Grigor Topic /8
NPCName
HarganYou met Grigor yet? You have? Piety made a right mess of that poor bastard. Anyways, he wants to talk to you. Something about a 'Gemling Queen'.
HarganYou met our bard-in-residence yet? No, suppose not. He likes to keep his own company. You'll know why when you see him. Anyways, he wants to talk to you. Muttered something about a 'Gemling Queen', whatever that is.
HarganI can't imagine what that poor bastard's been through. It's a miracle Grigor hasn't completely lost his mind. Granted, he's lost one or two pieces along the way, but there's still plenty that's worth listening to.
MaramoaGrigor straddles two worlds. One foot planted on this soil, one in the dirt of spirit and shadow. When you speak with him, be sure to know from which world his words arise.
ClarissaNo one should have to go through what Grigor has. I help him as much as he'll let me, but he's a proud one... and so he should be.

He's survived what has destroyed... too many of us.
MaramoaGrigor is the butterfly that has lost its wings to a cruel child, and this place of respite has become a cage for his pain, a breeding ground of bad memory. We spoke and Grigor shared his resolve with me. He can no longer live with the torment that Piety has injected into his heart.

Like the warrior-poet he is, Grigor has ventured into the unknown, to find a cure for his body and mind, or die in the attempt.
ClarissaMy heart aches for Grigor. I know the battle in which he is engaged. It's like my own, a fight to make sense of life in a land that deems life to be worthless.

I don't know where he's gone, but I do know he's looking to find himself, his true self, as we all must do in our own time.
HarganGrigor left without a single word to me, rude bugger, but I suspect his poetic soul has been drawn back home, to Ezomyr. A long journey, but a trek worth taking to find solace among one's own people. Of course, they'll get quite the shock when they see him. Let's hope familial love is as nearsighted as they say!

There're the fine tales Grigor will be able to tell them, of course. Come to think of it, now that Dominus has been knocked off his perch, there's nothing to stop the Ezomytes from learning a thing or two from Grigor's stories. They might even consider invading this jewel in Wraeclast's tarnished crown. I certainly hope they have just such an eye for opportunity... a man could make a tidy sum helping said invaders navigate Sarn and its many hazards.
Grigor Text Audio /37
Name
Keep your distance, exile. The name's Grigor, and when you've had your eyes' fill of my twisted visage, how about you turn those fine jellies of yours eastward.

A copper-headed lass and her boy-mate. They've procured themselves some strife.
Clarissa
Come no closer, Witch. The name's Grigor and, as you can see, I've had my fill of your kind.

So once you've finished admiring your sisterhood's handiwork, turn those icy orbs of yours eastward. A copper-headed lass and her boy-mate. They're missing, and might be in need of your more 'useful' talents.
Clarissa
Keep your distance, exile. The name's Grigor, and when you've had your eyes' fill of my twisted visage, how about you turn those fine jellies of yours eastward.

Yes, you've brought Clarissa home to us, and once again she pesters me with pity. There's only so much broth, so many bouquets that a man can take. For a criminal, Clarissa has a strangely soft centre.

Still, I'd rather not see that heart of hers harden. See if you can find that lost boy-mate of hers. With him around, Clarissa doesn't have as much time to bother me.
Clarissa
Come no closer, Witch. The name's Grigor and, as you can see, I've had my fill of your kind.

So once you've finished admiring your sisterhood's handiwork, turn those icy orbs of yours eastward.

Yes, you've brought Clarissa home to us, and once again she pesters me with pity. There's only so much broth, so many bouquets that a man can take. For a criminal, Clarissa has a strangely soft centre.

Still, I'd rather not see that heart of hers hardened. Use those dubious talents of yours for something worthwhile. Find her boy-mate, Tolman. Prove me wrong about your kind.
Clarissa
I no longer dream when I sleep. I have a nightmare, the same nightmare, over and over. The Mirror. It's never my reflection looking back.

The first time that mirror appeared to me, it was Kole I saw. A rapist from Oriath I had the displeasure of sharing a pen with in Gravicius' stockade. Piety took him for her experiments and that night, I saw her handiwork while I slept.

This time, it was Tolman. Flesh dried to leather. Organs shrunk to husks. Blood trickling through his skeleton like red dust in an hourglass. It's Piety's gift to me, that mirror.

At least I won't be seeing Clarissa the next time I look into it. Make sure it's not you I see, either.
Tolman
Listen carefully, Witch. Thanks to your sister-in-art, Piety, I no longer dream when I sleep. I only have nightmares. The same nightmare, over and over. The Mirror. It's never my reflection looking back.

The first time that mirror appeared to me, it was Kole I saw. A rapist from Oriath I had the displeasure of sharing a pen with in Gravicius' stockade. Piety took him for her experiments and that night, I saw her handiwork while I slept.

This time, it was Tolman. Flesh dried to leather. Organs shrunk to husks. Blood trickling through his skeleton like red dust in an hourglass. It's Piety's gift to me, that mirror.

At least I won't be seeing Clarissa the next time I look into it. And for that alone, I hope it's not you I see, either.
Tolman
Maramoa's sure of herself, and that kind of surety gets you killed in Sarn. You and all those around you.

