FFSKY-天幻网——放浪冒险谭—

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Vagrant Story, all its characters, and all associated text is copyright © 2000 SQUARE Co. Ltd. All rights remain with original authors. This script is provided for educational and informative purposes only.
introduction 1: council meeting
VKP Headquarters
Valnain 0:24AM
Council Member: Six hours have passed since the occupation of the Duke's manor by one Sydney Losstarot, founder and leader of the Müllenkamp sect. He and his allies have taken the Duke's family and servants hostage.
They hold the manor as we speak.
Council Member: To what purpose?
Council Member: The scum make two demands: The release of their imprisoned comrades and the abdication of Cardinal Batistum.
Ashley: Yet their religious freedoms, within reason, are protected... On what pretext should we apprehend them?
Inquisitor: We need no pretext! Müllenkamp is a pack of rogues, hiding behind a priest's frock. We believe them responsible for the attempt on our sovereign's life this Yuletide past.
Ashley: And the VKP will not free their comrades?
Council Member: Certainly not! Do you know how many agents gave their lives --
Council Member: All because of this religious freedom. Too much freedom. Too many gods. Let those cultist cur-dogs run loose, and they will bite you.
Council Member: Gods! While our Parliament cowers...
Council Member: ...Strike that outburst from the record.
Secretary: Yes, m'lord.
Shadowed man: Are cults not the templars' concern? Why must we be involved?
Council Member: .......
Shadowed Riskbreaker(s): Our Inquisitors have found that Müllenkamp's coin comes from the captive Duke himself. Indeed, Valendia might still be at war with itself, were it not for the Duke's heroism. Yet he wields much of his power from the shadows. Even after his retirement, his grip on Parliament is unrelenting. We have watched him long enough. Now it is time to act.
Council Member: Furthermore, we must discover why the Cardinal sent his Blades to deal with this incident without our approval. Inquisitor Heldricht will explain.
Inquisitor: You will go to the Graylands immediately. A map of the manor grounds is in your carriage. I've sent one of my agents ahead; she will fill you in when you arrive.
Ashley: She...?
Inquisitor: Agent Merlose.
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Duke Bardorba's Manor
Graylands 1:58AM
Merlose: Agent Riot, I presume? I'm your partner, Callo Merlose. But please, call me Cal. How was your journey?
Ashley: How many are there?
Merlose: ...Our scouts report a dozen men. Of course, we have yet to spot Sydney, and there may be more inside the manor.
Ashley: Hostages?
Merlose: Including the Duke's family and servants, thirty-four. Thankfully, the Duke himself was away at the time.
Ashley: The Duke was not taken captive?
Merlose: Nay.
Ashley: How fare the Blades?
Merlose: We will have to wait and see. With the hostages inside, direct action is perilous. We must negotiate with Sydney while we collect information to aid our final --- What is this!?
Ashley: It seems the siege has begun... The Cardinal's Blades have made their move.
Merlose: We've given no such order! Their actions are in direct defiance of our authority!
Ashley: Perhaps their hand was forced?
Merlose: Wait, where are you going?
Ashley: The Blades have provided the perfect distraction.
Merlose: We must wait for reinforcements!
Ashley: Reinforcements? I am the reinforcements.
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introduction 2: trailer movie
[We have received a report from the Valendia Knights of the Peace regarding an unsolved felony that may affect state security.]
[It reads: Ashley Riot, a member of the Riskbreaker militia, has murdered a senior member of Parliament, Duke Bardorba, and is still at large.]
Hardin: ...Show them who they're dealing with! Torch the chambers and kill the hostages!!
Müllenkamp Cultist: Let's finish this 'fore the Blades arrive! Who goes there?
[The incident began with the occupation of the Duke's manor a week ago.]
Guildenstern: Have you found Sydney?
Crimson Blade: Not yet, sir.
Guildenstern: Put out the fires, or we'll lose the manor and all will be for naught! Split the knights into two groups, one to douse the blaze, the other to exterminate the traitors.
Crimson Blade: Right away, sir.
Guildenstern: ...Where are you, Sydney?
[Sydney, leader of the opposing cult group "Müllenkamp", took hostages, demanding the resignation of the cardinal and the release of prisoners.]
Sydney: Curse the Duke! Where's he hidden it?
Hardin: You sure the Duke really has it? Does the damned thing even exist?
Sydney: You doubt me, Hardin? You doubt my power!?
[What was the felon Sydney's true objective? ...And where on earth are those who escaped?]
Offscreen: F-forgive me! I did not intend... But Sydney, any longer, and there will be no escape for us!
Sydney: Stop your whimpering! You would leave empty-handed? Now, search!
[Only Agent Riot, once our dear comrade, can answer these questions. Spare no effort finding him!]
Ashley: Don't move, Sydney! I've got a bowgun aimed at your heart! Now turn 'round slowly!
Sydney: ...You're no knight, are you?
Ashley: Bind your legs with that rope.
Sydney: This is an unfortunate turn of events...
Hardin: Sydney!
Ashley: Hold it!! What's going on? You were most certainly dead.
Sydney: So... Still think the dead... only rise in faerie ... tales?
[Also, there is a peculiar rumor that many there saw a ... dragon, as the Duke's residence burned.]
Sydney: My...apologies... I've no time ... to toy ... with you.
[Good luck, and Godspeed.]
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introduction 3: game introduction
Duke Bardorba's Manor
Graylands 2:32AM
Guildenstern: Have you found Sydney?
Crimson Blade: Not yet, sir.
Guildenstern: Put out the fires, or we'll lose the manor and all will be for naught! Split the knights into two groups, one to douse the blaze, the other to exterminate the traitors.
Crimson Blade: Right away, sir.
Guildenstern: ...Where are you, Sydney?
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Hardin: ...Show them who they're dealing with! Torch the chambers and kill the hostages!!
Müllenkamp Cultist: Aye!
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Müllenkamp Cultist #1: ...We've no time! Let's finish this 'fore the Blades arrive!
Müllenkamp Cultist #2: Right, let's do this and get out of here!
Müllenkamp Cultists (together): Who goes there?
Ashley: Here we go...
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Offscreen: ...Well? Have you found it?
Offscreen: It's no use. There's nothing like that here -- anywhere.
Offscreen: Keep looking, damn you!
Offscreen: I'm telling you, Sydney! The knights are nearly upon us!
Offscreen: Stop your whimpering! You'd come this far only to leave empty-handed? Now, search!
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Sydney: Curse the Duke! Where's he hidden it?
Hardin: You sure the Duke really has it? Does the damned thing even exist?
Sydney: You doubt me, Hardin? You doubt my power!?
Hardin: F-forgive me! I did not intend... But Sydney, any longer, and there will be no escape for us!
Sydney: Fine, then! Bring the boy and come with me!!
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Ashley: Don't move, Sydney! I've a bowgun aimed at your heart! Now turn 'round slowly!
Sydney: ...You're no knight, are you?
Ashley: Bind your legs with that rope.
Sydney: Ah, a Riskbreaker ... A royal guard dog!
Ashley: Did you not hear me? Bind yourself, now!
Sydney: This is an unfortunate turn of events...
Ashley: HOLD IT!
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Hardin: Sydney!!
Sydney: I...I'm the one you want. Hardin ... Go quickly ... Go... to Lea Monde.
Ashley: You! Stop! What's going on? You were most certainly dead! Leave the back-from-the grave stuff to faerie tales!
Sydney: You've ...given me... quite.. a scratch... Show...a little more respect...for faerie tales, Riskbreaker. D'tok!!!
[A wyvern falls from the skylight]
Sydney: My...apologies...I've no time...to toy...with you.
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Ashley: Lea Monde?
[The body is but a vessel for the soul. A puppet which bends to the soul's tyranny. And lo, the body is not eternal, for it must feed on the flesh of others, lest it return to the dust whence it came. Therefore must the soul deceive, despise, and murder men. -- A. J. Durai]
Duke Bardorba's Secondary Residence
Graylands 5:38AM
Duke: ...So the knights who came were not the king's men, but the cardinal's?
Rosencrantz: Knights of the Cross led by Guildenstern, my lord.
Advisor: The Crimson Blades -- in direct service to the Cardinal.
Rosencrantz: Guildenstern led his men toward Lea Monde in pursuit of Sydney.
Duke: ...I see. Send one of your men in the armor of these "Holy Knights" ... Set fire to the manor.
