Garmond And Zaza

Hornet

Good luck on your quest Garmond. If you hope to claim justice for your fellows passed, I suspect you’ve some challenge yet ahead.

Aye! Zaza and I’ll fight to cavern’s end if it need be, for the bugs held in our hearts, and our honour as knights!

Ahh, can you feel it too? The thralls of the Citadel are gathered close, in overwhelming numbers!

Together though, the three of us would be more overwhelming still! Would you allow us to fight by your side, brave sister?

Zaza and I will tarry here a little longer... These pilgrims need watching over, and we are committed to the task.

Though the dust has not yet settled over our battle here, Zaza and I must soon be away. The memory of our village calls us ever onward. Farewell, brave sister!

Well fought sister, well fought! Though terrible and tenacious, the beast was no match for us.

Be proud! The bugs of this land will sing of our victory to their offspring, and their offspring’s offspring, forever more!

Mind yourself while you travel this grim land. A great winged beast has been stalking the heights, swooping without warning and tearing the life out of unwary travellers!

Hornet

I believe I have seen the creature you speak of. It may have marked me as prey, and followed me down onto the lower roads of the moor.

What what! Gurrrooo! The beast has been spotted! Once Zaza has fully rested, we’ll set to tracking it down!

Gurrroo! A fellow warrior braves this blighted place! Know you stand before the honoured knight Garmond, and brave companion Zaza.

Together, Zaza and I are wish bound to scale this Citadel, and vanquish the horrors at its heart!

Hornet

Then good luck to you, sir bug. It is heartening to meet another of sound mind and fortitude enough to fight back against the many haunted husks.

Aye! Never-ending, these unnatural opponents! This Citadel seems its twisted source, and honour decrees we must fight on, until we rend the heart of its decay!

Lead on, sister! Zaza and I will be close behind!

Hornet

Must you not press on, sirs?

Oh, yes! We will be off at once. Very soon. I fear though, that Zaza must rest a little longer...

Hoho sister, my whiskers are still quivering! That’s how you know you had a rousing battle!

You go on ahead. Zaza and I will keep guard here and catch any stragglers.

Ho there, brave sister! What poetry has fate writ, that we should meet here at the peak of this ghastly Citadel!

Beasts and fiends, all here are lost to that horrid Haunting! And out from this golden corpse it seeps to plague the good bugs of the land below. Well, no more we say!

Hornet

You should beware brave sirs, the creature that commands this curse is a foe far beyond bug. I would not see your lives given in vain.

Pah! We beware nothing! We would give our lives a hundred times over to finally cut away the evil that clutches our kingdom!

Hornet

The battle ahead may indeed be arduous. I accept your offer of aid, sirs.

Gurrrro! Yes! No force in the kingdom can withstand our might! Lead on, sister! Zaza and I will be close behind!

Hornet

Fair meeting again, sir knight. I see this bell has drawn you too towards its safety.

Who would have guessed, sister! A safe corner, hidden so high atop Pharloom’s cursed crown!

Our fair village may have fallen, but for these fellows... these scared few, our honour charges us to keep them safe. Our hornlance shall raise for them! After some rest, of course.

Hornet

Hold fast to your new charge, Garmond. See these bugs survive, and know I aim, in time near, to cut down this curse at its core.

Hornet

Take care, Garmond. Whatever dangers these lands present, I’m sure what waits in that Citadel will be worse.

Aye, sister! Until that Citadel is reached and justice is served, Zaza and I shall not fall.

Gurrroo! Fellow warrior, if you are wishing to lock blades, know you stand before the honoured knight Garmond, and brave companion Zaza. Together we will face bold to any challenge!

Hornet

I have no wish to fight you, sir bug. It is heartening to meet another on these roads of sound mind, and with fortitude enough to fight back against the haunted husks.

Aye! Too many, these unnatural opponents! We did hope Pharloom’s vast expanse would still possess some place free of that tainted thread.

Alas, so far we’ve encountered only violence and decay. We greatly fear the Haunting afflicts this kingdom all.

Hooof... let us stop the duel there.

I... hoof... I hope in my excitement I did not... hoof... bring down my lance too heavy upon you, sister.

Hornet

It was combat honourably conducted, sirs. But now, we should keep moving. It will not remain quiet here for long.

Y-yes, of course. Our good works are never done, and we must press ever on. There is no time to waste!

Hornet

What cause saw you first ascend to this Citadel, Garmond?

Mine is only the most sacred quest, sister! One shared with my most trusted companion, dear Zaza.

We sought this Citadel, to stand before its rulers, and demand their answer! By force if necessary! All for our dear village to whom we pledge our shells.

The fearsome haunting of thread, it overcame our fair folk.... We are all that remain, left to carry their memory, and the hope to see some justice paid.

Gurro! I have a notion for you, sister. What say we cross our weapons here before we move on? Engage in some rollicking combat together? Have no fear, I will not strike a mortal blow!

