Difference between revisions of "Nadia"

Briefing

Eckery, ackery, welcome to the gumbo, stranger.

Otherwheres called First Ward, but mainly out of tradition, and who really needs that idea anymore out here?

You're specifically at the Compound, but that's a rather boring moniker, and some of us refer to it as the 'Last Word' but I can see it's already getting confusing even before it really starts.

Anyhoo, are you here to rescue the Monarch's daughter or to see the clowns?

• Tell me about the Compound. (optional)

Land o' tea leaves, home o' the knaves, that's us. The Compound's just another motley pot of the exiled, the disenfranchised, and the disappeared here in First Ward. And since First Ward is New Praetoria's dirty little secret, I guess that makes us the things you read on the bathroom wall.

• I don't know anything about the Monarch's daughter. (optional)

or

• What's going on with the Monarch's 'daughter'? (optional)

Ha! Who knows? She's imaginary! Well, except to the Monarch, but that's beside the point.

Hmm, actually I guess it is the point. Or a point. Things are a bit slanted and enchanted out here at the moment. Forget I brought the whole thing up.

• I'm here for the captive Carnival troupers.

Yeah, your chances of talking to those freaks are slim to nil. Only by leave of the Hetman is that going to happen, and he's handing out wolf tickets these days.

• What are wolf tickets? (optional)

Oh, sorry, that's gumbotalk for being a bit angry. First Ward's crawling with Dregs and Ghouls and D.U.S.T.-- all making trouble for us nice little Last Worders these days.

And with the Monarch off his rocker, it's up to the Hetman to keep everything in the Compound sorted, everyone safe, and when you factor in the Carnies into it all...well, that would make just about anyone a bit choleric, wouldn't you say?

• Tell me about the Hetman.

or

• Who's the Hetman?

Second in command to the Monarch of the Last Word Compound. You'll need to talk to him to get a visit to the clowns we've got in the clink.

No one's allowed to speak to the Monarch right now. He's too busy painting watercolor portraits of his imaginary daughter...again.

• Watercolor portaits? What? (optional)

I know, right? He sits around all the live-long day painting watercolor pictures of her. Which is kinda creepy, especially the watercolor part. Watercolor's creepy all by itself, even before you throw in dreamt-up daughters into the pigment.

Anyhoo, the day-to-day affairs of the Compound are now handled almost solely by the Hetman.

• Where can I find the Hetman?

You'd think once we got out from under Cole's thumb-- voluntarily or not-- we would've kicked bureaucracy to the curb, yeah?

Yeah, well no. The Hetman's a busy fellow and only really talks to his confidantes or proper emissaries. You don't fit either bill.

But I tell you what. Talk to ol' Billystick up in the central shanties. If you get in his good graces, chances are he'll fast-track you up the chain. I'll tell 'im you're coming.

Briefing

Cheshire sent word you'd be looking for me. Name's William Barrow, but most folks around here call me Billystick on account that I used to be the Hetman before I got too old for it. What can I do you for?

• I need to speak to the Hetman about the Carnival.

I'm not so sure that's a good idea for a coupla reasons.

One, I just plain don't think it's a good idea.

Two, yer gonna really have to talk to the Monarch to get to them clowns. And the Hetman's real protective of the Monarch these days, and understandably so.

• Any chance you can just sneak me in to see the Monarch, then?

And why the Cole would I do a thing like that? Maybe you haven't heard, but the Monarch-- well, he's taken sick. As in the head. A few weeks back he got into that head the idea he had a daughter.

And that she was kidnapped by our-- what's the word?-- our 'ostensible' allies, them Carnies. Thing is, he doesn't have a daughter and everyone knows it. But what's a body to do but rustle up suspects when yer Monarch demands it of ye, fake daughter or no?

Turns out the Hetman and the Guard didn't have to do too much... a few o' the clowns heard wind of what was going on and decided to surrender. They denied it, of course, and who can blame 'em, but still, that's why they're in the stockade and we're lookin' at a potential war.

• Why would the Carnival surrender to a crime that couldn't have happened?

I never said it couldn't have happened, just that the Monarch doesn't have a daughter. Leastways, none that I've ever heard about, and I've known the man for a long time.

He's the kinda man you want runnin' this part of the gumbo. Breaks my heart to see his head kicked in like this.

But, well, we're talking about the Carnival and First Ward here, and both of those are synonymous with Different Rules May Apply. So who knows what happened.

• If you help me then I'll help the Monarch.

Now I can't tell if that's altruism talkin' or desperation. Either way, it came out quick enough for me to believe you'd do it.

