Part 27: ARC III: Part 5: Time for School.

ARC III: Part 5: Time for School.

We rejoin our heroes inside Zala's house.



I prefer to pick up women without the threat of death myself.

Yeah, but think about it, man! How many times do you get to be in the middle of a huge worldwide campaign like that? Human chicks, elf chicks, elementals... such a wide selection. It's kinda like the Equipment King of women.

Looking for low prices, huh? I guess you're the kind of guy who has to pay for it.
... There was that Mallory girl hoping to get spell reagents out him at Kovak's party...

You could always lend me one of your girls, man.

Well, you can have Emma.
I wonder if this little dialogue is just meant to be banter, or one of the many ways Volrath tries to illustrate Cade is not perfect early on. He's talked at length about Shroud/Cade's bad behaviour before.



I'm not sure... ten years ago, maybe?

You're doing better than I am. I haven't seen any of them since the war.

The truth is, I don't like meeting up with any of our old allies.

Oh?

They're always so happy to see me... But I usually just get depressed. It brings back so many memories... painful ones. I've always liked to just wander.

I suppose I always have too... But sometimes you find a place and you realize that you're tired of not having a real home.
That's what happened when I came to Port Arianna, at least.

Maybe... and I do like it here in the forest. Though the Pearlton guards have been snooping around here much more lately. It's getting on my nerves.

Well, what do you expect? You set fire to their headquarters!



You didn't burn their base, did you?

Of course not! Why would I? That base is nowhere near this place. I only deal with those guards if they get too close. I'm not going to provoke them for no reason!

You are currently their primary suspect.

That explains a lot.

Whatever the case, it sure has some of the villagers wound up.

Well, those fools have always been afraid of me.

Yeah...

Oh no Shroud, I know what you're thinking. Please don't say it.

Interesting that trouble starts right around the time Kovak and his crew arrive.

Come on! That happened before they tried to buy the stores!

You ever hear of a pre-emptive strike, Finley?

What are you talking about?

Zala, I think you're being framed by Equipment King.

Equipment what?

A group of greedy thugs who scare people into buying weapons and armor. In this case, they may be capitalizing on how much Pearlton's people fear you.

The worst part is I don't even get to have the fun of actually setting the fires I'm getting blamed for.
Would you believe she's calmed down a lot from the Clean Slate days?

Well, come on guys! We're the heroes! Let's find the real fire mage!

We probably should before this situation gets out of hand. We don't want the guards trying to attack this place.

Ha! Let them try! I'm not afraid of them!

I'm afraid of what you'll do to them.

I forgot how exciting it can be to find a new crook to catch. Unfortunately, I have work to do.

We'll walk you up there. After that, we'll try and figure this mystery out.

Wait... Shroud, you're the only one who gets to go?

Well, Stoic can't go! There may be Gallians there. As for you, you'll blow my cover in about two seconds.

What are you all going on about? Why do you need to go to the monastery?

We'll explain while we walk. I'd like to get there before it gets too late in the day.


...





This building on the south west side is the dorm building.


There's a church...





This is the main school building...



The entrance of the library up top and the... I guess, classroom/changing room for physical education type stuff building down the bottom...





I don't know what to tell you. I'll do my best to get the information fast. As soon as I have the conclusive proof we need, I'm gone.
In the meantime, you all can track down the guy who attacked the guard headquarters.

You mentioned that Equipment King is involved with some kind of religious cult. If that's true, I would be careful walking about a place like this.
They're bound to have some kind of representative keeping an eye on things.

Thanks for the tip. I'll try to meet up with you later tonight.

Right, watch yourself, chum.


...



Yes. I would like to become a student here.

CLERK: You want to enroll now? This is a new one.

What do you mean?

CLERK: The school year started months ago.

Oh... Is there any way I can still enroll?

CLERK: Well... the students did just return from their break. They are currently starting their new classes for the second half of the year.
I'm sure the board of directors won't mind if you start now. We don't like to turn anyone away unless we have to.

Thanks very much.

CLERK: Your name please?

I'm Cade.

CLERK: I need your last name as well.

Oh, right. It's Torlin. Cade Torlin.

