// CHARACTERS MEETING SCREEN SAVER // CONTROL SCRIPT // (c) 2002 Lucian Wischik // www.wischik.com/lu/senses/pst.html // // This screen saver shows various characters meeting, and talking. // The control script lets you configure how that happens. // // (1) For debugging purposes, set the first line of this file to just // DEBUG c:\scr.lig // and it will provide debugging output. Very helpful. // (2) Specify where the actors' GIF files can be found. // Given an actor , and a direction =(e|ne|n|nw|..|se), // and a mode =(stand|walk), it looks up in this file the entry // \\ = filename.gif // Any of the fields can be *, to indicate a wildcard match. // And if the file on the right hand side has *s, they are replaced appropriately. // In fact, it reads the list in order, and uses the first match it can find. // The filename can be an absolute path, or a relative path, or // res:///RT_RCDATA/id for resources inside the saver itself. // For example, // nordom\stand\* = c:\docs\nordom-stand.gif // nordom\walk\* = res:///RT_RCDATA/nordom-* // will match standing still (any direction) with that single gif, // and will match the walking directions to resources nordom-e, nordom-ne, ... // and will fail to match anyone not called nordom. // An exclamation in front of the filename indicates that the saver should // flip the image horizontally. annah\*\ne = !res:///RT_RCDATA/annah-*-nw.gif annah\*\e = !res:///RT_RCDATA/annah-*-w.gif annah\*\se = !res:///RT_RCDATA/annah-*-sw.gif annah\*\* = res:///RT_RCDATA/annah-*-*.gif tno\*\ne = !res:///RT_RCDATA/tno-*-nw.gif tno\*\e = !res:///RT_RCDATA/tno-*-w.gif tno\*\se = !res:///RT_RCDATA/tno-*-sw.gif tno\*\* = res:///RT_RCDATA/tno-*-*.gif dakkon\*\ne = !res:///RT_RCDATA/dakkon-*-nw.gif dakkon\*\e = !res:///RT_RCDATA/dakkon-*-w.gif dakkon\*\se = !res:///RT_RCDATA/dakkon-*-sw.gif dakkon\*\* = res:///RT_RCDATA/dakkon-*-*.gif ffg\*\ne = !res:///RT_RCDATA/ffg-*-nw.gif ffg\*\e = !res:///RT_RCDATA/ffg-*-w.gif ffg\*\se = !res:///RT_RCDATA/ffg-*-sw.gif ffg\*\* = res:///RT_RCDATA/ffg-*-*.gif morte\*\ne = !res:///RT_RCDATA/morte-*-nw.gif morte\*\e = !res:///RT_RCDATA/morte-*-w.gif morte\*\se = !res:///RT_RCDATA/morte-*-sw.gif morte\*\* = res:///RT_RCDATA/morte-*-*.gif nordom\*\ne = !res:///RT_RCDATA/nordom-*-nw.gif nordom\*\e = !res:///RT_RCDATA/nordom-*-w.gif nordom\*\se = !res:///RT_RCDATA/nordom-*-sw.gif nordom\*\* = res:///RT_RCDATA/nordom-*-*.gif ravel\*\ne = !res:///RT_RCDATA/ravel-*-nw.gif ravel\*\e = !res:///RT_RCDATA/ravel-*-w.gif ravel\*\se = !res:///RT_RCDATA/ravel-*-sw.gif ravel\*\* = res:///RT_RCDATA/ravel-*-*.gif tto\*\ne = !res:///RT_RCDATA/tto-*-nw.gif tto\*\e = !res:///RT_RCDATA/tto-*-w.gif tto\*\se = !res:///RT_RCDATA/tto-*-sw.gif tto\*\* = res:///RT_RCDATA/tto-*-*.gif vhailor\*\ne = !res:///RT_RCDATA/vhailor-*-nw.gif vhailor\*\e = !res:///RT_RCDATA/vhailor-*-w.gif vhailor\*\se = !res:///RT_RCDATA/vhailor-*-sw.gif vhailor\*\* = res:///RT_RCDATA/vhailor-*-*.gif // (3) Specify the backgrounds. Backgrounds are in categories, // written - background // The categories are for use in the dialogs, where you can // write background: to force a dialog to use // one of the backgrounds in that category. Otherwise, // if the conversation doesn't specify, then an arbitrary // background will be chosen. // (There's no inefficiency in listing the same background // under multiple categories.) background - res:///RT_RCDATA/baator.jpg background - res:///RT_RCDATA/curst.jpg background - res:///RT_RCDATA/curst3.jpg background - res:///RT_RCDATA/dead-nations.jpg background - res:///RT_RCDATA/fjull.jpg background - res:///RT_RCDATA/hive-sw.jpg background - res:///RT_RCDATA/playermaze.jpg background - res:///RT_RCDATA/ragpicker.jpg background - res:///RT_RCDATA/sensates.jpg background - res:///RT_RCDATA/sigil-w.jpg background - res:///RT_RCDATA/skulls.jpg background - res:///RT_RCDATA/tomb.jpg background - res:///RT_RCDATA/tombs.jpg fortress - res:///RT_RCDATA/fortress-interior.jpg fortress - res:///RT_RCDATA/fortress-roof.jpg fortress - res:///RT_RCDATA/fortress-tno.jpg mortuary - res:///RT_RCDATA/mortuary-d.jpg mortuary - res:///RT_RCDATA/mortuary.jpg ravel - res:///RT_RCDATA/ravel-private.jpg ravel - res:///RT_RCDATA/ravel.jpg // (4) Specify the conversations these actors have. // Each conversation is a series of lines, and each line is // : words // The actor names are not case sensitive. The words must all be // on a single line in this file. You can have line-breaks in // the character's dialog with the \ character. Extraneous spaces // and tabs (around the :, and around the \) are stripped. // The special line background: bgcategory forces the conversation // to use a background within that category. NORDOM: Attention: Morte.