Transcript – Ambushed

[Quest of Ruin theme plays]

ANNOUNCER
Scroll and Dagger presents:
Quest of Ruin
Episode Six
Ambushed

[Theme fades to urban background noise, with sounds of stationery and dice in the foreground]

GAME MASTER
Hello and welcome to Quest of Ruin, the post-apocalyptic fantasy roleplaying podcast. I am your host and Game Master and with me, once again, are my amazing players.

PLAYERS
[varied greetings]

GINA
Amazing? Really?

ROSIE
Hell yeah we’re amazing.

LEAH
Woo!

GINA
The amazing Gina.

[One of the other players – probably Matt – gently smacks Gina, who laughs]

GAME MASTER
So, last session ended with you all leaving the strange treasure hoard with you, Aiolin, carrying an unconscious Balink after a truly spectacular miscast by Vurieth.

WILL
Which I told you not to do.

MATT
I didn’t hear you coming up with any better ideas.

GINA
Can you two stop, please?

[awkward silence]

LEAH
So how long does my unconsciousness last?

GAME MASTER
Glad you asked. Aiolin carries you all the way from the cave, through the Blackstone Mountains and on south. And it’s just as you guys come back into sight of Stonehelm that your eyes finally open –

[Transition music fades to the sounds of the party walking through the snow. In the distance, we hear the sounds of Stonehelm.]

BALINK
[groaning]

YAELA
Binks!

VURIETH
Oh thank the Wanderer!

AIOLIN
Laethar! He’s up!

BALINK
What happened?

AIOLIN
You went berserk.

YAELA
We had to knock you out.

AIOLIN
Well, Vurieth did.

VURIETH
I tried to. I failed. Something went wrong with the spell. I am most sorry, my friend.

BALINK
Oh, that’s alright, really. I don’t remember any of that. Just finding some good blasting powder in that cave and… then nothing.

VURIETH
A similar thing happened to us, I think.

AIOLIN
There was definitely something off about that treasure.

YAELA
Well, we’re out now, so no need to worry about it. And we helped Gelebrand save his sister.

LAETHAR
Though we have nothing to show for it. But I suppose that is my fault.

[The hoofbeats of a horse approaching.]

YAELA
He did say he would pay us when we got back to the city. All we need to do is find him –

BELTUIN
And where do you think you’re going?

YAELA
Well, into the city.

BELTUIN
Afraid not. The city’s on lockdown.

LAETHAR
Lockdown? Why?

BELTUIN
There’s a hunt going on for a pair of traitors. We believe they’re out in the wilds somewhere so, until they’re found, no-one’s allowed in or out. By order of King Iswald.

BALINK
These traitors wouldn’t happen to be a brother and sister, would they?

BELTUIN
Yes. Former captains of the guard. But how –

BALINK
They owe us money. So they ain’t here?

BELTUIN
I’ve just said –

LAETHAR
Right, well, thank you for your help.

BELTUIN
… but –

[The party walks away, fading out then back up on people talking outside the city.]

BALINK
Well that’s just great, now what we gonna do?!

YAELA
It’ll be alright, Binks, just calm down.

BALINK
Calm down?! We can’t get into the city and the guy who was supposed to pay us has gone off and we don’t know where. This ain’t alright at all!

LAETHAR
He has a point. I can’t believe they just left!

YAELA
They might not have had a choice. The important question is what are we going to do?

VURIETH
We still have some money.

AIOLIN
Very little.

YAELA
We just need to find another job.

JONGO
[faintly] Excuse me! You there! Excuse me!

AIOLIN
You can’t be serious.

JONGO
Forgive my intrusion, I have need of help! I can’t get into the city and those guards are completely useless!

YAELA
Alright, calm down. Just tell us what you need?

JONGO
Oh yes, sorry. My name is Jongo Bywater, I’m a merchant from Dathland. I had a caravan of pipeweed and peppers coming up from Burrowton. I came on ahead with a few of my guards, to make the deals, you understand, but the shipment never arrived. More than a week it’s been now and I’ve heard nothing. I went a little ways down the road, to see if I could spot them, but there was no sign. And when I came back, those pig-headed elves wouldn’t let me back in or let my guards out!

LAETHAR
So you want someone to go find out what happened?

AIOLIN
Not that we’re unwilling, but why don’t you go yourself?

