CONCLUSION: the die is cast

[ximilian]

// CONCLUSION:the die is cast 

Sharp, glimmering scales catch the overcast light of the sun in a mass of bright crimson, like blood filling the grey sky overhead. For those still defending the ruined stone-keep from the poison-fanged Dremnin, it quickly becomes apparent that the shadow being cast over the battle is, in fact, a large dragon with an incredible wingspan that stretches over the ruins.

“Where the hell did that thing come from?” someone shouts at around the same time that Finn bursts into the battlefield from the ruined rampart shouting Jun’s name.

“Jun!”

Alena gasps.

“No, that cannot be—”

“What manner of powerful magic is this?”

Next to Alena, the Great Mulgrowe looks up, his voice sounding slightly distant, almost thoughtful.

Disregarding his former party members and looking nothing like the human paladin with the charming smile and his charismatic speeches, the dragon lets out a deafening roar, his head tilted towards the sky as it frustratedly circles the orbers, seeming to be quite stressed. With another cry, it lets out a hot stream of pure fire that singes the ground to ash and blows heat so hot it’s very nearly painful, like it could burn the flesh off of one’s bones.

Without further need for explanation, the tieflings on the crew including Dante, Ziggy, Joe, Clarke, and Alina charge forward to provide protection over their fellow teammates against the sudden stream of fire that blows their way — and to keep the dragon’s focus away from the bards of the team who have an idea. Dante taunts the dragon loudly, calling him out for why he’d joined the Knights and how disappointing he must be. With Divine Favour cast onto her arrows, Ziggy releases a series of sharp points in Jun’s direction, watching as most of them ping off of the dragon’s scales, while a few manage to wedge themselves into the softer, unprotected flesh of his underbelly. But still, Jun the dragon does not fall.

Ultimately the team quickly decide that they’ll need to subdue the dragon in order to retrieve the orb in a two-pronged advance: the tieflings, with their immunity against the dragon’s fire, will first help to provide a distraction while those without immunity will do what they can from a safer distance; and the bards of the team will use their magic to put the dragon to sleep. In all of the commotion, Andy and Ellia Roundtree rush forward to join the others, watching as Jun finishes his advance and swoops back upwards again, gaining height for another round of flame.

They don’t have much time. On Sabriel’s lead, she, Newt, Natasha and Zhao step forward, holding their ground as Jun circles back towards them before they simultaneously cast a sleeping spell that multiplies the potency with the combined efforts. And at first it seems as though their attempt is in vain: Jun’s long snout widens to reveal rows and rows of gigantic, glistening teeth, and just past that, the epicentre of flame and heat growing brighter at the back of his throat, but then it blinks out like a light. The roar dims into a deep breath, like a rumbling yawn, and the dragon, his wings suddenly going limp, begins to plummet downwards.

The ground trembles beneath the team’s feet as the dragon crashes magnificently over the last of the fortress’ stonework and rubble, crumbling the remainder of its walls to pebbles. But the dragon is now unconscious — and also deeply asleep, allowing the team some time for their next move. Amidst the thick cloud of smoke, the dragon’s slow breathing is loud, its red scaled form easy enough to find and it is here that the team gather, Ellia Roundtree at the front of it all. With her hood down around her shoulders and her dark hair tucked behind her pointed ears, she regards both Alena and the Great Mulgrowe with a complicated expression on her face that immediately cools as they meet her eyes.

“Well met. It has been some time.”

“It has. I don’t even know what to say. I barely recognized you, but then much of our party hasn’t seen each other since—”

“No. And I have not come here to gloat or to prove anything, only to warn you all of the heirloom’s power which is greater than anything any of us could even think was possible. You can see clearly enough for yourself what it is capable of and why it cannot go back to King Zaros.”

“It is the heirloom then that lent its power to Jun Shortaxe? To offer him the ability to shift shapes?”

