Transcript – Flesh Eater

[Quest of Ruin theme plays]

ANNOUNCER
Scroll and Dagger presents:
Quest of Ruin
Episode Nine
Flesh Eater

[Theme fades to shouting, running, screaming, wailing and growling. Claws slashing and the clash of a sword, arrows being fired, explosions, and running.]

BALINK
Duck and cover!

YAELA
Now, Binks!

BALINK
[tosses a grenade] Boom!

[The grenade lands and explodes, eliciting a scream from the creature.]

LAETHAR
That way! Upstairs!

AIOLIN
Come on!

[Everyone sprints up the stairs as the creature shrieks.]

YAELA
[panting] What on earth –

LAETHAR
Later!

BALINK
Where can we go?

VURIETH
There is an attic, look –

YAELA
We could end up trapped!

AIOLIN
Every other door is busted, we can barricade ourselves in and make a plan.

YAELA
Alright…

[They scramble up and slam the door shut.]

[Furniture scrapes across the floor as they push heavy objects over the trapdoor.]

LAETHAR
Help me get this covered.

AIOLIN
Let me.

LAETHAR
And another – quickly, there’s a chest of drawers over there.

AIOLIN
[panting] I think that may hold for now.

LAETHAR
[panting] Yes. Let’s – let’s catch a moment’s rest.

BALINK
Yeah, and ask just what was that thing?!

YAELA
I… I don’t know. I’ve never seen anything like it.

VURIETH
I did not get a very good look, I am afraid.

AIOLIN
Nor I.

BALINK
I did!

YAELA
Binks?

BALINK
Yeah, up on Aiolin’s shoulders I was gettin a birds’ eye view!

LAETHAR
So why are you asking?

BALINK
Well I saw it, doesn’t mean I know what it is!

[There’s scratching at the door.]

YAELA
Alright, let’s not lose our heads. Binks, what did it look like?

BALINK
It… well it looked… almost…

YAELA
Almost…?

BALINK
Almost… human.

VURIETH
Human?!

BALINK
Yeah, but also not human. Like, the arms and legs were all stretched out. And its mouth was all wide.

LAETHAR
A changeling, maybe? Or a mimic?

YAELA
A changeling wouldn’t do something like this.

AIOLIN
Maybe… maybe it’s that man from the journals. The hunter.

LAETHAR
What?

YAELA
But he was killed! The journal said they hanged him.

AIOLIN
Hm. I remember reading something like this. I thought it was just old folk stories, but… cannibals returning from the dead to take vengeance and carry on feeding? I don’t know, sounds oddly similar.

VURIETH
But how?

LAETHAR
Perhaps he was turned?

AIOLIN
I think one of those journals would have mentioned a necromancer or a vampire if one had been around.

BALINK
I don’t think it’s undead. I think it’s something else. It was thin and pale but it wasn’t, you know, rotting, like most undead. And there was…

[There’s more banging and thumping on the door.]

YAELA
What? Binks, what else?

BALINK
I could see its veins. They were all black and swollen but I’m sure I saw them… pulse.

[The banging, thumping and scratching is getting more intense.]

LAETHAR
So, in short, we have no idea what this thing is, so we don’t know how to beat it?

YAELA
That is the way it’s looking, yes.

AIOLIN
We need a plan. That door isn’t going to hold out.

LAETHAR
Alright, alright. Let me think. Um… yes, yes, alright, we need to split up.

VURIETH
What?

LAETHAR
Look there, the window. It should be just wide enough. Balink, Ashlander. You two can get out and get around the back. While we hold out in here.

VURIETH
But why only the two of us?

AIOLIN
Well there’s no way I’m fitting through there.

YAELA
Laethar’s right. If more than two of us go, it will go after them.

VURIETH
But what are we supposed to do once we’re out?

LAETHAR
We’ll keep it busy. You come around and hit it from behind.

BALINK
With what? Them cherry bombs didn’t do a whole lot.

LAETHAR
Hit it with everything you’ve got. We may not know if it will truly kill it, but I’d wager enough fire will at least slow it down.

VURIETH
But what about you three? What that thing must have done to the poor man who lived here –

YAELA
We’ll be alright.