\ Did you know I have six sides? MORTE: I noticed. Why don't you go share your insight with the chief, huh? NORDOM: A question, Morte.\ How do you stay aloft? MORTE: Flatulence, you stupid polygon. NORDOM: I will consider this. NORDOM: Dak'kon's silence seems to be a most efficient use of language. MORTE: Then why don't you try and be a little more 'efficient,' you rattling polygon. NORDOM: Morte, explain to me again why you would 'love to bite Annah:'\ Would this not provoke an attack? MORTE: Now wait, I-I-I-never said that! ANNAH: (Scowls at Morte) NORDOM: Attention: Morte.\ I have a question.\ Do you have a destiny? A purpose? MORTE: Is Annah still wearing clothes? NORDOM: Affirmatory. MORTE: Then the answer is yes. NORDOM: Attention: Morte.\ Did you know I have eighteen points of articulation? MORTE: I'm gonna give you nineteen if you don't shut your trap. NORDOM: Attention: Morte.\ A question have I. Do I have free will? MORTE: If free will means obeying my orders without question, then yes. NORDOM: Free will does not seem to hold many benefits for a modron. MORTE: Welcome to the planes, kid. NORDOM: Attention: Morte.\ I have a question. Do you have a destiny? A purpose? MORTE: Is Fall-From-Grace naked? NORDOM: Negatory. MORTE: Then the answer to your question is yes. NORDOM: Attention: Morte.\ I have a question. What is the rule of three? MORTE: Annah, Fall-From-Grace and yours truly bathing in a Cimmerian mud flat. NORDOM: That conflicts with several previous definitions. MORTE: Hey. Some people read the dictionary, others write it. NORDOM: Attention: Morte.\ I have a question. What is fate? MORTE: Annah, a bottle of Furyondian fire amber, and a suite in the Festhall. NORDOM: Understood. NORDOM: Morte, is it true that-- MORTE: Oh, shut *up*. NORDOM: I find you most curmudgeonly. NORDOM: Attention: Morte.\ I wish to address your body. MORTE: Oh, go bother someone else, you idiot counting box. NORDOM: I have a question concerning your body's whereabouts. Where is it? MORTE: I don't know, all right? It's just... it's... you know... it's gone. NORDOM: How does the head separate from the body without you knowing? MORTE: I'll show you if you don't shut your trap. NORDOM: Attention: Morte.\ Have we achieved a state of friendly camaraderie yet? MORTE: Go kiss a bear trap. FFG: Morte, come on. MORTE: Trust me. Annah could use a kiss. ANNAH: NORDOM: Annah, does your tail assist you in maintaining your balance? ANNAH: No, it's fer scratchin' me back, yeh soddin' box! NORDOM: Yes, that is quite logical. ANNAH: *sigh* NORDOM: Annah, is your tail's purpose to indicate your current level of hostility? ANNAH: What kinda stupid question's *that*, yeh pikin' sod-box?! NORDOM: My analysis appears correct: Danger! Danger! NORDOM: Annah, is it true that you "dig" Morte? ANNAH: *WHAT*?! MORTE: (whistles innocently) NORDOM: I estimate Fall-From-Grace to be found attractive by the male sex of over 321,423 separate species.\Give or take five. FFG: Oh? Does that include Modrons? NORDOM: I am no longer able to answer that question. I do not know. NORDOM: Fall-From-Grace, is it true that 'every woman thinks floating skulls are hot stuff?' FFG: Why, whoever told you that, dear Nordom? MORTE: No one! No one told him that! NORDOM: Attention: Fall-From-Grace.\Do you exert optical gravity? FFG: Pardon me? NORDOM: I have perceived you exert a field that forces others to follow you with their eyes. They lack the muscle control to turn away. MORTE: It's purely voluntary on their part, you idiot. Uh... not that I would know. NORDOM: Attention: Fall-From-Grace.\I wish to address your body. FFG: Pardon me? NORDOM: Your body. Your form. Your reason for selecting it. Why? FFG: Why... I suppose I find it comforting. Besides, I rather like the wings. NORDOM: It would be more practical for you to assume the form of a modron. It is 13.27% more efficient. Give or take +5.2%. FFG: Why, Nordom, are you trying to court me? NORDOM: It was not my intention to initiate legal action against you. NORDOM: I am told Justice is blind.