dramatispersonae

EMERALD

There is cauldron in the center over your area. The walls are tinged in your team's colors, but besides the cauldron, it's bare.

The water in the cauldron is glowing faintly.

Then, Nimue speaks, and as she speaks, the cauldron begins to reflect her vision.

"There lies a kingdom in ruin... Through no fault of its own. All of its inhabitants dead, or lost to the world. Though it lies in ruin, you can see the the faint remnants of the beauty it once contained."

A pause, her voice sounds fainter now.

"Heroes... you have choices that we do not. How... would you use them...?"

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"What would you do for this kingdom now?"

"You may choose as you see fit the fate that you would believe... it deserves."

"You may ask me any questions."

"And I, in turn, may ask you questions for your answer."

What happened to the kingdom?

"It was destroyed by war and betrayal. A trusted knight, left to guard the kingdom, instead chose to sell it."

Hmm, I guess that doesn't help me much.

...A kingdom is made up out of its people, isn't it? If they're all gone, there's not really anything left to restore. Even if you bring in new people to rebuild everything, it'll still be something new since the people will be different.

"Then... would you rebuild?"

Maybe, if there were people willing to do that. At the heart of it, though...it might be better to not even try to recapture what had made that kingdom great. It should be remembered and honoured, definitely, but wouldn't it be better to look forward and build new things rather than try to hold on to what's already lost?

"Would it? Do you think those who remember their kingdom would agree-- or that they should be considered at all?"

Would it even be possible to rebuild something that's fallen so far? If trying to do that would only create some pale imitation, wouldn't that be even more painful than letting go and moving on?

"I do not know. That... would be your decision... and if you deem it so, what would you create of this new kingdom...?"

I don't know. One person can't create an entire kingdom by himself. I'd try to make it a good place, of course, but in the end it would be up to a lot of other people as well.

"I see..."

Whatever this new kingdom would turn out to be like, I'd want to make sure that the old one was remembered. Both to learn from it and to appreciate its achievements.

"How would you remember it?"

You mentioned there are people who remember it, didn't you? They could tell others about it, and write their stories down. That way at least some remnant of the kingdom could survive practically forever.

"I see..."

"The kingdom was once a great kingdom, filled with loyal subjects, and guarded by a fair king and his chivalrous knights."

The cauldron begins to reflect this, rewinding in time.

"However, there is a traitor in their midst, who seeks to destroy them. How would you prevent this?"

I guess I'd start off by looking for anyone who might have a motive for doing something like that, as well as anyone acting suspiciously. You can't stop a traitor if you don't know who it is.

"What would you deem to be a motive? And what would be suspicious?"

Who'd have something to gain from destroying the kingdom? Someone who wants to take over, or someone bearing a grudge. As for suspicious behaviour...ah, I don't know. Taking down an entire kingdom would probably take a lot of connections, so maybe someone sending and receiving a lot of messages in secret? It might not be easy to notice, but they'd have to make a lot of excuses to avoid being noticed doing that stuff...?

"And once you have found this man... what then...?"

He'd be imprisoned, and interrogated to reveal anyone he might have been working with.

"I see..."

"Our king is but a young boy-- barely able to lift a sword... and yet he now bears the weight of a mighty kingdom on his shoulders."

The image in the cauldron is of a young boy, awkward and gawky, yet he wears a crown upon his head, even as he seems a bit ill at ease.

"What... would you tell this young boy?"

Sheesh, that's a lot of pressure to put on a kid... I'd tell him to look for people he can trust, people who have some experience on leadership and all that. But...I'd also tell him to trust himself. You can't doubt yourself too much if you want to succeed at what you're doing.

You are able to return to the ring...

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EMERALD

Scenario One

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Scenario two

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Final Question

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