AIOLIN
Aye, doubt this monster’s ever met an orc before.

[The door begins to splinter.]

LAETHAR
We’re out of time. Go now!

[As the door begins to really break, there are running footsteps and the window glass smashes.]

VURIETH
Good luck.

BALINK
Come on!

LAETHAR
[draws sword] Right. Let’s hope those two don’t take too long.

[The sound of scratching fades, then up fades a cool breeze, quick breathing and hurried footsteps.]

BALINK
Come on, quickly!

VURIETH
I’m coming.

[There’s a crash, screaming, and combat begins faintly in the background.]

VURIETH
Oh, sands preserve them.

BALINK
We might be able to do better than that. Come on, move!

[Vurieth and Balink continue to run and enter the house as the others fight.]

VURIETH
What are we even going to do? Do you have anything that can hurt it?

BALINK
Well, I have this.

VURIETH
And what is that?

BALINK
Incendiary. It’s a fire-bomb. Problem is, I’m out of fuse wire, so –

VURIETH
So what?

BALINK
It’ll go off pretty much as soon as I light it.

VURIETH
What?!

BALINK
Well it’s all I’ve got… oh gods I’m stupid! You can light it!

VURIETH
What?

BALINK
Yeah! I throw it, you hit it with a firebolt or something and it’ll go up.

VURIETH
You’re sure that will work?

BALINK
Nope! But I don’t have any better ideas, do you?

VURIETH
No, I don’t.

BALINK
Well come on then, let’s go!

[They scramble back into the house.]

[The monster’s growls fade up.]

LAETHAR
Yaela, stay back!

YAELA
I can’t get a clear shot!

LAETHAR
I’m can barely move in here!

AIOLIN
[hits it with a battle cry] Ha! The book’s mightier than the sword, I guess.

LAETHAR
Did you just break its leg with a thesaurus?

AIOLIN
Ha. Apparently.

BALINK
[faintly] Everybody get back!

[Bodies hit the floor as Balink tosses the incendiary.]

BALINK
Now, Vurieth!

VURIETH
Parvignis!

[There’s a crackling, then the roar of a sudden inferno, mixed with the shriek of the flesheater that is suddenly engulfed in flame.]

YAELA
It’s heading for the window!

BALINK
Stop it!

VURIETH
Laqueum!

[There’s the smash of wood and remaining glass, and the shrieking and burning of the monster grows fainter.]

VURIETH
Wanderer curse me, I missed.

LAETHAR
Perhaps not a bad thing. We weren’t exactly doing much to it in here.

YAELA
So, what do we do now?

BALINK
We track it down and kill it good and proper, of course.

YAELA
Calm down, Binks. I’m not sure we even can kill it.

AIOLIN
That fire bomb might have done it.

VURIETH
Might have yes.

LAETHAR
Ashlander? Something you’d like to share?

VURIETH
[panting] Well, Balink hit it with those, admittedly, small bombs when we first met it, yes?

BALINK
Yep!

VURIETH
Yet, just now, you must have seen, there was no sign of any burning.

BALINK
What?!

VURIETH
The skin was still pale, none of the hair was burned. It looked fine.

YAELA
So what are you thinking?

VURIETH
I think it has some kind of healing ability.

LAETHAR
Is that possible?

YAELA
I mean, there are creatures that have healing abilities. I know trolls used to.

AIOLIN
[thoughtful] True, but that was always a genetic ability, something they were born with. And, from what I’ve read, trolls were always scared of fire because their healing didn’t work on burns. If Vurieth is right, then this is a stronger ability, and one that this creature only gained after its… resurrection?

VURIETH
A concerning thought indeed.

YAELA
So, if we want to kill this monster, we will need something else.

BALINK
Now hang on. I was all for killing this thing, but you’re telling me it can heal itself, we don’t know what will kill it and we don’t have a plan? I say we take this chance and get out of here while it’s busy being on fire.

LAETHAR
Oh, don’t be a coward.

BALINK
It ain’t cowardice, it’s sense. We know how to kill a monster, fine, I’m down. But if we’re just gonna go in without a plan or a chance, then that’s just stupid.

VURIETH
He does have a point.

