[mysterious elfyn] As Fjall, Éile, and Scían headed south,
another sought vengeance against the might of the Golden Empire.
♪ Away with the lady Goes the billy, oh! ♪
[laughter inside]
We don't sell godhead to your kind. Fuck off.
I'm not here to smoke.
Well, we haven't ordered any Dwarven quim.
Did any of you lot order a Dwarven whore?
I'm not a whore.
But the elf I'm looking for does have a thing for Dwarven girls.
Talyysen of the One Eye.
A Golden Empire sergeant.
Never heard of him.
[kicks door]
You sure?
Only, he was seen here a few nights ago.
Look,
this place is full of elves who hate you lot just as much as I do,
all high as kites and quick to battle.
So do yourself a favor…
[yells] …and fuck the fucking fuck off!
You sure?
Maybe he's not in there.
Fair enough, Gwen. [sighs]
Good point.
We'll have a wee gander for ourselves.
♪ Ay, oh, the big puck goes Away with the lady goes the billy, oh! ♪
[elf 1] You little shit. How'd you get in?
-[thumping and groaning] -Oh fuck.
-[dwarf humming] -[elf 2] Who the fuck let you--
-[clang] -[elf yells]
[dwarf] How are we this fine eve?
Name's Meldof.
I'm looking for Talyysen of the One Eye. Big shit stain of an elf.
-[elf 3] Bitch, leave. -[blade rings]
-[loud thumping] -[gasping and groaning]
-[Meldof yells] -[elf 4] Fuck!
[Meldof] Whew!
[Meldof] ♪ Ay, oh, the big puck goes Away with the lady goes the billy, oh! ♪
♪ Sail on to golden shores ♪
♪ Where the lassies are bearded With Dwarven swords… ♪
[sighs]
[grunts softly]
[sighs]
[sniffs]
Don't worry, love.
We'll find him.
[Balor sighs] Aah.
I can hear you grinding your teeth.
Please don't make me drown you. It would upset the other patrons no end.
What's on your mind?
The… situation
in the north and south is festering.
Most of the cities are ours,
but there are still some holdouts refusing the Golden Empire.
Supply lines are disrupted.
The merchants are taking advantage, raising the price of grain.
Then hang them on the city walls as a lesson to others.
They still control the supply lines to the east.
Hang them and we lose access to the Dwarven steel we need
for our campaigns to the new world.
What would you suggest we do?
Invite them over for tea?
Bake them a honey cake?
Arrest the guild leadership.
Allow the rest of them to continue trading under our terms.
Starving citizens are a recipe for rebellion.
[Balor] Try it.
If it doesn't work, there's always the honey cake.
-Or the hanging. -[sighs]
What else?
Fjall and the Lark were spotted in Gaylth.
I've stationed troops south of there.
Won't be long.
I've heard this bleating before.
Are you incompetent?
They're alone. They won't last long.
And if they do?
Two warriors who overcame all obstacles stacked against them,
bound together by destiny, et cetera, et cetera.
There's enough of a seed there
to grow a powerful story that the peasants can latch onto.
A story beyond our control.
Stories can be put down with steel.
History is littered with fools who believed the very same.
Control the story, control the world.
Put them to clay.
[battle raging]
[explosion]
[bagpipe music playing]
[Scían] That's Byrelle.
[Éile] They haven't been defeated in a thousand years.
[Fjall] Fuck me.
Three armies united.
[Scían] They didn't stand a chance.
[Éile] It's a massacre.
[Fjall] If we're to have any chance in Xin'trea, we're gonna need more bodies.
Sellswords.
Doable. For the right coin.
[Éile] Daédwóde's south of here. There's a small bank we can hit.
[Scían] We'll need to stay off the roads.
[mysterious elfyn] The three marched on,
each knowing that this raid could put their quest for vengeance in peril.
But without coin for sellswords,
they were no more than specks of dust against an empire.
[Fjall] Where is everyone?
[Éile] Probably took to the forests after the coup.
We approach from the tree lines. Avoid the main street.
Agreed.
[sighs] This is risky.
-[Éile] No sellswords, no vengeance. -You sure you can find them?
One thing this land isn't short of is sellswords.
And thanks to you, Sword Daughter, I've worked with nearly all of them.
Let's get this done.
Knock, knock!
-[Éile sighs] -Where's the money?
You know what they say about elves that carry big axes?
[resonating clang]
Merchants and lowborn alike came and took everythin' out after the coup.