JONGO
Oh sure, a halfling merchant goes wandering off into the wilderness. There’s a story with a happy ending.

BALINK
Makes sense.

LAETHAR
So, how much are you offering?

JONGO
Let’s see… if you can find the caravan, I have two hundred marks. Double that if you can get it here.

BALINK
We’ll be wanting an advance.

JONGO
You can want away. There’s nothing to stop you taking my money and disappearing off, my caravan be damned. You can have the money when you get back, with proof you at least found the caravan, or you get nothing. Take it or leave it.

VURIETH
You are a formidable bargainer, my friend.

JONGO
Years of practice.

BALINK
Can you at least prove you have the money?

[Jongo sighs, and a coin purse jangles.]

JONGO
So? Will you take the job?

[Pause]

YAELA
[whispering] What do you think?

LAETHAR
[whispering] Well I don’t see that we have much of a choice. We need the money.

VURIETH
Can you point us in the right direction?

JONGO
[eager] Of course, of course. They were coming up by the old Royal Highway.

[Jongo’s voice and the wind fade away, then up to the group moving through forest undergrowth.]

AIOLIN
So, what are we likely to find?

LAETHAR
I’d be very surprised if we found anything.

BALINK
You think? I’d have thought there’d be bandits or something.

LAETHAR
Oh I don’t doubt bandits hit that poor fool’s caravan, but he said it’s more than a week overdue, which means that whoever hit it –

BALINK
Probably bandits.

LAETHAR
Probably bandits, is likely long gone.

AIOLIN
So what can we do?

VURIETH
Do we track them down and get back what they stole?

LAETHAR
[snorts] Hardly. We find something that Master Bywater will recognise as his, take it back, claim our two hundred marks and be on our way.

BALINK
Boring!

LAETHAR
Perhaps. But after the last few jobs we’ve had, a little boring is just fine with me.

[Yaela approaches at a run]

VURIETH
Yaela!

LAETHAR
Did you find it?

YAELA
I did. Well, what’s left of it anyway.

AIOLIN
What do you mean?

YAELA
Best you come see.

[Yaela runs off ahead again, with the other four following after. Fade up on ominous music and a breeze through a forest clearing.]

LAETHAR
Gods above!

BALINK
Woah.

YAELA
Well, I somehow doubt these wagons will be getting into Stonehelm.

BALINK
You think?

VURIETH
They’ve been smashed to pieces!

[Aiolin examines the wagon, the pieces falling apart beneath his fingers]

AIOLIN
And judging by these bloodstains, so were the drivers.

YAELA
Laethar?

LAETHAR
[unnerved] Yes?

YAELA
Do you think –

LAETHAR
Yes, absolutely.

VURIETH
What is it?

LAETHAR
This wasn’t any simple bandit raid. This caravan was hit by Wasters.

BALINK
What?

AIOLIN
Oh Blood!

VURIETH
Wasters… those are those last remnants of the Harbinger’s Horde, yes?

BALINK
How do you know it was them? Coulda been anyone!

LAETHAR
Just look at those wagons. Any ordinary bandits would have taken the valuables, probably killed the drivers, or taken them as slaves. They might have, perhaps, tipped one or two of the carts over but –

YAELA
They’ve been completely smashed.

AIOLIN
The Horde used to destroy every part of a settlement they took. Buildings, walls, everything completely razed. My grandfather told me about the day they took Dran Thul. By the time it was done, there was nothing left of the old city.

VURIETH
Do you think they’re still nearby?

YAELA
If they were, we wouldn’t be talking about it.

LAETHAR
Quite. No, no, I think the clan that did this will have moved on.

VURIETH
So, what should we do?

BALINK
Get out of here as quickly as possible!

[Balink starts to walk away]

LAETHAR
Not so fast.

YAELA
What?

LAETHAR
Well, Wasters don’t usually do much looting. And, like you said, there’s no way we’re getting these wagons to Stonehelm. It couldn’t hurt to poke around, see what we can find.

BALINK
Oooooh, yeah.

VURIETH
But, isn’t that stealing?

YAELA
Well, yes. But if we don’t take it, it will just be left here.

BALINK
And that would be a shame.

LAETHAR
Come on, we walked away with absolutely nothing from that cave. The least we deserve now is some damn loot.