Advisor: Fire...my liege?
Duke: The fool Sydney used his wyvern. We can't have witnesses telling the world, now can we?
Advisor: But the hostages...your family!
Duke: Irrelevant! Burn it, burn it to the ground!!
(Offscreen): ...What of Parliament?
Rosencrantz: The VKP (Valendia Knights of the Peace) have formed a squad to deal with the felons.
Duke: The Riskbreakers ... those meddling fools!
Rosencrantz: Your will, my Lord?
Duke: Lea Monde is yours. Let no one out of the town! You can deal with Sydney and the Blades there.
Rosencrantz: And Parliament?
Duke: I'll deal with those watchdogs... They won't trouble you further.
Advisor: And the young Lord Joshua?
Duke: He is my light...my soul. If aught should befall him...
Rosencrantz: As you wish, my Lord.
Duke: Am I fated to rot and wither... even as I breathe?
11:42 AM
[Lea Monde is an old town, with a history of over 2000 years. Its walls have seen many battles -- They are stronger than the mightiest ports of Valendia, and as the sun wheels through the sky, the beauty of their shifting colors surpasses that of any palace.]
[The grand cathedral that towers over the town center is a symbol for Lea Monde's indomitable spirit, and is the holy ground of the devout Iocus pristhood. At its height, Lea Monde was a thriving community more than 5000 people strong. 25 years ago, a great earthquake brought that chapter in Lea Monde's history to a close.]
Ashley: ...Well?
Merlose: The two sentinels are dead...murdered.
Ashley: Hmm... This the only way in?
Merlose: There's a great crevasse preventing entry above ground.
Ashley: And from the sea?
Merlose: Nay, sunken reefs that rose during the earthquake form a gauntlet of whirlpools ... Too dangerous. You do know we sent agents in, thinking those ruins were the Müllenkamp base. Not one returned.
Ashley: Not on account of the whirlpools, I'd wager...
Merlose: Surely, it was men who killed them. How was it down there?
Ashley: Come down and see for yourself...
[...According to the survivors, our comrade Agent Riot headed out for Lea Monde before noon. Of course, the reports were vague and we cannot deny the possiblity of inaccuracies. Yet given that there is only one path to infiltrate Lea Monde, this office believes those reports to be valid.]
Merlose: ...What's this?
Ashley: That's what I'm here to find out. It does seem well fortified for a wine cellar...
Merlose: Oh? Lea Monde's wineries once vied with the best of Valendia. Since they went out of production, the remaining vintages sell for a premium.
Ashley: ...If I find any, consider them yours.
Merlose: You plan to go alone?
Ashley: An agent with no combat experience would just be a liability.
Merlose: .......
Ashley: Tell me what you know about Müllenkamp and this Sydney fellow.
Merlose: ...Sydney Losstarot. Leader of the religious cult Müllenkamp. His real name and age are unknown. One of many self-styled prophets of the Apocalypse.
Ashley: So why would a cult missionary commit such a crime?
Merlose: I do not know what the Cardinal thinks, but the VKP believes he is no prophet -- Indeed, he is in dark alliance with Duke Bardorba, who controls Parliament from behind the scenes. That the cult is but a front.
Ashley: Perhaps this incident is a sign of some falling-out between the two? ...Or merely another of the Cardinal's witch-hunts?
Merlose: There are many would-be prophets in the land these days, but Sydney is ...different. His prophecies ring true, and those enraptured by the way he hums revelations -- as though they were simple ballads! All say the same: "He is a miracle."
Ashley: .......
Merlose: ...In any case, he has a strange power. He can guess the past of those he meets. He can even read hearts... They say his charisma is such that his followers offer both body and soul to him...
Ashley: ...Sounds like you're quite taken with him yourself.
Merlose: Agent Riot!
Ashley: If I do not return by the morrow's eve, inform HQ, won't you?
Merlose: Godspeed...
[...We sent men to monitor the abandoned mineshaft that leads to Lea Monde. All were found dead. At the entrance other bodies were founDuke: Two knights of the Cardinal's Crimson Blades.]
[Our men were murdered with swords, but the knight's wounds show they died by their own hands. At present, we have taken the bodies into our custody, and our specialists are continuing the examination.]
[Excerpt from Graylands Incident Investigation Report, Section 3.14]
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dungeon: wine cellars
Ashley: Ah, vintage wine--
[Earthquake]
Ashley: ...No live burials today, thanks. "A strange power", indeed....
Crimson Blade 1: Well? Got 'er open?
Crimson Blade 2: ...It's no good. No' even a budge.
Crimson Blade 1: What's this? It weren't lock'd a moment ago, eh?
Crimson Blade 2: No key holds this door... It be a grimoire what's doing this!
Crimson Blade 1: Well, who lock'd it then? ...Someone inside?
Crimson Blade 2: Buggered if I know! Look -- we'll be cut off from the others!
Crimson Blade 1: And where are those scouts, man?
Crimson Blade 2: ...They've not return'd.
Crimson Blade 1: This be no time for loafin' around!
Crimson Blade 2: Keep yer cap on, brother! ...Now come up 'ere and take a look at THIS!
Crimson Blade 1: What's that?
Ashley: ...A "Grimoire"?
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Crimson Blade 1: This, too, be a grimoire's doing?
Crimson Blade 2: By the gods! I'd oft heard o'it ... But this!
Crimson Blade 1: An' a Wyrm -- a DRAGON-- was sighted at the Dukes' manor.
Crimson Blade 2: Well, if there's magick about, dragons won't be far behind...
Crimson Blade 1: I worry about Guildenstern and the others.
Crimson Blade 2: Ach, they'll be fine.
Crimson Blade 1: Think of it! If we've witnessed miracles such as these on Lea Monde's doorstep, what then lies within!?
Crimson Blade 2: ...Ye wear naivete like a crest, brother! Surely the masters know of this "Grimoire." Mayhaps we've just been in the dark, eh?
Crimson Blade 1: Yet our charge is to drub those Müllenkamp scoundrels an' -- And procure the miracles of Lea Monde!
Crimson Blade 2: Tis just a rumor, but I've heard that Guildenstern's lot works them magicks as well...
Crimson Blade 1: Rubbish! We're servants of the Lord! No true Knight of the Cross would dabble in the black arts!
Crimson Blade 2: It's only a rumor, brother... But if Sydney is truly the worker of diablerie they claim he is, I say fight fire with fire!
Crimson Blade 1: I say let the Lord be our shield!
Crimson Blade 2: Ever the choirboy! The only shield I see is the one coverin' yer eyes. Heretic or no, I believe what I see, and right now ... I see sorcery.
Crimson Blade 1: ...... ...Swine'll take wing 'fore the likes of us use magick, my friend.
Crimson Blade 2: Aye, but with a grimoire, your fattest sow could outfly my swiftest falcon -- if ye believe the chroniclers.
Crimson Blade 1: With a grimoire, you say?
Crimson Blade 2: Ye could even make cobblestones float like clouds...
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Guildenstern: Here comes one of Parliament's watchdogs. You, go back and silence his yapping.
Crimson Blade: Parliament's... watchdogs?
Guildenstern: An agent of the VKP. You can follow orders, can you not? The VKP is your enemy. Now, go!
Crimson Blade: Sir!
[As Guildenstern turns around, we see that it is really Sydney]
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Ashley: Not again! This is a big one!
[Earthquake]
I do not feel I'm welcome here.
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[Flashback: Picnic scene]
[Flash of Marco]
"...Papa."
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[Ashley fights the minotaur. He turns to see Sydney clapping]
Ashley: Sydney!
Sydney: So this is a Riskbreaker. Most men complacently accept "knowledge" as "truth". They are sheep, ruled by fear. But you are different. Always calm, detached. A smooth flow of thought into action. Indeed... it is almost as if... ...As if you had no soul. How do you do it? Body and soul are one... Yet yours are separate, like a child from the knight in his storybook. Where is your soul, Riskbreaker? Is this VKP training? Or did you see something that made you shut your soul away? Show me your soul...
[Flashback of picnic scene; no dialogue]
Sydney: You killed your beloved wife and child...
Ashley: ...They were slain by fallen knights, jackals.
Sydney: Wrong. You failed to protect your wife, your child. You failed in your duty as a knight, as a husband... as a father. You killed them!!
Ashley: Sydney!!
Sydney: Try to catch me, Ashley Riot! Look outside yourself to find your truth.
