That's not true, Count. Those soldiers who brought us here didn't just respect you for your money. They genuinely trusted you.
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＠Da Vinci
You're not nearly as awful a person as you make yourself out to be.
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＠Count Peperon
You think so? Okay, moving right along!
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＠Oberon
Count, do you mind if I ask you something?
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＠Count Peperon
Not at all, hon. I'm always thrilled to answer any questions a prince charming like yourself might have for me.
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＠Oberon
We need to know more about what's going on with Norwich and Spriggan.
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＠Oberon
Why aren't the faeries who live here evacuating?
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＠Oberon
What does Spriggan plan to do when[sr]the calamity finally hits?
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＠Oberon
Can you tell us anything on either subject?
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＠Count Peperon
Oh, that's easy, Oberon.
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＠Count Peperon
One reason the Norwich faeries aren't evacuating is because they don't fear death as much as we do...
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＠Count Peperon
But the biggest has to do with their jobs and the land.
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＠Count Peperon
You already know how much faeries care about their purpose, right?
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＠Count Peperon
Well, for the faeries of Norwich, their purpose is their job, so they can't just give it up and look for another.
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＠Count Peperon
On top of that, they're also being held back by psychological shackles.
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＠Count Peperon
You see, Spriggan actually sold Norwich's land right before those dark clouds showed up above it.
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＠Count Peperon
You see, back when he stole Norwich out from under the previous lord, Boggart...
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＠Count Peperon
...Boggart, and all the faeries who owned land here, were banished to the north...
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＠Count Peperon
...and Spriggan claimed all this land for himself.
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＠Count Peperon
For a long time, every smith in Norwich rented the land they needed to ply their trade...
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＠Count Peperon
But now, at long last, the land was put up for sale, and the faeries all worked together to buy it for themselves.
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＠Count Peperon
That includes faeries Spriggan has been exploiting all this time...
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＠Count Peperon
...and faeries who sold everything they had so they could finally afford their own land.
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＠Count Peperon
Things were much happier in Norwich after that.[sr]But then[line 2]
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＠Da Vinci
The calamity pool showed up in the sky...
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＠Da Vinci
So these faeries won't leave Norwich because they finally have their own land here, huh...
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＠Senji Muramasa
I believe it. To a smith, their forge is more important than their life.
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＠Senji Muramasa
They could never leave it, no matter how scared they might be of this calamity pool.
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＠Gareth
Is that why you put your security detail together? Because you didn't think Spriggan's soldiers alone would be enough?
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＠Count Peperon
No. Spriggan's army has no intention[sr]of keeping Norwich safe.
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＠Count Peperon
If anything, he wants the calamity to get here.
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＠Count Peperon
I expect he'd like nothing better than if it got rid of all the faeries and buildings for him.
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？1：Why's that?
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＠Count Peperon
Well...
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？2：I see... Because he wants to nullify his contract.
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＠Senji Muramasa
Ahh, now I get it. He's a land shark.
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＠Count Peperon
That's right. It makes sense you'd have some experience with this sort of thing, huh, Muramasie?
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？！
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＠Count Peperon
Spriggan never meant to give up this land. He knew the calamity could be coming.
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＠Count Peperon
It's right there in the prophecy, after all. The part about disaster befalling a city of iron and soot.
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＠Count Peperon
So first, he sold the land to the[sr]faeries at a high price...
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＠Count Peperon
And then, once the calamity comes and effectively leaves all Norwich vacant, he'll buy it back for a steal.
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＠Count Peperon
Norwich's inheritance tax is stupidly expensive. The next generation faeries could never hope to pay it.
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＠Count Peperon
This way, Spriggan gets both the money for the land, and the rights to redevelop it however he likes.
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＠Count Peperon
Two birds, one stone, and he doesn't even have to throw it himself.
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＠Count Peperon
The only other place you'd find a faerie that devious is Proper Human History.
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＠Oberon
Are you kidding!? That's even more horrible than anything any faerie in Proper Human History's done! I knew Spriggan was shameless, but I had no idea he was THAT awful!!!
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＠Altria
So that's why the faeries here are still living their lives as usual...
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＠Altria
No... It's not that. They don't have any other choice. After all, if they left here...
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＠Gareth
They'd be broke, and unable to pay[sr]next year's existence tax...
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＠Oberon
I knew it was strange.
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＠Oberon
Why were there still faeries who cared about the well-being of their human servants here?
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＠Oberon
The calamity will kill humans too.
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＠Oberon
Now I see. Those faeries probably want to run away, but they can't bring themselves to actually do it.
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＠Da Vinci
Hold on. You said Spriggan has no intention of keeping Norwich safe, right?
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＠Da Vinci
So then, what if he tries to do something to Mash!?
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＠Oberon
Oh, you don't have to worry about her. She had as much magical energy as a Tam Lin.
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＠Oberon
There's no way Spriggan could do anything to stop her. At best, he can just stall her by entertaining her in his castle.
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＠Oberon
No, the real problem is...we no longer have any way to see her again.
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＠Altria
Oh, right...
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＠Altria
If Spriggan only cares about saving his own inner circle, he'd never let the Child of Prophecy leave the castle...
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＠Altria
The second he let her talk to the faeries in town, Mash'd figure out what's really going on...
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？1：...If Mash won't come to us, we'll just have to go to her.
？2：...Guess this means we'll just have to sneak into Spriggan's castle then.
？！
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＠Count Peperon
I wouldn't recommend that. Spriggan's castle is the most heavily guarded place in all of Britain.
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＠Count Peperon
It's commonly known as the vault castle, and it's like Spriggan's antisocial personality come to architectural life.
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＠Count Peperon
If they hole up in there, not even the Tam Lin would have an easy time breaking her out.
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＠Count Peperon
I know there's nothing you can do about it now, but you really shouldn't have let Mashie go with him...
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＠Count Peperon
The only way we'll be able to see her again now is if she leaves the castle of her own accord.