Only thing of any value in this place seems to be you lot.
Doesn't even look like me.
WANTED DEAD REWARD 1,000 OIRS
[Éile] What's throwing you off?
The eyes.
[scoffs]
[elf yells] Enemies of the Golden Empire! Toss out your weapons!
[Scían] We've been spotted.
Where's the back door?
It's a bank. One way in, one way out.
Those are not conscripts.
-Battle-hardened. Elite. -Lovely.
[Banker] Die slowly, assholes!
-[in unison] Fuck. -[thump]
Form up on my flanks, now!
[soldier] Last chance to surrender!
[grunts]
Choke them here.
Fight as a clan, and we may just make it out.
[soldiers yelling]
[yells] Murdering bastards!
Get back in formation!
-[yells] -[gasps]
[Fjall roaring]
[panting]
Not good.
[fire crackling]
[flames whooshing]
[grunts]
[yells]
Fuck!
We are not dying here!
[Fjall yells]
It's Dwarven steel.
So is this.
[Fjall grunts]
[roars]
[mysterious elfyn] Alone and powerless, Merwyn's mind churned,
desperate to find a way to free herself of Balor's grip.
-Empress. -Empress.
She knew he'd kill her as soon as he was done with her.
Your Highness.
-[Merwyn gasps] -[panting]
The lowborn are starving…
while your empire grows fat.
[whimpering]
-[thumps] -[blade clatters]
[elf gasps]
[gasps]
Tastes horrible. Feels wonderful.
Or at least, it… will.
This should never have happened.
-[Merwyn] Who was he? -A kitchen hand.
Did he say anything?
Uh, something about starving.
Famine's hitting the lowborn harder each day.
[Merwyn] Famine?
[gasps]
I'm going to assign one of my most trusted lieutenants as bodyguard.
No.
No, this one shall be my protector.
He's already proven himself.
What is your name?
Crevan Espane aep Caomhan Macha.
But most people call me Avallac'h.
One wonders why.
[Merwyn] When did this famine start?
I have no idea about the world outside of these walls.
I need to see for myself.
Perhaps you should stay confined to your quarters for a while.
Let us handle things.
For your own safety, Empress.
[scoffs]
[mysterious elfyn] As Éile, Fjall, and Scían continued south toward Xin'trea
to hunt down everyone behind the bloody coup,
the three hunters had, themselves,
become the hunted.
[Scían gasping]
[Fjall] We need to find some herbs before that wound turns sour.
[Scían] I can keep going.
No, you can't.
You're hurt because of me.
-You need to rest. -[Scían grunts]
[Fjall] I'll go find some herbs for a poultice.
More chance with two.
Go. I'll be fine.
I'm not leaving you.
Go.
It's okay.
I'll find some knitbone.
[gasps]
[door creaking]
You, uh… wanted to see me?
You appreciate books?
[laughs] I spy a first edition of Solryth's Conquest of the Dwarves.
I knew I chose well.
I have no knowledge of protection. I'm-- I'm just an apprentice.
You saved me.
No. Uh…
I did it without thinking.
Exactly. Which means I can trust you.
You're perfect.
For what, exactly?
To be my eyes and ears with Balor and Eredin.
I'm no spy. Truly, I'm just--
As soon as the empire settles,
I have no doubt Balor and Eredin will have me killed.
Probably some sad accident.
And since they know I've chosen you as my protector,
they will most likely kill you too.
Huh.
I'm sure you'd prefer that didn't happen. So now you are a spy.
But…
Balor has his eye on everything.
-What if he discovers-- -I need you to steal a book from him.
-What? -Syndril's work. The Book of Monoliths.
I need you to learn how to open gateways to new worlds.
This is insane.
-I'm going to die. -I need to control them.
Do it. Give me your cloak.
[stammers] Why, exactly?
I saw that lowborn's eyes.
Where are you going?
I need to know what's happening outside these palace walls.
[door slams]
Yeah.
Yeah, I'm-- I'm definitely going to die.
[shouting]
-[elfyn 1] Mind yourself! Wait! -[elf 1] Give it back!
-[elfyn 1] I got it! -[elf 1] Get out!
-[elf 2] Go on, then, show us-- -[elf 3] Get out the way!
-[elf 4] Out of the way! -[elf 5] Quickly!
-[elfyn 2] You blind? -[elf 5] Eyes open!
-[baby crying] -[elfyn 3] Send the militia!
