ceiling. One of the luminaries—who had somehow managed to sleep through Finnit and Vosaphar’s dramatic arrival—woke with a start, their eyes darting wildly as they took in their surroundings. “What was *that*?” Raekard asked. “The Pharos Fidelis,” Finnit said. “I guess it took a few minutes for the shockwaves to arrive. Maybe we should reconvene this session after we know for sure that our actions didn’t precipitate the end of all existence. Vosaphar, let’s get out of here.” “Gladly,” the demon muttered. “And stop trying to banish me,” he added, glaring directly at Raekard. “Or I will teach you some real principles of summoning that you will *not* enjoy learning, pathetic one.” The luminary was dumbfounded. “What the—what happened?” “That’s enough, Raekard,” Jethel said from behind him. Arms linked, Finnit and Vosaphar departed the lecture hall, heading for Finnit’s quarters. Somewhere quiet. Raekard didn’t try to follow them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcairnveldchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))[[[Repose. ⇒->26ABABA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="cairnveldpassage">Finnit tumbled to his latest painful stop against the stone. Warm, clawed fingers gripped his wrist. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Vosaphar?” Finnit groaned, clutching his head and rolling over to move closer to the devil. He could smell cypress and old parchment. They must have arrived somewhere at Cairnveld Fortress. He heard a few startled gasps, and then whispers broke out. “Huh?” Finnit muttered, looking over his shoulders. They had landed in one of the smaller lecture halls. Cool light streamed through the windows, setting the chamber’s dusty air aglow. A scattered few luminaries occupied the chairs, including Jethel, who peered curiously over the top of the beverage she had been sipping. It was the most people he had seen in a month. Raekard stood from his seat in the front row. “Incipient Finnit!” His voice rang out over the chamber. “I’m not sure how you managed to be late with a pre-scheduled transit band, but it is time for your evaluation.” He paused, frowning. “Dismiss this… creature.” Finnit ignored him, crawling over to examine Vosaphar’s wounds. There was a warped shard of the Pharos Fidelis lens lodged in his chest, glowing with an intense crimson light. It seemed to have fused to the demon’s torso, ichor seeping around the edges where glass and flesh intermingled. “Are you okay?” Finnit asked softly. “No.” Vosaphar turned to him, groaning. “But… I don’t think I’m fading.” Finnit did his best to hug him from this awkward position. “Fine, I’ll banish it myself.” Raekard traced a sigil in the air, directing its power against the injured fiend. Nothing happened. It was the first time that Finnit had seen Raekard genuinely surprised. Finnit helped Vosaphar to his feet. The demon looked around, a bit nervously given his bizarre new context. He let his ethereal wings fade away, wrapping a warm arm around Finnit’s waist. “This is not appropriate conduct for a discovery trial evaluation,” Raekard said, his voice low and dangerous. “Be sure to make a note of it then,” Finnit said. He leaned into Vosaphar, who responded by curling his tail gently around the sorcerer. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The luminaries in the audience found this riveting. Jethel stirred the air next to her mug with a cinnamon stick, not realizing she was dripping horchata onto her notes. Finnit wished he could just leave and recover in his quarters. Why was he even putting up with any of this? They had just gotten back from the *sun*. “Dismiss this demon at once!” Raekard snapped. “It is against academy bylaws to bring summoned entities to participate in discovery trial evaluations.” “I’ll go where I wish to, *wretched one*,” Vosaphar snarled. He had evidently recognized Raekard. Jethel let out a startled laugh, which she failed to even attempt to cover up. “Luminary Jethel is going to *love* you,” Finnit told Vosaphar, deciding to embrace the surreality of the moment. Nonplussed, Raekard tried a second banishment. It failed. Again. Finnit ran his fingers through his hair anxiously, snagging another piece of the lens that had cut the skin behind his ear. He plucked it out. Its otherworldly glow was just as out of place here as Vosaphar, and frankly, himself. “What is the meaning of this?” Raekard demanded. “Incipient, what did you *do*?” Finnit held up the errant fragment. “We reignited the Pharos Fidelis.” He threw it onto the floor. “As commanded. Huh. I guess that makes me a luminary.” “This is—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But Finnit didn’t care to hear any more of what Raekard had to say. He suddenly wondered why it had ever mattered. The luminary was such an insignificant threat in the face of everything that he had experienced. And he was a terrible historiographer. Suddenly, the ground shook slightly. Bits of grit descended from the ceiling. One of the luminaries—who had somehow managed to sleep through Finnit and Vosaphar’s dramatic arrival—woke with a start, their eyes darting wildly as they took in their surroundings. “What was *that*?” Raekard asked. “The Pharos Fidelis,” Finnit said. “I guess it took a few minutes for the shockwaves to arrive. Maybe we should reconvene this session after we know for sure that our actions didn’t precipitate the end of all existence. Vosaphar, let’s get out of here.” “Gladly,” the demon muttered. “And stop trying to banish me,” he added, glaring directly at Raekard. “Or I will teach you some real principles of summoning that you will *not* enjoy learning, pathetic one.” The luminary was dumbfounded. “What the—what happened?” “That’s enough, Raekard,” Jethel said from behind him. Arms linked, Finnit and Vosaphar departed the lecture hall, heading for Finnit’s quarters. Somewhere quiet. Raekard didn’t try to follow them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="cairnveldchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#7ba03c")))[[[Repose. ⇒->26ABABA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#7ba03c")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#b8e270")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#b8e270")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Cairnveld Fortress.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcairnveldpassage">The incipients and luminaries traveling the halls of Cairnveld—already unsettled by the earthquake—gave Vosaphar a wide berth as he and Finnit passed them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar had never been around so many mortals at once—at least, not in his current instance—and unlike Finnit, *these* mortals were thoroughly alarmed by the fearsome sight of a demon wandering in their midst, chest aglow with a sun-scorched fragment of the Pharos Fidelis lens. He only started to relax once they entered a small, dusty chamber full of the sorcerer’s possessions. Mostly books. Finnit closed the door behind him, then climbed onto his bed in the corner of the chamber, sitting with his back against one of the cool stone walls. He grabbed one of the pillows, and invited Vosaphar to lie down. The devil accepted, allowing Finnit to cradle his head in his lap. Vosaphar was delighted by the softness of the mattress compared to the bedrolls at the Pharos Fidelis, and let the mortal gently massage his forehead, attending to the skin bunched at the base of his horns. “Is this okay?” Finnit asked. “Yes,” Vosaphar said, flicking his tail languorously. To be afforded such comfort was rare and fleeting. As you—along with every other demon—knew all too well. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[After a few restful minutes, Finnit spoke up. “So, um—thank you for not letting me die. For saving me, so many times. I can’t even make sense of what happened yet. It’s unreal. This, being here, and—we shouldn’t have survived.” “But we did, beloved one.” Vosaphar ran a clawed fingertip gently across Finnit’s forearm. “Perhaps you contributed more than you realize.” He paused. “But I *did* carry you across the sky.” Finnit snorted. Someone knocked at the door. “Finnit? Are you in there?” “Yes!” Finnit said. One of the sorcerers from the trial evaluation stepped into the room, carrying with her an eclectic potpourri of scents. It was Luminary Jethel, the healing expert. “Oh.” She raised her eyebrows. “Is this—uh, a bad time?” “It’s fine,” Finnit said, reluctantly releasing Vosaphar so the demon could sit up. “I’m glad to see you, Jethel. Thank you for all your help.” She nodded. “The main reason I’m here is to inform you that the panel of luminaries in attendance convened, and after an examination of the fragment you provided, determined that you passed your discovery trial. Raekard dissented, but I suppose situations like these are exactly why the founders required a full panel in the bylaws. Congratulations, Finnit!” She waited for a moment, creating an awkward silence. “But I get the sense that, perhaps this is not your main concern?” “No, it isn’t,” Finnit said. “I mean—I guess I’m glad it’s over. But, I’m concerned about Vosaphar’s injuries.” He paused. “This is Vosaphar. He’s from… uh, the calciferous wastes.” “Uh huh. Noted.” Jethel directed her focus toward the devil. “Vosaphar? May I take a closer look?” “Yes,” Vosaphar said, watching her lightly-wrinkled fingers weave diagnostic glyphs in front of him. Finnit gently rubbed his back. “How are you feeling?” “I… don’t know,” Vosaphar answered honestly. “It’s a strange sensation. Like my bones are itching beneath my skin.” “Interesting,” Jethel remarked. “Well—this fragment of—uh, I guess I have no real idea what it actually is, some exotic vitric—seems to have fused onto you? It radiates an extraordinary amount of magic. For a human, that would be concerning, by which I mean, fatal. But I admit, I am not an expert on infernal anatomy.” She glanced at Finnit, eyes narrowing. “Though based on what I have seen today, perhaps *you* are becoming one.” Vosaphar looked his way as well, amused to see the mortal’s cheeks reddening. “Thought so,” Jethel remarked. “I hope Raekard never hears the end of this, for whatever remains of his miserable days.” “Oh,” Finnit said, evidently realizing something. “I see now… the lens fragment. Raekard is, at least, a *competent* sorcerer—his banishment rite should have succeeded. By remaining here, I thought Vosaphar might have violated the principle of planar reversion. But with this power fusing with you—I guess that makes it *your* power. And it far exceeds Raekard’s.” “Fascinating,” Jethel said, “if not a touch alarming in its implications. Well, at any rate, for now, I recommend treating the exposed edges where the fragment is impacting your skin. I don’t know what your plans are, Finnit, but if you remain here for the moment—as a luminary—we can research the issue together.” “What do you think?” Finnit asked him. “We could stay for a bit, sort things out?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“That sounds nice, Finnit.” “And after that—” “The rest of it?” “The rest of it.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcairnveldchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending ABABA]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="cairnveldpassage">The incipients and luminaries traveling the halls of Cairnveld—already unsettled by the earthquake—gave Vosaphar a wide berth as he and Finnit passed them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar had never been around so many mortals at once—at least, not in his current instance—and unlike Finnit, *these* mortals were thoroughly alarmed by the fearsome sight of a demon wandering in their midst, chest aglow with a sun-scorched fragment of the Pharos Fidelis lens. He only started to relax once they entered a small, dusty chamber full of the sorcerer’s possessions. Mostly books. Finnit closed the door behind him, then climbed onto his bed in the corner of the chamber, sitting with his back against one of the cool stone walls. He grabbed one of the pillows, and invited Vosaphar to lie down. The devil accepted, allowing Finnit to cradle his head in his lap. Vosaphar was delighted by the softness of the mattress compared to the bedrolls at the Pharos Fidelis, and let the mortal gently massage his forehead, attending to the skin bunched at the base of his horns. “Is this okay?” Finnit asked. “Yes,” Vosaphar said, flicking his tail languorously. To be afforded such comfort was rare and fleeting. As you—along with every other demon—knew all too well. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[After a few restful minutes, Finnit spoke up. “So, um—thank you for not letting me die. For saving me, so many times. I can’t even make sense of what happened yet. It’s unreal. This, being here, and—we shouldn’t have survived.” “But we did, beloved one.” Vosaphar ran a clawed fingertip gently across Finnit’s forearm. “Perhaps you contributed more than you realize.” He paused. “But I *did* carry you across the sky.” Finnit snorted. Someone knocked at the door. “Finnit? Are you in there?” “Yes!” Finnit said. One of the sorcerers from the trial evaluation stepped into the room, carrying with her an eclectic potpourri of scents. It was Luminary Jethel, the healing expert. “Oh.” She raised her eyebrows. “Is this—uh, a bad time?” “It’s fine,” Finnit said, reluctantly releasing Vosaphar so the demon could sit up. “I’m glad to see you, Jethel. Thank you for all your help.” She nodded. “The main reason I’m here is to inform you that the panel of luminaries in attendance convened, and after an examination of the fragment you provided, determined that you passed your discovery trial. Raekard dissented, but I suppose situations like these are exactly why the founders required a full panel in the bylaws. Congratulations, Finnit!” She waited for a moment, creating an awkward silence. “But I get the sense that, perhaps this is not your main concern?” “No, it isn’t,” Finnit said. “I mean—I guess I’m glad it’s over. But, I’m concerned about Vosaphar’s injuries.” He paused. “This is Vosaphar. He’s from… uh, the calciferous wastes.” “Uh huh. Noted.” Jethel directed her focus toward the devil. “Vosaphar? May I take a closer look?” “Yes,” Vosaphar said, watching her lightly-wrinkled fingers weave diagnostic glyphs in front of him. Finnit gently rubbed his back. “How are you feeling?” “I… don’t know,” Vosaphar answered honestly. “It’s a strange sensation. Like my bones are itching beneath my skin.” “Interesting,” Jethel remarked. “Well—this fragment of—uh, I guess I have no real idea what it actually is, some exotic vitric—seems to have fused onto you? It radiates an extraordinary amount of magic. For a human, that would be concerning, by which I mean, fatal. But I admit, I am not an expert on infernal anatomy.” She glanced at Finnit, eyes narrowing. “Though based on what I have seen today, perhaps *you* are becoming one.” Vosaphar looked his way as well, amused to see the mortal’s cheeks reddening. “Thought so,” Jethel remarked. “I hope Raekard never hears the end of this, for whatever remains of his miserable days.” “Oh,” Finnit said, evidently realizing something. “I see now… the lens fragment. Raekard is, at least, a *competent* sorcerer—his banishment rite should have succeeded. By remaining here, I thought Vosaphar might have violated the principle of planar reversion. But with this power fusing with you—I guess that makes it *your* power. And it far exceeds Raekard’s.” “Fascinating,” Jethel said, “if not a touch alarming in its implications. Well, at any rate, for now, I recommend treating the exposed edges where the fragment is impacting your skin. I don’t know what your plans are, Finnit, but if you remain here for the moment—as a luminary—we can research the issue together.” “What do you think?” Finnit asked him. “We could stay for a bit, sort things out?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“That sounds nice, Finnit.” “And after that—” “The rest of it?” “The rest of it.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="cairnveldchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending ABABA]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what she wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17ABA. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4ABAB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s clinginess, causing him to reach Finnit in time to teleport to Cairnveld with him. This proved to be a fortunate calculation. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what she wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17ABA. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4ABAB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s clinginess, causing him to reach Finnit in time to teleport to Cairnveld with him. This proved to be a fortunate calculation. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[XXV.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage cold, wet, and screaming. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It had a certain resonance, didn’t it? He coughed violently, choking on sludge and bloodfog alike, wading clumsily in your direction. Even from this distance, you could feel intense energy pouring off the misplaced mortal, his magic warped by the glowing fragments of the Pharos Fidelis stuck in his hair and clothing. If nothing else could be salvaged from this historic disaster, at least you had an opportunity to fuel your furnace. The mortal would, at any moment, petition you for relief from his dire situation. This provided you a brief moment to consider which form might be most appropriate for such an absurd occasion. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|initial>[In that light: (link-reveal: "You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. Inaccurate though it may have been, perhaps you had the right to such a form. You’d already spent more time fussing over Vosaphar’s fate than any of his makers had. You adopted an elegant posture and swept out of your cottage to approach the mortal. “Hello, Finnit,” you said. He turned to look at you, eyes widening. You flicked your new tail, mimicking one of Vosaphar’s gestures that he so favored. “Um—hi. Uh—” “Welcome to my calciferous wastes.” You extended your arms, gesturing toward the dark skies and lonesome coralbone monuments dotting the horizon. “And what a sight they are.” Finnit looked around, evidently still processing this alarming development. “The calciferous wastes? Do you—do you know Vosaphar?” “Please, join me inside,” you said. “We shall sit by the fire and discuss these matters.” Finnit numbly complied, letting you guide him to the soot-stained armchairs by your furnace. It seemed to calm him down, having become accustomed to closeness with a certain source of hellfire. “What happened? Do you know?” Finnit asked. “Sorry—I’m just—I should ask who you are probably?” “I am the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “I think—I think he banished me?” “He did.” You tapped an idle claw against your ivory armchair. “I’m sorry, maybe this is too forward, but—look, I’m worried about Vosaphar? I don’t know what happened—what if—what if he—” You took him to the window and pointed to the dark pool, where Vosaphar’s ember twinkled at the bottom. If anything, it had grown brighter. Interesting. “That is his essential coal,” you said. “If he had perished, he would have immediately returned here. If we wait, he will eventually appear. However…” Finnit paced to and fro, trying to shake off his anxiety. “What if he’s hurt—he must be—I don’t want to wait!” “It is not a matter of desire, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. Perhaps that hadn’t been a Vosapharian gesture. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Will you—I mean, would you please help me?” “What are your intentions toward Vosaphar?” “My intentions?” Finnit looked puzzled. “What do you—” “Answer my question carefully, mortal.” He looked appropriately worried. “Look, I—I love him. I know it’s been so quick, and maybe you think it’s shallow, just because he’s so beautiful—but, uh, really, I have never felt so close with someone. I mean—he took me to the *sun*, and back. I don’t know what it would mean for us to be together outside of the Pharos Fidelis, in a more normal world. Maybe it won’t work, and we’ll part ways. I think—I mean, I hope you think that we’re worthy of a chance to figure that out.” “Vosaphar will need your help,” you said. “He will suffer from his power. You will stand by him? Treat him respectfully?” “I would—I will.” “Very well.” You paused. “I would send you back to Cairnveld.” You gave a pointed look toward your furnace. “But my fire is too weak for such a feat. Won’t you stoke it?” “Stoke it?” Finnit looked nervous. “What, uh—what do you want? My soul?” How amusing. “Are you offering that?” You approached him, attempting to loom in the way he found so appealing when Vosaphar did it. Finnit looked terrified as you reached down and plucked a glowing lens fragment from his hair. “No, Finnit. Not your soul. I want these.” “Oh—is that all? Yes, you can have them. They’re not even really mine, I don’t think.” Finnit parted easily with the fragments, tossing each into the furnace as he found it. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to cause some new chaos. He had no sense of priorities. And neither—apparently—did you, entertaining this… cloyingly earnest romantic nonsense. You reached for Finnit’s transit band, warping the sigils such that they would send Finnit on his way. Before activating it, you paused. “If you treat Vosaphar with anything less than the respect owed to such an unreasonably affectionate devil, I will send every specter in my dominion to drag you back here, and drown you in these depths for all eternity.” It was a joke. Mostly. You were sure that Finnit appreciated it. With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. You basked in the new heat now crackling and seething in your furnace. And how ridiculous an exchange it was, to receive all that energy for a trivial bit of spellcraft. Even an incubus would have found no pleasure in the seduction of such easy prey. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[That’s why you did it, right? You *just* wanted the power. Nothing more. You felt nothing else. Surely. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Survive. ⇒->26ABABBA. Vosaphar]]]]]]]</div>] Unless: (link-reveal: "You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. Darkness pooled around you, threshed with dozens of unblinking, glowing eyes. Gobs of loose flesh sizzled on charred bones to add to the illusion’s sensory overload. You adopted a threatening posture and swept out of your cottage to approach Finnit, trailing black grease in your wake. “Mortal!” you shouted, startling him. “You dare trespass upon my dominion?” Finnit turned your way, and his breath hitched at the loathsome sight of you. He cowered. Mortals were so susceptible to this kind of stagecraft, weren’t they? “I—I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—” “Silence!” You stretched and oozed before him. “You have stolen from me. You must return what I’m owed.” Finnit’s eyes darted about wildly, as if he were considering running away. He wouldn’t make it far. “Could you please—um—grand one? Uh, what did I steal?” “My *light*.” You over-articulated the “t” with such exuberance that flecks of acid splattered from your many mouths. “The Pharos Fidelis.” You wrapped a slimy tentacle around his arm, pulling him closer so you could pluck one of the fragments from his clothes. “What? Oh. Oh you can—you can have those. They’re, um, not even mine.” He was too frightened to assist in this process, so you grabbed each fragment, showing no regard for his comfort. Shards collected—from his perspective, devoured—you began shambling back to your cottage. “Wait!” Finnit called after you. “Um—I need—I need to get back to Vosaphar—do you know him? Or—” “I am the warden of these calciferous wastes, and he is my subject. Mortal longings are not my concern…” “But please, I—” “…Unless, of course, you wish to receive… an accord.” And there it was. Not only had you easily liberated the shards from his unworthy possession, but you could do even more to sate your rage with the proceedings of the eclipse. “An accord?” Finnit asked. “You’ll help me get back?” “For a *price*,” you hissed. “I gave you—I gave you the fragments!” He seemed to have realized his mistake. Perhaps he ought to have actually read *Case Studies in Infernal Betrayal* instead of assuming all demons would be as needy and pathetic as Vosaphar. “You claimed yourself that you had no ownership over them. They are mine already. One cannot offer a gift already granted.” “So what do you want?” His voice was strained. “My soul?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“*That* is worthless.” Drawing from the power of the fragments you held, you manifested a bloodfrost dagger from the fog, its keen edge sharp enough to carve the walls of the lazurynth. “Take this dagger to Luminary Raekard. I tire of his incompetent scheming. Carve out his heart. Then burn it in a ring of hellfire until it is but ash on the wind.” “But I—I can’t kill someone!” Finnit shouted. “That’s absurd—even someone as awful as him—and he’s so dangerous. It would never work.” “Then you will die here, and never again wrap your wretched limbs around the devil you cling to in the dark.” You sidled into your cottage, leaving him to contemplate his mortal morality while you stoked the furnace with the fragments. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to inflict some new misery upon the world. It wasn’t long before he approached you again. He looked directly at you, gazing into your seething core, and without stumbling, said, “I accept those terms.” You wrapped a tendril around the hilt of the dagger and offered it to him. He took it, his expression grim and determined. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[You *almost* believed he could do it. With a burst of magic, you activated his bracelet—the transit band—and sent him to his terrible fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Append. ⇒->P4ABABBB. Fourth Principle]]]]]]]</div> ] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. Well, at least the version of yourself that held court, lording your specificity over these dismal barrens. Finnit would get to see you for what you were: powerful, yet petty. Exhausted, too. It was miserable to live with your failures. You slunk to your soot-stained armchair by the furnace, waiting for the mortal to arrive. He knocked at the door. “Hello? Is—is someone in here?” “Come in, Finnit.” He opened the door, and saw you by the furnace. What texture the man had taken on since he left Cairnveld, struggling through your schemes in that desperate way that humans are wont to do. You gestured for him to sit in the chair across from yours. He obliged, if a bit warily. “Welcome to my calciferous wastes,” you said. “I wonder what you think of them?” “Calciferous wastes?” Something flickered in his eyes. “Is that—do you know Vosaphar?” “Answer my question first, if you will.” Finnit seemed taken aback, but recovered. “Well, if you really want to know—I can see why Vosaphar was so determined to leave.” You could almost see him realizing in real time that he probably was meant to say something kinder. “Not that there isn’t something… eerily beautiful about the colors streaking across the sky. But, it’s very cold and sharp and it seems sad, I guess?” “Yes, Vosaphar is troubled by his existence. As are we all.” You clicked your claws against the coralbone armrest. “You look—If you don’t mind me saying—you look familiar to me. But I don’t understand why. Who are you?” “I’m the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “So I guess he banished me here? It was the first place he thought of?” “I’m flattered.” A pause. “And perhaps you ought to be relieved that he didn’t recall the lazurynth quicker.” “I need to get back to him.” Finnit fixed you with a serious expression. “He might be hurt, or—I want to get back. Please. He means—he means a lot to me.” “It is not a matter of necessity, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Wait—I know why you look familiar!” He studied your face once more. “You look a little bit like… my grandmother.” “The trees in Tinfallow have deep roots indeed, if they reach all the way to these calciferous wastes.” “I don’t understand.” He bit his lip. “There are too many pieces—it’s hard to look at directly.” “Then focus on the piece of it you care about.” “Vosaphar.” “Of course. Young love. Star-crossed, even.” You sighed. “Well, I could send you on your way to Cairnveld.” You pointed at his bracelet. “But…” “You want something in return?” Finnit asked, leaning forward. “What is it? What do you want?” “What I *really* want is for you to have written my name correctly on the Pharos Fidelis.” Finnit sat back again. “That’s—that’s *you*? Your name? I expected someone so much more…” “Impressive?” You gave a hollow laugh. “Terrifying,” he finished. “But you seem, I don’t know, reasonable enough?” “I’m sure it seems that way.” “Well I—I don’t think I can undo what happened,” Finnit said. “I’m sorry it didn’t work. I know it may not look that way, but I really did try. I don’t know what it would’ve done if it worked, but I tried.” “You did.” You looked over at your furnace, where your sluggish motes of hellfire simmered. “I want the lens fragments in your possession.” “Lens fragments?” You pointed them out in his hair and on his clothes. “So that’s what you’re proposing as the terms of an exchange? I give you these shards, and you’ll send me back to Cairnveld?” “Yes.” “It just seems… I don’t know. I feel like there is still so much that I’m missing? If you—if you really are connected to me, in some way… would you want to… stay in touch?” You hadn’t expected *that*, of all things. “You want the warden of the calciferous wastes to offer you… mentorship.” “I’ve done much weirder things today!” Finnit said, rather defensively. “I went to the *sun*. Look, my mentor is Luminary Raekard. An actual demon would be a significant improvement.” “Ah, Raekard. I regret my part in that, given how it went.” “What?” Finnit’s eyes widened. “What do you mean you—” “Finnit, I propose an addendum to our… accord. If you wish to speak with me, you shall have one chance to do so during each new moon. Sacrifice a lens fragment in my name, and we shall converse for one hour.” “I’m not sure how I’ll get more of these,” Finnit said. “It seems expensive.” “And yet, a single fragment pales against the scale of what you destroyed. You could not possibly comprehend how far you’ve set me back. But,” you added, softening your tone, “I will make that hour as worthwhile as you wish it to be.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit accepted those terms, tossing each of the lens fragments on his person into your furnace. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to bend ever more futures in your favor. “Thank you,” Finnit said, as you adjusted the sigils on his transit band. “I—I’m glad to have met you.” With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Survive. ⇒->26ABABBC. Vosaphar]]]]</div> ]]]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage cold, wet, and screaming. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It had a certain resonance, didn’t it? He coughed violently, choking on sludge and bloodfog alike, wading clumsily in your direction. Even from this distance, you could feel intense energy pouring off the misplaced mortal, his magic warped by the glowing fragments of the Pharos Fidelis stuck in his hair and clothing. If nothing else could be salvaged from this historic disaster, at least you had an opportunity to fuel your furnace. The mortal would, at any moment, petition you for relief from his dire situation. This provided you a brief moment to consider which form might be most appropriate for such an absurd occasion. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|initial>[In that light: (link-reveal: "You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. Inaccurate though it may have been, perhaps you had the right to such a form. You’d already spent more time fussing over Vosaphar’s fate than any of his makers had. You adopted an elegant posture and swept out of your cottage to approach the mortal. “Hello, Finnit,” you said. He turned to look at you, eyes widening. You flicked your new tail, mimicking one of Vosaphar’s gestures that he so favored. “Um—hi. Uh—” “Welcome to my calciferous wastes.” You extended your arms, gesturing toward the dark skies and lonesome coralbone monuments dotting the horizon. “And what a sight they are.” Finnit looked around, evidently still processing this alarming development. “The calciferous wastes? Do you—do you know Vosaphar?” “Please, join me inside,” you said. “We shall sit by the fire and discuss these matters.” Finnit numbly complied, letting you guide him to the soot-stained armchairs by your furnace. It seemed to calm him down, having become accustomed to closeness with a certain source of hellfire. “What happened? Do you know?” Finnit asked. “Sorry—I’m just—I should ask who you are probably?” “I am the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “I think—I think he banished me?” “He did.” You tapped an idle claw against your ivory armchair. “I’m sorry, maybe this is too forward, but—look, I’m worried about Vosaphar? I don’t know what happened—what if—what if he—” You took him to the window and pointed to the dark pool, where Vosaphar’s ember twinkled at the bottom. If anything, it had grown brighter. Interesting. “That is his essential coal,” you said. “If he had perished, he would have immediately returned here. If we wait, he will eventually appear. However…” Finnit paced to and fro, trying to shake off his anxiety. “What if he’s hurt—he must be—I don’t want to wait!” “It is not a matter of desire, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. Perhaps that hadn’t been a Vosapharian gesture. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Will you—I mean, would you please help me?” “What are your intentions toward Vosaphar?” “My intentions?” Finnit looked puzzled. “What do you—” “Answer my question carefully, mortal.” He looked appropriately worried. “Look, I—I love him. I know it’s been so quick, and maybe you think it’s shallow, just because he’s so beautiful—but, uh, really, I have never felt so close with someone. I mean—he took me to the *sun*, and back. I don’t know what it would mean for us to be together outside of the Pharos Fidelis, in a more normal world. Maybe it won’t work, and we’ll part ways. I think—I mean, I hope you think that we’re worthy of a chance to figure that out.” “Vosaphar will need your help,” you said. “He will suffer from his power. You will stand by him? Treat him respectfully?” “I would—I will.” “Very well.” You paused. “I would send you back to Cairnveld.” You gave a pointed look toward your furnace. “But my fire is too weak for such a feat. Won’t you stoke it?” “Stoke it?” Finnit looked nervous. “What, uh—what do you want? My soul?” How amusing. “Are you offering that?” You approached him, attempting to loom in the way he found so appealing when Vosaphar did it. Finnit looked terrified as you reached down and plucked a glowing lens fragment from his hair. “No, Finnit. Not your soul. I want these.” “Oh—is that all? Yes, you can have them. They’re not even really mine, I don’t think.” Finnit parted easily with the fragments, tossing each into the furnace as he found it. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to cause some new chaos. He had no sense of priorities. And neither—apparently—did you, entertaining this… cloyingly earnest romantic nonsense. You reached for Finnit’s transit band, warping the sigils such that they would send Finnit on his way. Before activating it, you paused. “If you treat Vosaphar with anything less than the respect owed to such an unreasonably affectionate devil, I will send every specter in my dominion to drag you back here, and drown you in these depths for all eternity.” It was a joke. Mostly. You were sure that Finnit appreciated it. With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. You basked in the new heat now crackling and seething in your furnace. And how ridiculous an exchange it was, to receive all that energy for a trivial bit of spellcraft. Even an incubus would have found no pleasure in the seduction of such easy prey. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[That’s why you did it, right? You *just* wanted the power. Nothing more. You felt nothing else. Surely. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[Survive. ⇒->26ABABBA. Vosaphar]]]]]]]</div>] Unless: (link-reveal: "You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. Darkness pooled around you, threshed with dozens of unblinking, glowing eyes. Gobs of loose flesh sizzled on charred bones to add to the illusion’s sensory overload. You adopted a threatening posture and swept out of your cottage to approach Finnit, trailing black grease in your wake. “Mortal!” you shouted, startling him. “You dare trespass upon my dominion?” Finnit turned your way, and his breath hitched at the loathsome sight of you. He cowered. Mortals were so susceptible to this kind of stagecraft, weren’t they? “I—I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—” “Silence!” You stretched and oozed before him. “You have stolen from me. You must return what I’m owed.” Finnit’s eyes darted about wildly, as if he were considering running away. He wouldn’t make it far. “Could you please—um—grand one? Uh, what did I steal?” “My *light*.” You over-articulated the “t” with such exuberance that flecks of acid splattered from your many mouths. “The Pharos Fidelis.” You wrapped a slimy tentacle around his arm, pulling him closer so you could pluck one of the fragments from his clothes. “What? Oh. Oh you can—you can have those. They’re, um, not even mine.” He was too frightened to assist in this process, so you grabbed each fragment, showing no regard for his comfort. Shards collected—from his perspective, devoured—you began shambling back to your cottage. “Wait!” Finnit called after you. “Um—I need—I need to get back to Vosaphar—do you know him? Or—” “I am the warden of these calciferous wastes, and he is my subject. Mortal longings are not my concern…” “But please, I—” “…Unless, of course, you wish to receive… an accord.” And there it was. Not only had you easily liberated the shards from his unworthy possession, but you could do even more to sate your rage with the proceedings of the eclipse. “An accord?” Finnit asked. “You’ll help me get back?” “For a *price*,” you hissed. “I gave you—I gave you the fragments!” He seemed to have realized his mistake. Perhaps he ought to have actually read *Case Studies in Infernal Betrayal* instead of assuming all demons would be as needy and pathetic as Vosaphar. “You claimed yourself that you had no ownership over them. They are mine already. One cannot offer a gift already granted.” “So what do you want?” His voice was strained. “My soul?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“*That* is worthless.” Drawing from the power of the fragments you held, you manifested a bloodfrost dagger from the fog, its keen edge sharp enough to carve the walls of the lazurynth. “Take this dagger to Luminary Raekard. I tire of his incompetent scheming. Carve out his heart. Then burn it in a ring of hellfire until it is but ash on the wind.” “But I—I can’t kill someone!” Finnit shouted. “That’s absurd—even someone as awful as him—and he’s so dangerous. It would never work.” “Then you will die here, and never again wrap your wretched limbs around the devil you cling to in the dark.” You sidled into your cottage, leaving him to contemplate his mortal morality while you stoked the furnace with the fragments. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to inflict some new misery upon the world. It wasn’t long before he approached you again. He looked directly at you, gazing into your seething core, and without stumbling, said, “I accept those terms.” You wrapped a tendril around the hilt of the dagger and offered it to him. He took it, his expression grim and determined. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[You *almost* believed he could do it. With a burst of magic, you activated his bracelet—the transit band—and sent him to his terrible fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[Append. ⇒->P4ABABBB. Fourth Principle]]]]]]]</div> ] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. Well, at least the version of yourself that held court, lording your specificity over these dismal barrens. Finnit would get to see you for what you were: powerful, yet petty. Exhausted, too. It was miserable to live with your failures. You slunk to your soot-stained armchair by the furnace, waiting for the mortal to arrive. He knocked at the door. “Hello? Is—is someone in here?” “Come in, Finnit.” He opened the door, and saw you by the furnace. What texture the man had taken on since he left Cairnveld, struggling through your schemes in that desperate way that humans are wont to do. You gestured for him to sit in the chair across from yours. He obliged, if a bit warily. “Welcome to my calciferous wastes,” you said. “I wonder what you think of them?” “Calciferous wastes?” Something flickered in his eyes. “Is that—do you know Vosaphar?” “Answer my question first, if you will.” Finnit seemed taken aback, but recovered. “Well, if you really want to know—I can see why Vosaphar was so determined to leave.” You could almost see him realizing in real time that he probably was meant to say something kinder. “Not that there isn’t something… eerily beautiful about the colors streaking across the sky. But, it’s very cold and sharp and it seems sad, I guess?” “Yes, Vosaphar is troubled by his existence. As are we all.” You clicked your claws against the coralbone armrest. “You look—If you don’t mind me saying—you look familiar to me. But I don’t understand why. Who are you?” “I’m the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “So I guess he banished me here? It was the first place he thought of?” “I’m flattered.” A pause. “And perhaps you ought to be relieved that he didn’t recall the lazurynth quicker.” “I need to get back to him.” Finnit fixed you with a serious expression. “He might be hurt, or—I want to get back. Please. He means—he means a lot to me.” “It is not a matter of necessity, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Wait—I know why you look familiar!” He studied your face once more. “You look a little bit like… my grandmother.” “The trees in Tinfallow have deep roots indeed, if they reach all the way to these calciferous wastes.” “I don’t understand.” He bit his lip. “There are too many pieces—it’s hard to look at directly.” “Then focus on the piece of it you care about.” “Vosaphar.” “Of course. Young love. Star-crossed, even.” You sighed. “Well, I could send you on your way to Cairnveld.” You pointed at his bracelet. “But…” “You want something in return?” Finnit asked, leaning forward. “What is it? What do you want?” “What I *really* want is for you to have written my name correctly on the Pharos Fidelis.” Finnit sat back again. “That’s—that’s *you*? Your name? I expected someone so much more…” “Impressive?” You gave a hollow laugh. “Terrifying,” he finished. “But you seem, I don’t know, reasonable enough?” “I’m sure it seems that way.” “Well I—I don’t think I can undo what happened,” Finnit said. “I’m sorry it didn’t work. I know it may not look that way, but I really did try. I don’t know what it would’ve done if it worked, but I tried.” “You did.” You looked over at your furnace, where your sluggish motes of hellfire simmered. “I want the lens fragments in your possession.” “Lens fragments?” You pointed them out in his hair and on his clothes. “So that’s what you’re proposing as the terms of an exchange? I give you these shards, and you’ll send me back to Cairnveld?” “Yes.” “It just seems… I don’t know. I feel like there is still so much that I’m missing? If you—if you really are connected to me, in some way… would you want to… stay in touch?” You hadn’t expected *that*, of all things. “You want the warden of the calciferous wastes to offer you… mentorship.” “I’ve done much weirder things today!” Finnit said, rather defensively. “I went to the *sun*. Look, my mentor is Luminary Raekard. An actual demon would be a significant improvement.” “Ah, Raekard. I regret my part in that, given how it went.” “What?” Finnit’s eyes widened. “What do you mean you—” “Finnit, I propose an addendum to our… accord. If you wish to speak with me, you shall have one chance to do so during each new moon. Sacrifice a lens fragment in my name, and we shall converse for one hour.” “I’m not sure how I’ll get more of these,” Finnit said. “It seems expensive.” “And yet, a single fragment pales against the scale of what you destroyed. You could not possibly comprehend how far you’ve set me back. But,” you added, softening your tone, “I will make that hour as worthwhile as you wish it to be.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit accepted those terms, tossing each of the lens fragments on his person into your furnace. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to bend ever more futures in your favor. “Thank you,” Finnit said, as you adjusted the sigils on his transit band. “I—I’m glad to have met you.” With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[Survive. ⇒->26ABABBC. Vosaphar]]]]</div> ]]]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Mote]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending ABABBC]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending ABABBC]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 3)[Anathema.] (text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 1.15)[The Fourth Principle of Summoning.]</div> A timely addendum, courtesy of you. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Behold the fourth principle of summoning: (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color:#a01404)[**4. The Principle of Voluntary and Efficient Accession to the Extraordinarily Reasonable Conditions Imposed by the Magnanimous Warden of the Calciferous Wastes, Who Certainly Never Even Cared About the Pharos Fidelis, And Certainly Not the Absurd Romantic Yearnings of Your Pathetic Subjects—Or Else.**] Summoners who willingly and knowingly forge an accord with you must see their bargain through, or suffer the consequences of incompetence and betrayal. (text-color:#a01404)[***Implication:***] You suffered long and worked hard to eke out your existence. (text-color:#a01404)[***Implication:***] You generously helped him plenty up to this point—for free. It wasn’t such a high price to ask him to kill someone he hated anyway. You both benefited from this accord. (text-color:#a01404)[***Implication:***] His failure was inevitable. You weren’t *really* invested in his survival, or his potential to shift the tenor of human-demon relations. You were just hungry for more power, right? You just wanted to enrich your tiny slice of the hells, fuel your furnace, as you had always done. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It would have been unreasonable for *you*, of all beings, to have cared. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Bemoan. ⇒->26ABABBB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Behold the fourth principle of summoning: (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color:#f17264)[**4. The Principle of Voluntary and Efficient Accession to the Extraordinarily Reasonable Conditions Imposed by the Magnanimous Warden of the Calciferous Wastes, Who Certainly Never Even Cared About the Pharos Fidelis, And Certainly Not the Absurd Romantic Yearnings of Your Pathetic Subjects—Or Else.**] Summoners who willingly and knowingly forge an accord with you must see their bargain through, or suffer the consequences of incompetence and betrayal. (text-color:#f17264)[***Implication:***] You suffered long and worked hard to eke out your existence. (text-color:#f17264)[***Implication:***] You generously helped him plenty up to this point—for free. It wasn’t such a high price to ask him to kill someone he hated anyway. You both benefited from this accord. (text-color:#f17264)[***Implication:***] His failure was inevitable. You weren’t *really* invested in his survival, or his potential to shift the tenor of human-demon relations. You were just hungry for more power, right? You just wanted to enrich your tiny slice of the hells, fuel your furnace, as you had always done. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It would have been unreasonable for *you*, of all beings, to have cared. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Bemoan. ⇒->26ABABBB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending ABABBA]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending ABABBA]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what she wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17ABA. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4ABAB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s desperation, causing him to impulsively banish Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate calculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25ABABB. Finnit]]]</div> You took a comforting form, nurturing his budding relationship with Vosaphar in exchange for the lens fragments on his person. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what she wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17ABA. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4ABAB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s desperation, causing him to impulsively banish Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate calculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25ABABB. Finnit]]]</div> You took a comforting form, nurturing his budding relationship with Vosaphar in exchange for the lens fragments on his person. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he would *stay* longing. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[For, if you must suffer this catastrophic failure, you would offer him no choice but to join you in misery. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending ABABBB]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he would *stay* longing. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[For, if you must suffer this catastrophic failure, you would offer him no choice but to join you in misery. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending ABABBB]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the brief union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Finnit perished in a failed assassination attempt upon his return to Cairnveld, screaming of the sun. A strange footnote to this history. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. But a new threat lurked. The demon Vosaphar absorbed the fragments around him, growing distorted in his influence. He climbed upon the melted peak and in his sorrow and fury, bewitched many ships to their doom with fata morgana. He had become, in effect, the latest Pharos Fidelis. Perhaps he had even become something more powerful than *you*. And perhaps you deserved to finally feel fear again. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what she wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17ABA. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4ABAB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s desperation, causing him to impulsively banish Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate calculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25ABABB. Finnit]]]</div> You took a terrifying form, seizing his lens fragments for yourself, and dooming him with an impossible accord. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and absolutely no complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the brief union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Finnit perished in a failed assassination attempt upon his return to Cairnveld, screaming of the sun. A strange footnote to this history. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. But a new threat lurked. The demon Vosaphar absorbed the fragments around him, growing distorted in his influence. He climbed upon the melted peak and in his sorrow and fury, bewitched many ships to their doom with fata morgana. He had become, in effect, the latest Pharos Fidelis. Perhaps he had even become something more powerful than *you*. And perhaps you deserved to finally feel fear again. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what she wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17ABA. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4ABAB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s desperation, causing him to impulsively banish Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate calculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25ABABB. Finnit]]]</div> You took a terrifying form, seizing his lens fragments for yourself, and dooming him with an impossible accord. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and absolutely no complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what she wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17ABA. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4ABAB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s desperation, causing him to impulsively banish Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate calculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25ABABB. Finnit]]]</div> You took an honest form, developing a stronger connection with Finnit while ensuring ongoing access to lens fragments in the future. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s fatigue, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one third of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be a durable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what she wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3AB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17ABA. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4ABAB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s desperation, causing him to impulsively banish Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate calculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25ABABB. Finnit]]]</div> You took an honest form, developing a stronger connection with Finnit while ensuring ongoing access to lens fragments in the future. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[4th Era | Ruin.]</div> A fragment recounting the dark history of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">What does the end of a regime sound like? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Is it so literal—the last, shuddering wisp of wind passing between witless lips? Perhaps the clang of gold against stone as a crown tumbles free from its severed head? Or is it the cacophony of criers ascatter, squawking their tidings from the palace upon its anthill? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">No one has ever accused Kolemian scholars of clarity or relevance. And neither will I. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] Few survived the Glassbound Rebellion, and fewer still wished to speak of their role in it. But they were heard. Overseers screamed, cast down upon the rocks. Bloodfrothed waves scraped ships into flotsam against storm-dark cliffs. Lightning menaced every crag, peak, and mast; its thunder splintered bones. But wasn’t it one sound in particular that echoed across the seas, shattering the fragile foundation of the court of Kolemeus IV? There was a great and terrible cracking, as the ever-hungering lens clove open. Soulwind screeched as it fed the curse with countless lives at once. All that the architects and emperors and generals and sorcerers had doomed generations to construct, undone. A sound louder than the infernal bronze bells that toll in the halls of the hells. A sound that, for a second, split the sky asunder. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“Is that true?” Finnit asked, stifling a yawn. “Are there a lot of bells where you’re from?” “No, curious one.” Vosaphar gave it some further thought. “But the lazurynthine crucibles cast more than just weapons. It is not impossible that an archfiend might desire the sound of ringing bronze, and commission such a marvel.”</div>] Without the lens, the loss of ships, lives, and—most importantly—gold, was incalculable. All to render the route even more impassable than it had been at the start. The whispers of decline that Kolemeus IV faced grew into a raucous chorus. Amplified, no doubt, by the jilted financiers. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">That they failed to recognize their souls as a potential source of magic speaks to a critical lack of foresight. The lens did exactly what it was designed to do: gather energy. So much of it. So much more of it than they possibly could’ve needed to reliably guide ships. How could any of them have believed that’s what it was really for? ⚞L. Raekard</div>] While much has been written elsewhere about the frenzy of imperial orders Kolemeus IV issued prior to abdication, none is more elucidating than their ordinance on the Pharos Fidelis. As decreed, it was stricken from all official maps with a blotch of black ink. In mandating this mark, Kolemeus IV so symbolized their legacy of ruin, forevermore. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">Nothing lasts forever. Even a “legacy of ruin.” And to think, this mask of foolishness obscured the genius of what the Kolemians attempted. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] The Pharos Fidelis had finally transformed into what it had long threatened to become: an indelible stain on every map. Its name known to all. Its seas navigable to none. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightchroniclechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#927b1a")))[[[Investigate. ⇒->9B. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">What does the end of a regime sound like? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Is it so literal—the last, shuddering wisp of wind passing between witless lips? Perhaps the clang of gold against stone as a crown tumbles free from its severed head? Or is it the cacophony of criers ascatter, squawking their tidings from the palace upon its anthill? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">No one has ever accused Kolemian scholars of clarity or relevance. And neither will I. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] Few survived the Glassbound Rebellion, and fewer still wished to speak of their role in it. But they were heard. Overseers screamed, cast down upon the rocks. Bloodfrothed waves scraped ships into flotsam against storm-dark cliffs. Lightning menaced every crag, peak, and mast; its thunder splintered bones. But wasn’t it one sound in particular that echoed across the seas, shattering the fragile foundation of the court of Kolemeus IV? There was a great and terrible cracking, as the ever-hungering lens clove open. Soulwind screeched as it fed the curse with countless lives at once. All that the architects and emperors and generals and sorcerers had doomed generations to construct, undone. A sound louder than the infernal bronze bells that toll in the halls of the hells. A sound that, for a second, split the sky asunder. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“Is that true?” Finnit asked, stifling a yawn. “Are there a lot of bells where you’re from?” “No, curious one.” Vosaphar gave it some further thought. “But the lazurynthine crucibles cast more than just weapons. It is not impossible that an archfiend might desire the sound of ringing bronze, and commission such a marvel.”</div>] Without the lens, the loss of ships, lives, and—most importantly—gold, was incalculable. All to render the route even more impassable than it had been at the start. The whispers of decline that Kolemeus IV faced grew into a raucous chorus. Amplified, no doubt, by the jilted financiers. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">That they failed to recognize their souls as a potential source of magic speaks to a critical lack of foresight. The lens did exactly what it was designed to do: gather energy. So much of it. So much more of it than they possibly could’ve needed to reliably guide ships. How could any of them have believed that’s what it was really for? ⚞L. Raekard</div>] While much has been written elsewhere about the frenzy of imperial orders Kolemeus IV issued prior to abdication, none is more elucidating than their ordinance on the Pharos Fidelis. As decreed, it was stricken from all official maps with a blotch of black ink. In mandating this mark, Kolemeus IV so symbolized their legacy of ruin, forevermore. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">Nothing lasts forever. Even a “legacy of ruin.” And to think, this mask of foolishness obscured the genius of what the Kolemians attempted. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] The Pharos Fidelis had finally transformed into what it had long threatened to become: an indelible stain on every map. Its name known to all. Its seas navigable to none. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="chroniclechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#927b1a")))[[[Investigate. ⇒->9B. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#927b1a")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Chronicle]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[IX.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">With the accord negotiated—shoddy though it was—Vosaphar settled uneasily into his new situation. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[For the first few days, Finnit hadn’t requested much from him. The sickly mortal had been spending much of his finite existence asleep, as such beings are wont to do. This gave Vosaphar critical time to focus on recovering from his own wounds, without revealing the extent of it to Finnit. Their arrangement could collapse at any moment, after all. With the negotiated windfall of the sorcerer’s magic seeping in, he directed his efforts toward closing his wounds as best he could. These clumsy attempts would scar terribly, but the problem went far beyond any cosmetic implications. Vosaphar had wandered the calciferous wastes with these wounds slashed across his chest and stomach, managing the bleeding, enduring the pain while waiting to gain energy, and inevitably reopening the tears when he overexerted himself. They had become so central to his existence, for so long, that they had infested his identity. His *specificity*. How far he’d fallen, losing his wings, and in return, bearing this unending affliction. Even so, since accepting the sorcerer’s strange invitation, the miasma of pain occluding his mind had thinned. It would be a while yet before he could regain what he lost, but his strength and focus were on the rise. Vosaphar watched as Finnit flipped sleepily through one of his fanciful historical volumes, fire-shadows warming his face. Finnit’s magic had a particular taste to it. A bit astringent, like fruit that fell and bruised before it ripened. Inhibited. Restrained. Still, there was a hint of something else. A mortal summoner’s magic could be expected to have hellish influence, but Finnit’s was especially pronounced. He studied the sorcerer’s face closely, wondering if the man might have had a devil somewhere in his distant lineage. Finnit turned his way. “What is it?” He’d been caught staring. A beat passed. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“I merely hungered for your flesh.” “What?!” Finnit went pale. “A joke,” Vosaphar said, holding up his claws in what he imagined to be a softening gesture. “Forgive my gaze, I’ve had little of interest to observe.” “Of—of course,” Finnit said, betraying himself slightly. “Uh—what do you… normally… look at?” “The calciferous wastes.” The sorcerer raised his eyebrows. “You’ve mentioned them. What are they like?” “An endless, barren expanse of dark stone under a seething sky. Coralbone trees rise white and jagged from slicks of bloodfrost that sublime into haze. Specters drift by, meager fragments of discarded souls, too diffuse to provide much warmth or sustenance.” Vosaphar thought better of leaving it on that note. “At any rate, I much prefer *this* place.” Finnit looked around at the dim chamber. “It has its charms,” he said, rather unconvincingly. “Look, um, I wanted to ask you if you feel up to helping me with something… difficult.” “What is it?” “It’s just… I can keep trying to read about the lighthouse and its broken lens, but to understand it, I think I need to actually *see* it. I haven’t been out since I was attacked by… well I don’t really know what it was. None of these books have mentioned anything like it.” Vosaphar let Finnit carry on for a few minutes, describing his first miserable attempt to climb the cliff stairs in the rain, culminating in his flight from some taloned monstrosity. “This is why I haven’t been able to go exploring,” Finnit said. “So you would like me to venture out as your proxy, and see if the path is clear, or if I instead get eaten?” “That’s not how I would put it.” “No, perhaps you wouldn’t.” Vosaphar paced, looking out into the churning storm. His chest wounds were still raw, itching beneath the ill-fitting academy robe Finnit had found for him among his supplies. “We don’t need to figure this out now,” Finnit said. “I will attempt it,” Vosaphar decided. “It’s not as though conditions are likely to improve.” “I could cast a ward on you,” Finnit offered. “It might help with the rain.” “A ward? What do you mean?” Finnit looked surprised. “Maybe you call it something else? Here, I’ll show you.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar let the sorcerer pull him in. The demon was close enough to see a few silver strands tangled in the locks on top of the mortal’s head. This gave him a pang of emotion he couldn’t quite place. He shifted his focus quickly. Finnit attempted to weave an unfamiliar spell that shimmered around him. It failed a few times before he got it right, the sorcerer apologizing for his shoddy spellcraft. Vosaphar found it quite comfortable and warm to be flush with even more gifted magic. “It should be working now?” Finnit looked him over, dark crescents bruised beneath his eyes. “Try holding your claws out in the rain.” Vosaphar did so. Some of the rain bent around him, as though avoiding his touch. “What an interesting effect, clever one.” He noted with some amusement that Finnit—despite his feeble affect—managed to look rather pleased with himself. “If you’re interested, I can show you more spells,” Finnit said. “Uh—when I feel more… up to it. Unfortunately, this one might not even last—I’ll try to keep it active for as long as I can.” The demon moved toward the alcove leading out. Finnit followed him, stopping short of the drenched landing. He looked like he wanted to say something else. Vosaphar waited him out, but the moment passed. He turned his attention away from Finnit, beginning up the stairs. It was careful work, picking the right steps to ensure a safe path. Grim though Finnit alleged the environment to be, the devil found it much more inviting than the calciferous wastes. It was full of energy. Full of *life*. The wind was ferocious, sending his dark hair aflutter. Torrents rushed around him, forming and reforming in ceaseless rhythm. Filaments of lightning painted the sky in dazzling colors. It was astonishing to witness. If this was—as Finnit insisted—the result of a curse, Vosaphar wondered why anyone would want to end it. Just as he reached the first bend, a shriek rent the sky. The demon tensed, then retreated a few steps as the flying creature swept overhead. Its stature was imposing—Finnit hadn’t exaggerated much. Vosaphar felt a thrill of terror, noting the wicked sharpness of its talons and its scorching, acid-tipped tail. He clutched his robe around himself, wounds prickling in sympathy with his imagination. Yet, that was not *all* he imagined. The bird-thing radiated magic in waves that washed over Vosaphar’s senses. He could smell its potency, the power that could be his if only he found a way to claim it. How he ached to fly once more, with wings of his own. The creature shrieked again, more wistfully this time, landing atop a craggy outcropping. It affixed its golden gaze on Vosaphar’s own. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Influence. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">With the accord negotiated—shoddy though it was—Vosaphar settled uneasily into his new situation. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[For the first few days, Finnit hadn’t requested much from him. The sickly mortal had been spending much of his finite existence asleep, as such beings are wont to do. This gave Vosaphar critical time to focus on recovering from his own wounds, without revealing the extent of it to Finnit. Their arrangement could collapse at any moment, after all. With the negotiated windfall of the sorcerer’s magic seeping in, he directed his efforts toward closing his wounds as best he could. These clumsy attempts would scar terribly, but the problem went far beyond any cosmetic implications. Vosaphar had wandered the calciferous wastes with these wounds slashed across his chest and stomach, managing the bleeding, enduring the pain while waiting to gain energy, and inevitably reopening the tears when he overexerted himself. They had become so central to his existence, for so long, that they had infested his identity. His *specificity*. How far he’d fallen, losing his wings, and in return, bearing this unending affliction. Even so, since accepting the sorcerer’s strange invitation, the miasma of pain occluding his mind had thinned. It would be a while yet before he could regain what he lost, but his strength and focus were on the rise. Vosaphar watched as Finnit flipped sleepily through one of his fanciful historical volumes, fire-shadows warming his face. Finnit’s magic had a particular taste to it. A bit astringent, like fruit that fell and bruised before it ripened. Inhibited. Restrained. Still, there was a hint of something else. A mortal summoner’s magic could be expected to have hellish influence, but Finnit’s was especially pronounced. He studied the sorcerer’s face closely, wondering if the man might have had a devil somewhere in his distant lineage. Finnit turned his way. “What is it?” He’d been caught staring. A beat passed. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“I merely hungered for your flesh.” “What?!” Finnit went pale. “A joke,” Vosaphar said, holding up his claws in what he imagined to be a softening gesture. “Forgive my gaze, I’ve had little of interest to observe.” “Of—of course,” Finnit said, betraying himself slightly. “Uh—what do you… normally… look at?” “The calciferous wastes.” The sorcerer raised his eyebrows. “You’ve mentioned them. What are they like?” “An endless, barren expanse of dark stone under a seething sky. Coralbone trees rise white and jagged from slicks of bloodfrost that sublime into haze. Specters drift by, meager fragments of discarded souls, too diffuse to provide much warmth or sustenance.” Vosaphar thought better of leaving it on that note. “At any rate, I much prefer *this* place.” Finnit looked around at the dim chamber. “It has its charms,” he said, rather unconvincingly. “Look, um, I wanted to ask you if you feel up to helping me with something… difficult.” “What is it?” “It’s just… I can keep trying to read about the lighthouse and its broken lens, but to understand it, I think I need to actually *see* it. I haven’t been out since I was attacked by… well I don’t really know what it was. None of these books have mentioned anything like it.” Vosaphar let Finnit carry on for a few minutes, describing his first miserable attempt to climb the cliff stairs in the rain, culminating in his flight from some taloned monstrosity. “This is why I haven’t been able to go exploring,” Finnit said. “So you would like me to venture out as your proxy, and see if the path is clear, or if I instead get eaten?” “That’s not how I would put it.” “No, perhaps you wouldn’t.” Vosaphar paced, looking out into the churning storm. His chest wounds were still raw, itching beneath the ill-fitting academy robe Finnit had found for him among his supplies. “We don’t need to figure this out now,” Finnit said. “I will attempt it,” Vosaphar decided. “It’s not as though conditions are likely to improve.” “I could cast a ward on you,” Finnit offered. “It might help with the rain.” “A ward? What do you mean?” Finnit looked surprised. “Maybe you call it something else? Here, I’ll show you.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar let the sorcerer pull him in. The demon was close enough to see a few silver strands tangled in the locks on top of the mortal’s head. This gave him a pang of emotion he couldn’t quite place. He shifted his focus quickly. Finnit attempted to weave an unfamiliar spell that shimmered around him. It failed a few times before he got it right, the sorcerer apologizing for his shoddy spellcraft. Vosaphar found it quite comfortable and warm to be flush with even more gifted magic. “It should be working now?” Finnit looked him over, dark crescents bruised beneath his eyes. “Try holding your claws out in the rain.” Vosaphar did so. Some of the rain bent around him, as though avoiding his touch. “What an interesting effect, clever one.” He noted with some amusement that Finnit—despite his feeble affect—managed to look rather pleased with himself. “If you’re interested, I can show you more spells,” Finnit said. “Uh—when I feel more… up to it. Unfortunately, this one might not even last—I’ll try to keep it active for as long as I can.” The demon moved toward the alcove leading out. Finnit followed him, stopping short of the drenched landing. He looked like he wanted to say something else. Vosaphar waited him out, but the moment passed. He turned his attention away from Finnit, beginning up the stairs. It was careful work, picking the right steps to ensure a safe path. Grim though Finnit alleged the environment to be, the devil found it much more inviting than the calciferous wastes. It was full of energy. Full of *life*. The wind was ferocious, sending his dark hair aflutter. Torrents rushed around him, forming and reforming in ceaseless rhythm. Filaments of lightning painted the sky in dazzling colors. It was astonishing to witness. If this was—as Finnit insisted—the result of a curse, Vosaphar wondered why anyone would want to end it. Just as he reached the first bend, a shriek rent the sky. The demon tensed, then retreated a few steps as the flying creature swept overhead. Its stature was imposing—Finnit hadn’t exaggerated much. Vosaphar felt a thrill of terror, noting the wicked sharpness of its talons and its scorching, acid-tipped tail. He clutched his robe around himself, wounds prickling in sympathy with his imagination. Yet, that was not *all* he imagined. The bird-thing radiated magic in waves that washed over Vosaphar’s senses. He could smell its potency, the power that could be his if only he found a way to claim it. How he ached to fly once more, with wings of his own. The creature shrieked again, more wistfully this time, landing atop a craggy outcropping. It affixed its golden gaze on Vosaphar’s own. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Influence. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#fc4e71")+(text-size: 3)[Influence.] (text-color:"#fc4e71")+(text-size: 1.15)[Dread | Envy.]</div> Another mote of hellfire appeared. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightmotepassage">When potent emotions conflicted a demon’s judgment, even the faintest mote of hellfire bore enough infernal energy to influence their fate from afar. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#8c283c)[***Dread***] For the demon Vosaphar, whose grievous wounds had never truly healed, the sight of this powerful foe dredged memories of his calamitous fall at Cairnveld. This dread would have inspired a cautious approach, prioritizing self-preservation ahead of advancement. Yielding to the influence of this dread, however pragmatic, would have lost him the nerve required to feast upon the creature’s magic and make further improvements to his condition. (text-color:#8c283c)[***Envy***] For the demon Vosaphar, at long last improving his wretched condition, the wings of this aggrandized power source dredged memories of his erstwhile flights above the smoking pits of the lazurynth. This envy would have inspired an aggressive approach, prioritizing advancement ahead of self-preservation. Yielding to the influence of this envy, however gratifying, would have lost him the restraint required to guarantee preservation of the ever-precarious improvements to his condition. (text-color:#8c283c)[***Decision***] Which force did this mote of hellfire incite? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightmotechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))[[[Dread. ⇒->10BA. Finnit]]] (link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))[[[Envy. ⇒->10BB. Finnit]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="motepassage">When potent emotions conflicted a demon’s judgment, even the faintest mote of hellfire bore enough infernal energy to influence their fate from afar. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Dread***] For the demon Vosaphar, whose grievous wounds had never truly healed, the sight of this powerful foe dredged memories of his calamitous fall at Cairnveld. This dread would have inspired a cautious approach, prioritizing self-preservation ahead of advancement. Yielding to the influence of this dread, however pragmatic, would have lost him the nerve required to feast upon the creature’s magic and make further improvements to his condition. (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Envy***] For the demon Vosaphar, at long last improving his wretched condition, the wings of this aggrandized power source dredged memories of his erstwhile flights above the smoking pits of the lazurynth. This envy would have inspired an aggressive approach, prioritizing advancement ahead of self-preservation. Yielding to the influence of this envy, however gratifying, would have lost him the restraint required to guarantee preservation of the ever-precarious improvements to his condition. (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Decision***] Which force did this mote of hellfire incite? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="motechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Dread. ⇒->10BA. Finnit]]] (link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Envy. ⇒->10BB. Finnit]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Mote]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[X.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">When the creature first screeched, Finnit had darted back into the chamber. But he couldn’t just abandon the man he sent out to face it in his stead. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[From the alcove, Finnit watched Vosaphar and the terrifying bird-creature facing off. Cold sweat trickled down his cheeks. He could almost hear Raekard laughing at the idea that Finnit’s attempted heresy had, in effect, recreated the very spectacle of violence that had so moved him to reject the luminary’s principles. But did it have to be the same? Vosaphar could make his own decisions. And Finnit didn’t have to freeze—didn’t have to be helpless this time. He could intervene. Finnit focused on the ward, feeding it even more of his magic. The fire went out behind him—he couldn’t hold both spells at once. Finnit doubted the ward would be durable enough to shield Vosaphar completely from an attack, but he owed him any protection he could offer. The winged beast perched like a fortress gargoyle, still giving out a few mournful shrieks. Incredibly, Vosaphar was *approaching* it. The creature twisted its serpentine neck to get a closer look, otherworldly eyes casting a golden glow over the fiend. It screeched again. Vosaphar stopped, then shouted something Finnit couldn’t parse—a harsh, guttural language. The bird-thing twisted its neck back and forth, agitated, and screeched some more. Vosaphar had his hands outstretched, claws gleaming in the light from its eyes. He shouted some more in that infernal tongue. Finnit was astonished. He was really trying to communicate with it. The creature whined, slapping its tail against the cliffs, splattering acid on the steps. Steam erupted from the rivulets of rain it touched. Vosaphar put his hands on his hips now, looking irritable. Finnit stifled a laugh. There was something absurd about the gesture. He thought of Luminary Jethel visiting Raekard to chew him out. If anything, this was the more cordial of the exchanges. The two engaged in a heated back and forth for a while longer. Eventually, Vosaphar grabbed the hem of the robes he was wearing and gave the creature an odd, stilted curtsy. He turned toward Finnit, stepping carefully but quickly down the stairs, perhaps worried it might change its mind about eating him. “What happened?” Finnit asked, pulling Vosaphar back into the cold, dark chamber. “She wants the anchor,” the demon explained. “What?” Vosaphar pointed to the ship’s anchor resting among the rubble. “That. She wants it.” Finnit hadn’t spared the rusted anchor a thought since he had first noticed it. He could not imagine what possible reason it—no, apparently *she*—could want this bit of junk. “Why?” Vosaphar grabbed his wrist—firmly, but not painfully, and brought Finnit’s face up to meet his own. “Listen, skittish one. She’s waiting. Do you wish to *keep* her waiting, while I answer your many, many queries?” From outside, the creature shrieked again. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Okay, yeah, fine. Of course. Go ahead and take the anchor.” Finnit paused. “What am I saying? It’s not even mine. You don’t need my permission.” Vosaphar released Finnit’s wrist. Finnit’s skin was warm where the demon had gripped it. For some reason, his face also felt warm. The demon strode to the corner and lifted the anchor without much effort, as though it weighed as little to him as a candle. Finnit watched as he left, trailing flakes of rust shed by the anchor. Would the winged terror really accept such an unimpressive tribute? Vosaphar walked forward to where he had previously stood, and shouted toward the creature again. She shuffled her weight between her talons, sending gravel tumbling over the edge of the cliff. He set down the anchor, and then retreated—rather more rapidly this time—as the creature sprang from her perch, cascading more stones into the waves far below. The bird-thing dove to snatch the anchor, emitted a strange warble, and circled out of view. Finnit dropped the ward, attempting to recast the fire a few times without much success. Eventually, Vosaphar took pity on him and cast a fire himself, a pale blue flame that burned much hotter than Finnit’s had. The demon grabbed one of the bedrolls and flopped down by the flames. Finnit collapsed onto his own bedroll nearby. “So,” he began, a bit awkwardly. “What was that all about?” “She will give us free reign of the Pharos Fidelis,” Vosaphar said, his tail curling. “She really wanted that anchor.” “Are you sure?” Finnit asked. “I couldn’t understand what was, uh, said.” “Right.” Vosaphar tilted his head, evaluating. “She collects them. Anchors, I mean. She couldn’t reach this one. It had been bothering her for a while. She was very pleased with me.” Finnit thought back to the exchange of screeching. It hadn’t *sounded* agreeable. “Thank you,” he said, finally. “I could never have managed anything like that by myself. I’m sorry for putting you through that.” Vosaphar shifted even closer to the fire. “It is what I agreed to do for you, accordant one.” Finnit wondered what else his companion might be thinking, but left him to rest. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Interpret. ⇒->C3BA. Lightning]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">When the creature first screeched, Finnit had darted back into the chamber. But he couldn’t just abandon the man he sent out to face it in his stead. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[From the alcove, Finnit watched Vosaphar and the terrifying bird-creature facing off. Cold sweat trickled down his cheeks. He could almost hear Raekard laughing at the idea that Finnit’s attempted heresy had, in effect, recreated the very spectacle of violence that had so moved him to reject the luminary’s principles. But did it have to be the same? Vosaphar could make his own decisions. And Finnit didn’t have to freeze—didn’t have to be helpless this time. He could intervene. Finnit focused on the ward, feeding it even more of his magic. The fire went out behind him—he couldn’t hold both spells at once. Finnit doubted the ward would be durable enough to shield Vosaphar completely from an attack, but he owed him any protection he could offer. The winged beast perched like a fortress gargoyle, still giving out a few mournful shrieks. Incredibly, Vosaphar was *approaching* it. The creature twisted its serpentine neck to get a closer look, otherworldly eyes casting a golden glow over the fiend. It screeched again. Vosaphar stopped, then shouted something Finnit couldn’t parse—a harsh, guttural language. The bird-thing twisted its neck back and forth, agitated, and screeched some more. Vosaphar had his hands outstretched, claws gleaming in the light from its eyes. He shouted some more in that infernal tongue. Finnit was astonished. He was really trying to communicate with it. The creature whined, slapping its tail against the cliffs, splattering acid on the steps. Steam erupted from the rivulets of rain it touched. Vosaphar put his hands on his hips now, looking irritable. Finnit stifled a laugh. There was something absurd about the gesture. He thought of Luminary Jethel visiting Raekard to chew him out. If anything, this was the more cordial of the exchanges. The two engaged in a heated back and forth for a while longer. Eventually, Vosaphar grabbed the hem of the robes he was wearing and gave the creature an odd, stilted curtsy. He turned toward Finnit, stepping carefully but quickly down the stairs, perhaps worried it might change its mind about eating him. “What happened?” Finnit asked, pulling Vosaphar back into the cold, dark chamber. “She wants the anchor,” the demon explained. “What?” Vosaphar pointed to the ship’s anchor resting among the rubble. “That. She wants it.” Finnit hadn’t spared the rusted anchor a thought since he had first noticed it. He could not imagine what possible reason it—no, apparently *she*—could want this bit of junk. “Why?” Vosaphar grabbed his wrist—firmly, but not painfully, and brought Finnit’s face up to meet his own. “Listen, skittish one. She’s waiting. Do you wish to *keep* her waiting, while I answer your many, many queries?” From outside, the creature shrieked again. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Okay, yeah, fine. Of course. Go ahead and take the anchor.” Finnit paused. “What am I saying? It’s not even mine. You don’t need my permission.” Vosaphar released Finnit’s wrist. Finnit’s skin was warm where the demon had gripped it. For some reason, his face also felt warm. The demon strode to the corner and lifted the anchor without much effort, as though it weighed as little to him as a candle. Finnit watched as he left, trailing flakes of rust shed by the anchor. Would the winged terror really accept such an unimpressive tribute? Vosaphar walked forward to where he had previously stood, and shouted toward the creature again. She shuffled her weight between her talons, sending gravel tumbling over the edge of the cliff. He set down the anchor, and then retreated—rather more rapidly this time—as the creature sprang from her perch, cascading more stones into the waves far below. The bird-thing dove to snatch the anchor, emitted a strange warble, and circled out of view. Finnit dropped the ward, attempting to recast the fire a few times without much success. Eventually, Vosaphar took pity on him and cast a fire himself, a pale blue flame that burned much hotter than Finnit’s had. The demon grabbed one of the bedrolls and flopped down by the flames. Finnit collapsed onto his own bedroll nearby. “So,” he began, a bit awkwardly. “What was that all about?” “She will give us free reign of the Pharos Fidelis,” Vosaphar said, his tail curling. “She really wanted that anchor.” “Are you sure?” Finnit asked. “I couldn’t understand what was, uh, said.” “Right.” Vosaphar tilted his head, evaluating. “She collects them. Anchors, I mean. She couldn’t reach this one. It had been bothering her for a while. She was very pleased with me.” Finnit thought back to the exchange of screeching. It hadn’t *sounded* agreeable. “Thank you,” he said, finally. “I could never have managed anything like that by myself. I’m sorry for putting you through that.” Vosaphar shifted even closer to the fire. “It is what I agreed to do for you, accordant one.” Finnit wondered what else his companion might be thinking, but left him to rest. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Interpret. ⇒->C3BA. Lightning]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[X.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">When the creature first screeched, Finnit had darted back into the chamber. But he couldn’t just abandon the man he sent out to face it in his stead. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[From the alcove, Finnit watched Vosaphar and the terrifying bird-creature facing off. Cold sweat trickled down his cheeks. He could almost hear Raekard laughing at the idea that Finnit’s attempted heresy had, in effect, recreated the very spectacle of violence that had so moved him to reject the luminary’s principles. But did it have to be the same? Vosaphar could make his own decisions. And Finnit didn’t have to freeze—didn’t have to be helpless this time. He could intervene. Finnit focused on the ward, feeding it even more of his magic. The fire went out behind him—he couldn’t hold both spells at once. Finnit doubted the ward would be durable enough to shield Vosaphar completely from an attack, but he owed him any protection he could offer. The winged beast perched like a fortress gargoyle, still giving out a few mournful shrieks. Incredibly, Vosaphar was *approaching* it. The creature twisted its serpentine neck to get a closer look, otherworldly eyes casting a golden glow over the fiend. It happened so quickly that Finnit struggled to process what he had seen. Vosaphar feinted toward the head, drawing the creature out over the cliffside, then pounced instead toward the gnarled joint where one of the bird-thing’s crooked wings attached to its body, severing it with a brutally precise swipe from his claws. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The flying terror wailed, flapping in its pain and confusion, and tumbled over the edge of the cliffs. As it thrashed, its segmented tail raked across Vosaphar’s arm, splattering acid all over him. He yelped in pain as steam erupted from the rivulets of rain the caustic fluid touched, and Finnit’s ward collapsed. “No!” Finnit shouted, trying desperately to recast the ward. The fire went out behind him. The creature tumbled down, still shrieking, until it crashed into the rocks far, far below and at last went silent. “Vosaphar—are you okay?” Finnit called through the rain. “It is dead.” The devil stepped carefully around the sizzling acid, clutching his arm as he descended back toward the landing. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Once he was back in the chamber, Finnit dropped the ward, attempting to recast the fire a few times without much success. Eventually, Vosaphar took pity on him and cast a fire himself, a pale blue flame that burned much hotter than Finnit’s had. The demon grabbed one of the bedrolls and flopped down by the flames. Finnit collapsed onto his own bedroll nearby. “That was so dangerous! Are you really okay? Your arm…” “It is not so bad,” Vosaphar said, nevertheless wincing as he touched his new injuries. “Your ward held back the worst of it.” “May I—um,” Finnit began, reaching his way, “I might be able to help with your burns?” “No!” Vosaphar snapped, pulling away from his touch. “You may *not*.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit shrank back, flushing from surprise and embarrassment. “I—I’m sorry. I didn’t mean… I’m sorry.” Vosaphar glowered at him a few moments longer, then sighed, uncurling his clenched tail slightly. “I shouldn’t have shouted. You meant to help. But, I do not wish for you to tend to my wounds.” “It’s okay—you—*I* should have let you respond before reaching. Um…” “What is it?” Vosaphar asked. “I’m sorry for putting you through that. I feel horrible. Am I as bad as Raekard? It’s exactly what he would’ve done—sent out a demon to fight for him. I didn’t mean for the accord to be like that.” There was a supremely awkward pause. “I’m sorry, Vosaphar.” The demon shifted closer to the fire, bathed in the blue glow of his creation. “I do not wish to regularly fight such vicious beasts at your behest. Would that cause you to end the accord?” “No,” Finnit said. “If there’s another one—I’ll come up with something else. I never should have let that happen.” He looked at Finnit for a few more moments, and then gave a wicked smile. “Then you are marginally better than Raekard, fretful one.” Unsure whether to laugh or feel chagrined, Finnit left his companion to rest. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Interpret. ⇒->C3BB. Lightning]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">When the creature first screeched, Finnit had darted back into the chamber. But he couldn’t just abandon the man he sent out to face it in his stead. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[From the alcove, Finnit watched Vosaphar and the terrifying bird-creature facing off. Cold sweat trickled down his cheeks. He could almost hear Raekard laughing at the idea that Finnit’s attempted heresy had, in effect, recreated the very spectacle of violence that had so moved him to reject the luminary’s principles. But did it have to be the same? Vosaphar could make his own decisions. And Finnit didn’t have to freeze—didn’t have to be helpless this time. He could intervene. Finnit focused on the ward, feeding it even more of his magic. The fire went out behind him—he couldn’t hold both spells at once. Finnit doubted the ward would be durable enough to shield Vosaphar completely from an attack, but he owed him any protection he could offer. The winged beast perched like a fortress gargoyle, still giving out a few mournful shrieks. Incredibly, Vosaphar was *approaching* it. The creature twisted its serpentine neck to get a closer look, otherworldly eyes casting a golden glow over the fiend. It happened so quickly that Finnit struggled to process what he had seen. Vosaphar feinted toward the head, drawing the creature out over the cliffside, then pounced instead toward the gnarled joint where one of the bird-thing’s crooked wings attached to its body, severing it with a brutally precise swipe from his claws. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The flying terror wailed, flapping in its pain and confusion, and tumbled over the edge of the cliffs. As it thrashed, its segmented tail raked across Vosaphar’s arm, splattering acid all over him. He yelped in pain as steam erupted from the rivulets of rain the caustic fluid touched, and Finnit’s ward collapsed. “No!” Finnit shouted, trying desperately to recast the ward. The fire went out behind him. The creature tumbled down, still shrieking, until it crashed into the rocks far, far below and at last went silent. “Vosaphar—are you okay?” Finnit called through the rain. “It is dead.” The devil stepped carefully around the sizzling acid, clutching his arm as he descended back toward the landing. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Once he was back in the chamber, Finnit dropped the ward, attempting to recast the fire a few times without much success. Eventually, Vosaphar took pity on him and cast a fire himself, a pale blue flame that burned much hotter than Finnit’s had. The demon grabbed one of the bedrolls and flopped down by the flames. Finnit collapsed onto his own bedroll nearby. “That was so dangerous! Are you really okay? Your arm…” “It is not so bad,” Vosaphar said, nevertheless wincing as he touched his new injuries. “Your ward held back the worst of it.” “May I—um,” Finnit began, reaching his way, “I might be able to help with your burns?” “No!” Vosaphar snapped, pulling away from his touch. “You may *not*.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit shrank back, flushing from surprise and embarrassment. “I—I’m sorry. I didn’t mean… I’m sorry.” Vosaphar glowered at him a few moments longer, then sighed, uncurling his clenched tail slightly. “I shouldn’t have shouted. You meant to help. But, I do not wish for you to tend to my wounds.” “It’s okay—you—*I* should have let you respond before reaching. Um…” “What is it?” Vosaphar asked. “I’m sorry for putting you through that. I feel horrible. Am I as bad as Raekard? It’s exactly what he would’ve done—sent out a demon to fight for him. I didn’t mean for the accord to be like that.” There was a supremely awkward pause. “I’m sorry, Vosaphar.” The demon shifted closer to the fire, bathed in the blue glow of his creation. “I do not wish to regularly fight such vicious beasts at your behest. Would that cause you to end the accord?” “No,” Finnit said. “If there’s another one—I’ll come up with something else. I never should have let that happen.” He looked at Finnit for a few more moments, and then gave a wicked smile. “Then you are marginally better than Raekard, fretful one.” Unsure whether to laugh or feel chagrined, Finnit left his companion to rest. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Interpret. ⇒->C3BB. Lightning]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[3rd Era | Lightning.]</div> Another fragment recounting the dark history of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">With the fading of the flames, so too did the imperial coffers grow cold. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#4c4833)[**First—**] Kolemeus II called the financiers to approach her throne and confer. They brayed of blockades, their ships sieged in once-safe sounds. Their routes risked wreckage, for the Pharos Fidelis vanquished their vessels. The jester recited a paean to profit. One cannot craft coins from sunken silver. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“Finnit!” Vosaphar snapped his fingers. “Hmm?” Finnit tried blinking the exhaustion out of his eyes. “Oh, did I doze off?” “You kept reading the same sentence over and over again.” “It is a chore, isn’t it?” He yawned. “Ugh. Thank you for helping me get through it.”</div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**Second—**] Kolemeus II called the generals to approach her throne and confer. They agonized of attrition, unable to pry pirates from the passages. Their hosts harbored hunger, for the Pharos Fidelis gainsaid their grain. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">Their unwillingness to employ portals is staggering. I cannot wrap my head around the idea that this dynasty—so resistant to magical solutions—somehow produced the most sophisticated piece of glass to ever exist on this plane. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] The jester crooned an ode to oats. One cannot feed forces with sunken supplies. (text-color:#4c4833)[**Next—**] Kolemeus II called the architects to approach her throne and confer. They lamented of lightning, whose scattered strikes imperiled implementation of any regime of radiance. Their dreams despaired, for the Pharos Fidelis spited their stability. The jester wailed an elegy to effulgence. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">If I ever find this “historian” wandering the hells, I will kill them again. The jester, too. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] One cannot build beacons with sunken stones. (text-color:#4c4833)[**Then—**] Kolemeus II called the sorcerers to approach her throne and confer. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">Finally. Someone who might actually know something. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] They moaned of malleability, unable to fold-forge fluid. Their fingers failed, for the Pharos Fidelis frustrated their philosophy. The jester danced in pretentious pirouettes. One cannot conquer conjecture with sunken scholars. (text-color:#4c4833)[**Further—**] Kolemeus II called the smiths to approach her throne and confer. Though many spoke of spectacle, it was but one who brought her glowing glass newly wrought, for folding lightning the fortress fought. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">This is infuriating to read. One of the worst yet. Is it really so much to ask to see some proper blueprints? They did not even name the glassmaster who perfected the hyperfolding technique. She must have left her secrets somewhere. I have to believe she did. And the form—such that it was—collapsed ahead of the dénouement. Abominable poetics. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] The jester sang demands for demonstration. One cannot light lamps with sunken spirits. (text-color:#4c4833)[**At last—**] Kolemeus II called the jester to approach her throne and confer. He asked for her hand in marriage. She gifted him the glistering glass, and decreed him dragged up the spindliest spire to soar in stormy skies. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“I don’t think Kolemeus II appreciated his joke,” Finnit said. “I bet the rest of the court laughed, though.” “Was it a joke?” Vosaphar scratched the tip of one of his pointed ears. “He might have been serious.”</div>] Thus shone a beam befitting a lavish lens. Its promise proven, construction commenced. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightchroniclechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[[[Ascend. ⇒->11BA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">With the fading of the flames, so too did the imperial coffers grow cold. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#d7cc90)[**First—**] Kolemeus II called the financiers to approach her throne and confer. They brayed of blockades, their ships sieged in once-safe sounds. Their routes risked wreckage, for the Pharos Fidelis vanquished their vessels. The jester recited a paean to profit. One cannot craft coins from sunken silver. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“Finnit!” Vosaphar snapped his fingers. “Hmm?” Finnit tried blinking the exhaustion out of his eyes. “Oh, did I doze off?” “You kept reading the same sentence over and over again.” “It is a chore, isn’t it?” He yawned. “Ugh. Thank you for helping me get through it.”</div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**Second—**] Kolemeus II called the generals to approach her throne and confer. They agonized of attrition, unable to pry pirates from the passages. Their hosts harbored hunger, for the Pharos Fidelis gainsaid their grain. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">Their unwillingness to employ portals is staggering. I cannot wrap my head around the idea that this dynasty—so resistant to magical solutions—somehow produced the most sophisticated piece of glass to ever exist on this plane. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] The jester crooned an ode to oats. One cannot feed forces with sunken supplies. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**Next—**] Kolemeus II called the architects to approach her throne and confer. They lamented of lightning, whose scattered strikes imperiled implementation of any regime of radiance. Their dreams despaired, for the Pharos Fidelis spited their stability. The jester wailed an elegy to effulgence. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">If I ever find this “historian” wandering the hells, I will kill them again. The jester, too. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] One cannot build beacons with sunken stones. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**Then—**] Kolemeus II called the sorcerers to approach her throne and confer. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">Finally. Someone who might actually know something. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] They moaned of malleability, unable to fold-forge fluid. Their fingers failed, for the Pharos Fidelis frustrated their philosophy. The jester danced in pretentious pirouettes. One cannot conquer conjecture with sunken scholars. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**Further—**] Kolemeus II called the smiths to approach her throne and confer. Though many spoke of spectacle, it was but one who brought her glowing glass newly wrought, for folding lightning the fortress fought. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">This is infuriating to read. One of the worst yet. Is it really so much to ask to see some proper blueprints? They did not even name the glassmaster who perfected the hyperfolding technique. She must have left her secrets somewhere. I have to believe she did. And the form—such that it was—collapsed ahead of the dénouement. Abominable poetics. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] The jester sang demands for demonstration. One cannot light lamps with sunken spirits. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**At last—**] Kolemeus II called the jester to approach her throne and confer. He asked for her hand in marriage. She gifted him the glistering glass, and decreed him dragged up the spindliest spire to soar in stormy skies. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“I don’t think Kolemeus II appreciated his joke,” Finnit said. “I bet the rest of the court laughed, though.” “Was it a joke?” Vosaphar scratched the tip of one of his pointed ears. “He might have been serious.”</div>] Thus shone a beam befitting a lavish lens. Its promise proven, construction commenced. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="chroniclechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#927b1a")))[[[Ascend. ⇒->11BA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#927b1a")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Chronicle]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">After Vosaphar had smoothed things over with the flying terror, he had hoped that the sorcerer’s magic-fatigue would improve on its own. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[No such luck. Recently, Finnit had been combing through *Elthensen’s Celestial Almanac*, attempting to determine a method of divining the current date, as well as the time remaining until the solar eclipse. Each time Finnit nodded off, Vosaphar’s anxiety ratcheted up. He could not understand why the summoner wouldn’t confront him asking for an adjustment to the accord, or simply end it. It made him feel… guilty. How loathsome a feeling. The ninth time Finnit’s head slumped down onto that same page, Vosaphar decided that had no real choice but to intervene. “This isn’t working,” Vosaphar said. “What do you mean?” Finnit asked, looking blearily up at him. He could barely keep both eyes open at once. “The accord. You have given me too much of your magic.” “No, no,” Finnit said. “I promised. I agreed to it. It’s not fair to you to change my mind.” As difficult as it was for Vosaphar to give up the power he had successfully negotiated for himself, the potential that Finnit would have sleepwalked off the edge of the cliffs to his death before suggesting a revision to the accord was simply too distasteful to live with. That must have been it. “When we first discussed the terms,” the devil began, “I had just traveled to this plane. It was overwhelming—I let my hunger negotiate for me.” He paused. “I cannot fulfill my end of the accord without insisting on lowering my share.” Finnit looked down at the astronomical chart on his lap, then laughed feebly. “This page isn’t even in the right *century*.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Over the next few minutes, Vosaphar helped Finnit draw up an addendum to the accord, settling for just under a third of the sorcerer’s magic. He already regretted voicing his concerns, as the reality of losing out on that much magic set in. Still, the moment they enacted the addendum, color returned to Finnit’s face, and Vosaphar felt relieved. Finnit tested out his magic, casting a ward without much trouble. “Whoa,” he said. “I didn’t just realize how bad it had gotten. Thank you for—I mean, you didn’t have to—” “That is true,” Vosaphar said. “I didn’t have to.” Finnit fiddled with one of his earrings. “Uh—are you—okay with this? Really?” “Yes, Finnit. The accord was… unsustainable.” That much was true, though the fiend knew that the loss of magic would set back his healing. Finnit channeled whatever inscrutable emotions he was feeling into an offer to teach Vosaphar how to cast wards now that he felt better. For all that Finnit complained of his lowly status at his academy, Vosaphar found his explanations of mortal magic sharp and engaging, especially now that he could deliver them with more vigor. Wards were not particularly taxing for the demon to perform, but they required him to reassess *how* he directed his inherent power. Human sorcerers spent far more effort constructing their intentions, rather than intuitively causing whatever they needed to happen to occur. When Vosaphar cast his first successful ward, Finnit had practically gushed. It was the happiest that the demon had seen his companion since his summoning, the pall of exhaustion lifted. As amusing as the ward diversion had been, Finnit’s promise to teach him banishment next was unsettling. Vosaphar dreaded the idea of being on the receiving end of such a spell, a fate that their accord all but promised. Perhaps that was why the devil still hesitated to share the extent of his injuries with Finnit. The sorcerer had, in his collection, a text that interested him—*Intermediate Remedies: Rites of Relief*—but Vosaphar worried what would happen if the mortal caught him reading it. Their rapport notwithstanding, this arrangement was fraught enough. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Some time had passed before Finnit next approached Vosaphar about making the trek up to the lens and its housing. “There must be something else we should do before heading out there,” Finnit said. “Maybe I could read the section about the lens one more time?” Despite Vosaphar’s assurances that the winged one would not bother them, Finnit’s anxiety had still gotten the better of him. “And what else might these grimoires have left to tell you that your own senses couldn’t?” Vosaphar asked. “The way is clear. Our wards are in place. We ought to proceed.” Finnit didn’t look particularly assuaged, but he nodded and put on his gloves. The way was not so clear as Vosaphar had insisted. Even without the flying beast threatening them, the stairs remained treacherous. Finnit insisted upon leading, leaving the demon to worry about his every precarious step forward. He imagined how powerless he would feel, witnessing the mortal slipping off the edge, tumbling to his death on the rocks far, far below. What a senseless way for this all to end. Their route wound around the cliffs, making steady upward progress. Finnit was unaccustomed to this exertion, so they took frequent breaks, resting where the overhang offered some relief from the storm. Vosaphar gazed out over the rock-infested seas. Shipwrecks littered the islands for leagues in every direction. He wondered why so many mortals had insisted on sailing these passages. Did they not long to savor the scant years their lifespans provided? As they crested another ridge, Finnit froze, then cowered against the cliffside. Vosaphar drew closer. “What is it, fearful one?” he whispered. “It’s the *nest*.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He maneuvered himself nimbly around Finnit to see it for himself. And what a sight it was. The stairs led around a great crevice that split the cliff, as though some axe-wielding titan of old had attempted to chop off the peak. Arranged at the entrance to the passage were dozens—if not hundreds—of anchors, many corroded to the point that they were barely recognizable as such, the pileup extending into the dark interior of the cliffs. Cupped within the crown of each anchor was a clutch of blackened eggs. Most had cracked or been trampled, spilling an oily sludge that had long since congealed. Despite the relentless gale, the throat of the cavern breathed the stink of death. A golden light blinked in the shadows. The winged one warbled within her lair, causing Finnit to tense up again. “It will be okay,” Vosaphar said, his voice still soft. “The stairs are safe.” Despite his assurances, Finnit clung to the fiend for support as they shuffled past the eggs. The sorcerer had wrapped one of his arms around the demon’s waist. Vosaphar found that sensation not altogether unpleasant. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Enrapture. ⇒->12BA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">After Vosaphar had smoothed things over with the flying terror, he had hoped that the sorcerer’s magic-fatigue would improve on its own. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[No such luck. Recently, Finnit had been combing through *Elthensen’s Celestial Almanac*, attempting to determine a method of divining the current date, as well as the time remaining until the solar eclipse. Each time Finnit nodded off, Vosaphar’s anxiety ratcheted up. He could not understand why the summoner wouldn’t confront him asking for an adjustment to the accord, or simply end it. It made him feel… guilty. How loathsome a feeling. The ninth time Finnit’s head slumped down onto that same page, Vosaphar decided that had no real choice but to intervene. “This isn’t working,” Vosaphar said. “What do you mean?” Finnit asked, looking blearily up at him. He could barely keep both eyes open at once. “The accord. You have given me too much of your magic.” “No, no,” Finnit said. “I promised. I agreed to it. It’s not fair to you to change my mind.” As difficult as it was for Vosaphar to give up the power he had successfully negotiated for himself, the potential that Finnit would have sleepwalked off the edge of the cliffs to his death before suggesting a revision to the accord was simply too distasteful to live with. That must have been it. “When we first discussed the terms,” the devil began, “I had just traveled to this plane. It was overwhelming—I let my hunger negotiate for me.” He paused. “I cannot fulfill my end of the accord without insisting on lowering my share.” Finnit looked down at the astronomical chart on his lap, then laughed feebly. “This page isn’t even in the right *century*.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Over the next few minutes, Vosaphar helped Finnit draw up an addendum to the accord, settling for just under a third of the sorcerer’s magic. He already regretted voicing his concerns, as the reality of losing out on that much magic set in. Still, the moment they enacted the addendum, color returned to Finnit’s face, and Vosaphar felt relieved. Finnit tested out his magic, casting a ward without much trouble. “Whoa,” he said. “I didn’t just realize how bad it had gotten. Thank you for—I mean, you didn’t have to—” “That is true,” Vosaphar said. “I didn’t have to.” Finnit fiddled with one of his earrings. “Uh—are you—okay with this? Really?” “Yes, Finnit. The accord was… unsustainable.” That much was true, though the fiend knew that the loss of magic would set back his healing. Finnit channeled whatever inscrutable emotions he was feeling into an offer to teach Vosaphar how to cast wards now that he felt better. For all that Finnit complained of his lowly status at his academy, Vosaphar found his explanations of mortal magic sharp and engaging, especially now that he could deliver them with more vigor. Wards were not particularly taxing for the demon to perform, but they required him to reassess *how* he directed his inherent power. Human sorcerers spent far more effort constructing their intentions, rather than intuitively causing whatever they needed to happen to occur. When Vosaphar cast his first successful ward, Finnit had practically gushed. It was the happiest that the demon had seen his companion since his summoning, the pall of exhaustion lifted. As amusing as the ward diversion had been, Finnit’s promise to teach him banishment next was unsettling. Vosaphar dreaded the idea of being on the receiving end of such a spell, a fate that their accord all but promised. Perhaps that was why the devil still hesitated to share the extent of his injuries with Finnit. The sorcerer had, in his collection, a text that interested him—*Intermediate Remedies: Rites of Relief*—but Vosaphar worried what would happen if the mortal caught him reading it. Their rapport notwithstanding, this arrangement was fraught enough. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Some time had passed before Finnit next approached Vosaphar about making the trek up to the lens and its housing. “There must be something else we should do before heading out there,” Finnit said. “Maybe I could read the section about the lens one more time?” Despite Vosaphar’s assurances that the winged one would not bother them, Finnit’s anxiety had still gotten the better of him. “And what else might these grimoires have left to tell you that your own senses couldn’t?” Vosaphar asked. “The way is clear. Our wards are in place. We ought to proceed.” Finnit didn’t look particularly assuaged, but he nodded and put on his gloves. The way was not so clear as Vosaphar had insisted. Even without the flying beast threatening them, the stairs remained treacherous. Finnit insisted upon leading, leaving the demon to worry about his every precarious step forward. He imagined how powerless he would feel, witnessing the mortal slipping off the edge, tumbling to his death on the rocks far, far below. What a senseless way for this all to end. Their route wound around the cliffs, making steady upward progress. Finnit was unaccustomed to this exertion, so they took frequent breaks, resting where the overhang offered some relief from the storm. Vosaphar gazed out over the rock-infested seas. Shipwrecks littered the islands for leagues in every direction. He wondered why so many mortals had insisted on sailing these passages. Did they not long to savor the scant years their lifespans provided? As they crested another ridge, Finnit froze, then cowered against the cliffside. Vosaphar drew closer. “What is it, fearful one?” he whispered. “It’s the *nest*.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He maneuvered himself nimbly around Finnit to see it for himself. And what a sight it was. The stairs led around a great crevice that split the cliff, as though some axe-wielding titan of old had attempted to chop off the peak. Arranged at the entrance to the passage were dozens—if not hundreds—of anchors, many corroded to the point that they were barely recognizable as such, the pileup extending into the dark interior of the cliffs. Cupped within the crown of each anchor was a clutch of blackened eggs. Most had cracked or been trampled, spilling an oily sludge that had long since congealed. Despite the relentless gale, the throat of the cavern breathed the stink of death. A golden light blinked in the shadows. The winged one warbled within her lair, causing Finnit to tense up again. “It will be okay,” Vosaphar said, his voice still soft. “The stairs are safe.” Despite his assurances, Finnit clung to the fiend for support as they shuffled past the eggs. The sorcerer had wrapped one of his arms around the demon’s waist. Vosaphar found that sensation not altogether unpleasant. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Enrapture. ⇒->12BA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XII.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">As they approached the top of the lighthouse, the vicious wind fell away. The sound of the churning seascape had been suppressed. Even the rainfall faded, as though splattering onto nothing. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit was overcome by the weight of stagnation, a stillness that made him uncomfortably aware of his own breaths. They were quick and shallow, strained from the exertion of climbing these many stairs. He looked to Vosaphar, finding the demon unaffected, calm and focused as his storm-mottled eyes scanned their surroundings. They ascended the last few steps, arriving at a large hexagonal platform. And there it was. When he read about the great lens, Finnit had imagined it to be something gleaming, pristine; glass so perfectly pure and bright, folding light over and over again, faceted just so to amplify every last drop of power into a beam intense enough to overtake even the densest fog. A marvel of sorcery, architecture, and craftsmanship. Perhaps it had been like that, once. What loomed before him was barely recognizable as glass. It had deformed to inky slag, forming indecipherable shapes that buzzed in the back of his head when he tried resolving their details. It was as though the lens’s purpose had entirely inverted; no longer a beacon, it had become a thief of light, soaking every reflection, devouring even the memories of lightning that had long since bolted. Through the core of the lens cleaved its legendary fissure, rising from the base of the platform toward the dark ceiling of its housing above. The cleft was jagged, haphazard, and, Finnit suddenly came to realize, *incomplete*. Like the paving stones in Tinfallow so long ago, he had an overwhelming urge to reconcile the shape that was present with the shape that *should* be present. It couldn’t be a coincidence. Someone had tried—and failed—to scribe an infernal glyph of immense power upon this object. Finnit stepped closer. He couldn’t stop himself. He wasn’t just anyone to this lens; there was something in there, calling for him. Reaching for him. How could he refuse it? The fracture yawned wider as he approached. It might not be open enough to step into, but perhaps he could reach in with his hand, and touch— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Ahh!” Sharp pain seared his shoulders as something yanked him roughly backwards. “What are you doing?” Vosaphar demanded, turning Finnit to face him. “Have you no sense?” Finnit felt dazed. “I—but…” His shoulders throbbed. The demon wrapped an arm around him—not as forcefully as before—and guided him down a few steps, well away from the lighthouse platform. “Sit,” Vosaphar commanded. Finnit sank, resting on the cold stone, facing out toward the dismal scenery he had become so familiar with. He reached up to his left shoulder, feeling where Vosaphar’s claws had shredded fabric and skin alike. “What… happened?” “You fell under the influence of the lens, witless one!” Vosaphar loomed, his horned silhouette fearsome against the stormy sky. “I intervened when you refused to heed my warnings. We should return to our chamber at once. It is not safe for you to be in the direct presence of this force.” “You really care about me,” Finnit said. “That’s—” “We made an accord,” Vosaphar said, annoyed. “Here. Let me, uh…” He knelt next to Finnit to get a closer look at his shoulder, shifting the fabric aside with a much more delicate and deliberate touch. “My rough handling has caused you to bleed. I ask for consideration in your assessment of my violence, given the alternative harm I may have prevented.” “It’s okay,” Finnit said. “They’re shallow wounds.” It *was* painful, but he didn’t want Vosaphar to fret about the accord, especially right when he’d once again rescued him from a dangerous situation. “I will tend to them as best as I can,” Vosaphar promised. “What is wrong with the lens? What… *is* it?” “Let’s return first,” Vosaphar said. “I don’t trust it. We shouldn’t linger here.” If even a demon found the lens this threatening, Finnit thought he’d better follow that advice. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Retreat. ⇒->13BA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">As they approached the top of the lighthouse, the vicious wind fell away. The sound of the churning seascape had been suppressed. Even the rainfall faded, as though splattering onto nothing. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit was overcome by the weight of stagnation, a stillness that made him uncomfortably aware of his own breaths. They were quick and shallow, strained from the exertion of climbing these many stairs. He looked to Vosaphar, finding the demon unaffected, calm and focused as his storm-mottled eyes scanned their surroundings. They ascended the last few steps, arriving at a large hexagonal platform. And there it was. When he read about the great lens, Finnit had imagined it to be something gleaming, pristine; glass so perfectly pure and bright, folding light over and over again, faceted just so to amplify every last drop of power into a beam intense enough to overtake even the densest fog. A marvel of sorcery, architecture, and craftsmanship. Perhaps it had been like that, once. What loomed before him was barely recognizable as glass. It had deformed to inky slag, forming indecipherable shapes that buzzed in the back of his head when he tried resolving their details. It was as though the lens’s purpose had entirely inverted; no longer a beacon, it had become a thief of light, soaking every reflection, devouring even the memories of lightning that had long since bolted. Through the core of the lens cleaved its legendary fissure, rising from the base of the platform toward the dark ceiling of its housing above. The cleft was jagged, haphazard, and, Finnit suddenly came to realize, *incomplete*. Like the paving stones in Tinfallow so long ago, he had an overwhelming urge to reconcile the shape that was present with the shape that *should* be present. It couldn’t be a coincidence. Someone had tried—and failed—to scribe an infernal glyph of immense power upon this object. Finnit stepped closer. He couldn’t stop himself. He wasn’t just anyone to this lens; there was something in there, calling for him. Reaching for him. How could he refuse it? The fracture yawned wider as he approached. It might not be open enough to step into, but perhaps he could reach in with his hand, and touch— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Ahh!” Sharp pain seared his shoulders as something yanked him roughly backwards. “What are you doing?” Vosaphar demanded, turning Finnit to face him. “Have you no sense?” Finnit felt dazed. “I—but…” His shoulders throbbed. The demon wrapped an arm around him—not as forcefully as before—and guided him down a few steps, well away from the lighthouse platform. “Sit,” Vosaphar commanded. Finnit sank, resting on the cold stone, facing out toward the dismal scenery he had become so familiar with. He reached up to his left shoulder, feeling where Vosaphar’s claws had shredded fabric and skin alike. “What… happened?” “You fell under the influence of the lens, witless one!” Vosaphar loomed, his horned silhouette fearsome against the stormy sky. “I intervened when you refused to heed my warnings. We should return to our chamber at once. It is not safe for you to be in the direct presence of this force.” “You really care about me,” Finnit said. “That’s—” “We made an accord,” Vosaphar said, annoyed. “Here. Let me, uh…” He knelt next to Finnit to get a closer look at his shoulder, shifting the fabric aside with a much more delicate and deliberate touch. “My rough handling has caused you to bleed. I ask for consideration in your assessment of my violence, given the alternative harm I may have prevented.” “It’s okay,” Finnit said. “They’re shallow wounds.” It *was* painful, but he didn’t want Vosaphar to fret about the accord, especially right when he’d once again rescued him from a dangerous situation. “I will tend to them as best as I can,” Vosaphar promised. “What is wrong with the lens? What… *is* it?” “Let’s return first,” Vosaphar said. “I don’t trust it. We shouldn’t linger here.” If even a demon found the lens this threatening, Finnit thought he’d better follow that advice. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Retreat. ⇒->13BA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XIII.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">After all that climbing up and down the cliffside, Finnit and Vosaphar alike were eager to rest by the fire. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It took Finnit a few attempts to get it going again. Vosaphar watched him intently. Some combination of the exertion, the accord, and exposure to the accursed cloven glass had taken its toll on the mortal. Not to mention the injuries Vosaphar had inflicted. There was a part of him that felt guilty that he worried about Finnit, when he had done little to take care of his own wounds. Even so, he did not wish the sorcerer to suffer injuries he caused, however justified. “I should look at your shoulders,” the devil said. “Later?” Finnit turned over on his bedroll. “It’s not that bad. I appreciate the thought,” he mumbled. “You’re sweet. Sweet one.” Vosaphar stared into the crimson flames for a long while after that. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[With Finnit muttering in his sleep, the demon decided to crack open *Intermediate Remedies: Rites of Relief*. He did not enjoy reading on his own. Sure, there was a mechanical concern—his claws risked tearing the tender pages—but really, he preferred having Finnit explain and contextualize the things he didn’t immediately grasp about human existence. Nevertheless, he paged through, having little success in imagining how these abstract rituals might apply to a devil’s self-specifying injuries. When he reached the third section, a sheaf of paper slipped out. Someone had scrawled a brief note on it. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightjethelletter">Finnit— By the time you see this, your discovery trial has likely commenced. I couldn’t stop it. I know we often joked about Raekard being lazy, such that he sends others to do his bidding. But he must have been quite diligent, to have curried enough favor with the other luminaries to get something this reckless approved. I am not allowed to intervene. Therefore, this note is not an intervention, but merely a statement on the vibrant art of healing. Unrelated to your trial, these rituals might be helpful to ones endangered by perilous circumstances. One hells-bent on infernal methods might do well to be reminded that certain healing rituals might tend to materials well beyond the fleshly. —J.</div> “J?” Vosaphar wondered aloud. “Hmm?” Finnit turned over, his eyes blearing open. “What’s that?” “It was in this book. A note from someone named ‘J.’” Vosaphar handed it over to the sleep-starved sorcerer. “Jethel, of course.” Finnit pored over the message for a minute or so. “Was this really in that book the whole time? I guess I never opened it.” “I hoped to study mortal healing spells.” Vosaphar attempted as neutral a tone as he could muster. “We can look through it later.” Finnit sat up, wincing at his sore shoulders. “Okay, maybe sooner.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar helped the man strip off the robes and his shirt, exposing the flesh beneath. And what a dramatic sight it was, dark bruises blotched across his chest, speckles of black hair trailing down to his soft tan belly. His shoulders were a mess, crusted in half-dried blood. Fortunately, much of it wiped away, revealing the scratches to be shallow. “Listen,” Finnit said. “I’ve been thinking.” The demon tensed. “I didn’t properly thank you for intervening. I don’t know what would’ve happened if I had just… climbed into that lens, surrendered to its influence. Thank you.” “I abided by our accord,” Vosaphar said. “It would’ve been negligent of me to let that happen.” “Sure,” Finnit said. “But… look. It’s a sloppy accord. I’m not some expert negotiator. You’re a demon. I think if you really wanted to, you could’ve found a ‘technically correct’ way of interpreting what I said and gotten away with letting me die. And you didn’t.” Vosaphar felt vaguely uncomfortable. He reached to scratch the back of his own neck. “Maybe you shouldn’t give me any dangerous ideas. Do you have any specific malicious interpretations of the accord on hand that you’d like to share with me?” Finnit smiled. “Maybe not.” “That was probably a joke. But I’m not sure exactly what you’re implying.” Finnit dabbed at one of his scratches with a damp cloth. “I think that you like me, at least a little.” “It doesn’t matter whether I like you a little, a great deal, or not at all. It is in my best interest for you to continue living, is it not?” “I think it’s in my best interest to agree with you. So, yes.” “Good answer.” “But is it—” Finnit appeared frustrated that he couldn’t figure out precisely how to word whatever he was really trying to say. “I know the accord and this whole situation are… not a normal way to become acquainted with someone. The way that I first saw you. I have nightmares about it. It’s not how anyone should have to meet. It screws with everything, like maybe everything I’ve done since is corrupted by that horrible event. But even so, despite all of that, is it wrong to consider you… a friend?” “No,” Vosaphar said. “I don’t think that’s wrong of you. I accept your... friendship. Finnit.” The sorcerer blushed a little, and Vosaphar’s heart stirred. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[When Finnit had drifted back to sleep, the fiend returned to the book of healing spells. Friend or not, wickedly warm feelings or not, the accord still bore its temporal threat: Vosaphar’s eventual, inevitable descent back to the calciferous wastes. Back to wandering. All futures converged there. Didn’t they? Must they? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Enumerate. ⇒->C2BA. Pyrelight]]]</div>]]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">After all that climbing up and down the cliffside, Finnit and Vosaphar alike were eager to rest by the fire. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It took Finnit a few attempts to get it going again. Vosaphar watched him intently. Some combination of the exertion, the accord, and exposure to the accursed cloven glass had taken its toll on the mortal. Not to mention the injuries Vosaphar had inflicted. There was a part of him that felt guilty that he worried about Finnit, when he had done little to take care of his own wounds. Even so, he did not wish the sorcerer to suffer injuries he caused, however justified. “I should look at your shoulders,” the devil said. “Later?” Finnit turned over on his bedroll. “It’s not that bad. I appreciate the thought,” he mumbled. “You’re sweet. Sweet one.” Vosaphar stared into the crimson flames for a long while after that. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[With Finnit muttering in his sleep, the demon decided to crack open *Intermediate Remedies: Rites of Relief*. He did not enjoy reading on his own. Sure, there was a mechanical concern—his claws risked tearing the tender pages—but really, he preferred having Finnit explain and contextualize the things he didn’t immediately grasp about human existence. Nevertheless, he paged through, having little success in imagining how these abstract rituals might apply to a devil’s self-specifying injuries. When he reached the third section, a sheaf of paper slipped out. Someone had scrawled a brief note on it. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="jethelletter">Finnit— By the time you see this, your discovery trial has likely commenced. I couldn’t stop it. I know we often joked about Raekard being lazy, such that he sends others to do his bidding. But he must have been quite diligent, to have curried enough favor with the other luminaries to get something this reckless approved. I am not allowed to intervene. Therefore, this note is not an intervention, but merely a statement on the vibrant art of healing. Unrelated to your trial, these rituals might be helpful to ones endangered by perilous circumstances. One hells-bent on infernal methods might do well to be reminded that certain healing rituals might tend to materials well beyond the fleshly. —J.</div> “J?” Vosaphar wondered aloud. “Hmm?” Finnit turned over, his eyes blearing open. “What’s that?” “It was in this book. A note from someone named ‘J.’” Vosaphar handed it over to the sleep-starved sorcerer. “Jethel, of course.” Finnit pored over the message for a minute or so. “Was this really in that book the whole time? I guess I never opened it.” “I hoped to study mortal healing spells.” Vosaphar attempted as neutral a tone as he could muster. “We can look through it later.” Finnit sat up, wincing at his sore shoulders. “Okay, maybe sooner.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar helped the man strip off the robes and his shirt, exposing the flesh beneath. And what a dramatic sight it was, dark bruises blotched across his chest, speckles of black hair trailing down to his soft tan belly. His shoulders were a mess, crusted in half-dried blood. Fortunately, much of it wiped away, revealing the scratches to be shallow. “Listen,” Finnit said. “I’ve been thinking.” The demon tensed. “I didn’t properly thank you for intervening. I don’t know what would’ve happened if I had just… climbed into that lens, surrendered to its influence. Thank you.” “I abided by our accord,” Vosaphar said. “It would’ve been negligent of me to let that happen.” “Sure,” Finnit said. “But… look. It’s a sloppy accord. I’m not some expert negotiator. You’re a demon. I think if you really wanted to, you could’ve found a ‘technically correct’ way of interpreting what I said and gotten away with letting me die. And you didn’t.” Vosaphar felt vaguely uncomfortable. He reached to scratch the back of his own neck. “Maybe you shouldn’t give me any dangerous ideas. Do you have any specific malicious interpretations of the accord on hand that you’d like to share with me?” Finnit smiled. “Maybe not.” “That was probably a joke. But I’m not sure exactly what you’re implying.” Finnit dabbed at one of his scratches with a damp cloth. “I think that you like me, at least a little.” “It doesn’t matter whether I like you a little, a great deal, or not at all. It is in my best interest for you to continue living, is it not?” “I think it’s in my best interest to agree with you. So, yes.” “Good answer.” “But is it—” Finnit appeared frustrated that he couldn’t figure out precisely how to word whatever he was really trying to say. “I know the accord and this whole situation are… not a normal way to become acquainted with someone. The way that I first saw you. I have nightmares about it. It’s not how anyone should have to meet. It screws with everything, like maybe everything I’ve done since is corrupted by that horrible event. But even so, despite all of that, is it wrong to consider you… a friend?” “No,” Vosaphar said. “I don’t think that’s wrong of you. I accept your... friendship. Finnit.” The sorcerer blushed a little, and Vosaphar’s heart stirred. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[When Finnit had drifted back to sleep, the fiend returned to the book of healing spells. Friend or not, wickedly warm feelings or not, the accord still bore its temporal threat: Vosaphar’s eventual, inevitable descent back to the calciferous wastes. Back to wandering. All futures converged there. Didn’t they? Must they? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Enumerate. ⇒->C2BA. Pyrelight]]]</div>]]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[2nd Era | Pyrelight.]</div> Another fragment recounting the dark history of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">The Six Hundred and Eighty-Seventh Pharos Fidelis Pyretender Consignment Report is hereby filed under the devolved authority bestowed by Our Most Luminous Emperor Kolemeus, in accordance with Pharos Fidelis Pyretender Accounting Ordinance the First. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Acting Pharos Fidelis Pyretender C. F. truthfully attests that, during this six hundred and eighty-seventh month, in addition to prescribed daily allotments of timber, excepting dates the Third, Fifth, Twenty-Sixth, and Twenty-Eighth, the following detritus was consigned to the pyre: (text-color:#4c4833)[**On date the Third—**] Approximately one quarter of the merchant vessel *Resurgence*, run aground at the Pharos Fidelis, and stripped of its useful parts. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">This month would’ve fallen in the midst of the pyre’s decline. No doubt, the dimming of the light and the darkening of the skies contributed to this shipwreck. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] The bodies of fifteen sailors, deceased by drowning in the aforementioned incident, and stripped of their useful personal effects. Four crates of proscribed intoxicant liquor, seized from the wreckage in the aforementioned incident, and stripped of its useful contents. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“Wait.” Finnit read that last sentence again. “Oh, the pyretender just drank it, didn’t they?” “Would you have done the same?” “Probably.” Finnit paused. “I wouldn’t have written it into an official report like this, though.” “Perhaps the pyretender merely tired of their monotonous existence, and never expected anyone to read this report anyway.”</div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**On date the Fifth—**] Ten additional planks from the wreckage of the merchant vessel *Resurgence*, washed ashore. Twenty-six ledgers containing forged records of intoxicant liquor purchase authorization, seized from the wreckage in the aforementioned incident. (text-color:#4c4833)[**On date the Sixth—**] Thirty-one seditious pamphlets, scattered unlawfully outside the Office of the Pharos Fidelis Pyretender. (text-color:#4c4833)[**On date the Eleventh—**] The body of one sailor, culpable navigator of the aforementioned vessel *Resurgence*, deceased by lawful beheading, and stripped of its useful personal effects. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“Only eight days later,” Vosaphar remarked. “Does mortal ‘justice’ always move so swiftly?” Finnit thought about it. “I guess it depends on the judge.”</div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**On date the Twenty-Fifth—**] The carcass of one proscribed entity: werewolf, lawfully destroyed by hunters, and stripped of its usable pelt. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“This is horrific,” Finnit said. “I feel ill reading this.” Vosaphar rubbed his claws together anxiously. “I don’t know much of werewolves.” “A werewolf, even if not fully human, is still a *person*.” “I guess mortals such as this pyretender disdain of more than just demons.”</div>] Thirty-two heretical grimoires, confiscated from the dwelling of the aforementioned proscribed entity. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">It’s a shame that those books were in the hands of that creature and not a proper archivist. I doubt anything the first Kolemian regime deemed “heretical” was entirely useless. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] Eleven heretical ritual candles, confiscated from the dwelling of the aforementioned proscribed entity. Thirteen bundles of proscribed heretical intoxicant herbs, confiscated from the dwelling of the aforementioned proscribed entity. (text-color:#4c4833)[**On date the Twenty-Sixth—**] One hundred and ninety seditious pamphlets, confiscated from the dwelling of lawfully destroyed proscribed entity: werewolf. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“So the werewolf was the pamphleteer?” Vosaphar asked. Finnit fiddled with his bracelet. “They’d have all the reason to be. It’s just… why did it take them an extra day to burn the pamphlets? If I were trying to throw suspicion off of myself, the home of an exposed werewolf no longer able to defend themselves against accusations is exactly where I would put them.” Vosaphar mulled it over. “You are quite the terror, Finnit.” </div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**On date the Twenty-Eighth—**] Radiant ash harvested from the carcasses of five lawfully summoned proscribed entities: demonic, lawfully destroyed by holy ritual blade, in accordance with Pharos Fidelis Pyretender Stoking Ordinance the Fourth. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">What an ideological contortion from a regime so insistent on declaring most useful sorcery heretical. They must have been desperate, to have attempted saving the pyre with a state-sanctioned summon-and-slaughter scheme like this. And how futile. A senseless waste of ritual components. ⚞L. Raekard (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">Vosaphar went very quiet. Finnit leaned his head against the devil’s shoulder for a few moments.</div>] </div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**As Proclaimed:**] The Pharos Fidelis Pyre shall forever brighten the seas of Our Most Luminous Emperor Kolemeus. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“Well, it didn’t,” Finnit said. Unstated thoughts clouded Vosaphar’s eyes.</div>] This concludes the Six Hundred and Eighty-Seventh Pharos Fidelis Pyretender Consignment Report. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightchroniclechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#927b1a")))[[[Assemble. ⇒->14BA. Finnit]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">The Six Hundred and Eighty-Seventh Pharos Fidelis Pyretender Consignment Report is hereby filed under the devolved authority bestowed by Our Most Luminous Emperor Kolemeus, in accordance with Pharos Fidelis Pyretender Accounting Ordinance the First. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Acting Pharos Fidelis Pyretender C. F. truthfully attests that, during this six hundred and eighty-seventh month, in addition to prescribed daily allotments of timber, excepting dates the Third, Fifth, Twenty-Sixth, and Twenty-Eighth, the following detritus was consigned to the pyre: (text-color:#d7cc90)[**On date the Third—**] Approximately one quarter of the merchant vessel *Resurgence*, run aground at the Pharos Fidelis, and stripped of its useful parts. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">This month would’ve fallen in the midst of the pyre’s decline. No doubt, the dimming of the light and the darkening of the skies contributed to this shipwreck. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] The bodies of fifteen sailors, deceased by drowning in the aforementioned incident, and stripped of their useful personal effects. Four crates of proscribed intoxicant liquor, seized from the wreckage in the aforementioned incident, and stripped of its useful contents. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“Wait.” Finnit read that last sentence again. “Oh, the pyretender just drank it, didn’t they?” “Would you have done the same?” “Probably.” Finnit paused. “I wouldn’t have written it into an official report like this, though.” “Perhaps the pyretender merely tired of their monotonous existence, and never expected anyone to read this report anyway.”</div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**On date the Fifth—**] Ten additional planks from the wreckage of the merchant vessel *Resurgence*, washed ashore. Twenty-six ledgers containing forged records of intoxicant liquor purchase authorization, seized from the wreckage in the aforementioned incident. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**On date the Sixth—**] Thirty-one seditious pamphlets, scattered unlawfully outside the Office of the Pharos Fidelis Pyretender. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**On date the Eleventh—**] The body of one sailor, culpable navigator of the aforementioned vessel *Resurgence*, deceased by lawful beheading, and stripped of its useful personal effects. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“Only eight days later,” Vosaphar remarked. “Does mortal ‘justice’ always move so swiftly?” Finnit thought about it. “I guess it depends on the judge.”</div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**On date the Twenty-Fifth—**] The carcass of one proscribed entity: werewolf, lawfully destroyed by hunters, and stripped of its usable pelt. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“This is horrific,” Finnit said. “I feel ill reading this.” Vosaphar rubbed his claws together anxiously. “I don’t know much of werewolves.” “A werewolf, even if not fully human, is still a *person*.” “I guess mortals such as this pyretender disdain of more than just demons.”</div>] Thirty-two heretical grimoires, confiscated from the dwelling of the aforementioned proscribed entity. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">It’s a shame that those books were in the hands of that creature and not a proper archivist. I doubt anything the first Kolemian regime deemed “heretical” was entirely useless. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] Eleven heretical ritual candles, confiscated from the dwelling of the aforementioned proscribed entity. Thirteen bundles of proscribed heretical intoxicant herbs, confiscated from the dwelling of the aforementioned proscribed entity. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**On date the Twenty-Sixth—**] One hundred and ninety seditious pamphlets, confiscated from the dwelling of lawfully destroyed proscribed entity: werewolf. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“So the werewolf was the pamphleteer?” Vosaphar asked. Finnit fiddled with his bracelet. “They’d have all the reason to be. It’s just… why did it take them an extra day to burn the pamphlets? If I were trying to throw suspicion off of myself, the home of an exposed werewolf no longer able to defend themselves against accusations is exactly where I would put them.” Vosaphar mulled it over. “You are quite the terror, Finnit.” </div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**On date the Twenty-Eighth—**] Radiant ash harvested from the carcasses of five lawfully summoned proscribed entities: demonic, lawfully destroyed by holy ritual blade, in accordance with Pharos Fidelis Pyretender Stoking Ordinance the Fourth. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">What an ideological contortion from a regime so insistent on declaring most useful sorcery heretical. They must have been desperate, to have attempted saving the pyre with a state-sanctioned summon-and-slaughter scheme like this. And how futile. A senseless waste of ritual components. ⚞L. Raekard (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">Vosaphar went very quiet. Finnit leaned his head against the devil’s shoulder for a few moments.</div>] </div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**As Proclaimed:**] The Pharos Fidelis Pyre shall forever brighten the seas of Our Most Luminous Emperor Kolemeus. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“Well, it didn’t,” Finnit said. Unstated thoughts clouded Vosaphar’s eyes.</div>] This concludes the Six Hundred and Eighty-Seventh Pharos Fidelis Pyretender Consignment Report. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="chroniclechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#927b1a")))[[[Assemble. ⇒->14BA. Finnit]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#927b1a")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Chronicle]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XIV.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">The fragments of all that Finnit had seen and experienced at the Pharos Fidelis had started fitting together into a mosaic. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He did not much like the image taking form. Nevertheless, they had taken up their usual spots by the fire. Just a sorcerer and a devil, all cozy together. As friends. And, more importantly, research associates. “That lens…” Finnit began, scratching his stubbled chin. “I just don’t see how it’s going to be possible to reignite it. Or why you would even want to. Not only is it completely warped into slag but it’s also…” “Haunted?” Vosaphar was clutching a bundled-up blanket to his chest. “Yeah. I guess? You got a better look at it than I did, since you were able to resist its influence. Can you describe what you saw?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Over the next hour or so, Finnit listened, taking notes as the fiend—his *friend*—explained all that he had noticed about the interactions between the lighthouse, Finnit, and the surrounding environment. After Vosaphar finished, Finnit attempted to summarize what he had written. “It seems like we have… what, four problems to solve here? The lens is cracked; it needs to be made whole again. The lens is warped; it needs to return to its original shape, or at least, a shape capable of projecting light outward. The lens needs a source of energy to fuel its light. And last, the lens is corrupted by some potent, phantasmal force—whatever the pseudo-consciousness of the curse actually is—that must be addressed.” “Is that all?” Vosaphar asked, dryly. “Probably not. But listing it out like that, I can’t help but feel like it’s not impossible and rather just extraordinarily improbable that we can get this working again.” “Generations of emperors, architects, and scholars couldn’t get this lighthouse to work properly. For an incipient summoner and demon of no renown, it should be eminently solvable.” “Harsh. But not necessarily wrong.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit next drew out the infernal glyph his mind had projected onto the lens while he was under its sinister influence. Unlike most of the glyphs in his syllabary, this shape was especially difficult to coerce onto paper. Its jagged fingers craved depth to climb out of, a thoroughly unsettling thing to watch writhing on a flat surface. He showed it to Vosaphar. “Is there any chance you recognize this? I can’t understand what this is meant to represent.” The devil extended two claws to claim the page. His eyes grew wide as he stared at it for a moment, and then he shredded the paper to bits, tossing them into the fire. “Whoa.” Finnit’s gaze followed the fuchsia sparks that fled the ashes. “That bad?” “It’s a *name*,” Vosaphar said. “No wonder you couldn’t read it. You should not leave names lying about where they might take root.” “Whose name is it?” “I know not,” he said, curling his tail into the blankets. “But it is a demon’s name. A powerful one. A dangerous one.” How flattering. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Maybe that’s what’s in the lens,” Finnit mused. “There must be something infernal about the lighthouse for Raekard to care so much about it. Perhaps it can be communed with. Reasoned with.” “I do not wish to discourage your… kindness, Finnit. Yet, there remain many demons with whom it would be especially unwise to speak.” Vosaphar looked uncharacteristically unsettled by the discussion. In situations like this, Finnit wasn’t sure what to say. He didn’t want to pry, uninvited, into whatever anxieties the glyph had provoked. He moved his bedroll closer to the tender fiend and clasped one of Vosaphar’s hands in his, gently stroking the demon’s blue-gray fingers. Vosaphar accepted this attention, and after a few minutes, started to relax. It had become ever easier for Finnit to forget the storm raging just outside. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Agonize. ⇒->RBA. Lazurynth]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">The fragments of all that Finnit had seen and experienced at the Pharos Fidelis had started fitting together into a mosaic. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He did not much like the image taking form. Nevertheless, they had taken up their usual spots by the fire. Just a sorcerer and a devil, all cozy together. As friends. And, more importantly, research associates. “That lens…” Finnit began, scratching his stubbled chin. “I just don’t see how it’s going to be possible to reignite it. Or why you would even want to. Not only is it completely warped into slag but it’s also…” “Haunted?” Vosaphar was clutching a bundled-up blanket to his chest. “Yeah. I guess? You got a better look at it than I did, since you were able to resist its influence. Can you describe what you saw?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Over the next hour or so, Finnit listened, taking notes as the fiend—his *friend*—explained all that he had noticed about the interactions between the lighthouse, Finnit, and the surrounding environment. After Vosaphar finished, Finnit attempted to summarize what he had written. “It seems like we have… what, four problems to solve here? The lens is cracked; it needs to be made whole again. The lens is warped; it needs to return to its original shape, or at least, a shape capable of projecting light outward. The lens needs a source of energy to fuel its light. And last, the lens is corrupted by some potent, phantasmal force—whatever the pseudo-consciousness of the curse actually is—that must be addressed.” “Is that all?” Vosaphar asked, dryly. “Probably not. But listing it out like that, I can’t help but feel like it’s not impossible and rather just extraordinarily improbable that we can get this working again.” “Generations of emperors, architects, and scholars couldn’t get this lighthouse to work properly. For an incipient summoner and demon of no renown, it should be eminently solvable.” “Harsh. But not necessarily wrong.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit next drew out the infernal glyph his mind had projected onto the lens while he was under its sinister influence. Unlike most of the glyphs in his syllabary, this shape was especially difficult to coerce onto paper. Its jagged fingers craved depth to climb out of, a thoroughly unsettling thing to watch writhing on a flat surface. He showed it to Vosaphar. “Is there any chance you recognize this? I can’t understand what this is meant to represent.” The devil extended two claws to claim the page. His eyes grew wide as he stared at it for a moment, and then he shredded the paper to bits, tossing them into the fire. “Whoa.” Finnit’s gaze followed the fuchsia sparks that fled the ashes. “That bad?” “It’s a *name*,” Vosaphar said. “No wonder you couldn’t read it. You should not leave names lying about where they might take root.” “Whose name is it?” “I know not,” he said, curling his tail into the blankets. “But it is a demon’s name. A powerful one. A dangerous one.” How flattering. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Maybe that’s what’s in the lens,” Finnit mused. “There must be something infernal about the lighthouse for Raekard to care so much about it. Perhaps it can be communed with. Reasoned with.” “I do not wish to discourage your… kindness, Finnit. Yet, there remain many demons with whom it would be especially unwise to speak.” Vosaphar looked uncharacteristically unsettled by the discussion. In situations like this, Finnit wasn’t sure what to say. He didn’t want to pry, uninvited, into whatever anxieties the glyph had provoked. He moved his bedroll closer to the tender fiend and clasped one of Vosaphar’s hands in his, gently stroking the demon’s blue-gray fingers. Vosaphar accepted this attention, and after a few minutes, started to relax. It had become ever easier for Finnit to forget the storm raging just outside. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Agonize. ⇒->RBA. Lazurynth]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:#7e6eff)+(text-size: 3)[Recollection.] (text-color:#7e6eff)+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Lazurynth.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightlazurynthpassage">Lapis embers blazed blue beneath the walls of the lazurynth. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#2f00dd)+(hover-style:(text-color:#673eff)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The coal pits burned and churned, sweltering starlight powering forges a thousandfold. Fledgling imps crawled the fires, torched tongues slavering for specificity. Demon smiths clanged metal against metal, their listless chorus a lullaby for the not-yet-becoming. In these fell reaches, one ember among countless dimmed out, gasping sapphire smoke. It was preparing to drag a slaughtered devil back to the smoldering pit of his creation. The coal sparked and spat, assembling shredded flesh and charred bones into a screaming fiend. Horns burst through the skin stretched across his skull, spraying ichor that sizzled as it struck blue fire. Blood-scent drew imps toward the languishing demon. They swarmed and tore, devouring the remnants of his wings, craving nourishment further even than that. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#2f00dd)+(hover-style:(text-color:#673eff)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He thrashed, sending his assailants further down the smoking slope as ever more arrived. He crawled and slid, trailing blood from wounds that scorned cauterization. Threats far worse than imps awaited him once he reached the rim. And still, he fought for the right to face or flee them. All that fueled his grueling ascent was the self he refused to abandon. His specificity. He was—and remained—Vosaphar. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#2f00dd)+(hover-style:(text-color:#673eff)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And someday, he would fly again. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#2f00dd)+(hover-style:(text-color:#673eff)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightlazurynthchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#2f00dd)+(hover-style:(text-color:#673eff)))[[[Synthesize. ⇒->15BA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="lazurynthpassage">Lapis embers blazed blue beneath the walls of the lazurynth. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#7e6eff)+(hover-style:(text-color:#2f00dd)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The coal pits burned and churned, sweltering starlight powering forges a thousandfold. Fledgling imps crawled the fires, torched tongues slavering for specificity. Demon smiths clanged metal against metal, their listless chorus a lullaby for the not-yet-becoming. In these fell reaches, one ember among countless dimmed out, gasping sapphire smoke. It was preparing to drag a slaughtered devil back to the smoldering pit of his creation. The coal sparked and spat, assembling shredded flesh and charred bones into a screaming fiend. Horns burst through the skin stretched across his skull, spraying ichor that sizzled as it struck blue fire. Blood-scent drew imps toward the languishing demon. They swarmed and tore, devouring the remnants of his wings, craving nourishment further even than that. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#7e6eff)+(hover-style:(text-color:#2f00dd)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He thrashed, sending his assailants further down the smoking slope as ever more arrived. He crawled and slid, trailing blood from wounds that scorned cauterization. Threats far worse than imps awaited him once he reached the rim. And still, he fought for the right to face or flee them. All that fueled his grueling ascent was the self he refused to abandon. His specificity. He was—and remained—Vosaphar. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#7e6eff)+(hover-style:(text-color:#2f00dd)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And someday, he would fly again. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#7e6eff)+(hover-style:(text-color:#2f00dd)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lazurynthchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#7e6eff)+(hover-style:(text-color:#2f00dd)))[[[Synthesize. ⇒->15BA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#7e6eff)+(hover-style:(text-color:#2f00dd)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Recollection]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XV.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">Over the next few days, inspired by Jethel’s note, Finnit had become convinced that he could adapt a healing ritual to the lens. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar had been pleased for an excuse to read *Rites of Relief* with Finnit. The sorcerer’s face lit with curiosity as he described the properties of ritual targets. Though the spells were designed for living creatures, they could also affect, implicitly, anything both tangible and animated with spirit. The lightmare atop the Pharos Fidelis lurked somewhere dangerously close to those boundaries. Detangling theories of healcraft had not done as much as Vosaphar had hoped to ease his pain. It was little better than his intuitive magic. While Finnit slept, he could clean out his wounds and weave them shut, but it simply wouldn’t stick. He woke up bleeding. Still, Finnit and Vosaphar—contributing their combined knowledge of mortal spells, infernal dynamics, and dubious historical analysis—managed to draft out a spell with potential to enable communion with the cursed lighthouse. After days of this, something shifted. Sure, the drafted ritual was dangerous, targeting a powerful force they barely understood. But Finnit kept claiming he wasn’t sure the spell’s construction was accurate. When this happened, Vosaphar would help him sort through the logic again, and arrive at the same result. The sorcerer was stalling, and Vosaphar knew exactly why. And on other things, the demon might have brought the issue to the forefront himself. But he simply wasn’t ready. He wasn’t ready to return to the calciferous wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Eventually, Finnit had no choice but to voice it. “To even attempt this, I’d need all my magic at once.” There it was. Vosaphar looked into those soft brown eyes; the face he had so come to appreciate seeing as they eked out their existence together in this strange situation. This *temporary* situation. “You’d need to sever the accord,” Vosaphar stated. “Banish me. Reclaim your magic.” “I don’t want to.” Vosaphar felt his cuts squirming and oozing beneath his wrappings. His stomach churned. “Would you—I mean, if I—” Finnit began. “If that happened, I would summon you again immediately after—if you still wanted to, I mean, stay here until the eclipse with... with me—but what if the ritual doesn’t even work and something happens and you’re just…” Vosaphar didn’t know what to say. He looked at the tearful one—the man who’d laughed and read and schemed and comforted and dragged him into all this and ran his fingers through his hair just so and he might never see again and— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He looked at Finnit. And he felt… *Conflicted*. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Influence. ⇒->M3BA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">Over the next few days, inspired by Jethel’s note, Finnit had become convinced that he could adapt a healing ritual to the lens. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar had been pleased for an excuse to read *Rites of Relief* with Finnit. The sorcerer’s face lit with curiosity as he described the properties of ritual targets. Though the spells were designed for living creatures, they could also affect, implicitly, anything both tangible and animated with spirit. The lightmare atop the Pharos Fidelis lurked somewhere dangerously close to those boundaries. Detangling theories of healcraft had not done as much as Vosaphar had hoped to ease his pain. It was little better than his intuitive magic. While Finnit slept, he could clean out his wounds and weave them shut, but it simply wouldn’t stick. He woke up bleeding. Still, Finnit and Vosaphar—contributing their combined knowledge of mortal spells, infernal dynamics, and dubious historical analysis—managed to draft out a spell with potential to enable communion with the cursed lighthouse. After days of this, something shifted. Sure, the drafted ritual was dangerous, targeting a powerful force they barely understood. But Finnit kept claiming he wasn’t sure the spell’s construction was accurate. When this happened, Vosaphar would help him sort through the logic again, and arrive at the same result. The sorcerer was stalling, and Vosaphar knew exactly why. And on other things, the demon might have brought the issue to the forefront himself. But he simply wasn’t ready. He wasn’t ready to return to the calciferous wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Eventually, Finnit had no choice but to voice it. “To even attempt this, I’d need all my magic at once.” There it was. Vosaphar looked into those soft brown eyes; the face he had so come to appreciate seeing as they eked out their existence together in this strange situation. This *temporary* situation. “You’d need to sever the accord,” Vosaphar stated. “Banish me. Reclaim your magic.” “I don’t want to.” Vosaphar felt his cuts squirming and oozing beneath his wrappings. His stomach churned. “Would you—I mean, if I—” Finnit began. “If that happened, I would summon you again immediately after—if you still wanted to, I mean, stay here until the eclipse with... with me—but what if the ritual doesn’t even work and something happens and you’re just…” Vosaphar didn’t know what to say. He looked at the tearful one—the man who’d laughed and read and schemed and comforted and dragged him into all this and ran his fingers through his hair just so and he might never see again and— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He looked at Finnit. And he felt… *Conflicted*. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Influence. ⇒->M3BA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#fc4e71")+(text-size: 3)[Influence.] (text-color:"#fc4e71")+(text-size: 1.15)[Insecurity | Naivety.]</div> Another mote of hellfire appeared. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightmotepassage">When potent emotions conflicted a demon’s judgment, even the faintest mote of hellfire bore enough infernal energy to influence their fate from afar. As you knew. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#8c283c)[***Insecurity***] For the demon Vosaphar, so repressed by the context ensnaring all that he felt, the idea of exposing his secrets to the sorcerer dredged shameful memories of wingless writhing in the lazurynthine pits. This insecurity would have prevented him from sharing that which he kept most hidden, shielding himself against further wounds this flighty mortal might inflict upon his specificity. Yielding to this insecurity, however prudent, risked pushing the mortal away, withering the connection that might move the sorcerer to re-summon him. (text-color:#8c283c)[***Naivety***] For the demon Vosaphar, so enamored with the gentle mortal, the idea of trusting the sorcerer to re-summon him recalled ever-distant moments of connection he once had with other demons developing their specificity alongside him. This naivety would have inspired an openness to sharing the secrets so plaguing his heart. Yielding to the influence of this naivety, however intimate, risked handing the mortal the keys to his shame, leaving him vulnerable to further emotional wounds. (text-color:#8c283c)[***Decision***] Which force did this mote of hellfire incite? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightmotechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))[[[Insecurity. ⇒->16BAA. Finnit]]] (link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))[[[Naivety. ⇒->16BAB. Finnit]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="motepassage">When potent emotions conflicted a demon’s judgment, even the faintest mote of hellfire bore enough infernal energy to influence their fate from afar. As you knew. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Insecurity***] For the demon Vosaphar, so repressed by the context ensnaring all that he felt, the idea of exposing his secrets to the sorcerer dredged shameful memories of wingless writhing in the lazurynthine pits. This insecurity would have prevented him from sharing that which he kept most hidden, shielding himself against further wounds this flighty mortal might inflict upon his specificity. Yielding to this insecurity, however prudent, risked pushing the mortal away, withering the connection that might move the sorcerer to re-summon him. (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Naivety***] For the demon Vosaphar, so enamored with the gentle mortal, the idea of trusting the sorcerer to re-summon him recalled ever-distant moments of connection he once had with other demons developing their specificity alongside him. This naivety would have inspired an openness to sharing the secrets so plaguing his heart. Yielding to the influence of this naivety, however intimate, risked handing the mortal the keys to his shame, leaving him vulnerable to further emotional wounds. (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Decision***] Which force did this mote of hellfire incite? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="motechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Insecurity. ⇒->16BAA. Finnit]]] (link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Naivety. ⇒->16BAB. Finnit]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Mote]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">Tension stretched the moment until it snapped. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“I believe you,” the devil said, his voice quiet, crimson fire reflecting in his eyes. “I believe *in* you, Finnit. That your clever spell will commune with the lens, and that you mean to summon me again. But I want to say something important. Will you—will you listen?” Vosaphar did not often hesitate in his speech. Finnit felt warmth rushing to his heart. “Yes. Of course. I will listen.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Finnit—you do not know of the hells. You are closer to knowing them than most mortals. Yet, you wield its stolen fire, far removed from all the machinations of misery that produces it. Do your tomes whisper of the hells? They speak echoes of echoes, stories demons thought fit to share, or extorted from tongues that sorcerers shackled. As accorded, we both have the ability to end our agreement. Yet, what it means for you to do so, and what it means for *me* to do so, are not the same. My existence used to be something simpler. I was part of a great machine—with glimpses of insight, perhaps, but always hammering to the rhythm of greater powers. I rose through the ranks, bit by bit, becoming more of something—myself. I had wings. I could fly. And then, your master ripped me from that pattern, disrupted my existence, and now I know things, and feel things, at an intensity that I never should have. I gained *specificity*, and in my descent back to the pits of the lazurynth, it turned against me. I could not muster the power to heal these wounds, for all the time since you saw me fall at Cairnveld.” Vosaphar shed the layers of clothing over his torso, revealing blood-soaked wrappings. He had slash marks all across his chest and stomach. How had Finnit never seen them? Never realized? He wanted to leap over the fire to comfort his companion, but the demon was not yet finished with what he had to say. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“I wandered the calciferous wastes, bleeding, unable to heal. And you brought me here, and I gained back so much power and learned your mortal theories of the flesh and I still cannot heal. And it’s because of my specificity—a demon, given magic, will attempt to revert to their truest, most specific form. But I spent so long bleeding, that my wounds have become essential to that form. They will always reopen. And I’m afraid of returning to the calciferous wastes, losing my power again, but retaining this awareness of my pain. Your time is brief—far less than you deserve—but that leaves me to contemplate eternity, until I subsume under the fires, and even the hells are ground up with the rest of all that still exists, and the very last drop of rain has at last trickled down the Pharos Fidelis into a long-dead sea, becoming something even less imaginable than the senseless void, and for what? It is so much, Finnit. Why must—why must we—why must… I—I don’t want to face… I don’t—I don’t want to—” Finnit was sobbing. He ran to Vosaphar, embracing him, ensconced within the seething heat always simmering beneath that blue-gray skin, the devil’s beard bristling against his neck, and they stood like that for some time, until the tears spent themselves dry, and Finnit released him. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“I’m ready,” Vosaphar said. “Are you sure?” “I should go.” “I will see you again,” Finnit promised. “I know.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Banish. ⇒->P3BAB. Third Principle]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">Tension stretched the moment until it snapped. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“I believe you,” the devil said, his voice quiet, crimson fire reflecting in his eyes. “I believe *in* you, Finnit. That your clever spell will commune with the lens, and that you mean to summon me again. But I want to say something important. Will you—will you listen?” Vosaphar did not often hesitate in his speech. Finnit felt warmth rushing to his heart. “Yes. Of course. I will listen.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Finnit—you do not know of the hells. You are closer to knowing them than most mortals. Yet, you wield its stolen fire, far removed from all the machinations of misery that produces it. Do your tomes whisper of the hells? They speak echoes of echoes, stories demons thought fit to share, or extorted from tongues that sorcerers shackled. As accorded, we both have the ability to end our agreement. Yet, what it means for you to do so, and what it means for *me* to do so, are not the same. My existence used to be something simpler. I was part of a great machine—with glimpses of insight, perhaps, but always hammering to the rhythm of greater powers. I rose through the ranks, bit by bit, becoming more of something—myself. I had wings. I could fly. And then, your master ripped me from that pattern, disrupted my existence, and now I know things, and feel things, at an intensity that I never should have. I gained *specificity*, and in my descent back to the pits of the lazurynth, it turned against me. I could not muster the power to heal these wounds, for all the time since you saw me fall at Cairnveld.” Vosaphar shed the layers of clothing over his torso, revealing blood-soaked wrappings. He had slash marks all across his chest and stomach. How had Finnit never seen them? Never realized? He wanted to leap over the fire to comfort his companion, but the demon was not yet finished with what he had to say. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“I wandered the calciferous wastes, bleeding, unable to heal. And you brought me here, and I gained back so much power and learned your mortal theories of the flesh and I still cannot heal. And it’s because of my specificity—a demon, given magic, will attempt to revert to their truest, most specific form. But I spent so long bleeding, that my wounds have become essential to that form. They will always reopen. And I’m afraid of returning to the calciferous wastes, losing my power again, but retaining this awareness of my pain. Your time is brief—far less than you deserve—but that leaves me to contemplate eternity, until I subsume under the fires, and even the hells are ground up with the rest of all that still exists, and the very last drop of rain has at last trickled down the Pharos Fidelis into a long-dead sea, becoming something even less imaginable than the senseless void, and for what? It is so much, Finnit. Why must—why must we—why must… I—I don’t want to face… I don’t—I don’t want to—” Finnit was sobbing. He ran to Vosaphar, embracing him, ensconced within the seething heat always simmering beneath that blue-gray skin, the devil’s beard bristling against his neck, and they stood like that for some time, until the tears spent themselves dry, and Finnit released him. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“I’m ready,” Vosaphar said. “Are you sure?” “I should go.” “I will see you again,” Finnit promised. “I know.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Banish. ⇒->P3BAB. Third Principle]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">Tension stretched the moment until it snapped. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“And what if you don’t?” the devil asked, his voice quiet, crimson fire reflecting in his eyes. “Is this—is this *research* worth more to you than—or—or what if you can’t? What if the lens takes you and I never know why I remained for the rest of forever in the calciferous wastes? I—what if—” Vosaphar did not often hesitate in his speech. Finnit felt the pain in his words snarling around his heart. “Vosaphar, hey—look, I—I know it’s hard to trust a mortal. I thought—I hoped to make a fair accord, but maybe things are more slanted than I realized?” “It’s not the accord,” Vosaphar said. “It is, but it isn’t. You have every right to end it, as we negotiated, but what it means for you to do so, and what it means for *me* to do so, are not the same. And I don’t—I can’t know where I stand with you—or how you feel, really about… me.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit approached Vosaphar and embraced him, ensconcing within the seething heat always simmering beneath that blue-gray skin, the devil’s beard bristling against his neck, and they stood like that for some time. “I don’t know exactly what is developing between us,” Finnit said, when finally they pulled apart. “I want to be honest with you. I feel like it could become anything. And I want to find out what it becomes. *With* you. But you’re right about the danger of the ritual. Even with our best efforts to predict it, there’s no real telling what will happen to me when I approach the lens. Still, I—I want to see this… trial through, too. I don’t think I could live with myself if—having gotten so close to the Pharos Fidelis—I didn’t also do what I could to understand it.” Vosaphar gazed down at him, his eyes searching Finnit’s soul for the honesty behind his words. He sighed. “I… have also come to be curious about this strange island. I admit such. I cannot fault you for that, inquisitive one.” “I have an idea,” Finnit said, reaching into one of the crates for his wax sticks. “Would you—would you show me how to draw a glyph for your name? Then—if I do survive—I’ll be able to draw a much stronger circle for you. Less semantic dilution. You can show me every detail, and I can practice until I get it perfect.” The demon accepted the tender wax between his claws and knelt, beginning to draw on the stone floor. Finnit sat beside him, still within reach of his preternatural warmth, and watched the glyph take shape swoop by swoop, hook by hook, its details knitting together into something unmistakably Vosapharian. The devil stepped back from the sigil. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit looked closely, tracing the mark with his fingertips. “It makes me feel—like I want to soar the skies with you, through the smoke rising from some brimstone caldera. It’s—a beautiful feeling. And that’s you. That’s your name.” Vosaphar handed him the wax stick—now barely holding its shape from the heat—and Finnit drew for himself. And he found it came easily, when he followed that feeling that burned in his heart when he thought of Vosaphar. He closed his eyes, letting his hand move across the stone. When he opened them again, he had written the demon’s name—in his own handwriting—and the glyph seemed to radiate its own power. “I’m ready.” Vosaphar gave him a wan smile. “I’m ready to go.” “Are you sure?” “I should go.” “I will see you again,” Finnit promised. “I know.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Banish. ⇒->P3BAA. Third Principle]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">Tension stretched the moment until it snapped. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“And what if you don’t?” the devil asked, his voice quiet, crimson fire reflecting in his eyes. “Is this—is this *research* worth more to you than—or—or what if you can’t? What if the lens takes you and I never know why I remained for the rest of forever in the calciferous wastes? I—what if—” Vosaphar did not often hesitate in his speech. Finnit felt the pain in his words snarling around his heart. “Vosaphar, hey—look, I—I know it’s hard to trust a mortal. I thought—I hoped to make a fair accord, but maybe things are more slanted than I realized?” “It’s not the accord,” Vosaphar said. “It is, but it isn’t. You have every right to end it, as we negotiated, but what it means for you to do so, and what it means for *me* to do so, are not the same. And I don’t—I can’t know where I stand with you—or how you feel, really about… me.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit approached Vosaphar and embraced him, ensconcing within the seething heat always simmering beneath that blue-gray skin, the devil’s beard bristling against his neck, and they stood like that for some time. “I don’t know exactly what is developing between us,” Finnit said, when finally they pulled apart. “I want to be honest with you. I feel like it could become anything. And I want to find out what it becomes. *With* you. But you’re right about the danger of the ritual. Even with our best efforts to predict it, there’s no real telling what will happen to me when I approach the lens. Still, I—I want to see this… trial through, too. I don’t think I could live with myself if—having gotten so close to the Pharos Fidelis—I didn’t also do what I could to understand it.” Vosaphar gazed down at him, his eyes searching Finnit’s soul for the honesty behind his words. He sighed. “I… have also come to be curious about this strange island. I admit such. I cannot fault you for that, inquisitive one.” “I have an idea,” Finnit said, reaching into one of the crates for his wax sticks. “Would you—would you show me how to draw a glyph for your name? Then—if I do survive—I’ll be able to draw a much stronger circle for you. Less semantic dilution. You can show me every detail, and I can practice until I get it perfect.” The demon accepted the tender wax between his claws and knelt, beginning to draw on the stone floor. Finnit sat beside him, still within reach of his preternatural warmth, and watched the glyph take shape swoop by swoop, hook by hook, its details knitting together into something unmistakably Vosapharian. The devil stepped back from the sigil. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit looked closely, tracing the mark with his fingertips. “It makes me feel—like I want to soar the skies with you, through the smoke rising from some brimstone caldera. It’s—a beautiful feeling. And that’s you. That’s your name.” Vosaphar handed him the wax stick—now barely holding its shape from the heat—and Finnit drew for himself. And he found it came easily, when he followed that feeling that burned in his heart when he thought of Vosaphar. He closed his eyes, letting his hand move across the stone. When he opened them again, he had written the demon’s name—in his own handwriting—and the glyph seemed to radiate its own power. “I’m ready.” Vosaphar gave him a wan smile. “I’m ready to go.” “Are you sure?” “I should go.” “I will see you again,” Finnit promised. “I know.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Banish. ⇒->P3BAA. Third Principle]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#cbc999")+(text-size: 3)[Dogma.] (text-color:"#cbc999")+(text-size: 1.15)[The Third Principle of Summoning.]</div> Yet another unwelcome reminder, courtesy of Luminary Raekard. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightprinciplepassage">Recall the third principle of summoning: (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color:#65644c)[**3. The Principle of Planar Reversion**] Natural law rejects the presence of extraplanar entities in the mortal realm. Summoned demons therefore revert to their plane of origin, unless acted upon by sustained magical force. (text-color:#65644c)[***Implication:***] An unbound demon that persists beyond the original duration of a summoning circle must do so by feeding upon independent sources of magic. The most readily available source of magic has historically been the summoner. (text-color:#65644c)[***Implication:***] A demon that perishes in the mortal realm shall eventually be reconstituted in the jurisdiction of the hell that governs it. Banishment accelerates this process to an instant. (text-color:#65644c)[***Implication:***] When two sorceries of equivalent potency collide, a rite of banishment will always prevail over a rite of summoning. Account for the principle of planar reversion. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightprinciplechoice">|A>[(text-color:#989b00)[**Moor this wisdom. ⇒**]](click-replace: ?A,(action:'mouseover'))[(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))[[[Mourn his wisdom. ⇒->17BAB. Warden]]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="principlepassage">Recall the third principle of summoning: (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color:#cbc999)[**3. The Principle of Planar Reversion**] Natural law rejects the presence of extraplanar entities in the mortal realm. Summoned demons therefore revert to their plane of origin, unless acted upon by sustained magical force. (text-color:#cbc999)[***Implication:***] An unbound demon that persists beyond the original duration of a summoning circle must do so by feeding upon independent sources of magic. The most readily available source of magic has historically been the summoner. (text-color:#cbc999)[***Implication:***] A demon that perishes in the mortal realm shall eventually be reconstituted in the jurisdiction of the hell that governs it. Banishment accelerates this process to an instant. (text-color:#cbc999)[***Implication:***] When two sorceries of equivalent potency collide, a rite of banishment will always prevail over a rite of summoning. Account for the principle of planar reversion. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="principlechoice">|A>[(text-color:#989b00)[**Moor this wisdom. ⇒**]](click-replace: ?A,(action:'mouseover'))[(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))[[[Mourn his wisdom. ⇒->17BAB. Warden]]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Principle]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[XVII.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">At the center of the calciferous wastes stood a coralbone cottage. The warden’s. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Within the cottage burned a modest hellfire furnace, its crooked chimney venting spirals of smoke. Encircling this abode—the most lavish in all the wastes—was a smooth, still pool that hesitated to reflect the seething skies above. In the depths of this pool glinted a sparse collection of coals, spaced a lonesome distance from one another. Most had dimmed to the brink of winking out. A stubborn few still clung to their hues. One such ember, tinted the color of storm-tossed seas, suddenly flared, sending a ribbon of bubbles roiling to the surface. A demon was about to return to this remote reach of the hinterhells. And when he did, he might’ve been greeted by the warden of the calciferous wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[By you. (after:time+4s)+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|initial>[In preparation for this occasion: (link-reveal: "You approached the place where Vosaphar would emerge cold, wet, and screaming. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You approached the place where Vosaphar would emerge cold, wet, and screaming. He breached the surface of the pool, gasping for air, flailing for relief from the cold. It was every devil’s birthright to struggle their way out from their point of wretched origin. Your bitter pool was kinder than most. He swam toward the cottage, collapsing against brittle floes of bloodfrost ringing the shore. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|O1>[As a token of welcome: (link-reveal: "You loomed over him; a gesture of threat. ⚞↯⚟")[(replace: ?O1)[You loomed over him; a gesture of threat. A mote of hellfire appeared. Or rather, you conjured it, letting it drift between your claws, casting its crimson glow over your shivering subject. He gazed up at you, terrified. You flicked your claws—causing Vosaphar to flinch—and the mote vanished. After that demonstration, you walked back to your cottage. He dared not follow. You were, after all, powerful and dangerous. That’s what he called you, when his poor, foolish mortal companion showed him your fearsome name. Though he ought to have done better to recognize it. To him, you must have seemed as powerful as an archfiend. But your age of hellfire had yet to dawn. The magic you collected from him had already begun stoking the furnace. His toll for meager shelter in this unsafe harbor. Vosaphar crept away into the wastes, and the pool once again fell still. You returned to your work. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Commune. ⇒->Lens BABA]]]]</div>]] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You offered him a gift; a gesture of warmth. ⚞↯⚟")[(replace: ?O1)[You offered him a gift; a gesture of warmth. A mote of hellfire appeared. Or rather, you conjured it, stretching and shaping its fire into an ethereal crimson shawl befitting such a tenderhearted fiend. You knelt to his level, draping it over your trembling subject. He gazed up into your eyes, terrified, as the gauzy heat settled over him. But his shivering subsided. You stood, then returned to your cottage. He dared not follow, even to thank you for your gift. You were, after all, powerful and dangerous. That’s what he called you, when his poor, sweet mortal companion showed him your elegant name. Though he ought to have done better to recognize it. To him, you must have seemed as powerful as an archfiend. But your age of hellfire had yet to dawn. The magic you collected from him had already begun stoking the furnace. His toll for meager shelter in this unsafe harbor. Vosaphar crept away into the wastes, and the pool once again fell still. You returned to your work. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Commune. ⇒->Lens BABA]]]]</div>]]]]]] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You remained inside, at a polite distance. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You remained inside, at a polite distance. It was every devil’s birthright to struggle their way out from their point of wretched origin. Alone. Your bitter pool was kinder than most. As the furnace crackled, you heard Vosaphar flailing his way to the shore, just outside your cottage. You heard him gasping for air and moaning from the cold. Even then, the magic you collected from him stoked the furnace. His toll for meager shelter in this unsafe harbor. Perhaps he saw you tending to your motes, wishing them enough spark to catch fire when you needed them to. But even if he did, he dared not draw the warden’s attention. You were, after all, powerful and dangerous. That’s what he called you, when his poor, sweet mortal companion showed him your primordial name. Though he ought to have done better to recognize it. To him, you must have seemed as powerful as an archfiend. But your age of hellfire had yet to dawn. Vosaphar wandered off, shivering in the dark, and the pool once again fell still. You returned to your work. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Commune. ⇒->Lens BABB]]]]</div> ]]]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">At the center of the calciferous wastes stood a coralbone cottage. The warden’s. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Within the cottage burned a modest hellfire furnace, its crooked chimney venting spirals of smoke. Encircling this abode—the most lavish in all the wastes—was a smooth, still pool that hesitated to reflect the seething skies above. In the depths of this pool glinted a sparse collection of coals, spaced a lonesome distance from one another. Most had dimmed to the brink of winking out. A stubborn few still clung to their hues. One such ember, tinted the color of storm-tossed seas, suddenly flared, sending a ribbon of bubbles roiling to the surface. A demon was about to return to this remote reach of the hinterhells. And when he did, he might’ve been greeted by the warden of the calciferous wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[By you. (after:time+4s)+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|initial>[In preparation for this occasion: (link-reveal: "You approached the place where Vosaphar would emerge cold, wet, and screaming. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You approached the place where Vosaphar would emerge cold, wet, and screaming. He breached the surface of the pool, gasping for air, flailing for relief from the cold. It was every devil’s birthright to struggle their way out from their point of wretched origin. Your bitter pool was kinder than most. He swam toward the cottage, collapsing against brittle floes of bloodfrost ringing the shore. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|O1>[As a token of welcome: (link-reveal: "You loomed over him; a gesture of threat. ⚞↯⚟")[(replace: ?O1)[You loomed over him; a gesture of threat. A mote of hellfire appeared. Or rather, you conjured it, letting it drift between your claws, casting its crimson glow over your shivering subject. He gazed up at you, terrified. You flicked your claws—causing Vosaphar to flinch—and the mote vanished. After that demonstration, you walked back to your cottage. He dared not follow. You were, after all, powerful and dangerous. That’s what he called you, when his poor, foolish mortal companion showed him your fearsome name. Though he ought to have done better to recognize it. To him, you must have seemed as powerful as an archfiend. But your age of hellfire had yet to dawn. The magic you collected from him had already begun stoking the furnace. His toll for meager shelter in this unsafe harbor. Vosaphar crept away into the wastes, and the pool once again fell still. You returned to your work. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Commune. ⇒->Lens BABA]]]]</div>]] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You offered him a gift; a gesture of warmth. ⚞↯⚟")[(replace: ?O1)[You offered him a gift; a gesture of warmth. A mote of hellfire appeared. Or rather, you conjured it, stretching and shaping its fire into an ethereal crimson shawl befitting such a tenderhearted fiend. You knelt to his level, draping it over your trembling subject. He gazed up into your eyes, terrified, as the gauzy heat settled over him. But his shivering subsided. You stood, then returned to your cottage. He dared not follow, even to thank you for your gift. You were, after all, powerful and dangerous. That’s what he called you, when his poor, sweet mortal companion showed him your elegant name. Though he ought to have done better to recognize it. To him, you must have seemed as powerful as an archfiend. But your age of hellfire had yet to dawn. The magic you collected from him had already begun stoking the furnace. His toll for meager shelter in this unsafe harbor. Vosaphar crept away into the wastes, and the pool once again fell still. You returned to your work. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Commune. ⇒->Lens BABA]]]]</div>]]]]]] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You remained inside, at a polite distance. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You remained inside, at a polite distance. It was every devil’s birthright to struggle their way out from their point of wretched origin. Alone. Your bitter pool was kinder than most. As the furnace crackled, you heard Vosaphar flailing his way to the shore, just outside your cottage. You heard him gasping for air and moaning from the cold. Even then, the magic you collected from him stoked the furnace. His toll for meager shelter in this unsafe harbor. Perhaps he saw you tending to your motes, wishing them enough spark to catch fire when you needed them to. But even if he did, he dared not draw the warden’s attention. You were, after all, powerful and dangerous. That’s what he called you, when his poor, sweet mortal companion showed him your primordial name. Though he ought to have done better to recognize it. To him, you must have seemed as powerful as an archfiend. But your age of hellfire had yet to dawn. Vosaphar wandered off, shivering in the dark, and the pool once again fell still. You returned to your work. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Commune. ⇒->Lens BABB]]]]</div> ]]]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Mote]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f8cf7b")+(text-size: 3)[Dyslucence.] (text-color:"#f8cf7b")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Lens.]</div> An opaque rite of refraction. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightlenspassage">Another soul witnessed the lens. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ \(align:"=><=")[But what ] \(align:"==><=")[yet remained] \(align:"=><=")[to be seen] \ (align:"==><=")[once] \(align:"==><===")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"mortal")[moral]] \(align:"==><=")[designs] (align:"=><====")[had (link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"stolen")[sowed in] souls,] \ (align:"===><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"unwilling")[a willing] sacrifice in] \ (align:"=><==========")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"defiance of")[deference to]] \ (align:"======><=")[smoke-scorned skies?] \ (align:"=><====")[For] \ (align:"=====><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"even fearless")[ever fearful] fiends] \ (align:"=><=====")[could not comprehend] \ (align:"==>")[an eternity of] \ (align:"<==")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"unlit slag.")[sunlit glass.]] \ (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=")[Nevertheless—] Finnit saw a fragment deep within the throat of the island, its anchored eggs awash in the crimson glow of the future. All he needed to do was wait for the eclipse, cross the threshold, steal a mote of sunlight, and finish writing your name. For even the faintest mote of sunlight bore enough celestial energy to influence your fate from afar. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Or so you dared to hope. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightlenschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))[[[Darken. ⇒->18BABB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="lenspassage">Another soul witnessed the lens. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ \(align:"=><=")[But what] \(align:"==><=")[yet remained] \(align:"=><=")[to be seen] \ (align:"==><=")[once] \(align:"==><===")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"moral")[mortal]] \(align:"==><=")[designs] (align:"=><====")[had (link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"sowed in")[stolen] souls,] \ (align:"===><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"a willing")[unwilling] sacrifice in] \ (align:"=><==========")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"deference to")[defiance of]] \ (align:"======><=")[smoke-scorned skies?] \ (align:"=><====")[For] \ (align:"=====><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"ever fearful")[even fearless] fiends] \ (align:"=><=====")[could not comprehend] \ (align:"==>")[an eternity of] \ (align:"<==")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"sunlit glass.")[unlit slag.]] \ (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=")[Nevertheless—] Finnit saw a fragment deep within the throat of the island, its anchored eggs awash in the crimson glow of the future. All he needed to do was wait for the eclipse, cross the threshold, steal a mote of sunlight, and finish writing your name. For even the faintest mote of sunlight bore enough celestial energy to influence your fate from afar. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Or so you dared to hope. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lenschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#ac6e00")))[[[Darken. ⇒->18BABB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f8cf7b")+(text-size: 3)[Dyslucence.] (text-color:"#f8cf7b")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Lens.]</div> An opaque rite of refraction. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightlenspassage">Another soul witnessed the lens. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ \(align:"=><=")[But what ] \(align:"==><=")[yet remained] \(align:"=><=")[to be seen] \ (align:"==><=")[once] \(align:"==><===")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"mortal")[moral]] \(align:"==><=")[designs] (align:"=><====")[had (link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"stolen")[sowed in] souls,] \ (align:"===><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"unwilling")[a willing] sacrifice in] \ (align:"=><==========")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"defiance of")[deference to]] \ (align:"======><=")[smoke-scorned skies?] \ (align:"=><====")[For] \ (align:"=====><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"even fearless")[ever fearful] fiends] \ (align:"=><=====")[could not comprehend] \ (align:"==>")[an eternity of] \ (align:"<==")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"unlit slag.")[sunlit glass.]] \ (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=")[Nevertheless—] Finnit saw a fragment deep within the throat of the island, its anchored eggs awash in the crimson glow of the future. All he needed to do was wait for the eclipse, cross the threshold, steal a mote of sunlight, and finish writing your name. For even the faintest mote of sunlight bore enough celestial energy to influence your fate from afar. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Or so you dared to hope. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightlenschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))[[[Darken. ⇒->18BABA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="lenspassage">Another soul witnessed the lens. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ \(align:"=><=")[But what] \(align:"==><=")[yet remained] \(align:"=><=")[to be seen] \ (align:"==><=")[once] \(align:"==><===")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"moral")[mortal]] \(align:"==><=")[designs] (align:"=><====")[had (link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"sowed in")[stolen] souls,] \ (align:"===><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"a willing")[unwilling] sacrifice in] \ (align:"=><==========")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"deference to")[defiance of]] \ (align:"======><=")[smoke-scorned skies?] \ (align:"=><====")[For] \ (align:"=====><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"ever fearful")[even fearless] fiends] \ (align:"=><=====")[could not comprehend] \ (align:"==>")[an eternity of] \ (align:"<==")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"sunlit glass.")[unlit slag.]] \ (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=")[Nevertheless—] Finnit saw a fragment deep within the throat of the island, its anchored eggs awash in the crimson glow of the future. All he needed to do was wait for the eclipse, cross the threshold, steal a mote of sunlight, and finish writing your name. For even the faintest mote of sunlight bore enough celestial energy to influence your fate from afar. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Or so you dared to hope. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lenschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#ac6e00")))[[[Darken. ⇒->18BABA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[XVIII.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">It wasn’t long before even the shock of Vosaphar’s emergence from the pool—exactly as cold and miserable as you had promised him it would be—had begun to fade into the listlessness of wandering the wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The residual magic Finnit had accorded him allowed him to travel faster and further than before. His slash wounds scabbed over more readily, healing further with each attempt. Something had shifted in his specificity. He should have been satisfied with that. Satisfied with the memories of what was, and dreams of what could have been, for bitter honey still bore sweetness. Didn’t it? Another kind of wound had carved itself into his heart. Without Finnit, Vosaphar’s existence felt darker and emptier than it ever had before. He wondered what might be about to happen, was happening, or had already happened at the Pharos Fidelis. Was Finnit still preparing his ritual of communion with the lens? Was it already over? Could he have been, right at that moment, spiraling amidst its unfathomable secrets? Perhaps Finnit’s rite had failed, the cursed lens consuming his soul as it had so many others. But, it could also be… something else. Another reason. Just as that doubt crept in, the devil felt a familiar sensation tugging at his core. Heat coursed through his veins as a tendril of sorcery unfurled for him, awaiting his tender grasp. (align:"<==")[And then—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=========")[Vosaphar] (align:"=><==")[at last] (align:"=><=")[recalled] (align:"===><==")[his] (align:"==><=")[own] (align:"===><=")[principle] (align:"=========><=")[of] (align:"==>")[flight—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Spread wings. ⇒->19BABA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">It wasn’t long before even the shock of Vosaphar’s emergence from the pool—exactly as cold and miserable as you had promised him it would be—had begun to fade into the listlessness of wandering the wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The residual magic Finnit had accorded him allowed him to travel faster and further than before. His slash wounds scabbed over more readily, healing further with each attempt. Something had shifted in his specificity. He should have been satisfied with that. Satisfied with the memories of what was, and dreams of what could have been, for bitter honey still bore sweetness. Didn’t it? Another kind of wound had carved itself into his heart. Without Finnit, Vosaphar’s existence felt darker and emptier than it ever had before. He wondered what might be about to happen, was happening, or had already happened at the Pharos Fidelis. Was Finnit still preparing his ritual of communion with the lens? Was it already over? Could he have been, right at that moment, spiraling amidst its unfathomable secrets? Perhaps Finnit’s rite had failed, the cursed lens consuming his soul as it had so many others. But, it could also be… something else. Another reason. Just as that doubt crept in, the devil felt a familiar sensation tugging at his core. Heat coursed through his veins as a tendril of sorcery unfurled for him, awaiting his tender grasp. (align:"<==")[And then—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=========")[Vosaphar] (align:"=><==")[at last] (align:"=><=")[recalled] (align:"===><==")[his] (align:"==><=")[own] (align:"===><=")[principle] (align:"=========><=")[of] (align:"==>")[flight—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Spread wings. ⇒->19BABA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XIX.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">Atop the Pharos Fidelis, Finnit remained just in sight of the great split glass that had spilled its secrets. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he smeared the last of his wax sticks to stubs on wet stone, he did not give the lens a further thought. He did not obey the principle of authoritarian primacy. He did not beware the principle of semantic dilution. He did not account for the principle of planar reversion. He thought only of Vosaphar, with a singular intensity of focus that even the Pharos Fidelis could never have dreamed of refracting. The circle of waxen glyphs coursed with scarlet fire, brighter than Finnit had ever seen it. He averted his gaze, eyes watering. When he looked back, Vosaphar had manifested before him once more. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[From his back spread wings wrought of fire, eldritch blue roiled with red and magenta—the colors of Finnit’s own magic, now intertwined with Vosaphar’s. Finnit’s eyes traveled further, noting ichor scabs crisscrossing the devil’s scarred blue chest, and then, curls of rough hair trailing immodestly past his navel. Streaks of lightning slashed green across the sky, glinting off his fearsome horns. Raindrops sizzled as the demon swept them aside, wreathing himself in silver mist. Vosaphar looked every bit an archfiend of legend looming over him, his eyes fixed on Finnit, reaching forward to press the sorcerer against the cliffside, claws clasping his wrists. “Vosaphar—” The infernal heat overwhelmed his mortal senses. “Please—Vosaphar, kiss m—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon pressed his lips gently against Finnit’s, dark beard bristling against his tender skin, breathing out brimstone incense that smoldered in Finnit’s throat. Just when Finnit thought himself on the verge of feeling too much, that Vosaphar might devour his soul and all his magic in a final, blissful moment of agony, the fiend held back, slackening his grip, and smiled. “I couldn’t wait until I got back,” Finnit said, his vision still sparking. “I—I needed to see you again.” “That’s not all you need.” Vosaphar leaned forward, so close still that Finnit could see details pitted into his horns. “What is it exactly that you imagine, lustful one? A dreadful devil from your darkest dreams, ever so sweetly domineering?” “I–” Finnit felt dazed as those fevered imaginings grew sharper into his mind. “I mean—well—now that you’ve brought it up, that sounds—” “Too bad,” Vosaphar said, his voice sly and soft. “My dear Finnit, you’re all *wet*.” And he was. He’d completely abandoned his wards in the midst of an endless storm. How embarrassing. Finnit also noticed that, in his exuberance to kiss him, Vosaphar had clumsily scorched Finnit’s sleeves with his wings. Suddenly, the demon felt less like some legendary figure, and instead like something better. Something real. Finnit’s companion. Finnit’s love. Finnit’s Vosaphar. “We should head back down,” Finnit said. “We should.” Vosaphar pushed one of Finnit’s loose curls back. “But listen, Finnit. When we do, I want *you* to take the lead. I want things to be… gentle, between us. For now. How does that sound?” “I have never wanted something so much in my entire existence.” Vosaphar grinned, ivory fangs glinting. “Good.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[What followed was an evening of tender fumbling and grasping. Finnit had been piqued by the fantasy of Vosaphar looming over him; and it remained a thought he wanted to revisit later. But, he found that this gentle, deliberate exploration—some serenity among the profane—brought him closer to understanding the demon in a way he found difficult to articulate but easy to just experience as it happened. Tomorrow, research awaited. But for now, Finnit’s fears grew distant as he slept, wrapped against Vosaphar like a warm satchel. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Interrogate. ⇒->C1BABA. Sunlight]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">Atop the Pharos Fidelis, Finnit remained just in sight of the great split glass that had spilled its secrets. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he smeared the last of his wax sticks to stubs on wet stone, he did not give the lens a further thought. He did not obey the principle of authoritarian primacy. He did not beware the principle of semantic dilution. He did not account for the principle of planar reversion. He thought only of Vosaphar, with a singular intensity of focus that even the Pharos Fidelis could never have dreamed of refracting. The circle of waxen glyphs coursed with scarlet fire, brighter than Finnit had ever seen it. He averted his gaze, eyes watering. When he looked back, Vosaphar had manifested before him once more. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[From his back spread wings wrought of fire, eldritch blue roiled with red and magenta—the colors of Finnit’s own magic, now intertwined with Vosaphar’s. Finnit’s eyes traveled further, noting ichor scabs crisscrossing the devil’s scarred blue chest, and then, curls of rough hair trailing immodestly past his navel. Streaks of lightning slashed green across the sky, glinting off his fearsome horns. Raindrops sizzled as the demon swept them aside, wreathing himself in silver mist. Vosaphar looked every bit an archfiend of legend looming over him, his eyes fixed on Finnit, reaching forward to press the sorcerer against the cliffside, claws clasping his wrists. “Vosaphar—” The infernal heat overwhelmed his mortal senses. “Please—Vosaphar, kiss m—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon pressed his lips gently against Finnit’s, dark beard bristling against his tender skin, breathing out brimstone incense that smoldered in Finnit’s throat. Just when Finnit thought himself on the verge of feeling too much, that Vosaphar might devour his soul and all his magic in a final, blissful moment of agony, the fiend held back, slackening his grip, and smiled. “I couldn’t wait until I got back,” Finnit said, his vision still sparking. “I—I needed to see you again.” “That’s not all you need.” Vosaphar leaned forward, so close still that Finnit could see details pitted into his horns. “What is it exactly that you imagine, lustful one? A dreadful devil from your darkest dreams, ever so sweetly domineering?” “I–” Finnit felt dazed as those fevered imaginings grew sharper into his mind. “I mean—well—now that you’ve brought it up, that sounds—” “Too bad,” Vosaphar said, his voice sly and soft. “My dear Finnit, you’re all *wet*.” And he was. He’d completely abandoned his wards in the midst of an endless storm. How embarrassing. Finnit also noticed that, in his exuberance to kiss him, Vosaphar had clumsily scorched Finnit’s sleeves with his wings. Suddenly, the demon felt less like some legendary figure, and instead like something better. Something real. Finnit’s companion. Finnit’s love. Finnit’s Vosaphar. “We should head back down,” Finnit said. “We should.” Vosaphar pushed one of Finnit’s loose curls back. “But listen, Finnit. When we do, I want *you* to take the lead. I want things to be… gentle, between us. For now. How does that sound?” “I have never wanted something so much in my entire existence.” Vosaphar grinned, ivory fangs glinting. “Good.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[What followed was an evening of tender fumbling and grasping. Finnit had been piqued by the fantasy of Vosaphar looming over him; and it remained a thought he wanted to revisit later. But, he found that this gentle, deliberate exploration—some serenity among the profane—brought him closer to understanding the demon in a way he found difficult to articulate but easy to just experience as it happened. Tomorrow, research awaited. But for now, Finnit’s fears grew distant as he slept, wrapped against Vosaphar like a warm satchel. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Interrogate. ⇒->C1BABA. Sunlight]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[1st Era | Sunlight.]</div> One more fragment recounting the dark history of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">(text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The illuminative session for Leisenelle, former third officer of the now-renegade vessel ‘Consonance,’ is hereby brought to order. You stand accused of mutiny, murder, theft, deception, consorting with proscribed entities, and willful evasion of justice. Is that correct? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] You would know. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Is that correct? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I guess so. Yes. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“She sounds a lot like you,” Vosaphar murmured, stroking his claws idly through Finnit’s hair. “‘Consorting with proscribed entities?’ What a wicked accusation.” Finnit snorted. “Are you going to bring me to justice?” “Absolutely not.” “Too bad.” </div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Against these accusations, how do you plead? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I do not plead. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] You must make a claim, either to affirm or deny each crime you have been accused of. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I will make no such claims. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The accused has neglected her obligation to plead. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] What’s your deal, anyway? Are you mad? Some pretty vampire in your past tied your morals all up in knots and made you feel sinful? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My role here is strictly illuminative. How did you first come to associate with this vampire? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I was trying to find out the truth about this island. But none of them would talk to me. The islanders, I mean. They resent us. You know that, right? Look at what we’ve done to them since we got here. Someone has to stop it. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, mark a note down for ‘sedition,’ would you? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">At least the clerics are obligated to transcribe what they actually heard. Historians ought to learn from their example. ⚞L. Raekard (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“I think Raekard’s distaste for historians gets in his way,” Finnit said. “How could we possibly know, at this point, what liberties the cleric might have taken?” “It’s going to take more than historians to put a stop to him.” Finnit laughed, but Vosaphar hadn’t told a joke.</div>] </div>] (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] You didn’t have that one already? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Continue. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Fine. This one woman approached me, and told me to visit her house on the outskirts after sundown. I thought she might be into me—and maybe she was, a little—but she wanted me to meet her grandmother. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Yeah. Did the ‘after sundown’ part give it away? I’m not a good storyteller. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The only things your story requires are honesty and accuracy. Justice will account for the rest. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Whatever you need to tell yourself. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] I don’t ‘need’ to do anything. My role here is strictly illuminative. As the accused has been reminded. Continue. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] So, I waited for dusk, and paid her a visit. Her grandmother was living in the basement. Some kind of herbalist, I guess. The whole time we talked, she was crushing up these weird seedpods in a mortar and pestle. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] At what point did you realize this entity was a vampire? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Not until after, when… (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] When what? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] When you killed her. Robbed us of her wisdom, kindness, perspective, heart, all she contributed to her community. And for what? Some ash? Dust? Is there not already enough collecting between the folds of your ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that last term for obscenity. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] What, you’re more scandalized by me describing your dust-crusted ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆ than your violence? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that one as well. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“Which word do you suppose was stricken here?” Vosaphar asked. “Asscheeks,” Finnit said solemnly. “Has to be.”</div>] (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] So you don’t have an answer. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The entity in question was brought before sunlight and destroyed in accordance with all legal and moral precedent. Any ‘violence’ is lawful, and thereby just. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] And you wonder why they hate us. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Hatred is not the subject of this illuminative session. What did your proscribed discussion entail? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] She told me all kinds of stories about this place, how they have fine-tuned their relationship with the island to keep things running, letting their traditions evolve with the conditions. I think her granddaughter wanted her to have someone new to talk to, so she could share all this with someone. The old woman told me that when sun and moon meet in the sky, the boundary between our world and theirs grows thin. At such a momentous event, the cleverest and quickest might climb into the throat of the island and cross the threshold to the cosmos. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">At last. Something of value in this tedious discussion. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire spoke metaphorically, did it not? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">I wondered the same thing. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] No, I don’t think she did. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Explain. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] She said that when the celestial hosts of the heavens are distracted with their dance, the sun grows just cool enough to touch. She dipped her finger into the mortar, and showed me a golden bead of oil, and she said even a drop of sunlight was enough to bless the island for a century, but few survived the transit. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">They must not have understood what they were doing. How could they have, without knowledge of the Three Principles? If there is any truth to it at all, it is clearly some underdeveloped rite of self-banishment, resulting in a temporary transference of a mortal into the hells until planar reversion draws them back. If that. Nevertheless, the ritual is worth investigating further. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] It claimed to have performed this… feat? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I believe her. You would’ve too, had you been there. Thankfully, you weren’t. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My opinion toward the superstitious musings of a proscribed entity is not the subject of this session. My role here is strictly— (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“Illuminative,” Vosaphar said, looking out into the storm. “That’s it?” Finnit asked. “But I want to know… so much more.” “And yet, we know more now than we did before. Does this not confirm what you saw in the lens?” “I guess so. Still…” </div>] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightchroniclechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[[[Suspect. ⇒->20BABA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">(text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The illuminative session for Leisenelle, former third officer of the now-renegade vessel ‘Consonance,’ is hereby brought to order. You stand accused of mutiny, murder, theft, deception, consorting with proscribed entities, and willful evasion of justice. Is that correct? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] You would know. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Is that correct? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I guess so. Yes. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“She sounds a lot like you,” Vosaphar murmured, stroking his claws idly through Finnit’s hair. “‘Consorting with proscribed entities?’ What a wicked accusation.” Finnit snorted. “Are you going to bring me to justice?” “Absolutely not.” “Too bad.” </div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Against these accusations, how do you plead? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I do not plead. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] You must make a claim, either to affirm or deny each crime you have been accused of. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I will make no such claims. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The accused has neglected her obligation to plead. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] What’s your deal, anyway? Are you mad? Some pretty vampire in your past tied your morals all up in knots and made you feel sinful? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My role here is strictly illuminative. How did you first come to associate with this vampire? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I was trying to find out the truth about this island. But none of them would talk to me. The islanders, I mean. They resent us. You know that, right? Look at what we’ve done to them since we got here. Someone has to stop it. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, mark a note down for ‘sedition,’ would you? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">At least the clerics are obligated to transcribe what they actually heard. Historians ought to learn from their example. ⚞L. Raekard (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“I think Raekard’s distaste for historians gets in his way,” Finnit said. “How could we possibly know, at this point, what liberties the cleric might have taken?” “It’s going to take more than historians to put a stop to him.” Finnit laughed, but Vosaphar hadn’t told a joke.</div>] </div>] (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] You didn’t have that one already? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Continue. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Fine. This one woman approached me, and told me to visit her house on the outskirts after sundown. I thought she might be into me—and maybe she was, a little—but she wanted me to meet her grandmother. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Yeah. Did the ‘after sundown’ part give it away? I’m not a good storyteller. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The only things your story requires are honesty and accuracy. Justice will account for the rest. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Whatever you need to tell yourself. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] I don’t ‘need’ to do anything. My role here is strictly illuminative. As the accused has been reminded. Continue. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] So, I waited for dusk, and paid her a visit. Her grandmother was living in the basement. Some kind of herbalist, I guess. The whole time we talked, she was crushing up these weird seedpods in a mortar and pestle. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] At what point did you realize this entity was a vampire? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Not until after, when… (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] When what? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] When you killed her. Robbed us of her wisdom, kindness, perspective, heart, all she contributed to her community. And for what? Some ash? Dust? Is there not already enough collecting between the folds of your ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that last term for obscenity. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] What, you’re more scandalized by me describing your dust-crusted ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆ than your violence? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that one as well. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“Which word do you suppose was stricken here?” Vosaphar asked. “Asscheeks,” Finnit said solemnly. “Has to be.”</div>] (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] So you don’t have an answer. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The entity in question was brought before sunlight and destroyed in accordance with all legal and moral precedent. Any ‘violence’ is lawful, and thereby just. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] And you wonder why they hate us. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Hatred is not the subject of this illuminative session. What did your proscribed discussion entail? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] She told me all kinds of stories about this place, how they have fine-tuned their relationship with the island to keep things running, letting their traditions evolve with the conditions. I think her granddaughter wanted her to have someone new to talk to, so she could share all this with someone. The old woman told me that when sun and moon meet in the sky, the boundary between our world and theirs grows thin. At such a momentous event, the cleverest and quickest might climb into the throat of the island and cross the threshold to the cosmos. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">At last. Something of value in this tedious discussion. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire spoke metaphorically, did it not? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">I wondered the same thing. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] No, I don’t think she did. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Explain. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] She said that when the celestial hosts of the heavens are distracted with their dance, the sun grows just cool enough to touch. She dipped her finger into the mortar, and showed me a golden bead of oil, and she said even a drop of sunlight was enough to bless the island for a century, but few survived the transit. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">They must not have understood what they were doing. How could they have, without knowledge of the Three Principles? If there is any truth to it at all, it is clearly some underdeveloped rite of self-banishment, resulting in a temporary transference of a mortal into the hells until planar reversion draws them back. If that. Nevertheless, the ritual is worth investigating further. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] It claimed to have performed this… feat? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I believe her. You would’ve too, had you been there. Thankfully, you weren’t. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My opinion toward the superstitious musings of a proscribed entity is not the subject of this session. My role here is strictly— (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“Illuminative,” Vosaphar said, looking out into the storm. “That’s it?” Finnit asked. “But I want to know… so much more.” “And yet, we know more now than we did before. Does this not confirm what you saw in the lens?” “I guess so. Still…” </div>] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="chroniclechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[[[Suspect. ⇒->20BABA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#927b1a")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Chronicle]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XX.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">With fewer than a handful of days remaining until the eclipse, Vosaphar was determined to spend as much of that time as he could with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon now wondered why they had wasted the preceding days doing everything else *except* wrapping up together in blankets, speaking softly to one another. His ordeals felt paler against the comfort of this heat. Had your machinations even mattered for this? Under these conditions, wouldn’t they have always found themselves in love? You had no motes for lust. Though, based on what you had seen, you wouldn’t have needed them. Goodness. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Once they were ready to venture out, Finnit led Vosaphar back up the cliffside stairs to the crevice dotted with rusted anchors and unhatched eggs. The bird-creature chirped warily as they sidled deeper into the passage. She affixed those golden eyes to Vosaphar, unblinking, as though daring him to disturb any of her forsaken brood. He kept himself positioned between her and Finnit, to help alleviate the mortal’s anxiety. After winding their way through, the passage opened into a roughly circular chamber. “Look, Vosaphar,” Finnit intoned, pointing up. “We’re right beneath the lens.” Black slag had oozed down from the ceiling, frozen into organic stalactites that reflected no light from Finnit’s orb. While still fluid, they had dripped, leaving a few glassy patches spread across the altar. *Click*. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“What was that?” Vosaphar whispered. He cautiously approached the altar, a raised disk with a tight spiral grooved into its otherwise flat surface. “There,” Finnit whispered. “See the moon?” *Click*. A mechanism lowered a miniature pewter grate, allowing a tiny white sphere to roll a little further forward along the channel. At the center of the spiral lay a rendering of the sun, blotched by inky glass that had dripped down from above. “So much for studying the almanac.” Finnit paced around the pedestal. “This device is telling us how much is left until the eclipse. If we had known earlier…” “But we know now,” Vosaphar said. “Look at how close it is.” Vast and fiddly though the design was, the moon had wound its way close to the center. It was an unwelcome reminder of the future approaching, click by— *Click*. A taut silence stretched between them. Vosaphar had thoughts that he was unwilling to admit to. *Click*. “What if we just stayed here?” Finnit voiced. “Well maybe not this particular chamber. I mean the Pharos Fidelis in general.” He looked down at the transit bracelet Raekard had given him. “I could throw this in the ocean. We could ignore the lens. Stay here as long as we wanted.” “There’s nothing for you to eat, Finnit.” *Click.* “Would you even want to go to the academy?” Finnit stared at the pedestal. “Who even knows what they’d do to you, or—” “I am willing to risk it,” Vosaphar said. “I cannot say what the future holds. But we can’t stay here. I’m in no hurry to descend back to the calciferous wastes. And you have your life to live. I would rather join you in whatever of that you are willing to have me for, or until we choose to part. Is that not the way forward in such matters? The real accord?” *Click.* Finnit was silent for a few more moments. “Yes. You’re right. But I’m scared. This could all go so wrong.” Vosaphar embraced Finnit, holding him close. “It might. We will do our best, regardless.” They stayed together a while longer, before journeying back to their strange little home in the cliffside. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[At the eclipse, they would return. And the fate of the Pharos Fidelis would at last be decided. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Petition. ⇒->RBABA. Calciferous]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">With fewer than a handful of days remaining until the eclipse, Vosaphar was determined to spend as much of that time as he could with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon now wondered why they had wasted the preceding days doing everything else *except* wrapping up together in blankets, speaking softly to one another. His ordeals felt paler against the comfort of this heat. Had your machinations even mattered for this? Under these conditions, wouldn’t they have always found themselves in love? You had no motes for lust. Though, based on what you had seen, you wouldn’t have needed them. Goodness. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Once they were ready to venture out, Finnit led Vosaphar back up the cliffside stairs to the crevice dotted with rusted anchors and unhatched eggs. The bird-creature chirped warily as they sidled deeper into the passage. She affixed those golden eyes to Vosaphar, unblinking, as though daring him to disturb any of her forsaken brood. He kept himself positioned between her and Finnit, to help alleviate the mortal’s anxiety. After winding their way through, the passage opened into a roughly circular chamber. “Look, Vosaphar,” Finnit intoned, pointing up. “We’re right beneath the lens.” Black slag had oozed down from the ceiling, frozen into organic stalactites that reflected no light from Finnit’s orb. While still fluid, they had dripped, leaving a few glassy patches spread across the altar. *Click*. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“What was that?” Vosaphar whispered. He cautiously approached the altar, a raised disk with a tight spiral grooved into its otherwise flat surface. “There,” Finnit whispered. “See the moon?” *Click*. A mechanism lowered a miniature pewter grate, allowing a tiny white sphere to roll a little further forward along the channel. At the center of the spiral lay a rendering of the sun, blotched by inky glass that had dripped down from above. “So much for studying the almanac.” Finnit paced around the pedestal. “This device is telling us how much is left until the eclipse. If we had known earlier…” “But we know now,” Vosaphar said. “Look at how close it is.” Vast and fiddly though the design was, the moon had wound its way close to the center. It was an unwelcome reminder of the future approaching, click by— *Click*. A taut silence stretched between them. Vosaphar had thoughts that he was unwilling to admit to. *Click*. “What if we just stayed here?” Finnit voiced. “Well maybe not this particular chamber. I mean the Pharos Fidelis in general.” He looked down at the transit bracelet Raekard had given him. “I could throw this in the ocean. We could ignore the lens. Stay here as long as we wanted.” “There’s nothing for you to eat, Finnit.” *Click.* “Would you even want to go to the academy?” Finnit stared at the pedestal. “Who even knows what they’d do to you, or—” “I am willing to risk it,” Vosaphar said. “I cannot say what the future holds. But we can’t stay here. I’m in no hurry to descend back to the calciferous wastes. And you have your life to live. I would rather join you in whatever of that you are willing to have me for, or until we choose to part. Is that not the way forward in such matters? The real accord?” *Click.* Finnit was silent for a few more moments. “Yes. You’re right. But I’m scared. This could all go so wrong.” Vosaphar embraced Finnit, holding him close. “It might. We will do our best, regardless.” They stayed together a while longer, before journeying back to their strange little home in the cliffside. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[At the eclipse, they would return. And the fate of the Pharos Fidelis would at last be decided. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Petition. ⇒->RBABA. Calciferous]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[Recollection.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">Vosaphar’s spilling ichor sang to them so sweetly, libations that lured all manner of lips to lap. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[No longer able to fly, the beleaguered demon ran, stumbled, staggered, crawled—anything he could do to place another lazurynthine wall between himself and his nearest pursuer. He needed somewhere dark and quiet, somewhere safe to recover. Such amenities were unavailable in the lazurynth. But there were other hells than these. Vosaphar slipped through an inky gap between walls that had lost definition, their geometry corrupted by some other force. He sank into an oily pool, far beneath the febrile blue heat. He could no longer tell where the sludge began and his blood ended, drifting ever downward. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Eventually he reached the shore near your cottage, not yet fragmented to spectral remnants. Still specific, despite it all. He crawled to your doorstep, begging for relief from the lazurynth. Should he fall, he would emerge there once more, a cycle of dissolution his demonhood would eventually fail to survive. You told him that the calciferous wastes were hostile and desolate. He said he preferred a false quiet to an honest din. You told him there was nothing of value here—had there been, a warden as petty as you would’ve long been shredded to bits by a stronger devil. He said he preferred an expansive nothing to crowded corridors. You told him he would awaken cold, wet, and screaming, his every lonely birth into this void inevitable suffering. He said he preferred a bitter plunge to a blistering fire. You told him what it would cost, a steady stream of magic to brighten your hellfire furnace, tending to the motes. He accepted those terms without hesitation. You asked him for his name. He still had one. Vosaphar. With that accorded, you plucked his coal from the deepest pit of the lazurynth, and held it between your claws, its blue dimmed to gray. His archfiend wouldn’t miss it. And then you threw it in the pool, and it sank to the bottom, where it lodged itself in a dark crevice. Vosaphar, now under your jurisdiction, fled into the wastes, searching for a smooth bit of coralbone to lean against, however futilely. You gave him desolation, cold, and quiet. In return, your furnace grew brighter. How could you have ever predicted what this would eventually make impossible? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Discover. ⇒->21BABA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">Vosaphar’s spilling ichor sang to them so sweetly, libations that lured all manner of lips to lap. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[No longer able to fly, the beleaguered demon ran, stumbled, staggered, crawled—anything he could do to place another lazurynthine wall between himself and his nearest pursuer. He needed somewhere dark and quiet, somewhere safe to recover. Such amenities were unavailable in the lazurynth. But there were other hells than these. Vosaphar slipped through an inky gap between walls that had lost definition, their geometry corrupted by some other force. He sank into an oily pool, far beneath the febrile blue heat. He could no longer tell where the sludge began and his blood ended, drifting ever downward. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Eventually he reached the shore near your cottage, not yet fragmented to spectral remnants. Still specific, despite it all. He crawled to your doorstep, begging for relief from the lazurynth. Should he fall, he would emerge there once more, a cycle of dissolution his demonhood would eventually fail to survive. You told him that the calciferous wastes were hostile and desolate. He said he preferred a false quiet to an honest din. You told him there was nothing of value here—had there been, a warden as petty as you would’ve long been shredded to bits by a stronger devil. He said he preferred an expansive nothing to crowded corridors. You told him he would awaken cold, wet, and screaming, his every lonely birth into this void inevitable suffering. He said he preferred a bitter plunge to a blistering fire. You told him what it would cost, a steady stream of magic to brighten your hellfire furnace, tending to the motes. He accepted those terms without hesitation. You asked him for his name. He still had one. Vosaphar. With that accorded, you plucked his coal from the deepest pit of the lazurynth, and held it between your claws, its blue dimmed to gray. His archfiend wouldn’t miss it. And then you threw it in the pool, and it sank to the bottom, where it lodged itself in a dark crevice. Vosaphar, now under your jurisdiction, fled into the wastes, searching for a smooth bit of coralbone to lean against, however futilely. You gave him desolation, cold, and quiet. In return, your furnace grew brighter. How could you have ever predicted what this would eventually make impossible? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Discover. ⇒->21BABA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Recollection]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">The day of the eclipse, Finnit woke with a sharp pain searing his back, breaking him out of his warm reverie. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar was twitching and scratching in his sleep again. Finnit adored the feeling of the devil’s tail coiled around his thigh, basking in the hellish heat that staved off the island’s chill. Nonetheless, crawling into the embrace of a clawed creature had a few drawbacks. “Hey,” Finnit whispered. “Wake up.” Vosaphar shifted, his tail loosening its grip on Finnit. “Mmph.” “You scratched me again,” Finnit said. “Nightmares?” “Oh no,” Vosaphar said. “I’m sorry, Finnit. Here…” The demon traced the scratches, and Finnit felt an odd prickly sensation as the skin healed over. “Thank you. You’re getting good at that.” Vosaphar delicately kissed the side of Finnit’s neck. “I don’t normally sleep so much. The mortal realm is… exhausting, in its own way. Perhaps I can fashion some wrappings for my claws in the future.” “Whoa,” Finnit said, gazing out one of the windows. “What?” “The sky is different.” And indeed it was. The rain had—incredibly—let up slightly, the green glow he’d become so accustomed to taking on distinct streaks of orange and red. Vosaphar grimaced. “I guess it’s time.” “Yeah.” They made their final preparations. Finnit tucked his syllabaries into his satchel and ate his last rations. He thought he might never forget the taste of salted fruit leather in whatever days—or day—he had remaining. “Was there something else we should have prepared?” Finnit asked. “We’re just… walking through a portal to the sun? Like this?” “I can’t think of anything, Finnit.” “Well, alright then.” He looked around at the now overly-familiar place he had spent this last month. “Goodbye, awful yet cozy stone room under a cursed lighthouse. It was certainly a time.” “That it was.” Vosaphar sounded amused. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They ventured out onto the cliffside stairs. Even these had become familiar, the treachery of each step now a well-worn betrayal. As they slipped past the anchor collector, she gave out a little warble of encouragement. At least, that’s how Finnit chose to take it. Up ahead, a ruddy glow intensified as they approached the altar beneath the lens and its housing. The miniature moon had arrived at its destination, transforming the sun emblem at the center into a bright red disc of light. It was overwhelming to look at directly; Finnit’s eyes strained from this threat to perception. “It’s terrible,” Finnit whispered. “Beautiful, too. What a dazzling horror of a thing to witness.” “Finnit,” Vosaphar began, wrapping his arms gently around the sorcerer. “It might be neglectful of our accord for me not to mention… you don’t have to do this. I could—I could go without you—you could die, Finnit, and—I—I don’t want to lose you… forever.” Finnit looked up into the fiend’s fearful, loving eyes. “Vosaphar—I’m afraid, too. But I couldn’t accept that. Isn’t that what Raekard would do? Send someone to die in his stead, to do the big scary things he won’t face himself? This trial was his idea, but now it’s my trial. Our trial. And I want to see it through. Together. Don’t you?” “Yes,” Vosaphar admitted. “I want to see the sun... with you.” “Then let’s go see it.” Vosaphar smiled, and took Finnit’s arm in his. Together, they stepped into an oblivion of crimson light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Eclipse. ⇒->Eclipse BABA]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">The day of the eclipse, Finnit woke with a sharp pain searing his back, breaking him out of his warm reverie. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar was twitching and scratching in his sleep again. Finnit adored the feeling of the devil’s tail coiled around his thigh, basking in the hellish heat that staved off the island’s chill. Nonetheless, crawling into the embrace of a clawed creature had a few drawbacks. “Hey,” Finnit whispered. “Wake up.” Vosaphar shifted, his tail loosening its grip on Finnit. “Mmph.” “You scratched me again,” Finnit said. “Nightmares?” “Oh no,” Vosaphar said. “I’m sorry, Finnit. Here…” The demon traced the scratches, and Finnit felt an odd prickly sensation as the skin healed over. “Thank you. You’re getting good at that.” Vosaphar delicately kissed the side of Finnit’s neck. “I don’t normally sleep so much. The mortal realm is… exhausting, in its own way. Perhaps I can fashion some wrappings for my claws in the future.” “Whoa,” Finnit said, gazing out one of the windows. “What?” “The sky is different.” And indeed it was. The rain had—incredibly—let up slightly, the green glow he’d become so accustomed to taking on distinct streaks of orange and red. Vosaphar grimaced. “I guess it’s time.” “Yeah.” They made their final preparations. Finnit tucked his syllabaries into his satchel and ate his last rations. He thought he might never forget the taste of salted fruit leather in whatever days—or day—he had remaining. “Was there something else we should have prepared?” Finnit asked. “We’re just… walking through a portal to the sun? Like this?” “I can’t think of anything, Finnit.” “Well, alright then.” He looked around at the now overly-familiar place he had spent this last month. “Goodbye, awful yet cozy stone room under a cursed lighthouse. It was certainly a time.” “That it was.” Vosaphar sounded amused. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They ventured out onto the cliffside stairs. Even these had become familiar, the treachery of each step now a well-worn betrayal. As they slipped past the anchor collector, she gave out a little warble of encouragement. At least, that’s how Finnit chose to take it. Up ahead, a ruddy glow intensified as they approached the altar beneath the lens and its housing. The miniature moon had arrived at its destination, transforming the sun emblem at the center into a bright red disc of light. It was overwhelming to look at directly; Finnit’s eyes strained from this threat to perception. “It’s terrible,” Finnit whispered. “Beautiful, too. What a dazzling horror of a thing to witness.” “Finnit,” Vosaphar began, wrapping his arms gently around the sorcerer. “It might be neglectful of our accord for me not to mention… you don’t have to do this. I could—I could go without you—you could die, Finnit, and—I—I don’t want to lose you… forever.” Finnit looked up into the fiend’s fearful, loving eyes. “Vosaphar—I’m afraid, too. But I couldn’t accept that. Isn’t that what Raekard would do? Send someone to die in his stead, to do the big scary things he won’t face himself? This trial was his idea, but now it’s my trial. Our trial. And I want to see it through. Together. Don’t you?” “Yes,” Vosaphar admitted. “I want to see the sun... with you.” “Then let’s go see it.” Vosaphar smiled, and took Finnit’s arm in his. Together, they stepped into an oblivion of crimson light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Eclipse. ⇒->Eclipse BABA]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 3)[Eclipse.] (text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Sun.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">The sun was a cosmic affliction, a colossal molten mass so red and seething that even the infernal embers blazing in the deepest pits of the hells seemed but feeble sparks in the distance. And Vosaphar was soaring *toward* it. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he flew, Finnit clutched against him, tendrils of the corona pulled peculiar new colors from his wings, its aurora a spectacle more captivating than your dreary calciferous skies could have ever dreamed to churn. How you longed for such color and heat and majesty—even just a drop of it. And *they* got to see it all, to have it within reach. “Vosaphar, look!” With his free hand, Finnit pointed toward an eerie black void drifting past. Dozens of bird-creatures flew from the roiling surface of the sun to circle and screech at the dark moon, a celestial interloper threatening the eternity of light. “They’re sunspots!” Finnit shouted. “She’s a sunspot!” “They’re *distracted*, too.” Vosaphar glided toward the edge of the sun away from the shrieking horrors. “That’s why it has to be now.” The demon and his summoner skimmed the sun’s surface, its dangerous heat threatening to embrace them forever so closely. “Hold on, Finnit!” Vosaphar tilted his wings, arm outstretched, reaching, swiping up a glob of incandescent fluid. This molten scarlet-amber squeezed between his claws and stuck to his low-dipped wing. Even these tiny droplets of starlight held immense power that coursed through him as he arced up out of the sun’s grip. “It’s so incredible!” Finnit laughed, tears streaming behind him, motes of wonder sparkling in space. Something darkened behind them. Finnit looked over his shoulder. “Vosaphar—there’s a new sunspot—” The creature shrieked as it gave chase, following the radiant beads dripping from Vosaphar’s sunswept wing. Vosaphar affixed his gaze to the portal back to the Pharos Fidelis, soaring ever faster. The screeching grew louder yet, judgment for their cardinal cosmic sin approaching with alarming haste. But with Finnit clinging to his side… (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar simply had no use for consequences. With a final burst of speed, they shot through the portal. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Reignite. ⇒->22BABA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">The sun was a cosmic affliction, a colossal molten mass so red and seething that even the infernal embers blazing in the deepest pits of the hells seemed but feeble sparks in the distance. And Vosaphar was soaring *toward* it. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he flew, Finnit clutched against him, tendrils of the corona pulled peculiar new colors from his wings, its aurora a spectacle more captivating than your dreary calciferous skies could have ever dreamed to churn. How you longed for such color and heat and majesty—even just a drop of it. And *they* got to see it all, to have it within reach. “Vosaphar, look!” With his free hand, Finnit pointed toward an eerie black void drifting past. Dozens of bird-creatures flew from the roiling surface of the sun to circle and screech at the dark moon, a celestial interloper threatening the eternity of light. “They’re sunspots!” Finnit shouted. “She’s a sunspot!” “They’re *distracted*, too.” Vosaphar glided toward the edge of the sun away from the shrieking horrors. “That’s why it has to be now.” The demon and his summoner skimmed the sun’s surface, its dangerous heat threatening to embrace them forever so closely. “Hold on, Finnit!” Vosaphar tilted his wings, arm outstretched, reaching, swiping up a glob of incandescent fluid. This molten scarlet-amber squeezed between his claws and stuck to his low-dipped wing. Even these tiny droplets of starlight held immense power that coursed through him as he arced up out of the sun’s grip. “It’s so incredible!” Finnit laughed, tears streaming behind him, motes of wonder sparkling in space. Something darkened behind them. Finnit looked over his shoulder. “Vosaphar—there’s a new sunspot—” The creature shrieked as it gave chase, following the radiant beads dripping from Vosaphar’s sunswept wing. Vosaphar affixed his gaze to the portal back to the Pharos Fidelis, soaring ever faster. The screeching grew louder yet, judgment for their cardinal cosmic sin approaching with alarming haste. But with Finnit clinging to his side… (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar simply had no use for consequences. With a final burst of speed, they shot through the portal. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Reignite. ⇒->22BABA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXII.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Finnit and Vosaphar tumbled over the edge of the altar, the portal still aglow with the eclipse-light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But there was little time to celebrate their reckless heist—the sunspot shoved its vicious pointed head through the gap after them, screeching as it struggled to break through. Finnit let Vosaphar carry him a bit further up the tunnel, before standing on his own feet and running alongside. The anchor collector had left her nest, wheeling about in the sky, shrieking back at the new sunspot about to burst from the throat of the island. Finnit looked out at the storm, the clouds thinned enough that he could see the eclipsed red sun half-risen, framing the infernal image of a devil’s horns. “How magnificent,” he said, breathless. Vosaphar looked down at him, gently squeezing his hand. They arrived at the peak, where the lens yearned for light, and at last, Finnit had light to provide. Vosaphar held out his claws, sunlight pooled in his palm, and Finnit painted it, trying to create the glyph his mind had projected there, the name of the demon whose rite might reignite the Pharos Fidelis. You watched, enraptured by the spectacle of your plans converging. This was it. This was your moment. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As Finnit slathered the glowing fluid across the lens, the dark slag drank it in—more, and more, and more of it. Too much of it. The glyph couldn’t hold its shape. The lens welled, hyperfolding crimson light, growing ever hotter by the second. The cleft, once so close to promising your name, had already deformed beyond recognition. And how brutal; that poor, mortal sorcerer, all tangled in your schemes, had every intention of drawing your name, a sigil drenched in the lifeblood of the sun. He really did try. You couldn’t fault him for that. But the execution? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A tragedy, in many fragments. For centuries—perhaps longer—every mortal design for the Pharos Fidelis had crumbled. Each disaster wrote another chapter in that wretched chronicle, the dark history of guiding light. And you thought *yours* would work? Pharos Fidelis, the beacon on the horizon of reason. Where it would remain, out of reach. Could not even a devil accept the simple dreadful truth, that a horizon approached can never arrive? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Finnit, we have to leave!” Vosaphar shouted, scanning the skies for the sunspots. “The lens is collapsing!” “No—it has to—Vosaphar, it has to—” “Finnit, please—” “I can’t—I can’t get the shape right, it’s going to—” “It deserves to shatter.” How dare he. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“But, what was this even for, then?” Finnit sobbed, the last of the sunlight ripped from his fingertips into the Pharos Fidelis. Vosaphar pulled him, one final time, away from the amplifying dyslucence. “That’s for the historians!” Vosaphar stared at him with his stormy eyes. “Shouldn’t we live? Don’t you want a future? ” “Yes!” Finnit embraced Vosaphar once more, and the demon swept him up into the sky. They abandoned the Pharos Fidelis to its fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They *tried* to abandon it. But it wasn’t done with them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Shatter. ⇒->23BABA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Finnit and Vosaphar tumbled over the edge of the altar, the portal still aglow with the eclipse-light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But there was little time to celebrate their reckless heist—the sunspot shoved its vicious pointed head through the gap after them, screeching as it struggled to break through. Finnit let Vosaphar carry him a bit further up the tunnel, before standing on his own feet and running alongside. The anchor collector had left her nest, wheeling about in the sky, shrieking back at the new sunspot about to burst from the throat of the island. Finnit looked out at the storm, the clouds thinned enough that he could see the eclipsed red sun half-risen, framing the infernal image of a devil’s horns. “How magnificent,” he said, breathless. Vosaphar looked down at him, gently squeezing his hand. They arrived at the peak, where the lens yearned for light, and at last, Finnit had light to provide. Vosaphar held out his claws, sunlight pooled in his palm, and Finnit painted it, trying to create the glyph his mind had projected there, the name of the demon whose rite might reignite the Pharos Fidelis. You watched, enraptured by the spectacle of your plans converging. This was it. This was your moment. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As Finnit slathered the glowing fluid across the lens, the dark slag drank it in—more, and more, and more of it. Too much of it. The glyph couldn’t hold its shape. The lens welled, hyperfolding crimson light, growing ever hotter by the second. The cleft, once so close to promising your name, had already deformed beyond recognition. And how brutal; that poor, mortal sorcerer, all tangled in your schemes, had every intention of drawing your name, a sigil drenched in the lifeblood of the sun. He really did try. You couldn’t fault him for that. But the execution? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A tragedy, in many fragments. For centuries—perhaps longer—every mortal design for the Pharos Fidelis had crumbled. Each disaster wrote another chapter in that wretched chronicle, the dark history of guiding light. And you thought *yours* would work? Pharos Fidelis, the beacon on the horizon of reason. Where it would remain, out of reach. Could not even a devil accept the simple dreadful truth, that a horizon approached can never arrive? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Finnit, we have to leave!” Vosaphar shouted, scanning the skies for the sunspots. “The lens is collapsing!” “No—it has to—Vosaphar, it has to—” “Finnit, please—” “I can’t—I can’t get the shape right, it’s going to—” “It deserves to shatter.” How dare he. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“But, what was this even for, then?” Finnit sobbed, the last of the sunlight ripped from his fingertips into the Pharos Fidelis. Vosaphar pulled him, one final time, away from the amplifying dyslucence. “That’s for the historians!” Vosaphar stared at him with his stormy eyes. “Shouldn’t we live? Don’t you want a future? ” “Yes!” Finnit embraced Vosaphar once more, and the demon swept him up into the sky. They abandoned the Pharos Fidelis to its fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They *tried* to abandon it. But it wasn’t done with them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Shatter. ⇒->23BABA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Disavowal]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXIII.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">The storm rushed past Vosaphar as he carried Finnit, placing any distance he could between them and the doomed Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Still seeking their stolen sunlight, the sunspot pursued, but the anchor collector screeched and snapped at it. The two creatures, identically opposed in desire, circled the peak as they fought above the molten slag. “It’s going to—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The world around them grew absolutely silent, swallowing the rest of Finnit’s warning. Every bit of light had gathered, folding itself over and over and over still, smaller, ever smaller, congealing into the tiniest, brightest speck. For a moment, Vosaphar wondered if it would keep going, dragging the mortal realm, the hells, and all the rest of existence into its singularity. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Instead, it shattered. All that had been poured into it—all the fire, all the lightning, all the stray souls, all the stolen sunlight, all the summons slaughtered, all the hopes and dreams and plots and schemes and—all of it finally shattered, sending incalculable shards of glass in every direction at incredible speeds. A vanguard fragment slammed into Vosaphar’s chest, knocking Finnit out of his grasp. The sorcerer began to drift away on his own trajectory— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And you thought, though your plans had shattered along with everything else… You still had one last mote of hellfire to spare. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Influence. ⇒->M4BABA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">The storm rushed past Vosaphar as he carried Finnit, placing any distance he could between them and the doomed Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Still seeking their stolen sunlight, the sunspot pursued, but the anchor collector screeched and snapped at it. The two creatures, identically opposed in desire, circled the peak as they fought above the molten slag. “It’s going to—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The world around them grew absolutely silent, swallowing the rest of Finnit’s warning. Every bit of light had gathered, folding itself over and over and over still, smaller, ever smaller, congealing into the tiniest, brightest speck. For a moment, Vosaphar wondered if it would keep going, dragging the mortal realm, the hells, and all the rest of existence into its singularity. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Instead, it shattered. All that had been poured into it—all the fire, all the lightning, all the stray souls, all the stolen sunlight, all the summons slaughtered, all the hopes and dreams and plots and schemes and—all of it finally shattered, sending incalculable shards of glass in every direction at incredible speeds. A vanguard fragment slammed into Vosaphar’s chest, knocking Finnit out of his grasp. The sorcerer began to drift away on his own trajectory— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And you thought, though your plans had shattered along with everything else… You still had one last mote of hellfire to spare. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Influence. ⇒->M4BABA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Disavowal]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#fc4e71")+(text-size: 3)[Influence.] (text-color:"#fc4e71")+(text-size: 1.15)[Clinginess | Desperation.]</div> One final mote of hellfire appeared. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightmotepassage">When potent emotions conflicted a demon’s judgment, even the faintest mote of hellfire bore enough infernal energy to influence their fate from afar. That’s how you got them into this mess. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#8c283c)[***Clinginess***] For the demon Vosaphar, so eager to wrap himself around his beloved summoner, the sight of the mortal falling away would’ve driven him to dive in closer. This clinginess would have joined their fates together, should you have chosen to foster it. Yielding to this clinginess, however romantic, risked their joint fate becoming tragic. (text-color:#8c283c)[***Desperation***] For the demon Vosaphar, so determined for his beloved summoner to survive, the sight of him falling away would’ve driven him to take reckless measures. This desperation might have driven him to intervene instantly to salvage the situation. Yielding to this desperation, however hasty, risked their fates diverging dramatically. (text-color:#8c283c)[***Decision***] Well? Which force did this mote of hellfire incite? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightmotechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))[[[Clinginess. ⇒->24BABAA. Vosaphar]]] (link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#fc4e71")))[[[Desperation. ⇒->24BABAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="motepassage">When potent emotions conflicted a demon’s judgment, even the faintest mote of hellfire bore enough infernal energy to influence their fate from afar. That’s how you got them into this mess. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Clinginess***] For the demon Vosaphar, so eager to wrap himself around his beloved summoner, the sight of the mortal falling away would’ve driven him to dive in closer. This clinginess would have joined their fates together, should you have chosen to foster it. Yielding to this clinginess, however romantic, risked their joint fate becoming tragic. (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Desperation***] For the demon Vosaphar, so determined for his beloved summoner to survive, the sight of him falling away would’ve driven him to take reckless measures. This desperation might have driven him to intervene instantly to salvage the situation. Yielding to this desperation, however hasty, risked their fates diverging dramatically. (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Decision***] Well? Which force did this mote of hellfire incite? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="motechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Clinginess. ⇒->24BABAA. Vosaphar]]] (link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Desperation. ⇒->24BABAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Mote]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXIV.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar recognized your influence pushing him toward clinginess— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he *rejected* it. That stung. Vosaphar had a single, reckless idea of what he still had time to do. How he could send Finnit somewhere safer than here. Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar recalled the spells Finnit had taught him, focused his intentions and— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Banished him. Finnit blinked out of existence. Moments later, the edge of the explosion swept Vosaphar into an inferno of shattering glass. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Stoke. ⇒->25BABAA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar recognized your influence pushing him toward clinginess— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he *rejected* it. That stung. Vosaphar had a single, reckless idea of what he still had time to do. How he could send Finnit somewhere safer than here. Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar recalled the spells Finnit had taught him, focused his intentions and— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Banished him. Finnit blinked out of existence. Moments later, the edge of the explosion swept Vosaphar into an inferno of shattering glass. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Stoke. ⇒->25BABAA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXIV.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar recognized your influence pushing him toward desperation— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he *rejected* it. That stung. Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar dove, claws outstretched, reaching for Finnit’s wrist— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And closed his hand around the transit band attached to it. Just as the edge of the inferno reached them— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar and Finnit blinked out of existence, teleporting somewhere else. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Defend. ⇒->25BABAB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar recognized your influence pushing him toward desperation— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he *rejected* it. That stung. Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar dove, claws outstretched, reaching for Finnit’s wrist— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And closed his hand around the transit band attached to it. Just as the edge of the inferno reached them— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar and Finnit blinked out of existence, teleporting somewhere else. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Defend. ⇒->25BABAB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#b8e270")+(text-size: 3)[XXV.] (text-color:"#b8e270")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Cairnveld Fortress.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcairnveldpassage">Finnit tumbled to his latest painful stop against the stone. Warm, clawed fingers gripped his wrist. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Vosaphar?” Finnit groaned, clutching his head and rolling over to move closer to the devil. He could smell cypress and old parchment. They must have arrived somewhere at Cairnveld Fortress. He heard a few startled gasps, and then whispers broke out. “Huh?” Finnit muttered, looking over his shoulders. They had landed in one of the smaller lecture halls. Cool light streamed through the windows, setting the chamber’s dusty air aglow. A scattered few luminaries occupied the chairs, including Jethel, who peered curiously over the top of the beverage she had been sipping. It was the most people he had seen in a month. Raekard stood from his seat in the front row. “Incipient Finnit!” His voice rang out over the chamber. “I’m not sure how you managed to be late with a pre-scheduled transit band, but it is time for your evaluation.” He paused, frowning. “Dismiss this… creature.” Finnit ignored him, crawling over to examine Vosaphar’s wounds. There was a warped shard of the Pharos Fidelis lens lodged in his chest, glowing with an intense crimson light. It seemed to have fused to the demon’s torso, ichor seeping around the edges where glass and flesh intermingled. “Are you okay?” Finnit asked softly. “No.” Vosaphar turned to him, groaning. “But… I don’t think I’m fading.” Finnit did his best to hug him from this awkward position. “Fine, I’ll banish it myself.” Raekard traced a sigil in the air, directing its power against the injured fiend. Nothing happened. It was the first time that Finnit had seen Raekard genuinely surprised. Finnit helped Vosaphar to his feet. The demon looked around, a bit nervously given his bizarre new context. He let his ethereal wings fade away, wrapping a warm arm around Finnit’s waist. “This is not appropriate conduct for a discovery trial evaluation,” Raekard said, his voice low and dangerous. “Be sure to make a note of it then,” Finnit said. He leaned into Vosaphar, who responded by curling his tail gently around the sorcerer. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The luminaries in the audience found this riveting. Jethel stirred the air next to her mug with a cinnamon stick, not realizing she was dripping horchata onto her notes. Finnit wished he could just leave and recover in his quarters. Why was he even putting up with any of this? They had just gotten back from the *sun*. “Dismiss this demon at once!” Raekard snapped. “It is against academy bylaws to bring summoned entities to participate in discovery trial evaluations.” “I’ll go where I wish to, *wretched one*,” Vosaphar snarled. He had evidently recognized Raekard. Jethel let out a startled laugh, which she failed to even attempt to cover up. “Luminary Jethel is going to *love* you,” Finnit told Vosaphar, deciding to embrace the surreality of the moment. Nonplussed, Raekard tried a second banishment. It failed. Again. Finnit ran his fingers through his hair anxiously, snagging another piece of the lens that had cut the skin behind his ear. He plucked it out. Its otherworldly glow was just as out of place here as Vosaphar, and frankly, himself. “What is the meaning of this?” Raekard demanded. “Incipient, what did you *do*?” Finnit held up the errant fragment. “We reignited the Pharos Fidelis.” He threw it onto the floor. “As commanded. Huh. I guess that makes me a luminary.” “This is—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But Finnit didn’t care to hear any more of what Raekard had to say. He suddenly wondered why it had ever mattered. The luminary was such an insignificant threat in the face of everything that he had experienced. And he was a terrible historiographer. Suddenly, the ground shook slightly. Bits of grit descended from the ceiling. One of the luminaries—who had somehow managed to sleep through Finnit and Vosaphar’s dramatic arrival—woke with a start, their eyes darting wildly as they took in their surroundings. “What was *that*?” Raekard asked. “The Pharos Fidelis,” Finnit said. “I guess it took a few minutes for the shockwaves to arrive. Maybe we should reconvene this session after we know for sure that our actions didn’t precipitate the end of all existence. Vosaphar, let’s get out of here.” “Gladly,” the demon muttered. “And stop trying to banish me,” he added, glaring directly at Raekard. “Or I will teach you some real principles of summoning that you will *not* enjoy learning, pathetic one.” The luminary was dumbfounded. “What the—what happened?” “That’s enough, Raekard,” Jethel said from behind him. Arms linked, Finnit and Vosaphar departed the lecture hall, heading for Finnit’s quarters. Somewhere quiet. Raekard didn’t try to follow them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcairnveldchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))[[[Repose. ⇒->26BABAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="cairnveldpassage">Finnit tumbled to his latest painful stop against the stone. Warm, clawed fingers gripped his wrist. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Vosaphar?” Finnit groaned, clutching his head and rolling over to move closer to the devil. He could smell cypress and old parchment. They must have arrived somewhere at Cairnveld Fortress. He heard a few startled gasps, and then whispers broke out. “Huh?” Finnit muttered, looking over his shoulders. They had landed in one of the smaller lecture halls. Cool light streamed through the windows, setting the chamber’s dusty air aglow. A scattered few luminaries occupied the chairs, including Jethel, who peered curiously over the top of the beverage she had been sipping. It was the most people he had seen in a month. Raekard stood from his seat in the front row. “Incipient Finnit!” His voice rang out over the chamber. “I’m not sure how you managed to be late with a pre-scheduled transit band, but it is time for your evaluation.” He paused, frowning. “Dismiss this… creature.” Finnit ignored him, crawling over to examine Vosaphar’s wounds. There was a warped shard of the Pharos Fidelis lens lodged in his chest, glowing with an intense crimson light. It seemed to have fused to the demon’s torso, ichor seeping around the edges where glass and flesh intermingled. “Are you okay?” Finnit asked softly. “No.” Vosaphar turned to him, groaning. “But… I don’t think I’m fading.” Finnit did his best to hug him from this awkward position. “Fine, I’ll banish it myself.” Raekard traced a sigil in the air, directing its power against the injured fiend. Nothing happened. It was the first time that Finnit had seen Raekard genuinely surprised. Finnit helped Vosaphar to his feet. The demon looked around, a bit nervously given his bizarre new context. He let his ethereal wings fade away, wrapping a warm arm around Finnit’s waist. “This is not appropriate conduct for a discovery trial evaluation,” Raekard said, his voice low and dangerous. “Be sure to make a note of it then,” Finnit said. He leaned into Vosaphar, who responded by curling his tail gently around the sorcerer. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The luminaries in the audience found this riveting. Jethel stirred the air next to her mug with a cinnamon stick, not realizing she was dripping horchata onto her notes. Finnit wished he could just leave and recover in his quarters. Why was he even putting up with any of this? They had just gotten back from the *sun*. “Dismiss this demon at once!” Raekard snapped. “It is against academy bylaws to bring summoned entities to participate in discovery trial evaluations.” “I’ll go where I wish to, *wretched one*,” Vosaphar snarled. He had evidently recognized Raekard. Jethel let out a startled laugh, which she failed to even attempt to cover up. “Luminary Jethel is going to *love* you,” Finnit told Vosaphar, deciding to embrace the surreality of the moment. Nonplussed, Raekard tried a second banishment. It failed. Again. Finnit ran his fingers through his hair anxiously, snagging another piece of the lens that had cut the skin behind his ear. He plucked it out. Its otherworldly glow was just as out of place here as Vosaphar, and frankly, himself. “What is the meaning of this?” Raekard demanded. “Incipient, what did you *do*?” Finnit held up the errant fragment. “We reignited the Pharos Fidelis.” He threw it onto the floor. “As commanded. Huh. I guess that makes me a luminary.” “This is—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But Finnit didn’t care to hear any more of what Raekard had to say. He suddenly wondered why it had ever mattered. The luminary was such an insignificant threat in the face of everything that he had experienced. And he was a terrible historiographer. Suddenly, the ground shook slightly. Bits of grit descended from the ceiling. One of the luminaries—who had somehow managed to sleep through Finnit and Vosaphar’s dramatic arrival—woke with a start, their eyes darting wildly as they took in their surroundings. “What was *that*?” Raekard asked. “The Pharos Fidelis,” Finnit said. “I guess it took a few minutes for the shockwaves to arrive. Maybe we should reconvene this session after we know for sure that our actions didn’t precipitate the end of all existence. Vosaphar, let’s get out of here.” “Gladly,” the demon muttered. “And stop trying to banish me,” he added, glaring directly at Raekard. “Or I will teach you some real principles of summoning that you will *not* enjoy learning, pathetic one.” The luminary was dumbfounded. “What the—what happened?” “That’s enough, Raekard,” Jethel said from behind him. Arms linked, Finnit and Vosaphar departed the lecture hall, heading for Finnit’s quarters. Somewhere quiet. Raekard didn’t try to follow them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="cairnveldchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#7ba03c")))[[[Repose. ⇒->26BABAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#7ba03c")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#b8e270")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#b8e270")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Cairnveld Fortress.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcairnveldpassage">The incipients and luminaries traveling the halls of Cairnveld—already unsettled by the earthquake—gave Vosaphar a wide berth as he and Finnit passed them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar had never been around so many mortals at once—at least, not in his current instance—and unlike Finnit, *these* mortals were thoroughly alarmed by the fearsome sight of a demon wandering in their midst, chest aglow with a sun-scorched fragment of the Pharos Fidelis lens. He only started to relax once they entered a small, dusty chamber full of the sorcerer’s possessions. Mostly books. Finnit closed the door behind him, then climbed onto his bed in the corner of the chamber, sitting with his back against one of the cool stone walls. He grabbed one of the pillows, and invited Vosaphar to lie down. The devil accepted, allowing Finnit to cradle his head in his lap. Vosaphar was delighted by the softness of the mattress compared to the bedrolls at the Pharos Fidelis, and let the mortal gently massage his forehead, attending to the skin bunched at the base of his horns. “Is this okay?” Finnit asked. “Yes,” Vosaphar said, flicking his tail languorously. To be afforded such comfort was rare and fleeting. As you—along with every other demon—knew all too well. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[After a few restful minutes, Finnit spoke up. “So, um—thank you for not letting me die. For saving me, so many times. I can’t even make sense of what happened yet. It’s unreal. This, being here, and—we shouldn’t have survived.” “But we did, beloved one.” Vosaphar ran a clawed fingertip gently across Finnit’s forearm. “Perhaps you contributed more than you realize.” He paused. “But I *did* carry you across the sky.” Finnit snorted. Someone knocked at the door. “Finnit? Are you in there?” “Yes!” Finnit said. One of the sorcerers from the trial evaluation stepped into the room, carrying with her an eclectic potpourri of scents. It was Luminary Jethel, the healing expert. “Oh.” She raised her eyebrows. “Is this—uh, a bad time?” “It’s fine,” Finnit said, reluctantly releasing Vosaphar so the demon could sit up. “I’m glad to see you, Jethel. Thank you for all your help.” She nodded. “The main reason I’m here is to inform you that the panel of luminaries in attendance convened, and after an examination of the fragment you provided, determined that you passed your discovery trial. Raekard dissented, but I suppose situations like these are exactly why the founders required a full panel in the bylaws. Congratulations, Finnit!” She waited for a moment, creating an awkward silence. “But I get the sense that, perhaps this is not your main concern?” “No, it isn’t,” Finnit said. “I mean—I guess I’m glad it’s over. But, I’m concerned about Vosaphar’s injuries.” He paused. “This is Vosaphar. He’s from… uh, the calciferous wastes.” “Uh huh. Noted.” Jethel directed her focus toward the devil. “Vosaphar? May I take a closer look?” “Yes,” Vosaphar said, watching her lightly-wrinkled fingers weave diagnostic glyphs in front of him. Finnit gently rubbed his back. “How are you feeling?” “I… don’t know,” Vosaphar answered honestly. “It’s a strange sensation. Like my bones are itching beneath my skin.” “Interesting,” Jethel remarked. “Well—this fragment of—uh, I guess I have no real idea what it actually is, some exotic vitric—seems to have fused onto you? It radiates an extraordinary amount of magic. For a human, that would be concerning, by which I mean, fatal. But I admit, I am not an expert on infernal anatomy.” She glanced at Finnit, eyes narrowing. “Though based on what I have seen today, perhaps *you* are becoming one.” Vosaphar looked his way as well, amused to see the mortal’s cheeks reddening. “Thought so,” Jethel remarked. “I hope Raekard never hears the end of this, for whatever remains of his miserable days.” “Oh,” Finnit said, evidently realizing something. “I see now… the lens fragment. Raekard is, at least, a *competent* sorcerer—his banishment rite should have succeeded. By remaining here, I thought Vosaphar might have violated the principle of planar reversion. But with this power fusing with you—I guess that makes it *your* power. And it far exceeds Raekard’s.” “Fascinating,” Jethel said, “if not a touch alarming in its implications. Well, at any rate, for now, I recommend treating the exposed edges where the fragment is impacting your skin. I don’t know what your plans are, Finnit, but if you remain here for the moment—as a luminary—we can research the issue together.” “What do you think?” Finnit asked him. “We could stay for a bit, sort things out?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“That sounds nice, Finnit.” “And after that—” “The rest of it?” “The rest of it.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcairnveldchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BABAB]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="cairnveldpassage">The incipients and luminaries traveling the halls of Cairnveld—already unsettled by the earthquake—gave Vosaphar a wide berth as he and Finnit passed them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar had never been around so many mortals at once—at least, not in his current instance—and unlike Finnit, *these* mortals were thoroughly alarmed by the fearsome sight of a demon wandering in their midst, chest aglow with a sun-scorched fragment of the Pharos Fidelis lens. He only started to relax once they entered a small, dusty chamber full of the sorcerer’s possessions. Mostly books. Finnit closed the door behind him, then climbed onto his bed in the corner of the chamber, sitting with his back against one of the cool stone walls. He grabbed one of the pillows, and invited Vosaphar to lie down. The devil accepted, allowing Finnit to cradle his head in his lap. Vosaphar was delighted by the softness of the mattress compared to the bedrolls at the Pharos Fidelis, and let the mortal gently massage his forehead, attending to the skin bunched at the base of his horns. “Is this okay?” Finnit asked. “Yes,” Vosaphar said, flicking his tail languorously. To be afforded such comfort was rare and fleeting. As you—along with every other demon—knew all too well. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[After a few restful minutes, Finnit spoke up. “So, um—thank you for not letting me die. For saving me, so many times. I can’t even make sense of what happened yet. It’s unreal. This, being here, and—we shouldn’t have survived.” “But we did, beloved one.” Vosaphar ran a clawed fingertip gently across Finnit’s forearm. “Perhaps you contributed more than you realize.” He paused. “But I *did* carry you across the sky.” Finnit snorted. Someone knocked at the door. “Finnit? Are you in there?” “Yes!” Finnit said. One of the sorcerers from the trial evaluation stepped into the room, carrying with her an eclectic potpourri of scents. It was Luminary Jethel, the healing expert. “Oh.” She raised her eyebrows. “Is this—uh, a bad time?” “It’s fine,” Finnit said, reluctantly releasing Vosaphar so the demon could sit up. “I’m glad to see you, Jethel. Thank you for all your help.” She nodded. “The main reason I’m here is to inform you that the panel of luminaries in attendance convened, and after an examination of the fragment you provided, determined that you passed your discovery trial. Raekard dissented, but I suppose situations like these are exactly why the founders required a full panel in the bylaws. Congratulations, Finnit!” She waited for a moment, creating an awkward silence. “But I get the sense that, perhaps this is not your main concern?” “No, it isn’t,” Finnit said. “I mean—I guess I’m glad it’s over. But, I’m concerned about Vosaphar’s injuries.” He paused. “This is Vosaphar. He’s from… uh, the calciferous wastes.” “Uh huh. Noted.” Jethel directed her focus toward the devil. “Vosaphar? May I take a closer look?” “Yes,” Vosaphar said, watching her lightly-wrinkled fingers weave diagnostic glyphs in front of him. Finnit gently rubbed his back. “How are you feeling?” “I… don’t know,” Vosaphar answered honestly. “It’s a strange sensation. Like my bones are itching beneath my skin.” “Interesting,” Jethel remarked. “Well—this fragment of—uh, I guess I have no real idea what it actually is, some exotic vitric—seems to have fused onto you? It radiates an extraordinary amount of magic. For a human, that would be concerning, by which I mean, fatal. But I admit, I am not an expert on infernal anatomy.” She glanced at Finnit, eyes narrowing. “Though based on what I have seen today, perhaps *you* are becoming one.” Vosaphar looked his way as well, amused to see the mortal’s cheeks reddening. “Thought so,” Jethel remarked. “I hope Raekard never hears the end of this, for whatever remains of his miserable days.” “Oh,” Finnit said, evidently realizing something. “I see now… the lens fragment. Raekard is, at least, a *competent* sorcerer—his banishment rite should have succeeded. By remaining here, I thought Vosaphar might have violated the principle of planar reversion. But with this power fusing with you—I guess that makes it *your* power. And it far exceeds Raekard’s.” “Fascinating,” Jethel said, “if not a touch alarming in its implications. Well, at any rate, for now, I recommend treating the exposed edges where the fragment is impacting your skin. I don’t know what your plans are, Finnit, but if you remain here for the moment—as a luminary—we can research the issue together.” “What do you think?” Finnit asked him. “We could stay for a bit, sort things out?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“That sounds nice, Finnit.” “And after that—” “The rest of it?” “The rest of it.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="cairnveldchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BABAB]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BAB. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BABA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s desperation. However, his distrust caused him to reject desperation in favor of clinginess, reaching Finnit in time to teleport to Cairnveld with him. This proved to be a fortunate miscalculation. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BAB. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BABA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s desperation. However, his distrust caused him to reject desperation in favor of clinginess, reaching Finnit in time to teleport to Cairnveld with him. This proved to be a fortunate miscalculation. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[XXV.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage cold, wet, and screaming. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It had a certain resonance, didn’t it? He coughed violently, choking on sludge and bloodfog alike, wading clumsily in your direction. Even from this distance, you could feel intense energy pouring off the misplaced mortal, his magic warped by the glowing fragments of the Pharos Fidelis stuck in his hair and clothing. If nothing else could be salvaged from this historic disaster, at least you had an opportunity to fuel your furnace. The mortal would, at any moment, petition you for relief from his dire situation. This provided you a brief moment to consider which form might be most appropriate for such an absurd occasion. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|initial>[In that light: (link-reveal: "You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. Inaccurate though it may have been, perhaps you had the right to such a form. You’d already spent more time fussing over Vosaphar’s fate than any of his makers had. You adopted an elegant posture and swept out of your cottage to approach the mortal. “Hello, Finnit,” you said. He turned to look at you, eyes widening. You flicked your new tail, mimicking one of Vosaphar’s gestures that he so favored. “Um—hi. Uh—” “Welcome to my calciferous wastes.” You extended your arms, gesturing toward the dark skies and lonesome coralbone monuments dotting the horizon. “And what a sight they are.” Finnit looked around, evidently still processing this alarming development. “The calciferous wastes? Do you—do you know Vosaphar?” “Please, join me inside,” you said. “We shall sit by the fire and discuss these matters.” Finnit numbly complied, letting you guide him to the soot-stained armchairs by your furnace. It seemed to calm him down, having become accustomed to closeness with a certain source of hellfire. “What happened? Do you know?” Finnit asked. “Sorry—I’m just—I should ask who you are probably?” “I am the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “I think—I think he banished me?” “He did.” You tapped an idle claw against your ivory armchair. “I’m sorry, maybe this is too forward, but—look, I’m worried about Vosaphar? I don’t know what happened—what if—what if he—” You took him to the window and pointed to the dark pool, where Vosaphar’s ember twinkled at the bottom. If anything, it had grown brighter. Interesting. “That is his essential coal,” you said. “If he had perished, he would have immediately returned here. If we wait, he will eventually appear. However…” Finnit paced to and fro, trying to shake off his anxiety. “What if he’s hurt—he must be—I don’t want to wait!” “It is not a matter of desire, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. Perhaps that hadn’t been a Vosapharian gesture. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Will you—I mean, would you please help me?” “What are your intentions toward Vosaphar?” “My intentions?” Finnit looked puzzled. “What do you—” “Answer my question carefully, mortal.” He looked appropriately worried. “Look, I—I love him. I know it’s been so quick, and maybe you think it’s shallow, just because he’s so beautiful—but, uh, really, I have never felt so close with someone. I mean—he took me to the *sun*, and back. I don’t know what it would mean for us to be together outside of the Pharos Fidelis, in a more normal world. Maybe it won’t work, and we’ll part ways. I think—I mean, I hope you think that we’re worthy of a chance to figure that out.” “Vosaphar will need your help,” you said. “He will suffer from his power. You will stand by him? Treat him respectfully?” “I would—I will.” “Very well.” You paused. “I would send you back to Cairnveld.” You gave a pointed look toward your furnace. “But my fire is too weak for such a feat. Won’t you stoke it?” “Stoke it?” Finnit looked nervous. “What, uh—what do you want? My soul?” How amusing. “Are you offering that?” You approached him, attempting to loom in the way he found so appealing when Vosaphar did it. Finnit looked terrified as you reached down and plucked a glowing lens fragment from his hair. “No, Finnit. Not your soul. I want these.” “Oh—is that all? Yes, you can have them. They’re not even really mine, I don’t think.” Finnit parted easily with the fragments, tossing each into the furnace as he found it. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to cause some new chaos. He had no sense of priorities. And neither—apparently—did you, entertaining this… cloyingly earnest romantic nonsense. You reached for Finnit’s transit band, warping the sigils such that they would send Finnit on his way. Before activating it, you paused. “If you treat Vosaphar with anything less than the respect owed to such an unreasonably affectionate devil, I will send every specter in my dominion to drag you back here, and drown you in these depths for all eternity.” It was a joke. Mostly. You were sure that Finnit appreciated it. With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. You basked in the new heat now crackling and seething in your furnace. And how ridiculous an exchange it was, to receive all that energy for a trivial bit of spellcraft. Even an incubus would have found no pleasure in the seduction of such easy prey. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[That’s why you did it, right? You *just* wanted the power. Nothing more. You felt nothing else. Surely. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Survive. ⇒->26BABAAA. Vosaphar]]]]]]]</div>] Unless: (link-reveal: "You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. Darkness pooled around you, threshed with dozens of unblinking, glowing eyes. Gobs of loose flesh sizzled on charred bones to add to the illusion’s sensory overload. You adopted a threatening posture and swept out of your cottage to approach Finnit, trailing black grease in your wake. “Mortal!” you shouted, startling him. “You dare trespass upon my dominion?” Finnit turned your way, and his breath hitched at the loathsome sight of you. He cowered. Mortals were so susceptible to this kind of stagecraft, weren’t they? “I—I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—” “Silence!” You stretched and oozed before him. “You have stolen from me. You must return what I’m owed.” Finnit’s eyes darted about wildly, as if he were considering running away. He wouldn’t make it far. “Could you please—um—grand one? Uh, what did I steal?” “My *light*.” You over-articulated the “t” with such exuberance that flecks of acid splattered from your many mouths. “The Pharos Fidelis.” You wrapped a slimy tentacle around his arm, pulling him closer so you could pluck one of the fragments from his clothes. “What? Oh. Oh you can—you can have those. They’re, um, not even mine.” He was too frightened to assist in this process, so you grabbed each fragment, showing no regard for his comfort. Shards collected—from his perspective, devoured—you began shambling back to your cottage. “Wait!” Finnit called after you. “Um—I need—I need to get back to Vosaphar—do you know him? Or—” “I am the warden of these calciferous wastes, and he is my subject. Mortal longings are not my concern…” “But please, I—” “…Unless, of course, you wish to receive… an accord.” And there it was. Not only had you easily liberated the shards from his unworthy possession, but you could do even more to sate your rage with the proceedings of the eclipse. “An accord?” Finnit asked. “You’ll help me get back?” “For a *price*,” you hissed. “I gave you—I gave you the fragments!” He seemed to have realized his mistake. Perhaps he ought to have actually read *Case Studies in Infernal Betrayal* instead of assuming all demons would be as needy and pathetic as Vosaphar. “You claimed yourself that you had no ownership over them. They are mine already. One cannot offer a gift already granted.” “So what do you want?” His voice was strained. “My soul?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“*That* is worthless.” Drawing from the power of the fragments you held, you manifested a bloodfrost dagger from the fog, its keen edge sharp enough to carve the walls of the lazurynth. “Take this dagger to Luminary Raekard. I tire of his incompetent scheming. Carve out his heart. Then burn it in a ring of hellfire until it is but ash on the wind.” “But I—I can’t kill someone!” Finnit shouted. “That’s absurd—even someone as awful as him—and he’s so dangerous. It would never work.” “Then you will die here, and never again wrap your wretched limbs around the devil you cling to in the dark.” You sidled into your cottage, leaving him to contemplate his mortal morality while you stoked the furnace with the fragments. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to inflict some new misery upon the world. It wasn’t long before he approached you again. He looked directly at you, gazing into your seething core, and without stumbling, said, “I accept those terms.” You wrapped a tendril around the hilt of the dagger and offered it to him. He took it, his expression grim and determined. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[You *almost* believed he could do it. With a burst of magic, you activated his bracelet—the transit band—and sent him to his terrible fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Append. ⇒->P4BABAAB. Fourth Principle]]]]]]]</div> ] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. Well, at least the version of yourself that held court, lording your specificity over these dismal barrens. Finnit would get to see you for what you were: powerful, yet petty. Exhausted, too. It was miserable to live with your failures. You slunk to your soot-stained armchair by the furnace, waiting for the mortal to arrive. He knocked at the door. “Hello? Is—is someone in here?” “Come in, Finnit.” He opened the door, and saw you by the furnace. What texture the man had taken on since he left Cairnveld, struggling through your schemes in that desperate way that humans are wont to do. You gestured for him to sit in the chair across from yours. He obliged, if a bit warily. “Welcome to my calciferous wastes,” you said. “I wonder what you think of them?” “Calciferous wastes?” Something flickered in his eyes. “Is that—do you know Vosaphar?” “Answer my question first, if you will.” Finnit seemed taken aback, but recovered. “Well, if you really want to know—I can see why Vosaphar was so determined to leave.” You could almost see him realizing in real time that he probably was meant to say something kinder. “Not that there isn’t something… eerily beautiful about the colors streaking across the sky. But, it’s very cold and sharp and it seems sad, I guess?” “Yes, Vosaphar is troubled by his existence. As are we all.” You clicked your claws against the coralbone armrest. “You look—If you don’t mind me saying—you look familiar to me. But I don’t understand why. Who are you?” “I’m the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “So I guess he banished me here? It was the first place he thought of?” “I’m flattered.” A pause. “And perhaps you ought to be relieved that he didn’t recall the lazurynth quicker.” “I need to get back to him.” Finnit fixed you with a serious expression. “He might be hurt, or—I want to get back. Please. He means—he means a lot to me.” “It is not a matter of necessity, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Wait—I know why you look familiar!” He studied your face once more. “You look a little bit like… my grandmother.” “The trees in Tinfallow have deep roots indeed, if they reach all the way to these calciferous wastes.” “I don’t understand.” He bit his lip. “There are too many pieces—it’s hard to look at directly.” “Then focus on the piece of it you care about.” “Vosaphar.” “Of course. Young love. Star-crossed, even.” You sighed. “Well, I could send you on your way to Cairnveld.” You pointed at his bracelet. “But…” “You want something in return?” Finnit asked, leaning forward. “What is it? What do you want?” “What I *really* want is for you to have written my name correctly on the Pharos Fidelis.” Finnit sat back again. “That’s—that’s *you*? Your name? I expected someone so much more…” “Impressive?” You gave a hollow laugh. “Terrifying,” he finished. “But you seem, I don’t know, reasonable enough?” “I’m sure it seems that way.” “Well I—I don’t think I can undo what happened,” Finnit said. “I’m sorry it didn’t work. I know it may not look that way, but I really did try. I don’t know what it would’ve done if it worked, but I tried.” “You did.” You looked over at your furnace, where your sluggish motes of hellfire simmered. “I want the lens fragments in your possession.” “Lens fragments?” You pointed them out in his hair and on his clothes. “So that’s what you’re proposing as the terms of an exchange? I give you these shards, and you’ll send me back to Cairnveld?” “Yes.” “It just seems… I don’t know. I feel like there is still so much that I’m missing? If you—if you really are connected to me, in some way… would you want to… stay in touch?” You hadn’t expected *that*, of all things. “You want the warden of the calciferous wastes to offer you… mentorship.” “I’ve done much weirder things today!” Finnit said, rather defensively. “I went to the *sun*. Look, my mentor is Luminary Raekard. An actual demon would be a significant improvement.” “Ah, Raekard. I regret my part in that, given how it went.” “What?” Finnit’s eyes widened. “What do you mean you—” “Finnit, I propose an addendum to our… accord. If you wish to speak with me, you shall have one chance to do so during each new moon. Sacrifice a lens fragment in my name, and we shall converse for one hour.” “I’m not sure how I’ll get more of these,” Finnit said. “It seems expensive.” “And yet, a single fragment pales against the scale of what you destroyed. You could not possibly comprehend how far you’ve set me back. But,” you added, softening your tone, “I will make that hour as worthwhile as you wish it to be.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit accepted those terms, tossing each of the lens fragments on his person into your furnace. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to bend ever more futures in your favor. “Thank you,” Finnit said, as you adjusted the sigils on his transit band. “I—I’m glad to have met you.” With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Survive. ⇒->26BABAAC. Vosaphar]]]]</div> ]]]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage cold, wet, and screaming. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It had a certain resonance, didn’t it? He coughed violently, choking on sludge and bloodfog alike, wading clumsily in your direction. Even from this distance, you could feel intense energy pouring off the misplaced mortal, his magic warped by the glowing fragments of the Pharos Fidelis stuck in his hair and clothing. If nothing else could be salvaged from this historic disaster, at least you had an opportunity to fuel your furnace. The mortal would, at any moment, petition you for relief from his dire situation. This provided you a brief moment to consider which form might be most appropriate for such an absurd occasion. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|initial>[In that light: (link-reveal: "You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. Inaccurate though it may have been, perhaps you had the right to such a form. You’d already spent more time fussing over Vosaphar’s fate than any of his makers had. You adopted an elegant posture and swept out of your cottage to approach the mortal. “Hello, Finnit,” you said. He turned to look at you, eyes widening. You flicked your new tail, mimicking one of Vosaphar’s gestures that he so favored. “Um—hi. Uh—” “Welcome to my calciferous wastes.” You extended your arms, gesturing toward the dark skies and lonesome coralbone monuments dotting the horizon. “And what a sight they are.” Finnit looked around, evidently still processing this alarming development. “The calciferous wastes? Do you—do you know Vosaphar?” “Please, join me inside,” you said. “We shall sit by the fire and discuss these matters.” Finnit numbly complied, letting you guide him to the soot-stained armchairs by your furnace. It seemed to calm him down, having become accustomed to closeness with a certain source of hellfire. “What happened? Do you know?” Finnit asked. “Sorry—I’m just—I should ask who you are probably?” “I am the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “I think—I think he banished me?” “He did.” You tapped an idle claw against your ivory armchair. “I’m sorry, maybe this is too forward, but—look, I’m worried about Vosaphar? I don’t know what happened—what if—what if he—” You took him to the window and pointed to the dark pool, where Vosaphar’s ember twinkled at the bottom. If anything, it had grown brighter. Interesting. “That is his essential coal,” you said. “If he had perished, he would have immediately returned here. If we wait, he will eventually appear. However…” Finnit paced to and fro, trying to shake off his anxiety. “What if he’s hurt—he must be—I don’t want to wait!” “It is not a matter of desire, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. Perhaps that hadn’t been a Vosapharian gesture. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Will you—I mean, would you please help me?” “What are your intentions toward Vosaphar?” “My intentions?” Finnit looked puzzled. “What do you—” “Answer my question carefully, mortal.” He looked appropriately worried. “Look, I—I love him. I know it’s been so quick, and maybe you think it’s shallow, just because he’s so beautiful—but, uh, really, I have never felt so close with someone. I mean—he took me to the *sun*, and back. I don’t know what it would mean for us to be together outside of the Pharos Fidelis, in a more normal world. Maybe it won’t work, and we’ll part ways. I think—I mean, I hope you think that we’re worthy of a chance to figure that out.” “Vosaphar will need your help,” you said. “He will suffer from his power. You will stand by him? Treat him respectfully?” “I would—I will.” “Very well.” You paused. “I would send you back to Cairnveld.” You gave a pointed look toward your furnace. “But my fire is too weak for such a feat. Won’t you stoke it?” “Stoke it?” Finnit looked nervous. “What, uh—what do you want? My soul?” How amusing. “Are you offering that?” You approached him, attempting to loom in the way he found so appealing when Vosaphar did it. Finnit looked terrified as you reached down and plucked a glowing lens fragment from his hair. “No, Finnit. Not your soul. I want these.” “Oh—is that all? Yes, you can have them. They’re not even really mine, I don’t think.” Finnit parted easily with the fragments, tossing each into the furnace as he found it. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to cause some new chaos. He had no sense of priorities. And neither—apparently—did you, entertaining this… cloyingly earnest romantic nonsense. You reached for Finnit’s transit band, warping the sigils such that they would send Finnit on his way. Before activating it, you paused. “If you treat Vosaphar with anything less than the respect owed to such an unreasonably affectionate devil, I will send every specter in my dominion to drag you back here, and drown you in these depths for all eternity.” It was a joke. Mostly. You were sure that Finnit appreciated it. With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. You basked in the new heat now crackling and seething in your furnace. And how ridiculous an exchange it was, to receive all that energy for a trivial bit of spellcraft. Even an incubus would have found no pleasure in the seduction of such easy prey. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[That’s why you did it, right? You *just* wanted the power. Nothing more. You felt nothing else. Surely. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[Survive. ⇒->26BABAAA. Vosaphar]]]]]]]</div>] Unless: (link-reveal: "You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. Darkness pooled around you, threshed with dozens of unblinking, glowing eyes. Gobs of loose flesh sizzled on charred bones to add to the illusion’s sensory overload. You adopted a threatening posture and swept out of your cottage to approach Finnit, trailing black grease in your wake. “Mortal!” you shouted, startling him. “You dare trespass upon my dominion?” Finnit turned your way, and his breath hitched at the loathsome sight of you. He cowered. Mortals were so susceptible to this kind of stagecraft, weren’t they? “I—I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—” “Silence!” You stretched and oozed before him. “You have stolen from me. You must return what I’m owed.” Finnit’s eyes darted about wildly, as if he were considering running away. He wouldn’t make it far. “Could you please—um—grand one? Uh, what did I steal?” “My *light*.” You over-articulated the “t” with such exuberance that flecks of acid splattered from your many mouths. “The Pharos Fidelis.” You wrapped a slimy tentacle around his arm, pulling him closer so you could pluck one of the fragments from his clothes. “What? Oh. Oh you can—you can have those. They’re, um, not even mine.” He was too frightened to assist in this process, so you grabbed each fragment, showing no regard for his comfort. Shards collected—from his perspective, devoured—you began shambling back to your cottage. “Wait!” Finnit called after you. “Um—I need—I need to get back to Vosaphar—do you know him? Or—” “I am the warden of these calciferous wastes, and he is my subject. Mortal longings are not my concern…” “But please, I—” “…Unless, of course, you wish to receive… an accord.” And there it was. Not only had you easily liberated the shards from his unworthy possession, but you could do even more to sate your rage with the proceedings of the eclipse. “An accord?” Finnit asked. “You’ll help me get back?” “For a *price*,” you hissed. “I gave you—I gave you the fragments!” He seemed to have realized his mistake. Perhaps he ought to have actually read *Case Studies in Infernal Betrayal* instead of assuming all demons would be as needy and pathetic as Vosaphar. “You claimed yourself that you had no ownership over them. They are mine already. One cannot offer a gift already granted.” “So what do you want?” His voice was strained. “My soul?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“*That* is worthless.” Drawing from the power of the fragments you held, you manifested a bloodfrost dagger from the fog, its keen edge sharp enough to carve the walls of the lazurynth. “Take this dagger to Luminary Raekard. I tire of his incompetent scheming. Carve out his heart. Then burn it in a ring of hellfire until it is but ash on the wind.” “But I—I can’t kill someone!” Finnit shouted. “That’s absurd—even someone as awful as him—and he’s so dangerous. It would never work.” “Then you will die here, and never again wrap your wretched limbs around the devil you cling to in the dark.” You sidled into your cottage, leaving him to contemplate his mortal morality while you stoked the furnace with the fragments. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to inflict some new misery upon the world. It wasn’t long before he approached you again. He looked directly at you, gazing into your seething core, and without stumbling, said, “I accept those terms.” You wrapped a tendril around the hilt of the dagger and offered it to him. He took it, his expression grim and determined. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[You *almost* believed he could do it. With a burst of magic, you activated his bracelet—the transit band—and sent him to his terrible fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[Append. ⇒->P4BABAAB. Fourth Principle]]]]]]]</div> ] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. Well, at least the version of yourself that held court, lording your specificity over these dismal barrens. Finnit would get to see you for what you were: powerful, yet petty. Exhausted, too. It was miserable to live with your failures. You slunk to your soot-stained armchair by the furnace, waiting for the mortal to arrive. He knocked at the door. “Hello? Is—is someone in here?” “Come in, Finnit.” He opened the door, and saw you by the furnace. What texture the man had taken on since he left Cairnveld, struggling through your schemes in that desperate way that humans are wont to do. You gestured for him to sit in the chair across from yours. He obliged, if a bit warily. “Welcome to my calciferous wastes,” you said. “I wonder what you think of them?” “Calciferous wastes?” Something flickered in his eyes. “Is that—do you know Vosaphar?” “Answer my question first, if you will.” Finnit seemed taken aback, but recovered. “Well, if you really want to know—I can see why Vosaphar was so determined to leave.” You could almost see him realizing in real time that he probably was meant to say something kinder. “Not that there isn’t something… eerily beautiful about the colors streaking across the sky. But, it’s very cold and sharp and it seems sad, I guess?” “Yes, Vosaphar is troubled by his existence. As are we all.” You clicked your claws against the coralbone armrest. “You look—If you don’t mind me saying—you look familiar to me. But I don’t understand why. Who are you?” “I’m the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “So I guess he banished me here? It was the first place he thought of?” “I’m flattered.” A pause. “And perhaps you ought to be relieved that he didn’t recall the lazurynth quicker.” “I need to get back to him.” Finnit fixed you with a serious expression. “He might be hurt, or—I want to get back. Please. He means—he means a lot to me.” “It is not a matter of necessity, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Wait—I know why you look familiar!” He studied your face once more. “You look a little bit like… my grandmother.” “The trees in Tinfallow have deep roots indeed, if they reach all the way to these calciferous wastes.” “I don’t understand.” He bit his lip. “There are too many pieces—it’s hard to look at directly.” “Then focus on the piece of it you care about.” “Vosaphar.” “Of course. Young love. Star-crossed, even.” You sighed. “Well, I could send you on your way to Cairnveld.” You pointed at his bracelet. “But…” “You want something in return?” Finnit asked, leaning forward. “What is it? What do you want?” “What I *really* want is for you to have written my name correctly on the Pharos Fidelis.” Finnit sat back again. “That’s—that’s *you*? Your name? I expected someone so much more…” “Impressive?” You gave a hollow laugh. “Terrifying,” he finished. “But you seem, I don’t know, reasonable enough?” “I’m sure it seems that way.” “Well I—I don’t think I can undo what happened,” Finnit said. “I’m sorry it didn’t work. I know it may not look that way, but I really did try. I don’t know what it would’ve done if it worked, but I tried.” “You did.” You looked over at your furnace, where your sluggish motes of hellfire simmered. “I want the lens fragments in your possession.” “Lens fragments?” You pointed them out in his hair and on his clothes. “So that’s what you’re proposing as the terms of an exchange? I give you these shards, and you’ll send me back to Cairnveld?” “Yes.” “It just seems… I don’t know. I feel like there is still so much that I’m missing? If you—if you really are connected to me, in some way… would you want to… stay in touch?” You hadn’t expected *that*, of all things. “You want the warden of the calciferous wastes to offer you… mentorship.” “I’ve done much weirder things today!” Finnit said, rather defensively. “I went to the *sun*. Look, my mentor is Luminary Raekard. An actual demon would be a significant improvement.” “Ah, Raekard. I regret my part in that, given how it went.” “What?” Finnit’s eyes widened. “What do you mean you—” “Finnit, I propose an addendum to our… accord. If you wish to speak with me, you shall have one chance to do so during each new moon. Sacrifice a lens fragment in my name, and we shall converse for one hour.” “I’m not sure how I’ll get more of these,” Finnit said. “It seems expensive.” “And yet, a single fragment pales against the scale of what you destroyed. You could not possibly comprehend how far you’ve set me back. But,” you added, softening your tone, “I will make that hour as worthwhile as you wish it to be.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit accepted those terms, tossing each of the lens fragments on his person into your furnace. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to bend ever more futures in your favor. “Thank you,” Finnit said, as you adjusted the sigils on his transit band. “I—I’m glad to have met you.” With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[Survive. ⇒->26BABAAC. Vosaphar]]]]</div> ]]]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Mote]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BABAAC]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BABAAC]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 3)[Anathema.] (text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 1.15)[The Fourth Principle of Summoning.]</div> A timely addendum, courtesy of you. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Behold the fourth principle of summoning: (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color:#a01404)[**4. The Principle of Voluntary and Efficient Accession to the Extraordinarily Reasonable Conditions Imposed by the Magnanimous Warden of the Calciferous Wastes, Who Certainly Never Even Cared About the Pharos Fidelis, And Certainly Not the Absurd Romantic Yearnings of Your Pathetic Subjects—Or Else.**] Summoners who willingly and knowingly forge an accord with you must see their bargain through, or suffer the consequences of incompetence and betrayal. (text-color:#a01404)[***Implication:***] You suffered long and worked hard to eke out your existence. (text-color:#a01404)[***Implication:***] You generously helped him plenty up to this point—for free. It wasn’t such a high price to ask him to kill someone he hated anyway. You both benefited from this accord. (text-color:#a01404)[***Implication:***] His failure was inevitable. You weren’t *really* invested in his survival, or his potential to shift the tenor of human-demon relations. You were just hungry for more power, right? You just wanted to enrich your tiny slice of the hells, fuel your furnace, as you had always done. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It would have been unreasonable for *you*, of all beings, to have cared. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Bemoan. ⇒->26BABAAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Behold the fourth principle of summoning: (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color:#f17264)[**4. The Principle of Voluntary and Efficient Accession to the Extraordinarily Reasonable Conditions Imposed by the Magnanimous Warden of the Calciferous Wastes, Who Certainly Never Even Cared About the Pharos Fidelis, And Certainly Not the Absurd Romantic Yearnings of Your Pathetic Subjects—Or Else.**] Summoners who willingly and knowingly forge an accord with you must see their bargain through, or suffer the consequences of incompetence and betrayal. (text-color:#f17264)[***Implication:***] You suffered long and worked hard to eke out your existence. (text-color:#f17264)[***Implication:***] You generously helped him plenty up to this point—for free. It wasn’t such a high price to ask him to kill someone he hated anyway. You both benefited from this accord. (text-color:#f17264)[***Implication:***] His failure was inevitable. You weren’t *really* invested in his survival, or his potential to shift the tenor of human-demon relations. You were just hungry for more power, right? You just wanted to enrich your tiny slice of the hells, fuel your furnace, as you had always done. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It would have been unreasonable for *you*, of all beings, to have cared. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Bemoan. ⇒->26BABAAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BABAAA]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BABAAA]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BAB. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BABA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s clinginess. However, his distrust caused him to reject clinginess in favor of desperation, impulsively banishing Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate miscalculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25BABAA. Finnit]]]</div> You took a comforting form, nurturing his budding relationship with Vosaphar in exchange for the lens fragments on his person. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BAB. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BABA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s clinginess. However, his distrust caused him to reject clinginess in favor of desperation, impulsively banishing Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate miscalculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25BABAA. Finnit]]]</div> You took a comforting form, nurturing his budding relationship with Vosaphar in exchange for the lens fragments on his person. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he would *stay* longing. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[For, if you must suffer this catastrophic failure, you would offer him no choice but to join you in misery. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BABAAB]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he would *stay* longing. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[For, if you must suffer this catastrophic failure, you would offer him no choice but to join you in misery. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BABAAB]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the brief union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Finnit perished in a failed assassination attempt upon his return to Cairnveld, screaming of the sun. A strange footnote to this history. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. But a new threat lurked. The demon Vosaphar absorbed the fragments around him, growing distorted in his influence. He climbed upon the melted peak and in his sorrow and fury, bewitched many ships to their doom with fata morgana. He had become, in effect, the latest Pharos Fidelis. Perhaps he had even become something more powerful than *you*. And perhaps you deserved to finally feel fear again. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BAB. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BABA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s clinginess. However, his distrust caused him to reject clinginess in favor of desperation, impulsively banishing Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate miscalculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25BABAA. Finnit]]]</div> You took a terrifying form, seizing his lens fragments for yourself, and dooming him with an impossible accord. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and absolutely no complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the brief union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Finnit perished in a failed assassination attempt upon his return to Cairnveld, screaming of the sun. A strange footnote to this history. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. But a new threat lurked. The demon Vosaphar absorbed the fragments around him, growing distorted in his influence. He climbed upon the melted peak and in his sorrow and fury, bewitched many ships to their doom with fata morgana. He had become, in effect, the latest Pharos Fidelis. Perhaps he had even become something more powerful than *you*. And perhaps you deserved to finally feel fear again. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BAB. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BABA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s clinginess. However, his distrust caused him to reject clinginess in favor of desperation, impulsively banishing Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate miscalculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25BABAA. Finnit]]]</div> You took a terrifying form, seizing his lens fragments for yourself, and dooming him with an impossible accord. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and absolutely no complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BAB. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BABA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s clinginess. However, his distrust caused him to reject clinginess in favor of desperation, impulsively banishing Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate miscalculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25BABAA. Finnit]]]</div> You took an honest form, developing a stronger connection with Finnit while ensuring ongoing access to lens fragments in the future. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BAB. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BABA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s clinginess. However, his distrust caused him to reject clinginess in favor of desperation, impulsively banishing Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate miscalculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25BABAA. Finnit]]]</div> You took an honest form, developing a stronger connection with Finnit while ensuring ongoing access to lens fragments in the future. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[XVIII.