\Is this why Mercykillers exist? VHAILOR:Justice is *not* blind.\*I* am her eyes. FFG: Nordom, how does it feel to be separated from the Source, from other modrons? NORDOM: Once I was 'one.'\Now I am 'one,' but it is a smaller, louder 'one.' FFG: It seems you and Morte have much more in common than I first thought. FFG: Nordom... are you speaking to your crossbows? NORDOM: Negatory. FFG: Oh. That's a relief. I thought - NORDOM: I am not speaking to them, I am listening to them. They were submitting queries as to when they will get to shoot something. FFG: Oh. FFG: Nordom, you're a quadrone modron, correct? Where are your wings? NORDOM: Where once there were two wings, there are now two arms. I do not know why I lost my wings. FFG: It's like you're a little fallen angel. NORDOM: The theme of 'falling from grace with one's people' coupled with my loss of wings is something that I had perceived and catalogued. I have observed it mirrored in many individuals that I interact with. FFG: You know, Nordom you are perhaps the cutest little rogue modron I have ever encountered. NORDOM: 'Cutest' is a subjective term. I prefer the designation 'fearsome cubed warrior.' FFG: Of course! That's why you're so cute. MORTE: Why don't you hop back to Mechanus, Nordom, huh? NORDOM: I do not accept orders from you. MORTE: Nordom, how come you never reload your crossbows? NORDOM: They do not require reloading. They are always ready to fire. MORTE: That must be handy. MORTE: Nordom, will you stop clicking your crossbows! It's driving me barmy. NORDOM: They are not clicking.\They are in a period of deep discussion concerning this journey. MORTE: Once...\just once...\I would like to travel with some normal people. MORTE: Hey, Nordom... 'Knock-Knock.' NORDOM: Why do you persist in addressing me as a door? MORTE: It's a joke, you stupid polygon. You're supposed to answer 'who's there?' NORDOM: I know who is there. It is you. Why would I ask a question when I know the answer? MORTE: You know what, just forget it. MORTE: Psst. Hey Nordom.\Calculate the easiest way for me to 'snuggle with Annah's pillows,' okay? NORDOM: Annah! Morte wants to 'snuggle with your pillows.' MORTE: Shut up! Shut up!! ANNAH: Oh, I'll give yeh somethin' to snuggle up to! Eejit! NORDOM: In the 13.7th Revolution, we were required to fix gear and cog sub-set thirty-one in the fifth ring of Mechanus. We removed the obstruction and the gear turned as per its normal speed. Upon completing our task, we were then returned to the Source. MORTE: What in the hells was that, you stupid polygon?! That's the most boring story I ever heard! NORDOM: It was what took place. With embellishments, of course. MORTE: Embellishments? NORDOM: I thought the return to Source was a particularly fitting image to close the tale. TNO: Um... has anyone seen a floating sarcastic skull around here? TNO: No wonder my back hurts;\there's a damn novel written there. ANNAH: Get yer eyes off my arse! MORTE: ANNAH: You like my wee tail? I'll wag it at ye! MORTE: ANNAH: If you keep bobbing about skull,\I'm gonna mount you at the end of a pike! MORTE: DAKKON: Your path is mine. TNO: DAKKON: Your reasons for your incessant clicking are not *known* to me. NORDOM: DAKKON: There cannot be two skies. DAKKON: Endure. In enduring, grow strong. DAKKON: Strength lies in *knowing* oneself. NORDOM: Nordom and crossbows wish to go in search for trouble! NORDOM: I sleep in a drawer. NORDOM: I'm a little Modron short and stout. NORDOM: I think therefore I am...\ I think NORDOM: I estimate that Fall-from-Grace would be 51% more effective as a modron.\Give or take 5.2%. NORDOM: I estimate Fall-from-Grace to be found attractive by the male sex of over 321423 separate species.\Give or take 5. TNO: Morte, hold this axe. MORTE: Oh sure. I'll just swing it with my arms. MORTE: Come on! Let's shake a leg...\ Well...