Tell the Hetman I sent you with good conscience. As stretched-thin as he is, he's probably got a few minutes to spare for someone willin' to help us.

Briefing

I'm sure you're famous, stranger, but this is the gumbo. I can't really be bothered at the moment. Take no offense, 'course.

• Barrow sent me. He said you would listen if I had his endorsement.

Did he now? *sigh* The next time you see Billystick, tell him his good conscience is growing barnacles.

I swear the longer we go on out here, the more everyone wants Kumbaya to just set in. We're losing our minds.

• Like the Monarch?

Yeah. Like the Monarch, but that's not your concern. Quit dancing your jaw and tell me what you're really here for.

• I want to talk to the Carnival troupers you have in lockup.

Now you're out of your mind, boy / girl. No one talks to them on my watch. I told the old man not to trust them in the first place.

If you'll excuse me, I've got other matters that demand my full and undivided attention.

• I could take some of that off your plate.

Briefing

Yeah, I'm pretty sure you could. I'd be stretching the whole 'obstinate' thing if I ignored your help, so here goes.

My lookouts say that a cell of D.U.S.T. Rangers have set up a camp near the Compound. A D.U.S.T. cell shouldn't be this far west, not normally anyway. I really don't need them embedded so closely to the Compound right now.

I need you to scout the Ward and find out if D.U.S.T. has any operations planned out here and, if so, the location of its staging ground out. After that, finish the job.

• I can do that.

Find where this cell near the Compound is hiding, what they're doing here, and then drive them away, Character. Your best bet is to bust some D.U.S.T. heads up over in the Free-Fire Zone, their normal stomping grounds, and get some of them to talk. Once you're done, we can see about letting you in to see the prisoners.

• (Find the location of the D.U.S.T. cell)

Briefing

Captain Muldoon taps his com-link and tells the D.U.S.T. forces under his command to currently stand down. Then he turns his attention to you.

Listen, friend. I could cite some outlandish protocol in the D.U.S.T. Rules of Engagement that allows for parley with third party aggressors but I don't want to waste your time. I'll skip straight to the introductions. I'm Captain Muldoon of this D.U.S.T. cell. I report to Colonel Vargas of D-SEC in the Free-Fire Zone. And who might you be? Powers Division or something?

• Nice try, Captain. Here's how it plays out: I ask you a question and then I break your neck.

Sir / Ma'am, I'm asking you to be reasonable here. I can answer a few of your questions, but my cell has a mission to perform and I really do not want any further loss of life. Ask yourself, does that sound like normal D.U.S.T. procedure?

• Ask yourself if I seem to care. Tell me why your cell is so close to the Compound.

I can't really say more than D.U.S.T. is having a bit of an...organizational crisis at the moment. D-SEC sent my cell on a scouting mission to check out sectors of Eltentown beyond the fringes of the Free-Fire Zone. We were to record anything out of the ordinary that we could find and report back. My cell isn't the only one on this mission, it's just...

• ...it's just the one that ran into me. Goodbye, Captain. (Kill Captain Muldoon)

[death rattle]

• Leave

• Or something. Captain, you and your men will immediately make a tactical withdrawal.

You're offering us...a chance to retreat? Clemency? Why? And in exchange for what?

• You wanted to parley, so here we are. Tell me why your cell is so close to the Compound.

I can't really say more than D.U.S.T. is having a bit of an... organizational crisis at the moment. D-SEC sent my cell on a scouting mission to check out sectors of Eltentown beyond the fringes of the Free-Fire Zone. We were to record anything out of the ordinary that we could find and report back. My cell isn't the only one on this mission, it's just...

• ...it's just the one that ran into me. Shove off, Captain. And leave the Compound alone.

Understood. All units, stand down and fall back!

• (Let the D.U.S.T. force withdraw)

Briefing

So you took care of the D.U.S.T. problem. That's a pretty impressive feat. How'd you manage to pull it off?

• Let Muldoon live: I persuaded the cell captain to have his men make a tactical withdrawal.

You let them go..?! Are you insane? What in the Ward made you think that was a good idea?

• I don't have to explain myself to you, Hetman. We had a deal.

...

All right, boy / girl, you go right on ahead with those pacifist notions and see how far it gets you out here in the gumbo. And the deal we struck? Don't forget it included you finding out why this particular D.U.S.T. cell had ranged so far out of the Free Fire Zone.

• The captain said D.U.S.T. was having an 'organizational crisis'... (see below)

• Killed Muldoon: I found the cell captain and broke his neck. Then it was just a matter of clean up.

Huh, so you're not afraid to get your hands bloody. That's good. The Compound needs more people like you. If you ask me, we've gotten soft. Taken in too many folk that are no better than your average Dreg.

