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.com today. ARK kept to themselves were a great
source of mystique on the world of Noire. It
was only under the rule of Lord de Piero Montelio
that the turtles began to openly trade with the
nameless Resenda and really enter the conquered
world scene. With his people completely unmatched
in the fishing trade, it was only inevitable
that the kings of Cologne reach out a gracious
hand and invite the turtle lord into their fold
as the seventh member of the merchant monarchy.
for Lord Apparel did not achieve this alone.
His young warden, financial advisor Ledoux Lemoyne,
has been an invaluable asset to his coffers.
Though born lowly amongst the ranks of the turtles,
Ledoux's mind for numbers swiftly distinguished
himself in the Lord's eyes and granted him a
permanent role in the Montelio household. Also
of note in this household are Master of Defense
Blanche Trudeau and the young lord and heir,
Jean Franklin. And I think, well, there's little
else to say about these two figures. Three o
'clock. Let's get back to you, Blanche. It's
three now? It's three o 'clock in game. Oh, great.
I didn't realize it was so late. I mean, it was
2 .30 last time. A lot of shit happened. Three
o 'clock. Huh. Things have calmed down in the
cellar. Jean and Ledoux seem subdued and contemplative.
Very, very nervous. There's a static energy in
the air. The airs. The airs. Maybe the targets
of some killer. Whoever it was that killed Melo
Ara. You just hear a jaunt kind of to himself
in the corner. I don't understand. And mingle
with the silence sort of breaking it. You can
hear notes of... Song, muted and muffled, a powerful,
rolling voice, beautiful, like the golden waves
falling on the white, pristine sands of the beaches
of the Golden Bay. You can hear it coming from
above you, sort of through the ceiling. I think
one of the duergar kind of looks up. Deva Luma,
stretching her voice, no doubt, for the coming
show. Not long now until the scheduled start,
just an hour or so. Hopefully Captain Alden will
keep them from happening, though, unless we don't
go bringing everyone together until this thing
is figured out, right? Though I doubt the Grand
Master will care a shit for our concerns, eh?
Kind of nudges his buddy there, just kind of
grunts. And maybe this very chatty duergar is
kind of looking around. Looks to you, Blanche.
You mentioned to your pupil that you believe
all the heirs are in danger. Is this a brawler
plot? I mean, if so, why would there be? Why
talk of the heirs instead of the kings? Hell,
Mellor Orwell was considered well -liked amongst
the general populace. A bit meek, but a little
greed in his bones at all. What message does
he send to kill off the heirs? Who would do that,
right? Anyway, his partner you can hear reciting
him to say, Not a person, but a curse. Oi, Gromby,
Gromby, we were sworn. I'm sorry, sir, but they
deserve to know the truth. They deserve to know.
And I'm not staying silent a moment longer. You
heirs, all of you were cursed long ago. You remember,
can I turn the stairs, partner? You remember
the four switcher's words? Vanville, you remember
the prize for not another word. I will have you
arrested for breach of contract. I will. They
gotta go. Silent. Now, last now, Blanche, what
are you doing in the midst of all this? Wow.
Gosh. Okay, I guess this is as good a time as
ever. Wow. The guards are busy arguing. Blanche
is going to hand Jean the ring of spell storing.
Oh, okay. That we got at Mountain Mania. And
I believe it requires attunement, so he would
probably have it active right around four o 'clock.
Right. He takes it. Sir, this is Miss Mariah's
ring. Are you sure? There are a couple of...
The luminary spell is in there. Major image and
phantasmal force. I... Well, I can't stay with
you this whole time, but whether it's a curse,
do you know anything about this curse? Or the
blood letters, or whatever, I... I don't know
anything. This is madness. Why? They're right.
Why the heirs? I mean, Mello's known for being
well -liked. He didn't do anything. Why the heirs?
Why? I don't know yet, Sean. I don't know, but...
But wear that ring and be safe. I'm going to
leave Turbo here with you as well. And she's
going to pull her familiar out of its extra -dimensional
space. I can keep an eye on you this way. I imagine
Turbo just flits off under the ceiling very quietly.
Kind of like upside down, looking out. And it's
like a perfect security camera. Having this bat's
eyes in the corner looking out on someone. Be
like swiveling its head slowly back and forth
here and there to give you the whole... Whole
perspective of the room. And you know you can
see through Turbo's eyes everything. Can you
tell I've been... It's a good move. Can you tell
I've been strategizing over the past week? I
can tell. That's some good moves. Some really
good moves. So I think I missed something at
the end. Yeah. What did that second guard say
about the curse? You remember the forest, which
is words, Ben Bell. The forest, which is words.
The price for... And then he cut off. Was cut
off. Something about a... or being arrested for
breach of contract. They can't say anything.
Oh, my goodness. Okay. I think Blanche needs
to reconnect with Jules. Blanche has reconnected
with Jules. Now it's time for Blanche to go reconnect
with Jules. Yeah, you've laid some fantastic
support down here already. Yeah. It's like I
don't really see the point of spending an hour
down here. Blanche is going to make her leave
and go find Jules. Can Turbo warn you if something's
amiss or anything like that? Or do you just keep
on regularly checking back in? You blink, you're
Turbo. You blink, you're Blanche. Just kind of
seeing things. I'm curious what that looks like
for you. Yeah, so while Blanche is within 100
feet of Turbo, they can communicate telepathically.