\ YOU shake a leg... background: mortuary MORTE: We should get some female zombies to join our party, right chief? TNO: MORTE: You know, if I could click you, you wouldn't know a moment's peace! TNO: MORTE: I am both happy and miserable, without the happy part! MORTE: Graaaace... you wanna put ME in your inventory? FFG: background: mortuary MORTE: I've tried all the doors, and this place is locked tighter than a chastity belt! TNO: "I know you feel like you've been drinking a fre keys of Styx wash, but you need to CENTER yourself." TNO: "Among your possessions is a JOURNAL that'll shed some light on the dark of the matter." TNO: "PHAROD can fill you in on the rest of the chant, if he's not in the dead-book already." TNO: "Don't lose the journal, or we'll be up the Styx again." TNO: "And whatever you do, DO NOT tell anyone WHO you are or WHAT happens to you, or they'll put you on a quick pilgrimage to the crematorium." TNO: "Do what I tell you: READ the journal, then FIND Pharod." TNO: "DON'T TRUST THE SKULL" TNO: What if Sigil is not flawed?\ A thing does not need to be ordered and have a purpose to know itself.\What if these contradictions are strengths that you cannot see? DAKKON: To your question, a question:\What if the city is flawed, and you see its contradictions all around you? TNO: To your question, a question:\You claim this city's existence is flawed. You have accepted this rather than explore the possibility that something greater may exist. That suggests you are flawed... and that you do not search for knowledge, but only for a convenient answer. DAKKON: There is no knowing the answer to the questions we have asked. Yet the city exists. That is all. TNO: Yet I would maintain that we know ourselves by the questions we ask and the ones we do not.\If we cease asking questions and accept only what we can perceive... DAKKON: Then we will cease to know ourselves. TNO: Then we will cease to know ourselves. DAKKON: Such words have been spoken before.\I have heard them and know them. TNO: Where have you heard them? DAKKON: The words are mine.\ Once, I knew them and knew their meaning.\ I had forgotten them until you spoke. MORTE: I don't trust the gith.\I say we leave him behind. TNO: 'Brothel of Slaking Intellectual Lusts?'\What kind of brothel is this? FFG: I established this brothel to give those lustful fevers that strike the mind more avenues of expression rather than the simply carnal.\Much pleasure can be had in conversation and engaging in the verbal arts with others. MORTE: Sounds dull. NORDOM: Grrr. TNO: Am I supposed to be frightened by that? NORDOM: Grrrr? TNO: I asked you if I'm supposed to be frightened by that. NORDOM: Yes.\Grrrr is a sound indicative of a threat.\I have included an appropriate gesture to add weight to the threat.\Fear is the anticipated response which will give me the advantage in the fight that follows. FFG: Your mastery of discipline is impressive, Dak'kon. DAKKON: In the eyes of Zerthimon, I am nothing. FFG: Surely you are being too harsh on yourself? DAKKON: A long road must I still travel.\ This is but the beginning. TNO: What are you? NORDOM: We are modron. TNO: Your name is 'Modron? NORDOM: We are modron.\We do not have a name.\ We are modron.\ All that you see here are modron.\ We are one. TNO: All right.\You are all modrons,\but what is this modron's name?\ The one I am talking to? NORDOM: We...\ I...\ We are modron.\ We have no identity other than the whole that is modron. TNO: Then how do you tell one modron from another? NORDOM: We know.\ We are modron. TNO: So this is a... backwards modron? NORDOM: Backwards modron = 'Nordom?'\Gratitudes!\Gratefuls! TNO: Uh... I'm sorry? NORDOM: Not sorries.\Null sorries.\Gratitudes!\Indentification of self compromized by doubtings + mullings + analysis. TNO: You're grateful...\ that I identified you?\ Aren't you a modron? NORDOM: Indemnification of this unit (was) compromised.\Subject - addressee indemnified unit as 'Nordom.'\ Gratitudes tendered for providing Nordom indemnification. TNO: It was nothing.\ Really. TNO: Why are you called 'Fall-From-Grace' ? FFG: The meaning of names is a complicated subject.\ There is much to be said, and a great deal that is better left unsaid. TNO: Is Fall-From-Grace your real name? FFG: Perhaps.\ Perhaps not.\ There are names which are given and names which are earned.\ Who is to say which is the real one? TNO: I think the name which is given carries the greater weight. FFG: That may be so.\Why do you think that? TNO: Because it is how people perceive you.