[ Armand's answer catches Astarion by surprise. He could be lying — a task made infinitely easier by text — but why go to the lengths of inventing such a story? But the alternative, to be so forthcoming ... it's nigh unfathomable.
(And he finds himself, against his better judgment, almost feeling jealous. To have been turned by someone who cared for him — wouldn't it have been a better lot than the one he ended up with?) ]
It was presented to me as a choice. Accept my fate, bleed out and die, or accept the hand that was offered to me by a benevolent stranger, and live forever. In that moment, I thought it a blessing, but I knew better even before another day had come and gone.
[ A little less explicit in the telling, but no less true. ]
I didn't realize to be turned was such an ordeal, in your world. Is survival truly so rare?
cw: death
(And he finds himself, against his better judgment, almost feeling jealous. To have been turned by someone who cared for him — wouldn't it have been a better lot than the one he ended up with?) ]
It was presented to me as a choice. Accept my fate, bleed out and die, or accept the hand that was offered to me by a benevolent stranger, and live forever. In that moment, I thought it a blessing, but I knew better even before another day had come and gone.
[ A little less explicit in the telling, but no less true. ]
I didn't realize to be turned was such an ordeal, in your world. Is survival truly so rare?