Gatov

Gatov: Hmm? What brings you here? You know I have the watch tonight.
Gatov: ...Trouble sleeping, eh? Well, perhaps one of my old stories will help.
Gatov: I don't believe I've told you just who Sheila and I are.
Gatov: If we're to continue working together— as I hope we do—it seems only prudent to reveal a bit about us.
Gatov: So pray, lend me your ear awhile. This begins a dozen-odd years ago, when I was a king...

North Grastaea

Gatov: "My dear friend Aurelius, Though the calendar claims it is spring, the cold air of Lefkos retains its bite."
Gatov: "Perhaps it is this cold that keeps sleep a stranger. On such nights, Nadia makes tea and we share old memories."
Gatov: "Without fail, the first to surface is of when you and I traveled together so you might see the world before your coronation."
Gatov: "Oh, but we saw wonders, old friend. Ancient ruins! The heart of the Faewood! I shall never forget the thrill and awe those days brought to me."
Gatov: "Yet it all feels an age ago. As time's relentless march continued, we became both kings and fathers."
 ???: Father? I'm coming in.
Sheila: ANOTHER letter? Let me just guess who it's for this time.
Gatov: No need. It's for Aurelius.
Sheila: I knew it! You two have been trading letters since you first met as boys.
Gatov: We're old comrades in arms—and pals in mischief before that. But enough of me, girl. Was there aught you needed?
Sheila: I just baked a tart and thought perhaps you'd enjoy a slice.
Gatov: I certainly would. *munch* So you've turned your skills to baking now, eh?
Sheila: Yes, I asked the chef to let me borrow the kitchen for a while. How does it taste?
Gatov: Hmm... Not bad.
Sheila: Really? Oh, good.
Gatov: Before this, you were tending a vegetable garden, and previous to that was your stint with furniture repair.
Gatov: I can't say any of them are especially royal pursuits, but you certainly seem to enjoy collecting new hobbies.
Sheila: They're just more practical than singing and dancing. Besides, cultivating a broad set of skills opens more opportunities, no?
Gatov: You were never one to be tied down by convention. I daresay you inherited that particular foible from me.
Staff Officer: Apologies, Your Majesty, but we've received reports from the southern checkpoint that a large crowd of foreigners is seeking entry.
Staff Officer: Likely refugees from Barthe whose towns have burned in the war. Your orders?
Gatov: Open the gates and let them in, then tell the others I'll be holding council to develop a resettlement plan.
Staff Officer: At once, Your Majesty.
Sheila: More people have come here fleeing their own countries. It's so sad.
Gatov: Lefkos owes its peace to our neutrality. Ours is one of precious few places in the north not torn apart by war.
Gatov: They see hope in our kingdom and risk their lives to reach our gates. I welcome a people so brave and determined.
Gatov: That is my decision both as Lefkos's king, and as a human being who has tasted the cruel bite of pain and loss.
Sheila: Father, might I help with the resettlement planning?
Sheila: I am part of Lefkos's royal family as well, and your daughter above that.
Gatov: That you are indeed. Thank you, Sheila. You aid will be most welcome. Come.
Sheila: Right behind you, Father!

But as knowledge spread of the rare resources

Staff Officer: Another incursion! Those vultures won't stop until Lefkos is picked bare...
Gatov: Which is why it falls on us to stop them. Steel yourself, for our people's peace and prosperity rest upon your shoulders.
Gatov: Raise your heads and blades high, soldiers of Lefkos, and fight to the last!

mana began to spread across the kingdom.
Tasked with fighting a second war against frenzied
fiends, our army was gradually worn down.
And when exhaustion finally brought us to our
nadir, Lefkos's covetous neighbors were all too
eager to strike. Soon, my once lovely kingdom

Gatov: NADIA! SHEILA! Where are you?!
Nadia: Gatov...
Gatov: Don't speak, Nadia! Save your strength!
Nadia: Sheila... Gatov, you must...
Gatov: Nadia? NADIA!
Sheila: Father...
Gatov: Sheila!
Sheila: Father... Help...me...
Gatov: Fie, the wound is deep... But be at ease, my child. I'll get you through this, I swear.
Gatov: The enemy is almost upon us! ...Hold on to me, girl, tight as you can. We have to move.

