Transcript – The Monolith

[Quest of Ruin theme plays]

ANNOUNCER
Scroll and Dagger presents
Quest of Ruin
Episode Twelve
The Monolith

[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 I have the players of: Laethar Monrunn –

WILL
Hello!

GAME MASTER
Yaela Tangleweave –

ROSIE
Ey up, chucks!

GAME MASTER
Aiolin Skullfumpa –

GINA
S’up!

GAME MASTER
Balink the Goblin –

LEAH
That’s me!

GAME MASTER
And the recently kidnapped Vurieth Quensin.

MATT
[sarcastically] Yay.

WILL
Aw, you don’t wanna be a vampire?

MATT
Not particularly, no. Stats are rubbish…

GINA
I mean, you don’t know that’s what they’re gonna do.

MATT
Yeah, all that creepy stuff they were saying was really open to interpretation, right?

LEAH
Maybe they just really want to be friends.

ROSIE
Weird, weird friends.

GAME MASTER
Well maybe, maybe not. Shall we find out? You all wake up, and all immediately come to the same, fairly obvious conclusion.

[The sounds of the gaming table fade to the sounds of the cave.]

AIOLIN
Vurieth’s gone!

YAELA
What do you mean gone?

AIOLIN
… they’re absent?

BALINK
Where could they have gone?

LAETHAR
I’m sure they just went out for a breath of fresh air.

YAELA
I don’t think they slept all night.

AIOLIN
They didn’t even wake me up for my turn.

YAELA
Did you see them when you took your turn?

LAETHAR
I believe so. They were still sat by the entrance. I don’t think I saw them move.

BALINK
D’you think they was still worried?

LAETHAR
[scoffs] About turning into a vampire, you mean?

AIOLIN
No. They’re not stupid.

BALINK
So what was bugging them?

YAELA
I did think I saw something.

LAETHAR
What?

YAELA
Before they left, I thought I saw one of the vampires say something to Vurieth. I just thought it was a threat or something vile but… I don’t know… d’you think it could have been something more?

AIOLIN
Like what?

YAELA
Well, I don’t know. Just maybe it was something that bothered them?

BALINK
… maybe.

LAETHAR
Well, they can’t have gone far. Come on.

[The wind is quiet outside – the day is peaceful. They all call, voices overlapping.]

YAELA
Vurieth!

BALINK
Vurieth!

LAETHAR
Ashlander!

AIOLIN
Vurieth! Hey, Vurieth!

YAELA
Where are they?

LAETHAR
No sign of them.

YAELA
Yes there is!

LAETHAR
What?

BALINK
Where?

YAELA
Look, here! There are footprints.

AIOLIN
I don’t see anything.

YAELA
They’re faint but you can still just about make them out. You see?

LAETHAR
Oh, yes. You think they’re the Ashlander’s?

YAELA
Not just Vurieth’s. There are two more tracks.

[Her footsteps are quick through the snow.]

YAELA
And here. They were dragged away.

AIOLIN
How -?

YAELA
Look, there are two sets of prints either side of this furrow. Two people carrying something heavy between them.

AIOLIN
The vampires, do you think?

LAETHAR
Almost certainly. The question is, why would they kidnap the Ashlander?

BALINK
[voice small] Maybe… maybe… maybe they did turn them into a vampire after all!

AIOLIN
… no, that’s impossible. But maybe they’re taking them to be turned. Perhaps their High Blood is nearby. Vurieth is quite a powerful mage. These vampires might want to use that.

LAETHAR
But where would they be based? I told you, there was never a Blood Coven this far north.

YAELA
[impatiently] Look, we’re wasting time. We can worry about all that stuff later – right now, we know that Vurieth has been carried off, and we have a trail that I mean to follow.

LAETHAR
Yes, yes, okay, you’re right. Let’s go.

AIOLIN
And let’s hope we’re not too late.

[Vurieth’s struggling, voice muffled by a gag, as they’re carried by two fledglings.]

DAGMAR
Alright, we’re nearly there.

HALFNOR
Should we take the gag off, let them breathe for a while?

AINA
Very well. But if they attempt a spell, be ready to stop them. We can’t risk any complications. We’re too close.

HALFNOR
[removing the gag] No tricks, Ashlander. Don’t make me hurt you.

VURIETH
I promise, no tricks. But where are we?

DAGMAR
[amused] Don’t you recognise it? A once prosperous village, a place of homes and happiness?

VURIETH
It just looks like lumps of stone.