“All I know for certain is that the heirloom possesses a power far more dangerous than any one person should have access to. I knew it that day we got close to it in the cavern.”

At the mention of that fateful day, Alena stiffens and the Great Mulgrowe briefly glances away. Ellia carries on, the grip on her staff tightening.

“For years I have kept away, thinking those I considered my closest friends wanted nothing to do with me because Jun himself told me none of you could trust me anymore. And for years I wondered how to prove my innocence, even though there were times even I began to question my own sanity. But the evidence lies before us now. It was Jun all along.”

As the orbers sit with the heaviness of the conversation Minimus, Bones, and Natasha ask Ellia if there is some magic she is capable of, or any spell that would help them get through to Jun by any more peaceful means. The last thing they want to do is cause more harm through violence, and they want to give Ellia the choice to make the call here. Andy reiterates that they want to extract the orb from these lands, agreeing with Ellia from their conversation earlier that the heirloom is wicked. They understand the real nature of what the heirloom is capable of but the only way to do this is to undo Jun’s deal with the orb first. And while they may not mention this aloud before any of the former Songbird Brigade, the team is trying to avoid repeating the same mistakes they’ve made before by approaching this with a less violent route.

Wanting nothing more than to be rid of that wickedness, it does not take Ellia long to agree. Fortunately, she just so happens to have recently crafted a spell that would work perfectly for this moment.

● ● ●

The intense, all-consuming black of the Ultimate Cancel spell wraps around Jun's draconian form, enveloping him completely as it tries to pry away the orb's transformation. Slowly, the dark cloud starts to shrink, until it dissipates entirely like smoke towards the sky: what is now lying on the ground is an undoubtedly humanoid form, but also decidedly not what those that had met Jun before would have expected.

It is still Jun Shortaxe who lies there, and yet not: his skin remains scaly and red, resembling more a dragonborn than a human, and his straw-like hair now seems strangely out of place. In his hand the orb barely pulses with light.

Ellia's hands lower and her shoulders sag from the strain the spell causes her.

“It is too strong. I cannot undo it more than this. He will forever remain as he is, now.”

It looks like she might say more, but at that moment, Jun shifts on the ground, his eyes opening, glancing from Ellia to Alena to the Great Mulgrowe with dark, ink-black eyes.

For a moment, he is quiet. Then he laughs — not the jovial laugh from before, but something quieter.

“Well, isn't this a sight. The group is almost back together again.”

Ellia's expression hardens.

“Why did you do it? Why did you have to blame me for it all? What did I do to make you hate me so much?”

Jun looks at her impassively.

“Hate you? I don't hate you. You just .. happened to be there.”

He coughs, sending dust flying around him in the rubble.

“That thing… it spoke to me. It offered a partnership, to make everything I wanted a reality! Why wouldn't I have accepted? It was the perfect chance! To really help people, to be a hero, to make sure everyone would remember my name when I was gone… just like I promised Degar.”

“I doubt this is just like you promised Degar,” Kovacs says wasting no time to cast Friends on Jun with the intention to keep him as calm as possible while they convince him to relinquish the orb in his possession. Others on the team, including Wei Wuxian, Finn, Kazuma, Chuuta, Rand, and Yujin stand by in the event that things start to take a downwards turn, either because the spell angers this man-turned-creature, or some of the orbers decide that physical force might be their best option to getting Jun to give up the orb.

Itachi and Gwen use this opportunity to emphasize Jun’s friendship with Degar, and to inform him that he has been trying to help fix things all along: Itachi mentions a small glass bottle he’d seen the man in possession of and casts a brief illusion spell to further demonstrate the object in question. The familiar voice of the Ximilia’s Commander comes through as an image of a small torn corner stored inside the glass bottle fades in and out of focus. From the crowd, there’s a sharp intake of breath as Ellia gasps. Even Jun seems to take this into very real consideration. The proof, after all, is hard to refute. Gwen pulls her phone out from the pocket of her cloak and flicks the screen on. There are more sounds of surprise and widened eyes (after all, magic might exist but a mobile phone is downright alien) as she scrolls through her photos to land on one of her and Degar making silly faces, ones with animal-filters and one without.