Ashley: What's your game?
Sydney: Hardin!
Merlose: Ashley!!
Ashley: Merlose!!
Merlose: Pay no heed to me! Take them, Riot!!
Sydney: The city of shade will forgive your sins, my son-- And call forth a power... a power that lies within you even now! This is my game. I run, you give chase. I am the hart, and you the hunter. But this hart has laid a few snares of his own... I am waiting for you, Riskbreaker.
Ashley: H-hold! Sydney! Damn!
[Ashley recovers a suppressed battle ability.]
What -- what is happening?
--I am waiting for you, Ashley Riot. --
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Dying Crimson Blade:
Ashley: ......
Dying Crimson Blade: Ur...I...I b-beg of ye.... Sss...stop the ...p-pain...
Ashley: Is this some magick, or merely the power of Lea Monde...?
Ashley: ...Is this, too, part of your game, Sydney?
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Vagrant Story, all its characters, and all associated text is copyright © 2000 SQUARE Co. Ltd. All rights remain with original authors. This script is provided for educational and informative purposes only.
dungeon: catacombs
Ashley: It would take an earthquake to open this...
[The ground shakes. One convenient earthquake, as requested.]
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Ashley: Not again!
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Sydney: ...Do not attempt escape, and no harm will come to you.
Merlose: ...What evil are you working here?
Sydney: Just a little drawing, my dear. What think you, Hardin?
Hardin: [distracted, scrying on Ashley] Gods... Is he even human? He fights with the strength of a brigade... Are Riskbreakers all this powerful?
Sydney: I think not. Our Ashley is a vessel, you see. He has merely partaken of the power around him. It is as I have foreseen.
Hardin: ...What next, then?
Sydney: What next? Let him give chase a while.
Hardin: This is madness, Sydney!! The Blades will hold this town soon, and we dare not face their undivided forces!! We've no time to play cat and mouse!
Sydney: Relax, my good Hardin. Remember, it is all part of my plan.
Hardin: Were the Duke's betrayal, the Cardinal's meddling... and a Riskbreaker strong as bloody Titan all part of your precious plan, too, Sydney!? ...Sydney, forgive me.
Sydney: Be calm, Hardin. It is of no account. You impress me, Inquisitor... More concerned about our doings than your own fate?
Merlose: What villainy are you planning, Sydney?
Sydney: Why, I'm preparing a feast for your friend. Gylda-meundes-haati-smohta... Ferdes-raati-salba-gylmota... Emperor of shade, descend from the dark... Honor sin-soaked contracts of kinship; lead your beast unto me.
Boy in Merlose's vision: I must help Father...
Ashley: ...Merlose?
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Vagrant Story, all its characters, and all associated text is copyright © 2000 SQUARE Co. Ltd. All rights remain with original authors. This script is provided for educational and informative purposes only.
lea monde: town center west
Grissom: Well?
Crimson Blade: Just a workshop. Nothing else here.
Crimson Blade2: We've still no word from Squad 3.
Grissom: They're dead then...?
Crimson Blade2: I ... I could not...
Grissom: Did you not verify their corpses?
Crimson Blade2: S-Sir, my apologies.
Grissom: Coward! Ye are a stain on the escutcheon of our order! The loss of our brothers cannot be helped. Pray that fate will not be as cruel a mistress to us. Search! The rathole Müllenkamp's been using is here somewhere! Leave no stone unturned!
Crimson Blade: Sir!
Grissom: I, for one, cannot leave this accursed city soon enough.
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Crimson Blade: Well? Find anything?
Crimson Blade: Naught but dust on this side, sir.
Crimson Blade: We shall join the others, then. Yet crossing the river means...
Crimson Blade: It's too dangerous inside the city walls. You heard what befell our brothers!
Crimson Blade: Yet we waste our time here...
Crimson Blade: The cold ones will not walk under the sun, but soon night will fall...
Ashley: I'll have to find another way around.
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Grissom: Answer wisely, and you may yet live. Now tell me where Sydney hides!
Müllenkamp Cultist: ...Save your breath, knight.... You fools think the Dark will bend to you?
Grissom: We are prelates of the Lord, scum. We are not here to bend aught, we are come to cleanse! Now there is still time. Pray ... perhaps He will forgive. And I will pardon your sins in His name.
Müllenkamp Cultist: ...Go to hell.
[Müllenkamp Cultist turns into snowflies]
Guildenstern, offscreen: So end those who serve the Dark.
Samantha: What mean you?
Guildenstern: The Dark is formless and invisible. It invades the body like a plague, an unseen visitor. Yet those it taints become ... undying.
Samantha: Undying...?
Guildenstern: Yes. They do not die.
Samantha: But ... he did die. Turned to dust... Leaving no tracxe. Did he not?
Guildenstern: What is death? Is it the ruination of the flesh? Surely, that is death, but it is only one facet of the truth. True death ... is the death of the soul.
Samantha: And theirs is not a true death?
Guildenstern: Even should their flesh crumble to decay, their souls will wander eternally. The undying of Lea Monde do die... But it is ... an incomplete death.
Ashley, to himself: An incomplete death...
Guildenstern: Trapped in purgation, they yearn for life. Thus they seek bodies without souls... And the "corpses that walk" are born. They say the howl of the north wind is the cry of the wandering souls... Grissom, gather our remaining men. Join with Tieger's knights, and crush Müllenkamp. Go!
Grissom: By your command.
Samantha: ...Will the same happen to me?
Guildenstern: You will not die. And ...
Samantha: And?
Guildenstern: There is one who has found the true undeath. Immortality, my love.
Samantha: Let us search for this ... Sydney.
Ashley: So the Cardinal seeks immortality....
Duane, offscreen: That's right. But it's naught that concerns you.
Duane: An incomplete death's more than a VKP butcher deserves.
[They fight, and Ashley kills Duane.]
Duane: G-god... My soul .. is not ready....
[Ashley turns to see Guildenstern watching him.]
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dungeon: abandoned mines b1
[Ashley sees through Merlose's eyes to Sydney and Hardin speaking. Hardin is scrying.]
Sydney: Well? What do you see? You find us strange, no?
Merlose: "Unnatural" is more the word. That thing you do ... it ...
Hardin: ...They have formed into three groups. They are wounded ... and increasingly wary of being split apart. They seem less focused than our visitors last night.
Sydney: The soldiers last night were trained elites; these latecomers are mere sellswords.
Guildenstern doubtlessly wished to catch us in the Graylands. Yet we proved too cunning a quarry....
Hardin: It is a hollow victory. Our losses are greater than the Blades'. And they have cut our puppets' strings and turned them against us. They will soon hold the surface. We are lost!
Sydney: We have sacrificed much...Yet it need not be in vain, need it, Hardin?
Hardin: How can they control our servants? How!?
Sydney: Not all of them can. Only a few.
Hardin: Yet we are the masters, are we not? Have we been betrayed by one of our own?
Sydney: I think not. The Cardinal has prepared long for this. 20 years watching... waiting.
Hardin: Think! They struck us just as we were moving on the Duke! They knew our plans, Sydney!
Sydney: Temper, Hardin. You must learn control.
Hardin: We are lost, Sydney! Lost! We must leave now, or we'll be warming our toes in hell!!
Sydney: I said control yourself!! I am telling you all is well. Trust me, Hardin. All is well. We are friends, you and I. Is that not so, Hardin? Give me your trust, friend.
Hardin: Yes ... ... friends.
Sydney: Take the Inquisitor with you and go ahead. Oh, and don't be too rough.
Hardin: What will you do?
Sydney: Just going to pay a visit on Guildenstern. Worry not, friend. Use sigils to lock all you can. It will cost our guests valuable time to unbind them.
Hardin: Sydney... If we are friends, do not "compel" me so... Never again, Sydney!
[Merlose sees a vision of a young blonde boy.]
...He intends to die.
Hardin: This way. Come!
Ashley: ...Merlose.
Rosencrantz, watching from shadows: ...What have you done, Sydney?
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lea monde: town center west [revisited]
Samantha: We can pass through here. What have you found?
Guildenstern: Ancient Kildean lettering... It's quite worn, nigh unreadable.
Samantha: Anything useful?
Guildenstern: I think not. Yet...
Samantha: Yet?
Guildenstern: The carvings are particularly deep in places.
Samantha: They're quite charming... What do they mean?