And as an action, I can switch to seeing through.
its eyes and hear what it hears. And I believe
you might leave a hundred feet when you move
up towards any Aruba's room. Uh, let's see. Ah,
okay. So the nice thing though, is the ballroom.
You can even hear just above you. If that's like
where Diva Luma is in the salon. Yeah. You, you
heard, which is right next to the ballroom kind
of practicing pulling our face. All that, um,
is right above. So that means. you would be able
to see everything during the performance and
all that if you're around for those things. Turtle
would work perfectly then. Yeah, so I'll try
to figure out maybe what the radius would be
on the second floor and the third floor because
it'll get smaller and smaller as we get higher
and higher up. Perfect. Yes, that's a good idea.
Yeah, with Xenia's room being at the far eastern
wing and this being kind of like sort of centralized.
I think you'll be slightly out of range when
you hit the second floor and then edge of that.
But let me double check that really fast for
you. It's like the fringe edge of your ability
to see. It's also the second floor up. So I think
you would probably, if you get to Xenia's room,
you're out. But in the hallways of the second
floor, you're okay. Of the second floor? Second
floor. That's where Xenia would be. And that's
where you know Jules is now if you're heading
that way. Okay. But up until the point you'd,
like, hit that room, you could flicker, you know,
look down, see through Turbo's eyes, go back
to yours. So you're basically just kind of trying
to stay, you know, aware of where your range
would be. Where your Wi -Fi for your security
camera cuts out. Right. Okay. And with that,
you're moving to Jules? Yes. So with that, Blanche,
you turn from your... Pupil who takes the ring
in hand, slides it on, is like closing his eyes,
kind of like the power sort of funneled into
it, trying to attune. Gives you one last word
of thankful nod, a nervous nod. Stay safe, Tadpole.
I'll check in when I can. Thank you, sir. I'm
sorry, sir. For what? Just kind of, it was a
sad little smell. We'll talk later. You have
things to do. All right. Blanche turns to leave.
Back upstairs. I forgot that we're in this moment.
A frozen moment. Harlan stands kind of like in
this sort of shocked, awkward pose of, do I interfere?
What do I do? As Jules, you are roughly grabbing
like one hand on your, like the back of your
cloak. Another kind of like, like pulling you
around the arm, just pulling you out. Mix Margus
Ruba. wants you gone. Xenia stands in the sort
of like, at the edge of the room, kind of the
door to the balcony, hand out towards yours,
and you just heard her mind. You're hearing all
their minds. And you hear, I killed Mello. Oh,
gods. I killed him. I killed him. I killed him.
I killed him. I killed him. I killed him. I killed
him. Behind you, Harlins, taking this in. What
is this? What's going on? Jules knows something.
Something big. And I am to find out what he knows.
He knows something. New cuts too. Margus. I have
to protect her. I have to get them out. But the
spell. He cast a spell. No visible effect. What
spell? What do they do? What do they do? And
perhaps as they're moving you, they kind of stop
and freeze. You have a moment where you can look
back at their eyes and you see them kind of narrow
for a moment. And you hear in your mind, Please
be honest with me, Jules LaRoche. Are you reading
our thoughts right now? Nod for yes. Fuck. And
you cast something with no visible effect. I
was thinking about it. My loot glowed. It glowed,
but I mean, you did something. Nothing to give
away. It's a special. They don't know. I mean,
you could say no here. Margus is a king who's
existed amongst the taverns, who has seen a lot
of stuff. I think it only makes sense that of
all the kings of coin, Margus Rubo would. possibly
know about this kind of magic and be suspicious.
Point of clarification though, maybe don't say
no because I think you said that Marcus thinks
this question. Yeah. So if you answer. That would
be so funny. I already know what I'm going to
do. The best sort of gotcha moment. Jules takes
a moment. She looks Marcus in the eye. Frozen,
intense, hands shaking on you. And he doesn't.
nod, or shake his head. He just says, Trust me.
I'm guessing you already know everything. You
are not having the Silent Burst Captain arrest
my daughter. Is this all thoughts, or is he saying
this? Thoughts. Okay. I have no choice but to
trust you now. You're right. I will trust you.
I am going to force Harlan to leave, and then
we will be open with you in full. You may push
deeper into my mind if you want to check my intentions,
but you can trust me. But I beg of you, I beg
of you, do not pry into my daughter's mind. She
is in pain, and it would be better to hear the
truth as she willingly tells it. If this is acceptable
to you, give me a sign. Jules nods. You are released.
And Margus turns instead to Harlan. Harlan. Leave
this room now. I will speak with Jules Roche
alone. Mix, you know I can't do that. Harlan,
if I force you out, will you fight back against
the King of Coen? Would you like me to put you
in that position? Jules looks to Harlan. It's
okay. Very well, Mix Margus. Jules, room is yours.
And he kind of, like, steps out. You have tech
thoughts active still? Are you kind of like checking
on anybody? Because I think technically I give
you all the thoughts, but technically I think
you're supposed to choose targets. I'm just being
dramatic and fun. So I'm assuming you're letting
it flicker between people. So it's still active?
Okay. Yeah. And you can hear that just grumbling
like, I will know what he knows. I will. As the
door closes and he steps away. And you are in
the room with Margus and Xenia. Xenia kind of
moves in, begins to approach. And Mix Margus
doesn't say another word. They just look to you,
look to their daughter, kind of nod this somber,
slow nod, and then step back. Go ahead. And Xenia,
just like before, sits down on the bed. And this
time she leaves a spot for you to sit beside
her. Yeah, Jules sits. And I think... She doesn't
know this whole conversation you guys just had,
so she's just confused as to why this whole thing
just kind of undid itself. She was about to confess
to something when this interruption occurred,
but that's my way of handling the tech thoughts,
is I think we don't need to draw this out. Margus
is smart enough to realize they've been caught,
and I think it's time. I think it's time we come
clean. Xenia wanted to regardless, and with that
last roadblock out of the way, she sits down.
