#where the dead must go

[datvtranscripts]

Where the Dead Must Go Pt. 1

Professor Volkarin

Emmrich Masterpost

Signs and Portents Masterpost Previous: A Fade Expert Previous: Welcome to the Team

Rook arrives at the Grand Necropolis with Bellara.

Rook: This is it. But no sign of the professor.

Bellara: I hope he's here. And that he doesn't mind us disturbing him. He is a senior necromancer, I don't—(Gasps) Oh!

Nearby, a skeleton is brought to life. The necromancer turns, a glowing skull where his head should be.

Emmrich: Visitors! What a marvelous surprise! Any trouble with the lift? Our last guests were stuck for hours, poor souls!

He removes the glamor, and the skull vanishes.

Emmrich: Professor Emmrich Volkarin, of the Mourn Watch.

Bellara: Hello, Professor! We've never met, well, in person, but I've been writing to you.

Bellara rushes up to him, taking his hand, and he shakes it vigorously.

Emmrich: Bellara? My dear girl, what a pleasure! Surely you didn't come all this way just to see me?

Bellara: Umm, actually we did. You see, we need a Fade expert—

Rook: (Coughs)

Origin dependent dialogue:

Mourn Watcher Rook [1]

Non-Mourn Watcher Rook [2]

1 - Mourn Watcher Rook Rook: Rook. Fellow Mourn Watcher.

Emmrich: Rook! Myrna's mentioned you.

Dialogue options:

Affable: Good things, I hope. [3]

Sarcastic: Good control on the skeletons. [4]

Stoic: Of course she did. [5]

3 - Affable: Good things, I hope. Rook: Nothing to scare you off? Emmrich: She said you've "advanced adequately" through the ranks. Rook: Aw. How sweet. [9]

4 - Sarcastic: Good control on the skeletons. Rook: Impressive flock of undead. Emmrich: Oh, merely the gifts of experience. Rook: The more the merrier. [9]

5 - Stoic: Of course she did. Rook: So the Necropolis is still a cauldron of gossip. Emmrich: You know how it is. Rook: Some things never change. [9]

2 - Non-Mourn Watcher Rook Rook: I'm Rook.

Emmrich: Charmed.

Affable: How nice and cordial. [6]

Sarcastic: Neat… skull-helmet? [7]

Stoic: Are you dead or not? [8]

6 - Affable: How nice and cordial. Rook: I didn't expect such a warm welcome. Rook: Considering. Emmrich: Please, don't be put off! The work force is perfectly harmless. [9]

7 - Sarcastic: Neat… skull-helmet? Rook: I liked that bit with the flaming skull. Emmrich: It's nothing, really, just an evocation of the Flame of the Last Steps. Rook: Looks great! Emmrich: Thank you! You know, I'm never quite sure how these spells strike someone from outside Nevarra. [9]

8 - Stoic: Are you dead or not? Rook: I thought you were undead for a second. Emmrich: Most Mourn Watchers are just as alive as you or I. Rook: Most? [9]

9 - Scene continues.

(Distant, piercing scream)

They look down the hall.

Emmrich: I'd be pleased to continue our conversation after I tend to some small business here.

They begin to make their way into the Necropolis.

Emmrich: I must investigate. Would you two mind accompanying me further into the Shrouded Halls?

Mourn Watch Rook: Rook: Never thought I'd actually see this place for myself. Emmrich: Things have changed since you left the order, Rook.

Non-Mourn Watch Rook: Rook: Toward that screaming? Emmrich: Something's gone awry in this part of the Necropolis, Rook.

Emmrich: The dead stir more easily than they should.

Bellara not chosen for party: Bellara stops to look at some nearby magical artifacts. Bellara: Oh, wow. I've never seen anything like this. Are these wards? Emmrich: Indeed they are. But what's caused the Aphotic Needles to fall into a slumber? Bellara: Oh, I'm pretty handy with artifacts. I can take a look! Emmrich: That would be good of you, Bellara. Your friends and I will press on. Bellara: Right, Professor. Good luck!

