Episode 2: The Gilded Graveyard
“You wanna give up. I can see it in your faces. And I get it. I do. I’ve been there. You’re askin’ yourselves ‘Why on earth did I choose to do this, to go stickin’ my nose in places it’s better to steer clear of?’
To Tottergrass of all places, coming here. And that’s valid. It’s a harsh fuckin’ world. You can sometimes feel like you’re mad doing the things we do for Candela. The monsters of this world will come looking for us without ever lifting a finger. So why should we be seeking them out, right?
No one, not me, not anybody would judge you for walking away. Except, I know why you showed up to begin with. You’re doing it for yourself, sure, but you’re doing it for all of them, too; for the people you’ve already lost.and for everybody else who stands to lose just as badly. We do this because we owe ‘em. What we do, it’s “tking a stand”. We’re not just throwing up our hands and saying, ‘Well what can ya do?’
That’s just how it is. We want something better for Tottergrass, Westecklyn, your homes, mine, for every person under the sun. And for fuck’s sake, all that pain’s gotta be good for somethin’. You can let it overwhelm ya, or you can take hold of it and use it for something . Use it to make the world better. And yourselves better for it.”
Anyways…Grimoria. Edgar. Leo. Decklan Murphy lies before you on a plain brass bed, unmoving, draped in perfect white sheets. You’re staring at him through a large round window in an adjacent room. He lies still, his chest rising and falling slowly. His shoulder, neck and face, misshapen and mottled, crusted over in growth as white as the tiles that surround him here. You three now stand within the twisting walls of the Fourth Pharos (Candela Obscura’s lighthouse stronghold that resides beyond the mundane world, floating somewhere in The Flare). With you now are your lightkeeper, Zora, and another doctor, a shorter man, about five feet. Bespectacled, bald, wearing slacks and a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a smock tied back behind his waist.
This is Dr. Hector Aguilar.
Dr. Lycoris, you have been working with him for the better part of a week.
“I am sorry, he has fallen into a coma while you all were sleeping. His resperatory functions have been improving somewhat, but right now we are concerned most about brain inflammation. We can’t know more without going in. The only positive change is that the level of bleed we’ve been monitoring on Mr. Murphy has actually been dropping. Dr. Lycoris, I think you should step away for the time being. Your help has been appreciated. But, if we are not prepared to put him under the knife, I really think it best you should step away from a case so personal to you, in my opinion.”