Opening
letter
Dear Mother,
It was simple, breaking into a small
tomb as practice for the big prize.
The undead came pouring out of
the walls and we still ran into
some bandits on the way out.
Despite our victory, we are barely
richer. If these are the “adventures”
the Crescent is known for, I may be regretting my decision.
Your loving daughter,
Ellerie
oriana
I hope the others aren't too worried. We're
a full day behind the planned departure.
tower
Yvette might be worried. The twins
would've scampered off somewhere.
oriana
I'm sure the twins are
doing just fine. I hope.
ellerie
I hate to interrupt, but there's
someone fast approaching.
(A villager runs up to the crew.)
gecko
I've finally *Huff*,
found you people!
ellerie
I recognise you from the village.
What are you doing this far out?
oriana
Give the girl a second to catch her breath.
You look like you've run quite the distance.
gecko
Rumours have been that your group has come
into a massive sum of wealth while exploring.
Some folk have been overcome by greed.
They're going to ambush you at the harbour!
oriana
We've only been out of there for barely a
night! How could they have already known?
tower
The only reasonable explanation is that the
pirates were connected to the villagers.
One of them made it back to tell them.
ellerie
Is the village elder
aware of this?
gecko
Aware? He's the one
leading them!
ellerie
Damn it all to hell. I hesitate to ask
the status of our companions.
gecko
Didn't see them. I went to search
for you as fast as I could.
oriana
Looks like we're going with
the old song and dance?
tower
Old song and dance it is.
I'll go gather the rest of us.
(Tower leaves.)
ellerie
We are thankful for your efforts in warning
us. Please take this as our thanks.
gecko
I don't want that. Please,
I want to come with you!
oriana
Are you sure about this? Heading deeper
into the Crescent is no happy adventure.
We've got quite the good odds of
ending up in a shallow grave.
ellerie
Besides, your family would
be worried sick about you.
gecko
I'm an orphan. There's no one to miss me.
Please, this my chance to leave for good.
oriana
We really do need any extra
hand we can muster.
ellerie
Are you really committed?
There's no room for regret.
gecko
I was committed the moment I came to you.
If they saw, I'd be dangling from a tree.
(Tower returns.)
tower
Everyone's packed and raring to go. You
should be leaving, for your own safety.
ellerie
It's fine, Tower. We're taking her with us.
Can I entrust her to you for now, Oriana?
gecko
Thank you, Captain! My name is Gecko.
I will work as hard as I can!
oriana
Welcome to the crew, Gecko. You
can trust us to protect our own.
ellerie
Good spirit. We're not afraid of some
riled up villagers with pitchforks.
Let's grab our ship and leave
this damned place behind.
dirk
Not so smug now, huh? I'll make
you pay for humiliating me.
yvette
Do you have so little self-esteem
that you'd hold such a grudge?
dirk
You must have slipped something in my
drink. There's no way I could have lost.
I'm the strongest on the Crescent!
yvette
Big words, for someone who
got toppled by me in seconds.
dirk
We'll settle this, slowly, painfully.
Lock her in the brig for now!
yvette
Pah! Feel free to take me on
without your lackeys, craven scum!
(A villager takes Yvette to the brig.)
elder
You shouldn't be doing this,
Dirk. It's a bit much.
dirk
We're planning on killing and robbing
these folks anyway, Grandpa.
What's another grudge
settled while we're at it?
elder
This isn't some uncouth banditry! It is they
who've taken treasures from our land!
It belongs to us by right!
dirk
Sure, Grandpa. Anyways, as long as
we sink the ship, no one will find it.
It's just some mainlander and a few
greenhorns. It'll be an easy task.
(A villager runs up to them.)
villager
Elder! They're coming! And
they look armed and ready!
elder
Could they suspect already?
villager
I think I saw Gecko
among them...
elder
Damn that brat! I knew the daughter of a
whore would turn up to be no good!
I should have drowned her in the sea
as soon as her mother died.
dirk
There's far more of us than their
skeleton crew, Grandfather.
They stand no chance against us,
especially me, the Great Dirk!
elder
Hmph, I suppose. Alright men, it's time to
take back what's ours. Let's get them!
(A thief and a brigand observe the scene from the edge of the village.)
locust
Hey, looks like a fight's about to break out!
We've got a chance of looting in the chaos.
big berd
Give me a moment, Loc.
According to Babar Vohn's Analysis of the
Multi-faceted Human Digestive System, running after eating is likely to be
detrimental to my personal health.
locust
Fine, I'll scout ahead. We'll meet after
you've digested those poor chickens.
big berd
And I can easily eat a 6th.
Now go do your thing, will you?
(Locust sneaks into the crowd.)
ellerie
I was talking big, but I didn't want
another fight for my life this soon.
pomelo
Hmmm, and here we go. Sorry, Captain,
I was just doing one of my traditions.
ellerie
Which is?
pomelo
Bit silly really. As a kid I begged some
performer to teach me some tricks.
He taught me this way of fortune telling
with cards. I know it's pretty useless,
but it soothes the nerves a bit.
ellerie
Well, what does it say? I could use some
reassurance, even a non-existent one.
pomelo
9 of spades.
Great misfortune. ...
ellerie
...
pomelo
Ha ha... Fortune telling
is rather, ah, unreliable.
ellerie
Let's stop wasting time. ... And keep
a good pace. I have a bad feeling...
narrator
In an escape map, the map only
ends when all units reach the exit.
Escape maps require a minimum
number of units, being max deploy -2.
(If total number of units is too low,
all units must be deployed.)
(A cavalier and pegasus rider enter from the west.)
reiker
What's happening? Those men on our ship
look armed, and I don't see Yvette anywhere.
raylin
Damn, we should assume the worst then.