And looks you in the eyes. Those eyes once again
brimming with tears. Black through makeup running
down. She seems... It's so hard to get the words
out. It's okay. You can tell me. It was me. I
killed Mello. I met him in his rooms. First thing
we got here, I changed into... The two of us
have been secretly dating each other. It started
last year, the last March of Vice, the last one
of these. And we've been talking in secret and
making plans for when we would meet again. And
I had a particular fantasy I wanted to play out.
Jules and dance. You're like the cutest couple,
I said. And so we got costumes. He got a Jules
costume for me, and I got the dance costume.
And I went to his rooms. I don't know what happened.
We were together and drinking, and it was so
great, and we were happy, and I looked to see
Mello snatching the knife from the fruit platter.
He came at me, swinging, looking crazy, and it
was like all the rage in the world filled my
body. I was barely aware of myself. I took the
knife from him, and I stabbed him again, and
again I stabbed him. And when I came to, only
moments had passed, but my costume was covered
in blood. And I was panicking. I was going crazy.
I knew if this was discovered, Samira would have
me arrested and sent to the Sky Prison. And I
was being selfish, I know, but I was so scared,
Jules. Well, that sounds to me like self -defense.
No. No. I wanted to kill him. I felt it. Red,
hot rage. Never like this before. I don't understand.
It was so fast, it... I think in this moment
your mind might flash back to something. You
seem like you had a little idea already, gentlemen.
Tell me, did the last puzzle piece hit for you
yet? Nope. Not for me. I think it would for Jules.
I think this memory, a particular memory, would
ring very clear in Jules' mind. I think you hear
a voice. A raspy voice. An undead monster echoing
across the walls of hollow mine. My ally in Zin,
that was so kind to offer me such a substance.
Dose him with it all. Your mind flashes to a
box with some pink, ashy remnants lying at the
bottom. Your mind flashes to Arhalon's eyes,
wide and wild with rage. Perhaps an explanation
flashes through your mind, a moment at the bar
of the coyote following your adventure in Saint
-Étienne. As Arholin describes his point of view
of your battle in the mine. It was horrid. My
mind flooded with a deep and primal anger. I
couldn't control myself at all. Those who I saw
as my foes, as my prey, I felt a need to slaughter.
At first it was just you, Jules, but when you
convinced my sleeping mind of Zavar's own part
in Zeb's death, he became a target as well. Though
I feel that I would have killed everyone else
in my sight, everyone, once the two of you were
dead. It was madness. Perhaps your mind even
flashes back to the giant caiman. Snapping suddenly
and crashing into your wagon, its focus was drawn
to the turtles, who might be considered its natural
prey. And we flash back to... This moment. To
Xenia's confession. I thought of Amelmata's death
at the hands of the bloodletters, the protesters,
and so I ran to the wall and I drew the bloodletter
symbol in Mello's blood. I just wanted to throw
everyone off. And then I went to the window.
I stripped off my costume pieces. I dropped them
outside. I was all the way into the hallway before
I realized I still had the knife. Without thinking,
I slid it under the bathroom door. I didn't realize
it was occupied. I didn't know your friend was
in there. I never wanted anyone to get the blame
for my crime. I just wanted confusion. I just
wanted to get away. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for
everything. That doesn't sound like it was your
fault. And don't worry. We're going to figure
this out. And you're going to be okay. I don't
understand. She glides over to her tata. I'm
a half -orc. They'll say it's my blood, my rage.
They'll just chalk it up to that. Maybe it was.
I don't know. I don't know why I did it. Margus
just looks down, very, like, somberly, fists
shaking. Jules looks up at Margus. I've seen
something like this before. Their eyes go wide.
What? This, it really wasn't her. I knew it,
but what could do this? I think somebody put
something in their drinks that made this happen.
Their mouths move, and a whispered word kind
of barely reaches your ear. Beezer's breath.
I've heard rumors in taverns. Old folk stories
of a concoction, a poison. Witches of the jungle
would make using the essence of Beezus, the jungle
rage spirits. And connected the dots, but if
it's real, if it's really real, this could be
Beezus' breath. But who would have access to
something like that? Who? We. We killed someone.
A witch. A jungle witch. We hired on the Silent
Verse, the Dwarven clan, for the first time.
We brought them to our world to help us kill
this witch in secret. She gave the Grand Master,
all of us, the jelly flower, the first seeds.
And we were going to pay whatever price she asked
for, but the price she asked for, we could not
pay. We couldn't pay it. Ask me what the price
was. Ask me what the price was. It's dramatic.
Do it. And I'm gonna do it for free. I want build
-up, damn it. What was the price? Our children.
Our eldest children. Our heirs. But she's dead.
Proud Eden is dead. We made sure she was dead.
We were all there. Even to Piero. He wasn't among
us yet, but we were all there. We all saw. She
died, Jules. But she's a witch. Even witches
are mortal. Who was there? All the kings. And
the silent verse. That's all. Those are the only
ones who know any of this. We couldn't let it
get out until the telly flower was founded on...
And we didn't want to kill anyone, but we had
to. She said that she would take the price herself.