\ And their perceptions may outweigh your understanding of yourself. FFG: Your point is well-taken. TNO: So why are you called Fall-From-Grace? FFG: Would it matter?\ It is a given name. TNO: What are you doing with your crossbows? NORDOM: Attention, Nordom:\ required!\Response to Query:\Action being performed on crossbows?\Submit Request for Clarification:\Null crossbows present. TNO: Oh, really?\What do you call those two -klicking- things in your hands? NORDOM: Response:\Two -KLICKING- objects held in opposable digits.\Response:\Objects = Gear spirits. TNO: Gear spirits?\What do you mean? NORDOM: Query:\Define: Gear spirits.\ Response:\ Gear spirits. NORDOM: Orders received at initiation of Rubikon project:\Departure from Plane/Mechanus.\Stage First:\Arrival at Destination:\Plane/Limbo.\Stage Second:\Parameters dictated by Superior/Creative Director:\Shaped matter of Plane (Limbo) to test hypothesis.\Rubikon dungeon constructed. TNO: What happened next? NORDOM: Citing/ Rubikon Wizard/ Megalomaniac Declaration of Freedom:\Creative Director encountered Error:\Rubikon Wizard.\Hypothesis:\Director discounted strength of error.\Sought to correct aberrance in Rubikon Wizard.\Result:\Director = Nulled. MORTE: So, Grace... you uh, have any sisters? FFG: Thousands. MORTE: Give me a moment to be delirious with joy. background: ravel TNO: It is said you are the greatest of the Gray Sisters, Ravel.\I have traveled far to reach you. RAVEL: But why have you traveled so far?\Your need must be great... yet you seem to have brought nothing that would interest me.\ You must PAY for your services... TNO: My need is great.\My currency is this: a challenge.\Perhaps an impossible challenge...\one I fear is beyond even your abilities... RAVEL: There is NOTHING that is beyond me, foolish man!\NOTHING!\Pose your challenge, I will hear you! TNO: Death waits at the end of life for all men.\I need it to wait for me no longer...\can you do this, beautiful Ravel? RAVEL: Yessssss...\Oh, sad, sad, broken half-thing.\ All-a-pieces. background: ravel RAVEL: Oh, sad, sad, broken half-thing.\All-a-pieces.\No longer the one Ravel knew are you...\are you still a-broken, after all this sad, sad time? TNO: Broken?\What do you mean? RAVEL: A body you possess, but a body of knowledge you do not?\Many and such, such scars you have, all a-scrawled on your skin.\Many tales does your skin tell. background: ravel NORDOM: RAVEL: The cog-box...\Once it knew only suffering's definition,\but now it feels its sting.\There is no room for '2' in the world of 1's and 0's.\When it discovers the TRUTH behind loyalty and ill-logic, more torments will it know... background: ravel MORTE: RAVEL: The chattering skull...\Are the quips enough of a shield for what lies buried inside your brain-box, hmmm?\Why speak truths when lies suffice? background: ravel TNO: Ravel, I have many questions I wish to ask you... RAVEL: Oh, MORE questions do you have?\The time for MY questions is now, half-man.\Know this and know Ravel's law:\if you do not answer my questions,\no more of your questions will I answer, my precious man.\Step a-lightly with the answers, or the asking shall TEAR you apart. TNO: Your rules are fair.\Ask your questions, Ravel. RAVEL: I would know why you traveled here with these others...\know not the place they were traveling to? TNO: Of course they knew.\Who would not want to travel here to meet with you, beautiful Ravel?\Few opportunities does life provide for such a meeting.\They wished to see if the tales of your power and beauty were true... as I knew them to be. RAVEL: Ahhhh...\my precious man,\you carry only words...\... but you are WELL armed, indeed. background: ravel RAVEL: The third and last question...\is this...\ TNO: (echo)\"What can change the nature of a man?" RAVEL: I see you have not forgotten.\What is your answer? TNO: You, Ravel,\you can change the nature of a man,\as you changed me. background: ravel TNO: Enough of this, Ravel.\You took my mortality from me,\and it has caused more harm than good.\I would take it back now - you have had it overlong, I think. RAVEL: Ravel cannot give such a thing to you,\my precious man,\for Ravel has nothing to give...\I never possessed you or your mortality...\though I wished to keep them both in my garden as selfish affection's keepsakes,\trace the patterns of your flesh...