BALINK
Hear hear!

VURIETH
I…

YAELA
There is some truth in that, we are running low.

AIOLIN
Vurieth, we need to eat. For that we may need to –

VURIETH
Alright. But I do not like it.

[The ambience fades down, then back up to Balink rummaging through loot]

BALINK
Silver, silver, clothes, rubbish. Gold?

[Balink opens a chest.]

BALINK (ctd)
Who even uses that anymore? Where’s the real coin?

[Another chest is opened.]

VURIETH
Well, what have we here?
[they sniff]
Oh! Dathland tobacco, my old friend.

AIOLIN
Thought you Ashlanders didn’t approve of things like that.

VURIETH
Of drink, quite so. But there is little better than a pipe of good leaf after a hard day travelling the Ashen Plains.

[Muffled screeches]

AIOLIN
Hey, I think there’s something alive in this one!

YAELA
Probably an animal looking for food and got stuck.

[The chest opens]

AIOLIN
Blood!

NAUR
No! No! Fear! Fly!

LAETHAR
What is it? … By all the gods!

VURIETH
It’s an elf.

NAUR
No! No!

AIOLIN
He’s got a knife!

YAELA
Everyone back off, give him some space!

NAUR
Can’t help! Can’t fight!

VURIETH
Perhaps I could –

LAETHAR
Perhaps you should hush!

YAELA
We need to calm him down.

BALINK
Don’t look like he’s listening to anything.

AIOLIN
I have an idea.

YAELA
What are you doing?

NAUR
Back! Back! Now!

[Aiolin knocks Naur unconscious]

AIOLIN
There we go.

LAETHAR
What in the world is wrong with him?

BALINK
Think he went mad.

YAELA
Wouldn’t be surprising.

VURIETH
What do you mean?

YAELA
Well, he must have been part of this caravan. Which means he saw everything the Wasters did.

VURIETH
Oh, by the Sands.

YAELA
Then he was locked in that trunk for who knows how long.

AIOLIN
But why was there in the first place?

LAETHAR
What do you mean?

AIOLIN
I’ve read accounts of Waster attacks and I’m guessing you’ve seen a few. I’ve never heard of them leaving survivors – you?

LAETHAR
Well, no. But he probably hid from them and the Wasters just overlooked him.

YAELA
Exactly. He kept out of sight of them and then hid in the trunk.

AIOLIN
And locked himself in?

BALINK
But that means the Wasters must have put him in there.

AIOLIN
Exactly. What I can’t figure out is why.

VURIETH
Forgive me, but perhaps we can continue this conversation when we are out of the cold?

YAELA
Yes, right, good point. Aiolin, would you be able to carry him?

AIOLIN
Yeah, no problem.

YAELA
Alright, let’s go.

[The party begin to walk back through the forest, Yaela and Laethar lag behind]

YAELA
[conspiratorially] Laethar, wait. I had a thought.

LAETHAR
What is it?

YAELA
Well, just that Aiolin was wrong. Wasters do sometimes leave survivors…

LAETHAR
Oh, you can’t be serious.

YAELA
What? Is it so unthinkable?

LAETHAR
[somewhat condescending] Of course it is. That poor fellow is an elf, Yaela.

YAELA
And what? No elves served the Harbinger? … Oh spirits, Laethar, I’m sorry.

LAETHAR
Don’t mention it. I am aware of the role my people played, but none were in the Horde. Orcs, yes, humans, obviously, even a few dwarves, goblins and gnomes, but no elves. And since the Wasters are the remnants of the Horde –

YAELA
Well, maybe they’ve figured out how to bring elves into it?

LAETHAR
Yaela, they’re Wasters. They don’t figure things out, they just rampage and destroy.

YAELA
Maybe you’re right. I think I’ll still keep an eye on him though.

LAETHAR
As you wish. That’s probably a good idea anyway. He may not have been turned but there’s no doubt he’s been traumatised. Hopefully there’ll be a healer in Stonehelm who can help him.

YAELA
I hope so.

[The footsteps fade out from the forest, and fade up through the snow outside Stonehelm]

AIOLIN
I’m just a little concerned he hasn’t woken up yet.

VURIETH
Maybe I should check on him?

LAETHAR
I’m sure there will be a decent, qualified healer in the city.

YAELA
Looks like he’s just sleeping.