Hargan's got the right idea. Don't believe in anything that you can't trade or eat.
Maramoa
I wouldn't rely on Hargan in a fight, and I wouldn't put too much faith in what he says, but he has one highly useful asset: his obsession with self-preservation. If Hargan deems you of use in keeping his fat self alive, he'll do almost anything for you.
Hargan
I walked halfway across this forsaken continent because of an ode. {Of Jewels and Eternity}, it's called.

{For twinkled promises}
{Of jewels and eternity,}
{The Gemling Queen gave her heart}
{And body}
{To the King of Shades}
{For one more day in the sun,}
{The last day in the sun.}

That's but a portion of the full epic. "The Gemling Queen" lived, and she's the enigma behind the fall of the Ezomytes and the Eternals both. Look to the Solaris Temple to the north-east. Find the Gemling Queen's remains before Piety does... and destroy them.
The Gemling Queen
{Death came to town.}
{The roaring Ezomytes wore red.}
{The red of blood,}
{The red of the fray.}

{Death came to town.}
{The crying Ezomytes wore black.}
{The black of disease,}
{The black of dismay.}

{Death came to town.}
{The silent Ezomytes wore grey.}
{The grey of twilight.}
{The grey of decay.}

Only the Isles of Skothe were spared. Once, a backwater of my proud civilisation, now... all that remains of the Ezomytes.
The Ezomytes
The Gemling Queen, she's... impossible. How did she survive? Why is she not one of the Undying? No, no, these questions can wait. There's a more pressing one. Is she safe from the Ebony Legion?
The Gemling Queen
You've been busy. With the Spool back where it belongs, the Ribbons should be able to keep the Ebony Legion at bay. We've both seen what they can do to a man.

Whether you were saving your own skin or thinking of others, it matters little to me. You succeeded where I did not. You have stood in the presence of the Gemling Queen. I can hope only to meet her in my nightmares.
The Ribbon Spool
That's dark news, indeed. If Gravicius has the Ribbon Spool then it's only a matter of time before the Ebony Legion breaks through the bloodied Ribbons. Then they'll have the Gemling Queen, a living embodiment of the cataclysm.
The Ribbon Spool
Piety dies amongst her abominations, her warped dream taunting her, maddeningly out of reach. As a poet, I'm fond of that creed of justice.

Here, the executioner needs recompense.
Piety
Unfortunately, Piety was simply a puppet of a greater force. You've cut the strings but the master remains: Dominus.

That key you've picked up, I heard the Blackguards talk of it. It's the one key to the Sceptre of God, on the northern edge of the Blackguard encampment. Only Piety was permitted to carry it.

Dominus accessed his laboratory at the summit of the tower via a pulley system rigged to the outside wall. That way will be barred to you, and I heard of no one, not even Piety, going in or coming out of the lower levels.

Go with care, exile. I can't imagine what's inside that tower if even Piety and Dominus feared to tread its steps.
Sceptre of God
Unfortunately, Piety was simply a puppet of a greater force. You've cut the strings but the master remains: Dominus.

Do you have Piety's key? No? I heard the Blackguards talk of it. It's the one key to the Sceptre of God, on the northern edge of the Blackguard encampment. Only Piety was permitted to carry it.

Dominus accessed his laboratory at the summit of the tower via a pulley system rigged to the outside wall. That way will be barred to you, and I heard of no one, not even Piety, going in or coming out of the lower levels.

If you find that key then go with care, exile. I can't imagine what's inside that tower if even Piety and Dominus feared to tread its steps.
Sceptre of God
Victario, a fellow warrior of words. He wrote many entreaties to the Ezomytes, begging our assistance in helping High Templar Voll depose Emperor Chitus.

That was centuries ago. Victario's words held much power then. I imagine they still do.
Victario
Piety's a genius sculpting mere human clay into "divine" Gemlings. At least, that's what she told me when she opened me up and buried a Virtue Gem in my entrails.

Malachai did the same in the name of the Emperor, centuries ago. Chitus' Gemlings still rule Sarn. We call them the Undying now.
Gemlings
I tried to penetrate the Solaris Temple in the north-east. Almost got myself killed by the bloody Ribbons that guard the place. Bizarre floating tapestries they are, creatures of cloth and thaumaturgy. Fortunately, a few legionnaires got in the way. While the Ribbons eviscerated them, I ran... straight into Gravicius.

He dragged me over the bridge, to the Lunaris Temple in the west, and put me in Piety's "tender care". Didn't say a single word to me the whole time. I was nothing but a spoil of war to him.
General Gravicius
Despite everything else you've done, to let Piety live is to threaten the existence of every living thing on this continent.

Look to the west of Gravicius' camp. You'll find Piety in the Lunaris Temple, cowering behind her desecrations.
Piety
The Eternals revered Sun and Moon as the two eyes of their God. The right eye, Judging Solaris. The left eye, Merciful Lunaris. I can't imagine {that} God being overly merciful when She finds out what Piety's been doing in Her temple.
The Lunaris Temple
When Piety was... experimenting on me, my consciousness was mercifully fleeting. In those moments of numbing darkness, I met a presence.

Intelligence, power, immensity beyond the limits of my pitiable mortal senses. To this creature, I was but a rain drop falling into the sea.

I heard Piety speak to her lackeys of 'The Beast'. It is the source of her thaumaturgy, and the object of her ambitions. I believe Piety's 'Beast' and that dark entity are one and the same.

Wherever it is, whatever it is, The Beast is the cause of my malformation. It would not be a stretch of reason to consider The Beast the source of all malformation in Wraeclast.
The Beast

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