no more than carry my daughter and run.
We hid in the forest along with what few

Sheila: What of Lefkos, Father...?
Gatov: Lefkos has fallen, for I lacked the strength and wisdom to protect it.
Sheila: It isn't your fault, Father... You fought to... to keep us all safe...
Sheila: I will always be...so proud of you...
Gatov: ...Sheila? Sheila, no!
Sheila: ......
Gatov: Open your eyes, my dear child! I cannot bear to lose you as well!

Gatov: (Yes... He might be able to save her!)
Gatov: (The king of the Faerie Kingdom... The scholar of secret arts...)
Staff Officer: Are you leaving, sire?
Gatov: I fear I must pay an old friend a visit. I only pray he can save Sheila's life.
Gatov: If you would yet heed my wishes, I bid you all to survive. Find some place of peace to begin your lives anew.
Staff Officer: All of us here believed Lefkos to be that place of peace...
Staff Officer: And with the kingdom lost, Your Majesty, I find all hope of peace abandoned with it. Where are we even to go?
Gatov: I stand before you with no answer to give. I pray you might forgive your failed king.
Staff Officer: King Gatov...

those lost people onward—but I could not turn
my heart from its task.
I placed Sheila's cold body upon my back and
made for the Faewood, pinning what faint scraps

Gatov: With the smoldering remains of my kingdom at my back, I made for the Faewood and Finlorda.
Gatov: We had remained close since we met during my travels with Aurelius as a youth.

Gatov: I thought his vast knowledge of magics might could breathe life back into Sheila. It was a faint hope, but I clung to it tightly.

Gatov: (It feels an eternity since I entrusted her into Finlorda's care. Perhaps reviving the dead is impossible, even for him.)
Finlorda's Subordinate: Your daughter's procedure is complete, King Gatov.
Gatov: I thank you for the generous care you've shown. But tell me, is Sheila...?

Sheila: ......
Gatov: SHEILA!
Gatov: You're alive! Oh, thank the heavens!
Sheila: ......
Gatov: What's wrong, my dear child? Why do you not respond?
Finlorda's Subordinate: King Finlorda's efforts succeeded in granting life to your daughter anew.
Finlorda's Subordinate: But while her body may be restored, I fear her soul...
Gatov: What?! What of her soul?!
Finlorda: ......
Gatov: Finlorda?

at last explained.
He had used Sheila's blood to create an entirely
new body, then housed her soul within it.
But the procedure had left scars upon that soul.
She was now a hollow shell of a person—
a shade of her former vibrant self.
Finlorda offered apology after apology, but he bore
no guilt in the matter. Surely this was heaven's
will, divine punishment for a king who abandoned

Gatov: So long as you live, hope yet remains. The two of us will go in search of a way to restore you.
Sheila: ......

Gatov: I became a mercenary, traveling the land from battlefield to battlefield.
Gatov: It both kept food on our table and allowed me to search for a way to cure Sheila.

Gatov: At each new destination, I would seek out new treatments for her soul. We attempted more of them than I can even remember.
Gatov: Not a one bore fruit, yet still I held to the belief that I could make her whole once more. Alas, perhaps that very hope was the thing that blinded me...

Gatov: These are her lodging fees up front. I plan to return in three months' time, but paid for a half-year just in case.
Gatov: I ask that you keep my daughter safe at your inn until the day I return.
Innkeeper: Cor, but she's a strange one, isn't she? Just starin' off into space, she is.
Sheila: ......
Gatov: She may not speak, but her wits are sound and she communicates enough to get by. I promise she will cause you no trouble.
Gatov: Sheila. I must head back to the front lines. I ask your patience until I'm able to return.
Sheila: ......

faced terrible losses, and morale was nonexistent.

Commander: Blast! They hold the upper hand! Are there none among you who can turn this fight?!
Gatov: I've already kept my daughter waiting overlong, so I shall finish this apace.

