Evil Ray: "Hey everyone. Evil Ray here. Stoner Stephen hasn't come back to work yet, and the party is almost to Lockhart Village. Since Jeremy has been AWOL for a while as well, I guess I'll have to narrate this episode by myself. Don't worry... nothing much has happened since Episode 40, just bullshit that has nothing to do with anything. And so, without further adieu, here's Episode 41."
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NENGO 327年11月30日 8:45 AM - 31 Days Until Culmination
After seven days of travel through the Badlands Valley, the party finally arrives at Lockhart Village. Before the party enters the town, THRAX turns around on his horse-lizard and briefs the party on what to expect on the other side of the gate.
THRAX: "Okay, everyone. In case you haven't noticed yet, we're pretty deep in Draconian territory. In fact, we're probably the first group of Humans to ever come this far into the Badlands. With that said, everyone should stay on their guard. No doubt the residents of this town aren't used to seeing humans, and we may encounter some 'resistance' from the locals when we shop for supplies. Trithal, Axem, Danika, Anri, Adeth, and Kuta should hang back and let me, Elric, Jarsar, Xaklafor, Veiko and Vash do the talking. If we're lucky, we'll be able to find some supplies, and a place to stay tonight."
TRITHAL (to THRAX): "Uh, question..."
THRAX: "Yes?"
TRITHAL: "Have you, yourself, ever been to this town before?"
THRAX: "Well, I've been by this town before, but never actually gone into it."
TRITHAL: "So then, how can you be sure there won't be any lynch mobs or gang-bangers after us when we go inside? It would seem that this might be a bigger gamble than it's worth, having all of us go into town together. Maybe you, Elric, Jarsar, Xaklafor, Veiko and Vash should go in, and the rest of us hang out here."
Anri: "Trithal-san, what's with you? Don't you trust anything Thrax says?"
TRITHAL: "Frankly, no I don't. I've known Thrax the Hell-Fire for quite a long time. He has a real bad habit of acting without thinking, and fucking shit up as a result."
AXEM: "Mmmm yeah yeah, that's all very true about Thrax acting on impulse, but out of the group of us, he's the only one who has actually been to this area before and knows what's going on around here."
Elric: "Ahem.... don't I count here? I've been here more times than anyone else in this group!"
TRITHAL: "Ok then, what's your take on it, Elric? Is it worth the risk for all of us to enter this village?"
Elric: "Well, Thrax does have a point about this being a town deep in the Badlands, where humans never come... but humans just sitting here by themselves would be sitting ducks to any draconians out looking to start shit. The reason why no other draconians gave us any trouble on the way here was because myself, Xaklafor, Jarsar, Veiko and Vash were here 'escorting' you. I think you stand a better chance by coming into town with us."
TRITHAL: "Okay then. I guess we should all head into town together. I still think it's a risky move on our part."
Elric: "Just make sure to stick close to each other, keep quiet, and avoid making eye contact with anyone... and we should be fine."
With that, the party gathers closer together, and prepares to enter the gates into Lockhart Village.
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(door opens, closes)
Evil Ray: "Well there you are! Where the hell have you been?"
Stoner Stephen: "Sorry, man! I woke up this morning in some chick's house. I didn't have a clue where I was! It took me hours to get home!"
Evil Ray: "That's a fascinating story and all, but we're in the middle of an episode. Get over here and man the mic!"
Stoner Stephen: "Okay."
(Sound of chair creaking as Evil Ray lifts his fat ass out of it, and quieter creaking as Stoner Stephen sits his scrawny ass down and prepares to read from the script)
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After seven days of travel through the Badlands Valley, the party finally arrives at Lockhart Village--
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Evil Ray: "Damn-it Stephen! We're already past that part! Go down to where I left off!"
Stoner Stephen: "Oh, right. Sorry!"
=====
As the party enters the village, it doesn't take long at all for the party to notice the staring and murmuring among the residents. This makes most of the party feel uneasy. TRITHAL and Danika begin riding closer together, holding each other's hands. Kuta and Anri do the same.
AXEM (quietly): "Damn! I feel like a white guy in north Tulsa right now!"
With the noticeably-high level of tension building around them, the party agrees that it would be a good idea to find lodging first, so the party won't be so out-in-the-open.
