"I will, Basileios," he says. "I'll serve you as well as I can. Just get me out of here."
You step forward and use the sword to cut into the thick twine holding the cage together. The blade is crude but sharp enough to do its job, and you weaken the structure enough to wrench the bars apart and allow Vanya to climb through.
"There were times I never thought I'd step out of that cage under my own power," says Vanya, pulling his arms back in a stretch after days of confinement. "Perhaps one day I will rejoin the Narrow River, but for now I have sworn myself to you, and I will help you and the Tribe of the Red Bear as best I can."
The Black Wolf bandits have now been overwhelmed by your tribe's forces. It seems that whatever strange force possessed your warriors is beginning to wear off, but the few bandits still left alive are nonetheless being corralled into a circle, their hands raised in the air.
You step into the circle of light cast by the fire at the center of the camp. The warriors of your tribe bow as they see you. Kral nods to you, before turning to the others.
"Basileios has been returned to us," he says, "and we claimed victory for the Tribe of the Red Bear against the Tribe of the Black Wolf, just as our brothers and sisters will taste victory out on the steppe. Soon we will return home, to drink to our bravery, to affirm our bonds, and to remember those we have lost."
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