They follow Emmrich.

Bellara: Something weird up ahead.

Davrin: What's that ahead?

Harding: I think something's ahead?

Lucanis: Movement up ahead.

Neve: Something's moving. Up ahead.

Taash: Ahead of us. Something's moving.

Emmrich: Strange. These halls should be under the protection of the bell….

They head into a room shrouded in fog.

Rook: Is that a despair demon?

Emmrich: Fascinating, isn't it? They shouldn't be able to breach the Shrouded Halls at all!

Mourn Watcher Rook: The Necropolis always surprises.

Non-Mourn Watcher Rook: Take your word for it!

Emmrich: Careful, Rook! It's singled you out!

The area goes dark, and the party disappears.

Mourn Watcher Rook: Okay, Despair separated us. Don't panic, that's what this spirit wants.

Non-Mourn Watcher Rook: What? Where'd everyone go?

They defeat the despair demon.

Emmrich: It's vital we discover why that spirit manifested here.

Rook: Lead the way, Professor.

He opens a nearby door, and they continue into a large room full of barriers.

Emmrich: Someone's barred the door and chained the Sunken Star!

Rook: There's undead here.

Emmrich: We may need to defend ourselves, depending on their condition.

Undead begin to rise, and they fight.

Rook: Haven't fought undead in a while!

Emmrich: There's no reaching these. They're mindless.

Mourn Watcher Rook: I feel it. What a waste.

Bellara: What does that mean?

Davrin: I thought you could control them?

Harding: You can't control them?

Lucanis: Aren't you a necromancer?

Neve: So you can't control them.

Taash: What are they doing? Make them stop!

Emmrich: I'm afraid sometimes the weaker dead work themselves into frenzies, poor things.

Next: Gathering Wisps

[fenharelapproves]

Veilguard Photo Dump 18

Where the Dead Must Go

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[vangbelsing]

I like the funny necromancer

[deadpoetsandlivinglegends]

Feel like Neil couldn’t have been any other kind of actor than one in theatre. If he was a movie actor or on social media or whatnot, it would not be the same. Theatre by nature is fleeting. Recorded mediums can be rewatched over and over, creating a time loop of sorts. We the audience can keep going back to a time when Neil is still alive. Theatre however is live and once the play is over, there is no going back except in our memories. It is much like life. We are forced to live in the moment in a theater lest we miss it altogether. It’s not that the poets choose to live in a world where Neil is dead, it’s that they must because the only other option is to die themselves. I feel like Keatings teachings could only be reflected in stage theatre because that’s the only way there can be no time loop of grief. I think dead poets society itself isn’t about overcoming the authority in your life to do what you want but rather about grief, about allowing oneself to feel grief and all one’s emotions without letting it consume you and to keep living after, to live every day in the moment lest you fall into grief and regret that will destroy you or force you into a miserable life

[unriding]

a … a gift from the talented @kruinka 🥹 thank you so much!! ദ്ദി ༎ຶ‿༎ຶ)

[galacticlamps]

ok I have A Lot of thoughts about the staircase confession (well really about Edwin's whole character arc, but all roads lead to rome) but for now I just wanna say that, yes, I was bracing myself for something to go terribly wrong when I first watched it, and yes, part of me was initially worried its placement might be an uncharacteristically foolish choice made in the name of Drama or Pacing or Making a Compelling Episode of Television but at the expense of narrative sense--

But I wanna say that having taken all that into account, and watched it play out, and sat with it - and honestly become rather transfixed by it - I really think it's a beautifully crafted moment and truly the only way that arc could've arrived at such a satisfying conclusion.

And if I had to pinpoint why I not only buy it but also have come to really treasure it, I'd have to put it down to the fact that it genuinely is a confession, and nothing else.