\but such things Ravel could not bring herself to do. TNO: Why not? ANNAH: Yeh loved him!\-\Yeh loved him, yeh did! RAVEL: Is that so hard for you to believe,\fiendling?\Does Ravel being Ravel,\and thus, a myth,\not deserve to carry such a feeling in her black-brambled heart? FFG: No creature is undeserving of such a feeling, Ravel.\The histories do not paint such a compassionate picture of you, however. RAVEL: Tchhh!\The past is past, and histories care little for a-speaking the truth of it.\The feeling brushed me, yes...\and now hold your silvered tongue, Abyssal daughter. TNO: Enough, Ravel:\If you don't have my mortality...\where is it? RAVEL: I don't know,\sweet thing.\But if I were you,\I'd get it back quick-quick.\No telling what horrible things someone could do to you if they held your mortality for RANSOM. background: ravel TNO: Why did you help me, Ravel? RAVEL: I cannot help BUT help you, my precious man...\and that will always be true, no matter how many Ravels there be...\on this, they will agree. background: ravel TNO: Why were you imprisoned, Ravel? RAVEL: I tried to help a Lady and a-kindly she did not take to it. FFG: The Lady of Pain? You tried to help her? RAVEL: My offering of help was unwelcome.\ I tried to set her FREE.\I tried to break the Cage, let the Lady go free. background: ravel TNO: You're not going to let me leave, are you Ravel? RAVEL: background: ravel RAVEL: Off with ya.\Dead I am. TTO: THEN DEATH'S KINGDOM HAS SEALED ITS GATES TO US BOTH.\ARISE, CRONE! RAVEL: Sh. Sh. Sh.\Away with ya.\I'm dead and no traffic with the living may I have. TTO: I CARE LITTLE FOR HOW YOU DIE.\BUT I WARN YOU FOR THE LAST TIME,\ARISE OR I SHALL SLAY YOU WHERE YOU LIE. RAVEL: I had thought that dying at his hand would fulfill the requirements the past put forth. TTO: YOU CANNOT HAVE THOUGHT THAT ONE WOULD HAVE A CHANCE.\YOU WERE INDULGENT TO LET HIM THINK HE WAS SUCCESSFUL. RAVEL: Powerful this incarnation is.\And kill me he could have,\but for a few tricks which I posses.\Fortunate was I. TTO: FORTUNE ABANDONED YOU THE MOMENT I FOUND YOU.\HAS YOUR LIFE PREPARED YOU FOR WHAT IS TO COME, HAG? RAVEL: I am not afraid.\Not of the likes of you, ragged thing.\Weak Ravel may be,\but a few tricks has Ravel learned over the years.\And I have known you would come. VHAILOR: The STRENGTH of JUSTICE depends on the harm the INJUSTICE has caused.\When the INJUSTICE is great enough,\JUSTICE will lend me the STRENGTH needed to CORRECT it.\NONE may stand against it.\It will SHATTER every barrier,\SUNDER any shield,\TEAR through any ENCHANMENT,\and lend its servant the POWER to PASS SENTENCE.\KNOW THIS:\There is nothing on ALL the PLANES that can STAY the hand of JUSTICE when it is brought against them.\It may unmake ARMIES.\It may sunder the thrones of GODS.\Know that for all who BETRAY justice,\I am their FATE.\And fate carries an EXECUTIONER'S AXE ANNAH: Yeh've no business a-questionin' me, yeh don't. VHAILOR: JUSTICE gives me the RIGHT. ANNAH: Aye?\An' what justice might THAT be?!\Yer justice is not MY justice\- it's as hollow as yer suit o' armor!\Yeh make yer OWN justice which yeh blindly ignore when it comes tae judgin' yourself! VHAILOR: Mercykillers ARE justice.\Our actions are ABOVE question, TIEFLING. TNO: You have found me,\Vhailor.\You have traveled a long way...\I imagine it was not easy finding me. VHAILOR: Justice led me to you.\Where you walk,\you leave a trail of SUFFERING.\I will see you brought before the Sigilian courts and punished.\If you deny it,\then SAY it,\and I shall judge you. TNO: I deny it.\Judge me...\ then I shall judge you. VHAILOR: Judge ME?\You have no RIGHT to judge me. TNO: Yes, I have, Vhailor, for I know your heart\ - and my power gives me the right to judge you.\But I shall not judge you now:\You must rest within this cage until the day I can set you free to walk the Planes once more. TNO: I eluded you up to this point,\Vhailor...\why do you think I agreed to meet you here?\Did you think I was surrendering?\Or wished to fight you?\No...\this is the gate town of Curst, Vhailor.\It borders the prison plane of Carceri, where even Gods are held prisoner.\You are powerful, Vhailor, but the energies of this place allow even the mightiest to be caged here. VHAILOR: This is treachery. TNO: Treachery runs through this place like veins, and it is that treachery that lends me the strength for this enchantment\ - that is why I was forced to meet you here in Curst.