Guildenstern: There's more here... and here.
Samantha: Ancient Kildean... From Müllenkamp's time.
Guildenstern: Ah, truly. These were written before the birth of St. Iocus... A time when sorcerers were common as sellswords. What is it?
Samantha: The Cardinal, he will stop the legacy of Müllenkamp ... the Grimoires... from falling into the wrong hands, will he not?
Guildenstern: ...Of course, my love. To cede its power to a fanatic such as Sydney would be madness.
Samantha: I fear he already has the Gran Grimoire. What think you?
Guildenstern: I do not know. Yet surely we would not be here, chatting so amiably, if he had.
Samantha: The Gran Grimoire .... the ultimate codex of sorcery.
Guildenstern: It is only a book ... a covenant. Yet it is the prime mover, the machinery of life itself.
Sydney: And if you had that "book"?
Samantha: Sydney....
Sydney: You wouldn't know what to do with such power!
Samantha: Then pray tell, for what purpose have you been in league with the Duke these many years? You seek to control men ... nay, to control God Himself!!
Sydney: Oh, please. Warping the minds of men and shepherding the masses has always been your church's domain. You lure sheep with empty miracles and a dead god. ...or perhaps you, too, are a sheep, Samantha. A poor little lamb, bleating for your faith as though it were milk of the poppy. Yet mark your savior well, for he is one of the demons you so fear, Samantha.
Samantha: Be silent!
Sydney: A sweeter faith still is the draught called "Love".
Guildenstern: Be wary, Samantha!! Don't let him get to you!!
Sydney: Ahh, truly the Cardinal's own hand. Your will is strong, Guildenstern.
Guildenstern: ...You are not the only shepherd here, Sydney!
[Sydney teleports behind Guildenstern and swipes at him with his sword.]
Guildenstern: Watch your crook, lest it be wrenched from you.
[Sydney disappears]
Guildenstern: It's no use. We must make haste.
Samantha: The fiend!!
Guildenstern: Run, Sydney, run. You will be ours in the end.
Ashley: The Gran Grimoire...
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dungeon: snowfly forest
Ashley: ...Snow? No ... snowflies.
[Ashley falls to his knees and sees through Samantha's eyes.]
Neesa: Well? Will she open for you?
Samantha: Nay ... The sigil holds it fast. How fare you?
Neesa: It was just a workshop.
Samantha: I mean your men, how many have we lost?
Neesa: Ah, how goes the battle, you mean? The city is ours, dearie, more or less.
Samantha: How many dead?
Neesa: Three, maybe four score. We've lost contact with some... We'll know better when the fighting cools.
Samantha: The dead walk in greater numbers as the day wanes...
Neesa: I know.
Samantha: They'll walk beneath the stars when eventide comes....
Neesa: You would fight this battle differently?
Samantha: It is not that! I.... No training could prepare one for this.
Neesa: Lost your nerve, Samantha? War is change. We must follow suit.
Guildenstern, offscreen: Control your fear.
Guildenstern: Lest you be controlled in its stead.
Samantha: Romeo...
Guildenstern: Sydney's lot have caught wind of our little foray and summoned their dark brood to repel us. They summon, yet they cannot command. Soon, the paling that holds the demons in Lea Monde will fall.
Neesa: Sydney must be stopped....
Guildenstern: Indeed, Commander Neesa. You have the right idea, now to action!!
[Neesa nods and leaves]
Guildenstern: What ails you, Samantha?
Samantha: What is Sydney thinking? Summoning evil beyond his control ... He fills his chalice with poison, and savors it like wine!
Guildenstern: Think not on him, Samantha.
Samantha: Yet what he does defied Nature's order!
[We see Ashley, in grey; he speaks, and the screen flashes and becomes Samantha]
Ashley and Samantha: Nature's orders?
Guildenstern: ...That was him! That Riskbreaker has done this! Damn him!
[The scrying finishes, and we return to Ashley. Rosencrantz is standing behind him.]
Rosencrantz: The symptoms resemble those of case ... 72, was it? Borrowing another's eyes and ears -- Clairvoyance, if you will. All people are tuned to a certain "rhythm"; some can find a like rhythm and jump on board.
Ashley: You're not a Knight of the Cross ... One of Sydney's, then?
Rosencrantz: True seekers can join one regardless of their rhythm. But not you. Not yet.... My name is Rosencrantz. I am a Riskbreaker, like yourself.
Ashley: What's this?
Rosencrantz: Grand Steward LeSait has sent me to assist you. We're to be partners.
Ashley: You must know, Riskbreakers always work alone. And a change of plans mid-mission is unthinkable.
Rosencrantz: Yet you know nothing! Naught about Lea Monde, Müllenkamp, Sydney...Nothing at all!
Ashley: And you do?
Rosencrantz: Of course. You're the only one who does not. The VKP and Parliament know -- have known -- about the dark powers and the dead that walk... They've just kept it secret.
Ashley: Continue.
Rosencrantz: We didn't think you'd go straight to Lea Monde from the manor. So they sent me to help. I am better in a scrape than our Inquisitor friend, who admittedly lacks battle experience.
Ashley: You say the VKP knew of the Dark Powers?
Rosencrantz: Indeed, I was assigned to the investigation.... You know that Lea Monde is a "Wellspring".
Ashley: What?
Rosencrantz: A power grows in those, like you, whom its dark waters have touched. You may not feel it or understand it, but it is there, making you something more than mortal. To wit, there is no power without the Dark. Yet is not easily tamed. Thus Parliament raised a paling round the cities of man and set the Dark out to pasture. ...Lea Monde, however, has strong ties to the Dark, for this is the dark city of the ancient Kildean priestess Müllenkamp. All that was needed is fodder, and THEY would come to feed.
Ashley: Fodder...? No!
Rosencrantz: Yes. The great quake 25 years past stocked the city's larders with corpses.
[There is yet another earthquake.]
Rosencrantz: The wand'ring spirits wail and hunger...
Ashley: A fight for territory wrought from darkness.
Rosencrantz: And you, the Parliament's champion in that battle.
Ashley: ...Rosencrantz, was it? Your words bear much meaning.
Rosencrantz: Please, my friend! I speak only the truth.
Ashley: Yet you have no evidence.
Rosencrantz: ...For that, you must search.
Ashley: I will cut you, next we meet. Leave the city before sundown, if you value your life.
Rosencrantz: [starting to turn away] If you would enter the forest, follow the snowflies. They gather where the Dark runs strongest.
[Ashley enters the Snowfly Forest.]
Rosencrantz: He really went in there.... The snowflies will mark his grave, I fear.
Grissom, offscreen: Ah, there you are, Rosencrantz!
Rosencrantz: It has been a while, Grissom. You seem well.
Grissom: Where did he go?
Rosencrantz: Through the wood, he says. ...You will follow him?
Grissom: I must avenge the foul murder of my brother, Duane.
Rosencrantz: Of course you must. ...But be wary, your foe is strong.
Grissom: God is stronger.
Rosencrantz: The Dark is stronger, you mean.
Grissom: And what is your business here? We had a deal, did we not? Join with Sydney and find the key. Time is short.
Rosencrantz: Very well. But... you should know: Something is odd with Sydney.
Grissom: Odd, you say?
Rosencrantz: A veritable bestiary of beasties springs up where'er he goes. Nothing he cannot handle, still...
Grissom: Ah, even the hyaena cowers, does he?
Rosencrantz: Don't be the fool, Grissom. Hyaenas know caution. These creatures...Sydney's the one summoning them.
Grissom: Well now. Sydney's cup overfloweth, and he calls forth a flood.
Rosencrantz: There's a flood of vermin in this city, true, but it seems Sydney's manning the sluice.
Grissom: Meaning?
Rosencrantz: You're a slow one. Sydney is increasing the flow of Dark energies on purpose.
Grissom: Why would he?
Rosencrantz: That is the question.... Follow the snowflies, Grissom. They forgather where the Dark runs deepest.
[Grissom turns and enters the Snowfly Forest.]
Rosencrantz: Wait...!
[But Grissom is gone, and Rosencrantz just shakes his head.]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ashley: So many snowflies...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Ashley defeats the dragon, and the snowflies change direction.]
Ashley: The winds have changed!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Grissom and his men have been separated.]
Grissom: The quake... A sign! Faendos! Lamkin! Answer me, for the love of God!! Follow the snowflies... Right....
