Moonspear long in tooth and soul

And there were many tradeoffs to be had, so many that Dirge dared not to level them against what he had currently amassed for fear that it would pain him rather than tempt him. It was an inevitable event, however, and he could not help but entertain the thoughts that arose in the wake of the observations made by Arcturus.

"Both invite their troubles too," he rejoined softly—how well reacquainted they would be with many in weeks to come. "But I find it is a matter of where your priorities lie whether they are troublesome or not. Children alter such as well." Somewhere, his priorities had shifted and the realization of just what sort of father he would be had grabbed hold; decidedly, not like his own. He would not abandon them even if he abandoned all else lest the very life in him was torn and spilled against stone.

And yet... that call to the wilderness was a very real thing.

He heard it, even now. A fiendish low moan of a whisper beneath layers of veiling ambient din—he thought perhaps when the children were grown, he would entertain the thought of adventure once again. Not in a permanent sense—ambition had a hand on the proverbial wheel that steered him as much as any other—but just enough to soothed errant desire of a different sort.