Episode 31: Repast

**Episode 31: Repast** (1x31) - The Nearlies sit at dinner with a some of Faritall’s most dangerous people. Every which way the conversation turns dangerous secrets are revealed, old grudges are uncovered, and brewing danger presents itself. Deadly consequences await behind every wrong answer and lurk at the bottom of every glass. Toast to the dead, try to stay alive.

## Cast

### Nearlies

Josh | Xenator Brisbane
Kathy | Lavaleen Crest
Andy | Martin Sirque
Amanda | Gwendylyn Cloot
 Robbie | The Speaker
 Aaron |  Production & Sound

### NPCs

APPEARING
 Dodderfell
 Von Dark
 Otak
 Elidda
 Naddagaster
 Gentleman Hunter

## Synopsis

### Prologue

Finding well-paying work in Thistleberry Hollow is easy to come by.  Well-paying work that wasn’t also extremely dangerous was much harder. Jonathan Striver had spent his life working in the Grimmwood and had the scars to prove it.  They day he saw the Undergrowth Men, was when he vowed his time in the Grimmwood was over.  He had though foragaing to be a much safer enterprise than logging the bleeding trees, or hunting fellsbore the size of a schoolhouse.  But then he and his partner had found a patch of singing mushrooms. They reached for them, when the ground shifted beneath them, and the Undergrowth men reached upwards, grabbing them, and attempted to eat them.  Jonathan had escaped with his life, although he had the wherewithal to also grab up several baskets of previously felled foragers on his way out.

After such a windfall, it was expected by the other villagers that Jonathan might begin to spend the gold that he received for the ingredients in the foragers’ baskets.  But he did not.  He scrimped, and saved, and held onto every brass lark he could.  He was not going to go back into the Grimmwood, and managed to ration that money for two years.  But eventually, it ran out, and his he was hungry and desperate.  This might be why when Pendell came to him, showing him a job offer for three gold swans for a day’s work, he couldn’t pass it by. He reasoned that it was different than the other Grimmwood jobs, it was a servants’ job for Elida’s wake.  He agrees, and he and Pendell head towards the Orchard Manor.

### Episode

The Nearlies are sitting at the table for dinner. Three shadowy servants hover around and began to bring out the various dishes and wines, setting them on the table.  The Nearlies and the rest of the guests at the table begin to eat.  Martin is having difficulty being in such proximity to the Gentleman Hunter and the Cambien, sitting next to him, pats Martin on the hand in a comforting way. Gwen continues her quest to seduce the Cambien, and Xenator seems determined to bore the guests to death with a monologue no one asked for on the history of the various foods on the table.

Lavaleen has not participated in the various conversations as she has been attempting to see the identify of her dinner companion Naddagaster, who has been refusing to look at her and appears extremely nervous. Finally recognizing him, she stands suddenly, grabs the small man by the collar, and screams, “where is it?” Elida slams her hand on the table, admonishing Lavaleen to control herself.  Involuntary, Lavaleen’s grip loosens from the man, and he drops back into his seat.  This causes Lavaleen to glare at Elida angrily, before digging into her pockets, and swiftly dropping a portion of bottled time.

A magic nebulous bubble surrounds the two of them, as they are now in a separate bubble of time.  Now, more or less alone with him, Lavaleen insists that they talk.  The little man tries to deny knowledge of what she is talking about, and Lavaleen lifts him up by the collar again and gives him a shake. Within the time bubble she does not feel the same magical compulsion that prevented violence that she did before. When he continued to be obtuse, Lavaleen reaches into her pocket and pulls out a small silver dagger that she had hidden, strapped to her thigh.  With nothing preventing violence, she puts the knife to his neck and asks once again where it was?

With the sufficient threat of violence, Naddagaster finally acknowledges her question about the golden egg that she had traded him for her means to escape King Demm.  He urges her to be calm and to not break any of the ancient Grimmwood laws against violence. He then asks her not to stab him when he tells her:

               Upon a bed of feathered embers sits an egg for months on end

               Inside the world where time does flow and time does dance and time does bend

               And in this place the egg has hatched, and from this egg a girl has danced

So, by asking where the egg was, Lavaleen was asking the wrong question, as she does not care about the egg but really should be asking where her daughter was.  With that revelation, the bottled time ends, and the two are returned to the regular flow of time at the dinner table.

Naddagaster slides Lavaleen a napkin with a map drawn on it.  Lavaleen slips both that, and her knife discreetly in her pocket and returns to eating her dinner.  Most of the table seems in various degrees of shock at what just happens but Seddath just casually states that he didn’t think the King of Fairies would approve of the behavior.

After Seddath and Xenator discuss the Queen of Spite, Elida clinks her glass, suggesting that they take a moment to toast the fallen.  Elida gives a very short, unmoving toast and sets her glass down.  Xenator goads Elida by asking for more stories about Sarah, specifically about the night she left home to be a hero.  Elida says something vague about crying goodbye when Dellinda corrects her saying that they didn’t even know when Sarah left because she snuck out.

Feeling like Sarah deserved more, Xenator tags Captain Von Dark for a story about Sarah.  Von Dark shares the time that they finally felled the Gentleman Hunter during the 19th Midnight, leaving him to burn.  Strangely, even the Gentleman Hunter seemed to enjoy the story and states that he hasn’t fully recovered (partially explaining his appearance).

Changing the subject Elida asks about the state of Thistleberry Hollow.  She and Saddath seems to have distaste for the town’s existence, considering them poachers of the Grimmwood.  She brings up the trade of pixie dust, which is generally acquired by grinding down fairies (citizens of the thorn kingdom) to harvest their dust.