YAELA
I’m not sure we can just get away.

AIOLIN
What do you mean?

YAELA
That thing is a hunter, that much I could tell just looking at it. And it has our scent now. I fear that if we try to flee, it will just come after us once it’s healed. I think our best chance is to take the fight to it.

BALINK
Yup. That’s where I was afraid you were going with that.

YAELA
We really do not have much choice, Binks.

AIOLIN
I agree. To be honest, even if we could get away, I don’t like the idea of leaving that thing behind waiting for the next poor soul who comes along.

BALINK
[noises of frustration] Fine, okay!

VURIETH
We should attempt some sort of plan though, surely?

LAETHAR
I’m thinking, give me a minute. Hmm, yes, alright. A strategic attack worked the best so far – some of us behind, some fighting the front.

YAELA
Okay.

LAETHAR
And we know that fire does at least hurt it, even if it can heal from it. The problem last time was that we were confined in here so we weren’t able to throw enough fire damage at it before it ran away.

AIOLIN
Fire… damage?

LAETHAR
Fire power, sorry. Balink, do you think you could make something like that incendiary but… bigger?

BALINK
If you give me… half an hour I can rig up some more proper big ones.

YAELA
Big grenades?

BALINK
What else!

YAELA
I suppose we can spare… some time?

LAETHAR
Could you wire them as we go?

BALINK
If I could wrangle another piggyback?

AIOLIN
You mean from me, I’m guessing?

BALINK
Well it ain’t gonna be any of this lot, is it? Poor Vurieth’d probably snap under my weight.

VURIETH
Hey!

YAELA
What about strategy?

LAETHAR
I think it best we go with something simple yet effective. We track it down, get it out in the open so we can manoeuvre properly, then surround it and keep at it until either it dies or –

BALINK
Or we do?

LAETHAR
Well… yes.

YAELA
I suppose the trick will be to inflict enough damage fast enough so that it can’t heal itself?

LAETHAR
Quite. We will have to ensure that, once we start, we don’t let it escape.

VURIETH
Easier said than done.

YAELA
You have that holding spell, that should keep it in place.

LAETHAR
Assuming they can hit the damned thing.

YAELA
Laethar!

AIOLIN
Right, so how do we get it out into the open?

LAETHAR
Yes. I think we’ll want somewhere we can manoeuvre.

AIOLIN
So, how do we do that?

YAELA
The creature’s probably gone to ground. It will have a lair, somewhere it can safely heal.

LAETHAR
So we track it there and lure it out?

YAELA
Exactly.

BALINK
Well, at least it’s a plan.

[The breeze from the broken window fades away, replaced by the party moving through the snow slowly.]

AIOLIN
You’re sure it came this way?

YAELA
Positive. Nothing else could have made those tracks, and nothing else could have snapped those branches clean off those trees.

BALINK
No way. I could do that!

[Balink attempts to grab the branches.]

AIOLIN
Steady on, Balink – I nearly dropped you!

LAETHAR
And do you not have some explosives to be getting on with?

BALINK
Yeah, yeah.

[Balink returns to tinkering.]

YAELA
This way.

VURIETH
Are we getting close? Can you tell?

YAELA
Yes. I believe so.

VURIETH
I must admit, I am not looking forward to this…

YAELA
Neither am I. But if we can finish it off for good, perhaps people can live safely in this town again. Might even be a nice place to settle down, once it’s cleaned up.

VURIETH
Do you have a desire to settle down, Yaela?

YAELA
[laughs] No. Not in the slightest. My kind don’t really do the whole ‘spouse and homestead’ thing.

VURIETH
I suppose you have a point.

LAETHAR
Quiet – listen…

[The creature is heard distantly.]

AIOLIN
How are those explosives coming, Balink?

BALINK
Uh huh…

YAELA
In our experience, that usually means ‘good’.

AIOLIN
Ah, I see.

BALINK
[incoherent mumbling]

VURIETH
Do you think it can smell us approaching?

YAELA
No, no I made sure we’re upwind.

VURIETH
You think we have a chance of taking this thing by surprise then?

LAETHAR
I do. A slim one, but a chance nonetheless. Now hush before –

YAELA
There it is.