DAGMAR
Exactly. Those lumps were once the village of Tinnuhaven.

AINA
It was a place of refuge for our kind.

DAGMAR
Before the Horde came.

AINA
But you can help us. It can be a refuge again, better than before.

HALFNOR
You’re getting ahead of yourself, sister. Let’s just concentrate on getting there first. Come on, we don’t have long until noon.

[They lift Vurieth and continue.]

VURIETH
… you intend to turn me, don’t you? Turn me into a vampire.

DAGMAR
Of course.

VURIETH
But… why?

HALFNOR
We’ve told you, Ashlander. You’re powerful. With you as one of us, we’d be a force to be reckoned with.

VURIETH
[stammering] But, surely you already are. The way you fought us yesterday… and if there are more of you, and – and then – and then there are those – those beasts you control, those Thirsters. What need could you have –

AINA
There are not so many of us. And the Thirsters do not hunt for us. They hunt after us.

VURIETH
I do not understand.

HALFNOR
We’re runaways. We were brought into a Blood Coven down south.

DAGMAR
Pack of decrepit wastes of skin. Just sitting around talking about the “good old days”. Pathetic.

AINA
We were more interested in creating a new age of greatness for our kind. Our High Bloods wouldn’t hear of it. So we left. The High Bloods then sent those Thirsters after us.

HALFNOR
Problem is, they’ll keep coming after us. We’re just fledgelings out of a coven, you see. Vulnerable. Weak.

AINA
But if we had High Bloods of our own, enough to create our own Coven, then they wouldn’t be so quick to attack us.

DAGMAR
And if our first High Blood was also a mage…

HALFNOR
Then they’d really think twice.

VURIETH
But… how can you make me a vampire? I thought you needed a… what did you call it? High Blood?

AINA
We once thought that too. But we discovered an ancient secret in our old coven.

DAGMAR
I mean, it was obvious when you think about it. After all, if only a High Blood can turn another vampire, then where would the first of our kind have come from?

AINA
And we found the answer.

HALFNOR
One of the reasons why we left.

AINA
It all began here, you see? Far up here in the north.

VURIETH
I still do not… oh, Sands preserve me.

HALFNOR
[amused] You’re a long way from any sands, Ashlander.

VURIETH
How… what is that thing?

AINA
The Monolith. The eternal symbol of the Master of All, that which we all serve.

VURIETH
I can’t even see the top.

AINA
In time, you will.

HALFNOR
Come. We don’t have long.

[The party is breathing heavily.]

LAETHAR
Can you see them?!

YAELA
[a distance away] No!

AIOLIN
They can’t be much further ahead.

BALINK
I don’t know, they moved pretty fast yesterday.

LAETHAR
But where could they be going? We’re out in the middle of nowhere.

AIOLIN
Maybe they have some kind of den? Some caves or something like that?

LAETHAR
It’s possible, I suppose.

AIOLIN
But… you don’t think so?

LAETHAR
Hmm, the vampires I’ve encountered were never too fond of caves. They prefered grandeur, to appear impressive.

BALINK
Caves can be impressive, any dwarf would tell you that.

LAETHAR
Yes, yes I know. But vampires prefer the grandeur of castles or grand vistas. Vampires like to feel superior, to look down on those they view as lesser. They would view living underground as, well, grubby.

AIOLIN
But surely they’d still shelter in a cave to get out of cold weather. Or the sun.

LAETHAR
I suppose they would, at a push. But they wouldn’t be happy about it. And they’d quickly look for an alternative.

BALINK
Don’t see many alternatives round here.

AIOLIN
Where’s Yaela gone?

LAETHAR
What? [pauses] Oh, there she is.

BALINK
Why’s she kneeling down like that?

LAETHAR
Well I don’t know, do I? Let’s go and find out.

AIOLIN
I’ll hang back here, just in case.

BALINK
Right.

[Balink and Laethar move to Yaela.]

YAELA
Stay low.

LAETHAR
We are, we are. But what… by all the gods!

BALINK
Look at the size of that thing!

LAETHAR
What is it?

YAELA
Something bad. Something very bad!

LAETHAR
You know what it is?

YAELA
Not at all. But I can sense something from it. Some kind of aura.

BALINK
Not a good one, I’m guessing.

YAELA
No. It’s oppressive. It feels like… a cage. Like someone has a foot on your back and it’s pushing you down.

LAETHAR
And I’m guessing that’s where our fledgling friends have dragged the Ashlander.

BALINK
How are we supposed to get close? It’s right out in the open, they’d see us coming a mile away.

