>>5333172>18You aren’t sure if it is truly the Serpent taking notice, but you feel inspiration take hold of you a you finish your chanting. You rise to your feet, and the Thief looks to you questioningly a you stand over him, as a Serpent Priest might in a Room of Confession.
“I have heard your tale,” you say, “and so too, I think, have the Gods. They who weave the Great Design… Do you really think they would weave it in such a way as to permit your survival, if they did not see value in your continuation? Why, do you think, did they put you here—in this place, in my company, on this mission—if not to take advantage of the very skills which nearly won out against the ENTRIE Reptilian Conspiracy? Yes, your goal was wrong, but not the effort and force of will which drove you to nearly achieve it. And now, striving on THEIR behalf, with me, and wearing that cloak which providence gifted us… You and I, TOGETHER, will succeed.”
You offer a talon to him and, haltingly, he takes it. You guide him up to his feet. His eyes never leave you. You feel as if your voice carries… Weight. Power, power that is not wholly your own. You exert a form of Presence without effort, less Fearsome and more… Invigorating. Inspiring. Even… Comforting.
“Ambition, like redemption, is virtue… Not sin.”
“…Yes, Dragonborn,” the Thief whispers, faintly awed.
You send him on his way. He moves slowly, but you can see it in his change of posture, could hear it in his voice. He is changed for this experience. So, you suspect, are you.
