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level rogue4 ending 1
- Nymph
Huh? We're back?
- Fremont
Ermengarde!
- Ermengarde
I'm over here, Master...
- Fremont
This was your brilliant plan? To lure half a dozen Sarkaz into the Furnace while I wasn't looking?
- Ermengarde
I just wanted to help. Look, your last foray didn't go as smoothly as you expected, right?
- Ermengarde
Lady Wiš'adel was blasted into the sky, and the revenants got so angry they seeped out of the Furnace.
- Fremont
Hm?
- Ermengarde
What I'm trying to say is, all things considered, I think our rites went pretty well this time.
- Ermengarde
Don't you feel the Furnace is much quieter now?
The furnace is devoid of noise, without a trace of any revenant's agitation. Like diners sleeping off a hearty meal.
Or like children hiding behind a door waiting to pull a prank on someone.
- Tin Man
(Lifts hat in greeting)
- Fremont
...(Nods slightly)
- Fremont
If no one had built you a channel to redirect the souls' berserk rage and pry those thoughts from their tight lips, you'd be baking to a crisp along with your little friends right about now.
- Ermengarde
But—
- Fremont
I'll have all the time in the world to grab your Knot and listen to your excuses back at the Temple of Knowledge, Ermengarde.
- Fremont
But for now, just shut up and get over here.
- Ermengarde
Ugh...
- Fremont
As for you all...
- Fremont
I don't care if you're a scion of the Royal Court, a snoop from the streets, a sellsword from Rhodes Island...
- Fremont
...a wandering tailor who's just returned home, or even an ex-follower of Nezzsalem.
- Fremont
Get back to doing whatever it is you do, wherever it is you came from.
- Fremont
To be blunt, Kazdel needs a lot of work, yet you're wasting your time here on a silly daydream?
- Fremont
If you love dreams so much, then put those hands of yours to use and make them come true.
- Fremont
Don't just sit there and entertain yourselves and the old bastards in the furnace with your imaginations.
- Fremont
Yes, you! Who else would I be talking to?!
- Ermengarde
Alright, alright, just calm down, Master...
- Fremont
Calm down? I AM calm! You think I'm angry just because I'm raising my voice a little?!
- Ermengarde
Yes yes, of course, my mistake...
- Fremont
Hmph.
- Fremont
Leave this place, Sarkaz. I won't castigate you for entering the furnace.
- Fremont
Take them away, Ermengarde.
- Ermengarde
Yes, sir...
And so, the Sarkaz follow Ermengarde out of the furnace's core. The Lord of the Liches cares not for their thoughts.
But when the Tin Man walks by, Fremont extends an arm and blocks his way.
- Fremont
How long do you intend to stay in Kazdel?
- Tin Man
I'm running out of vacation days, so I should be heading back to Columbia soon.
- Fremont
The Soul Furnace's historic duty is nearing its end.
- Tin Man
They've been burning for so long, after all. It's high time they calmed down.
- Fremont
With that technology, we'll no longer have to bear the guilt of continuously burning our own kin.
- Tin Man
But didn't you just scold them?
- Fremont
Hah, as if a few words would stop them. Once they've been gone for hundreds, thousands of years, when Kazdel's furnace burns only for festivals, I'll miss them.
- Tin Man
Well, I do have something to discuss with you.
- Tin Man
I'm back, old friends.
- Tin Man
Fremont sealed the Furnace's core, so we can only do our business here.
- Tin Man
I brought you some souvenirs from Columbia. Care to try them?
Tin Man takes out a paper bag one labeled with a fast food chain one can find anywhere in Columbia, and solemnly takes out soft drinks, hamburgers, fries, and other food items.
The furnace's heat surges, and from within it follows a messy mix of emotions.
Curiosity, contempt, anger.
All muddled into one, as it always has been.
- Tin Man
Even the old should give new things a try, right?
Tin Man tosses a piece of beastmeat into his mouth, and then throws a bag of fries into the furnace.
- Tin Man
(Chew)
- Tin Man
(Swallow)
- Tin Man
How's the taste? Want some more?
- Tin Man
Or would you like some ketchup?
The fries turn to ash midair, blending into the hot current like the perfect fuel to fire up the souls' emotions.
Soon, the other food items are also tossed into the furnace, and the revenants eagerly 'taste' them.
Chewing and tasting are, to them, memories lodged deep within themselves, like flavor itself.
The sweetness of ancient fruit, the saltiness of shed tears. The sensation of eating is pieced together from fragmented memories.
They had almost forgotten, and they rejoice.
- Tin Man
You were caught by that guy up there in the sky and tossed down here, but furnace life as you know it will soon be a thing of the past.
- Tin Man
The stories they shared with you all were merely the comforting stories we tell children.
- Tin Man
But the way I see it, I hope you'll see them as a chance to find yourselves again.
- Tin Man
Maybe their adventure has truly touched you, and conjured thoughts of how you want your future to look.
- Tin Man
I can take you out of there.
- Tin Man
Not as a burning mass of consciousnesses, but as individuals, as your own selves, as my kin.
Tin Man takes out three sheetmetal toys from his chest, placing them at his side. He then takes out a pipe and lights it.
- Tin Man
If there's anyone here who really does wish to free themselves from the chaos, then maybe I'll stay a while longer.
The furnace flames rile up, wrapping around themselves. The revenants have long been difficult to discern from within the blaze, and any soul would find it difficult to liberate their will from the mess.
After all, anyone with a strong enough soul would not have been thrown into the furnace in the first place, used by the elder Revenant to provide energy for Kazdel.
But then again, a long time has passed. Who can say if any of them have changed, or perhaps have found enlightenment?
Tin Man sits at the furnace mouth, silently waiting for his kin to answer.
- Tin Man
See you, Kazdel.
- Tin Man
Ol' Curly, Big Larry, Lil' Mo. Let's go.
- Tin Man
Life welcomes you all.
