NPCKibellah, having stepped into your chambers, stares at you with eyes wide and brimming with emotion. "Domin..." A moment later, her hands touch your face. "[Name]!"
YOU[Kiss Kibellah] "I'm here, my love."
NPCShe melts in your embrace, her trembling touches expressing her feelings better than any words could. She releases you and looks into your eyes with a mixture of longing and relief.
NPC"I believed... I knew you were alive... I saw your shadow in the labyrinth, looking for a way out, meandering in the dark yet still guided toward salvation by His light. And now you're here, Domin'[Name]..." She slowly pulls away. Her tender expression gives way to something else: pain, despair. "Right here, where your blade rested in its sheath, pointless and useless."
YOU"Please, don't. No one could have foreseen what would happen."
NPCHer fingers curl into fists. "The Undying One is giving me His signs! He must have warned me, but I failed to see!"
NPC"I..." Kibellah hesitates a moment before finding the will to speak: "On the day that you and I bonded in the labyrinth, something upset the order of things. All that the Vizsier taught me, all that makes me what I am — and here we are, reaping the fruits of my irresolution, my weakness. Naught but His providence saved you from falling to an unrighteous death."
YOU"What are you trying to say?"
NPCKibellah looks at you without blinking. "The Tenets demand irreproachable service. Only thus are we able to read hearts and to see threads. The Bloodspun Web will not accept a failure."
YOU"What are you trying to say?"continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Whatever you are going through, we will face it together."
NPCKibellah lets out a bitter chuckle. "Together? You have no notion of what it's like when errant thoughts and emotions obscure your inner sight. Your world is... full of transitory passions. It is woven from them. It lives through them, without having to care about any thread other than your own, including mine."
NPC(sequence)
NPC"Perhaps our bond is not as heavy a burden on your heart as it is on mine, Domin'[Name]..." Kibellah licks her lips as they curl into a malicious smile. "After all, I'm not the only one you have bonded with."
end of branch
NPC"Veni'Cassia... I've seen the way she looks at you. The way you look at her. You crave her fluttering soul... Why? Is it because it's so easy to break?"
end of branch
NPC"The evasive Vil'Jae is not your equal, neither in soul nor in thought. Her shallow words and farcical deeds are but a colourful shell that cannot conceal just how little remains of her teetering faith."
end of branch
NPC"Veni'Heinrix is duty-bound to act as your sentinel — do you hope to cloud his mind, throw him off his guard? These rituals do not become you, Domin'[Name]!"
end of branch
NPC"Vil'Yrliet is a spawn of heresy, and yet you act as if you and the xenos are close... This perversion born of whim, this unnatural tolerance... I fail to understand — is it the Aeldari's doing, or a shortcoming of your own soul?"
end of branch
NPC"Vil'Marazhai... How could you accept him into your faithful host? Already he has sunk his claws into your soul. I can feel his venom within you. Tear out this treacherous needle, or he will drink your soul to the last drop."
end of branch
NPC"Amic'Solomorne, keeper of the law — do you stay so close to him because you fear his verdicts? You fear in vain. Only the Undying One may judge you."
end of branch
NPCKibellah speaks in the cold voice of a spinner of death: "The Web demands that we create a distance between us. I cannot be your blade so long as thoughts and worries of another kind shroud my path through the labyrinth." Despite her tone and her words, you see longing in her eyes. And a glimmer of... hope?
YOU"Am I to understand that you cannot handle your own problems?"
NPCKibellah goes still... and then, as if coming to a decision, she looks away and nods firmly. "Your reproach is just. And that is why I must let you go. Everything that is preventing me from following the thread of the Web will be excised from my heart and mind. Thank you for pointing me toward the solution, Domin'[Name]." She bows and walks away.
end of branch
NPCKibellah looks at you with no expression whatever, save for a thin line that forms briefly at the corner of her mouth: a stifled grimace of vexation.
YOU"Am I to understand that you cannot handle your own problems?"continues where this line first appears above
YOU"I want to be with you. No matter what."
NPCKibellah squeezes her eyes shut. "I was hoping... that you would be stronger than me..." She sobs, as if buckling under the weight of decision that has been thrust upon her. "The Web demands a sacrifice that I can't bring myself to give..."
NPC"I... I need to be alone — to understand who I am... with you. Perhaps I should try on a different mask for a time and see how well it fits me." Kibellah falls silent. Slowly, as if pushing through water, she withdraws from you and turns away.
end of branch
YOU[Touch Kibellah's hand] "I need you, not a blade of the Web. Please. Don't leave me."
NPCA single touch shatters Kibellah's facade of cold aloofness. She lets out a painful moan and interweaves her fingers with yours. "Domin'[Name]... I was hoping you'd be stronger than me..."
