[Nathaniel's written thoughts.]

[zerotje]

You know, I've lost about all my riches and that is really irksome.

But for some reason I cannot help but smile and feel great.

If I think about the people that either disrespected me or thwarted my progress, a few names come to mind.



Alejandro - Dead. His friends watched him die. I even punched his boyfriend while he cried at his corpse. Hilarious how brutal a death that was. That's what you get for overcharging your poems.

Arjuna - Dead and desecrated. I gave this man all the solutions and he opted to ignore my advice and beat me up a whole bunch. Got himself disgraced and blackbranded by his own father and state. Divine justice does exist!

Mm... Ah.

Bashir, doesn't care about me much probably, but I'd like to think I have a part in ruining his good mood, if he ever had such. I wouldn't feel so wroth with him if he wasn't a coward boy that left me hanging. Imagine acting like an Agent of Ephia's Well and then being abandoned because your handler says his job is a bit stressful. Oh, really? Your job is stressful. WELL! WHAT ABOUT MY FUCKING JOB? I WAS THREATENED BY DEATH DAILY. WHAT ABOUT YOU.
[A whole array of angry scrawls and rips in the paper.]

Mood ruined, clearly I am dissatisfied, he hasn't suffered nearly enough for me to feel particularly smug.

Okay... who to write about next...

Gedwyr?

Mixed feelings. The bastard killed Arjuna with a gang of Ephia's Well's most powerful killers. The Gold League! Aha, my new stalwart allies... Gets to brag he killed Arjuna. Stupid. Anyone can kill anyone under those conditions. Not impressed. But, thanks anyway.

I'm asked to stay away from Gedwyr because our petty squabble's turned pretty dangerous!

So I did, I am staying away from Gedwyr. Made sure he wasn't home when I broke in! Heard he got arrested for desecration of a corpse. Stole his stuff, ran to the Creep to advertise my new found wares. Obviously even a stinky Dwarf can add one with one, so he got wroth with me, as planned. I threw his stuff in random chests scattered over the Well. Charity chest here, there, the Wheelhouse, the Souk, the Creep. Handy places to temporarily stuff your stolen goods aha.

Went to the garrison where everyone was. Of course the rat-brain immediately saw red, like a bull and attacked. Infront of the entire Ephia's Well. He struck me, I cast darkness, snuck away! My standard formula of success.

Boom! Arrested again! Hahaha. Ohhh... That was good. Had myself searched by the Legate, a Janissary, anyone important and relevant, all concluded it's a tad farfetched to believe it was me and that I was clean.

Collected all the stolen goods, stuffed it somewhere, but it seems people found it all. Fine with me.

Of course he couldn't let it go and placed a 10,000 bounty on my head. With my own coin. Not that he knows that.

I'd left it at that but this silly unwashed Dwarf only knows how to escalate. So! A new plot's begun!
I'll write of it when it succeeds! I hope it does... It doesn't exactly have high chances. It's more of a fifty-fifty type of plot. Of course well hidden from my new friends.

Oh and Atticus signed my Atticus Hero Card. Apparently he didn't know that his name is spread on a Hero Card across Frostport, Kha'esh, Qadira, the Wastes and Ephia's Well.

Say isn't having your name known and famous a problem for a Djinn hunter?
Ah he'll be fine surely!

Hahahahaha!


More wine. Time for wine.

[zerotje]

Everything went wrong!!!

Ephia's Well is a cancer! Who expected corruption and incompetence to this degree? They are the Colossi of Failure!!

My aaaaaarm!!

Chopped of by a fat man wielding a crimson demon sword?!

This is normal here?!

No witnesses. No stolen goods on my person or in my room.

Still guilty. And of attempted murder on someone that actively murdered Alejandro?!

Then the friends of Alejandro testified yes indeed he tried to murder the murderer of my friend Alejandro- and that is reprehensible.

Oh yesss. That makes sense.

Kangaroo court. Banana republic. A grand nepotism.

Gedwyr said that this all happened because I tried shorting him five coin. I don't remember. He thinks he won, but he cheated, it doesn't count. My robbery was clean. Pristine. My baiting him into assault- genius. He only succeeded in court because everyone is a clown.

A genius like myself, honorable and ambitious, can only ever be dragged down within the domain of clowns.