Should we not offer it freely, we would not give
up our children. And they just have the muscles
sort of flaring, that same rage. As Marcus looks
at Xenia, that protective gaze. We would not
give up our children. Well, then somebody's following
through on that collection. Blanche, you hit
the top of the stairs just in time to hear the
door open back into Xenia's room. You turn the
corner and see Harlan pushing in with a couple
other duergar that were waiting just outside.
Harlan pushes into the room again. Margus, what
are you doing? I think we've waited long enough.
I don't know what you're not telling me. He kind
of moves sort of closer to the bed, kind of like
strolls around. Boy, you all know something,
don't you? You all know something. Blanche, you
step into the room now. Is the tech thought still
active? No, it only lasts for one minute. Okay.
Then it's been over a minute if you haven't been
talking. Yep. Jules, what's going on here? Just
asking around, getting a little more information.
I know you want it too, Blanche. Master defense.
I need information, solid information to bring
back to Lady Samira, and I'm out of time. Who
done it? You know something. I've played the
fool long enough, but I'm not the fool. As you
know, at this point, very silently, Chester slides
into the room too. Okay, so combat is right around
the corner. I just want to say, in case things
go down, Chester's always there. Immediately,
eyes go to Jules, kind of like waiting for any
kind of signal to do anything. But he's not,
you know, definitely hands not on weapons, because
it's the police. Well, Harlan, I've just gotten
back from speaking with your prisoner, who you
arrested earlier for suspicion. So, without a
sitrep, I... I don't believe I can tell you who
the killer is. Why don't you tell me what you
know? Why don't I? All right. I think I will.
All right. I was gonna make this a secret roll,
but I'll just do it right out in the open. What
are you doing? Harlan. I said he approached the
bed. He reaches slightly, like, under the top
pillow. And just barely peeking out, looking
out of the room, you now see a recording diamond
that I placed last episode when Margus moved
onto the balcony and Harlan was unseen. Like
I said, I will know. It was a promise. It was
a fact. Wow. And Harlan holds the diamond up.
I'm going to take a look at this. Nobody make
a move while I do. The room is just like this
frozen tense. Margus looks like they're about
to charge Xenia's shocked horror. The duergar
are at the ready. And Harlan holds it up and
gets to watch. How does transferring video from
a diamond work? You have to say transfer, I think.
Yes. You have to, like, hold it, touch it to
it, and then transfer. But you have to kind of,
like, it's a sort of process. You have to find
the exact pieces you want kind of, like, in your
mind. You're almost, like, cutting, editing,
and pulling from the footage you're seeing. So
I can't take my diamond and take it from his?
You could try. That's going to go bad. It's an
unbelievably dangerous thing to try. That's going
to go bad. Yeah. Yeah. I won't say no. While
Harlan's doing this, Blanche is going to cast
Whisper at Jules. Sorry, not Whisper. Message
at Jules. Jules, what's going on here? Can you
catch me up? You can whisper a reply in your
mind, and I'll hear you. Ooh. That's pretty awesome.
Do you want to, like, say everything, or do you
want to just do an I catch Blanchett? Let's just
catch Blanchett. A lot of, there's so much stuff
that just went down, and I'd hate for you to,
like, try to go after all of it and somewhere
you missed something. It's very safe to say,
I do this. I'm just, like, still in, like, a
daze. Yeah. Um, yeah. Shit. It's kind of hitting
the fan, so Blanch. You hear all of that. You
were there. You had a full rundown following
Saint -Étienne where Jules told you everything.
And I'm sure this mystery pink ash powder that
drove a former ally into a crazed sort of rage
state came up. A lot of puzzle pieces start slotting
in for you. So I would like to know what Blanche
knows about witches. The particular thread that
I'm pulling on, I want to know if it was just...
You misspeaking or me mishearing or if I'm onto
something. Eden was a jungle witch that they
killed. Yes. Downstairs, the duergar mentioned
a forest witch. Oh, dismiss speak. Ah, damn.
Look, okay. I thought that was like the jungle
witch, the forest witch, the mountain witch.
Let me recover from this. The duergar come from
a world where there are no jungles, but there
are like underground forests. So all trees are
forests. And so all trees are forests. There,
I fucking rule. That's why. I don't make mistakes.
Try again. Well, then, again, I would like to
know what Blanche knows about witches. Like,
are there covens of witches? I mean, there are
seven kings of coin. What's not to say that there
are more witches who are out there to take vengeance
for Edom? Jungle witches, as they kind of name
them, are extremely rare. You rarely ever hear
them. And maybe, like, Yeah, even like the existence
of this Proud Eden, they're like creatures of
such legend and folklore here. Such like boogeyman
-ish kind of lore that the fact that this name
didn't come up, like you never heard of Proud
Eden, must mean that this was a well -kept secret
by the Kings of Coin. Nobody's aware of this
witch that had existed that had been murdered.
And on top of that, like, I think you find it
hard to think there would be a lot of them. Maybe
there could have been a coven, maybe there could
be others, maybe there could be family, but you
don't know a lot because these beings aren't
well -known. Sure, fair. Well, in the time it
took you to tell me that, I'm sure that Harlan
has just about watched everything, so I guess
let's deal with this fallout. Let's deal with
the fallout. Harlan slowly lowers. diamond where
he's been watching into the sort of main facet
of it. And again, as you watch, you hear everything
just as like, sort of in your mind as you catch
the visuals of it. So you know that while you
guys are talking, he's hearing the entire conversation.