Conversation continues and Gwen asks Naddagaster how he knows Sarah.  It turns out that he’s the one that helped Sarah escape from her prison in her room. It turns out offering escapes is his specialty, and in return he asks for Sarah’s first-born, as that is the classic price for a wish.  It comes out that Sarah never delivered that price, always a risk, but that she wasn’t able to convieve children as a side effect of some of the torture methods inflicted upon her by the Cambien.  This torture was apparently necessary to unlock Sarah’s powers, but this is of little comfort to the Nearlies.

They are still trying to process this new information when they hear Otax coming down the stairs.  Changing the general conversation once again, Saddeth asks what exactly the Nearlies were.  Xenator responds that they were Glorious hunters, which causes a general amount of shock and interest.  Saddeth, perhaps purposely goading, refers to the hunting of Glorious as murder.  The Nearlies attempt to reclassify it as self-defense, but Saddeth chooses not to understand, stating that he and his people have had peaceful interactions with all the Glorious that they’ve encountered. He also states that there are Glorious that are currently residing as guests in the keep of his mistress, the Queen of Spite.

It also comes out that Sarah Applejack is a descendent from one of the holy bloodlines in the Thorn Kingdoms through her mother. That is why the Queen of Spite sent her envoy, Saddeth, to show her respects.  He doesn’t offer many details about her bloodline, but as far as he knows, Sarah’s mother still resides in the Sacred Grove, with “the others”.

Elida, again choosing to change the subject, asks the Nearlies about Sarah’s remains, as she recalls seeing an urn.  The Nearlies deny having any remains, and deny that the container they were carrying was an urn.  They even perform some slight of hand to empty the urn of the blood red seed that they had placed in it and showed Elida an empty container. She claims that she was looking to inter her in the family plot, but this seems unlikely.  After Elida is convinced that there are no remains, a look oases over her face, suggesting that she is pleased that something bothersome is finally gone.

Gwen and Martin for some reason begin to flirt heavily with the Cambien, making it extremely uncomfortable for the rest of the table.  Valeriana and Xenator excuse themselves from the table to go to the bathroom.  Before leaving, Xenator offers to Saddeth that they will help them against the Glorious should they wish to be rid of them, and barring that, to keep in mind that the Glorious are master manipulators and to consider if they are hosting them because their wills have been warped. Even Saddeth responds to that possibility and promises to consider it, claiming he would not ignore good counsel.

Elida then brings the topic of conversation back to the attack on the Sacred Temple of Inns and Taverns, something she had mentioned to the Nearlies earlier.  They claim no more knowledge of the attacks other than what Elida has provided them, as they had been travelling.  She asks if the veteran Heroes would be able to repel such an attack, clearly probing for more information about the recent lack of Heroes in the world.  They deny all knowledge, and reiterate that they have been traveling.

Meanwhile, Xenator and Valeriana are upstairs to confront Otax.  Xenator tries to comfort the enraged and heartbroken Otax.  He harshly ask them if he is merely getting what he deserved. Xenator quickly shuts down the wallowing in self-pity, stating that they are leaving to go find Sarah’s mother, and they wanted to know if he wanted to come with them.  Otax expresses incredulity, that the Nearlies would be able to find something that he’s spent decades searching for. He then does a macabre reveal, showing himself to be blue and ox likes, as if he and an oxen had merged.  Xenator ignores this reveal, and continues to bring up Sarah, stating he can either come and help find her, or stay here and wallow in self pity.  At this point Val and Otax realize that there is a connection between them; she is the wolf/red-hood, and he is the woodsman, who saved the red-hood and killed the wolf.

Back downstairs Elida asks the Nearlies what they’re planning to doing next.  After listening to some ramblings, she suggests that the Nearlies would have to take a different route back, as they should not go back via Thistleberry Hollow, as it’s ‘time has passed’.  As the Nearlies debate how to interpret that, Elida pushes the big black pot that had been sitting next to her to the middle of the table, saying that they can’t leave until they’ve had dessert.  She then dismisses her daughters from the table, and invoked the ‘authority of mother’. None may leave until they cleaned their plate.

### Epilogue

Jonathan, Pendell and Tim Weeks (the third worker) are greeted in town by a horseless carriage that was to take them to the Applejack Manor.  This is obviously disconcerting, but the promise of much needed money proved too much.  Elida sends Jonathan to gather eggs; Weeks to bring chairs up from the cellar, and Pendell to help her in the kitchen.  On his way, the stepsisters talk amongst themselves that he wouldn’t be there for very long, and the chickens beg him not to go back inside.  Again, the gold persuaded him to take the eggs to the kitchen. Once there, he saw one the of shadowy servants, black and smoke, and faceless.  It grabbed the eggs he had gathered and left.  Then Elida was there, and she pointed, telling him to scrub out the oven.  At this point he wanted to flee, but he could not.  So he approached the oven, tried to clean it, and promptly burned himself. He protests that he can’t clean it when it’s so hot.  Again he sees that shadow servant and wants to ask where Pendell has gone, but doesn’t get the chance, being told not to ask questions that he already had the answers to.  Then Elida shoves him hard, and he falls backwards into the oven.  “I need to make sure there is enough pie to kill all of my guests.”

## Notables

Episode 30
 Objects Acquired
 Spells Used
 Metamorph Attempts

## Quotables

Martin: This is going to be the worst night of my life, and I’ve died.

## External Links

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