Commander: Aaah ha ha! You broke their ranks, Gatov! I see now the legends of the Blazewolf were no exaggeration!
Gatov: Their flank lies exposed! Strike as one!

Commander: Your efforts saved my army, Gatov. You have my heartfelt thanks.
Gatov: I have done nothing to merit such praise. I simply earned my fee as a hired blade.
Commander: No need for such false humility! Now then, our scouts have just located the enemy stronghold, and I would have you lead the strike against it.
Gatov: I believe my contract in your service ends with the battle here today, sir—and as my child waits for me, I fear I must decline.
Commander: But this enemy has tormented my country for generations! Routing them now could free us from that terror and bring us peace!
Commander: Please, Blazewolf! Lend us your strength, that I might help my countrymen at long last shed the yoke of oppression!
Gatov: (It's been nearly three months, and I told the innkeep I would return soon—yet I DID pay for half a year's rent...)
Gatov: (Sheila should be safe and comfortable enough there for a while yet.)
Gatov: Very well, sir. I shall remain in your service a short while longer.

where Sheila waited. Five months had passed

Gatov: ...What do you MEAN, she left?
Innkeeper: Just that. Up and wandered off one day, quiet as the grave like always.
Gatov: Yet I hear you rented her room to another. The gold I gave you should have bought its use for another month, at least.
Innkeeper: Sorry, luv, but we run a business here. Had a vacancy, so I rented it out.
Gatov: Do not think to brush me aside with such claptrap, madam. Speak the truth!
Gatov: That girl is all I have left in this world. If I were to lose her, I...
Gatov: Well, I cannot promise I would be able to control myself in that instance.
Innkeeper: Eeek! We was full up, so we was, and a guest came through promisin' what to pay double! I had no choice!
Gatov: You cast Sheila out for a few extra coins?!
Innkeeper: You'd been gone for months, so ya had! Thought you was lyin' dead on some foreign battlefield!
Innkeeper: And that child sure made no complaint! So if anything happened to her once she left, me hands are clean of it!
Gatov: I'll not waste my breath debating it. Where did she go after leaving the inn?

Gatov: ...Sheila! Where are you?! Call out if you can hear me!
Gatov: (The innkeep said she headed for these woods when she left...)
Gatov: That was a fiend's roar!

Gatov: SHEILA! ...Haaaah!
Gatov: Sheila, are you all right?
Sheila: ......
Gatov: You seem unharmed. Oh, thank goodness.
Gatov: (There are traces of a campfire... Was she waiting for me here?)
Gatov: (Even without words, she surely could have made her refusal plain to the innkeep or begged the help of another.)
Gatov: (But she didn't—or perhaps I'm wrong and she couldn't.)

any injustice perpetrated against her. Ever since
that incident, I came to regard her with a sense of
fragility I had not before.
I ceased my work as a mercenary in favor of
something that would afford me a stable
residence, for I could not bear to have her

to the King of Grams, with whom I had a rapport
before the fall of Lefkos.
He listened to the tale of its downfall with a
sympathetic ear, then gifted me with work

Royal Guard Captain: We're honored to have you on as a special advisor, sir. There are no end to the heroic tales of the Blazewolf Gatov!
Gatov: Pray let that be the end of flattery. I am not so great a man as you would paint me.
Gatov: His Majesty informs me that the task of keeping the streets of Grams safe falls to the Church's Templars. Is this correct?
Royal Guard Captain: In truth, all de facto power in Grams rests with the Church of Ilia.
Royal Guard Captain: And security is no different.
Royal Guard Captain: Yet a kingdom can't well be without SOME form of "official" national defense, so... Well, here we are.
Gatov: (So to put a finer point on it, the royal guard are strictly ornamental.)
Royal Guard Captain: You're only fresh arrived to Grams and must have many questions. It would be an honor to be your guide, sir.
Gatov: I would appreciate it. Also, I wonder if I might impose upon you by asking my daughter along for the tour as well?