He finally lowers it. We have our killer. He
looks towards you, Jules, and you, Blanche. I
thank you very much for helping with this. I
assume you will be Quite pleased to know her
son will be avenged. No, no, no, no, wait, wait,
wait, wait. And the guards are just grabbing,
sort of pulling out. What are you doing? Don't
make a move on it, Marcus. You know what I know.
You know I've got you. Best you do now is stay
and wait. This whole thing might blow over, right?
Maybe there's more explanations. Maybe everything
they're saying is true. But right now, I need
a body. I need the killer. And I cannot. I cannot
let this fly by without telling Samira. You know
I can. At the very least, we gotta make sure
this shit does not happen again. This poison
you speak of. What if it's still in there, right?
To the cells. At least we're gonna have a shackle.
For our safety. And us. Are you a proud officer?
Are you proud of the work that you do? I am.
Yeah. And I done good work today. I caught a
killer, didn't I? You think that's going to stop
it? What are you going to do when you wake up
tomorrow with another body? You're not a soldier,
Jules LaRoche. Not like you, Blanche. Master
defense, you understand, right? The soldiers
way, we follow orders. And my orders weren't
to stop it, were they? That's not going to stop
it. My orders were to catch the killer. You're
not stopping it. I'm doing. What was asked of
me? You've only caught a puppet and it wasn't
without our help. Then perhaps this isn't over
yet, and that's fine. I ain't stopping you from
looking into this more. But I'm taking... I'm
taking her to the cells. Who else had access
to the wine cellar, Harlan? What? The wine cellar?
You heard everything that I heard. I think there's
a moment, you know, like you didn't... hear any
of that. And he looks over at Jules, looks at
you, and kind of realizes what went down between
you. Kind of, oh, you and your tricks. I don't
know. I'm not sure. Only the family, I think.
I don't know who else would have had access.
You were all outside until we all came in. The
silent verse, can't get to the wine cellar? No.
Silent verse, it's all access in the house. And
actually, as you're having this conversation,
I'm going to say, I'm going to bring out a few
things that you guys do know. Fyodor actually
mentioned to you at one point that he's only
seen a few people moving down to the wine cellar,
moving like past. I think he mentioned Amos Nier,
Samira Ara, and, oh no, not Samira, sorry. Amos
Nier, Larissa Rin, and Azranir. Now there are
other ways down, but that door at least, that
staircase down by the kitchen, that was only
through the one by. Another thing you know, Jules.
In Louisa Rin's mind, she's a perfectionist,
and she was put off by the fact that when she
went down to grab the wine bottle that was asked
of in that note, it was in the wrong spot. The
label was facing down. She wouldn't have put
it back like that. She knows she wouldn't have.
Someone had tampered with the wine bottle. Yeah,
I think between Amos near hiding his true heir,
his cousin or aunt or whatever, being tipped
off that Jaune is onto them. But, like, what?
I still don't get it. It's, like, it's close,
but I still don't get it perfectly. Harlan pushes
past you with Xenia. Actually, there's another
duergar in the hallway that rushes over, kind
of, like, out of breath and looking really flustered,
and they start having a very hushed conversation.
Harlan's, like, nodding. Nod. Yeah, I figured.
Fucking hell. Am I within 100 feet of Turbo at
this point? You did the step out of the room,
but you could follow him out of the room and
get to there. Okay. You look? Yes. All seems
okay in the cellar. John is still attuning. Yeah,
all is fine. Harlan turns to you as you kind
of just as you phase back and he says, sort of
add more bad news onto your day, but Grandmaster's
getting impatient. We're nearing the time where
we have to get the performances ready. We have
at least a killer. And I can't hold him back.
You start to remember this is his house. And
he's requested or demanded both of your presents
in the ballroom. He wants you there for the performance.
He wants anyone he can get. He likes to show
off his shows, his toys. Yeah, he likes to show
off his poison. Oh, my God. I'm sorry. I know
there's a lot to process here, but you have to
remember this is his house. And if he asks you
to leave, I have to make you leave. You tell
the Grand Messer I don't perform until Jean Franklin
is freed. I don't think you understand the Grand
Messer. He don't make demands. And the turtle
stays in his cell. And he can't raise a finger.
No, you got the killer. You got the killer. Oh,
we did. But my men have told me that down there
he admitted to trying to break into the Grand
Messer's rooms. Trying to look into matters.
He shouldn't be. And Le Deux L 'Amour, you caught
him at the scene, points to you, Blanche. Now,
we know they're not killers and all this, but
they are criminals. I am not going to charge
them. I'm not going to do anything about it in
your honor, right? You've helped me out. I'll
help you out here. But they are staying behind
bars until this thing is over. I'm so frustrated
with this whole situation. I mean, like, it all
makes sense. Try to break my logic. Try. It's
like we either just let him take this kid to
jail and then we have to go stand in the ballroom
and just wait and react and see what happens.
Or we just fight the silent verse right here,
I guess. And then I don't know, like. And we
don't even know if we should be fighting the
silent verse. You don't know. You don't know
who the bad guys are. They're just trying to
do their jobs, but, I mean, they're strict and
they're rough, but that's their game. One thing
I know for sure is we have to get them both out
of there before Sturgeman gets here. You have
until tomorrow. The performance shouldn't last
very long. You have time afterwards to make everything
happen, but, yeah. I'm thinking it's Amos Nier.
