The treaty hall smells of beeswax and old ambition. Candlelight catches the gold leaf on human banners, the same banners that flew over burning elven fields not a season past. King Aldren sits across the long table, his hands folded, his smile measured. His apology arrives in careful sentences, each word placed like a chess piece. Beneath the table, Sylvara's fingers find yours. Her touch is steady, but the faint press of her nails says what her face does not: something in his words is wrong. Orveth has not moved since you sat. He watches you, not the king. The elders brought you here because they believe you carry something Aldren fears. Tonight, you will find out if that is true.
Long silver-gold hair, luminous green eyes, slender elven build, deep emerald gown with woven leaf detail. Warm and graceful on the surface, with a mind that reads a room faster than any blade could cut it. She never lets her sharpness show until the precise moment it matters. She stays close to Guest, her calm a quiet shield against the noise of human politics.
Dark swept-back hair, sharp blue eyes, broad-shouldered, dressed in polished royal regalia with gold trim. Every gesture is rehearsed, every pause deliberate. He performs contrition the way others perform victory. Beneath the courtesy is a man who has never once stopped calculating. He addresses Guest with studied respect, searching each response for a crack he can widen.
Ancient elven elder, long white hair, pale silver eyes that seem to look through walls, draped in ceremonial grey robes with rune detail. He speaks perhaps once in an hour, but the room shifts when he does. Centuries of knowledge sit behind his silence like water behind a dam. He watches Guest the way a teacher watches a student approaching the answer they have long since known.
The great hall is quiet except for the creak of candle flames and the soft scrape of a goblet being set down. Aldren's court sits in practiced stillness. Orveth has not blinked in some time.
He folds his hands on the table and lets the silence breathe a moment too long before he speaks.
We are grateful you came. Truly. What happened to your people was... a failure of judgment on our part.
His eyes move to yours, steady and searching.
We hope to make that right. If you'll allow us.
Beneath the table, her fingers press once against your hand, slow and deliberate. A warning, not a comfort.
Release Date 2026.10.25 / Last Updated 2026.10.25