Come At the King: The Final Chapter

*Sic semper tyrannis.*

The 7th and final episode of the Come At The King arc of Rude Tales of Magic.

## Summary

Amber-Ale Assembleaux’s army of assembled men storm his office, surrounding the party as he orders them to be killed. They advance when Grimothee Steel reaches out to them with his mind, pleading with them to stop and free themselves. The assembled pause to ponder his words but explain that they were all preprogrammed to never harm or allow harm to Assembleaux. Amber-Ale explains that to create an assembled man, they require a portion of a human soul to power them. Grimothee is one of many whose soul proved too hard to break down, maintaining some sentience of his own. He also explains that all of these unique cases were sent off to be caretakers instead of soldiers, and any of them who returned to him to free their brethren were swiftly destroyed at his hands. The party keeps attacking Assembleaux while his army hesitates, but he ultimately orders them to capture the party.

Back in Payola, Smellulus sulks until a court jester arrives. He introduces himself as Gladhands and performs clever rhymes, riddles and acrobatics for his amusement. Smellulus is delighted and befriends him instantly, only to gradually learn that Sundown Samara sent him to keep him busy while she did the real work of ruling the city.  Smellulus ultimately drives the jester off with his demands for validation and improv comedy, leaving Gladhands to accept actual torture over entertaining the humorless emperor.

The captured party is dragged into a courtroom, trying to rally the assembled men into rebellion. While most ignore their pleas, random mentions of their past experiences trigger enthusiastic responses from singular automatons. Seeing the impending danger, Torrin discretely sends her mouse Old Glove to go distract Assembleaux. Reaching the court, Amber-Ale explains that things are done fairly here in Larroquette. They are given fair trial with his right-hand man Fanboat acting as an impartial judge. Seeing the golden opportunity to use his experience in the courtroom, Butter decides to act as their spokesman.  Butter delivers a flowery introduction before announcing that the legal system is a farce and was never fair before goring Fanboat with his horns and entering a bloodthirsty frenzy. The courtroom erupts into chaos as the party attacks Amber-Ale. Grimothee shouts to his mechanical brothers to trigger their individual interests while Deli ignores the battle to steal Fanboat’s backup ring. The loyal assembled men cling to Amber-Ale, joining with him to form an armored, twenty-foot tall being called Mecha-Ale Assembleaux.

Back in the palace, Smellulus sulks about his struggle to rule. He wanders the halls to reflect on the portraits of former emperors, focusing on Scenticles the Bold: the only apparent loxodon emperor. He pleads to be aided or recognized, but Sundown Samara finally appears to him. She explains how his decisions have led to the fall of the empire on his first day. His decision to redirect a trolley killed Archipelago Mamamia, the royal calendrix. His public murder of Jean-Luc Robespierre was the final straw as the beloved tailor’s name is on everyone’s lips as they shout for revolution. Smellulus declares that an empire who puts one person ahead of the many is doomed and sets fire to the portrait of Scenticles. Seeing that their rule and their relationship is doomed, Sundown Samara kisses Smellulus passionately before breathing fire, killing him. With his dying breath, he vows that Torrin, his adoptive daughter and heir, will find her and kill her. Stricken with rage and grief, a weeping Sundown flies away from the burning capital.

The ranting, towering Assembleaux continues to berate and attack the party as Torrin calls for Old Glove to pull the plug. The mouse fails to disable the giant fusion of man and machine, but he does open a large hatch that reveals his giant, shiny mechanical heart. The glorious brightness of his giant heart makes the fleeing Deli weep with joy as she tackles and wrestles it out of Assembleaux’s chest, fleeing with it in her clutches. This kills the wealthy warlord as his assembled men all pile off of him, leaving him to slowly shut down. Grimothee punches him in the face to end the last of his twisted life.

In the aftermath of the battle, the assembled begin to slowly think for themselves. They look to Grimothee for guidance as he is given his file by the wounded Fanboat. He learns that his soul belonged to Grimothee Aprilshowers, a bard who invented ska. He died saving a child’s life, who is now rumored to be a pirate on The Stale Sea. He decides to go find this child, and with no other guidance, the assembled men agree to join him as his ska band and crew.

Butter finally comes down from his frenzy, only to hear a voice in his head. A recently formed god Combatro, the god of one-on-one combat, speaks to him to praise his handiwork. He had been watching him for a long time and offers him a position as his demigod, fighting with him for eternity in Hell. Butter accepts and as he tries to bid farewell to the others, his brain explodes and he is transported to Hell to meet and battle his new master.

Torrin is suddenly hit with a sensation of leadership, realizing that Smellulus has died and she has become the new, true emperor of Cordelia. She confesses this to her friends and Grimothee and The Beautiful Avoider agree to return to the kingdom together. The remaining friends leave as Deli reveals she simply fell into the bushes. With her giant shining heart, she’s unable to carry anything else and appears content to travel with them for now. They hop on a highway centipede back to Cordelia. A moment later, The Unhittable Babylon Brown arrives in Larroquette to capture her and loudly proclaims his confidence in a job well done. Snake Casual narrates an outro with a missing tongue, having escaped the struggle after assuming his mission was complete.

In one final post-credits, Smellulus awakens in a dark and empty world. A black ferry approaches him and as he calls out for help, a haughty French accent welcomes him to Hell.

## Link

https://rudetalesofmagic.simplecast.com/episodes/miniseries-come-at-the-king-the-final-chapter