LAETHAR
I don’t know but we’ll have to think of something quickly. I don’t know why they took the Ashlander, but I’d be willing to bet it’s not for anything good.

YAELA
Wait, look. You see over there? It looks like some ruins.

LAETHAR
No doubt that’s where the vampires have been living.

YAELA
Yes, but they might give some cover?

LAETHAR
Hmm… possibly. We’d need to be careful about it.

YAELA
Come on, let’s get back to Aiolin. We’ll think of something.

[Other fledglings emerge as Vurieth is carried through the town.]

NORLING
Is this the one?

AINA
Yes. This is them.

WALDIMAR
[sniffing] I smell elf blood.

[The muttering between the others increases.]

WALDIMAR
Fool! The ritual won’t work on an elf!

DAGMAR
[hisses] Watch your tongue, Waldimar. This one is only part-elven. They’re an Ashlander of the south. Elven and human. And a mage.

NORLING
[excited] A mage?

AINA
Yes, and powerful. The perfect candidate.

WALDIMAR
Perhaps. Perhaps not.

HALFNOR
You have something more to say, Waldimar?

WALDIMAR
I have heard of Ashlanders. Nomads that travel across the volcanic plains and the other southlands. Roaming free. Wanderers!

[The crowd mutters angrily.]

AINA
That’s why they will be perfect. To turn from the Eternal Traveller to serve the Master of All, what could be a greater show of devotion?

DAGMAR
You see? They will be rewarded. Power greater than any High Blood has ever known. And we shall share in it!

HALFNOR
Does that satisfy you?

WALDIMAR
For now.

HALFNOR
[annoyed] We don’t have time for your agitation. The enemy are already moving!

NORLING
What?

AINA
I was granted knowledge from the Monolith. That damned half-elf Agrippesa and her excuse of a church have already tried to raise a new herald.

VURIETH
Wait, what?

AINA
They were thwarted, but they will try again. We must act fast if we are to beat them.

WALDIMAR
You cannot be thinking of trying to make this nomad the Highest?!

HALFNOR
That’s exactly what we’re thinking. With them as the Highest, we will be untouchable, undeniable!

WALDIMAR
This is heresy!

DAGMAR
That is not your decision to make, fool! The Master will decide. Today!

VURIETH
Wanderer preser-

[Vurieth is struck.]

AINA
You will not use that name here.

HALFNOR
Apologies. You don’t know better yet. But you will.

VURIETH
[sullenly] And if I do not wish to?

HALFNOR
[still friendly] What you wish is of no consequence. You will be offered to the Monolith. And if the Master of All decides you will serve, then you shall, and you will rejoice to do so. Trust me.

VURIETH
I’m afraid I do not!

[Vurieth’s magic begins to crackle.]

VURIETH
Fulgun-

[They are struck in the head, and fall unconscious.]

DAGMAR
My apologies. You will see, when you come into your power. You will thank me.

HALFNOR
You best hope they do.

AINA
Come, bring them to the monolith. The time is almost upon us.

[Away, the party talks.]

YAELA
Do you see anyone?

BALINK
A few. But they’re all running off. They’re heading for that big stone thing.

LAETHAR
Which means there’ll be more of them gathered around where the ashlander is.

AIOLIN
Which will make it harder to get them out.

LAETHAR
Being honest, I don’t see how we pull this off.

YAELA
We have to try though.

LAETHAR
Yes, yes, obviously we do. I’m just saying, we just about held our own against five of them – and who knows how many there are over there.

AIOLIN
A distraction, maybe? Balink, you think you could cause a big enough explosion?

BALINK
Not with what I’ve got here. If I used everything all in one go, maybe, but then I’d have nothing left to deal with them comin’ after us.

LAETHAR
Annoyingly, for this sort of thing, we need the Ashlander.

YAELA
Well they’re not here, are they?

LAETHAR
Yes, thank you, the frustration of our situation is not lost on me.

BALINK
Hey, Yaela. You see what I see over there?

YAELA
What… oh.

BALINK
You think maybe we could…?

AIOLIN
What are you… oh you can’t be serious.

LAETHAR
That would be foolhardy. Even for us.

YAELA
True but I can’t think of a better idea. Can you?

LAETHAR
Hold on… no, no I can’t. Alright, Yaela, Balink, you go on ahead. Get their attention. You’ll be faster. Aiolin and I shall try to guide them in the right direction.

AIOLIN
Oh, brilliant.