CLERK: Okay, Cade. That should do it.

Wow. That was easy.

CLERK: We have no reason to make it difficult. The Sacred River Monastery has nothing to fear from troublemakers. We have highly trained guards all over the place.
If anyone tries to attack us in any way... they are dealt with.



CLERK: It can be very satisfying when a thief is jailed and still owes us tuition money.

I'll be sleeping easy, then.

CLERK: Indeed. On that note, here's your room key. Room 104 in the residence hall.

Thank you.

CLERK: Now we need you to pick out which three classes you'll be enrolled in.

LIBRARIAN: I can help you with that. Come have a look at this list.



Comparative Religion seems like it would be a good one... I like this one too. Monk techniques and the Art of Physical Combat.
Is comparative religion like comparative mythology? If so... Good pick, Cade.

LIBRARIAN: You're all set, then. I would hurry over to the main building. The history class is being held now.

Really?! Okay, see you later!

LIBRARIAN: One minute there, young feller! I forgot to give you your textbooks.
There you are!

CLERK: Welcome to the monastery, Cade! One more thing before you go... We'll need the first installment of your tuition before the end of the month.
It should come to about 15,000 GP.

Uh... sure. Thanks again. Take care now.

...



Finley was right. Anyway, we can explore the grounds now. If you go to the church, it's near identical to Dicans one, which causes Cade to comment that it feels too familiar for his taste. The church also has a locked door in back that several NPCs comment on as being a mystery.



"Boil the hell out of it!!! Ah ha ha ha ha ha!!
Ha ha... ha... ah, that's funny."



There's also a path between the school building and the library leading to this locked tower.

I go back and into the main school building and then into its courtyard.



Uhm... Moving on.





Sorry I'm late. I'm new around here.

TYER: No sense delaying the class any further. Have a seat.



"get an idea of how much you already know about our world's history. It would have been next class, but I was informed that we have a guest speaker.
Well, enough announcements. You probably know that in most history classes, the teachers like to start in the past and work towards the present.
However, I prefer a less traditional approach. In this class, we will talk about what is going on in Solest today, and work backwards from there.
I find this works better with young students. It allows you to see how history directly affects each of you. Any questions so far?"

STUDENT: Who is this guest speaker?

TYER: You know, I'm not sure. We'll find out soon!
Okay, let's begin. It has now been thirty-five years since Lysander Barca's army was defeated in Gallia and the new council took over that city.
Chairman Sarnath Alleni launched a campaign to try and improve relations between Gallian citizens and people of other races.

As you might expect, depending on what you know about Gallia, the results of have been mixed. After hundreds of years of oppression most non-humans have been unwilling to even set foot in that city.
There are also plenty of humans who are reluctant to let the old ways go. Adding to the tension is the fact that a significant portion of Gallia's current government is made up of officers who served under the old empire. None of these leaders have given the world any reason not to trust them since the war ended, but Gallia's atrocities are not so easy to forget. Now... let's talk about some of the methods they attempted."

We fade out of the scene here and... I'll talk about something for a moment. The same friend of mine who played both Master of the Wind and The Way at my recommendation, is a German who has told me many, many times about how the West German government kept on many officials who had been Nazi party members in the post-war era. (Also about how even today German police only give far right extremists slaps on the wrist regularly, while going all-in on giving leftists hell.)

In fact, a very cursory look online found me this article: https://www.businessinsider.com.au/former-nazi-officials-in-germany-post-world-war-ii-government-2016-10?r=US&IR=T

quote:

From 1949 to 1973, 90 of the 170 leading lawyers and judges in the then-West German Justice Ministry had been members of the Nazi Party.

Of those 90 officials, 34 had been members of the Sturmabteilung (SA), Nazi Party paramilitaries who aided Hitler’s rise and took part in Kristallnacht, a night of violence that is believed to have left 91 Jewish people dead.

quote:

The prevalence of former Nazi officials in the ministry allowed them to shield one another from post-war justice and to carry over some Nazi policies, like discrimination against gays, into the West German government.

One lawyer who helped craft discriminatory laws barring marriages between Jews and non-Jews during the Nazi regime held a top family-law position in the post-World War II Justice Ministry, according to The Local.