I will carve my own settlement, without their foul presence. From the beginning. That way, there'll be no cheating.

Got out alive and that's a victory.

Time to have all of them assassinated and dead. All of them. Judge. Witnesses. Prosecution. All are going to die.

Cheaters deserve it.

[zerotje]

These latest new allies have given me powerful tools to achieve my ends. In return, I am eager and willing to aid them in their dark designs. There's just one thing that irks me.

He treats me the same way Arjuna Namahedu treated me.

And Arjuna Namahedu is now dead.

Once you have given me what I want, I will orchestrate your death and you can join Arjuna in the Hells.

[zerotje]

They have forgotten me.
I have not forgotten them.

I have made them suffer and this will only continue on.
For some, the conclusion comes soon.

[zerotje]

Dear diary,

I am feeling forlorn. I used to be able to sit by warm hearth in the Krak des Roses, Rosewine readily available. I used to stirr the glass, glance into the wine and daydream about how to furnish my Ashview Manse.

It is true that everyone in Ephia's Well was lesser to my brilliance and that they annoyed me with their bumbling incompetence and mindless arrogance and self-congratulatory nature... BUT, it was a better fate than the loneliness I endure now.

I've made a bit of a friend I think in this silly drunk Genady Toporov. He has stones for brains, but he seems loyal and honest. These two qualities are what I desire most in a friend, because that makes them easy to control. People who are friends but do not listen to my great intellect tend to cause huge problems. Ugh.

But he is unrefined and brutish. Reminds me of Osric and Arjuna. Occasional visitors are either sand covered wandering paupers, flea-ridden wormingers or very old Elves that keep talking about their inevitable decay and death. The only refined gentleman to have graced me with their presence barely visits but when he does I feel a monocle of the old me, a happy tingle!

It's not all bad though, there's no backstabbing Janissaries or Gold League members here and no Arjuna that beats me up all the time. Most my bruises have healed, I just lack an arm is all, but maybe a Djinn or unwholesome Spoke could help me in that regard! Grow it back through some dark and twisted sacrifice. Maybe I could fuel such a ritual with one of my enemies's innards. Mmm... that would be righteous justice. Not that I possess any knowledge in that regard, this is idle speculation...

Maybe I should kidnap that Nadiri Ashley, wasn't she a doctor? And Astronomer? She can ask the Stars or some otherworldly being and then also carry out the operation. But if I beat her up right before the operation then she'll be liable to make mistakes. I can't imagine you can thread a needle when your arms are broken. Such predicaments!

At least I was brought a box of Rosewine yesterday, definitely a highlight in the last two weeks.

Now, if my loyal employees finally get to complete the very murderous work I have given them, coin will flow in and I'll be able to furnish the Real Palatial Pyramid! I must make sure it is more luxurious than the Legate Office, which by the way, is really easy to accomplish. The office seemed made for function and not comfort. Fit for the drones they are! Dull boring cobbled little drones they are, these Ephians... Do they even enjoy good wine? Enjoy good foods? Do they hire entertainment? Do they purchase Art? Do they enjoy a gladiator fight? Do they ever do anything remotely appropriate for someone in power and in riches? No they do not. This is why I enjoyed Arjuna Namahedu initially, he showed some Spokes forsaken personality! Personality!

Do you hear that Ephians? Personality! And joy! EVER HEARD OF THAT? All those Ephians are so focused on their jobs and despite that, despite all their essence poured into being a boring drone, they STILL manage to do a POOR job.

It should be me on the Throne of Ephia's Well, honestly! But it seems I must settle for the second best option, the Throne of Crime! Haha. I do enjoy the thought of being feared... Never quite expected or desired it but, I think I do now! Yes... Make me happy, my loyal underlings! Kill them all and make them scared.

[zerotje]

That fraudulent man! Bare feet. Has me crush a SYMBOL of his own faith. Metal and gold. Books of other faiths. Petrification-turning of those loyal.

All the warning signs are there...

You will be freed! I will free you from the shackles this feign-priest binds you in. Perhaps you could all return to being Man? If not, I imagine at least your souls will find deserved rest.


Yes... The Leech... That should be that lazy content bastard's moniker.

[zerotje]

I just came up with the worst idea.