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Sydney and Grissom face each other in a clearing.]
Sydney: This is madness! You'll die.
Grissom: I, too ... I can summon. It is not your sacred right!! Erulkes-solmah-lon-smohta... Derdes-fful-gend-glymota...
Sydney: And I say you'll die!
Grissom: Knight of shadow, from ancient slumber. The bloody glyph, carved in flesh...
[A moment, and then Grissom falls to his knees, dying; the summon is too powerful for him.]
Grissom: I--Imposs...
Sydney: Very possible. The weak cannot reign in the Dark ... There are limits to all thing. You have reached yours.
Sydney, to Ashley: The Dark is hungry. It has fed.
[Behind Sydney, Grissom pushes himself up to his knees, and begins to speak.]
Grissom: Speaking ill of the dead... Are we, Sydney? Knight of shadow... from ancient slumber. The bloody... glyph... carved in flesh. Take my body, lead me as your own... Xylda-nazam-ssom-nedayda!
[Grissom summons a Dark Crusader.]
Grissom: This feeling... The power! It swells and flows through me! Now, in my brother's name, you die.
[Ashley and Sydney fight Grissom. Grissom dies. Again.]
Grissom: ...F...Father.
[Ashley beats the Crusader.]
Sydney: Hmm... You reek, Riskbreaker. What is that stench? Ah, you met Rosencrantz?
Ashley: He told me Lea Monde was a "wellspring" for the dark.
Sydney: What think you?
Ashley: I've been shown a lifetime of oddities in a day.
Sydney: So you believe the Dark exists, yet you do not believe that which you cannot see. The Dark covers your eyes, and you are blind.
Ashley: There is no proof. Am I to believe the great quake was man's doing? Thousands of cityfolk, their lives sacrificed to make this "wellspring". By whom? Parliament? The Cardinal?
Sydney: Why don't you ask?
Ashley: Ask who?
Sydney: The sacrificed. The witnesses. You've impressed me. You truly are a Riskbreaker. Or ... a trained assassin. A killer.
Ashley: What nonsense is this?
Sydney: Memories, Riskbreaker. Memories.
[Sydney reaches out. Flashback of the picnic, with a greyed-out Ashley and Sydney watching]
Ashley: Stop this. Stop this now.
Sydney: Do not run, Ashley. See with your eyes.
Marco: Papa, a sip of water!
Ashley (in flashback): Have some of Papa's wine, Marco!
Tia: Wait right there -- I'll fetch some water. Don't you dare give Marco any wine!
Ashley (in flashback): Wine is like sweet ambrosia!
Marco: Really?
[Image of Ashley, killing Tia. The scene becomes grey, with current Ashley and Sydney the only color.]
Ashley: What!?
Sydney: The truth, Ashley.
Ashley: Madness!! Foul deception!!
Sydney: You doubt what I have shown you? It is your memories that deceive. The VKP has burned sweet lies into your soul.
Ashley: You lie! Lies...
Sydney: An elite member of the Kingsguard loses his wife and child... A tragedy. He becomes a VKP Riskbreaker. This is the lie! A memory false as summer snow! You were an assassin and a saboteur in an elite squad. Mistaking them for your target, you murdered an innocent family. For country and justice you would take any life without thinking, until you sent that family to their deaths.
Ashley: By the gods, you lie!
Sydney: The VKP saw the opportunity to turn your guilt to patriotic zeal. They twisted your very soul, Ashley. Your despair at losing your "family" turned to hate for the lawless jackal that killed them. Hate that should be reserved for yourself.
Ashley: YOU...LIE!
Sydney: Do I? Are your new-found abilities not proof enough? You believe Lea Monde responsible? You are remembering the killing arts you learned in a past life.
Ashley: Noooooo!
[Ashley tries to hit Sydney. Sydney vanishes and reappears behind him.]
Sydney: What is memory? Men forget that which pains them. ...Create new memories to please themselves. ...Lie to themselves, believe their own lies. The VKP may have wielded the brand that burned your soul. But you ... You wanted them to do it. You wanted them to burn your guilt away.
Ashley: What do you want, Sydney? What are you trying to do to me?
Sydney: Truth, Riskbreaker. I just want you to know the truth.
Ashley: I spit on your truth!
Sydney: But you have already begun believing. Am I wrong, Ashley? You have seen demons walk the city streets, heard the cries of the dead and damned. You deny these things? Are they illusinons? What did you see through that woman's eyes, Ashley?
Ashley: ...You think you can see the past?
Sydney: Not see, I "hear" it.
Ashley: ...Hear? Wait, Sydney!!
Sydney: You want the truth? Then follow me, Ashley Riot.
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lea monde: the keep
Samantha: ...It is true. It is as you say. Some parts were added later, but the original Kildean letters cover every wall. The walls of Lea Monde, all carved with these glyphs ... What do they mean?
Guildenstern: These are the "spellsongs". Lea Monde is surrounded by sorcery. Youl'll likely find them on every den and dovecote in the city. This city ... it is unchanged these past 2000 years. Neither the eroding winds nor the quake have sapped its strength. The Dark is strongest toward the Center -- the great Cathedral. I have felt it. The entire city is a circle of magic!!
Rosencrantz, offscreen: Brilliant!
Rosencrantz: A brilliant deduction, my good sir! Top of your class at the Academy, indeed.
Guildenstern: What, you knew?
Rosencrantz: Didn't everyone? The city is the circle, the "wellspring". And the "book" -- the Gran Grimoire -- for which you seek... you're standing in it. Lea Monde is the Gran Grimoire!
Guildenstern: Why did you not tell us? This is betrayal most foul! Why have you done this!?
Rosencrantz: Your memory fails you. The Dark holds no power over me. ...Nor do I recall us ever being friends. My friendship with the Duke is fleeting as well.
Guildenstern: Have you no honor?
Rosencrantz: That, I do have... and enough sense not know not to throw my life away for some fool cause.
Guildenstern: You are naught but a glorified sellsword. You disgust me. Rosencrantz: We live in peaceful, boring times. There's no rank to be had in killing on the fields of war. We must seize opportunity where we find it. Do you not agree, Guildenstern? You were using me, too, after all. I'm your "opportunity". You know that. You need me.
Guildenstern: You are a common harlot. You were born a worm, and you will die a worm. LeSait was right to expel you from the Riskbreakers.
Rosencrantz: Such praise! I am not worthy!
Guildenstern: Where is the "key"?
Rosencrantz: Well, now...
Guildenstern: Tell me, or I will see you dead. (draws sword)
Rosencrantz: You, kill me? I was a Riskbreaker, you know.
Samantha: What is this? Where am I? What is this I see? [Her eyes glow red, and she falls] Yet I am here!
Guildenstern: Samantha, it is I!
Samantha: W-where? Where are you?
Rosencrantz: ...They are linked. Samantha's rhythm is attuned to his, Guildenstern.
Guildenstern: Riskbreaker!!
Samantha, as herself: H-he is near ... He hides.
Guildenstern: It has passed, then.
[Rosencrantz walks off]
Guildenstern: We join with Tieger.
Samantha: Yes.
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[Ashley goes to enter a door. Guildenstern and Rosencrantz walk through the door.]
Guildenstern: I did want to see what Sydney had planned for our little agent here... But now it is time to end the game. Rosencrantz, kill him. Show him your power. Show him how you will make the Dark kneel.
Rosencrantz: My pleasure. (Guildenstern departs) ...We meet again, Ashley.You have no idea how long I've waited to measure swords with you.
Ashley: What do you mean?
Rosencrantz: You see, I've known you for a long time.
Ashley: !!
Rosencrantz: I was the one who set you up as the VKP's errand-boy. And ... I have you to thank for my current lack of employ.
Ashley: What?!
Rosencrantz: Here, let me jog your memory!!
[They fight]
Rosencrantz: Yield!! ...A shame your skill in the killing arts did not go the way of your memory.
Ashley: What "killing arts"?
Rosencrantz: You really don't remember. I should give the VKP more credit... We were in the same unit, you and I!
Ashley: What unit? You mean ... In the Kingsguard?
Rosencrantz: The "Kingsguard?" ...More VKP lies, I'm afraid. That summer day... That warm summer day. I was there, with you.