-They stole my trinkets! -[elf 6] Bring that back, now!
-[elfyn 4] Help, will you? -[elf 7] Murder!
-[child] Oh, thank you. I'm so hungry. -[elf 8] Get off!
[elfyn 5] Leave it!
-[elf 8] Get out the way! -[child] Mind out!
[elfyn 6] Let me have some, I beg you!
[elf 9] No, no, no, don't you come back begging.
-I'll call the soldiers on you. -[elfyn 6] Please! I'm starving!
[elf 9] No coin, no bread.
♪The flowers shall grow ♪
♪ Where lowborn blood flows ♪
♪ Our lives they have taken ♪
♪ Are the seeds they have sown ♪
♪ We are the Black Rose… ♪
[gasps]
[groans]
You fucked me. You were the only one I told of the arrests.
Somehow your fellow merchants knew to flee the cities with their grain stores.
[laughs softly]
[sighs]
I'm sorry.
There was Galentrian wine at the guild meeting, and I just…
must have let it slip.
You're going to get yourself killed.
I'll be fine.
You might be fine being a flippant little shit,
but I'd like to keep my head attached to my fucking shoulders.
Balor is tightening the noose day by day.
Nothing will come back to you.
No one knows about us.
And, as you are so fond of reminding me, they'd never believe it anyway.
Elf like you, military class, slumming it with a petty merchant.
I didn't mean it like that.
-The other night-- -It's fine.
We were both very, very… drunk.
Is it really that bad?
Balor's just a lowborn with a chip on his shoulder.
[sighs]
We were going to commandeer that grain to feed our troops.
What about the palace grain stores?
Nearly empty.
I didn't know.
And you still don't,
-Galentrian wine or not. -[laughs]
[ominous music playing]
[mysterious elfyn] And while Eredin struggled to keep his beloved secret safe,
high above those lowborn streets,
Balor nurtured his own deadly secret.
[sighs]
I'm worried about you. You need to be careful. What if Eredin finds out?
He knows nothing of the power of the arid world. Of her.
She gave me a beast.
She can give me so much more, as soon as I give her what she wants.
By the time they all realize, it'll be too late.
I'll have transformed.
-Your friend is not in a good way. -[Scían gasps]
Who the fuck are you?
[crows cawing]
Let's just say I'm one for a good story.
I think that you
might be the start of one.
[Scían gasps]
Generous bounties.
What'd you do to earn them?
We're gonna kill the empress. And anyone else who took part in her coup.
And anyone standing in our way.
[laughing]
Well, you two must be madder than a bag of cats if you think you can pull that off.
Reckon you'll be killing a lot of empire soldiers, then.
That a problem?
No, not by me, square jaw.
Vicious pricks wiped out a village that had taken me in.
Good people.
I thought that I was done with killing.
Seems that killing isn't done with me.
[crows cawing]
So… I reckon I'll be joining your little story.
If you'd have me.
How good are you with those cleavers?
Too good.
The name's Callan.
But most folks call me Brother Death.
[Scían] I have a brother.
[murmurs] He's dead.
Smell the wound.
[sniffs] Ugh!
The blade that caught her must have been poisoned.
It's corpse oil. [sighs]
She'll be dead by dawn.
You'll be much faster to Xin'trea… without me.
-Leave me here. -No.
-Under the stars. -Mm-mm.
My tribe will take me.
I can
take you to a healer.
A mage?
Of sort.
She's different.
Powerful.
I don't know that she'll help.
And she'll just as likely kill you if she don't like the look of you.
But I can see that you care about her.
The whole Continent is looking for us. Éile, we don't know him.
[gasping]
Take us to your healer.
[mysterious elfyn] And so three became four.
[voices whispering]
[Brother Death] This is her Marsh of the Mists.
[Scían wheezes]
No matter what you see,
try and make it to the other side.
[wind gusts]
[sounds of battle raging]
[wind whistling]
[elf yells]
Get back in the fight, brother!
Kareg!
No!
[Merwyn moaning]
Brother, do you remember the first boar you ever killed?
I've forgotten.
[Merwyn gasping]
I've forgotten a lot of things.
[groaning]
[whimpers]
[screams]
[coughing]
[voices whispering]
[elfyn screaming]
[Éile] Mother?
[Cethlenn] They wronged your king, Éile.
-[elfyn] No! Please don't do it! -I…
-[Cethlenn] Earn your clan tattoos. -[elfyn screams] No! No!
[yelling] Let us out! Please!