Hornet

Sir knight, I am sorry... This was the only means to free you from the cursed threads.

Hohhhh... fret not.... little one...

Be proud... you’ve grown so strong!

Zaza... let us just rest a little... and then we’ll be away...

You go on ahead. Zaza and I will keep guard here and catch any stragglers.

Ho, sister! A grand victory achieved, again. The haunted might of this place cannot stand against our pure hearts!

Gurrrooooo! Gallantly answered, sister! Prepare your weapon!

Hornet

What cause sees you travelling these blighted lands, Garmond? Do you also seek the Citadel above?

Aye! But do not mistake a valorous adventurer for a mere pilgrim. Mine is a sacred quest, shared with my most trusted companion, dear Zaza.

We seek that Citadel not for its gifts. Nay, sister! We seek its rulers, to demand their answer! By force if necessary! For our dear village to whom we pledge our shells.

The fearsome haunting of thread, it overcame our fair folk... We are all that remain, left to carry their memory, and the hope to see some justice paid.

Very well, sister. Perhaps it is better that we all just rest here a little longer.

Snnnrk... Zaza... Snnnrnrrk... Look sharp my lad...

Leave us to our noble hunt, sister! The Citadel’s twisted bugs still infest these gilded halls. Many are their numbers, but we shall see their life’s thread severed.

How dank and fetid are these ancient roads, sister! My delicate whiskers are nearly overcome by the stench of evil in the air.

Woe betide those with delicate senses, such as poor Zaza here. The shadow of that ghastly Citadel falls heavily upon this place!

Hornet

I’ve seen many mighty structures fall to decay in my time. Such places often become home to predators. Keep your sights trained on what lurks in the fog, sirs.

Ahh, sister! You have awoken. I hope that our powerful strikes did not leave you in too weak a condition.

We would even be willing to duel again, if you still have the strength!

Hahhh... hahhh... oh, sister. What a toll it exacts on us... this endless combat! Certainly when peace finally comes, we will be in the right mind to appreciate it...

Hornet

You place too much burden upon yourself, sir.

Hornet

Though I share your ambition to free this land from its curse, I counsel you to rest, even if only for a short while.

Us, rest? While you, my dear sister, fight on so gallantly? Hahhhh... we cannot.

What would our old village think of us, were we to quit our charge? No, regardless of what you may believe, there’s strength enough still in these old shells!

Well met, sister. Though the beastly Citadel has finally been slain, still the lands caught beneath it suffer!

The evils long done by that cursed place have sunk into the kingdom’s very foundations, and now they rise up as a black sickness.

Hornet

This darkness, it is a curse deadlier than the Haunting... a force from far below that will consume all if given the opportunity.

Hmm... Just so! And while wickedness still stalks these lands, our hornlance shall not rest!

What say you, sister? Shall we join together in valiant combat?

Many foes await us. Shall we duel with one another before moving on?

Hold there, sister! A great beast stalks this land, swooping and screeching like an ill-mannered tyrant!

Zaza has been following the creature’s scent, and now I’m sure we’re almost upon it! We’re so close my whiskers are bristling!

Such a beast is worthy quarry for the valiant, aye? What say you, shall we hunt the creature together?

You would fight alone, sister? You would be undefeatable with me by your side! And Zaza also! You need only ask, and our hornlance would be yours.

Why spurn a little duel, sister? Surely it would put us in good stead for the trials ahead!

Hornet

If we were to duel it would doubtless be illuminating. Unfortunately, I lack the time for such frivolity. Farewell, sirs.

Zaza and I will fight through these cursed lands until every last one of the black-twisted fiends has been cut down!

Hahhh... well met, sister. The task of hunting down these black-twisted fiends is no small one, eh? Still, we must not rest! Not while the cries of the innocent echo from every corner of the kingdom!

We must press on... There is so much more... for us to do...

Guurroooo! Scoundrel! Fiend! Who dares wake brave Garmond from his well needed kip?

Hornet

I’ve no intent to disturb, sir bug. I am merely passing these towers and sought to better understand the lay of the place.

Hmmph! Knowing the battlefield? A warrior’s reason! Just look at you! Your stance and blade, almost alone they declare a fight.

As the bravest of knights, if direct challenge were offered, honour would see noble Garmond accept!

Fortunate that seems not your intent. In truth, I’m still sleeping off something of an altercation myself. Had our meeting called for a knightly duel, you’d not have had the luck to behold my finest form.

Till the end... together...

Our duty... till the end...

We remember your light...

Always in our hearts...

Live or die, make them proud!

For dear friends lost...

Only our duty... Only our claws...

Meet your enemy’s gaze!

For their sake, fight fiercely on!

For dear friends gone!

For family passed!

Cut down the darkness!

We shall fight...

Keep your hornlance high!

We shall remember...