This recap is an experiment of what happens when I try to write when it’s relatively late at night and I’m drinking a glass of wine. Okay, so it’s not that late, but I am drinking.
We left off last time in Rockland, so surprisingly, we rejoin our heroes in….Rockland. Having just caught the thieves that were responsible for the missing tax money PUGGY!!! and the others head back to Grady’s mansion. Grady’s all “thanks for capturing the tax thieves” and Varkas is all “we’re not the tax thieves, you’re the tax thief!” and Grady tells his assistant guy to throw them in the dungeon. The thieves follow the assistant quietly and calmly, seeming not the least bit perturbed.
Grady gives the party 10,000 bits….but Kanaan takes it. Bastard. He also takes credit for capturing the thieves, but are we really that surprised?
PUGGY!!! and the rest of the party head back to Gregminster. Kanaan stops them at the gate and tells them he will be reporting to Commander Kraze alone. This is probably not a good sign. Pahn realizes that Kanaan is going to take all the credit (I wonder how he figured that out), and Cleo tells him to just let it go. They all want to go home and eat Gremio’s stew. His stew must have crack in it.
Kanaan says that Ted needs to come with him. Oh no, is Ted going to be his boy toy? Kanaan tells him that it will be “over soon”, so my guess may be correct. Ted says that he’ll see PUGGY!!! later, and that he has something to tell him. Oh, dear. Here we go again.
That just sounds wrong on so many levels.
PUGGY!!! and the others return to Teo’s house. Some time passes (thankfully they don’t show us all the tedious details), and everyone has just finished dinner. It’s raining, too. I’m not sure what significance that has, but I’m recapping it anyway. Deal with it.
Gremio expresses concern about Ted’s lateness, especially since Ted said he would be right back. Gremio also complains that the stew is getting cold, so I don’t know if he’s worried about Ted, or about his damn stew. Maybe he has somewhat of a rivalry with Ted, considering that the both of them want a piece of PUGGY!!!, and he is secretly glad that Ted is not around.
Both Pahn and Cleo talk about the Imperial Army’s poor reputation, and how that just sucks. The army didn’t always have a bad reputation, but it just wouldn’t be as interesting of a game if it took place during that happy, happy la-la period. We need angst, damn it.
Gremio, this is neither the time nor the place.
PUGGY!!! walks down the stairs into the entryway, where Ted is lying on the floor groaning. Maybe he stopped at the bar on the way home. Nope, he’s wounded. Badly. And according to Cleo, it’s a magic wound. Gremio asks for PUGGY!!!’s help in taking Ted upstairs, and uses the opportunity to make PUGGY!!! touch him (on the shoulder, but still).
They get Ted into bed, and he soon regains consciousness. He explains what happened to him in the form of a flashback.
Back at the palace, Kraze is talking to Windy as Ted waits outside the room with Kanaan. Kraze tells Ted to follow him. Ted does. Windy and her giant ponytail speak to him. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it, little man,” she says. “You haven’t changed a bit in 300 years. I’m envious.” Oh wow, I totally didn’t see that coming at all. “You! You’re that witch!” Ted shrieks. Windy is pleased that he remembers her. I’m confused. Windy wants the rune that Ted has on his right hand. You know, the black-whirlpool-of-darkness rune from earlier? I can see why people might want that. Hell, I can think of half a dozen people I’d like to use it on right now.
Ted refuses to give Windy the rune. He backs up and raises his right arm. “It’s the Cursed Rune, the ‘Soul Eater.’ Its power….,” he says dramatically and expositionally. Windy warns him that if he uses it, he’ll destroy himself. But it’s too late. There’s a big flash of light (no giant black whirlpool this time), and then….
Cut back to the present time. Ted says, “PUGGY!!!, please…..” and then passes out again. So I’m guessing he used the rune on himself to teleport back to PUGGY!!!’s place? I’m still kind of confused.
Pahn wants to know why the Imperial Guard was after Ted. Gremio gets a little bit pissy and demands to know what Pahn is accusing Ted of doing. “He’s a good boy!” Gremio adds. No comment. Pahn thinks they should tell the Imperial Guard. Gremio thinks that Pahn is smoking crack. Pahn is more concerned about causing problems for General Teo than about protecting his friend. I don’t want Pahn for my friend. Since he’s a video game character, I don’t see that happening any time soon, anyway. So I’m safe. Cleo suggests waiting until Ted wakes up again.
After a bit, PUGGY!!! talks to Pahn, who says that Ted’s fever isn’t improving, so he’s going to go buy medicine. He leaves. Ted wakes up again. Gremio asks him about the “Soul Eater.” Suddenly, the music gets all sappy, and Ted asks PUGGY!!! to do something for him. Oh dear. “PUGGY!!!, take off my right glove…” Oh dear. PUGGY!!! does. “What’s this?” Gremio asks, jealous. “Not one of the 27 True Runes?” Cleo exposits. “Yes, it is. This one is called the ‘Soul Eater’…the Cursed Rune…” Ted says, in case we didn’t get that after he mentioned it two minutes ago.
The Cursed Rune is the cause of all the trouble, which surprises me. Who would ever think that something called the Cursed anything would cause any problems at all? Gremio wants to know why Lady Windy wants the Rune so badly. Gee, why would someone want something that can suck anyone into a giant black whirlpool? Ted has been trying to escape her for 300 years. He also says that his big mistake was using it at Mt. Seifu. Cleo asks if that’s what he used to get rid of the Queen Ant. No shit, Sherlock.