Eh, but that's my concern, not yours. So did you find out why this particular D.U.S.T. cell had ranged so far out of the Free Fire Zone?

• The captain said D.U.S.T. was having an 'organizational crisis'...

And just what is that supposed to mean?

• That's all I got. Now let me see the Monarch.

A deal's a deal, but listen up, Character. I've already told you the Monarch is a good man. He still is, but he's tore up from the floor up what with this obsession about this daughter he's never had.

I'd tread lightly around that issue, and I certainly wouldn't get my hopes up about him letting you see the Carnies we have in the clink. That's... that's just not going to happen. Not the way I see it, anyway.

• I'll take my chances. It was a pleasure, Hetman.

Briefing

The Monarch indeed seems rather...unstable. He's holding several small watercolor portraits of his imaginary daughter that he's painted by hand. As he flips through the various portraits, his emotions and moods span the gamut from speechless mourning to quiet chuckles of tear-filled nostalgia.

Character, it's about time we met, wouldn't you say? You must forgive my Hetman; he has a suspicious heart, one burdened moreso with the concerns it has for me. We fought in the Hamidon wars together... Anna was only a child then.

The Monarch shows you a watercolor painting of Anna, age 9, posing on a tireless bike.

• Your Hetman thinks you're nuts. So does the rest of the Compound. (optional)

They do a better job of minding their manners in my presence regarding the matter than you do! What do you want of me?

• I must speak to the Carnival troupers you have imprisoned.

or

• Let me speak to the Carnival troupers you have here in the Compound.

Never! They stole her! They're hiding her from me! Those garish, iniquitous wretches will rot unless their co-conspirators bring her back! And I will muster the Compound for war if it is not soon!

The Monarch begins to froth at the mouth in his rage, and he unconsciously wipes away the spittle with one of the watercolor portraits of Anna. When he sees what he has done, he begins to sob uncontrollably.

• Monarch, you need help. What if I found this daughter of...what if I found Anna?

The Monarch nods quickly at the offer, smiling as if in rapture. He hands you one of his many watercolor portraits of Anna.

Yes! Finally someone sees that my madness is only loss and my mind is my own. Take this picture! It will help you find her!

• Let me speak to the Carnival troupers first and we have a deal.

Her childhood nickname is Antebellum, given to her when we withdrew back here to Eltentown, because she reminded me of the days before the war. She should have been born then, in happier times.

That bicycle--the one without tires?-- it was her favorite friend in the whole world simply because she wanted to protect it 'from the other bicycles that made fun of it'.

She was once convinced that she was allergic to stained glass, too, but she got over that when I taught her to paint.

...

Fine, you may treat with the Carnival troupers, if it will help you bring my daughter back. The psychic one named Candlestick, speak to him. The others remain in silent protest at their incarceration.

• I'll show him this picture. Maybe it will jog his memory.

Briefing

Eck-ack, it's another cake-eater from the Compound, about to ask Mr. Candlestick if he's now willing to give up the skinny on the fake girl's whereab--

• Quiet. I'm here on behalf of Mistress Nadia.

Candlestick laughs at you.

Next time, friend, you should lead with that. Tell the Old Mistress that we are fine, so far, and are just awaiting the rest of the Carnival to attack the Compound and free us of this so-called crime. Pass on, too, my apologies for surrendering to the Monarch's accusations, and that I did it partly out of whimsy, partly out of a plan to shake the fool's head back on straight.

Turns out that didn't work as well as it did in my own head when I was making it up. He still thinks we have his imaginary daughter taken hostage somewhere.

So what's the plan?

• The plan is that we find the imaginary daughter.

That...

...

...that makes no sense whatsoever. I love it! Where do we start?

• (Show Candlestick the watercolor portrait of Anna)

Okay, now that's just creepy.

Even for the gumbo, that's...yuck. Therefore, and rightly so in the name of mighty nonsense, press that watercolor picture right against my forehead!

You hold the portrait of Anna up to Candlestick's forehead and he seems to go into a powerful psychic trance. Or at least he pretends that he does.

Whoa Nelly, she's a real live girl! File that under a big 'Say What?' as easy as kiss my hand! She's here in the Ward, Character, she's here in the Ward!

• Where?

My brainpan's talents are only capable of so much! All I can read is that this Anna girl is alive and nearby. You're going to need Mistress Nadia's sorcerous powers to determine her exact whereabouts. Take her the picture, too. It's making my head itch.

• We've almost got you out of here, Candlestick. Stay safe.