NPC"I... I need to be alone — to understand who I am... with you. Perhaps I should try on a different mask for a time and see how well it fits me." Kibellah falls silent. Slowly, as if pushing through water, she withdraws from you and turns away.continues where this line first appears above
YOU"All right. Let us pretend that there was never anything between us."
NPCA light sigh escapes her lips. She closes her eyes for a moment, and when she opens them again, you see a crimson flash of resolve within. "So be it, Domin'[Name]."
end of branch
YOU"I want to be with you. No matter what."continues where this line first appears above
YOU[Touch Kibellah's hand] "I need you, not a blade of the Web. Please. Don't leave me."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"All right. Let us pretend that there was never anything between us."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"You are just overreacting."
NPC"Yes, I am. And that is the very downfall I am facing. Do you not understand what I'm telling you? Can you even understand? Are you as devoted to your thread as I am to mine?" Kibellah narrows her eyes, studying you.
NPC(sequence)continues where this line first appears above
NPCKibellah speaks in the cold voice of a spinner of death: "The Web demands that we create a distance between us. I cannot be your blade so long as thoughts and worries of another kind shroud my path through the labyrinth." Despite her tone and her words, you see longing in her eyes. And a glimmer of... hope?continues where this line first appears above
YOU"I am waiting to hear how you intend to redeem your faults."
NPCKibellah goes still... and then, as if coming to a decision, she looks away and nods firmly. "Your reproach is just. And that is why I must let you go. Everything that is preventing me from following the thread of the Web will be excised from my heart and mind. Thank you for pointing me toward the solution, Domin'[Name]." She bows and walks away.continues where this line first appears above
NPCKibellah winces painfully. "Yes. All fault must be erased."
NPC(sequence)continues where this line first appears above
NPCKibellah speaks in the cold voice of a spinner of death: "The Web demands that we create a distance between us. I cannot be your blade so long as thoughts and worries of another kind shroud my path through the labyrinth." Despite her tone and her words, you see longing in her eyes. And a glimmer of... hope?continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Whatever you are going through, we will face it together."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"You are just overreacting."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"I am waiting to hear how you intend to redeem your faults."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"We are alive and we are together. Nothing else matters."
NPCKibellah clenches her fists, her knuckles turning white. "It does matter. It matters that I, your shadow, your blade, could do nothing to stop the threat."
NPC"I..." Kibellah hesitates a moment before finding the will to speak: "On the day that you and I bonded in the labyrinth, something upset the order of things. All that the Vizsier taught me, all that makes me what I am — and here we are, reaping the fruits of my irresolution, my weakness. Naught but His providence saved you from falling to an unrighteous death."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"I can't argue with that. You have failed in your duty to protect me."
NPCShe lowers her eyes, her gaze bleak. "I have broken my oath. I let your foes prevail."
NPC"I..." Kibellah hesitates a moment before finding the will to speak: "On the day that you and I bonded in the labyrinth, something upset the order of things. All that the Vizsier taught me, all that makes me what I am — and here we are, reaping the fruits of my irresolution, my weakness. Naught but His providence saved you from falling to an unrighteous death."continues where this line first appears above
YOU[Say nothing]
NPC"Your silence is worse than any accusation, Domin'[Name]. I deserve as much." Kibellah closes her eyes. Her fingers begin to twitch.
NPC"I..." Kibellah hesitates a moment before finding the will to speak: "On the day that you and I bonded in the labyrinth, something upset the order of things. All that the Vizsier taught me, all that makes me what I am — and here we are, reaping the fruits of my irresolution, my weakness. Naught but His providence saved you from falling to an unrighteous death."continues where this line first appears above
YOU[Embrace Kibellah] "That trial is behind us now. Never again shall we part."
NPCFor a moment, you feel as if your bones are going to crack from the intensity of Kibellah's embrace. She catches herself and relaxes her hands, sliding them up and down your body in a bashful caress.
NPC"I believed... I knew you were alive... I saw your shadow in the labyrinth, looking for a way out, meandering in the dark yet still guided toward salvation by His light. And now you're here, Domin'[Name]..." She slowly pulls away. Her tender expression gives way to something else: pain, despair. "Right here, where your blade rested in its sheath, pointless and useless."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Shh, calm down... I'm fine. See?"
NPCKibellah's eyes glisten, and she quickly lowers her gaze. She steps closer, carefully touching you, as trying to confirm that you are not merely a figment of her despondent mind.
NPC"I believed... I knew you were alive... I saw your shadow in the labyrinth, looking for a way out, meandering in the dark yet still guided toward salvation by His light. And now you're here, Domin'[Name]..." She slowly pulls away. Her tender expression gives way to something else: pain, despair. "Right here, where your blade rested in its sheath, pointless and useless."continues where this line first appears above