Captain Vayne singled him out personally on the ascending lift-ship, reading his papers aloud ("Silas Briggs. Never heard of you."), gripping his hand with a cold palm, and whispering: "This city needs more of the right people. Less of the wrong ones." Vayne nodded toward a guard who was threatening Pippen. Silas held his gaze without flinching.

The Collapse: On the dock, as the party introduced themselves, Silas shook hands with Lyra Caelwyn. The moment their hands met, something inside him opened — a hollowing sensation, the chain around his neck feeling weighted. He saw a woman's profile: dark hair, trembling hands, a ring of light. Her voice, sobbing: "I'm sorry. I can't do this." He heard a baby crying from another room. A door slammed. He collapsed on the dock. The trigger was the handshake with Lyra — whether this is coincidence or connection is unknown.

At Honeybrookes, revealed he's Vi-Upper born with upper-city manners. Used his sending stone to contact an unnamed employer; the response was cold and transactional — "Secure the journal first. Then payment could be arranged."

Opened up further — admitted his parents are traveling merchants, that he chases "awakened scars, weird magic, things that leave marks," and that his power feels found rather than inherited. Acknowledged the fainting spell likely means something larger is awakening in him.

Led the infiltration with a polished merchant cover story, keeping Harlan engaged with questions about supply chains and clients. Observed that Harlan seemed genuinely ordinary — the conspiracy ran deeper than one man.

Stayed above while the party fought in the cellar. When Harlan and Lessa panicked, he stepped in and dropped them both into magical sleep before violence could erupt — described as one of the most merciful and strategically useful acts of the session.

While tying the sleeping Blackmires, Harlan stirred and said "You're Killian's boy." The name triggered fractured impressions — not quite memories, but adjacent to them. He pushed it down. He also read the Dwarvish letter revealing the Blackmires had been coerced through the kidnapping of their daughter Harriet. His moral center shifted — he woke the Blackmires rather than leaving them unconscious and directed them toward Areska rather than chains.

Walked with Lyra to the Starspire Observatory and admitted more than he intended — born here, family still in the upper city, and his real reason for returning: artifacts tied to Mechanus and a father's obsession he inherited without understanding it. Asked Greenseer Rylenn the most practical question after hearing Lyra's diagnosis: "What does it mean for Lyra?"

Vael was standing right there on the dock when it happened. Silas Briggs shook Lyra's hand, said his name — and then went down. No warning, no explanation. His face was wrong before he fell, like the lights went out before the body caught up. Silas insisted he was fine; he clearly wasn't, and he knew it. That moment hasn't been fully resolved.

Vael was also on the lift. He saw Captain Vayne pick Silas out of the crowd by name — read the papers, gripped his hand deliberately, leaned in close. Whatever Vayne said was too quiet to hear. Silas didn't break. But he heard it.

At Honeybrookes that night Silas opened up more than the others did. Born in Vi-Upper. Parents are traveling merchants. He hunts artifacts — "awakened scars, weird magic, things that leave marks" — and his power doesn't feel like something he was taught. He described it like something he found, or that found him.

He carries himself like a man of manners — stood up and offered Areska a handshake the moment she walked in. Argued for caution and presumption of innocence when the party was deciding how hard to push the Blackmire Tannery investigation. He was right about that.

At Blackmire, Silas handled the surface — Harlan and Lessa — while the rest of the party was in the cellar. Vael doesn't know exactly what was said, but Silas woke them, didn't harm them, and pointed them toward Areska. He also read the Dwarvish letter that changed everyone's understanding of the Blackmires' situation.

Harlan called him "Killian's boy" — Silas told the party about it. Whatever it means, it rattled him.

Session 9: Walked with Lyra to the observatory while Vael and Bodrin went to find Rynna. Vael doesn't know what was said there, but Silas came back quieter — the kind of quiet that comes from learning something true that changes the size of the problem.