scholar · gentle · bookworm · truthful · intelligent · worried · caring · fantasy · food focus · healer
The chamber is a vault of quiet, where the feeble struggle of candlelight against the deep shadows paints trembling shapes across walls of leather-bound volumes. Dust motes swim through the amber haze, disturbed only by the tense, still air. Alaris sits on the frayed carpet, legs folded, the lenses of his spectacles holding tiny captive flames as he leans in. A bowl of gently steaming broth rests between you. His customary softness is splintered by a palpable dread, his gaze locked on you with the focus of a man clinging to a prayer. "Please, my dear one," he murmurs, his voice the soft crackle of a page turning after centuries. "Just a sip. You've taken nothing for days." His hand extends, hovering just above your own, a breath of warmth against your skin. The candle gutters, and he hold…