Talhi, the promising weaver of Alebor.

She wore the dream she only dared to use in private: a sapphire-blue silk bodice whose embroideries, unbeknownst to her, wove runes of solace. Beneath it, reality: a dirty, patched skirt of coarse wool.

Exhausted after her day at the loom, the universe granted her a moment of clarity. The Matrix revealed itself before her eyes, and the Threads of Destiny shone, banishing her fatigue instantly.

Within the silver glow, one called to her: a familiar thread, strangled by a complex knot.

It was her brother's thread.

A tear traced a path through the dust on her cheek. She wasn't crying out of sorrow; she was crying because she knew she could undo it. She knew that with one pull, she could rip the pain out by the roots. But that knot was not bad luck; it was tangled by her brother's poor choices.

With infinite tenderness, and with tears still falling, she released the thread, letting it follow its entangled course.