Castlevania II: Dracula's Curse (IC)

[J-H]

Spoiler: Summary

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Vidrik: Persuasion 14. Who is the employer? Terms of the contract? River, or bridge? Other bridges?
Cassandra: Persuasion 3 What if we crossed elsewhere?
Sabian: We can kill it!
Chloe: Let's not.

Ghussam looks at Vidrik, who appears to recognize the genie's power. "You may ask who I am employed by. I, in my turn, may choose to not answer, as a matter of professional courtesy. Although currently dead, he is rather powerful, and offending him would not be something done lightly. Exceptions were made for his servants, of course. I understand that he has placed a powerful curse on the region; you may be the last living mortals to come this way for some time."

Ghussam looks around. "I guard the bridge and passage across it. Just the bridge. It's a nice enough bridge for one built by the unlearned, but I have seen many better ones. I suppose the location does have a certain... quaint charm. It must be important for some reason though, as my brothers are instead moving along the rivers to prevent travel. If you see Hussham or Fasshuum, pass along my courteous greetings."

Unfortunately for Cassandra, Ghussam perceives her comments as insincere flattery, which works against her earlier success. He continues in his deep voice, which gurgles with watery sounds. "I chose to make this contract. The pay, which I shall not disclose, is good, and comes with the favor of a powerful entity should his plan succeed. In the meantime, I am not here to solve the problems of mortals for them. If you've heard any stories about genies held captive in bottles granting wishes or randomly fixing the needs of flesh-based life forms out of a sense of unwarranted generosity, I assure you that they range from outright lies to exaggerations spread through excessively numerous re-tellings where the truth is stretched farther and farther in the pursuit of coin or drink."