Being that Lockhart is such a remote town that doesn't see very many travelers, there are very few inns. Elric and THRAX tried one after the other looking for lodging for the party, but were turned away each time... being told that there would be no rooms in Lockhart Village for a group of Human mercenaries.
When the party was about to give up hope of finding lodging in town, and considering the option of camping out outside town somewhere, someone quietly called out to Elric from a side-street.
stranger: (whispers) "Psst! Hey! Elric! Over here!"
Elric turns to the right to see who is whispering at him, then quietly says, "Hey, Phalax!"
The stranger motions to Elric to have him and the rest of the party follow down the side street.
Phalax: "You looked like you needed rescuing out there. Come down to my house."
Elric: "Thanks a million, Phalax."
The party follows Elric and the stranger down the side street to the edge of town, to a large gated estate-looking place. The party rides the horse-lizards into the front gate of the property, and the stranger closes it behind them when they're all inside.
Kuta (to the stranger): "Thanks for taking us in, my good sir."
Phalax: "Don't mention it! I owed Elric a favor, anyway. Besides, it's too dangerous for a bunch of humans to be out here. Why are you guys out here, anyway?"
TRITHAL: "We've come out to this area in search of certain items believed to be located nearby. We stopped here in Lockhart to stock up on supplies and such."
Phalax: "I see. Well, let's go inside where we can discuss your situation more-openly."
The party agrees, and follows Phalax into his house.
Once inside, the party is stunned to see the inside of the house appearing more like a human's house instead of a Draconian's. In the middle of the front room is a coffee table large enough for the whole party to sit around. Phalax invited everyone to join him for tea, which the party found equally unusual. As the party took their seats around the table, Phalax emerged from the next room accompanied by a human female in her mid-to-late 30's, which has the party now throughly surprised.
Phalax: "Everyone, this is my lovely wife Tsukiko."
Tsukiko: "Pleased to meet you all!"
Elric introduced the individual party members to the couple. Needless to say, everyone in the party (except for Elric) are shocked and surprised to find a Draconian in Lockhart married to a human female. Before anyone could make a remark about it, Phalax began explaining:
Phalax: "I'm sure you're all curious as to why I'm married to a human woman and living here in Lockhart. Here is a brief explanation: For years, my family has been a prominent one here in this region; but over the past century, our influence has diminished. After my father died 112 years ago, our family has lost a great deal of the respect that accompanied our father's name. My siblings have all moved to other areas, but I have remained here at our family estate in Lockhart... mainly because most of my remaining friends live here. I met Tsukiko some 20 years ago in Garr while I was there on an errand. Until that day, I had never seen any being so beautiful, nor have I met anyone who understood, and even shared my points of view. Needless to say, I've since been disowned by my siblings and family members. If it weren't for the prestige of my family name, and the fact that alot of my own money is keeping this town together, there wouldn't be anywhere for us to go, as we would be shunned by both Draconians and Humans. However, by the grace of the gods, and the almighty gold-piece, no one here in Lockhart gives us any shit."
Danika: "So then, even though you live here with your human wife, why do the townspeople seem so un-trusting of other humans?"
Tsukiko: "As I'm sure you've noticed when you got here, the villagers here are simple folk, who have become comfortable with the way things have been for the past 1000 years. Just like the rural ares in the Human world, the people this deep in the Badlands aren't as open to change as they are in places like Garr and Okremafort. No one bothers me mainly because of my last name, and whenever I go into town I always have a servant escorting me. Despite all the negativity around here about Humans, I still prefer it out here better than any Human city in the Prefectures."
Anri: "Why do you prefer it here? I would much rather live somewhere where I would be accepted by most everyone else around, instead of looked down upon or hated simply for what I am."
Tsukiko: "That's part of the reason why I live here, ironically enough. I never really fit in in the Human world onacounta how I lived and what I thought. I was born and grew up in a little mud-hole town in Muriad Prefecture about a half-hour west of Lantera City. After I graduated from school and made some money, I began traveling. I started heading east toward Lantera City, then went south towards Mount Sabretooth. I stayed in the big city of Itsuka for a while, then headed east toward the Sea. I stayed on Ragnarok Island for a year maybe,, and later moved to Rygog Island Prefecture, and eventually ended up in Garr. That's where I met Phalax. After we met, I felt like I found the missing oddly-shaped piece of my soul. We've lived happily ever after ever since -- for the most part, anyway."