♪ Where, oh, where Does the young deer run? ♪
♪ …valleys, under winter sun… ♪
[screaming] No, please, no!
No!
♪ Away, you hunters with bow and blade ♪
♪ Lest Brokilon Forest take you In her sweet embrace ♪
♪ Away, you hunters with bow and blade ♪
♪ Lest she take you to ♪
♪ The forgotten place ♪
-[gulps] -[elfyn in tavern] To the Lark!
-[tavern crowd] The Lark! The Lark! -[chirping]
The Lark!
-I got you! -[gasping]
-[Fjall] It's okay. -[voices whisper]
[wind whistling]
[Scían breathing raggedly]
[soft footsteps]
Hello, Callan.
Hello, my love.
You had no right.
It's not me you're angry at.
Thanks for warnin' us.
[spits]
I'm here. It's okay.
If you'd known, your memories would have been tainted as you tried to protect them.
[Syndril] He's right.
[Fjall] What the fuck?
Syndril.
Zacaré's mists need a pure signal to read you honestly.
He's involved in all of this shit!
[whoosh]
If anyone gets to punish Syndril, it's me.
And trust me, I will. But right now, your friend's in dire need of healing.
Follow me.
It's all about the little things, isn't it? When you think about it.
The little traces we leave behind of ourselves.
Our little tells.
I could always tell when Gwen had been in a room or crossed a street.
That smell of, uh… winterberry and lilac.
Still don't know how she did that.
Followed you all over this cursed continent, so I have.
Gaylth.
Bon Machán.
Kilmac.
Just missing you by a bee's dick sometimes.
[laughs]
You'd think finding a sergeant with one eye
and a penchant for pretty dwarves would be easy.
[snorts]
I can hear Gwen laughin' at me. [chuckles]
Cursing the gods each time I missed you.
[laughs]
I loved her, you see.
I really, really did.
[sighs]
Come on, love.
HERE LIES TALYYSEN OF THE ONE EYE, RAPIST, MURDERER.
ENDED BY GWEN OF THE FLOWERS. MAY HE SUFFER ETERNITY IN THE LOST PLACE.
I think we've had enough of Elven cities.
[mysterious elfyn] Meldof was done with the world of elves.
But the world of elves
was far from done with her.
[suspenseful music playing]
[child] Wh-- where are you taking us?
[Balor] On an adventure. To meet a wonderful friend of mine.
[rumbling]
[pulses of energy]
Come.
She knows how special you are.
[wind whistling]
[thunder rumbling]
I have brought you celestial siblings.
Born under a scarlet moon.
Their magic is rare.
Powerful.
-[female voice] I can taste it. -[echoing] Taste…
Are you sure?
The power you seek is not given freely.
Chaos magic comes with a cost.
[whispering echo] A cost…
The world lies at your feet, sage.
[whispering echo] Sage…
[loud thud]
[mysterious elfyn] A magic beyond belief surged through him.
White-hot. Unstoppable.
It felt like pure chaos.
-No. -Mere tokens beget mere tastes.
-Transformation requires true sacrifice. -[echo] Sacrifice…
What do you mean?
What do you mean, true sacrifice?
[sighs]
-[Merwyn] Quite the collection. -[cup rattles]
Is that an Aibelle?
[Eredin's lover] You have an excellent eye, Empress.
[Merwyn] And you have excellent taste.
Good morning, High Commander.
Please, join us.
We were so careful.
Sometimes, luck simply casts her lot against you.
I'm not here to expose you.
I know what it's like to love someone from a forbidden class.
I'm here alone.
With a proposition.
That's bold.
Or foolish.
Well, surely I couldn't be in safer company,
with the high commander of the Golden Empire army
and a future member of my Imperial Council.
You-- you'd make me a member of your council?
With a title.
How does Ambassador of Trade to the New Worlds sound?
Isn't that what you want? A seat at the table.
Access to the new worlds free of Balor.
The social status to marry, if you wish.
-I don't mean to presume. -Balor would never allow it.
Well, I propose we show Balor that the Crown and military are as one.
That he answers to our empire, not the other way around.
[inhales]
Why should I take the risk?
[Merwyn] You and I want the same thing.
To expand our nascent empire.
Balor is a lowborn who despises our existence.
He will never treat you as an equal. Surely you must see that.
He controls the gateways.
We need him to get to those new worlds.
Not for much longer.
If we work together.
There is… one more thing that I require.