LAETHAR
Hold up.

YAELA
What – oh.

[Hoofbeats as horses approach.]

VURIETH
You think it’s trouble?

YAELA
Doesn’t exactly look like a welcome party. Wait, isn’t that -?

[The horses are brought to a stop, whinnying and stomping.]

BELTUIN
Which of you leads this group?

[Long pause.]

YAELA
Why are you looking at me?

LAETHAR
Why are you looking at me?

BELTUIN
Answer me! Who are you?

LAETHAR
Well, this is Yaela Tangleweave of the Fae Realm; this is Balink, a goblin of Kapulbaur.

BALINK
Afternoon.

LAETHAR
Aiolin Skullfumpa, a scholar of the Remnant Library; and Vurieth Quensin of the Ashen Plains.

BELTUIN
And you?

LAETHAR
I am Laethar Monrunn.

BELTUIN
[pause] That is a name I know. Of Narolin, yes?

LAETHAR
Formerly.

BELTUIN
Of course. All of Ostigond wept at the fall of the shining city. I share your grief.

LAETHAR
Thank you.

BELTUIN
[in an undertone] So, the line of Ithilim truly has fallen far.

AIOLIN
What –

BELTUIN
Who’s this one?

AIOLIN
A survivor of a Waster attack.

BELTUIN
[scoffing] Impossible. Wasters don’t leave survivors.

VURIETH
Well, these ones apparently did.

BELTUIN
You want to watch that glib tongue of yours, Ashlander, unless you want me to cut it out.

AIOLIN
[angrily] You would –

LAETHAR
Calm yourself. It won’t do any good.

BELTUIN
Smart man.

[Harnesses jingle and fingers snap.]

BELTUIN (ctd)
My men will take care of him.

YAELA
Has something happened? You were a lot friendlier when we met earlier.

BELTUIN
I’m glad you asked. The fact is, I didn’t realise who you were earlier. But, after asking around, I found out that it was your little group that the former captain Gelebrand hired to help him in his treachery.

LAETHAR
… that might be true.

BELTUIN
And did you do it? Did you kill the wyrm?

YAELA
Well yes, but –

BELTUIN
Seize them!

[Sounds of objection from the party as guards grab them.]

VURIETH
But there was a good reason –

BELTUIN
I am not interested in your reasons. You wilfully disobeyed the command of King Iswald!

LAETHAR
Only because he refuses to protect his people!

BELTUIN
Get them out of my sight!

[The scene fades away, then up to the quiet echoes of a dungeon]

BALINK
So …

[Silence.]

BALINK (ctd)
Nice place this… suppose we should be honoured that we were brought into the palace, what with that whole lockdown and everything…

[Silence.]

BALINK (ctd)
Look, please will one of you say summat? We been down here for hours an’ nobody’s sayin anythin’ and I just can’t -!

VURIETH
Alright, Balink, alright. Would you care to hear a story?

LAETHAR
Oh gods above, must you?

VURIETH
My apologies, my friend. I was merely trying to help Balink take his mind off our situation.

LAETHAR
Our situation is we are locked in a dungeon. Nothing is going to change that, certainly not tales from the Ashen backwater!

VURIETH
Wanderer save me! What is your problem?

AIOLIN
Just leave it, Vurieth.

VURIETH
No, I shall not leave it. I thought we had made progress. Back at the temple, you said you could not trust me. Well, very well. But you were at least showing me a bit of respect. But then, in that cave, I made one mistake and you are now worse than ever!

YAELA
Vurieth, this really might not be the time –

VURIETH
No, I think it is the perfect time! Nowhere to go, no battles to fight. There can be just answers.

LAETHAR
I have nothing to answer for.

VURIETH
No? Well I mightily disagree, my friend.

LAETHAR
I am not your –

VURIETH
And why not? I could understand if you simply disliked me. Some people simply take a disliking to others, it happens. I could even understand a simple distrust for my people. I have encountered that many times. But you act as if I had done you some great wrong or personal insult. I fight with you, I help you –

LAETHAR
Help me?!

[His manacles and chains rattle.]

VURIETH
I healed you, you ungrateful Dannen-Gwai’dhel!

YAELA
Vurieth!

LAETHAR
How dare you!

BALINK
What he say?

AIOLIN
You don’t wanna know.