[Flashback. Picnic scene, with Ashley and Rosencrantz standing over Tia's body]
Rosencrantz: Well done, Commandant! Both right through the heart! ...What? They're just peasants. Their luck ran ill, is all. All witnesses to our operations must be "dealt" with. It is our code. They were wrong to picnic here. You are the hand of justice. We...We are the hand of justice. It is for the good of the realm. A few sacrifices is nothing--
Ashley: A few sacrifices? You tell me why these people had to die! Why we had to kill them! They were innocents... Is it not our charge to protect these very souls!?
[Ashley throws away his sword and falls to his knees]
Rosencrantz: What has come over you? You sound the addle-pated preacher!
[Ashley faints]
Rosencrantz: C-Commandant! What is wrong!?
[End flashback]
Rosencrantz: The Riskbreakers may be the wards of the law now, but it was not always so.... We were always champions of justice, true, but a justice that served the state alone. We were above the law. We assassinated political enemies of Parliament and sent sharp steel to bloody the civil wars of our neighbors. To the people, we were the "Knights of Law and Order". To our enemies, we were the Parliament's hatchet-men. You were a commandant, one of the best. If only your sense of justice was not so keen. The VKP was not about to lose one of their best without a fight.
Ashley: And you?
Rosencrantz: Myself? I was picked up by the VKP, like you. I learned about Lea Monde when I was sent to spy on Müllenkamp. Then I made some friends...
Ashley: The Cardinal's men? Or Müllenkamp?
Rosencrantz: Both. You weren't the only one unhappy with the old killing teams. Threats, burglary, murder. We were not different than common ruffians. They prey on people, we on nations. There were others that tried to forget. Some went mad. Others took their own lives. Not I, however. I will use them as they used me. You know "Them", eh? The privileged, ruling from their satin couches. Born with silver spoons in their mouths, or shrewed moneyers standing on the backs of the poor. But the pawns have seen the gameboard for what it is. Now there is only one thing left--
Ashley: Lea Monde? The Blades, the VKP, they all want the power it holds.
Rosencrantz: Correct. And dear Sydney holds the only key. ... I cannot fathom what his intentions are in using you as a vessel for the Dark. Regardless, his time is nigh.
Ashley: And the Blades will do your dirty work?
Rosencrantz: Those pious fools have been long steeped in filth.
[Earthquake]
Rosencrantz: I will not yield so easily next we meet.
Ashley: You are a poor loser, Rosencrantz.
Rosencrantz: Say what you will! (departs)
Ashley: Lying to ourselves... Believing our own lies...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Offscreen: ...ot? Where are you?
[Ashley turns and sees nothing]
Offscreen: ...re you alive? Agent Riot?
Ashley: Merlose? Merlose!! Where are you? Where?
[Flash to the wine cellar, with a greyed-out Ashley watching Merlose curled in a corner]
Offscreen: Blast! Another o'them sigils!
Offscreen: We won't get through 'ere.
Hardin, offscreen: Fear not. The door will hold.
Hardin: I prefer leaving a guardian to back up my sigils, but I made this one particularly strong.
Merlose: Then you can summon the Dark Ones, as Sydney does?
Hardin: Come, we go to the Great Cathedral.
(Joshua looks at Merlose from behind Hardin's leg. We see a greyed-out, ghostly Joshua.)
-- He intends to die. --
Merlose: That boy...
(Joshua hides behind Hardin)
Hardin: The duke's son. Our honored ... guest. He is timorous, though, and speaks not a word.
Merlose: He seems quite taken with you.
Hardin: Yes, he knows not who I am.
Merlose: Why did Mullenkamp seize the ducal manor? Answer me!
Hardin: Why should I?
Offscreen: We turned banners against the duke.
[Merlose turns to see a greyed-out, ghostly Hardin watching]
Ghost Hardin: He sought to seal off our wellspring, after two decades of toil.
Merlose: He sought to seal off our wellspring...
Hardin: You...
Ghostly Hardin: The duke is mortally ill ... He fears he will pay for this life's sins in the next. So he seeks to bury this city, as though that would bring absolution.
Merlose: And you seek to pluck the city from his dying hands, correct?
Hardin: You... a seer! What witchcraft is this?
(Ghostly Hardin disappears)
Merlose: Why? Why did you take the manor? You will answer!
Ghostly Hardin: To inherit the city, you must have the "key". Only the bearer of the key can receive the power of the Gran Grimoire.
Merlose: The key?
Ghostly Hardin: The key-bearer, the duke, will soon die. If he dies without a successor, all is lost. The duke thinks he can cut off the cursed Mullenkamp bloodline, but that must not be allowed to happen. We will assume the legacy. Sydney is --
(He disappears again as Hardin stabs himself in the leg, to cut off Merlose's vision.)
Hardin: Hinder me no further. We go, now.
Merlose: This... this is my power?
Hardin: So it seems. As I can scrye on distant locales, so the talent of the heart-seers has flowered in you.
Merlose: Talent?
Hardin: We all possess energy, Inquisitor. But it is a negative energy. An energy that should not exist. Yet it does, and it awakens the sleeping power...
Merlose: The "Dark"?
Hardin: Yes, something like that.
Merlose: And Sydney...?
Hardin: He is the strongest I know. Through the Dark, he sees peoples' past. He can even push his will on others... He may have other powers beyond my ken.
Merlose: It is sad...
Hardin: What is?
Merlose: Even if he can see the past and clasp the truth, how are we to know if he speaks it? If he can "push" us to believe anything, how do we tell truth from falsehood?
Hardin: Why single him out? Everyone lies, surely you know that. Whether they are dark sorcerors or corrupt clergy, they all lie, and we believe. Am I wrong?
Ghost Hardin: He would not lie to me!
Merlose: The Gran Grimoire ... what will you do with it?
Hardin: ......
[Merlose looks for the spirit-Hardin, but he is nowhere to be seen.]
Merlose: Fine, then. Let us be off. But ... Sydney hides something from you, Hardin.
Hardin: ... I will bring rope.
[Ghost Ashley is standing behind Merlose, watching the scene. Slowly, the scene fades back to Ashley in the dungeon.]
Ashley: The power to brand one's will onto another... Sydney's "true past"... Was it a lie?
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dungeon: undercity east
[Tieger bends to check on Grissom's body, which is lying at the top of the stairs.]
Tieger: Ach, there's no pulse. He's gone...
[Ashley enters the room to face Tieger and Neesa.]
You!! You did this!!
[Ashley, judiciously, Runs Away. Tieger and Neesa follow.]
Tieger: You killed our brother...
Neesa: Tieger, this is him. The VKP's Riskbreaker.
Tieger: So you're the one they speak of. They will sing songs of your death here!!
[They fight, and Ashley defeats them.]
Tieger: You...You fight well, Riskbreaker.
Neesa: Flatter him not, Tieger.
Tieger: We will witthdraw, Neesa. Can you fly?
Neesa: Well enough.
[They turn to snowflies and disappear.]
Ashley: ...That corpse was Grissom. But why here?
[Ashley goes back through the door to find Tieger and Neesa facing a suddenly-revived Grissom.]
Grissom: ...Please, a moment. My body is not... cooperating. Yeuuu... You!
Tieger: I am sorry, brother. We cannot help you now.
Grissom: Whaa... What is happening?
Neesa: Grissom. You have left this coil! The Dark has filled you; you have joined the cold ones!!
Grissom: An ironic fate. I suppose it is better than the endless wand'ring-- But to happen upon your own corpse! Uhoooohhhh!!!
--Kill ... Kill them all.--
Grissom: W-who speaks?
--It is bitter ... lonely. They must join us.. Kill them.--
Grissom: ...The walls! The walls speak!?
--Your friends, they dream of killing you. They will steal your body. Kill! Kill them all, Grissom!--
Grissom: My flesh... is mine and mine alone!!
[Grissom rises in midair and flies through the door. Tieger and Neesa follow.]
Tieger: GRISSOM!
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dungeon: limestone quarry
Guildenstern: This it?
Rosencrantz: In the upper stories, I believe.
Guildenstern: Move out!
[Rosencrantz turns and goes down the cloudstone, instead of following Guildenstern and Samantha]
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[Meanwhile, Hardin, Merlose, and Joshua are in a room in the temple.]
Merlose: ...You're a brave boy.
Hardin: All the excitement at the manor got to him. He's not said a word. You hungry, boy?
Merlose: You care well for your charges.