Sheila: ......
Gatov: Do try to stay close, Sheila.
Royal Guard Captain: The large building just beyond is the August Cathedral. Only those of elevated station in the Canon are permitted inside.
Gatov: The Canon is the Church's hierarchy of social standing, yes? I hear those at its top enjoy considerable power and freedom.
Royal Guard Captain: Indeed, sir. According to the Church, the Canon serves as incentive to motivate the people of Grams into living virtuous lives of civic contribution.
Gatov: Yet I understand the principle method for raising one's stature is monetary donation. Does that not limit who is able to ascend through the ranks?
Royal Guard Captain: It might behoove you not to pose that question too loudly, sir.
Royal Guard Captain: Even as His Majesty's guest, you run the risk of being branded a heretic by the Church and expelled from the city.
Gatov: (Hmm. If that is this kingdom's way, perhaps it is not my place to interfere.)
Royal Guard Captain: ...Sir? I do not see your daughter.
Gatov: What? Sheila!

Sheila: ......
Gatov: There you are! I thought I asked you to stay close, young lady. Next time...
Gatov: Heavens above, but where ARE we?! We can't be more than a few streets from that lavish boulevard, yet this place is a squalid hellhole...
Royal Guard Captain: These are the slums, sir, where those without the means to live elsewhere come. Loners and drifters, most of them.
Gatov: It's midday, and yet light barely reaches these streets. Filth and refuse abound, and the buildings are in terrific disrepair.
Gatov: Salvation for all in equal measure is a pillar of the Ilian Church's teachings. Are they not aware of the conditions here?
Royal Guard Captain: Oh, they know, sir.
Royal Guard Captain: The differences in privilege that accrue to those of diverse stations in the Canon has always been met with some...resistance.
Royal Guard Captain: The slums are left to rot as a means to ease the frustrations of the common folk.
Gatov: "At least I'm better off than them..." To sell a people on mediocrity, give them a true underclass to measure themselves against.
Royal Guard Captain: In truth, His Majesty is also greatly troubled by the state of the slums.
Royal Guard Captain: But so long as the Church holds all the true power here in Grams, I fear there is little we can do.
Gatov: (These poor people... Abandoned by the Church, they cannot even hope to claw their way to a better life by elevating their place in the Canon.)
Gatov: (Those living here do so under the yoke of crushing injustice. There's a cold logic to the system, aye—but an inhuman one.)
Gatov: ...Hmm? What's wrong, Sheila?
Royal Guard Captain: There's a young girl looking this way.
Gatov: Is something the matter, miss?
Girl from the Slums: Um, mister soldier, sir? There's a hole in the big wall. Can you fix it? Please?
Gatov: The big wall?
Royal Guard Captain: I expect she means the outer wall, sir. This area is located at the city's edge.
Girl from the Slums: We've tried fixing it time and again, but there's no one here what can do it right, so it keeps breaking apart.
Gatov: Cracks in the outer wall run the risk of permitting fiends entry. We must call for a master mason at once.
Royal Guard Captain: The city's fortifications also fall under the Church's authority. Let us relay word of this to them.

Templar: ...We've confirmed the reported crack in the outer wall.
Templar: But it's too small for a fiend to pass through. There's no need for intervention.
Gatov: Yet it will be too late to intervene once it grows larger. Surely it would be best to address the matter now?
Templar: ...Gatov, was it? You seem new here, so let me explain something to you.
Templar: The Church makes the decisions in Grams. The Church pays for its upkeep and repair. And the royal guard knows enough to keep its damn mouth shut.
Gatov: Be that as it may, we cannot ignore the risk of fiends gaining entry to the city.
Templar: Any further protest will be taken as a usurpation of Church authority. Are you so eager to lose your post and be exiled?
Gatov: ......
Royal Guard Captain: The royal court does not have the luxury of refusing a demand from the Church, sir. I beg that you relent.
Gatov: (I find this administration's willingness to ignore the plight of its least fortunate and accept unneeded casualties highly questionable. However...)
Gatov: ...Perhaps I spoke out of place, sir. Your ways are new to me, and I apologize if I caused any offense.
Sheila: !
Templar: Just see you remember your place!
Girl from the Slums: Are they gonna fix the wall, mister?
Gatov: I'm sorry, child. I fear I cannot help you.
Sheila: ......