Look that way! It's Tower and the rest.
reiker
Let's go join them then.
I don't like how this looks.
raylin
I think we might have a better
chance against this mob,
because Tower is going to kill us.
villager
Elder! There's a pegasus and a rider
coming from the other road!
elder
Then take a few men, and go cut them down!
Take that archer with you as well.
Don't let them get to the rest of them.
Ending
ellerie
That's the rest of them.
What a mess.
yvette
Thanks for the
save, Captain.
ellerie
The first good news in a while!
Are you unharmed?
yvette
Got knocked around a bit,
but nothing serious.
Damn cowards, sneaking up
on me. Made me miss a fight!
ellerie
I should have sent you on the
expedition instead. Then at least
someone would have had a good time.
yvette
I figured you were some runaway
noble heir, but you've got a bit of
a fight despite your scrawny frame.
ellerie
That's not saying much. A life-threatening
situation would do that to any person.
pomelo
Captain, a bit of bad news.
It seems some of those villagers
have made off with our supplies!
ellerie
As long as we have the secret
compartment, we're golden.
We can just resupply when
we land on the coast.
pomelo
...
ellerie
Pomelo, please don't tell me you're
going to say what I think you are.
pomelo
Yeah.
yvette
I was wondering why there was
so much banging around the ship.
ellerie
How much of my
stuff is gone?
pomelo
Almost all of it.
I'm sorry.
ellerie
Deep breaths.
yvette
My condolences. But I heard from the
villagers that you guys made the haul
of a lifetime, so it's a net positive?
ellerie
A haul of a lifetime.
Haha!
If Maurice was defeated
ellerie
What in Elis's name were you
shooting at earlier, Pomelo?
pomelo
There was some hooded guy stalking
us, Captain. Decidedly up to no good.
ellerie
Hooded man... It can't be.
Did you get him?
pomelo
I drove him off, but it was kind of
hard hitting him behind a wall.
Are you expecting someone?
ellerie
Don't worry about it.
Just thinking of an old friend.
If Reiker and Raylin are alive
tower
You brats! Look what has happened in the
time you were out frolicking in the fields!
raylin
We're really sorry, Mr Tower, but I don't
think there's much we could have done.
There were too many of them.
tower
I didn't expect you two to
hold the ship on your own,
but you've shirked your duties!
What if Yvette had fallen?
Is that responsibility you
two are willing to bear?
reiker
We're really, really,
really sorry.
raylin
We'll take responsibility for
anything that comes up.
tower
And that's
going to help?
oriana
No need to be too harsh. We couldn't
have predicted the village turning on us,
that's why we left so few behind.
What use is there blaming them now?
tower
Fine. As long as this never
happens again, I'll overlook this.
Now, put in some extra effort!
raylin
Yes, Mr Tower!
reiker
Thank you, Miss Oriana!
(Reiker and Raylin leave.)
tower
I'm getting too soft.
oriana
What would you have done,
beat them upside the head?
tower
Yes. Why, if this was
Valen's crew I would have-
oriana
But we are not.
oriana
We've not even reached the Crescent,
and we already almost capsized.
tower
Not the happy landing you were
hoping for, with just greenhorns?
oriana
We've got a ragtag team.
and a half-baked plan.
If even Valen's crew couldn't
make it into the Workshop, are we just sending all these
people to their deaths?
tower
Time's running out. We have
to play the hand we are dealt.
oriana
I do not like it, but you're right.
Elis knows how much time is left.
It's been three months since
I last received a family letter.
We must stop by before we
set off towards the Workshop.
tower
I would advise we return only
once we've reached our goal.
oriana
Tower, it's been almost two years
since we've left the coast!
tower
Do you think it will help her
precarious condition, knowing her mother has decided
to enter the jaws of death?
oriana
What if the hourglass ticks down
while we're at the Workshop?
We don't even know if we'll return
alive, if we'll find anything at all!
What if I miss the last opportunity
to see her? What then, Tower?
tower
I want to see my granddaughter
as much as you do, Oriana!
But I want a joyous reunion, not
tinged with the taste of regret.
oriana
And if the Workshop
has no answers?
tower
That line of thinking is not open
to us. There must be an answer.
Character Descriptions
Gecko
An orphan who really wants to see the
world, presumably due to her childhood.
Deserves a better place than here.
Reiker
Not a strong fellow, but Reiker's
horse does all the heavy lifting for him.
A bit hot-headed, but courageous.
Raylin
There's no way Raylin got her pegasus
through legitimate means, but we need
a scout. Cool-headed and calculating.
Dirk
He looks like the first villain from a
third-rate novel and acts like one too.
Elder
Some asshole who thinks he
has rights to my loot! Mine!
Locust
I could've sworn there was someone
standing right here. Maybe I didn't
get enough sleep.
Big Berd
An incredibly large fellow, who must
have spent a fortune on red paint.
Can't hit the broad side of a barn.
Blaine
The man, the legend, the Blaine.
Seriously, who is this person?
Blaine's Band
Blaine! He's the best! Blaine!
Will beat the rest!
Betty
Enjoys playing fetch and the screams of
the mortally wounded.
Betty's Boys
You've messed with the Betty,
now you're gonna regretti.
Villager
Not so harmless now, huh?
Militia
Faceless fodder who will be the first to
die when any kind of true threat arises.
Adventurer
Broke soldiers who've realised guard
duty is not bringing home the money
and will get themselves killed for gold.
Bolgo's Boys
You don't mess with Bolgo's boys,
or else it'll be your dem-oi-se.
Loot
Just gonna yoink this while no
one's looking. Or smash it.
Maurice
An old friend from my days at the royal
court. Doesn't know it yet, but I'm due
to be collecting a lot of debt from him.
Executioner
Cloaked figures who only dress that
way to come off as mysterious.