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">It wasn’t long before even the shock of Vosaphar’s emergence from the pool—exactly as cold and miserable as you had promised him it would be—had begun to fade into the listlessness of wandering the wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The residual magic Finnit had accorded him allowed him to travel faster and further than before. His slash wounds scabbed over more readily, healing further with each attempt. Something had shifted in his specificity. He should have been satisfied with that. Satisfied with the memories of what was, and dreams of what could have been, for bitter honey still bore sweetness. Didn’t it? Another kind of wound had carved itself into his heart. Without Finnit, Vosaphar’s existence felt darker and emptier than it ever had before. He wondered what might be about to happen, was happening, or had already happened at the Pharos Fidelis. Was Finnit still preparing his ritual of communion with the lens? Was it already over? Could he have been, right at that moment, spiraling amidst its unfathomable secrets? Perhaps Finnit’s rite had failed, the cursed lens consuming his soul as it had so many others. But, it could also be… something else. Another reason. Just as that doubt crept in, the devil felt a familiar sensation tugging at his core. Heat coursed through his veins as a tendril of sorcery unfurled for him, awaiting his tender grasp. (align:"<==")[And then—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=========")[Vosaphar] (align:"=><==")[at last] (align:"=><=")[recalled] (align:"===><==")[his] (align:"==><=")[own] (align:"===><=")[principle] (align:"=========><=")[of] (align:"==>")[flight—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Spread wings. ⇒->19BABB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">It wasn’t long before even the shock of Vosaphar’s emergence from the pool—exactly as cold and miserable as you had promised him it would be—had begun to fade into the listlessness of wandering the wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The residual magic Finnit had accorded him allowed him to travel faster and further than before. His slash wounds scabbed over more readily, healing further with each attempt. Something had shifted in his specificity. He should have been satisfied with that. Satisfied with the memories of what was, and dreams of what could have been, for bitter honey still bore sweetness. Didn’t it? Another kind of wound had carved itself into his heart. Without Finnit, Vosaphar’s existence felt darker and emptier than it ever had before. He wondered what might be about to happen, was happening, or had already happened at the Pharos Fidelis. Was Finnit still preparing his ritual of communion with the lens? Was it already over? Could he have been, right at that moment, spiraling amidst its unfathomable secrets? Perhaps Finnit’s rite had failed, the cursed lens consuming his soul as it had so many others. But, it could also be… something else. Another reason. Just as that doubt crept in, the devil felt a familiar sensation tugging at his core. Heat coursed through his veins as a tendril of sorcery unfurled for him, awaiting his tender grasp. (align:"<==")[And then—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=========")[Vosaphar] (align:"=><==")[at last] (align:"=><=")[recalled] (align:"===><==")[his] (align:"==><=")[own] (align:"===><=")[principle] (align:"=========><=")[of] (align:"==>")[flight—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Spread wings. ⇒->19BABB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XIX.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">Atop the Pharos Fidelis, Finnit remained just in sight of the great split glass that had spilled its secrets. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he smeared the last of his wax sticks to stubs on wet stone, he did not give the lens a further thought. He did not obey the principle of authoritarian primacy. He did not beware the principle of semantic dilution. He did not account for the principle of planar reversion. He thought only of Vosaphar, with a singular intensity of focus that even the Pharos Fidelis could never have dreamed of refracting. The circle of waxen glyphs coursed with scarlet fire, brighter than Finnit had ever seen it. He averted his gaze, eyes watering. When he looked back, Vosaphar had manifested before him once more. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[From his back spread wings wrought of fire, eldritch blue roiled with red and magenta—the colors of Finnit’s own magic, now intertwined with Vosaphar’s. Finnit’s eyes traveled further, noting ichor scabs crisscrossing the devil’s scarred blue chest, and then, curls of rough hair trailing immodestly past his navel. Streaks of lightning slashed green across the sky, glinting off his fearsome horns. Raindrops sizzled as the demon swept them aside, wreathing himself in silver mist. Vosaphar looked every bit an archfiend of legend looming over him, his eyes fixed on Finnit, reaching forward to press the sorcerer against the cliffside, claws clasping his wrists. “Vosaphar—” The infernal heat overwhelmed his mortal senses. “Please—Vosaphar, kiss m—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon pressed his lips gently against Finnit’s, dark beard bristling against his tender skin, breathing out brimstone incense that smoldered in Finnit’s throat. Just when Finnit thought himself on the verge of feeling too much, that Vosaphar might devour his soul and all his magic in a final, blissful moment of agony, the fiend held back, slackening his grip, and smiled. “I couldn’t wait until I got back,” Finnit said, his vision still sparking. “I—I needed to see you again.” “That’s not all you need.” Vosaphar leaned forward, so close still that Finnit could see details pitted into his horns. “What is it exactly that you imagine, lustful one? A dreadful devil from your darkest dreams, ever so sweetly domineering?” “I–” Finnit felt dazed as those fevered imaginings grew sharper into his mind. “I mean—well—now that you’ve brought it up, that sounds—” “Too bad,” Vosaphar said, his voice sly and soft. “My dear Finnit, you’re all *wet*.” And he was. He’d completely abandoned his wards in the midst of an endless storm. How embarrassing. Finnit also noticed that, in his exuberance to kiss him, Vosaphar had clumsily scorched Finnit’s sleeves with his wings. Suddenly, the demon felt less like some legendary figure, and instead like something better. Something real. Finnit’s companion. Finnit’s love. Finnit’s Vosaphar. “We should head back down,” Finnit said. “We should.” Vosaphar pushed one of Finnit’s loose curls back. “But listen, Finnit. When we do, I want *you* to take the lead. I want things to be… gentle, between us. For now. How does that sound?” “I have never wanted something so much in my entire existence.” Vosaphar grinned, ivory fangs glinting. “Good.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[What followed was an evening of tender fumbling and grasping. Finnit had been piqued by the fantasy of Vosaphar looming over him; and it remained a thought he wanted to revisit later. But, he found that this gentle, deliberate exploration—some serenity among the profane—brought him closer to understanding the demon in a way he found difficult to articulate but easy to just experience as it happened. Tomorrow, research awaited. But for now, Finnit’s fears grew distant as he slept, wrapped against Vosaphar like a warm satchel. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Interrogate. ⇒->C1BABB. Sunlight]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">Atop the Pharos Fidelis, Finnit remained just in sight of the great split glass that had spilled its secrets. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he smeared the last of his wax sticks to stubs on wet stone, he did not give the lens a further thought. He did not obey the principle of authoritarian primacy. He did not beware the principle of semantic dilution. He did not account for the principle of planar reversion. He thought only of Vosaphar, with a singular intensity of focus that even the Pharos Fidelis could never have dreamed of refracting. The circle of waxen glyphs coursed with scarlet fire, brighter than Finnit had ever seen it. He averted his gaze, eyes watering. When he looked back, Vosaphar had manifested before him once more. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[From his back spread wings wrought of fire, eldritch blue roiled with red and magenta—the colors of Finnit’s own magic, now intertwined with Vosaphar’s. Finnit’s eyes traveled further, noting ichor scabs crisscrossing the devil’s scarred blue chest, and then, curls of rough hair trailing immodestly past his navel. Streaks of lightning slashed green across the sky, glinting off his fearsome horns. Raindrops sizzled as the demon swept them aside, wreathing himself in silver mist. Vosaphar looked every bit an archfiend of legend looming over him, his eyes fixed on Finnit, reaching forward to press the sorcerer against the cliffside, claws clasping his wrists. “Vosaphar—” The infernal heat overwhelmed his mortal senses. “Please—Vosaphar, kiss m—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon pressed his lips gently against Finnit’s, dark beard bristling against his tender skin, breathing out brimstone incense that smoldered in Finnit’s throat. Just when Finnit thought himself on the verge of feeling too much, that Vosaphar might devour his soul and all his magic in a final, blissful moment of agony, the fiend held back, slackening his grip, and smiled. “I couldn’t wait until I got back,” Finnit said, his vision still sparking. “I—I needed to see you again.” “That’s not all you need.” Vosaphar leaned forward, so close still that Finnit could see details pitted into his horns. “What is it exactly that you imagine, lustful one? A dreadful devil from your darkest dreams, ever so sweetly domineering?” “I–” Finnit felt dazed as those fevered imaginings grew sharper into his mind. “I mean—well—now that you’ve brought it up, that sounds—” “Too bad,” Vosaphar said, his voice sly and soft. “My dear Finnit, you’re all *wet*.” And he was. He’d completely abandoned his wards in the midst of an endless storm. How embarrassing. Finnit also noticed that, in his exuberance to kiss him, Vosaphar had clumsily scorched Finnit’s sleeves with his wings. Suddenly, the demon felt less like some legendary figure, and instead like something better. Something real. Finnit’s companion. Finnit’s love. Finnit’s Vosaphar. “We should head back down,” Finnit said. “We should.” Vosaphar pushed one of Finnit’s loose curls back. “But listen, Finnit. When we do, I want *you* to take the lead. I want things to be… gentle, between us. For now. How does that sound?” “I have never wanted something so much in my entire existence.” Vosaphar grinned, ivory fangs glinting. “Good.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[What followed was an evening of tender fumbling and grasping. Finnit had been piqued by the fantasy of Vosaphar looming over him; and it remained a thought he wanted to revisit later. But, he found that this gentle, deliberate exploration—some serenity among the profane—brought him closer to understanding the demon in a way he found difficult to articulate but easy to just experience as it happened. Tomorrow, research awaited. But for now, Finnit’s fears grew distant as he slept, wrapped against Vosaphar like a warm satchel. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Interrogate. ⇒->C1BABB. Sunlight]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[1st Era | Sunlight.]</div> One more fragment recounting the dark history of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">(text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The illuminative session for Leisenelle, former third officer of the now-renegade vessel ‘Consonance,’ is hereby brought to order. You stand accused of mutiny, murder, theft, deception, consorting with proscribed entities, and willful evasion of justice. Is that correct? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] You would know. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Is that correct? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I guess so. Yes. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“She sounds a lot like you,” Vosaphar murmured, stroking his claws idly through Finnit’s hair. “‘Consorting with proscribed entities?’ What a wicked accusation.” Finnit snorted. “Are you going to bring me to justice?” “Absolutely not.” “Too bad.” </div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Against these accusations, how do you plead? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I do not plead. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] You must make a claim, either to affirm or deny each crime you have been accused of. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I will make no such claims. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The accused has neglected her obligation to plead. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] What’s your deal, anyway? Are you mad? Some pretty vampire in your past tied your morals all up in knots and made you feel sinful? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My role here is strictly illuminative. How did you first come to associate with this vampire? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I was trying to find out the truth about this island. But none of them would talk to me. The islanders, I mean. They resent us. You know that, right? Look at what we’ve done to them since we got here. Someone has to stop it. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, mark a note down for ‘sedition,’ would you? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">At least the clerics are obligated to transcribe what they actually heard. Historians ought to learn from their example. ⚞L. Raekard (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“I think Raekard’s distaste for historians gets in his way,” Finnit said. “How could we possibly know, at this point, what liberties the cleric might have taken?” “It’s going to take more than historians to put a stop to him.” Finnit laughed, but Vosaphar hadn’t told a joke.</div>] </div>] (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] You didn’t have that one already? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Continue. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Fine. This one woman approached me, and told me to visit her house on the outskirts after sundown. I thought she might be into me—and maybe she was, a little—but she wanted me to meet her grandmother. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Yeah. Did the ‘after sundown’ part give it away? I’m not a good storyteller. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The only things your story requires are honesty and accuracy. Justice will account for the rest. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Whatever you need to tell yourself. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] I don’t ‘need’ to do anything. My role here is strictly illuminative. As the accused has been reminded. Continue. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] So, I waited for dusk, and paid her a visit. Her grandmother was living in the basement. Some kind of herbalist, I guess. The whole time we talked, she was crushing up these weird seedpods in a mortar and pestle. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] At what point did you realize this entity was a vampire? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Not until after, when… (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] When what? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] When you killed her. Robbed us of her wisdom, kindness, perspective, heart, all she contributed to her community. And for what? Some ash? Dust? Is there not already enough collecting between the folds of your ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that last term for obscenity. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] What, you’re more scandalized by me describing your dust-crusted ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆ than your violence? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that one as well. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“Which word do you suppose was stricken here?” Vosaphar asked. “Asscheeks,” Finnit said solemnly. “Has to be.”</div>] (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] So you don’t have an answer. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The entity in question was brought before sunlight and destroyed in accordance with all legal and moral precedent. Any ‘violence’ is lawful, and thereby just. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] And you wonder why they hate us. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Hatred is not the subject of this illuminative session. What did your proscribed discussion entail? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] She told me all kinds of stories about this place, how they have fine-tuned their relationship with the island to keep things running, letting their traditions evolve with the conditions. I think her granddaughter wanted her to have someone new to talk to, so she could share all this with someone. The old woman told me that when sun and moon meet in the sky, the boundary between our world and theirs grows thin. At such a momentous event, the cleverest and quickest might climb into the throat of the island and cross the threshold to the cosmos. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">At last. Something of value in this tedious discussion. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire spoke metaphorically, did it not? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">I wondered the same thing. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] No, I don’t think she did. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Explain. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] She said that when the celestial hosts of the heavens are distracted with their dance, the sun grows just cool enough to touch. She dipped her finger into the mortar, and showed me a golden bead of oil, and she said even a drop of sunlight was enough to bless the island for a century, but few survived the transit. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">They must not have understood what they were doing. How could they have, without knowledge of the Three Principles? If there is any truth to it at all, it is clearly some underdeveloped rite of self-banishment, resulting in a temporary transference of a mortal into the hells until planar reversion draws them back. If that. Nevertheless, the ritual is worth investigating further. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] It claimed to have performed this… feat? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I believe her. You would’ve too, had you been there. Thankfully, you weren’t. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My opinion toward the superstitious musings of a proscribed entity is not the subject of this session. My role here is strictly— (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“Illuminative,” Vosaphar said, looking out into the storm. “That’s it?” Finnit asked. “But I want to know… so much more.” “And yet, we know more now than we did before. Does this not confirm what you saw in the lens?” “I guess so. Still…” </div>] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightchroniclechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[[[Suspect. ⇒->20BABB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">(text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The illuminative session for Leisenelle, former third officer of the now-renegade vessel ‘Consonance,’ is hereby brought to order. You stand accused of mutiny, murder, theft, deception, consorting with proscribed entities, and willful evasion of justice. Is that correct? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] You would know. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Is that correct? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I guess so. Yes. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“She sounds a lot like you,” Vosaphar murmured, stroking his claws idly through Finnit’s hair. “‘Consorting with proscribed entities?’ What a wicked accusation.” Finnit snorted. “Are you going to bring me to justice?” “Absolutely not.” “Too bad.” </div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Against these accusations, how do you plead? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I do not plead. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] You must make a claim, either to affirm or deny each crime you have been accused of. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I will make no such claims. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The accused has neglected her obligation to plead. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] What’s your deal, anyway? Are you mad? Some pretty vampire in your past tied your morals all up in knots and made you feel sinful? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My role here is strictly illuminative. How did you first come to associate with this vampire? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I was trying to find out the truth about this island. But none of them would talk to me. The islanders, I mean. They resent us. You know that, right? Look at what we’ve done to them since we got here. Someone has to stop it. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, mark a note down for ‘sedition,’ would you? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">At least the clerics are obligated to transcribe what they actually heard. Historians ought to learn from their example. ⚞L. Raekard (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“I think Raekard’s distaste for historians gets in his way,” Finnit said. “How could we possibly know, at this point, what liberties the cleric might have taken?” “It’s going to take more than historians to put a stop to him.” Finnit laughed, but Vosaphar hadn’t told a joke.</div>] </div>] (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] You didn’t have that one already? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Continue. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Fine. This one woman approached me, and told me to visit her house on the outskirts after sundown. I thought she might be into me—and maybe she was, a little—but she wanted me to meet her grandmother. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Yeah. Did the ‘after sundown’ part give it away? I’m not a good storyteller. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The only things your story requires are honesty and accuracy. Justice will account for the rest. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Whatever you need to tell yourself. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] I don’t ‘need’ to do anything. My role here is strictly illuminative. As the accused has been reminded. Continue. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] So, I waited for dusk, and paid her a visit. Her grandmother was living in the basement. Some kind of herbalist, I guess. The whole time we talked, she was crushing up these weird seedpods in a mortar and pestle. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] At what point did you realize this entity was a vampire? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Not until after, when… (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] When what? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] When you killed her. Robbed us of her wisdom, kindness, perspective, heart, all she contributed to her community. And for what? Some ash? Dust? Is there not already enough collecting between the folds of your ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that last term for obscenity. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] What, you’re more scandalized by me describing your dust-crusted ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆ than your violence? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that one as well. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“Which word do you suppose was stricken here?” Vosaphar asked. “Asscheeks,” Finnit said solemnly. “Has to be.”</div>] (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] So you don’t have an answer. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The entity in question was brought before sunlight and destroyed in accordance with all legal and moral precedent. Any ‘violence’ is lawful, and thereby just. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] And you wonder why they hate us. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Hatred is not the subject of this illuminative session. What did your proscribed discussion entail? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] She told me all kinds of stories about this place, how they have fine-tuned their relationship with the island to keep things running, letting their traditions evolve with the conditions. I think her granddaughter wanted her to have someone new to talk to, so she could share all this with someone. The old woman told me that when sun and moon meet in the sky, the boundary between our world and theirs grows thin. At such a momentous event, the cleverest and quickest might climb into the throat of the island and cross the threshold to the cosmos. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">At last. Something of value in this tedious discussion. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire spoke metaphorically, did it not? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">I wondered the same thing. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] No, I don’t think she did. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Explain. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] She said that when the celestial hosts of the heavens are distracted with their dance, the sun grows just cool enough to touch. She dipped her finger into the mortar, and showed me a golden bead of oil, and she said even a drop of sunlight was enough to bless the island for a century, but few survived the transit. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">They must not have understood what they were doing. How could they have, without knowledge of the Three Principles? If there is any truth to it at all, it is clearly some underdeveloped rite of self-banishment, resulting in a temporary transference of a mortal into the hells until planar reversion draws them back. If that. Nevertheless, the ritual is worth investigating further. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] It claimed to have performed this… feat? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I believe her. You would’ve too, had you been there. Thankfully, you weren’t. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My opinion toward the superstitious musings of a proscribed entity is not the subject of this session. My role here is strictly— (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“Illuminative,” Vosaphar said, looking out into the storm. “That’s it?” Finnit asked. “But I want to know… so much more.” “And yet, we know more now than we did before. Does this not confirm what you saw in the lens?” “I guess so. Still…” </div>] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="chroniclechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[[[Suspect. ⇒->20BABB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#927b1a")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Chronicle]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XX.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">With fewer than a handful of days remaining until the eclipse, Vosaphar was determined to spend as much of that time as he could with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon now wondered why they had wasted the preceding days doing everything else *except* wrapping up together in blankets, speaking softly to one another. His ordeals felt paler against the comfort of this heat. Had your machinations even mattered for this? Under these conditions, wouldn’t they have always found themselves in love? You had no motes for lust. Though, based on what you had seen, you wouldn’t have needed them. Goodness. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Once they were ready to venture out, Finnit led Vosaphar back up the cliffside stairs to the crevice dotted with rusted anchors and unhatched eggs. The bird-creature chirped warily as they sidled deeper into the passage. She affixed those golden eyes to Vosaphar, unblinking, as though daring him to disturb any of her forsaken brood. He kept himself positioned between her and Finnit, to help alleviate the mortal’s anxiety. After winding their way through, the passage opened into a roughly circular chamber. “Look, Vosaphar,” Finnit intoned, pointing up. “We’re right beneath the lens.” Black slag had oozed down from the ceiling, frozen into organic stalactites that reflected no light from Finnit’s orb. While still fluid, they had dripped, leaving a few glassy patches spread across the altar. *Click*. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“What was that?” Vosaphar whispered. He cautiously approached the altar, a raised disk with a tight spiral grooved into its otherwise flat surface. “There,” Finnit whispered. “See the moon?” *Click*. A mechanism lowered a miniature pewter grate, allowing a tiny white sphere to roll a little further forward along the channel. At the center of the spiral lay a rendering of the sun, blotched by inky glass that had dripped down from above. “So much for studying the almanac.” Finnit paced around the pedestal. “This device is telling us how much is left until the eclipse. If we had known earlier…” “But we know now,” Vosaphar said. “Look at how close it is.” Vast and fiddly though the design was, the moon had wound its way close to the center. It was an unwelcome reminder of the future approaching, click by— *Click*. A taut silence stretched between them. Vosaphar had thoughts that he was unwilling to admit to. *Click*. “What if we just stayed here?” Finnit voiced. “Well maybe not this particular chamber. I mean the Pharos Fidelis in general.” He looked down at the transit bracelet Raekard had given him. “I could throw this in the ocean. We could ignore the lens. Stay here as long as we wanted.” “There’s nothing for you to eat, Finnit.” *Click.* “Would you even want to go to the academy?” Finnit stared at the pedestal. “Who even knows what they’d do to you, or—” “I am willing to risk it,” Vosaphar said. “I cannot say what the future holds. But we can’t stay here. I’m in no hurry to descend back to the calciferous wastes. And you have your life to live. I would rather join you in whatever of that you are willing to have me for, or until we choose to part. Is that not the way forward in such matters? The real accord?” *Click.* Finnit was silent for a few more moments. “Yes. You’re right. But I’m scared. This could all go so wrong.” Vosaphar embraced Finnit, holding him close. “It might. We will do our best, regardless.” They stayed together a while longer, before journeying back to their strange little home in the cliffside. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[At the eclipse, they would return. And the fate of the Pharos Fidelis would at last be decided. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Petition. ⇒->RBABB. Calciferous]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">With fewer than a handful of days remaining until the eclipse, Vosaphar was determined to spend as much of that time as he could with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon now wondered why they had wasted the preceding days doing everything else *except* wrapping up together in blankets, speaking softly to one another. His ordeals felt paler against the comfort of this heat. Had your machinations even mattered for this? Under these conditions, wouldn’t they have always found themselves in love? You had no motes for lust. Though, based on what you had seen, you wouldn’t have needed them. Goodness. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Once they were ready to venture out, Finnit led Vosaphar back up the cliffside stairs to the crevice dotted with rusted anchors and unhatched eggs. The bird-creature chirped warily as they sidled deeper into the passage. She affixed those golden eyes to Vosaphar, unblinking, as though daring him to disturb any of her forsaken brood. He kept himself positioned between her and Finnit, to help alleviate the mortal’s anxiety. After winding their way through, the passage opened into a roughly circular chamber. “Look, Vosaphar,” Finnit intoned, pointing up. “We’re right beneath the lens.” Black slag had oozed down from the ceiling, frozen into organic stalactites that reflected no light from Finnit’s orb. While still fluid, they had dripped, leaving a few glassy patches spread across the altar. *Click*. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“What was that?” Vosaphar whispered. He cautiously approached the altar, a raised disk with a tight spiral grooved into its otherwise flat surface. “There,” Finnit whispered. “See the moon?” *Click*. A mechanism lowered a miniature pewter grate, allowing a tiny white sphere to roll a little further forward along the channel. At the center of the spiral lay a rendering of the sun, blotched by inky glass that had dripped down from above. “So much for studying the almanac.” Finnit paced around the pedestal. “This device is telling us how much is left until the eclipse. If we had known earlier…” “But we know now,” Vosaphar said. “Look at how close it is.” Vast and fiddly though the design was, the moon had wound its way close to the center. It was an unwelcome reminder of the future approaching, click by— *Click*. A taut silence stretched between them. Vosaphar had thoughts that he was unwilling to admit to. *Click*. “What if we just stayed here?” Finnit voiced. “Well maybe not this particular chamber. I mean the Pharos Fidelis in general.” He looked down at the transit bracelet Raekard had given him. “I could throw this in the ocean. We could ignore the lens. Stay here as long as we wanted.” “There’s nothing for you to eat, Finnit.” *Click.* “Would you even want to go to the academy?” Finnit stared at the pedestal. “Who even knows what they’d do to you, or—” “I am willing to risk it,” Vosaphar said. “I cannot say what the future holds. But we can’t stay here. I’m in no hurry to descend back to the calciferous wastes. And you have your life to live. I would rather join you in whatever of that you are willing to have me for, or until we choose to part. Is that not the way forward in such matters? The real accord?” *Click.* Finnit was silent for a few more moments. “Yes. You’re right. But I’m scared. This could all go so wrong.” Vosaphar embraced Finnit, holding him close. “It might. We will do our best, regardless.” They stayed together a while longer, before journeying back to their strange little home in the cliffside. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[At the eclipse, they would return. And the fate of the Pharos Fidelis would at last be decided. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Petition. ⇒->RBABB. Calciferous]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[Recollection.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">Vosaphar’s spilling ichor sang to them so sweetly, libations that lured all manner of lips to lap. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[No longer able to fly, the beleaguered demon ran, stumbled, staggered, crawled—anything he could do to place another lazurynthine wall between himself and his nearest pursuer. He needed somewhere dark and quiet, somewhere safe to recover. Such amenities were unavailable in the lazurynth. But there were other hells than these. Vosaphar slipped through an inky gap between walls that had lost definition, their geometry corrupted by some other force. He sank into an oily pool, far beneath the febrile blue heat. He could no longer tell where the sludge began and his blood ended, drifting ever downward. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Eventually he reached the shore near your cottage, not yet fragmented to spectral remnants. Still specific, despite it all. He crawled to your doorstep, begging for relief from the lazurynth. Should he fall, he would emerge there once more, a cycle of dissolution his demonhood would eventually fail to survive. You told him that the calciferous wastes were hostile and desolate. He said he preferred a false quiet to an honest din. You told him there was nothing of value here—had there been, a warden as petty as you would’ve long been shredded to bits by a stronger devil. He said he preferred an expansive nothing to crowded corridors. You told him he would awaken cold, wet, and screaming, his every lonely birth into this void inevitable suffering. He said he preferred a bitter plunge to a blistering fire. You told him what it would cost, a steady stream of magic to brighten your hellfire furnace, tending to the motes. He accepted those terms without hesitation. You asked him for his name. He still had one. Vosaphar. With that accorded, you plucked his coal from the deepest pit of the lazurynth, and held it between your claws, its blue dimmed to gray. His archfiend wouldn’t miss it. And then you threw it in the pool, and it sank to the bottom, where it lodged itself in a dark crevice. Vosaphar, now under your jurisdiction, fled into the wastes, searching for a smooth bit of coralbone to lean against, however futilely. You gave him desolation, cold, and quiet. In return, your furnace grew brighter. How could you have ever predicted what this would eventually make impossible? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Discover. ⇒->21BABB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">Vosaphar’s spilling ichor sang to them so sweetly, libations that lured all manner of lips to lap. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[No longer able to fly, the beleaguered demon ran, stumbled, staggered, crawled—anything he could do to place another lazurynthine wall between himself and his nearest pursuer. He needed somewhere dark and quiet, somewhere safe to recover. Such amenities were unavailable in the lazurynth. But there were other hells than these. Vosaphar slipped through an inky gap between walls that had lost definition, their geometry corrupted by some other force. He sank into an oily pool, far beneath the febrile blue heat. He could no longer tell where the sludge began and his blood ended, drifting ever downward. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Eventually he reached the shore near your cottage, not yet fragmented to spectral remnants. Still specific, despite it all. He crawled to your doorstep, begging for relief from the lazurynth. Should he fall, he would emerge there once more, a cycle of dissolution his demonhood would eventually fail to survive. You told him that the calciferous wastes were hostile and desolate. He said he preferred a false quiet to an honest din. You told him there was nothing of value here—had there been, a warden as petty as you would’ve long been shredded to bits by a stronger devil. He said he preferred an expansive nothing to crowded corridors. You told him he would awaken cold, wet, and screaming, his every lonely birth into this void inevitable suffering. He said he preferred a bitter plunge to a blistering fire. You told him what it would cost, a steady stream of magic to brighten your hellfire furnace, tending to the motes. He accepted those terms without hesitation. You asked him for his name. He still had one. Vosaphar. With that accorded, you plucked his coal from the deepest pit of the lazurynth, and held it between your claws, its blue dimmed to gray. His archfiend wouldn’t miss it. And then you threw it in the pool, and it sank to the bottom, where it lodged itself in a dark crevice. Vosaphar, now under your jurisdiction, fled into the wastes, searching for a smooth bit of coralbone to lean against, however futilely. You gave him desolation, cold, and quiet. In return, your furnace grew brighter. How could you have ever predicted what this would eventually make impossible? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Discover. ⇒->21BABB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Recollection]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">The day of the eclipse, Finnit woke with a sharp pain searing his back, breaking him out of his warm reverie. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar was twitching and scratching in his sleep again. Finnit adored the feeling of the devil’s tail coiled around his thigh, basking in the hellish heat that staved off the island’s chill. Nonetheless, crawling into the embrace of a clawed creature had a few drawbacks. “Hey,” Finnit whispered. “Wake up.” Vosaphar shifted, his tail loosening its grip on Finnit. “Mmph.” “You scratched me again,” Finnit said. “Nightmares?” “Oh no,” Vosaphar said. “I’m sorry, Finnit. Here…” The demon traced the scratches, and Finnit felt an odd prickly sensation as the skin healed over. “Thank you. You’re getting good at that.” Vosaphar delicately kissed the side of Finnit’s neck. “I don’t normally sleep so much. The mortal realm is… exhausting, in its own way. Perhaps I can fashion some wrappings for my claws in the future.” “Whoa,” Finnit said, gazing out one of the windows. “What?” “The sky is different.” And indeed it was. The rain had—incredibly—let up slightly, the green glow he’d become so accustomed to taking on distinct streaks of orange and red. Vosaphar grimaced. “I guess it’s time.” “Yeah.” They made their final preparations. Finnit tucked his syllabaries into his satchel and ate his last rations. He thought he might never forget the taste of salted fruit leather in whatever days—or day—he had remaining. “Was there something else we should have prepared?” Finnit asked. “We’re just… walking through a portal to the sun? Like this?” “I can’t think of anything, Finnit.” “Well, alright then.” He looked around at the now overly-familiar place he had spent this last month. “Goodbye, awful yet cozy stone room under a cursed lighthouse. It was certainly a time.” “That it was.” Vosaphar sounded amused. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They ventured out onto the cliffside stairs. Even these had become familiar, the treachery of each step now a well-worn betrayal. As they slipped past the anchor collector, she gave out a little warble of encouragement. At least, that’s how Finnit chose to take it. Up ahead, a ruddy glow intensified as they approached the altar beneath the lens and its housing. The miniature moon had arrived at its destination, transforming the sun emblem at the center into a bright red disc of light. It was overwhelming to look at directly; Finnit’s eyes strained from this threat to perception. “It’s terrible,” Finnit whispered. “Beautiful, too. What a dazzling horror of a thing to witness.” “Finnit,” Vosaphar began, wrapping his arms gently around the sorcerer. “It might be neglectful of our accord for me not to mention… you don’t have to do this. I could—I could go without you—you could die, Finnit, and—I—I don’t want to lose you… forever.” Finnit looked up into the fiend’s fearful, loving eyes. “Vosaphar—I’m afraid, too. But I couldn’t accept that. Isn’t that what Raekard would do? Send someone to die in his stead, to do the big scary things he won’t face himself? This trial was his idea, but now it’s my trial. Our trial. And I want to see it through. Together. Don’t you?” “Yes,” Vosaphar admitted. “I want to see the sun... with you.” “Then let’s go see it.” Vosaphar smiled, and took Finnit’s arm in his. Together, they stepped into an oblivion of crimson light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Eclipse. ⇒->Eclipse BABB]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">The day of the eclipse, Finnit woke with a sharp pain searing his back, breaking him out of his warm reverie. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar was twitching and scratching in his sleep again. Finnit adored the feeling of the devil’s tail coiled around his thigh, basking in the hellish heat that staved off the island’s chill. Nonetheless, crawling into the embrace of a clawed creature had a few drawbacks. “Hey,” Finnit whispered. “Wake up.” Vosaphar shifted, his tail loosening its grip on Finnit. “Mmph.” “You scratched me again,” Finnit said. “Nightmares?” “Oh no,” Vosaphar said. “I’m sorry, Finnit. Here…” The demon traced the scratches, and Finnit felt an odd prickly sensation as the skin healed over. “Thank you. You’re getting good at that.” Vosaphar delicately kissed the side of Finnit’s neck. “I don’t normally sleep so much. The mortal realm is… exhausting, in its own way. Perhaps I can fashion some wrappings for my claws in the future.” “Whoa,” Finnit said, gazing out one of the windows. “What?” “The sky is different.” And indeed it was. The rain had—incredibly—let up slightly, the green glow he’d become so accustomed to taking on distinct streaks of orange and red. Vosaphar grimaced. “I guess it’s time.” “Yeah.” They made their final preparations. Finnit tucked his syllabaries into his satchel and ate his last rations. He thought he might never forget the taste of salted fruit leather in whatever days—or day—he had remaining. “Was there something else we should have prepared?” Finnit asked. “We’re just… walking through a portal to the sun? Like this?” “I can’t think of anything, Finnit.” “Well, alright then.” He looked around at the now overly-familiar place he had spent this last month. “Goodbye, awful yet cozy stone room under a cursed lighthouse. It was certainly a time.” “That it was.” Vosaphar sounded amused. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They ventured out onto the cliffside stairs. Even these had become familiar, the treachery of each step now a well-worn betrayal. As they slipped past the anchor collector, she gave out a little warble of encouragement. At least, that’s how Finnit chose to take it. Up ahead, a ruddy glow intensified as they approached the altar beneath the lens and its housing. The miniature moon had arrived at its destination, transforming the sun emblem at the center into a bright red disc of light. It was overwhelming to look at directly; Finnit’s eyes strained from this threat to perception. “It’s terrible,” Finnit whispered. “Beautiful, too. What a dazzling horror of a thing to witness.” “Finnit,” Vosaphar began, wrapping his arms gently around the sorcerer. “It might be neglectful of our accord for me not to mention… you don’t have to do this. I could—I could go without you—you could die, Finnit, and—I—I don’t want to lose you… forever.” Finnit looked up into the fiend’s fearful, loving eyes. “Vosaphar—I’m afraid, too. But I couldn’t accept that. Isn’t that what Raekard would do? Send someone to die in his stead, to do the big scary things he won’t face himself? This trial was his idea, but now it’s my trial. Our trial. And I want to see it through. Together. Don’t you?” “Yes,” Vosaphar admitted. “I want to see the sun... with you.” “Then let’s go see it.” Vosaphar smiled, and took Finnit’s arm in his. Together, they stepped into an oblivion of crimson light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Eclipse. ⇒->Eclipse BABB]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 3)[Eclipse.] (text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Sun.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">The sun was a cosmic affliction, a colossal molten mass so red and seething that even the infernal embers blazing in the deepest pits of the hells seemed but feeble sparks in the distance. And Vosaphar was soaring *toward* it. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he flew, Finnit clutched against him, tendrils of the corona pulled peculiar new colors from his wings, its aurora a spectacle more captivating than your dreary calciferous skies could have ever dreamed to churn. How you longed for such color and heat and majesty—even just a drop of it. And *they* got to see it all, to have it within reach. “Vosaphar, look!” With his free hand, Finnit pointed toward an eerie black void drifting past. Dozens of bird-creatures flew from the roiling surface of the sun to circle and screech at the dark moon, a celestial interloper threatening the eternity of light. “They’re sunspots!” Finnit shouted. “She’s a sunspot!” “They’re *distracted*, too.” Vosaphar glided toward the edge of the sun away from the shrieking horrors. “That’s why it has to be now.” The demon and his summoner skimmed the sun’s surface, its dangerous heat threatening to embrace them forever so closely. “Hold on, Finnit!” Vosaphar tilted his wings, arm outstretched, reaching, swiping up a glob of incandescent fluid. This molten scarlet-amber squeezed between his claws and stuck to his low-dipped wing. Even these tiny droplets of starlight held immense power that coursed through him as he arced up out of the sun’s grip. “It’s so incredible!” Finnit laughed, tears streaming behind him, motes of wonder sparkling in space. Something darkened behind them. Finnit looked over his shoulder. “Vosaphar—there’s a new sunspot—” The creature shrieked as it gave chase, following the radiant beads dripping from Vosaphar’s sunswept wing. Vosaphar affixed his gaze to the portal back to the Pharos Fidelis, soaring ever faster. The screeching grew louder yet, judgment for their cardinal cosmic sin approaching with alarming haste. But with Finnit clinging to his side… (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar simply had no use for consequences. With a final burst of speed, they shot through the portal. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Reignite. ⇒->22BABB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">The sun was a cosmic affliction, a colossal molten mass so red and seething that even the infernal embers blazing in the deepest pits of the hells seemed but feeble sparks in the distance. And Vosaphar was soaring *toward* it. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he flew, Finnit clutched against him, tendrils of the corona pulled peculiar new colors from his wings, its aurora a spectacle more captivating than your dreary calciferous skies could have ever dreamed to churn. How you longed for such color and heat and majesty—even just a drop of it. And *they* got to see it all, to have it within reach. “Vosaphar, look!” With his free hand, Finnit pointed toward an eerie black void drifting past. Dozens of bird-creatures flew from the roiling surface of the sun to circle and screech at the dark moon, a celestial interloper threatening the eternity of light. “They’re sunspots!” Finnit shouted. “She’s a sunspot!” “They’re *distracted*, too.” Vosaphar glided toward the edge of the sun away from the shrieking horrors. “That’s why it has to be now.” The demon and his summoner skimmed the sun’s surface, its dangerous heat threatening to embrace them forever so closely. “Hold on, Finnit!” Vosaphar tilted his wings, arm outstretched, reaching, swiping up a glob of incandescent fluid. This molten scarlet-amber squeezed between his claws and stuck to his low-dipped wing. Even these tiny droplets of starlight held immense power that coursed through him as he arced up out of the sun’s grip. “It’s so incredible!” Finnit laughed, tears streaming behind him, motes of wonder sparkling in space. Something darkened behind them. Finnit looked over his shoulder. “Vosaphar—there’s a new sunspot—” The creature shrieked as it gave chase, following the radiant beads dripping from Vosaphar’s sunswept wing. Vosaphar affixed his gaze to the portal back to the Pharos Fidelis, soaring ever faster. The screeching grew louder yet, judgment for their cardinal cosmic sin approaching with alarming haste. But with Finnit clinging to his side… (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar simply had no use for consequences. With a final burst of speed, they shot through the portal. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Reignite. ⇒->22BABB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXII.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Finnit and Vosaphar tumbled over the edge of the altar, the portal still aglow with the eclipse-light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But there was little time to celebrate their reckless heist—the sunspot shoved its vicious pointed head through the gap after them, screeching as it struggled to break through. Finnit let Vosaphar carry him a bit further up the tunnel, before standing on his own feet and running alongside. The anchor collector had left her nest, wheeling about in the sky, shrieking back at the new sunspot about to burst from the throat of the island. Finnit looked out at the storm, the clouds thinned enough that he could see the eclipsed red sun half-risen, framing the infernal image of a devil’s horns. “How magnificent,” he said, breathless. Vosaphar looked down at him, gently squeezing his hand. They arrived at the peak, where the lens yearned for light, and at last, Finnit had light to provide. Vosaphar held out his claws, sunlight pooled in his palm, and Finnit painted it, trying to create the glyph his mind had projected there, the name of the demon whose rite might reignite the Pharos Fidelis. You watched, enraptured by the spectacle of your plans converging. This was it. This was your moment. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As Finnit slathered the glowing fluid across the lens, the dark slag drank it in—more, and more, and more of it. Too much of it. The glyph couldn’t hold its shape. The lens welled, hyperfolding crimson light, growing ever hotter by the second. The cleft, once so close to promising your name, had already deformed beyond recognition. And how brutal; that poor, mortal sorcerer, all tangled in your schemes, had every intention of drawing your name, a sigil drenched in the lifeblood of the sun. He really did try. You couldn’t fault him for that. But the execution? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A tragedy, in many fragments. For centuries—perhaps longer—every mortal design for the Pharos Fidelis had crumbled. Each disaster wrote another chapter in that wretched chronicle, the dark history of guiding light. And you thought *yours* would work? Pharos Fidelis, the beacon on the horizon of reason. Where it would remain, out of reach. Could not even a devil accept the simple dreadful truth, that a horizon approached can never arrive? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Finnit, we have to leave!” Vosaphar shouted, scanning the skies for the sunspots. “The lens is collapsing!” “No—it has to—Vosaphar, it has to—” “Finnit, please—” “I can’t—I can’t get the shape right, it’s going to—” “It deserves to shatter.” How dare he. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“But, what was this even for, then?” Finnit sobbed, the last of the sunlight ripped from his fingertips into the Pharos Fidelis. Vosaphar pulled him, one final time, away from the amplifying dyslucence. “That’s for the historians!” Vosaphar stared at him with his stormy eyes. “Shouldn’t we live? Don’t you want a future? ” “Yes!” Finnit embraced Vosaphar once more, and the demon swept him up into the sky. They abandoned the Pharos Fidelis to its fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They *tried* to abandon it. But it wasn’t done with them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Shatter. ⇒->23BABB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Finnit and Vosaphar tumbled over the edge of the altar, the portal still aglow with the eclipse-light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But there was little time to celebrate their reckless heist—the sunspot shoved its vicious pointed head through the gap after them, screeching as it struggled to break through. Finnit let Vosaphar carry him a bit further up the tunnel, before standing on his own feet and running alongside. The anchor collector had left her nest, wheeling about in the sky, shrieking back at the new sunspot about to burst from the throat of the island. Finnit looked out at the storm, the clouds thinned enough that he could see the eclipsed red sun half-risen, framing the infernal image of a devil’s horns. “How magnificent,” he said, breathless. Vosaphar looked down at him, gently squeezing his hand. They arrived at the peak, where the lens yearned for light, and at last, Finnit had light to provide. Vosaphar held out his claws, sunlight pooled in his palm, and Finnit painted it, trying to create the glyph his mind had projected there, the name of the demon whose rite might reignite the Pharos Fidelis. You watched, enraptured by the spectacle of your plans converging. This was it. This was your moment. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As Finnit slathered the glowing fluid across the lens, the dark slag drank it in—more, and more, and more of it. Too much of it. The glyph couldn’t hold its shape. The lens welled, hyperfolding crimson light, growing ever hotter by the second. The cleft, once so close to promising your name, had already deformed beyond recognition. And how brutal; that poor, mortal sorcerer, all tangled in your schemes, had every intention of drawing your name, a sigil drenched in the lifeblood of the sun. He really did try. You couldn’t fault him for that. But the execution? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A tragedy, in many fragments. For centuries—perhaps longer—every mortal design for the Pharos Fidelis had crumbled. Each disaster wrote another chapter in that wretched chronicle, the dark history of guiding light. And you thought *yours* would work? Pharos Fidelis, the beacon on the horizon of reason. Where it would remain, out of reach. Could not even a devil accept the simple dreadful truth, that a horizon approached can never arrive? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Finnit, we have to leave!” Vosaphar shouted, scanning the skies for the sunspots. “The lens is collapsing!” “No—it has to—Vosaphar, it has to—” “Finnit, please—” “I can’t—I can’t get the shape right, it’s going to—” “It deserves to shatter.” How dare he. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“But, what was this even for, then?” Finnit sobbed, the last of the sunlight ripped from his fingertips into the Pharos Fidelis. Vosaphar pulled him, one final time, away from the amplifying dyslucence. “That’s for the historians!” Vosaphar stared at him with his stormy eyes. “Shouldn’t we live? Don’t you want a future? ” “Yes!” Finnit embraced Vosaphar once more, and the demon swept him up into the sky. They abandoned the Pharos Fidelis to its fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They *tried* to abandon it. But it wasn’t done with them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Shatter. ⇒->23BABB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Disavowal]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXIII.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">The storm rushed past Vosaphar as he carried Finnit, placing any distance he could between them and the doomed Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Still seeking their stolen sunlight, the sunspot pursued, but the anchor collector screeched and snapped at it. The two creatures, identically opposed in desire, circled the peak as they fought above the molten slag. “It’s going to—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The world around them grew absolutely silent, swallowing the rest of Finnit’s warning. Every bit of light had gathered, folding itself over and over and over still, smaller, ever smaller, congealing into the tiniest, brightest speck. For a moment, Vosaphar wondered if it would keep going, dragging the mortal realm, the hells, and all the rest of existence into its singularity. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Instead, it shattered. All that had been poured into it—all the fire, all the lightning, all the stray souls, all the stolen sunlight, all the summons slaughtered, all the hopes and dreams and plots and schemes and—all of it finally shattered, sending incalculable shards of glass in every direction at incredible speeds. A vanguard fragment slammed into Vosaphar’s chest, knocking Finnit out of his grasp. The sorcerer began to drift away on his own trajectory— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And you thought, though your plans had shattered along with everything else… You still had one last mote of hellfire to spare. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Influence. ⇒->M4BABB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">The storm rushed past Vosaphar as he carried Finnit, placing any distance he could between them and the doomed Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Still seeking their stolen sunlight, the sunspot pursued, but the anchor collector screeched and snapped at it. The two creatures, identically opposed in desire, circled the peak as they fought above the molten slag. “It’s going to—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The world around them grew absolutely silent, swallowing the rest of Finnit’s warning. Every bit of light had gathered, folding itself over and over and over still, smaller, ever smaller, congealing into the tiniest, brightest speck. For a moment, Vosaphar wondered if it would keep going, dragging the mortal realm, the hells, and all the rest of existence into its singularity. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Instead, it shattered. All that had been poured into it—all the fire, all the lightning, all the stray souls, all the stolen sunlight, all the summons slaughtered, all the hopes and dreams and plots and schemes and—all of it finally shattered, sending incalculable shards of glass in every direction at incredible speeds. A vanguard fragment slammed into Vosaphar’s chest, knocking Finnit out of his grasp. The sorcerer began to drift away on his own trajectory— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And you thought, though your plans had shattered along with everything else… You still had one last mote of hellfire to spare. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Influence. ⇒->M4BABB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Disavowal]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#fc4e71")+(text-size: 3)[Influence.] (text-color:"#fc4e71")+(text-size: 1.15)[Clinginess | Desperation.]</div> One final mote of hellfire appeared. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightmotepassage">When potent emotions conflicted a demon’s judgment, even the faintest mote of hellfire bore enough infernal energy to influence their fate from afar. That’s how you got them into this mess. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#8c283c)[***Clinginess***] For the demon Vosaphar, so eager to wrap himself around his beloved summoner, the sight of the mortal falling away would’ve driven him to dive in closer. This clinginess would have joined their fates together, should you have chosen to foster it. Yielding to this clinginess, however romantic, risked their joint fate becoming tragic. (text-color:#8c283c)[***Desperation***] For the demon Vosaphar, so determined for his beloved summoner to survive, the sight of him falling away would’ve driven him to take reckless measures. This desperation might have driven him to intervene instantly to salvage the situation. Yielding to this desperation, however hasty, risked their fates diverging dramatically. (text-color:#8c283c)[***Decision***] Well? Which force did this mote of hellfire incite? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightmotechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))[[[Clinginess. ⇒->24BABBA. Vosaphar]]] (link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#fc4e71")))[[[Desperation. ⇒->24BABBB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="motepassage">When potent emotions conflicted a demon’s judgment, even the faintest mote of hellfire bore enough infernal energy to influence their fate from afar. That’s how you got them into this mess. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Clinginess***] For the demon Vosaphar, so eager to wrap himself around his beloved summoner, the sight of the mortal falling away would’ve driven him to dive in closer. This clinginess would have joined their fates together, should you have chosen to foster it. Yielding to this clinginess, however romantic, risked their joint fate becoming tragic. (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Desperation***] For the demon Vosaphar, so determined for his beloved summoner to survive, the sight of him falling away would’ve driven him to take reckless measures. This desperation might have driven him to intervene instantly to salvage the situation. Yielding to this desperation, however hasty, risked their fates diverging dramatically. (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Decision***] Well? Which force did this mote of hellfire incite? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="motechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Clinginess. ⇒->24BABBA. Vosaphar]]] (link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Desperation. ⇒->24BABBB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Mote]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXIV.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar dove, claws outstretched, reaching for Finnit’s wrist— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And closed his hand around the transit band attached to it. Just as the edge of the inferno reached them— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar and Finnit blinked out of existence, teleporting somewhere else. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Defend. ⇒->25BABBA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar dove, claws outstretched, reaching for Finnit’s wrist— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And closed his hand around the transit band attached to it. Just as the edge of the inferno reached them— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar and Finnit blinked out of existence, teleporting somewhere else. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Defend. ⇒->25BABBA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXIV.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar had a single, reckless idea of what he still had time to do. How he could send Finnit somewhere safer than here. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar recalled the spells Finnit had taught him, focused his intentions and— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Banished him. Finnit blinked out of existence. Moments later, the edge of the explosion swept Vosaphar into an inferno of shattering glass. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Stoke. ⇒->25BABBB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar had a single, reckless idea of what he still had time to do. How he could send Finnit somewhere safer than here. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar recalled the spells Finnit had taught him, focused his intentions and— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Banished him. Finnit blinked out of existence. Moments later, the edge of the explosion swept Vosaphar into an inferno of shattering glass. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Stoke. ⇒->25BABBB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#b8e270")+(text-size: 3)[XXV.] (text-color:"#b8e270")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Cairnveld Fortress.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcairnveldpassage">Finnit tumbled to his latest painful stop against the stone. Warm, clawed fingers gripped his wrist. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Vosaphar?” Finnit groaned, clutching his head and rolling over to move closer to the devil. He could smell cypress and old parchment. They must have arrived somewhere at Cairnveld Fortress. He heard a few startled gasps, and then whispers broke out. “Huh?” Finnit muttered, looking over his shoulders. They had landed in one of the smaller lecture halls. Cool light streamed through the windows, setting the chamber’s dusty air aglow. A scattered few luminaries occupied the chairs, including Jethel, who peered curiously over the top of the beverage she had been sipping. It was the most people he had seen in a month. Raekard stood from his seat in the front row. “Incipient Finnit!” His voice rang out over the chamber. “I’m not sure how you managed to be late with a pre-scheduled transit band, but it is time for your evaluation.” He paused, frowning. “Dismiss this… creature.” Finnit ignored him, crawling over to examine Vosaphar’s wounds. There was a warped shard of the Pharos Fidelis lens lodged in his chest, glowing with an intense crimson light. It seemed to have fused to the demon’s torso, ichor seeping around the edges where glass and flesh intermingled. “Are you okay?” Finnit asked softly. “No.” Vosaphar turned to him, groaning. “But… I don’t think I’m fading.” Finnit did his best to hug him from this awkward position. “Fine, I’ll banish it myself.” Raekard traced a sigil in the air, directing its power against the injured fiend. Nothing happened. It was the first time that Finnit had seen Raekard genuinely surprised. Finnit helped Vosaphar to his feet. The demon looked around, a bit nervously given his bizarre new context. He let his ethereal wings fade away, wrapping a warm arm around Finnit’s waist. “This is not appropriate conduct for a discovery trial evaluation,” Raekard said, his voice low and dangerous. “Be sure to make a note of it then,” Finnit said. He leaned into Vosaphar, who responded by curling his tail gently around the sorcerer. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The luminaries in the audience found this riveting. Jethel stirred the air next to her mug with a cinnamon stick, not realizing she was dripping horchata onto her notes. Finnit wished he could just leave and recover in his quarters. Why was he even putting up with any of this? They had just gotten back from the *sun*. “Dismiss this demon at once!” Raekard snapped. “It is against academy bylaws to bring summoned entities to participate in discovery trial evaluations.” “I’ll go where I wish to, *wretched one*,” Vosaphar snarled. He had evidently recognized Raekard. Jethel let out a startled laugh, which she failed to even attempt to cover up. “Luminary Jethel is going to *love* you,” Finnit told Vosaphar, deciding to embrace the surreality of the moment. Nonplussed, Raekard tried a second banishment. It failed. Again. Finnit ran his fingers through his hair anxiously, snagging another piece of the lens that had cut the skin behind his ear. He plucked it out. Its otherworldly glow was just as out of place here as Vosaphar, and frankly, himself. “What is the meaning of this?” Raekard demanded. “Incipient, what did you *do*?” Finnit held up the errant fragment. “We reignited the Pharos Fidelis.” He threw it onto the floor. “As commanded. Huh. I guess that makes me a luminary.” “This is—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But Finnit didn’t care to hear any more of what Raekard had to say. He suddenly wondered why it had ever mattered. The luminary was such an insignificant threat in the face of everything that he had experienced. And he was a terrible historiographer. Suddenly, the ground shook slightly. Bits of grit descended from the ceiling. One of the luminaries—who had somehow managed to sleep through Finnit and Vosaphar’s dramatic arrival—woke with a start, their eyes darting wildly as they took in their surroundings. “What was *that*?” Raekard asked. “The Pharos Fidelis,” Finnit said. “I guess it took a few minutes for the shockwaves to arrive. Maybe we should reconvene this session after we know for sure that our actions didn’t precipitate the end of all existence. Vosaphar, let’s get out of here.” “Gladly,” the demon muttered. “And stop trying to banish me,” he added, glaring directly at Raekard. “Or I will teach you some real principles of summoning that you will *not* enjoy learning, pathetic one.” The luminary was dumbfounded. “What the—what happened?” “That’s enough, Raekard,” Jethel said from behind him. Arms linked, Finnit and Vosaphar departed the lecture hall, heading for Finnit’s quarters. Somewhere quiet. Raekard didn’t try to follow them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcairnveldchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))[[[Repose. ⇒->26BABBA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="cairnveldpassage">Finnit tumbled to his latest painful stop against the stone. Warm, clawed fingers gripped his wrist. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Vosaphar?” Finnit groaned, clutching his head and rolling over to move closer to the devil. He could smell cypress and old parchment. They must have arrived somewhere at Cairnveld Fortress. He heard a few startled gasps, and then whispers broke out. “Huh?” Finnit muttered, looking over his shoulders. They had landed in one of the smaller lecture halls. Cool light streamed through the windows, setting the chamber’s dusty air aglow. A scattered few luminaries occupied the chairs, including Jethel, who peered curiously over the top of the beverage she had been sipping. It was the most people he had seen in a month. Raekard stood from his seat in the front row. “Incipient Finnit!” His voice rang out over the chamber. “I’m not sure how you managed to be late with a pre-scheduled transit band, but it is time for your evaluation.” He paused, frowning. “Dismiss this… creature.” Finnit ignored him, crawling over to examine Vosaphar’s wounds. There was a warped shard of the Pharos Fidelis lens lodged in his chest, glowing with an intense crimson light. It seemed to have fused to the demon’s torso, ichor seeping around the edges where glass and flesh intermingled. “Are you okay?” Finnit asked softly. “No.” Vosaphar turned to him, groaning. “But… I don’t think I’m fading.” Finnit did his best to hug him from this awkward position. “Fine, I’ll banish it myself.” Raekard traced a sigil in the air, directing its power against the injured fiend. Nothing happened. It was the first time that Finnit had seen Raekard genuinely surprised. Finnit helped Vosaphar to his feet. The demon looked around, a bit nervously given his bizarre new context. He let his ethereal wings fade away, wrapping a warm arm around Finnit’s waist. “This is not appropriate conduct for a discovery trial evaluation,” Raekard said, his voice low and dangerous. “Be sure to make a note of it then,” Finnit said. He leaned into Vosaphar, who responded by curling his tail gently around the sorcerer. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The luminaries in the audience found this riveting. Jethel stirred the air next to her mug with a cinnamon stick, not realizing she was dripping horchata onto her notes. Finnit wished he could just leave and recover in his quarters. Why was he even putting up with any of this? They had just gotten back from the *sun*. “Dismiss this demon at once!” Raekard snapped. “It is against academy bylaws to bring summoned entities to participate in discovery trial evaluations.” “I’ll go where I wish to, *wretched one*,” Vosaphar snarled. He had evidently recognized Raekard. Jethel let out a startled laugh, which she failed to even attempt to cover up. “Luminary Jethel is going to *love* you,” Finnit told Vosaphar, deciding to embrace the surreality of the moment. Nonplussed, Raekard tried a second banishment. It failed. Again. Finnit ran his fingers through his hair anxiously, snagging another piece of the lens that had cut the skin behind his ear. He plucked it out. Its otherworldly glow was just as out of place here as Vosaphar, and frankly, himself. “What is the meaning of this?” Raekard demanded. “Incipient, what did you *do*?” Finnit held up the errant fragment. “We reignited the Pharos Fidelis.” He threw it onto the floor. “As commanded. Huh. I guess that makes me a luminary.” “This is—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But Finnit didn’t care to hear any more of what Raekard had to say. He suddenly wondered why it had ever mattered. The luminary was such an insignificant threat in the face of everything that he had experienced. And he was a terrible historiographer. Suddenly, the ground shook slightly. Bits of grit descended from the ceiling. One of the luminaries—who had somehow managed to sleep through Finnit and Vosaphar’s dramatic arrival—woke with a start, their eyes darting wildly as they took in their surroundings. “What was *that*?” Raekard asked. “The Pharos Fidelis,” Finnit said. “I guess it took a few minutes for the shockwaves to arrive. Maybe we should reconvene this session after we know for sure that our actions didn’t precipitate the end of all existence. Vosaphar, let’s get out of here.” “Gladly,” the demon muttered. “And stop trying to banish me,” he added, glaring directly at Raekard. “Or I will teach you some real principles of summoning that you will *not* enjoy learning, pathetic one.” The luminary was dumbfounded. “What the—what happened?” “That’s enough, Raekard,” Jethel said from behind him. Arms linked, Finnit and Vosaphar departed the lecture hall, heading for Finnit’s quarters. Somewhere quiet. Raekard didn’t try to follow them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="cairnveldchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#7ba03c")))[[[Repose. ⇒->26BABBA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#7ba03c")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#b8e270")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#b8e270")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Cairnveld Fortress.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcairnveldpassage">The incipients and luminaries traveling the halls of Cairnveld—already unsettled by the earthquake—gave Vosaphar a wide berth as he and Finnit passed them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar had never been around so many mortals at once—at least, not in his current instance—and unlike Finnit, *these* mortals were thoroughly alarmed by the fearsome sight of a demon wandering in their midst, chest aglow with a sun-scorched fragment of the Pharos Fidelis lens. He only started to relax once they entered a small, dusty chamber full of the sorcerer’s possessions. Mostly books. Finnit closed the door behind him, then climbed onto his bed in the corner of the chamber, sitting with his back against one of the cool stone walls. He grabbed one of the pillows, and invited Vosaphar to lie down. The devil accepted, allowing Finnit to cradle his head in his lap. Vosaphar was delighted by the softness of the mattress compared to the bedrolls at the Pharos Fidelis, and let the mortal gently massage his forehead, attending to the skin bunched at the base of his horns. “Is this okay?” Finnit asked. “Yes,” Vosaphar said, flicking his tail languorously. To be afforded such comfort was rare and fleeting. As you—along with every other demon—knew all too well. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[After a few restful minutes, Finnit spoke up. “So, um—thank you for not letting me die. For saving me, so many times. I can’t even make sense of what happened yet. It’s unreal. This, being here, and—we shouldn’t have survived.” “But we did, beloved one.” Vosaphar ran a clawed fingertip gently across Finnit’s forearm. “Perhaps you contributed more than you realize.” He paused. “But I *did* carry you across the sky.” Finnit snorted. Someone knocked at the door. “Finnit? Are you in there?” “Yes!” Finnit said. One of the sorcerers from the trial evaluation stepped into the room, carrying with her an eclectic potpourri of scents. It was Luminary Jethel, the healing expert. “Oh.” She raised her eyebrows. “Is this—uh, a bad time?” “It’s fine,” Finnit said, reluctantly releasing Vosaphar so the demon could sit up. “I’m glad to see you, Jethel. Thank you for all your help.” She nodded. “The main reason I’m here is to inform you that the panel of luminaries in attendance convened, and after an examination of the fragment you provided, determined that you passed your discovery trial. Raekard dissented, but I suppose situations like these are exactly why the founders required a full panel in the bylaws. Congratulations, Finnit!” She waited for a moment, creating an awkward silence. “But I get the sense that, perhaps this is not your main concern?” “No, it isn’t,” Finnit said. “I mean—I guess I’m glad it’s over. But, I’m concerned about Vosaphar’s injuries.” He paused. “This is Vosaphar. He’s from… uh, the calciferous wastes.” “Uh huh. Noted.” Jethel directed her focus toward the devil. “Vosaphar? May I take a closer look?” “Yes,” Vosaphar said, watching her lightly-wrinkled fingers weave diagnostic glyphs in front of him. Finnit gently rubbed his back. “How are you feeling?” “I… don’t know,” Vosaphar answered honestly. “It’s a strange sensation. Like my bones are itching beneath my skin.” “Interesting,” Jethel remarked. “Well—this fragment of—uh, I guess I have no real idea what it actually is, some exotic vitric—seems to have fused onto you? It radiates an extraordinary amount of magic. For a human, that would be concerning, by which I mean, fatal. But I admit, I am not an expert on infernal anatomy.” She glanced at Finnit, eyes narrowing. “Though based on what I have seen today, perhaps *you* are becoming one.” Vosaphar looked his way as well, amused to see the mortal’s cheeks reddening. “Thought so,” Jethel remarked. “I hope Raekard never hears the end of this, for whatever remains of his miserable days.” “Oh,” Finnit said, evidently realizing something. “I see now… the lens fragment. Raekard is, at least, a *competent* sorcerer—his banishment rite should have succeeded. By remaining here, I thought Vosaphar might have violated the principle of planar reversion. But with this power fusing with you—I guess that makes it *your* power. And it far exceeds Raekard’s.” “Fascinating,” Jethel said, “if not a touch alarming in its implications. Well, at any rate, for now, I recommend treating the exposed edges where the fragment is impacting your skin. I don’t know what your plans are, Finnit, but if you remain here for the moment—as a luminary—we can research the issue together.” “What do you think?” Finnit asked him. “We could stay for a bit, sort things out?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“That sounds nice, Finnit.” “And after that—” “The rest of it?” “The rest of it.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcairnveldchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BABBA]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="cairnveldpassage">The incipients and luminaries traveling the halls of Cairnveld—already unsettled by the earthquake—gave Vosaphar a wide berth as he and Finnit passed them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar had never been around so many mortals at once—at least, not in his current instance—and unlike Finnit, *these* mortals were thoroughly alarmed by the fearsome sight of a demon wandering in their midst, chest aglow with a sun-scorched fragment of the Pharos Fidelis lens. He only started to relax once they entered a small, dusty chamber full of the sorcerer’s possessions. Mostly books. Finnit closed the door behind him, then climbed onto his bed in the corner of the chamber, sitting with his back against one of the cool stone walls. He grabbed one of the pillows, and invited Vosaphar to lie down. The devil accepted, allowing Finnit to cradle his head in his lap. Vosaphar was delighted by the softness of the mattress compared to the bedrolls at the Pharos Fidelis, and let the mortal gently massage his forehead, attending to the skin bunched at the base of his horns. “Is this okay?” Finnit asked. “Yes,” Vosaphar said, flicking his tail languorously. To be afforded such comfort was rare and fleeting. As you—along with every other demon—knew all too well. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[After a few restful minutes, Finnit spoke up. “So, um—thank you for not letting me die. For saving me, so many times. I can’t even make sense of what happened yet. It’s unreal. This, being here, and—we shouldn’t have survived.” “But we did, beloved one.” Vosaphar ran a clawed fingertip gently across Finnit’s forearm. “Perhaps you contributed more than you realize.” He paused. “But I *did* carry you across the sky.” Finnit snorted. Someone knocked at the door. “Finnit? Are you in there?” “Yes!” Finnit said. One of the sorcerers from the trial evaluation stepped into the room, carrying with her an eclectic potpourri of scents. It was Luminary Jethel, the healing expert. “Oh.” She raised her eyebrows. “Is this—uh, a bad time?” “It’s fine,” Finnit said, reluctantly releasing Vosaphar so the demon could sit up. “I’m glad to see you, Jethel. Thank you for all your help.” She nodded. “The main reason I’m here is to inform you that the panel of luminaries in attendance convened, and after an examination of the fragment you provided, determined that you passed your discovery trial. Raekard dissented, but I suppose situations like these are exactly why the founders required a full panel in the bylaws. Congratulations, Finnit!” She waited for a moment, creating an awkward silence. “But I get the sense that, perhaps this is not your main concern?” “No, it isn’t,” Finnit said. “I mean—I guess I’m glad it’s over. But, I’m concerned about Vosaphar’s injuries.” He paused. “This is Vosaphar. He’s from… uh, the calciferous wastes.” “Uh huh. Noted.” Jethel directed her focus toward the devil. “Vosaphar? May I take a closer look?” “Yes,” Vosaphar said, watching her lightly-wrinkled fingers weave diagnostic glyphs in front of him. Finnit gently rubbed his back. “How are you feeling?” “I… don’t know,” Vosaphar answered honestly. “It’s a strange sensation. Like my bones are itching beneath my skin.” “Interesting,” Jethel remarked. “Well—this fragment of—uh, I guess I have no real idea what it actually is, some exotic vitric—seems to have fused onto you? It radiates an extraordinary amount of magic. For a human, that would be concerning, by which I mean, fatal. But I admit, I am not an expert on infernal anatomy.” She glanced at Finnit, eyes narrowing. “Though based on what I have seen today, perhaps *you* are becoming one.” Vosaphar looked his way as well, amused to see the mortal’s cheeks reddening. “Thought so,” Jethel remarked. “I hope Raekard never hears the end of this, for whatever remains of his miserable days.” “Oh,” Finnit said, evidently realizing something. “I see now… the lens fragment. Raekard is, at least, a *competent* sorcerer—his banishment rite should have succeeded. By remaining here, I thought Vosaphar might have violated the principle of planar reversion. But with this power fusing with you—I guess that makes it *your* power. And it far exceeds Raekard’s.” “Fascinating,” Jethel said, “if not a touch alarming in its implications. Well, at any rate, for now, I recommend treating the exposed edges where the fragment is impacting your skin. I don’t know what your plans are, Finnit, but if you remain here for the moment—as a luminary—we can research the issue together.” “What do you think?” Finnit asked him. “We could stay for a bit, sort things out?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“That sounds nice, Finnit.” “And after that—” “The rest of it?” “The rest of it.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="cairnveldchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BABBA]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BAB. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BABB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s clinginess, causing him to reach Finnit in time to teleport to Cairnveld with him. This proved to be a fortunate calculation. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BAB. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BABB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s clinginess, causing him to reach Finnit in time to teleport to Cairnveld with him. This proved to be a fortunate calculation. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[XXV.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage cold, wet, and screaming. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It had a certain resonance, didn’t it? He coughed violently, choking on sludge and bloodfog alike, wading clumsily in your direction. Even from this distance, you could feel intense energy pouring off the misplaced mortal, his magic warped by the glowing fragments of the Pharos Fidelis stuck in his hair and clothing. If nothing else could be salvaged from this historic disaster, at least you had an opportunity to fuel your furnace. The mortal would, at any moment, petition you for relief from his dire situation. This provided you a brief moment to consider which form might be most appropriate for such an absurd occasion. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|initial>[In that light: (link-reveal: "You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. Inaccurate though it may have been, perhaps you had the right to such a form. You’d already spent more time fussing over Vosaphar’s fate than any of his makers had. You adopted an elegant posture and swept out of your cottage to approach the mortal. “Hello, Finnit,” you said. He turned to look at you, eyes widening. You flicked your new tail, mimicking one of Vosaphar’s gestures that he so favored. “Um—hi. Uh—” “Welcome to my calciferous wastes.” You extended your arms, gesturing toward the dark skies and lonesome coralbone monuments dotting the horizon. “And what a sight they are.” Finnit looked around, evidently still processing this alarming development. “The calciferous wastes? Do you—do you know Vosaphar?” “Please, join me inside,” you said. “We shall sit by the fire and discuss these matters.” Finnit numbly complied, letting you guide him to the soot-stained armchairs by your furnace. It seemed to calm him down, having become accustomed to closeness with a certain source of hellfire. “What happened? Do you know?” Finnit asked. “Sorry—I’m just—I should ask who you are probably?” “I am the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “I think—I think he banished me?” “He did.” You tapped an idle claw against your ivory armchair. “I’m sorry, maybe this is too forward, but—look, I’m worried about Vosaphar? I don’t know what happened—what if—what if he—” You took him to the window and pointed to the dark pool, where Vosaphar’s ember twinkled at the bottom. If anything, it had grown brighter. Interesting. “That is his essential coal,” you said. “If he had perished, he would have immediately returned here. If we wait, he will eventually appear. However…” Finnit paced to and fro, trying to shake off his anxiety. “What if he’s hurt—he must be—I don’t want to wait!” “It is not a matter of desire, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. Perhaps that hadn’t been a Vosapharian gesture. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Will you—I mean, would you please help me?” “What are your intentions toward Vosaphar?” “My intentions?” Finnit looked puzzled. “What do you—” “Answer my question carefully, mortal.” He looked appropriately worried. “Look, I—I love him. I know it’s been so quick, and maybe you think it’s shallow, just because he’s so beautiful—but, uh, really, I have never felt so close with someone. I mean—he took me to the *sun*, and back. I don’t know what it would mean for us to be together outside of the Pharos Fidelis, in a more normal world. Maybe it won’t work, and we’ll part ways. I think—I mean, I hope you think that we’re worthy of a chance to figure that out.” “Vosaphar will need your help,” you said. “He will suffer from his power. You will stand by him? Treat him respectfully?” “I would—I will.” “Very well.” You paused. “I would send you back to Cairnveld.” You gave a pointed look toward your furnace. “But my fire is too weak for such a feat. Won’t you stoke it?” “Stoke it?” Finnit looked nervous. “What, uh—what do you want? My soul?” How amusing. “Are you offering that?” You approached him, attempting to loom in the way he found so appealing when Vosaphar did it. Finnit looked terrified as you reached down and plucked a glowing lens fragment from his hair. “No, Finnit. Not your soul. I want these.” “Oh—is that all? Yes, you can have them. They’re not even really mine, I don’t think.” Finnit parted easily with the fragments, tossing each into the furnace as he found it. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to cause some new chaos. He had no sense of priorities. And neither—apparently—did you, entertaining this… cloyingly earnest romantic nonsense. You reached for Finnit’s transit band, warping the sigils such that they would send Finnit on his way. Before activating it, you paused. “If you treat Vosaphar with anything less than the respect owed to such an unreasonably affectionate devil, I will send every specter in my dominion to drag you back here, and drown you in these depths for all eternity.” It was a joke. Mostly. You were sure that Finnit appreciated it. With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. You basked in the new heat now crackling and seething in your furnace. And how ridiculous an exchange it was, to receive all that energy for a trivial bit of spellcraft. Even an incubus would have found no pleasure in the seduction of such easy prey. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[That’s why you did it, right? You *just* wanted the power. Nothing more. You felt nothing else. Surely. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Survive. ⇒->26BABBBA. Vosaphar]]]]]]]</div>] Unless: (link-reveal: "You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. Darkness pooled around you, threshed with dozens of unblinking, glowing eyes. Gobs of loose flesh sizzled on charred bones to add to the illusion’s sensory overload. You adopted a threatening posture and swept out of your cottage to approach Finnit, trailing black grease in your wake. “Mortal!” you shouted, startling him. “You dare trespass upon my dominion?” Finnit turned your way, and his breath hitched at the loathsome sight of you. He cowered. Mortals were so susceptible to this kind of stagecraft, weren’t they? “I—I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—” “Silence!” You stretched and oozed before him. “You have stolen from me. You must return what I’m owed.” Finnit’s eyes darted about wildly, as if he were considering running away. He wouldn’t make it far. “Could you please—um—grand one? Uh, what did I steal?” “My *light*.” You over-articulated the “t” with such exuberance that flecks of acid splattered from your many mouths. “The Pharos Fidelis.” You wrapped a slimy tentacle around his arm, pulling him closer so you could pluck one of the fragments from his clothes. “What? Oh. Oh you can—you can have those. They’re, um, not even mine.” He was too frightened to assist in this process, so you grabbed each fragment, showing no regard for his comfort. Shards collected—from his perspective, devoured—you began shambling back to your cottage. “Wait!” Finnit called after you. “Um—I need—I need to get back to Vosaphar—do you know him? Or—” “I am the warden of these calciferous wastes, and he is my subject. Mortal longings are not my concern…” “But please, I—” “…Unless, of course, you wish to receive… an accord.” And there it was. Not only had you easily liberated the shards from his unworthy possession, but you could do even more to sate your rage with the proceedings of the eclipse. “An accord?” Finnit asked. “You’ll help me get back?” “For a *price*,” you hissed. “I gave you—I gave you the fragments!” He seemed to have realized his mistake. Perhaps he ought to have actually read *Case Studies in Infernal Betrayal* instead of assuming all demons would be as needy and pathetic as Vosaphar. “You claimed yourself that you had no ownership over them. They are mine already. One cannot offer a gift already granted.” “So what do you want?” His voice was strained. “My soul?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“*That* is worthless.” Drawing from the power of the fragments you held, you manifested a bloodfrost dagger from the fog, its keen edge sharp enough to carve the walls of the lazurynth. “Take this dagger to Luminary Raekard. I tire of his incompetent scheming. Carve out his heart. Then burn it in a ring of hellfire until it is but ash on the wind.” “But I—I can’t kill someone!” Finnit shouted. “That’s absurd—even someone as awful as him—and he’s so dangerous. It would never work.” “Then you will die here, and never again wrap your wretched limbs around the devil you cling to in the dark.” You sidled into your cottage, leaving him to contemplate his mortal morality while you stoked the furnace with the fragments. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to inflict some new misery upon the world. It wasn’t long before he approached you again. He looked directly at you, gazing into your seething core, and without stumbling, said, “I accept those terms.” You wrapped a tendril around the hilt of the dagger and offered it to him. He took it, his expression grim and determined. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[You *almost* believed he could do it. With a burst of magic, you activated his bracelet—the transit band—and sent him to his terrible fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Append. ⇒->P4BABBBB. Fourth Principle]]]]]]]</div> ] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. Well, at least the version of yourself that held court, lording your specificity over these dismal barrens. Finnit would get to see you for what you were: powerful, yet petty. Exhausted, too. It was miserable to live with your failures. You slunk to your soot-stained armchair by the furnace, waiting for the mortal to arrive. He knocked at the door. “Hello? Is—is someone in here?” “Come in, Finnit.” He opened the door, and saw you by the furnace. What texture the man had taken on since he left Cairnveld, struggling through your schemes in that desperate way that humans are wont to do. You gestured for him to sit in the chair across from yours. He obliged, if a bit warily. “Welcome to my calciferous wastes,” you said. “I wonder what you think of them?” “Calciferous wastes?” Something flickered in his eyes. “Is that—do you know Vosaphar?” “Answer my question first, if you will.” Finnit seemed taken aback, but recovered. “Well, if you really want to know—I can see why Vosaphar was so determined to leave.” You could almost see him realizing in real time that he probably was meant to say something kinder. “Not that there isn’t something… eerily beautiful about the colors streaking across the sky. But, it’s very cold and sharp and it seems sad, I guess?” “Yes, Vosaphar is troubled by his existence. As are we all.” You clicked your claws against the coralbone armrest. “You look—If you don’t mind me saying—you look familiar to me. But I don’t understand why. Who are you?” “I’m the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “So I guess he banished me here? It was the first place he thought of?” “I’m flattered.” A pause. “And perhaps you ought to be relieved that he didn’t recall the lazurynth quicker.” “I need to get back to him.” Finnit fixed you with a serious expression. “He might be hurt, or—I want to get back. Please. He means—he means a lot to me.” “It is not a matter of necessity, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Wait—I know why you look familiar!” He studied your face once more. “You look a little bit like… my grandmother.” “The trees in Tinfallow have deep roots indeed, if they reach all the way to these calciferous wastes.” “I don’t understand.” He bit his lip. “There are too many pieces—it’s hard to look at directly.” “Then focus on the piece of it you care about.” “Vosaphar.” “Of course. Young love. Star-crossed, even.” You sighed. “Well, I could send you on your way to Cairnveld.” You pointed at his bracelet. “But…” “You want something in return?” Finnit asked, leaning forward. “What is it? What do you want?” “What I *really* want is for you to have written my name correctly on the Pharos Fidelis.” Finnit sat back again. “That’s—that’s *you*? Your name? I expected someone so much more…” “Impressive?” You gave a hollow laugh. “Terrifying,” he finished. “But you seem, I don’t know, reasonable enough?” “I’m sure it seems that way.” “Well I—I don’t think I can undo what happened,” Finnit said. “I’m sorry it didn’t work. I know it may not look that way, but I really did try. I don’t know what it would’ve done if it worked, but I tried.” “You did.” You looked over at your furnace, where your sluggish motes of hellfire simmered. “I want the lens fragments in your possession.” “Lens fragments?” You pointed them out in his hair and on his clothes. “So that’s what you’re proposing as the terms of an exchange? I give you these shards, and you’ll send me back to Cairnveld?” “Yes.” “It just seems… I don’t know. I feel like there is still so much that I’m missing? If you—if you really are connected to me, in some way… would you want to… stay in touch?” You hadn’t expected *that*, of all things. “You want the warden of the calciferous wastes to offer you… mentorship.” “I’ve done much weirder things today!” Finnit said, rather defensively. “I went to the *sun*. Look, my mentor is Luminary Raekard. An actual demon would be a significant improvement.” “Ah, Raekard. I regret my part in that, given how it went.” “What?” Finnit’s eyes widened. “What do you mean you—” “Finnit, I propose an addendum to our… accord. If you wish to speak with me, you shall have one chance to do so during each new moon. Sacrifice a lens fragment in my name, and we shall converse for one hour.” “I’m not sure how I’ll get more of these,” Finnit said. “It seems expensive.” “And yet, a single fragment pales against the scale of what you destroyed. You could not possibly comprehend how far you’ve set me back. But,” you added, softening your tone, “I will make that hour as worthwhile as you wish it to be.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit accepted those terms, tossing each of the lens fragments on his person into your furnace. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to bend ever more futures in your favor. “Thank you,” Finnit said, as you adjusted the sigils on his transit band. “I—I’m glad to have met you.” With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Survive. ⇒->26BABBBC. Vosaphar]]]]</div> ]]]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage cold, wet, and screaming. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It had a certain resonance, didn’t it? He coughed violently, choking on sludge and bloodfog alike, wading clumsily in your direction. Even from this distance, you could feel intense energy pouring off the misplaced mortal, his magic warped by the glowing fragments of the Pharos Fidelis stuck in his hair and clothing. If nothing else could be salvaged from this historic disaster, at least you had an opportunity to fuel your furnace. The mortal would, at any moment, petition you for relief from his dire situation. This provided you a brief moment to consider which form might be most appropriate for such an absurd occasion. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|initial>[In that light: (link-reveal: "You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. Inaccurate though it may have been, perhaps you had the right to such a form. You’d already spent more time fussing over Vosaphar’s fate than any of his makers had. You adopted an elegant posture and swept out of your cottage to approach the mortal. “Hello, Finnit,” you said. He turned to look at you, eyes widening. You flicked your new tail, mimicking one of Vosaphar’s gestures that he so favored. “Um—hi. Uh—” “Welcome to my calciferous wastes.” You extended your arms, gesturing toward the dark skies and lonesome coralbone monuments dotting the horizon. “And what a sight they are.” Finnit looked around, evidently still processing this alarming development. “The calciferous wastes? Do you—do you know Vosaphar?” “Please, join me inside,” you said. “We shall sit by the fire and discuss these matters.” Finnit numbly complied, letting you guide him to the soot-stained armchairs by your furnace. It seemed to calm him down, having become accustomed to closeness with a certain source of hellfire. “What happened? Do you know?” Finnit asked. “Sorry—I’m just—I should ask who you are probably?” “I am the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “I think—I think he banished me?” “He did.” You tapped an idle claw against your ivory armchair. “I’m sorry, maybe this is too forward, but—look, I’m worried about Vosaphar? I don’t know what happened—what if—what if he—” You took him to the window and pointed to the dark pool, where Vosaphar’s ember twinkled at the bottom. If anything, it had grown brighter. Interesting. “That is his essential coal,” you said. “If he had perished, he would have immediately returned here. If we wait, he will eventually appear. However…” Finnit paced to and fro, trying to shake off his anxiety. “What if he’s hurt—he must be—I don’t want to wait!” “It is not a matter of desire, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. Perhaps that hadn’t been a Vosapharian gesture. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Will you—I mean, would you please help me?” “What are your intentions toward Vosaphar?” “My intentions?” Finnit looked puzzled. “What do you—” “Answer my question carefully, mortal.” He looked appropriately worried. “Look, I—I love him. I know it’s been so quick, and maybe you think it’s shallow, just because he’s so beautiful—but, uh, really, I have never felt so close with someone. I mean—he took me to the *sun*, and back. I don’t know what it would mean for us to be together outside of the Pharos Fidelis, in a more normal world. Maybe it won’t work, and we’ll part ways. I think—I mean, I hope you think that we’re worthy of a chance to figure that out.” “Vosaphar will need your help,” you said. “He will suffer from his power. You will stand by him? Treat him respectfully?” “I would—I will.” “Very well.” You paused. “I would send you back to Cairnveld.” You gave a pointed look toward your furnace. “But my fire is too weak for such a feat. Won’t you stoke it?” “Stoke it?” Finnit looked nervous. “What, uh—what do you want? My soul?” How amusing. “Are you offering that?” You approached him, attempting to loom in the way he found so appealing when Vosaphar did it. Finnit looked terrified as you reached down and plucked a glowing lens fragment from his hair. “No, Finnit. Not your soul. I want these.” “Oh—is that all? Yes, you can have them. They’re not even really mine, I don’t think.” Finnit parted easily with the fragments, tossing each into the furnace as he found it. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to cause some new chaos. He had no sense of priorities. And neither—apparently—did you, entertaining this… cloyingly earnest romantic nonsense. You reached for Finnit’s transit band, warping the sigils such that they would send Finnit on his way. Before activating it, you paused. “If you treat Vosaphar with anything less than the respect owed to such an unreasonably affectionate devil, I will send every specter in my dominion to drag you back here, and drown you in these depths for all eternity.” It was a joke. Mostly. You were sure that Finnit appreciated it. With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. You basked in the new heat now crackling and seething in your furnace. And how ridiculous an exchange it was, to receive all that energy for a trivial bit of spellcraft. Even an incubus would have found no pleasure in the seduction of such easy prey. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[That’s why you did it, right? You *just* wanted the power. Nothing more. You felt nothing else. Surely. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[Survive. ⇒->26BABBBA. Vosaphar]]]]]]]</div>] Unless: (link-reveal: "You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. Darkness pooled around you, threshed with dozens of unblinking, glowing eyes. Gobs of loose flesh sizzled on charred bones to add to the illusion’s sensory overload. You adopted a threatening posture and swept out of your cottage to approach Finnit, trailing black grease in your wake. “Mortal!” you shouted, startling him. “You dare trespass upon my dominion?” Finnit turned your way, and his breath hitched at the loathsome sight of you. He cowered. Mortals were so susceptible to this kind of stagecraft, weren’t they? “I—I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—” “Silence!” You stretched and oozed before him. “You have stolen from me. You must return what I’m owed.” Finnit’s eyes darted about wildly, as if he were considering running away. He wouldn’t make it far. “Could you please—um—grand one? Uh, what did I steal?” “My *light*.” You over-articulated the “t” with such exuberance that flecks of acid splattered from your many mouths. “The Pharos Fidelis.” You wrapped a slimy tentacle around his arm, pulling him closer so you could pluck one of the fragments from his clothes. “What? Oh. Oh you can—you can have those. They’re, um, not even mine.” He was too frightened to assist in this process, so you grabbed each fragment, showing no regard for his comfort. Shards collected—from his perspective, devoured—you began shambling back to your cottage. “Wait!” Finnit called after you. “Um—I need—I need to get back to Vosaphar—do you know him? Or—” “I am the warden of these calciferous wastes, and he is my subject. Mortal longings are not my concern…” “But please, I—” “…Unless, of course, you wish to receive… an accord.” And there it was. Not only had you easily liberated the shards from his unworthy possession, but you could do even more to sate your rage with the proceedings of the eclipse. “An accord?” Finnit asked. “You’ll help me get back?” “For a *price*,” you hissed. “I gave you—I gave you the fragments!” He seemed to have realized his mistake. Perhaps he ought to have actually read *Case Studies in Infernal Betrayal* instead of assuming all demons would be as needy and pathetic as Vosaphar. “You claimed yourself that you had no ownership over them. They are mine already. One cannot offer a gift already granted.” “So what do you want?” His voice was strained. “My soul?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“*That* is worthless.” Drawing from the power of the fragments you held, you manifested a bloodfrost dagger from the fog, its keen edge sharp enough to carve the walls of the lazurynth. “Take this dagger to Luminary Raekard. I tire of his incompetent scheming. Carve out his heart. Then burn it in a ring of hellfire until it is but ash on the wind.” “But I—I can’t kill someone!” Finnit shouted. “That’s absurd—even someone as awful as him—and he’s so dangerous. It would never work.” “Then you will die here, and never again wrap your wretched limbs around the devil you cling to in the dark.” You sidled into your cottage, leaving him to contemplate his mortal morality while you stoked the furnace with the fragments. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to inflict some new misery upon the world. It wasn’t long before he approached you again. He looked directly at you, gazing into your seething core, and without stumbling, said, “I accept those terms.” You wrapped a tendril around the hilt of the dagger and offered it to him. He took it, his expression grim and determined. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[You *almost* believed he could do it. With a burst of magic, you activated his bracelet—the transit band—and sent him to his terrible fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[Append. ⇒->P4BABBBB. Fourth Principle]]]]]]]</div> ] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. Well, at least the version of yourself that held court, lording your specificity over these dismal barrens. Finnit would get to see you for what you were: powerful, yet petty. Exhausted, too. It was miserable to live with your failures. You slunk to your soot-stained armchair by the furnace, waiting for the mortal to arrive. He knocked at the door. “Hello? Is—is someone in here?” “Come in, Finnit.” He opened the door, and saw you by the furnace. What texture the man had taken on since he left Cairnveld, struggling through your schemes in that desperate way that humans are wont to do. You gestured for him to sit in the chair across from yours. He obliged, if a bit warily. “Welcome to my calciferous wastes,” you said. “I wonder what you think of them?” “Calciferous wastes?” Something flickered in his eyes. “Is that—do you know Vosaphar?” “Answer my question first, if you will.” Finnit seemed taken aback, but recovered. “Well, if you really want to know—I can see why Vosaphar was so determined to leave.” You could almost see him realizing in real time that he probably was meant to say something kinder. “Not that there isn’t something… eerily beautiful about the colors streaking across the sky. But, it’s very cold and sharp and it seems sad, I guess?” “Yes, Vosaphar is troubled by his existence. As are we all.” You clicked your claws against the coralbone armrest. “You look—If you don’t mind me saying—you look familiar to me. But I don’t understand why. Who are you?” “I’m the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “So I guess he banished me here? It was the first place he thought of?” “I’m flattered.” A pause. “And perhaps you ought to be relieved that he didn’t recall the lazurynth quicker.” “I need to get back to him.” Finnit fixed you with a serious expression. “He might be hurt, or—I want to get back. Please. He means—he means a lot to me.” “It is not a matter of necessity, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Wait—I know why you look familiar!” He studied your face once more. “You look a little bit like… my grandmother.” “The trees in Tinfallow have deep roots indeed, if they reach all the way to these calciferous wastes.” “I don’t understand.” He bit his lip. “There are too many pieces—it’s hard to look at directly.” “Then focus on the piece of it you care about.” “Vosaphar.” “Of course. Young love. Star-crossed, even.” You sighed. “Well, I could send you on your way to Cairnveld.” You pointed at his bracelet. “But…” “You want something in return?” Finnit asked, leaning forward. “What is it? What do you want?” “What I *really* want is for you to have written my name correctly on the Pharos Fidelis.” Finnit sat back again. “That’s—that’s *you*? Your name? I expected someone so much more…” “Impressive?” You gave a hollow laugh. “Terrifying,” he finished. “But you seem, I don’t know, reasonable enough?” “I’m sure it seems that way.” “Well I—I don’t think I can undo what happened,” Finnit said. “I’m sorry it didn’t work. I know it may not look that way, but I really did try. I don’t know what it would’ve done if it worked, but I tried.” “You did.” You looked over at your furnace, where your sluggish motes of hellfire simmered. “I want the lens fragments in your possession.” “Lens fragments?” You pointed them out in his hair and on his clothes. “So that’s what you’re proposing as the terms of an exchange? I give you these shards, and you’ll send me back to Cairnveld?” “Yes.” “It just seems… I don’t know. I feel like there is still so much that I’m missing? If you—if you really are connected to me, in some way… would you want to… stay in touch?” You hadn’t expected *that*, of all things. “You want the warden of the calciferous wastes to offer you… mentorship.” “I’ve done much weirder things today!” Finnit said, rather defensively. “I went to the *sun*. Look, my mentor is Luminary Raekard. An actual demon would be a significant improvement.” “Ah, Raekard. I regret my part in that, given how it went.” “What?” Finnit’s eyes widened. “What do you mean you—” “Finnit, I propose an addendum to our… accord. If you wish to speak with me, you shall have one chance to do so during each new moon. Sacrifice a lens fragment in my name, and we shall converse for one hour.” “I’m not sure how I’ll get more of these,” Finnit said. “It seems expensive.” “And yet, a single fragment pales against the scale of what you destroyed. You could not possibly comprehend how far you’ve set me back. But,” you added, softening your tone, “I will make that hour as worthwhile as you wish it to be.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit accepted those terms, tossing each of the lens fragments on his person into your furnace. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to bend ever more futures in your favor. “Thank you,” Finnit said, as you adjusted the sigils on his transit band. “I—I’m glad to have met you.” With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[Survive. ⇒->26BABBBC. Vosaphar]]]]</div> ]]]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Mote]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BABBBC]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BABBBC]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 3)[Anathema.] (text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 1.15)[The Fourth Principle of Summoning.]</div> A timely addendum, courtesy of you. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Behold the fourth principle of summoning: (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color:#a01404)[**4. The Principle of Voluntary and Efficient Accession to the Extraordinarily Reasonable Conditions Imposed by the Magnanimous Warden of the Calciferous Wastes, Who Certainly Never Even Cared About the Pharos Fidelis, And Certainly Not the Absurd Romantic Yearnings of Your Pathetic Subjects—Or Else.**] Summoners who willingly and knowingly forge an accord with you must see their bargain through, or suffer the consequences of incompetence and betrayal. (text-color:#a01404)[***Implication:***] You suffered long and worked hard to eke out your existence. (text-color:#a01404)[***Implication:***] You generously helped him plenty up to this point—for free. It wasn’t such a high price to ask him to kill someone he hated anyway. You both benefited from this accord. (text-color:#a01404)[***Implication:***] His failure was inevitable. You weren’t *really* invested in his survival, or his potential to shift the tenor of human-demon relations. You were just hungry for more power, right? You just wanted to enrich your tiny slice of the hells, fuel your furnace, as you had always done. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It would have been unreasonable for *you*, of all beings, to have cared. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Bemoan. ⇒->26BABBBB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Behold the fourth principle of summoning: (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color:#f17264)[**4. The Principle of Voluntary and Efficient Accession to the Extraordinarily Reasonable Conditions Imposed by the Magnanimous Warden of the Calciferous Wastes, Who Certainly Never Even Cared About the Pharos Fidelis, And Certainly Not the Absurd Romantic Yearnings of Your Pathetic Subjects—Or Else.**] Summoners who willingly and knowingly forge an accord with you must see their bargain through, or suffer the consequences of incompetence and betrayal. (text-color:#f17264)[***Implication:***] You suffered long and worked hard to eke out your existence. (text-color:#f17264)[***Implication:***] You generously helped him plenty up to this point—for free. It wasn’t such a high price to ask him to kill someone he hated anyway. You both benefited from this accord. (text-color:#f17264)[***Implication:***] His failure was inevitable. You weren’t *really* invested in his survival, or his potential to shift the tenor of human-demon relations. You were just hungry for more power, right? You just wanted to enrich your tiny slice of the hells, fuel your furnace, as you had always done. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It would have been unreasonable for *you*, of all beings, to have cared. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Bemoan. ⇒->26BABBBB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BABBBA]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BABBBA]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BAB. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BABB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s desperation, causing him to impulsively banish Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate calculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25BABBB. Finnit]]]</div> You took a comforting form, nurturing his budding relationship with Vosaphar in exchange for the lens fragments on his person. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BAB. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BABB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s desperation, causing him to impulsively banish Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate calculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25BABBB. Finnit]]]</div> You took a comforting form, nurturing his budding relationship with Vosaphar in exchange for the lens fragments on his person. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he would *stay* longing. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[For, if you must suffer this catastrophic failure, you would offer him no choice but to join you in misery. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BABBBB]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he would *stay* longing. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[For, if you must suffer this catastrophic failure, you would offer him no choice but to join you in misery. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BABBBB]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the brief union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Finnit perished in a failed assassination attempt upon his return to Cairnveld, screaming of the sun. A strange footnote to this history. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. But a new threat lurked. The demon Vosaphar absorbed the fragments around him, growing distorted in his influence. He climbed upon the melted peak and in his sorrow and fury, bewitched many ships to their doom with fata morgana. He had become, in effect, the latest Pharos Fidelis. Perhaps he had even become something more powerful than *you*. And perhaps you deserved to finally feel fear again. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BAB. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BABB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s desperation, causing him to impulsively banish Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate calculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25BABBB. Finnit]]]</div> You took a terrifying form, seizing his lens fragments for yourself, and dooming him with an impossible accord. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and absolutely no complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the brief union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Finnit perished in a failed assassination attempt upon his return to Cairnveld, screaming of the sun. A strange footnote to this history. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. But a new threat lurked. The demon Vosaphar absorbed the fragments around him, growing distorted in his influence. He climbed upon the melted peak and in his sorrow and fury, bewitched many ships to their doom with fata morgana. He had become, in effect, the latest Pharos Fidelis. Perhaps he had even become something more powerful than *you*. And perhaps you deserved to finally feel fear again. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BAB. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BABB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s desperation, causing him to impulsively banish Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate calculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25BABBB. Finnit]]]</div> You took a terrifying form, seizing his lens fragments for yourself, and dooming him with an impossible accord. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and absolutely no complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BAB. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BABB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s desperation, causing him to impulsively banish Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate calculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25BABBB. Finnit]]]</div> You took an honest form, developing a stronger connection with Finnit while ensuring ongoing access to lens fragments in the future. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BAB. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BABB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s desperation, causing him to impulsively banish Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate calculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25BABBB. Finnit]]]</div> You took an honest form, developing a stronger connection with Finnit while ensuring ongoing access to lens fragments in the future. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#cbc999")+(text-size: 3)[Dogma.] (text-color:"#cbc999")+(text-size: 1.15)[The Third Principle of Summoning.]</div> Yet another unwelcome reminder, courtesy of Luminary Raekard. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightprinciplepassage">Recall the third principle of summoning: (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color:#65644c)[**3. The Principle of Planar Reversion**] Natural law rejects the presence of extraplanar entities in the mortal realm. Summoned demons therefore revert to their plane of origin, unless acted upon by sustained magical force. (text-color:#65644c)[***Implication:***] An unbound demon that persists beyond the original duration of a summoning circle must do so by feeding upon independent sources of magic. The most readily available source of magic has historically been the summoner. (text-color:#65644c)[***Implication:***] A demon that perishes in the mortal realm shall eventually be reconstituted in the jurisdiction of the hell that governs it. Banishment accelerates this process to an instant. (text-color:#65644c)[***Implication:***] When two sorceries of equivalent potency collide, a rite of banishment will always prevail over a rite of summoning. Account for the principle of planar reversion. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightprinciplechoice">|A>[(text-color:#989b00)[**Moor this wisdom. ⇒**]](click-replace: ?A,(action:'mouseover'))[(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))[[[Mourn his wisdom. ⇒->17BAA. Warden]]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="principlepassage">Recall the third principle of summoning: (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color:#cbc999)[**3. The Principle of Planar Reversion**] Natural law rejects the presence of extraplanar entities in the mortal realm. Summoned demons therefore revert to their plane of origin, unless acted upon by sustained magical force. (text-color:#cbc999)[***Implication:***] An unbound demon that persists beyond the original duration of a summoning circle must do so by feeding upon independent sources of magic. The most readily available source of magic has historically been the summoner. (text-color:#cbc999)[***Implication:***] A demon that perishes in the mortal realm shall eventually be reconstituted in the jurisdiction of the hell that governs it. Banishment accelerates this process to an instant. (text-color:#cbc999)[***Implication:***] When two sorceries of equivalent potency collide, a rite of banishment will always prevail over a rite of summoning. Account for the principle of planar reversion. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="principlechoice">|A>[(text-color:#989b00)[**Moor this wisdom. ⇒**]](click-replace: ?A,(action:'mouseover'))[(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))[[[Mourn his wisdom. ⇒->17BAA. Warden]]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Principle]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[XVII.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">At the center of the calciferous wastes stood a coralbone cottage. The warden’s. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Within the cottage burned a modest hellfire furnace, its crooked chimney venting spirals of smoke. Encircling this abode—the most lavish in all the wastes—was a smooth, still pool that hesitated to reflect the seething skies above. In the depths of this pool glinted a sparse collection of coals, spaced a lonesome distance from one another. Most had dimmed to the brink of winking out. A stubborn few still clung to their hues. One such ember, tinted the color of storm-tossed seas, suddenly flared, sending a ribbon of bubbles roiling to the surface. A demon was about to return to this remote reach of the hinterhells. And when he did, he might’ve been greeted by the warden of the calciferous wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[By you. (after:time+4s)+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|initial>[In preparation for this occasion: (link-reveal: "You approached the place where Vosaphar would emerge cold, wet, and screaming. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You approached the place where Vosaphar would emerge cold, wet, and screaming. He breached the surface of the pool, gasping for air, flailing for relief from the cold. It was every devil’s birthright to struggle their way out from their point of wretched origin. Your bitter pool was kinder than most. He swam toward the cottage, collapsing against brittle floes of bloodfrost ringing the shore. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|O1>[As a token of welcome: (link-reveal: "You loomed over him; a gesture of threat. ⚞↯⚟")[(replace: ?O1)[You loomed over him; a gesture of threat. A mote of hellfire appeared. Or rather, you conjured it, letting it drift between your claws, casting its crimson glow over your shivering subject. He gazed up at you, terrified. You flicked your claws—causing Vosaphar to flinch—and the mote vanished. After that demonstration, you walked back to your cottage. He dared not follow. You were, after all, powerful and dangerous. That’s what he called you, when his poor, foolish mortal companion showed him your fearsome name. Though he ought to have done better to recognize it. To him, you must have seemed as powerful as an archfiend. But your age of hellfire had yet to dawn. The magic you collected from him had already begun stoking the furnace. His toll for meager shelter in this unsafe harbor. Vosaphar crept away into the wastes, and the pool once again fell still. You returned to your work. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Commune. ⇒->Lens BAAA]]]]</div>]] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You offered him a gift; a gesture of warmth. ⚞↯⚟")[(replace: ?O1)[You offered him a gift; a gesture of warmth. A mote of hellfire appeared. Or rather, you conjured it, stretching and shaping its fire into an ethereal crimson shawl befitting such a tenderhearted fiend. You knelt to his level, draping it over your trembling subject. He gazed up into your eyes, terrified, as the gauzy heat settled over him. But his shivering subsided. You stood, then returned to your cottage. He dared not follow, even to thank you for your gift. You were, after all, powerful and dangerous. That’s what he called you, when his poor, sweet mortal companion showed him your elegant name. Though he ought to have done better to recognize it. To him, you must have seemed as powerful as an archfiend. But your age of hellfire had yet to dawn. The magic you collected from him had already begun stoking the furnace. His toll for meager shelter in this unsafe harbor. Vosaphar crept away into the wastes, and the pool once again fell still. You returned to your work. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Commune. ⇒->Lens BAAA]]]]</div>]]]]]] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You remained inside, at a polite distance. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You remained inside, at a polite distance. It was every devil’s birthright to struggle their way out from their point of wretched origin. Alone. Your bitter pool was kinder than most. As the furnace crackled, you heard Vosaphar flailing his way to the shore, just outside your cottage. You heard him gasping for air and moaning from the cold. Even then, the magic you collected from him stoked the furnace. His toll for meager shelter in this unsafe harbor. Perhaps he saw you tending to your motes, wishing them enough spark to catch fire when you needed them to. But even if he did, he dared not draw the warden’s attention. You were, after all, powerful and dangerous. That’s what he called you, when his poor, sweet mortal companion showed him your primordial name. Though he ought to have done better to recognize it. To him, you must have seemed as powerful as an archfiend. But your age of hellfire had yet to dawn. Vosaphar wandered off, shivering in the dark, and the pool once again fell still. You returned to your work. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Commune. ⇒->Lens BAAB]]]]</div> ]]]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">At the center of the calciferous wastes stood a coralbone cottage. The warden’s. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Within the cottage burned a modest hellfire furnace, its crooked chimney venting spirals of smoke. Encircling this abode—the most lavish in all the wastes—was a smooth, still pool that hesitated to reflect the seething skies above. In the depths of this pool glinted a sparse collection of coals, spaced a lonesome distance from one another. Most had dimmed to the brink of winking out. A stubborn few still clung to their hues. One such ember, tinted the color of storm-tossed seas, suddenly flared, sending a ribbon of bubbles roiling to the surface. A demon was about to return to this remote reach of the hinterhells. And when he did, he might’ve been greeted by the warden of the calciferous wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[By you. (after:time+4s)+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|initial>[In preparation for this occasion: (link-reveal: "You approached the place where Vosaphar would emerge cold, wet, and screaming. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You approached the place where Vosaphar would emerge cold, wet, and screaming. He breached the surface of the pool, gasping for air, flailing for relief from the cold. It was every devil’s birthright to struggle their way out from their point of wretched origin. Your bitter pool was kinder than most. He swam toward the cottage, collapsing against brittle floes of bloodfrost ringing the shore. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|O1>[As a token of welcome: (link-reveal: "You loomed over him; a gesture of threat. ⚞↯⚟")[(replace: ?O1)[You loomed over him; a gesture of threat. A mote of hellfire appeared. Or rather, you conjured it, letting it drift between your claws, casting its crimson glow over your shivering subject. He gazed up at you, terrified. You flicked your claws—causing Vosaphar to flinch—and the mote vanished. After that demonstration, you walked back to your cottage. He dared not follow. You were, after all, powerful and dangerous. That’s what he called you, when his poor, foolish mortal companion showed him your fearsome name. Though he ought to have done better to recognize it. To him, you must have seemed as powerful as an archfiend. But your age of hellfire had yet to dawn. The magic you collected from him had already begun stoking the furnace. His toll for meager shelter in this unsafe harbor. Vosaphar crept away into the wastes, and the pool once again fell still. You returned to your work. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Commune. ⇒->Lens BAAA]]]]</div>]] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You offered him a gift; a gesture of warmth. ⚞↯⚟")[(replace: ?O1)[You offered him a gift; a gesture of warmth. A mote of hellfire appeared. Or rather, you conjured it, stretching and shaping its fire into an ethereal crimson shawl befitting such a tenderhearted fiend. You knelt to his level, draping it over your trembling subject. He gazed up into your eyes, terrified, as the gauzy heat settled over him. But his shivering subsided. You stood, then returned to your cottage. He dared not follow, even to thank you for your gift. You were, after all, powerful and dangerous. That’s what he called you, when his poor, sweet mortal companion showed him your elegant name. Though he ought to have done better to recognize it. To him, you must have seemed as powerful as an archfiend. But your age of hellfire had yet to dawn. The magic you collected from him had already begun stoking the furnace. His toll for meager shelter in this unsafe harbor. Vosaphar crept away into the wastes, and the pool once again fell still. You returned to your work. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Commune. ⇒->Lens BAAA]]]]</div>]]]]]] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You remained inside, at a polite distance. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You remained inside, at a polite distance. It was every devil’s birthright to struggle their way out from their point of wretched origin. Alone. Your bitter pool was kinder than most. As the furnace crackled, you heard Vosaphar flailing his way to the shore, just outside your cottage. You heard him gasping for air and moaning from the cold. Even then, the magic you collected from him stoked the furnace. His toll for meager shelter in this unsafe harbor. Perhaps he saw you tending to your motes, wishing them enough spark to catch fire when you needed them to. But even if he did, he dared not draw the warden’s attention. You were, after all, powerful and dangerous. That’s what he called you, when his poor, sweet mortal companion showed him your primordial name. Though he ought to have done better to recognize it. To him, you must have seemed as powerful as an archfiend. But your age of hellfire had yet to dawn. Vosaphar wandered off, shivering in the dark, and the pool once again fell still. You returned to your work. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Commune. ⇒->Lens BAAB]]]]</div> ]]]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Mote]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f8cf7b")+(text-size: 3)[Dyslucence.] (text-color:"#f8cf7b")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Lens.]</div> An opaque rite of refraction. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightlenspassage">Another soul witnessed the lens. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ \(align:"=><=")[But what ] \(align:"==><=")[yet remained] \(align:"=><=")[to be seen] \ (align:"==><=")[once] \(align:"==><===")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"mortal")[moral]] \(align:"==><=")[designs] (align:"=><====")[had (link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"stolen")[sowed in] souls,] \ (align:"===><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"unwilling")[a willing] sacrifice in] \ (align:"=><==========")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"defiance of")[deference to]] \ (align:"======><=")[smoke-scorned skies?] \ (align:"=><====")[For] \ (align:"=====><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"even fearless")[ever fearful] fiends] \ (align:"=><=====")[could not comprehend] \ (align:"==>")[an eternity of] \ (align:"<==")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"unlit slag.")[sunlit glass.]] \ (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=")[Nevertheless—] Finnit saw a fragment deep within the throat of the island, its anchored eggs awash in the crimson glow of the future. All he needed to do was wait for the eclipse, cross the threshold, steal a mote of sunlight, and finish writing your name. For even the faintest mote of sunlight bore enough celestial energy to influence your fate from afar. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Or so you dared to hope. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightlenschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))[[[Darken. ⇒->18BAAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="lenspassage">Another soul witnessed the lens. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ \(align:"=><=")[But what] \(align:"==><=")[yet remained] \(align:"=><=")[to be seen] \ (align:"==><=")[once] \(align:"==><===")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"moral")[mortal]] \(align:"==><=")[designs] (align:"=><====")[had (link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"sowed in")[stolen] souls,] \ (align:"===><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"a willing")[unwilling] sacrifice in] \ (align:"=><==========")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"deference to")[defiance of]] \ (align:"======><=")[smoke-scorned skies?] \ (align:"=><====")[For] \ (align:"=====><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"ever fearful")[even fearless] fiends] \ (align:"=><=====")[could not comprehend] \ (align:"==>")[an eternity of] \ (align:"<==")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"sunlit glass.")[unlit slag.]] \ (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=")[Nevertheless—] Finnit saw a fragment deep within the throat of the island, its anchored eggs awash in the crimson glow of the future. All he needed to do was wait for the eclipse, cross the threshold, steal a mote of sunlight, and finish writing your name. For even the faintest mote of sunlight bore enough celestial energy to influence your fate from afar. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Or so you dared to hope. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lenschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#ac6e00")))[[[Darken. ⇒->18BAAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f8cf7b")+(text-size: 3)[Dyslucence.] (text-color:"#f8cf7b")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Lens.]</div> An opaque rite of refraction. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightlenspassage">Another soul witnessed the lens. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ \(align:"=><=")[But what ] \(align:"==><=")[yet remained] \(align:"=><=")[to be seen] \ (align:"==><=")[once] \(align:"==><===")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"mortal")[moral]] \(align:"==><=")[designs] (align:"=><====")[had (link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"stolen")[sowed in] souls,] \ (align:"===><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"unwilling")[a willing] sacrifice in] \ (align:"=><==========")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"defiance of")[deference to]] \ (align:"======><=")[smoke-scorned skies?] \ (align:"=><====")[For] \ (align:"=====><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"even fearless")[ever fearful] fiends] \ (align:"=><=====")[could not comprehend] \ (align:"==>")[an eternity of] \ (align:"<==")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"unlit slag.")[sunlit glass.]] \ (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=")[Nevertheless—] Finnit saw a fragment deep within the throat of the island, its anchored eggs awash in the crimson glow of the future. All he needed to do was wait for the eclipse, cross the threshold, steal a mote of sunlight, and finish writing your name. For even the faintest mote of sunlight bore enough celestial energy to influence your fate from afar. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Or so you dared to hope. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightlenschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))[[[Darken. ⇒->18BAAA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="lenspassage">Another soul witnessed the lens. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ \(align:"=><=")[But what] \(align:"==><=")[yet remained] \(align:"=><=")[to be seen] \ (align:"==><=")[once] \(align:"==><===")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"moral")[mortal]] \(align:"==><=")[designs] (align:"=><====")[had (link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"sowed in")[stolen] souls,] \ (align:"===><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"a willing")[unwilling] sacrifice in] \ (align:"=><==========")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"deference to")[defiance of]] \ (align:"======><=")[smoke-scorned skies?] \ (align:"=><====")[For] \ (align:"=====><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"ever fearful")[even fearless] fiends] \ (align:"=><=====")[could not comprehend] \ (align:"==>")[an eternity of] \ (align:"<==")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"sunlit glass.")[unlit slag.]] \ (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=")[Nevertheless—] Finnit saw a fragment deep within the throat of the island, its anchored eggs awash in the crimson glow of the future. All he needed to do was wait for the eclipse, cross the threshold, steal a mote of sunlight, and finish writing your name. For even the faintest mote of sunlight bore enough celestial energy to influence your fate from afar. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Or so you dared to hope. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lenschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#ac6e00")))[[[Darken. ⇒->18BAAA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[XVIII.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">It wasn’t long before even the shock of Vosaphar’s emergence from the pool—exactly as cold and miserable as you had promised him it would be—had begun to fade into the listlessness of wandering the wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The residual magic Finnit had accorded him allowed him to travel faster and further than before. His slash wounds scabbed over more readily, healing further with each attempt. Something had shifted in his specificity. He should have been satisfied with that. Satisfied with the memories of what was, and dreams of what could have been, for bitter honey still bore sweetness. Didn’t it? Another kind of wound had carved itself into his heart. Without Finnit, Vosaphar’s existence felt darker and emptier than it ever had before. He wondered what might be about to happen, was happening, or had already happened at the Pharos Fidelis. Was Finnit still preparing his ritual of communion with the lens? Was it already over? Could he have been, right at that moment, spiraling amidst its unfathomable secrets? Perhaps Finnit’s rite had failed, the cursed lens consuming his soul as it had so many others. But, it could also be… something else. Another reason. Just as that doubt crept in, the devil felt a familiar sensation tugging at his core. Heat coursed through his veins as a tendril of sorcery unfurled for him, awaiting his tender grasp. (align:"<==")[And then—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=========")[Vosaphar] (align:"=><==")[at last] (align:"=><=")[recalled] (align:"===><==")[his] (align:"==><=")[own] (align:"===><=")[principle] (align:"=========><=")[of] (align:"==>")[flight—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Spread wings. ⇒->19BAAA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">It wasn’t long before even the shock of Vosaphar’s emergence from the pool—exactly as cold and miserable as you had promised him it would be—had begun to fade into the listlessness of wandering the wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The residual magic Finnit had accorded him allowed him to travel faster and further than before. His slash wounds scabbed over more readily, healing further with each attempt. Something had shifted in his specificity. He should have been satisfied with that. Satisfied with the memories of what was, and dreams of what could have been, for bitter honey still bore sweetness. Didn’t it? Another kind of wound had carved itself into his heart. Without Finnit, Vosaphar’s existence felt darker and emptier than it ever had before. He wondered what might be about to happen, was happening, or had already happened at the Pharos Fidelis. Was Finnit still preparing his ritual of communion with the lens? Was it already over? Could he have been, right at that moment, spiraling amidst its unfathomable secrets? Perhaps Finnit’s rite had failed, the cursed lens consuming his soul as it had so many others. But, it could also be… something else. Another reason. Just as that doubt crept in, the devil felt a familiar sensation tugging at his core. Heat coursed through his veins as a tendril of sorcery unfurled for him, awaiting his tender grasp. (align:"<==")[And then—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=========")[Vosaphar] (align:"=><==")[at last] (align:"=><=")[recalled] (align:"===><==")[his] (align:"==><=")[own] (align:"===><=")[principle] (align:"=========><=")[of] (align:"==>")[flight—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Spread wings. ⇒->19BAAA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XIX.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">Atop the Pharos Fidelis, Finnit remained just in sight of the great split glass that had spilled its secrets. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he smeared the last of his wax sticks to stubs on wet stone, he did not give the lens a further thought. He did not obey the principle of authoritarian primacy. He did not beware the principle of semantic dilution. He did not account for the principle of planar reversion. He thought only of Vosaphar, with a singular intensity of focus that even the Pharos Fidelis could never have dreamed of refracting. The circle of waxen glyphs coursed with scarlet fire, brighter than Finnit had ever seen it. He averted his gaze, eyes watering. When he looked back, Vosaphar had manifested before him once more. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[From his back spread wings wrought of fire, eldritch blue roiled with red and magenta—the colors of Finnit’s own magic, now intertwined with Vosaphar’s. Finnit’s eyes traveled further, noting ichor scabs crisscrossing the devil’s scarred blue chest, and then, curls of rough hair trailing immodestly past his navel. Streaks of lightning slashed green across the sky, glinting off his fearsome horns. Raindrops sizzled as the demon swept them aside, wreathing himself in silver mist. Vosaphar looked every bit an archfiend of legend looming over him, his eyes fixed on Finnit, reaching forward to press the sorcerer against the cliffside, claws clasping his wrists. “Vosaphar—” The infernal heat overwhelmed his mortal senses. “Please—Vosaphar, kiss m—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon pressed his lips gently against Finnit’s, dark beard bristling against his tender skin, breathing out brimstone incense that smoldered in Finnit’s throat. Just when Finnit thought himself on the verge of feeling too much, that Vosaphar might devour his soul and all his magic in a final, blissful moment of agony, the fiend held back, slackening his grip, and smiled. “I couldn’t wait until I got back,” Finnit said, his vision still sparking. “I—I needed to see you again.” “That’s not all you need.” Vosaphar leaned forward, so close still that Finnit could see details pitted into his horns. “What is it exactly that you imagine, lustful one? A dreadful devil from your darkest dreams, ever so sweetly domineering?” “I–” Finnit felt dazed as those fevered imaginings grew sharper into his mind. “I mean—well—now that you’ve brought it up, that sounds—” “Too bad,” Vosaphar said, his voice sly and soft. “My dear Finnit, you’re all *wet*.” And he was. He’d completely abandoned his wards in the midst of an endless storm. How embarrassing. Finnit also noticed that, in his exuberance to kiss him, Vosaphar had clumsily scorched Finnit’s sleeves with his wings. Suddenly, the demon felt less like some legendary figure, and instead like something better. Something real. Finnit’s companion. Finnit’s love. Finnit’s Vosaphar. “We should head back down,” Finnit said. “We should.” Vosaphar pushed one of Finnit’s loose curls back. “But listen, Finnit. When we do, I want *you* to take the lead. I want things to be… gentle, between us. For now. How does that sound?” “I have never wanted something so much in my entire existence.” Vosaphar grinned, ivory fangs glinting. “Good.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[What followed was an evening of tender fumbling and grasping. Finnit had been piqued by the fantasy of Vosaphar looming over him; and it remained a thought he wanted to revisit later. But, he found that this gentle, deliberate exploration—some serenity among the profane—brought him closer to understanding the demon in a way he found difficult to articulate but easy to just experience as it happened. Tomorrow, research awaited. But for now, Finnit’s fears grew distant as he slept, wrapped against Vosaphar like a warm satchel. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Interrogate. ⇒->C1BAAA. Sunlight]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">Atop the Pharos Fidelis, Finnit remained just in sight of the great split glass that had spilled its secrets. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he smeared the last of his wax sticks to stubs on wet stone, he did not give the lens a further thought. He did not obey the principle of authoritarian primacy. He did not beware the principle of semantic dilution. He did not account for the principle of planar reversion. He thought only of Vosaphar, with a singular intensity of focus that even the Pharos Fidelis could never have dreamed of refracting. The circle of waxen glyphs coursed with scarlet fire, brighter than Finnit had ever seen it. He averted his gaze, eyes watering. When he looked back, Vosaphar had manifested before him once more. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[From his back spread wings wrought of fire, eldritch blue roiled with red and magenta—the colors of Finnit’s own magic, now intertwined with Vosaphar’s. Finnit’s eyes traveled further, noting ichor scabs crisscrossing the devil’s scarred blue chest, and then, curls of rough hair trailing immodestly past his navel. Streaks of lightning slashed green across the sky, glinting off his fearsome horns. Raindrops sizzled as the demon swept them aside, wreathing himself in silver mist. Vosaphar looked every bit an archfiend of legend looming over him, his eyes fixed on Finnit, reaching forward to press the sorcerer against the cliffside, claws clasping his wrists. “Vosaphar—” The infernal heat overwhelmed his mortal senses. “Please—Vosaphar, kiss m—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon pressed his lips gently against Finnit’s, dark beard bristling against his tender skin, breathing out brimstone incense that smoldered in Finnit’s throat. Just when Finnit thought himself on the verge of feeling too much, that Vosaphar might devour his soul and all his magic in a final, blissful moment of agony, the fiend held back, slackening his grip, and smiled. “I couldn’t wait until I got back,” Finnit said, his vision still sparking. “I—I needed to see you again.” “That’s not all you need.” Vosaphar leaned forward, so close still that Finnit could see details pitted into his horns. “What is it exactly that you imagine, lustful one? A dreadful devil from your darkest dreams, ever so sweetly domineering?” “I–” Finnit felt dazed as those fevered imaginings grew sharper into his mind. “I mean—well—now that you’ve brought it up, that sounds—” “Too bad,” Vosaphar said, his voice sly and soft. “My dear Finnit, you’re all *wet*.” And he was. He’d completely abandoned his wards in the midst of an endless storm. How embarrassing. Finnit also noticed that, in his exuberance to kiss him, Vosaphar had clumsily scorched Finnit’s sleeves with his wings. Suddenly, the demon felt less like some legendary figure, and instead like something better. Something real. Finnit’s companion. Finnit’s love. Finnit’s Vosaphar. “We should head back down,” Finnit said. “We should.” Vosaphar pushed one of Finnit’s loose curls back. “But listen, Finnit. When we do, I want *you* to take the lead. I want things to be… gentle, between us. For now. How does that sound?” “I have never wanted something so much in my entire existence.” Vosaphar grinned, ivory fangs glinting. “Good.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[What followed was an evening of tender fumbling and grasping. Finnit had been piqued by the fantasy of Vosaphar looming over him; and it remained a thought he wanted to revisit later. But, he found that this gentle, deliberate exploration—some serenity among the profane—brought him closer to understanding the demon in a way he found difficult to articulate but easy to just experience as it happened. Tomorrow, research awaited. But for now, Finnit’s fears grew distant as he slept, wrapped against Vosaphar like a warm satchel. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Interrogate. ⇒->C1BAAA. Sunlight]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[1st Era | Sunlight.]</div> One more fragment recounting the dark history of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">(text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The illuminative session for Leisenelle, former third officer of the now-renegade vessel ‘Consonance,’ is hereby brought to order. You stand accused of mutiny, murder, theft, deception, consorting with proscribed entities, and willful evasion of justice. Is that correct? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] You would know. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Is that correct? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I guess so. Yes. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“She sounds a lot like you,” Vosaphar murmured, stroking his claws idly through Finnit’s hair. “‘Consorting with proscribed entities?’ What a wicked accusation.” Finnit snorted. “Are you going to bring me to justice?” “Absolutely not.” “Too bad.” </div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Against these accusations, how do you plead? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I do not plead. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] You must make a claim, either to affirm or deny each crime you have been accused of. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I will make no such claims. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The accused has neglected her obligation to plead. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] What’s your deal, anyway? Are you mad? Some pretty vampire in your past tied your morals all up in knots and made you feel sinful? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My role here is strictly illuminative. How did you first come to associate with this vampire? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I was trying to find out the truth about this island. But none of them would talk to me. The islanders, I mean. They resent us. You know that, right? Look at what we’ve done to them since we got here. Someone has to stop it. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, mark a note down for ‘sedition,’ would you? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">At least the clerics are obligated to transcribe what they actually heard. Historians ought to learn from their example. ⚞L. Raekard (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“I think Raekard’s distaste for historians gets in his way,” Finnit said. “How could we possibly know, at this point, what liberties the cleric might have taken?” “It’s going to take more than historians to put a stop to him.” Finnit laughed, but Vosaphar hadn’t told a joke.</div>] </div>] (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] You didn’t have that one already? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Continue. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Fine. This one woman approached me, and told me to visit her house on the outskirts after sundown. I thought she might be into me—and maybe she was, a little—but she wanted me to meet her grandmother. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Yeah. Did the ‘after sundown’ part give it away? I’m not a good storyteller. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The only things your story requires are honesty and accuracy. Justice will account for the rest. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Whatever you need to tell yourself. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] I don’t ‘need’ to do anything. My role here is strictly illuminative. As the accused has been reminded. Continue. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] So, I waited for dusk, and paid her a visit. Her grandmother was living in the basement. Some kind of herbalist, I guess. The whole time we talked, she was crushing up these weird seedpods in a mortar and pestle. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] At what point did you realize this entity was a vampire? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Not until after, when… (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] When what? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] When you killed her. Robbed us of her wisdom, kindness, perspective, heart, all she contributed to her community. And for what? Some ash? Dust? Is there not already enough collecting between the folds of your ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that last term for obscenity. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] What, you’re more scandalized by me describing your dust-crusted ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆ than your violence? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that one as well. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“Which word do you suppose was stricken here?” Vosaphar asked. “Asscheeks,” Finnit said solemnly. “Has to be.”</div>] (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] So you don’t have an answer. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The entity in question was brought before sunlight and destroyed in accordance with all legal and moral precedent. Any ‘violence’ is lawful, and thereby just. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] And you wonder why they hate us. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Hatred is not the subject of this illuminative session. What did your proscribed discussion entail? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] She told me all kinds of stories about this place, how they have fine-tuned their relationship with the island to keep things running, letting their traditions evolve with the conditions. I think her granddaughter wanted her to have someone new to talk to, so she could share all this with someone. The old woman told me that when sun and moon meet in the sky, the boundary between our world and theirs grows thin. At such a momentous event, the cleverest and quickest might climb into the throat of the island and cross the threshold to the cosmos. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">At last. Something of value in this tedious discussion. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire spoke metaphorically, did it not? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">I wondered the same thing. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] No, I don’t think she did. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Explain. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] She said that when the celestial hosts of the heavens are distracted with their dance, the sun grows just cool enough to touch. She dipped her finger into the mortar, and showed me a golden bead of oil, and she said even a drop of sunlight was enough to bless the island for a century, but few survived the transit. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">They must not have understood what they were doing. How could they have, without knowledge of the Three Principles? If there is any truth to it at all, it is clearly some underdeveloped rite of self-banishment, resulting in a temporary transference of a mortal into the hells until planar reversion draws them back. If that. Nevertheless, the ritual is worth investigating further. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] It claimed to have performed this… feat? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I believe her. You would’ve too, had you been there. Thankfully, you weren’t. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My opinion toward the superstitious musings of a proscribed entity is not the subject of this session. My role here is strictly— (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“Illuminative,” Vosaphar said, looking out into the storm. “That’s it?” Finnit asked. “But I want to know… so much more.” “And yet, we know more now than we did before. Does this not confirm what you saw in the lens?” “I guess so. Still…” </div>] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightchroniclechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[[[Suspect. ⇒->20BAAA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">(text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The illuminative session for Leisenelle, former third officer of the now-renegade vessel ‘Consonance,’ is hereby brought to order. You stand accused of mutiny, murder, theft, deception, consorting with proscribed entities, and willful evasion of justice. Is that correct? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] You would know. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Is that correct? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I guess so. Yes. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“She sounds a lot like you,” Vosaphar murmured, stroking his claws idly through Finnit’s hair. “‘Consorting with proscribed entities?’ What a wicked accusation.” Finnit snorted. “Are you going to bring me to justice?” “Absolutely not.” “Too bad.” </div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Against these accusations, how do you plead? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I do not plead. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] You must make a claim, either to affirm or deny each crime you have been accused of. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I will make no such claims. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The accused has neglected her obligation to plead. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] What’s your deal, anyway? Are you mad? Some pretty vampire in your past tied your morals all up in knots and made you feel sinful? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My role here is strictly illuminative. How did you first come to associate with this vampire? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I was trying to find out the truth about this island. But none of them would talk to me. The islanders, I mean. They resent us. You know that, right? Look at what we’ve done to them since we got here. Someone has to stop it. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, mark a note down for ‘sedition,’ would you? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">At least the clerics are obligated to transcribe what they actually heard. Historians ought to learn from their example. ⚞L. Raekard (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“I think Raekard’s distaste for historians gets in his way,” Finnit said. “How could we possibly know, at this point, what liberties the cleric might have taken?” “It’s going to take more than historians to put a stop to him.” Finnit laughed, but Vosaphar hadn’t told a joke.</div>] </div>] (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] You didn’t have that one already? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Continue. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Fine. This one woman approached me, and told me to visit her house on the outskirts after sundown. I thought she might be into me—and maybe she was, a little—but she wanted me to meet her grandmother. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Yeah. Did the ‘after sundown’ part give it away? I’m not a good storyteller. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The only things your story requires are honesty and accuracy. Justice will account for the rest. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Whatever you need to tell yourself. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] I don’t ‘need’ to do anything. My role here is strictly illuminative. As the accused has been reminded. Continue. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] So, I waited for dusk, and paid her a visit. Her grandmother was living in the basement. Some kind of herbalist, I guess. The whole time we talked, she was crushing up these weird seedpods in a mortar and pestle. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] At what point did you realize this entity was a vampire? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Not until after, when… (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] When what? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] When you killed her. Robbed us of her wisdom, kindness, perspective, heart, all she contributed to her community. And for what? Some ash? Dust? Is there not already enough collecting between the folds of your ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that last term for obscenity. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] What, you’re more scandalized by me describing your dust-crusted ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆ than your violence? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that one as well. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“Which word do you suppose was stricken here?” Vosaphar asked. “Asscheeks,” Finnit said solemnly. “Has to be.”</div>] (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] So you don’t have an answer. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The entity in question was brought before sunlight and destroyed in accordance with all legal and moral precedent. Any ‘violence’ is lawful, and thereby just. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] And you wonder why they hate us. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Hatred is not the subject of this illuminative session. What did your proscribed discussion entail? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] She told me all kinds of stories about this place, how they have fine-tuned their relationship with the island to keep things running, letting their traditions evolve with the conditions. I think her granddaughter wanted her to have someone new to talk to, so she could share all this with someone. The old woman told me that when sun and moon meet in the sky, the boundary between our world and theirs grows thin. At such a momentous event, the cleverest and quickest might climb into the throat of the island and cross the threshold to the cosmos. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">At last. Something of value in this tedious discussion. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire spoke metaphorically, did it not? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">I wondered the same thing. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] No, I don’t think she did. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Explain. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] She said that when the celestial hosts of the heavens are distracted with their dance, the sun grows just cool enough to touch. She dipped her finger into the mortar, and showed me a golden bead of oil, and she said even a drop of sunlight was enough to bless the island for a century, but few survived the transit. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">They must not have understood what they were doing. How could they have, without knowledge of the Three Principles? If there is any truth to it at all, it is clearly some underdeveloped rite of self-banishment, resulting in a temporary transference of a mortal into the hells until planar reversion draws them back. If that. Nevertheless, the ritual is worth investigating further. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] It claimed to have performed this… feat? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I believe her. You would’ve too, had you been there. Thankfully, you weren’t. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My opinion toward the superstitious musings of a proscribed entity is not the subject of this session. My role here is strictly— (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“Illuminative,” Vosaphar said, looking out into the storm. “That’s it?” Finnit asked. “But I want to know… so much more.” “And yet, we know more now than we did before. Does this not confirm what you saw in the lens?” “I guess so. Still…” </div>] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="chroniclechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[[[Suspect. ⇒->20BAAA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#927b1a")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Chronicle]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XX.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">With fewer than a handful of days remaining until the eclipse, Vosaphar was determined to spend as much of that time as he could with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon now wondered why they had wasted the preceding days doing everything else *except* wrapping up together in blankets, speaking softly to one another. His ordeals felt paler against the comfort of this heat. Had your machinations even mattered for this? Under these conditions, wouldn’t they have always found themselves in love? You had no motes for lust. Though, based on what you had seen, you wouldn’t have needed them. Goodness. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Once they were ready to venture out, Finnit led Vosaphar back up the cliffside stairs to the crevice dotted with rusted anchors and unhatched eggs. The bird-creature chirped warily as they sidled deeper into the passage. She affixed those golden eyes to Vosaphar, unblinking, as though daring him to disturb any of her forsaken brood. He kept himself positioned between her and Finnit, to help alleviate the mortal’s anxiety. After winding their way through, the passage opened into a roughly circular chamber. “Look, Vosaphar,” Finnit intoned, pointing up. “We’re right beneath the lens.” Black slag had oozed down from the ceiling, frozen into organic stalactites that reflected no light from Finnit’s orb. While still fluid, they had dripped, leaving a few glassy patches spread across the altar. *Click*. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“What was that?” Vosaphar whispered. He cautiously approached the altar, a raised disk with a tight spiral grooved into its otherwise flat surface. “There,” Finnit whispered. “See the moon?” *Click*. A mechanism lowered a miniature pewter grate, allowing a tiny white sphere to roll a little further forward along the channel. At the center of the spiral lay a rendering of the sun, blotched by inky glass that had dripped down from above. “So much for studying the almanac.” Finnit paced around the pedestal. “This device is telling us how much is left until the eclipse. If we had known earlier…” “But we know now,” Vosaphar said. “Look at how close it is.” Vast and fiddly though the design was, the moon had wound its way close to the center. It was an unwelcome reminder of the future approaching, click by— *Click*. A taut silence stretched between them. Vosaphar had thoughts that he was unwilling to admit to. *Click*. “What if we just stayed here?” Finnit voiced. “Well maybe not this particular chamber. I mean the Pharos Fidelis in general.” He looked down at the transit bracelet Raekard had given him. “I could throw this in the ocean. We could ignore the lens. Stay here as long as we wanted.” “There’s nothing for you to eat, Finnit.” *Click.* “Would you even want to go to the academy?” Finnit stared at the pedestal. “Who even knows what they’d do to you, or—” “I am willing to risk it,” Vosaphar said. “I cannot say what the future holds. But we can’t stay here. I’m in no hurry to descend back to the calciferous wastes. And you have your life to live. I would rather join you in whatever of that you are willing to have me for, or until we choose to part. Is that not the way forward in such matters? The real accord?” *Click.* Finnit was silent for a few more moments. “Yes. You’re right. But I’m scared. This could all go so wrong.” Vosaphar embraced Finnit, holding him close. “It might. We will do our best, regardless.” They stayed together a while longer, before journeying back to their strange little home in the cliffside. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[At the eclipse, they would return. And the fate of the Pharos Fidelis would at last be decided. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Petition. ⇒->RBAAA. Calciferous]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">With fewer than a handful of days remaining until the eclipse, Vosaphar was determined to spend as much of that time as he could with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon now wondered why they had wasted the preceding days doing everything else *except* wrapping up together in blankets, speaking softly to one another. His ordeals felt paler against the comfort of this heat. Had your machinations even mattered for this? Under these conditions, wouldn’t they have always found themselves in love? You had no motes for lust. Though, based on what you had seen, you wouldn’t have needed them. Goodness. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Once they were ready to venture out, Finnit led Vosaphar back up the cliffside stairs to the crevice dotted with rusted anchors and unhatched eggs. The bird-creature chirped warily as they sidled deeper into the passage. She affixed those golden eyes to Vosaphar, unblinking, as though daring him to disturb any of her forsaken brood. He kept himself positioned between her and Finnit, to help alleviate the mortal’s anxiety. After winding their way through, the passage opened into a roughly circular chamber. “Look, Vosaphar,” Finnit intoned, pointing up. “We’re right beneath the lens.” Black slag had oozed down from the ceiling, frozen into organic stalactites that reflected no light from Finnit’s orb. While still fluid, they had dripped, leaving a few glassy patches spread across the altar. *Click*. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“What was that?” Vosaphar whispered. He cautiously approached the altar, a raised disk with a tight spiral grooved into its otherwise flat surface. “There,” Finnit whispered. “See the moon?” *Click*. A mechanism lowered a miniature pewter grate, allowing a tiny white sphere to roll a little further forward along the channel. At the center of the spiral lay a rendering of the sun, blotched by inky glass that had dripped down from above. “So much for studying the almanac.” Finnit paced around the pedestal. “This device is telling us how much is left until the eclipse. If we had known earlier…” “But we know now,” Vosaphar said. “Look at how close it is.” Vast and fiddly though the design was, the moon had wound its way close to the center. It was an unwelcome reminder of the future approaching, click by— *Click*. A taut silence stretched between them. Vosaphar had thoughts that he was unwilling to admit to. *Click*. “What if we just stayed here?” Finnit voiced. “Well maybe not this particular chamber. I mean the Pharos Fidelis in general.” He looked down at the transit bracelet Raekard had given him. “I could throw this in the ocean. We could ignore the lens. Stay here as long as we wanted.” “There’s nothing for you to eat, Finnit.” *Click.* “Would you even want to go to the academy?” Finnit stared at the pedestal. “Who even knows what they’d do to you, or—” “I am willing to risk it,” Vosaphar said. “I cannot say what the future holds. But we can’t stay here. I’m in no hurry to descend back to the calciferous wastes. And you have your life to live. I would rather join you in whatever of that you are willing to have me for, or until we choose to part. Is that not the way forward in such matters? The real accord?” *Click.* Finnit was silent for a few more moments. “Yes. You’re right. But I’m scared. This could all go so wrong.” Vosaphar embraced Finnit, holding him close. “It might. We will do our best, regardless.” They stayed together a while longer, before journeying back to their strange little home in the cliffside. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[At the eclipse, they would return. And the fate of the Pharos Fidelis would at last be decided. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Petition. ⇒->RBAAA. Calciferous]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[Recollection.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">Vosaphar’s spilling ichor sang to them so sweetly, libations that lured all manner of lips to lap. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[No longer able to fly, the beleaguered demon ran, stumbled, staggered, crawled—anything he could do to place another lazurynthine wall between himself and his nearest pursuer. He needed somewhere dark and quiet, somewhere safe to recover. Such amenities were unavailable in the lazurynth. But there were other hells than these. Vosaphar slipped through an inky gap between walls that had lost definition, their geometry corrupted by some other force. He sank into an oily pool, far beneath the febrile blue heat. He could no longer tell where the sludge began and his blood ended, drifting ever downward. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Eventually he reached the shore near your cottage, not yet fragmented to spectral remnants. Still specific, despite it all. He crawled to your doorstep, begging for relief from the lazurynth. Should he fall, he would emerge there once more, a cycle of dissolution his demonhood would eventually fail to survive. You told him that the calciferous wastes were hostile and desolate. He said he preferred a false quiet to an honest din. You told him there was nothing of value here—had there been, a warden as petty as you would’ve long been shredded to bits by a stronger devil. He said he preferred an expansive nothing to crowded corridors. You told him he would awaken cold, wet, and screaming, his every lonely birth into this void inevitable suffering. He said he preferred a bitter plunge to a blistering fire. You told him what it would cost, a steady stream of magic to brighten your hellfire furnace, tending to the motes. He accepted those terms without hesitation. You asked him for his name. He still had one. Vosaphar. With that accorded, you plucked his coal from the deepest pit of the lazurynth, and held it between your claws, its blue dimmed to gray. His archfiend wouldn’t miss it. And then you threw it in the pool, and it sank to the bottom, where it lodged itself in a dark crevice. Vosaphar, now under your jurisdiction, fled into the wastes, searching for a smooth bit of coralbone to lean against, however futilely. You gave him desolation, cold, and quiet. In return, your furnace grew brighter. How could you have ever predicted what this would eventually make impossible? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Discover. ⇒->21BAAA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">Vosaphar’s spilling ichor sang to them so sweetly, libations that lured all manner of lips to lap. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[No longer able to fly, the beleaguered demon ran, stumbled, staggered, crawled—anything he could do to place another lazurynthine wall between himself and his nearest pursuer. He needed somewhere dark and quiet, somewhere safe to recover. Such amenities were unavailable in the lazurynth. But there were other hells than these. Vosaphar slipped through an inky gap between walls that had lost definition, their geometry corrupted by some other force. He sank into an oily pool, far beneath the febrile blue heat. He could no longer tell where the sludge began and his blood ended, drifting ever downward. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Eventually he reached the shore near your cottage, not yet fragmented to spectral remnants. Still specific, despite it all. He crawled to your doorstep, begging for relief from the lazurynth. Should he fall, he would emerge there once more, a cycle of dissolution his demonhood would eventually fail to survive. You told him that the calciferous wastes were hostile and desolate. He said he preferred a false quiet to an honest din. You told him there was nothing of value here—had there been, a warden as petty as you would’ve long been shredded to bits by a stronger devil. He said he preferred an expansive nothing to crowded corridors. You told him he would awaken cold, wet, and screaming, his every lonely birth into this void inevitable suffering. He said he preferred a bitter plunge to a blistering fire. You told him what it would cost, a steady stream of magic to brighten your hellfire furnace, tending to the motes. He accepted those terms without hesitation. You asked him for his name. He still had one. Vosaphar. With that accorded, you plucked his coal from the deepest pit of the lazurynth, and held it between your claws, its blue dimmed to gray. His archfiend wouldn’t miss it. And then you threw it in the pool, and it sank to the bottom, where it lodged itself in a dark crevice. Vosaphar, now under your jurisdiction, fled into the wastes, searching for a smooth bit of coralbone to lean against, however futilely. You gave him desolation, cold, and quiet. In return, your furnace grew brighter. How could you have ever predicted what this would eventually make impossible? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Discover. ⇒->21BAAA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Recollection]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">The day of the eclipse, Finnit woke with a sharp pain searing his back, breaking him out of his warm reverie. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar was twitching and scratching in his sleep again. Finnit adored the feeling of the devil’s tail coiled around his thigh, basking in the hellish heat that staved off the island’s chill. Nonetheless, crawling into the embrace of a clawed creature had a few drawbacks. “Hey,” Finnit whispered. “Wake up.” Vosaphar shifted, his tail loosening its grip on Finnit. “Mmph.” “You scratched me again,” Finnit said. “Nightmares?” “Oh no,” Vosaphar said. “I’m sorry, Finnit. Here…” The demon traced the scratches, and Finnit felt an odd prickly sensation as the skin healed over. “Thank you. You’re getting good at that.” Vosaphar delicately kissed the side of Finnit’s neck. “I don’t normally sleep so much. The mortal realm is… exhausting, in its own way. Perhaps I can fashion some wrappings for my claws in the future.” “Whoa,” Finnit said, gazing out one of the windows. “What?” “The sky is different.” And indeed it was. The rain had—incredibly—let up slightly, the green glow he’d become so accustomed to taking on distinct streaks of orange and red. Vosaphar grimaced. “I guess it’s time.” “Yeah.” They made their final preparations. Finnit tucked his syllabaries into his satchel and ate his last rations. He thought he might never forget the taste of salted fruit leather in whatever days—or day—he had remaining. “Was there something else we should have prepared?” Finnit asked. “We’re just… walking through a portal to the sun? Like this?” “I can’t think of anything, Finnit.” “Well, alright then.” He looked around at the now overly-familiar place he had spent this last month. “Goodbye, awful yet cozy stone room under a cursed lighthouse. It was certainly a time.” “That it was.” Vosaphar sounded amused. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They ventured out onto the cliffside stairs. Even these had become familiar, the treachery of each step now a well-worn betrayal. As they slipped past the anchor collector, she gave out a little warble of encouragement. At least, that’s how Finnit chose to take it. Up ahead, a ruddy glow intensified as they approached the altar beneath the lens and its housing. The miniature moon had arrived at its destination, transforming the sun emblem at the center into a bright red disc of light. It was overwhelming to look at directly; Finnit’s eyes strained from this threat to perception. “It’s terrible,” Finnit whispered. “Beautiful, too. What a dazzling horror of a thing to witness.” “Finnit,” Vosaphar began, wrapping his arms gently around the sorcerer. “It might be neglectful of our accord for me not to mention… you don’t have to do this. I could—I could go without you—you could die, Finnit, and—I—I don’t want to lose you… forever.” Finnit looked up into the fiend’s fearful, loving eyes. “Vosaphar—I’m afraid, too. But I couldn’t accept that. Isn’t that what Raekard would do? Send someone to die in his stead, to do the big scary things he won’t face himself? This trial was his idea, but now it’s my trial. Our trial. And I want to see it through. Together. Don’t you?” “Yes,” Vosaphar admitted. “I want to see the sun... with you.” “Then let’s go see it.” Vosaphar smiled, and took Finnit’s arm in his. Together, they stepped into an oblivion of crimson light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Eclipse. ⇒->Eclipse BAAA]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">The day of the eclipse, Finnit woke with a sharp pain searing his back, breaking him out of his warm reverie. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar was twitching and scratching in his sleep again. Finnit adored the feeling of the devil’s tail coiled around his thigh, basking in the hellish heat that staved off the island’s chill. Nonetheless, crawling into the embrace of a clawed creature had a few drawbacks. “Hey,” Finnit whispered. “Wake up.” Vosaphar shifted, his tail loosening its grip on Finnit. “Mmph.” “You scratched me again,” Finnit said. “Nightmares?” “Oh no,” Vosaphar said. “I’m sorry, Finnit. Here…” The demon traced the scratches, and Finnit felt an odd prickly sensation as the skin healed over. “Thank you. You’re getting good at that.” Vosaphar delicately kissed the side of Finnit’s neck. “I don’t normally sleep so much. The mortal realm is… exhausting, in its own way. Perhaps I can fashion some wrappings for my claws in the future.” “Whoa,” Finnit said, gazing out one of the windows. “What?” “The sky is different.” And indeed it was. The rain had—incredibly—let up slightly, the green glow he’d become so accustomed to taking on distinct streaks of orange and red. Vosaphar grimaced. “I guess it’s time.” “Yeah.” They made their final preparations. Finnit tucked his syllabaries into his satchel and ate his last rations. He thought he might never forget the taste of salted fruit leather in whatever days—or day—he had remaining. “Was there something else we should have prepared?” Finnit asked. “We’re just… walking through a portal to the sun? Like this?” “I can’t think of anything, Finnit.” “Well, alright then.” He looked around at the now overly-familiar place he had spent this last month. “Goodbye, awful yet cozy stone room under a cursed lighthouse. It was certainly a time.” “That it was.” Vosaphar sounded amused. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They ventured out onto the cliffside stairs. Even these had become familiar, the treachery of each step now a well-worn betrayal. As they slipped past the anchor collector, she gave out a little warble of encouragement. At least, that’s how Finnit chose to take it. Up ahead, a ruddy glow intensified as they approached the altar beneath the lens and its housing. The miniature moon had arrived at its destination, transforming the sun emblem at the center into a bright red disc of light. It was overwhelming to look at directly; Finnit’s eyes strained from this threat to perception. “It’s terrible,” Finnit whispered. “Beautiful, too. What a dazzling horror of a thing to witness.” “Finnit,” Vosaphar began, wrapping his arms gently around the sorcerer. “It might be neglectful of our accord for me not to mention… you don’t have to do this. I could—I could go without you—you could die, Finnit, and—I—I don’t want to lose you… forever.” Finnit looked up into the fiend’s fearful, loving eyes. “Vosaphar—I’m afraid, too. But I couldn’t accept that. Isn’t that what Raekard would do? Send someone to die in his stead, to do the big scary things he won’t face himself? This trial was his idea, but now it’s my trial. Our trial. And I want to see it through. Together. Don’t you?” “Yes,” Vosaphar admitted. “I want to see the sun... with you.” “Then let’s go see it.” Vosaphar smiled, and took Finnit’s arm in his. Together, they stepped into an oblivion of crimson light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Eclipse. ⇒->Eclipse BAAA]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 3)[Eclipse.] (text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Sun.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">The sun was a cosmic affliction, a colossal molten mass so red and seething that even the infernal embers blazing in the deepest pits of the hells seemed but feeble sparks in the distance. And Vosaphar was soaring *toward* it. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he flew, Finnit clutched against him, tendrils of the corona pulled peculiar new colors from his wings, its aurora a spectacle more captivating than your dreary calciferous skies could have ever dreamed to churn. How you longed for such color and heat and majesty—even just a drop of it. And *they* got to see it all, to have it within reach. “Vosaphar, look!” With his free hand, Finnit pointed toward an eerie black void drifting past. Dozens of bird-creatures flew from the roiling surface of the sun to circle and screech at the dark moon, a celestial interloper threatening the eternity of light. “They’re sunspots!” Finnit shouted. “She’s a sunspot!” “They’re *distracted*, too.” Vosaphar glided toward the edge of the sun away from the shrieking horrors. “That’s why it has to be now.” The demon and his summoner skimmed the sun’s surface, its dangerous heat threatening to embrace them forever so closely. “Hold on, Finnit!” Vosaphar tilted his wings, arm outstretched, reaching, swiping up a glob of incandescent fluid. This molten scarlet-amber squeezed between his claws and stuck to his low-dipped wing. Even these tiny droplets of starlight held immense power that coursed through him as he arced up out of the sun’s grip. “It’s so incredible!” Finnit laughed, tears streaming behind him, motes of wonder sparkling in space. Something darkened behind them. Finnit looked over his shoulder. “Vosaphar—there’s a new sunspot—” The creature shrieked as it gave chase, following the radiant beads dripping from Vosaphar’s sunswept wing. Vosaphar affixed his gaze to the portal back to the Pharos Fidelis, soaring ever faster. The screeching grew louder yet, judgment for their cardinal cosmic sin approaching with alarming haste. But with Finnit clinging to his side… (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar simply had no use for consequences. With a final burst of speed, they shot through the portal. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Reignite. ⇒->22BAAA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">The sun was a cosmic affliction, a colossal molten mass so red and seething that even the infernal embers blazing in the deepest pits of the hells seemed but feeble sparks in the distance. And Vosaphar was soaring *toward* it. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he flew, Finnit clutched against him, tendrils of the corona pulled peculiar new colors from his wings, its aurora a spectacle more captivating than your dreary calciferous skies could have ever dreamed to churn. How you longed for such color and heat and majesty—even just a drop of it. And *they* got to see it all, to have it within reach. “Vosaphar, look!” With his free hand, Finnit pointed toward an eerie black void drifting past. Dozens of bird-creatures flew from the roiling surface of the sun to circle and screech at the dark moon, a celestial interloper threatening the eternity of light. “They’re sunspots!” Finnit shouted. “She’s a sunspot!” “They’re *distracted*, too.” Vosaphar glided toward the edge of the sun away from the shrieking horrors. “That’s why it has to be now.” The demon and his summoner skimmed the sun’s surface, its dangerous heat threatening to embrace them forever so closely. “Hold on, Finnit!” Vosaphar tilted his wings, arm outstretched, reaching, swiping up a glob of incandescent fluid. This molten scarlet-amber squeezed between his claws and stuck to his low-dipped wing. Even these tiny droplets of starlight held immense power that coursed through him as he arced up out of the sun’s grip. “It’s so incredible!” Finnit laughed, tears streaming behind him, motes of wonder sparkling in space. Something darkened behind them. Finnit looked over his shoulder. “Vosaphar—there’s a new sunspot—” The creature shrieked as it gave chase, following the radiant beads dripping from Vosaphar’s sunswept wing. Vosaphar affixed his gaze to the portal back to the Pharos Fidelis, soaring ever faster. The screeching grew louder yet, judgment for their cardinal cosmic sin approaching with alarming haste. But with Finnit clinging to his side… (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar simply had no use for consequences. With a final burst of speed, they shot through the portal. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Reignite. ⇒->22BAAA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXII.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Finnit and Vosaphar tumbled over the edge of the altar, the portal still aglow with the eclipse-light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But there was little time to celebrate their reckless heist—the sunspot shoved its vicious pointed head through the gap after them, screeching as it struggled to break through. Finnit let Vosaphar carry him a bit further up the tunnel, before standing on his own feet and running alongside. The anchor collector had left her nest, wheeling about in the sky, shrieking back at the new sunspot about to burst from the throat of the island. Finnit looked out at the storm, the clouds thinned enough that he could see the eclipsed red sun half-risen, framing the infernal image of a devil’s horns. “How magnificent,” he said, breathless. Vosaphar looked down at him, gently squeezing his hand. They arrived at the peak, where the lens yearned for light, and at last, Finnit had light to provide. Vosaphar held out his claws, sunlight pooled in his palm, and Finnit painted it, trying to create the glyph his mind had projected there, the name of the demon whose rite might reignite the Pharos Fidelis. You watched, enraptured by the spectacle of your plans converging. This was it. This was your moment. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As Finnit slathered the glowing fluid across the lens, the dark slag drank it in—more, and more, and more of it. Too much of it. The glyph couldn’t hold its shape. The lens welled, hyperfolding crimson light, growing ever hotter by the second. The cleft, once so close to promising your name, had already deformed beyond recognition. And how brutal; that poor, mortal sorcerer, all tangled in your schemes, had every intention of drawing your name, a sigil drenched in the lifeblood of the sun. He really did try. You couldn’t fault him for that. But the execution? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A tragedy, in many fragments. For centuries—perhaps longer—every mortal design for the Pharos Fidelis had crumbled. Each disaster wrote another chapter in that wretched chronicle, the dark history of guiding light. And you thought *yours* would work? Pharos Fidelis, the beacon on the horizon of reason. Where it would remain, out of reach. Could not even a devil accept the simple dreadful truth, that a horizon approached can never arrive? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Finnit, we have to leave!” Vosaphar shouted, scanning the skies for the sunspots. “The lens is collapsing!” “No—it has to—Vosaphar, it has to—” “Finnit, please—” “I can’t—I can’t get the shape right, it’s going to—” “It deserves to shatter.” How dare he. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“But, what was this even for, then?” Finnit sobbed, the last of the sunlight ripped from his fingertips into the Pharos Fidelis. Vosaphar pulled him, one final time, away from the amplifying dyslucence. “That’s for the historians!” Vosaphar stared at him with his stormy eyes. “Shouldn’t we live? Don’t you want a future? ” “Yes!” Finnit embraced Vosaphar once more, and the demon swept him up into the sky. They abandoned the Pharos Fidelis to its fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They *tried* to abandon it. But it wasn’t done with them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Shatter. ⇒->23BAAA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Finnit and Vosaphar tumbled over the edge of the altar, the portal still aglow with the eclipse-light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But there was little time to celebrate their reckless heist—the sunspot shoved its vicious pointed head through the gap after them, screeching as it struggled to break through. Finnit let Vosaphar carry him a bit further up the tunnel, before standing on his own feet and running alongside. The anchor collector had left her nest, wheeling about in the sky, shrieking back at the new sunspot about to burst from the throat of the island. Finnit looked out at the storm, the clouds thinned enough that he could see the eclipsed red sun half-risen, framing the infernal image of a devil’s horns. “How magnificent,” he said, breathless. Vosaphar looked down at him, gently squeezing his hand. They arrived at the peak, where the lens yearned for light, and at last, Finnit had light to provide. Vosaphar held out his claws, sunlight pooled in his palm, and Finnit painted it, trying to create the glyph his mind had projected there, the name of the demon whose rite might reignite the Pharos Fidelis. You watched, enraptured by the spectacle of your plans converging. This was it. This was your moment. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As Finnit slathered the glowing fluid across the lens, the dark slag drank it in—more, and more, and more of it. Too much of it. The glyph couldn’t hold its shape. The lens welled, hyperfolding crimson light, growing ever hotter by the second. The cleft, once so close to promising your name, had already deformed beyond recognition. And how brutal; that poor, mortal sorcerer, all tangled in your schemes, had every intention of drawing your name, a sigil drenched in the lifeblood of the sun. He really did try. You couldn’t fault him for that. But the execution? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A tragedy, in many fragments. For centuries—perhaps longer—every mortal design for the Pharos Fidelis had crumbled. Each disaster wrote another chapter in that wretched chronicle, the dark history of guiding light. And you thought *yours* would work? Pharos Fidelis, the beacon on the horizon of reason. Where it would remain, out of reach. Could not even a devil accept the simple dreadful truth, that a horizon approached can never arrive? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Finnit, we have to leave!” Vosaphar shouted, scanning the skies for the sunspots. “The lens is collapsing!” “No—it has to—Vosaphar, it has to—” “Finnit, please—” “I can’t—I can’t get the shape right, it’s going to—” “It deserves to shatter.” How dare he. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“But, what was this even for, then?” Finnit sobbed, the last of the sunlight ripped from his fingertips into the Pharos Fidelis. Vosaphar pulled him, one final time, away from the amplifying dyslucence. “That’s for the historians!” Vosaphar stared at him with his stormy eyes. “Shouldn’t we live? Don’t you want a future? ” “Yes!” Finnit embraced Vosaphar once more, and the demon swept him up into the sky. They abandoned the Pharos Fidelis to its fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They *tried* to abandon it. But it wasn’t done with them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Shatter. ⇒->23BAAA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Disavowal]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXIII.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">The storm rushed past Vosaphar as he carried Finnit, placing any distance he could between them and the doomed Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Still seeking their stolen sunlight, the sunspot pursued, but the anchor collector screeched and snapped at it. The two creatures, identically opposed in desire, circled the peak as they fought above the molten slag. “It’s going to—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The world around them grew absolutely silent, swallowing the rest of Finnit’s warning. Every bit of light had gathered, folding itself over and over and over still, smaller, ever smaller, congealing into the tiniest, brightest speck. For a moment, Vosaphar wondered if it would keep going, dragging the mortal realm, the hells, and all the rest of existence into its singularity. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Instead, it shattered. All that had been poured into it—all the fire, all the lightning, all the stray souls, all the stolen sunlight, all the summons slaughtered, all the hopes and dreams and plots and schemes and—all of it finally shattered, sending incalculable shards of glass in every direction at incredible speeds. A vanguard fragment slammed into Vosaphar’s chest, knocking Finnit out of his grasp. The sorcerer began to drift away on his own trajectory— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And you thought, though your plans had shattered along with everything else… You still had one last mote of hellfire to spare. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Influence. ⇒->M4BAAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">The storm rushed past Vosaphar as he carried Finnit, placing any distance he could between them and the doomed Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Still seeking their stolen sunlight, the sunspot pursued, but the anchor collector screeched and snapped at it. The two creatures, identically opposed in desire, circled the peak as they fought above the molten slag. “It’s going to—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The world around them grew absolutely silent, swallowing the rest of Finnit’s warning. Every bit of light had gathered, folding itself over and over and over still, smaller, ever smaller, congealing into the tiniest, brightest speck. For a moment, Vosaphar wondered if it would keep going, dragging the mortal realm, the hells, and all the rest of existence into its singularity. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Instead, it shattered. All that had been poured into it—all the fire, all the lightning, all the stray souls, all the stolen sunlight, all the summons slaughtered, all the hopes and dreams and plots and schemes and—all of it finally shattered, sending incalculable shards of glass in every direction at incredible speeds. A vanguard fragment slammed into Vosaphar’s chest, knocking Finnit out of his grasp. The sorcerer began to drift away on his own trajectory— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And you thought, though your plans had shattered along with everything else… You still had one last mote of hellfire to spare. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Influence. ⇒->M4BAAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Disavowal]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#fc4e71")+(text-size: 3)[Influence.] (text-color:"#fc4e71")+(text-size: 1.15)[Clinginess | Desperation.]</div> One final mote of hellfire appeared. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightmotepassage">When potent emotions conflicted a demon’s judgment, even the faintest mote of hellfire bore enough infernal energy to influence their fate from afar. That’s how you got them into this mess. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#8c283c)[***Clinginess***] For the demon Vosaphar, so eager to wrap himself around his beloved summoner, the sight of the mortal falling away would’ve driven him to dive in closer. This clinginess would have joined their fates together, should you have chosen to foster it. Yielding to this clinginess, however romantic, risked their joint fate becoming tragic. (text-color:#8c283c)[***Desperation***] For the demon Vosaphar, so determined for his beloved summoner to survive, the sight of him falling away would’ve driven him to take reckless measures. This desperation might have driven him to intervene instantly to salvage the situation. Yielding to this desperation, however hasty, risked their fates diverging dramatically. (text-color:#8c283c)[***Decision***] Well? Which force did this mote of hellfire incite? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightmotechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))[[[Clinginess. ⇒->24BAAAA. Vosaphar]]] (link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#fc4e71")))[[[Desperation. ⇒->24BAAAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="motepassage">When potent emotions conflicted a demon’s judgment, even the faintest mote of hellfire bore enough infernal energy to influence their fate from afar. That’s how you got them into this mess. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Clinginess***] For the demon Vosaphar, so eager to wrap himself around his beloved summoner, the sight of the mortal falling away would’ve driven him to dive in closer. This clinginess would have joined their fates together, should you have chosen to foster it. Yielding to this clinginess, however romantic, risked their joint fate becoming tragic. (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Desperation***] For the demon Vosaphar, so determined for his beloved summoner to survive, the sight of him falling away would’ve driven him to take reckless measures. This desperation might have driven him to intervene instantly to salvage the situation. Yielding to this desperation, however hasty, risked their fates diverging dramatically. (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Decision***] Well? Which force did this mote of hellfire incite? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="motechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Clinginess. ⇒->24BAAAA. Vosaphar]]] (link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Desperation. ⇒->24BAAAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Mote]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXIV.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar recognized your influence pushing him toward desperation— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he *rejected* it. That stung. Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar dove, claws outstretched, reaching for Finnit’s wrist— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And closed his hand around the transit band attached to it. Just as the edge of the inferno reached them— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar and Finnit blinked out of existence, teleporting somewhere else. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Defend. ⇒->25BAAAB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar recognized your influence pushing him toward desperation— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he *rejected* it. That stung. Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar dove, claws outstretched, reaching for Finnit’s wrist— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And closed his hand around the transit band attached to it. Just as the edge of the inferno reached them— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar and Finnit blinked out of existence, teleporting somewhere else. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Defend. ⇒->25BAAAB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXIV.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar recognized your influence pushing him toward clinginess— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he *rejected* it. That stung. Vosaphar had a single, reckless idea of what he still had time to do. How he could send Finnit somewhere safer than here. Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar recalled the spells Finnit had taught him, focused his intentions and— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Banished him. Finnit blinked out of existence. Moments later, the edge of the explosion swept Vosaphar into an inferno of shattering glass. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Stoke. ⇒->25BAAAA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar recognized your influence pushing him toward clinginess— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he *rejected* it. That stung. Vosaphar had a single, reckless idea of what he still had time to do. How he could send Finnit somewhere safer than here. Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar recalled the spells Finnit had taught him, focused his intentions and— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Banished him. Finnit blinked out of existence. Moments later, the edge of the explosion swept Vosaphar into an inferno of shattering glass. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Stoke. ⇒->25BAAAA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#b8e270")+(text-size: 3)[XXV.] (text-color:"#b8e270")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Cairnveld Fortress.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcairnveldpassage">Finnit tumbled to his latest painful stop against the stone. Warm, clawed fingers gripped his wrist. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Vosaphar?” Finnit groaned, clutching his head and rolling over to move closer to the devil. He could smell cypress and old parchment. They must have arrived somewhere at Cairnveld Fortress. He heard a few startled gasps, and then whispers broke out. “Huh?” Finnit muttered, looking over his shoulders. They had landed in one of the smaller lecture halls. Cool light streamed through the windows, setting the chamber’s dusty air aglow. A scattered few luminaries occupied the chairs, including Jethel, who peered curiously over the top of the beverage she had been sipping. It was the most people he had seen in a month. Raekard stood from his seat in the front row. “Incipient Finnit!” His voice rang out over the chamber. “I’m not sure how you managed to be late with a pre-scheduled transit band, but it is time for your evaluation.” He paused, frowning. “Dismiss this… creature.” Finnit ignored him, crawling over to examine Vosaphar’s wounds. There was a warped shard of the Pharos Fidelis lens lodged in his chest, glowing with an intense crimson light. It seemed to have fused to the demon’s torso, ichor seeping around the edges where glass and flesh intermingled. “Are you okay?” Finnit asked softly. “No.” Vosaphar turned to him, groaning. “But… I don’t think I’m fading.” Finnit did his best to hug him from this awkward position. “Fine, I’ll banish it myself.” Raekard traced a sigil in the air, directing its power against the injured fiend. Nothing happened. It was the first time that Finnit had seen Raekard genuinely surprised. Finnit helped Vosaphar to his feet. The demon looked around, a bit nervously given his bizarre new context. He let his ethereal wings fade away, wrapping a warm arm around Finnit’s waist. “This is not appropriate conduct for a discovery trial evaluation,” Raekard said, his voice low and dangerous. “Be sure to make a note of it then,” Finnit said. He leaned into Vosaphar, who responded by curling his tail gently around the sorcerer. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The luminaries in the audience found this riveting. Jethel stirred the air next to her mug with a cinnamon stick, not realizing she was dripping horchata onto her notes. Finnit wished he could just leave and recover in his quarters. Why was he even putting up with any of this? They had just gotten back from the *sun*. “Dismiss this demon at once!” Raekard snapped. “It is against academy bylaws to bring summoned entities to participate in discovery trial evaluations.” “I’ll go where I wish to, *wretched one*,” Vosaphar snarled. He had evidently recognized Raekard. Jethel let out a startled laugh, which she failed to even attempt to cover up. “Luminary Jethel is going to *love* you,” Finnit told Vosaphar, deciding to embrace the surreality of the moment. Nonplussed, Raekard tried a second banishment. It failed. Again. Finnit ran his fingers through his hair anxiously, snagging another piece of the lens that had cut the skin behind his ear. He plucked it out. Its otherworldly glow was just as out of place here as Vosaphar, and frankly, himself. “What is the meaning of this?” Raekard demanded. “Incipient, what did you *do*?” Finnit held up the errant fragment. “We reignited the Pharos Fidelis.” He threw it onto the floor. “As commanded. Huh. I guess that makes me a luminary.” “This is—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But Finnit didn’t care to hear any more of what Raekard had to say. He suddenly wondered why it had ever mattered. The luminary was such an insignificant threat in the face of everything that he had experienced. And he was a terrible historiographer. Suddenly, the ground shook slightly. Bits of grit descended from the ceiling. One of the luminaries—who had somehow managed to sleep through Finnit and Vosaphar’s dramatic arrival—woke with a start, their eyes darting wildly as they took in their surroundings. “What was *that*?” Raekard asked. “The Pharos Fidelis,” Finnit said. “I guess it took a few minutes for the shockwaves to arrive. Maybe we should reconvene this session after we know for sure that our actions didn’t precipitate the end of all existence. Vosaphar, let’s get out of here.” “Gladly,” the demon muttered. “And stop trying to banish me,” he added, glaring directly at Raekard. “Or I will teach you some real principles of summoning that you will *not* enjoy learning, pathetic one.” The luminary was dumbfounded. “What the—what happened?” “That’s enough, Raekard,” Jethel said from behind him. Arms linked, Finnit and Vosaphar departed the lecture hall, heading for Finnit’s quarters. Somewhere quiet. Raekard didn’t try to follow them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcairnveldchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))[[[Repose. ⇒->26BAAAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="cairnveldpassage">Finnit tumbled to his latest painful stop against the stone. Warm, clawed fingers gripped his wrist. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Vosaphar?” Finnit groaned, clutching his head and rolling over to move closer to the devil. He could smell cypress and old parchment. They must have arrived somewhere at Cairnveld Fortress. He heard a few startled gasps, and then whispers broke out. “Huh?” Finnit muttered, looking over his shoulders. They had landed in one of the smaller lecture halls. Cool light streamed through the windows, setting the chamber’s dusty air aglow. A scattered few luminaries occupied the chairs, including Jethel, who peered curiously over the top of the beverage she had been sipping. It was the most people he had seen in a month. Raekard stood from his seat in the front row. “Incipient Finnit!” His voice rang out over the chamber. “I’m not sure how you managed to be late with a pre-scheduled transit band, but it is time for your evaluation.” He paused, frowning. “Dismiss this… creature.” Finnit ignored him, crawling over to examine Vosaphar’s wounds. There was a warped shard of the Pharos Fidelis lens lodged in his chest, glowing with an intense crimson light. It seemed to have fused to the demon’s torso, ichor seeping around the edges where glass and flesh intermingled. “Are you okay?” Finnit asked softly. “No.” Vosaphar turned to him, groaning. “But… I don’t think I’m fading.” Finnit did his best to hug him from this awkward position. “Fine, I’ll banish it myself.” Raekard traced a sigil in the air, directing its power against the injured fiend. Nothing happened. It was the first time that Finnit had seen Raekard genuinely surprised. Finnit helped Vosaphar to his feet. The demon looked around, a bit nervously given his bizarre new context. He let his ethereal wings fade away, wrapping a warm arm around Finnit’s waist. “This is not appropriate conduct for a discovery trial evaluation,” Raekard said, his voice low and dangerous. “Be sure to make a note of it then,” Finnit said. He leaned into Vosaphar, who responded by curling his tail gently around the sorcerer. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The luminaries in the audience found this riveting. Jethel stirred the air next to her mug with a cinnamon stick, not realizing she was dripping horchata onto her notes. Finnit wished he could just leave and recover in his quarters. Why was he even putting up with any of this? They had just gotten back from the *sun*. “Dismiss this demon at once!” Raekard snapped. “It is against academy bylaws to bring summoned entities to participate in discovery trial evaluations.” “I’ll go where I wish to, *wretched one*,” Vosaphar snarled. He had evidently recognized Raekard. Jethel let out a startled laugh, which she failed to even attempt to cover up. “Luminary Jethel is going to *love* you,” Finnit told Vosaphar, deciding to embrace the surreality of the moment. Nonplussed, Raekard tried a second banishment. It failed. Again. Finnit ran his fingers through his hair anxiously, snagging another piece of the lens that had cut the skin behind his ear. He plucked it out. Its otherworldly glow was just as out of place here as Vosaphar, and frankly, himself. “What is the meaning of this?” Raekard demanded. “Incipient, what did you *do*?” Finnit held up the errant fragment. “We reignited the Pharos Fidelis.” He threw it onto the floor. “As commanded. Huh. I guess that makes me a luminary.” “This is—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But Finnit didn’t care to hear any more of what Raekard had to say. He suddenly wondered why it had ever mattered. The luminary was such an insignificant threat in the face of everything that he had experienced. And he was a terrible historiographer. Suddenly, the ground shook slightly. Bits of grit descended from the ceiling. One of the luminaries—who had somehow managed to sleep through Finnit and Vosaphar’s dramatic arrival—woke with a start, their eyes darting wildly as they took in their surroundings. “What was *that*?” Raekard asked. “The Pharos Fidelis,” Finnit said. “I guess it took a few minutes for the shockwaves to arrive. Maybe we should reconvene this session after we know for sure that our actions didn’t precipitate the end of all existence. Vosaphar, let’s get out of here.” “Gladly,” the demon muttered. “And stop trying to banish me,” he added, glaring directly at Raekard. “Or I will teach you some real principles of summoning that you will *not* enjoy learning, pathetic one.” The luminary was dumbfounded. “What the—what happened?” “That’s enough, Raekard,” Jethel said from behind him. Arms linked, Finnit and Vosaphar departed the lecture hall, heading for Finnit’s quarters. Somewhere quiet. Raekard didn’t try to follow them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="cairnveldchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#7ba03c")))[[[Repose. ⇒->26BAAAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#7ba03c")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#b8e270")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#b8e270")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Cairnveld Fortress.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcairnveldpassage">The incipients and luminaries traveling the halls of Cairnveld—already unsettled by the earthquake—gave Vosaphar a wide berth as he and Finnit passed them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar had never been around so many mortals at once—at least, not in his current instance—and unlike Finnit, *these* mortals were thoroughly alarmed by the fearsome sight of a demon wandering in their midst, chest aglow with a sun-scorched fragment of the Pharos Fidelis lens. He only started to relax once they entered a small, dusty chamber full of the sorcerer’s possessions. Mostly books. Finnit closed the door behind him, then climbed onto his bed in the corner of the chamber, sitting with his back against one of the cool stone walls. He grabbed one of the pillows, and invited Vosaphar to lie down. The devil accepted, allowing Finnit to cradle his head in his lap. Vosaphar was delighted by the softness of the mattress compared to the bedrolls at the Pharos Fidelis, and let the mortal gently massage his forehead, attending to the skin bunched at the base of his horns. “Is this okay?” Finnit asked. “Yes,” Vosaphar said, flicking his tail languorously. To be afforded such comfort was rare and fleeting. As you—along with every other demon—knew all too well. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[After a few restful minutes, Finnit spoke up. “So, um—thank you for not letting me die. For saving me, so many times. I can’t even make sense of what happened yet. It’s unreal. This, being here, and—we shouldn’t have survived.” “But we did, beloved one.” Vosaphar ran a clawed fingertip gently across Finnit’s forearm. “Perhaps you contributed more than you realize.” He paused. “But I *did* carry you across the sky.” Finnit snorted. Someone knocked at the door. “Finnit? Are you in there?” “Yes!” Finnit said. One of the sorcerers from the trial evaluation stepped into the room, carrying with her an eclectic potpourri of scents. It was Luminary Jethel, the healing expert. “Oh.” She raised her eyebrows. “Is this—uh, a bad time?” “It’s fine,” Finnit said, reluctantly releasing Vosaphar so the demon could sit up. “I’m glad to see you, Jethel. Thank you for all your help.” She nodded. “The main reason I’m here is to inform you that the panel of luminaries in attendance convened, and after an examination of the fragment you provided, determined that you passed your discovery trial. Raekard dissented, but I suppose situations like these are exactly why the founders required a full panel in the bylaws. Congratulations, Finnit!” She waited for a moment, creating an awkward silence. “But I get the sense that, perhaps this is not your main concern?” “No, it isn’t,” Finnit said. “I mean—I guess I’m glad it’s over. But, I’m concerned about Vosaphar’s injuries.” He paused. “This is Vosaphar. He’s from… uh, the calciferous wastes.” “Uh huh. Noted.” Jethel directed her focus toward the devil. “Vosaphar? May I take a closer look?” “Yes,” Vosaphar said, watching her lightly-wrinkled fingers weave diagnostic glyphs in front of him. Finnit gently rubbed his back. “How are you feeling?” “I… don’t know,” Vosaphar answered honestly. “It’s a strange sensation. Like my bones are itching beneath my skin.” “Interesting,” Jethel remarked. “Well—this fragment of—uh, I guess I have no real idea what it actually is, some exotic vitric—seems to have fused onto you? It radiates an extraordinary amount of magic. For a human, that would be concerning, by which I mean, fatal. But I admit, I am not an expert on infernal anatomy.” She glanced at Finnit, eyes narrowing. “Though based on what I have seen today, perhaps *you* are becoming one.” Vosaphar looked his way as well, amused to see the mortal’s cheeks reddening. “Thought so,” Jethel remarked. “I hope Raekard never hears the end of this, for whatever remains of his miserable days.” “Oh,” Finnit said, evidently realizing something. “I see now… the lens fragment. Raekard is, at least, a *competent* sorcerer—his banishment rite should have succeeded. By remaining here, I thought Vosaphar might have violated the principle of planar reversion. But with this power fusing with you—I guess that makes it *your* power. And it far exceeds Raekard’s.” “Fascinating,” Jethel said, “if not a touch alarming in its implications. Well, at any rate, for now, I recommend treating the exposed edges where the fragment is impacting your skin. I don’t know what your plans are, Finnit, but if you remain here for the moment—as a luminary—we can research the issue together.” “What do you think?” Finnit asked him. “We could stay for a bit, sort things out?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“That sounds nice, Finnit.” “And after that—” “The rest of it?” “The rest of it.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcairnveldchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BAABA]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="cairnveldpassage">The incipients and luminaries traveling the halls of Cairnveld—already unsettled by the earthquake—gave Vosaphar a wide berth as he and Finnit passed them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar had never been around so many mortals at once—at least, not in his current instance—and unlike Finnit, *these* mortals were thoroughly alarmed by the fearsome sight of a demon wandering in their midst, chest aglow with a sun-scorched fragment of the Pharos Fidelis lens. He only started to relax once they entered a small, dusty chamber full of the sorcerer’s possessions. Mostly books. Finnit closed the door behind him, then climbed onto his bed in the corner of the chamber, sitting with his back against one of the cool stone walls. He grabbed one of the pillows, and invited Vosaphar to lie down. The devil accepted, allowing Finnit to cradle his head in his lap. Vosaphar was delighted by the softness of the mattress compared to the bedrolls at the Pharos Fidelis, and let the mortal gently massage his forehead, attending to the skin bunched at the base of his horns. “Is this okay?” Finnit asked. “Yes,” Vosaphar said, flicking his tail languorously. To be afforded such comfort was rare and fleeting. As you—along with every other demon—knew all too well. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[After a few restful minutes, Finnit spoke up. “So, um—thank you for not letting me die. For saving me, so many times. I can’t even make sense of what happened yet. It’s unreal. This, being here, and—we shouldn’t have survived.” “But we did, beloved one.” Vosaphar ran a clawed fingertip gently across Finnit’s forearm. “Perhaps you contributed more than you realize.” He paused. “But I *did* carry you across the sky.” Finnit snorted. Someone knocked at the door. “Finnit? Are you in there?” “Yes!” Finnit said. One of the sorcerers from the trial evaluation stepped into the room, carrying with her an eclectic potpourri of scents. It was Luminary Jethel, the healing expert. “Oh.” She raised her eyebrows. “Is this—uh, a bad time?” “It’s fine,” Finnit said, reluctantly releasing Vosaphar so the demon could sit up. “I’m glad to see you, Jethel. Thank you for all your help.” She nodded. “The main reason I’m here is to inform you that the panel of luminaries in attendance convened, and after an examination of the fragment you provided, determined that you passed your discovery trial. Raekard dissented, but I suppose situations like these are exactly why the founders required a full panel in the bylaws. Congratulations, Finnit!” She waited for a moment, creating an awkward silence. “But I get the sense that, perhaps this is not your main concern?” “No, it isn’t,” Finnit said. “I mean—I guess I’m glad it’s over. But, I’m concerned about Vosaphar’s injuries.” He paused. “This is Vosaphar. He’s from… uh, the calciferous wastes.” “Uh huh. Noted.” Jethel directed her focus toward the devil. “Vosaphar? May I take a closer look?” “Yes,” Vosaphar said, watching her lightly-wrinkled fingers weave diagnostic glyphs in front of him. Finnit gently rubbed his back. “How are you feeling?” “I… don’t know,” Vosaphar answered honestly. “It’s a strange sensation. Like my bones are itching beneath my skin.” “Interesting,” Jethel remarked. “Well—this fragment of—uh, I guess I have no real idea what it actually is, some exotic vitric—seems to have fused onto you? It radiates an extraordinary amount of magic. For a human, that would be concerning, by which I mean, fatal. But I admit, I am not an expert on infernal anatomy.” She glanced at Finnit, eyes narrowing. “Though based on what I have seen today, perhaps *you* are becoming one.” Vosaphar looked his way as well, amused to see the mortal’s cheeks reddening. “Thought so,” Jethel remarked. “I hope Raekard never hears the end of this, for whatever remains of his miserable days.” “Oh,” Finnit said, evidently realizing something. “I see now… the lens fragment. Raekard is, at least, a *competent* sorcerer—his banishment rite should have succeeded. By remaining here, I thought Vosaphar might have violated the principle of planar reversion. But with this power fusing with you—I guess that makes it *your* power. And it far exceeds Raekard’s.” “Fascinating,” Jethel said, “if not a touch alarming in its implications. Well, at any rate, for now, I recommend treating the exposed edges where the fragment is impacting your skin. I don’t know what your plans are, Finnit, but if you remain here for the moment—as a luminary—we can research the issue together.” “What do you think?” Finnit asked him. “We could stay for a bit, sort things out?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“That sounds nice, Finnit.” “And after that—” “The rest of it?” “The rest of it.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="cairnveldchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BAABA]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BAA. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BAAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s desperation. However, his distrust caused him to reject desperation in favor of clinginess, reaching Finnit in time to teleport to Cairnveld with him. This proved to be a fortunate miscalculation. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BAA. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BAAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s desperation. However, his distrust caused him to reject desperation in favor of clinginess, reaching Finnit in time to teleport to Cairnveld with him. This proved to be a fortunate miscalculation. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[XXV.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage cold, wet, and screaming. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It had a certain resonance, didn’t it? He coughed violently, choking on sludge and bloodfog alike, wading clumsily in your direction. Even from this distance, you could feel intense energy pouring off the misplaced mortal, his magic warped by the glowing fragments of the Pharos Fidelis stuck in his hair and clothing. If nothing else could be salvaged from this historic disaster, at least you had an opportunity to fuel your furnace. The mortal would, at any moment, petition you for relief from his dire situation. This provided you a brief moment to consider which form might be most appropriate for such an absurd occasion. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|initial>[In that light: (link-reveal: "You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. Inaccurate though it may have been, perhaps you had the right to such a form. You’d already spent more time fussing over Vosaphar’s fate than any of his makers had. You adopted an elegant posture and swept out of your cottage to approach the mortal. “Hello, Finnit,” you said. He turned to look at you, eyes widening. You flicked your new tail, mimicking one of Vosaphar’s gestures that he so favored. “Um—hi. Uh—” “Welcome to my calciferous wastes.” You extended your arms, gesturing toward the dark skies and lonesome coralbone monuments dotting the horizon. “And what a sight they are.” Finnit looked around, evidently still processing this alarming development. “The calciferous wastes? Do you—do you know Vosaphar?” “Please, join me inside,” you said. “We shall sit by the fire and discuss these matters.” Finnit numbly complied, letting you guide him to the soot-stained armchairs by your furnace. It seemed to calm him down, having become accustomed to closeness with a certain source of hellfire. “What happened? Do you know?” Finnit asked. “Sorry—I’m just—I should ask who you are probably?” “I am the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “I think—I think he banished me?” “He did.” You tapped an idle claw against your ivory armchair. “I’m sorry, maybe this is too forward, but—look, I’m worried about Vosaphar? I don’t know what happened—what if—what if he—” You took him to the window and pointed to the dark pool, where Vosaphar’s ember twinkled at the bottom. If anything, it had grown brighter. Interesting. “That is his essential coal,” you said. “If he had perished, he would have immediately returned here. If we wait, he will eventually appear. However…” Finnit paced to and fro, trying to shake off his anxiety. “What if he’s hurt—he must be—I don’t want to wait!” “It is not a matter of desire, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. Perhaps that hadn’t been a Vosapharian gesture. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Will you—I mean, would you please help me?” “What are your intentions toward Vosaphar?” “My intentions?” Finnit looked puzzled. “What do you—” “Answer my question carefully, mortal.” He looked appropriately worried. “Look, I—I love him. I know it’s been so quick, and maybe you think it’s shallow, just because he’s so beautiful—but, uh, really, I have never felt so close with someone. I mean—he took me to the *sun*, and back. I don’t know what it would mean for us to be together outside of the Pharos Fidelis, in a more normal world. Maybe it won’t work, and we’ll part ways. I think—I mean, I hope you think that we’re worthy of a chance to figure that out.” “Vosaphar will need your help,” you said. “He will suffer from his power. You will stand by him? Treat him respectfully?” “I would—I will.” “Very well.” You paused. “I would send you back to Cairnveld.” You gave a pointed look toward your furnace. “But my fire is too weak for such a feat. Won’t you stoke it?” “Stoke it?” Finnit looked nervous. “What, uh—what do you want? My soul?” How amusing. “Are you offering that?” You approached him, attempting to loom in the way he found so appealing when Vosaphar did it. Finnit looked terrified as you reached down and plucked a glowing lens fragment from his hair. “No, Finnit. Not your soul. I want these.” “Oh—is that all? Yes, you can have them. They’re not even really mine, I don’t think.” Finnit parted easily with the fragments, tossing each into the furnace as he found it. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to cause some new chaos. He had no sense of priorities. And neither—apparently—did you, entertaining this… cloyingly earnest romantic nonsense. You reached for Finnit’s transit band, warping the sigils such that they would send Finnit on his way. Before activating it, you paused. “If you treat Vosaphar with anything less than the respect owed to such an unreasonably affectionate devil, I will send every specter in my dominion to drag you back here, and drown you in these depths for all eternity.” It was a joke. Mostly. You were sure that Finnit appreciated it. With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. You basked in the new heat now crackling and seething in your furnace. And how ridiculous an exchange it was, to receive all that energy for a trivial bit of spellcraft. Even an incubus would have found no pleasure in the seduction of such easy prey. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[That’s why you did it, right? You *just* wanted the power. Nothing more. You felt nothing else. Surely. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Survive. ⇒->26BAAAAA. Vosaphar]]]]]]]</div>] Unless: (link-reveal: "You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. Darkness pooled around you, threshed with dozens of unblinking, glowing eyes. Gobs of loose flesh sizzled on charred bones to add to the illusion’s sensory overload. You adopted a threatening posture and swept out of your cottage to approach Finnit, trailing black grease in your wake. “Mortal!” you shouted, startling him. “You dare trespass upon my dominion?” Finnit turned your way, and his breath hitched at the loathsome sight of you. He cowered. Mortals were so susceptible to this kind of stagecraft, weren’t they? “I—I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—” “Silence!” You stretched and oozed before him. “You have stolen from me. You must return what I’m owed.” Finnit’s eyes darted about wildly, as if he were considering running away. He wouldn’t make it far. “Could you please—um—grand one? Uh, what did I steal?” “My *light*.” You over-articulated the “t” with such exuberance that flecks of acid splattered from your many mouths. “The Pharos Fidelis.” You wrapped a slimy tentacle around his arm, pulling him closer so you could pluck one of the fragments from his clothes. “What? Oh. Oh you can—you can have those. They’re, um, not even mine.” He was too frightened to assist in this process, so you grabbed each fragment, showing no regard for his comfort. Shards collected—from his perspective, devoured—you began shambling back to your cottage. “Wait!” Finnit called after you. “Um—I need—I need to get back to Vosaphar—do you know him? Or—” “I am the warden of these calciferous wastes, and he is my subject. Mortal longings are not my concern…” “But please, I—” “…Unless, of course, you wish to receive… an accord.” And there it was. Not only had you easily liberated the shards from his unworthy possession, but you could do even more to sate your rage with the proceedings of the eclipse. “An accord?” Finnit asked. “You’ll help me get back?” “For a *price*,” you hissed. “I gave you—I gave you the fragments!” He seemed to have realized his mistake. Perhaps he ought to have actually read *Case Studies in Infernal Betrayal* instead of assuming all demons would be as needy and pathetic as Vosaphar. “You claimed yourself that you had no ownership over them. They are mine already. One cannot offer a gift already granted.” “So what do you want?” His voice was strained. “My soul?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“*That* is worthless.” Drawing from the power of the fragments you held, you manifested a bloodfrost dagger from the fog, its keen edge sharp enough to carve the walls of the lazurynth. “Take this dagger to Luminary Raekard. I tire of his incompetent scheming. Carve out his heart. Then burn it in a ring of hellfire until it is but ash on the wind.” “But I—I can’t kill someone!” Finnit shouted. “That’s absurd—even someone as awful as him—and he’s so dangerous. It would never work.” “Then you will die here, and never again wrap your wretched limbs around the devil you cling to in the dark.” You sidled into your cottage, leaving him to contemplate his mortal morality while you stoked the furnace with the fragments. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to inflict some new misery upon the world. It wasn’t long before he approached you again. He looked directly at you, gazing into your seething core, and without stumbling, said, “I accept those terms.” You wrapped a tendril around the hilt of the dagger and offered it to him. He took it, his expression grim and determined. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[You *almost* believed he could do it. With a burst of magic, you activated his bracelet—the transit band—and sent him to his terrible fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Append. ⇒->P4BAAAAB. Fourth Principle]]]]]]]</div> ] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. Well, at least the version of yourself that held court, lording your specificity over these dismal barrens. Finnit would get to see you for what you were: powerful, yet petty. Exhausted, too. It was miserable to live with your failures. You slunk to your soot-stained armchair by the furnace, waiting for the mortal to arrive. He knocked at the door. “Hello? Is—is someone in here?” “Come in, Finnit.” He opened the door, and saw you by the furnace. What texture the man had taken on since he left Cairnveld, struggling through your schemes in that desperate way that humans are wont to do. You gestured for him to sit in the chair across from yours. He obliged, if a bit warily. “Welcome to my calciferous wastes,” you said. “I wonder what you think of them?” “Calciferous wastes?” Something flickered in his eyes. “Is that—do you know Vosaphar?” “Answer my question first, if you will.” Finnit seemed taken aback, but recovered. “Well, if you really want to know—I can see why Vosaphar was so determined to leave.” You could almost see him realizing in real time that he probably was meant to say something kinder. “Not that there isn’t something… eerily beautiful about the colors streaking across the sky. But, it’s very cold and sharp and it seems sad, I guess?” “Yes, Vosaphar is troubled by his existence. As are we all.” You clicked your claws against the coralbone armrest. “You look—If you don’t mind me saying—you look familiar to me. But I don’t understand why. Who are you?” “I’m the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “So I guess he banished me here? It was the first place he thought of?” “I’m flattered.” A pause. “And perhaps you ought to be relieved that he didn’t recall the lazurynth quicker.” “I need to get back to him.” Finnit fixed you with a serious expression. “He might be hurt, or—I want to get back. Please. He means—he means a lot to me.” “It is not a matter of necessity, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Wait—I know why you look familiar!” He studied your face once more. “You look a little bit like… my grandmother.” “The trees in Tinfallow have deep roots indeed, if they reach all the way to these calciferous wastes.” “I don’t understand.” He bit his lip. “There are too many pieces—it’s hard to look at directly.” “Then focus on the piece of it you care about.” “Vosaphar.” “Of course. Young love. Star-crossed, even.” You sighed. “Well, I could send you on your way to Cairnveld.” You pointed at his bracelet. “But…” “You want something in return?” Finnit asked, leaning forward. “What is it? What do you want?” “What I *really* want is for you to have written my name correctly on the Pharos Fidelis.” Finnit sat back again. “That’s—that’s *you*? Your name? I expected someone so much more…” “Impressive?” You gave a hollow laugh. “Terrifying,” he finished. “But you seem, I don’t know, reasonable enough?” “I’m sure it seems that way.” “Well I—I don’t think I can undo what happened,” Finnit said. “I’m sorry it didn’t work. I know it may not look that way, but I really did try. I don’t know what it would’ve done if it worked, but I tried.” “You did.” You looked over at your furnace, where your sluggish motes of hellfire simmered. “I want the lens fragments in your possession.” “Lens fragments?” You pointed them out in his hair and on his clothes. “So that’s what you’re proposing as the terms of an exchange? I give you these shards, and you’ll send me back to Cairnveld?” “Yes.” “It just seems… I don’t know. I feel like there is still so much that I’m missing? If you—if you really are connected to me, in some way… would you want to… stay in touch?” You hadn’t expected *that*, of all things. “You want the warden of the calciferous wastes to offer you… mentorship.” “I’ve done much weirder things today!” Finnit said, rather defensively. “I went to the *sun*. Look, my mentor is Luminary Raekard. An actual demon would be a significant improvement.” “Ah, Raekard. I regret my part in that, given how it went.” “What?” Finnit’s eyes widened. “What do you mean you—” “Finnit, I propose an addendum to our… accord. If you wish to speak with me, you shall have one chance to do so during each new moon. Sacrifice a lens fragment in my name, and we shall converse for one hour.” “I’m not sure how I’ll get more of these,” Finnit said. “It seems expensive.” “And yet, a single fragment pales against the scale of what you destroyed. You could not possibly comprehend how far you’ve set me back. But,” you added, softening your tone, “I will make that hour as worthwhile as you wish it to be.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit accepted those terms, tossing each of the lens fragments on his person into your furnace. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to bend ever more futures in your favor. “Thank you,” Finnit said, as you adjusted the sigils on his transit band. “I—I’m glad to have met you.” With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Survive. ⇒->26BAAAAC. Vosaphar]]]]</div> ]]]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage cold, wet, and screaming. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It had a certain resonance, didn’t it? He coughed violently, choking on sludge and bloodfog alike, wading clumsily in your direction. Even from this distance, you could feel intense energy pouring off the misplaced mortal, his magic warped by the glowing fragments of the Pharos Fidelis stuck in his hair and clothing. If nothing else could be salvaged from this historic disaster, at least you had an opportunity to fuel your furnace. The mortal would, at any moment, petition you for relief from his dire situation. This provided you a brief moment to consider which form might be most appropriate for such an absurd occasion. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|initial>[In that light: (link-reveal: "You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. Inaccurate though it may have been, perhaps you had the right to such a form. You’d already spent more time fussing over Vosaphar’s fate than any of his makers had. You adopted an elegant posture and swept out of your cottage to approach the mortal. “Hello, Finnit,” you said. He turned to look at you, eyes widening. You flicked your new tail, mimicking one of Vosaphar’s gestures that he so favored. “Um—hi. Uh—” “Welcome to my calciferous wastes.” You extended your arms, gesturing toward the dark skies and lonesome coralbone monuments dotting the horizon. “And what a sight they are.” Finnit looked around, evidently still processing this alarming development. “The calciferous wastes? Do you—do you know Vosaphar?” “Please, join me inside,” you said. “We shall sit by the fire and discuss these matters.” Finnit numbly complied, letting you guide him to the soot-stained armchairs by your furnace. It seemed to calm him down, having become accustomed to closeness with a certain source of hellfire. “What happened? Do you know?” Finnit asked. “Sorry—I’m just—I should ask who you are probably?” “I am the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “I think—I think he banished me?” “He did.” You tapped an idle claw against your ivory armchair. “I’m sorry, maybe this is too forward, but—look, I’m worried about Vosaphar? I don’t know what happened—what if—what if he—” You took him to the window and pointed to the dark pool, where Vosaphar’s ember twinkled at the bottom. If anything, it had grown brighter. Interesting. “That is his essential coal,” you said. “If he had perished, he would have immediately returned here. If we wait, he will eventually appear. However…” Finnit paced to and fro, trying to shake off his anxiety. “What if he’s hurt—he must be—I don’t want to wait!” “It is not a matter of desire, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. Perhaps that hadn’t been a Vosapharian gesture. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Will you—I mean, would you please help me?” “What are your intentions toward Vosaphar?” “My intentions?” Finnit looked puzzled. “What do you—” “Answer my question carefully, mortal.” He looked appropriately worried. “Look, I—I love him. I know it’s been so quick, and maybe you think it’s shallow, just because he’s so beautiful—but, uh, really, I have never felt so close with someone. I mean—he took me to the *sun*, and back. I don’t know what it would mean for us to be together outside of the Pharos Fidelis, in a more normal world. Maybe it won’t work, and we’ll part ways. I think—I mean, I hope you think that we’re worthy of a chance to figure that out.” “Vosaphar will need your help,” you said. “He will suffer from his power. You will stand by him? Treat him respectfully?” “I would—I will.” “Very well.” You paused. “I would send you back to Cairnveld.” You gave a pointed look toward your furnace. “But my fire is too weak for such a feat. Won’t you stoke it?” “Stoke it?” Finnit looked nervous. “What, uh—what do you want? My soul?” How amusing. “Are you offering that?” You approached him, attempting to loom in the way he found so appealing when Vosaphar did it. Finnit looked terrified as you reached down and plucked a glowing lens fragment from his hair. “No, Finnit. Not your soul. I want these.” “Oh—is that all? Yes, you can have them. They’re not even really mine, I don’t think.” Finnit parted easily with the fragments, tossing each into the furnace as he found it. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to cause some new chaos. He had no sense of priorities. And neither—apparently—did you, entertaining this… cloyingly earnest romantic nonsense. You reached for Finnit’s transit band, warping the sigils such that they would send Finnit on his way. Before activating it, you paused. “If you treat Vosaphar with anything less than the respect owed to such an unreasonably affectionate devil, I will send every specter in my dominion to drag you back here, and drown you in these depths for all eternity.” It was a joke. Mostly. You were sure that Finnit appreciated it. With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. You basked in the new heat now crackling and seething in your furnace. And how ridiculous an exchange it was, to receive all that energy for a trivial bit of spellcraft. Even an incubus would have found no pleasure in the seduction of such easy prey. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[That’s why you did it, right? You *just* wanted the power. Nothing more. You felt nothing else. Surely. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[Survive. ⇒->26BAAAAA. Vosaphar]]]]]]]</div>] Unless: (link-reveal: "You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. Darkness pooled around you, threshed with dozens of unblinking, glowing eyes. Gobs of loose flesh sizzled on charred bones to add to the illusion’s sensory overload. You adopted a threatening posture and swept out of your cottage to approach Finnit, trailing black grease in your wake. “Mortal!” you shouted, startling him. “You dare trespass upon my dominion?” Finnit turned your way, and his breath hitched at the loathsome sight of you. He cowered. Mortals were so susceptible to this kind of stagecraft, weren’t they? “I—I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—” “Silence!” You stretched and oozed before him. “You have stolen from me. You must return what I’m owed.” Finnit’s eyes darted about wildly, as if he were considering running away. He wouldn’t make it far. “Could you please—um—grand one? Uh, what did I steal?” “My *light*.” You over-articulated the “t” with such exuberance that flecks of acid splattered from your many mouths. “The Pharos Fidelis.” You wrapped a slimy tentacle around his arm, pulling him closer so you could pluck one of the fragments from his clothes. “What? Oh. Oh you can—you can have those. They’re, um, not even mine.” He was too frightened to assist in this process, so you grabbed each fragment, showing no regard for his comfort. Shards collected—from his perspective, devoured—you began shambling back to your cottage. “Wait!” Finnit called after you. “Um—I need—I need to get back to Vosaphar—do you know him? Or—” “I am the warden of these calciferous wastes, and he is my subject. Mortal longings are not my concern…” “But please, I—” “…Unless, of course, you wish to receive… an accord.” And there it was. Not only had you easily liberated the shards from his unworthy possession, but you could do even more to sate your rage with the proceedings of the eclipse. “An accord?” Finnit asked. “You’ll help me get back?” “For a *price*,” you hissed. “I gave you—I gave you the fragments!” He seemed to have realized his mistake. Perhaps he ought to have actually read *Case Studies in Infernal Betrayal* instead of assuming all demons would be as needy and pathetic as Vosaphar. “You claimed yourself that you had no ownership over them. They are mine already. One cannot offer a gift already granted.” “So what do you want?” His voice was strained. “My soul?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“*That* is worthless.” Drawing from the power of the fragments you held, you manifested a bloodfrost dagger from the fog, its keen edge sharp enough to carve the walls of the lazurynth. “Take this dagger to Luminary Raekard. I tire of his incompetent scheming. Carve out his heart. Then burn it in a ring of hellfire until it is but ash on the wind.” “But I—I can’t kill someone!” Finnit shouted. “That’s absurd—even someone as awful as him—and he’s so dangerous. It would never work.” “Then you will die here, and never again wrap your wretched limbs around the devil you cling to in the dark.” You sidled into your cottage, leaving him to contemplate his mortal morality while you stoked the furnace with the fragments. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to inflict some new misery upon the world. It wasn’t long before he approached you again. He looked directly at you, gazing into your seething core, and without stumbling, said, “I accept those terms.” You wrapped a tendril around the hilt of the dagger and offered it to him. He took it, his expression grim and determined. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[You *almost* believed he could do it. With a burst of magic, you activated his bracelet—the transit band—and sent him to his terrible fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[Append. ⇒->P4BAAAAB. Fourth Principle]]]]]]]</div> ] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. Well, at least the version of yourself that held court, lording your specificity over these dismal barrens. Finnit would get to see you for what you were: powerful, yet petty. Exhausted, too. It was miserable to live with your failures. You slunk to your soot-stained armchair by the furnace, waiting for the mortal to arrive. He knocked at the door. “Hello? Is—is someone in here?” “Come in, Finnit.” He opened the door, and saw you by the furnace. What texture the man had taken on since he left Cairnveld, struggling through your schemes in that desperate way that humans are wont to do. You gestured for him to sit in the chair across from yours. He obliged, if a bit warily. “Welcome to my calciferous wastes,” you said. “I wonder what you think of them?” “Calciferous wastes?” Something flickered in his eyes. “Is that—do you know Vosaphar?” “Answer my question first, if you will.” Finnit seemed taken aback, but recovered. “Well, if you really want to know—I can see why Vosaphar was so determined to leave.” You could almost see him realizing in real time that he probably was meant to say something kinder. “Not that there isn’t something… eerily beautiful about the colors streaking across the sky. But, it’s very cold and sharp and it seems sad, I guess?” “Yes, Vosaphar is troubled by his existence. As are we all.” You clicked your claws against the coralbone armrest. “You look—If you don’t mind me saying—you look familiar to me. But I don’t understand why. Who are you?” “I’m the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “So I guess he banished me here? It was the first place he thought of?” “I’m flattered.” A pause. “And perhaps you ought to be relieved that he didn’t recall the lazurynth quicker.” “I need to get back to him.” Finnit fixed you with a serious expression. “He might be hurt, or—I want to get back. Please. He means—he means a lot to me.” “It is not a matter of necessity, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Wait—I know why you look familiar!” He studied your face once more. “You look a little bit like… my grandmother.” “The trees in Tinfallow have deep roots indeed, if they reach all the way to these calciferous wastes.” “I don’t understand.” He bit his lip. “There are too many pieces—it’s hard to look at directly.” “Then focus on the piece of it you care about.” “Vosaphar.” “Of course. Young love. Star-crossed, even.” You sighed. “Well, I could send you on your way to Cairnveld.” You pointed at his bracelet. “But…” “You want something in return?” Finnit asked, leaning forward. “What is it? What do you want?” “What I *really* want is for you to have written my name correctly on the Pharos Fidelis.” Finnit sat back again. “That’s—that’s *you*? Your name? I expected someone so much more…” “Impressive?” You gave a hollow laugh. “Terrifying,” he finished. “But you seem, I don’t know, reasonable enough?” “I’m sure it seems that way.” “Well I—I don’t think I can undo what happened,” Finnit said. “I’m sorry it didn’t work. I know it may not look that way, but I really did try. I don’t know what it would’ve done if it worked, but I tried.” “You did.” You looked over at your furnace, where your sluggish motes of hellfire simmered. “I want the lens fragments in your possession.” “Lens fragments?” You pointed them out in his hair and on his clothes. “So that’s what you’re proposing as the terms of an exchange? I give you these shards, and you’ll send me back to Cairnveld?” “Yes.” “It just seems… I don’t know. I feel like there is still so much that I’m missing? If you—if you really are connected to me, in some way… would you want to… stay in touch?” You hadn’t expected *that*, of all things. “You want the warden of the calciferous wastes to offer you… mentorship.” “I’ve done much weirder things today!” Finnit said, rather defensively. “I went to the *sun*. Look, my mentor is Luminary Raekard. An actual demon would be a significant improvement.” “Ah, Raekard. I regret my part in that, given how it went.” “What?” Finnit’s eyes widened. “What do you mean you—” “Finnit, I propose an addendum to our… accord. If you wish to speak with me, you shall have one chance to do so during each new moon. Sacrifice a lens fragment in my name, and we shall converse for one hour.” “I’m not sure how I’ll get more of these,” Finnit said. “It seems expensive.” “And yet, a single fragment pales against the scale of what you destroyed. You could not possibly comprehend how far you’ve set me back. But,” you added, softening your tone, “I will make that hour as worthwhile as you wish it to be.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit accepted those terms, tossing each of the lens fragments on his person into your furnace. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to bend ever more futures in your favor. “Thank you,” Finnit said, as you adjusted the sigils on his transit band. “I—I’m glad to have met you.” With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[Survive. ⇒->26BAAAAC. Vosaphar]]]]</div> ]]]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Mote]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BAAAAC]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BAAAAC]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 3)[Anathema.] (text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 1.15)[The Fourth Principle of Summoning.]</div> A timely addendum, courtesy of you. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Behold the fourth principle of summoning: (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color:#a01404)[**4. The Principle of Voluntary and Efficient Accession to the Extraordinarily Reasonable Conditions Imposed by the Magnanimous Warden of the Calciferous Wastes, Who Certainly Never Even Cared About the Pharos Fidelis, And Certainly Not the Absurd Romantic Yearnings of Your Pathetic Subjects—Or Else.**] Summoners who willingly and knowingly forge an accord with you must see their bargain through, or suffer the consequences of incompetence and betrayal. (text-color:#a01404)[***Implication:***] You suffered long and worked hard to eke out your existence. (text-color:#a01404)[***Implication:***] You generously helped him plenty up to this point—for free. It wasn’t such a high price to ask him to kill someone he hated anyway. You both benefited from this accord. (text-color:#a01404)[***Implication:***] His failure was inevitable. You weren’t *really* invested in his survival, or his potential to shift the tenor of human-demon relations. You were just hungry for more power, right? You just wanted to enrich your tiny slice of the hells, fuel your furnace, as you had always done. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It would have been unreasonable for *you*, of all beings, to have cared. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Bemoan. ⇒->26BAAAAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Behold the fourth principle of summoning: (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color:#f17264)[**4. The Principle of Voluntary and Efficient Accession to the Extraordinarily Reasonable Conditions Imposed by the Magnanimous Warden of the Calciferous Wastes, Who Certainly Never Even Cared About the Pharos Fidelis, And Certainly Not the Absurd Romantic Yearnings of Your Pathetic Subjects—Or Else.**] Summoners who willingly and knowingly forge an accord with you must see their bargain through, or suffer the consequences of incompetence and betrayal. (text-color:#f17264)[***Implication:***] You suffered long and worked hard to eke out your existence. (text-color:#f17264)[***Implication:***] You generously helped him plenty up to this point—for free. It wasn’t such a high price to ask him to kill someone he hated anyway. You both benefited from this accord. (text-color:#f17264)[***Implication:***] His failure was inevitable. You weren’t *really* invested in his survival, or his potential to shift the tenor of human-demon relations. You were just hungry for more power, right? You just wanted to enrich your tiny slice of the hells, fuel your furnace, as you had always done. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It would have been unreasonable for *you*, of all beings, to have cared. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Bemoan. ⇒->26BAAAAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BAAAAA]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BAAAAA]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BAA. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BAAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s clinginess. However, his distrust caused him to reject clinginess in favor of desperation, impulsively banishing Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate miscalculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25BAAAA. Finnit]]]</div> You took a comforting form, nurturing his budding relationship with Vosaphar in exchange for the lens fragments on his person. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BAA. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BAAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s clinginess. However, his distrust caused him to reject clinginess in favor of desperation, impulsively banishing Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate miscalculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25BAAAA. Finnit]]]</div> You took a comforting form, nurturing his budding relationship with Vosaphar in exchange for the lens fragments on his person. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he would *stay* longing. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[For, if you must suffer this catastrophic failure, you would offer him no choice but to join you in misery. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BAAAAB]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he would *stay* longing. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[For, if you must suffer this catastrophic failure, you would offer him no choice but to join you in misery. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BAAAAB]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the brief union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Finnit perished in a failed assassination attempt upon his return to Cairnveld, screaming of the sun. A strange footnote to this history. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. But a new threat lurked. The demon Vosaphar absorbed the fragments around him, growing distorted in his influence. He climbed upon the melted peak and in his sorrow and fury, bewitched many ships to their doom with fata morgana. He had become, in effect, the latest Pharos Fidelis. Perhaps he had even become something more powerful than *you*. And perhaps you deserved to finally feel fear again. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BAA. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BAAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s clinginess. However, his distrust caused him to reject clinginess in favor of desperation, impulsively banishing Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate miscalculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25BAAAA. Finnit]]]</div> You took a terrifying form, seizing his lens fragments for yourself, and dooming him with an impossible accord. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and absolutely no complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the brief union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Finnit perished in a failed assassination attempt upon his return to Cairnveld, screaming of the sun. A strange footnote to this history. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. But a new threat lurked. The demon Vosaphar absorbed the fragments around him, growing distorted in his influence. He climbed upon the melted peak and in his sorrow and fury, bewitched many ships to their doom with fata morgana. He had become, in effect, the latest Pharos Fidelis. Perhaps he had even become something more powerful than *you*. And perhaps you deserved to finally feel fear again. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BAA. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BAAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s clinginess. However, his distrust caused him to reject clinginess in favor of desperation, impulsively banishing Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate miscalculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25BAAAA. Finnit]]]</div> You took a terrifying form, seizing his lens fragments for yourself, and dooming him with an impossible accord. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and absolutely no complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BAA. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BAAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s clinginess. However, his distrust caused him to reject clinginess in favor of desperation, impulsively banishing Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate miscalculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25BAAAA. Finnit]]]</div> You took an honest form, developing a stronger connection with Finnit while ensuring ongoing access to lens fragments in the future. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BAA. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BAAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s clinginess. However, his distrust caused him to reject clinginess in favor of desperation, impulsively banishing Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate miscalculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25BAAAA. Finnit]]]</div> You took an honest form, developing a stronger connection with Finnit while ensuring ongoing access to lens fragments in the future. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[XVIII.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">It wasn’t long before even the shock of Vosaphar’s emergence from the pool—exactly as cold and miserable as you had promised him it would be—had begun to fade into the listlessness of wandering the wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The residual magic Finnit had accorded him allowed him to travel faster and further than before. His slash wounds scabbed over more readily, healing further with each attempt. Something had shifted in his specificity. He should have been satisfied with that. Satisfied with the memories of what was, and dreams of what could have been, for bitter honey still bore sweetness. Didn’t it? Another kind of wound had carved itself into his heart. Without Finnit, Vosaphar’s existence felt darker and emptier than it ever had before. He wondered what might be about to happen, was happening, or had already happened at the Pharos Fidelis. Was Finnit still preparing his ritual of communion with the lens? Was it already over? Could he have been, right at that moment, spiraling amidst its unfathomable secrets? Perhaps Finnit’s rite had failed, the cursed lens consuming his soul as it had so many others. But, it could also be… something else. Another reason. Just as that doubt crept in, the devil felt a familiar sensation tugging at his core. Heat coursed through his veins as a tendril of sorcery unfurled for him, awaiting his tender grasp. (align:"<==")[And then—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=========")[Vosaphar] (align:"=><==")[at last] (align:"=><=")[recalled] (align:"===><==")[his] (align:"==><=")[own] (align:"===><=")[principle] (align:"=========><=")[of] (align:"==>")[flight—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Spread wings. ⇒->19BAAB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">It wasn’t long before even the shock of Vosaphar’s emergence from the pool—exactly as cold and miserable as you had promised him it would be—had begun to fade into the listlessness of wandering the wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The residual magic Finnit had accorded him allowed him to travel faster and further than before. His slash wounds scabbed over more readily, healing further with each attempt. Something had shifted in his specificity. He should have been satisfied with that. Satisfied with the memories of what was, and dreams of what could have been, for bitter honey still bore sweetness. Didn’t it? Another kind of wound had carved itself into his heart. Without Finnit, Vosaphar’s existence felt darker and emptier than it ever had before. He wondered what might be about to happen, was happening, or had already happened at the Pharos Fidelis. Was Finnit still preparing his ritual of communion with the lens? Was it already over? Could he have been, right at that moment, spiraling amidst its unfathomable secrets? Perhaps Finnit’s rite had failed, the cursed lens consuming his soul as it had so many others. But, it could also be… something else. Another reason. Just as that doubt crept in, the devil felt a familiar sensation tugging at his core. Heat coursed through his veins as a tendril of sorcery unfurled for him, awaiting his tender grasp. (align:"<==")[And then—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=========")[Vosaphar] (align:"=><==")[at last] (align:"=><=")[recalled] (align:"===><==")[his] (align:"==><=")[own] (align:"===><=")[principle] (align:"=========><=")[of] (align:"==>")[flight—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Spread wings. ⇒->19BAAB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XIX.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">Atop the Pharos Fidelis, Finnit remained just in sight of the great split glass that had spilled its secrets. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he smeared the last of his wax sticks to stubs on wet stone, he did not give the lens a further thought. He did not obey the principle of authoritarian primacy. He did not beware the principle of semantic dilution. He did not account for the principle of planar reversion. He thought only of Vosaphar, with a singular intensity of focus that even the Pharos Fidelis could never have dreamed of refracting. The circle of waxen glyphs coursed with scarlet fire, brighter than Finnit had ever seen it. He averted his gaze, eyes watering. When he looked back, Vosaphar had manifested before him once more. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[From his back spread wings wrought of fire, eldritch blue roiled with red and magenta—the colors of Finnit’s own magic, now intertwined with Vosaphar’s. Finnit’s eyes traveled further, noting ichor scabs crisscrossing the devil’s scarred blue chest, and then, curls of rough hair trailing immodestly past his navel. Streaks of lightning slashed green across the sky, glinting off his fearsome horns. Raindrops sizzled as the demon swept them aside, wreathing himself in silver mist. Vosaphar looked every bit an archfiend of legend looming over him, his eyes fixed on Finnit, reaching forward to press the sorcerer against the cliffside, claws clasping his wrists. “Vosaphar—” The infernal heat overwhelmed his mortal senses. “Please—Vosaphar, kiss m—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon pressed his lips gently against Finnit’s, dark beard bristling against his tender skin, breathing out brimstone incense that smoldered in Finnit’s throat. Just when Finnit thought himself on the verge of feeling too much, that Vosaphar might devour his soul and all his magic in a final, blissful moment of agony, the fiend held back, slackening his grip, and smiled. “I couldn’t wait until I got back,” Finnit said, his vision still sparking. “I—I needed to see you again.” “That’s not all you need.” Vosaphar leaned forward, so close still that Finnit could see details pitted into his horns. “What is it exactly that you imagine, lustful one? A dreadful devil from your darkest dreams, ever so sweetly domineering?” “I–” Finnit felt dazed as those fevered imaginings grew sharper into his mind. “I mean—well—now that you’ve brought it up, that sounds—” “Too bad,” Vosaphar said, his voice sly and soft. “My dear Finnit, you’re all *wet*.” And he was. He’d completely abandoned his wards in the midst of an endless storm. How embarrassing. Finnit also noticed that, in his exuberance to kiss him, Vosaphar had clumsily scorched Finnit’s sleeves with his wings. Suddenly, the demon felt less like some legendary figure, and instead like something better. Something real. Finnit’s companion. Finnit’s love. Finnit’s Vosaphar. “We should head back down,” Finnit said. “We should.” Vosaphar pushed one of Finnit’s loose curls back. “But listen, Finnit. When we do, I want *you* to take the lead. I want things to be… gentle, between us. For now. How does that sound?” “I have never wanted something so much in my entire existence.” Vosaphar grinned, ivory fangs glinting. “Good.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[What followed was an evening of tender fumbling and grasping. Finnit had been piqued by the fantasy of Vosaphar looming over him; and it remained a thought he wanted to revisit later. But, he found that this gentle, deliberate exploration—some serenity among the profane—brought him closer to understanding the demon in a way he found difficult to articulate but easy to just experience as it happened. Tomorrow, research awaited. But for now, Finnit’s fears grew distant as he slept, wrapped against Vosaphar like a warm satchel. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Interrogate. ⇒->C1BAAB. Sunlight]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">Atop the Pharos Fidelis, Finnit remained just in sight of the great split glass that had spilled its secrets. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he smeared the last of his wax sticks to stubs on wet stone, he did not give the lens a further thought. He did not obey the principle of authoritarian primacy. He did not beware the principle of semantic dilution. He did not account for the principle of planar reversion. He thought only of Vosaphar, with a singular intensity of focus that even the Pharos Fidelis could never have dreamed of refracting. The circle of waxen glyphs coursed with scarlet fire, brighter than Finnit had ever seen it. He averted his gaze, eyes watering. When he looked back, Vosaphar had manifested before him once more. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[From his back spread wings wrought of fire, eldritch blue roiled with red and magenta—the colors of Finnit’s own magic, now intertwined with Vosaphar’s. Finnit’s eyes traveled further, noting ichor scabs crisscrossing the devil’s scarred blue chest, and then, curls of rough hair trailing immodestly past his navel. Streaks of lightning slashed green across the sky, glinting off his fearsome horns. Raindrops sizzled as the demon swept them aside, wreathing himself in silver mist. Vosaphar looked every bit an archfiend of legend looming over him, his eyes fixed on Finnit, reaching forward to press the sorcerer against the cliffside, claws clasping his wrists. “Vosaphar—” The infernal heat overwhelmed his mortal senses. “Please—Vosaphar, kiss m—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon pressed his lips gently against Finnit’s, dark beard bristling against his tender skin, breathing out brimstone incense that smoldered in Finnit’s throat. Just when Finnit thought himself on the verge of feeling too much, that Vosaphar might devour his soul and all his magic in a final, blissful moment of agony, the fiend held back, slackening his grip, and smiled. “I couldn’t wait until I got back,” Finnit said, his vision still sparking. “I—I needed to see you again.” “That’s not all you need.” Vosaphar leaned forward, so close still that Finnit could see details pitted into his horns. “What is it exactly that you imagine, lustful one? A dreadful devil from your darkest dreams, ever so sweetly domineering?” “I–” Finnit felt dazed as those fevered imaginings grew sharper into his mind. “I mean—well—now that you’ve brought it up, that sounds—” “Too bad,” Vosaphar said, his voice sly and soft. “My dear Finnit, you’re all *wet*.” And he was. He’d completely abandoned his wards in the midst of an endless storm. How embarrassing. Finnit also noticed that, in his exuberance to kiss him, Vosaphar had clumsily scorched Finnit’s sleeves with his wings. Suddenly, the demon felt less like some legendary figure, and instead like something better. Something real. Finnit’s companion. Finnit’s love. Finnit’s Vosaphar. “We should head back down,” Finnit said. “We should.” Vosaphar pushed one of Finnit’s loose curls back. “But listen, Finnit. When we do, I want *you* to take the lead. I want things to be… gentle, between us. For now. How does that sound?” “I have never wanted something so much in my entire existence.” Vosaphar grinned, ivory fangs glinting. “Good.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[What followed was an evening of tender fumbling and grasping. Finnit had been piqued by the fantasy of Vosaphar looming over him; and it remained a thought he wanted to revisit later. But, he found that this gentle, deliberate exploration—some serenity among the profane—brought him closer to understanding the demon in a way he found difficult to articulate but easy to just experience as it happened. Tomorrow, research awaited. But for now, Finnit’s fears grew distant as he slept, wrapped against Vosaphar like a warm satchel. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Interrogate. ⇒->C1BAAB. Sunlight]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[1st Era | Sunlight.]</div> One more fragment recounting the dark history of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">(text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The illuminative session for Leisenelle, former third officer of the now-renegade vessel ‘Consonance,’ is hereby brought to order. You stand accused of mutiny, murder, theft, deception, consorting with proscribed entities, and willful evasion of justice. Is that correct? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] You would know. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Is that correct? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I guess so. Yes. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“She sounds a lot like you,” Vosaphar murmured, stroking his claws idly through Finnit’s hair. “‘Consorting with proscribed entities?’ What a wicked accusation.” Finnit snorted. “Are you going to bring me to justice?” “Absolutely not.” “Too bad.” </div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Against these accusations, how do you plead? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I do not plead. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] You must make a claim, either to affirm or deny each crime you have been accused of. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I will make no such claims. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The accused has neglected her obligation to plead. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] What’s your deal, anyway? Are you mad? Some pretty vampire in your past tied your morals all up in knots and made you feel sinful? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My role here is strictly illuminative. How did you first come to associate with this vampire? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I was trying to find out the truth about this island. But none of them would talk to me. The islanders, I mean. They resent us. You know that, right? Look at what we’ve done to them since we got here. Someone has to stop it. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, mark a note down for ‘sedition,’ would you? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">At least the clerics are obligated to transcribe what they actually heard. Historians ought to learn from their example. ⚞L. Raekard (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“I think Raekard’s distaste for historians gets in his way,” Finnit said. “How could we possibly know, at this point, what liberties the cleric might have taken?” “It’s going to take more than historians to put a stop to him.” Finnit laughed, but Vosaphar hadn’t told a joke.</div>] </div>] (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] You didn’t have that one already? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Continue. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Fine. This one woman approached me, and told me to visit her house on the outskirts after sundown. I thought she might be into me—and maybe she was, a little—but she wanted me to meet her grandmother. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Yeah. Did the ‘after sundown’ part give it away? I’m not a good storyteller. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The only things your story requires are honesty and accuracy. Justice will account for the rest. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Whatever you need to tell yourself. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] I don’t ‘need’ to do anything. My role here is strictly illuminative. As the accused has been reminded. Continue. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] So, I waited for dusk, and paid her a visit. Her grandmother was living in the basement. Some kind of herbalist, I guess. The whole time we talked, she was crushing up these weird seedpods in a mortar and pestle. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] At what point did you realize this entity was a vampire? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Not until after, when… (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] When what? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] When you killed her. Robbed us of her wisdom, kindness, perspective, heart, all she contributed to her community. And for what? Some ash? Dust? Is there not already enough collecting between the folds of your ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that last term for obscenity. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] What, you’re more scandalized by me describing your dust-crusted ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆ than your violence? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that one as well. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“Which word do you suppose was stricken here?” Vosaphar asked. “Asscheeks,” Finnit said solemnly. “Has to be.”</div>] (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] So you don’t have an answer. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The entity in question was brought before sunlight and destroyed in accordance with all legal and moral precedent. Any ‘violence’ is lawful, and thereby just. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] And you wonder why they hate us. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Hatred is not the subject of this illuminative session. What did your proscribed discussion entail? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] She told me all kinds of stories about this place, how they have fine-tuned their relationship with the island to keep things running, letting their traditions evolve with the conditions. I think her granddaughter wanted her to have someone new to talk to, so she could share all this with someone. The old woman told me that when sun and moon meet in the sky, the boundary between our world and theirs grows thin. At such a momentous event, the cleverest and quickest might climb into the throat of the island and cross the threshold to the cosmos. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">At last. Something of value in this tedious discussion. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire spoke metaphorically, did it not? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">I wondered the same thing. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] No, I don’t think she did. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Explain. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] She said that when the celestial hosts of the heavens are distracted with their dance, the sun grows just cool enough to touch. She dipped her finger into the mortar, and showed me a golden bead of oil, and she said even a drop of sunlight was enough to bless the island for a century, but few survived the transit. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">They must not have understood what they were doing. How could they have, without knowledge of the Three Principles? If there is any truth to it at all, it is clearly some underdeveloped rite of self-banishment, resulting in a temporary transference of a mortal into the hells until planar reversion draws them back. If that. Nevertheless, the ritual is worth investigating further. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] It claimed to have performed this… feat? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I believe her. You would’ve too, had you been there. Thankfully, you weren’t. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My opinion toward the superstitious musings of a proscribed entity is not the subject of this session. My role here is strictly— (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“Illuminative,” Vosaphar said, looking out into the storm. “That’s it?” Finnit asked. “But I want to know… so much more.” “And yet, we know more now than we did before. Does this not confirm what you saw in the lens?” “I guess so. Still…” </div>] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightchroniclechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[[[Suspect. ⇒->20BAAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">(text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The illuminative session for Leisenelle, former third officer of the now-renegade vessel ‘Consonance,’ is hereby brought to order. You stand accused of mutiny, murder, theft, deception, consorting with proscribed entities, and willful evasion of justice. Is that correct? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] You would know. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Is that correct? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I guess so. Yes. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“She sounds a lot like you,” Vosaphar murmured, stroking his claws idly through Finnit’s hair. “‘Consorting with proscribed entities?’ What a wicked accusation.” Finnit snorted. “Are you going to bring me to justice?” “Absolutely not.” “Too bad.” </div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Against these accusations, how do you plead? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I do not plead. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] You must make a claim, either to affirm or deny each crime you have been accused of. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I will make no such claims. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The accused has neglected her obligation to plead. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] What’s your deal, anyway? Are you mad? Some pretty vampire in your past tied your morals all up in knots and made you feel sinful? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My role here is strictly illuminative. How did you first come to associate with this vampire? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I was trying to find out the truth about this island. But none of them would talk to me. The islanders, I mean. They resent us. You know that, right? Look at what we’ve done to them since we got here. Someone has to stop it. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, mark a note down for ‘sedition,’ would you? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">At least the clerics are obligated to transcribe what they actually heard. Historians ought to learn from their example. ⚞L. Raekard (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“I think Raekard’s distaste for historians gets in his way,” Finnit said. “How could we possibly know, at this point, what liberties the cleric might have taken?” “It’s going to take more than historians to put a stop to him.” Finnit laughed, but Vosaphar hadn’t told a joke.</div>] </div>] (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] You didn’t have that one already? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Continue. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Fine. This one woman approached me, and told me to visit her house on the outskirts after sundown. I thought she might be into me—and maybe she was, a little—but she wanted me to meet her grandmother. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Yeah. Did the ‘after sundown’ part give it away? I’m not a good storyteller. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The only things your story requires are honesty and accuracy. Justice will account for the rest. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Whatever you need to tell yourself. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] I don’t ‘need’ to do anything. My role here is strictly illuminative. As the accused has been reminded. Continue. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] So, I waited for dusk, and paid her a visit. Her grandmother was living in the basement. Some kind of herbalist, I guess. The whole time we talked, she was crushing up these weird seedpods in a mortar and pestle. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] At what point did you realize this entity was a vampire? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Not until after, when… (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] When what? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] When you killed her. Robbed us of her wisdom, kindness, perspective, heart, all she contributed to her community. And for what? Some ash? Dust? Is there not already enough collecting between the folds of your ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that last term for obscenity. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] What, you’re more scandalized by me describing your dust-crusted ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆ than your violence? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that one as well. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“Which word do you suppose was stricken here?” Vosaphar asked. “Asscheeks,” Finnit said solemnly. “Has to be.”</div>] (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] So you don’t have an answer. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The entity in question was brought before sunlight and destroyed in accordance with all legal and moral precedent. Any ‘violence’ is lawful, and thereby just. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] And you wonder why they hate us. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Hatred is not the subject of this illuminative session. What did your proscribed discussion entail? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] She told me all kinds of stories about this place, how they have fine-tuned their relationship with the island to keep things running, letting their traditions evolve with the conditions. I think her granddaughter wanted her to have someone new to talk to, so she could share all this with someone. The old woman told me that when sun and moon meet in the sky, the boundary between our world and theirs grows thin. At such a momentous event, the cleverest and quickest might climb into the throat of the island and cross the threshold to the cosmos. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">At last. Something of value in this tedious discussion. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire spoke metaphorically, did it not? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">I wondered the same thing. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] No, I don’t think she did. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Explain. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] She said that when the celestial hosts of the heavens are distracted with their dance, the sun grows just cool enough to touch. She dipped her finger into the mortar, and showed me a golden bead of oil, and she said even a drop of sunlight was enough to bless the island for a century, but few survived the transit. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">They must not have understood what they were doing. How could they have, without knowledge of the Three Principles? If there is any truth to it at all, it is clearly some underdeveloped rite of self-banishment, resulting in a temporary transference of a mortal into the hells until planar reversion draws them back. If that. Nevertheless, the ritual is worth investigating further. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] It claimed to have performed this… feat? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I believe her. You would’ve too, had you been there. Thankfully, you weren’t. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My opinion toward the superstitious musings of a proscribed entity is not the subject of this session. My role here is strictly— (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“Illuminative,” Vosaphar said, looking out into the storm. “That’s it?” Finnit asked. “But I want to know… so much more.” “And yet, we know more now than we did before. Does this not confirm what you saw in the lens?” “I guess so. Still…” </div>] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="chroniclechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[[[Suspect. ⇒->20BAAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#927b1a")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Chronicle]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XX.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">With fewer than a handful of days remaining until the eclipse, Vosaphar was determined to spend as much of that time as he could with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon now wondered why they had wasted the preceding days doing everything else *except* wrapping up together in blankets, speaking softly to one another. His ordeals felt paler against the comfort of this heat. Had your machinations even mattered for this? Under these conditions, wouldn’t they have always found themselves in love? You had no motes for lust. Though, based on what you had seen, you wouldn’t have needed them. Goodness. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Once they were ready to venture out, Finnit led Vosaphar back up the cliffside stairs to the crevice dotted with rusted anchors and unhatched eggs. The bird-creature chirped warily as they sidled deeper into the passage. She affixed those golden eyes to Vosaphar, unblinking, as though daring him to disturb any of her forsaken brood. He kept himself positioned between her and Finnit, to help alleviate the mortal’s anxiety. After winding their way through, the passage opened into a roughly circular chamber. “Look, Vosaphar,” Finnit intoned, pointing up. “We’re right beneath the lens.” Black slag had oozed down from the ceiling, frozen into organic stalactites that reflected no light from Finnit’s orb. While still fluid, they had dripped, leaving a few glassy patches spread across the altar. *Click*. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“What was that?” Vosaphar whispered. He cautiously approached the altar, a raised disk with a tight spiral grooved into its otherwise flat surface. “There,” Finnit whispered. “See the moon?” *Click*. A mechanism lowered a miniature pewter grate, allowing a tiny white sphere to roll a little further forward along the channel. At the center of the spiral lay a rendering of the sun, blotched by inky glass that had dripped down from above. “So much for studying the almanac.” Finnit paced around the pedestal. “This device is telling us how much is left until the eclipse. If we had known earlier…” “But we know now,” Vosaphar said. “Look at how close it is.” Vast and fiddly though the design was, the moon had wound its way close to the center. It was an unwelcome reminder of the future approaching, click by— *Click*. A taut silence stretched between them. Vosaphar had thoughts that he was unwilling to admit to. *Click*. “What if we just stayed here?” Finnit voiced. “Well maybe not this particular chamber. I mean the Pharos Fidelis in general.” He looked down at the transit bracelet Raekard had given him. “I could throw this in the ocean. We could ignore the lens. Stay here as long as we wanted.” “There’s nothing for you to eat, Finnit.” *Click.* “Would you even want to go to the academy?” Finnit stared at the pedestal. “Who even knows what they’d do to you, or—” “I am willing to risk it,” Vosaphar said. “I cannot say what the future holds. But we can’t stay here. I’m in no hurry to descend back to the calciferous wastes. And you have your life to live. I would rather join you in whatever of that you are willing to have me for, or until we choose to part. Is that not the way forward in such matters? The real accord?” *Click.* Finnit was silent for a few more moments. “Yes. You’re right. But I’m scared. This could all go so wrong.” Vosaphar embraced Finnit, holding him close. “It might. We will do our best, regardless.” They stayed together a while longer, before journeying back to their strange little home in the cliffside. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[At the eclipse, they would return. And the fate of the Pharos Fidelis would at last be decided. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Petition. ⇒->RBAAB. Calciferous]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">With fewer than a handful of days remaining until the eclipse, Vosaphar was determined to spend as much of that time as he could with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon now wondered why they had wasted the preceding days doing everything else *except* wrapping up together in blankets, speaking softly to one another. His ordeals felt paler against the comfort of this heat. Had your machinations even mattered for this? Under these conditions, wouldn’t they have always found themselves in love? You had no motes for lust. Though, based on what you had seen, you wouldn’t have needed them. Goodness. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Once they were ready to venture out, Finnit led Vosaphar back up the cliffside stairs to the crevice dotted with rusted anchors and unhatched eggs. The bird-creature chirped warily as they sidled deeper into the passage. She affixed those golden eyes to Vosaphar, unblinking, as though daring him to disturb any of her forsaken brood. He kept himself positioned between her and Finnit, to help alleviate the mortal’s anxiety. After winding their way through, the passage opened into a roughly circular chamber. “Look, Vosaphar,” Finnit intoned, pointing up. “We’re right beneath the lens.” Black slag had oozed down from the ceiling, frozen into organic stalactites that reflected no light from Finnit’s orb. While still fluid, they had dripped, leaving a few glassy patches spread across the altar. *Click*. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“What was that?” Vosaphar whispered. He cautiously approached the altar, a raised disk with a tight spiral grooved into its otherwise flat surface. “There,” Finnit whispered. “See the moon?” *Click*. A mechanism lowered a miniature pewter grate, allowing a tiny white sphere to roll a little further forward along the channel. At the center of the spiral lay a rendering of the sun, blotched by inky glass that had dripped down from above. “So much for studying the almanac.” Finnit paced around the pedestal. “This device is telling us how much is left until the eclipse. If we had known earlier…” “But we know now,” Vosaphar said. “Look at how close it is.” Vast and fiddly though the design was, the moon had wound its way close to the center. It was an unwelcome reminder of the future approaching, click by— *Click*. A taut silence stretched between them. Vosaphar had thoughts that he was unwilling to admit to. *Click*. “What if we just stayed here?” Finnit voiced. “Well maybe not this particular chamber. I mean the Pharos Fidelis in general.” He looked down at the transit bracelet Raekard had given him. “I could throw this in the ocean. We could ignore the lens. Stay here as long as we wanted.” “There’s nothing for you to eat, Finnit.” *Click.* “Would you even want to go to the academy?” Finnit stared at the pedestal. “Who even knows what they’d do to you, or—” “I am willing to risk it,” Vosaphar said. “I cannot say what the future holds. But we can’t stay here. I’m in no hurry to descend back to the calciferous wastes. And you have your life to live. I would rather join you in whatever of that you are willing to have me for, or until we choose to part. Is that not the way forward in such matters? The real accord?” *Click.* Finnit was silent for a few more moments. “Yes. You’re right. But I’m scared. This could all go so wrong.” Vosaphar embraced Finnit, holding him close. “It might. We will do our best, regardless.” They stayed together a while longer, before journeying back to their strange little home in the cliffside. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[At the eclipse, they would return. And the fate of the Pharos Fidelis would at last be decided. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Petition. ⇒->RBAAB. Calciferous]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[Recollection.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">Vosaphar’s spilling ichor sang to them so sweetly, libations that lured all manner of lips to lap. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[No longer able to fly, the beleaguered demon ran, stumbled, staggered, crawled—anything he could do to place another lazurynthine wall between himself and his nearest pursuer. He needed somewhere dark and quiet, somewhere safe to recover. Such amenities were unavailable in the lazurynth. But there were other hells than these. Vosaphar slipped through an inky gap between walls that had lost definition, their geometry corrupted by some other force. He sank into an oily pool, far beneath the febrile blue heat. He could no longer tell where the sludge began and his blood ended, drifting ever downward. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Eventually he reached the shore near your cottage, not yet fragmented to spectral remnants. Still specific, despite it all. He crawled to your doorstep, begging for relief from the lazurynth. Should he fall, he would emerge there once more, a cycle of dissolution his demonhood would eventually fail to survive. You told him that the calciferous wastes were hostile and desolate. He said he preferred a false quiet to an honest din. You told him there was nothing of value here—had there been, a warden as petty as you would’ve long been shredded to bits by a stronger devil. He said he preferred an expansive nothing to crowded corridors. You told him he would awaken cold, wet, and screaming, his every lonely birth into this void inevitable suffering. He said he preferred a bitter plunge to a blistering fire. You told him what it would cost, a steady stream of magic to brighten your hellfire furnace, tending to the motes. He accepted those terms without hesitation. You asked him for his name. He still had one. Vosaphar. With that accorded, you plucked his coal from the deepest pit of the lazurynth, and held it between your claws, its blue dimmed to gray. His archfiend wouldn’t miss it. And then you threw it in the pool, and it sank to the bottom, where it lodged itself in a dark crevice. Vosaphar, now under your jurisdiction, fled into the wastes, searching for a smooth bit of coralbone to lean against, however futilely. You gave him desolation, cold, and quiet. In return, your furnace grew brighter. How could you have ever predicted what this would eventually make impossible? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Discover. ⇒->21BAAB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">Vosaphar’s spilling ichor sang to them so sweetly, libations that lured all manner of lips to lap. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[No longer able to fly, the beleaguered demon ran, stumbled, staggered, crawled—anything he could do to place another lazurynthine wall between himself and his nearest pursuer. He needed somewhere dark and quiet, somewhere safe to recover. Such amenities were unavailable in the lazurynth. But there were other hells than these. Vosaphar slipped through an inky gap between walls that had lost definition, their geometry corrupted by some other force. He sank into an oily pool, far beneath the febrile blue heat. He could no longer tell where the sludge began and his blood ended, drifting ever downward. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Eventually he reached the shore near your cottage, not yet fragmented to spectral remnants. Still specific, despite it all. He crawled to your doorstep, begging for relief from the lazurynth. Should he fall, he would emerge there once more, a cycle of dissolution his demonhood would eventually fail to survive. You told him that the calciferous wastes were hostile and desolate. He said he preferred a false quiet to an honest din. You told him there was nothing of value here—had there been, a warden as petty as you would’ve long been shredded to bits by a stronger devil. He said he preferred an expansive nothing to crowded corridors. You told him he would awaken cold, wet, and screaming, his every lonely birth into this void inevitable suffering. He said he preferred a bitter plunge to a blistering fire. You told him what it would cost, a steady stream of magic to brighten your hellfire furnace, tending to the motes. He accepted those terms without hesitation. You asked him for his name. He still had one. Vosaphar. With that accorded, you plucked his coal from the deepest pit of the lazurynth, and held it between your claws, its blue dimmed to gray. His archfiend wouldn’t miss it. And then you threw it in the pool, and it sank to the bottom, where it lodged itself in a dark crevice. Vosaphar, now under your jurisdiction, fled into the wastes, searching for a smooth bit of coralbone to lean against, however futilely. You gave him desolation, cold, and quiet. In return, your furnace grew brighter. How could you have ever predicted what this would eventually make impossible? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Discover. ⇒->21BAAB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Recollection]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">The day of the eclipse, Finnit woke with a sharp pain searing his back, breaking him out of his warm reverie. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar was twitching and scratching in his sleep again. Finnit adored the feeling of the devil’s tail coiled around his thigh, basking in the hellish heat that staved off the island’s chill. Nonetheless, crawling into the embrace of a clawed creature had a few drawbacks. “Hey,” Finnit whispered. “Wake up.” Vosaphar shifted, his tail loosening its grip on Finnit. “Mmph.” “You scratched me again,” Finnit said. “Nightmares?” “Oh no,” Vosaphar said. “I’m sorry, Finnit. Here…” The demon traced the scratches, and Finnit felt an odd prickly sensation as the skin healed over. “Thank you. You’re getting good at that.” Vosaphar delicately kissed the side of Finnit’s neck. “I don’t normally sleep so much. The mortal realm is… exhausting, in its own way. Perhaps I can fashion some wrappings for my claws in the future.” “Whoa,” Finnit said, gazing out one of the windows. “What?” “The sky is different.” And indeed it was. The rain had—incredibly—let up slightly, the green glow he’d become so accustomed to taking on distinct streaks of orange and red. Vosaphar grimaced. “I guess it’s time.” “Yeah.” They made their final preparations. Finnit tucked his syllabaries into his satchel and ate his last rations. He thought he might never forget the taste of salted fruit leather in whatever days—or day—he had remaining. “Was there something else we should have prepared?” Finnit asked. “We’re just… walking through a portal to the sun? Like this?” “I can’t think of anything, Finnit.” “Well, alright then.” He looked around at the now overly-familiar place he had spent this last month. “Goodbye, awful yet cozy stone room under a cursed lighthouse. It was certainly a time.” “That it was.” Vosaphar sounded amused. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They ventured out onto the cliffside stairs. Even these had become familiar, the treachery of each step now a well-worn betrayal. As they slipped past the anchor collector, she gave out a little warble of encouragement. At least, that’s how Finnit chose to take it. Up ahead, a ruddy glow intensified as they approached the altar beneath the lens and its housing. The miniature moon had arrived at its destination, transforming the sun emblem at the center into a bright red disc of light. It was overwhelming to look at directly; Finnit’s eyes strained from this threat to perception. “It’s terrible,” Finnit whispered. “Beautiful, too. What a dazzling horror of a thing to witness.” “Finnit,” Vosaphar began, wrapping his arms gently around the sorcerer. “It might be neglectful of our accord for me not to mention… you don’t have to do this. I could—I could go without you—you could die, Finnit, and—I—I don’t want to lose you… forever.” Finnit looked up into the fiend’s fearful, loving eyes. “Vosaphar—I’m afraid, too. But I couldn’t accept that. Isn’t that what Raekard would do? Send someone to die in his stead, to do the big scary things he won’t face himself? This trial was his idea, but now it’s my trial. Our trial. And I want to see it through. Together. Don’t you?” “Yes,” Vosaphar admitted. “I want to see the sun... with you.” “Then let’s go see it.” Vosaphar smiled, and took Finnit’s arm in his. Together, they stepped into an oblivion of crimson light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Eclipse. ⇒->Eclipse BAAB]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">The day of the eclipse, Finnit woke with a sharp pain searing his back, breaking him out of his warm reverie. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar was twitching and scratching in his sleep again. Finnit adored the feeling of the devil’s tail coiled around his thigh, basking in the hellish heat that staved off the island’s chill. Nonetheless, crawling into the embrace of a clawed creature had a few drawbacks. “Hey,” Finnit whispered. “Wake up.” Vosaphar shifted, his tail loosening its grip on Finnit. “Mmph.” “You scratched me again,” Finnit said. “Nightmares?” “Oh no,” Vosaphar said. “I’m sorry, Finnit. Here…” The demon traced the scratches, and Finnit felt an odd prickly sensation as the skin healed over. “Thank you. You’re getting good at that.” Vosaphar delicately kissed the side of Finnit’s neck. “I don’t normally sleep so much. The mortal realm is… exhausting, in its own way. Perhaps I can fashion some wrappings for my claws in the future.” “Whoa,” Finnit said, gazing out one of the windows. “What?” “The sky is different.” And indeed it was. The rain had—incredibly—let up slightly, the green glow he’d become so accustomed to taking on distinct streaks of orange and red. Vosaphar grimaced. “I guess it’s time.” “Yeah.” They made their final preparations. Finnit tucked his syllabaries into his satchel and ate his last rations. He thought he might never forget the taste of salted fruit leather in whatever days—or day—he had remaining. “Was there something else we should have prepared?” Finnit asked. “We’re just… walking through a portal to the sun? Like this?” “I can’t think of anything, Finnit.” “Well, alright then.” He looked around at the now overly-familiar place he had spent this last month. “Goodbye, awful yet cozy stone room under a cursed lighthouse. It was certainly a time.” “That it was.” Vosaphar sounded amused. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They ventured out onto the cliffside stairs. Even these had become familiar, the treachery of each step now a well-worn betrayal. As they slipped past the anchor collector, she gave out a little warble of encouragement. At least, that’s how Finnit chose to take it. Up ahead, a ruddy glow intensified as they approached the altar beneath the lens and its housing. The miniature moon had arrived at its destination, transforming the sun emblem at the center into a bright red disc of light. It was overwhelming to look at directly; Finnit’s eyes strained from this threat to perception. “It’s terrible,” Finnit whispered. “Beautiful, too. What a dazzling horror of a thing to witness.” “Finnit,” Vosaphar began, wrapping his arms gently around the sorcerer. “It might be neglectful of our accord for me not to mention… you don’t have to do this. I could—I could go without you—you could die, Finnit, and—I—I don’t want to lose you… forever.” Finnit looked up into the fiend’s fearful, loving eyes. “Vosaphar—I’m afraid, too. But I couldn’t accept that. Isn’t that what Raekard would do? Send someone to die in his stead, to do the big scary things he won’t face himself? This trial was his idea, but now it’s my trial. Our trial. And I want to see it through. Together. Don’t you?” “Yes,” Vosaphar admitted. “I want to see the sun... with you.” “Then let’s go see it.” Vosaphar smiled, and took Finnit’s arm in his. Together, they stepped into an oblivion of crimson light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Eclipse. ⇒->Eclipse BAAB]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 3)[Eclipse.] (text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Sun.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">The sun was a cosmic affliction, a colossal molten mass so red and seething that even the infernal embers blazing in the deepest pits of the hells seemed but feeble sparks in the distance. And Vosaphar was soaring *toward* it. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he flew, Finnit clutched against him, tendrils of the corona pulled peculiar new colors from his wings, its aurora a spectacle more captivating than your dreary calciferous skies could have ever dreamed to churn. How you longed for such color and heat and majesty—even just a drop of it. And *they* got to see it all, to have it within reach. “Vosaphar, look!” With his free hand, Finnit pointed toward an eerie black void drifting past. Dozens of bird-creatures flew from the roiling surface of the sun to circle and screech at the dark moon, a celestial interloper threatening the eternity of light. “They’re sunspots!” Finnit shouted. “She’s a sunspot!” “They’re *distracted*, too.” Vosaphar glided toward the edge of the sun away from the shrieking horrors. “That’s why it has to be now.” The demon and his summoner skimmed the sun’s surface, its dangerous heat threatening to embrace them forever so closely. “Hold on, Finnit!” Vosaphar tilted his wings, arm outstretched, reaching, swiping up a glob of incandescent fluid. This molten scarlet-amber squeezed between his claws and stuck to his low-dipped wing. Even these tiny droplets of starlight held immense power that coursed through him as he arced up out of the sun’s grip. “It’s so incredible!” Finnit laughed, tears streaming behind him, motes of wonder sparkling in space. Something darkened behind them. Finnit looked over his shoulder. “Vosaphar—there’s a new sunspot—” The creature shrieked as it gave chase, following the radiant beads dripping from Vosaphar’s sunswept wing. Vosaphar affixed his gaze to the portal back to the Pharos Fidelis, soaring ever faster. The screeching grew louder yet, judgment for their cardinal cosmic sin approaching with alarming haste. But with Finnit clinging to his side… (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar simply had no use for consequences. With a final burst of speed, they shot through the portal. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Reignite. ⇒->22BAAB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">The sun was a cosmic affliction, a colossal molten mass so red and seething that even the infernal embers blazing in the deepest pits of the hells seemed but feeble sparks in the distance. And Vosaphar was soaring *toward* it. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he flew, Finnit clutched against him, tendrils of the corona pulled peculiar new colors from his wings, its aurora a spectacle more captivating than your dreary calciferous skies could have ever dreamed to churn. How you longed for such color and heat and majesty—even just a drop of it. And *they* got to see it all, to have it within reach. “Vosaphar, look!” With his free hand, Finnit pointed toward an eerie black void drifting past. Dozens of bird-creatures flew from the roiling surface of the sun to circle and screech at the dark moon, a celestial interloper threatening the eternity of light. “They’re sunspots!” Finnit shouted. “She’s a sunspot!” “They’re *distracted*, too.” Vosaphar glided toward the edge of the sun away from the shrieking horrors. “That’s why it has to be now.” The demon and his summoner skimmed the sun’s surface, its dangerous heat threatening to embrace them forever so closely. “Hold on, Finnit!” Vosaphar tilted his wings, arm outstretched, reaching, swiping up a glob of incandescent fluid. This molten scarlet-amber squeezed between his claws and stuck to his low-dipped wing. Even these tiny droplets of starlight held immense power that coursed through him as he arced up out of the sun’s grip. “It’s so incredible!” Finnit laughed, tears streaming behind him, motes of wonder sparkling in space. Something darkened behind them. Finnit looked over his shoulder. “Vosaphar—there’s a new sunspot—” The creature shrieked as it gave chase, following the radiant beads dripping from Vosaphar’s sunswept wing. Vosaphar affixed his gaze to the portal back to the Pharos Fidelis, soaring ever faster. The screeching grew louder yet, judgment for their cardinal cosmic sin approaching with alarming haste. But with Finnit clinging to his side… (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar simply had no use for consequences. With a final burst of speed, they shot through the portal. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Reignite. ⇒->22BAAB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXII.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Finnit and Vosaphar tumbled over the edge of the altar, the portal still aglow with the eclipse-light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But there was little time to celebrate their reckless heist—the sunspot shoved its vicious pointed head through the gap after them, screeching as it struggled to break through. Finnit let Vosaphar carry him a bit further up the tunnel, before standing on his own feet and running alongside. The anchor collector had left her nest, wheeling about in the sky, shrieking back at the new sunspot about to burst from the throat of the island. Finnit looked out at the storm, the clouds thinned enough that he could see the eclipsed red sun half-risen, framing the infernal image of a devil’s horns. “How magnificent,” he said, breathless. Vosaphar looked down at him, gently squeezing his hand. They arrived at the peak, where the lens yearned for light, and at last, Finnit had light to provide. Vosaphar held out his claws, sunlight pooled in his palm, and Finnit painted it, trying to create the glyph his mind had projected there, the name of the demon whose rite might reignite the Pharos Fidelis. You watched, enraptured by the spectacle of your plans converging. This was it. This was your moment. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As Finnit slathered the glowing fluid across the lens, the dark slag drank it in—more, and more, and more of it. Too much of it. The glyph couldn’t hold its shape. The lens welled, hyperfolding crimson light, growing ever hotter by the second. The cleft, once so close to promising your name, had already deformed beyond recognition. And how brutal; that poor, mortal sorcerer, all tangled in your schemes, had every intention of drawing your name, a sigil drenched in the lifeblood of the sun. He really did try. You couldn’t fault him for that. But the execution? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A tragedy, in many fragments. For centuries—perhaps longer—every mortal design for the Pharos Fidelis had crumbled. Each disaster wrote another chapter in that wretched chronicle, the dark history of guiding light. And you thought *yours* would work? Pharos Fidelis, the beacon on the horizon of reason. Where it would remain, out of reach. Could not even a devil accept the simple dreadful truth, that a horizon approached can never arrive? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Finnit, we have to leave!” Vosaphar shouted, scanning the skies for the sunspots. “The lens is collapsing!” “No—it has to—Vosaphar, it has to—” “Finnit, please—” “I can’t—I can’t get the shape right, it’s going to—” “It deserves to shatter.” How dare he. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“But, what was this even for, then?” Finnit sobbed, the last of the sunlight ripped from his fingertips into the Pharos Fidelis. Vosaphar pulled him, one final time, away from the amplifying dyslucence. “That’s for the historians!” Vosaphar stared at him with his stormy eyes. “Shouldn’t we live? Don’t you want a future? ” “Yes!” Finnit embraced Vosaphar once more, and the demon swept him up into the sky. They abandoned the Pharos Fidelis to its fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They *tried* to abandon it. But it wasn’t done with them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Shatter. ⇒->23BAAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Finnit and Vosaphar tumbled over the edge of the altar, the portal still aglow with the eclipse-light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But there was little time to celebrate their reckless heist—the sunspot shoved its vicious pointed head through the gap after them, screeching as it struggled to break through. Finnit let Vosaphar carry him a bit further up the tunnel, before standing on his own feet and running alongside. The anchor collector had left her nest, wheeling about in the sky, shrieking back at the new sunspot about to burst from the throat of the island. Finnit looked out at the storm, the clouds thinned enough that he could see the eclipsed red sun half-risen, framing the infernal image of a devil’s horns. “How magnificent,” he said, breathless. Vosaphar looked down at him, gently squeezing his hand. They arrived at the peak, where the lens yearned for light, and at last, Finnit had light to provide. Vosaphar held out his claws, sunlight pooled in his palm, and Finnit painted it, trying to create the glyph his mind had projected there, the name of the demon whose rite might reignite the Pharos Fidelis. You watched, enraptured by the spectacle of your plans converging. This was it. This was your moment. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As Finnit slathered the glowing fluid across the lens, the dark slag drank it in—more, and more, and more of it. Too much of it. The glyph couldn’t hold its shape. The lens welled, hyperfolding crimson light, growing ever hotter by the second. The cleft, once so close to promising your name, had already deformed beyond recognition. And how brutal; that poor, mortal sorcerer, all tangled in your schemes, had every intention of drawing your name, a sigil drenched in the lifeblood of the sun. He really did try. You couldn’t fault him for that. But the execution? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A tragedy, in many fragments. For centuries—perhaps longer—every mortal design for the Pharos Fidelis had crumbled. Each disaster wrote another chapter in that wretched chronicle, the dark history of guiding light. And you thought *yours* would work? Pharos Fidelis, the beacon on the horizon of reason. Where it would remain, out of reach. Could not even a devil accept the simple dreadful truth, that a horizon approached can never arrive? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Finnit, we have to leave!” Vosaphar shouted, scanning the skies for the sunspots. “The lens is collapsing!” “No—it has to—Vosaphar, it has to—” “Finnit, please—” “I can’t—I can’t get the shape right, it’s going to—” “It deserves to shatter.” How dare he. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“But, what was this even for, then?” Finnit sobbed, the last of the sunlight ripped from his fingertips into the Pharos Fidelis. Vosaphar pulled him, one final time, away from the amplifying dyslucence. “That’s for the historians!” Vosaphar stared at him with his stormy eyes. “Shouldn’t we live? Don’t you want a future? ” “Yes!” Finnit embraced Vosaphar once more, and the demon swept him up into the sky. They abandoned the Pharos Fidelis to its fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They *tried* to abandon it. But it wasn’t done with them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Shatter. ⇒->23BAAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Disavowal]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXIII.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">The storm rushed past Vosaphar as he carried Finnit, placing any distance he could between them and the doomed Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Still seeking their stolen sunlight, the sunspot pursued, but the anchor collector screeched and snapped at it. The two creatures, identically opposed in desire, circled the peak as they fought above the molten slag. “It’s going to—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The world around them grew absolutely silent, swallowing the rest of Finnit’s warning. Every bit of light had gathered, folding itself over and over and over still, smaller, ever smaller, congealing into the tiniest, brightest speck. For a moment, Vosaphar wondered if it would keep going, dragging the mortal realm, the hells, and all the rest of existence into its singularity. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Instead, it shattered. All that had been poured into it—all the fire, all the lightning, all the stray souls, all the stolen sunlight, all the summons slaughtered, all the hopes and dreams and plots and schemes and—all of it finally shattered, sending incalculable shards of glass in every direction at incredible speeds. A vanguard fragment slammed into Vosaphar’s chest, knocking Finnit out of his grasp. The sorcerer began to drift away on his own trajectory— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And you thought, though your plans had shattered along with everything else… You still had one last mote of hellfire to spare. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Influence. ⇒->M4BAAB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">The storm rushed past Vosaphar as he carried Finnit, placing any distance he could between them and the doomed Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Still seeking their stolen sunlight, the sunspot pursued, but the anchor collector screeched and snapped at it. The two creatures, identically opposed in desire, circled the peak as they fought above the molten slag. “It’s going to—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The world around them grew absolutely silent, swallowing the rest of Finnit’s warning. Every bit of light had gathered, folding itself over and over and over still, smaller, ever smaller, congealing into the tiniest, brightest speck. For a moment, Vosaphar wondered if it would keep going, dragging the mortal realm, the hells, and all the rest of existence into its singularity. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Instead, it shattered. All that had been poured into it—all the fire, all the lightning, all the stray souls, all the stolen sunlight, all the summons slaughtered, all the hopes and dreams and plots and schemes and—all of it finally shattered, sending incalculable shards of glass in every direction at incredible speeds. A vanguard fragment slammed into Vosaphar’s chest, knocking Finnit out of his grasp. The sorcerer began to drift away on his own trajectory— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And you thought, though your plans had shattered along with everything else… You still had one last mote of hellfire to spare. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Influence. ⇒->M4BAAB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Disavowal]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#fc4e71")+(text-size: 3)[Influence.] (text-color:"#fc4e71")+(text-size: 1.15)[Clinginess | Desperation.]</div> One final mote of hellfire appeared. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightmotepassage">When potent emotions conflicted a demon’s judgment, even the faintest mote of hellfire bore enough infernal energy to influence their fate from afar. That’s how you got them into this mess. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#8c283c)[***Clinginess***] For the demon Vosaphar, so eager to wrap himself around his beloved summoner, the sight of the mortal falling away would’ve driven him to dive in closer. This clinginess would have joined their fates together, should you have chosen to foster it. Yielding to this clinginess, however romantic, risked their joint fate becoming tragic. (text-color:#8c283c)[***Desperation***] For the demon Vosaphar, so determined for his beloved summoner to survive, the sight of him falling away would’ve driven him to take reckless measures. This desperation might have driven him to intervene instantly to salvage the situation. Yielding to this desperation, however hasty, risked their fates diverging dramatically. (text-color:#8c283c)[***Decision***] Well? Which force did this mote of hellfire incite? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightmotechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))[[[Clinginess. ⇒->24BAABA. Vosaphar]]] (link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#fc4e71")))[[[Desperation. ⇒->24BAABB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="motepassage">When potent emotions conflicted a demon’s judgment, even the faintest mote of hellfire bore enough infernal energy to influence their fate from afar. That’s how you got them into this mess. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Clinginess***] For the demon Vosaphar, so eager to wrap himself around his beloved summoner, the sight of the mortal falling away would’ve driven him to dive in closer. This clinginess would have joined their fates together, should you have chosen to foster it. Yielding to this clinginess, however romantic, risked their joint fate becoming tragic. (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Desperation***] For the demon Vosaphar, so determined for his beloved summoner to survive, the sight of him falling away would’ve driven him to take reckless measures. This desperation might have driven him to intervene instantly to salvage the situation. Yielding to this desperation, however hasty, risked their fates diverging dramatically. (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Decision***] Well? Which force did this mote of hellfire incite? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="motechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Clinginess. ⇒->24BAABA. Vosaphar]]] (link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Desperation. ⇒->24BAABB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Mote]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXIV.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar dove, claws outstretched, reaching for Finnit’s wrist— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And closed his hand around the transit band attached to it. Just as the edge of the inferno reached them— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar and Finnit blinked out of existence, teleporting somewhere else. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Defend. ⇒->25BAABA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar dove, claws outstretched, reaching for Finnit’s wrist— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And closed his hand around the transit band attached to it. Just as the edge of the inferno reached them— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar and Finnit blinked out of existence, teleporting somewhere else. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Defend. ⇒->25BAABA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXIV.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar had a single, reckless idea of what he still had time to do. How he could send Finnit somewhere safer than here. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar recalled the spells Finnit had taught him, focused his intentions and— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Banished him. Finnit blinked out of existence. Moments later, the edge of the explosion swept Vosaphar into an inferno of shattering glass. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Stoke. ⇒->25BAABB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar had a single, reckless idea of what he still had time to do. How he could send Finnit somewhere safer than here. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar recalled the spells Finnit had taught him, focused his intentions and— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Banished him. Finnit blinked out of existence. Moments later, the edge of the explosion swept Vosaphar into an inferno of shattering glass. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Stoke. ⇒->25BAABB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#b8e270")+(text-size: 3)[XXV.] (text-color:"#b8e270")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Cairnveld Fortress.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcairnveldpassage">Finnit tumbled to his latest painful stop against the stone. Warm, clawed fingers gripped his wrist. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Vosaphar?” Finnit groaned, clutching his head and rolling over to move closer to the devil. He could smell cypress and old parchment. They must have arrived somewhere at Cairnveld Fortress. He heard a few startled gasps, and then whispers broke out. “Huh?” Finnit muttered, looking over his shoulders. They had landed in one of the smaller lecture halls. Cool light streamed through the windows, setting the chamber’s dusty air aglow. A scattered few luminaries occupied the chairs, including Jethel, who peered curiously over the top of the beverage she had been sipping. It was the most people he had seen in a month. Raekard stood from his seat in the front row. “Incipient Finnit!” His voice rang out over the chamber. “I’m not sure how you managed to be late with a pre-scheduled transit band, but it is time for your evaluation.” He paused, frowning. “Dismiss this… creature.” Finnit ignored him, crawling over to examine Vosaphar’s wounds. There was a warped shard of the Pharos Fidelis lens lodged in his chest, glowing with an intense crimson light. It seemed to have fused to the demon’s torso, ichor seeping around the edges where glass and flesh intermingled. “Are you okay?” Finnit asked softly. “No.” Vosaphar turned to him, groaning. “But… I don’t think I’m fading.” Finnit did his best to hug him from this awkward position. “Fine, I’ll banish it myself.” Raekard traced a sigil in the air, directing its power against the injured fiend. Nothing happened. It was the first time that Finnit had seen Raekard genuinely surprised. Finnit helped Vosaphar to his feet. The demon looked around, a bit nervously given his bizarre new context. He let his ethereal wings fade away, wrapping a warm arm around Finnit’s waist. “This is not appropriate conduct for a discovery trial evaluation,” Raekard said, his voice low and dangerous. “Be sure to make a note of it then,” Finnit said. He leaned into Vosaphar, who responded by curling his tail gently around the sorcerer. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The luminaries in the audience found this riveting. Jethel stirred the air next to her mug with a cinnamon stick, not realizing she was dripping horchata onto her notes. Finnit wished he could just leave and recover in his quarters. Why was he even putting up with any of this? They had just gotten back from the *sun*. “Dismiss this demon at once!” Raekard snapped. “It is against academy bylaws to bring summoned entities to participate in discovery trial evaluations.” “I’ll go where I wish to, *wretched one*,” Vosaphar snarled. He had evidently recognized Raekard. Jethel let out a startled laugh, which she failed to even attempt to cover up. “Luminary Jethel is going to *love* you,” Finnit told Vosaphar, deciding to embrace the surreality of the moment. Nonplussed, Raekard tried a second banishment. It failed. Again. Finnit ran his fingers through his hair anxiously, snagging another piece of the lens that had cut the skin behind his ear. He plucked it out. Its otherworldly glow was just as out of place here as Vosaphar, and frankly, himself. “What is the meaning of this?” Raekard demanded. “Incipient, what did you *do*?” Finnit held up the errant fragment. “We reignited the Pharos Fidelis.” He threw it onto the floor. “As commanded. Huh. I guess that makes me a luminary.” “This is—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But Finnit didn’t care to hear any more of what Raekard had to say. He suddenly wondered why it had ever mattered. The luminary was such an insignificant threat in the face of everything that he had experienced. And he was a terrible historiographer. Suddenly, the ground shook slightly. Bits of grit descended from the ceiling. One of the luminaries—who had somehow managed to sleep through Finnit and Vosaphar’s dramatic arrival—woke with a start, their eyes darting wildly as they took in their surroundings. “What was *that*?” Raekard asked. “The Pharos Fidelis,” Finnit said. “I guess it took a few minutes for the shockwaves to arrive. Maybe we should reconvene this session after we know for sure that our actions didn’t precipitate the end of all existence. Vosaphar, let’s get out of here.” “Gladly,” the demon muttered. “And stop trying to banish me,” he added, glaring directly at Raekard. “Or I will teach you some real principles of summoning that you will *not* enjoy learning, pathetic one.” The luminary was dumbfounded. “What the—what happened?” “That’s enough, Raekard,” Jethel said from behind him. Arms linked, Finnit and Vosaphar departed the lecture hall, heading for Finnit’s quarters. Somewhere quiet. Raekard didn’t try to follow them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcairnveldchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))[[[Repose. ⇒->26BAABA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="cairnveldpassage">Finnit tumbled to his latest painful stop against the stone. Warm, clawed fingers gripped his wrist. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Vosaphar?” Finnit groaned, clutching his head and rolling over to move closer to the devil. He could smell cypress and old parchment. They must have arrived somewhere at Cairnveld Fortress. He heard a few startled gasps, and then whispers broke out. “Huh?” Finnit muttered, looking over his shoulders. They had landed in one of the smaller lecture halls. Cool light streamed through the windows, setting the chamber’s dusty air aglow. A scattered few luminaries occupied the chairs, including Jethel, who peered curiously over the top of the beverage she had been sipping. It was the most people he had seen in a month. Raekard stood from his seat in the front row. “Incipient Finnit!” His voice rang out over the chamber. “I’m not sure how you managed to be late with a pre-scheduled transit band, but it is time for your evaluation.” He paused, frowning. “Dismiss this… creature.” Finnit ignored him, crawling over to examine Vosaphar’s wounds. There was a warped shard of the Pharos Fidelis lens lodged in his chest, glowing with an intense crimson light. It seemed to have fused to the demon’s torso, ichor seeping around the edges where glass and flesh intermingled. “Are you okay?” Finnit asked softly. “No.” Vosaphar turned to him, groaning. “But… I don’t think I’m fading.” Finnit did his best to hug him from this awkward position. “Fine, I’ll banish it myself.” Raekard traced a sigil in the air, directing its power against the injured fiend. Nothing happened. It was the first time that Finnit had seen Raekard genuinely surprised. Finnit helped Vosaphar to his feet. The demon looked around, a bit nervously given his bizarre new context. He let his ethereal wings fade away, wrapping a warm arm around Finnit’s waist. “This is not appropriate conduct for a discovery trial evaluation,” Raekard said, his voice low and dangerous. “Be sure to make a note of it then,” Finnit said. He leaned into Vosaphar, who responded by curling his tail gently around the sorcerer. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The luminaries in the audience found this riveting. Jethel stirred the air next to her mug with a cinnamon stick, not realizing she was dripping horchata onto her notes. Finnit wished he could just leave and recover in his quarters. Why was he even putting up with any of this? They had just gotten back from the *sun*. “Dismiss this demon at once!” Raekard snapped. “It is against academy bylaws to bring summoned entities to participate in discovery trial evaluations.” “I’ll go where I wish to, *wretched one*,” Vosaphar snarled. He had evidently recognized Raekard. Jethel let out a startled laugh, which she failed to even attempt to cover up. “Luminary Jethel is going to *love* you,” Finnit told Vosaphar, deciding to embrace the surreality of the moment. Nonplussed, Raekard tried a second banishment. It failed. Again. Finnit ran his fingers through his hair anxiously, snagging another piece of the lens that had cut the skin behind his ear. He plucked it out. Its otherworldly glow was just as out of place here as Vosaphar, and frankly, himself. “What is the meaning of this?” Raekard demanded. “Incipient, what did you *do*?” Finnit held up the errant fragment. “We reignited the Pharos Fidelis.” He threw it onto the floor. “As commanded. Huh. I guess that makes me a luminary.” “This is—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But Finnit didn’t care to hear any more of what Raekard had to say. He suddenly wondered why it had ever mattered. The luminary was such an insignificant threat in the face of everything that he had experienced. And he was a terrible historiographer. Suddenly, the ground shook slightly. Bits of grit descended from the ceiling. One of the luminaries—who had somehow managed to sleep through Finnit and Vosaphar’s dramatic arrival—woke with a start, their eyes darting wildly as they took in their surroundings. “What was *that*?” Raekard asked. “The Pharos Fidelis,” Finnit said. “I guess it took a few minutes for the shockwaves to arrive. Maybe we should reconvene this session after we know for sure that our actions didn’t precipitate the end of all existence. Vosaphar, let’s get out of here.” “Gladly,” the demon muttered. “And stop trying to banish me,” he added, glaring directly at Raekard. “Or I will teach you some real principles of summoning that you will *not* enjoy learning, pathetic one.” The luminary was dumbfounded. “What the—what happened?” “That’s enough, Raekard,” Jethel said from behind him. Arms linked, Finnit and Vosaphar departed the lecture hall, heading for Finnit’s quarters. Somewhere quiet. Raekard didn’t try to follow them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="cairnveldchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#7ba03c")))[[[Repose. ⇒->26BAABA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#7ba03c")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#b8e270")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#b8e270")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Cairnveld Fortress.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcairnveldpassage">The incipients and luminaries traveling the halls of Cairnveld—already unsettled by the earthquake—gave Vosaphar a wide berth as he and Finnit passed them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar had never been around so many mortals at once—at least, not in his current instance—and unlike Finnit, *these* mortals were thoroughly alarmed by the fearsome sight of a demon wandering in their midst, chest aglow with a sun-scorched fragment of the Pharos Fidelis lens. He only started to relax once they entered a small, dusty chamber full of the sorcerer’s possessions. Mostly books. Finnit closed the door behind him, then climbed onto his bed in the corner of the chamber, sitting with his back against one of the cool stone walls. He grabbed one of the pillows, and invited Vosaphar to lie down. The devil accepted, allowing Finnit to cradle his head in his lap. Vosaphar was delighted by the softness of the mattress compared to the bedrolls at the Pharos Fidelis, and let the mortal gently massage his forehead, attending to the skin bunched at the base of his horns. “Is this okay?” Finnit asked. “Yes,” Vosaphar said, flicking his tail languorously. To be afforded such comfort was rare and fleeting. As you—along with every other demon—knew all too well. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[After a few restful minutes, Finnit spoke up. “So, um—thank you for not letting me die. For saving me, so many times. I can’t even make sense of what happened yet. It’s unreal. This, being here, and—we shouldn’t have survived.” “But we did, beloved one.” Vosaphar ran a clawed fingertip gently across Finnit’s forearm. “Perhaps you contributed more than you realize.” He paused. “But I *did* carry you across the sky.” Finnit snorted. Someone knocked at the door. “Finnit? Are you in there?” “Yes!” Finnit said. One of the sorcerers from the trial evaluation stepped into the room, carrying with her an eclectic potpourri of scents. It was Luminary Jethel, the healing expert. “Oh.” She raised her eyebrows. “Is this—uh, a bad time?” “It’s fine,” Finnit said, reluctantly releasing Vosaphar so the demon could sit up. “I’m glad to see you, Jethel. Thank you for all your help.” She nodded. “The main reason I’m here is to inform you that the panel of luminaries in attendance convened, and after an examination of the fragment you provided, determined that you passed your discovery trial. Raekard dissented, but I suppose situations like these are exactly why the founders required a full panel in the bylaws. Congratulations, Finnit!” She waited for a moment, creating an awkward silence. “But I get the sense that, perhaps this is not your main concern?” “No, it isn’t,” Finnit said. “I mean—I guess I’m glad it’s over. But, I’m concerned about Vosaphar’s injuries.” He paused. “This is Vosaphar. He’s from… uh, the calciferous wastes.” “Uh huh. Noted.” Jethel directed her focus toward the devil. “Vosaphar? May I take a closer look?” “Yes,” Vosaphar said, watching her lightly-wrinkled fingers weave diagnostic glyphs in front of him. Finnit gently rubbed his back. “How are you feeling?” “I… don’t know,” Vosaphar answered honestly. “It’s a strange sensation. Like my bones are itching beneath my skin.” “Interesting,” Jethel remarked. “Well—this fragment of—uh, I guess I have no real idea what it actually is, some exotic vitric—seems to have fused onto you? It radiates an extraordinary amount of magic. For a human, that would be concerning, by which I mean, fatal. But I admit, I am not an expert on infernal anatomy.” She glanced at Finnit, eyes narrowing. “Though based on what I have seen today, perhaps *you* are becoming one.” Vosaphar looked his way as well, amused to see the mortal’s cheeks reddening. “Thought so,” Jethel remarked. “I hope Raekard never hears the end of this, for whatever remains of his miserable days.” “Oh,” Finnit said, evidently realizing something. “I see now… the lens fragment. Raekard is, at least, a *competent* sorcerer—his banishment rite should have succeeded. By remaining here, I thought Vosaphar might have violated the principle of planar reversion. But with this power fusing with you—I guess that makes it *your* power. And it far exceeds Raekard’s.” “Fascinating,” Jethel said, “if not a touch alarming in its implications. Well, at any rate, for now, I recommend treating the exposed edges where the fragment is impacting your skin. I don’t know what your plans are, Finnit, but if you remain here for the moment—as a luminary—we can research the issue together.” “What do you think?” Finnit asked him. “We could stay for a bit, sort things out?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“That sounds nice, Finnit.” “And after that—” “The rest of it?” “The rest of it.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcairnveldchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#4c6621)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BAAAB]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="cairnveldpassage">The incipients and luminaries traveling the halls of Cairnveld—already unsettled by the earthquake—gave Vosaphar a wide berth as he and Finnit passed them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar had never been around so many mortals at once—at least, not in his current instance—and unlike Finnit, *these* mortals were thoroughly alarmed by the fearsome sight of a demon wandering in their midst, chest aglow with a sun-scorched fragment of the Pharos Fidelis lens. He only started to relax once they entered a small, dusty chamber full of the sorcerer’s possessions. Mostly books. Finnit closed the door behind him, then climbed onto his bed in the corner of the chamber, sitting with his back against one of the cool stone walls. He grabbed one of the pillows, and invited Vosaphar to lie down. The devil accepted, allowing Finnit to cradle his head in his lap. Vosaphar was delighted by the softness of the mattress compared to the bedrolls at the Pharos Fidelis, and let the mortal gently massage his forehead, attending to the skin bunched at the base of his horns. “Is this okay?” Finnit asked. “Yes,” Vosaphar said, flicking his tail languorously. To be afforded such comfort was rare and fleeting. As you—along with every other demon—knew all too well. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[After a few restful minutes, Finnit spoke up. “So, um—thank you for not letting me die. For saving me, so many times. I can’t even make sense of what happened yet. It’s unreal. This, being here, and—we shouldn’t have survived.” “But we did, beloved one.” Vosaphar ran a clawed fingertip gently across Finnit’s forearm. “Perhaps you contributed more than you realize.” He paused. “But I *did* carry you across the sky.” Finnit snorted. Someone knocked at the door. “Finnit? Are you in there?” “Yes!” Finnit said. One of the sorcerers from the trial evaluation stepped into the room, carrying with her an eclectic potpourri of scents. It was Luminary Jethel, the healing expert. “Oh.” She raised her eyebrows. “Is this—uh, a bad time?” “It’s fine,” Finnit said, reluctantly releasing Vosaphar so the demon could sit up. “I’m glad to see you, Jethel. Thank you for all your help.” She nodded. “The main reason I’m here is to inform you that the panel of luminaries in attendance convened, and after an examination of the fragment you provided, determined that you passed your discovery trial. Raekard dissented, but I suppose situations like these are exactly why the founders required a full panel in the bylaws. Congratulations, Finnit!” She waited for a moment, creating an awkward silence. “But I get the sense that, perhaps this is not your main concern?” “No, it isn’t,” Finnit said. “I mean—I guess I’m glad it’s over. But, I’m concerned about Vosaphar’s injuries.” He paused. “This is Vosaphar. He’s from… uh, the calciferous wastes.” “Uh huh. Noted.” Jethel directed her focus toward the devil. “Vosaphar? May I take a closer look?” “Yes,” Vosaphar said, watching her lightly-wrinkled fingers weave diagnostic glyphs in front of him. Finnit gently rubbed his back. “How are you feeling?” “I… don’t know,” Vosaphar answered honestly. “It’s a strange sensation. Like my bones are itching beneath my skin.” “Interesting,” Jethel remarked. “Well—this fragment of—uh, I guess I have no real idea what it actually is, some exotic vitric—seems to have fused onto you? It radiates an extraordinary amount of magic. For a human, that would be concerning, by which I mean, fatal. But I admit, I am not an expert on infernal anatomy.” She glanced at Finnit, eyes narrowing. “Though based on what I have seen today, perhaps *you* are becoming one.” Vosaphar looked his way as well, amused to see the mortal’s cheeks reddening. “Thought so,” Jethel remarked. “I hope Raekard never hears the end of this, for whatever remains of his miserable days.” “Oh,” Finnit said, evidently realizing something. “I see now… the lens fragment. Raekard is, at least, a *competent* sorcerer—his banishment rite should have succeeded. By remaining here, I thought Vosaphar might have violated the principle of planar reversion. But with this power fusing with you—I guess that makes it *your* power. And it far exceeds Raekard’s.” “Fascinating,” Jethel said, “if not a touch alarming in its implications. Well, at any rate, for now, I recommend treating the exposed edges where the fragment is impacting your skin. I don’t know what your plans are, Finnit, but if you remain here for the moment—as a luminary—we can research the issue together.” “What do you think?” Finnit asked him. “We could stay for a bit, sort things out?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“That sounds nice, Finnit.” “And after that—” “The rest of it?” “The rest of it.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="cairnveldchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BAAAB]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#b8e270)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7ba03c)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BAA. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BAAB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s clinginess, causing him to reach Finnit in time to teleport to Cairnveld with him. This proved to be a fortunate calculation. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BAA. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BAAB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s clinginess, causing him to reach Finnit in time to teleport to Cairnveld with him. This proved to be a fortunate calculation. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[XXV.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage cold, wet, and screaming. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It had a certain resonance, didn’t it? He coughed violently, choking on sludge and bloodfog alike, wading clumsily in your direction. Even from this distance, you could feel intense energy pouring off the misplaced mortal, his magic warped by the glowing fragments of the Pharos Fidelis stuck in his hair and clothing. If nothing else could be salvaged from this historic disaster, at least you had an opportunity to fuel your furnace. The mortal would, at any moment, petition you for relief from his dire situation. This provided you a brief moment to consider which form might be most appropriate for such an absurd occasion. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|initial>[In that light: (link-reveal: "You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. Inaccurate though it may have been, perhaps you had the right to such a form. You’d already spent more time fussing over Vosaphar’s fate than any of his makers had. You adopted an elegant posture and swept out of your cottage to approach the mortal. “Hello, Finnit,” you said. He turned to look at you, eyes widening. You flicked your new tail, mimicking one of Vosaphar’s gestures that he so favored. “Um—hi. Uh—” “Welcome to my calciferous wastes.” You extended your arms, gesturing toward the dark skies and lonesome coralbone monuments dotting the horizon. “And what a sight they are.” Finnit looked around, evidently still processing this alarming development. “The calciferous wastes? Do you—do you know Vosaphar?” “Please, join me inside,” you said. “We shall sit by the fire and discuss these matters.” Finnit numbly complied, letting you guide him to the soot-stained armchairs by your furnace. It seemed to calm him down, having become accustomed to closeness with a certain source of hellfire. “What happened? Do you know?” Finnit asked. “Sorry—I’m just—I should ask who you are probably?” “I am the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “I think—I think he banished me?” “He did.” You tapped an idle claw against your ivory armchair. “I’m sorry, maybe this is too forward, but—look, I’m worried about Vosaphar? I don’t know what happened—what if—what if he—” You took him to the window and pointed to the dark pool, where Vosaphar’s ember twinkled at the bottom. If anything, it had grown brighter. Interesting. “That is his essential coal,” you said. “If he had perished, he would have immediately returned here. If we wait, he will eventually appear. However…” Finnit paced to and fro, trying to shake off his anxiety. “What if he’s hurt—he must be—I don’t want to wait!” “It is not a matter of desire, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. Perhaps that hadn’t been a Vosapharian gesture. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Will you—I mean, would you please help me?” “What are your intentions toward Vosaphar?” “My intentions?” Finnit looked puzzled. “What do you—” “Answer my question carefully, mortal.” He looked appropriately worried. “Look, I—I love him. I know it’s been so quick, and maybe you think it’s shallow, just because he’s so beautiful—but, uh, really, I have never felt so close with someone. I mean—he took me to the *sun*, and back. I don’t know what it would mean for us to be together outside of the Pharos Fidelis, in a more normal world. Maybe it won’t work, and we’ll part ways. I think—I mean, I hope you think that we’re worthy of a chance to figure that out.” “Vosaphar will need your help,” you said. “He will suffer from his power. You will stand by him? Treat him respectfully?” “I would—I will.” “Very well.” You paused. “I would send you back to Cairnveld.” You gave a pointed look toward your furnace. “But my fire is too weak for such a feat. Won’t you stoke it?” “Stoke it?” Finnit looked nervous. “What, uh—what do you want? My soul?” How amusing. “Are you offering that?” You approached him, attempting to loom in the way he found so appealing when Vosaphar did it. Finnit looked terrified as you reached down and plucked a glowing lens fragment from his hair. “No, Finnit. Not your soul. I want these.” “Oh—is that all? Yes, you can have them. They’re not even really mine, I don’t think.” Finnit parted easily with the fragments, tossing each into the furnace as he found it. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to cause some new chaos. He had no sense of priorities. And neither—apparently—did you, entertaining this… cloyingly earnest romantic nonsense. You reached for Finnit’s transit band, warping the sigils such that they would send Finnit on his way. Before activating it, you paused. “If you treat Vosaphar with anything less than the respect owed to such an unreasonably affectionate devil, I will send every specter in my dominion to drag you back here, and drown you in these depths for all eternity.” It was a joke. Mostly. You were sure that Finnit appreciated it. With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. You basked in the new heat now crackling and seething in your furnace. And how ridiculous an exchange it was, to receive all that energy for a trivial bit of spellcraft. Even an incubus would have found no pleasure in the seduction of such easy prey. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[That’s why you did it, right? You *just* wanted the power. Nothing more. You felt nothing else. Surely. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Survive. ⇒->26BAABBA. Vosaphar]]]]]]]</div>] Unless: (link-reveal: "You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. Darkness pooled around you, threshed with dozens of unblinking, glowing eyes. Gobs of loose flesh sizzled on charred bones to add to the illusion’s sensory overload. You adopted a threatening posture and swept out of your cottage to approach Finnit, trailing black grease in your wake. “Mortal!” you shouted, startling him. “You dare trespass upon my dominion?” Finnit turned your way, and his breath hitched at the loathsome sight of you. He cowered. Mortals were so susceptible to this kind of stagecraft, weren’t they? “I—I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—” “Silence!” You stretched and oozed before him. “You have stolen from me. You must return what I’m owed.” Finnit’s eyes darted about wildly, as if he were considering running away. He wouldn’t make it far. “Could you please—um—grand one? Uh, what did I steal?” “My *light*.” You over-articulated the “t” with such exuberance that flecks of acid splattered from your many mouths. “The Pharos Fidelis.” You wrapped a slimy tentacle around his arm, pulling him closer so you could pluck one of the fragments from his clothes. “What? Oh. Oh you can—you can have those. They’re, um, not even mine.” He was too frightened to assist in this process, so you grabbed each fragment, showing no regard for his comfort. Shards collected—from his perspective, devoured—you began shambling back to your cottage. “Wait!” Finnit called after you. “Um—I need—I need to get back to Vosaphar—do you know him? Or—” “I am the warden of these calciferous wastes, and he is my subject. Mortal longings are not my concern…” “But please, I—” “…Unless, of course, you wish to receive… an accord.” And there it was. Not only had you easily liberated the shards from his unworthy possession, but you could do even more to sate your rage with the proceedings of the eclipse. “An accord?” Finnit asked. “You’ll help me get back?” “For a *price*,” you hissed. “I gave you—I gave you the fragments!” He seemed to have realized his mistake. Perhaps he ought to have actually read *Case Studies in Infernal Betrayal* instead of assuming all demons would be as needy and pathetic as Vosaphar. “You claimed yourself that you had no ownership over them. They are mine already. One cannot offer a gift already granted.” “So what do you want?” His voice was strained. “My soul?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“*That* is worthless.” Drawing from the power of the fragments you held, you manifested a bloodfrost dagger from the fog, its keen edge sharp enough to carve the walls of the lazurynth. “Take this dagger to Luminary Raekard. I tire of his incompetent scheming. Carve out his heart. Then burn it in a ring of hellfire until it is but ash on the wind.” “But I—I can’t kill someone!” Finnit shouted. “That’s absurd—even someone as awful as him—and he’s so dangerous. It would never work.” “Then you will die here, and never again wrap your wretched limbs around the devil you cling to in the dark.” You sidled into your cottage, leaving him to contemplate his mortal morality while you stoked the furnace with the fragments. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to inflict some new misery upon the world. It wasn’t long before he approached you again. He looked directly at you, gazing into your seething core, and without stumbling, said, “I accept those terms.” You wrapped a tendril around the hilt of the dagger and offered it to him. He took it, his expression grim and determined. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[You *almost* believed he could do it. With a burst of magic, you activated his bracelet—the transit band—and sent him to his terrible fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Append. ⇒->P4BAABBB. Fourth Principle]]]]]]]</div> ] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. Well, at least the version of yourself that held court, lording your specificity over these dismal barrens. Finnit would get to see you for what you were: powerful, yet petty. Exhausted, too. It was miserable to live with your failures. You slunk to your soot-stained armchair by the furnace, waiting for the mortal to arrive. He knocked at the door. “Hello? Is—is someone in here?” “Come in, Finnit.” He opened the door, and saw you by the furnace. What texture the man had taken on since he left Cairnveld, struggling through your schemes in that desperate way that humans are wont to do. You gestured for him to sit in the chair across from yours. He obliged, if a bit warily. “Welcome to my calciferous wastes,” you said. “I wonder what you think of them?” “Calciferous wastes?” Something flickered in his eyes. “Is that—do you know Vosaphar?” “Answer my question first, if you will.” Finnit seemed taken aback, but recovered. “Well, if you really want to know—I can see why Vosaphar was so determined to leave.” You could almost see him realizing in real time that he probably was meant to say something kinder. “Not that there isn’t something… eerily beautiful about the colors streaking across the sky. But, it’s very cold and sharp and it seems sad, I guess?” “Yes, Vosaphar is troubled by his existence. As are we all.” You clicked your claws against the coralbone armrest. “You look—If you don’t mind me saying—you look familiar to me. But I don’t understand why. Who are you?” “I’m the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “So I guess he banished me here? It was the first place he thought of?” “I’m flattered.” A pause. “And perhaps you ought to be relieved that he didn’t recall the lazurynth quicker.” “I need to get back to him.” Finnit fixed you with a serious expression. “He might be hurt, or—I want to get back. Please. He means—he means a lot to me.” “It is not a matter of necessity, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Wait—I know why you look familiar!” He studied your face once more. “You look a little bit like… my grandmother.” “The trees in Tinfallow have deep roots indeed, if they reach all the way to these calciferous wastes.” “I don’t understand.” He bit his lip. “There are too many pieces—it’s hard to look at directly.” “Then focus on the piece of it you care about.” “Vosaphar.” “Of course. Young love. Star-crossed, even.” You sighed. “Well, I could send you on your way to Cairnveld.” You pointed at his bracelet. “But…” “You want something in return?” Finnit asked, leaning forward. “What is it? What do you want?” “What I *really* want is for you to have written my name correctly on the Pharos Fidelis.” Finnit sat back again. “That’s—that’s *you*? Your name? I expected someone so much more…” “Impressive?” You gave a hollow laugh. “Terrifying,” he finished. “But you seem, I don’t know, reasonable enough?” “I’m sure it seems that way.” “Well I—I don’t think I can undo what happened,” Finnit said. “I’m sorry it didn’t work. I know it may not look that way, but I really did try. I don’t know what it would’ve done if it worked, but I tried.” “You did.” You looked over at your furnace, where your sluggish motes of hellfire simmered. “I want the lens fragments in your possession.” “Lens fragments?” You pointed them out in his hair and on his clothes. “So that’s what you’re proposing as the terms of an exchange? I give you these shards, and you’ll send me back to Cairnveld?” “Yes.” “It just seems… I don’t know. I feel like there is still so much that I’m missing? If you—if you really are connected to me, in some way… would you want to… stay in touch?” You hadn’t expected *that*, of all things. “You want the warden of the calciferous wastes to offer you… mentorship.” “I’ve done much weirder things today!” Finnit said, rather defensively. “I went to the *sun*. Look, my mentor is Luminary Raekard. An actual demon would be a significant improvement.” “Ah, Raekard. I regret my part in that, given how it went.” “What?” Finnit’s eyes widened. “What do you mean you—” “Finnit, I propose an addendum to our… accord. If you wish to speak with me, you shall have one chance to do so during each new moon. Sacrifice a lens fragment in my name, and we shall converse for one hour.” “I’m not sure how I’ll get more of these,” Finnit said. “It seems expensive.” “And yet, a single fragment pales against the scale of what you destroyed. You could not possibly comprehend how far you’ve set me back. But,” you added, softening your tone, “I will make that hour as worthwhile as you wish it to be.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit accepted those terms, tossing each of the lens fragments on his person into your furnace. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to bend ever more futures in your favor. “Thank you,” Finnit said, as you adjusted the sigils on his transit band. “I—I’m glad to have met you.” With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Survive. ⇒->26BAABBC. Vosaphar]]]]</div> ]]]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage cold, wet, and screaming. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It had a certain resonance, didn’t it? He coughed violently, choking on sludge and bloodfog alike, wading clumsily in your direction. Even from this distance, you could feel intense energy pouring off the misplaced mortal, his magic warped by the glowing fragments of the Pharos Fidelis stuck in his hair and clothing. If nothing else could be salvaged from this historic disaster, at least you had an opportunity to fuel your furnace. The mortal would, at any moment, petition you for relief from his dire situation. This provided you a brief moment to consider which form might be most appropriate for such an absurd occasion. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|initial>[In that light: (link-reveal: "You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. Inaccurate though it may have been, perhaps you had the right to such a form. You’d already spent more time fussing over Vosaphar’s fate than any of his makers had. You adopted an elegant posture and swept out of your cottage to approach the mortal. “Hello, Finnit,” you said. He turned to look at you, eyes widening. You flicked your new tail, mimicking one of Vosaphar’s gestures that he so favored. “Um—hi. Uh—” “Welcome to my calciferous wastes.” You extended your arms, gesturing toward the dark skies and lonesome coralbone monuments dotting the horizon. “And what a sight they are.” Finnit looked around, evidently still processing this alarming development. “The calciferous wastes? Do you—do you know Vosaphar?” “Please, join me inside,” you said. “We shall sit by the fire and discuss these matters.” Finnit numbly complied, letting you guide him to the soot-stained armchairs by your furnace. It seemed to calm him down, having become accustomed to closeness with a certain source of hellfire. “What happened? Do you know?” Finnit asked. “Sorry—I’m just—I should ask who you are probably?” “I am the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “I think—I think he banished me?” “He did.” You tapped an idle claw against your ivory armchair. “I’m sorry, maybe this is too forward, but—look, I’m worried about Vosaphar? I don’t know what happened—what if—what if he—” You took him to the window and pointed to the dark pool, where Vosaphar’s ember twinkled at the bottom. If anything, it had grown brighter. Interesting. “That is his essential coal,” you said. “If he had perished, he would have immediately returned here. If we wait, he will eventually appear. However…” Finnit paced to and fro, trying to shake off his anxiety. “What if he’s hurt—he must be—I don’t want to wait!” “It is not a matter of desire, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. Perhaps that hadn’t been a Vosapharian gesture. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Will you—I mean, would you please help me?” “What are your intentions toward Vosaphar?” “My intentions?” Finnit looked puzzled. “What do you—” “Answer my question carefully, mortal.” He looked appropriately worried. “Look, I—I love him. I know it’s been so quick, and maybe you think it’s shallow, just because he’s so beautiful—but, uh, really, I have never felt so close with someone. I mean—he took me to the *sun*, and back. I don’t know what it would mean for us to be together outside of the Pharos Fidelis, in a more normal world. Maybe it won’t work, and we’ll part ways. I think—I mean, I hope you think that we’re worthy of a chance to figure that out.” “Vosaphar will need your help,” you said. “He will suffer from his power. You will stand by him? Treat him respectfully?” “I would—I will.” “Very well.” You paused. “I would send you back to Cairnveld.” You gave a pointed look toward your furnace. “But my fire is too weak for such a feat. Won’t you stoke it?” “Stoke it?” Finnit looked nervous. “What, uh—what do you want? My soul?” How amusing. “Are you offering that?” You approached him, attempting to loom in the way he found so appealing when Vosaphar did it. Finnit looked terrified as you reached down and plucked a glowing lens fragment from his hair. “No, Finnit. Not your soul. I want these.” “Oh—is that all? Yes, you can have them. They’re not even really mine, I don’t think.” Finnit parted easily with the fragments, tossing each into the furnace as he found it. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to cause some new chaos. He had no sense of priorities. And neither—apparently—did you, entertaining this… cloyingly earnest romantic nonsense. You reached for Finnit’s transit band, warping the sigils such that they would send Finnit on his way. Before activating it, you paused. “If you treat Vosaphar with anything less than the respect owed to such an unreasonably affectionate devil, I will send every specter in my dominion to drag you back here, and drown you in these depths for all eternity.” It was a joke. Mostly. You were sure that Finnit appreciated it. With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. You basked in the new heat now crackling and seething in your furnace. And how ridiculous an exchange it was, to receive all that energy for a trivial bit of spellcraft. Even an incubus would have found no pleasure in the seduction of such easy prey. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[That’s why you did it, right? You *just* wanted the power. Nothing more. You felt nothing else. Surely. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[Survive. ⇒->26BAABBA. Vosaphar]]]]]]]</div>] Unless: (link-reveal: "You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. Darkness pooled around you, threshed with dozens of unblinking, glowing eyes. Gobs of loose flesh sizzled on charred bones to add to the illusion’s sensory overload. You adopted a threatening posture and swept out of your cottage to approach Finnit, trailing black grease in your wake. “Mortal!” you shouted, startling him. “You dare trespass upon my dominion?” Finnit turned your way, and his breath hitched at the loathsome sight of you. He cowered. Mortals were so susceptible to this kind of stagecraft, weren’t they? “I—I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—” “Silence!” You stretched and oozed before him. “You have stolen from me. You must return what I’m owed.” Finnit’s eyes darted about wildly, as if he were considering running away. He wouldn’t make it far. “Could you please—um—grand one? Uh, what did I steal?” “My *light*.” You over-articulated the “t” with such exuberance that flecks of acid splattered from your many mouths. “The Pharos Fidelis.” You wrapped a slimy tentacle around his arm, pulling him closer so you could pluck one of the fragments from his clothes. “What? Oh. Oh you can—you can have those. They’re, um, not even mine.” He was too frightened to assist in this process, so you grabbed each fragment, showing no regard for his comfort. Shards collected—from his perspective, devoured—you began shambling back to your cottage. “Wait!” Finnit called after you. “Um—I need—I need to get back to Vosaphar—do you know him? Or—” “I am the warden of these calciferous wastes, and he is my subject. Mortal longings are not my concern…” “But please, I—” “…Unless, of course, you wish to receive… an accord.” And there it was. Not only had you easily liberated the shards from his unworthy possession, but you could do even more to sate your rage with the proceedings of the eclipse. “An accord?” Finnit asked. “You’ll help me get back?” “For a *price*,” you hissed. “I gave you—I gave you the fragments!” He seemed to have realized his mistake. Perhaps he ought to have actually read *Case Studies in Infernal Betrayal* instead of assuming all demons would be as needy and pathetic as Vosaphar. “You claimed yourself that you had no ownership over them. They are mine already. One cannot offer a gift already granted.” “So what do you want?” His voice was strained. “My soul?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“*That* is worthless.” Drawing from the power of the fragments you held, you manifested a bloodfrost dagger from the fog, its keen edge sharp enough to carve the walls of the lazurynth. “Take this dagger to Luminary Raekard. I tire of his incompetent scheming. Carve out his heart. Then burn it in a ring of hellfire until it is but ash on the wind.” “But I—I can’t kill someone!” Finnit shouted. “That’s absurd—even someone as awful as him—and he’s so dangerous. It would never work.” “Then you will die here, and never again wrap your wretched limbs around the devil you cling to in the dark.” You sidled into your cottage, leaving him to contemplate his mortal morality while you stoked the furnace with the fragments. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to inflict some new misery upon the world. It wasn’t long before he approached you again. He looked directly at you, gazing into your seething core, and without stumbling, said, “I accept those terms.” You wrapped a tendril around the hilt of the dagger and offered it to him. He took it, his expression grim and determined. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[You *almost* believed he could do it. With a burst of magic, you activated his bracelet—the transit band—and sent him to his terrible fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[Append. ⇒->P4BAABBB. Fourth Principle]]]]]]]</div> ] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. Well, at least the version of yourself that held court, lording your specificity over these dismal barrens. Finnit would get to see you for what you were: powerful, yet petty. Exhausted, too. It was miserable to live with your failures. You slunk to your soot-stained armchair by the furnace, waiting for the mortal to arrive. He knocked at the door. “Hello? Is—is someone in here?” “Come in, Finnit.” He opened the door, and saw you by the furnace. What texture the man had taken on since he left Cairnveld, struggling through your schemes in that desperate way that humans are wont to do. You gestured for him to sit in the chair across from yours. He obliged, if a bit warily. “Welcome to my calciferous wastes,” you said. “I wonder what you think of them?” “Calciferous wastes?” Something flickered in his eyes. “Is that—do you know Vosaphar?” “Answer my question first, if you will.” Finnit seemed taken aback, but recovered. “Well, if you really want to know—I can see why Vosaphar was so determined to leave.” You could almost see him realizing in real time that he probably was meant to say something kinder. “Not that there isn’t something… eerily beautiful about the colors streaking across the sky. But, it’s very cold and sharp and it seems sad, I guess?” “Yes, Vosaphar is troubled by his existence. As are we all.” You clicked your claws against the coralbone armrest. “You look—If you don’t mind me saying—you look familiar to me. But I don’t understand why. Who are you?” “I’m the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “So I guess he banished me here? It was the first place he thought of?” “I’m flattered.” A pause. “And perhaps you ought to be relieved that he didn’t recall the lazurynth quicker.” “I need to get back to him.” Finnit fixed you with a serious expression. “He might be hurt, or—I want to get back. Please. He means—he means a lot to me.” “It is not a matter of necessity, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Wait—I know why you look familiar!” He studied your face once more. “You look a little bit like… my grandmother.” “The trees in Tinfallow have deep roots indeed, if they reach all the way to these calciferous wastes.” “I don’t understand.” He bit his lip. “There are too many pieces—it’s hard to look at directly.” “Then focus on the piece of it you care about.” “Vosaphar.” “Of course. Young love. Star-crossed, even.” You sighed. “Well, I could send you on your way to Cairnveld.” You pointed at his bracelet. “But…” “You want something in return?” Finnit asked, leaning forward. “What is it? What do you want?” “What I *really* want is for you to have written my name correctly on the Pharos Fidelis.” Finnit sat back again. “That’s—that’s *you*? Your name? I expected someone so much more…” “Impressive?” You gave a hollow laugh. “Terrifying,” he finished. “But you seem, I don’t know, reasonable enough?” “I’m sure it seems that way.” “Well I—I don’t think I can undo what happened,” Finnit said. “I’m sorry it didn’t work. I know it may not look that way, but I really did try. I don’t know what it would’ve done if it worked, but I tried.” “You did.” You looked over at your furnace, where your sluggish motes of hellfire simmered. “I want the lens fragments in your possession.” “Lens fragments?” You pointed them out in his hair and on his clothes. “So that’s what you’re proposing as the terms of an exchange? I give you these shards, and you’ll send me back to Cairnveld?” “Yes.” “It just seems… I don’t know. I feel like there is still so much that I’m missing? If you—if you really are connected to me, in some way… would you want to… stay in touch?” You hadn’t expected *that*, of all things. “You want the warden of the calciferous wastes to offer you… mentorship.” “I’ve done much weirder things today!” Finnit said, rather defensively. “I went to the *sun*. Look, my mentor is Luminary Raekard. An actual demon would be a significant improvement.” “Ah, Raekard. I regret my part in that, given how it went.” “What?” Finnit’s eyes widened. “What do you mean you—” “Finnit, I propose an addendum to our… accord. If you wish to speak with me, you shall have one chance to do so during each new moon. Sacrifice a lens fragment in my name, and we shall converse for one hour.” “I’m not sure how I’ll get more of these,” Finnit said. “It seems expensive.” “And yet, a single fragment pales against the scale of what you destroyed. You could not possibly comprehend how far you’ve set me back. But,” you added, softening your tone, “I will make that hour as worthwhile as you wish it to be.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit accepted those terms, tossing each of the lens fragments on his person into your furnace. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to bend ever more futures in your favor. “Thank you,” Finnit said, as you adjusted the sigils on his transit band. “I—I’m glad to have met you.” With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[Survive. ⇒->26BAABBC. Vosaphar]]]]</div> ]]]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Mote]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BAABBC]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BAABBC]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 3)[Anathema.] (text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 1.15)[The Fourth Principle of Summoning.]</div> A timely addendum, courtesy of you. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Behold the fourth principle of summoning: (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color:#a01404)[**4. The Principle of Voluntary and Efficient Accession to the Extraordinarily Reasonable Conditions Imposed by the Magnanimous Warden of the Calciferous Wastes, Who Certainly Never Even Cared About the Pharos Fidelis, And Certainly Not the Absurd Romantic Yearnings of Your Pathetic Subjects—Or Else.**] Summoners who willingly and knowingly forge an accord with you must see their bargain through, or suffer the consequences of incompetence and betrayal. (text-color:#a01404)[***Implication:***] You suffered long and worked hard to eke out your existence. (text-color:#a01404)[***Implication:***] You generously helped him plenty up to this point—for free. It wasn’t such a high price to ask him to kill someone he hated anyway. You both benefited from this accord. (text-color:#a01404)[***Implication:***] His failure was inevitable. You weren’t *really* invested in his survival, or his potential to shift the tenor of human-demon relations. You were just hungry for more power, right? You just wanted to enrich your tiny slice of the hells, fuel your furnace, as you had always done. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It would have been unreasonable for *you*, of all beings, to have cared. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Bemoan. ⇒->26BAABBB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Behold the fourth principle of summoning: (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color:#f17264)[**4. The Principle of Voluntary and Efficient Accession to the Extraordinarily Reasonable Conditions Imposed by the Magnanimous Warden of the Calciferous Wastes, Who Certainly Never Even Cared About the Pharos Fidelis, And Certainly Not the Absurd Romantic Yearnings of Your Pathetic Subjects—Or Else.**] Summoners who willingly and knowingly forge an accord with you must see their bargain through, or suffer the consequences of incompetence and betrayal. (text-color:#f17264)[***Implication:***] You suffered long and worked hard to eke out your existence. (text-color:#f17264)[***Implication:***] You generously helped him plenty up to this point—for free. It wasn’t such a high price to ask him to kill someone he hated anyway. You both benefited from this accord. (text-color:#f17264)[***Implication:***] His failure was inevitable. You weren’t *really* invested in his survival, or his potential to shift the tenor of human-demon relations. You were just hungry for more power, right? You just wanted to enrich your tiny slice of the hells, fuel your furnace, as you had always done. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It would have been unreasonable for *you*, of all beings, to have cared. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Bemoan. ⇒->26BAABBB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BAABBA]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BAABBA]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BAA. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BAAB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s desperation, causing him to impulsively banish Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate calculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25BAABB. Finnit]]]</div> You took a comforting form, nurturing his budding relationship with Vosaphar in exchange for the lens fragments on his person. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BAA. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BAAB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s desperation, causing him to impulsively banish Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate calculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25BAABB. Finnit]]]</div> You took a comforting form, nurturing his budding relationship with Vosaphar in exchange for the lens fragments on his person. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he would *stay* longing. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[For, if you must suffer this catastrophic failure, you would offer him no choice but to join you in misery. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BAABBB]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Bits of the shredded sunspots floated in the water, their final struggle above the lighthouse amounting to mutual ruin. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he would *stay* longing. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[For, if you must suffer this catastrophic failure, you would offer him no choice but to join you in misery. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BAABBB]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the brief union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Finnit perished in a failed assassination attempt upon his return to Cairnveld, screaming of the sun. A strange footnote to this history. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. But a new threat lurked. The demon Vosaphar absorbed the fragments around him, growing distorted in his influence. He climbed upon the melted peak and in his sorrow and fury, bewitched many ships to their doom with fata morgana. He had become, in effect, the latest Pharos Fidelis. Perhaps he had even become something more powerful than *you*. And perhaps you deserved to finally feel fear again. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lgihtendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BAA. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BAAB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s desperation, causing him to impulsively banish Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate calculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25BAABB. Finnit]]]</div> You took a terrifying form, seizing his lens fragments for yourself, and dooming him with an impossible accord. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and absolutely no complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the brief union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Finnit perished in a failed assassination attempt upon his return to Cairnveld, screaming of the sun. A strange footnote to this history. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. But a new threat lurked. The demon Vosaphar absorbed the fragments around him, growing distorted in his influence. He climbed upon the melted peak and in his sorrow and fury, bewitched many ships to their doom with fata morgana. He had become, in effect, the latest Pharos Fidelis. Perhaps he had even become something more powerful than *you*. And perhaps you deserved to finally feel fear again. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BAA. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BAAB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s desperation, causing him to impulsively banish Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate calculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25BAABB. Finnit]]]</div> You took a terrifying form, seizing his lens fragments for yourself, and dooming him with an impossible accord. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and absolutely no complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BAA. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BAAB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s desperation, causing him to impulsively banish Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate calculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25BAABB. Finnit]]]</div> You took an honest form, developing a stronger connection with Finnit while ensuring ongoing access to lens fragments in the future. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s dread, causing him to take a more defensive stance toward the anchor-collecting sunspot, resulting in an uneasy alliance. This proved to be tactically sound. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BA. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BAA. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BAAB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s desperation, causing him to impulsively banish Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate calculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25BAABB. Finnit]]]</div> You took an honest form, developing a stronger connection with Finnit while ensuring ongoing access to lens fragments in the future. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[3rd Era | Lightning.]</div> Another fragment recounting the dark history of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">With the fading of the flames, so too did the imperial coffers grow cold. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#4c4833)[**First—**] Kolemeus II called the financiers to approach her throne and confer. They brayed of blockades, their ships sieged in once-safe sounds. Their routes risked wreckage, for the Pharos Fidelis vanquished their vessels. The jester recited a paean to profit. One cannot craft coins from sunken silver. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“Finnit!” Vosaphar snapped his fingers. “Hmm?” Finnit tried blinking the exhaustion out of his eyes. “Oh, did I doze off?” “You kept reading the same sentence over and over again.” “It is a chore, isn’t it?” He yawned. “Ugh. Thank you for helping me get through it.”</div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**Second—**] Kolemeus II called the generals to approach her throne and confer. They agonized of attrition, unable to pry pirates from the passages. Their hosts harbored hunger, for the Pharos Fidelis gainsaid their grain. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">Their unwillingness to employ portals is staggering. I cannot wrap my head around the idea that this dynasty—so resistant to magical solutions—somehow produced the most sophisticated piece of glass to ever exist on this plane. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] The jester crooned an ode to oats. One cannot feed forces with sunken supplies. (text-color:#4c4833)[**Next—**] Kolemeus II called the architects to approach her throne and confer. They lamented of lightning, whose scattered strikes imperiled implementation of any regime of radiance. Their dreams despaired, for the Pharos Fidelis spited their stability. The jester wailed an elegy to effulgence. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">If I ever find this “historian” wandering the hells, I will kill them again. The jester, too. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] One cannot build beacons with sunken stones. (text-color:#4c4833)[**Then—**] Kolemeus II called the sorcerers to approach her throne and confer. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">Finally. Someone who might actually know something. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] They moaned of malleability, unable to fold-forge fluid. Their fingers failed, for the Pharos Fidelis frustrated their philosophy. The jester danced in pretentious pirouettes. One cannot conquer conjecture with sunken scholars. (text-color:#4c4833)[**Further—**] Kolemeus II called the smiths to approach her throne and confer. Though many spoke of spectacle, it was but one who brought her glowing glass newly wrought, for folding lightning the fortress fought. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">This is infuriating to read. One of the worst yet. Is it really so much to ask to see some proper blueprints? They did not even name the glassmaster who perfected the hyperfolding technique. She must have left her secrets somewhere. I have to believe she did. And the form—such that it was—collapsed ahead of the dénouement. Abominable poetics. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] The jester sang demands for demonstration. One cannot light lamps with sunken spirits. (text-color:#4c4833)[**At last—**] Kolemeus II called the jester to approach her throne and confer. He asked for her hand in marriage. She gifted him the glistering glass, and decreed him dragged up the spindliest spire to soar in stormy skies. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“I don’t think Kolemeus II appreciated his joke,” Finnit said. “I bet the rest of the court laughed, though.” “Was it a joke?” Vosaphar scratched the tip of one of his pointed ears. “He might have been serious.”</div>] Thus shone a beam befitting a lavish lens. Its promise proven, construction commenced. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightchroniclechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[[[Ascend. ⇒->11BB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">With the fading of the flames, so too did the imperial coffers grow cold. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#d7cc90)[**First—**] Kolemeus II called the financiers to approach her throne and confer. They brayed of blockades, their ships sieged in once-safe sounds. Their routes risked wreckage, for the Pharos Fidelis vanquished their vessels. The jester recited a paean to profit. One cannot craft coins from sunken silver. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“Finnit!” Vosaphar snapped his fingers. “Hmm?” Finnit tried blinking the exhaustion out of his eyes. “Oh, did I doze off?” “You kept reading the same sentence over and over again.” “It is a chore, isn’t it?” He yawned. “Ugh. Thank you for helping me get through it.”</div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**Second—**] Kolemeus II called the generals to approach her throne and confer. They agonized of attrition, unable to pry pirates from the passages. Their hosts harbored hunger, for the Pharos Fidelis gainsaid their grain. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">Their unwillingness to employ portals is staggering. I cannot wrap my head around the idea that this dynasty—so resistant to magical solutions—somehow produced the most sophisticated piece of glass to ever exist on this plane. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] The jester crooned an ode to oats. One cannot feed forces with sunken supplies. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**Next—**] Kolemeus II called the architects to approach her throne and confer. They lamented of lightning, whose scattered strikes imperiled implementation of any regime of radiance. Their dreams despaired, for the Pharos Fidelis spited their stability. The jester wailed an elegy to effulgence. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">If I ever find this “historian” wandering the hells, I will kill them again. The jester, too. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] One cannot build beacons with sunken stones. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**Then—**] Kolemeus II called the sorcerers to approach her throne and confer. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">Finally. Someone who might actually know something. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] They moaned of malleability, unable to fold-forge fluid. Their fingers failed, for the Pharos Fidelis frustrated their philosophy. The jester danced in pretentious pirouettes. One cannot conquer conjecture with sunken scholars. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**Further—**] Kolemeus II called the smiths to approach her throne and confer. Though many spoke of spectacle, it was but one who brought her glowing glass newly wrought, for folding lightning the fortress fought. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">This is infuriating to read. One of the worst yet. Is it really so much to ask to see some proper blueprints? They did not even name the glassmaster who perfected the hyperfolding technique. She must have left her secrets somewhere. I have to believe she did. And the form—such that it was—collapsed ahead of the dénouement. Abominable poetics. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] The jester sang demands for demonstration. One cannot light lamps with sunken spirits. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**At last—**] Kolemeus II called the jester to approach her throne and confer. He asked for her hand in marriage. She gifted him the glistering glass, and decreed him dragged up the spindliest spire to soar in stormy skies. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“I don’t think Kolemeus II appreciated his joke,” Finnit said. “I bet the rest of the court laughed, though.” “Was it a joke?” Vosaphar scratched the tip of one of his pointed ears. “He might have been serious.”</div>] Thus shone a beam befitting a lavish lens. Its promise proven, construction commenced. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="chroniclechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#927b1a")))[[[Ascend. ⇒->11BB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#927b1a")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Chronicle]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">After Vosaphar’s violent encounter with the flying terror, he had hoped that the sorcerer’s magic-fatigue would improve on its own. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[No such luck. Recently, Finnit had been combing through *Elthensen’s Celestial Almanac*, attempting to determine a method of divining the current date, as well as the time remaining until the solar eclipse. Each time Finnit nodded off, Vosaphar’s anxiety ratcheted up. He could not understand why the summoner wouldn’t confront him asking for an adjustment to the accord, or simply end it. It made him feel… guilty. How loathsome a feeling. The ninth time Finnit’s head slumped down onto that same page, Vosaphar decided that had no real choice but to intervene. “This isn’t working,” Vosaphar said. “What do you mean?” Finnit asked, looking blearily up at him. He could barely keep both eyes open at once. “The accord. You have given me too much of your magic.” “No, no,” Finnit said. “I promised. I agreed to it. It’s not fair to you to change my mind.” As difficult as it was for Vosaphar to give up the power he had successfully negotiated for himself, the potential that Finnit would have sleepwalked off the edge of the cliffs to his death before suggesting a revision to the accord was simply too distasteful to live with. That must have been it. “When we first discussed the terms,” the devil began, “I had just traveled to this plane. It was overwhelming—I let my hunger negotiate for me.” He paused. “I cannot fulfill my end of the accord without insisting on lowering my share.” Finnit looked down at the astronomical chart on his lap, then laughed feebly. “This page isn’t even in the right *century*.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Over the next few minutes, Vosaphar helped Finnit draw up an addendum to the accord, settling for just under a third of the sorcerer’s magic. He already regretted voicing his concerns, as the reality of losing out on that much magic set in. Still, the moment they enacted the addendum, color returned to Finnit’s face, and Vosaphar felt relieved. Finnit tested out his magic, casting a ward without much trouble. “Whoa,” he said. “I didn’t just realize how bad it had gotten. Thank you for—I mean, you didn’t have to—” “That is true,” Vosaphar said. “I didn’t have to.” Finnit fiddled with one of his earrings. “Uh—are you—okay with this? Really?” “Yes, Finnit. The accord was… unsustainable.” That much was true, though the fiend knew that the loss of magic would set back his healing. Finnit channeled whatever inscrutable emotions he was feeling into an offer to teach Vosaphar how to cast wards now that he felt better. For all that Finnit complained of his lowly status at his academy, Vosaphar found his explanations of mortal magic sharp and engaging, especially now that he could deliver them with more vigor. Wards were not particularly taxing for the demon to perform, but they required him to reassess *how* he directed his inherent power. Human sorcerers spent far more effort constructing their intentions, rather than intuitively causing whatever they needed to happen to occur. When Vosaphar cast his first successful ward, Finnit had practically gushed. It was the happiest that the demon had seen his companion since his summoning, the pall of exhaustion lifted. As amusing as the ward diversion had been, Finnit’s promise to teach him banishment next was unsettling. Vosaphar dreaded the idea of being on the receiving end of such a spell, a fate that their accord all but promised. Perhaps that was why the devil still hesitated to share the extent of his injuries with Finnit. The sorcerer had, in his collection, a text that interested him—*Intermediate Remedies: Rites of Relief*—but Vosaphar worried what would happen if the mortal caught him reading it. Their rapport notwithstanding, this arrangement was fraught enough. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Some time had passed before Finnit next approached Vosaphar about making the trek up to the lens and its housing. “There must be something else we should do before heading out there,” Finnit said. “Maybe I could read the section about the lens one more time?” Despite Vosaphar’s assurances that the winged one would not bother them, Finnit’s anxiety had still gotten the better of him. “And what else might these grimoires have left to tell you that your own senses couldn’t?” Vosaphar asked. “The way is clear. Our wards are in place. We ought to proceed.” Finnit didn’t look particularly assuaged, but he nodded and put on his gloves. The way was not so clear as Vosaphar had insisted. Even with the flying beast’s bones now scattered to the waves, the stairs remained treacherous. Finnit insisted upon leading, leaving the demon to worry about his every precarious step forward. He imagined how powerless he would feel, witnessing the mortal slipping off the edge, tumbling to his death on the rocks far, far below. What a senseless way for this all to end. Their route wound around the cliffs, making steady upward progress. Finnit was unaccustomed to this exertion, so they took frequent breaks, resting where the overhang offered some relief from the storm. Vosaphar gazed out over the rock-infested seas. Shipwrecks littered the islands for leagues in every direction. He wondered why so many mortals had insisted on sailing these passages. Did they not long to savor the scant years their lifespans provided? As they crested another ridge, Finnit froze, then cowered against the cliffside. Vosaphar drew closer. “What is it, fearful one?” he whispered. “It’s the *nest*.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He maneuvered himself nimbly around Finnit to see it for himself. And what a sight it was. The stairs led around a great crevice that split the cliff, as though some axe-wielding titan of old had attempted to chop off the peak. Arranged at the entrance to the passage were dozens—if not hundreds—of anchors, many corroded to the point that they were barely recognizable as such, the pileup extending into the dark interior of the cliffs. Cupped within the crown of each anchor was a clutch of blackened eggs. Most had cracked or been trampled, spilling an oily sludge that had long since congealed. Despite the relentless gale, the throat of the cavern breathed the stink of death. The weight of Vosaphar’s actions settled over him. There was something about seeing the doomed broods of a creature that he had killed, that gave him an uncomfortable melancholy feeling. Finnit had tensed, staring into the cavern as though expecting the creature’s eyes to open in the shadows. “It will be okay,” Vosaphar said, his voice still soft. “The stairs are safe.” Despite his assurances, Finnit clung to the fiend for support as they shuffled past the ill-fated eggs. The sorcerer had wrapped one of his arms around the demon’s waist. Vosaphar found that sensation not altogether unpleasant. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Enrapture. ⇒->12BB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">After Vosaphar’s violent encounter with the flying terror, he had hoped that the sorcerer’s magic-fatigue would improve on its own. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[No such luck. Recently, Finnit had been combing through *Elthensen’s Celestial Almanac*, attempting to determine a method of divining the current date, as well as the time remaining until the solar eclipse. Each time Finnit nodded off, Vosaphar’s anxiety ratcheted up. He could not understand why the summoner wouldn’t confront him asking for an adjustment to the accord, or simply end it. It made him feel… guilty. How loathsome a feeling. The ninth time Finnit’s head slumped down onto that same page, Vosaphar decided that had no real choice but to intervene. “This isn’t working,” Vosaphar said. “What do you mean?” Finnit asked, looking blearily up at him. He could barely keep both eyes open at once. “The accord. You have given me too much of your magic.” “No, no,” Finnit said. “I promised. I agreed to it. It’s not fair to you to change my mind.” As difficult as it was for Vosaphar to give up the power he had successfully negotiated for himself, the potential that Finnit would have sleepwalked off the edge of the cliffs to his death before suggesting a revision to the accord was simply too distasteful to live with. That must have been it. “When we first discussed the terms,” the devil began, “I had just traveled to this plane. It was overwhelming—I let my hunger negotiate for me.” He paused. “I cannot fulfill my end of the accord without insisting on lowering my share.” Finnit looked down at the astronomical chart on his lap, then laughed feebly. “This page isn’t even in the right *century*.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Over the next few minutes, Vosaphar helped Finnit draw up an addendum to the accord, settling for just under a third of the sorcerer’s magic. He already regretted voicing his concerns, as the reality of losing out on that much magic set in. Still, the moment they enacted the addendum, color returned to Finnit’s face, and Vosaphar felt relieved. Finnit tested out his magic, casting a ward without much trouble. “Whoa,” he said. “I didn’t just realize how bad it had gotten. Thank you for—I mean, you didn’t have to—” “That is true,” Vosaphar said. “I didn’t have to.” Finnit fiddled with one of his earrings. “Uh—are you—okay with this? Really?” “Yes, Finnit. The accord was… unsustainable.” That much was true, though the fiend knew that the loss of magic would set back his healing. Finnit channeled whatever inscrutable emotions he was feeling into an offer to teach Vosaphar how to cast wards now that he felt better. For all that Finnit complained of his lowly status at his academy, Vosaphar found his explanations of mortal magic sharp and engaging, especially now that he could deliver them with more vigor. Wards were not particularly taxing for the demon to perform, but they required him to reassess *how* he directed his inherent power. Human sorcerers spent far more effort constructing their intentions, rather than intuitively causing whatever they needed to happen to occur. When Vosaphar cast his first successful ward, Finnit had practically gushed. It was the happiest that the demon had seen his companion since his summoning, the pall of exhaustion lifted. As amusing as the ward diversion had been, Finnit’s promise to teach him banishment next was unsettling. Vosaphar dreaded the idea of being on the receiving end of such a spell, a fate that their accord all but promised. Perhaps that was why the devil still hesitated to share the extent of his injuries with Finnit. The sorcerer had, in his collection, a text that interested him—*Intermediate Remedies: Rites of Relief*—but Vosaphar worried what would happen if the mortal caught him reading it. Their rapport notwithstanding, this arrangement was fraught enough. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Some time had passed before Finnit next approached Vosaphar about making the trek up to the lens and its housing. “There must be something else we should do before heading out there,” Finnit said. “Maybe I could read the section about the lens one more time?” Despite Vosaphar’s assurances that the winged one would not bother them, Finnit’s anxiety had still gotten the better of him. “And what else might these grimoires have left to tell you that your own senses couldn’t?” Vosaphar asked. “The way is clear. Our wards are in place. We ought to proceed.” Finnit didn’t look particularly assuaged, but he nodded and put on his gloves. The way was not so clear as Vosaphar had insisted. Even with the flying beast’s bones now scattered to the waves, the stairs remained treacherous. Finnit insisted upon leading, leaving the demon to worry about his every precarious step forward. He imagined how powerless he would feel, witnessing the mortal slipping off the edge, tumbling to his death on the rocks far, far below. What a senseless way for this all to end. Their route wound around the cliffs, making steady upward progress. Finnit was unaccustomed to this exertion, so they took frequent breaks, resting where the overhang offered some relief from the storm. Vosaphar gazed out over the rock-infested seas. Shipwrecks littered the islands for leagues in every direction. He wondered why so many mortals had insisted on sailing these passages. Did they not long to savor the scant years their lifespans provided? As they crested another ridge, Finnit froze, then cowered against the cliffside. Vosaphar drew closer. “What is it, fearful one?” he whispered. “It’s the *nest*.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He maneuvered himself nimbly around Finnit to see it for himself. And what a sight it was. The stairs led around a great crevice that split the cliff, as though some axe-wielding titan of old had attempted to chop off the peak. Arranged at the entrance to the passage were dozens—if not hundreds—of anchors, many corroded to the point that they were barely recognizable as such, the pileup extending into the dark interior of the cliffs. Cupped within the crown of each anchor was a clutch of blackened eggs. Most had cracked or been trampled, spilling an oily sludge that had long since congealed. Despite the relentless gale, the throat of the cavern breathed the stink of death. The weight of Vosaphar’s actions settled over him. There was something about seeing the doomed broods of a creature that he had killed, that gave him an uncomfortable melancholy feeling. Finnit had tensed, staring into the cavern as though expecting the creature’s eyes to open in the shadows. “It will be okay,” Vosaphar said, his voice still soft. “The stairs are safe.” Despite his assurances, Finnit clung to the fiend for support as they shuffled past the ill-fated eggs. The sorcerer had wrapped one of his arms around the demon’s waist. Vosaphar found that sensation not altogether unpleasant. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Enrapture. ⇒->12BB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XII.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">As they approached the top of the lighthouse, the vicious wind fell away. The sound of the churning seascape had been suppressed. Even the rainfall faded, as though splattering onto nothing. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit was overcome by the weight of stagnation, a stillness that made him uncomfortably aware of his own breaths. They were quick and shallow, strained from the exertion of climbing these many stairs. He looked to Vosaphar, finding the demon unaffected, calm and focused as his storm-mottled eyes scanned their surroundings. They ascended the last few steps, arriving at a large hexagonal platform. And there it was. When he read about the great lens, Finnit had imagined it to be something gleaming, pristine; glass so perfectly pure and bright, folding light over and over again, faceted just so to amplify every last drop of power into a beam intense enough to overtake even the densest fog. A marvel of sorcery, architecture, and craftsmanship. Perhaps it had been like that, once. What loomed before him was barely recognizable as glass. It had deformed to inky slag, forming indecipherable shapes that buzzed in the back of his head when he tried resolving their details. It was as though the lens’s purpose had entirely inverted; no longer a beacon, it had become a thief of light, soaking every reflection, devouring even the memories of lightning that had long since bolted. Through the core of the lens cleaved its legendary fissure, rising from the base of the platform toward the dark ceiling of its housing above. The cleft was jagged, haphazard, and, Finnit suddenly came to realize, *incomplete*. Like the paving stones in Tinfallow so long ago, he had an overwhelming urge to reconcile the shape that was present with the shape that *should* be present. It couldn’t be a coincidence. Someone had tried—and failed—to scribe an infernal glyph of immense power upon this object. Finnit stepped closer. He couldn’t stop himself. He wasn’t just anyone to this lens; there was something in there, calling for him. Reaching for him. How could he refuse it? The fracture yawned wider as he approached. It might not be open enough to step into, but perhaps he could reach in with his hand, and touch— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Ahh!” Sharp pain seared his shoulders as something yanked him roughly backwards. “What are you doing?” Vosaphar demanded, turning Finnit to face him. “Have you no sense?” Finnit felt dazed. “I—but…” His shoulders throbbed. The demon wrapped an arm around him—not as forcefully as before—and guided him down a few steps, well away from the lighthouse platform. “Sit,” Vosaphar commanded. Finnit sank, resting on the cold stone, facing out toward the dismal scenery he had become so familiar with. He reached up to his left shoulder, feeling where Vosaphar’s claws had shredded fabric and skin alike. “What… happened?” “You fell under the influence of the lens, witless one!” Vosaphar loomed, his horned silhouette fearsome against the stormy sky. “I intervened when you refused to heed my warnings. We should return to our chamber at once. It is not safe for you to be in the direct presence of this force.” “You really care about me,” Finnit said. “That’s—” “We made an accord,” Vosaphar said, annoyed. “Here. Let me, uh…” He knelt next to Finnit to get a closer look at his shoulder, shifting the fabric aside with a much more delicate and deliberate touch. “My rough handling has caused you to bleed. I ask for lenience in your assessment of my violence, given the alternative harm I may have prevented.” “It’s okay,” Finnit insisted. “They’re shallow wounds.” It *was* painful, but he didn’t want Vosaphar to fret about the accord, especially right when he’d once again rescued him from a dangerous situation. “I will tend to them as best as I can,” Vosaphar promised. That struck Finnit as unfair, somehow. Why did Vosaphar feel he owed Finnit that care, but wouldn’t accept it for himself? He decided not to press the issue for the moment. “What is wrong with the lens? What… *is* it?” “Let’s return first,” Vosaphar said. “I don’t trust it. We shouldn’t linger here.” If even a demon found the lens this threatening, Finnit thought he’d better follow that advice. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Retreat. ⇒->13BB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">As they approached the top of the lighthouse, the vicious wind fell away. The sound of the churning seascape had been suppressed. Even the rainfall faded, as though splattering onto nothing. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit was overcome by the weight of stagnation, a stillness that made him uncomfortably aware of his own breaths. They were quick and shallow, strained from the exertion of climbing these many stairs. He looked to Vosaphar, finding the demon unaffected, calm and focused as his storm-mottled eyes scanned their surroundings. They ascended the last few steps, arriving at a large hexagonal platform. And there it was. When he read about the great lens, Finnit had imagined it to be something gleaming, pristine; glass so perfectly pure and bright, folding light over and over again, faceted just so to amplify every last drop of power into a beam intense enough to overtake even the densest fog. A marvel of sorcery, architecture, and craftsmanship. Perhaps it had been like that, once. What loomed before him was barely recognizable as glass. It had deformed to inky slag, forming indecipherable shapes that buzzed in the back of his head when he tried resolving their details. It was as though the lens’s purpose had entirely inverted; no longer a beacon, it had become a thief of light, soaking every reflection, devouring even the memories of lightning that had long since bolted. Through the core of the lens cleaved its legendary fissure, rising from the base of the platform toward the dark ceiling of its housing above. The cleft was jagged, haphazard, and, Finnit suddenly came to realize, *incomplete*. Like the paving stones in Tinfallow so long ago, he had an overwhelming urge to reconcile the shape that was present with the shape that *should* be present. It couldn’t be a coincidence. Someone had tried—and failed—to scribe an infernal glyph of immense power upon this object. Finnit stepped closer. He couldn’t stop himself. He wasn’t just anyone to this lens; there was something in there, calling for him. Reaching for him. How could he refuse it? The fracture yawned wider as he approached. It might not be open enough to step into, but perhaps he could reach in with his hand, and touch— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Ahh!” Sharp pain seared his shoulders as something yanked him roughly backwards. “What are you doing?” Vosaphar demanded, turning Finnit to face him. “Have you no sense?” Finnit felt dazed. “I—but…” His shoulders throbbed. The demon wrapped an arm around him—not as forcefully as before—and guided him down a few steps, well away from the lighthouse platform. “Sit,” Vosaphar commanded. Finnit sank, resting on the cold stone, facing out toward the dismal scenery he had become so familiar with. He reached up to his left shoulder, feeling where Vosaphar’s claws had shredded fabric and skin alike. “What… happened?” “You fell under the influence of the lens, witless one!” Vosaphar loomed, his horned silhouette fearsome against the stormy sky. “I intervened when you refused to heed my warnings. We should return to our chamber at once. It is not safe for you to be in the direct presence of this force.” “You really care about me,” Finnit said. “That’s—” “We made an accord,” Vosaphar said, annoyed. “Here. Let me, uh…” He knelt next to Finnit to get a closer look at his shoulder, shifting the fabric aside with a much more delicate and deliberate touch. “My rough handling has caused you to bleed. I ask for lenience in your assessment of my violence, given the alternative harm I may have prevented.” “It’s okay,” Finnit insisted. “They’re shallow wounds.” It *was* painful, but he didn’t want Vosaphar to fret about the accord, especially right when he’d once again rescued him from a dangerous situation. “I will tend to them as best as I can,” Vosaphar promised. That struck Finnit as unfair, somehow. Why did Vosaphar feel he owed Finnit that care, but wouldn’t accept it for himself? He decided not to press the issue for the moment. “What is wrong with the lens? What… *is* it?” “Let’s return first,” Vosaphar said. “I don’t trust it. We shouldn’t linger here.” If even a demon found the lens this threatening, Finnit thought he’d better follow that advice. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Retreat. ⇒->13BB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XIII.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">After all that climbing up and down the cliffside, Finnit and Vosaphar alike were eager to rest by the fire. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It took Finnit a few attempts to get it going again. Vosaphar watched him intently. Some combination of the exertion, the accord, and exposure to the accursed cloven glass had taken its toll on the mortal. Not to mention the injuries Vosaphar had inflicted. There was a part of him that felt guilty that he worried about Finnit, when he had done little to take care of his own wounds. Even so, he did not wish the sorcerer to suffer injuries he caused, however justified. “I should look at your shoulders,” the devil said. “Later?” Finnit turned over on his bedroll. “It’s not that bad. I appreciate the thought,” he mumbled. “You’re sweet. Sweet one.” Vosaphar stared into the crimson flames for a long while after that. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[With Finnit muttering in his sleep, the demon decided to crack open *Intermediate Remedies: Rites of Relief*. He did not enjoy reading on his own. Sure, there was a mechanical concern—his claws risked tearing the tender pages—but really, he preferred having Finnit explain and contextualize the things he didn’t immediately grasp about human existence. Nevertheless, he paged through, having little success in imagining how these abstract rituals might apply to a devil’s self-specifying injuries. When he reached the third section, a sheaf of paper slipped out. Someone had scrawled a brief note on it. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightjethelletter">Finnit— By the time you see this, your discovery trial has likely commenced. I couldn’t stop it. I know we often joked about Raekard being lazy, such that he sends others to do his bidding. But he must have been quite diligent, to have curried enough favor with the other luminaries to get something this reckless approved. I am not allowed to intervene. Therefore, this note is not an intervention, but merely a statement on the vibrant art of healing. Unrelated to your trial, these rituals might be helpful to ones endangered by perilous circumstances. One hells-bent on infernal methods might do well to be reminded that certain healing rituals might tend to materials well beyond the fleshly. —J.</div> “J?” Vosaphar wondered aloud. “Hmm?” Finnit turned over, his eyes blearing open. “What’s that?” “It was in this book. A note from someone named ‘J.’” Vosaphar handed it over to the sleep-starved sorcerer. “Jethel, of course.” Finnit pored over the message for a minute or so. “Was this really in that book the whole time? I guess I never opened it.” “I hoped to study mortal healing spells.” Vosaphar attempted as neutral a tone as he could muster. “We can look through it later.” Finnit sat up, wincing at his sore shoulders. “Okay, maybe sooner.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar helped the man strip off the robes and his shirt, exposing the flesh beneath. And what a dramatic sight it was, dark bruises blotched across his chest, speckles of black hair trailing down to his soft tan belly. His shoulders were a mess, crusted in half-dried blood. Fortunately, much of it wiped away, revealing the scratches to be shallow. “Listen,” Finnit said. “I’ve been thinking.” The demon tensed. “I didn’t properly thank you for intervening. I don’t know what would’ve happened if I had just… climbed into that lens, surrendered to its influence. Thank you.” “I abided by our accord,” Vosaphar said. “It would’ve been negligent of me to let that happen.” “Sure,” Finnit said. “But… look. It’s a sloppy accord. I’m not some expert negotiator. You’re a demon. I think if you really wanted to, you could’ve found a ‘technically correct’ way of interpreting what I said and gotten away with letting me die. And you didn’t.” Vosaphar felt vaguely uncomfortable. He reached to scratch the back of his own neck. “Maybe you shouldn’t give me any dangerous ideas. Do you have any specific malicious interpretations of the accord on hand that you’d like to share with me?” Finnit smiled. “Maybe not.” “That was probably a joke. But I’m not sure exactly what you’re implying.” Finnit dabbed at one of his scratches with a damp cloth. “I think that you like me, at least a little.” “It doesn’t matter whether I like you a little, a great deal, or not at all. It is in my best interest for you to continue living, is it not?” “I think it’s in my best interest to agree with you. So, yes.” “Good answer.” “But is it—” Finnit appeared frustrated that he couldn’t figure out precisely how to word whatever he was really trying to say. “I know the accord and this whole situation are… not a normal way to become acquainted with someone. The way that I first saw you. I have nightmares about it. It’s not how anyone should have to meet. It screws with everything, like maybe everything I’ve done since is corrupted by that horrible event. But even so, despite all of that, is it wrong to consider you… a friend?” “No,” Vosaphar said. “I don’t think that’s wrong of you. I accept your... friendship. Finnit.” The sorcerer blushed a little, and Vosaphar’s heart stirred. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[When Finnit had drifted back to sleep, the fiend returned to the book of healing spells. Friend or not, wickedly warm feelings or not, the accord still bore its temporal threat: Vosaphar’s eventual, inevitable descent back to the calciferous wastes. Back to wandering. All futures converged there. Didn’t they? Must they? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Enumerate. ⇒->C2BB. Pyrelight]]]</div>]]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">After all that climbing up and down the cliffside, Finnit and Vosaphar alike were eager to rest by the fire. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It took Finnit a few attempts to get it going again. Vosaphar watched him intently. Some combination of the exertion, the accord, and exposure to the accursed cloven glass had taken its toll on the mortal. Not to mention the injuries Vosaphar had inflicted. There was a part of him that felt guilty that he worried about Finnit, when he had done little to take care of his own wounds. Even so, he did not wish the sorcerer to suffer injuries he caused, however justified. “I should look at your shoulders,” the devil said. “Later?” Finnit turned over on his bedroll. “It’s not that bad. I appreciate the thought,” he mumbled. “You’re sweet. Sweet one.” Vosaphar stared into the crimson flames for a long while after that. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[With Finnit muttering in his sleep, the demon decided to crack open *Intermediate Remedies: Rites of Relief*. He did not enjoy reading on his own. Sure, there was a mechanical concern—his claws risked tearing the tender pages—but really, he preferred having Finnit explain and contextualize the things he didn’t immediately grasp about human existence. Nevertheless, he paged through, having little success in imagining how these abstract rituals might apply to a devil’s self-specifying injuries. When he reached the third section, a sheaf of paper slipped out. Someone had scrawled a brief note on it. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="jethelletter">Finnit— By the time you see this, your discovery trial has likely commenced. I couldn’t stop it. I know we often joked about Raekard being lazy, such that he sends others to do his bidding. But he must have been quite diligent, to have curried enough favor with the other luminaries to get something this reckless approved. I am not allowed to intervene. Therefore, this note is not an intervention, but merely a statement on the vibrant art of healing. Unrelated to your trial, these rituals might be helpful to ones endangered by perilous circumstances. One hells-bent on infernal methods might do well to be reminded that certain healing rituals might tend to materials well beyond the fleshly. —J.</div> “J?” Vosaphar wondered aloud. “Hmm?” Finnit turned over, his eyes blearing open. “What’s that?” “It was in this book. A note from someone named ‘J.’” Vosaphar handed it over to the sleep-starved sorcerer. “Jethel, of course.” Finnit pored over the message for a minute or so. “Was this really in that book the whole time? I guess I never opened it.” “I hoped to study mortal healing spells.” Vosaphar attempted as neutral a tone as he could muster. “We can look through it later.” Finnit sat up, wincing at his sore shoulders. “Okay, maybe sooner.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar helped the man strip off the robes and his shirt, exposing the flesh beneath. And what a dramatic sight it was, dark bruises blotched across his chest, speckles of black hair trailing down to his soft tan belly. His shoulders were a mess, crusted in half-dried blood. Fortunately, much of it wiped away, revealing the scratches to be shallow. “Listen,” Finnit said. “I’ve been thinking.” The demon tensed. “I didn’t properly thank you for intervening. I don’t know what would’ve happened if I had just… climbed into that lens, surrendered to its influence. Thank you.” “I abided by our accord,” Vosaphar said. “It would’ve been negligent of me to let that happen.” “Sure,” Finnit said. “But… look. It’s a sloppy accord. I’m not some expert negotiator. You’re a demon. I think if you really wanted to, you could’ve found a ‘technically correct’ way of interpreting what I said and gotten away with letting me die. And you didn’t.” Vosaphar felt vaguely uncomfortable. He reached to scratch the back of his own neck. “Maybe you shouldn’t give me any dangerous ideas. Do you have any specific malicious interpretations of the accord on hand that you’d like to share with me?” Finnit smiled. “Maybe not.” “That was probably a joke. But I’m not sure exactly what you’re implying.” Finnit dabbed at one of his scratches with a damp cloth. “I think that you like me, at least a little.” “It doesn’t matter whether I like you a little, a great deal, or not at all. It is in my best interest for you to continue living, is it not?” “I think it’s in my best interest to agree with you. So, yes.” “Good answer.” “But is it—” Finnit appeared frustrated that he couldn’t figure out precisely how to word whatever he was really trying to say. “I know the accord and this whole situation are… not a normal way to become acquainted with someone. The way that I first saw you. I have nightmares about it. It’s not how anyone should have to meet. It screws with everything, like maybe everything I’ve done since is corrupted by that horrible event. But even so, despite all of that, is it wrong to consider you… a friend?” “No,” Vosaphar said. “I don’t think that’s wrong of you. I accept your... friendship. Finnit.” The sorcerer blushed a little, and Vosaphar’s heart stirred. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[When Finnit had drifted back to sleep, the fiend returned to the book of healing spells. Friend or not, wickedly warm feelings or not, the accord still bore its temporal threat: Vosaphar’s eventual, inevitable descent back to the calciferous wastes. Back to wandering. All futures converged there. Didn’t they? Must they? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Enumerate. ⇒->C2BB. Pyrelight]]]</div>]]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[2nd Era | Pyrelight.]</div> Another fragment recounting the dark history of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">The Six Hundred and Eighty-Seventh Pharos Fidelis Pyretender Consignment Report is hereby filed under the devolved authority bestowed by Our Most Luminous Emperor Kolemeus, in accordance with Pharos Fidelis Pyretender Accounting Ordinance the First. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Acting Pharos Fidelis Pyretender C. F. truthfully attests that, during this six hundred and eighty-seventh month, in addition to prescribed daily allotments of timber, excepting dates the Third, Fifth, Twenty-Sixth, and Twenty-Eighth, the following detritus was consigned to the pyre: (text-color:#4c4833)[**On date the Third—**] Approximately one quarter of the merchant vessel *Resurgence*, run aground at the Pharos Fidelis, and stripped of its useful parts. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">This month would’ve fallen in the midst of the pyre’s decline. No doubt, the dimming of the light and the darkening of the skies contributed to this shipwreck. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] The bodies of fifteen sailors, deceased by drowning in the aforementioned incident, and stripped of their useful personal effects. Four crates of proscribed intoxicant liquor, seized from the wreckage in the aforementioned incident, and stripped of its useful contents. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“Wait.” Finnit read that last sentence again. “Oh, the pyretender just drank it, didn’t they?” “Would you have done the same?” “Probably.” Finnit paused. “I wouldn’t have written it into an official report like this, though.” “Perhaps the pyretender merely tired of their monotonous existence, and never expected anyone to read this report anyway.”</div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**On date the Fifth—**] Ten additional planks from the wreckage of the merchant vessel *Resurgence*, washed ashore. Twenty-six ledgers containing forged records of intoxicant liquor purchase authorization, seized from the wreckage in the aforementioned incident. (text-color:#4c4833)[**On date the Sixth—**] Thirty-one seditious pamphlets, scattered unlawfully outside the Office of the Pharos Fidelis Pyretender. (text-color:#4c4833)[**On date the Eleventh—**] The body of one sailor, culpable navigator of the aforementioned vessel *Resurgence*, deceased by lawful beheading, and stripped of its useful personal effects. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“Only eight days later,” Vosaphar remarked. “Does mortal ‘justice’ always move so swiftly?” Finnit thought about it. “I guess it depends on the judge.”</div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**On date the Twenty-Fifth—**] The carcass of one proscribed entity: werewolf, lawfully destroyed by hunters, and stripped of its usable pelt. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“This is horrific,” Finnit said. “I feel ill reading this.” Vosaphar rubbed his claws together anxiously. “I don’t know much of werewolves.” “A werewolf, even if not fully human, is still a *person*.” “I guess mortals such as this pyretender disdain of more than just demons.”</div>] Thirty-two heretical grimoires, confiscated from the dwelling of the aforementioned proscribed entity. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">It’s a shame that those books were in the hands of that creature and not a proper archivist. I doubt anything the first Kolemian regime deemed “heretical” was entirely useless. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] Eleven heretical ritual candles, confiscated from the dwelling of the aforementioned proscribed entity. Thirteen bundles of proscribed heretical intoxicant herbs, confiscated from the dwelling of the aforementioned proscribed entity. (text-color:#4c4833)[**On date the Twenty-Sixth—**] One hundred and ninety seditious pamphlets, confiscated from the dwelling of lawfully destroyed proscribed entity: werewolf. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“So the werewolf was the pamphleteer?” Vosaphar asked. Finnit fiddled with his bracelet. “They’d have all the reason to be. It’s just… why did it take them an extra day to burn the pamphlets? If I were trying to throw suspicion off of myself, the home of an exposed werewolf no longer able to defend themselves against accusations is exactly where I would put them.” Vosaphar mulled it over. “You are quite the terror, Finnit.” </div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**On date the Twenty-Eighth—**] Radiant ash harvested from the carcasses of five lawfully summoned proscribed entities: demonic, lawfully destroyed by holy ritual blade, in accordance with Pharos Fidelis Pyretender Stoking Ordinance the Fourth. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">What an ideological contortion from a regime so insistent on declaring most useful sorcery heretical. They must have been desperate, to have attempted saving the pyre with a state-sanctioned summon-and-slaughter scheme like this. And how futile. A senseless waste of ritual components. ⚞L. Raekard (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">Vosaphar went very quiet. Finnit leaned his head against the devil’s shoulder for a few moments.</div>] </div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**As Proclaimed:**] The Pharos Fidelis Pyre shall forever brighten the seas of Our Most Luminous Emperor Kolemeus. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“Well, it didn’t,” Finnit said. Unstated thoughts clouded Vosaphar’s eyes.</div>] This concludes the Six Hundred and Eighty-Seventh Pharos Fidelis Pyretender Consignment Report. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightchroniclechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#927b1a")))[[[Assemble. ⇒->14BB. Finnit]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">The Six Hundred and Eighty-Seventh Pharos Fidelis Pyretender Consignment Report is hereby filed under the devolved authority bestowed by Our Most Luminous Emperor Kolemeus, in accordance with Pharos Fidelis Pyretender Accounting Ordinance the First. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Acting Pharos Fidelis Pyretender C. F. truthfully attests that, during this six hundred and eighty-seventh month, in addition to prescribed daily allotments of timber, excepting dates the Third, Fifth, Twenty-Sixth, and Twenty-Eighth, the following detritus was consigned to the pyre: (text-color:#d7cc90)[**On date the Third—**] Approximately one quarter of the merchant vessel *Resurgence*, run aground at the Pharos Fidelis, and stripped of its useful parts. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">This month would’ve fallen in the midst of the pyre’s decline. No doubt, the dimming of the light and the darkening of the skies contributed to this shipwreck. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] The bodies of fifteen sailors, deceased by drowning in the aforementioned incident, and stripped of their useful personal effects. Four crates of proscribed intoxicant liquor, seized from the wreckage in the aforementioned incident, and stripped of its useful contents. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“Wait.” Finnit read that last sentence again. “Oh, the pyretender just drank it, didn’t they?” “Would you have done the same?” “Probably.” Finnit paused. “I wouldn’t have written it into an official report like this, though.” “Perhaps the pyretender merely tired of their monotonous existence, and never expected anyone to read this report anyway.”</div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**On date the Fifth—**] Ten additional planks from the wreckage of the merchant vessel *Resurgence*, washed ashore. Twenty-six ledgers containing forged records of intoxicant liquor purchase authorization, seized from the wreckage in the aforementioned incident. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**On date the Sixth—**] Thirty-one seditious pamphlets, scattered unlawfully outside the Office of the Pharos Fidelis Pyretender. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**On date the Eleventh—**] The body of one sailor, culpable navigator of the aforementioned vessel *Resurgence*, deceased by lawful beheading, and stripped of its useful personal effects. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“Only eight days later,” Vosaphar remarked. “Does mortal ‘justice’ always move so swiftly?” Finnit thought about it. “I guess it depends on the judge.”</div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**On date the Twenty-Fifth—**] The carcass of one proscribed entity: werewolf, lawfully destroyed by hunters, and stripped of its usable pelt. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“This is horrific,” Finnit said. “I feel ill reading this.” Vosaphar rubbed his claws together anxiously. “I don’t know much of werewolves.” “A werewolf, even if not fully human, is still a *person*.” “I guess mortals such as this pyretender disdain of more than just demons.”</div>] Thirty-two heretical grimoires, confiscated from the dwelling of the aforementioned proscribed entity. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">It’s a shame that those books were in the hands of that creature and not a proper archivist. I doubt anything the first Kolemian regime deemed “heretical” was entirely useless. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] Eleven heretical ritual candles, confiscated from the dwelling of the aforementioned proscribed entity. Thirteen bundles of proscribed heretical intoxicant herbs, confiscated from the dwelling of the aforementioned proscribed entity. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**On date the Twenty-Sixth—**] One hundred and ninety seditious pamphlets, confiscated from the dwelling of lawfully destroyed proscribed entity: werewolf. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“So the werewolf was the pamphleteer?” Vosaphar asked. Finnit fiddled with his bracelet. “They’d have all the reason to be. It’s just… why did it take them an extra day to burn the pamphlets? If I were trying to throw suspicion off of myself, the home of an exposed werewolf no longer able to defend themselves against accusations is exactly where I would put them.” Vosaphar mulled it over. “You are quite the terror, Finnit.” </div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**On date the Twenty-Eighth—**] Radiant ash harvested from the carcasses of five lawfully summoned proscribed entities: demonic, lawfully destroyed by holy ritual blade, in accordance with Pharos Fidelis Pyretender Stoking Ordinance the Fourth. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">What an ideological contortion from a regime so insistent on declaring most useful sorcery heretical. They must have been desperate, to have attempted saving the pyre with a state-sanctioned summon-and-slaughter scheme like this. And how futile. A senseless waste of ritual components. ⚞L. Raekard (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">Vosaphar went very quiet. Finnit leaned his head against the devil’s shoulder for a few moments.</div>] </div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**As Proclaimed:**] The Pharos Fidelis Pyre shall forever brighten the seas of Our Most Luminous Emperor Kolemeus. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“Well, it didn’t,” Finnit said. Unstated thoughts clouded Vosaphar’s eyes.</div>] This concludes the Six Hundred and Eighty-Seventh Pharos Fidelis Pyretender Consignment Report. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="chroniclechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#927b1a")))[[[Assemble. ⇒->14BB. Finnit]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#927b1a")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Chronicle]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XIV.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">The fragments of all that Finnit had seen and experienced at the Pharos Fidelis had started fitting together into a mosaic. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He did not much like the image taking form. Nevertheless, they had taken up their usual spots by the fire. Just a sorcerer and a devil, all cozy together. As friends. And, more importantly, research associates. “That lens…” Finnit began, scratching his stubbled chin. “I just don’t see how it’s going to be possible to reignite it. Or why you would even want to. Not only is it completely warped into slag but it’s also…” “Haunted?” Vosaphar was clutching a bundled-up blanket to his chest. “Yeah. I guess? You got a better look at it than I did, since you were able to resist its influence. Can you describe what you saw?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Over the next hour or so, Finnit listened, taking notes as the fiend—his *friend*—explained all that he had noticed about the interactions between the lighthouse, Finnit, and the surrounding environment. After Vosaphar finished, Finnit attempted to summarize what he had written. “It seems like we have… what, four problems to solve here? The lens is cracked; it needs to be made whole again. The lens is warped; it needs to return to its original shape, or at least, a shape capable of projecting light outward. The lens needs a source of energy to fuel its light. And last, the lens is corrupted by some potent, phantasmal force—whatever the pseudo-consciousness of the curse actually is—that must be addressed.” “Is that all?” Vosaphar asked, dryly. “Probably not. But listing it out like that, I can’t help but feel like it’s not impossible and rather just extraordinarily improbable that we can get this working again.” “Generations of emperors, architects, and scholars couldn’t get this lighthouse to work properly. For an incipient summoner and demon of no renown, it should be eminently solvable.” “Harsh. But not necessarily wrong.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit next drew out the infernal glyph his mind had projected onto the lens while he was under its sinister influence. Unlike most of the glyphs in his syllabary, this shape was especially difficult to coerce onto paper. Its jagged fingers craved depth to climb out of, a thoroughly unsettling thing to watch writhing on a flat surface. He showed it to Vosaphar. “Is there any chance you recognize this? I can’t understand what this is meant to represent.” The devil extended two claws to claim the page. His eyes grew wide as he stared at it for a moment, and then he shredded the paper to bits, tossing them into the fire. “Whoa.” Finnit’s gaze followed the fuchsia sparks that fled the ashes. “That bad?” “It’s a *name*,” Vosaphar said. “No wonder you couldn’t read it. You should not leave names lying about where they might take root.” “Whose name is it?” “I know not,” he said, curling his tail into the blankets. “But it is a demon’s name. A powerful one. A dangerous one.” How flattering. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Maybe that’s what’s in the lens,” Finnit mused. “There must be something infernal about the lighthouse for Raekard to care so much about it. Perhaps it can be communed with. Reasoned with.” “I do not wish to discourage your… kindness, Finnit. Yet, there remain many demons with whom it would be especially unwise to speak.” Vosaphar looked uncharacteristically unsettled by the discussion. In situations like this, Finnit wasn’t sure what to say. He didn’t want to pry, uninvited, into whatever anxieties the glyph had provoked. He moved his bedroll closer to the tender fiend and clasped one of Vosaphar’s hands in his, gently stroking the demon’s blue-gray fingers. Vosaphar accepted this attention, and after a few minutes, started to relax. It had become ever easier for Finnit to forget the storm raging just outside. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Agonize. ⇒->RBB. Lazurynth]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">The fragments of all that Finnit had seen and experienced at the Pharos Fidelis had started fitting together into a mosaic. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He did not much like the image taking form. Nevertheless, they had taken up their usual spots by the fire. Just a sorcerer and a devil, all cozy together. As friends. And, more importantly, research associates. “That lens…” Finnit began, scratching his stubbled chin. “I just don’t see how it’s going to be possible to reignite it. Or why you would even want to. Not only is it completely warped into slag but it’s also…” “Haunted?” Vosaphar was clutching a bundled-up blanket to his chest. “Yeah. I guess? You got a better look at it than I did, since you were able to resist its influence. Can you describe what you saw?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Over the next hour or so, Finnit listened, taking notes as the fiend—his *friend*—explained all that he had noticed about the interactions between the lighthouse, Finnit, and the surrounding environment. After Vosaphar finished, Finnit attempted to summarize what he had written. “It seems like we have… what, four problems to solve here? The lens is cracked; it needs to be made whole again. The lens is warped; it needs to return to its original shape, or at least, a shape capable of projecting light outward. The lens needs a source of energy to fuel its light. And last, the lens is corrupted by some potent, phantasmal force—whatever the pseudo-consciousness of the curse actually is—that must be addressed.” “Is that all?” Vosaphar asked, dryly. “Probably not. But listing it out like that, I can’t help but feel like it’s not impossible and rather just extraordinarily improbable that we can get this working again.” “Generations of emperors, architects, and scholars couldn’t get this lighthouse to work properly. For an incipient summoner and demon of no renown, it should be eminently solvable.” “Harsh. But not necessarily wrong.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit next drew out the infernal glyph his mind had projected onto the lens while he was under its sinister influence. Unlike most of the glyphs in his syllabary, this shape was especially difficult to coerce onto paper. Its jagged fingers craved depth to climb out of, a thoroughly unsettling thing to watch writhing on a flat surface. He showed it to Vosaphar. “Is there any chance you recognize this? I can’t understand what this is meant to represent.” The devil extended two claws to claim the page. His eyes grew wide as he stared at it for a moment, and then he shredded the paper to bits, tossing them into the fire. “Whoa.” Finnit’s gaze followed the fuchsia sparks that fled the ashes. “That bad?” “It’s a *name*,” Vosaphar said. “No wonder you couldn’t read it. You should not leave names lying about where they might take root.” “Whose name is it?” “I know not,” he said, curling his tail into the blankets. “But it is a demon’s name. A powerful one. A dangerous one.” How flattering. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Maybe that’s what’s in the lens,” Finnit mused. “There must be something infernal about the lighthouse for Raekard to care so much about it. Perhaps it can be communed with. Reasoned with.” “I do not wish to discourage your… kindness, Finnit. Yet, there remain many demons with whom it would be especially unwise to speak.” Vosaphar looked uncharacteristically unsettled by the discussion. In situations like this, Finnit wasn’t sure what to say. He didn’t want to pry, uninvited, into whatever anxieties the glyph had provoked. He moved his bedroll closer to the tender fiend and clasped one of Vosaphar’s hands in his, gently stroking the demon’s blue-gray fingers. Vosaphar accepted this attention, and after a few minutes, started to relax. It had become ever easier for Finnit to forget the storm raging just outside. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Agonize. ⇒->RBB. Lazurynth]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:#7e6eff)+(text-size: 3)[Recollection.] (text-color:#7e6eff)+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Lazurynth.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightlazurynthpassage">Lapis embers blazed blue beneath the walls of the lazurynth. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#2f00dd)+(hover-style:(text-color:#673eff)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The coal pits burned and churned, sweltering starlight powering forges a thousandfold. Fledgling imps crawled the fires, torched tongues slavering for specificity. Demon smiths clanged metal against metal, their listless chorus a lullaby for the not-yet-becoming. In these fell reaches, one ember among countless dimmed out, gasping sapphire smoke. It was preparing to drag a slaughtered devil back to the smoldering pit of his creation. The coal sparked and spat, assembling shredded flesh and charred bones into a screaming fiend. Horns burst through the skin stretched across his skull, spraying ichor that sizzled as it struck blue fire. Blood-scent drew imps toward the languishing demon. They swarmed and tore, devouring the remnants of his wings, craving nourishment further even than that. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#2f00dd)+(hover-style:(text-color:#673eff)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He thrashed, sending his assailants further down the smoking slope as ever more arrived. He crawled and slid, trailing blood from wounds that scorned cauterization. Threats far worse than imps awaited him once he reached the rim. And still, he fought for the right to face or flee them. All that fueled his grueling ascent was the self he refused to abandon. His specificity. He was—and remained—Vosaphar. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#2f00dd)+(hover-style:(text-color:#673eff)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And someday, he would fly again. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#2f00dd)+(hover-style:(text-color:#673eff)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightlazurynthchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#2f00dd)+(hover-style:(text-color:#673eff)))[[[Synthesize. ⇒->15BB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="lazurynthpassage">Lapis embers blazed blue beneath the walls of the lazurynth. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#7e6eff)+(hover-style:(text-color:#2f00dd)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The coal pits burned and churned, sweltering starlight powering forges a thousandfold. Fledgling imps crawled the fires, torched tongues slavering for specificity. Demon smiths clanged metal against metal, their listless chorus a lullaby for the not-yet-becoming. In these fell reaches, one ember among countless dimmed out, gasping sapphire smoke. It was preparing to drag a slaughtered devil back to the smoldering pit of his creation. The coal sparked and spat, assembling shredded flesh and charred bones into a screaming fiend. Horns burst through the skin stretched across his skull, spraying ichor that sizzled as it struck blue fire. Blood-scent drew imps toward the languishing demon. They swarmed and tore, devouring the remnants of his wings, craving nourishment further even than that. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#7e6eff)+(hover-style:(text-color:#2f00dd)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He thrashed, sending his assailants further down the smoking slope as ever more arrived. He crawled and slid, trailing blood from wounds that scorned cauterization. Threats far worse than imps awaited him once he reached the rim. And still, he fought for the right to face or flee them. All that fueled his grueling ascent was the self he refused to abandon. His specificity. He was—and remained—Vosaphar. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#7e6eff)+(hover-style:(text-color:#2f00dd)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And someday, he would fly again. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#7e6eff)+(hover-style:(text-color:#2f00dd)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lazurynthchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#7e6eff)+(hover-style:(text-color:#2f00dd)))[[[Synthesize. ⇒->15BB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#7e6eff)+(hover-style:(text-color:#2f00dd)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Recollection]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XV.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">Over the next few days, inspired by Jethel’s note, Finnit had become convinced that he could adapt a healing ritual to the lens. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar had been pleased for an excuse to read *Rites of Relief* with Finnit. The sorcerer’s face lit with curiosity as he described the properties of ritual targets. Though the spells were designed for living creatures, they could also affect, implicitly, anything both tangible and animated with spirit. The lightmare atop the Pharos Fidelis lurked somewhere dangerously close to those boundaries. Detangling theories of healcraft had not done as much as Vosaphar had hoped to ease his pain. It was little better than his intuitive magic. While Finnit slept, he could clean out his wounds and weave them shut, but it simply wouldn’t stick. He woke up bleeding. Still, Finnit and Vosaphar—contributing their combined knowledge of mortal spells, infernal dynamics, and dubious historical analysis—managed to draft out a spell with potential to enable communion with the cursed lighthouse. After days of this, something shifted. Sure, the drafted ritual was dangerous, targeting a powerful force they barely understood. But Finnit kept claiming he wasn’t sure the spell’s construction was accurate. When this happened, Vosaphar would help him sort through the logic again, and arrive at the same result. The sorcerer was stalling, and Vosaphar knew exactly why. And on other things, the demon might have brought the issue to the forefront himself. But he simply wasn’t ready. He wasn’t ready to return to the calciferous wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Eventually, Finnit had no choice but to voice it. “To even attempt this, I’d need all my magic at once.” There it was. Vosaphar looked into those soft brown eyes; the face he had so come to appreciate seeing as they eked out their existence together in this strange situation. This *temporary* situation. “You’d need to sever the accord,” Vosaphar stated. “Banish me. Reclaim your magic.” “I don’t want to.” Vosaphar felt his cuts squirming and oozing beneath his wrappings. His stomach churned. “Would you—I mean, if I—” Finnit began. “If that happened, I would summon you again immediately after—if you still wanted to, I mean, stay here until the eclipse with... with me—but what if the ritual doesn’t even work and something happens and you’re just…” Vosaphar didn’t know what to say. He looked at the tearful one—the man who’d laughed and read and schemed and comforted and dragged him into all this and ran his fingers through his hair just so and he might never see again and— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He looked at Finnit. And he felt… *Conflicted*. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Influence. ⇒->M3BB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">Over the next few days, inspired by Jethel’s note, Finnit had become convinced that he could adapt a healing ritual to the lens. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar had been pleased for an excuse to read *Rites of Relief* with Finnit. The sorcerer’s face lit with curiosity as he described the properties of ritual targets. Though the spells were designed for living creatures, they could also affect, implicitly, anything both tangible and animated with spirit. The lightmare atop the Pharos Fidelis lurked somewhere dangerously close to those boundaries. Detangling theories of healcraft had not done as much as Vosaphar had hoped to ease his pain. It was little better than his intuitive magic. While Finnit slept, he could clean out his wounds and weave them shut, but it simply wouldn’t stick. He woke up bleeding. Still, Finnit and Vosaphar—contributing their combined knowledge of mortal spells, infernal dynamics, and dubious historical analysis—managed to draft out a spell with potential to enable communion with the cursed lighthouse. After days of this, something shifted. Sure, the drafted ritual was dangerous, targeting a powerful force they barely understood. But Finnit kept claiming he wasn’t sure the spell’s construction was accurate. When this happened, Vosaphar would help him sort through the logic again, and arrive at the same result. The sorcerer was stalling, and Vosaphar knew exactly why. And on other things, the demon might have brought the issue to the forefront himself. But he simply wasn’t ready. He wasn’t ready to return to the calciferous wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Eventually, Finnit had no choice but to voice it. “To even attempt this, I’d need all my magic at once.” There it was. Vosaphar looked into those soft brown eyes; the face he had so come to appreciate seeing as they eked out their existence together in this strange situation. This *temporary* situation. “You’d need to sever the accord,” Vosaphar stated. “Banish me. Reclaim your magic.” “I don’t want to.” Vosaphar felt his cuts squirming and oozing beneath his wrappings. His stomach churned. “Would you—I mean, if I—” Finnit began. “If that happened, I would summon you again immediately after—if you still wanted to, I mean, stay here until the eclipse with... with me—but what if the ritual doesn’t even work and something happens and you’re just…” Vosaphar didn’t know what to say. He looked at the tearful one—the man who’d laughed and read and schemed and comforted and dragged him into all this and ran his fingers through his hair just so and he might never see again and— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He looked at Finnit. And he felt… *Conflicted*. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Influence. ⇒->M3BB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#fc4e71")+(text-size: 3)[Influence.] (text-color:"#fc4e71")+(text-size: 1.15)[Insecurity | Naivety.]</div> Another mote of hellfire appeared. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightmotepassage">When potent emotions conflicted a demon’s judgment, even the faintest mote of hellfire bore enough infernal energy to influence their fate from afar. As you knew. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#8c283c)[***Insecurity***] For the demon Vosaphar, so repressed by the context ensnaring all that he felt, the idea of exposing his secrets to the sorcerer dredged shameful memories of wingless writhing in the lazurynthine pits. This insecurity would have prevented him from sharing that which he kept most hidden, shielding himself against further wounds this flighty mortal might inflict upon his specificity. Yielding to this insecurity, however prudent, risked pushing the mortal away, withering the connection that might move the sorcerer to re-summon him. (text-color:#8c283c)[***Naivety***] For the demon Vosaphar, so enamored with the gentle mortal, the idea of trusting the sorcerer to re-summon him recalled ever-distant moments of connection he once had with other demons developing their specificity alongside him. This naivety would have inspired an openness to sharing the secrets so plaguing his heart. Yielding to the influence of this naivety, however intimate, risked handing the mortal the keys to his shame, leaving him vulnerable to further emotional wounds. (text-color:#8c283c)[***Decision***] Which force did this mote of hellfire incite? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightmotechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))[[[Insecurity. ⇒->16BBA. Finnit]]] (link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))[[[Naivety. ⇒->16BBB. Finnit]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="motepassage">When potent emotions conflicted a demon’s judgment, even the faintest mote of hellfire bore enough infernal energy to influence their fate from afar. As you knew. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Insecurity***] For the demon Vosaphar, so repressed by the context ensnaring all that he felt, the idea of exposing his secrets to the sorcerer dredged shameful memories of wingless writhing in the lazurynthine pits. This insecurity would have prevented him from sharing that which he kept most hidden, shielding himself against further wounds this flighty mortal might inflict upon his specificity. Yielding to this insecurity, however prudent, risked pushing the mortal away, withering the connection that might move the sorcerer to re-summon him. (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Naivety***] For the demon Vosaphar, so enamored with the gentle mortal, the idea of trusting the sorcerer to re-summon him recalled ever-distant moments of connection he once had with other demons developing their specificity alongside him. This naivety would have inspired an openness to sharing the secrets so plaguing his heart. Yielding to the influence of this naivety, however intimate, risked handing the mortal the keys to his shame, leaving him vulnerable to further emotional wounds. (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Decision***] Which force did this mote of hellfire incite? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="motechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Insecurity. ⇒->16BBA. Finnit]]] (link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Naivety. ⇒->16BBB. Finnit]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Mote]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">Tension stretched the moment until it snapped. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“And what if you don’t?” the devil asked, his voice quiet, crimson fire reflecting in his eyes. “Is this—is this *research* worth more to you than—or—or what if you can’t? What if the lens takes you and I never know why I remained for the rest of forever in the calciferous wastes? I—what if—” Vosaphar did not often hesitate in his speech. Finnit felt the pain in his words snarling around his heart. “Vosaphar, hey—look, I—I know it’s hard to trust a mortal. I thought—I hoped to make a fair accord, but maybe things are more slanted than I realized?” “It’s not the accord,” Vosaphar said. “It is, but it isn’t. You have every right to end it, as we negotiated, but what it means for you to do so, and what it means for *me* to do so, are not the same. And I don’t—I can’t know where I stand with you—or how you feel, really about… me.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit approached Vosaphar and embraced him, ensconcing within the seething heat always simmering beneath that blue-gray skin, the devil’s beard bristling against his neck, and they stood like that for some time. “I don’t know exactly what is developing between us,” Finnit said, when finally they pulled apart. “I want to be honest with you. I feel like it could become anything. And I want to find out what it becomes. *With* you. But you’re right about the danger of the ritual. Even with our best efforts to predict it, there’s no real telling what will happen to me when I approach the lens. Still, I—I want to see this… trial through, too. I don’t think I could live with myself if—having gotten so close to the Pharos Fidelis—I didn’t also do what I could to understand it.” Vosaphar gazed down at him, his eyes searching Finnit’s soul for the honesty behind his words. He sighed. “I… have also come to be curious about this strange island. I admit such. I cannot fault you for that, inquisitive one.” “I have an idea,” Finnit said, reaching into one of the crates for his wax sticks. “Would you—would you show me how to draw a glyph for your name? Then—if I do survive—I’ll be able to draw a much stronger circle for you. Less semantic dilution. You can show me every detail, and I can practice until I get it perfect.” The demon accepted the tender wax between his claws and knelt, beginning to draw on the stone floor. Finnit sat beside him, still within reach of his preternatural warmth, and watched the glyph take shape swoop by swoop, hook by hook, its details knitting together into something unmistakably Vosapharian. The devil stepped back from the sigil. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit looked closely, tracing the mark with his fingertips. “It makes me feel—like I want to soar the skies with you, through the smoke rising from some brimstone caldera. It’s—a beautiful feeling. And that’s you. That’s your name.” Vosaphar handed him the wax stick—now barely holding its shape from the heat—and Finnit drew for himself. And he found it came easily, when he followed that feeling that burned in his heart when he thought of Vosaphar. He closed his eyes, letting his hand move across the stone. When he opened them again, he had written the demon’s name—in his own handwriting—and the glyph seemed to radiate its own power. “I’m ready.” Vosaphar gave him a wan smile. “I’m ready to go.” “Are you sure?” “I should go.” “I will see you again,” Finnit promised. “I know.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Banish. ⇒->P3BBA. Third Principle]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">Tension stretched the moment until it snapped. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“And what if you don’t?” the devil asked, his voice quiet, crimson fire reflecting in his eyes. “Is this—is this *research* worth more to you than—or—or what if you can’t? What if the lens takes you and I never know why I remained for the rest of forever in the calciferous wastes? I—what if—” Vosaphar did not often hesitate in his speech. Finnit felt the pain in his words snarling around his heart. “Vosaphar, hey—look, I—I know it’s hard to trust a mortal. I thought—I hoped to make a fair accord, but maybe things are more slanted than I realized?” “It’s not the accord,” Vosaphar said. “It is, but it isn’t. You have every right to end it, as we negotiated, but what it means for you to do so, and what it means for *me* to do so, are not the same. And I don’t—I can’t know where I stand with you—or how you feel, really about… me.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit approached Vosaphar and embraced him, ensconcing within the seething heat always simmering beneath that blue-gray skin, the devil’s beard bristling against his neck, and they stood like that for some time. “I don’t know exactly what is developing between us,” Finnit said, when finally they pulled apart. “I want to be honest with you. I feel like it could become anything. And I want to find out what it becomes. *With* you. But you’re right about the danger of the ritual. Even with our best efforts to predict it, there’s no real telling what will happen to me when I approach the lens. Still, I—I want to see this… trial through, too. I don’t think I could live with myself if—having gotten so close to the Pharos Fidelis—I didn’t also do what I could to understand it.” Vosaphar gazed down at him, his eyes searching Finnit’s soul for the honesty behind his words. He sighed. “I… have also come to be curious about this strange island. I admit such. I cannot fault you for that, inquisitive one.” “I have an idea,” Finnit said, reaching into one of the crates for his wax sticks. “Would you—would you show me how to draw a glyph for your name? Then—if I do survive—I’ll be able to draw a much stronger circle for you. Less semantic dilution. You can show me every detail, and I can practice until I get it perfect.” The demon accepted the tender wax between his claws and knelt, beginning to draw on the stone floor. Finnit sat beside him, still within reach of his preternatural warmth, and watched the glyph take shape swoop by swoop, hook by hook, its details knitting together into something unmistakably Vosapharian. The devil stepped back from the sigil. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit looked closely, tracing the mark with his fingertips. “It makes me feel—like I want to soar the skies with you, through the smoke rising from some brimstone caldera. It’s—a beautiful feeling. And that’s you. That’s your name.” Vosaphar handed him the wax stick—now barely holding its shape from the heat—and Finnit drew for himself. And he found it came easily, when he followed that feeling that burned in his heart when he thought of Vosaphar. He closed his eyes, letting his hand move across the stone. When he opened them again, he had written the demon’s name—in his own handwriting—and the glyph seemed to radiate its own power. “I’m ready.” Vosaphar gave him a wan smile. “I’m ready to go.” “Are you sure?” “I should go.” “I will see you again,” Finnit promised. “I know.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Banish. ⇒->P3BBA. Third Principle]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">Tension stretched the moment until it snapped. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“I believe you,” the devil said, his voice quiet, crimson fire reflecting in his eyes. “I believe *in* you, Finnit. That your clever spell will commune with the lens, and that you mean to summon me again. But I want to say something important. Will you—will you listen?” Vosaphar did not often hesitate in his speech. Finnit felt warmth rushing to his heart. “Yes. Of course. I will listen.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Finnit—you do not know of the hells. You are closer to knowing them than most mortals. Yet, you wield its stolen fire, far removed from all the machinations of misery that produces it. Do your tomes whisper of the hells? They speak echoes of echoes, stories demons thought fit to share, or extorted from tongues that sorcerers shackled. As accorded, we both have the ability to end our agreement. Yet, what it means for you to do so, and what it means for *me* to do so, are not the same. My existence used to be something simpler. I was part of a great machine—with glimpses of insight, perhaps, but always hammering to the rhythm of greater powers. I rose through the ranks, bit by bit, becoming more of something—myself. I had wings. I could fly. And then, your master ripped me from that pattern, disrupted my existence, and now I know things, and feel things, at an intensity that I never should have. I gained *specificity*, and in my descent back to the pits of the lazurynth, it turned against me. I could not muster the power to heal these wounds, for all the time since you saw me fall at Cairnveld.” Vosaphar shed the layers of clothing over his torso, revealing blood-soaked wrappings. He had slash marks all across his chest and stomach. How had Finnit never seen them? Never realized? He wanted to leap over the fire to comfort his companion, but the demon was not yet finished with what he had to say. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“I wandered the calciferous wastes, bleeding, unable to heal. And you brought me here, and I gained back so much power and learned your mortal theories of the flesh and I still cannot heal. And it’s because of my specificity—a demon, given magic, will attempt to revert to their truest, most specific form. But I spent so long bleeding, that my wounds have become essential to that form. They will always reopen. And I’m afraid of returning to the calciferous wastes, losing my power again, but retaining this awareness of my pain. Your time is brief—far less than you deserve—but that leaves me to contemplate eternity, until I subsume under the fires, and even the hells are ground up with the rest of all that still exists, and the very last drop of rain has at last trickled down the Pharos Fidelis into a long-dead sea, becoming something even less imaginable than the senseless void, and for what? It is so much, Finnit. Why must—why must we—why must… I—I don’t want to face… I don’t—I don’t want to—” Finnit was sobbing. He ran to Vosaphar, embracing him, ensconced within the seething heat always simmering beneath that blue-gray skin, the devil’s beard bristling against his neck, and they stood like that for some time, until the tears spent themselves dry, and Finnit released him. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“I’m ready,” Vosaphar said. “Are you sure?” “I should go.” “I will see you again,” Finnit promised. “I know.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Banish. ⇒->P3BBB. Third Principle]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">Tension stretched the moment until it snapped. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“I believe you,” the devil said, his voice quiet, crimson fire reflecting in his eyes. “I believe *in* you, Finnit. That your clever spell will commune with the lens, and that you mean to summon me again. But I want to say something important. Will you—will you listen?” Vosaphar did not often hesitate in his speech. Finnit felt warmth rushing to his heart. “Yes. Of course. I will listen.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Finnit—you do not know of the hells. You are closer to knowing them than most mortals. Yet, you wield its stolen fire, far removed from all the machinations of misery that produces it. Do your tomes whisper of the hells? They speak echoes of echoes, stories demons thought fit to share, or extorted from tongues that sorcerers shackled. As accorded, we both have the ability to end our agreement. Yet, what it means for you to do so, and what it means for *me* to do so, are not the same. My existence used to be something simpler. I was part of a great machine—with glimpses of insight, perhaps, but always hammering to the rhythm of greater powers. I rose through the ranks, bit by bit, becoming more of something—myself. I had wings. I could fly. And then, your master ripped me from that pattern, disrupted my existence, and now I know things, and feel things, at an intensity that I never should have. I gained *specificity*, and in my descent back to the pits of the lazurynth, it turned against me. I could not muster the power to heal these wounds, for all the time since you saw me fall at Cairnveld.” Vosaphar shed the layers of clothing over his torso, revealing blood-soaked wrappings. He had slash marks all across his chest and stomach. How had Finnit never seen them? Never realized? He wanted to leap over the fire to comfort his companion, but the demon was not yet finished with what he had to say. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“I wandered the calciferous wastes, bleeding, unable to heal. And you brought me here, and I gained back so much power and learned your mortal theories of the flesh and I still cannot heal. And it’s because of my specificity—a demon, given magic, will attempt to revert to their truest, most specific form. But I spent so long bleeding, that my wounds have become essential to that form. They will always reopen. And I’m afraid of returning to the calciferous wastes, losing my power again, but retaining this awareness of my pain. Your time is brief—far less than you deserve—but that leaves me to contemplate eternity, until I subsume under the fires, and even the hells are ground up with the rest of all that still exists, and the very last drop of rain has at last trickled down the Pharos Fidelis into a long-dead sea, becoming something even less imaginable than the senseless void, and for what? It is so much, Finnit. Why must—why must we—why must… I—I don’t want to face… I don’t—I don’t want to—” Finnit was sobbing. He ran to Vosaphar, embracing him, ensconced within the seething heat always simmering beneath that blue-gray skin, the devil’s beard bristling against his neck, and they stood like that for some time, until the tears spent themselves dry, and Finnit released him. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“I’m ready,” Vosaphar said. “Are you sure?” “I should go.” “I will see you again,” Finnit promised. “I know.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Banish. ⇒->P3BBB. Third Principle]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#cbc999")+(text-size: 3)[Dogma.] (text-color:"#cbc999")+(text-size: 1.15)[The Third Principle of Summoning.]</div> Yet another unwelcome reminder, courtesy of Luminary Raekard. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightprinciplepassage">Recall the third principle of summoning: (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color:#65644c)[**3. The Principle of Planar Reversion**] Natural law rejects the presence of extraplanar entities in the mortal realm. Summoned demons therefore revert to their plane of origin, unless acted upon by sustained magical force. (text-color:#65644c)[***Implication:***] An unbound demon that persists beyond the original duration of a summoning circle must do so by feeding upon independent sources of magic. The most readily available source of magic has historically been the summoner. (text-color:#65644c)[***Implication:***] A demon that perishes in the mortal realm shall eventually be reconstituted in the jurisdiction of the hell that governs it. Banishment accelerates this process to an instant. (text-color:#65644c)[***Implication:***] When two sorceries of equivalent potency collide, a rite of banishment will always prevail over a rite of summoning. Account for the principle of planar reversion. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightprinciplechoice">|A>[(text-color:#989b00)[**Moor this wisdom. ⇒**]](click-replace: ?A,(action:'mouseover'))[(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))[[[Mourn his wisdom. ⇒->17BBB. Warden]]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="principlepassage">Recall the third principle of summoning: (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color:#cbc999)[**3. The Principle of Planar Reversion**] Natural law rejects the presence of extraplanar entities in the mortal realm. Summoned demons therefore revert to their plane of origin, unless acted upon by sustained magical force. (text-color:#cbc999)[***Implication:***] An unbound demon that persists beyond the original duration of a summoning circle must do so by feeding upon independent sources of magic. The most readily available source of magic has historically been the summoner. (text-color:#cbc999)[***Implication:***] A demon that perishes in the mortal realm shall eventually be reconstituted in the jurisdiction of the hell that governs it. Banishment accelerates this process to an instant. (text-color:#cbc999)[***Implication:***] When two sorceries of equivalent potency collide, a rite of banishment will always prevail over a rite of summoning. Account for the principle of planar reversion. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="principlechoice">|A>[(text-color:#989b00)[**Moor this wisdom. ⇒**]](click-replace: ?A,(action:'mouseover'))[(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))[[[Mourn his wisdom. ⇒->17BBB. Warden]]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Principle]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[XVII.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">At the center of the calciferous wastes stood a coralbone cottage. The warden’s. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Within the cottage burned a modest hellfire furnace, its crooked chimney venting spirals of smoke. Encircling this abode—the most lavish in all the wastes—was a smooth, still pool that hesitated to reflect the seething skies above. In the depths of this pool glinted a sparse collection of coals, spaced a lonesome distance from one another. Most had dimmed to the brink of winking out. A stubborn few still clung to their hues. One such ember, tinted the color of storm-tossed seas, suddenly flared, sending a ribbon of bubbles roiling to the surface. A demon was about to return to this remote reach of the hinterhells. And when he did, he might’ve been greeted by the warden of the calciferous wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[By you. (after:time+4s)+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|initial>[In preparation for this occasion: (link-reveal: "You approached the place where Vosaphar would emerge cold, wet, and screaming. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You approached the place where Vosaphar would emerge cold, wet, and screaming. He breached the surface of the pool, gasping for air, flailing for relief from the cold. It was every devil’s birthright to struggle their way out from their point of wretched origin. Your bitter pool was kinder than most. He swam toward the cottage, collapsing against brittle floes of bloodfrost ringing the shore. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|O1>[As a token of welcome: (link-reveal: "You loomed over him; a gesture of threat. ⚞↯⚟")[(replace: ?O1)[You loomed over him; a gesture of threat. A mote of hellfire appeared. Or rather, you conjured it, letting it drift between your claws, casting its crimson glow over your shivering subject. He gazed up at you, terrified. You flicked your claws—causing Vosaphar to flinch—and the mote vanished. After that demonstration, you walked back to your cottage. He dared not follow. You were, after all, powerful and dangerous. That’s what he called you, when his poor, foolish mortal companion showed him your fearsome name. Though he ought to have done better to recognize it. To him, you must have seemed as powerful as an archfiend. But your age of hellfire had yet to dawn. The magic you collected from him had already begun stoking the furnace. His toll for meager shelter in this unsafe harbor. Vosaphar crept away into the wastes, and the pool once again fell still. You returned to your work. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Commune. ⇒->Lens BBBA]]]]</div>]] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You offered him a gift; a gesture of warmth. ⚞↯⚟")[(replace: ?O1)[You offered him a gift; a gesture of warmth. A mote of hellfire appeared. Or rather, you conjured it, stretching and shaping its fire into an ethereal crimson shawl befitting such a tenderhearted fiend. You knelt to his level, draping it over your trembling subject. He gazed up into your eyes, terrified, as the gauzy heat settled over him. But his shivering subsided. You stood, then returned to your cottage. He dared not follow, even to thank you for your gift. You were, after all, powerful and dangerous. That’s what he called you, when his poor, sweet mortal companion showed him your elegant name. Though he ought to have done better to recognize it. To him, you must have seemed as powerful as an archfiend. But your age of hellfire had yet to dawn. The magic you collected from him had already begun stoking the furnace. His toll for meager shelter in this unsafe harbor. Vosaphar crept away into the wastes, and the pool once again fell still. You returned to your work. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Commune. ⇒->Lens BBBA]]]]</div>]]]]]] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You remained inside, at a polite distance. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You remained inside, at a polite distance. It was every devil’s birthright to struggle their way out from their point of wretched origin. Alone. Your bitter pool was kinder than most. As the furnace crackled, you heard Vosaphar flailing his way to the shore, just outside your cottage. You heard him gasping for air and moaning from the cold. Even then, the magic you collected from him stoked the furnace. His toll for meager shelter in this unsafe harbor. Perhaps he saw you tending to your motes, wishing them enough spark to catch fire when you needed them to. But even if he did, he dared not draw the warden’s attention. You were, after all, powerful and dangerous. That’s what he called you, when his poor, sweet mortal companion showed him your primordial name. Though he ought to have done better to recognize it. To him, you must have seemed as powerful as an archfiend. But your age of hellfire had yet to dawn. Vosaphar wandered off, shivering in the dark, and the pool once again fell still. You returned to your work. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Commune. ⇒->Lens BBBB]]]]</div> ]]]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">At the center of the calciferous wastes stood a coralbone cottage. The warden’s. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Within the cottage burned a modest hellfire furnace, its crooked chimney venting spirals of smoke. Encircling this abode—the most lavish in all the wastes—was a smooth, still pool that hesitated to reflect the seething skies above. In the depths of this pool glinted a sparse collection of coals, spaced a lonesome distance from one another. Most had dimmed to the brink of winking out. A stubborn few still clung to their hues. One such ember, tinted the color of storm-tossed seas, suddenly flared, sending a ribbon of bubbles roiling to the surface. A demon was about to return to this remote reach of the hinterhells. And when he did, he might’ve been greeted by the warden of the calciferous wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[By you. (after:time+4s)+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|initial>[In preparation for this occasion: (link-reveal: "You approached the place where Vosaphar would emerge cold, wet, and screaming. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You approached the place where Vosaphar would emerge cold, wet, and screaming. He breached the surface of the pool, gasping for air, flailing for relief from the cold. It was every devil’s birthright to struggle their way out from their point of wretched origin. Your bitter pool was kinder than most. He swam toward the cottage, collapsing against brittle floes of bloodfrost ringing the shore. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|O1>[As a token of welcome: (link-reveal: "You loomed over him; a gesture of threat. ⚞↯⚟")[(replace: ?O1)[You loomed over him; a gesture of threat. A mote of hellfire appeared. Or rather, you conjured it, letting it drift between your claws, casting its crimson glow over your shivering subject. He gazed up at you, terrified. You flicked your claws—causing Vosaphar to flinch—and the mote vanished. After that demonstration, you walked back to your cottage. He dared not follow. You were, after all, powerful and dangerous. That’s what he called you, when his poor, foolish mortal companion showed him your fearsome name. Though he ought to have done better to recognize it. To him, you must have seemed as powerful as an archfiend. But your age of hellfire had yet to dawn. The magic you collected from him had already begun stoking the furnace. His toll for meager shelter in this unsafe harbor. Vosaphar crept away into the wastes, and the pool once again fell still. You returned to your work. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Commune. ⇒->Lens BBBA]]]]</div>]] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You offered him a gift; a gesture of warmth. ⚞↯⚟")[(replace: ?O1)[You offered him a gift; a gesture of warmth. A mote of hellfire appeared. Or rather, you conjured it, stretching and shaping its fire into an ethereal crimson shawl befitting such a tenderhearted fiend. You knelt to his level, draping it over your trembling subject. He gazed up into your eyes, terrified, as the gauzy heat settled over him. But his shivering subsided. You stood, then returned to your cottage. He dared not follow, even to thank you for your gift. You were, after all, powerful and dangerous. That’s what he called you, when his poor, sweet mortal companion showed him your elegant name. Though he ought to have done better to recognize it. To him, you must have seemed as powerful as an archfiend. But your age of hellfire had yet to dawn. The magic you collected from him had already begun stoking the furnace. His toll for meager shelter in this unsafe harbor. Vosaphar crept away into the wastes, and the pool once again fell still. You returned to your work. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Commune. ⇒->Lens BBBA]]]]</div>]]]]]] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You remained inside, at a polite distance. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You remained inside, at a polite distance. It was every devil’s birthright to struggle their way out from their point of wretched origin. Alone. Your bitter pool was kinder than most. As the furnace crackled, you heard Vosaphar flailing his way to the shore, just outside your cottage. You heard him gasping for air and moaning from the cold. Even then, the magic you collected from him stoked the furnace. His toll for meager shelter in this unsafe harbor. Perhaps he saw you tending to your motes, wishing them enough spark to catch fire when you needed them to. But even if he did, he dared not draw the warden’s attention. You were, after all, powerful and dangerous. That’s what he called you, when his poor, sweet mortal companion showed him your primordial name. Though he ought to have done better to recognize it. To him, you must have seemed as powerful as an archfiend. But your age of hellfire had yet to dawn. Vosaphar wandered off, shivering in the dark, and the pool once again fell still. You returned to your work. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Commune. ⇒->Lens BBBB]]]]</div> ]]]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Mote]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f8cf7b")+(text-size: 3)[Dyslucence.] (text-color:"#f8cf7b")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Lens.]</div> An opaque rite of refraction. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightlenspassage">Another soul witnessed the lens. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ \(align:"=><=")[But what ] \(align:"==><=")[yet remained] \(align:"=><=")[to be seen] \ (align:"==><=")[once] \(align:"==><===")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"mortal")[moral]] \(align:"==><=")[designs] (align:"=><====")[had (link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"stolen")[sowed in] souls,] \ (align:"===><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"unwilling")[a willing] sacrifice in] \ (align:"=><==========")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"defiance of")[deference to]] \ (align:"======><=")[smoke-scorned skies?] \ (align:"=><====")[For] \ (align:"=====><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"even fearless")[ever fearful] fiends] \ (align:"=><=====")[could not comprehend] \ (align:"==>")[an eternity of] \ (align:"<==")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"unlit slag.")[sunlit glass.]] \ (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=")[Nevertheless—] Finnit saw a fragment deep within the throat of the island, its anchored eggs awash in the crimson glow of the future. All he needed to do was wait for the eclipse, cross the threshold, steal a mote of sunlight, and finish writing your name. For even the faintest mote of sunlight bore enough celestial energy to influence your fate from afar. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Or so you dared to hope. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightlenschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))[[[Darken. ⇒->18BBBB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="lenspassage">Another soul witnessed the lens. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ \(align:"=><=")[But what] \(align:"==><=")[yet remained] \(align:"=><=")[to be seen] \ (align:"==><=")[once] \(align:"==><===")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"moral")[mortal]] \(align:"==><=")[designs] (align:"=><====")[had (link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"sowed in")[stolen] souls,] \ (align:"===><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"a willing")[unwilling] sacrifice in] \ (align:"=><==========")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"deference to")[defiance of]] \ (align:"======><=")[smoke-scorned skies?] \ (align:"=><====")[For] \ (align:"=====><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"ever fearful")[even fearless] fiends] \ (align:"=><=====")[could not comprehend] \ (align:"==>")[an eternity of] \ (align:"<==")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"sunlit glass.")[unlit slag.]] \ (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=")[Nevertheless—] Finnit saw a fragment deep within the throat of the island, its anchored eggs awash in the crimson glow of the future. All he needed to do was wait for the eclipse, cross the threshold, steal a mote of sunlight, and finish writing your name. For even the faintest mote of sunlight bore enough celestial energy to influence your fate from afar. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Or so you dared to hope. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lenschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#ac6e00")))[[[Darken. ⇒->18BBBB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f8cf7b")+(text-size: 3)[Dyslucence.] (text-color:"#f8cf7b")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Lens.]</div> An opaque rite of refraction. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightlenspassage">Another soul witnessed the lens. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ \(align:"=><=")[But what ] \(align:"==><=")[yet remained] \(align:"=><=")[to be seen] \ (align:"==><=")[once] \(align:"==><===")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"mortal")[moral]] \(align:"==><=")[designs] (align:"=><====")[had (link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"stolen")[sowed in] souls,] \ (align:"===><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"unwilling")[a willing] sacrifice in] \ (align:"=><==========")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"defiance of")[deference to]] \ (align:"======><=")[smoke-scorned skies?] \ (align:"=><====")[For] \ (align:"=====><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"even fearless")[ever fearful] fiends] \ (align:"=><=====")[could not comprehend] \ (align:"==>")[an eternity of] \ (align:"<==")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"unlit slag.")