VURIETH
And after all of that, I make one small mistake –

LAETHAR
Small mistake?! Your incompetence nearly killed Balink.

BALINK
Don’t bring me into this!

VURIETH
I apologised for that!

LAETHAR
And what about the next time? Perhaps then you won’t be so lucky.

VURIETH
So I must be forever marked by my mistake? What does that mean for you, Laethar?

AIOLIN
Vurieth –

LAETHAR
What do you –

VURIETH
What? You told me the tales yourself, Aiolin. Of the famous general of Narolin, who led the west flank on the Field of Bloody Tears. And the west flank broke, didn’t it, Laethar? The Harbinger triumphed and all the western lands fell.

YAELA
Vurieth.

VURIETH
And then you rallied the Last Resistance.

BALINK
Oh, I wouldn’t –

VURIETH
The Final Stand of Dol Rustui, Laethar. Apart from you and Yaela, how many of your men –

[Laethar throws a punch, and Vurieth grunts and falls to the floor.]

YAELA
Laethar!

BALINK
Well, saw that coming.

LAETHAR
[restrained anger] Perhaps you’re right, Ashlander. Perhaps it is unfair to you. But this is how it is. And you will not speak of that again.

YAELA
Laethar, that’s enough!

[Laethar huffs.]

VURIETH
I understand. You look at me and you see a human. The humans who abandoned you. But I am not them, Laethar. I am me!

[Breathing heavily, Laethar’s chains rattle as he sits down.]

YAELA
Alright. Alright.

[Aiolin shuffles closer to Vurieth]

AIOLIN
Are you okay?

VURIETH
I am fine.
[softening] Thank you, Aiolin.

YAELA
Laethar, are you -?

[Loud clang of the dungeon door being opened, followed by footsteps on the stone floor.]

BELTUIN
On your feet, prisoners!

KING ISWALD
Oh I don’t think we need to pay too much mind to propriety, all things considered. You know, with all the racket you people are making, it’s a wonder you haven’t woken the dead.

LAETHAR
[sardonically] King Iswald. To what do we owe the pleasure?

[A clang of metal against stone]

BELTUIN
Mind how you speak, Monrunn! You address the last true elder king, and you are no lord anymore.

KING ISWALD
It’s alright, Captain. The prisoner is just letting off his frustration. Perhaps I just came to see how you were doing?

AIOLIN
More likely you’ve come to gloat.

KING ISWALD
Not at all. I know you, Laethar, if only by reputation. I was surprised to hear you had landed yourself here of all places, and with such… colourful companions.

[The others react with offense or surprise.]

YAELA
Forgive me, your majesty, but you look troubled. Something’s happened, hasn’t it?

KING ISWALD
[pause] Your friend. He regained consciousness a short while ago.

BALINK
But that’s good, ain’t it?

BELTUIN
It would be. If it weren’t for the fact he immediately tore out the throats of the two healers looking after him.

YAELA
Oh spirits –

KING ISWALD
And now he’s on the loose somewhere in the palace.

AIOLIN
Oh Blood and Bone! They turned him. He’s a Waster!

LAETHAR
No! No, that is not possible.

KING ISWALD
An hour ago, I would have said the same thing. But now the corridors above us are littered with his victims.

VURIETH
So, why are you telling us this?

AIOLIN
Because he wants our help.

YAELA
What?!

AIOLIN
Well, why else would he be here?

KING ISWALD
Don’t get the wrong idea. I could deal with the Waster myself, but I see no reason to risk the lives of my guards when I have you five here.

YAELA
And what’s in it for us?

KING ISWALD
Excuse me?

YAELA
Well, you want our help, what do we get?

KING ISWALD
Your lives.

BALINK
Eh?!

KING ISWALD
You disobeyed my command, committed treason, which is punishable by execution. Now, I’m willing to spare your lives and you can serve a lengthy sentence down here instead.

YAELA
You want us to deal with a Waster for you, and in exchange we get to languish down here?!

KING ISWALD
Well, we can leave you here to rot until we deal with the issue and then carry out your executions. The choice is yours.

YAELA
… I guess we don’t have a choice.

KING ISWALD
Good. Beltuin, let them out, and get them their gear. Then go and rally the rest of the troops. Just in case.

BELTUIN
Yes, my lord.