I just haven't quite put together exactly how
it's Amos Nier. I think. You see Xenia's just
hurt, her eyes downcast, her tears just like
falling down onto the floor. Not fighting, not
saying a word, but Harlan kind of sighs and looks
to you, Blanche. Eyes focused on you, Blanche,
and they soften just a little bit. Listen, I'm
sorry about this. I know it seems rough, but
I haven't been asked to be in the ballroom. The
Grandmaster knows I'll have things to do, people
to guard. I will personally stand guard in the
cells. If there's poison involved, not food nor
drink will touch my men's lips or mine. I promise
you, we will be as safe as possible. We will
not fail you. I'll protect the lady here. With
Jean and all these children locked up behind
bars, you're not giving me a lot of reason to
trust you, Harlan. Look at it this way. If the
heirs are in danger, now all the heirs are in
one spot, under the best guard they can be. And
we'll be watching for any poisoners antics. That
doesn't put me at ease, Harlan. It's all I got.
It's fish in a barrel. Better than fish on dry
land. Choking on the air. It's what you get.
Sorry. That was good. Yeah, that was good. That
was really good, David. Really pissed me off.
Can I get a button? That was really good. Can
I get a button? No. Dude, like. I'm going to
frustrate you guys so endlessly tonight. I knew
it was going to, but... Yeah, so who are the
other heirs that are not arrested yet? Well,
that's the fun thing. It's the one jock guy,
right? Azranir and... But he's not even an heir.
One who didn't show up. What's the name? Massimo
Ayn's son, who is... Let me go up to the page
one of my 20 page notes. This is... Yeah, so,
like, the other near kid, like, is nobody. It's
really just them. Huh. Well, Harlan, all the
As aren't locked up, are they? I can't even try
to lay a finger on Asra. For one, he's looking
forward to this show, Devaluma, more than anyone.
For two, the Grandmaster will take it as a slight.
Look. If you're in the ballroom, you can watch
him for me. You trust me with yours, I trust
you with mine, right? And all the guys there
too. I'll keep guard at the door. Inside, keep
an eye out for anything funny. If we're lucky,
this was it. The one scheme, and it's over. And
we have to be lucky. Because we're dealing with
people here that aren't reasonable. I feel like
I could sit here for like six hours trying to
talk circles around Harlan, but I feel like we
just have no... We have no other course of action
but to trust Harlan and go to this fucking party.
Yep. I hate it. It's so sad. I hate it. The saddest
player. I don't have anything else to do. Thanks
for fucking us, David. I'm a real asshole. Put
me on a rail, David! Enjoy the train ride from
the caboose. All right. I don't know. All right,
what do you say, Jeremy? Let's just... Harlan's
moving away. Nobody speaks to either of them.
Nobody touches him. All right. We stay quiet.
I promise. Prove it. How? Gotcha. Just by doing
it. Show us how capable of doing it. Yeah, take
out your sword. Let's go. And with Xenia in hand,
Harlan moves down the steps. You hear him commanding
his men to disperse, go back to formation. Form
a line. Make sure nobody else is moving through
the manor. Nobody else is sneaking about. Nobody
else is entering the grounds. You know, double
guard. He's going to take, I guess, probably
like him and one other right down there in the
room. A few others will be kind of laying around.
Like, he's making sure this thing is locked tight,
and he's going to keep his eye personal. You
can hear it telling the guys on the sort of locked
up airs. Yeah, and we have to just assume trust
in the silent verse. Yeah. Okay, so we're still
up in Xenia's room? Yeah. Okay, so Blanche is
going to look to mix Margus. Well, what else
can you tell us about all this witch business?
Margus is just staring at the spot at the end
of the hallway where they just sort of looped
around and their daughter was taken away. If
you couldn't pay the price, then why did you
cash the check? We didn't know the price. She
didn't tell us the price until afterwards. We
thought it was money. And when she demanded it
of us, we were tricked. The fool, the grandmaster.
He signed a contract. Before knowing the price
of the jellyflower? Before knowing. You should
go. Sounds like you'll be missed. I, for one,
don't care if the Grandmaster has me removed.
I'm not going to sit there and celebrate for
him, pop it on a string while my daughter is...
You should go. We're going to need you, Mix.
I don't know when, or why, or how, but we have
very few allies in these walls. We want to help
your daughter. Give me your roll. You want persuasion?
Sure. I can't do that. Thirteen. Later, perhaps.
I need time. I need time. You still trust me?
I do. It was a trick that gave us away. Not your
will. But I don't know that I trust them. Not
with her life. We need you. Go ahead, Roman.
Give me a chance. Was it persuasion? Yeah. He's
better at it. 23. Okay. Fine. I'll be there with
you. I'll keep my eyes open. I'll watch the Grand
Messer closest of all. Shall we flash to the
ballroom? Yeah, let's just do it. Damn, I was
going to say a cool line. Do it, do it, do it
now. Come on. This sounds stupid. Do it now.
Yeah, yeah. Come on, come on. This is no longer
just a murder investigation. It's a rescue mission,
too. Yeah! What was that? Come on. Sunglasses.
That was a cool line. That was a cool line. You
know what? Why don't you both take a button?
Whoa. We'll tell you why. We should probably
start using those, huh? We'll tell you why. One.
For you, Mr. Wolf, for that cool line, for just
honestly some amazing RP in all these scenes.