That moment is an announcement of what Edwin has come to understand about himself, but because it takes the form of a character admitting romantic feelings for such a close friend, I think it can be very easy, when writing that kind of thing, to imbue it with other elements like a plea or a request or even the start of a new relationship that, intentionally or not, would change the shape of the moment and can quickly overshadow what a huge deal the telling is all on its own. But that's not the case here. Since it is only a confession, unaccompanied by anything else, and since we see afterward how it was enough, evidently, to fix the strangeness that had grown between him & Charles, we're forced to understand that it was never Edwin's feelings that were actually making things difficult for him - it was not being able to tell Charles about them. 'Terrified' as he's been of this, Edwin learns that his feelings don't need to either disappear completely or be totally reciprocated in order for him to be able to return to the peace, stability, and security of the relationship with which he defines his existence - and the scale of that relief a) tells us a hell of a lot about Edwin as a character and b) totally justifies the way his declaration just bursts out of him at what would otherwise be such a poorly chosen moment, in my opinion.

Whether or not they are or ever could be reciprocated, Edwin's feelings are definitively proven not to be the problem here - only his potential choice to bottle it up - his repression - is. And where that repression had once been mainly involuntary, a product of what he'd been through, now that he's got this new awareness of himself, if he still fails to admit what he's found either to himself or to the one person he's so unambiguously close with, then that repression will be by his own choice and actions.

And he won't do that. Among other things, he's coming into this scene having just (unknowingly) absolved the soul of his own school bully and accidental killer by pointing out a fact that is every bit as central to his self-discovery as anything about his sexuality or his attraction to Charles is: the idea that "If you punish yourself, everywhere becomes Hell"

So narratively speaking, of course it makes sense that Edwin literally cannot get out of Hell until he stops punishing himself - and right now, the thing that's torturing him is something he has control over. It's not who he is or what he feels, but what he chooses to do with those feelings that's hurting him, and he's even already made the conscious choice to tell Charles about them, he was just interrupted. But now that they're back together and he's literally in the middle of an attempt to escape Hell, there is absolutely no way he can so much as stop for breath without telling Charles the truth. Even the stopping for breath is so loaded - because they're ghosts, they don't need to breathe, but also they're in Hell, so the one thing they can feel is pain, however nonsensical. And Edwin certainly is in pain. But whether he knows what he's about to do or not when he says he 'just needs a tick,' a breather is absolutely not what's gonna give him enough relief to keep climbing - it's fixing that other hurt, though, that will.

Like everything else in that scene, there's a lot of layers to him promising Charles "You don't have to feel the same way, I just needed you to know" - but I don't think that means it isn't also true on a surface level. It's the act of telling Charles that matters so much more than whatever follows it, and while that might have gone unnoticed if anything else major had happened in the same conversation, now we're forced to acknowledge its staggering and singular importance for what it is. The moment is well-earned and properly built up to, but until we see it happen in all its wonderful simplicity, and we see the aftermath (or lack thereof, even), we couldn't properly anticipate how much of a weight off Edwin's shoulders merely getting to share the truth with Charles was going to be, why he couldn't wait for a better, safer opportunity before giving in to that desire, or how badly he needed to say it and nothing else - and I really, really love the weight that act of just being honest, seen, and known is given in their story/relationship.

[anna-scribbles]

do you think émilie agreste knew, on the day she became too weak to leave that house, that she never would again

[cheesebearger]

i know there are people upset about dead boy detectives being canceled, but it's almost certainly due to the spate of sexual assault allegations surrounding neil gaimen. it has become very clear that neil gaimen is a practiced, lifelong predator. he has harmed many. he has violated and abused.

gaimen's properties being canceled are the natural consequence of the mask being pulled off. people rightly do not want to continue allowing gaimen avenues to profit when he's harmed so many. even if he's not directly involved in directing the show, he is an executive producer. and he does not deserve profit or platform.

[winds-of-zephyr416]

*Looks at clock* ooh! it’s time to cry about Beleg Cúthalion again!

[datvtranscripts]

Signs and Portents Deleted Dialogue

Where the Dead Must Go

Dialogue is sorted in scene order to the best of my ability.