Danika: "Wow! I guess I can relate to that. For the first 20 years of my own life I felt like I never fit in anywhere, and that there was something missing. I tried church, and even joining a religious cult. Then I happened to meet Tsutaru here, who helped me see things for myself. Since then I've felt the happiest and most content than I have ever felt."
Phalax: "It's truly refreshing meeting others like us, even way out here. We're glad you came to visit! So then, on to your reason for coming this far out here. Given what's been in the news lately, I would assume that your mission is in some way related to the goings-on in Mount Sabretooth. Is that correct?"
THRAX: "Yeah, something like that..."
TRITHAL (telepathically to Elric): "Can we trust this guy, Elric?"
Elric (telepathically): "Yeah, I think we can." (aloud): "We have reason to believe that Vankar the Black was in some way connected with that bridge collapse in Mount Sabretooth a week ago. We're not really sure what's going on there now, because we've been out of contact since we've heard about this."
Phalax: "Well you should watch the news now. The city of Itsuka is in the middle of an uprising."
Phalax walks up to the television in the corner of the room and turns it on to the satellite news channel.
reporter on TV: "The situation in the City of Itsuka seems to get worse by the day. More and more innocent civilians are fleeing their homes, seeking refuge in neighboring towns; while demonstrators and fighters from all over Mount Sabretooth Prefecture, and some from the other United Prefectures, converge on the city. All of whom are calling for the removal of King Midus from the throne. Joining me for a closer analysis of the situation, here's senior political analyst Dr. Alfred Carroll from the government think-tank group at the University of Mount Sabretooth in Nanoka. Dr. Carroll, welcome to the show."
Dr. Carroll (on TV): "Thanks for having me, Jim."
reporter: "Now, this all seems to have started with the terrorist attack on the Muriad River bridge outside of Itsuka. Anyone with half-a-brain can figure out that that simple act alone wouldn't spur such unrest among the average citizens of the Prefecture. What is your take on the situation?"
Dr. Carroll: "Well, you're right about the fact that the bridge bombing itself isn't enough to spur a full-fledged civil unrest among the citizens of the prefecture. Obviously the fighting we're seeing today in Itsuka has been in the works for quite some time. No one seems to know who these fighters and protesters are, or why they're here, or whether the bridge bombing is directly related or not. Regardless of all the unknowns, it is very much apparent that this has been planned very carefully by some mastermind over the course of, at least, a few years. From what we can tell about what we've seen so far, whomever the mastermind is behind this intends to overthrow the government of Mount Sabretooth and the United Prefectures. Why? We don't know."
reporter: "What do you make of the strange graffiti drawings that have been found near the scene of the bridge bombing and at the Itsuka government building?"
Dr. Carroll: "The separate graffiti drawings appear slightly different from each other, but they all have the same symbol in the middle. (points to diagram of drawings) From this, one can assume that this may be separate entities united under one leader, functioning quasi-independently from each other. If that is indeed the case, no doubt the citizens of the United Prefectures would become seriously concerned and paranoid, not knowing what is happening in the shadows of their own towns and neighborhoods. As I said earlier, all this seems to have been in the planning for years, maybe decades. Who knows what else could have been happening right under our noses!"
reporter: "I see. So what do you feel should be the next course of action for the King and the government?"
Dr. Carroll: "I think the King and the government shouldn't turn a deaf ear to these protesters and insurgents. They should sit down with the leaders of these groups and work toward a peaceful resolution. Obviously these people are under the impression that their voices haven't been heard by the government, and are taking extreme measures to get their points across."
reporter: "We'll have to end it right there. Thanks for your analysis, Dr. Carroll."
Dr. Carroll: "Ok. Thank you, Jim."
reporter: "Now some breaking news out of the Mountain Castle. According to our sources, within the past hour, King Midus and Queen Mia have been evacuated to an undisclosed location in response to more localized fighting near the Mountain Castle just outside the city of Itsuka. Neither the King's staff, nor the government representatives have commented on this. We do understand, however, that the remaining government officials are still at the castle under direction of the King, in order to maintain order. We'll have more on this as it develops."
Phalax turns TV off.
Danika: "Woah. This is getting serious!"
AXEM: "Now what do we do?"
(to be continued)
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