[sunlit glass.]] \ (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=")[Nevertheless—] Finnit saw a fragment deep within the throat of the island, its anchored eggs awash in the crimson glow of the future. All he needed to do was wait for the eclipse, cross the threshold, steal a mote of sunlight, and finish writing your name. For even the faintest mote of sunlight bore enough celestial energy to influence your fate from afar. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Or so you dared to hope. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightlenschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))[[[Darken. ⇒->18BBBA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="lenspassage">Another soul witnessed the lens. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ \(align:"=><=")[But what] \(align:"==><=")[yet remained] \(align:"=><=")[to be seen] \ (align:"==><=")[once] \(align:"==><===")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"moral")[mortal]] \(align:"==><=")[designs] (align:"=><====")[had (link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"sowed in")[stolen] souls,] \ (align:"===><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"a willing")[unwilling] sacrifice in] \ (align:"=><==========")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"deference to")[defiance of]] \ (align:"======><=")[smoke-scorned skies?] \ (align:"=><====")[For] \ (align:"=====><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"ever fearful")[even fearless] fiends] \ (align:"=><=====")[could not comprehend] \ (align:"==>")[an eternity of] \ (align:"<==")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"sunlit glass.")[unlit slag.]] \ (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=")[Nevertheless—] Finnit saw a fragment deep within the throat of the island, its anchored eggs awash in the crimson glow of the future. All he needed to do was wait for the eclipse, cross the threshold, steal a mote of sunlight, and finish writing your name. For even the faintest mote of sunlight bore enough celestial energy to influence your fate from afar. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Or so you dared to hope. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lenschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#ac6e00")))[[[Darken. ⇒->18BBBA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[XVIII.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">It wasn’t long before even the shock of Vosaphar’s emergence from the pool—exactly as cold and miserable as you had promised him it would be—had begun to fade into the listlessness of wandering the wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The residual magic Finnit had accorded him allowed him to travel faster and further than before. His slash wounds scabbed over more readily, healing further with each attempt. Something had shifted in his specificity. He should have been satisfied with that. Satisfied with the memories of what was, and dreams of what could have been, for bitter honey still bore sweetness. Didn’t it? Another kind of wound had carved itself into his heart. Without Finnit, Vosaphar’s existence felt darker and emptier than it ever had before. He wondered what might be about to happen, was happening, or had already happened at the Pharos Fidelis. Was Finnit still preparing his ritual of communion with the lens? Was it already over? Could he have been, right at that moment, spiraling amidst its unfathomable secrets? Perhaps Finnit’s rite had failed, the cursed lens consuming his soul as it had so many others. But, it could also be… something else. Another reason. Just as that doubt crept in, the devil felt a familiar sensation tugging at his core. Heat coursed through his veins as a tendril of sorcery unfurled for him, awaiting his tender grasp. (align:"<==")[And then—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=========")[Vosaphar] (align:"=><==")[at last] (align:"=><=")[recalled] (align:"===><==")[his] (align:"==><=")[own] (align:"===><=")[principle] (align:"=========><=")[of] (align:"==>")[flight—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Spread wings. ⇒->19BBBA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">It wasn’t long before even the shock of Vosaphar’s emergence from the pool—exactly as cold and miserable as you had promised him it would be—had begun to fade into the listlessness of wandering the wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The residual magic Finnit had accorded him allowed him to travel faster and further than before. His slash wounds scabbed over more readily, healing further with each attempt. Something had shifted in his specificity. He should have been satisfied with that. Satisfied with the memories of what was, and dreams of what could have been, for bitter honey still bore sweetness. Didn’t it? Another kind of wound had carved itself into his heart. Without Finnit, Vosaphar’s existence felt darker and emptier than it ever had before. He wondered what might be about to happen, was happening, or had already happened at the Pharos Fidelis. Was Finnit still preparing his ritual of communion with the lens? Was it already over? Could he have been, right at that moment, spiraling amidst its unfathomable secrets? Perhaps Finnit’s rite had failed, the cursed lens consuming his soul as it had so many others. But, it could also be… something else. Another reason. Just as that doubt crept in, the devil felt a familiar sensation tugging at his core. Heat coursed through his veins as a tendril of sorcery unfurled for him, awaiting his tender grasp. (align:"<==")[And then—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=========")[Vosaphar] (align:"=><==")[at last] (align:"=><=")[recalled] (align:"===><==")[his] (align:"==><=")[own] (align:"===><=")[principle] (align:"=========><=")[of] (align:"==>")[flight—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Spread wings. ⇒->19BBBA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XIX.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">Atop the Pharos Fidelis, Finnit remained just in sight of the great split glass that had spilled its secrets. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he smeared the last of his wax sticks to stubs on wet stone, he did not give the lens a further thought. He did not obey the principle of authoritarian primacy. He did not beware the principle of semantic dilution. He did not account for the principle of planar reversion. He thought only of Vosaphar, with a singular intensity of focus that even the Pharos Fidelis could never have dreamed of refracting. The circle of waxen glyphs coursed with scarlet fire, brighter than Finnit had ever seen it. He averted his gaze, eyes watering. When he looked back, Vosaphar had manifested before him once more. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[From his back spread wings wrought of fire, eldritch blue roiled with red and magenta—the colors of Finnit’s own magic, now intertwined with Vosaphar’s. Finnit’s eyes traveled further, noting ichor scabs crisscrossing the devil’s scarred blue chest, and then, curls of rough hair trailing immodestly past his navel. Streaks of lightning slashed green across the sky, glinting off his fearsome horns. Raindrops sizzled as the demon swept them aside, wreathing himself in silver mist. Vosaphar looked every bit an archfiend of legend looming over him, his eyes fixed on Finnit, reaching forward to press the sorcerer against the cliffside, claws clasping his wrists. “Vosaphar—” The infernal heat overwhelmed his mortal senses. “Please—Vosaphar, kiss m—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon pressed his lips gently against Finnit’s, dark beard bristling against his tender skin, breathing out brimstone incense that smoldered in Finnit’s throat. Just when Finnit thought himself on the verge of feeling too much, that Vosaphar might devour his soul and all his magic in a final, blissful moment of agony, the fiend held back, slackening his grip, and smiled. “I couldn’t wait until I got back,” Finnit said, his vision still sparking. “I—I needed to see you again.” “That’s not all you need.” Vosaphar leaned forward, so close still that Finnit could see details pitted into his horns. “What is it exactly that you imagine, lustful one? A dreadful devil from your darkest dreams, ever so sweetly domineering?” “I–” Finnit felt dazed as those fevered imaginings grew sharper into his mind. “I mean—well—now that you’ve brought it up, that sounds—” “Too bad,” Vosaphar said, his voice sly and soft. “My dear Finnit, you’re all *wet*.” And he was. He’d completely abandoned his wards in the midst of an endless storm. How embarrassing. Finnit also noticed that, in his exuberance to kiss him, Vosaphar had clumsily scorched Finnit’s sleeves with his wings. Suddenly, the demon felt less like some legendary figure, and instead like something better. Something real. Finnit’s companion. Finnit’s love. Finnit’s Vosaphar. “We should head back down,” Finnit said. “We should.” Vosaphar pushed one of Finnit’s loose curls back. “But listen, Finnit. When we do, I want *you* to take the lead. I want things to be… gentle, between us. For now. How does that sound?” “I have never wanted something so much in my entire existence.” Vosaphar grinned, ivory fangs glinting. “Good.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[What followed was an evening of tender fumbling and grasping. Finnit had been piqued by the fantasy of Vosaphar looming over him; and it remained a thought he wanted to revisit later. But, he found that this gentle, deliberate exploration—some serenity among the profane—brought him closer to understanding the demon in a way he found difficult to articulate but easy to just experience as it happened. Tomorrow, research awaited. But for now, Finnit’s fears grew distant as he slept, wrapped against Vosaphar like a warm satchel. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Interrogate. ⇒->C1BBBA. Sunlight]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">Atop the Pharos Fidelis, Finnit remained just in sight of the great split glass that had spilled its secrets. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he smeared the last of his wax sticks to stubs on wet stone, he did not give the lens a further thought. He did not obey the principle of authoritarian primacy. He did not beware the principle of semantic dilution. He did not account for the principle of planar reversion. He thought only of Vosaphar, with a singular intensity of focus that even the Pharos Fidelis could never have dreamed of refracting. The circle of waxen glyphs coursed with scarlet fire, brighter than Finnit had ever seen it. He averted his gaze, eyes watering. When he looked back, Vosaphar had manifested before him once more. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[From his back spread wings wrought of fire, eldritch blue roiled with red and magenta—the colors of Finnit’s own magic, now intertwined with Vosaphar’s. Finnit’s eyes traveled further, noting ichor scabs crisscrossing the devil’s scarred blue chest, and then, curls of rough hair trailing immodestly past his navel. Streaks of lightning slashed green across the sky, glinting off his fearsome horns. Raindrops sizzled as the demon swept them aside, wreathing himself in silver mist. Vosaphar looked every bit an archfiend of legend looming over him, his eyes fixed on Finnit, reaching forward to press the sorcerer against the cliffside, claws clasping his wrists. “Vosaphar—” The infernal heat overwhelmed his mortal senses. “Please—Vosaphar, kiss m—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon pressed his lips gently against Finnit’s, dark beard bristling against his tender skin, breathing out brimstone incense that smoldered in Finnit’s throat. Just when Finnit thought himself on the verge of feeling too much, that Vosaphar might devour his soul and all his magic in a final, blissful moment of agony, the fiend held back, slackening his grip, and smiled. “I couldn’t wait until I got back,” Finnit said, his vision still sparking. “I—I needed to see you again.” “That’s not all you need.” Vosaphar leaned forward, so close still that Finnit could see details pitted into his horns. “What is it exactly that you imagine, lustful one? A dreadful devil from your darkest dreams, ever so sweetly domineering?” “I–” Finnit felt dazed as those fevered imaginings grew sharper into his mind. “I mean—well—now that you’ve brought it up, that sounds—” “Too bad,” Vosaphar said, his voice sly and soft. “My dear Finnit, you’re all *wet*.” And he was. He’d completely abandoned his wards in the midst of an endless storm. How embarrassing. Finnit also noticed that, in his exuberance to kiss him, Vosaphar had clumsily scorched Finnit’s sleeves with his wings. Suddenly, the demon felt less like some legendary figure, and instead like something better. Something real. Finnit’s companion. Finnit’s love. Finnit’s Vosaphar. “We should head back down,” Finnit said. “We should.” Vosaphar pushed one of Finnit’s loose curls back. “But listen, Finnit. When we do, I want *you* to take the lead. I want things to be… gentle, between us. For now. How does that sound?” “I have never wanted something so much in my entire existence.” Vosaphar grinned, ivory fangs glinting. “Good.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[What followed was an evening of tender fumbling and grasping. Finnit had been piqued by the fantasy of Vosaphar looming over him; and it remained a thought he wanted to revisit later. But, he found that this gentle, deliberate exploration—some serenity among the profane—brought him closer to understanding the demon in a way he found difficult to articulate but easy to just experience as it happened. Tomorrow, research awaited. But for now, Finnit’s fears grew distant as he slept, wrapped against Vosaphar like a warm satchel. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Interrogate. ⇒->C1BBBA. Sunlight]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[1st Era | Sunlight.]</div> One more fragment recounting the dark history of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">(text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The illuminative session for Leisenelle, former third officer of the now-renegade vessel ‘Consonance,’ is hereby brought to order. You stand accused of mutiny, murder, theft, deception, consorting with proscribed entities, and willful evasion of justice. Is that correct? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] You would know. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Is that correct? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I guess so. Yes. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“She sounds a lot like you,” Vosaphar murmured, stroking his claws idly through Finnit’s hair. “‘Consorting with proscribed entities?’ What a wicked accusation.” Finnit snorted. “Are you going to bring me to justice?” “Absolutely not.” “Too bad.” </div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Against these accusations, how do you plead? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I do not plead. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] You must make a claim, either to affirm or deny each crime you have been accused of. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I will make no such claims. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The accused has neglected her obligation to plead. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] What’s your deal, anyway? Are you mad? Some pretty vampire in your past tied your morals all up in knots and made you feel sinful? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My role here is strictly illuminative. How did you first come to associate with this vampire? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I was trying to find out the truth about this island. But none of them would talk to me. The islanders, I mean. They resent us. You know that, right? Look at what we’ve done to them since we got here. Someone has to stop it. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, mark a note down for ‘sedition,’ would you? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">At least the clerics are obligated to transcribe what they actually heard. Historians ought to learn from their example. ⚞L. Raekard (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“I think Raekard’s distaste for historians gets in his way,” Finnit said. “How could we possibly know, at this point, what liberties the cleric might have taken?” “It’s going to take more than historians to put a stop to him.” Finnit laughed, but Vosaphar hadn’t told a joke.</div>] </div>] (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] You didn’t have that one already? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Continue. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Fine. This one woman approached me, and told me to visit her house on the outskirts after sundown. I thought she might be into me—and maybe she was, a little—but she wanted me to meet her grandmother. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Yeah. Did the ‘after sundown’ part give it away? I’m not a good storyteller. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The only things your story requires are honesty and accuracy. Justice will account for the rest. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Whatever you need to tell yourself. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] I don’t ‘need’ to do anything. My role here is strictly illuminative. As the accused has been reminded. Continue. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] So, I waited for dusk, and paid her a visit. Her grandmother was living in the basement. Some kind of herbalist, I guess. The whole time we talked, she was crushing up these weird seedpods in a mortar and pestle. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] At what point did you realize this entity was a vampire? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Not until after, when… (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] When what? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] When you killed her. Robbed us of her wisdom, kindness, perspective, heart, all she contributed to her community. And for what? Some ash? Dust? Is there not already enough collecting between the folds of your ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that last term for obscenity. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] What, you’re more scandalized by me describing your dust-crusted ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆ than your violence? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that one as well. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“Which word do you suppose was stricken here?” Vosaphar asked. “Asscheeks,” Finnit said solemnly. “Has to be.”</div>] (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] So you don’t have an answer. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The entity in question was brought before sunlight and destroyed in accordance with all legal and moral precedent. Any ‘violence’ is lawful, and thereby just. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] And you wonder why they hate us. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Hatred is not the subject of this illuminative session. What did your proscribed discussion entail? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] She told me all kinds of stories about this place, how they have fine-tuned their relationship with the island to keep things running, letting their traditions evolve with the conditions. I think her granddaughter wanted her to have someone new to talk to, so she could share all this with someone. The old woman told me that when sun and moon meet in the sky, the boundary between our world and theirs grows thin. At such a momentous event, the cleverest and quickest might climb into the throat of the island and cross the threshold to the cosmos. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">At last. Something of value in this tedious discussion. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire spoke metaphorically, did it not? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">I wondered the same thing. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] No, I don’t think she did. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Explain. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] She said that when the celestial hosts of the heavens are distracted with their dance, the sun grows just cool enough to touch. She dipped her finger into the mortar, and showed me a golden bead of oil, and she said even a drop of sunlight was enough to bless the island for a century, but few survived the transit. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">They must not have understood what they were doing. How could they have, without knowledge of the Three Principles? If there is any truth to it at all, it is clearly some underdeveloped rite of self-banishment, resulting in a temporary transference of a mortal into the hells until planar reversion draws them back. If that. Nevertheless, the ritual is worth investigating further. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] It claimed to have performed this… feat? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I believe her. You would’ve too, had you been there. Thankfully, you weren’t. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My opinion toward the superstitious musings of a proscribed entity is not the subject of this session. My role here is strictly— (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“Illuminative,” Vosaphar said, looking out into the storm. “That’s it?” Finnit asked. “But I want to know… so much more.” “And yet, we know more now than we did before. Does this not confirm what you saw in the lens?” “I guess so. Still…” </div>] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightchroniclechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[[[Suspect. ⇒->20BBBA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">(text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The illuminative session for Leisenelle, former third officer of the now-renegade vessel ‘Consonance,’ is hereby brought to order. You stand accused of mutiny, murder, theft, deception, consorting with proscribed entities, and willful evasion of justice. Is that correct? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] You would know. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Is that correct? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I guess so. Yes. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“She sounds a lot like you,” Vosaphar murmured, stroking his claws idly through Finnit’s hair. “‘Consorting with proscribed entities?’ What a wicked accusation.” Finnit snorted. “Are you going to bring me to justice?” “Absolutely not.” “Too bad.” </div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Against these accusations, how do you plead? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I do not plead. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] You must make a claim, either to affirm or deny each crime you have been accused of. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I will make no such claims. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The accused has neglected her obligation to plead. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] What’s your deal, anyway? Are you mad? Some pretty vampire in your past tied your morals all up in knots and made you feel sinful? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My role here is strictly illuminative. How did you first come to associate with this vampire? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I was trying to find out the truth about this island. But none of them would talk to me. The islanders, I mean. They resent us. You know that, right? Look at what we’ve done to them since we got here. Someone has to stop it. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, mark a note down for ‘sedition,’ would you? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">At least the clerics are obligated to transcribe what they actually heard. Historians ought to learn from their example. ⚞L. Raekard (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“I think Raekard’s distaste for historians gets in his way,” Finnit said. “How could we possibly know, at this point, what liberties the cleric might have taken?” “It’s going to take more than historians to put a stop to him.” Finnit laughed, but Vosaphar hadn’t told a joke.</div>] </div>] (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] You didn’t have that one already? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Continue. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Fine. This one woman approached me, and told me to visit her house on the outskirts after sundown. I thought she might be into me—and maybe she was, a little—but she wanted me to meet her grandmother. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Yeah. Did the ‘after sundown’ part give it away? I’m not a good storyteller. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The only things your story requires are honesty and accuracy. Justice will account for the rest. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Whatever you need to tell yourself. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] I don’t ‘need’ to do anything. My role here is strictly illuminative. As the accused has been reminded. Continue. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] So, I waited for dusk, and paid her a visit. Her grandmother was living in the basement. Some kind of herbalist, I guess. The whole time we talked, she was crushing up these weird seedpods in a mortar and pestle. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] At what point did you realize this entity was a vampire? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Not until after, when… (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] When what? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] When you killed her. Robbed us of her wisdom, kindness, perspective, heart, all she contributed to her community. And for what? Some ash? Dust? Is there not already enough collecting between the folds of your ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that last term for obscenity. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] What, you’re more scandalized by me describing your dust-crusted ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆ than your violence? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that one as well. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“Which word do you suppose was stricken here?” Vosaphar asked. “Asscheeks,” Finnit said solemnly. “Has to be.”</div>] (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] So you don’t have an answer. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The entity in question was brought before sunlight and destroyed in accordance with all legal and moral precedent. Any ‘violence’ is lawful, and thereby just. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] And you wonder why they hate us. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Hatred is not the subject of this illuminative session. What did your proscribed discussion entail? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] She told me all kinds of stories about this place, how they have fine-tuned their relationship with the island to keep things running, letting their traditions evolve with the conditions. I think her granddaughter wanted her to have someone new to talk to, so she could share all this with someone. The old woman told me that when sun and moon meet in the sky, the boundary between our world and theirs grows thin. At such a momentous event, the cleverest and quickest might climb into the throat of the island and cross the threshold to the cosmos. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">At last. Something of value in this tedious discussion. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire spoke metaphorically, did it not? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">I wondered the same thing. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] No, I don’t think she did. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Explain. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] She said that when the celestial hosts of the heavens are distracted with their dance, the sun grows just cool enough to touch. She dipped her finger into the mortar, and showed me a golden bead of oil, and she said even a drop of sunlight was enough to bless the island for a century, but few survived the transit. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">They must not have understood what they were doing. How could they have, without knowledge of the Three Principles? If there is any truth to it at all, it is clearly some underdeveloped rite of self-banishment, resulting in a temporary transference of a mortal into the hells until planar reversion draws them back. If that. Nevertheless, the ritual is worth investigating further. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] It claimed to have performed this… feat? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I believe her. You would’ve too, had you been there. Thankfully, you weren’t. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My opinion toward the superstitious musings of a proscribed entity is not the subject of this session. My role here is strictly— (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“Illuminative,” Vosaphar said, looking out into the storm. “That’s it?” Finnit asked. “But I want to know… so much more.” “And yet, we know more now than we did before. Does this not confirm what you saw in the lens?” “I guess so. Still…” </div>] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="chroniclechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[[[Suspect. ⇒->20BBBA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#927b1a")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Chronicle]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XX.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">With fewer than a handful of days remaining until the eclipse, Vosaphar was determined to spend as much of that time as he could with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon now wondered why they had wasted the preceding days doing everything else *except* wrapping up together in blankets, speaking softly to one another. His ordeals felt paler against the comfort of this heat. Had your machinations even mattered for this? Under these conditions, wouldn’t they have always found themselves in love? You had no motes for lust. Though, based on what you had seen, you wouldn’t have needed them. Goodness. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Once they were ready to venture out, Finnit led Vosaphar back up the cliffside stairs to the crevice dotted with rusted anchors and unhatched eggs. The demon scanned the shadows, half-expecting another of the winged horrors to be laying in wait. Instead, the cavern was desolate, its foreboding stillness prickling the hairs on the back of his neck as it led ever deeper into the mountain. Eventually, the passage opened into a roughly circular chamber. “Look, Vosaphar,” Finnit intoned, pointing up. “We’re right beneath the lens.” Black slag had oozed down from the ceiling, frozen into organic stalactites that reflected no light from Finnit’s orb. While still fluid, they had dripped, leaving a few glassy patches spread across the altar. *Click*. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“What was that?” Vosaphar whispered. He cautiously approached the altar, a raised disk with a tight spiral grooved into its otherwise flat surface. “There,” Finnit whispered. “See the moon?” *Click*. A mechanism lowered a miniature pewter grate, allowing a tiny white sphere to roll a little further forward along the channel. At the center of the spiral lay a rendering of the sun, blotched by inky glass that had dripped down from above. “So much for studying the almanac.” Finnit paced around the pedestal. “This device is telling us how much is left until the eclipse. If we had known earlier…” “But we know now,” Vosaphar said. “Look at how close it is.” Vast and fiddly though the design was, the moon had wound its way close to the center. It was an unwelcome reminder of the future approaching, click by— *Click*. A taut silence stretched between them. Vosaphar had thoughts that he was unwilling to admit to. *Click*. “What if we just stayed here?” Finnit voiced. “Well maybe not this particular chamber. I mean the Pharos Fidelis in general.” He looked down at the transit bracelet Raekard had given him. “I could throw this in the ocean. We could ignore the lens. Stay here as long as we wanted.” “There’s nothing for you to eat, Finnit.” *Click.* “Would you even want to go to the academy?” Finnit stared at the pedestal. “Who even knows what they’d do to you, or—” “I am willing to risk it,” Vosaphar said. “I cannot say what the future holds. But we can’t stay here. I’m in no hurry to descend back to the calciferous wastes. And you have your life to live. I would rather join you in whatever of that you are willing to have me for, or until we choose to part. Is that not the way forward in such matters? The real accord?” *Click.* Finnit was silent for a few more moments. “Yes. You’re right. But I’m scared. This could all go so wrong.” Vosaphar embraced Finnit, holding him close. “It might. We will do our best, regardless.” They stayed together a while longer, before journeying back to their strange little home in the cliffside. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[At the eclipse, they would return. And the fate of the Pharos Fidelis would at last be decided. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Petition. ⇒->RBBBA. Calciferous]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">With fewer than a handful of days remaining until the eclipse, Vosaphar was determined to spend as much of that time as he could with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon now wondered why they had wasted the preceding days doing everything else *except* wrapping up together in blankets, speaking softly to one another. His ordeals felt paler against the comfort of this heat. Had your machinations even mattered for this? Under these conditions, wouldn’t they have always found themselves in love? You had no motes for lust. Though, based on what you had seen, you wouldn’t have needed them. Goodness. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Once they were ready to venture out, Finnit led Vosaphar back up the cliffside stairs to the crevice dotted with rusted anchors and unhatched eggs. The demon scanned the shadows, half-expecting another of the winged horrors to be laying in wait. Instead, the cavern was desolate, its foreboding stillness prickling the hairs on the back of his neck as it led ever deeper into the mountain. Eventually, the passage opened into a roughly circular chamber. “Look, Vosaphar,” Finnit intoned, pointing up. “We’re right beneath the lens.” Black slag had oozed down from the ceiling, frozen into organic stalactites that reflected no light from Finnit’s orb. While still fluid, they had dripped, leaving a few glassy patches spread across the altar. *Click*. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“What was that?” Vosaphar whispered. He cautiously approached the altar, a raised disk with a tight spiral grooved into its otherwise flat surface. “There,” Finnit whispered. “See the moon?” *Click*. A mechanism lowered a miniature pewter grate, allowing a tiny white sphere to roll a little further forward along the channel. At the center of the spiral lay a rendering of the sun, blotched by inky glass that had dripped down from above. “So much for studying the almanac.” Finnit paced around the pedestal. “This device is telling us how much is left until the eclipse. If we had known earlier…” “But we know now,” Vosaphar said. “Look at how close it is.” Vast and fiddly though the design was, the moon had wound its way close to the center. It was an unwelcome reminder of the future approaching, click by— *Click*. A taut silence stretched between them. Vosaphar had thoughts that he was unwilling to admit to. *Click*. “What if we just stayed here?” Finnit voiced. “Well maybe not this particular chamber. I mean the Pharos Fidelis in general.” He looked down at the transit bracelet Raekard had given him. “I could throw this in the ocean. We could ignore the lens. Stay here as long as we wanted.” “There’s nothing for you to eat, Finnit.” *Click.* “Would you even want to go to the academy?” Finnit stared at the pedestal. “Who even knows what they’d do to you, or—” “I am willing to risk it,” Vosaphar said. “I cannot say what the future holds. But we can’t stay here. I’m in no hurry to descend back to the calciferous wastes. And you have your life to live. I would rather join you in whatever of that you are willing to have me for, or until we choose to part. Is that not the way forward in such matters? The real accord?” *Click.* Finnit was silent for a few more moments. “Yes. You’re right. But I’m scared. This could all go so wrong.” Vosaphar embraced Finnit, holding him close. “It might. We will do our best, regardless.” They stayed together a while longer, before journeying back to their strange little home in the cliffside. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[At the eclipse, they would return. And the fate of the Pharos Fidelis would at last be decided. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Petition. ⇒->RBBBA. Calciferous]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[Recollection.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">Vosaphar’s spilling ichor sang to them so sweetly, libations that lured all manner of lips to lap. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[No longer able to fly, the beleaguered demon ran, stumbled, staggered, crawled—anything he could do to place another lazurynthine wall between himself and his nearest pursuer. He needed somewhere dark and quiet, somewhere safe to recover. Such amenities were unavailable in the lazurynth. But there were other hells than these. Vosaphar slipped through an inky gap between walls that had lost definition, their geometry corrupted by some other force. He sank into an oily pool, far beneath the febrile blue heat. He could no longer tell where the sludge began and his blood ended, drifting ever downward. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Eventually he reached the shore near your cottage, not yet fragmented to spectral remnants. Still specific, despite it all. He crawled to your doorstep, begging for relief from the lazurynth. Should he fall, he would emerge there once more, a cycle of dissolution his demonhood would eventually fail to survive. You told him that the calciferous wastes were hostile and desolate. He said he preferred a false quiet to an honest din. You told him there was nothing of value here—had there been, a warden as petty as you would’ve long been shredded to bits by a stronger devil. He said he preferred an expansive nothing to crowded corridors. You told him he would awaken cold, wet, and screaming, his every lonely birth into this void inevitable suffering. He said he preferred a bitter plunge to a blistering fire. You told him what it would cost, a steady stream of magic to brighten your hellfire furnace, tending to the motes. He accepted those terms without hesitation. You asked him for his name. He still had one. Vosaphar. With that accorded, you plucked his coal from the deepest pit of the lazurynth, and held it between your claws, its blue dimmed to gray. His archfiend wouldn’t miss it. And then you threw it in the pool, and it sank to the bottom, where it lodged itself in a dark crevice. Vosaphar, now under your jurisdiction, fled into the wastes, searching for a smooth bit of coralbone to lean against, however futilely. You gave him desolation, cold, and quiet. In return, your furnace grew brighter. How could you have ever predicted what this would eventually make impossible? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Discover. ⇒->21BBBA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">Vosaphar’s spilling ichor sang to them so sweetly, libations that lured all manner of lips to lap. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[No longer able to fly, the beleaguered demon ran, stumbled, staggered, crawled—anything he could do to place another lazurynthine wall between himself and his nearest pursuer. He needed somewhere dark and quiet, somewhere safe to recover. Such amenities were unavailable in the lazurynth. But there were other hells than these. Vosaphar slipped through an inky gap between walls that had lost definition, their geometry corrupted by some other force. He sank into an oily pool, far beneath the febrile blue heat. He could no longer tell where the sludge began and his blood ended, drifting ever downward. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Eventually he reached the shore near your cottage, not yet fragmented to spectral remnants. Still specific, despite it all. He crawled to your doorstep, begging for relief from the lazurynth. Should he fall, he would emerge there once more, a cycle of dissolution his demonhood would eventually fail to survive. You told him that the calciferous wastes were hostile and desolate. He said he preferred a false quiet to an honest din. You told him there was nothing of value here—had there been, a warden as petty as you would’ve long been shredded to bits by a stronger devil. He said he preferred an expansive nothing to crowded corridors. You told him he would awaken cold, wet, and screaming, his every lonely birth into this void inevitable suffering. He said he preferred a bitter plunge to a blistering fire. You told him what it would cost, a steady stream of magic to brighten your hellfire furnace, tending to the motes. He accepted those terms without hesitation. You asked him for his name. He still had one. Vosaphar. With that accorded, you plucked his coal from the deepest pit of the lazurynth, and held it between your claws, its blue dimmed to gray. His archfiend wouldn’t miss it. And then you threw it in the pool, and it sank to the bottom, where it lodged itself in a dark crevice. Vosaphar, now under your jurisdiction, fled into the wastes, searching for a smooth bit of coralbone to lean against, however futilely. You gave him desolation, cold, and quiet. In return, your furnace grew brighter. How could you have ever predicted what this would eventually make impossible? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Discover. ⇒->21BBBA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Recollection]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">The day of the eclipse, Finnit woke with a sharp pain searing his back, breaking him out of his warm reverie. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar was twitching and scratching in his sleep again. Finnit adored the feeling of the devil’s tail coiled around his thigh, basking in the hellish heat that staved off the island’s chill. Nonetheless, crawling into the embrace of a clawed creature had a few drawbacks. “Hey,” Finnit whispered. “Wake up.” Vosaphar shifted, his tail loosening its grip on Finnit. “Mmph.” “You scratched me again,” Finnit said. “Nightmares?” “Oh no,” Vosaphar said. “I’m sorry, Finnit. Here…” The demon traced the scratches, and Finnit felt an odd prickly sensation as the skin healed over. “Thank you. You’re getting good at that.” Vosaphar delicately kissed the side of Finnit’s neck. “I don’t normally sleep so much. The mortal realm is… exhausting, in its own way. Perhaps I can fashion some wrappings for my claws in the future.” “Whoa,” Finnit said, gazing out one of the windows. “What?” “The sky is different.” And indeed it was. The rain had—incredibly—let up slightly, the green glow he’d become so accustomed to taking on distinct streaks of orange and red. Vosaphar grimaced. “I guess it’s time.” “Yeah.” They made their final preparations. Finnit tucked his syllabaries into his satchel and ate his last rations. He thought he might never forget the taste of salted fruit leather in whatever days—or day—he had remaining. “Was there something else we should have prepared?” Finnit asked. “We’re just… walking through a portal to the sun? Like this?” “I can’t think of anything, Finnit.” “Well, alright then.” He looked around at the now overly-familiar place he had spent this last month. “Goodbye, awful yet cozy stone room under a cursed lighthouse. It was certainly a time.” “That it was.” Vosaphar sounded amused. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They ventured out onto the cliffside stairs. Even these had become familiar, the treachery of each step now a well-worn betrayal. As they approached the altar beneath the lens and its housing, a ruddy glow intensified. Flecks of mica in the cavern walls cast sparks over them as they passed. The miniature moon had arrived at its destination, transforming the sun emblem at the center into a bright red disc of light. It was overwhelming to look at directly; Finnit’s eyes strained from this threat to perception. “It’s terrible,” Finnit whispered. “Beautiful, too. What a dazzling horror of a thing to witness.” “Finnit,” Vosaphar began, wrapping his arms gently around the sorcerer. “It might be neglectful of our accord for me not to mention… you don’t have to do this. I could—I could go without you—you could die, Finnit, and—I—I don’t want to lose you… forever.” Finnit looked up into the fiend’s fearful, loving eyes. “Vosaphar—I’m afraid, too. But I couldn’t accept that. Isn’t that what Raekard would do? Send someone to die in his stead, to do the big scary things he won’t face himself? This trial was his idea, but now it’s my trial. Our trial. And I want to see it through. Together. Don’t you?” “Yes,” Vosaphar admitted. “I want to see the sun... with you.” “Then let’s go see it.” Vosaphar smiled, and took Finnit’s arm in his. Together, they stepped into an oblivion of crimson light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Eclipse. ⇒->Eclipse BBBA]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">The day of the eclipse, Finnit woke with a sharp pain searing his back, breaking him out of his warm reverie. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar was twitching and scratching in his sleep again. Finnit adored the feeling of the devil’s tail coiled around his thigh, basking in the hellish heat that staved off the island’s chill. Nonetheless, crawling into the embrace of a clawed creature had a few drawbacks. “Hey,” Finnit whispered. “Wake up.” Vosaphar shifted, his tail loosening its grip on Finnit. “Mmph.” “You scratched me again,” Finnit said. “Nightmares?” “Oh no,” Vosaphar said. “I’m sorry, Finnit. Here…” The demon traced the scratches, and Finnit felt an odd prickly sensation as the skin healed over. “Thank you. You’re getting good at that.” Vosaphar delicately kissed the side of Finnit’s neck. “I don’t normally sleep so much. The mortal realm is… exhausting, in its own way. Perhaps I can fashion some wrappings for my claws in the future.” “Whoa,” Finnit said, gazing out one of the windows. “What?” “The sky is different.” And indeed it was. The rain had—incredibly—let up slightly, the green glow he’d become so accustomed to taking on distinct streaks of orange and red. Vosaphar grimaced. “I guess it’s time.” “Yeah.” They made their final preparations. Finnit tucked his syllabaries into his satchel and ate his last rations. He thought he might never forget the taste of salted fruit leather in whatever days—or day—he had remaining. “Was there something else we should have prepared?” Finnit asked. “We’re just… walking through a portal to the sun? Like this?” “I can’t think of anything, Finnit.” “Well, alright then.” He looked around at the now overly-familiar place he had spent this last month. “Goodbye, awful yet cozy stone room under a cursed lighthouse. It was certainly a time.” “That it was.” Vosaphar sounded amused. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They ventured out onto the cliffside stairs. Even these had become familiar, the treachery of each step now a well-worn betrayal. As they approached the altar beneath the lens and its housing, a ruddy glow intensified. Flecks of mica in the cavern walls cast sparks over them as they passed. The miniature moon had arrived at its destination, transforming the sun emblem at the center into a bright red disc of light. It was overwhelming to look at directly; Finnit’s eyes strained from this threat to perception. “It’s terrible,” Finnit whispered. “Beautiful, too. What a dazzling horror of a thing to witness.” “Finnit,” Vosaphar began, wrapping his arms gently around the sorcerer. “It might be neglectful of our accord for me not to mention… you don’t have to do this. I could—I could go without you—you could die, Finnit, and—I—I don’t want to lose you… forever.” Finnit looked up into the fiend’s fearful, loving eyes. “Vosaphar—I’m afraid, too. But I couldn’t accept that. Isn’t that what Raekard would do? Send someone to die in his stead, to do the big scary things he won’t face himself? This trial was his idea, but now it’s my trial. Our trial. And I want to see it through. Together. Don’t you?” “Yes,” Vosaphar admitted. “I want to see the sun... with you.” “Then let’s go see it.” Vosaphar smiled, and took Finnit’s arm in his. Together, they stepped into an oblivion of crimson light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Eclipse. ⇒->Eclipse BBBA]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 3)[Eclipse.] (text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Sun.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">The sun was a cosmic affliction, a colossal molten mass so red and seething that even the infernal embers blazing in the deepest pits of the hells seemed but feeble sparks in the distance. And Vosaphar was soaring *toward* it. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he flew, Finnit clutched against him, tendrils of the corona pulled peculiar new colors from his wings, its aurora a spectacle more captivating than your dreary calciferous skies could have ever dreamed to churn. How you longed for such color and heat and majesty—even just a drop of it. And *they* got to see it all, to have it within reach. “Vosaphar, look!” With his free hand, Finnit pointed toward an eerie black void drifting past. Dozens of bird-creatures flew from the roiling surface of the sun to circle and screech at the dark moon, a celestial interloper threatening the eternity of light. “They’re sunspots!” Finnit shouted. “That thing—it was a sunspot!” “They’re *distracted*, too.” Vosaphar glided toward the edge of the sun away from the shrieking horrors. “That’s why it has to be now.” The demon and his summoner skimmed the sun’s surface, its dangerous heat threatening to embrace them forever so closely. “Hold on, Finnit!” Vosaphar tilted his wings, arm outstretched, reaching, swiping up a glob of incandescent fluid. This molten scarlet-amber squeezed between his claws and stuck to his low-dipped wing. Even these tiny droplets of starlight held immense power that coursed through him as he arced up out of the sun’s grip. “It’s so incredible!” Finnit laughed, tears streaming behind him, motes of wonder sparkling in space. Something darkened behind them. Finnit looked over his shoulder. “Vosaphar—there’s a new sunspot—” The creature shrieked as it gave chase, following the radiant beads dripping from Vosaphar’s sunswept wing. Vosaphar affixed his gaze to the portal back to the Pharos Fidelis, soaring ever faster. The screeching grew louder yet, judgment for their cardinal cosmic sin approaching with alarming haste. But with Finnit clinging to his side… (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar simply had no use for consequences. With a final burst of speed, they shot through the portal. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Reignite. ⇒->22BBBA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">The sun was a cosmic affliction, a colossal molten mass so red and seething that even the infernal embers blazing in the deepest pits of the hells seemed but feeble sparks in the distance. And Vosaphar was soaring *toward* it. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he flew, Finnit clutched against him, tendrils of the corona pulled peculiar new colors from his wings, its aurora a spectacle more captivating than your dreary calciferous skies could have ever dreamed to churn. How you longed for such color and heat and majesty—even just a drop of it. And *they* got to see it all, to have it within reach. “Vosaphar, look!” With his free hand, Finnit pointed toward an eerie black void drifting past. Dozens of bird-creatures flew from the roiling surface of the sun to circle and screech at the dark moon, a celestial interloper threatening the eternity of light. “They’re sunspots!” Finnit shouted. “That thing—it was a sunspot!” “They’re *distracted*, too.” Vosaphar glided toward the edge of the sun away from the shrieking horrors. “That’s why it has to be now.” The demon and his summoner skimmed the sun’s surface, its dangerous heat threatening to embrace them forever so closely. “Hold on, Finnit!” Vosaphar tilted his wings, arm outstretched, reaching, swiping up a glob of incandescent fluid. This molten scarlet-amber squeezed between his claws and stuck to his low-dipped wing. Even these tiny droplets of starlight held immense power that coursed through him as he arced up out of the sun’s grip. “It’s so incredible!” Finnit laughed, tears streaming behind him, motes of wonder sparkling in space. Something darkened behind them. Finnit looked over his shoulder. “Vosaphar—there’s a new sunspot—” The creature shrieked as it gave chase, following the radiant beads dripping from Vosaphar’s sunswept wing. Vosaphar affixed his gaze to the portal back to the Pharos Fidelis, soaring ever faster. The screeching grew louder yet, judgment for their cardinal cosmic sin approaching with alarming haste. But with Finnit clinging to his side… (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar simply had no use for consequences. With a final burst of speed, they shot through the portal. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Reignite. ⇒->22BBBA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXII.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Finnit and Vosaphar tumbled over the edge of the altar, the portal still aglow with the eclipse-light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But there was little time to celebrate their reckless heist—the sunspot shoved its vicious pointed head through the gap after them, screeching as it struggled to break through. Finnit let Vosaphar carry him a bit further up the tunnel, before standing on his own feet and running alongside. He looked out at the storm, the clouds thinned enough that he could see the eclipsed red sun half-risen, framing the infernal image of a devil’s horns. “How magnificent,” Finnit said, breathless. Vosaphar looked down at him, gently squeezing his hand. They arrived at the peak, where the lens yearned for light, and at last, Finnit had light to provide. Vosaphar held out his claws, sunlight pooled in his palm, and Finnit painted it, trying to create the glyph his mind had projected there, the name of the demon whose rite might reignite the Pharos Fidelis. You watched, enraptured by the spectacle of your plans converging. This was it. This was your moment. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As Finnit slathered the glowing fluid across the lens, the dark slag drank it in—more, and more, and more of it. Too much of it. The glyph couldn’t hold its shape. The lens welled, hyperfolding crimson light, growing ever hotter by the second. The cleft, once so close to promising your name, had already deformed beyond recognition. And how brutal; that poor, mortal sorcerer, all tangled in your schemes, had every intention of drawing your name, a sigil drenched in the lifeblood of the sun. He really did try. You couldn’t fault him for that. But the execution? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A tragedy, in many fragments. For centuries—perhaps longer—every mortal design for the Pharos Fidelis had crumbled. Each disaster wrote another chapter in that wretched chronicle, the dark history of guiding light. And you thought *yours* would work? Pharos Fidelis, the beacon on the horizon of reason. Where it would remain, out of reach. Could not even a devil accept the simple dreadful truth, that a horizon approached can never arrive? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Finnit, we have to leave!” Vosaphar shouted, scanning the sky for the sunspot. “The lens is collapsing!” “No—it has to—Vosaphar, it has to—” “Finnit, please—” “I can’t—I can’t get the shape right, it’s going to—” “It deserves to shatter.” How dare he. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“But, what was this even for, then?” Finnit sobbed, the last of the sunlight ripped from his fingertips into the Pharos Fidelis. Vosaphar pulled him, one final time, away from the amplifying dyslucence. “That’s for the historians!” Vosaphar stared at him with his stormy eyes. “Shouldn’t we live? Don’t you want a future? ” “Yes!” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Somewhere below them, the sunspot burst out through the tunnel, shrieking its way into the sky to hunt. Finnit embraced Vosaphar once more, and the demon swept him up into the sky. They abandoned the Pharos Fidelis to its fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They *tried* to abandon it. But it wasn’t done with them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Shatter. ⇒->23BBBA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Finnit and Vosaphar tumbled over the edge of the altar, the portal still aglow with the eclipse-light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But there was little time to celebrate their reckless heist—the sunspot shoved its vicious pointed head through the gap after them, screeching as it struggled to break through. Finnit let Vosaphar carry him a bit further up the tunnel, before standing on his own feet and running alongside. He looked out at the storm, the clouds thinned enough that he could see the eclipsed red sun half-risen, framing the infernal image of a devil’s horns. “How magnificent,” Finnit said, breathless. Vosaphar looked down at him, gently squeezing his hand. They arrived at the peak, where the lens yearned for light, and at last, Finnit had light to provide. Vosaphar held out his claws, sunlight pooled in his palm, and Finnit painted it, trying to create the glyph his mind had projected there, the name of the demon whose rite might reignite the Pharos Fidelis. You watched, enraptured by the spectacle of your plans converging. This was it. This was your moment. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As Finnit slathered the glowing fluid across the lens, the dark slag drank it in—more, and more, and more of it. Too much of it. The glyph couldn’t hold its shape. The lens welled, hyperfolding crimson light, growing ever hotter by the second. The cleft, once so close to promising your name, had already deformed beyond recognition. And how brutal; that poor, mortal sorcerer, all tangled in your schemes, had every intention of drawing your name, a sigil drenched in the lifeblood of the sun. He really did try. You couldn’t fault him for that. But the execution? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A tragedy, in many fragments. For centuries—perhaps longer—every mortal design for the Pharos Fidelis had crumbled. Each disaster wrote another chapter in that wretched chronicle, the dark history of guiding light. And you thought *yours* would work? Pharos Fidelis, the beacon on the horizon of reason. Where it would remain, out of reach. Could not even a devil accept the simple dreadful truth, that a horizon approached can never arrive? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Finnit, we have to leave!” Vosaphar shouted, scanning the sky for the sunspot. “The lens is collapsing!” “No—it has to—Vosaphar, it has to—” “Finnit, please—” “I can’t—I can’t get the shape right, it’s going to—” “It deserves to shatter.” How dare he. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“But, what was this even for, then?” Finnit sobbed, the last of the sunlight ripped from his fingertips into the Pharos Fidelis. Vosaphar pulled him, one final time, away from the amplifying dyslucence. “That’s for the historians!” Vosaphar stared at him with his stormy eyes. “Shouldn’t we live? Don’t you want a future? ” “Yes!” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Somewhere below them, the sunspot burst out through the tunnel, shrieking its way into the sky to hunt. Finnit embraced Vosaphar once more, and the demon swept him up into the sky. They abandoned the Pharos Fidelis to its fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They *tried* to abandon it. But it wasn’t done with them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Shatter. ⇒->23BBBA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Disavowal]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXIII.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">The storm rushed past Vosaphar as he carried Finnit, placing any distance he could between them and the doomed Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Still seeking their stolen sunlight, the sunspot locked onto them in pursuit, screeching as it approached, its eyes golden fury. “It’s going to—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The world around them grew absolutely silent, swallowing the rest of Finnit’s warning. Every bit of light had gathered, folding itself over and over and over still, smaller, ever smaller, congealing into the tiniest, brightest speck. For a moment, Vosaphar wondered if it would keep going, dragging the mortal realm, the hells, and all the rest of existence into its singularity. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Instead, it shattered. All that had been poured into it—all the fire, all the lightning, all the stray souls, all the stolen sunlight, all the summons slaughtered, all the hopes and dreams and plots and schemes and—all of it finally shattered, sending incalculable shards of glass in every direction at incredible speeds. A vanguard fragment slammed into Vosaphar’s chest, knocking Finnit out of his grasp. The sorcerer began to drift away on his own trajectory— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And you thought, though your plans had shattered along with everything else… You still had one last mote of hellfire to spare. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Influence. ⇒->M4BBBA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">The storm rushed past Vosaphar as he carried Finnit, placing any distance he could between them and the doomed Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Still seeking their stolen sunlight, the sunspot locked onto them in pursuit, screeching as it approached, its eyes golden fury. “It’s going to—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The world around them grew absolutely silent, swallowing the rest of Finnit’s warning. Every bit of light had gathered, folding itself over and over and over still, smaller, ever smaller, congealing into the tiniest, brightest speck. For a moment, Vosaphar wondered if it would keep going, dragging the mortal realm, the hells, and all the rest of existence into its singularity. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Instead, it shattered. All that had been poured into it—all the fire, all the lightning, all the stray souls, all the stolen sunlight, all the summons slaughtered, all the hopes and dreams and plots and schemes and—all of it finally shattered, sending incalculable shards of glass in every direction at incredible speeds. A vanguard fragment slammed into Vosaphar’s chest, knocking Finnit out of his grasp. The sorcerer began to drift away on his own trajectory— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And you thought, though your plans had shattered along with everything else… You still had one last mote of hellfire to spare. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Influence. ⇒->M4BBBA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Disavowal]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#fc4e71")+(text-size: 3)[Influence.] (text-color:"#fc4e71")+(text-size: 1.15)[Clinginess | Desperation.]</div> One final mote of hellfire appeared. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightmotepassage">When potent emotions conflicted a demon’s judgment, even the faintest mote of hellfire bore enough infernal energy to influence their fate from afar. That’s how you got them into this mess. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#8c283c)[***Clinginess***] For the demon Vosaphar, so eager to wrap himself around his beloved summoner, the sight of the mortal falling away would’ve driven him to dive in closer. This clinginess would have joined their fates together, should you have chosen to foster it. Yielding to this clinginess, however romantic, risked their joint fate becoming tragic. (text-color:#8c283c)[***Desperation***] For the demon Vosaphar, so determined for his beloved summoner to survive, the sight of him falling away would’ve driven him to take reckless measures. This desperation might have driven him to intervene instantly to salvage the situation. Yielding to this desperation, however hasty, risked their fates diverging dramatically. (text-color:#8c283c)[***Decision***] Well? Which force did this mote of hellfire incite? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightmotechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))[[[Clinginess. ⇒->24BBBAA. Vosaphar]]] (link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#fc4e71")))[[[Desperation. ⇒->24BBBAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="motepassage">When potent emotions conflicted a demon’s judgment, even the faintest mote of hellfire bore enough infernal energy to influence their fate from afar. That’s how you got them into this mess. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Clinginess***] For the demon Vosaphar, so eager to wrap himself around his beloved summoner, the sight of the mortal falling away would’ve driven him to dive in closer. This clinginess would have joined their fates together, should you have chosen to foster it. Yielding to this clinginess, however romantic, risked their joint fate becoming tragic. (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Desperation***] For the demon Vosaphar, so determined for his beloved summoner to survive, the sight of him falling away would’ve driven him to take reckless measures. This desperation might have driven him to intervene instantly to salvage the situation. Yielding to this desperation, however hasty, risked their fates diverging dramatically. (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Decision***] Well? Which force did this mote of hellfire incite? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="motechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Clinginess. ⇒->24BBBAA. Vosaphar]]] (link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Desperation. ⇒->24BBBAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Mote]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXIV.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar recognized your influence pushing him toward clinginess— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he *rejected* it. That stung. Vosaphar had a single, reckless idea of what he still had time to do. How he could send Finnit somewhere safer than here. Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar recalled the spells Finnit had taught him, focused his intentions and— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Banished him. Finnit blinked out of existence. Moments later, the edge of the explosion swept Vosaphar and the sunspot into an inferno of shattering glass. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Stoke. ⇒->25BBBAA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar recognized your influence pushing him toward clinginess— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he *rejected* it. That stung. Vosaphar had a single, reckless idea of what he still had time to do. How he could send Finnit somewhere safer than here. Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar recalled the spells Finnit had taught him, focused his intentions and— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Banished him. Finnit blinked out of existence. Moments later, the edge of the explosion swept Vosaphar and the sunspot into an inferno of shattering glass. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Stoke. ⇒->25BBBAA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXIV.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar recognized your influence pushing him toward desperation— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he *rejected* it. That stung. Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar dove, claws outstretched, reaching for the transit band around Finnit’s wrist— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But the sunspot got there first, snapping its jaws around the mortal and knocking Vosaphar out of the sky with a swipe from one of its powerful, greasy wings. Vosaphar tumbled, stunned, helpless to do anything but look up at the result of his mistakes. Just as the edge of the inferno reached him— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit and the sunspot blinked out of existence, teleporting somewhere else. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Bleed. ⇒->25BBBAB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar recognized your influence pushing him toward desperation— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he *rejected* it. That stung. Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar dove, claws outstretched, reaching for the transit band around Finnit’s wrist— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But the sunspot got there first, snapping its jaws around the mortal and knocking Vosaphar out of the sky with a swipe from one of its powerful, greasy wings. Vosaphar tumbled, stunned, helpless to do anything but look up at the result of his mistakes. Just as the edge of the inferno reached him— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit and the sunspot blinked out of existence, teleporting somewhere else. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Bleed. ⇒->25BBBAB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the brief union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Finnit perished in the chaos at Cairnveld, along with Luminary Raekard. A panel of the surviving luminaries in attendance was convened. After vigorous debate, the panelists determined that dying during one’s discovery trial evaluation—even after materially succeeding in the assigned task—constituted a failure. Luminary Jethel issued a scathing dissent. Nevertheless, the bylaws were updated to reflect this new precedent. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. But a new threat lurked. The demon Vosaphar absorbed the fragments around him, growing distorted in his influence. He climbed upon the melted peak and in his sorrow and fury, bewitched many ships to their doom with fata morgana. He had become, in effect, the latest Pharos Fidelis. Perhaps he had even become something more powerful than *you*. And perhaps you deserved to finally feel fear again. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what it wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BBB. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BBBA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s desperation. However, his distrust caused him to reject desperation in favor of clinginess, giving the sunspot enough time to teleport to Cairnveld along with Finnit. This proved to be an unfortunate miscalculation. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the brief union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Finnit perished in the chaos at Cairnveld, along with Luminary Raekard. A panel of the surviving luminaries in attendance was convened. After vigorous debate, the panelists determined that dying during one’s discovery trial evaluation—even after materially succeeding in the assigned task—constituted a failure. Luminary Jethel issued a scathing dissent. Nevertheless, the bylaws were updated to reflect this new precedent. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. But a new threat lurked. The demon Vosaphar absorbed the fragments around him, growing distorted in his influence. He climbed upon the melted peak and in his sorrow and fury, bewitched many ships to their doom with fata morgana. He had become, in effect, the latest Pharos Fidelis. Perhaps he had even become something more powerful than *you*. And perhaps you deserved to finally feel fear again. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what it wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BBB. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BBBA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s desperation. However, his distrust caused him to reject desperation in favor of clinginess, giving the sunspot enough time to teleport to Cairnveld along with Finnit. This proved to be an unfortunate miscalculation. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[XXV.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage cold, wet, and screaming. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It had a certain resonance, didn’t it? He coughed violently, choking on sludge and bloodfog alike, wading clumsily in your direction. Even from this distance, you could feel intense energy pouring off the misplaced mortal, his magic warped by the glowing fragments of the Pharos Fidelis stuck in his hair and clothing. If nothing else could be salvaged from this historic disaster, at least you had an opportunity to fuel your furnace. The mortal would, at any moment, petition you for relief from his dire situation. This provided you a brief moment to consider which form might be most appropriate for such an absurd occasion. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|initial>[In that light: (link-reveal: "You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. Inaccurate though it may have been, perhaps you had the right to such a form. You’d already spent more time fussing over Vosaphar’s fate than any of his makers had. You adopted an elegant posture and swept out of your cottage to approach the mortal. “Hello, Finnit,” you said. He turned to look at you, eyes widening. You flicked your new tail, mimicking one of Vosaphar’s gestures that he so favored. “Um—hi. Uh—” “Welcome to my calciferous wastes.” You extended your arms, gesturing toward the dark skies and lonesome coralbone monuments dotting the horizon. “And what a sight they are.” Finnit looked around, evidently still processing this alarming development. “The calciferous wastes? Do you—do you know Vosaphar?” “Please, join me inside,” you said. “We shall sit by the fire and discuss these matters.” Finnit numbly complied, letting you guide him to the soot-stained armchairs by your furnace. It seemed to calm him down, having become accustomed to closeness with a certain source of hellfire. “What happened? Do you know?” Finnit asked. “Sorry—I’m just—I should ask who you are probably?” “I am the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “I think—I think he banished me?” “He did.” You tapped an idle claw against your ivory armchair. “I’m sorry, maybe this is too forward, but—look, I’m worried about Vosaphar? I don’t know what happened—what if—what if he—” You took him to the window and pointed to the dark pool, where Vosaphar’s ember twinkled at the bottom. If anything, it had grown brighter. Interesting. “That is his essential coal,” you said. “If he had perished, he would have immediately returned here. If we wait, he will eventually appear. However…” Finnit paced to and fro, trying to shake off his anxiety. “What if he’s hurt—he must be—I don’t want to wait!” “It is not a matter of desire, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. Perhaps that hadn’t been a Vosapharian gesture. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Will you—I mean, would you please help me?” “What are your intentions toward Vosaphar?” “My intentions?” Finnit looked puzzled. “What do you—” “Answer my question carefully, mortal.” He looked appropriately worried. “Look, I—I love him. I know it’s been so quick, and maybe you think it’s shallow, just because he’s so beautiful—but, uh, really, I have never felt so close with someone. I mean—he took me to the *sun*, and back. I don’t know what it would mean for us to be together outside of the Pharos Fidelis, in a more normal world. Maybe it won’t work, and we’ll part ways. I think—I mean, I hope you think that we’re worthy of a chance to figure that out.” “Vosaphar will need your help,” you said. “He will suffer from his power. You will stand by him? Treat him respectfully?” “I would—I will.” “Very well.” You paused. “I would send you back to Cairnveld.” You gave a pointed look toward your furnace. “But my fire is too weak for such a feat. Won’t you stoke it?” “Stoke it?” Finnit looked nervous. “What, uh—what do you want? My soul?” How amusing. “Are you offering that?” You approached him, attempting to loom in the way he found so appealing when Vosaphar did it. Finnit looked terrified as you reached down and plucked a glowing lens fragment from his hair. “No, Finnit. Not your soul. I want these.” “Oh—is that all? Yes, you can have them. They’re not even really mine, I don’t think.” Finnit parted easily with the fragments, tossing each into the furnace as he found it. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to cause some new chaos. He had no sense of priorities. And neither—apparently—did you, entertaining this… cloyingly earnest romantic nonsense. You reached for Finnit’s transit band, warping the sigils such that they would send Finnit on his way. Before activating it, you paused. “If you treat Vosaphar with anything less than the respect owed to such an unreasonably affectionate devil, I will send every specter in my dominion to drag you back here, and drown you in these depths for all eternity.” It was a joke. Mostly. You were sure that Finnit appreciated it. With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. You basked in the new heat now crackling and seething in your furnace. And how ridiculous an exchange it was, to receive all that energy for a trivial bit of spellcraft. Even an incubus would have found no pleasure in the seduction of such easy prey. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[That’s why you did it, right? You *just* wanted the power. Nothing more. You felt nothing else. Surely. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Survive. ⇒->26BBBAAA. Vosaphar]]]]]]]</div>] Unless: (link-reveal: "You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. Darkness pooled around you, threshed with dozens of unblinking, glowing eyes. Gobs of loose flesh sizzled on charred bones to add to the illusion’s sensory overload. You adopted a threatening posture and swept out of your cottage to approach Finnit, trailing black grease in your wake. “Mortal!” you shouted, startling him. “You dare trespass upon my dominion?” Finnit turned your way, and his breath hitched at the loathsome sight of you. He cowered. Mortals were so susceptible to this kind of stagecraft, weren’t they? “I—I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—” “Silence!” You stretched and oozed before him. “You have stolen from me. You must return what I’m owed.” Finnit’s eyes darted about wildly, as if he were considering running away. He wouldn’t make it far. “Could you please—um—grand one? Uh, what did I steal?” “My *light*.” You over-articulated the “t” with such exuberance that flecks of acid splattered from your many mouths. “The Pharos Fidelis.” You wrapped a slimy tentacle around his arm, pulling him closer so you could pluck one of the fragments from his clothes. “What? Oh. Oh you can—you can have those. They’re, um, not even mine.” He was too frightened to assist in this process, so you grabbed each fragment, showing no regard for his comfort. Shards collected—from his perspective, devoured—you began shambling back to your cottage. “Wait!” Finnit called after you. “Um—I need—I need to get back to Vosaphar—do you know him? Or—” “I am the warden of these calciferous wastes, and he is my subject. Mortal longings are not my concern…” “But please, I—” “…Unless, of course, you wish to receive… an accord.” And there it was. Not only had you easily liberated the shards from his unworthy possession, but you could do even more to sate your rage with the proceedings of the eclipse. “An accord?” Finnit asked. “You’ll help me get back?” “For a *price*,” you hissed. “I gave you—I gave you the fragments!” He seemed to have realized his mistake. Perhaps he ought to have actually read *Case Studies in Infernal Betrayal* instead of assuming all demons would be as needy and pathetic as Vosaphar. “You claimed yourself that you had no ownership over them. They are mine already. One cannot offer a gift already granted.” “So what do you want?” His voice was strained. “My soul?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“*That* is worthless.” Drawing from the power of the fragments you held, you manifested a bloodfrost dagger from the fog, its keen edge sharp enough to carve the walls of the lazurynth. “Take this dagger to Luminary Raekard. I tire of his incompetent scheming. Carve out his heart. Then burn it in a ring of hellfire until it is but ash on the wind.” “But I—I can’t kill someone!” Finnit shouted. “That’s absurd—even someone as awful as him—and he’s so dangerous. It would never work.” “Then you will die here, and never again wrap your wretched limbs around the devil you cling to in the dark.” You sidled into your cottage, leaving him to contemplate his mortal morality while you stoked the furnace with the fragments. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to inflict some new misery upon the world. It wasn’t long before he approached you again. He looked directly at you, gazing into your seething core, and without stumbling, said, “I accept those terms.” You wrapped a tendril around the hilt of the dagger and offered it to him. He took it, his expression grim and determined. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[You *almost* believed he could do it. With a burst of magic, you activated his bracelet—the transit band—and sent him to his terrible fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Append. ⇒->P4BBBAAB. Fourth Principle]]]]]]]</div> ] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. Well, at least the version of yourself that held court, lording your specificity over these dismal barrens. Finnit would get to see you for what you were: powerful, yet petty. Exhausted, too. It was miserable to live with your failures. You slunk to your soot-stained armchair by the furnace, waiting for the mortal to arrive. He knocked at the door. “Hello? Is—is someone in here?” “Come in, Finnit.” He opened the door, and saw you by the furnace. What texture the man had taken on since he left Cairnveld, struggling through your schemes in that desperate way that humans are wont to do. You gestured for him to sit in the chair across from yours. He obliged, if a bit warily. “Welcome to my calciferous wastes,” you said. “I wonder what you think of them?” “Calciferous wastes?” Something flickered in his eyes. “Is that—do you know Vosaphar?” “Answer my question first, if you will.” Finnit seemed taken aback, but recovered. “Well, if you really want to know—I can see why Vosaphar was so determined to leave.” You could almost see him realizing in real time that he probably was meant to say something kinder. “Not that there isn’t something… eerily beautiful about the colors streaking across the sky. But, it’s very cold and sharp and it seems sad, I guess?” “Yes, Vosaphar is troubled by his existence. As are we all.” You clicked your claws against the coralbone armrest. “You look—If you don’t mind me saying—you look familiar to me. But I don’t understand why. Who are you?” “I’m the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “So I guess he banished me here? It was the first place he thought of?” “I’m flattered.” A pause. “And perhaps you ought to be relieved that he didn’t recall the lazurynth quicker.” “I need to get back to him.” Finnit fixed you with a serious expression. “He might be hurt, or—I want to get back. Please. He means—he means a lot to me.” “It is not a matter of necessity, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Wait—I know why you look familiar!” He studied your face once more. “You look a little bit like… my grandmother.” “The trees in Tinfallow have deep roots indeed, if they reach all the way to these calciferous wastes.” “I don’t understand.” He bit his lip. “There are too many pieces—it’s hard to look at directly.” “Then focus on the piece of it you care about.” “Vosaphar.” “Of course. Young love. Star-crossed, even.” You sighed. “Well, I could send you on your way to Cairnveld.” You pointed at his bracelet. “But…” “You want something in return?” Finnit asked, leaning forward. “What is it? What do you want?” “What I *really* want is for you to have written my name correctly on the Pharos Fidelis.” Finnit sat back again. “That’s—that’s *you*? Your name? I expected someone so much more…” “Impressive?” You gave a hollow laugh. “Terrifying,” he finished. “But you seem, I don’t know, reasonable enough?” “I’m sure it seems that way.” “Well I—I don’t think I can undo what happened,” Finnit said. “I’m sorry it didn’t work. I know it may not look that way, but I really did try. I don’t know what it would’ve done if it worked, but I tried.” “You did.” You looked over at your furnace, where your sluggish motes of hellfire simmered. “I want the lens fragments in your possession.” “Lens fragments?” You pointed them out in his hair and on his clothes. “So that’s what you’re proposing as the terms of an exchange? I give you these shards, and you’ll send me back to Cairnveld?” “Yes.” “It just seems… I don’t know. I feel like there is still so much that I’m missing? If you—if you really are connected to me, in some way… would you want to… stay in touch?” You hadn’t expected *that*, of all things. “You want the warden of the calciferous wastes to offer you… mentorship.” “I’ve done much weirder things today!” Finnit said, rather defensively. “I went to the *sun*. Look, my mentor is Luminary Raekard. An actual demon would be a significant improvement.” “Ah, Raekard. I regret my part in that, given how it went.” “What?” Finnit’s eyes widened. “What do you mean you—” “Finnit, I propose an addendum to our… accord. If you wish to speak with me, you shall have one chance to do so during each new moon. Sacrifice a lens fragment in my name, and we shall converse for one hour.” “I’m not sure how I’ll get more of these,” Finnit said. “It seems expensive.” “And yet, a single fragment pales against the scale of what you destroyed. You could not possibly comprehend how far you’ve set me back. But,” you added, softening your tone, “I will make that hour as worthwhile as you wish it to be.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit accepted those terms, tossing each of the lens fragments on his person into your furnace. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to bend ever more futures in your favor. “Thank you,” Finnit said, as you adjusted the sigils on his transit band. “I—I’m glad to have met you.” With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Survive. ⇒->26BBBAAC. Vosaphar]]]]</div> ]]]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage cold, wet, and screaming. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It had a certain resonance, didn’t it? He coughed violently, choking on sludge and bloodfog alike, wading clumsily in your direction. Even from this distance, you could feel intense energy pouring off the misplaced mortal, his magic warped by the glowing fragments of the Pharos Fidelis stuck in his hair and clothing. If nothing else could be salvaged from this historic disaster, at least you had an opportunity to fuel your furnace. The mortal would, at any moment, petition you for relief from his dire situation. This provided you a brief moment to consider which form might be most appropriate for such an absurd occasion. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|initial>[In that light: (link-reveal: "You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. Inaccurate though it may have been, perhaps you had the right to such a form. You’d already spent more time fussing over Vosaphar’s fate than any of his makers had. You adopted an elegant posture and swept out of your cottage to approach the mortal. “Hello, Finnit,” you said. He turned to look at you, eyes widening. You flicked your new tail, mimicking one of Vosaphar’s gestures that he so favored. “Um—hi. Uh—” “Welcome to my calciferous wastes.” You extended your arms, gesturing toward the dark skies and lonesome coralbone monuments dotting the horizon. “And what a sight they are.” Finnit looked around, evidently still processing this alarming development. “The calciferous wastes? Do you—do you know Vosaphar?” “Please, join me inside,” you said. “We shall sit by the fire and discuss these matters.” Finnit numbly complied, letting you guide him to the soot-stained armchairs by your furnace. It seemed to calm him down, having become accustomed to closeness with a certain source of hellfire. “What happened? Do you know?” Finnit asked. “Sorry—I’m just—I should ask who you are probably?” “I am the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “I think—I think he banished me?” “He did.” You tapped an idle claw against your ivory armchair. “I’m sorry, maybe this is too forward, but—look, I’m worried about Vosaphar? I don’t know what happened—what if—what if he—” You took him to the window and pointed to the dark pool, where Vosaphar’s ember twinkled at the bottom. If anything, it had grown brighter. Interesting. “That is his essential coal,” you said. “If he had perished, he would have immediately returned here. If we wait, he will eventually appear. However…” Finnit paced to and fro, trying to shake off his anxiety. “What if he’s hurt—he must be—I don’t want to wait!” “It is not a matter of desire, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. Perhaps that hadn’t been a Vosapharian gesture. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Will you—I mean, would you please help me?” “What are your intentions toward Vosaphar?” “My intentions?” Finnit looked puzzled. “What do you—” “Answer my question carefully, mortal.” He looked appropriately worried. “Look, I—I love him. I know it’s been so quick, and maybe you think it’s shallow, just because he’s so beautiful—but, uh, really, I have never felt so close with someone. I mean—he took me to the *sun*, and back. I don’t know what it would mean for us to be together outside of the Pharos Fidelis, in a more normal world. Maybe it won’t work, and we’ll part ways. I think—I mean, I hope you think that we’re worthy of a chance to figure that out.” “Vosaphar will need your help,” you said. “He will suffer from his power. You will stand by him? Treat him respectfully?” “I would—I will.” “Very well.” You paused. “I would send you back to Cairnveld.” You gave a pointed look toward your furnace. “But my fire is too weak for such a feat. Won’t you stoke it?” “Stoke it?” Finnit looked nervous. “What, uh—what do you want? My soul?” How amusing. “Are you offering that?” You approached him, attempting to loom in the way he found so appealing when Vosaphar did it. Finnit looked terrified as you reached down and plucked a glowing lens fragment from his hair. “No, Finnit. Not your soul. I want these.” “Oh—is that all? Yes, you can have them. They’re not even really mine, I don’t think.” Finnit parted easily with the fragments, tossing each into the furnace as he found it. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to cause some new chaos. He had no sense of priorities. And neither—apparently—did you, entertaining this… cloyingly earnest romantic nonsense. You reached for Finnit’s transit band, warping the sigils such that they would send Finnit on his way. Before activating it, you paused. “If you treat Vosaphar with anything less than the respect owed to such an unreasonably affectionate devil, I will send every specter in my dominion to drag you back here, and drown you in these depths for all eternity.” It was a joke. Mostly. You were sure that Finnit appreciated it. With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. You basked in the new heat now crackling and seething in your furnace. And how ridiculous an exchange it was, to receive all that energy for a trivial bit of spellcraft. Even an incubus would have found no pleasure in the seduction of such easy prey. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[That’s why you did it, right? You *just* wanted the power. Nothing more. You felt nothing else. Surely. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[Survive. ⇒->26BBBAAA. Vosaphar]]]]]]]</div>] Unless: (link-reveal: "You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. Darkness pooled around you, threshed with dozens of unblinking, glowing eyes. Gobs of loose flesh sizzled on charred bones to add to the illusion’s sensory overload. You adopted a threatening posture and swept out of your cottage to approach Finnit, trailing black grease in your wake. “Mortal!” you shouted, startling him. “You dare trespass upon my dominion?” Finnit turned your way, and his breath hitched at the loathsome sight of you. He cowered. Mortals were so susceptible to this kind of stagecraft, weren’t they? “I—I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—” “Silence!” You stretched and oozed before him. “You have stolen from me. You must return what I’m owed.” Finnit’s eyes darted about wildly, as if he were considering running away. He wouldn’t make it far. “Could you please—um—grand one? Uh, what did I steal?” “My *light*.” You over-articulated the “t” with such exuberance that flecks of acid splattered from your many mouths. “The Pharos Fidelis.” You wrapped a slimy tentacle around his arm, pulling him closer so you could pluck one of the fragments from his clothes. “What? Oh. Oh you can—you can have those. They’re, um, not even mine.” He was too frightened to assist in this process, so you grabbed each fragment, showing no regard for his comfort. Shards collected—from his perspective, devoured—you began shambling back to your cottage. “Wait!” Finnit called after you. “Um—I need—I need to get back to Vosaphar—do you know him? Or—” “I am the warden of these calciferous wastes, and he is my subject. Mortal longings are not my concern…” “But please, I—” “…Unless, of course, you wish to receive… an accord.” And there it was. Not only had you easily liberated the shards from his unworthy possession, but you could do even more to sate your rage with the proceedings of the eclipse. “An accord?” Finnit asked. “You’ll help me get back?” “For a *price*,” you hissed. “I gave you—I gave you the fragments!” He seemed to have realized his mistake. Perhaps he ought to have actually read *Case Studies in Infernal Betrayal* instead of assuming all demons would be as needy and pathetic as Vosaphar. “You claimed yourself that you had no ownership over them. They are mine already. One cannot offer a gift already granted.” “So what do you want?” His voice was strained. “My soul?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“*That* is worthless.” Drawing from the power of the fragments you held, you manifested a bloodfrost dagger from the fog, its keen edge sharp enough to carve the walls of the lazurynth. “Take this dagger to Luminary Raekard. I tire of his incompetent scheming. Carve out his heart. Then burn it in a ring of hellfire until it is but ash on the wind.” “But I—I can’t kill someone!” Finnit shouted. “That’s absurd—even someone as awful as him—and he’s so dangerous. It would never work.” “Then you will die here, and never again wrap your wretched limbs around the devil you cling to in the dark.” You sidled into your cottage, leaving him to contemplate his mortal morality while you stoked the furnace with the fragments. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to inflict some new misery upon the world. It wasn’t long before he approached you again. He looked directly at you, gazing into your seething core, and without stumbling, said, “I accept those terms.” You wrapped a tendril around the hilt of the dagger and offered it to him. He took it, his expression grim and determined. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[You *almost* believed he could do it. With a burst of magic, you activated his bracelet—the transit band—and sent him to his terrible fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[Append. ⇒->P4BBBAAB. Fourth Principle]]]]]]]</div> ] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. Well, at least the version of yourself that held court, lording your specificity over these dismal barrens. Finnit would get to see you for what you were: powerful, yet petty. Exhausted, too. It was miserable to live with your failures. You slunk to your soot-stained armchair by the furnace, waiting for the mortal to arrive. He knocked at the door. “Hello? Is—is someone in here?” “Come in, Finnit.” He opened the door, and saw you by the furnace. What texture the man had taken on since he left Cairnveld, struggling through your schemes in that desperate way that humans are wont to do. You gestured for him to sit in the chair across from yours. He obliged, if a bit warily. “Welcome to my calciferous wastes,” you said. “I wonder what you think of them?” “Calciferous wastes?” Something flickered in his eyes. “Is that—do you know Vosaphar?” “Answer my question first, if you will.” Finnit seemed taken aback, but recovered. “Well, if you really want to know—I can see why Vosaphar was so determined to leave.” You could almost see him realizing in real time that he probably was meant to say something kinder. “Not that there isn’t something… eerily beautiful about the colors streaking across the sky. But, it’s very cold and sharp and it seems sad, I guess?” “Yes, Vosaphar is troubled by his existence. As are we all.” You clicked your claws against the coralbone armrest. “You look—If you don’t mind me saying—you look familiar to me. But I don’t understand why. Who are you?” “I’m the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “So I guess he banished me here? It was the first place he thought of?” “I’m flattered.” A pause. “And perhaps you ought to be relieved that he didn’t recall the lazurynth quicker.” “I need to get back to him.” Finnit fixed you with a serious expression. “He might be hurt, or—I want to get back. Please. He means—he means a lot to me.” “It is not a matter of necessity, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Wait—I know why you look familiar!” He studied your face once more. “You look a little bit like… my grandmother.” “The trees in Tinfallow have deep roots indeed, if they reach all the way to these calciferous wastes.” “I don’t understand.” He bit his lip. “There are too many pieces—it’s hard to look at directly.” “Then focus on the piece of it you care about.” “Vosaphar.” “Of course. Young love. Star-crossed, even.” You sighed. “Well, I could send you on your way to Cairnveld.” You pointed at his bracelet. “But…” “You want something in return?” Finnit asked, leaning forward. “What is it? What do you want?” “What I *really* want is for you to have written my name correctly on the Pharos Fidelis.” Finnit sat back again. “That’s—that’s *you*? Your name? I expected someone so much more…” “Impressive?” You gave a hollow laugh. “Terrifying,” he finished. “But you seem, I don’t know, reasonable enough?” “I’m sure it seems that way.” “Well I—I don’t think I can undo what happened,” Finnit said. “I’m sorry it didn’t work. I know it may not look that way, but I really did try. I don’t know what it would’ve done if it worked, but I tried.” “You did.” You looked over at your furnace, where your sluggish motes of hellfire simmered. “I want the lens fragments in your possession.” “Lens fragments?” You pointed them out in his hair and on his clothes. “So that’s what you’re proposing as the terms of an exchange? I give you these shards, and you’ll send me back to Cairnveld?” “Yes.” “It just seems… I don’t know. I feel like there is still so much that I’m missing? If you—if you really are connected to me, in some way… would you want to… stay in touch?” You hadn’t expected *that*, of all things. “You want the warden of the calciferous wastes to offer you… mentorship.” “I’ve done much weirder things today!” Finnit said, rather defensively. “I went to the *sun*. Look, my mentor is Luminary Raekard. An actual demon would be a significant improvement.” “Ah, Raekard. I regret my part in that, given how it went.” “What?” Finnit’s eyes widened. “What do you mean you—” “Finnit, I propose an addendum to our… accord. If you wish to speak with me, you shall have one chance to do so during each new moon. Sacrifice a lens fragment in my name, and we shall converse for one hour.” “I’m not sure how I’ll get more of these,” Finnit said. “It seems expensive.” “And yet, a single fragment pales against the scale of what you destroyed. You could not possibly comprehend how far you’ve set me back. But,” you added, softening your tone, “I will make that hour as worthwhile as you wish it to be.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit accepted those terms, tossing each of the lens fragments on his person into your furnace. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to bend ever more futures in your favor. “Thank you,” Finnit said, as you adjusted the sigils on his transit band. “I—I’m glad to have met you.” With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[Survive. ⇒->26BBBAAC. Vosaphar]]]]</div> ]]]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Mote]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived the shattering. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A constellation circled overhead, screeching as it descended. The sunspot, now barely recognizable as an amalgamation of blackened sunflesh and thousands of seething fragments, alighted on a rock nearby, and began snapping at Vosaphar’s lens fragments, shredding the flesh above his liver. Try though he might to crawl to safety, the creature still pursued him, tearing at the glass embedded in him. And then, he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BBBAAC]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived the shattering. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A constellation circled overhead, screeching as it descended. The sunspot, now barely recognizable as an amalgamation of blackened sunflesh and thousands of seething fragments, alighted on a rock nearby, and began snapping at Vosaphar’s lens fragments, shredding the flesh above his liver. Try though he might to crawl to safety, the creature still pursued him, tearing at the glass embedded in him. And then, he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BBBAAC]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 3)[Anathema.] (text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 1.15)[The Fourth Principle of Summoning.]</div> A timely addendum, courtesy of you. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Behold the fourth principle of summoning: (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color:#a01404)[**4. The Principle of Voluntary and Efficient Accession to the Extraordinarily Reasonable Conditions Imposed by the Magnanimous Warden of the Calciferous Wastes, Who Certainly Never Even Cared About the Pharos Fidelis, And Certainly Not the Absurd Romantic Yearnings of Your Pathetic Subjects—Or Else.**] Summoners who willingly and knowingly forge an accord with you must see their bargain through, or suffer the consequences of incompetence and betrayal. (text-color:#a01404)[***Implication:***] You suffered long and worked hard to eke out your existence. (text-color:#a01404)[***Implication:***] You generously helped him plenty up to this point—for free. It wasn’t such a high price to ask him to kill someone he hated anyway. You both benefited from this accord. (text-color:#a01404)[***Implication:***] His failure was inevitable. You weren’t *really* invested in his survival, or his potential to shift the tenor of human-demon relations. You were just hungry for more power, right? You just wanted to enrich your tiny slice of the hells, fuel your furnace, as you had always done. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It would have been unreasonable for *you*, of all beings, to have cared. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Subsume. ⇒->26BBBAAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Behold the fourth principle of summoning: (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color:#f17264)[**4. The Principle of Voluntary and Efficient Accession to the Extraordinarily Reasonable Conditions Imposed by the Magnanimous Warden of the Calciferous Wastes, Who Certainly Never Even Cared About the Pharos Fidelis, And Certainly Not the Absurd Romantic Yearnings of Your Pathetic Subjects—Or Else.**] Summoners who willingly and knowingly forge an accord with you must see their bargain through, or suffer the consequences of incompetence and betrayal. (text-color:#f17264)[***Implication:***] You suffered long and worked hard to eke out your existence. (text-color:#f17264)[***Implication:***] You generously helped him plenty up to this point—for free. It wasn’t such a high price to ask him to kill someone he hated anyway. You both benefited from this accord. (text-color:#f17264)[***Implication:***] His failure was inevitable. You weren’t *really* invested in his survival, or his potential to shift the tenor of human-demon relations. You were just hungry for more power, right? You just wanted to enrich your tiny slice of the hells, fuel your furnace, as you had always done. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It would have been unreasonable for *you*, of all beings, to have cared. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Subsume. ⇒->26BBBAAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived the shattering. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A constellation circled overhead, screeching as it descended. The sunspot, now barely recognizable as an amalgamation of blackened sunflesh and thousands of seething fragments, alighted on a rock nearby, and began snapping at Vosaphar’s lens fragments, shredding the flesh above his liver. Try though he might to crawl to safety, the creature still pursued him, tearing at the glass embedded in him. And then, he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BBBAAA]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived the shattering. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A constellation circled overhead, screeching as it descended. The sunspot, now barely recognizable as an amalgamation of blackened sunflesh and thousands of seething fragments, alighted on a rock nearby, and began snapping at Vosaphar’s lens fragments, shredding the flesh above his liver. Try though he might to crawl to safety, the creature still pursued him, tearing at the glass embedded in him. And then, he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BBBAAA]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. But a new threat lurked. The distorted sunspot, after consuming many remnants of the shattered lens, landed atop the melted peak and constructed a new nest of thousands and thousands of glowing fragments. The starscorched creature menaced any ships that dared disturb its territory. It had become, in effect, the next Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what it wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BBB. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BBBA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s clinginess. However, his distrust caused him to reject clinginess in favor of desperation, impulsively banishing Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be a fortunate miscalculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25BBBAA. Finnit]]]</div> You took a comforting form, nurturing his budding relationship with Vosaphar in exchange for the lens fragments on his person. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. But a new threat lurked. The distorted sunspot, after consuming many remnants of the shattered lens, landed atop the melted peak and constructed a new nest of thousands and thousands of glowing fragments. The starscorched creature menaced any ships that dared disturb its territory. It had become, in effect, the next Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what it wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BBB. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BBBA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s clinginess. However, his distrust caused him to reject clinginess in favor of desperation, impulsively banishing Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be a fortunate miscalculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25BBBAA. Finnit]]]</div> You took a comforting form, nurturing his budding relationship with Vosaphar in exchange for the lens fragments on his person. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived the shattering. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[If he had known that it was already too late, would that have been better? For him? For you? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A constellation circled overhead, screeching as it descended. The sunspot, now barely recognizable as an amalgamation of blackened sunflesh and thousands of seething fragments, alighted on a rock nearby, and began snapping at Vosaphar’s lens fragments, shredding the flesh above his liver. Try though he might to crawl to safety, no miraculous rescue arrived. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before the sunspot had its fill of him. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BBBAAB]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived the shattering. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[If he had known that it was already too late, would that have been better? For him? For you? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A constellation circled overhead, screeching as it descended. The sunspot, now barely recognizable as an amalgamation of blackened sunflesh and thousands of seething fragments, alighted on a rock nearby, and began snapping at Vosaphar’s lens fragments, shredding the flesh above his liver. Try though he might to crawl to safety, no miraculous rescue arrived. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before the sunspot had its fill of him. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BBBAAB]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the brief union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Finnit perished in a failed assassination attempt upon his return to Cairnveld, screaming of the sun. A strange footnote to this history. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. But a new threat lurked. The distorted sunspot, after consuming the demon Vosaphar, landed atop the melted peak and constructed a new nest of thousands and thousands of lens fragments. The starscorched creature menaced any ships that dared disturb its territory. It had become, in effect, the next Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what it wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BBB. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BBBA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s clinginess. However, his distrust caused him to reject clinginess in favor of desperation, impulsively banishing Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be a fortunate miscalculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25BBBAA. Finnit]]]</div> You took a terrifying form, seizing his lens fragments for yourself, and dooming him with an impossible accord. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and absolutely no complicated feelings arose. Goodness. You may yet revisit the choices above.] If you insist instead upon accepting this catastrophic outcome... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the brief union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Finnit perished in a failed assassination attempt upon his return to Cairnveld, screaming of the sun. A strange footnote to this history. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. But a new threat lurked. The distorted sunspot, after consuming the demon Vosaphar, landed atop the melted peak and constructed a new nest of thousands and thousands of lens fragments. The starscorched creature menaced any ships that dared disturb its territory. It had become, in effect, the next Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what it wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BBB. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BBBA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s clinginess. However, his distrust caused him to reject clinginess in favor of desperation, impulsively banishing Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be a fortunate miscalculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25BBBAA. Finnit]]]</div> You took a terrifying form, seizing his lens fragments for yourself, and dooming him with an impossible accord. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and absolutely no complicated feelings arose. Goodness. You may yet revisit the choices above.] If you insist instead upon accepting this catastrophic outcome... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. But a new threat lurked. The distorted sunspot, after consuming many remnants of the shattered lens, landed atop the melted peak and constructed a new nest of thousands and thousands of glowing fragments. The starscorched creature menaced any ships that dared disturb its territory. It had become, in effect, the next Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what it wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BBB. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BBBA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s clinginess. However, his distrust caused him to reject clinginess in favor of desperation, impulsively banishing Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be a fortunate miscalculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25BBBAA. Finnit]]]</div> You took an honest form, developing a stronger connection with Finnit while ensuring ongoing access to lens fragments in the future. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. But a new threat lurked. The distorted sunspot, after consuming many remnants of the shattered lens, landed atop the melted peak and constructed a new nest of thousands and thousands of glowing fragments. The starscorched creature menaced any ships that dared disturb its territory. It had become, in effect, the next Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what it wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BBB. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BBBA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s clinginess. However, his distrust caused him to reject clinginess in favor of desperation, impulsively banishing Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be a fortunate miscalculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25BBBAA. Finnit]]]</div> You took an honest form, developing a stronger connection with Finnit while ensuring ongoing access to lens fragments in the future. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[XVIII.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">It wasn’t long before even the shock of Vosaphar’s emergence from the pool—exactly as cold and miserable as you had promised him it would be—had begun to fade into the listlessness of wandering the wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The residual magic Finnit had accorded him allowed him to travel faster and further than before. His slash wounds scabbed over more readily, healing further with each attempt. Something had shifted in his specificity. He should have been satisfied with that. Satisfied with the memories of what was, and dreams of what could have been, for bitter honey still bore sweetness. Didn’t it? Another kind of wound had carved itself into his heart. Without Finnit, Vosaphar’s existence felt darker and emptier than it ever had before. He wondered what might be about to happen, was happening, or had already happened at the Pharos Fidelis. Was Finnit still preparing his ritual of communion with the lens? Was it already over? Could he have been, right at that moment, spiraling amidst its unfathomable secrets? Perhaps Finnit’s rite had failed, the cursed lens consuming his soul as it had so many others. But, it could also be… something else. Another reason. Just as that doubt crept in, the devil felt a familiar sensation tugging at his core. Heat coursed through his veins as a tendril of sorcery unfurled for him, awaiting his tender grasp. (align:"<==")[And then—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=========")[Vosaphar] (align:"=><==")[at last] (align:"=><=")[recalled] (align:"===><==")[his] (align:"==><=")[own] (align:"===><=")[principle] (align:"=========><=")[of] (align:"==>")[flight—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Spread wings. ⇒->19BBBB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">It wasn’t long before even the shock of Vosaphar’s emergence from the pool—exactly as cold and miserable as you had promised him it would be—had begun to fade into the listlessness of wandering the wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The residual magic Finnit had accorded him allowed him to travel faster and further than before. His slash wounds scabbed over more readily, healing further with each attempt. Something had shifted in his specificity. He should have been satisfied with that. Satisfied with the memories of what was, and dreams of what could have been, for bitter honey still bore sweetness. Didn’t it? Another kind of wound had carved itself into his heart. Without Finnit, Vosaphar’s existence felt darker and emptier than it ever had before. He wondered what might be about to happen, was happening, or had already happened at the Pharos Fidelis. Was Finnit still preparing his ritual of communion with the lens? Was it already over? Could he have been, right at that moment, spiraling amidst its unfathomable secrets? Perhaps Finnit’s rite had failed, the cursed lens consuming his soul as it had so many others. But, it could also be… something else. Another reason. Just as that doubt crept in, the devil felt a familiar sensation tugging at his core. Heat coursed through his veins as a tendril of sorcery unfurled for him, awaiting his tender grasp. (align:"<==")[And then—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=========")[Vosaphar] (align:"=><==")[at last] (align:"=><=")[recalled] (align:"===><==")[his] (align:"==><=")[own] (align:"===><=")[principle] (align:"=========><=")[of] (align:"==>")[flight—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Spread wings. ⇒->19BBBB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XIX.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">Atop the Pharos Fidelis, Finnit remained just in sight of the great split glass that had spilled its secrets. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he smeared the last of his wax sticks to stubs on wet stone, he did not give the lens a further thought. He did not obey the principle of authoritarian primacy. He did not beware the principle of semantic dilution. He did not account for the principle of planar reversion. He thought only of Vosaphar, with a singular intensity of focus that even the Pharos Fidelis could never have dreamed of refracting. The circle of waxen glyphs coursed with scarlet fire, brighter than Finnit had ever seen it. He averted his gaze, eyes watering. When he looked back, Vosaphar had manifested before him once more. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[From his back spread wings wrought of fire, eldritch blue roiled with red and magenta—the colors of Finnit’s own magic, now intertwined with Vosaphar’s. Finnit’s eyes traveled further, noting ichor scabs crisscrossing the devil’s scarred blue chest, and then, curls of rough hair trailing immodestly past his navel. Streaks of lightning slashed green across the sky, glinting off his fearsome horns. Raindrops sizzled as the demon swept them aside, wreathing himself in silver mist. Vosaphar looked every bit an archfiend of legend looming over him, his eyes fixed on Finnit, reaching forward to press the sorcerer against the cliffside, claws clasping his wrists. “Vosaphar—” The infernal heat overwhelmed his mortal senses. “Please—Vosaphar, kiss m—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon pressed his lips gently against Finnit’s, dark beard bristling against his tender skin, breathing out brimstone incense that smoldered in Finnit’s throat. Just when Finnit thought himself on the verge of feeling too much, that Vosaphar might devour his soul and all his magic in a final, blissful moment of agony, the fiend held back, slackening his grip, and smiled. “I couldn’t wait until I got back,” Finnit said, his vision still sparking. “I—I needed to see you again.” “That’s not all you need.” Vosaphar leaned forward, so close still that Finnit could see details pitted into his horns. “What is it exactly that you imagine, lustful one? A dreadful devil from your darkest dreams, ever so sweetly domineering?” “I–” Finnit felt dazed as those fevered imaginings grew sharper into his mind. “I mean—well—now that you’ve brought it up, that sounds—” “Too bad,” Vosaphar said, his voice sly and soft. “My dear Finnit, you’re all *wet*.” And he was. He’d completely abandoned his wards in the midst of an endless storm. How embarrassing. Finnit also noticed that, in his exuberance to kiss him, Vosaphar had clumsily scorched Finnit’s sleeves with his wings. Suddenly, the demon felt less like some legendary figure, and instead like something better. Something real. Finnit’s companion. Finnit’s love. Finnit’s Vosaphar. “We should head back down,” Finnit said. “We should.” Vosaphar pushed one of Finnit’s loose curls back. “But listen, Finnit. When we do, I want *you* to take the lead. I want things to be… gentle, between us. For now. How does that sound?” “I have never wanted something so much in my entire existence.” Vosaphar grinned, ivory fangs glinting. “Good.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[What followed was an evening of tender fumbling and grasping. Finnit had been piqued by the fantasy of Vosaphar looming over him; and it remained a thought he wanted to revisit later. But, he found that this gentle, deliberate exploration—some serenity among the profane—brought him closer to understanding the demon in a way he found difficult to articulate but easy to just experience as it happened. Tomorrow, research awaited. But for now, Finnit’s fears grew distant as he slept, wrapped against Vosaphar like a warm satchel. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Interrogate. ⇒->C1BBBB. Sunlight]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">Atop the Pharos Fidelis, Finnit remained just in sight of the great split glass that had spilled its secrets. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he smeared the last of his wax sticks to stubs on wet stone, he did not give the lens a further thought. He did not obey the principle of authoritarian primacy. He did not beware the principle of semantic dilution. He did not account for the principle of planar reversion. He thought only of Vosaphar, with a singular intensity of focus that even the Pharos Fidelis could never have dreamed of refracting. The circle of waxen glyphs coursed with scarlet fire, brighter than Finnit had ever seen it. He averted his gaze, eyes watering. When he looked back, Vosaphar had manifested before him once more. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[From his back spread wings wrought of fire, eldritch blue roiled with red and magenta—the colors of Finnit’s own magic, now intertwined with Vosaphar’s. Finnit’s eyes traveled further, noting ichor scabs crisscrossing the devil’s scarred blue chest, and then, curls of rough hair trailing immodestly past his navel. Streaks of lightning slashed green across the sky, glinting off his fearsome horns. Raindrops sizzled as the demon swept them aside, wreathing himself in silver mist. Vosaphar looked every bit an archfiend of legend looming over him, his eyes fixed on Finnit, reaching forward to press the sorcerer against the cliffside, claws clasping his wrists. “Vosaphar—” The infernal heat overwhelmed his mortal senses. “Please—Vosaphar, kiss m—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon pressed his lips gently against Finnit’s, dark beard bristling against his tender skin, breathing out brimstone incense that smoldered in Finnit’s throat. Just when Finnit thought himself on the verge of feeling too much, that Vosaphar might devour his soul and all his magic in a final, blissful moment of agony, the fiend held back, slackening his grip, and smiled. “I couldn’t wait until I got back,” Finnit said, his vision still sparking. “I—I needed to see you again.” “That’s not all you need.” Vosaphar leaned forward, so close still that Finnit could see details pitted into his horns. “What is it exactly that you imagine, lustful one? A dreadful devil from your darkest dreams, ever so sweetly domineering?” “I–” Finnit felt dazed as those fevered imaginings grew sharper into his mind. “I mean—well—now that you’ve brought it up, that sounds—” “Too bad,” Vosaphar said, his voice sly and soft. “My dear Finnit, you’re all *wet*.” And he was. He’d completely abandoned his wards in the midst of an endless storm. How embarrassing. Finnit also noticed that, in his exuberance to kiss him, Vosaphar had clumsily scorched Finnit’s sleeves with his wings. Suddenly, the demon felt less like some legendary figure, and instead like something better. Something real. Finnit’s companion. Finnit’s love. Finnit’s Vosaphar. “We should head back down,” Finnit said. “We should.” Vosaphar pushed one of Finnit’s loose curls back. “But listen, Finnit. When we do, I want *you* to take the lead. I want things to be… gentle, between us. For now. How does that sound?” “I have never wanted something so much in my entire existence.” Vosaphar grinned, ivory fangs glinting. “Good.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[What followed was an evening of tender fumbling and grasping. Finnit had been piqued by the fantasy of Vosaphar looming over him; and it remained a thought he wanted to revisit later. But, he found that this gentle, deliberate exploration—some serenity among the profane—brought him closer to understanding the demon in a way he found difficult to articulate but easy to just experience as it happened. Tomorrow, research awaited. But for now, Finnit’s fears grew distant as he slept, wrapped against Vosaphar like a warm satchel. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Interrogate. ⇒->C1BBBB. Sunlight]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[1st Era | Sunlight.]</div> One more fragment recounting the dark history of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">(text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The illuminative session for Leisenelle, former third officer of the now-renegade vessel ‘Consonance,’ is hereby brought to order. You stand accused of mutiny, murder, theft, deception, consorting with proscribed entities, and willful evasion of justice. Is that correct? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] You would know. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Is that correct? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I guess so. Yes. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“She sounds a lot like you,” Vosaphar murmured, stroking his claws idly through Finnit’s hair. “‘Consorting with proscribed entities?’ What a wicked accusation.” Finnit snorted. “Are you going to bring me to justice?” “Absolutely not.” “Too bad.” </div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Against these accusations, how do you plead? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I do not plead. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] You must make a claim, either to affirm or deny each crime you have been accused of. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I will make no such claims. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The accused has neglected her obligation to plead. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] What’s your deal, anyway? Are you mad? Some pretty vampire in your past tied your morals all up in knots and made you feel sinful? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My role here is strictly illuminative. How did you first come to associate with this vampire? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I was trying to find out the truth about this island. But none of them would talk to me. The islanders, I mean. They resent us. You know that, right? Look at what we’ve done to them since we got here. Someone has to stop it. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, mark a note down for ‘sedition,’ would you? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">At least the clerics are obligated to transcribe what they actually heard. Historians ought to learn from their example. ⚞L. Raekard (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“I think Raekard’s distaste for historians gets in his way,” Finnit said. “How could we possibly know, at this point, what liberties the cleric might have taken?” “It’s going to take more than historians to put a stop to him.” Finnit laughed, but Vosaphar hadn’t told a joke.</div>] </div>] (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] You didn’t have that one already? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Continue. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Fine. This one woman approached me, and told me to visit her house on the outskirts after sundown. I thought she might be into me—and maybe she was, a little—but she wanted me to meet her grandmother. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Yeah. Did the ‘after sundown’ part give it away? I’m not a good storyteller. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The only things your story requires are honesty and accuracy. Justice will account for the rest. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Whatever you need to tell yourself. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] I don’t ‘need’ to do anything. My role here is strictly illuminative. As the accused has been reminded. Continue. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] So, I waited for dusk, and paid her a visit. Her grandmother was living in the basement. Some kind of herbalist, I guess. The whole time we talked, she was crushing up these weird seedpods in a mortar and pestle. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] At what point did you realize this entity was a vampire? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Not until after, when… (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] When what? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] When you killed her. Robbed us of her wisdom, kindness, perspective, heart, all she contributed to her community. And for what? Some ash? Dust? Is there not already enough collecting between the folds of your ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that last term for obscenity. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] What, you’re more scandalized by me describing your dust-crusted ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆ than your violence? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that one as well. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“Which word do you suppose was stricken here?” Vosaphar asked. “Asscheeks,” Finnit said solemnly. “Has to be.”</div>] (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] So you don’t have an answer. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The entity in question was brought before sunlight and destroyed in accordance with all legal and moral precedent. Any ‘violence’ is lawful, and thereby just. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] And you wonder why they hate us. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Hatred is not the subject of this illuminative session. What did your proscribed discussion entail? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] She told me all kinds of stories about this place, how they have fine-tuned their relationship with the island to keep things running, letting their traditions evolve with the conditions. I think her granddaughter wanted her to have someone new to talk to, so she could share all this with someone. The old woman told me that when sun and moon meet in the sky, the boundary between our world and theirs grows thin. At such a momentous event, the cleverest and quickest might climb into the throat of the island and cross the threshold to the cosmos. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">At last. Something of value in this tedious discussion. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire spoke metaphorically, did it not? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">I wondered the same thing. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] No, I don’t think she did. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Explain. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] She said that when the celestial hosts of the heavens are distracted with their dance, the sun grows just cool enough to touch. She dipped her finger into the mortar, and showed me a golden bead of oil, and she said even a drop of sunlight was enough to bless the island for a century, but few survived the transit. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">They must not have understood what they were doing. How could they have, without knowledge of the Three Principles? If there is any truth to it at all, it is clearly some underdeveloped rite of self-banishment, resulting in a temporary transference of a mortal into the hells until planar reversion draws them back. If that. Nevertheless, the ritual is worth investigating further. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] It claimed to have performed this… feat? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I believe her. You would’ve too, had you been there. Thankfully, you weren’t. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My opinion toward the superstitious musings of a proscribed entity is not the subject of this session. My role here is strictly— (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“Illuminative,” Vosaphar said, looking out into the storm. “That’s it?” Finnit asked. “But I want to know… so much more.” “And yet, we know more now than we did before. Does this not confirm what you saw in the lens?” “I guess so. Still…” </div>] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightchroniclechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[[[Suspect. ⇒->20BBBB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">(text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The illuminative session for Leisenelle, former third officer of the now-renegade vessel ‘Consonance,’ is hereby brought to order. You stand accused of mutiny, murder, theft, deception, consorting with proscribed entities, and willful evasion of justice. Is that correct? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] You would know. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Is that correct? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I guess so. Yes. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“She sounds a lot like you,” Vosaphar murmured, stroking his claws idly through Finnit’s hair. “‘Consorting with proscribed entities?’ What a wicked accusation.” Finnit snorted. “Are you going to bring me to justice?” “Absolutely not.” “Too bad.” </div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Against these accusations, how do you plead? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I do not plead. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] You must make a claim, either to affirm or deny each crime you have been accused of. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I will make no such claims. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The accused has neglected her obligation to plead. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] What’s your deal, anyway? Are you mad? Some pretty vampire in your past tied your morals all up in knots and made you feel sinful? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My role here is strictly illuminative. How did you first come to associate with this vampire? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I was trying to find out the truth about this island. But none of them would talk to me. The islanders, I mean. They resent us. You know that, right? Look at what we’ve done to them since we got here. Someone has to stop it. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, mark a note down for ‘sedition,’ would you? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">At least the clerics are obligated to transcribe what they actually heard. Historians ought to learn from their example. ⚞L. Raekard (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“I think Raekard’s distaste for historians gets in his way,” Finnit said. “How could we possibly know, at this point, what liberties the cleric might have taken?” “It’s going to take more than historians to put a stop to him.” Finnit laughed, but Vosaphar hadn’t told a joke.</div>] </div>] (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] You didn’t have that one already? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Continue. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Fine. This one woman approached me, and told me to visit her house on the outskirts after sundown. I thought she might be into me—and maybe she was, a little—but she wanted me to meet her grandmother. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Yeah. Did the ‘after sundown’ part give it away? I’m not a good storyteller. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The only things your story requires are honesty and accuracy. Justice will account for the rest. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Whatever you need to tell yourself. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] I don’t ‘need’ to do anything. My role here is strictly illuminative. As the accused has been reminded. Continue. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] So, I waited for dusk, and paid her a visit. Her grandmother was living in the basement. Some kind of herbalist, I guess. The whole time we talked, she was crushing up these weird seedpods in a mortar and pestle. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] At what point did you realize this entity was a vampire? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Not until after, when… (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] When what? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] When you killed her. Robbed us of her wisdom, kindness, perspective, heart, all she contributed to her community. And for what? Some ash? Dust? Is there not already enough collecting between the folds of your ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that last term for obscenity. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] What, you’re more scandalized by me describing your dust-crusted ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆ than your violence? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that one as well. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“Which word do you suppose was stricken here?” Vosaphar asked. “Asscheeks,” Finnit said solemnly. “Has to be.”</div>] (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] So you don’t have an answer. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The entity in question was brought before sunlight and destroyed in accordance with all legal and moral precedent. Any ‘violence’ is lawful, and thereby just. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] And you wonder why they hate us. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Hatred is not the subject of this illuminative session. What did your proscribed discussion entail? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] She told me all kinds of stories about this place, how they have fine-tuned their relationship with the island to keep things running, letting their traditions evolve with the conditions. I think her granddaughter wanted her to have someone new to talk to, so she could share all this with someone. The old woman told me that when sun and moon meet in the sky, the boundary between our world and theirs grows thin. At such a momentous event, the cleverest and quickest might climb into the throat of the island and cross the threshold to the cosmos. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">At last. Something of value in this tedious discussion. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire spoke metaphorically, did it not? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">I wondered the same thing. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] No, I don’t think she did. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Explain. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] She said that when the celestial hosts of the heavens are distracted with their dance, the sun grows just cool enough to touch. She dipped her finger into the mortar, and showed me a golden bead of oil, and she said even a drop of sunlight was enough to bless the island for a century, but few survived the transit. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">They must not have understood what they were doing. How could they have, without knowledge of the Three Principles? If there is any truth to it at all, it is clearly some underdeveloped rite of self-banishment, resulting in a temporary transference of a mortal into the hells until planar reversion draws them back. If that. Nevertheless, the ritual is worth investigating further. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] It claimed to have performed this… feat? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I believe her. You would’ve too, had you been there. Thankfully, you weren’t. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My opinion toward the superstitious musings of a proscribed entity is not the subject of this session. My role here is strictly— (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“Illuminative,” Vosaphar said, looking out into the storm. “That’s it?” Finnit asked. “But I want to know… so much more.” “And yet, we know more now than we did before. Does this not confirm what you saw in the lens?” “I guess so. Still…” </div>] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="chroniclechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[[[Suspect. ⇒->20BBBB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#927b1a")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Chronicle]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XX.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">With fewer than a handful of days remaining until the eclipse, Vosaphar was determined to spend as much of that time as he could with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon now wondered why they had wasted the preceding days doing everything else *except* wrapping up together in blankets, speaking softly to one another. His ordeals felt paler against the comfort of this heat. Had your machinations even mattered for this? Under these conditions, wouldn’t they have always found themselves in love? You had no motes for lust. Though, based on what you had seen, you wouldn’t have needed them. Goodness. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Once they were ready to venture out, Finnit led Vosaphar back up the cliffside stairs to the crevice dotted with rusted anchors and unhatched eggs. The demon scanned the shadows, half-expecting another of the winged horrors to be laying in wait. Instead, the cavern was desolate, its foreboding stillness prickling the hairs on the back of his neck as it led ever deeper into the mountain. Eventually, the passage opened into a roughly circular chamber. “Look, Vosaphar,” Finnit intoned, pointing up. “We’re right beneath the lens.” Black slag had oozed down from the ceiling, frozen into organic stalactites that reflected no light from Finnit’s orb. While still fluid, they had dripped, leaving a few glassy patches spread across the altar. *Click*. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“What was that?” Vosaphar whispered. He cautiously approached the altar, a raised disk with a tight spiral grooved into its otherwise flat surface. “There,” Finnit whispered. “See the moon?” *Click*. A mechanism lowered a miniature pewter grate, allowing a tiny white sphere to roll a little further forward along the channel. At the center of the spiral lay a rendering of the sun, blotched by inky glass that had dripped down from above. “So much for studying the almanac.” Finnit paced around the pedestal. “This device is telling us how much is left until the eclipse. If we had known earlier…” “But we know now,” Vosaphar said. “Look at how close it is.” Vast and fiddly though the design was, the moon had wound its way close to the center. It was an unwelcome reminder of the future approaching, click by— *Click*. A taut silence stretched between them. Vosaphar had thoughts that he was unwilling to admit to. *Click*. “What if we just stayed here?” Finnit voiced. “Well maybe not this particular chamber. I mean the Pharos Fidelis in general.” He looked down at the transit bracelet Raekard had given him. “I could throw this in the ocean. We could ignore the lens. Stay here as long as we wanted.” “There’s nothing for you to eat, Finnit.” *Click.* “Would you even want to go to the academy?” Finnit stared at the pedestal. “Who even knows what they’d do to you, or—” “I am willing to risk it,” Vosaphar said. “I cannot say what the future holds. But we can’t stay here. I’m in no hurry to descend back to the calciferous wastes. And you have your life to live. I would rather join you in whatever of that you are willing to have me for, or until we choose to part. Is that not the way forward in such matters? The real accord?” *Click.* Finnit was silent for a few more moments. “Yes. You’re right. But I’m scared. This could all go so wrong.” Vosaphar embraced Finnit, holding him close. “It might. We will do our best, regardless.” They stayed together a while longer, before journeying back to their strange little home in the cliffside. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[At the eclipse, they would return. And the fate of the Pharos Fidelis would at last be decided. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Petition. ⇒->RBBBB. Calciferous]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">With fewer than a handful of days remaining until the eclipse, Vosaphar was determined to spend as much of that time as he could with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon now wondered why they had wasted the preceding days doing everything else *except* wrapping up together in blankets, speaking softly to one another. His ordeals felt paler against the comfort of this heat. Had your machinations even mattered for this? Under these conditions, wouldn’t they have always found themselves in love? You had no motes for lust. Though, based on what you had seen, you wouldn’t have needed them. Goodness. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Once they were ready to venture out, Finnit led Vosaphar back up the cliffside stairs to the crevice dotted with rusted anchors and unhatched eggs. The demon scanned the shadows, half-expecting another of the winged horrors to be laying in wait. Instead, the cavern was desolate, its foreboding stillness prickling the hairs on the back of his neck as it led ever deeper into the mountain. Eventually, the passage opened into a roughly circular chamber. “Look, Vosaphar,” Finnit intoned, pointing up. “We’re right beneath the lens.” Black slag had oozed down from the ceiling, frozen into organic stalactites that reflected no light from Finnit’s orb. While still fluid, they had dripped, leaving a few glassy patches spread across the altar. *Click*. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“What was that?” Vosaphar whispered. He cautiously approached the altar, a raised disk with a tight spiral grooved into its otherwise flat surface. “There,” Finnit whispered. “See the moon?” *Click*. A mechanism lowered a miniature pewter grate, allowing a tiny white sphere to roll a little further forward along the channel. At the center of the spiral lay a rendering of the sun, blotched by inky glass that had dripped down from above. “So much for studying the almanac.” Finnit paced around the pedestal. “This device is telling us how much is left until the eclipse. If we had known earlier…” “But we know now,” Vosaphar said. “Look at how close it is.” Vast and fiddly though the design was, the moon had wound its way close to the center. It was an unwelcome reminder of the future approaching, click by— *Click*. A taut silence stretched between them. Vosaphar had thoughts that he was unwilling to admit to. *Click*. “What if we just stayed here?” Finnit voiced. “Well maybe not this particular chamber. I mean the Pharos Fidelis in general.” He looked down at the transit bracelet Raekard had given him. “I could throw this in the ocean. We could ignore the lens. Stay here as long as we wanted.” “There’s nothing for you to eat, Finnit.” *Click.* “Would you even want to go to the academy?” Finnit stared at the pedestal. “Who even knows what they’d do to you, or—” “I am willing to risk it,” Vosaphar said. “I cannot say what the future holds. But we can’t stay here. I’m in no hurry to descend back to the calciferous wastes. And you have your life to live. I would rather join you in whatever of that you are willing to have me for, or until we choose to part. Is that not the way forward in such matters? The real accord?” *Click.* Finnit was silent for a few more moments. “Yes. You’re right. But I’m scared. This could all go so wrong.” Vosaphar embraced Finnit, holding him close. “It might. We will do our best, regardless.” They stayed together a while longer, before journeying back to their strange little home in the cliffside. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[At the eclipse, they would return. And the fate of the Pharos Fidelis would at last be decided. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Petition. ⇒->RBBBB. Calciferous]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[Recollection.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">Vosaphar’s spilling ichor sang to them so sweetly, libations that lured all manner of lips to lap. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[No longer able to fly, the beleaguered demon ran, stumbled, staggered, crawled—anything he could do to place another lazurynthine wall between himself and his nearest pursuer. He needed somewhere dark and quiet, somewhere safe to recover. Such amenities were unavailable in the lazurynth. But there were other hells than these. Vosaphar slipped through an inky gap between walls that had lost definition, their geometry corrupted by some other force. He sank into an oily pool, far beneath the febrile blue heat. He could no longer tell where the sludge began and his blood ended, drifting ever downward. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Eventually he reached the shore near your cottage, not yet fragmented to spectral remnants. Still specific, despite it all. He crawled to your doorstep, begging for relief from the lazurynth. Should he fall, he would emerge there once more, a cycle of dissolution his demonhood would eventually fail to survive. You told him that the calciferous wastes were hostile and desolate. He said he preferred a false quiet to an honest din. You told him there was nothing of value here—had there been, a warden as petty as you would’ve long been shredded to bits by a stronger devil. He said he preferred an expansive nothing to crowded corridors. You told him he would awaken cold, wet, and screaming, his every lonely birth into this void inevitable suffering. He said he preferred a bitter plunge to a blistering fire. You told him what it would cost, a steady stream of magic to brighten your hellfire furnace, tending to the motes. He accepted those terms without hesitation. You asked him for his name. He still had one. Vosaphar. With that accorded, you plucked his coal from the deepest pit of the lazurynth, and held it between your claws, its blue dimmed to gray. His archfiend wouldn’t miss it. And then you threw it in the pool, and it sank to the bottom, where it lodged itself in a dark crevice. Vosaphar, now under your jurisdiction, fled into the wastes, searching for a smooth bit of coralbone to lean against, however futilely. You gave him desolation, cold, and quiet. In return, your furnace grew brighter. How could you have ever predicted what this would eventually make impossible? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Discover. ⇒->21BBBB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">Vosaphar’s spilling ichor sang to them so sweetly, libations that lured all manner of lips to lap. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[No longer able to fly, the beleaguered demon ran, stumbled, staggered, crawled—anything he could do to place another lazurynthine wall between himself and his nearest pursuer. He needed somewhere dark and quiet, somewhere safe to recover. Such amenities were unavailable in the lazurynth. But there were other hells than these. Vosaphar slipped through an inky gap between walls that had lost definition, their geometry corrupted by some other force. He sank into an oily pool, far beneath the febrile blue heat. He could no longer tell where the sludge began and his blood ended, drifting ever downward. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Eventually he reached the shore near your cottage, not yet fragmented to spectral remnants. Still specific, despite it all. He crawled to your doorstep, begging for relief from the lazurynth. Should he fall, he would emerge there once more, a cycle of dissolution his demonhood would eventually fail to survive. You told him that the calciferous wastes were hostile and desolate. He said he preferred a false quiet to an honest din. You told him there was nothing of value here—had there been, a warden as petty as you would’ve long been shredded to bits by a stronger devil. He said he preferred an expansive nothing to crowded corridors. You told him he would awaken cold, wet, and screaming, his every lonely birth into this void inevitable suffering. He said he preferred a bitter plunge to a blistering fire. You told him what it would cost, a steady stream of magic to brighten your hellfire furnace, tending to the motes. He accepted those terms without hesitation. You asked him for his name. He still had one. Vosaphar. With that accorded, you plucked his coal from the deepest pit of the lazurynth, and held it between your claws, its blue dimmed to gray. His archfiend wouldn’t miss it. And then you threw it in the pool, and it sank to the bottom, where it lodged itself in a dark crevice. Vosaphar, now under your jurisdiction, fled into the wastes, searching for a smooth bit of coralbone to lean against, however futilely. You gave him desolation, cold, and quiet. In return, your furnace grew brighter. How could you have ever predicted what this would eventually make impossible? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Discover. ⇒->21BBBB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Recollection]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">The day of the eclipse, Finnit woke with a sharp pain searing his back, breaking him out of his warm reverie. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar was twitching and scratching in his sleep again. Finnit adored the feeling of the devil’s tail coiled around his thigh, basking in the hellish heat that staved off the island’s chill. Nonetheless, crawling into the embrace of a clawed creature had a few drawbacks. “Hey,” Finnit whispered. “Wake up.” Vosaphar shifted, his tail loosening its grip on Finnit. “Mmph.” “You scratched me again,” Finnit said. “Nightmares?” “Oh no,” Vosaphar said. “I’m sorry, Finnit. Here…” The demon traced the scratches, and Finnit felt an odd prickly sensation as the skin healed over. “Thank you. You’re getting good at that.” Vosaphar delicately kissed the side of Finnit’s neck. “I don’t normally sleep so much. The mortal realm is… exhausting, in its own way. Perhaps I can fashion some wrappings for my claws in the future.” “Whoa,” Finnit said, gazing out one of the windows. “What?” “The sky is different.” And indeed it was. The rain had—incredibly—let up slightly, the green glow he’d become so accustomed to taking on distinct streaks of orange and red. Vosaphar grimaced. “I guess it’s time.” “Yeah.” They made their final preparations. Finnit tucked his syllabaries into his satchel and ate his last rations. He thought he might never forget the taste of salted fruit leather in whatever days—or day—he had remaining. “Was there something else we should have prepared?” Finnit asked. “We’re just… walking through a portal to the sun? Like this?” “I can’t think of anything, Finnit.” “Well, alright then.” He looked around at the now overly-familiar place he had spent this last month. “Goodbye, awful yet cozy stone room under a cursed lighthouse. It was certainly a time.” “That it was.” Vosaphar sounded amused. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They ventured out onto the cliffside stairs. Even these had become familiar, the treachery of each step now a well-worn betrayal. As they approached the altar beneath the lens and its housing, a ruddy glow intensified. Flecks of mica in the cavern walls cast sparks over them as they passed. The miniature moon had arrived at its destination, transforming the sun emblem at the center into a bright red disc of light. It was overwhelming to look at directly; Finnit’s eyes strained from this threat to perception. “It’s terrible,” Finnit whispered. “Beautiful, too. What a dazzling horror of a thing to witness.” “Finnit,” Vosaphar began, wrapping his arms gently around the sorcerer. “It might be neglectful of our accord for me not to mention… you don’t have to do this. I could—I could go without you—you could die, Finnit, and—I—I don’t want to lose you… forever.” Finnit looked up into the fiend’s fearful, loving eyes. “Vosaphar—I’m afraid, too. But I couldn’t accept that. Isn’t that what Raekard would do? Send someone to die in his stead, to do the big scary things he won’t face himself? This trial was his idea, but now it’s my trial. Our trial. And I want to see it through. Together. Don’t you?” “Yes,” Vosaphar admitted. “I want to see the sun... with you.” “Then let’s go see it.” Vosaphar smiled, and took Finnit’s arm in his. Together, they stepped into an oblivion of crimson light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Eclipse. ⇒->Eclipse BBBB]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">The day of the eclipse, Finnit woke with a sharp pain searing his back, breaking him out of his warm reverie. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar was twitching and scratching in his sleep again. Finnit adored the feeling of the devil’s tail coiled around his thigh, basking in the hellish heat that staved off the island’s chill. Nonetheless, crawling into the embrace of a clawed creature had a few drawbacks. “Hey,” Finnit whispered. “Wake up.” Vosaphar shifted, his tail loosening its grip on Finnit. “Mmph.” “You scratched me again,” Finnit said. “Nightmares?” “Oh no,” Vosaphar said. “I’m sorry, Finnit. Here…” The demon traced the scratches, and Finnit felt an odd prickly sensation as the skin healed over. “Thank you. You’re getting good at that.” Vosaphar delicately kissed the side of Finnit’s neck. “I don’t normally sleep so much. The mortal realm is… exhausting, in its own way. Perhaps I can fashion some wrappings for my claws in the future.” “Whoa,” Finnit said, gazing out one of the windows. “What?” “The sky is different.” And indeed it was. The rain had—incredibly—let up slightly, the green glow he’d become so accustomed to taking on distinct streaks of orange and red. Vosaphar grimaced. “I guess it’s time.” “Yeah.” They made their final preparations. Finnit tucked his syllabaries into his satchel and ate his last rations. He thought he might never forget the taste of salted fruit leather in whatever days—or day—he had remaining. “Was there something else we should have prepared?” Finnit asked. “We’re just… walking through a portal to the sun? Like this?” “I can’t think of anything, Finnit.” “Well, alright then.” He looked around at the now overly-familiar place he had spent this last month. “Goodbye, awful yet cozy stone room under a cursed lighthouse. It was certainly a time.” “That it was.” Vosaphar sounded amused. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They ventured out onto the cliffside stairs. Even these had become familiar, the treachery of each step now a well-worn betrayal. As they approached the altar beneath the lens and its housing, a ruddy glow intensified. Flecks of mica in the cavern walls cast sparks over them as they passed. The miniature moon had arrived at its destination, transforming the sun emblem at the center into a bright red disc of light. It was overwhelming to look at directly; Finnit’s eyes strained from this threat to perception. “It’s terrible,” Finnit whispered. “Beautiful, too. What a dazzling horror of a thing to witness.” “Finnit,” Vosaphar began, wrapping his arms gently around the sorcerer. “It might be neglectful of our accord for me not to mention… you don’t have to do this. I could—I could go without you—you could die, Finnit, and—I—I don’t want to lose you… forever.” Finnit looked up into the fiend’s fearful, loving eyes. “Vosaphar—I’m afraid, too. But I couldn’t accept that. Isn’t that what Raekard would do? Send someone to die in his stead, to do the big scary things he won’t face himself? This trial was his idea, but now it’s my trial. Our trial. And I want to see it through. Together. Don’t you?” “Yes,” Vosaphar admitted. “I want to see the sun... with you.” “Then let’s go see it.” Vosaphar smiled, and took Finnit’s arm in his. Together, they stepped into an oblivion of crimson light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Eclipse. ⇒->Eclipse BBBB]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 3)[Eclipse.] (text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Sun.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">The sun was a cosmic affliction, a colossal molten mass so red and seething that even the infernal embers blazing in the deepest pits of the hells seemed but feeble sparks in the distance. And Vosaphar was soaring *toward* it. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he flew, Finnit clutched against him, tendrils of the corona pulled peculiar new colors from his wings, its aurora a spectacle more captivating than your dreary calciferous skies could have ever dreamed to churn. How you longed for such color and heat and majesty—even just a drop of it. And *they* got to see it all, to have it within reach. “Vosaphar, look!” With his free hand, Finnit pointed toward an eerie black void drifting past. Dozens of bird-creatures flew from the roiling surface of the sun to circle and screech at the dark moon, a celestial interloper threatening the eternity of light. “They’re sunspots!” Finnit shouted. “That thing—it was a sunspot!” “They’re *distracted*, too.” Vosaphar glided toward the edge of the sun away from the shrieking horrors. “That’s why it has to be now.” The demon and his summoner skimmed the sun’s surface, its dangerous heat threatening to embrace them forever so closely. “Hold on, Finnit!” Vosaphar tilted his wings, arm outstretched, reaching, swiping up a glob of incandescent fluid. This molten scarlet-amber squeezed between his claws and stuck to his low-dipped wing. Even these tiny droplets of starlight held immense power that coursed through him as he arced up out of the sun’s grip. “It’s so incredible!” Finnit laughed, tears streaming behind him, motes of wonder sparkling in space. Something darkened behind them. Finnit looked over his shoulder. “Vosaphar—there’s a new sunspot—” The creature shrieked as it gave chase, following the radiant beads dripping from Vosaphar’s sunswept wing. Vosaphar affixed his gaze to the portal back to the Pharos Fidelis, soaring ever faster. The screeching grew louder yet, judgment for their cardinal cosmic sin approaching with alarming haste. But with Finnit clinging to his side… (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar simply had no use for consequences. With a final burst of speed, they shot through the portal. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Reignite. ⇒->22BBBB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">The sun was a cosmic affliction, a colossal molten mass so red and seething that even the infernal embers blazing in the deepest pits of the hells seemed but feeble sparks in the distance. And Vosaphar was soaring *toward* it. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he flew, Finnit clutched against him, tendrils of the corona pulled peculiar new colors from his wings, its aurora a spectacle more captivating than your dreary calciferous skies could have ever dreamed to churn. How you longed for such color and heat and majesty—even just a drop of it. And *they* got to see it all, to have it within reach. “Vosaphar, look!” With his free hand, Finnit pointed toward an eerie black void drifting past. Dozens of bird-creatures flew from the roiling surface of the sun to circle and screech at the dark moon, a celestial interloper threatening the eternity of light. “They’re sunspots!” Finnit shouted. “That thing—it was a sunspot!” “They’re *distracted*, too.” Vosaphar glided toward the edge of the sun away from the shrieking horrors. “That’s why it has to be now.” The demon and his summoner skimmed the sun’s surface, its dangerous heat threatening to embrace them forever so closely. “Hold on, Finnit!” Vosaphar tilted his wings, arm outstretched, reaching, swiping up a glob of incandescent fluid. This molten scarlet-amber squeezed between his claws and stuck to his low-dipped wing. Even these tiny droplets of starlight held immense power that coursed through him as he arced up out of the sun’s grip. “It’s so incredible!” Finnit laughed, tears streaming behind him, motes of wonder sparkling in space. Something darkened behind them. Finnit looked over his shoulder. “Vosaphar—there’s a new sunspot—” The creature shrieked as it gave chase, following the radiant beads dripping from Vosaphar’s sunswept wing. Vosaphar affixed his gaze to the portal back to the Pharos Fidelis, soaring ever faster. The screeching grew louder yet, judgment for their cardinal cosmic sin approaching with alarming haste. But with Finnit clinging to his side… (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar simply had no use for consequences. With a final burst of speed, they shot through the portal. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Reignite. ⇒->22BBBB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXII.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Finnit and Vosaphar tumbled over the edge of the altar, the portal still aglow with the eclipse-light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But there was little time to celebrate their reckless heist—the sunspot shoved its vicious pointed head through the gap after them, screeching as it struggled to break through. Finnit let Vosaphar carry him a bit further up the tunnel, before standing on his own feet and running alongside. He looked out at the storm, the clouds thinned enough that he could see the eclipsed red sun half-risen, framing the infernal image of a devil’s horns. “How magnificent,” Finnit said, breathless. Vosaphar looked down at him, gently squeezing his hand. They arrived at the peak, where the lens yearned for light, and at last, Finnit had light to provide. Vosaphar held out his claws, sunlight pooled in his palm, and Finnit painted it, trying to create the glyph his mind had projected there, the name of the demon whose rite might reignite the Pharos Fidelis. You watched, enraptured by the spectacle of your plans converging. This was it. This was your moment. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As Finnit slathered the glowing fluid across the lens, the dark slag drank it in—more, and more, and more of it. Too much of it. The glyph couldn’t hold its shape. The lens welled, hyperfolding crimson light, growing ever hotter by the second. The cleft, once so close to promising your name, had already deformed beyond recognition. And how brutal; that poor, mortal sorcerer, all tangled in your schemes, had every intention of drawing your name, a sigil drenched in the lifeblood of the sun. He really did try. You couldn’t fault him for that. But the execution? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A tragedy, in many fragments. For centuries—perhaps longer—every mortal design for the Pharos Fidelis had crumbled. Each disaster wrote another chapter in that wretched chronicle, the dark history of guiding light. And you thought *yours* would work? Pharos Fidelis, the beacon on the horizon of reason. Where it would remain, out of reach. Could not even a devil accept the simple dreadful truth, that a horizon approached can never arrive? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Finnit, we have to leave!” Vosaphar shouted, scanning the sky for the sunspot. “The lens is collapsing!” “No—it has to—Vosaphar, it has to—” “Finnit, please—” “I can’t—I can’t get the shape right, it’s going to—” “It deserves to shatter.” How dare he. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“But, what was this even for, then?” Finnit sobbed, the last of the sunlight ripped from his fingertips into the Pharos Fidelis. Vosaphar pulled him, one final time, away from the amplifying dyslucence. “That’s for the historians!” Vosaphar stared at him with his stormy eyes. “Shouldn’t we live? Don’t you want a future? ” “Yes!” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Somewhere below them, the sunspot burst out through the tunnel, shrieking its way into the sky to hunt. Finnit embraced Vosaphar once more, and the demon swept him up into the sky. They abandoned the Pharos Fidelis to its fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They *tried* to abandon it. But it wasn’t done with them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Shatter. ⇒->23BBBB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Finnit and Vosaphar tumbled over the edge of the altar, the portal still aglow with the eclipse-light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But there was little time to celebrate their reckless heist—the sunspot shoved its vicious pointed head through the gap after them, screeching as it struggled to break through. Finnit let Vosaphar carry him a bit further up the tunnel, before standing on his own feet and running alongside. He looked out at the storm, the clouds thinned enough that he could see the eclipsed red sun half-risen, framing the infernal image of a devil’s horns. “How magnificent,” Finnit said, breathless. Vosaphar looked down at him, gently squeezing his hand. They arrived at the peak, where the lens yearned for light, and at last, Finnit had light to provide. Vosaphar held out his claws, sunlight pooled in his palm, and Finnit painted it, trying to create the glyph his mind had projected there, the name of the demon whose rite might reignite the Pharos Fidelis. You watched, enraptured by the spectacle of your plans converging. This was it. This was your moment. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As Finnit slathered the glowing fluid across the lens, the dark slag drank it in—more, and more, and more of it. Too much of it. The glyph couldn’t hold its shape. The lens welled, hyperfolding crimson light, growing ever hotter by the second. The cleft, once so close to promising your name, had already deformed beyond recognition. And how brutal; that poor, mortal sorcerer, all tangled in your schemes, had every intention of drawing your name, a sigil drenched in the lifeblood of the sun. He really did try. You couldn’t fault him for that. But the execution? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A tragedy, in many fragments. For centuries—perhaps longer—every mortal design for the Pharos Fidelis had crumbled. Each disaster wrote another chapter in that wretched chronicle, the dark history of guiding light. And you thought *yours* would work? Pharos Fidelis, the beacon on the horizon of reason. Where it would remain, out of reach. Could not even a devil accept the simple dreadful truth, that a horizon approached can never arrive? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Finnit, we have to leave!” Vosaphar shouted, scanning the sky for the sunspot. “The lens is collapsing!” “No—it has to—Vosaphar, it has to—” “Finnit, please—” “I can’t—I can’t get the shape right, it’s going to—” “It deserves to shatter.” How dare he. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“But, what was this even for, then?” Finnit sobbed, the last of the sunlight ripped from his fingertips into the Pharos Fidelis. Vosaphar pulled him, one final time, away from the amplifying dyslucence. “That’s for the historians!” Vosaphar stared at him with his stormy eyes. “Shouldn’t we live? Don’t you want a future? ” “Yes!” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Somewhere below them, the sunspot burst out through the tunnel, shrieking its way into the sky to hunt. Finnit embraced Vosaphar once more, and the demon swept him up into the sky. They abandoned the Pharos Fidelis to its fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They *tried* to abandon it. But it wasn’t done with them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Shatter. ⇒->23BBBB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Disavowal]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXIII.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">The storm rushed past Vosaphar as he carried Finnit, placing any distance he could between them and the doomed Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Still seeking their stolen sunlight, the sunspot locked onto them in pursuit, screeching as it approached, its eyes golden fury. “It’s going to—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The world around them grew absolutely silent, swallowing the rest of Finnit’s warning. Every bit of light had gathered, folding itself over and over and over still, smaller, ever smaller, congealing into the tiniest, brightest speck. For a moment, Vosaphar wondered if it would keep going, dragging the mortal realm, the hells, and all the rest of existence into its singularity. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Instead, it shattered. All that had been poured into it—all the fire, all the lightning, all the stray souls, all the stolen sunlight, all the summons slaughtered, all the hopes and dreams and plots and schemes and—all of it finally shattered, sending incalculable shards of glass in every direction at incredible speeds. A vanguard fragment slammed into Vosaphar’s chest, knocking Finnit out of his grasp. The sorcerer began to drift away on his own trajectory— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And you thought, though your plans had shattered along with everything else… You still had one last mote of hellfire to spare. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Influence. ⇒->M4BBBB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">The storm rushed past Vosaphar as he carried Finnit, placing any distance he could between them and the doomed Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Still seeking their stolen sunlight, the sunspot locked onto them in pursuit, screeching as it approached, its eyes golden fury. “It’s going to—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The world around them grew absolutely silent, swallowing the rest of Finnit’s warning. Every bit of light had gathered, folding itself over and over and over still, smaller, ever smaller, congealing into the tiniest, brightest speck. For a moment, Vosaphar wondered if it would keep going, dragging the mortal realm, the hells, and all the rest of existence into its singularity. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Instead, it shattered. All that had been poured into it—all the fire, all the lightning, all the stray souls, all the stolen sunlight, all the summons slaughtered, all the hopes and dreams and plots and schemes and—all of it finally shattered, sending incalculable shards of glass in every direction at incredible speeds. A vanguard fragment slammed into Vosaphar’s chest, knocking Finnit out of his grasp. The sorcerer began to drift away on his own trajectory— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And you thought, though your plans had shattered along with everything else… You still had one last mote of hellfire to spare. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Influence. ⇒->M4BBBB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Disavowal]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#fc4e71")+(text-size: 3)[Influence.] (text-color:"#fc4e71")+(text-size: 1.15)[Clinginess | Desperation.]</div> One final mote of hellfire appeared. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightmotepassage">When potent emotions conflicted a demon’s judgment, even the faintest mote of hellfire bore enough infernal energy to influence their fate from afar. That’s how you got them into this mess. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#8c283c)[***Clinginess***] For the demon Vosaphar, so eager to wrap himself around his beloved summoner, the sight of the mortal falling away would’ve driven him to dive in closer. This clinginess would have joined their fates together, should you have chosen to foster it. Yielding to this clinginess, however romantic, risked their joint fate becoming tragic. (text-color:#8c283c)[***Desperation***] For the demon Vosaphar, so determined for his beloved summoner to survive, the sight of him falling away would’ve driven him to take reckless measures. This desperation might have driven him to intervene instantly to salvage the situation. Yielding to this desperation, however hasty, risked their fates diverging dramatically. (text-color:#8c283c)[***Decision***] Well? Which force did this mote of hellfire incite? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightmotechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))[[[Clinginess. ⇒->24BBBBA. Vosaphar]]] (link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#fc4e71")))[[[Desperation. ⇒->24BBBBB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="motepassage">When potent emotions conflicted a demon’s judgment, even the faintest mote of hellfire bore enough infernal energy to influence their fate from afar. That’s how you got them into this mess. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Clinginess***] For the demon Vosaphar, so eager to wrap himself around his beloved summoner, the sight of the mortal falling away would’ve driven him to dive in closer. This clinginess would have joined their fates together, should you have chosen to foster it. Yielding to this clinginess, however romantic, risked their joint fate becoming tragic. (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Desperation***] For the demon Vosaphar, so determined for his beloved summoner to survive, the sight of him falling away would’ve driven him to take reckless measures. This desperation might have driven him to intervene instantly to salvage the situation. Yielding to this desperation, however hasty, risked their fates diverging dramatically. (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Decision***] Well? Which force did this mote of hellfire incite? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="motechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Clinginess. ⇒->24BBBBA. Vosaphar]]] (link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Desperation. ⇒->24BBBBB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Mote]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXIV.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar had a single, reckless idea of what he still had time to do. How he could send Finnit somewhere safer than here. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar recalled the spells Finnit had taught him, focused his intentions and— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Banished him. Finnit blinked out of existence. Moments later, the edge of the explosion swept Vosaphar and the sunspot into an inferno of shattering glass. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Stoke. ⇒->25BBBBB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar had a single, reckless idea of what he still had time to do. How he could send Finnit somewhere safer than here. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar recalled the spells Finnit had taught him, focused his intentions and— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Banished him. Finnit blinked out of existence. Moments later, the edge of the explosion swept Vosaphar and the sunspot into an inferno of shattering glass. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Stoke. ⇒->25BBBBB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXIV.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar dove, claws outstretched, reaching for the transit band around Finnit’s wrist— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But the sunspot got there first, snapping its jaws around the mortal and knocking Vosaphar out of the sky with a swipe from one of its powerful, greasy wings. Vosaphar tumbled, stunned, helpless to do anything but look up at the result of his mistakes. Just as the edge of the inferno reached him— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit and the sunspot blinked out of existence, teleporting somewhere else. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Bleed. ⇒->25BBBBA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar dove, claws outstretched, reaching for the transit band around Finnit’s wrist— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But the sunspot got there first, snapping its jaws around the mortal and knocking Vosaphar out of the sky with a swipe from one of its powerful, greasy wings. Vosaphar tumbled, stunned, helpless to do anything but look up at the result of his mistakes. Just as the edge of the inferno reached him— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit and the sunspot blinked out of existence, teleporting somewhere else. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Bleed. ⇒->25BBBBA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the brief union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Finnit perished in the chaos at Cairnveld, along with Luminary Raekard. A panel of the surviving luminaries in attendance was convened. After vigorous debate, the panelists determined that dying during one’s discovery trial evaluation—even after materially succeeding in the assigned task—constituted a failure. Luminary Jethel issued a scathing dissent. Nevertheless, the bylaws were updated to reflect this new precedent. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. But a new threat lurked. The demon Vosaphar absorbed the fragments around him, growing distorted in his influence. He climbed upon the melted peak and in his sorrow and fury, bewitched many ships to their doom with fata morgana. He had become, in effect, the latest Pharos Fidelis. Perhaps he had even become something more powerful than *you*. And perhaps you deserved to finally feel fear again. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what it wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BBB. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BBBB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s clinginess, giving the sunspot enough time to teleport to Cairnveld along with Finnit. This proved to be an unfortunate calculation. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the brief union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Finnit perished in the chaos at Cairnveld, along with Luminary Raekard. A panel of the surviving luminaries in attendance was convened. After vigorous debate, the panelists determined that dying during one’s discovery trial evaluation—even after materially succeeding in the assigned task—constituted a failure. Luminary Jethel issued a scathing dissent. Nevertheless, the bylaws were updated to reflect this new precedent. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. But a new threat lurked. The demon Vosaphar absorbed the fragments around him, growing distorted in his influence. He climbed upon the melted peak and in his sorrow and fury, bewitched many ships to their doom with fata morgana. He had become, in effect, the latest Pharos Fidelis. Perhaps he had even become something more powerful than *you*. And perhaps you deserved to finally feel fear again. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what it wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BBB. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BBBB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s clinginess, giving the sunspot enough time to teleport to Cairnveld along with Finnit. This proved to be an unfortunate calculation. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[XXV.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage cold, wet, and screaming. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It had a certain resonance, didn’t it? He coughed violently, choking on sludge and bloodfog alike, wading clumsily in your direction. Even from this distance, you could feel intense energy pouring off the misplaced mortal, his magic warped by the glowing fragments of the Pharos Fidelis stuck in his hair and clothing. If nothing else could be salvaged from this historic disaster, at least you had an opportunity to fuel your furnace. The mortal would, at any moment, petition you for relief from his dire situation. This provided you a brief moment to consider which form might be most appropriate for such an absurd occasion. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|initial>[In that light: (link-reveal: "You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. Inaccurate though it may have been, perhaps you had the right to such a form. You’d already spent more time fussing over Vosaphar’s fate than any of his makers had. You adopted an elegant posture and swept out of your cottage to approach the mortal. “Hello, Finnit,” you said. He turned to look at you, eyes widening. You flicked your new tail, mimicking one of Vosaphar’s gestures that he so favored. “Um—hi. Uh—” “Welcome to my calciferous wastes.” You extended your arms, gesturing toward the dark skies and lonesome coralbone monuments dotting the horizon. “And what a sight they are.” Finnit looked around, evidently still processing this alarming development. “The calciferous wastes? Do you—do you know Vosaphar?” “Please, join me inside,” you said. “We shall sit by the fire and discuss these matters.” Finnit numbly complied, letting you guide him to the soot-stained armchairs by your furnace. It seemed to calm him down, having become accustomed to closeness with a certain source of hellfire. “What happened? Do you know?” Finnit asked. “Sorry—I’m just—I should ask who you are probably?” “I am the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “I think—I think he banished me?” “He did.” You tapped an idle claw against your ivory armchair. “I’m sorry, maybe this is too forward, but—look, I’m worried about Vosaphar? I don’t know what happened—what if—what if he—” You took him to the window and pointed to the dark pool, where Vosaphar’s ember twinkled at the bottom. If anything, it had grown brighter. Interesting. “That is his essential coal,” you said. “If he had perished, he would have immediately returned here. If we wait, he will eventually appear. However…” Finnit paced to and fro, trying to shake off his anxiety. “What if he’s hurt—he must be—I don’t want to wait!” “It is not a matter of desire, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. Perhaps that hadn’t been a Vosapharian gesture. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Will you—I mean, would you please help me?” “What are your intentions toward Vosaphar?” “My intentions?” Finnit looked puzzled. “What do you—” “Answer my question carefully, mortal.” He looked appropriately worried. “Look, I—I love him. I know it’s been so quick, and maybe you think it’s shallow, just because he’s so beautiful—but, uh, really, I have never felt so close with someone. I mean—he took me to the *sun*, and back. I don’t know what it would mean for us to be together outside of the Pharos Fidelis, in a more normal world. Maybe it won’t work, and we’ll part ways. I think—I mean, I hope you think that we’re worthy of a chance to figure that out.” “Vosaphar will need your help,” you said. “He will suffer from his power. You will stand by him? Treat him respectfully?” “I would—I will.” “Very well.” You paused. “I would send you back to Cairnveld.” You gave a pointed look toward your furnace. “But my fire is too weak for such a feat. Won’t you stoke it?” “Stoke it?” Finnit looked nervous. “What, uh—what do you want? My soul?” How amusing. “Are you offering that?” You approached him, attempting to loom in the way he found so appealing when Vosaphar did it. Finnit looked terrified as you reached down and plucked a glowing lens fragment from his hair. “No, Finnit. Not your soul. I want these.” “Oh—is that all? Yes, you can have them. They’re not even really mine, I don’t think.” Finnit parted easily with the fragments, tossing each into the furnace as he found it. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to cause some new chaos. He had no sense of priorities. And neither—apparently—did you, entertaining this… cloyingly earnest romantic nonsense. You reached for Finnit’s transit band, warping the sigils such that they would send Finnit on his way. Before activating it, you paused. “If you treat Vosaphar with anything less than the respect owed to such an unreasonably affectionate devil, I will send every specter in my dominion to drag you back here, and drown you in these depths for all eternity.” It was a joke. Mostly. You were sure that Finnit appreciated it. With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. You basked in the new heat now crackling and seething in your furnace. And how ridiculous an exchange it was, to receive all that energy for a trivial bit of spellcraft. Even an incubus would have found no pleasure in the seduction of such easy prey. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[That’s why you did it, right? You *just* wanted the power. Nothing more. You felt nothing else. Surely. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Survive. ⇒->26BBBBBA. Vosaphar]]]]]]]</div>] Unless: (link-reveal: "You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. Darkness pooled around you, threshed with dozens of unblinking, glowing eyes. Gobs of loose flesh sizzled on charred bones to add to the illusion’s sensory overload. You adopted a threatening posture and swept out of your cottage to approach Finnit, trailing black grease in your wake. “Mortal!” you shouted, startling him. “You dare trespass upon my dominion?” Finnit turned your way, and his breath hitched at the loathsome sight of you. He cowered. Mortals were so susceptible to this kind of stagecraft, weren’t they? “I—I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—” “Silence!” You stretched and oozed before him. “You have stolen from me. You must return what I’m owed.” Finnit’s eyes darted about wildly, as if he were considering running away. He wouldn’t make it far. “Could you please—um—grand one? Uh, what did I steal?” “My *light*.” You over-articulated the “t” with such exuberance that flecks of acid splattered from your many mouths. “The Pharos Fidelis.” You wrapped a slimy tentacle around his arm, pulling him closer so you could pluck one of the fragments from his clothes. “What? Oh. Oh you can—you can have those. They’re, um, not even mine.” He was too frightened to assist in this process, so you grabbed each fragment, showing no regard for his comfort. Shards collected—from his perspective, devoured—you began shambling back to your cottage. “Wait!” Finnit called after you. “Um—I need—I need to get back to Vosaphar—do you know him? Or—” “I am the warden of these calciferous wastes, and he is my subject. Mortal longings are not my concern…” “But please, I—” “…Unless, of course, you wish to receive… an accord.” And there it was. Not only had you easily liberated the shards from his unworthy possession, but you could do even more to sate your rage with the proceedings of the eclipse. “An accord?” Finnit asked. “You’ll help me get back?” “For a *price*,” you hissed. “I gave you—I gave you the fragments!” He seemed to have realized his mistake. Perhaps he ought to have actually read *Case Studies in Infernal Betrayal* instead of assuming all demons would be as needy and pathetic as Vosaphar. “You claimed yourself that you had no ownership over them. They are mine already. One cannot offer a gift already granted.” “So what do you want?” His voice was strained. “My soul?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“*That* is worthless.” Drawing from the power of the fragments you held, you manifested a bloodfrost dagger from the fog, its keen edge sharp enough to carve the walls of the lazurynth. “Take this dagger to Luminary Raekard. I tire of his incompetent scheming. Carve out his heart. Then burn it in a ring of hellfire until it is but ash on the wind.” “But I—I can’t kill someone!” Finnit shouted. “That’s absurd—even someone as awful as him—and he’s so dangerous. It would never work.” “Then you will die here, and never again wrap your wretched limbs around the devil you cling to in the dark.” You sidled into your cottage, leaving him to contemplate his mortal morality while you stoked the furnace with the fragments. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to inflict some new misery upon the world. It wasn’t long before he approached you again. He looked directly at you, gazing into your seething core, and without stumbling, said, “I accept those terms.” You wrapped a tendril around the hilt of the dagger and offered it to him. He took it, his expression grim and determined. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[You *almost* believed he could do it. With a burst of magic, you activated his bracelet—the transit band—and sent him to his terrible fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Append. ⇒->P4BBBBBB. Fourth Principle]]]]]]]</div> ] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. Well, at least the version of yourself that held court, lording your specificity over these dismal barrens. Finnit would get to see you for what you were: powerful, yet petty. Exhausted, too. It was miserable to live with your failures. You slunk to your soot-stained armchair by the furnace, waiting for the mortal to arrive. He knocked at the door. “Hello? Is—is someone in here?” “Come in, Finnit.” He opened the door, and saw you by the furnace. What texture the man had taken on since he left Cairnveld, struggling through your schemes in that desperate way that humans are wont to do. You gestured for him to sit in the chair across from yours. He obliged, if a bit warily. “Welcome to my calciferous wastes,” you said. “I wonder what you think of them?” “Calciferous wastes?” Something flickered in his eyes. “Is that—do you know Vosaphar?” “Answer my question first, if you will.” Finnit seemed taken aback, but recovered. “Well, if you really want to know—I can see why Vosaphar was so determined to leave.” You could almost see him realizing in real time that he probably was meant to say something kinder. “Not that there isn’t something… eerily beautiful about the colors streaking across the sky. But, it’s very cold and sharp and it seems sad, I guess?” “Yes, Vosaphar is troubled by his existence. As are we all.” You clicked your claws against the coralbone armrest. “You look—If you don’t mind me saying—you look familiar to me. But I don’t understand why. Who are you?” “I’m the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “So I guess he banished me here? It was the first place he thought of?” “I’m flattered.” A pause. “And perhaps you ought to be relieved that he didn’t recall the lazurynth quicker.” “I need to get back to him.” Finnit fixed you with a serious expression. “He might be hurt, or—I want to get back. Please. He means—he means a lot to me.” “It is not a matter of necessity, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Wait—I know why you look familiar!” He studied your face once more. “You look a little bit like… my grandmother.” “The trees in Tinfallow have deep roots indeed, if they reach all the way to these calciferous wastes.” “I don’t understand.” He bit his lip. “There are too many pieces—it’s hard to look at directly.” “Then focus on the piece of it you care about.” “Vosaphar.” “Of course. Young love. Star-crossed, even.” You sighed. “Well, I could send you on your way to Cairnveld.” You pointed at his bracelet. “But…” “You want something in return?” Finnit asked, leaning forward. “What is it? What do you want?” “What I *really* want is for you to have written my name correctly on the Pharos Fidelis.” Finnit sat back again. “That’s—that’s *you*? Your name? I expected someone so much more…” “Impressive?” You gave a hollow laugh. “Terrifying,” he finished. “But you seem, I don’t know, reasonable enough?” “I’m sure it seems that way.” “Well I—I don’t think I can undo what happened,” Finnit said. “I’m sorry it didn’t work. I know it may not look that way, but I really did try. I don’t know what it would’ve done if it worked, but I tried.” “You did.” You looked over at your furnace, where your sluggish motes of hellfire simmered. “I want the lens fragments in your possession.” “Lens fragments?” You pointed them out in his hair and on his clothes. “So that’s what you’re proposing as the terms of an exchange? I give you these shards, and you’ll send me back to Cairnveld?” “Yes.” “It just seems… I don’t know. I feel like there is still so much that I’m missing? If you—if you really are connected to me, in some way… would you want to… stay in touch?” You hadn’t expected *that*, of all things. “You want the warden of the calciferous wastes to offer you… mentorship.” “I’ve done much weirder things today!” Finnit said, rather defensively. “I went to the *sun*. Look, my mentor is Luminary Raekard. An actual demon would be a significant improvement.” “Ah, Raekard. I regret my part in that, given how it went.” “What?” Finnit’s eyes widened. “What do you mean you—” “Finnit, I propose an addendum to our… accord. If you wish to speak with me, you shall have one chance to do so during each new moon. Sacrifice a lens fragment in my name, and we shall converse for one hour.” “I’m not sure how I’ll get more of these,” Finnit said. “It seems expensive.” “And yet, a single fragment pales against the scale of what you destroyed. You could not possibly comprehend how far you’ve set me back. But,” you added, softening your tone, “I will make that hour as worthwhile as you wish it to be.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit accepted those terms, tossing each of the lens fragments on his person into your furnace. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to bend ever more futures in your favor. “Thank you,” Finnit said, as you adjusted the sigils on his transit band. “I—I’m glad to have met you.” With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Survive. ⇒->26BBBBBC. Vosaphar]]]]</div> ]]]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage cold, wet, and screaming. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It had a certain resonance, didn’t it? He coughed violently, choking on sludge and bloodfog alike, wading clumsily in your direction. Even from this distance, you could feel intense energy pouring off the misplaced mortal, his magic warped by the glowing fragments of the Pharos Fidelis stuck in his hair and clothing. If nothing else could be salvaged from this historic disaster, at least you had an opportunity to fuel your furnace. The mortal would, at any moment, petition you for relief from his dire situation. This provided you a brief moment to consider which form might be most appropriate for such an absurd occasion. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|initial>[In that light: (link-reveal: "You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. Inaccurate though it may have been, perhaps you had the right to such a form. You’d already spent more time fussing over Vosaphar’s fate than any of his makers had. You adopted an elegant posture and swept out of your cottage to approach the mortal. “Hello, Finnit,” you said. He turned to look at you, eyes widening. You flicked your new tail, mimicking one of Vosaphar’s gestures that he so favored. “Um—hi. Uh—” “Welcome to my calciferous wastes.” You extended your arms, gesturing toward the dark skies and lonesome coralbone monuments dotting the horizon. “And what a sight they are.” Finnit looked around, evidently still processing this alarming development. “The calciferous wastes? Do you—do you know Vosaphar?” “Please, join me inside,” you said. “We shall sit by the fire and discuss these matters.” Finnit numbly complied, letting you guide him to the soot-stained armchairs by your furnace. It seemed to calm him down, having become accustomed to closeness with a certain source of hellfire. “What happened? Do you know?” Finnit asked. “Sorry—I’m just—I should ask who you are probably?” “I am the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “I think—I think he banished me?” “He did.” You tapped an idle claw against your ivory armchair. “I’m sorry, maybe this is too forward, but—look, I’m worried about Vosaphar? I don’t know what happened—what if—what if he—” You took him to the window and pointed to the dark pool, where Vosaphar’s ember twinkled at the bottom. If anything, it had grown brighter. Interesting. “That is his essential coal,” you said. “If he had perished, he would have immediately returned here. If we wait, he will eventually appear. However…” Finnit paced to and fro, trying to shake off his anxiety. “What if he’s hurt—he must be—I don’t want to wait!” “It is not a matter of desire, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. Perhaps that hadn’t been a Vosapharian gesture. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Will you—I mean, would you please help me?” “What are your intentions toward Vosaphar?” “My intentions?” Finnit looked puzzled. “What do you—” “Answer my question carefully, mortal.” He looked appropriately worried. “Look, I—I love him. I know it’s been so quick, and maybe you think it’s shallow, just because he’s so beautiful—but, uh, really, I have never felt so close with someone. I mean—he took me to the *sun*, and back. I don’t know what it would mean for us to be together outside of the Pharos Fidelis, in a more normal world. Maybe it won’t work, and we’ll part ways. I think—I mean, I hope you think that we’re worthy of a chance to figure that out.” “Vosaphar will need your help,” you said. “He will suffer from his power. You will stand by him? Treat him respectfully?” “I would—I will.” “Very well.” You paused. “I would send you back to Cairnveld.” You gave a pointed look toward your furnace. “But my fire is too weak for such a feat. Won’t you stoke it?” “Stoke it?” Finnit looked nervous. “What, uh—what do you want? My soul?” How amusing. “Are you offering that?” You approached him, attempting to loom in the way he found so appealing when Vosaphar did it. Finnit looked terrified as you reached down and plucked a glowing lens fragment from his hair. “No, Finnit. Not your soul. I want these.” “Oh—is that all? Yes, you can have them. They’re not even really mine, I don’t think.” Finnit parted easily with the fragments, tossing each into the furnace as he found it. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to cause some new chaos. He had no sense of priorities. And neither—apparently—did you, entertaining this… cloyingly earnest romantic nonsense. You reached for Finnit’s transit band, warping the sigils such that they would send Finnit on his way. Before activating it, you paused. “If you treat Vosaphar with anything less than the respect owed to such an unreasonably affectionate devil, I will send every specter in my dominion to drag you back here, and drown you in these depths for all eternity.” It was a joke. Mostly. You were sure that Finnit appreciated it. With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. You basked in the new heat now crackling and seething in your furnace. And how ridiculous an exchange it was, to receive all that energy for a trivial bit of spellcraft. Even an incubus would have found no pleasure in the seduction of such easy prey. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[That’s why you did it, right? You *just* wanted the power. Nothing more. You felt nothing else. Surely. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[Survive. ⇒->26BBBBBA. Vosaphar]]]]]]]</div>] Unless: (link-reveal: "You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. Darkness pooled around you, threshed with dozens of unblinking, glowing eyes. Gobs of loose flesh sizzled on charred bones to add to the illusion’s sensory overload. You adopted a threatening posture and swept out of your cottage to approach Finnit, trailing black grease in your wake. “Mortal!” you shouted, startling him. “You dare trespass upon my dominion?” Finnit turned your way, and his breath hitched at the loathsome sight of you. He cowered. Mortals were so susceptible to this kind of stagecraft, weren’t they? “I—I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—” “Silence!” You stretched and oozed before him. “You have stolen from me. You must return what I’m owed.” Finnit’s eyes darted about wildly, as if he were considering running away. He wouldn’t make it far. “Could you please—um—grand one? Uh, what did I steal?” “My *light*.” You over-articulated the “t” with such exuberance that flecks of acid splattered from your many mouths. “The Pharos Fidelis.” You wrapped a slimy tentacle around his arm, pulling him closer so you could pluck one of the fragments from his clothes. “What? Oh. Oh you can—you can have those. They’re, um, not even mine.” He was too frightened to assist in this process, so you grabbed each fragment, showing no regard for his comfort. Shards collected—from his perspective, devoured—you began shambling back to your cottage. “Wait!” Finnit called after you. “Um—I need—I need to get back to Vosaphar—do you know him? Or—” “I am the warden of these calciferous wastes, and he is my subject. Mortal longings are not my concern…” “But please, I—” “…Unless, of course, you wish to receive… an accord.” And there it was. Not only had you easily liberated the shards from his unworthy possession, but you could do even more to sate your rage with the proceedings of the eclipse. “An accord?” Finnit asked. “You’ll help me get back?” “For a *price*,” you hissed. “I gave you—I gave you the fragments!” He seemed to have realized his mistake. Perhaps he ought to have actually read *Case Studies in Infernal Betrayal* instead of assuming all demons would be as needy and pathetic as Vosaphar. “You claimed yourself that you had no ownership over them. They are mine already. One cannot offer a gift already granted.” “So what do you want?” His voice was strained. “My soul?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“*That* is worthless.” Drawing from the power of the fragments you held, you manifested a bloodfrost dagger from the fog, its keen edge sharp enough to carve the walls of the lazurynth. “Take this dagger to Luminary Raekard. I tire of his incompetent scheming. Carve out his heart. Then burn it in a ring of hellfire until it is but ash on the wind.” “But I—I can’t kill someone!” Finnit shouted. “That’s absurd—even someone as awful as him—and he’s so dangerous. It would never work.” “Then you will die here, and never again wrap your wretched limbs around the devil you cling to in the dark.” You sidled into your cottage, leaving him to contemplate his mortal morality while you stoked the furnace with the fragments. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to inflict some new misery upon the world. It wasn’t long before he approached you again. He looked directly at you, gazing into your seething core, and without stumbling, said, “I accept those terms.” You wrapped a tendril around the hilt of the dagger and offered it to him. He took it, his expression grim and determined. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[You *almost* believed he could do it. With a burst of magic, you activated his bracelet—the transit band—and sent him to his terrible fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[Append. ⇒->P4BBBBBB. Fourth Principle]]]]]]]</div> ] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. Well, at least the version of yourself that held court, lording your specificity over these dismal barrens. Finnit would get to see you for what you were: powerful, yet petty. Exhausted, too. It was miserable to live with your failures. You slunk to your soot-stained armchair by the furnace, waiting for the mortal to arrive. He knocked at the door. “Hello? Is—is someone in here?” “Come in, Finnit.” He opened the door, and saw you by the furnace. What texture the man had taken on since he left Cairnveld, struggling through your schemes in that desperate way that humans are wont to do. You gestured for him to sit in the chair across from yours. He obliged, if a bit warily. “Welcome to my calciferous wastes,” you said. “I wonder what you think of them?” “Calciferous wastes?” Something flickered in his eyes. “Is that—do you know Vosaphar?” “Answer my question first, if you will.” Finnit seemed taken aback, but recovered. “Well, if you really want to know—I can see why Vosaphar was so determined to leave.” You could almost see him realizing in real time that he probably was meant to say something kinder. “Not that there isn’t something… eerily beautiful about the colors streaking across the sky. But, it’s very cold and sharp and it seems sad, I guess?” “Yes, Vosaphar is troubled by his existence. As are we all.” You clicked your claws against the coralbone armrest. “You look—If you don’t mind me saying—you look familiar to me. But I don’t understand why. Who are you?” “I’m the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “So I guess he banished me here? It was the first place he thought of?” “I’m flattered.” A pause. “And perhaps you ought to be relieved that he didn’t recall the lazurynth quicker.” “I need to get back to him.” Finnit fixed you with a serious expression. “He might be hurt, or—I want to get back. Please. He means—he means a lot to me.” “It is not a matter of necessity, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Wait—I know why you look familiar!” He studied your face once more. “You look a little bit like… my grandmother.” “The trees in Tinfallow have deep roots indeed, if they reach all the way to these calciferous wastes.” “I don’t understand.” He bit his lip. “There are too many pieces—it’s hard to look at directly.” “Then focus on the piece of it you care about.” “Vosaphar.” “Of course. Young love. Star-crossed, even.” You sighed. “Well, I could send you on your way to Cairnveld.” You pointed at his bracelet. “But…” “You want something in return?” Finnit asked, leaning forward. “What is it? What do you want?” “What I *really* want is for you to have written my name correctly on the Pharos Fidelis.” Finnit sat back again. “That’s—that’s *you*? Your name? I expected someone so much more…” “Impressive?” You gave a hollow laugh. “Terrifying,” he finished. “But you seem, I don’t know, reasonable enough?” “I’m sure it seems that way.” “Well I—I don’t think I can undo what happened,” Finnit said. “I’m sorry it didn’t work. I know it may not look that way, but I really did try. I don’t know what it would’ve done if it worked, but I tried.” “You did.” You looked over at your furnace, where your sluggish motes of hellfire simmered. “I want the lens fragments in your possession.” “Lens fragments?” You pointed them out in his hair and on his clothes. “So that’s what you’re proposing as the terms of an exchange? I give you these shards, and you’ll send me back to Cairnveld?” “Yes.” “It just seems… I don’t know. I feel like there is still so much that I’m missing? If you—if you really are connected to me, in some way… would you want to… stay in touch?” You hadn’t expected *that*, of all things. “You want the warden of the calciferous wastes to offer you… mentorship.” “I’ve done much weirder things today!” Finnit said, rather defensively. “I went to the *sun*. Look, my mentor is Luminary Raekard. An actual demon would be a significant improvement.” “Ah, Raekard. I regret my part in that, given how it went.” “What?” Finnit’s eyes widened. “What do you mean you—” “Finnit, I propose an addendum to our… accord. If you wish to speak with me, you shall have one chance to do so during each new moon. Sacrifice a lens fragment in my name, and we shall converse for one hour.” “I’m not sure how I’ll get more of these,” Finnit said. “It seems expensive.” “And yet, a single fragment pales against the scale of what you destroyed. You could not possibly comprehend how far you’ve set me back. But,” you added, softening your tone, “I will make that hour as worthwhile as you wish it to be.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit accepted those terms, tossing each of the lens fragments on his person into your furnace. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to bend ever more futures in your favor. “Thank you,” Finnit said, as you adjusted the sigils on his transit band. “I—I’m glad to have met you.” With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[Survive. ⇒->26BBBBBC. Vosaphar]]]]</div> ]]]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Mote]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived the shattering. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A constellation circled overhead, screeching as it descended. The sunspot, now barely recognizable as an amalgamation of blackened sunflesh and thousands of seething fragments, alighted on a rock nearby, and began snapping at Vosaphar’s lens fragments, shredding the flesh above his liver. Try though he might to crawl to safety, the creature still pursued him, tearing at the glass embedded in him. And then, he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BBBBBC]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived the shattering. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A constellation circled overhead, screeching as it descended. The sunspot, now barely recognizable as an amalgamation of blackened sunflesh and thousands of seething fragments, alighted on a rock nearby, and began snapping at Vosaphar’s lens fragments, shredding the flesh above his liver. Try though he might to crawl to safety, the creature still pursued him, tearing at the glass embedded in him. And then, he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BBBBBC]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 3)[Anathema.] (text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 1.15)[The Fourth Principle of Summoning.]</div> A timely addendum, courtesy of you. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Behold the fourth principle of summoning: (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color:#a01404)[**4. The Principle of Voluntary and Efficient Accession to the Extraordinarily Reasonable Conditions Imposed by the Magnanimous Warden of the Calciferous Wastes, Who Certainly Never Even Cared About the Pharos Fidelis, And Certainly Not the Absurd Romantic Yearnings of Your Pathetic Subjects—Or Else.**] Summoners who willingly and knowingly forge an accord with you must see their bargain through, or suffer the consequences of incompetence and betrayal. (text-color:#a01404)[***Implication:***] You suffered long and worked hard to eke out your existence. (text-color:#a01404)[***Implication:***] You generously helped him plenty up to this point—for free. It wasn’t such a high price to ask him to kill someone he hated anyway. You both benefited from this accord. (text-color:#a01404)[***Implication:***] His failure was inevitable. You weren’t *really* invested in his survival, or his potential to shift the tenor of human-demon relations. You were just hungry for more power, right? You just wanted to enrich your tiny slice of the hells, fuel your furnace, as you had always done. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It would have been unreasonable for *you*, of all beings, to have cared. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Subsume. ⇒->26BBBBBB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Behold the fourth principle of summoning: (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color:#f17264)[**4. The Principle of Voluntary and Efficient Accession to the Extraordinarily Reasonable Conditions Imposed by the Magnanimous Warden of the Calciferous Wastes, Who Certainly Never Even Cared About the Pharos Fidelis, And Certainly Not the Absurd Romantic Yearnings of Your Pathetic Subjects—Or Else.**] Summoners who willingly and knowingly forge an accord with you must see their bargain through, or suffer the consequences of incompetence and betrayal. (text-color:#f17264)[***Implication:***] You suffered long and worked hard to eke out your existence. (text-color:#f17264)[***Implication:***] You generously helped him plenty up to this point—for free. It wasn’t such a high price to ask him to kill someone he hated anyway. You both benefited from this accord. (text-color:#f17264)[***Implication:***] His failure was inevitable. You weren’t *really* invested in his survival, or his potential to shift the tenor of human-demon relations. You were just hungry for more power, right? You just wanted to enrich your tiny slice of the hells, fuel your furnace, as you had always done. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It would have been unreasonable for *you*, of all beings, to have cared. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Subsume. ⇒->26BBBBBB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived the shattering. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A constellation circled overhead, screeching as it descended. The sunspot, now barely recognizable as an amalgamation of blackened sunflesh and thousands of seething fragments, alighted on a rock nearby, and began snapping at Vosaphar’s lens fragments, shredding the flesh above his liver. Try though he might to crawl to safety, the creature still pursued him, tearing at the glass embedded in him. And then, he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BBBBBA]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived the shattering. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A constellation circled overhead, screeching as it descended. The sunspot, now barely recognizable as an amalgamation of blackened sunflesh and thousands of seething fragments, alighted on a rock nearby, and began snapping at Vosaphar’s lens fragments, shredding the flesh above his liver. Try though he might to crawl to safety, the creature still pursued him, tearing at the glass embedded in him. And then, he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BBBBBA]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. But a new threat lurked. The distorted sunspot, after consuming many remnants of the shattered lens, landed atop the melted peak and constructed a new nest of thousands and thousands of glowing fragments. The starscorched creature menaced any ships that dared disturb its territory. It had become, in effect, the next Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what it wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BBB. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BBBB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s desperation, causing him to impulsively banish Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be a fortunate calculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25BBBBB. Finnit]]]</div> You took a comforting form, nurturing his budding relationship with Vosaphar in exchange for the lens fragments on his person. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. But a new threat lurked. The distorted sunspot, after consuming many remnants of the shattered lens, landed atop the melted peak and constructed a new nest of thousands and thousands of glowing fragments. The starscorched creature menaced any ships that dared disturb its territory. It had become, in effect, the next Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what it wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BBB. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BBBB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s desperation, causing him to impulsively banish Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be a fortunate calculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25BBBBB. Finnit]]]</div> You took a comforting form, nurturing his budding relationship with Vosaphar in exchange for the lens fragments on his person. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived the shattering. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[If he had known that it was already too late, would that have been better? For him? For you? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A constellation circled overhead, screeching as it descended. The sunspot, now barely recognizable as an amalgamation of blackened sunflesh and thousands of seething fragments, alighted on a rock nearby, and began snapping at Vosaphar’s lens fragments, shredding the flesh above his liver. Try though he might to crawl to safety, no miraculous rescue arrived. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before the sunspot had its fill of him. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BBBBBB]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived the shattering. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[If he had known that it was already too late, would that have been better? For him? For you? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A constellation circled overhead, screeching as it descended. The sunspot, now barely recognizable as an amalgamation of blackened sunflesh and thousands of seething fragments, alighted on a rock nearby, and began snapping at Vosaphar’s lens fragments, shredding the flesh above his liver. Try though he might to crawl to safety, no miraculous rescue arrived. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before the sunspot had its fill of him. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BBBBBB]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the brief union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Finnit perished in a failed assassination attempt upon his return to Cairnveld, screaming of the sun. A strange footnote to this history. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. But a new threat lurked. The distorted sunspot, after consuming the demon Vosaphar, landed atop the melted peak and constructed a new nest of thousands and thousands of lens fragments. The starscorched creature menaced any ships that dared disturb its territory. It had become, in effect, the next Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what it wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BBB. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BBBB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s desperation, causing him to impulsively banish Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be a fortunate calculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25BBBBB. Finnit]]]</div> You took a terrifying form, seizing his lens fragments for yourself, and dooming him with an impossible accord. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and absolutely no complicated feelings arose. Goodness. You may yet revisit the choices above.] If you insist instead upon accepting this catastrophic outcome... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the brief union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Finnit perished in a failed assassination attempt upon his return to Cairnveld, screaming of the sun. A strange footnote to this history. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. But a new threat lurked. The distorted sunspot, after consuming the demon Vosaphar, landed atop the melted peak and constructed a new nest of thousands and thousands of lens fragments. The starscorched creature menaced any ships that dared disturb its territory. It had become, in effect, the next Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what it wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BBB. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BBBB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s desperation, causing him to impulsively banish Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be a fortunate calculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25BBBBB. Finnit]]]</div> You took a terrifying form, seizing his lens fragments for yourself, and dooming him with an impossible accord. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and absolutely no complicated feelings arose. Goodness. You may yet revisit the choices above.] If you insist instead upon accepting this catastrophic outcome... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. But a new threat lurked. The distorted sunspot, after consuming many remnants of the shattered lens, landed atop the melted peak and constructed a new nest of thousands and thousands of glowing fragments. The starscorched creature menaced any ships that dared disturb its territory. It had become, in effect, the next Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what it wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BBB. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BBBB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s desperation, causing him to impulsively banish Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be a fortunate calculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25BBBBB. Finnit]]]</div> You took an honest form, developing a stronger connection with Finnit while ensuring ongoing access to lens fragments in the future. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. But a new threat lurked. The distorted sunspot, after consuming many remnants of the shattered lens, landed atop the melted peak and constructed a new nest of thousands and thousands of glowing fragments. The starscorched creature menaced any ships that dared disturb its territory. It had become, in effect, the next Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what it wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s naivety, causing him to trust his dark secrets with Finnit prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BBB. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BBBB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s desperation, causing him to impulsively banish Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be a fortunate calculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25BBBBB. Finnit]]]</div> You took an honest form, developing a stronger connection with Finnit while ensuring ongoing access to lens fragments in the future. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#cbc999")+(text-size: 3)[Dogma.] (text-color:"#cbc999")+(text-size: 1.15)[The Third Principle of Summoning.]</div> Yet another unwelcome reminder, courtesy of Luminary Raekard. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightprinciplepassage">Recall the third principle of summoning: (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color:#65644c)[**3. The Principle of Planar Reversion**] Natural law rejects the presence of extraplanar entities in the mortal realm. Summoned demons therefore revert to their plane of origin, unless acted upon by sustained magical force. (text-color:#65644c)[***Implication:***] An unbound demon that persists beyond the original duration of a summoning circle must do so by feeding upon independent sources of magic. The most readily available source of magic has historically been the summoner. (text-color:#65644c)[***Implication:***] A demon that perishes in the mortal realm shall eventually be reconstituted in the jurisdiction of the hell that governs it. Banishment accelerates this process to an instant. (text-color:#65644c)[***Implication:***] When two sorceries of equivalent potency collide, a rite of banishment will always prevail over a rite of summoning. Account for the principle of planar reversion. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightprinciplechoice">|A>[(text-color:#989b00)[**Moor this wisdom. ⇒**]](click-replace: ?A,(action:'mouseover'))[(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))[[[Mourn his wisdom. ⇒->17BBA. Warden]]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="principlepassage">Recall the third principle of summoning: (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color:#cbc999)[**3. The Principle of Planar Reversion**] Natural law rejects the presence of extraplanar entities in the mortal realm. Summoned demons therefore revert to their plane of origin, unless acted upon by sustained magical force. (text-color:#cbc999)[***Implication:***] An unbound demon that persists beyond the original duration of a summoning circle must do so by feeding upon independent sources of magic. The most readily available source of magic has historically been the summoner. (text-color:#cbc999)[***Implication:***] A demon that perishes in the mortal realm shall eventually be reconstituted in the jurisdiction of the hell that governs it. Banishment accelerates this process to an instant. (text-color:#cbc999)[***Implication:***] When two sorceries of equivalent potency collide, a rite of banishment will always prevail over a rite of summoning. Account for the principle of planar reversion. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="principlechoice">|A>[(text-color:#989b00)[**Moor this wisdom. ⇒**]](click-replace: ?A,(action:'mouseover'))[(link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))[[[Mourn his wisdom. ⇒->17BBA. Warden]]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#989b00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#7a7d00)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Principle]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[XVII.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">At the center of the calciferous wastes stood a coralbone cottage. The warden’s. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Within the cottage burned a modest hellfire furnace, its crooked chimney venting spirals of smoke. Encircling this abode—the most lavish in all the wastes—was a smooth, still pool that hesitated to reflect the seething skies above. In the depths of this pool glinted a sparse collection of coals, spaced a lonesome distance from one another. Most had dimmed to the brink of winking out. A stubborn few still clung to their hues. One such ember, tinted the color of storm-tossed seas, suddenly flared, sending a ribbon of bubbles roiling to the surface. A demon was about to return to this remote reach of the hinterhells. And when he did, he might’ve been greeted by the warden of the calciferous wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[By you. (after:time+4s)+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|initial>[In preparation for this occasion: (link-reveal: "You approached the place where Vosaphar would emerge cold, wet, and screaming. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You approached the place where Vosaphar would emerge cold, wet, and screaming. He breached the surface of the pool, gasping for air, flailing for relief from the cold. It was every devil’s birthright to struggle their way out from their point of wretched origin. Your bitter pool was kinder than most. He swam toward the cottage, collapsing against brittle floes of bloodfrost ringing the shore. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|O1>[As a token of welcome: (link-reveal: "You loomed over him; a gesture of threat. ⚞↯⚟")[(replace: ?O1)[You loomed over him; a gesture of threat. A mote of hellfire appeared. Or rather, you conjured it, letting it drift between your claws, casting its crimson glow over your shivering subject. He gazed up at you, terrified. You flicked your claws—causing Vosaphar to flinch—and the mote vanished. After that demonstration, you walked back to your cottage. He dared not follow. You were, after all, powerful and dangerous. That’s what he called you, when his poor, foolish mortal companion showed him your fearsome name. Though he ought to have done better to recognize it. To him, you must have seemed as powerful as an archfiend. But your age of hellfire had yet to dawn. The magic you collected from him had already begun stoking the furnace. His toll for meager shelter in this unsafe harbor. Vosaphar crept away into the wastes, and the pool once again fell still. You returned to your work. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Commune. ⇒->Lens BBAA]]]]</div>]] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You offered him a gift; a gesture of warmth. ⚞↯⚟")[(replace: ?O1)[You offered him a gift; a gesture of warmth. A mote of hellfire appeared. Or rather, you conjured it, stretching and shaping its fire into an ethereal crimson shawl befitting such a tenderhearted fiend. You knelt to his level, draping it over your trembling subject. He gazed up into your eyes, terrified, as the gauzy heat settled over him. But his shivering subsided. You stood, then returned to your cottage. He dared not follow, even to thank you for your gift. You were, after all, powerful and dangerous. That’s what he called you, when his poor, sweet mortal companion showed him your elegant name. Though he ought to have done better to recognize it. To him, you must have seemed as powerful as an archfiend. But your age of hellfire had yet to dawn. The magic you collected from him had already begun stoking the furnace. His toll for meager shelter in this unsafe harbor. Vosaphar crept away into the wastes, and the pool once again fell still. You returned to your work. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Commune. ⇒->Lens BBAA]]]]</div>]]]]]] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You remained inside, at a polite distance. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You remained inside, at a polite distance. It was every devil’s birthright to struggle their way out from their point of wretched origin. Alone. Your bitter pool was kinder than most. As the furnace crackled, you heard Vosaphar flailing his way to the shore, just outside your cottage. You heard him gasping for air and moaning from the cold. Even then, the magic you collected from him stoked the furnace. His toll for meager shelter in this unsafe harbor. Perhaps he saw you tending to your motes, wishing them enough spark to catch fire when you needed them to. But even if he did, he dared not draw the warden’s attention. You were, after all, powerful and dangerous. That’s what he called you, when his poor, sweet mortal companion showed him your primordial name. Though he ought to have done better to recognize it. To him, you must have seemed as powerful as an archfiend. But your age of hellfire had yet to dawn. Vosaphar wandered off, shivering in the dark, and the pool once again fell still. You returned to your work. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Commune. ⇒->Lens BBAB]]]]</div> ]]]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">At the center of the calciferous wastes stood a coralbone cottage. The warden’s. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Within the cottage burned a modest hellfire furnace, its crooked chimney venting spirals of smoke. Encircling this abode—the most lavish in all the wastes—was a smooth, still pool that hesitated to reflect the seething skies above. In the depths of this pool glinted a sparse collection of coals, spaced a lonesome distance from one another. Most had dimmed to the brink of winking out. A stubborn few still clung to their hues. One such ember, tinted the color of storm-tossed seas, suddenly flared, sending a ribbon of bubbles roiling to the surface. A demon was about to return to this remote reach of the hinterhells. And when he did, he might’ve been greeted by the warden of the calciferous wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[By you. (after:time+4s)+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|initial>[In preparation for this occasion: (link-reveal: "You approached the place where Vosaphar would emerge cold, wet, and screaming. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You approached the place where Vosaphar would emerge cold, wet, and screaming. He breached the surface of the pool, gasping for air, flailing for relief from the cold. It was every devil’s birthright to struggle their way out from their point of wretched origin. Your bitter pool was kinder than most. He swam toward the cottage, collapsing against brittle floes of bloodfrost ringing the shore. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|O1>[As a token of welcome: (link-reveal: "You loomed over him; a gesture of threat. ⚞↯⚟")[(replace: ?O1)[You loomed over him; a gesture of threat. A mote of hellfire appeared. Or rather, you conjured it, letting it drift between your claws, casting its crimson glow over your shivering subject. He gazed up at you, terrified. You flicked your claws—causing Vosaphar to flinch—and the mote vanished. After that demonstration, you walked back to your cottage. He dared not follow. You were, after all, powerful and dangerous. That’s what he called you, when his poor, foolish mortal companion showed him your fearsome name. Though he ought to have done better to recognize it. To him, you must have seemed as powerful as an archfiend. But your age of hellfire had yet to dawn. The magic you collected from him had already begun stoking the furnace. His toll for meager shelter in this unsafe harbor. Vosaphar crept away into the wastes, and the pool once again fell still. You returned to your work. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Commune. ⇒->Lens BBAA]]]]</div>]] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You offered him a gift; a gesture of warmth. ⚞↯⚟")[(replace: ?O1)[You offered him a gift; a gesture of warmth. A mote of hellfire appeared. Or rather, you conjured it, stretching and shaping its fire into an ethereal crimson shawl befitting such a tenderhearted fiend. You knelt to his level, draping it over your trembling subject. He gazed up into your eyes, terrified, as the gauzy heat settled over him. But his shivering subsided. You stood, then returned to your cottage. He dared not follow, even to thank you for your gift. You were, after all, powerful and dangerous. That’s what he called you, when his poor, sweet mortal companion showed him your elegant name. Though he ought to have done better to recognize it. To him, you must have seemed as powerful as an archfiend. But your age of hellfire had yet to dawn. The magic you collected from him had already begun stoking the furnace. His toll for meager shelter in this unsafe harbor. Vosaphar crept away into the wastes, and the pool once again fell still. You returned to your work. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Commune. ⇒->Lens BBAA]]]]</div>]]]]]] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You remained inside, at a polite distance. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You remained inside, at a polite distance. It was every devil’s birthright to struggle their way out from their point of wretched origin. Alone. Your bitter pool was kinder than most. As the furnace crackled, you heard Vosaphar flailing his way to the shore, just outside your cottage. You heard him gasping for air and moaning from the cold. Even then, the magic you collected from him stoked the furnace. His toll for meager shelter in this unsafe harbor. Perhaps he saw you tending to your motes, wishing them enough spark to catch fire when you needed them to. But even if he did, he dared not draw the warden’s attention. You were, after all, powerful and dangerous. That’s what he called you, when his poor, sweet mortal companion showed him your primordial name. Though he ought to have done better to recognize it. To him, you must have seemed as powerful as an archfiend. But your age of hellfire had yet to dawn. Vosaphar wandered off, shivering in the dark, and the pool once again fell still. You returned to your work. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Commune. ⇒->Lens BBAB]]]]</div> ]]]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Mote]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f8cf7b")+(text-size: 3)[Dyslucence.] (text-color:"#f8cf7b")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Lens.]</div> An opaque rite of refraction. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightlenspassage">Another soul witnessed the lens. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ \(align:"=><=")[But what ] \(align:"==><=")[yet remained] \(align:"=><=")[to be seen] \ (align:"==><=")[once] \(align:"==><===")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"mortal")[moral]] \(align:"==><=")[designs] (align:"=><====")[had (link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"stolen")[sowed in] souls,] \ (align:"===><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"unwilling")[a willing] sacrifice in] \ (align:"=><==========")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"defiance of")[deference to]] \ (align:"======><=")[smoke-scorned skies?] \ (align:"=><====")[For] \ (align:"=====><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"even fearless")[ever fearful] fiends] \ (align:"=><=====")[could not comprehend] \ (align:"==>")[an eternity of] \ (align:"<==")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"unlit slag.")[sunlit glass.]] \ (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=")[Nevertheless—] Finnit saw a fragment deep within the throat of the island, its anchored eggs awash in the crimson glow of the future. All he needed to do was wait for the eclipse, cross the threshold, steal a mote of sunlight, and finish writing your name. For even the faintest mote of sunlight bore enough celestial energy to influence your fate from afar. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Or so you dared to hope. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightlenschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))[[[Darken. ⇒->18BBAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="lenspassage">Another soul witnessed the lens. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ \(align:"=><=")[But what] \(align:"==><=")[yet remained] \(align:"=><=")[to be seen] \ (align:"==><=")[once] \(align:"==><===")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"moral")[mortal]] \(align:"==><=")[designs] (align:"=><====")[had (link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"sowed in")[stolen] souls,] \ (align:"===><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"a willing")[unwilling] sacrifice in] \ (align:"=><==========")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"deference to")[defiance of]] \ (align:"======><=")[smoke-scorned skies?] \ (align:"=><====")[For] \ (align:"=====><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"ever fearful")[even fearless] fiends] \ (align:"=><=====")[could not comprehend] \ (align:"==>")[an eternity of] \ (align:"<==")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"sunlit glass.")[unlit slag.]] \ (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=")[Nevertheless—] Finnit saw a fragment deep within the throat of the island, its anchored eggs awash in the crimson glow of the future. All he needed to do was wait for the eclipse, cross the threshold, steal a mote of sunlight, and finish writing your name. For even the faintest mote of sunlight bore enough celestial energy to influence your fate from afar. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Or so you dared to hope. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lenschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#ac6e00")))[[[Darken. ⇒->18BBAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f8cf7b")+(text-size: 3)[Dyslucence.] (text-color:"#f8cf7b")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Lens.]</div> An opaque rite of refraction. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightlenspassage">Another soul witnessed the lens. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ \(align:"=><=")[But what ] \(align:"==><=")[yet remained] \(align:"=><=")[to be seen] \ (align:"==><=")[once] \(align:"==><===")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"mortal")[moral]] \(align:"==><=")[designs] (align:"=><====")[had (link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"stolen")[sowed in] souls,] \ (align:"===><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"unwilling")[a willing] sacrifice in] \ (align:"=><==========")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"defiance of")[deference to]] \ (align:"======><=")[smoke-scorned skies?] \ (align:"=><====")[For] \ (align:"=====><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"even fearless")[ever fearful] fiends] \ (align:"=><=====")[could not comprehend] \ (align:"==>")[an eternity of] \ (align:"<==")[(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(link:"unlit slag.")[sunlit glass.]] \ (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=")[Nevertheless—] Finnit saw a fragment deep within the throat of the island, its anchored eggs awash in the crimson glow of the future. All he needed to do was wait for the eclipse, cross the threshold, steal a mote of sunlight, and finish writing your name. For even the faintest mote of sunlight bore enough celestial energy to influence your fate from afar. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Or so you dared to hope. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightlenschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ebae00)))[[[Darken. ⇒->18BBAA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="lenspassage">Another soul witnessed the lens. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ \(align:"=><=")[But what] \(align:"==><=")[yet remained] \(align:"=><=")[to be seen] \ (align:"==><=")[once] \(align:"==><===")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"moral")[mortal]] \(align:"==><=")[designs] (align:"=><====")[had (link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"sowed in")[stolen] souls,] \ (align:"===><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"a willing")[unwilling] sacrifice in] \ (align:"=><==========")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"deference to")[defiance of]] \ (align:"======><=")[smoke-scorned skies?] \ (align:"=><====")[For] \ (align:"=====><=")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"ever fearful")[even fearless] fiends] \ (align:"=><=====")[could not comprehend] \ (align:"==>")[an eternity of] \ (align:"<==")[(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(link:"sunlit glass.")[unlit slag.]] \ (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=")[Nevertheless—] Finnit saw a fragment deep within the throat of the island, its anchored eggs awash in the crimson glow of the future. All he needed to do was wait for the eclipse, cross the threshold, steal a mote of sunlight, and finish writing your name. For even the faintest mote of sunlight bore enough celestial energy to influence your fate from afar. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Or so you dared to hope. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:#ac6e00)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lenschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#ebae00)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#ac6e00")))[[[Darken. ⇒->18BBAA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[XVIII.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">It wasn’t long before even the shock of Vosaphar’s emergence from the pool—exactly as cold and miserable as you had promised him it would be—had begun to fade into the listlessness of wandering the wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The residual magic Finnit had accorded him allowed him to travel faster and further than before. His slash wounds scabbed over more readily, healing further with each attempt. Something had shifted in his specificity. He should have been satisfied with that. Satisfied with the memories of what was, and dreams of what could have been, for bitter honey still bore sweetness. Didn’t it? Another kind of wound had carved itself into his heart. Without Finnit, Vosaphar’s existence felt darker and emptier than it ever had before. He wondered what might be about to happen, was happening, or had already happened at the Pharos Fidelis. Was Finnit still preparing his ritual of communion with the lens? Was it already over? Could he have been, right at that moment, spiraling amidst its unfathomable secrets? Perhaps Finnit’s rite had failed, the cursed lens consuming his soul as it had so many others. But, it could also be… something else. Another reason. Just as that doubt crept in, the devil felt a familiar sensation tugging at his core. Heat coursed through his veins as a tendril of sorcery unfurled for him, awaiting his tender grasp. (align:"<==")[And then—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=========")[Vosaphar] (align:"=><==")[at last] (align:"=><=")[recalled] (align:"===><==")[his] (align:"==><=")[own] (align:"===><=")[principle] (align:"=========><=")[of] (align:"==>")[flight—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Spread wings. ⇒->19BBAA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">It wasn’t long before even the shock of Vosaphar’s emergence from the pool—exactly as cold and miserable as you had promised him it would be—had begun to fade into the listlessness of wandering the wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The residual magic Finnit had accorded him allowed him to travel faster and further than before. His slash wounds scabbed over more readily, healing further with each attempt. Something had shifted in his specificity. He should have been satisfied with that. Satisfied with the memories of what was, and dreams of what could have been, for bitter honey still bore sweetness. Didn’t it? Another kind of wound had carved itself into his heart. Without Finnit, Vosaphar’s existence felt darker and emptier than it ever had before. He wondered what might be about to happen, was happening, or had already happened at the Pharos Fidelis. Was Finnit still preparing his ritual of communion with the lens? Was it already over? Could he have been, right at that moment, spiraling amidst its unfathomable secrets? Perhaps Finnit’s rite had failed, the cursed lens consuming his soul as it had so many others. But, it could also be… something else. Another reason. Just as that doubt crept in, the devil felt a familiar sensation tugging at his core. Heat coursed through his veins as a tendril of sorcery unfurled for him, awaiting his tender grasp. (align:"<==")[And then—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=========")[Vosaphar] (align:"=><==")[at last] (align:"=><=")[recalled] (align:"===><==")[his] (align:"==><=")[own] (align:"===><=")[principle] (align:"=========><=")[of] (align:"==>")[flight—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Spread wings. ⇒->19BBAA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XIX.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">Atop the Pharos Fidelis, Finnit remained just in sight of the great split glass that had spilled its secrets. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he smeared the last of his wax sticks to stubs on wet stone, he did not give the lens a further thought. He did not obey the principle of authoritarian primacy. He did not beware the principle of semantic dilution. He did not account for the principle of planar reversion. He thought only of Vosaphar, with a singular intensity of focus that even the Pharos Fidelis could never have dreamed of refracting. The circle of waxen glyphs coursed with scarlet fire, brighter than Finnit had ever seen it. He averted his gaze, eyes watering. When he looked back, Vosaphar had manifested before him once more. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[From his back spread wings wrought of fire, eldritch blue roiled with red and magenta—the colors of Finnit’s own magic, now intertwined with Vosaphar’s. Finnit’s eyes traveled further, noting ichor scabs crisscrossing the devil’s scarred blue chest, and then, curls of rough hair trailing immodestly past his navel. Streaks of lightning slashed green across the sky, glinting off his fearsome horns. Raindrops sizzled as the demon swept them aside, wreathing himself in silver mist. Vosaphar looked every bit an archfiend of legend looming over him, his eyes fixed on Finnit, reaching forward to press the sorcerer against the cliffside, claws clasping his wrists. “Vosaphar—” The infernal heat overwhelmed his mortal senses. “Please—Vosaphar, kiss m—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon pressed his lips gently against Finnit’s, dark beard bristling against his tender skin, breathing out brimstone incense that smoldered in Finnit’s throat. Just when Finnit thought himself on the verge of feeling too much, that Vosaphar might devour his soul and all his magic in a final, blissful moment of agony, the fiend held back, slackening his grip, and smiled. “I couldn’t wait until I got back,” Finnit said, his vision still sparking. “I—I needed to see you again.” “That’s not all you need.” Vosaphar leaned forward, so close still that Finnit could see details pitted into his horns. “What is it exactly that you imagine, lustful one? A dreadful devil from your darkest dreams, ever so sweetly domineering?” “I–” Finnit felt dazed as those fevered imaginings grew sharper into his mind. “I mean—well—now that you’ve brought it up, that sounds—” “Too bad,” Vosaphar said, his voice sly and soft. “My dear Finnit, you’re all *wet*.” And he was. He’d completely abandoned his wards in the midst of an endless storm. How embarrassing. Finnit also noticed that, in his exuberance to kiss him, Vosaphar had clumsily scorched Finnit’s sleeves with his wings. Suddenly, the demon felt less like some legendary figure, and instead like something better. Something real. Finnit’s companion. Finnit’s love. Finnit’s Vosaphar. “We should head back down,” Finnit said. “We should.” Vosaphar pushed one of Finnit’s loose curls back. “But listen, Finnit. When we do, I want *you* to take the lead. I want things to be… gentle, between us. For now. How does that sound?” “I have never wanted something so much in my entire existence.” Vosaphar grinned, ivory fangs glinting. “Good.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[What followed was an evening of tender fumbling and grasping. Finnit had been piqued by the fantasy of Vosaphar looming over him; and it remained a thought he wanted to revisit later. But, he found that this gentle, deliberate exploration—some serenity among the profane—brought him closer to understanding the demon in a way he found difficult to articulate but easy to just experience as it happened. Tomorrow, research awaited. But for now, Finnit’s fears grew distant as he slept, wrapped against Vosaphar like a warm satchel. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Interrogate. ⇒->C1BBAA. Sunlight]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">Atop the Pharos Fidelis, Finnit remained just in sight of the great split glass that had spilled its secrets. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he smeared the last of his wax sticks to stubs on wet stone, he did not give the lens a further thought. He did not obey the principle of authoritarian primacy. He did not beware the principle of semantic dilution. He did not account for the principle of planar reversion. He thought only of Vosaphar, with a singular intensity of focus that even the Pharos Fidelis could never have dreamed of refracting. The circle of waxen glyphs coursed with scarlet fire, brighter than Finnit had ever seen it. He averted his gaze, eyes watering. When he looked back, Vosaphar had manifested before him once more. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[From his back spread wings wrought of fire, eldritch blue roiled with red and magenta—the colors of Finnit’s own magic, now intertwined with Vosaphar’s. Finnit’s eyes traveled further, noting ichor scabs crisscrossing the devil’s scarred blue chest, and then, curls of rough hair trailing immodestly past his navel. Streaks of lightning slashed green across the sky, glinting off his fearsome horns. Raindrops sizzled as the demon swept them aside, wreathing himself in silver mist. Vosaphar looked every bit an archfiend of legend looming over him, his eyes fixed on Finnit, reaching forward to press the sorcerer against the cliffside, claws clasping his wrists. “Vosaphar—” The infernal heat overwhelmed his mortal senses. “Please—Vosaphar, kiss m—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon pressed his lips gently against Finnit’s, dark beard bristling against his tender skin, breathing out brimstone incense that smoldered in Finnit’s throat. Just when Finnit thought himself on the verge of feeling too much, that Vosaphar might devour his soul and all his magic in a final, blissful moment of agony, the fiend held back, slackening his grip, and smiled. “I couldn’t wait until I got back,” Finnit said, his vision still sparking. “I—I needed to see you again.” “That’s not all you need.” Vosaphar leaned forward, so close still that Finnit could see details pitted into his horns. “What is it exactly that you imagine, lustful one? A dreadful devil from your darkest dreams, ever so sweetly domineering?” “I–” Finnit felt dazed as those fevered imaginings grew sharper into his mind. “I mean—well—now that you’ve brought it up, that sounds—” “Too bad,” Vosaphar said, his voice sly and soft. “My dear Finnit, you’re all *wet*.” And he was. He’d completely abandoned his wards in the midst of an endless storm. How embarrassing. Finnit also noticed that, in his exuberance to kiss him, Vosaphar had clumsily scorched Finnit’s sleeves with his wings. Suddenly, the demon felt less like some legendary figure, and instead like something better. Something real. Finnit’s companion. Finnit’s love. Finnit’s Vosaphar. “We should head back down,” Finnit said. “We should.” Vosaphar pushed one of Finnit’s loose curls back. “But listen, Finnit. When we do, I want *you* to take the lead. I want things to be… gentle, between us. For now. How does that sound?” “I have never wanted something so much in my entire existence.” Vosaphar grinned, ivory fangs glinting. “Good.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[What followed was an evening of tender fumbling and grasping. Finnit had been piqued by the fantasy of Vosaphar looming over him; and it remained a thought he wanted to revisit later. But, he found that this gentle, deliberate exploration—some serenity among the profane—brought him closer to understanding the demon in a way he found difficult to articulate but easy to just experience as it happened. Tomorrow, research awaited. But for now, Finnit’s fears grew distant as he slept, wrapped against Vosaphar like a warm satchel. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Interrogate. ⇒->C1BBAA. Sunlight]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[1st Era | Sunlight.]</div> One more fragment recounting the dark history of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">(text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The illuminative session for Leisenelle, former third officer of the now-renegade vessel ‘Consonance,’ is hereby brought to order. You stand accused of mutiny, murder, theft, deception, consorting with proscribed entities, and willful evasion of justice. Is that correct? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] You would know. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Is that correct? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I guess so. Yes. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“She sounds a lot like you,” Vosaphar murmured, stroking his claws idly through Finnit’s hair. “‘Consorting with proscribed entities?’ What a wicked accusation.” Finnit snorted. “Are you going to bring me to justice?” “Absolutely not.” “Too bad.” </div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Against these accusations, how do you plead? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I do not plead. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] You must make a claim, either to affirm or deny each crime you have been accused of. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I will make no such claims. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The accused has neglected her obligation to plead. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] What’s your deal, anyway? Are you mad? Some pretty vampire in your past tied your morals all up in knots and made you feel sinful? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My role here is strictly illuminative. How did you first come to associate with this vampire? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I was trying to find out the truth about this island. But none of them would talk to me. The islanders, I mean. They resent us. You know that, right? Look at what we’ve done to them since we got here. Someone has to stop it. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, mark a note down for ‘sedition,’ would you? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">At least the clerics are obligated to transcribe what they actually heard. Historians ought to learn from their example. ⚞L. Raekard (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“I think Raekard’s distaste for historians gets in his way,” Finnit said. “How could we possibly know, at this point, what liberties the cleric might have taken?” “It’s going to take more than historians to put a stop to him.” Finnit laughed, but Vosaphar hadn’t told a joke.</div>] </div>] (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] You didn’t have that one already? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Continue. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Fine. This one woman approached me, and told me to visit her house on the outskirts after sundown. I thought she might be into me—and maybe she was, a little—but she wanted me to meet her grandmother. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Yeah. Did the ‘after sundown’ part give it away? I’m not a good storyteller. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The only things your story requires are honesty and accuracy. Justice will account for the rest. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Whatever you need to tell yourself. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] I don’t ‘need’ to do anything. My role here is strictly illuminative. As the accused has been reminded. Continue. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] So, I waited for dusk, and paid her a visit. Her grandmother was living in the basement. Some kind of herbalist, I guess. The whole time we talked, she was crushing up these weird seedpods in a mortar and pestle. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] At what point did you realize this entity was a vampire? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Not until after, when… (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] When what? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] When you killed her. Robbed us of her wisdom, kindness, perspective, heart, all she contributed to her community. And for what? Some ash? Dust? Is there not already enough collecting between the folds of your ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that last term for obscenity. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] What, you’re more scandalized by me describing your dust-crusted ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆ than your violence? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that one as well. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“Which word do you suppose was stricken here?” Vosaphar asked. “Asscheeks,” Finnit said solemnly. “Has to be.”</div>] (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] So you don’t have an answer. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The entity in question was brought before sunlight and destroyed in accordance with all legal and moral precedent. Any ‘violence’ is lawful, and thereby just. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] And you wonder why they hate us. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Hatred is not the subject of this illuminative session. What did your proscribed discussion entail? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] She told me all kinds of stories about this place, how they have fine-tuned their relationship with the island to keep things running, letting their traditions evolve with the conditions. I think her granddaughter wanted her to have someone new to talk to, so she could share all this with someone. The old woman told me that when sun and moon meet in the sky, the boundary between our world and theirs grows thin. At such a momentous event, the cleverest and quickest might climb into the throat of the island and cross the threshold to the cosmos. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">At last. Something of value in this tedious discussion. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire spoke metaphorically, did it not? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">I wondered the same thing. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] No, I don’t think she did. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Explain. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] She said that when the celestial hosts of the heavens are distracted with their dance, the sun grows just cool enough to touch. She dipped her finger into the mortar, and showed me a golden bead of oil, and she said even a drop of sunlight was enough to bless the island for a century, but few survived the transit. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">They must not have understood what they were doing. How could they have, without knowledge of the Three Principles? If there is any truth to it at all, it is clearly some underdeveloped rite of self-banishment, resulting in a temporary transference of a mortal into the hells until planar reversion draws them back. If that. Nevertheless, the ritual is worth investigating further. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] It claimed to have performed this… feat? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I believe her. You would’ve too, had you been there. Thankfully, you weren’t. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My opinion toward the superstitious musings of a proscribed entity is not the subject of this session. My role here is strictly— (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“Illuminative,” Vosaphar said, looking out into the storm. “That’s it?” Finnit asked. “But I want to know… so much more.” “And yet, we know more now than we did before. Does this not confirm what you saw in the lens?” “I guess so. Still…” </div>] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightchroniclechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[[[Suspect. ⇒->20BBAA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">(text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The illuminative session for Leisenelle, former third officer of the now-renegade vessel ‘Consonance,’ is hereby brought to order. You stand accused of mutiny, murder, theft, deception, consorting with proscribed entities, and willful evasion of justice. Is that correct? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] You would know. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Is that correct? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I guess so. Yes. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“She sounds a lot like you,” Vosaphar murmured, stroking his claws idly through Finnit’s hair. “‘Consorting with proscribed entities?’ What a wicked accusation.” Finnit snorted. “Are you going to bring me to justice?” “Absolutely not.” “Too bad.” </div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Against these accusations, how do you plead? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I do not plead. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] You must make a claim, either to affirm or deny each crime you have been accused of. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I will make no such claims. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The accused has neglected her obligation to plead. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] What’s your deal, anyway? Are you mad? Some pretty vampire in your past tied your morals all up in knots and made you feel sinful? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My role here is strictly illuminative. How did you first come to associate with this vampire? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I was trying to find out the truth about this island. But none of them would talk to me. The islanders, I mean. They resent us. You know that, right? Look at what we’ve done to them since we got here. Someone has to stop it. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, mark a note down for ‘sedition,’ would you? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">At least the clerics are obligated to transcribe what they actually heard. Historians ought to learn from their example. ⚞L. Raekard (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“I think Raekard’s distaste for historians gets in his way,” Finnit said. “How could we possibly know, at this point, what liberties the cleric might have taken?” “It’s going to take more than historians to put a stop to him.” Finnit laughed, but Vosaphar hadn’t told a joke.</div>] </div>] (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] You didn’t have that one already? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Continue. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Fine. This one woman approached me, and told me to visit her house on the outskirts after sundown. I thought she might be into me—and maybe she was, a little—but she wanted me to meet her grandmother. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Yeah. Did the ‘after sundown’ part give it away? I’m not a good storyteller. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The only things your story requires are honesty and accuracy. Justice will account for the rest. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Whatever you need to tell yourself. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] I don’t ‘need’ to do anything. My role here is strictly illuminative. As the accused has been reminded. Continue. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] So, I waited for dusk, and paid her a visit. Her grandmother was living in the basement. Some kind of herbalist, I guess. The whole time we talked, she was crushing up these weird seedpods in a mortar and pestle. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] At what point did you realize this entity was a vampire? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Not until after, when… (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] When what? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] When you killed her. Robbed us of her wisdom, kindness, perspective, heart, all she contributed to her community. And for what? Some ash? Dust? Is there not already enough collecting between the folds of your ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that last term for obscenity. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] What, you’re more scandalized by me describing your dust-crusted ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆ than your violence? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that one as well. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“Which word do you suppose was stricken here?” Vosaphar asked. “Asscheeks,” Finnit said solemnly. “Has to be.”</div>] (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] So you don’t have an answer. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The entity in question was brought before sunlight and destroyed in accordance with all legal and moral precedent. Any ‘violence’ is lawful, and thereby just. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] And you wonder why they hate us. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Hatred is not the subject of this illuminative session. What did your proscribed discussion entail? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] She told me all kinds of stories about this place, how they have fine-tuned their relationship with the island to keep things running, letting their traditions evolve with the conditions. I think her granddaughter wanted her to have someone new to talk to, so she could share all this with someone. The old woman told me that when sun and moon meet in the sky, the boundary between our world and theirs grows thin. At such a momentous event, the cleverest and quickest might climb into the throat of the island and cross the threshold to the cosmos. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">At last. Something of value in this tedious discussion. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire spoke metaphorically, did it not? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">I wondered the same thing. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] No, I don’t think she did. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Explain. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] She said that when the celestial hosts of the heavens are distracted with their dance, the sun grows just cool enough to touch. She dipped her finger into the mortar, and showed me a golden bead of oil, and she said even a drop of sunlight was enough to bless the island for a century, but few survived the transit. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">They must not have understood what they were doing. How could they have, without knowledge of the Three Principles? If there is any truth to it at all, it is clearly some underdeveloped rite of self-banishment, resulting in a temporary transference of a mortal into the hells until planar reversion draws them back. If that. Nevertheless, the ritual is worth investigating further. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] It claimed to have performed this… feat? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I believe her. You would’ve too, had you been there. Thankfully, you weren’t. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My opinion toward the superstitious musings of a proscribed entity is not the subject of this session. My role here is strictly— (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“Illuminative,” Vosaphar said, looking out into the storm. “That’s it?” Finnit asked. “But I want to know… so much more.” “And yet, we know more now than we did before. Does this not confirm what you saw in the lens?” “I guess so. Still…” </div>] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="chroniclechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[[[Suspect. ⇒->20BBAA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#927b1a")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Chronicle]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XX.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">With fewer than a handful of days remaining until the eclipse, Vosaphar was determined to spend as much of that time as he could with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon now wondered why they had wasted the preceding days doing everything else *except* wrapping up together in blankets, speaking softly to one another. His ordeals felt paler against the comfort of this heat. Had your machinations even mattered for this? Under these conditions, wouldn’t they have always found themselves in love? You had no motes for lust. Though, based on what you had seen, you wouldn’t have needed them. Goodness. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Once they were ready to venture out, Finnit led Vosaphar back up the cliffside stairs to the crevice dotted with rusted anchors and unhatched eggs. The demon scanned the shadows, half-expecting another of the winged horrors to be laying in wait. Instead, the cavern was desolate, its foreboding stillness prickling the hairs on the back of his neck as it led ever deeper into the mountain. Eventually, the passage opened into a roughly circular chamber. “Look, Vosaphar,” Finnit intoned, pointing up. “We’re right beneath the lens.” Black slag had oozed down from the ceiling, frozen into organic stalactites that reflected no light from Finnit’s orb. While still fluid, they had dripped, leaving a few glassy patches spread across the altar. *Click*. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“What was that?” Vosaphar whispered. He cautiously approached the altar, a raised disk with a tight spiral grooved into its otherwise flat surface. “There,” Finnit whispered. “See the moon?” *Click*. A mechanism lowered a miniature pewter grate, allowing a tiny white sphere to roll a little further forward along the channel. At the center of the spiral lay a rendering of the sun, blotched by inky glass that had dripped down from above. “So much for studying the almanac.” Finnit paced around the pedestal. “This device is telling us how much is left until the eclipse. If we had known earlier…” “But we know now,” Vosaphar said. “Look at how close it is.” Vast and fiddly though the design was, the moon had wound its way close to the center. It was an unwelcome reminder of the future approaching, click by— *Click*. A taut silence stretched between them. Vosaphar had thoughts that he was unwilling to admit to. *Click*. “What if we just stayed here?” Finnit voiced. “Well maybe not this particular chamber. I mean the Pharos Fidelis in general.” He looked down at the transit bracelet Raekard had given him. “I could throw this in the ocean. We could ignore the lens. Stay here as long as we wanted.” “There’s nothing for you to eat, Finnit.” *Click.* “Would you even want to go to the academy?” Finnit stared at the pedestal. “Who even knows what they’d do to you, or—” “I am willing to risk it,” Vosaphar said. “I cannot say what the future holds. But we can’t stay here. I’m in no hurry to descend back to the calciferous wastes. And you have your life to live. I would rather join you in whatever of that you are willing to have me for, or until we choose to part. Is that not the way forward in such matters? The real accord?” *Click.* Finnit was silent for a few more moments. “Yes. You’re right. But I’m scared. This could all go so wrong.” Vosaphar embraced Finnit, holding him close. “It might. We will do our best, regardless.” They stayed together a while longer, before journeying back to their strange little home in the cliffside. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[At the eclipse, they would return. And the fate of the Pharos Fidelis would at last be decided. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Petition. ⇒->RBBAA. Calciferous]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">With fewer than a handful of days remaining until the eclipse, Vosaphar was determined to spend as much of that time as he could with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon now wondered why they had wasted the preceding days doing everything else *except* wrapping up together in blankets, speaking softly to one another. His ordeals felt paler against the comfort of this heat. Had your machinations even mattered for this? Under these conditions, wouldn’t they have always found themselves in love? You had no motes for lust. Though, based on what you had seen, you wouldn’t have needed them. Goodness. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Once they were ready to venture out, Finnit led Vosaphar back up the cliffside stairs to the crevice dotted with rusted anchors and unhatched eggs. The demon scanned the shadows, half-expecting another of the winged horrors to be laying in wait. Instead, the cavern was desolate, its foreboding stillness prickling the hairs on the back of his neck as it led ever deeper into the mountain. Eventually, the passage opened into a roughly circular chamber. “Look, Vosaphar,” Finnit intoned, pointing up. “We’re right beneath the lens.” Black slag had oozed down from the ceiling, frozen into organic stalactites that reflected no light from Finnit’s orb. While still fluid, they had dripped, leaving a few glassy patches spread across the altar. *Click*. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“What was that?” Vosaphar whispered. He cautiously approached the altar, a raised disk with a tight spiral grooved into its otherwise flat surface. “There,” Finnit whispered. “See the moon?” *Click*. A mechanism lowered a miniature pewter grate, allowing a tiny white sphere to roll a little further forward along the channel. At the center of the spiral lay a rendering of the sun, blotched by inky glass that had dripped down from above. “So much for studying the almanac.” Finnit paced around the pedestal. “This device is telling us how much is left until the eclipse. If we had known earlier…” “But we know now,” Vosaphar said. “Look at how close it is.” Vast and fiddly though the design was, the moon had wound its way close to the center. It was an unwelcome reminder of the future approaching, click by— *Click*. A taut silence stretched between them. Vosaphar had thoughts that he was unwilling to admit to. *Click*. “What if we just stayed here?” Finnit voiced. “Well maybe not this particular chamber. I mean the Pharos Fidelis in general.” He looked down at the transit bracelet Raekard had given him. “I could throw this in the ocean. We could ignore the lens. Stay here as long as we wanted.” “There’s nothing for you to eat, Finnit.” *Click.* “Would you even want to go to the academy?” Finnit stared at the pedestal. “Who even knows what they’d do to you, or—” “I am willing to risk it,” Vosaphar said. “I cannot say what the future holds. But we can’t stay here. I’m in no hurry to descend back to the calciferous wastes. And you have your life to live. I would rather join you in whatever of that you are willing to have me for, or until we choose to part. Is that not the way forward in such matters? The real accord?” *Click.* Finnit was silent for a few more moments. “Yes. You’re right. But I’m scared. This could all go so wrong.” Vosaphar embraced Finnit, holding him close. “It might. We will do our best, regardless.” They stayed together a while longer, before journeying back to their strange little home in the cliffside. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[At the eclipse, they would return. And the fate of the Pharos Fidelis would at last be decided. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Petition. ⇒->RBBAA. Calciferous]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[Recollection.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">Vosaphar’s spilling ichor sang to them so sweetly, libations that lured all manner of lips to lap. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[No longer able to fly, the beleaguered demon ran, stumbled, staggered, crawled—anything he could do to place another lazurynthine wall between himself and his nearest pursuer. He needed somewhere dark and quiet, somewhere safe to recover. Such amenities were unavailable in the lazurynth. But there were other hells than these. Vosaphar slipped through an inky gap between walls that had lost definition, their geometry corrupted by some other force. He sank into an oily pool, far beneath the febrile blue heat. He could no longer tell where the sludge began and his blood ended, drifting ever downward. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Eventually he reached the shore near your cottage, not yet fragmented to spectral remnants. Still specific, despite it all. He crawled to your doorstep, begging for relief from the lazurynth. Should he fall, he would emerge there once more, a cycle of dissolution his demonhood would eventually fail to survive. You told him that the calciferous wastes were hostile and desolate. He said he preferred a false quiet to an honest din. You told him there was nothing of value here—had there been, a warden as petty as you would’ve long been shredded to bits by a stronger devil. He said he preferred an expansive nothing to crowded corridors. You told him he would awaken cold, wet, and screaming, his every lonely birth into this void inevitable suffering. He said he preferred a bitter plunge to a blistering fire. You told him what it would cost, a steady stream of magic to brighten your hellfire furnace, tending to the motes. He accepted those terms without hesitation. You asked him for his name. He still had one. Vosaphar. With that accorded, you plucked his coal from the deepest pit of the lazurynth, and held it between your claws, its blue dimmed to gray. His archfiend wouldn’t miss it. And then you threw it in the pool, and it sank to the bottom, where it lodged itself in a dark crevice. Vosaphar, now under your jurisdiction, fled into the wastes, searching for a smooth bit of coralbone to lean against, however futilely. You gave him desolation, cold, and quiet. In return, your furnace grew brighter. How could you have ever predicted what this would eventually make impossible? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Discover. ⇒->21BBAA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">Vosaphar’s spilling ichor sang to them so sweetly, libations that lured all manner of lips to lap. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[No longer able to fly, the beleaguered demon ran, stumbled, staggered, crawled—anything he could do to place another lazurynthine wall between himself and his nearest pursuer. He needed somewhere dark and quiet, somewhere safe to recover. Such amenities were unavailable in the lazurynth. But there were other hells than these. Vosaphar slipped through an inky gap between walls that had lost definition, their geometry corrupted by some other force. He sank into an oily pool, far beneath the febrile blue heat. He could no longer tell where the sludge began and his blood ended, drifting ever downward. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Eventually he reached the shore near your cottage, not yet fragmented to spectral remnants. Still specific, despite it all. He crawled to your doorstep, begging for relief from the lazurynth. Should he fall, he would emerge there once more, a cycle of dissolution his demonhood would eventually fail to survive. You told him that the calciferous wastes were hostile and desolate. He said he preferred a false quiet to an honest din. You told him there was nothing of value here—had there been, a warden as petty as you would’ve long been shredded to bits by a stronger devil. He said he preferred an expansive nothing to crowded corridors. You told him he would awaken cold, wet, and screaming, his every lonely birth into this void inevitable suffering. He said he preferred a bitter plunge to a blistering fire. You told him what it would cost, a steady stream of magic to brighten your hellfire furnace, tending to the motes. He accepted those terms without hesitation. You asked him for his name. He still had one. Vosaphar. With that accorded, you plucked his coal from the deepest pit of the lazurynth, and held it between your claws, its blue dimmed to gray. His archfiend wouldn’t miss it. And then you threw it in the pool, and it sank to the bottom, where it lodged itself in a dark crevice. Vosaphar, now under your jurisdiction, fled into the wastes, searching for a smooth bit of coralbone to lean against, however futilely. You gave him desolation, cold, and quiet. In return, your furnace grew brighter. How could you have ever predicted what this would eventually make impossible? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Discover. ⇒->21BBAA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Recollection]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">The day of the eclipse, Finnit woke with a sharp pain searing his back, breaking him out of his warm reverie. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar was twitching and scratching in his sleep again. Finnit adored the feeling of the devil’s tail coiled around his thigh, basking in the hellish heat that staved off the island’s chill. Nonetheless, crawling into the embrace of a clawed creature had a few drawbacks. “Hey,” Finnit whispered. “Wake up.” Vosaphar shifted, his tail loosening its grip on Finnit. “Mmph.” “You scratched me again,” Finnit said. “Nightmares?” “Oh no,” Vosaphar said. “I’m sorry, Finnit. Here…” The demon traced the scratches, and Finnit felt an odd prickly sensation as the skin healed over. “Thank you. You’re getting good at that.” Vosaphar delicately kissed the side of Finnit’s neck. “I don’t normally sleep so much. The mortal realm is… exhausting, in its own way. Perhaps I can fashion some wrappings for my claws in the future.” “Whoa,” Finnit said, gazing out one of the windows. “What?” “The sky is different.” And indeed it was. The rain had—incredibly—let up slightly, the green glow he’d become so accustomed to taking on distinct streaks of orange and red. Vosaphar grimaced. “I guess it’s time.” “Yeah.” They made their final preparations. Finnit tucked his syllabaries into his satchel and ate his last rations. He thought he might never forget the taste of salted fruit leather in whatever days—or day—he had remaining. “Was there something else we should have prepared?” Finnit asked. “We’re just… walking through a portal to the sun? Like this?” “I can’t think of anything, Finnit.” “Well, alright then.” He looked around at the now overly-familiar place he had spent this last month. “Goodbye, awful yet cozy stone room under a cursed lighthouse. It was certainly a time.” “That it was.” Vosaphar sounded amused. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They ventured out onto the cliffside stairs. Even these had become familiar, the treachery of each step now a well-worn betrayal. As they approached the altar beneath the lens and its housing, a ruddy glow intensified. Flecks of mica in the cavern walls cast sparks over them as they passed. The miniature moon had arrived at its destination, transforming the sun emblem at the center into a bright red disc of light. It was overwhelming to look at directly; Finnit’s eyes strained from this threat to perception. “It’s terrible,” Finnit whispered. “Beautiful, too. What a dazzling horror of a thing to witness.” “Finnit,” Vosaphar began, wrapping his arms gently around the sorcerer. “It might be neglectful of our accord for me not to mention… you don’t have to do this. I could—I could go without you—you could die, Finnit, and—I—I don’t want to lose you… forever.” Finnit looked up into the fiend’s fearful, loving eyes. “Vosaphar—I’m afraid, too. But I couldn’t accept that. Isn’t that what Raekard would do? Send someone to die in his stead, to do the big scary things he won’t face himself? This trial was his idea, but now it’s my trial. Our trial. And I want to see it through. Together. Don’t you?” “Yes,” Vosaphar admitted. “I want to see the sun... with you.” “Then let’s go see it.” Vosaphar smiled, and took Finnit’s arm in his. Together, they stepped into an oblivion of crimson light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Eclipse. ⇒->Eclipse BBAA]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">The day of the eclipse, Finnit woke with a sharp pain searing his back, breaking him out of his warm reverie. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar was twitching and scratching in his sleep again. Finnit adored the feeling of the devil’s tail coiled around his thigh, basking in the hellish heat that staved off the island’s chill. Nonetheless, crawling into the embrace of a clawed creature had a few drawbacks. “Hey,” Finnit whispered. “Wake up.” Vosaphar shifted, his tail loosening its grip on Finnit. “Mmph.” “You scratched me again,” Finnit said. “Nightmares?” “Oh no,” Vosaphar said. “I’m sorry, Finnit. Here…” The demon traced the scratches, and Finnit felt an odd prickly sensation as the skin healed over. “Thank you. You’re getting good at that.” Vosaphar delicately kissed the side of Finnit’s neck. “I don’t normally sleep so much. The mortal realm is… exhausting, in its own way. Perhaps I can fashion some wrappings for my claws in the future.” “Whoa,” Finnit said, gazing out one of the windows. “What?” “The sky is different.” And indeed it was. The rain had—incredibly—let up slightly, the green glow he’d become so accustomed to taking on distinct streaks of orange and red. Vosaphar grimaced. “I guess it’s time.” “Yeah.” They made their final preparations. Finnit tucked his syllabaries into his satchel and ate his last rations. He thought he might never forget the taste of salted fruit leather in whatever days—or day—he had remaining. “Was there something else we should have prepared?” Finnit asked. “We’re just… walking through a portal to the sun? Like this?” “I can’t think of anything, Finnit.” “Well, alright then.” He looked around at the now overly-familiar place he had spent this last month. “Goodbye, awful yet cozy stone room under a cursed lighthouse. It was certainly a time.” “That it was.” Vosaphar sounded amused. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They ventured out onto the cliffside stairs. Even these had become familiar, the treachery of each step now a well-worn betrayal. As they approached the altar beneath the lens and its housing, a ruddy glow intensified. Flecks of mica in the cavern walls cast sparks over them as they passed. The miniature moon had arrived at its destination, transforming the sun emblem at the center into a bright red disc of light. It was overwhelming to look at directly; Finnit’s eyes strained from this threat to perception. “It’s terrible,” Finnit whispered. “Beautiful, too. What a dazzling horror of a thing to witness.” “Finnit,” Vosaphar began, wrapping his arms gently around the sorcerer. “It might be neglectful of our accord for me not to mention… you don’t have to do this. I could—I could go without you—you could die, Finnit, and—I—I don’t want to lose you… forever.” Finnit looked up into the fiend’s fearful, loving eyes. “Vosaphar—I’m afraid, too. But I couldn’t accept that. Isn’t that what Raekard would do? Send someone to die in his stead, to do the big scary things he won’t face himself? This trial was his idea, but now it’s my trial. Our trial. And I want to see it through. Together. Don’t you?” “Yes,” Vosaphar admitted. “I want to see the sun... with you.” “Then let’s go see it.” Vosaphar smiled, and took Finnit’s arm in his. Together, they stepped into an oblivion of crimson light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Eclipse. ⇒->Eclipse BBAA]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 3)[Eclipse.] (text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Sun.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">The sun was a cosmic affliction, a colossal molten mass so red and seething that even the infernal embers blazing in the deepest pits of the hells seemed but feeble sparks in the distance. And Vosaphar was soaring *toward* it. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he flew, Finnit clutched against him, tendrils of the corona pulled peculiar new colors from his wings, its aurora a spectacle more captivating than your dreary calciferous skies could have ever dreamed to churn. How you longed for such color and heat and majesty—even just a drop of it. And *they* got to see it all, to have it within reach. “Vosaphar, look!” With his free hand, Finnit pointed toward an eerie black void drifting past. Dozens of bird-creatures flew from the roiling surface of the sun to circle and screech at the dark moon, a celestial interloper threatening the eternity of light. “They’re sunspots!” Finnit shouted. “That thing—it was a sunspot!” “They’re *distracted*, too.” Vosaphar glided toward the edge of the sun away from the shrieking horrors. “That’s why it has to be now.” The demon and his summoner skimmed the sun’s surface, its dangerous heat threatening to embrace them forever so closely. “Hold on, Finnit!” Vosaphar tilted his wings, arm outstretched, reaching, swiping up a glob of incandescent fluid. This molten scarlet-amber squeezed between his claws and stuck to his low-dipped wing. Even these tiny droplets of starlight held immense power that coursed through him as he arced up out of the sun’s grip. “It’s so incredible!” Finnit laughed, tears streaming behind him, motes of wonder sparkling in space. Something darkened behind them. Finnit looked over his shoulder. “Vosaphar—there’s a new sunspot—” The creature shrieked as it gave chase, following the radiant beads dripping from Vosaphar’s sunswept wing. Vosaphar affixed his gaze to the portal back to the Pharos Fidelis, soaring ever faster. The screeching grew louder yet, judgment for their cardinal cosmic sin approaching with alarming haste. But with Finnit clinging to his side… (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar simply had no use for consequences. With a final burst of speed, they shot through the portal. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Reignite. ⇒->22BBAA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">The sun was a cosmic affliction, a colossal molten mass so red and seething that even the infernal embers blazing in the deepest pits of the hells seemed but feeble sparks in the distance. And Vosaphar was soaring *toward* it. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he flew, Finnit clutched against him, tendrils of the corona pulled peculiar new colors from his wings, its aurora a spectacle more captivating than your dreary calciferous skies could have ever dreamed to churn. How you longed for such color and heat and majesty—even just a drop of it. And *they* got to see it all, to have it within reach. “Vosaphar, look!” With his free hand, Finnit pointed toward an eerie black void drifting past. Dozens of bird-creatures flew from the roiling surface of the sun to circle and screech at the dark moon, a celestial interloper threatening the eternity of light. “They’re sunspots!” Finnit shouted. “That thing—it was a sunspot!” “They’re *distracted*, too.” Vosaphar glided toward the edge of the sun away from the shrieking horrors. “That’s why it has to be now.” The demon and his summoner skimmed the sun’s surface, its dangerous heat threatening to embrace them forever so closely. “Hold on, Finnit!” Vosaphar tilted his wings, arm outstretched, reaching, swiping up a glob of incandescent fluid. This molten scarlet-amber squeezed between his claws and stuck to his low-dipped wing. Even these tiny droplets of starlight held immense power that coursed through him as he arced up out of the sun’s grip. “It’s so incredible!” Finnit laughed, tears streaming behind him, motes of wonder sparkling in space. Something darkened behind them. Finnit looked over his shoulder. “Vosaphar—there’s a new sunspot—” The creature shrieked as it gave chase, following the radiant beads dripping from Vosaphar’s sunswept wing. Vosaphar affixed his gaze to the portal back to the Pharos Fidelis, soaring ever faster. The screeching grew louder yet, judgment for their cardinal cosmic sin approaching with alarming haste. But with Finnit clinging to his side… (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar simply had no use for consequences. With a final burst of speed, they shot through the portal. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Reignite. ⇒->22BBAA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXII.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Finnit and Vosaphar tumbled over the edge of the altar, the portal still aglow with the eclipse-light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But there was little time to celebrate their reckless heist—the sunspot shoved its vicious pointed head through the gap after them, screeching as it struggled to break through. Finnit let Vosaphar carry him a bit further up the tunnel, before standing on his own feet and running alongside. He looked out at the storm, the clouds thinned enough that he could see the eclipsed red sun half-risen, framing the infernal image of a devil’s horns. “How magnificent,” Finnit said, breathless. Vosaphar looked down at him, gently squeezing his hand. They arrived at the peak, where the lens yearned for light, and at last, Finnit had light to provide. Vosaphar held out his claws, sunlight pooled in his palm, and Finnit painted it, trying to create the glyph his mind had projected there, the name of the demon whose rite might reignite the Pharos Fidelis. You watched, enraptured by the spectacle of your plans converging. This was it. This was your moment. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As Finnit slathered the glowing fluid across the lens, the dark slag drank it in—more, and more, and more of it. Too much of it. The glyph couldn’t hold its shape. The lens welled, hyperfolding crimson light, growing ever hotter by the second. The cleft, once so close to promising your name, had already deformed beyond recognition. And how brutal; that poor, mortal sorcerer, all tangled in your schemes, had every intention of drawing your name, a sigil drenched in the lifeblood of the sun. He really did try. You couldn’t fault him for that. But the execution? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A tragedy, in many fragments. For centuries—perhaps longer—every mortal design for the Pharos Fidelis had crumbled. Each disaster wrote another chapter in that wretched chronicle, the dark history of guiding light. And you thought *yours* would work? Pharos Fidelis, the beacon on the horizon of reason. Where it would remain, out of reach. Could not even a devil accept the simple dreadful truth, that a horizon approached can never arrive? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Finnit, we have to leave!” Vosaphar shouted, scanning the sky for the sunspot. “The lens is collapsing!” “No—it has to—Vosaphar, it has to—” “Finnit, please—” “I can’t—I can’t get the shape right, it’s going to—” “It deserves to shatter.” How dare he. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“But, what was this even for, then?” Finnit sobbed, the last of the sunlight ripped from his fingertips into the Pharos Fidelis. Vosaphar pulled him, one final time, away from the amplifying dyslucence. “That’s for the historians!” Vosaphar stared at him with his stormy eyes. “Shouldn’t we live? Don’t you want a future? ” “Yes!” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Somewhere below them, the sunspot burst out through the tunnel, shrieking its way into the sky to hunt. Finnit embraced Vosaphar once more, and the demon swept him up into the sky. They abandoned the Pharos Fidelis to its fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They *tried* to abandon it. But it wasn’t done with them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Shatter. ⇒->23BBAA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Finnit and Vosaphar tumbled over the edge of the altar, the portal still aglow with the eclipse-light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But there was little time to celebrate their reckless heist—the sunspot shoved its vicious pointed head through the gap after them, screeching as it struggled to break through. Finnit let Vosaphar carry him a bit further up the tunnel, before standing on his own feet and running alongside. He looked out at the storm, the clouds thinned enough that he could see the eclipsed red sun half-risen, framing the infernal image of a devil’s horns. “How magnificent,” Finnit said, breathless. Vosaphar looked down at him, gently squeezing his hand. They arrived at the peak, where the lens yearned for light, and at last, Finnit had light to provide. Vosaphar held out his claws, sunlight pooled in his palm, and Finnit painted it, trying to create the glyph his mind had projected there, the name of the demon whose rite might reignite the Pharos Fidelis. You watched, enraptured by the spectacle of your plans converging. This was it. This was your moment. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As Finnit slathered the glowing fluid across the lens, the dark slag drank it in—more, and more, and more of it. Too much of it. The glyph couldn’t hold its shape. The lens welled, hyperfolding crimson light, growing ever hotter by the second. The cleft, once so close to promising your name, had already deformed beyond recognition. And how brutal; that poor, mortal sorcerer, all tangled in your schemes, had every intention of drawing your name, a sigil drenched in the lifeblood of the sun. He really did try. You couldn’t fault him for that. But the execution? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A tragedy, in many fragments. For centuries—perhaps longer—every mortal design for the Pharos Fidelis had crumbled. Each disaster wrote another chapter in that wretched chronicle, the dark history of guiding light. And you thought *yours* would work? Pharos Fidelis, the beacon on the horizon of reason. Where it would remain, out of reach. Could not even a devil accept the simple dreadful truth, that a horizon approached can never arrive? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Finnit, we have to leave!” Vosaphar shouted, scanning the sky for the sunspot. “The lens is collapsing!” “No—it has to—Vosaphar, it has to—” “Finnit, please—” “I can’t—I can’t get the shape right, it’s going to—” “It deserves to shatter.” How dare he. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“But, what was this even for, then?” Finnit sobbed, the last of the sunlight ripped from his fingertips into the Pharos Fidelis. Vosaphar pulled him, one final time, away from the amplifying dyslucence. “That’s for the historians!” Vosaphar stared at him with his stormy eyes. “Shouldn’t we live? Don’t you want a future? ” “Yes!” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Somewhere below them, the sunspot burst out through the tunnel, shrieking its way into the sky to hunt. Finnit embraced Vosaphar once more, and the demon swept him up into the sky. They abandoned the Pharos Fidelis to its fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They *tried* to abandon it. But it wasn’t done with them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Shatter. ⇒->23BBAA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Disavowal]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXIII.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">The storm rushed past Vosaphar as he carried Finnit, placing any distance he could between them and the doomed Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Still seeking their stolen sunlight, the sunspot locked onto them in pursuit, screeching as it approached, its eyes golden fury. “It’s going to—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The world around them grew absolutely silent, swallowing the rest of Finnit’s warning. Every bit of light had gathered, folding itself over and over and over still, smaller, ever smaller, congealing into the tiniest, brightest speck. For a moment, Vosaphar wondered if it would keep going, dragging the mortal realm, the hells, and all the rest of existence into its singularity. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Instead, it shattered. All that had been poured into it—all the fire, all the lightning, all the stray souls, all the stolen sunlight, all the summons slaughtered, all the hopes and dreams and plots and schemes and—all of it finally shattered, sending incalculable shards of glass in every direction at incredible speeds. A vanguard fragment slammed into Vosaphar’s chest, knocking Finnit out of his grasp. The sorcerer began to drift away on his own trajectory— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And you thought, though your plans had shattered along with everything else… You still had one last mote of hellfire to spare. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Influence. ⇒->M4BBAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">The storm rushed past Vosaphar as he carried Finnit, placing any distance he could between them and the doomed Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Still seeking their stolen sunlight, the sunspot locked onto them in pursuit, screeching as it approached, its eyes golden fury. “It’s going to—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The world around them grew absolutely silent, swallowing the rest of Finnit’s warning. Every bit of light had gathered, folding itself over and over and over still, smaller, ever smaller, congealing into the tiniest, brightest speck. For a moment, Vosaphar wondered if it would keep going, dragging the mortal realm, the hells, and all the rest of existence into its singularity. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Instead, it shattered. All that had been poured into it—all the fire, all the lightning, all the stray souls, all the stolen sunlight, all the summons slaughtered, all the hopes and dreams and plots and schemes and—all of it finally shattered, sending incalculable shards of glass in every direction at incredible speeds. A vanguard fragment slammed into Vosaphar’s chest, knocking Finnit out of his grasp. The sorcerer began to drift away on his own trajectory— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And you thought, though your plans had shattered along with everything else… You still had one last mote of hellfire to spare. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Influence. ⇒->M4BBAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Disavowal]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#fc4e71")+(text-size: 3)[Influence.] (text-color:"#fc4e71")+(text-size: 1.15)[Clinginess | Desperation.]</div> One final mote of hellfire appeared. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightmotepassage">When potent emotions conflicted a demon’s judgment, even the faintest mote of hellfire bore enough infernal energy to influence their fate from afar. That’s how you got them into this mess. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#8c283c)[***Clinginess***] For the demon Vosaphar, so eager to wrap himself around his beloved summoner, the sight of the mortal falling away would’ve driven him to dive in closer. This clinginess would have joined their fates together, should you have chosen to foster it. Yielding to this clinginess, however romantic, risked their joint fate becoming tragic. (text-color:#8c283c)[***Desperation***] For the demon Vosaphar, so determined for his beloved summoner to survive, the sight of him falling away would’ve driven him to take reckless measures. This desperation might have driven him to intervene instantly to salvage the situation. Yielding to this desperation, however hasty, risked their fates diverging dramatically. (text-color:#8c283c)[***Decision***] Well? Which force did this mote of hellfire incite? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightmotechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))[[[Clinginess. ⇒->24BBAAA. Vosaphar]]] (link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#fc4e71")))[[[Desperation. ⇒->24BBAAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="motepassage">When potent emotions conflicted a demon’s judgment, even the faintest mote of hellfire bore enough infernal energy to influence their fate from afar. That’s how you got them into this mess. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Clinginess***] For the demon Vosaphar, so eager to wrap himself around his beloved summoner, the sight of the mortal falling away would’ve driven him to dive in closer. This clinginess would have joined their fates together, should you have chosen to foster it. Yielding to this clinginess, however romantic, risked their joint fate becoming tragic. (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Desperation***] For the demon Vosaphar, so determined for his beloved summoner to survive, the sight of him falling away would’ve driven him to take reckless measures. This desperation might have driven him to intervene instantly to salvage the situation. Yielding to this desperation, however hasty, risked their fates diverging dramatically. (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Decision***] Well? Which force did this mote of hellfire incite? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="motechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Clinginess. ⇒->24BBAAA. Vosaphar]]] (link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Desperation. ⇒->24BBAAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Mote]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXIV.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar recognized your influence pushing him toward desperation— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he *rejected* it. That stung. Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar dove, claws outstretched, reaching for the transit band around Finnit’s wrist— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But the sunspot got there first, snapping its jaws around the mortal and knocking Vosaphar out of the sky with a swipe from one of its powerful, greasy wings. Vosaphar tumbled, stunned, helpless to do anything but look up at the result of his mistakes. Just as the edge of the inferno reached him— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit and the sunspot blinked out of existence, teleporting somewhere else. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Bleed. ⇒->25BBAAB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar recognized your influence pushing him toward desperation— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he *rejected* it. That stung. Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar dove, claws outstretched, reaching for the transit band around Finnit’s wrist— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But the sunspot got there first, snapping its jaws around the mortal and knocking Vosaphar out of the sky with a swipe from one of its powerful, greasy wings. Vosaphar tumbled, stunned, helpless to do anything but look up at the result of his mistakes. Just as the edge of the inferno reached him— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit and the sunspot blinked out of existence, teleporting somewhere else. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Bleed. ⇒->25BBAAB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXIV.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar recognized your influence pushing him toward clinginess— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he *rejected* it. That stung. Vosaphar had a single, reckless idea of what he still had time to do. How he could send Finnit somewhere safer than here. Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar recalled the spells Finnit had taught him, focused his intentions and— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Banished him. Finnit blinked out of existence. Moments later, the edge of the explosion swept Vosaphar and the sunspot into an inferno of shattering glass. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Stoke. ⇒->25BBAAA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar recognized your influence pushing him toward clinginess— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And he *rejected* it. That stung. Vosaphar had a single, reckless idea of what he still had time to do. How he could send Finnit somewhere safer than here. Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar recalled the spells Finnit had taught him, focused his intentions and— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Banished him. Finnit blinked out of existence. Moments later, the edge of the explosion swept Vosaphar and the sunspot into an inferno of shattering glass. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Stoke. ⇒->25BBAAA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the brief union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Finnit perished in the chaos at Cairnveld, along with Luminary Raekard. A panel of the surviving luminaries in attendance was convened. After vigorous debate, the panelists determined that dying during one’s discovery trial evaluation—even after materially succeeding in the assigned task—constituted a failure. Luminary Jethel issued a scathing dissent. Nevertheless, the bylaws were updated to reflect this new precedent. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. But a new threat lurked. The demon Vosaphar absorbed the fragments around him, growing distorted in his influence. He climbed upon the melted peak and in his sorrow and fury, bewitched many ships to their doom with fata morgana. He had become, in effect, the latest Pharos Fidelis. Perhaps he had even become something more powerful than *you*. And perhaps you deserved to finally feel fear again. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what it wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BBA. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BBAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s desperation. However, his distrust caused him to reject desperation in favor of clinginess, giving the sunspot enough time to teleport to Cairnveld along with Finnit. This proved to be an unfortunate miscalculation. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the brief union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Finnit perished in the chaos at Cairnveld, along with Luminary Raekard. A panel of the surviving luminaries in attendance was convened. After vigorous debate, the panelists determined that dying during one’s discovery trial evaluation—even after materially succeeding in the assigned task—constituted a failure. Luminary Jethel issued a scathing dissent. Nevertheless, the bylaws were updated to reflect this new precedent. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. But a new threat lurked. The demon Vosaphar absorbed the fragments around him, growing distorted in his influence. He climbed upon the melted peak and in his sorrow and fury, bewitched many ships to their doom with fata morgana. He had become, in effect, the latest Pharos Fidelis. Perhaps he had even become something more powerful than *you*. And perhaps you deserved to finally feel fear again. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what it wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BBA. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BBAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s desperation. However, his distrust caused him to reject desperation in favor of clinginess, giving the sunspot enough time to teleport to Cairnveld along with Finnit. This proved to be an unfortunate miscalculation. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[XXV.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage cold, wet, and screaming. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It had a certain resonance, didn’t it? He coughed violently, choking on sludge and bloodfog alike, wading clumsily in your direction. Even from this distance, you could feel intense energy pouring off the misplaced mortal, his magic warped by the glowing fragments of the Pharos Fidelis stuck in his hair and clothing. If nothing else could be salvaged from this historic disaster, at least you had an opportunity to fuel your furnace. The mortal would, at any moment, petition you for relief from his dire situation. This provided you a brief moment to consider which form might be most appropriate for such an absurd occasion. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|initial>[In that light: (link-reveal: "You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. Inaccurate though it may have been, perhaps you had the right to such a form. You’d already spent more time fussing over Vosaphar’s fate than any of his makers had. You adopted an elegant posture and swept out of your cottage to approach the mortal. “Hello, Finnit,” you said. He turned to look at you, eyes widening. You flicked your new tail, mimicking one of Vosaphar’s gestures that he so favored. “Um—hi. Uh—” “Welcome to my calciferous wastes.” You extended your arms, gesturing toward the dark skies and lonesome coralbone monuments dotting the horizon. “And what a sight they are.” Finnit looked around, evidently still processing this alarming development. “The calciferous wastes? Do you—do you know Vosaphar?” “Please, join me inside,” you said. “We shall sit by the fire and discuss these matters.” Finnit numbly complied, letting you guide him to the soot-stained armchairs by your furnace. It seemed to calm him down, having become accustomed to closeness with a certain source of hellfire. “What happened? Do you know?” Finnit asked. “Sorry—I’m just—I should ask who you are probably?” “I am the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “I think—I think he banished me?” “He did.” You tapped an idle claw against your ivory armchair. “I’m sorry, maybe this is too forward, but—look, I’m worried about Vosaphar? I don’t know what happened—what if—what if he—” You took him to the window and pointed to the dark pool, where Vosaphar’s ember twinkled at the bottom. If anything, it had grown brighter. Interesting. “That is his essential coal,” you said. “If he had perished, he would have immediately returned here. If we wait, he will eventually appear. However…” Finnit paced to and fro, trying to shake off his anxiety. “What if he’s hurt—he must be—I don’t want to wait!” “It is not a matter of desire, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. Perhaps that hadn’t been a Vosapharian gesture. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Will you—I mean, would you please help me?” “What are your intentions toward Vosaphar?” “My intentions?” Finnit looked puzzled. “What do you—” “Answer my question carefully, mortal.” He looked appropriately worried. “Look, I—I love him. I know it’s been so quick, and maybe you think it’s shallow, just because he’s so beautiful—but, uh, really, I have never felt so close with someone. I mean—he took me to the *sun*, and back. I don’t know what it would mean for us to be together outside of the Pharos Fidelis, in a more normal world. Maybe it won’t work, and we’ll part ways. I think—I mean, I hope you think that we’re worthy of a chance to figure that out.” “Vosaphar will need your help,” you said. “He will suffer from his power. You will stand by him? Treat him respectfully?” “I would—I will.” “Very well.” You paused. “I would send you back to Cairnveld.” You gave a pointed look toward your furnace. “But my fire is too weak for such a feat. Won’t you stoke it?” “Stoke it?” Finnit looked nervous. “What, uh—what do you want? My soul?” How amusing. “Are you offering that?” You approached him, attempting to loom in the way he found so appealing when Vosaphar did it. Finnit looked terrified as you reached down and plucked a glowing lens fragment from his hair. “No, Finnit. Not your soul. I want these.” “Oh—is that all? Yes, you can have them. They’re not even really mine, I don’t think.” Finnit parted easily with the fragments, tossing each into the furnace as he found it. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to cause some new chaos. He had no sense of priorities. And neither—apparently—did you, entertaining this… cloyingly earnest romantic nonsense. You reached for Finnit’s transit band, warping the sigils such that they would send Finnit on his way. Before activating it, you paused. “If you treat Vosaphar with anything less than the respect owed to such an unreasonably affectionate devil, I will send every specter in my dominion to drag you back here, and drown you in these depths for all eternity.” It was a joke. Mostly. You were sure that Finnit appreciated it. With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. You basked in the new heat now crackling and seething in your furnace. And how ridiculous an exchange it was, to receive all that energy for a trivial bit of spellcraft. Even an incubus would have found no pleasure in the seduction of such easy prey. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[That’s why you did it, right? You *just* wanted the power. Nothing more. You felt nothing else. Surely. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Survive. ⇒->26BBAAAA. Vosaphar]]]]]]]</div>] Unless: (link-reveal: "You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. Darkness pooled around you, threshed with dozens of unblinking, glowing eyes. Gobs of loose flesh sizzled on charred bones to add to the illusion’s sensory overload. You adopted a threatening posture and swept out of your cottage to approach Finnit, trailing black grease in your wake. “Mortal!” you shouted, startling him. “You dare trespass upon my dominion?” Finnit turned your way, and his breath hitched at the loathsome sight of you. He cowered. Mortals were so susceptible to this kind of stagecraft, weren’t they? “I—I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—” “Silence!” You stretched and oozed before him. “You have stolen from me. You must return what I’m owed.” Finnit’s eyes darted about wildly, as if he were considering running away. He wouldn’t make it far. “Could you please—um—grand one? Uh, what did I steal?” “My *light*.” You over-articulated the “t” with such exuberance that flecks of acid splattered from your many mouths. “The Pharos Fidelis.” You wrapped a slimy tentacle around his arm, pulling him closer so you could pluck one of the fragments from his clothes. “What? Oh. Oh you can—you can have those. They’re, um, not even mine.” He was too frightened to assist in this process, so you grabbed each fragment, showing no regard for his comfort. Shards collected—from his perspective, devoured—you began shambling back to your cottage. “Wait!” Finnit called after you. “Um—I need—I need to get back to Vosaphar—do you know him? Or—” “I am the warden of these calciferous wastes, and he is my subject. Mortal longings are not my concern…” “But please, I—” “…Unless, of course, you wish to receive… an accord.” And there it was. Not only had you easily liberated the shards from his unworthy possession, but you could do even more to sate your rage with the proceedings of the eclipse. “An accord?” Finnit asked. “You’ll help me get back?” “For a *price*,” you hissed. “I gave you—I gave you the fragments!” He seemed to have realized his mistake. Perhaps he ought to have actually read *Case Studies in Infernal Betrayal* instead of assuming all demons would be as needy and pathetic as Vosaphar. “You claimed yourself that you had no ownership over them. They are mine already. One cannot offer a gift already granted.” “So what do you want?” His voice was strained. “My soul?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“*That* is worthless.” Drawing from the power of the fragments you held, you manifested a bloodfrost dagger from the fog, its keen edge sharp enough to carve the walls of the lazurynth. “Take this dagger to Luminary Raekard. I tire of his incompetent scheming. Carve out his heart. Then burn it in a ring of hellfire until it is but ash on the wind.” “But I—I can’t kill someone!” Finnit shouted. “That’s absurd—even someone as awful as him—and he’s so dangerous. It would never work.” “Then you will die here, and never again wrap your wretched limbs around the devil you cling to in the dark.” You sidled into your cottage, leaving him to contemplate his mortal morality while you stoked the furnace with the fragments. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to inflict some new misery upon the world. It wasn’t long before he approached you again. He looked directly at you, gazing into your seething core, and without stumbling, said, “I accept those terms.” You wrapped a tendril around the hilt of the dagger and offered it to him. He took it, his expression grim and determined. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[You *almost* believed he could do it. With a burst of magic, you activated his bracelet—the transit band—and sent him to his terrible fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Append. ⇒->P4BBAAAB. Fourth Principle]]]]]]]</div> ] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. Well, at least the version of yourself that held court, lording your specificity over these dismal barrens. Finnit would get to see you for what you were: powerful, yet petty. Exhausted, too. It was miserable to live with your failures. You slunk to your soot-stained armchair by the furnace, waiting for the mortal to arrive. He knocked at the door. “Hello? Is—is someone in here?” “Come in, Finnit.” He opened the door, and saw you by the furnace. What texture the man had taken on since he left Cairnveld, struggling through your schemes in that desperate way that humans are wont to do. You gestured for him to sit in the chair across from yours. He obliged, if a bit warily. “Welcome to my calciferous wastes,” you said. “I wonder what you think of them?” “Calciferous wastes?” Something flickered in his eyes. “Is that—do you know Vosaphar?” “Answer my question first, if you will.” Finnit seemed taken aback, but recovered. “Well, if you really want to know—I can see why Vosaphar was so determined to leave.” You could almost see him realizing in real time that he probably was meant to say something kinder. “Not that there isn’t something… eerily beautiful about the colors streaking across the sky. But, it’s very cold and sharp and it seems sad, I guess?” “Yes, Vosaphar is troubled by his existence. As are we all.” You clicked your claws against the coralbone armrest. “You look—If you don’t mind me saying—you look familiar to me. But I don’t understand why. Who are you?” “I’m the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “So I guess he banished me here? It was the first place he thought of?” “I’m flattered.” A pause. “And perhaps you ought to be relieved that he didn’t recall the lazurynth quicker.” “I need to get back to him.” Finnit fixed you with a serious expression. “He might be hurt, or—I want to get back. Please. He means—he means a lot to me.” “It is not a matter of necessity, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Wait—I know why you look familiar!” He studied your face once more. “You look a little bit like… my grandmother.” “The trees in Tinfallow have deep roots indeed, if they reach all the way to these calciferous wastes.” “I don’t understand.” He bit his lip. “There are too many pieces—it’s hard to look at directly.” “Then focus on the piece of it you care about.” “Vosaphar.” “Of course. Young love. Star-crossed, even.” You sighed. “Well, I could send you on your way to Cairnveld.” You pointed at his bracelet. “But…” “You want something in return?” Finnit asked, leaning forward. “What is it? What do you want?” “What I *really* want is for you to have written my name correctly on the Pharos Fidelis.” Finnit sat back again. “That’s—that’s *you*? Your name? I expected someone so much more…” “Impressive?” You gave a hollow laugh. “Terrifying,” he finished. “But you seem, I don’t know, reasonable enough?” “I’m sure it seems that way.” “Well I—I don’t think I can undo what happened,” Finnit said. “I’m sorry it didn’t work. I know it may not look that way, but I really did try. I don’t know what it would’ve done if it worked, but I tried.” “You did.” You looked over at your furnace, where your sluggish motes of hellfire simmered. “I want the lens fragments in your possession.” “Lens fragments?” You pointed them out in his hair and on his clothes. “So that’s what you’re proposing as the terms of an exchange? I give you these shards, and you’ll send me back to Cairnveld?” “Yes.” “It just seems… I don’t know. I feel like there is still so much that I’m missing? If you—if you really are connected to me, in some way… would you want to… stay in touch?” You hadn’t expected *that*, of all things. “You want the warden of the calciferous wastes to offer you… mentorship.” “I’ve done much weirder things today!” Finnit said, rather defensively. “I went to the *sun*. Look, my mentor is Luminary Raekard. An actual demon would be a significant improvement.” “Ah, Raekard. I regret my part in that, given how it went.” “What?” Finnit’s eyes widened. “What do you mean you—” “Finnit, I propose an addendum to our… accord. If you wish to speak with me, you shall have one chance to do so during each new moon. Sacrifice a lens fragment in my name, and we shall converse for one hour.” “I’m not sure how I’ll get more of these,” Finnit said. “It seems expensive.” “And yet, a single fragment pales against the scale of what you destroyed. You could not possibly comprehend how far you’ve set me back. But,” you added, softening your tone, “I will make that hour as worthwhile as you wish it to be.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit accepted those terms, tossing each of the lens fragments on his person into your furnace. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to bend ever more futures in your favor. “Thank you,” Finnit said, as you adjusted the sigils on his transit band. “I—I’m glad to have met you.” With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Survive. ⇒->26BBAAAC. Vosaphar]]]]</div> ]]]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage cold, wet, and screaming. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It had a certain resonance, didn’t it? He coughed violently, choking on sludge and bloodfog alike, wading clumsily in your direction. Even from this distance, you could feel intense energy pouring off the misplaced mortal, his magic warped by the glowing fragments of the Pharos Fidelis stuck in his hair and clothing. If nothing else could be salvaged from this historic disaster, at least you had an opportunity to fuel your furnace. The mortal would, at any moment, petition you for relief from his dire situation. This provided you a brief moment to consider which form might be most appropriate for such an absurd occasion. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|initial>[In that light: (link-reveal: "You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. Inaccurate though it may have been, perhaps you had the right to such a form. You’d already spent more time fussing over Vosaphar’s fate than any of his makers had. You adopted an elegant posture and swept out of your cottage to approach the mortal. “Hello, Finnit,” you said. He turned to look at you, eyes widening. You flicked your new tail, mimicking one of Vosaphar’s gestures that he so favored. “Um—hi. Uh—” “Welcome to my calciferous wastes.” You extended your arms, gesturing toward the dark skies and lonesome coralbone monuments dotting the horizon. “And what a sight they are.” Finnit looked around, evidently still processing this alarming development. “The calciferous wastes? Do you—do you know Vosaphar?” “Please, join me inside,” you said. “We shall sit by the fire and discuss these matters.” Finnit numbly complied, letting you guide him to the soot-stained armchairs by your furnace. It seemed to calm him down, having become accustomed to closeness with a certain source of hellfire. “What happened? Do you know?” Finnit asked. “Sorry—I’m just—I should ask who you are probably?” “I am the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “I think—I think he banished me?” “He did.” You tapped an idle claw against your ivory armchair. “I’m sorry, maybe this is too forward, but—look, I’m worried about Vosaphar? I don’t know what happened—what if—what if he—” You took him to the window and pointed to the dark pool, where Vosaphar’s ember twinkled at the bottom. If anything, it had grown brighter. Interesting. “That is his essential coal,” you said. “If he had perished, he would have immediately returned here. If we wait, he will eventually appear. However…” Finnit paced to and fro, trying to shake off his anxiety. “What if he’s hurt—he must be—I don’t want to wait!” “It is not a matter of desire, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. Perhaps that hadn’t been a Vosapharian gesture. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Will you—I mean, would you please help me?” “What are your intentions toward Vosaphar?” “My intentions?” Finnit looked puzzled. “What do you—” “Answer my question carefully, mortal.” He looked appropriately worried. “Look, I—I love him. I know it’s been so quick, and maybe you think it’s shallow, just because he’s so beautiful—but, uh, really, I have never felt so close with someone. I mean—he took me to the *sun*, and back. I don’t know what it would mean for us to be together outside of the Pharos Fidelis, in a more normal world. Maybe it won’t work, and we’ll part ways. I think—I mean, I hope you think that we’re worthy of a chance to figure that out.” “Vosaphar will need your help,” you said. “He will suffer from his power. You will stand by him? Treat him respectfully?” “I would—I will.” “Very well.” You paused. “I would send you back to Cairnveld.” You gave a pointed look toward your furnace. “But my fire is too weak for such a feat. Won’t you stoke it?” “Stoke it?” Finnit looked nervous. “What, uh—what do you want? My soul?” How amusing. “Are you offering that?” You approached him, attempting to loom in the way he found so appealing when Vosaphar did it. Finnit looked terrified as you reached down and plucked a glowing lens fragment from his hair. “No, Finnit. Not your soul. I want these.” “Oh—is that all? Yes, you can have them. They’re not even really mine, I don’t think.” Finnit parted easily with the fragments, tossing each into the furnace as he found it. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to cause some new chaos. He had no sense of priorities. And neither—apparently—did you, entertaining this… cloyingly earnest romantic nonsense. You reached for Finnit’s transit band, warping the sigils such that they would send Finnit on his way. Before activating it, you paused. “If you treat Vosaphar with anything less than the respect owed to such an unreasonably affectionate devil, I will send every specter in my dominion to drag you back here, and drown you in these depths for all eternity.” It was a joke. Mostly. You were sure that Finnit appreciated it. With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. You basked in the new heat now crackling and seething in your furnace. And how ridiculous an exchange it was, to receive all that energy for a trivial bit of spellcraft. Even an incubus would have found no pleasure in the seduction of such easy prey. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[That’s why you did it, right? You *just* wanted the power. Nothing more. You felt nothing else. Surely. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[Survive. ⇒->26BBAAAA. Vosaphar]]]]]]]</div>] Unless: (link-reveal: "You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. Darkness pooled around you, threshed with dozens of unblinking, glowing eyes. Gobs of loose flesh sizzled on charred bones to add to the illusion’s sensory overload. You adopted a threatening posture and swept out of your cottage to approach Finnit, trailing black grease in your wake. “Mortal!” you shouted, startling him. “You dare trespass upon my dominion?” Finnit turned your way, and his breath hitched at the loathsome sight of you. He cowered. Mortals were so susceptible to this kind of stagecraft, weren’t they? “I—I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—” “Silence!” You stretched and oozed before him. “You have stolen from me. You must return what I’m owed.” Finnit’s eyes darted about wildly, as if he were considering running away. He wouldn’t make it far. “Could you please—um—grand one? Uh, what did I steal?” “My *light*.” You over-articulated the “t” with such exuberance that flecks of acid splattered from your many mouths. “The Pharos Fidelis.” You wrapped a slimy tentacle around his arm, pulling him closer so you could pluck one of the fragments from his clothes. “What? Oh. Oh you can—you can have those. They’re, um, not even mine.” He was too frightened to assist in this process, so you grabbed each fragment, showing no regard for his comfort. Shards collected—from his perspective, devoured—you began shambling back to your cottage. “Wait!” Finnit called after you. “Um—I need—I need to get back to Vosaphar—do you know him? Or—” “I am the warden of these calciferous wastes, and he is my subject. Mortal longings are not my concern…” “But please, I—” “…Unless, of course, you wish to receive… an accord.” And there it was. Not only had you easily liberated the shards from his unworthy possession, but you could do even more to sate your rage with the proceedings of the eclipse. “An accord?” Finnit asked. “You’ll help me get back?” “For a *price*,” you hissed. “I gave you—I gave you the fragments!” He seemed to have realized his mistake. Perhaps he ought to have actually read *Case Studies in Infernal Betrayal* instead of assuming all demons would be as needy and pathetic as Vosaphar. “You claimed yourself that you had no ownership over them. They are mine already. One cannot offer a gift already granted.” “So what do you want?” His voice was strained. “My soul?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“*That* is worthless.” Drawing from the power of the fragments you held, you manifested a bloodfrost dagger from the fog, its keen edge sharp enough to carve the walls of the lazurynth. “Take this dagger to Luminary Raekard. I tire of his incompetent scheming. Carve out his heart. Then burn it in a ring of hellfire until it is but ash on the wind.” “But I—I can’t kill someone!” Finnit shouted. “That’s absurd—even someone as awful as him—and he’s so dangerous. It would never work.” “Then you will die here, and never again wrap your wretched limbs around the devil you cling to in the dark.” You sidled into your cottage, leaving him to contemplate his mortal morality while you stoked the furnace with the fragments. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to inflict some new misery upon the world. It wasn’t long before he approached you again. He looked directly at you, gazing into your seething core, and without stumbling, said, “I accept those terms.” You wrapped a tendril around the hilt of the dagger and offered it to him. He took it, his expression grim and determined. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[You *almost* believed he could do it. With a burst of magic, you activated his bracelet—the transit band—and sent him to his terrible fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[Append. ⇒->P4BBAAAB. Fourth Principle]]]]]]]</div> ] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. Well, at least the version of yourself that held court, lording your specificity over these dismal barrens. Finnit would get to see you for what you were: powerful, yet petty. Exhausted, too. It was miserable to live with your failures. You slunk to your soot-stained armchair by the furnace, waiting for the mortal to arrive. He knocked at the door. “Hello? Is—is someone in here?” “Come in, Finnit.” He opened the door, and saw you by the furnace. What texture the man had taken on since he left Cairnveld, struggling through your schemes in that desperate way that humans are wont to do. You gestured for him to sit in the chair across from yours. He obliged, if a bit warily. “Welcome to my calciferous wastes,” you said. “I wonder what you think of them?” “Calciferous wastes?” Something flickered in his eyes. “Is that—do you know Vosaphar?” “Answer my question first, if you will.” Finnit seemed taken aback, but recovered. “Well, if you really want to know—I can see why Vosaphar was so determined to leave.” You could almost see him realizing in real time that he probably was meant to say something kinder. “Not that there isn’t something… eerily beautiful about the colors streaking across the sky. But, it’s very cold and sharp and it seems sad, I guess?” “Yes, Vosaphar is troubled by his existence. As are we all.” You clicked your claws against the coralbone armrest. “You look—If you don’t mind me saying—you look familiar to me. But I don’t understand why. Who are you?” “I’m the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “So I guess he banished me here? It was the first place he thought of?” “I’m flattered.” A pause. “And perhaps you ought to be relieved that he didn’t recall the lazurynth quicker.” “I need to get back to him.” Finnit fixed you with a serious expression. “He might be hurt, or—I want to get back. Please. He means—he means a lot to me.” “It is not a matter of necessity, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Wait—I know why you look familiar!” He studied your face once more. “You look a little bit like… my grandmother.” “The trees in Tinfallow have deep roots indeed, if they reach all the way to these calciferous wastes.” “I don’t understand.” He bit his lip. “There are too many pieces—it’s hard to look at directly.” “Then focus on the piece of it you care about.” “Vosaphar.” “Of course. Young love. Star-crossed, even.” You sighed. “Well, I could send you on your way to Cairnveld.” You pointed at his bracelet. “But…” “You want something in return?” Finnit asked, leaning forward. “What is it? What do you want?” “What I *really* want is for you to have written my name correctly on the Pharos Fidelis.” Finnit sat back again. “That’s—that’s *you*? Your name? I expected someone so much more…” “Impressive?” You gave a hollow laugh. “Terrifying,” he finished. “But you seem, I don’t know, reasonable enough?” “I’m sure it seems that way.” “Well I—I don’t think I can undo what happened,” Finnit said. “I’m sorry it didn’t work. I know it may not look that way, but I really did try. I don’t know what it would’ve done if it worked, but I tried.” “You did.” You looked over at your furnace, where your sluggish motes of hellfire simmered. “I want the lens fragments in your possession.” “Lens fragments?” You pointed them out in his hair and on his clothes. “So that’s what you’re proposing as the terms of an exchange? I give you these shards, and you’ll send me back to Cairnveld?” “Yes.” “It just seems… I don’t know. I feel like there is still so much that I’m missing? If you—if you really are connected to me, in some way… would you want to… stay in touch?” You hadn’t expected *that*, of all things. “You want the warden of the calciferous wastes to offer you… mentorship.” “I’ve done much weirder things today!” Finnit said, rather defensively. “I went to the *sun*. Look, my mentor is Luminary Raekard. An actual demon would be a significant improvement.” “Ah, Raekard. I regret my part in that, given how it went.” “What?” Finnit’s eyes widened. “What do you mean you—” “Finnit, I propose an addendum to our… accord. If you wish to speak with me, you shall have one chance to do so during each new moon. Sacrifice a lens fragment in my name, and we shall converse for one hour.” “I’m not sure how I’ll get more of these,” Finnit said. “It seems expensive.” “And yet, a single fragment pales against the scale of what you destroyed. You could not possibly comprehend how far you’ve set me back. But,” you added, softening your tone, “I will make that hour as worthwhile as you wish it to be.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit accepted those terms, tossing each of the lens fragments on his person into your furnace. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to bend ever more futures in your favor. “Thank you,” Finnit said, as you adjusted the sigils on his transit band. “I—I’m glad to have met you.” With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[Survive. ⇒->26BBAAAC. Vosaphar]]]]</div> ]]]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Mote]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived the shattering. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A constellation circled overhead, screeching as it descended. The sunspot, now barely recognizable as an amalgamation of blackened sunflesh and thousands of seething fragments, alighted on a rock nearby, and began snapping at Vosaphar’s lens fragments, shredding the flesh above his liver. Try though he might to crawl to safety, the creature still pursued him, tearing at the glass embedded in him. And then, he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BBAAAC]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived the shattering. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A constellation circled overhead, screeching as it descended. The sunspot, now barely recognizable as an amalgamation of blackened sunflesh and thousands of seething fragments, alighted on a rock nearby, and began snapping at Vosaphar’s lens fragments, shredding the flesh above his liver. Try though he might to crawl to safety, the creature still pursued him, tearing at the glass embedded in him. And then, he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BBAAAC]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 3)[Anathema.] (text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 1.15)[The Fourth Principle of Summoning.]</div> A timely addendum, courtesy of you. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Behold the fourth principle of summoning: (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color:#a01404)[**4. The Principle of Voluntary and Efficient Accession to the Extraordinarily Reasonable Conditions Imposed by the Magnanimous Warden of the Calciferous Wastes, Who Certainly Never Even Cared About the Pharos Fidelis, And Certainly Not the Absurd Romantic Yearnings of Your Pathetic Subjects—Or Else.**] Summoners who willingly and knowingly forge an accord with you must see their bargain through, or suffer the consequences of incompetence and betrayal. (text-color:#a01404)[***Implication:***] You suffered long and worked hard to eke out your existence. (text-color:#a01404)[***Implication:***] You generously helped him plenty up to this point—for free. It wasn’t such a high price to ask him to kill someone he hated anyway. You both benefited from this accord. (text-color:#a01404)[***Implication:***] His failure was inevitable. You weren’t *really* invested in his survival, or his potential to shift the tenor of human-demon relations. You were just hungry for more power, right? You just wanted to enrich your tiny slice of the hells, fuel your furnace, as you had always done. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It would have been unreasonable for *you*, of all beings, to have cared. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Subsume. ⇒->26BBAAAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Behold the fourth principle of summoning: (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color:#f17264)[**4. The Principle of Voluntary and Efficient Accession to the Extraordinarily Reasonable Conditions Imposed by the Magnanimous Warden of the Calciferous Wastes, Who Certainly Never Even Cared About the Pharos Fidelis, And Certainly Not the Absurd Romantic Yearnings of Your Pathetic Subjects—Or Else.**] Summoners who willingly and knowingly forge an accord with you must see their bargain through, or suffer the consequences of incompetence and betrayal. (text-color:#f17264)[***Implication:***] You suffered long and worked hard to eke out your existence. (text-color:#f17264)[***Implication:***] You generously helped him plenty up to this point—for free. It wasn’t such a high price to ask him to kill someone he hated anyway. You both benefited from this accord. (text-color:#f17264)[***Implication:***] His failure was inevitable. You weren’t *really* invested in his survival, or his potential to shift the tenor of human-demon relations. You were just hungry for more power, right? You just wanted to enrich your tiny slice of the hells, fuel your furnace, as you had always done. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It would have been unreasonable for *you*, of all beings, to have cared. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Subsume. ⇒->26BBAAAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived the shattering. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A constellation circled overhead, screeching as it descended. The sunspot, now barely recognizable as an amalgamation of blackened sunflesh and thousands of seething fragments, alighted on a rock nearby, and began snapping at Vosaphar’s lens fragments, shredding the flesh above his liver. Try though he might to crawl to safety, the creature still pursued him, tearing at the glass embedded in him. And then, he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BBAAAA]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived the shattering. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A constellation circled overhead, screeching as it descended. The sunspot, now barely recognizable as an amalgamation of blackened sunflesh and thousands of seething fragments, alighted on a rock nearby, and began snapping at Vosaphar’s lens fragments, shredding the flesh above his liver. Try though he might to crawl to safety, the creature still pursued him, tearing at the glass embedded in him. And then, he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BBAAAA]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. But a new threat lurked. The distorted sunspot, after consuming many remnants of the shattered lens, landed atop the melted peak and constructed a new nest of thousands and thousands of glowing fragments. The starscorched creature menaced any ships that dared disturb its territory. It had become, in effect, the next Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what it wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BBA. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BBAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s clinginess. However, his distrust caused him to reject clinginess in favor of desperation, impulsively banishing Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be a fortunate miscalculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25BBAAA. Finnit]]]</div> You took a comforting form, nurturing his budding relationship with Vosaphar in exchange for the lens fragments on his person. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. But a new threat lurked. The distorted sunspot, after consuming many remnants of the shattered lens, landed atop the melted peak and constructed a new nest of thousands and thousands of glowing fragments. The starscorched creature menaced any ships that dared disturb its territory. It had become, in effect, the next Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what it wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BBA. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BBAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s clinginess. However, his distrust caused him to reject clinginess in favor of desperation, impulsively banishing Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be a fortunate miscalculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25BBAAA. Finnit]]]</div> You took a comforting form, nurturing his budding relationship with Vosaphar in exchange for the lens fragments on his person. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived the shattering. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[If he had known that it was already too late, would that have been better? For him? For you? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A constellation circled overhead, screeching as it descended. The sunspot, now barely recognizable as an amalgamation of blackened sunflesh and thousands of seething fragments, alighted on a rock nearby, and began snapping at Vosaphar’s lens fragments, shredding the flesh above his liver. Try though he might to crawl to safety, no miraculous rescue arrived. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before the sunspot had its fill of him. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BBAAAB]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived the shattering. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[If he had known that it was already too late, would that have been better? For him? For you? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A constellation circled overhead, screeching as it descended. The sunspot, now barely recognizable as an amalgamation of blackened sunflesh and thousands of seething fragments, alighted on a rock nearby, and began snapping at Vosaphar’s lens fragments, shredding the flesh above his liver. Try though he might to crawl to safety, no miraculous rescue arrived. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before the sunspot had its fill of him. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BBAAAB]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the brief union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Finnit perished in a failed assassination attempt upon his return to Cairnveld, screaming of the sun. A strange footnote to this history. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. But a new threat lurked. The distorted sunspot, after consuming the demon Vosaphar, landed atop the melted peak and constructed a new nest of thousands and thousands of lens fragments. The starscorched creature menaced any ships that dared disturb its territory. It had become, in effect, the next Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what it wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BBA. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BBAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s clinginess. However, his distrust caused him to reject clinginess in favor of desperation, impulsively banishing Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be a fortunate miscalculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25BBAAA. Finnit]]]</div> You took a terrifying form, seizing his lens fragments for yourself, and dooming him with an impossible accord. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and absolutely no complicated feelings arose. Goodness. You may yet revisit the choices above.] If you insist instead upon accepting this catastrophic outcome... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the brief union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Finnit perished in a failed assassination attempt upon his return to Cairnveld, screaming of the sun. A strange footnote to this history. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. But a new threat lurked. The distorted sunspot, after consuming the demon Vosaphar, landed atop the melted peak and constructed a new nest of thousands and thousands of lens fragments. The starscorched creature menaced any ships that dared disturb its territory. It had become, in effect, the next Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what it wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BBA. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BBAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s clinginess. However, his distrust caused him to reject clinginess in favor of desperation, impulsively banishing Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be a fortunate miscalculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25BBAAA. Finnit]]]</div> You took a terrifying form, seizing his lens fragments for yourself, and dooming him with an impossible accord. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and absolutely no complicated feelings arose. Goodness. You may yet revisit the choices above.] If you insist instead upon accepting this catastrophic outcome... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. But a new threat lurked. The distorted sunspot, after consuming many remnants of the shattered lens, landed atop the melted peak and constructed a new nest of thousands and thousands of glowing fragments. The starscorched creature menaced any ships that dared disturb its territory. It had become, in effect, the next Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what it wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BBA. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BBAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s clinginess. However, his distrust caused him to reject clinginess in favor of desperation, impulsively banishing Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be a fortunate miscalculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25BBAAA. Finnit]]]</div> You took an honest form, developing a stronger connection with Finnit while ensuring ongoing access to lens fragments in the future. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. But a new threat lurked. The distorted sunspot, after consuming many remnants of the shattered lens, landed atop the melted peak and constructed a new nest of thousands and thousands of glowing fragments. The starscorched creature menaced any ships that dared disturb its territory. It had become, in effect, the next Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what it wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BBA. Warden]]]</div> You approached Vosaphar, revealing your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to instigate distrust of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BBAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You attempted to incite Vosaphar’s clinginess. However, his distrust caused him to reject clinginess in favor of desperation, impulsively banishing Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be a fortunate miscalculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25BBAAA. Finnit]]]</div> You took an honest form, developing a stronger connection with Finnit while ensuring ongoing access to lens fragments in the future. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[XVIII.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">It wasn’t long before even the shock of Vosaphar’s emergence from the pool—exactly as cold and miserable as you had promised him it would be—had begun to fade into the listlessness of wandering the wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The residual magic Finnit had accorded him allowed him to travel faster and further than before. His slash wounds scabbed over more readily, healing further with each attempt. Something had shifted in his specificity. He should have been satisfied with that. Satisfied with the memories of what was, and dreams of what could have been, for bitter honey still bore sweetness. Didn’t it? Another kind of wound had carved itself into his heart. Without Finnit, Vosaphar’s existence felt darker and emptier than it ever had before. He wondered what might be about to happen, was happening, or had already happened at the Pharos Fidelis. Was Finnit still preparing his ritual of communion with the lens? Was it already over? Could he have been, right at that moment, spiraling amidst its unfathomable secrets? Perhaps Finnit’s rite had failed, the cursed lens consuming his soul as it had so many others. But, it could also be… something else. Another reason. Just as that doubt crept in, the devil felt a familiar sensation tugging at his core. Heat coursed through his veins as a tendril of sorcery unfurled for him, awaiting his tender grasp. (align:"<==")[And then—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=========")[Vosaphar] (align:"=><==")[at last] (align:"=><=")[recalled] (align:"===><==")[his] (align:"==><=")[own] (align:"===><=")[principle] (align:"=========><=")[of] (align:"==>")[flight—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Spread wings. ⇒->19BBAB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">It wasn’t long before even the shock of Vosaphar’s emergence from the pool—exactly as cold and miserable as you had promised him it would be—had begun to fade into the listlessness of wandering the wastes. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The residual magic Finnit had accorded him allowed him to travel faster and further than before. His slash wounds scabbed over more readily, healing further with each attempt. Something had shifted in his specificity. He should have been satisfied with that. Satisfied with the memories of what was, and dreams of what could have been, for bitter honey still bore sweetness. Didn’t it? Another kind of wound had carved itself into his heart. Without Finnit, Vosaphar’s existence felt darker and emptier than it ever had before. He wondered what might be about to happen, was happening, or had already happened at the Pharos Fidelis. Was Finnit still preparing his ritual of communion with the lens? Was it already over? Could he have been, right at that moment, spiraling amidst its unfathomable secrets? Perhaps Finnit’s rite had failed, the cursed lens consuming his soul as it had so many others. But, it could also be… something else. Another reason. Just as that doubt crept in, the devil felt a familiar sensation tugging at his core. Heat coursed through his veins as a tendril of sorcery unfurled for him, awaiting his tender grasp. (align:"<==")[And then—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(align:"=><=========")[Vosaphar] (align:"=><==")[at last] (align:"=><=")[recalled] (align:"===><==")[his] (align:"==><=")[own] (align:"===><=")[principle] (align:"=========><=")[of] (align:"==>")[flight—] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Spread wings. ⇒->19BBAB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Landing Default]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XIX.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">Atop the Pharos Fidelis, Finnit remained just in sight of the great split glass that had spilled its secrets. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he smeared the last of his wax sticks to stubs on wet stone, he did not give the lens a further thought. He did not obey the principle of authoritarian primacy. He did not beware the principle of semantic dilution. He did not account for the principle of planar reversion. He thought only of Vosaphar, with a singular intensity of focus that even the Pharos Fidelis could never have dreamed of refracting. The circle of waxen glyphs coursed with scarlet fire, brighter than Finnit had ever seen it. He averted his gaze, eyes watering. When he looked back, Vosaphar had manifested before him once more. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[From his back spread wings wrought of fire, eldritch blue roiled with red and magenta—the colors of Finnit’s own magic, now intertwined with Vosaphar’s. Finnit’s eyes traveled further, noting ichor scabs crisscrossing the devil’s scarred blue chest, and then, curls of rough hair trailing immodestly past his navel. Streaks of lightning slashed green across the sky, glinting off his fearsome horns. Raindrops sizzled as the demon swept them aside, wreathing himself in silver mist. Vosaphar looked every bit an archfiend of legend looming over him, his eyes fixed on Finnit, reaching forward to press the sorcerer against the cliffside, claws clasping his wrists. “Vosaphar—” The infernal heat overwhelmed his mortal senses. “Please—Vosaphar, kiss m—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon pressed his lips gently against Finnit’s, dark beard bristling against his tender skin, breathing out brimstone incense that smoldered in Finnit’s throat. Just when Finnit thought himself on the verge of feeling too much, that Vosaphar might devour his soul and all his magic in a final, blissful moment of agony, the fiend held back, slackening his grip, and smiled. “I couldn’t wait until I got back,” Finnit said, his vision still sparking. “I—I needed to see you again.” “That’s not all you need.” Vosaphar leaned forward, so close still that Finnit could see details pitted into his horns. “What is it exactly that you imagine, lustful one? A dreadful devil from your darkest dreams, ever so sweetly domineering?” “I–” Finnit felt dazed as those fevered imaginings grew sharper into his mind. “I mean—well—now that you’ve brought it up, that sounds—” “Too bad,” Vosaphar said, his voice sly and soft. “My dear Finnit, you’re all *wet*.” And he was. He’d completely abandoned his wards in the midst of an endless storm. How embarrassing. Finnit also noticed that, in his exuberance to kiss him, Vosaphar had clumsily scorched Finnit’s sleeves with his wings. Suddenly, the demon felt less like some legendary figure, and instead like something better. Something real. Finnit’s companion. Finnit’s love. Finnit’s Vosaphar. “We should head back down,” Finnit said. “We should.” Vosaphar pushed one of Finnit’s loose curls back. “But listen, Finnit. When we do, I want *you* to take the lead. I want things to be… gentle, between us. For now. How does that sound?” “I have never wanted something so much in my entire existence.” Vosaphar grinned, ivory fangs glinting. “Good.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[What followed was an evening of tender fumbling and grasping. Finnit had been piqued by the fantasy of Vosaphar looming over him; and it remained a thought he wanted to revisit later. But, he found that this gentle, deliberate exploration—some serenity among the profane—brought him closer to understanding the demon in a way he found difficult to articulate but easy to just experience as it happened. Tomorrow, research awaited. But for now, Finnit’s fears grew distant as he slept, wrapped against Vosaphar like a warm satchel. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Interrogate. ⇒->C1BBAB. Sunlight]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">Atop the Pharos Fidelis, Finnit remained just in sight of the great split glass that had spilled its secrets. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he smeared the last of his wax sticks to stubs on wet stone, he did not give the lens a further thought. He did not obey the principle of authoritarian primacy. He did not beware the principle of semantic dilution. He did not account for the principle of planar reversion. He thought only of Vosaphar, with a singular intensity of focus that even the Pharos Fidelis could never have dreamed of refracting. The circle of waxen glyphs coursed with scarlet fire, brighter than Finnit had ever seen it. He averted his gaze, eyes watering. When he looked back, Vosaphar had manifested before him once more. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[From his back spread wings wrought of fire, eldritch blue roiled with red and magenta—the colors of Finnit’s own magic, now intertwined with Vosaphar’s. Finnit’s eyes traveled further, noting ichor scabs crisscrossing the devil’s scarred blue chest, and then, curls of rough hair trailing immodestly past his navel. Streaks of lightning slashed green across the sky, glinting off his fearsome horns. Raindrops sizzled as the demon swept them aside, wreathing himself in silver mist. Vosaphar looked every bit an archfiend of legend looming over him, his eyes fixed on Finnit, reaching forward to press the sorcerer against the cliffside, claws clasping his wrists. “Vosaphar—” The infernal heat overwhelmed his mortal senses. “Please—Vosaphar, kiss m—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon pressed his lips gently against Finnit’s, dark beard bristling against his tender skin, breathing out brimstone incense that smoldered in Finnit’s throat. Just when Finnit thought himself on the verge of feeling too much, that Vosaphar might devour his soul and all his magic in a final, blissful moment of agony, the fiend held back, slackening his grip, and smiled. “I couldn’t wait until I got back,” Finnit said, his vision still sparking. “I—I needed to see you again.” “That’s not all you need.” Vosaphar leaned forward, so close still that Finnit could see details pitted into his horns. “What is it exactly that you imagine, lustful one? A dreadful devil from your darkest dreams, ever so sweetly domineering?” “I–” Finnit felt dazed as those fevered imaginings grew sharper into his mind. “I mean—well—now that you’ve brought it up, that sounds—” “Too bad,” Vosaphar said, his voice sly and soft. “My dear Finnit, you’re all *wet*.” And he was. He’d completely abandoned his wards in the midst of an endless storm. How embarrassing. Finnit also noticed that, in his exuberance to kiss him, Vosaphar had clumsily scorched Finnit’s sleeves with his wings. Suddenly, the demon felt less like some legendary figure, and instead like something better. Something real. Finnit’s companion. Finnit’s love. Finnit’s Vosaphar. “We should head back down,” Finnit said. “We should.” Vosaphar pushed one of Finnit’s loose curls back. “But listen, Finnit. When we do, I want *you* to take the lead. I want things to be… gentle, between us. For now. How does that sound?” “I have never wanted something so much in my entire existence.” Vosaphar grinned, ivory fangs glinting. “Good.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[What followed was an evening of tender fumbling and grasping. Finnit had been piqued by the fantasy of Vosaphar looming over him; and it remained a thought he wanted to revisit later. But, he found that this gentle, deliberate exploration—some serenity among the profane—brought him closer to understanding the demon in a way he found difficult to articulate but easy to just experience as it happened. Tomorrow, research awaited. But for now, Finnit’s fears grew distant as he slept, wrapped against Vosaphar like a warm satchel. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Interrogate. ⇒->C1BBAB. Sunlight]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[1st Era | Sunlight.]</div> One more fragment recounting the dark history of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">(text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The illuminative session for Leisenelle, former third officer of the now-renegade vessel ‘Consonance,’ is hereby brought to order. You stand accused of mutiny, murder, theft, deception, consorting with proscribed entities, and willful evasion of justice. Is that correct? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] You would know. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Is that correct? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I guess so. Yes. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“She sounds a lot like you,” Vosaphar murmured, stroking his claws idly through Finnit’s hair. “‘Consorting with proscribed entities?’ What a wicked accusation.” Finnit snorted. “Are you going to bring me to justice?” “Absolutely not.” “Too bad.” </div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Against these accusations, how do you plead? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I do not plead. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] You must make a claim, either to affirm or deny each crime you have been accused of. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I will make no such claims. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The accused has neglected her obligation to plead. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] What’s your deal, anyway? Are you mad? Some pretty vampire in your past tied your morals all up in knots and made you feel sinful? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My role here is strictly illuminative. How did you first come to associate with this vampire? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I was trying to find out the truth about this island. But none of them would talk to me. The islanders, I mean. They resent us. You know that, right? Look at what we’ve done to them since we got here. Someone has to stop it. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, mark a note down for ‘sedition,’ would you? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">At least the clerics are obligated to transcribe what they actually heard. Historians ought to learn from their example. ⚞L. Raekard (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“I think Raekard’s distaste for historians gets in his way,” Finnit said. “How could we possibly know, at this point, what liberties the cleric might have taken?” “It’s going to take more than historians to put a stop to him.” Finnit laughed, but Vosaphar hadn’t told a joke.</div>] </div>] (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] You didn’t have that one already? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Continue. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Fine. This one woman approached me, and told me to visit her house on the outskirts after sundown. I thought she might be into me—and maybe she was, a little—but she wanted me to meet her grandmother. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Yeah. Did the ‘after sundown’ part give it away? I’m not a good storyteller. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The only things your story requires are honesty and accuracy. Justice will account for the rest. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Whatever you need to tell yourself. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] I don’t ‘need’ to do anything. My role here is strictly illuminative. As the accused has been reminded. Continue. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] So, I waited for dusk, and paid her a visit. Her grandmother was living in the basement. Some kind of herbalist, I guess. The whole time we talked, she was crushing up these weird seedpods in a mortar and pestle. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] At what point did you realize this entity was a vampire? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] Not until after, when… (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] When what? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] When you killed her. Robbed us of her wisdom, kindness, perspective, heart, all she contributed to her community. And for what? Some ash? Dust? Is there not already enough collecting between the folds of your ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that last term for obscenity. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] What, you’re more scandalized by me describing your dust-crusted ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆ than your violence? (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that one as well. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“Which word do you suppose was stricken here?” Vosaphar asked. “Asscheeks,” Finnit said solemnly. “Has to be.”</div>] (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] So you don’t have an answer. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The entity in question was brought before sunlight and destroyed in accordance with all legal and moral precedent. Any ‘violence’ is lawful, and thereby just. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] And you wonder why they hate us. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Hatred is not the subject of this illuminative session. What did your proscribed discussion entail? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] She told me all kinds of stories about this place, how they have fine-tuned their relationship with the island to keep things running, letting their traditions evolve with the conditions. I think her granddaughter wanted her to have someone new to talk to, so she could share all this with someone. The old woman told me that when sun and moon meet in the sky, the boundary between our world and theirs grows thin. At such a momentous event, the cleverest and quickest might climb into the throat of the island and cross the threshold to the cosmos. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">At last. Something of value in this tedious discussion. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire spoke metaphorically, did it not? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">I wondered the same thing. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] No, I don’t think she did. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Explain. (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] She said that when the celestial hosts of the heavens are distracted with their dance, the sun grows just cool enough to touch. She dipped her finger into the mortar, and showed me a golden bead of oil, and she said even a drop of sunlight was enough to bless the island for a century, but few survived the transit. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightraekardletter">They must not have understood what they were doing. How could they have, without knowledge of the Three Principles? If there is any truth to it at all, it is clearly some underdeveloped rite of self-banishment, resulting in a temporary transference of a mortal into the hells until planar reversion draws them back. If that. Nevertheless, the ritual is worth investigating further. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] It claimed to have performed this… feat? (text-color:#999888)[**ACCUSED:**] I believe her. You would’ve too, had you been there. Thankfully, you weren’t. (text-color:#4c4833)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My opinion toward the superstitious musings of a proscribed entity is not the subject of this session. My role here is strictly— (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="lightchroniclediscussion">“Illuminative,” Vosaphar said, looking out into the storm. “That’s it?” Finnit asked. “But I want to know… so much more.” “And yet, we know more now than we did before. Does this not confirm what you saw in the lens?” “I guess so. Still…” </div>] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightchroniclechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[[[Suspect. ⇒->20BABA. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">(text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The illuminative session for Leisenelle, former third officer of the now-renegade vessel ‘Consonance,’ is hereby brought to order. You stand accused of mutiny, murder, theft, deception, consorting with proscribed entities, and willful evasion of justice. Is that correct? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] You would know. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Is that correct? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I guess so. Yes. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“She sounds a lot like you,” Vosaphar murmured, stroking his claws idly through Finnit’s hair. “‘Consorting with proscribed entities?’ What a wicked accusation.” Finnit snorted. “Are you going to bring me to justice?” “Absolutely not.” “Too bad.” </div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Against these accusations, how do you plead? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I do not plead. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] You must make a claim, either to affirm or deny each crime you have been accused of. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I will make no such claims. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The accused has neglected her obligation to plead. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] What’s your deal, anyway? Are you mad? Some pretty vampire in your past tied your morals all up in knots and made you feel sinful? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My role here is strictly illuminative. How did you first come to associate with this vampire? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I was trying to find out the truth about this island. But none of them would talk to me. The islanders, I mean. They resent us. You know that, right? Look at what we’ve done to them since we got here. Someone has to stop it. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, mark a note down for ‘sedition,’ would you? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">At least the clerics are obligated to transcribe what they actually heard. Historians ought to learn from their example. ⚞L. Raekard (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“I think Raekard’s distaste for historians gets in his way,” Finnit said. “How could we possibly know, at this point, what liberties the cleric might have taken?” “It’s going to take more than historians to put a stop to him.” Finnit laughed, but Vosaphar hadn’t told a joke.</div>] </div>] (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] You didn’t have that one already? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Continue. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Fine. This one woman approached me, and told me to visit her house on the outskirts after sundown. I thought she might be into me—and maybe she was, a little—but she wanted me to meet her grandmother. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Yeah. Did the ‘after sundown’ part give it away? I’m not a good storyteller. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The only things your story requires are honesty and accuracy. Justice will account for the rest. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Whatever you need to tell yourself. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] I don’t ‘need’ to do anything. My role here is strictly illuminative. As the accused has been reminded. Continue. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] So, I waited for dusk, and paid her a visit. Her grandmother was living in the basement. Some kind of herbalist, I guess. The whole time we talked, she was crushing up these weird seedpods in a mortar and pestle. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] At what point did you realize this entity was a vampire? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] Not until after, when… (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] When what? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] When you killed her. Robbed us of her wisdom, kindness, perspective, heart, all she contributed to her community. And for what? Some ash? Dust? Is there not already enough collecting between the folds of your ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that last term for obscenity. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] What, you’re more scandalized by me describing your dust-crusted ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆ than your violence? (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Cleric, strike that one as well. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“Which word do you suppose was stricken here?” Vosaphar asked. “Asscheeks,” Finnit said solemnly. “Has to be.”</div>] (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] So you don’t have an answer. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The entity in question was brought before sunlight and destroyed in accordance with all legal and moral precedent. Any ‘violence’ is lawful, and thereby just. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] And you wonder why they hate us. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Hatred is not the subject of this illuminative session. What did your proscribed discussion entail? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] She told me all kinds of stories about this place, how they have fine-tuned their relationship with the island to keep things running, letting their traditions evolve with the conditions. I think her granddaughter wanted her to have someone new to talk to, so she could share all this with someone. The old woman told me that when sun and moon meet in the sky, the boundary between our world and theirs grows thin. At such a momentous event, the cleverest and quickest might climb into the throat of the island and cross the threshold to the cosmos. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">At last. Something of value in this tedious discussion. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] The vampire spoke metaphorically, did it not? (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">I wondered the same thing. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] No, I don’t think she did. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] Explain. (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] She said that when the celestial hosts of the heavens are distracted with their dance, the sun grows just cool enough to touch. She dipped her finger into the mortar, and showed me a golden bead of oil, and she said even a drop of sunlight was enough to bless the island for a century, but few survived the transit. (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="raekardletter">They must not have understood what they were doing. How could they have, without knowledge of the Three Principles? If there is any truth to it at all, it is clearly some underdeveloped rite of self-banishment, resulting in a temporary transference of a mortal into the hells until planar reversion draws them back. If that. Nevertheless, the ritual is worth investigating further. ⚞L. Raekard</div>] (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] It claimed to have performed this… feat? (text-color:#aaa792)[**ACCUSED:**] I believe her. You would’ve too, had you been there. Thankfully, you weren’t. (text-color:#d7cc90)[**JUSTICIAR:**] My opinion toward the superstitious musings of a proscribed entity is not the subject of this session. My role here is strictly— (link:"⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[ <div class="chroniclediscussion">“Illuminative,” Vosaphar said, looking out into the storm. “That’s it?” Finnit asked. “But I want to know… so much more.” “And yet, we know more now than we did before. Does this not confirm what you saw in the lens?” “I guess so. Still…” </div>] (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="chroniclechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))[[[Suspect. ⇒->20BBAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#927b1a")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Chronicle]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XX.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoscentralpassage">With fewer than a handful of days remaining until the eclipse, Vosaphar was determined to spend as much of that time as he could with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon now wondered why they had wasted the preceding days doing everything else *except* wrapping up together in blankets, speaking softly to one another. His ordeals felt paler against the comfort of this heat. Had your machinations even mattered for this? Under these conditions, wouldn’t they have always found themselves in love? You had no motes for lust. Though, based on what you had seen, you wouldn’t have needed them. Goodness. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Once they were ready to venture out, Finnit led Vosaphar back up the cliffside stairs to the crevice dotted with rusted anchors and unhatched eggs. The demon scanned the shadows, half-expecting another of the winged horrors to be laying in wait. Instead, the cavern was desolate, its foreboding stillness prickling the hairs on the back of his neck as it led ever deeper into the mountain. Eventually, the passage opened into a roughly circular chamber. “Look, Vosaphar,” Finnit intoned, pointing up. “We’re right beneath the lens.” Black slag had oozed down from the ceiling, frozen into organic stalactites that reflected no light from Finnit’s orb. While still fluid, they had dripped, leaving a few glassy patches spread across the altar. *Click*. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“What was that?” Vosaphar whispered. He cautiously approached the altar, a raised disk with a tight spiral grooved into its otherwise flat surface. “There,” Finnit whispered. “See the moon?” *Click*. A mechanism lowered a miniature pewter grate, allowing a tiny white sphere to roll a little further forward along the channel. At the center of the spiral lay a rendering of the sun, blotched by inky glass that had dripped down from above. “So much for studying the almanac.” Finnit paced around the pedestal. “This device is telling us how much is left until the eclipse. If we had known earlier…” “But we know now,” Vosaphar said. “Look at how close it is.” Vast and fiddly though the design was, the moon had wound its way close to the center. It was an unwelcome reminder of the future approaching, click by— *Click*. A taut silence stretched between them. Vosaphar had thoughts that he was unwilling to admit to. *Click*. “What if we just stayed here?” Finnit voiced. “Well maybe not this particular chamber. I mean the Pharos Fidelis in general.” He looked down at the transit bracelet Raekard had given him. “I could throw this in the ocean. We could ignore the lens. Stay here as long as we wanted.” “There’s nothing for you to eat, Finnit.” *Click.* “Would you even want to go to the academy?” Finnit stared at the pedestal. “Who even knows what they’d do to you, or—” “I am willing to risk it,” Vosaphar said. “I cannot say what the future holds. But we can’t stay here. I’m in no hurry to descend back to the calciferous wastes. And you have your life to live. I would rather join you in whatever of that you are willing to have me for, or until we choose to part. Is that not the way forward in such matters? The real accord?” *Click.* Finnit was silent for a few more moments. “Yes. You’re right. But I’m scared. This could all go so wrong.” Vosaphar embraced Finnit, holding him close. “It might. We will do our best, regardless.” They stayed together a while longer, before journeying back to their strange little home in the cliffside. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[At the eclipse, they would return. And the fate of the Pharos Fidelis would at last be decided. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Petition. ⇒->RBBAB. Calciferous]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoscentralpassage">With fewer than a handful of days remaining until the eclipse, Vosaphar was determined to spend as much of that time as he could with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The demon now wondered why they had wasted the preceding days doing everything else *except* wrapping up together in blankets, speaking softly to one another. His ordeals felt paler against the comfort of this heat. Had your machinations even mattered for this? Under these conditions, wouldn’t they have always found themselves in love? You had no motes for lust. Though, based on what you had seen, you wouldn’t have needed them. Goodness. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Once they were ready to venture out, Finnit led Vosaphar back up the cliffside stairs to the crevice dotted with rusted anchors and unhatched eggs. The demon scanned the shadows, half-expecting another of the winged horrors to be laying in wait. Instead, the cavern was desolate, its foreboding stillness prickling the hairs on the back of his neck as it led ever deeper into the mountain. Eventually, the passage opened into a roughly circular chamber. “Look, Vosaphar,” Finnit intoned, pointing up. “We’re right beneath the lens.” Black slag had oozed down from the ceiling, frozen into organic stalactites that reflected no light from Finnit’s orb. While still fluid, they had dripped, leaving a few glassy patches spread across the altar. *Click*. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“What was that?” Vosaphar whispered. He cautiously approached the altar, a raised disk with a tight spiral grooved into its otherwise flat surface. “There,” Finnit whispered. “See the moon?” *Click*. A mechanism lowered a miniature pewter grate, allowing a tiny white sphere to roll a little further forward along the channel. At the center of the spiral lay a rendering of the sun, blotched by inky glass that had dripped down from above. “So much for studying the almanac.” Finnit paced around the pedestal. “This device is telling us how much is left until the eclipse. If we had known earlier…” “But we know now,” Vosaphar said. “Look at how close it is.” Vast and fiddly though the design was, the moon had wound its way close to the center. It was an unwelcome reminder of the future approaching, click by— *Click*. A taut silence stretched between them. Vosaphar had thoughts that he was unwilling to admit to. *Click*. “What if we just stayed here?” Finnit voiced. “Well maybe not this particular chamber. I mean the Pharos Fidelis in general.” He looked down at the transit bracelet Raekard had given him. “I could throw this in the ocean. We could ignore the lens. Stay here as long as we wanted.” “There’s nothing for you to eat, Finnit.” *Click.* “Would you even want to go to the academy?” Finnit stared at the pedestal. “Who even knows what they’d do to you, or—” “I am willing to risk it,” Vosaphar said. “I cannot say what the future holds. But we can’t stay here. I’m in no hurry to descend back to the calciferous wastes. And you have your life to live. I would rather join you in whatever of that you are willing to have me for, or until we choose to part. Is that not the way forward in such matters? The real accord?” *Click.* Finnit was silent for a few more moments. “Yes. You’re right. But I’m scared. This could all go so wrong.” Vosaphar embraced Finnit, holding him close. “It might. We will do our best, regardless.” They stayed together a while longer, before journeying back to their strange little home in the cliffside. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[At the eclipse, they would return. And the fate of the Pharos Fidelis would at last be decided. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoscentralchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Petition. ⇒->RBBAB. Calciferous]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[Recollection.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">Vosaphar’s spilling ichor sang to them so sweetly, libations that lured all manner of lips to lap. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[No longer able to fly, the beleaguered demon ran, stumbled, staggered, crawled—anything he could do to place another lazurynthine wall between himself and his nearest pursuer. He needed somewhere dark and quiet, somewhere safe to recover. Such amenities were unavailable in the lazurynth. But there were other hells than these. Vosaphar slipped through an inky gap between walls that had lost definition, their geometry corrupted by some other force. He sank into an oily pool, far beneath the febrile blue heat. He could no longer tell where the sludge began and his blood ended, drifting ever downward. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Eventually he reached the shore near your cottage, not yet fragmented to spectral remnants. Still specific, despite it all. He crawled to your doorstep, begging for relief from the lazurynth. Should he fall, he would emerge there once more, a cycle of dissolution his demonhood would eventually fail to survive. You told him that the calciferous wastes were hostile and desolate. He said he preferred a false quiet to an honest din. You told him there was nothing of value here—had there been, a warden as petty as you would’ve long been shredded to bits by a stronger devil. He said he preferred an expansive nothing to crowded corridors. You told him he would awaken cold, wet, and screaming, his every lonely birth into this void inevitable suffering. He said he preferred a bitter plunge to a blistering fire. You told him what it would cost, a steady stream of magic to brighten your hellfire furnace, tending to the motes. He accepted those terms without hesitation. You asked him for his name. He still had one. Vosaphar. With that accorded, you plucked his coal from the deepest pit of the lazurynth, and held it between your claws, its blue dimmed to gray. His archfiend wouldn’t miss it. And then you threw it in the pool, and it sank to the bottom, where it lodged itself in a dark crevice. Vosaphar, now under your jurisdiction, fled into the wastes, searching for a smooth bit of coralbone to lean against, however futilely. You gave him desolation, cold, and quiet. In return, your furnace grew brighter. How could you have ever predicted what this would eventually make impossible? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Discover. ⇒->21BBAB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">Vosaphar’s spilling ichor sang to them so sweetly, libations that lured all manner of lips to lap. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[No longer able to fly, the beleaguered demon ran, stumbled, staggered, crawled—anything he could do to place another lazurynthine wall between himself and his nearest pursuer. He needed somewhere dark and quiet, somewhere safe to recover. Such amenities were unavailable in the lazurynth. But there were other hells than these. Vosaphar slipped through an inky gap between walls that had lost definition, their geometry corrupted by some other force. He sank into an oily pool, far beneath the febrile blue heat. He could no longer tell where the sludge began and his blood ended, drifting ever downward. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Eventually he reached the shore near your cottage, not yet fragmented to spectral remnants. Still specific, despite it all. He crawled to your doorstep, begging for relief from the lazurynth. Should he fall, he would emerge there once more, a cycle of dissolution his demonhood would eventually fail to survive. You told him that the calciferous wastes were hostile and desolate. He said he preferred a false quiet to an honest din. You told him there was nothing of value here—had there been, a warden as petty as you would’ve long been shredded to bits by a stronger devil. He said he preferred an expansive nothing to crowded corridors. You told him he would awaken cold, wet, and screaming, his every lonely birth into this void inevitable suffering. He said he preferred a bitter plunge to a blistering fire. You told him what it would cost, a steady stream of magic to brighten your hellfire furnace, tending to the motes. He accepted those terms without hesitation. You asked him for his name. He still had one. Vosaphar. With that accorded, you plucked his coal from the deepest pit of the lazurynth, and held it between your claws, its blue dimmed to gray. His archfiend wouldn’t miss it. And then you threw it in the pool, and it sank to the bottom, where it lodged itself in a dark crevice. Vosaphar, now under your jurisdiction, fled into the wastes, searching for a smooth bit of coralbone to lean against, however futilely. You gave him desolation, cold, and quiet. In return, your furnace grew brighter. How could you have ever predicted what this would eventually make impossible? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Discover. ⇒->21BBAB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Recollection]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">The day of the eclipse, Finnit woke with a sharp pain searing his back, breaking him out of his warm reverie. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar was twitching and scratching in his sleep again. Finnit adored the feeling of the devil’s tail coiled around his thigh, basking in the hellish heat that staved off the island’s chill. Nonetheless, crawling into the embrace of a clawed creature had a few drawbacks. “Hey,” Finnit whispered. “Wake up.” Vosaphar shifted, his tail loosening its grip on Finnit. “Mmph.” “You scratched me again,” Finnit said. “Nightmares?” “Oh no,” Vosaphar said. “I’m sorry, Finnit. Here…” The demon traced the scratches, and Finnit felt an odd prickly sensation as the skin healed over. “Thank you. You’re getting good at that.” Vosaphar delicately kissed the side of Finnit’s neck. “I don’t normally sleep so much. The mortal realm is… exhausting, in its own way. Perhaps I can fashion some wrappings for my claws in the future.” “Whoa,” Finnit said, gazing out one of the windows. “What?” “The sky is different.” And indeed it was. The rain had—incredibly—let up slightly, the green glow he’d become so accustomed to taking on distinct streaks of orange and red. Vosaphar grimaced. “I guess it’s time.” “Yeah.” They made their final preparations. Finnit tucked his syllabaries into his satchel and ate his last rations. He thought he might never forget the taste of salted fruit leather in whatever days—or day—he had remaining. “Was there something else we should have prepared?” Finnit asked. “We’re just… walking through a portal to the sun? Like this?” “I can’t think of anything, Finnit.” “Well, alright then.” He looked around at the now overly-familiar place he had spent this last month. “Goodbye, awful yet cozy stone room under a cursed lighthouse. It was certainly a time.” “That it was.” Vosaphar sounded amused. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They ventured out onto the cliffside stairs. Even these had become familiar, the treachery of each step now a well-worn betrayal. As they approached the altar beneath the lens and its housing, a ruddy glow intensified. Flecks of mica in the cavern walls cast sparks over them as they passed. The miniature moon had arrived at its destination, transforming the sun emblem at the center into a bright red disc of light. It was overwhelming to look at directly; Finnit’s eyes strained from this threat to perception. “It’s terrible,” Finnit whispered. “Beautiful, too. What a dazzling horror of a thing to witness.” “Finnit,” Vosaphar began, wrapping his arms gently around the sorcerer. “It might be neglectful of our accord for me not to mention… you don’t have to do this. I could—I could go without you—you could die, Finnit, and—I—I don’t want to lose you… forever.” Finnit looked up into the fiend’s fearful, loving eyes. “Vosaphar—I’m afraid, too. But I couldn’t accept that. Isn’t that what Raekard would do? Send someone to die in his stead, to do the big scary things he won’t face himself? This trial was his idea, but now it’s my trial. Our trial. And I want to see it through. Together. Don’t you?” “Yes,” Vosaphar admitted. “I want to see the sun... with you.” “Then let’s go see it.” Vosaphar smiled, and took Finnit’s arm in his. Together, they stepped into an oblivion of crimson light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Eclipse. ⇒->Eclipse BBAB]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">The day of the eclipse, Finnit woke with a sharp pain searing his back, breaking him out of his warm reverie. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar was twitching and scratching in his sleep again. Finnit adored the feeling of the devil’s tail coiled around his thigh, basking in the hellish heat that staved off the island’s chill. Nonetheless, crawling into the embrace of a clawed creature had a few drawbacks. “Hey,” Finnit whispered. “Wake up.” Vosaphar shifted, his tail loosening its grip on Finnit. “Mmph.” “You scratched me again,” Finnit said. “Nightmares?” “Oh no,” Vosaphar said. “I’m sorry, Finnit. Here…” The demon traced the scratches, and Finnit felt an odd prickly sensation as the skin healed over. “Thank you. You’re getting good at that.” Vosaphar delicately kissed the side of Finnit’s neck. “I don’t normally sleep so much. The mortal realm is… exhausting, in its own way. Perhaps I can fashion some wrappings for my claws in the future.” “Whoa,” Finnit said, gazing out one of the windows. “What?” “The sky is different.” And indeed it was. The rain had—incredibly—let up slightly, the green glow he’d become so accustomed to taking on distinct streaks of orange and red. Vosaphar grimaced. “I guess it’s time.” “Yeah.” They made their final preparations. Finnit tucked his syllabaries into his satchel and ate his last rations. He thought he might never forget the taste of salted fruit leather in whatever days—or day—he had remaining. “Was there something else we should have prepared?” Finnit asked. “We’re just… walking through a portal to the sun? Like this?” “I can’t think of anything, Finnit.” “Well, alright then.” He looked around at the now overly-familiar place he had spent this last month. “Goodbye, awful yet cozy stone room under a cursed lighthouse. It was certainly a time.” “That it was.” Vosaphar sounded amused. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They ventured out onto the cliffside stairs. Even these had become familiar, the treachery of each step now a well-worn betrayal. As they approached the altar beneath the lens and its housing, a ruddy glow intensified. Flecks of mica in the cavern walls cast sparks over them as they passed. The miniature moon had arrived at its destination, transforming the sun emblem at the center into a bright red disc of light. It was overwhelming to look at directly; Finnit’s eyes strained from this threat to perception. “It’s terrible,” Finnit whispered. “Beautiful, too. What a dazzling horror of a thing to witness.” “Finnit,” Vosaphar began, wrapping his arms gently around the sorcerer. “It might be neglectful of our accord for me not to mention… you don’t have to do this. I could—I could go without you—you could die, Finnit, and—I—I don’t want to lose you… forever.” Finnit looked up into the fiend’s fearful, loving eyes. “Vosaphar—I’m afraid, too. But I couldn’t accept that. Isn’t that what Raekard would do? Send someone to die in his stead, to do the big scary things he won’t face himself? This trial was his idea, but now it’s my trial. Our trial. And I want to see it through. Together. Don’t you?” “Yes,” Vosaphar admitted. “I want to see the sun... with you.” “Then let’s go see it.” Vosaphar smiled, and took Finnit’s arm in his. Together, they stepped into an oblivion of crimson light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Eclipse. ⇒->Eclipse BBAB]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 3)[Eclipse.] (text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Sun.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">The sun was a cosmic affliction, a colossal molten mass so red and seething that even the infernal embers blazing in the deepest pits of the hells seemed but feeble sparks in the distance. And Vosaphar was soaring *toward* it. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he flew, Finnit clutched against him, tendrils of the corona pulled peculiar new colors from his wings, its aurora a spectacle more captivating than your dreary calciferous skies could have ever dreamed to churn. How you longed for such color and heat and majesty—even just a drop of it. And *they* got to see it all, to have it within reach. “Vosaphar, look!” With his free hand, Finnit pointed toward an eerie black void drifting past. Dozens of bird-creatures flew from the roiling surface of the sun to circle and screech at the dark moon, a celestial interloper threatening the eternity of light. “They’re sunspots!” Finnit shouted. “That thing—it was a sunspot!” “They’re *distracted*, too.” Vosaphar glided toward the edge of the sun away from the shrieking horrors. “That’s why it has to be now.” The demon and his summoner skimmed the sun’s surface, its dangerous heat threatening to embrace them forever so closely. “Hold on, Finnit!” Vosaphar tilted his wings, arm outstretched, reaching, swiping up a glob of incandescent fluid. This molten scarlet-amber squeezed between his claws and stuck to his low-dipped wing. Even these tiny droplets of starlight held immense power that coursed through him as he arced up out of the sun’s grip. “It’s so incredible!” Finnit laughed, tears streaming behind him, motes of wonder sparkling in space. Something darkened behind them. Finnit looked over his shoulder. “Vosaphar—there’s a new sunspot—” The creature shrieked as it gave chase, following the radiant beads dripping from Vosaphar’s sunswept wing. Vosaphar affixed his gaze to the portal back to the Pharos Fidelis, soaring ever faster. The screeching grew louder yet, judgment for their cardinal cosmic sin approaching with alarming haste. But with Finnit clinging to his side… (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar simply had no use for consequences. With a final burst of speed, they shot through the portal. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Reignite. ⇒->22BBAB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">The sun was a cosmic affliction, a colossal molten mass so red and seething that even the infernal embers blazing in the deepest pits of the hells seemed but feeble sparks in the distance. And Vosaphar was soaring *toward* it. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As he flew, Finnit clutched against him, tendrils of the corona pulled peculiar new colors from his wings, its aurora a spectacle more captivating than your dreary calciferous skies could have ever dreamed to churn. How you longed for such color and heat and majesty—even just a drop of it. And *they* got to see it all, to have it within reach. “Vosaphar, look!” With his free hand, Finnit pointed toward an eerie black void drifting past. Dozens of bird-creatures flew from the roiling surface of the sun to circle and screech at the dark moon, a celestial interloper threatening the eternity of light. “They’re sunspots!” Finnit shouted. “That thing—it was a sunspot!” “They’re *distracted*, too.” Vosaphar glided toward the edge of the sun away from the shrieking horrors. “That’s why it has to be now.” The demon and his summoner skimmed the sun’s surface, its dangerous heat threatening to embrace them forever so closely. “Hold on, Finnit!” Vosaphar tilted his wings, arm outstretched, reaching, swiping up a glob of incandescent fluid. This molten scarlet-amber squeezed between his claws and stuck to his low-dipped wing. Even these tiny droplets of starlight held immense power that coursed through him as he arced up out of the sun’s grip. “It’s so incredible!” Finnit laughed, tears streaming behind him, motes of wonder sparkling in space. Something darkened behind them. Finnit looked over his shoulder. “Vosaphar—there’s a new sunspot—” The creature shrieked as it gave chase, following the radiant beads dripping from Vosaphar’s sunswept wing. Vosaphar affixed his gaze to the portal back to the Pharos Fidelis, soaring ever faster. The screeching grew louder yet, judgment for their cardinal cosmic sin approaching with alarming haste. But with Finnit clinging to his side… (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Vosaphar simply had no use for consequences. With a final burst of speed, they shot through the portal. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Reignite. ⇒->22BBAB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXII.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Finnit and Vosaphar tumbled over the edge of the altar, the portal still aglow with the eclipse-light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But there was little time to celebrate their reckless heist—the sunspot shoved its vicious pointed head through the gap after them, screeching as it struggled to break through. Finnit let Vosaphar carry him a bit further up the tunnel, before standing on his own feet and running alongside. He looked out at the storm, the clouds thinned enough that he could see the eclipsed red sun half-risen, framing the infernal image of a devil’s horns. “How magnificent,” Finnit said, breathless. Vosaphar looked down at him, gently squeezing his hand. They arrived at the peak, where the lens yearned for light, and at last, Finnit had light to provide. Vosaphar held out his claws, sunlight pooled in his palm, and Finnit painted it, trying to create the glyph his mind had projected there, the name of the demon whose rite might reignite the Pharos Fidelis. You watched, enraptured by the spectacle of your plans converging. This was it. This was your moment. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As Finnit slathered the glowing fluid across the lens, the dark slag drank it in—more, and more, and more of it. Too much of it. The glyph couldn’t hold its shape. The lens welled, hyperfolding crimson light, growing ever hotter by the second. The cleft, once so close to promising your name, had already deformed beyond recognition. And how brutal; that poor, mortal sorcerer, all tangled in your schemes, had every intention of drawing your name, a sigil drenched in the lifeblood of the sun. He really did try. You couldn’t fault him for that. But the execution? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A tragedy, in many fragments. For centuries—perhaps longer—every mortal design for the Pharos Fidelis had crumbled. Each disaster wrote another chapter in that wretched chronicle, the dark history of guiding light. And you thought *yours* would work? Pharos Fidelis, the beacon on the horizon of reason. Where it would remain, out of reach. Could not even a devil accept the simple dreadful truth, that a horizon approached can never arrive? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Finnit, we have to leave!” Vosaphar shouted, scanning the sky for the sunspot. “The lens is collapsing!” “No—it has to—Vosaphar, it has to—” “Finnit, please—” “I can’t—I can’t get the shape right, it’s going to—” “It deserves to shatter.” How dare he. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“But, what was this even for, then?” Finnit sobbed, the last of the sunlight ripped from his fingertips into the Pharos Fidelis. Vosaphar pulled him, one final time, away from the amplifying dyslucence. “That’s for the historians!” Vosaphar stared at him with his stormy eyes. “Shouldn’t we live? Don’t you want a future? ” “Yes!” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Somewhere below them, the sunspot burst out through the tunnel, shrieking its way into the sky to hunt. Finnit embraced Vosaphar once more, and the demon swept him up into the sky. They abandoned the Pharos Fidelis to its fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They *tried* to abandon it. But it wasn’t done with them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Shatter. ⇒->23BBAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Finnit and Vosaphar tumbled over the edge of the altar, the portal still aglow with the eclipse-light. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But there was little time to celebrate their reckless heist—the sunspot shoved its vicious pointed head through the gap after them, screeching as it struggled to break through. Finnit let Vosaphar carry him a bit further up the tunnel, before standing on his own feet and running alongside. He looked out at the storm, the clouds thinned enough that he could see the eclipsed red sun half-risen, framing the infernal image of a devil’s horns. “How magnificent,” Finnit said, breathless. Vosaphar looked down at him, gently squeezing his hand. They arrived at the peak, where the lens yearned for light, and at last, Finnit had light to provide. Vosaphar held out his claws, sunlight pooled in his palm, and Finnit painted it, trying to create the glyph his mind had projected there, the name of the demon whose rite might reignite the Pharos Fidelis. You watched, enraptured by the spectacle of your plans converging. This was it. This was your moment. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As Finnit slathered the glowing fluid across the lens, the dark slag drank it in—more, and more, and more of it. Too much of it. The glyph couldn’t hold its shape. The lens welled, hyperfolding crimson light, growing ever hotter by the second. The cleft, once so close to promising your name, had already deformed beyond recognition. And how brutal; that poor, mortal sorcerer, all tangled in your schemes, had every intention of drawing your name, a sigil drenched in the lifeblood of the sun. He really did try. You couldn’t fault him for that. But the execution? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A tragedy, in many fragments. For centuries—perhaps longer—every mortal design for the Pharos Fidelis had crumbled. Each disaster wrote another chapter in that wretched chronicle, the dark history of guiding light. And you thought *yours* would work? Pharos Fidelis, the beacon on the horizon of reason. Where it would remain, out of reach. Could not even a devil accept the simple dreadful truth, that a horizon approached can never arrive? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“Finnit, we have to leave!” Vosaphar shouted, scanning the sky for the sunspot. “The lens is collapsing!” “No—it has to—Vosaphar, it has to—” “Finnit, please—” “I can’t—I can’t get the shape right, it’s going to—” “It deserves to shatter.” How dare he. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“But, what was this even for, then?” Finnit sobbed, the last of the sunlight ripped from his fingertips into the Pharos Fidelis. Vosaphar pulled him, one final time, away from the amplifying dyslucence. “That’s for the historians!” Vosaphar stared at him with his stormy eyes. “Shouldn’t we live? Don’t you want a future? ” “Yes!” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Somewhere below them, the sunspot burst out through the tunnel, shrieking its way into the sky to hunt. Finnit embraced Vosaphar once more, and the demon swept him up into the sky. They abandoned the Pharos Fidelis to its fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[They *tried* to abandon it. But it wasn’t done with them. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Shatter. ⇒->23BBAB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Disavowal]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXIII.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">The storm rushed past Vosaphar as he carried Finnit, placing any distance he could between them and the doomed Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Still seeking their stolen sunlight, the sunspot locked onto them in pursuit, screeching as it approached, its eyes golden fury. “It’s going to—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The world around them grew absolutely silent, swallowing the rest of Finnit’s warning. Every bit of light had gathered, folding itself over and over and over still, smaller, ever smaller, congealing into the tiniest, brightest speck. For a moment, Vosaphar wondered if it would keep going, dragging the mortal realm, the hells, and all the rest of existence into its singularity. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Instead, it shattered. All that had been poured into it—all the fire, all the lightning, all the stray souls, all the stolen sunlight, all the summons slaughtered, all the hopes and dreams and plots and schemes and—all of it finally shattered, sending incalculable shards of glass in every direction at incredible speeds. A vanguard fragment slammed into Vosaphar’s chest, knocking Finnit out of his grasp. The sorcerer began to drift away on his own trajectory— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And you thought, though your plans had shattered along with everything else… You still had one last mote of hellfire to spare. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Influence. ⇒->M4BBAB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">The storm rushed past Vosaphar as he carried Finnit, placing any distance he could between them and the doomed Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Still seeking their stolen sunlight, the sunspot locked onto them in pursuit, screeching as it approached, its eyes golden fury. “It’s going to—” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[The world around them grew absolutely silent, swallowing the rest of Finnit’s warning. Every bit of light had gathered, folding itself over and over and over still, smaller, ever smaller, congealing into the tiniest, brightest speck. For a moment, Vosaphar wondered if it would keep going, dragging the mortal realm, the hells, and all the rest of existence into its singularity. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Instead, it shattered. All that had been poured into it—all the fire, all the lightning, all the stray souls, all the stolen sunlight, all the summons slaughtered, all the hopes and dreams and plots and schemes and—all of it finally shattered, sending incalculable shards of glass in every direction at incredible speeds. A vanguard fragment slammed into Vosaphar’s chest, knocking Finnit out of his grasp. The sorcerer began to drift away on his own trajectory— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[And you thought, though your plans had shattered along with everything else… You still had one last mote of hellfire to spare. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Influence. ⇒->M4BBAB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Disavowal]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#fc4e71")+(text-size: 3)[Influence.] (text-color:"#fc4e71")+(text-size: 1.15)[Clinginess | Desperation.]</div> One final mote of hellfire appeared. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightmotepassage">When potent emotions conflicted a demon’s judgment, even the faintest mote of hellfire bore enough infernal energy to influence their fate from afar. That’s how you got them into this mess. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#8c283c)[***Clinginess***] For the demon Vosaphar, so eager to wrap himself around his beloved summoner, the sight of the mortal falling away would’ve driven him to dive in closer. This clinginess would have joined their fates together, should you have chosen to foster it. Yielding to this clinginess, however romantic, risked their joint fate becoming tragic. (text-color:#8c283c)[***Desperation***] For the demon Vosaphar, so determined for his beloved summoner to survive, the sight of him falling away would’ve driven him to take reckless measures. This desperation might have driven him to intervene instantly to salvage the situation. Yielding to this desperation, however hasty, risked their fates diverging dramatically. (text-color:#8c283c)[***Decision***] Well? Which force did this mote of hellfire incite? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightmotechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)))[[[Clinginess. ⇒->24BBABA. Vosaphar]]] (link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#fc4e71")))[[[Desperation. ⇒->24BBABB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="motepassage">When potent emotions conflicted a demon’s judgment, even the faintest mote of hellfire bore enough infernal energy to influence their fate from afar. That’s how you got them into this mess. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Clinginess***] For the demon Vosaphar, so eager to wrap himself around his beloved summoner, the sight of the mortal falling away would’ve driven him to dive in closer. This clinginess would have joined their fates together, should you have chosen to foster it. Yielding to this clinginess, however romantic, risked their joint fate becoming tragic. (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Desperation***] For the demon Vosaphar, so determined for his beloved summoner to survive, the sight of him falling away would’ve driven him to take reckless measures. This desperation might have driven him to intervene instantly to salvage the situation. Yielding to this desperation, however hasty, risked their fates diverging dramatically. (text-color:#fe9eb1)[***Decision***] Well? Which force did this mote of hellfire incite? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="motechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[[[Clinginess. ⇒->24BBABA. Vosaphar]]] (link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Desperation. ⇒->24BBABB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#fc4e71)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Mote]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXIV.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar had a single, reckless idea of what he still had time to do. How he could send Finnit somewhere safer than here. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar recalled the spells Finnit had taught him, focused his intentions and— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Banished him. Finnit blinked out of existence. Moments later, the edge of the explosion swept Vosaphar and the sunspot into an inferno of shattering glass. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Stoke. ⇒->25BBABB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar had a single, reckless idea of what he still had time to do. How he could send Finnit somewhere safer than here. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar recalled the spells Finnit had taught him, focused his intentions and— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Banished him. Finnit blinked out of existence. Moments later, the edge of the explosion swept Vosaphar and the sunspot into an inferno of shattering glass. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Stoke. ⇒->25BBABB. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXIV.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar dove, claws outstretched, reaching for the transit band around Finnit’s wrist— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But the sunspot got there first, snapping its jaws around the mortal and knocking Vosaphar out of the sky with a swipe from one of its powerful, greasy wings. Vosaphar tumbled, stunned, helpless to do anything but look up at the result of his mistakes. Just as the edge of the inferno reached him— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit and the sunspot blinked out of existence, teleporting somewhere else. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))[[[Bleed. ⇒->25BBABA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Powered by the lens fragment now lodged in his chest, Vosaphar dove, claws outstretched, reaching for the transit band around Finnit’s wrist— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[But the sunspot got there first, snapping its jaws around the mortal and knocking Vosaphar out of the sky with a swipe from one of its powerful, greasy wings. Vosaphar tumbled, stunned, helpless to do anything but look up at the result of his mistakes. Just as the edge of the inferno reached him— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit and the sunspot blinked out of existence, teleporting somewhere else. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[Bleed. ⇒->25BBABA. Finnit]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the brief union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Finnit perished in the chaos at Cairnveld, along with Luminary Raekard. A panel of the surviving luminaries in attendance was convened. After vigorous debate, the panelists determined that dying during one’s discovery trial evaluation—even after materially succeeding in the assigned task—constituted a failure. Luminary Jethel issued a scathing dissent. Nevertheless, the bylaws were updated to reflect this new precedent. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. But a new threat lurked. The demon Vosaphar absorbed the fragments around him, growing distorted in his influence. He climbed upon the melted peak and in his sorrow and fury, bewitched many ships to their doom with fata morgana. He had become, in effect, the latest Pharos Fidelis. Perhaps he had even become something more powerful than *you*. And perhaps you deserved to finally feel fear again. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what it wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BBA. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BBAB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s clinginess, causing him to reach Finnit in time to teleport to Cairnveld with him. This proved to be an unfortunate calculation. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the brief union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Finnit perished in the chaos at Cairnveld, along with Luminary Raekard. A panel of the surviving luminaries in attendance was convened. After vigorous debate, the panelists determined that dying during one’s discovery trial evaluation—even after materially succeeding in the assigned task—constituted a failure. Luminary Jethel issued a scathing dissent. Nevertheless, the bylaws were updated to reflect this new precedent. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. But a new threat lurked. The demon Vosaphar absorbed the fragments around him, growing distorted in his influence. He climbed upon the melted peak and in his sorrow and fury, bewitched many ships to their doom with fata morgana. He had become, in effect, the latest Pharos Fidelis. Perhaps he had even become something more powerful than *you*. And perhaps you deserved to finally feel fear again. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what it wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BBA. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BBAB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s clinginess, causing him to reach Finnit in time to teleport to Cairnveld with him. This proved to be an unfortunate calculation. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 3)[XXV.] (text-color:"#99cdc4")+(text-size: 1.15)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightcalciferouspassage">Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage cold, wet, and screaming. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It had a certain resonance, didn’t it? He coughed violently, choking on sludge and bloodfog alike, wading clumsily in your direction. Even from this distance, you could feel intense energy pouring off the misplaced mortal, his magic warped by the glowing fragments of the Pharos Fidelis stuck in his hair and clothing. If nothing else could be salvaged from this historic disaster, at least you had an opportunity to fuel your furnace. The mortal would, at any moment, petition you for relief from his dire situation. This provided you a brief moment to consider which form might be most appropriate for such an absurd occasion. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|initial>[In that light: (link-reveal: "You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. Inaccurate though it may have been, perhaps you had the right to such a form. You’d already spent more time fussing over Vosaphar’s fate than any of his makers had. You adopted an elegant posture and swept out of your cottage to approach the mortal. “Hello, Finnit,” you said. He turned to look at you, eyes widening. You flicked your new tail, mimicking one of Vosaphar’s gestures that he so favored. “Um—hi. Uh—” “Welcome to my calciferous wastes.” You extended your arms, gesturing toward the dark skies and lonesome coralbone monuments dotting the horizon. “And what a sight they are.” Finnit looked around, evidently still processing this alarming development. “The calciferous wastes? Do you—do you know Vosaphar?” “Please, join me inside,” you said. “We shall sit by the fire and discuss these matters.” Finnit numbly complied, letting you guide him to the soot-stained armchairs by your furnace. It seemed to calm him down, having become accustomed to closeness with a certain source of hellfire. “What happened? Do you know?” Finnit asked. “Sorry—I’m just—I should ask who you are probably?” “I am the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “I think—I think he banished me?” “He did.” You tapped an idle claw against your ivory armchair. “I’m sorry, maybe this is too forward, but—look, I’m worried about Vosaphar? I don’t know what happened—what if—what if he—” You took him to the window and pointed to the dark pool, where Vosaphar’s ember twinkled at the bottom. If anything, it had grown brighter. Interesting. “That is his essential coal,” you said. “If he had perished, he would have immediately returned here. If we wait, he will eventually appear. However…” Finnit paced to and fro, trying to shake off his anxiety. “What if he’s hurt—he must be—I don’t want to wait!” “It is not a matter of desire, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. Perhaps that hadn’t been a Vosapharian gesture. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Will you—I mean, would you please help me?” “What are your intentions toward Vosaphar?” “My intentions?” Finnit looked puzzled. “What do you—” “Answer my question carefully, mortal.” He looked appropriately worried. “Look, I—I love him. I know it’s been so quick, and maybe you think it’s shallow, just because he’s so beautiful—but, uh, really, I have never felt so close with someone. I mean—he took me to the *sun*, and back. I don’t know what it would mean for us to be together outside of the Pharos Fidelis, in a more normal world. Maybe it won’t work, and we’ll part ways. I think—I mean, I hope you think that we’re worthy of a chance to figure that out.” “Vosaphar will need your help,” you said. “He will suffer from his power. You will stand by him? Treat him respectfully?” “I would—I will.” “Very well.” You paused. “I would send you back to Cairnveld.” You gave a pointed look toward your furnace. “But my fire is too weak for such a feat. Won’t you stoke it?” “Stoke it?” Finnit looked nervous. “What, uh—what do you want? My soul?” How amusing. “Are you offering that?” You approached him, attempting to loom in the way he found so appealing when Vosaphar did it. Finnit looked terrified as you reached down and plucked a glowing lens fragment from his hair. “No, Finnit. Not your soul. I want these.” “Oh—is that all? Yes, you can have them. They’re not even really mine, I don’t think.” Finnit parted easily with the fragments, tossing each into the furnace as he found it. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to cause some new chaos. He had no sense of priorities. And neither—apparently—did you, entertaining this… cloyingly earnest romantic nonsense. You reached for Finnit’s transit band, warping the sigils such that they would send Finnit on his way. Before activating it, you paused. “If you treat Vosaphar with anything less than the respect owed to such an unreasonably affectionate devil, I will send every specter in my dominion to drag you back here, and drown you in these depths for all eternity.” It was a joke. Mostly. You were sure that Finnit appreciated it. With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. You basked in the new heat now crackling and seething in your furnace. And how ridiculous an exchange it was, to receive all that energy for a trivial bit of spellcraft. Even an incubus would have found no pleasure in the seduction of such easy prey. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[That’s why you did it, right? You *just* wanted the power. Nothing more. You felt nothing else. Surely. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Survive. ⇒->26BBABBA. Vosaphar]]]]]]]</div>] Unless: (link-reveal: "You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. Darkness pooled around you, threshed with dozens of unblinking, glowing eyes. Gobs of loose flesh sizzled on charred bones to add to the illusion’s sensory overload. You adopted a threatening posture and swept out of your cottage to approach Finnit, trailing black grease in your wake. “Mortal!” you shouted, startling him. “You dare trespass upon my dominion?” Finnit turned your way, and his breath hitched at the loathsome sight of you. He cowered. Mortals were so susceptible to this kind of stagecraft, weren’t they? “I—I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—” “Silence!” You stretched and oozed before him. “You have stolen from me. You must return what I’m owed.” Finnit’s eyes darted about wildly, as if he were considering running away. He wouldn’t make it far. “Could you please—um—grand one? Uh, what did I steal?” “My *light*.” You over-articulated the “t” with such exuberance that flecks of acid splattered from your many mouths. “The Pharos Fidelis.” You wrapped a slimy tentacle around his arm, pulling him closer so you could pluck one of the fragments from his clothes. “What? Oh. Oh you can—you can have those. They’re, um, not even mine.” He was too frightened to assist in this process, so you grabbed each fragment, showing no regard for his comfort. Shards collected—from his perspective, devoured—you began shambling back to your cottage. “Wait!” Finnit called after you. “Um—I need—I need to get back to Vosaphar—do you know him? Or—” “I am the warden of these calciferous wastes, and he is my subject. Mortal longings are not my concern…” “But please, I—” “…Unless, of course, you wish to receive… an accord.” And there it was. Not only had you easily liberated the shards from his unworthy possession, but you could do even more to sate your rage with the proceedings of the eclipse. “An accord?” Finnit asked. “You’ll help me get back?” “For a *price*,” you hissed. “I gave you—I gave you the fragments!” He seemed to have realized his mistake. Perhaps he ought to have actually read *Case Studies in Infernal Betrayal* instead of assuming all demons would be as needy and pathetic as Vosaphar. “You claimed yourself that you had no ownership over them. They are mine already. One cannot offer a gift already granted.” “So what do you want?” His voice was strained. “My soul?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“*That* is worthless.” Drawing from the power of the fragments you held, you manifested a bloodfrost dagger from the fog, its keen edge sharp enough to carve the walls of the lazurynth. “Take this dagger to Luminary Raekard. I tire of his incompetent scheming. Carve out his heart. Then burn it in a ring of hellfire until it is but ash on the wind.” “But I—I can’t kill someone!” Finnit shouted. “That’s absurd—even someone as awful as him—and he’s so dangerous. It would never work.” “Then you will die here, and never again wrap your wretched limbs around the devil you cling to in the dark.” You sidled into your cottage, leaving him to contemplate his mortal morality while you stoked the furnace with the fragments. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to inflict some new misery upon the world. It wasn’t long before he approached you again. He looked directly at you, gazing into your seething core, and without stumbling, said, “I accept those terms.” You wrapped a tendril around the hilt of the dagger and offered it to him. He took it, his expression grim and determined. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[You *almost* believed he could do it. With a burst of magic, you activated his bracelet—the transit band—and sent him to his terrible fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Append. ⇒->P4BBABBB. Fourth Principle]]]]]]]</div> ] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. Well, at least the version of yourself that held court, lording your specificity over these dismal barrens. Finnit would get to see you for what you were: powerful, yet petty. Exhausted, too. It was miserable to live with your failures. You slunk to your soot-stained armchair by the furnace, waiting for the mortal to arrive. He knocked at the door. “Hello? Is—is someone in here?” “Come in, Finnit.” He opened the door, and saw you by the furnace. What texture the man had taken on since he left Cairnveld, struggling through your schemes in that desperate way that humans are wont to do. You gestured for him to sit in the chair across from yours. He obliged, if a bit warily. “Welcome to my calciferous wastes,” you said. “I wonder what you think of them?” “Calciferous wastes?” Something flickered in his eyes. “Is that—do you know Vosaphar?” “Answer my question first, if you will.” Finnit seemed taken aback, but recovered. “Well, if you really want to know—I can see why Vosaphar was so determined to leave.” You could almost see him realizing in real time that he probably was meant to say something kinder. “Not that there isn’t something… eerily beautiful about the colors streaking across the sky. But, it’s very cold and sharp and it seems sad, I guess?” “Yes, Vosaphar is troubled by his existence. As are we all.” You clicked your claws against the coralbone armrest. “You look—If you don’t mind me saying—you look familiar to me. But I don’t understand why. Who are you?” “I’m the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “So I guess he banished me here? It was the first place he thought of?” “I’m flattered.” A pause. “And perhaps you ought to be relieved that he didn’t recall the lazurynth quicker.” “I need to get back to him.” Finnit fixed you with a serious expression. “He might be hurt, or—I want to get back. Please. He means—he means a lot to me.” “It is not a matter of necessity, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Wait—I know why you look familiar!” He studied your face once more. “You look a little bit like… my grandmother.” “The trees in Tinfallow have deep roots indeed, if they reach all the way to these calciferous wastes.” “I don’t understand.” He bit his lip. “There are too many pieces—it’s hard to look at directly.” “Then focus on the piece of it you care about.” “Vosaphar.” “Of course. Young love. Star-crossed, even.” You sighed. “Well, I could send you on your way to Cairnveld.” You pointed at his bracelet. “But…” “You want something in return?” Finnit asked, leaning forward. “What is it? What do you want?” “What I *really* want is for you to have written my name correctly on the Pharos Fidelis.” Finnit sat back again. “That’s—that’s *you*? Your name? I expected someone so much more…” “Impressive?” You gave a hollow laugh. “Terrifying,” he finished. “But you seem, I don’t know, reasonable enough?” “I’m sure it seems that way.” “Well I—I don’t think I can undo what happened,” Finnit said. “I’m sorry it didn’t work. I know it may not look that way, but I really did try. I don’t know what it would’ve done if it worked, but I tried.” “You did.” You looked over at your furnace, where your sluggish motes of hellfire simmered. “I want the lens fragments in your possession.” “Lens fragments?” You pointed them out in his hair and on his clothes. “So that’s what you’re proposing as the terms of an exchange? I give you these shards, and you’ll send me back to Cairnveld?” “Yes.” “It just seems… I don’t know. I feel like there is still so much that I’m missing? If you—if you really are connected to me, in some way… would you want to… stay in touch?” You hadn’t expected *that*, of all things. “You want the warden of the calciferous wastes to offer you… mentorship.” “I’ve done much weirder things today!” Finnit said, rather defensively. “I went to the *sun*. Look, my mentor is Luminary Raekard. An actual demon would be a significant improvement.” “Ah, Raekard. I regret my part in that, given how it went.” “What?” Finnit’s eyes widened. “What do you mean you—” “Finnit, I propose an addendum to our… accord. If you wish to speak with me, you shall have one chance to do so during each new moon. Sacrifice a lens fragment in my name, and we shall converse for one hour.” “I’m not sure how I’ll get more of these,” Finnit said. “It seems expensive.” “And yet, a single fragment pales against the scale of what you destroyed. You could not possibly comprehend how far you’ve set me back. But,” you added, softening your tone, “I will make that hour as worthwhile as you wish it to be.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit accepted those terms, tossing each of the lens fragments on his person into your furnace. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to bend ever more futures in your favor. “Thank you,” Finnit said, as you adjusted the sigils on his transit band. “I—I’m glad to have met you.” With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightcalciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#07564e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))[[[Survive. ⇒->26BBABBC. Vosaphar]]]]</div> ]]]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="calciferouspassage">Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage cold, wet, and screaming. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It had a certain resonance, didn’t it? He coughed violently, choking on sludge and bloodfog alike, wading clumsily in your direction. Even from this distance, you could feel intense energy pouring off the misplaced mortal, his magic warped by the glowing fragments of the Pharos Fidelis stuck in his hair and clothing. If nothing else could be salvaged from this historic disaster, at least you had an opportunity to fuel your furnace. The mortal would, at any moment, petition you for relief from his dire situation. This provided you a brief moment to consider which form might be most appropriate for such an absurd occasion. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[|initial>[In that light: (link-reveal: "You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered a comforting lie, a devilish form reminiscent of Vosaphar’s fiendish progenitors. Inaccurate though it may have been, perhaps you had the right to such a form. You’d already spent more time fussing over Vosaphar’s fate than any of his makers had. You adopted an elegant posture and swept out of your cottage to approach the mortal. “Hello, Finnit,” you said. He turned to look at you, eyes widening. You flicked your new tail, mimicking one of Vosaphar’s gestures that he so favored. “Um—hi. Uh—” “Welcome to my calciferous wastes.” You extended your arms, gesturing toward the dark skies and lonesome coralbone monuments dotting the horizon. “And what a sight they are.” Finnit looked around, evidently still processing this alarming development. “The calciferous wastes? Do you—do you know Vosaphar?” “Please, join me inside,” you said. “We shall sit by the fire and discuss these matters.” Finnit numbly complied, letting you guide him to the soot-stained armchairs by your furnace. It seemed to calm him down, having become accustomed to closeness with a certain source of hellfire. “What happened? Do you know?” Finnit asked. “Sorry—I’m just—I should ask who you are probably?” “I am the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “I think—I think he banished me?” “He did.” You tapped an idle claw against your ivory armchair. “I’m sorry, maybe this is too forward, but—look, I’m worried about Vosaphar? I don’t know what happened—what if—what if he—” You took him to the window and pointed to the dark pool, where Vosaphar’s ember twinkled at the bottom. If anything, it had grown brighter. Interesting. “That is his essential coal,” you said. “If he had perished, he would have immediately returned here. If we wait, he will eventually appear. However…” Finnit paced to and fro, trying to shake off his anxiety. “What if he’s hurt—he must be—I don’t want to wait!” “It is not a matter of desire, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. Perhaps that hadn’t been a Vosapharian gesture. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Will you—I mean, would you please help me?” “What are your intentions toward Vosaphar?” “My intentions?” Finnit looked puzzled. “What do you—” “Answer my question carefully, mortal.” He looked appropriately worried. “Look, I—I love him. I know it’s been so quick, and maybe you think it’s shallow, just because he’s so beautiful—but, uh, really, I have never felt so close with someone. I mean—he took me to the *sun*, and back. I don’t know what it would mean for us to be together outside of the Pharos Fidelis, in a more normal world. Maybe it won’t work, and we’ll part ways. I think—I mean, I hope you think that we’re worthy of a chance to figure that out.” “Vosaphar will need your help,” you said. “He will suffer from his power. You will stand by him? Treat him respectfully?” “I would—I will.” “Very well.” You paused. “I would send you back to Cairnveld.” You gave a pointed look toward your furnace. “But my fire is too weak for such a feat. Won’t you stoke it?” “Stoke it?” Finnit looked nervous. “What, uh—what do you want? My soul?” How amusing. “Are you offering that?” You approached him, attempting to loom in the way he found so appealing when Vosaphar did it. Finnit looked terrified as you reached down and plucked a glowing lens fragment from his hair. “No, Finnit. Not your soul. I want these.” “Oh—is that all? Yes, you can have them. They’re not even really mine, I don’t think.” Finnit parted easily with the fragments, tossing each into the furnace as he found it. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to cause some new chaos. He had no sense of priorities. And neither—apparently—did you, entertaining this… cloyingly earnest romantic nonsense. You reached for Finnit’s transit band, warping the sigils such that they would send Finnit on his way. Before activating it, you paused. “If you treat Vosaphar with anything less than the respect owed to such an unreasonably affectionate devil, I will send every specter in my dominion to drag you back here, and drown you in these depths for all eternity.” It was a joke. Mostly. You were sure that Finnit appreciated it. With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. You basked in the new heat now crackling and seething in your furnace. And how ridiculous an exchange it was, to receive all that energy for a trivial bit of spellcraft. Even an incubus would have found no pleasure in the seduction of such easy prey. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[That’s why you did it, right? You *just* wanted the power. Nothing more. You felt nothing else. Surely. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[Survive. ⇒->26BBABBA. Vosaphar]]]]]]]</div>] Unless: (link-reveal: "You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered terror, a form pastiching nightmarish leviathan features. Darkness pooled around you, threshed with dozens of unblinking, glowing eyes. Gobs of loose flesh sizzled on charred bones to add to the illusion’s sensory overload. You adopted a threatening posture and swept out of your cottage to approach Finnit, trailing black grease in your wake. “Mortal!” you shouted, startling him. “You dare trespass upon my dominion?” Finnit turned your way, and his breath hitched at the loathsome sight of you. He cowered. Mortals were so susceptible to this kind of stagecraft, weren’t they? “I—I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—” “Silence!” You stretched and oozed before him. “You have stolen from me. You must return what I’m owed.” Finnit’s eyes darted about wildly, as if he were considering running away. He wouldn’t make it far. “Could you please—um—grand one? Uh, what did I steal?” “My *light*.” You over-articulated the “t” with such exuberance that flecks of acid splattered from your many mouths. “The Pharos Fidelis.” You wrapped a slimy tentacle around his arm, pulling him closer so you could pluck one of the fragments from his clothes. “What? Oh. Oh you can—you can have those. They’re, um, not even mine.” He was too frightened to assist in this process, so you grabbed each fragment, showing no regard for his comfort. Shards collected—from his perspective, devoured—you began shambling back to your cottage. “Wait!” Finnit called after you. “Um—I need—I need to get back to Vosaphar—do you know him? Or—” “I am the warden of these calciferous wastes, and he is my subject. Mortal longings are not my concern…” “But please, I—” “…Unless, of course, you wish to receive… an accord.” And there it was. Not only had you easily liberated the shards from his unworthy possession, but you could do even more to sate your rage with the proceedings of the eclipse. “An accord?” Finnit asked. “You’ll help me get back?” “For a *price*,” you hissed. “I gave you—I gave you the fragments!” He seemed to have realized his mistake. Perhaps he ought to have actually read *Case Studies in Infernal Betrayal* instead of assuming all demons would be as needy and pathetic as Vosaphar. “You claimed yourself that you had no ownership over them. They are mine already. One cannot offer a gift already granted.” “So what do you want?” His voice was strained. “My soul?” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[“*That* is worthless.” Drawing from the power of the fragments you held, you manifested a bloodfrost dagger from the fog, its keen edge sharp enough to carve the walls of the lazurynth. “Take this dagger to Luminary Raekard. I tire of his incompetent scheming. Carve out his heart. Then burn it in a ring of hellfire until it is but ash on the wind.” “But I—I can’t kill someone!” Finnit shouted. “That’s absurd—even someone as awful as him—and he’s so dangerous. It would never work.” “Then you will die here, and never again wrap your wretched limbs around the devil you cling to in the dark.” You sidled into your cottage, leaving him to contemplate his mortal morality while you stoked the furnace with the fragments. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to inflict some new misery upon the world. It wasn’t long before he approached you again. He looked directly at you, gazing into your seething core, and without stumbling, said, “I accept those terms.” You wrapped a tendril around the hilt of the dagger and offered it to him. He took it, his expression grim and determined. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[You *almost* believed he could do it. With a burst of magic, you activated his bracelet—the transit band—and sent him to his terrible fate. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[Append. ⇒->P4BBABBB. Fourth Principle]]]]]]]</div> ] Or perhaps instead: (link-reveal: "You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. ⚞↯⚟")[ (replace: ?initial)[You offered honesty, appearing merely as yourself. Well, at least the version of yourself that held court, lording your specificity over these dismal barrens. Finnit would get to see you for what you were: powerful, yet petty. Exhausted, too. It was miserable to live with your failures. You slunk to your soot-stained armchair by the furnace, waiting for the mortal to arrive. He knocked at the door. “Hello? Is—is someone in here?” “Come in, Finnit.” He opened the door, and saw you by the furnace. What texture the man had taken on since he left Cairnveld, struggling through your schemes in that desperate way that humans are wont to do. You gestured for him to sit in the chair across from yours. He obliged, if a bit warily. “Welcome to my calciferous wastes,” you said. “I wonder what you think of them?” “Calciferous wastes?” Something flickered in his eyes. “Is that—do you know Vosaphar?” “Answer my question first, if you will.” Finnit seemed taken aback, but recovered. “Well, if you really want to know—I can see why Vosaphar was so determined to leave.” You could almost see him realizing in real time that he probably was meant to say something kinder. “Not that there isn’t something… eerily beautiful about the colors streaking across the sky. But, it’s very cold and sharp and it seems sad, I guess?” “Yes, Vosaphar is troubled by his existence. As are we all.” You clicked your claws against the coralbone armrest. “You look—If you don’t mind me saying—you look familiar to me. But I don’t understand why. Who are you?” “I’m the warden of the calciferous wastes. Vosaphar is a resident that I… adopted.” “I see,” Finnit said. “So I guess he banished me here? It was the first place he thought of?” “I’m flattered.” A pause. “And perhaps you ought to be relieved that he didn’t recall the lazurynth quicker.” “I need to get back to him.” Finnit fixed you with a serious expression. “He might be hurt, or—I want to get back. Please. He means—he means a lot to me.” “It is not a matter of necessity, but of principle.” “Principle?” “The principle of planar reversion.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit stared at you. “But—oh. Oh. Oh *no*.” “I’m afraid so. Vosaphar ran quite the experiment on you. A living mortal walking the hells is a violation of natural law—such that it is.” You spat, causing the mortal to flinch. “Where do you suppose you’ll revert to, summoner? Your position high above the seas, falling to your death? Your place of birth? Might you revert to Tinfallow?” “Wait—I know why you look familiar!” He studied your face once more. “You look a little bit like… my grandmother.” “The trees in Tinfallow have deep roots indeed, if they reach all the way to these calciferous wastes.” “I don’t understand.” He bit his lip. “There are too many pieces—it’s hard to look at directly.” “Then focus on the piece of it you care about.” “Vosaphar.” “Of course. Young love. Star-crossed, even.” You sighed. “Well, I could send you on your way to Cairnveld.” You pointed at his bracelet. “But…” “You want something in return?” Finnit asked, leaning forward. “What is it? What do you want?” “What I *really* want is for you to have written my name correctly on the Pharos Fidelis.” Finnit sat back again. “That’s—that’s *you*? Your name? I expected someone so much more…” “Impressive?” You gave a hollow laugh. “Terrifying,” he finished. “But you seem, I don’t know, reasonable enough?” “I’m sure it seems that way.” “Well I—I don’t think I can undo what happened,” Finnit said. “I’m sorry it didn’t work. I know it may not look that way, but I really did try. I don’t know what it would’ve done if it worked, but I tried.” “You did.” You looked over at your furnace, where your sluggish motes of hellfire simmered. “I want the lens fragments in your possession.” “Lens fragments?” You pointed them out in his hair and on his clothes. “So that’s what you’re proposing as the terms of an exchange? I give you these shards, and you’ll send me back to Cairnveld?” “Yes.” “It just seems… I don’t know. I feel like there is still so much that I’m missing? If you—if you really are connected to me, in some way… would you want to… stay in touch?” You hadn’t expected *that*, of all things. “You want the warden of the calciferous wastes to offer you… mentorship.” “I’ve done much weirder things today!” Finnit said, rather defensively. “I went to the *sun*. Look, my mentor is Luminary Raekard. An actual demon would be a significant improvement.” “Ah, Raekard. I regret my part in that, given how it went.” “What?” Finnit’s eyes widened. “What do you mean you—” “Finnit, I propose an addendum to our… accord. If you wish to speak with me, you shall have one chance to do so during each new moon. Sacrifice a lens fragment in my name, and we shall converse for one hour.” “I’m not sure how I’ll get more of these,” Finnit said. “It seems expensive.” “And yet, a single fragment pales against the scale of what you destroyed. You could not possibly comprehend how far you’ve set me back. But,” you added, softening your tone, “I will make that hour as worthwhile as you wish it to be.” (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[Finnit accepted those terms, tossing each of the lens fragments on his person into your furnace. Your crimson motes blazed into life, ready to bend ever more futures in your favor. “Thank you,” Finnit said, as you adjusted the sigils on his transit band. “I—I’m glad to have met you.” With a spark from your fingertip, you sent him on his way. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:#00a589)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="calciferouschoice">(link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[Survive. ⇒->26BBABBC. Vosaphar]]]]</div> ]]]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#13ffd7)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#00a589")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Mote]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived the shattering. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A constellation circled overhead, screeching as it descended. The sunspot, now barely recognizable as an amalgamation of blackened sunflesh and thousands of seething fragments, alighted on a rock nearby, and began snapping at Vosaphar’s lens fragments, shredding the flesh above his liver. Try though he might to crawl to safety, the creature still pursued him, tearing at the glass embedded in him. And then, he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BBABBC]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived the shattering. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A constellation circled overhead, screeching as it descended. The sunspot, now barely recognizable as an amalgamation of blackened sunflesh and thousands of seething fragments, alighted on a rock nearby, and began snapping at Vosaphar’s lens fragments, shredding the flesh above his liver. Try though he might to crawl to safety, the creature still pursued him, tearing at the glass embedded in him. And then, he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BBABBC]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 3)[Anathema.] (text-color:"#da1e45")+(text-size: 1.15)[The Fourth Principle of Summoning.]</div> A timely addendum, courtesy of you. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Behold the fourth principle of summoning: (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color:#a01404)[**4. The Principle of Voluntary and Efficient Accession to the Extraordinarily Reasonable Conditions Imposed by the Magnanimous Warden of the Calciferous Wastes, Who Certainly Never Even Cared About the Pharos Fidelis, And Certainly Not the Absurd Romantic Yearnings of Your Pathetic Subjects—Or Else.**] Summoners who willingly and knowingly forge an accord with you must see their bargain through, or suffer the consequences of incompetence and betrayal. (text-color:#a01404)[***Implication:***] You suffered long and worked hard to eke out your existence. (text-color:#a01404)[***Implication:***] You generously helped him plenty up to this point—for free. It wasn’t such a high price to ask him to kill someone he hated anyway. You both benefited from this accord. (text-color:#a01404)[***Implication:***] His failure was inevitable. You weren’t *really* invested in his survival, or his potential to shift the tenor of human-demon relations. You were just hungry for more power, right? You just wanted to enrich your tiny slice of the hells, fuel your furnace, as you had always done. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It would have been unreasonable for *you*, of all beings, to have cared. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#961630)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Subsume. ⇒->26BBABBB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Behold the fourth principle of summoning: (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color:#f17264)[**4. The Principle of Voluntary and Efficient Accession to the Extraordinarily Reasonable Conditions Imposed by the Magnanimous Warden of the Calciferous Wastes, Who Certainly Never Even Cared About the Pharos Fidelis, And Certainly Not the Absurd Romantic Yearnings of Your Pathetic Subjects—Or Else.**] Summoners who willingly and knowingly forge an accord with you must see their bargain through, or suffer the consequences of incompetence and betrayal. (text-color:#f17264)[***Implication:***] You suffered long and worked hard to eke out your existence. (text-color:#f17264)[***Implication:***] You generously helped him plenty up to this point—for free. It wasn’t such a high price to ask him to kill someone he hated anyway. You both benefited from this accord. (text-color:#f17264)[***Implication:***] His failure was inevitable. You weren’t *really* invested in his survival, or his potential to shift the tenor of human-demon relations. You were just hungry for more power, right? You just wanted to enrich your tiny slice of the hells, fuel your furnace, as you had always done. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It would have been unreasonable for *you*, of all beings, to have cared. Right? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Subsume. ⇒->26BBABBB. Vosaphar]]]</div>]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived the shattering. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A constellation circled overhead, screeching as it descended. The sunspot, now barely recognizable as an amalgamation of blackened sunflesh and thousands of seething fragments, alighted on a rock nearby, and began snapping at Vosaphar’s lens fragments, shredding the flesh above his liver. Try though he might to crawl to safety, the creature still pursued him, tearing at the glass embedded in him. And then, he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BBABBA]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived the shattering. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A constellation circled overhead, screeching as it descended. The sunspot, now barely recognizable as an amalgamation of blackened sunflesh and thousands of seething fragments, alighted on a rock nearby, and began snapping at Vosaphar’s lens fragments, shredding the flesh above his liver. Try though he might to crawl to safety, the creature still pursued him, tearing at the glass embedded in him. And then, he felt that familiar tug and knew— (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[He was about to find his way home. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BBABBA]]]</div>]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Love]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. But a new threat lurked. The distorted sunspot, after consuming many remnants of the shattered lens, landed atop the melted peak and constructed a new nest of thousands and thousands of glowing fragments. The starscorched creature menaced any ships that dared disturb its territory. It had become, in effect, the next Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what it wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BBA. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BBAB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s desperation, causing him to impulsively banish Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be a fortunate calculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25BBABB. Finnit]]]</div> You took a comforting form, nurturing his budding relationship with Vosaphar in exchange for the lens fragments on his person. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. But a new threat lurked. The distorted sunspot, after consuming many remnants of the shattered lens, landed atop the melted peak and constructed a new nest of thousands and thousands of glowing fragments. The starscorched creature menaced any ships that dared disturb its territory. It had become, in effect, the next Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what it wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BBA. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BBAB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s desperation, causing him to impulsively banish Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be a fortunate calculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25BBABB. Finnit]]]</div> You took a comforting form, nurturing his budding relationship with Vosaphar in exchange for the lens fragments on his person. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 3)[XXVI.] (text-color:"#f95619")+(text-size: 1.15)[Vosaphar | Pharos Fidelis.]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightpharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived the shattering. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[If he had known that it was already too late, would that have been better? For him? For you? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A constellation circled overhead, screeching as it descended. The sunspot, now barely recognizable as an amalgamation of blackened sunflesh and thousands of seething fragments, alighted on a rock nearby, and began snapping at Vosaphar’s lens fragments, shredding the flesh above his liver. Try though he might to crawl to safety, no miraculous rescue arrived. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before the sunspot had its fill of him. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#f95619)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightpharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#bd3300)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BBABBB]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="pharoseclipsepassage">Vosaphar rocked in a smoldering sea of starlight. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[There was a serenity in suspension among the glittering motes of glass. Shards embedded all across his body radiated inscrutable heat, streaming an umbilicus of bubbles to the surface. Such serenity was fleeting, and it wasn’t long before one of the great waves swept him onto a rocky outcropping littered with lens fragments that sizzled in the rain. In the distance, Vosaphar could see the Pharos Fidelis—or, what remained of it. The top third of the peak had been obliterated, melting away into some new incomprehensible slag that still glowed molten under the storm. Vosaphar’s chest was a terrifying patchwork of singed blue skin, oozing ichor, and bright crimson fragments that itched as they fused with his bones. But, somehow, he had survived the shattering. Devils were persistent creatures, and he still longed for reunion with Finnit. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[If he had known that it was already too late, would that have been better? For him? For you? (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A constellation circled overhead, screeching as it descended. The sunspot, now barely recognizable as an amalgamation of blackened sunflesh and thousands of seething fragments, alighted on a rock nearby, and began snapping at Vosaphar’s lens fragments, shredding the flesh above his liver. Try though he might to crawl to safety, no miraculous rescue arrived. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[It wasn’t long before the sunspot had its fill of him. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="pharoseclipsechoice">(link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da1e45)))[[[Conclude. ⇒->Ending BBABBB]]]</div>]]]]]</div>] (link-style:(text-color:#f95619)+(hover-style:(text-color:#bd3300)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->L. Salvation]]]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the brief union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Finnit perished in a failed assassination attempt upon his return to Cairnveld, screaming of the sun. A strange footnote to this history. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. But a new threat lurked. The distorted sunspot, after consuming the demon Vosaphar, landed atop the melted peak and constructed a new nest of thousands and thousands of lens fragments. The starscorched creature menaced any ships that dared disturb its territory. It had become, in effect, the next Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what it wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BBA. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BBAB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s desperation, causing him to impulsively banish Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate calculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25BBABB. Finnit]]]</div> You took a terrifying form, seizing his lens fragments for yourself, and dooming him with an impossible accord. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and absolutely no complicated feelings arose. Goodness. You may yet revisit the choices above.] If you insist instead upon accepting this catastrophic outcome... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the brief union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Finnit perished in a failed assassination attempt upon his return to Cairnveld, screaming of the sun. A strange footnote to this history. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. But a new threat lurked. The distorted sunspot, after consuming the demon Vosaphar, landed atop the melted peak and constructed a new nest of thousands and thousands of lens fragments. The starscorched creature menaced any ships that dared disturb its territory. It had become, in effect, the next Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what it wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BBA. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BBAB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s desperation, causing him to impulsively banish Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be an unfortunate calculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25BBABB. Finnit]]]</div> You took a terrifying form, seizing his lens fragments for yourself, and dooming him with an impossible accord. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and absolutely no complicated feelings arose. Goodness. You may yet revisit the choices above.] If you insist instead upon accepting this catastrophic outcome... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 3)[Chronicle.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1.15)[5th Era | Starlight.]</div> A fragment extending the dark future of guiding light. (if:$light is true)[<div class="lightchroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. But a new threat lurked. The distorted sunspot, after consuming many remnants of the shattered lens, landed atop the melted peak and constructed a new nest of thousands and thousands of glowing fragments. The starscorched creature menaced any ships that dared disturb its territory. It had become, in effect, the next Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what it wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BBA. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BBAB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s desperation, causing him to impulsively banish Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be a fortunate calculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#4c4833")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25BBABB. Finnit]]]</div> You took an honest form, developing a stronger connection with Finnit while ensuring ongoing access to lens fragments in the future. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#5a4900)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="lightendingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>] \(else:)[<div class="chroniclepassage">Under the profaned light of a solar eclipse, the union of Finnit, a mortal summoner of no previous renown, and Vosaphar, the lonesome devil he plucked from the calciferous wastes, reignited the Pharos Fidelis. Their further exploits—scintillating though they may be—lie beyond the scope of this chronicle. The sun’s vengeance against its false mirror was swift, shattering the great lens, casting countless shards of sun-spoiled glass across the surrounding waters. Thus came forth a starlit sea, its fragments washed upon every rock, their crimson glow guiding ships anew through long-dark passages. And all that untapped power, just lying about, was sure to draw the interests of powerful mortals and demons alike. More fuel for your furnace. But a new threat lurked. The distorted sunspot, after consuming many remnants of the shattered lens, landed atop the melted peak and constructed a new nest of thousands and thousands of glowing fragments. The starscorched creature menaced any ships that dared disturb its territory. It had become, in effect, the next Pharos Fidelis. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[A dyslucent future, dimmed by its luminance. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[As ever it was. (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[(link:"Review your tenure as warden. ⛯")+(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:#961630)))[(align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Fatigue | Hunger.]] After Part VII, the first mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s hunger, causing him to negotiate an accord with Finnit that transferred one half of the sorcerer’s magic to the demon. This proved to be an unsustainable accord. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Dread | Envy.]] After Part IX, the second mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s envy, causing him to attack the anchor-collecting sunspot before learning what it wanted. This proved to be tactically questionable. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Insecurity | Naivety.]] After Part XV, the third mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M3BB. Insecurity/Naivety]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s insecurity, causing him to question Finnit’s sincerity prior to his temporary banishment. This proved to strengthen their emotional bond. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XVII.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Vosaphar | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XVII, Vosaphar re-emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->17BBA. Warden]]]</div> You kept your distance, obscuring your involvement in the proceedings. This proved to maintain the efficacy of your growing influence. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[Influence.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Clinginess | Desperation.]] After Part XXIII, the final mote of hellfire appeared. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->M4BBAB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]</div> You incited Vosaphar’s desperation, causing him to impulsively banish Finnit to the calciferous wastes. This proved to be a fortunate calculation. (align:"=><=")[(text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 2)[XXV.] (text-color:"#d7cc90")+(text-size: 1)[Finnit | Calciferous Wastes.]] During Part XXV, Finnit emerged from the pool by your cottage. <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Revisit. ⇒->25BBABB. Finnit]]]</div> You took an honest form, developing a stronger connection with Finnit while ensuring ongoing access to lens fragments in the future. This proved sufficient to fuel your furnace, and no other complicated feelings arose. You may yet revisit the choices above.] Otherwise... (link:"⚞↯⚟")+(link-style:(text-color:#d1b748)+(hover-style:(text-color:#927b1a)))+(t8n: "dissolve")[ <div class="endingchoice">(link-style:(text-color:#da1e45)+(hover-style:(text-color:"#961630")))[[[Affirm your decisions. ⇒->L. Final]]]</div>]]]]</div>]

(replace: ?Sidebar)[]<div class="shadowtext">(text-color:#fb324d)+(text-size: 2.2)[PHAR⛯S FIDELIS] (text-color:#da1e45)+(text-size: 0.8)[— Chapter Select —]</div> (if:$light is true)[<div class="lighteclipsemenupassage">From this menu, you can navigate to a specific conditional branching point if you would like to recover lost progress. Please be advised that clicking to reveal the choices may spoil plot points. (link-style:(text-color:#965b16)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)))[[[Start from the beginning. ⇒->P0. Three Principles]]] Otherwise: <div class="lightmenuchoice">(link:"Reveal first decision point. ⛯")[(link-style:(text-color:#965b16)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)))[[[Start at first Mote. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]] <div class="lightaltmenuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Fatigue. ⛯")[Fatigue was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#965b16)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)))[[[Start at second Mote. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]] <div class="lightmenuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Dread. ⛯")[Dread was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#965b16)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)))[[[Start at third Mote. ⇒->M3AA. Insecurity/Naivety]]] <div class="lightaltmenuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Insecurity. ⛯")[Insecurity was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#965b16)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)))[[[Start at Part XVII. ⇒->17AAA. Warden]]] <div class="lightmenuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Threat. ⛯")[Threat was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#965b16)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)))[[[Start at fourth Mote. ⇒->M4AAAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]]</div> <div class="lightmenuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Warmth. ⛯")[Warmth was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#965b16)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)))[[[Start at fourth Mote. ⇒->M4AAAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]]</div> <div class="lightmenuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Avoidance. ⛯")[Avoidance was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#965b16)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)))[[[Start at fourth Mote. ⇒->M4AAAB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]]</div>]</div> <div class="lightaltmenuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Naivety. ⛯")[Naivety was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#965b16)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)))[[[Start at Part XVII. ⇒->17AAB. Warden]]] <div class="lightmenuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Threat. ⛯")[Threat was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#965b16)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)))[[[Start at fourth Mote. ⇒->M4AABA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]]</div> <div class="lightmenuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Warmth. ⛯")[Warmth was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#965b16)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)))[[[Start at fourth Mote. ⇒->M4AABA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]]</div> <div class="lightmenuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Avoidance. ⛯")[Avoidance was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#965b16)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)))[[[Start at fourth Mote. ⇒->M4AABB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]]</div>]</div>]</div> <div class="lightmenuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Envy. ⛯")[Envy was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#965b16)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)))[[[Start at third Mote. ⇒->M3AB. Insecurity/Naivety]]] <div class="lightaltmenuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Insecurity. ⛯")[Insecurity was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#965b16)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)))[[[Start at Part XVII. ⇒->17ABA. Warden]]] <div class="lightmenuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Threat. ⛯")[Threat was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#965b16)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)))[[[Start at fourth Mote. ⇒->M4ABAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]]</div> <div class="lightmenuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Warmth. ⛯")[Warmth was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#965b16)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)))[[[Start at fourth Mote. ⇒->M4ABAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]]</div> <div class="lightmenuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Avoidance. ⛯")[Avoidance was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#965b16)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)))[[[Start at fourth Mote. ⇒->M4ABAB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]]</div>]</div> <div class="lightaltmenuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Naivety. ⛯")[Naivety was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#965b16)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)))[[[Start at Part XVII. ⇒->17ABB. Warden]]] <div class="lightmenuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Threat. ⛯")[Threat was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#965b16)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)))[[[Start at fourth Mote. ⇒->M4ABBA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]]</div> <div class="lightmenuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Warmth. ⛯")[Warmth was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#965b16)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)))[[[Start at fourth Mote. ⇒->M4ABBA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]]</div> <div class="lightmenuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Avoidance. ⛯")[Avoidance was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#965b16)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)))[[[Start at fourth Mote. ⇒->M4ABBB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]]</div>]</div>]]</div> <div class="lightaltmenuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Hunger. ⛯")[Hunger was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#965b16)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)))[[[Start at second Mote. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]] <div class="lightmenuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Dread. ⛯")[Dread was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#965b16)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)))[[[Start at third Mote. ⇒->M3BA. Insecurity/Naivety]]] <div class="lightaltmenuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Insecurity. ⛯")[Insecurity was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#965b16)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)))[[[Start at Part XVII. ⇒->17BAA. Warden]]] <div class="lightmenuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Threat. ⛯")[Threat was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#965b16)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)))[[[Start at fourth Mote. ⇒->M4BAAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]]</div> <div class="lightmenuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Warmth. ⛯")[Warmth was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#965b16)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)))[[[Start at fourth Mote. ⇒->M4BAAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]]</div> <div class="lightmenuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Avoidance. ⛯")[Avoidance was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#965b16)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)))[[[Start at fourth Mote. ⇒->M4BAAB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]]</div>]</div> <div class="lightaltmenuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Naivety. ⛯")[Naivety was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#965b16)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)))[[[Start at Part XVII. ⇒->17BAB. Warden]]] <div class="lightmenuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Threat. ⛯")[Threat was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#965b16)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)))[[[Start at fourth Mote. ⇒->M4BABA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]]</div> <div class="lightmenuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Warmth. ⛯")[Warmth was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#965b16)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)))[[[Start at fourth Mote. ⇒->M4BABA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]]</div> <div class="lightmenuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Avoidance. ⛯")[Avoidance was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#965b16)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)))[[[Start at fourth Mote. ⇒->M4BABB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]]</div>]</div>]</div> <div class="lightmenuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Envy. ⛯")[Envy was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#965b16)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)))[[[Start at third Mote. ⇒->M3BB. Insecurity/Naivety]]] <div class="lightaltmenuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Insecurity. ⛯")[Insecurity was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#965b16)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)))[[[Start at Part XVII. ⇒->17BBA. Warden]]] <div class="lightmenuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Threat. ⛯")[Threat was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#965b16)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)))[[[Start at fourth Mote. ⇒->M4BBAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]]</div> <div class="lightmenuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Warmth. ⛯")[Warmth was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#965b16)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)))[[[Start at fourth Mote. ⇒->M4BBAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]]</div> <div class="lightmenuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Avoidance. ⛯")[Avoidance was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#965b16)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)))[[[Start at fourth Mote. ⇒->M4BBAB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]]</div>]</div> <div class="lightaltmenuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Naivety. ⛯")[Naivety was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#965b16)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)))[[[Start at Part XVII. ⇒->17BBB. Warden]]] <div class="lightmenuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Threat. ⛯")[Threat was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#965b16)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)))[[[Start at fourth Mote. ⇒->M4BBBA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]]</div> <div class="lightmenuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Warmth. ⛯")[Warmth was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#965b16)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)))[[[Start at fourth Mote. ⇒->M4BBBA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]]</div> <div class="lightmenuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Avoidance. ⛯")[Avoidance was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#965b16)+(hover-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)))[[[Start at fourth Mote. ⇒->M4BBBB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]]</div>]</div>]</div>]</div>]</div></div>] \(else:)[<div class="eclipsemenupassage">From this menu, you can navigate to a specific conditional branching point if you would like to recover lost progress. Please be advised that clicking to reveal the choices may spoil plot points. (link-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#965b16)))[[[Start from the beginning. ⇒->P0. Three Principles]]] Otherwise: <div class="menuchoice">(link:"Reveal first decision point. ⛯")[(link-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#965b16)))[[[Start at first Mote. ⇒->M1. Fatigue/Hunger]]] <div class="altmenuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Fatigue. ⛯")[Fatigue was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#965b16)))[[[Start at second Mote. ⇒->M2A. Dread/Envy]]] <div class="menuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Dread. ⛯")[Dread was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#965b16)))[[[Start at third Mote. ⇒->M3AA. Insecurity/Naivety]]] <div class="altmenuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Insecurity. ⛯")[Insecurity was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#965b16)))[[[Start at Part XVII. ⇒->17AAA. Warden]]] <div class="menuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Threat. ⛯")[Threat was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#965b16)))[[[Start at fourth Mote. ⇒->M4AAAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]]</div> <div class="menuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Warmth. ⛯")[Warmth was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#965b16)))[[[Start at fourth Mote. ⇒->M4AAAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]]</div> <div class="menuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Avoidance. ⛯")[Avoidance was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#965b16)))[[[Start at fourth Mote. ⇒->M4AAAB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]]</div>]</div> <div class="altmenuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Naivety. ⛯")[Naivety was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#965b16)))[[[Start at Part XVII. ⇒->17AAB. Warden]]] <div class="menuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Threat. ⛯")[Threat was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#965b16)))[[[Start at fourth Mote. ⇒->M4AABA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]]</div> <div class="menuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Warmth. ⛯")[Warmth was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#965b16)))[[[Start at fourth Mote. ⇒->M4AABA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]]</div> <div class="menuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Avoidance. ⛯")[Avoidance was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#965b16)))[[[Start at fourth Mote. ⇒->M4AABB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]]</div>]</div>]</div> <div class="menuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Envy. ⛯")[Envy was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#965b16)))[[[Start at third Mote. ⇒->M3AB. Insecurity/Naivety]]] <div class="altmenuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Insecurity. ⛯")[Insecurity was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#965b16)))[[[Start at Part XVII. ⇒->17ABA. Warden]]] <div class="menuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Threat. ⛯")[Threat was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#965b16)))[[[Start at fourth Mote. ⇒->M4ABAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]]</div> <div class="menuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Warmth. ⛯")[Warmth was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#965b16)))[[[Start at fourth Mote. ⇒->M4ABAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]]</div> <div class="menuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Avoidance. ⛯")[Avoidance was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#965b16)))[[[Start at fourth Mote. ⇒->M4ABAB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]]</div>]</div> <div class="altmenuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Naivety. ⛯")[Naivety was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#965b16)))[[[Start at Part XVII. ⇒->17ABB. Warden]]] <div class="menuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Threat. ⛯")[Threat was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#965b16)))[[[Start at fourth Mote. ⇒->M4ABBA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]]</div> <div class="menuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Warmth. ⛯")[Warmth was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#965b16)))[[[Start at fourth Mote. ⇒->M4ABBA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]]</div> <div class="menuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Avoidance. ⛯")[Avoidance was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#965b16)))[[[Start at fourth Mote. ⇒->M4ABBB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]]</div>]</div>]]</div> <div class="altmenuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Hunger. ⛯")[Hunger was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#965b16)))[[[Start at second Mote. ⇒->M2B. Dread/Envy]]] <div class="menuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Dread. ⛯")[Dread was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#965b16)))[[[Start at third Mote. ⇒->M3BA. Insecurity/Naivety]]] <div class="altmenuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Insecurity. ⛯")[Insecurity was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#965b16)))[[[Start at Part XVII. ⇒->17BAA. Warden]]] <div class="menuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Threat. ⛯")[Threat was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#965b16)))[[[Start at fourth Mote. ⇒->M4BAAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]]</div> <div class="menuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Warmth. ⛯")[Warmth was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#965b16)))[[[Start at fourth Mote. ⇒->M4BAAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]]</div> <div class="menuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Avoidance. ⛯")[Avoidance was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#965b16)))[[[Start at fourth Mote. ⇒->M4BAAB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]]</div>]</div> <div class="altmenuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Naivety. ⛯")[Naivety was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#965b16)))[[[Start at Part XVII. ⇒->17BAB. Warden]]] <div class="menuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Threat. ⛯")[Threat was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#965b16)))[[[Start at fourth Mote. ⇒->M4BABA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]]</div> <div class="menuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Warmth. ⛯")[Warmth was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#965b16)))[[[Start at fourth Mote. ⇒->M4BABA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]]</div> <div class="menuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Avoidance. ⛯")[Avoidance was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#965b16)))[[[Start at fourth Mote. ⇒->M4BABB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]]</div>]</div>]</div> <div class="menuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Envy. ⛯")[Envy was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#965b16)))[[[Start at third Mote. ⇒->M3BB. Insecurity/Naivety]]] <div class="altmenuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Insecurity. ⛯")[Insecurity was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#965b16)))[[[Start at Part XVII. ⇒->17BBA. Warden]]] <div class="menuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Threat. ⛯")[Threat was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#965b16)))[[[Start at fourth Mote. ⇒->M4BBAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]]</div> <div class="menuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Warmth. ⛯")[Warmth was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#965b16)))[[[Start at fourth Mote. ⇒->M4BBAA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]]</div> <div class="menuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Avoidance. ⛯")[Avoidance was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#965b16)))[[[Start at fourth Mote. ⇒->M4BBAB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]]</div>]</div> <div class="altmenuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Naivety. ⛯")[Naivety was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#965b16)))[[[Start at Part XVII. ⇒->17BBB. Warden]]] <div class="menuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Threat. ⛯")[Threat was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#965b16)))[[[Start at fourth Mote. ⇒->M4BBBA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]]</div> <div class="menuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Warmth. ⛯")[Warmth was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#965b16)))[[[Start at fourth Mote. ⇒->M4BBBA. Clinginess/Desperation]]]]</div> <div class="menuchoice">(link:"Reveal next choice after Avoidance. ⛯")[Avoidance was chosen. (link-style:(text-color:#da9d1e)+(hover-style:(text-color:#965b16)))[[[Start at fourth Mote. ⇒->M4BBBB. Clinginess/Desperation]]]]</div>]</div>]</div>]</div>]</div></div>] (link-style:(text-color:#fb324d)+(hover-style:(text-color:#b00427)))[[[⇐ Return to Title. ->Title]]]