[The dungeon door opens and closes as Beltuin leaves]

YAELA
Laethar?

LAETHAR
I never thought… I always believed…

AIOLIN
Believed that elves were somehow immune to the Harbinger’s curse?

LAETHAR
Well –

KING ISWALD
Look, I doubt we have much time. Get yourselves equipped and let’s go.

YAELA
You’re coming with us?

KING ISWALD
Of course. I do not intend to just sit by while others defend my keep.

YAELA
Well that’s –

KING ISWALD
Though, of course, you will be going first.

YAELA
[sigh] Of course.

[The ambience of the dungeon fades away, then up to footsteps on stone as the group moves through the castle.]

YAELA
Be careful. He could be hiding anywhere.

VURIETH
I cannot believe that this was done by that poor fellow we found.

AIOLIN
It takes time for the turning to take effect. That’s probably why they locked him in that trunk. So that he could do nothing but dwell on what he’d seen, what they did to him. I can’t believe I didn’t realise –

VURIETH
None of us did, Aiolin.

BALINK
So what’s the plan when we find him?

LAETHAR
He’ll likely come at us fast and not hold back. We simply need to overwhelm him before he can build up momentum.

KING ISWALD
Did you people talk the beast to death in Mornvenniath?

LAETHAR
Calm yourself, your Majesty. Yaela has the trail, we will find him.

BALINK
Assuming he isn’t already out of the castle.

AIOLIN
Unlikely. This is a killing ground for him now. Wasters usually stick around until nothing remains.

KING ISWALD
Which is why I want him dealt with sooner so will you hurry up?

YAELA
You are more than welcome to go deal with him yourself.

LAETHAR
Or just not walk so far behind us.

KING ISWALD
I am content where I am, th –

[Naur screeches in Elvish as he goes to attack King Iswald, who gives a yell of surprise. Fighting and slicing as Naur kills Iswald’s two guards. The party moves to attack.]

VURIETH
Occisio!

[A vicious crack of lightning, and Naur’s body slumps to the ground.]

AIOLIN
Nice work, Vurieth!

YAELA
So Laethar, still not sure if an elf can be a Waster?

LAETHAR
[shaken] I – um – no, I think I’m convinced.

YAELA
Good, now get yourself together and come on!

LAETHAR
Wait, what?

YAELA
Well, there’s no guards around now and I don’t particularly want to go back in the dungeon, do you?

LAETHAR
I – no, quite right. Let’s go!

KING ISWALD
Stop where you are! I order you – guards! Guards! Somebody seize them!

[King Iswald’s voice fades as the transition music with dice rolls plays and fades into urban ambience]

GAME MASTER
Amazingly, you manage to avoid notice by the palace guards. Yaela, you find a postern door that allows you to slip out, not only of the palace but of the city entirely.

ROSIE
Sweet, I think we’ll go that way then?

ROSIE
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

WILL
[laughing] I can’t believe we just legged it in front of the king.

GINA
Let’s get out of here.

MATT
So where are we going now? ‘Cause going back into the city ain’t happening.

GAME MASTER
Well, Laethar, you remember there being a lakeside town about two days’ journey from Stonehelm.

WILL
Sounds good to me. I recommend we go that way.

GAME MASTER
Okay, you begin travelling east, being careful obviously to avoid being seen from the city. And I think we’ll leave it there for today.

ROSIE
Cool.

GINA
You know, I kinda feel bad for that Waster guy.

LEAH
Yeah, I know what you mean.

ROSIE
What was his name?

GAME MASTER
Hm?

MATT
What was that?

WILL
What?

GAME MASTER
I thought you said something.

WILL
… no?

LEAH
You did, you said Nah, or something.

WILL
Hmmm, no?

[Short pause]

ROSIE
That Waster went down pretty easily, didn’t he?

GAME MASTER
Well, he’d been in a box for a few days. He was malnourished, starving, and manic – he wasn’t exactly up to taking a lightning bolt to the face, Matt.

GINA
Oh God, now I feel worse.

[Laughter]

MATT
So, I’m guessing any future Wasters we come across will be a bit tougher?

GAME MASTER
Just a bit, yeah. But, that is for another day. Until the next episode, for now, we shall say goodbye, everyone.

PLAYERS
[various goodbyes]

[The end theme plays and the Announcer recites the credits]