\I can leave this cell, Vhailor,\but until I come for you, you cannot.\Your crusade for justice is truly remarkable,\but it will be forgotten,\and perhaps in time\ - even justice will forget you. VHAILOR: You go beyond denying yourself justice,\but you are denying my crusade... TNO: I know of your mission.\But that will have to wait until I am done with my mission, and this is the second time you have found me and attempted to judge me.\I will not allow it to happen a third time. TNO: I am immortal, Vhailor\ - but you are a...\ strange one.\Justice has touched you, and that justice may be more powerful than whatever it is that sustains me.\Still, take heart:\I do not wish you to die... perhaps one day I will have need of someone who has the power to kill me.\So here you will remain until I come for you. TNO: I have already been punished, Vhailor. VHAILOR: I will HEAR of your punishment. TNO: Every time I die, Vhailor, I have lost my memories.\I have no sense of self, no sense of who I am or WAS, and I bear thousands of scars in the mind and body from wounds I cannot remember.\Death rejects me, and I fear I shall never be able to be at peace. VHAILOR: You have been PUNISHED.\The mark of JUSTICE is upon you.\I SEE it upon your FLESH.\KNOW THIS:\There is MUCH that cannot be seen in you.\I shall WATCH YOU.\YOU HAVE BEEN punished.\But it will not save you from FUTURE punishments for CRIMES to come. TNO: What defines justice, Vhailor?\What IS it, really? VHAILOR: JUSTICE is defined by LAW. TNO: And what is law, Vhailor? VHAILOR: LAW is the tool by which JUSTICE is served. TNO: And what makes the laws, Vhailor? VHAILOR: LAW is defined by JUSTICE. TNO: That's a circular argument, Vhailor\- it's meaningless.\You say justice is defined by law, which is defined by justice. VHAILOR: LAW\ - IS -\ defined by JUSTICE. TNO: Living men and women make laws, Vhailor\ - are the laws they make 'just?' VHAILOR: LAWS are JUST. TNO: But if these laws are made by living men and women\- who, as you've said, are NOT innocent,\then haven't the laws been tainted by their hands? VHAILOR: NOTHING that lives is INNOCENT.\Yet LAW rises ABOVE the flesh and blood.\FROM IMPERFECTION PERFECTION MAY BE MADE.\UNJUST laws may be REFINED.\BLED OF THEIR EVIL. TNO: Then you admit laws are not always perfect\- but if these same laws define justice, then isn't justice imperfect as well? TNO: Vhailor\ - there is NO justice.\All you do in the name of justice is meaningless\ - your LIFE is meaningless. MORTE: There's this pillar on Avernus, the first layer of Baator, built of the heads of all those who've led others to their deaths through lies.\Well... that's it right there.\See, that's where I ended up. Go figure. TNO: So... you were one of those heads? MORTE: Yeah. I told an... exaggeration or two.\It's just that one of my suggestions-- ANNAH: Yeh mean lies! MORTE: --one of my suggestions led to your death.\One of them.\Maybe others.\Those memories, they...\look, chief, I don't even remember being human.\I don't remember what life was like before the Pillar. DAKKON: It is like cupping water in one's hands. MORTE: Yeah, I guess. And that's pretty much the way of things when you die. You... forget. I figure I wasn't a sterling member of the community when I was alive...\but hells, who is?\It's just that I can't help it. Nothing's worse than being honest all the time.\But look, chief: if that pile of heads sees me, it'll want me back - bad. You can't let that happen! background: fortress TNO: I know you for what you are\ - you are my mortality.\ Your armor - it is twisted like tree branches.\ Such things speak of Ravel's magicks. TTO: I AM THAT WHICH WAS SPLIT FROM YOU BY THE HAG'S POWER, FREED FROM THE PRISON OF YOUR FLESH. TTO: I AM THAT WHICH WALKS WITH ALL LIFE.\ MY VOICE IS A DEATH RATTLE,\ A LAST BREATH IN THE THROAT,\ THE WHISPER OF A DYING MAN. background: fortress TTO: YOUR DECEPTIONS WILL NOT SHIELD YOU HERE, BROKEN ONE. TNO: It is the truth.\Killing me won't stop me\- because killing me doesn't make me forget anymore.\I'll know you always, I'll remember everything you've done, how to reach here, and eventually, how to destroy you. TTO: THEN I SHALL IMPRISON YOU, NAMELESS ONE.