[Chains clink softly as Vurieth regains consciousness. They scream, muffled, as they realise their situation – bound, gagged, and surrounded by vampires. The vampires begin to chant.]

DAGMAR
[soothingly] Shh shh shh, don’t worry. It will all be over soon.

AINA
[loudly] Brothers! Sisters! For too long we have lived in the shadows of the old High Bloods, forced to obey the commands of withered husks of what our kind once were. But now, in the shadow of the Monolith, our true master, we may take back what we once were!

[The other vampires cheer.]

AINA
By the High Bloods we were made, and only by them can we be made High Bloods ourselves. Or so we were told. We now know their lies and here, we will give new birth to our kind. We will remake the vampire race anew. For it was here that we were first made. It is by the Monolith that we came to be. It is our true master, The Master of All, the Lord of Domination, that which the lesser fools name The Titan!

[The vampires cheer again.]

DAGMAR
And to mark our rebirth, we have here an unwilling soul. One opposed to the will of the Master. And they will be broken to the Monolith’s will. They shall fall beneath it and then rise again as Highest, Herald of the Monolith’s will.

HALFNOR
We stand in the Monolith’s shadow – the ritual is begun. Remove their gag, so that they may share in the blood of their new kin.

[Vurieth’s gag is removed.]

VURIETH
No! No! Please! Do not do this!

DAGMAR
I understand your fear, trust me. I felt the same before I was brought under the Master. You will soon understand. [slicing her skin open] Here now.

[Vurieth keeps their mouth shut.]

DAGMAR
Open their mouth!

HALFNOR
My apologies.

[As they object, Vurieth’s mouth is prised open. There is the trickling noise of blood.]

HALFNOR
My turn.

DAGMAR
I’ll hold them for you.

[Vurieth’s mouth is pulled open again, and there is a similar trickling noise as they are force-fed Halfnor’s blood. Vurieth’s magic begins to crackle.]

VURIETH
None of the rest of you will touch me. Fulgun…. fulgu… ful… [the crackling dies down] I cannot remember the word.

HALFNOR
Don’t worry. Once the ritual is complete, your power will be returned to you. And you’ll be stronger than ever.

VURIETH
[weakly] No…

[There is a distant boom.]

DAGMAR
What was that?

HALFNOR
It came from over there.

AINA
Ignore it, we can’t stop now!

DAGMAR
Right. Norling! You next –

[Distantly, thirsters howl.]

DAGMAR
… no.

AINA
Not now!

HALFNOR
They’re coming!

AINA
How!?

HALFNOR
Look! That damned elf and the orc!

VURIETH
Aiolin! Laethar!

HALFNOR
We’ll deal with them, finish the ritual, sister!

AINA
Norling! Move yourself, fool!

[Laethar and Aiolin sprint, trying desperately to stay ahead of the thirsters.]

AIOLIN
Afar Vadokanuk, if I survive this, I am going to kill you, Monrunn!

LAETHAR
It was Balink’s idea, remember! And I didn’t hear you suggesting anything better!

AIOLIN
Quick, duck round here!

[They duck – and the thirsters run past.]

AIOLIN
[relieved] Very well, you were right. They’re heading straight for the vampires.

LAETHAR
Yes. Thank the gods.

AIOLIN
But won’t they attack Vurieth too?

LAETHAR
I don’t think so. They’ve been instructed to hunt down the runaway fledglings. And there’s enough of them to keep them busy while we free the Ashlander.

DAGMAR
Clever little elf.

[Aiolin and Laethar make noises of shock.]

HALFNOR
But we’re not letting you disturb the ritual.

[Blades are drawn.]

LAETHAR
You won’t be able to stop us.

[Laethar’s sword is drawn.]

[Elsewhere, Yaela and Balink talk.]

BALINK
Well, I’d say that worked very well.

YAELA
Yes, they’re heading right for the circle. Now Laethar and Aiolin can… where are they?

BALINK
Ummm, Yaela?

YAELA
What? Oh Spirits!

BALINK
We’d better run!

[They start running – and their footsteps fade to the clashes of steel as Laethar and Aiolin fight Dagmar and Halfnor. Laethar and Dagmar lock blades.]

DAGMAR
You’re strong. You’d make an excellent servant.

LAETHAR
Sorry, but the sight of blood makes me nauseous.

[Hit, Laethar cries in pain, and falls to the floor.]

HALFNOR
You make me nauseous.

[Aiolin charges, knocks Halfnor down, and Laethar gets up.]

AIOLIN
You alright?