An heir. [clears throat]
Please ensure that Fjall Stoneheart is brought back to me, alive.
He's more likely to cut your throat than grace you with an heir.
Well, circumstances change.
Those at odds can become allies.
So…
do we see eye to eye?
[laughs]
Well, don't think on it too long.
Lives seem to be made and destroyed in the blink of an eye these days.
-[door creaks] -[softly] This could be a new beginning.
Or our quick end.
[Scían gasping]
[crows cawing]
[Scían whimpers]
[Éile] You and the mage, how do you know each other?
[Zacaré] Brother and sister.
Of a sort. [scoffs]
Born at the same time, in the same village,
under the same burning star.
Celestial twins. Gifted with the same magical talents, but, um…
that was a long time ago.
Hold her elbow.
[low rumbling]
[wood creaking]
[Zacaré gasping]
Thank you.
-How do you feel? -[laughing] Amazing.
[both gasp]
What happened in Xin'trea?
You know, I have spent my entire life
dreaming of reaching another world.
And when the gateway finally worked, I was overjoyed.
The land, the food, the endless resources.
Hope for elvenkind for generations to come.
But the world we stepped into was dead.
Utterly barren.
"We"?
Chief Sage Balor was at my side.
There was an energy there that terrified me.
And in the sky,
a great beast.
The sound it made…
[roaring and chittering]
[screeching]
I tried to warn Balor about what I had felt in that place,
that chaotic power.
I told him. I told him that the gateway was a mistake,
but he wouldn't listen.
He took my Book of Monoliths and locked me away.
Told everyone else I was lost on another world.
And then, from my prison cell,
I saw the very same beast, under Balor's spell,
turn them to a bloodied mist.
I escaped and vowed to destroy the gateways.
So Balor is behind all this?
Oh, you don't know.
Merwyn slit your sister's throat herself.
[crows cawing]
[gasps]
I speak the truth.
-How big is this beast? -Length of a ship from heads to tail.
But there is a bigger problem.
The monoliths are causing tears between the worlds.
Strange energies are leaking into ours.
This is why Zacaré struggles even to heal.
We have mere suns before our world is ripped apart.
[Fjall sighs]
The end of our world is upon us unless…
We need to destroy the master monolith in Xin'trea. Ard Gaeth.
Let us join you.
[Syndril] You want to kill the empress? Avenge your families?
You'll never make it to Xin'trea before the world's torn apart.
We are planning on using a monolith to force a gateway
and jump straight inside the palace courtyard.
It's how I got here.
Through a monolith a half sun's west. We could be in the palace tonight.
-Balor will have it protected. -No.
Balor doesn't know travel between the monoliths themselves is possible.
We stand a better chance together than apart.
The gods brought us together.
There's meaning in that.
[Éile] We've no choice. We have no sellswords, so…
Fuck's sake. Okay.
We'll protect you.
You destroy the monolith. We'll take down Merwyn and her beast.
[mysterious elfyn] And so four became six.
[elfyn] You hear they're shipping us down to Xin'trea?
[elf] Thought they didn't let elfyns in their army.
Well, I hear they eat like kings down there.
Lowborn to highborn, every one of them as plump as fools.
[elfyn soldier] That's far enough…
[Brother Death] There's meat and fish on every table.
[rumbling]
[pulsing bursts of energy]
[intense rumbling]
[wind howling]
[Éile] Why are there two moons?
Where have you taken us, sage?
I don't know. It should have worked.
[Brother Death] I thought the palace would be fancier.
[Scían] Get us back to our world.
[mysterious high-pitched sounds echoing]
So beautiful…
[bubbling]
[gasps]
[growls]
[roars]
[Brother Death] Fuck!
What the fuck is that?
Go! Go!
-No, wait for me! -[Fjall] Éile! Move!
[snarling]
♪ Where, oh, where Does the young deer run? ♪
♪ Over mountain and valleys ♪
♪ Under winter sun ♪
♪ Oh, where, oh, where Does the young fox go? ♪
♪ Over fields, over rivers ♪
♪ Through the falling snow ♪
♪ I am here, I am here ♪
♪ Waiting for my love ♪
♪ By the stars, by the moon ♪
♪ A singing silver dove ♪
♪ Now, away, you hunters With bow and blade ♪
♪ Lest Brokilon Forest take you In her sweet embrace ♪
♪ Away, you hunters with bow and blade ♪
♪ Lest she take you to ♪
♪ The forgotten place ♪