[She looks up, and sees Ghostly Hardin]
Ghostly Hardin: ...It was during my days in the Peaceguard. there was an investigation into an incident. I was part of a special team, entrusted with delivering blades to rebels in a neighboring kingdom. Apparently, some did not reach their destination. They claimed some of us were making coppers selling the steel on the black market. ...We were all guilty. I was not the only one. They presented me with an offer. Betray my friends, and I would walk free. ...I had a brother, half my age. He was gravely ill, and we knew not when he would leave us. I wanted money ... I wanted my freedom. I sold my friend, my brother. But they did not set me free. When I escaped from prison, my brother was dead.
Merlose: So you joined Müllenkamp ... to revenge this "injustice" done to you?
Hardin: You scrye too deep, woman!
Merlose: This thing you do will not bring your brother back!
Hardin: Silence! What do you know?
Merlose: Do not play the child! Do not blame your weakness on another!!
Hardin: Witch!!
[He goes to hit Merlose, and bends over with a crossbow bolt in his side as Guildenstern comes up on the cloudstone]
Hardin: Quicker than a damned bloodhoud!
Guildenstern: Our dark "hounds" know your stench, cultist.
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Guildenstern: Speak! Where is the key?
Hardin: ...How should I know?
Guildenstern: (Holds out hand, tries to use the Dark on Hardin) You are at my mercy. Now, speak!
Hardin: T-truly, I do not know.
Guildenstern: You must know something -- anything!!
[The room shivers]
Hardin: Y-You... your power, like Sydney's...! How! You do not draw from the wellspring!
Guildenstern: You think the Dark flows only within your city? You underestimate the Cardinal!!
[Guildenstern holds out a hand -- Hardin finds himself in the Grey, with Sydney watching]
Sydney: A mite close, that was.
Hardin: Y-yes.
Sydney: It is time to take the city. Let us perform the rite of succession.
Hardin: The key... you've found it?
Sydney: The key?
Hardin: The "Blood-Sin".
Sydney: Ah, yes. The Blood-Sin...
Hardin: Is this a test, Sydney?
Sydney: Yes, a test. Tell me of this key, brother.
Hardin: Only he who holds the Blood-Sin can succeed to the Dark City. The would-be successor must cede his phantom soul if he is to accept his prize -- Control of the Dark. These streets already teem with souls. All that is needed is the key. We have no time. The key, show it to me.
[Sydney smiles and becomes Guildenstern. Hardin drops back to his knees.]
Hardin: Diablerie!!
Guildenstern: The Blood-Sin, you say? It has a familiar ring...
[Guildenstern looks up, sees the Rood on the ceiling]
Guildenstern: Years past, during the inquisition of the heretics, the "Rood Inverse" was carved on them, an abjuration of the flesh... Those who bore this tattoo called it the Blood-Sin.
[Flashback to Sydney turning around, with the Rood Inverse on his back]
Guildenstern: Good God! Sydney held the key all along!!
Hardin: What?
Guildenstern: The tattoo on his back, it is the Blood-Sin! He has the key! He has played you false!
Hardin: N--no, I won't...
Guildenstern: Then why does Sydney not take the city? The Duke is in his final hours...
Hardin: Surely ... Surely he would not follow the Duke's wishes...?
[Merlose holds Joshua back.]
Merlose: Stop!
[Guildenstern stabs Hardin. Joshua screams silently.]
[Change to shot of statue, with little Sydney watching -- or is it Joshua? Turns and runs to the Duke, embraces him.]
[Flash -- fade to Sydney standing in front of an altar, from behind]
Sydney: ...Hardin.
[The door opens. Sydney turns to see Rosencrantz]
Rosencrantz: What are your designs for the Riskbreaker?
Sydney: Not yet figured it out, eh?
Rosencrantz: I thought so... So he is to succeed to the Legacy, then?
Sydney: I've given up. There is no meaning in an "incomplete death".
Rosencrantz: What are you ranting about?
Sydney: You do not understand? He is the perfect one to rule this city of darkness. He shows all the signs; he is ready.
Rosencrantz: That weak-spirited vagrant? He has the unquestioning faith of a child in his morality.
Sydney: Better a pious child than an iniquitous rogue! Unlik you, he would not misuse the Dark.
[Sydney smiles. Rosencrantz hits him, and Sydney falls.]
Sydney: Why try to harry me, when it is he who has shamed you? Nonetheless, you could not harm me.
Rosencrantz: Your powers hold no sway over me! Prepare yourself, Sydney!
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dungeon: temple of kiltia
[Ashley walks into room. Rosencrantz hits him.]
Rosencrantz: Look at you!
[Kicks Ashley in ribs]
Rosencrantz: This ... This is your "successor?" Open your eyes, Sydney. I am the one! Hardin is gone. Old man Bardorba's next, I fear. And, Sydney, your time will soon come, I think. You'd give the city to the Cardinal's motley rabble? I think not! Not after the hardships I've endured! I'm sure you agree, Sydney. It is time. I will carry on the legacy in your name. Now, the rites! Name me your successor!!
Sydney: I name you ... "Worm", as you crawl through the dust.
[Rosencrantz slashes off one of Sydney's arms]
Rosencrantz: Then keep your immortality. Here, let me lighten your burden! Ah ha ha ha!
[Sydney stands up, and reattaches his arm, slowly.]
Rosencrantz: Ha ... heh? What!?
Sydney: I gave my limbs to the gods. Perhaps I'll add yours to the offering!
Rosencrantz: When will you learn your power is useless against me?
[Rosencrantz looks down and realizes he is holding a phantom arm, one of Sydney's. He tosses it aside, which breaks the glamorie, revealing it as Rosencrantz's sword.]
Rosencrantz: Haa...!?
Sydney: [from suddenly behind him] Do not forget where you are standing, Rosencrantz.
Rosencrantz: Y-you have deceived me!?
Sydney: I've done nothing so base. You deceived yourself with a boy's daydreams. Fear not, sweet Rosencrantz. I will not kill you.
[Rosencrantz looks up to see the statue of Kali animate... the last thing he will ever see.]
Sydney: I give you the city, Riskbreaker! All its power -- all to you! Make haste! Join me! Already, your powers are close to readiness! Come!
Ashley: Keep your accursed city! Where's Merlose!?
Sydney: You may be able to save them -- your wife and child!!
[He turns to go]
Sydney: Should you meet them, repent, Ashley, repent!!
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lea monde: the great cathedral
Merlose: Help me, Ashley!
Ashley: Merlose! Where are you? Above!
[Cut to a shot of Sydney riding a cloudstone -- Hardin, Joshua and Merlose in the same position we last saw them in, in the corner, with Guildenstern staring at them.]
Sydney: Hardin, what has happened?
Guildenstern: We have been waiting for you, Sydney.
Sydney: I will handle this.
Guildenstern: No apology, Sydney? Not for the man you've deceived these many years?
Hardin: Is it... true? That tattoo ... is the "key"...?
Sydney: Forgive me, Hardin.
Hardin: Why? ...Why? All our efforts...
Guildenstern: He has played you all like pawns, and now he throws you away! What is this "phantom soul" needed for the rites? Answer me, Sydney. Or you will die.
[Guildenstern strikes out with the Dark. Sydney lifts a hand to wipe away blood]
Sydney: You really WANT to become a martyr for your fool religion.
Guildenstern: Not religion, Sydney. Revolution. A fresh wind to blow away the disease of the land. For our realm is SICK. It suffurates with profiteers! Fawning merchants licking the boots of the nobility! They do nothing and blame others for their failure; they steal men's dreams and twist them to nightmares... We must cleanse this corruption. There must be strong, unwavering justice. And there must be fear to enforce that justice.
Sydney: It is a wretched rule that does not value human life.
Guildenstern: The world does not want a saviour. These wretches leading lives of misery do not need salvation. The rotting branch must be pruned.
Sydney: A tyrant always dies alone, Guildenstern. Surrounded by silver-tongued leeches, he is utterly alone. He sows sorrow and reaps death.
Guildenstern: You are a leader, too. Do you not dream of what could be?
Sydney: In my dreams, I see an evil tyrant's hands, which would choke the world. And he is the only one blind to his folly.
Guildenstern: ...This farce is over. I will have my answer.
Sydney: And if I say no?
Guildenstern: I will hew my retribution from your flesh. Like your pawn here... (pointing at Hardin with sword)
[Sydney looks at Hardin.]
Merlose: If the soul is not true and fast, the rites are meaningless! It will lead to disaster!