Jun swallows hard. Alena blinks. The Great Mulgrowe lets out a breath, thoughtful. Ellia’s eyes shine with tears. Gwen shuts her phone off.

Eventually, Jun takes a breath, seeming to hear what the orbers are saying, even believing some of it — that voice, those images … but he grips the orb tighter to him.

“So you think that's it? I should just give up and give this to you because of a friend that left me without a word? Because he'd want me to?”

A sharp voice suddenly interrupts him.

“No, Jun Shortaxe. You should do it because that is what you were taught to do: the right thing.”

Standing in front of a recently-opened portal, Nina Darkwood regards Jun with a steely gaze.

● ● ●

“How did you—”

The portal closes, sealing the last glimpse of Nina’s farm in Elindes behind her. It doesn’t seem to matter to any of the parties involved how Nina suddenly came to be here, only that she brings along with her a sense of authority, and a feeling of stability. In all of the chaos, surely this woman who has raised Jun Shortaxe would be able to see through him and find some last scrap of his former self. And indeed, Nina regards Jun for a moment as though trying to search her son out past his series of poor choices, and his hunger for power — because that, more than the red scales and the changes in his appearance is harder to see through.

“Have you forgotten everything I’ve taught you? Everything I’ve taught all of you? Do you not recall Dweyre telling us all over dinner how much he wanted to help the people of Elindes? Of Alydhion? And oh, how you used to chime in too — you wanted to be just like him: helpful to the people.”

She tsks, hands gripped tightly into fists at her side as though she were holding herself back from approaching him. For all that she looks angry and disappointed, there’s a complicated expression in her eyes. Jun turns his face away, staring down at the orb still in his possession, an object that seems so mundane in his hand, with his fingers now too-long, his nails a little too sharp, too pointed.

“Look at me. What would your mother think if she knew you not only abandoned your family name but her ideals as well? If you had died here, slain by the party you betrayed, would you have been able to face her in the Brightlands? Would you have been able to look Dweyre in the eye and tell him you had squandered your purpose here in the living lands? You might insult me all you want — after all, who am I but the woman who raised you too — but don’t you dare deign to insult your mother or Dweyre’s memory with this twisted perspective on heroism.”

When she stops speaking it’s to keep her eyes trained on the young man she clearly cares for in the same way she’d cared for the Foirbys brothers. Her impenetrable mask falls away for a moment to reveal the fierceness, the anger, and the hurt which is meant for Jun to see — but Jun keeps his eyes trained on the dull, dark orb in his grasp, and he is silent. Nina’s voice is sharp when she prompts him again, taking a step forward.

“Well? Don’t you have anything to say for yourself?”

Now Jun looks up and his eyes are shining with tears not yet shed, his expression contorted into anguish.

“You’re right. Of course you’re right. I — I can’t sully their memories, I can’t —”

Nina holds her hand out for the glassy sphere that now begins to pulse a bright glow as though it might speak to protest against this emotional confrontation — and just like that, Jun’s attention snaps back into focus and not looking at all like himself, he growls a primal, guttural sound of a threatened animal when their territory is being invaded but Nina doesn’t so much as flinch.

“It’s mine—”

“Jun.”

The savageness in Jun’s expression blinks out like a light, and he slowly lifts his hand with the orb to offer it to his adoptive mother. She takes it without emotion, watches her son, and exhales.

“You won’t be coming home, I’m afraid. Let this be a time of reflection as you wander the rest of these lands. Try and find your purpose again because you are lost and Alydhion cannot help you.”

A few feet away, Ellia holds her chin up a fraction higher. Her voice comes sharp and full of fiery promise, thickened by the tears that have long since come streaming down her face.