“The Nazi-era lawyers went on to cover up old injustice rather than to uncover it and thereby created new injustice,” said Heiko Maas, Germany’s justice minister who presented the report Monday, according to AFP.

One of the the highest judges in West Germany right after the war was a guy who was responsible for mass-signing death sentences for 'cowards' and 'traitors' in the closing days of the war too.... And there was more than just the Justice Ministry being filled with Nazi's as well, but... yeah.



Oh look. It's the bird.

No kidding. I guess that's what I get for picking such an odd time to sign up.

You must have felt a tremendous calling from Arcadius to come here.

Yeah... something like that.

I'm Gabriella. What's your name?

I'm Cade. Nice to meet you.

I'm going to have a lunch with a few friends in the courtyard. Would you like to come?

Sounds great... except I haven't had much of a chance to look around since I got here.

Oh, take your time. We'll probably be there for a couple hours until our next class.

Oh, good. I'll see you then.

Have fun!
And we go directly to said courtyard again.



Thanks. I'm starved.

Someone will attend to us eventually.

Sounds like nice service.

Only the best for us blooming warriors of light!



Whatever! Cade, these are my friends. Evrind... and Selene.



Hey Cade, where you from?

Me? I'm from Port Arianna.

Oh yeah? Nice place. I was up there recently.

Gabriella said that you just enrolled today.

I did. I'm glad it was so easy, or I might have missed the entire class.

Hmm... I'm curious. What exactly did you have to do?

Well... they had me give my name and sign up for classes. Then I took my books and left.

That's it?

Ah ha ha ha! They are so desperate!

Wha?

Don't worry, Cade. He's not insulting you. My father is on the board of directors, and he told me enrollment has been falling steadily for years. Personally, I think it's because of Gallia. They made people so wary of religion. Each new student is like a gift.

I don't really think it's because of Gallia. We still get students here who fully believe in it.

They are a minority these days. People with functioning brains don't subscribe to that nonsense. All the other races are evil? Give me a break!

That's a fine thing for you to say. I know how you feel about the undead.

Oh please, Evrind. Don't compare the undead to other races. They weren't even created by Arcadius! Necromancers made them, and they serve Perditia. Funny that the necromancers were the ones Gallia made the truce with, despite claiming to be so faithful to Arcadius.
All of the other races have a right to share our world.

Silly me. I keep forgetting that you're always right... about everything.

Stop this. There's no need to get into this again. You're making a bad impression.

You're right. Might as well wait on that debate.
What other classes will you take, Cade?

I'm in the Comparative Religion course.
Also... the monk training course. I can't remember the name of it.

Monk Techniques and the Art of Physical Combat.

That's it. You're in it too?

I am. I hope you're ready for it. That's an intensive class. It meets three nights each week.

You didn't take any holy magic classes, Cade?

I'm no good at that.

I don't blame you. Those classes are so crowded. I took one before the break.... It was ridiculous. You get almost no individual help because there are so many students.

Maybe they should break it up into two classes.

I suggested that to my father. Hopefully he will listen.

Where's the food? I'm getting pretty hungry over here.

It will come. Don't be so impatient.

Rrgh... oh well. So what did everyone think of the lecture today?


...


We cut to Finley sitting at the table in Zala's house. He gets up and opens a chest nearby.




Yipe!



That is Shroud's costume and it will be worn only by Shroud. It will stay in that chest until he returns. Got it?

I'll be happy when he's back. Thought one grumpus was bad enough, now there's two of them.

Still, if you're going to be traveling with us, perhaps you do need a costume of your own.

Really?

Kovak is aware that you know us well as civilians. If he sees you with either of us in costume, that may be enough for him to figure it out.

What kind of costume should I have?

Something that really shouts "Idiot."

That can be your project, but for now we're heading over to the scene of the crime.

The guard office?

The very same. Hopefully the captain of that squad will be there. The first step to solving this mystery is proving Zala's innocence.

Right! Let's go!

And so... next time, the investigation begins properly, and we'll cover the rest of Cade's first day at school... plus the guest speaker his class will be having tomorrow.

the end