Ted asks PUGGY!!! to take the Rune, even though it will make PUGGY!!!’s life suck. But Ted knows he can’t escape Windy with his wound, and so PUGGY!!! is his only hope! Hey, wait a second, why is PUGGY!!! so cottonpickin’ special? What about one of the others? Nope, it has to be PUGGY!!!. Beg, beg, beg, plead, plead, plead (oops, I almost wrote “bed” there), and PUGGY!!! agrees to take the Rune, just as the music swells in a dramatic fashion. Of course the music is on a loop, but it happened to line up just right. Ted transfers the Rune to PUGGY!!! (we know this because there is a white light that engulfs PUGGY!!! and a magical type sound effect) and thus begins PUGGY!!!’s journey of pain and suffering and other bad stuff.
At that moment, the music turns evil. Gremio and Cleo must hear this, because they go downstairs to check it out. PUGGY!!! and Ted have a short moment, then PUGGY!!! joins Cleo and Gremio downstairs. Kraze, Kanaan, Windy, Pahn, and a bunch of guards are there. Kraze demands that they hand over Ted. He adds that Pahn told them what was going on. Pahn, you bastard! He becomes #1 on PUGGY!!!’s “Use Cursed Rune On” list. Cleo and Gremio are also pissed. Pahn wanks on about not causing any trouble with Master Teo away, never mind that he just caused a whole slew of trouble.
Oh no, not a hatchet. Please don’t nick me.
Cleo and Gremio vow not to let Kraze into Teo’s house. Well, any further into Teo’s house at least; he’s already in the entryway. At that moment, Ted comes down the stairs. Wait a minute, I thought he was so wounded he couldn’t get out of bed. Ted says, right in front of the Imperials, “PUGGY!!!…..they think I still have the ‘Soul Eater’. I’ll be the bait…while you escape.” The Imperials must be either stupid or deaf, because they don’t pick up on this. I would think that maybe Ted is whispering (despite the fact that they aren’t standing super close to each other), except that Gremio also heard him. And Gremio’s even farther away from Ted than PUGGY!!! is. “Then, what about you, Ted,” Gremio wonders, without a question mark. Ted assures the others that he’ll get away, too. Meanwhile, the Imperials are just standing around, twiddling their thumbs, conveniently not hearing any of this.
PUGGY!!! agrees to let Ted be the decoy, and Gremio is upset because he doesn’t think Ted can escape with his wound. I think his conscience is bothering him a bit, since he harbored ill will toward Ted earlier because of his feelings for PUGGY!!!. Cleo speaks for PUGGY!!!, and reminds Gremio that PUGGY!!! needs to keep his promise to Ted. Ted tells them to hurry. It’s a little late for that, I think. Finally, Gremio relents. “I understand,” he says. “Young Master, let’s escape through the back of the kitchen.” Oh, way to go, Gremio. Just announce all your plans. Of course, at this point, it probably doesn’t even matter.
PUGGY!!!, Gremio, and Cleo run through the door and, well, out through the back of the kitchen. No one reacts in the slightest, or tries to follow them or anything. Ted watches them go, and says, “Thank you, PUGGY!!!. In 300 years, you were my only…My only true friend.” Yeah, we know what kind of friend he wanted to be.
Out in the rain and the dark (now I know why they made it rain – for atmosphere), PUGGY!!! and his companions try to find shelter. They go to the inn. The innkeeper, Marie, recognizes PUGGY!!! and wonders what he is doing there. She puts PUGGY!!! and his companions in and upstairs room – not one of the usual inn rooms.
Marie asks what is going on with Imperial soldiers running around and PUGGY!!! showing up at the inn, soaking wet. Then she realizes that they can’t tell her, so she tells them to forget it. Okay, that wasn’t pointless or anything. Marie says they’re welcome to hide at the inn, but she’s still going to put it on their tab. Well, she has a business to run. Gremio thanks her and she leaves.
I’m guessing it’s the next morning, because birds are chirping and it’s not raining. Gremio can’t believe what they’ve gotten themselves into, and Cleo thinks they should travel north and ask for Teo’s help. PUGGY!!! walks over to the stairs, and Gremio tells him not to go anywhere. But if he doesn’t, the story won’t progress, so screw you, Gremio.
PUGGY!!! goes downstairs and talks to some of the people. There is a guy named Viktor at one of the tables. He says nothing of importance, but he has a character portrait, so he must have some relevance to the story. Other people talk about how Master Teo’s son turned out to be a member of the rebels. If I were PUGGY!!!, I would say, “Haha! I am Master Teo’s son, and you didn’t even know that you were talking about me to me!” But that probably wouldn’t be such a good idea.
PUGGY!!! tries to walk out the front door, but a couple of Imperial guards enter at that time. They run into PUGGY!!! and start bitching about how they got called in on a holiday to help look for someone, “and then you come along!” Get it? It’s supposed to be ironic. I have the choice to make PUGGY!!! say, “Shut up, you fool!” or try to remain inconspicuous. I make him choose the first option. This makes the soldiers understandably pissed off. They suddenly realize that PUGGY!!! might be the guy they’re looking for. As opposed to all those other young men with bright red tunics, yellow pants, pointy-toed shoes, and lime-green bandanas.