LAETHAR
Yes. But we’re running out of time and they’re not budging.

AIOLIN
I thought they’d want to go back and help their friends.

DAGMAR
Oh, the others can deal with the hounds. I’m not done playing with you yet.

HALFNOR
We have our job to do. And we will see it done.

AIOLIN
[frustrated growl] We don’t have time for this!

DAGMAR
Oh, we know.

LAETHAR
Don’t let them goad you, Aiolin. Level head, we can… what in the –

AIOLIN
Is that…?

DAGMAR
What?

[Balink’s voice fades in, screeching with excitement, as he falls towards them – heralded by multiple explosions.]

AIOLIN
Duck!

YAELA
Laethar, go!

LAETHAR
Yaela?

YAELA
Go, we’ll hold them here.

[Laethar takes off.]

DAGMAR
Oh no you – ah!

YAELA
[drawing a blade] Oh no, you’re mine now.

[As Yaela and Dagmar begin to fight, there are screams and cries and howls, as the fledglings fight off the thirsters.]

WALDIMAR
This is taking too long!

AINA
The ritual cannot be rushed! Just focus on keeping those things away from the shadow. We are so close, we can’t stop now!

[Waldimar leaves.]

NORLING
How much longer will it take? The hounds are killing many of us.

AINA
But we have killed plenty of them. They will not be able to stop us, not now. See, the Ashlander is already beginning to submit.

[Vurieth groans.]

AINA
Soon it will be time. [draws a knife] They will fall beneath the shadow of the Master, then rise again as the Highest. And then no one – not these hounds, nor those fools who sent them – will be able to stop us.

VURIETH
[gurgling slightly, coughing] I can’t… I can’t…

AINA
Shhhh, don’t fret. It will all be over soon.

NORLING
My Lady!

AINA
What-?

LAETHAR
Ashlander!

VURIETH
[faintly] … Laethar?

AINA
No – no!

LAETHAR
Narolindala!

[Vampires and thirsters alike scream as Laethar cuts them down.]

AINA
Keep the ritual going!

[Aina jumps off the altar to meet Laethar, furious.]

LAETHAR
You have someone of mine.

AINA
You insolent little flea. They are the Master’s now!

LAETHAR
You can tell your master that the Ashlander has a prior commitment.

AINA
Not if you’re dead –

[There’s the sound of a thunderbolt, and Aina screams.]

NORLING
Mistress!

LAETHAR
Ashlander?

VURIETH
Get me out of these damned chains, Monrunn!

[Dice roll at the gaming table.]

MATT
Woo!

GINA
Yes!

ROSIE
That was a hell of a roll!

GAME MASTER
Okay, so Matt, Aina is temporarily down and I will be checking your dice after we’re finished, because you must have done some blood sacrifice type stuff to pull off a roll like that. Uh – Will, you’re up.

WILL
Okay, I make my way up to the altar and, with my elven steel sword –

LEAH
[bored] Yes, we’re all very impressed.

WILL
I’ll cut Vurieth’s chains, then lift them up and help them off the altar.

MATT
How am I at the moment?

GAME MASTER
I’ll be honest, you’re not doing so good. Despite being able to cast a lightning bolt, apparently, you are really messed up from the ritual, it has taken a serious toll on you mentally and physically.

WILL
And we’re now stuck in the middle of a whole bunch of vampires.

GINA
Right, so it’s our go now right?

GAME MASTER
Yes, but –

ROSIE
Oh no!

GAME MASTER
– Before you can act, something happens. As soon as Vurieth steps from the altar, a sort of shockwave passes through the vampires. As one, their skin begins to sizzle and steam.

WILL
[laughing] Oh boy!

GAME MASTER
Whatever protection the Monolith was giving them from the sun has now been lifted. And fledglings might be okay in dim sunlight; but it is now the middle of the day. Dagmar, Halfnor, Aina, all of them, and the thirsters, are howling in pain. Before any of you can react, they’re sprinting away, desperately seeking shelter.

ROSIE
Can I shoot an arrow after one of them?

GAME MASTER
You can try, but it will be disadvantage ’cause they’re moving at a hell of a pace.

ROSIE
[non-committal sound] I’ll leave it then.

GAME MASTER
Okay, and I think we’ll leave it there. Thanks everyone for joining us, and we’ll –

[Matt slumps to the floor.]

GINA
Oh my god Matt!

ROSIE
What?!

WILL
Jeez, Matt!

LEAH
I think he fainted – go get him some water.

GAME MASTER
Right yep, hang on!

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