“Don’t worry, Jun. I’ll personally see to it that people remember your story for years.”

Now Nina holds the small, glowing sphere in her hand emitting a bright aquamarine light that dulls ever-so-slightly in her palm as though it too is cowed by the older woman’s authoritativeness. She glances over and catches Yelena’s eye, and with a curt nod of her chin in recognition, she beckons the young woman over.

“You. Girl. This is what you all wanted, isn’t it? Well, you can have it. It’s a whole damned lot more trouble than it’s worth, and if what all of you say is true, then the court of Alydhion and the courts surrounding it are better off without it. Here.”

There isn’t much time for proper goodbyes. Jun Shortaxe stands between his former party members, Alena Ironspear and the Great Mulgrowe, looking properly browbeaten and with no further intention to weasel his way out of this. The Great Mulgrowe glances in Rand and Mal’s direction and nods. Alena and Ziggy share a meaningful look. And standing closest to Ellia, Andy leans in to give her a quick hug just before the orb is dropped from Nina’s possession into Yelena’s palm.

For those who have seen through a number of missions, that now-familiar tug signals that their time here is over. With a bright burst of light, the orbers disappear from this world, leaving former members of the Songbird Brigade and their kin behind to begin anew — perhaps for some even offering a more hopeful future.

● ● ●
When the light fades and the crew open their eyes once more, they’ll find themselves back on the station. And while it has been more or less customary to find both Viveca and Degar standing by to welcome the Orbers back (and to congratulate them for a successful mission), it is only Viveca here this day. The orb floats from Yelena’s palm to her outstretched one. With a glance at the door of the North Wing, and with the empty space next to her seeming louder than ever, Viveca sighs.

// VIVECA

“Good job team, that was well done. But... obviously, I'm here on my own today. I'm sure you understand why Degar isn't here to greet you.”

During the first of her words, her eyes linger especially on those Orbers who advocated for a peaceful solution as she flashes them a quick smile. Then, she pauses, seeming to think something over.

// VIVECA

“Now, before you all go on and try to grill him about everything that happened, I have something to say first.”

Viveca takes a few steps forward, the orb's light casting a strange light on her red hair.

// VIVECA

“Degar has just found out that his best friend, the man whose praises he's sung to me in countless stories, isn't who he believed him to be. He's just found out the woman who would have been his sister through marriage has been alone and miserable all these years.”

Her voice is quiet. There's a cold look in her eyes.

// VIVECA

“I don't care that some of you refuse to trust us. I don't care that some of you seem to expect all information to be given to you, regardless of how painful it may be to us. I don't care if you question me, or doubt me, or demand things of me. But you will not question Degar. If you talk to him, when you talk to him, you'll do it with the compassion you'd show a fellow teammate. If I hear of a single one of you interrogating him, or complaining to him for not telling you more before the mission... Trust me, you don't want to find out what happens then.”

All of it is said with an entirely even tone, quiet and steady — with the tone of someone who has made threats before, and has followed through with every single one. For a moment, it is the leader of the revolutionary group Fables that looks at the team; with the next breath, that image is gone, and Viveca closes her fingers over the orb. With a sigh, she starts to turn towards the North Wing door, but looks at the team one last time. This time, her voice is softer, sadder.

// VIVECA

“... but do talk to him. I hope I'll be able to help him, but — if you have any good things to tell him, stories, anything... I think he'll appreciate it.”

● ● ●

N O T E S

This is the end of the eleventh mission! If your character goes back to review the mission file, they will notice that next to its name, a little check-mark in green has appeared.

This is not an official log — however, for the next couple of weeks, your characters have downtime on the station and all its locations (aside from the north wing) are available.

Players are encouraged to make their own logs for what they do during the downtime.

Should characters want to talk to Viveca or Degar, they can do so here.

Finally, your soundtrack for this conclusion: ♪

▶ NAV