[The creature lets out snuffling sounds and soft growls of pain.]

YAELA
Everyone, get ready. Stick to the plan. We move on Laethar’s signal.

AIOLIN
Alright, explodie-boy, ride’s over.

BALINK
Aw, fine, fine, fine. [clambering down]

VURIETH
You and I, Balink.

BALINK
Go team!

VURIETH
Uh, yes… go… team.

[Balink holds up a hand for a high-five.]

VURIETH
… Oh no, my friend, I do not want to hit you.

BALINK
So you hold your hand up, right, and then you hit it like this. Yeah!

[Balink successfully teaches Vurieth how to high-five.]

VURIETH
Very strange custom.

LAETHAR
Alright, you two head for the other side. We will go as soon as you get there. It will be able to smell you, but that may give the rest of us an advantage.

YAELA
We’ll see you soon. Be careful.

AIOLIN
Good luck.

[Balink and Vurieth make their way through the snow.]

BALINK
Vurieth?

VURIETH
Mhm?

BALINK
Ever get the feelin’ you’re live bait?

VURIETH
Frequently.

BALINK
Oh good, ain’t just me then.

[The other three move through the snow.]

YAELA
They will be alright, won’t they?

LAETHAR
I am certain they shall be just fine.

AIOLIN
They have magic and explosions. Personally, I’m more worried about the three of us.

LAETHAR
There is nothing to fear. We have a plan. We are ready.

YAELA
I hope you are right.

LAETHAR
Focus yourself. We won’t claim victory if you’re doubting our success before we even begin.

YAELA
Alright, alright.

AIOLIN
There they are.

YAELA
It hasn’t noticed them yet.

AIOLIN
Do we wait until it does?

YAELA
I do not think that will be necessary. We still have the upper hand if we –

[The creature sniffs, shrieks, and growls.]

YAELA
– now it’s spotted them.

LAETHAR
Ready, both of you?

AIOLIN
Right.

YAELA
[simultaneously] Right.

LAETHAR
Let’s go!

[They run through the snow, yelling battle cries, and combat ensues. The fighting fades into the background as Vurieth and Balink run through the snow.]

VURIETH
I do not like this, I do not like this.

BALINK
Nope, nope, nope.

VURIETH
Please open your eyes when you throw that!

BALINK
Fine, takes all the fun out of it though!

[Balink throws the bomb with a huff.]

BALINK
Light it… now!

VURIETH
Parvignis!

[There’s a wail from the creature as the bomb goes off.]

VURIETH
Very nice shot, Balink!

BALINK
[taking a bow] Thank you, thank you. Very nice yourself. Right, lemme just tighten up on the next one…

VURIETH
My turn then.

[There’s a crackle of energy as Vurieth begins to chant.]

VURIETH
Fulga’Ro!

[The creature hisses and shrieks as the spell hits the snow.]

VURIETH
Dammit!

BALINK
What are you on about?! Look, you took his foot off!

VURIETH
I was aiming at his head.

BALINK
Well you’ve definitely slowed him down a bit. Oooh, look at Laethar!

VURIETH
Say what you like about him, he knows how to handle a blade, that one.

BALINK
I reckon that’s why he’s so grumpy, y’know. Only got room in his head for strategy plans and battle maps and sword stuff.

VURIETH
[chuckles] He needs to let his hair down, perhaps.

AIOLIN
[from a distance] If you two are done chatting, you think you could do something to help?!

BALINK
Calm down! You can’t rush a good bomb!

VURIETH
I am ready when you are, my friend.

BALINK
On three! One… three!

[Balink throws a grenade.]

VURIETH
Parvignis!

[The creature shrieks.]

VURIETH
Very good shot!

BALINK
And a very good one yourself!

[Balink smacks Vurieth]

VURIETH
Hey!

BALINK
Ooop, sorry! Thought you’d high-five me back!

VURIETH
Oh, oh right, I am sorry. May I?

[They high-five successfully.]

BALINK
You wanna do another? I got an explodie left.

VURIETH
Why not?

[Yaela, Laethar, and Aiolin are fighting the creature viciously.]

YAELA
Laethar, if you can get in on its left leg where Binks got it, I can cover you!

