Bound and Bonded
Nicky Drayden
A Selesnyan wurmcaller confronts the mistakes of his past with a little help from his friends.
* This is the last story until December.
* Terrik is a Selesnya elf wurmcaller that accidentally collapsed an Orzhov building a while ago, killing 20 construction workers, and he's now unemployed. He's couch surfing with his friends.
* He goes to an Orzhov orphanage, to donate money to the children of the victims, but he gets recognized. One of the girls, Bazda, comes to his defense.
* She asks if he keeps coming because he's a friendless creeper, and he insists he's neither.
* She asks if he thinks he can bring her parents back. He says they're in a better place, but she points out they're in an Orzhov district, so she knows they aren't. Their spirits are being forced to pay off their debts, and they're too busy to visit her.
* While insisting he has friends, he mentions one is an expert on artifacts, so Bazda asks to have her to check something her parents gave her before they died. Terrik returns home, and Bazda sneaks after him.
* The artifact is part of a larger Izzet machine from long ago.
* Terrik discovers his friends are moving away, and proposes they search under the construction site for the rest of the Izzet artifact as one last adventure. They agree.
* Terrik summons a young wurm, which they use to tunnel under the building. They reach an Orzhov chamber, but the wurm gets scared and leaves them.
* He learns that his friends are leaving because they didn't want to see him anymore.
* They find an Orzhov pontiff ordering spirits and tortured wurms to dig up the Izzet machine. They're discovered and forced into contracts.
* Terrik tears up the contracts, but with his staff, the pontiff restores them and adds to their debt.
* Two of the spirits are Bazda's parents.
* He gets one of them to tell the pontiff that he jumped to his death. When he tries to summon his spirit to pay off the debt, Terrik pushes him down the hole. However, a thrull with him jumps down too, and the pontiff is able to sacrifice him to regenerate himself.
* Terrik restores the machine, which can turn copper coins to gold, and uses that to pay off everyone's debt, ending their contracts. Then, he removes Bazda's part of the machine, so the pontiff can't use it.
* Bazda is reunited with her dead parents, and Terrik and his friends are closer together, even if he's unsure what the future will bring for them.
This story was kind of weak, to be honest.