And one for you that I was going to give out
earlier, wasn't sure about it, and decided to
change my mind and do it now because it has some
really cool setup you did with the ring of spell
storing and turbo surveillance on the wall. Really
cool shit. Take some buttons, guys. You're going
to need them. Now let's go downstairs. Let's
go downstairs to the ballroom. The ballroom looks
much larger than it's, 50 by 40 feet, as you
take in the very sorry attendance. Diva Luma
struts across the stage, her pink sequined dress
shimmering in the bright light, and her heels
clicking with each step. Jules and Chester, at
this point, you would stand behind the stage.
If you plan to perform, actually, it's up to
you. It sounds like not performing could be very
dangerous, being kicked out, but... Yeah, no,
I think at this point, Jules is doing what he
has to do. All right. Chester's over there just
like, all right, you bring the razzle, I'll bring
the dazzle, all right? So can I use the slot?
I can really dazzle him with the slot, right?
Come on, one slot. Don't fucking touch your slots.
All right, fine. Chester, we might have combat
soon, okay? Oh, shit, right. We might have combat
soon. Okay, all right. No, no slots, no slots.
I'll dazzle him anyway. You're kind of finale
with your instrument getting ready. He's kind
of like. practicing some dance moves. Like, I
don't even know what I'm doing, but this is,
you know what? It's fine. Just wiggle around.
I'll wiggle. Just wiggle. All right. But no slots.
But no slots. If I see a slot being used, I'm
going to punch you in the face. Oh, shit. Whoa.
Ezra Nier naturally stands at the front of the
stage, hollering and hooting already at just
this. obnoxious over excitement just whoa see
one for me baby yeah yeah just like she's probably
just glancing over and everyone's not with this
extremely annoyed stare um you know while amo
sneers keeping to the back sitting in this overly
large overly lavish chair at a personal table
a place from which you can see everyone else
in the room Larissa Wren stands behind him, hands
clasped before her in a restful, respectful posture.
They both seem to cast occasional glances towards
the cheering Azra, their eyes filled with a barely
hidden contempt. Apart from them, you see DiPiero
Montelio sitting in the room, sharing a table
with yourself, Blanche. He sits in a stoic silence,
his eyes occasionally shooting a glare towards
your magnanimous host. There are two duergar
sitting at the doorway of the room, alert and
watchful. Apart from Harland and another guard
that stands in the cells downstairs, as I said,
the rest are spread throughout and around the
manor. Visible? Some are, some aren't. You never
really know. Margus Ruba, in my notes, was not
going to be down here. What is down here? So
I'll say, Margus, do you think we'll be sitting
at the same table as you and DePiero? Can I join
in your silence? Yeah, I guess I could try to
help mitigate their rage. I think right now it's
more of this huffing, quiet thing. Your table
is very, very silent. And again, eyes constantly
being cast over towards the Grand Messer, who
just looks so proudly upon everything. And naturally,
Samira Ara has chosen to stay in her room, given
everything. Amos kind of raises a hand out. Just
wait until you see the effects, the pyrotechnics,
the mist Diva Luma puts on one hell of a show.
The whole palace will be shaking with it. It'll
let the fool upstairs know what she's missing
out in her morning. Just echoing laughter, it
just like glares shot his way. I think on the
stage you hear Diva Luma just turns towards you,
Jules. Oh, he is a slimy one, isn't he? Oh, well.
As macabre as it may be, I'm not going to deny
the Grand Master his show. He is right, though.
I, too, have some special effects rigged up to
start things off. It was quite a mad rush to
set them up while everyone was in here. Make
sure you stand back from the show's start. I
don't want you guys getting hurt on my account.
I have a couple of little boom boxes going to
go off and cause a little bit of a shake. But,
uh, you know, should be a little loud, but totally
harmless. Kind of gives you a wink. I'll cue
you in after my second number. You guys ready
to go? It's about that time. Yeah, sure. All
right. The omelets have not been delivered yet.
Dude, like, are the pyrotechnics just going to
go off and, like, spray this poison everywhere
and it's just going to make a mass room of people
in a rage? Hey, I don't know. You're here in
this room. All this kind of going down. I imagine
you're flickering in a turbo. Well, I have constant
communication with them. It says I have the...
Sorry, let me pull up the exact words. Within
100 feet of you, you can communicate with it
telepathically. Okay. It can't really feed information
to you necessarily. It doesn't really know what
suspicion... It's still a bat. Okay. So Turbo's
not going to be like, hey, you better check this
shit out. They're reaching for a weapon or something.
You know what I mean? Like, you know, there's
a weird stranger in here. Like, I don't recognize
this duergar. Turbo speaks like that now for
some reason if he does speak. Hello, Lady Blanche.
What's going on? All right. Then, yeah, I'll
flick her in and out of my stupid familiar. Okay,
cool. It's cooler and more dramatic. I like it.
We cut down to the basement as you flick her
into. Turbo's POV up on the wall. And I think
you just hear immediately the sounds of two turtles
talking. The two are still locked in a cell together,
still kind of quiet. They're kind of constant
bickering, sort of died down, just outside of
the cell. I think like sitting on a crate, you
see Xenia is actually manacled, sort of hand
and foot, because again, they were afraid of
both like her kind of... raging out so she didn't
want to throw her in the cell with the turtles
because obviously that would be a problem so
right now it's not the most comfortable situation
but it's it's the situation she's just staring
down sort of forlornly her eyes occasionally
glancing up towards uh the room above where you
can hear the occasional muted from from azra
kind of looks you know forlorn and sad there's
also a spark of maybe like jealousy she's looking
so forward to this when the world was sane We
cut to the turtles, though. The dude just standing
up and kind of looking around, kind of frustrated.