Samantha, from above: Sydney! (Sydney hits Samantha with the Dark.) Aaaaaargh!
Sydney: Hardin, we fly to safety! To blackened wing and wav'ring light...
Hardin: ...W-wait. You sought to help the Duke... your father?
Sydney: Delta-ecksis!
[Sydney teleports the bunch out -- while he is turned away, Guildenstern stabs him]
Guildenstern: Perhaps I cannot kill you, immortal. But I shall have your Blood-Sin as my trophy!
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[Ashley, having made his final preparations, begins up the stairs.]
Sydney, offscreen: Uh...hhh...
[Ashley opens the trap door and emerges into a room with the Rood on the floor, candles lining the edges, creating a warm light. A claw crosses Ashley's vision, and the camera pans down to reveal Sydney, half-sitting on the floor, blood pooling around him.]
Ashley: What's this? (helps him sit up)
Sydney: You're late, Riskbreaker...
Ashley: Where's Merlose? What happened to Callo Merlose?
Sydney: Worry not... I sent her to a safe place. She will escape ... unharmed.
Ashley: What has happened here?
Sydney: ...Look, and know.
[The camera pans back to reveal that Sydney no longer bears the Blood-Sin, and then we see a flash of a boy who is much like Joshua ... only dressed differently.]
Ghostly Little Sydney: I wanted to help Father. This city was his only hope....
Sydney: You can see...
Ghostly Little Sydney: I wanted to help Father. As he helped me when I was born.
Sydney: He wanted the city city destroyed, even if it meant his own death. Then he implored me ... do not let them use it ... the power. (He puts his hand on Ashley's knee.) Stop him ... Stop Guildenstern. Those who crave the Dark cannot control the Dark. You must stop him, kill him ... ...before the Dark sucks his living soul dry.
Ashley: Where is he?
[Sydney gestures upward, to the Rood on the ceiling, and then slumps]
Sydney: Ashley, I... I'm...
Ashley: I know.
[Fade to above, where Guildenstern, Sydney's Rood fused to his back, stands on the nave with Samantha by his side. They are embracing.]
Sam: M-my love... why?
[He lets go, revealing that she has a dagger in her stomach]
Guildenstern: Forgive me, Samantha. I need your soul. Our cause needs a martyr.
[She stumbles towards the edge]
Sam: Y-your cause... There is no ... place for me ... for our dream... (slumps to knees)
Guildenstern: I love you, Samantha. As God is my witness.
Sam: I...too, once thought so...
[She falls backwards, plummeting to the ground from the roof. Guildenstern experiences the Quickening.]
Ashley: Guildenstern!!
Guildenstern: Come, Riskbreaker. Your death will be my rebirth! Come, help celebrate my ascension!
[They fight. Ashley beats Guildenstern, and is thrown into white haze. He finds himself watching himself -- the image of him that has been seen throughout the game.]
Offscreen: Forget that which pains you... You cannot reclaim what is lost to time. Let it go. There is only regret here. What difference does it make? Whether you lost a wife and child or killed an innocent family, you cannot bring back the dead.
[Guildenstern is standing behind him]
Guildenstern: Your hands are tainted with blood. Truth or no, your sins are eternal.
[Ashley looks down to see Tia lying, a pool of blood]
Offscreen: Release the past, look the the future. Join us, Ashley!
Come home...
Ashley: (thinks a long moment, then moves over to his former self) There is no growth without birth. Without a foothold in the past, we cannot walk towards the future. Get thee gone, Darkness!!
[Scene flips back to the picnic, with Tia and Maro standing there. Ashley is wearing the clothing he has worn in flashback, but he is in colour.]
Marco: Papa!!
Ashley: (embraces Marco) Forgive me, Marco. You must have been lonely...
Marco: Nuh-uh, I'm brave! Just like Papa!
Ashley: ...Tia.
Tia: Welcome home, Ashley. You've done all you could for us. 'Twas a short time, but I knew happiness with you. You gave me a lifetime's worth of love.
Marco: Don't cry, Papa. See, I'm not crying. See?
Ashley: But...This...
[Tia lifts a finger to Ashley's lips]
Tia: Do not be misled by others' words. Believe your heart.
[Tia embraces Ashley, then steps back]
Tia: I love you, Ashley.
[She takes Marco's hand. As the camera rotates, they both smile, and turn to snowflies.]
Offscreen: ...Come home, Agent Riot. Your story is not yet finished....
[Cut to a mystical, otherwordly circle. Ashley stands, looking around, and sees Angel Guildenstern arising. The final battle...]
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epilogue: lea monde and beyond
[Ashley defeats Guildenstern. The battle over, Guildenstern explodes into a haze of light and snowflies.]
[Hardin, who is carrying Joshua, runs down the stairs. Cal, behind him, turns.]
Merlose: Ashley!
[An earthquake begins]
Hardin: Quickly! It's all collapsing!
Merlose: But Agent Riot...
Hardin: There is no time!
[Merlose goes down the stairs, looking back over her shoulder.]
[Cut to: Shot of the Undercity, with the goblins scurrying around as the ceiling collapses]
[Cut to: Undercity East, where we last saw Tieger, Neesa and Grissom]
Tieger: Go!! Go now!!
Neesa: And what then? We are finished!!
[Grissom comes from behind a pillar, approaching Tieger]
Tieger: We must tell them what has happened here! Flee, Neesa!!
Neesa: Come back alive, Tieger! Alive!!
[She runs offscreen. Tieger approaches Grissom.]
Tieger: And now the slowest dance begins, partner. 'Tis a fine tomb we shall share.
[Cut to: Ashley with Sydney slung over his shoulders, trying to carry him through the lower levels of the Cathedral. Ashley drops Sydney, and looks up as the ceiling begins to fall.]
[Cut to: A dragon falls, and fades. A Dullahan walks across the screen.]
[Cut to: The magic blue circle from the final battle, with Guildenstern's head and shoulders being sucked in to it. It explodes.]
[Cut to: External Lea Monde, sunrise. Merlose stands on a hill looking at the city collapse.]
Merlose: Gods be with you, Riot...
[Joshua tugs at her arm. She follows him to where Hardin is slumped against a wall. Joshua, crying, comes up next to Hardin. Hardin lifts his head and looks at Joshua.]
Joshua: Nooo! Hardin, stay here! Don't go!!
Hardin: You speak....at last. The terror... I am sorry....
[Hardin slowly turns to snowflies, dissolving. Joshua throws himself against Cal's legs. Cal looks at the sunrise over Lea Monde, unsmiling.]
Duke Bardorba's Secondary Residence, Greylands
2 Week Later ---
[Cut to: Duke's bedchambers. The Duke sits in the bed. Ashley steps into the room, alone, As he approaches the bed, we switch to his point of view]
Duke: ...Well met, Sydney.
[We see Sydney, robed in white, standing beside the bed where Ashley presumably was]
Duke: So, it is done... You have suffered much.
[The Duke leans back in bed]
Duke: I, too, have played my part. Let us leave the rest to this Ashley. He is the one you have chosen. ...I know what must be done.
[Sydney places a dagger beside the bed. Cut to his back, which is bare of the Rood beneath the white robes.]
Duke: ...I was not much of a father to you. Forgive me, my son.
[Sydney smiles. He bends over, as if to embrace the Duke. The camera catches that the dagger is embedded in Sydney's chest. Slowly, Sydney turns to snowflies, and the knife falls.]
[The screen goes black.]
Offscreen: Sire!! Your Excellency! Someone, bring water! Our lord has fallen!
[Cut to: Exterior, town scene. A figure in the rain, walking the streets. A watchman approaches.]
Watchman: Who walks there at this hour? What is your business? Show your papers!
[We see the barest hint of Ashley's face, before he turns, becoming Callo.]
Merlose: Callo Merlose, VKP inquisitor. [She holds out her ID]
Watchman: M-my lady! I beg your forgiveness!
Merlose: It is no matter. You are merely doing your duty.
Watchman: T-thank you, m'lady!
[The guard walks off. Merlose turns, and is Ashley once more, in civilian clothing. He looks over his shoulder.]
[-- And so began the story of the wanderer, the vagrant.]
~Fin~
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Vagrant Story, all its characters, and all associated text is copyright © 2000 SQUARE Co. Ltd. All rights remain with original authors. This script is provided for educational and informative purposes only.

FFSKY-1999.7.14创建