Emmrich Masterpost Signs and Portents Masterpost About Deleted Dialogue

—

Might not be deleted, but I can’t get it to trigger. Bellara not in immediate party:

Rook: Find anything interesting?

Bellara: The warding magic on these obelisks is so strange. Much different than Arlathan's.

Bellara: I think someone shut them down on purpose.

—

Emmrich: Fight it, Rook! You must break through that protective barrier around Despair!

—

Rook: It just got cold!

Emmrich: Despair's spread to the rest of our enemies! Now all of them can freeze the air.

—

Rook: Looks like our only way forward.

Emmrich: Please, after you.

—

Emmrich: Another manifestation of despair!

—

Emmrich: We'll still need the wisp. Fortunately, it hasn't been frightened off.

—

Bellara: Okay, more despair demons. I don't think they've seen us, though.

Davrin: Why aren't they attacking?

Harding: Why is it always cold around despair demons?

Lucanis: The Venatori summoned a lot of these in the Ossuary. Usually by accident.

Neve: Despair demons. Well, fun dreams tonight.

Taash: Demons. Still better than corpses.

Emmrich: They're wrapped in melancholy. Keep your distance, and we won't draw their ire.

—

Rook: The Necropolis wisps look lively as ever.

—

Rook: Long story short? Looking for someone.

—

Emmrich: I should have known Venatori brought these spirits of despair. They've blinded our sentinels somehow. Their cult tried to make inroads in Nevarra—until the Watchers rebuffed them.

Rook: Seems like it didn't take.

—

Emmrich: We're close to the bell. It's imperative we free it from the chains of the cultists.

Emmrich: The Venatori are siphoning raw power from the bell!

—

Emmrich: Shattering those chains will free the bell!

—

Emmrich: The Venatori are conjuring spirits!

Emmrich: Rise up!

[distressed-bird]

Kalina is the most interesting character to me because of all she has going on…

she is Cassandra’s familiar, she is simultaneously a pet and a friend and a servant and a family to a goddexx that is simultaneously her owner and friend and creator and parent and her god and reason to be—Kalina’s relationship to Cassandra is hard to put a name or label on (since what does being a familiar even mean?) but the bottomline is that this cat loves her deity enough to put everything and everyone on the line for her…

And adding in that she is a child of divorce. So to speak. I am extremely normal and haven’t been driven mad by the detail that baby itty bitty kitty Kalina was at Cassandra’s wedding to Ankarna and is remembered to have been toddling after her as she walked down the aisle…

Kalina will be the death of me /lh

[broken-clover]

It's eternally a little funny whenever I see someone say something along the lines of 'everyone in Strive is so happy now! Everyone's stories are getting resolved! It'll be hard to make a new game when everyone's retired and living peacefully and resolved their problems' and then there's a haunted semi-sentient mecha corpse in the corner constantly screaming from being trapped in limbo

[vee-lociraptor]

best thing about being really into a character with very little screen time is you can just make things up about him. what are you gonna do prove me wrong

[blackbatcass]

me trying to comprehend the Late Stage Batman Pre-New 52 Saga (ressurection of ra’s al ghul black glove batman rip final crisis batman reborn red robin b&r 2009 batgirl 2009 return of bruce wayne)

[purgatorygrl]

Arthur had to face the reality of his mortality. With each passing day he knew that his life was coming to an end, with no possibility of a better tomorrow.

The dreams and plans he once had became impossible knowing that he would not be able to experience a future. The fact of not being able to think about anything but the present, without the possibility of planning for tomorrow, is something that surely filled him with deep loneliness and terror.

The uncertainty of whether he would wake up the next day or not, and having to live with the constant pain, both physical and emotional, is an unimaginable pain.

The fear of the unknown, of what would come after death, is something he probably struggled with in his final days, in addition to the sadness of the emotional weight of knowing that his death would affect those he loved, leaving a void and causing pain

[m0th-h]

Crying and thinking about the implications