Well, this is just intolerable. Trapped down
here for who knows how long, I'm sure. I guess
you're regretting ever coming back, aren't you,
John Franklin? An absolute failure of an investigation
for both of us, huh? And John's not really taking
on that same energy. He kind of just shrugs and
looks up the bars. You know, I'm not just here
to investigate. When this is over, I'm going
to come home. I'm going to compete in the Golden
Bay Tourney, and I'm going to honor Condoralla
in glorious battle and bless our people with
golden tides. Do you think that will make them
forgive you after you up and ran away, plotted
against your own house without a word to anyone?
Are they that upset with me? There's this long
pause, and Ledoux's eyes kind of go downcast.
In truth, no. No, they're actually quite ecstatic.
Even Lord de Piero is delighted with your little
escapades. He'll never admit it to you, of course.
You're the first total luminary, a hero to all
of them. Nobody cares at all about how carelessly
you abandoned them for your own new path. Well,
almost nobody. I'm sorry I left the duel. It
isn't that I didn't care, I just... I wanted
to do the right thing, to find the path of honor.
Please understand, I... And? Sheriff rounds on
him. Was it worth it? Did you find the path?
I still don't know. John kind of steps backwards.
I feel like I've only just failed in all regards.
I worked briefly as a thug for a terrible man.
I failed to save the life of a treasured friend.
I've allowed the release of criminals and publicly
stood in defiance of our world's greatest hero.
Every step I take, I seem to dance around my
own ideals. And now this! Waves his head around
this whole cell, this whole situation. Seems
like all I'm good for is causing trouble for
my friends and family. I'm... I'm just confused.
Well, what if you're supposed to be? What if
doing the right thing, the honorable thing, is
just refusing? You're confusing to reflect on.
I mean... You look upon your actions as if you're
me scouring the treasury for every discrepancy
in the logs. But you're thinking too much, Jean
Franklin. Maybe you just need to do what feels
right. I mean, it hasn't gone terribly for you
so far. You say you are a burden to your friends,
but at least you have friends. These people that
are happy to be burdened by you. People love
you for a good reason, I think. And Jean's...
I saw her turn to his. I, um, uh, thank you.
They do. Their eyes lock and there's just this
long moment where their faces grow gradually
closer, closer. And then a quake just runs through
the room as it stares in the bar and the first
pyrotechnics go off. Dust rains down from the
ceiling and the turtles break their stare to
leap back from it, never wanting to get dirty,
these turtles. I'll give you a button for a kiss.
John just looks up like, ugh, I guess the show
has begun. Now inside the cell, Xenia just, oh,
please, please just let me watch this show. I
promise to stay put. You can even shackle me
or whatever. I just can't stay in this basement
thinking about, about, oh, please, Harlan. Inspired
by her words, Harlan nods and moves over to her.
John just looks up at the ceiling. taking in
the muffled sound of Azra's cheers from above
and maybe the sound of some music kind of starting
up. Well, it would be a shame to miss out on
jewels, but I actually feel better off down here.
I mean, if someone's really out to get me. Besides,
it sounds a bit loud for my refined and royal
tastes. Do give jewels a cheer for me. He turns
to Xenia, just in time to see Harlan's sword
sliding through her chest. Her mouth opens in
a silent gas, blood pooling behind her lips.
Her soul, her essence, seems to fade from her
eyes as she slides off of the blade, collapsing
onto the cellar floor. No! No! Dammit! No! What
are you doing, Captain? And Harlan turns to Jaune,
whipping a streak of fresh blood from the tip
of his blade. The other duergar, the one called
Gromby, approaches with the cell key in hand.
Both their movements are odd and swaying, their
faces locked in fits of... twitching rage. Their
eyes, their pupils are large and hollow things.
John's eyes flash to a sphere leading up on the
wall across the room from the cell. His eyes
remain locked on it as he raises an arm behind
him, shoving his companion towards the back corner,
away from the bars. Let you stand behind me.
Do you remember the forms and techniques Master
Blanche would use to command me? Do you remember?
I do, yes, in that case. The sounds of keys turning
in the lock, the bar door creaking open. Brace
for a riptide! I imagine, Blanche, that you have
cut from this perspective and are already making
to run. Oh yeah, she's already in Bladesong.
She gets an extra ten feet of speed. In Bladesong,
the song rings out and you're making a move,
but before you get a chance, the second you sort
of drop your perspective, a different scene of
chaos immediately unravels before your eyes.
You see that pink... Haze floods the stage of
the ballroom as a pod above it has been shattered,
some special effect. And then you see a darting
shadow flying out of the haze. Diva Luma dives
forward, yanking something off of her shoe. You
can see the sheen of a blade where the false
heel has been removed as she dives off the stage
into the cheering, excited form of Azra Nir.
Her bladed heel takes him square in the throat.
You see black veins rise up against Azra's skin.
His blood streams out onto D .Va Luma's foot
and ankle. He falls backwards as his father breaks
out in a horrified gasp. There's a madness to
Luma's features. Rage is bulging her eyes, locking
her teeth together in seething, heavy breaths.
Larissa is rushing a shrieking Amos away from
the stage towards the back. DiPiero seems frozen
in place. Disbelief has locked his features.
The two duergar that stand at the door move to
draw weapons, but slowly, too slowly, in Luma's
eyes, wide and wild flicker to you, Jules, the
closest living being in sight. As the battle
diva, the luminary adventurer, arches her back
and releases a manic, monstrous scream. You call
it there!