Briefing

Hold on, now! You're from the PPD, right? I've got no beef with you...well, I did but that was back Coleside. S'what got me shipped to the Ward in the first place.

Or maybe you're not a cop, I don't really care, just hear me out--

• Tell me where she is. (Show Taggart the portrait of Anna)

You've gotta be kidding me. You saw that Shepherd group attacking my operation, right? You couldn't have missed it.

Who do you think runs that group? She ain't here with 'em today, but she sure did send 'em. You can probably find her at their Haven, a defunct warehouse due east of here, skirting the Free-Fire Zone.

• You could've made this easier on yourself, Taggart.

Lookee here, we got us a mudbelly with conflictin' principles..! Kinda like them high-horse Shepherds out there wreckin' the joint. Only thing is, you do know, even if you go through me, they're not going to play nice with you when you go looking for their leader, boy / girlie, right?

• I'll take my chances.

Taggart collapses from his wounds.

• (Leave)

Briefing

Hold! I will surrender...to whatever foulness you work for--

Who was it? Taggart? D.U.S.T.? Who sent you?

• Taggart? You mean the slavemaster? I shut his operation down. (optional)

You...did? Why?

• I suspect for the same reason your crazed, violence-prone cult was trying it.

We are not a cult. We're just...no, you're right. These particular Shepherds like to think themselves as one. But you judge them too harshly. Crazed and violent? That describes most First Warders.

I have been trying to change that, to redirect their purposes. Towards something better than merely recovering through magical artifacts from the Carnival's trash bins. It's just been...taking awhile. And you: tell me now of your purpose. Why have you come?

• Your father sent me.

Tread carefully when speaking of my father. He is long dead. And his passing was unkind in its circumstances.

• No, he's waiting for you at the Compound...Antebellum.

How...how do you know that name? My father called me that when I was only a child.

• When your best friend in the whole world was a tireless bike, I know. He's alive, Anna.

My father is dead, Character, of that I am sure. How you or he came to know these things of me, though, I do not know, and would have answers. I will meet with this Monarch. I have affairs to settle with the Shepherds here first, but I will be at the Compound when you return to it.

• I'll see you at the compound.

• Calm down, Anna. Your father sent me.

Tread carefully when speaking of my father. He is long dead. And his passing was unkind in its circumstances.

• No, he's waiting for you at the Compound...Antebellum. (See above)

• (Show Anna the watercolor portrait)

You show Anna the watercolor portrait that the Monarch painted. The effects of the image move from a disconcerting sense of loss to a slowly rising anger.

Is this some kind of sick joke? Which twisted faction in all of First Ward do you represent?

I command you to tell me who sent you!

• Relax. I share no allegiance with your enemies, especially Taggart. I shut his operation down.

You...did? Why?

• I suspect for the same reason your crazed, violence-prone cult was trying it. (See above)

• Calm down, Anna. Your father sent me.

Tread carefully when speaking of my father. He is long dead. And his passing was unkind in its circumstances.

• No, he's waiting for you at the Compound...Antebellum. (See above)

Briefing

They're staring at me, Character. And not with the normal unease reserved for a Shepherd, but with a...with a...

• With recognition, Anna. They've seen the Monarch's paintings. They know you're his daughter.

If you must know, my father died in the Asylum shortly after the Emperor sent us to First Ward. He went insane from the iniquities he found here and shortly after that the seers dragged him away. Orphaned in the ruins, I went native.

Whoever you're taking me to isn't my father, but I can see that some part of you wants him to be. And I choose to believe that's born out of compassion and not some baser agenda. Whatever the case, no one escapes the Asylum, Character. This is either a trap or the prologue to something far more sinister. You would do good to prepare yourself for what happens next.

• I've worked hard to get you here, Anna. We can do this.

Let's get it over with, then.

• We'll be fine. (Start Mission)
• I'm not ready yet, give me a second (Leave)

• Calvin Scott escaped from the Asylum, you know. (optional)

I stand corrected. The famous Calvin Scott seems to be the exception to every rule.

Briefing

I am dying, Character, and these are my last wishes. It may seem quite mad to you-- and it will seem so to the others of the Compound, but they have known me long that way these days--but tell Anna that she is my Palatine. The Throne of the Compound will pass to her now.

• You're doing this because you still have fragments of her as your daughter in your memory.

Of course I do. I played host to that Apparition for so...long. To look on her is to feel a loss I cannot reconcile with my own memories. But she is strong and forthright and dear to me still, even without ties of blood. She will be a better leader for the Compound than I have ever been.

• I have a feeling the Hetman will not like your last command.

Then I make one more: you will find a way to enforce it.

• Leave.