\IF YOU WILL NOT FORGET, THEN I SHALL NOT ALLOW YOU TO BE FREE. background: fortress TNO: Wait!\I have one final question:\What can change the nature of a man? TTO: THE QUESTION IS MEANINGLESS. TNO: Nonetheless, before there is an ending between us, I will hear your answer. TTO: THEN THIS IS MY ANSWER, AND YOU ARE THE PROOF. NOTHING CAN CHANGE THE NATURE OF A MAN. TNO: If there is anything I have learned in my travels across the Planes, it is that many things may change the nature of a man. Whether regret, or love, or revenge or fear\- whatever you believe can change the nature of a man, can. TTO: THEN YOU LEARNED A FALSE LESSON, BROKEN ONE. TNO: Have I?\I've seen belief move cities, make men stave off death, and turn an evil's hag heart half-circle.\This entire Fortress has been constructed from belief.\Belief damned a woman, whose heart clung to the hope that another loved her when he did not.\Once, it made a man seek immortality and achieve it.\And it has made a posturing spirit think it is something more than a part of me. background: fortress TTO: YOUR DEFIANCE WILL HURT YOU MORE THAN ANY WOUND IN THIS PLACE.\BELIEF CANNOT CHANGE THE NATURE OF A MAN. TNO: I think it can.\I think belief could even unmake me, if I believed it enough. TTO: YOU DO NOT POSSESS THE FORCE OF WILL FOR SUCH A THING. TNO: So you admit it's possible. TTO: DO NOT TRY MY PATIENCE, BROKEN ONE. background: fortress TNO: I think it can.\I think belief could even unmake me, if I believed it enough. TTO: YOU DO NOT POSSESS THE FORCE OF WILL FOR SUCH A THING. TNO: So you admit it's possible. TTO: DO NOT TRY MY PATIENCE, BROKEN ONE. TNO: (focuses) TTO: YOU ARE A FOOL TO THINK YOU CAN ACHIEVE SUCH A THING.\YOU CAN BARELY KEEP YOUR OWN TATTERED MIND INTACT.\THERE IS NOWHERE LEFT FOR YOU TO FALL, BROKEN ONE. TNO: (focuses) TTO: STOP.\YOU KNOW NOT WHAT YOU DO. TNO: I know what I do.\You have tormented me enough,\and now it ends. background: fortress TTO: IF WE BECOME ONE, WE SHALL SUFFER.\THERE IS TOO MUCH OF THE NATURE OF THE FIRST ONE IN US FOR US TO BE SAVED.\WE SHALL BE DAMNED.\YOU KNOW NOT WHAT YOU DO. TNO: No, I know very well what I do.\And I think this is the only answer.\Prepare yourself. TTO: KNOW THAT I HAVE ALWAYS HATED YOU, BROKEN ONE.\WHEN WE ARE ONE, I WILL CONTINUE TO HATE YOU.\WHEN YOUR SHELL DIES AT LAST, KNOW THAT I SHALL TAKE PLEASURE IN YOUR DEATH. TNO: I will live with that - and so will the Planes. TTO: KNOW THAT MY HATRED FOR YOU WILL UNMAKE THE PLANES.\PREPARE YOURSELF.\WE SHALL BE AS ONE AGAIN\ - UNTIL YOUR LAST MOMENTS OF LIFE. TNO: Very well.\I am ready to become mortal again. MORTE: Graaaace! I need your sensory touch! FFG: MORTE: You know, it wouldn't kill you to say a few words to me, fiendling... or hug me... or KISS me! ANNAH: VHAILOR:Mercy is a shield used by the weak VHAILOR:Your crimes cry out for justice! VHAILOR:Perfection through punishment. VHAILOR:Let my words carry you:\ JUSTICE is a TEACHER.\ In your PUNISHMENT, gain STRENGTH.\ Through your PUNISHMENT, achieve PERFECTION. FFG: Simple minds...\simple pleasures... MORTE: FFG: Morte, what happened to your body? MORTE: Oh! I'm the head of Vecna! FFG: Morte, with a vocabulary like yours, you should spend some time at the brothel... MORTE: Hohoho! The gods are merciful! FFG: Morte, I'm curious... what happened to your body? MORTE: It's a long story involving the Head of Vecna. I don't want to talk about it. FFG: (Laughing) That was you? MORTE: Could we *please* change the subject? RAVEL: What can change the nature of a man? TNO: RAVEL: Life swallowed you and spit you out! TNO: MORTE: It swallowed him, but I don't know if he came out of THAT end! background: fortress TTO: I CAN FORGE PLANES WITH MY POWER!\I CAN UNMAKE YOU! TNO: // The following dialogs have been ommitted because they would use rarely-used actors. // // IGNUS: Ignus wishes to BURN! // // IGNUS: Long have I ssslept...\ dreamssss of flamesss... // // COAXMETAL: I AM IRON GIVEN PURPOSE.\I FORGE THE IMPLEMENTS BY WHICH THE MULTIVERSE WILL BE UNMADE. // TNO: You mean forging weapons?\That's your purpose? // COAXMETAL: METAL IS LIKE FLESH.\BOTH CARRY POTENTIAL IN THEIR VEINS.\WHEN TEMPERED WITH HEAT AND PRESSURE, THE POTENTIAL SURFACES.\MY PURPOSE IS TO BRING FORTH THIS POTENTIAL.\ALLOW IT EXPRESSION. //