LAETHAR
Left, got it!

AIOLIN
I can keep it distracted over here too –

[A series of arrows fly at the creature – most hit.]

BALINK
[from a distance] Duck and cover!

LAETHAR
Brace yourselves!

[With another explosion, the creature whines and shrivels. Laethar runs forward and deals a final blow.]

LAETHAR
There!

AIOLIN
Is it dead?

LAETHAR
I should say so, yes.

YAELA
Come on out – Binks, Vurieth!

[The two approach through the snow.]

BALINK
[shivering] W-we w-wo-on!

AIOLIN
Hey little guy, you want a piggyback again? Keep you out of this snow?

BALINK
Uh huh.

[Balink gets lifted by Aiolin.]

BALINK
Thanks.

VURIETH
So the thing is dead?

YAELA
It certainly seems to be.

LAETHAR
[distantly] By all the gods!

YAELA
What’s wrong?

LAETHAR
I – well, look.

[The creature begins to shift and change, its body cracking and flesh squelching.]

VURIETH
Oh my…

BALINK
What happened?!

YAELA
It’s changing!

AIOLIN
Fascinating!

BALINK
It… it’s turning… human! Like, real human! Normal human!

LAETHAR
This is… this is…

YAELA
Disgusting.

AIOLIN
Amazing.

VURIETH
Unsettling.

BALINK
Nuts!

YAELA
He looks so… normal… he’s just a normal, middle-aged man…

VURIETH
We should bury him.

LAETHAR
We should?

VURIETH
We cannot leave him. Not now that he has turned back into his true form.

LAETHAR
His true form being one who ate his fellows and, from the sound of it, took pleasure in it?

YAELA
I have to say, I agree with Laethar. Leave him here and he can feed the earth and the beasts. It might atone for what he’s done.

VURIETH
He did atone, Yaela. They hanged him for his crime. And whatever that creature we fought was, I do not think it was the same man. You may do what you like, but I will see him returned to his rest.

[Vurieth begins to struggle with the body.]

LAETHAR
[sighs] Come on.

[Laethar begins to help Vurieth move the body.]

LAETHAR
I think that journal said the grave was just outside of town. Aiolin, you have a shovel, don’t you?

AIOLIN
Aye.

LAETHAR
Yaela can show you where to start the digging. The Ashlander can melt the frozen earth.

YAELA
[amused] Alright.

[Yaela and Aiolin head off.]

VURIETH
Thank you, my friend.

LAETHAR
Oh, do be quiet.

[With a roll of dice, the snowy clearing fades to the gaming table.] 

ROSIE
I can’t believe you want to waste time burying the cannibal.

MATT
I don’t, but Vurieth does, so…

WILL
I mean, if we all do it, it’ll be over quicker.

GINA
Why do you care, anyway? I thought you were going for the whole hatred of humans thing?

WILL
Okay, Laethar doesn’t hate humans. He just doesn’t trust them.

MATT
And doesn’t like that they can use magic.

WILL
Doesn’t like that half-humans can use magic, no. But he respects, you know, like, respecting the dead.

LEAH
Aw, he’s becoming a decent person.

WILL
[laughs] I wouldn’t go that far.

GAME MASTER
Okay so, after you’ve buried Hubert, you leave the village. A short distance away, you find Tesha waiting for you. You tell her what you found and what happened.

LEAH
I’d like to give her a good kicking for not telling us what was there.

WILL
Maybe wait until after we’ve been given directions.

GINA
That is a good point, though. Why didn’t she just tell us what was there?

GAME MASTER
You want to ask her that?

GINA
Yeah, go on then.

GAME MASTER
Okay, she says “I was forbidden. I may be an unwilling servant…”

[Tesha’s voice overlaps with the Game Master’s voice.]

TESHA
… forbidden. I may be an unwilling servant, but I am still a servant nonetheless.

GAME MASTER
… and she refuses to say anything else.

GINA
So you’re just refusing to answer any questions right now.

GAME MASTER
Tesha is, yeah. But all may yet be revealed. For now though, we will have to say goodbye and join us next time for the next part of the story. Goodbye!

PLAYERS
[varied goodbyes]

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