Gatov: Dinner is ready, Sheila. Let's eat.
Sheila: ......
Gatov: (Being special advisor to a purely symbolic force doesn't entail much work, so if Sheila ever needs me, I can be there.)
Gatov: (Considering her needs, settling here in Grams makes a good deal of sense.)
Gatov: (And though I may have my qualms, I'll need to abide by the city's ways— even if it means turning a blind eye now and again.)
Sheila: ......
Gatov: ...No appetite? You aren't eating. Are you feeling unwell?
Sheila: ......
Gatov: Sheila?

room. Unsure of what had brought the sad tinge to

Gatov: "My dear friend Aurelius, Apologies for the long silence. Sadly, I have more to tell you than one letter can possibly hold."
Gatov: "I have tales of my new home in Grams, and the injustices I have witnessed here. And of course, there is Sheila."
Gatov: "She has me at a loss, old friend. Honestly, I would welcome any insights you might have in the matter."
Gatov: "As a father, what am I to do?"

Gatov: I'm off to work, Sheila. When I return, let us...let us speak. All right?
Sheila: ......
Gatov: You'll wait for me here, won't you? I won't be long.

Gatov: ...All right, we'll end our morning training session there.
Guards: Yes, sir!
Royal Guard Soldier: Gatov seemed troubled.
Royal Guard Captain: I noticed that as well. I wonder what's weighing on his mind.

Gatov: (I've fancied myself a man of the world, but for all my travels and study I remain blind and ignorant.)
Gatov: (Especially when it comes to knowing the mind of those I hold most dear.)
Royal Guard Captain: Letter for you, sir.
Gatov: Sent here and not my home?
Royal Guard Captain: The courier said he came here when no one answered your door, sir.
Gatov: (But Sheila should be there. Did she just not respond?)
Gatov: I see. Thank you for seeing it to me.
Gatov: Ah! It's from Aurelius!

I was delighted to hear from you after so long."
"You spoke of worries regarding your daughter,
but the love and care you bear her is clear as
day in your writing. If anything, I fear such
singular dedication has placed you at odds
with your own heart in other matters."
"The Gatov I know would not turn a blind eye to
the plight of Grams's slums, no more than he
was able to turn away the refugees who once
sought peace in his kingdom."
"Sheila grew up watching that noble man.
Whatever she may have lost since then,
surely that memory still resides within her."
"I have all faith she remembers her father

Gatov: (She remembers...)

Gatov: They see hope in our kingdom and risk their lives to reach our gates. I welcome a people so brave and determined.
Gatov: That is my decision both as Lefkos's king, and as a human being who has tasted the cruel bite of pain and loss.
Sheila: Father, might I help with the resettlement planning?
Sheila: I am part of Lefkos's royal family as well, and your daughter above that.

Gatov: (Perhaps she does yet retain some memory of the man her father once was.)
Gatov: (If so, the man she sees now must appear to be...)
Royal Guard Soldier: Urgent report, sir! Fiends have appeared in the slums!
Gatov: What?!
Royal Guard Soldier: The crack in that wall spread to the point they were able to slip through!
Royal Guard Soldier: The Templars' response will take some time yet, so they've requested we go and do what we can!
Royal Guard Captain: Those damnable curs! To think they'd drag their heels in a crisis like this!
Gatov: We haven't the time to complain. Prepare to move out at once.

Royal Guard Captain: Do not suffer a single fiend to escape!
Gatov: Quite a number made it in... What?! She's here...!
Girl from the Slums: *sob* Heeeelp!
Sheila: !
Fiend: Graaaagh!
Gatov: Haaaaah!
Girl from the Slums: Mr. Soldier!
Gatov: I'm relieved you are both safe. But what are you doing here, Sheila?
Girl from the Slums: She was helping.
Gatov: Helping you?
Girl from the Slums: Helping all of us! The hole in the wall got bigger, so we were trying to fix it.
Girl from the Slums: She was walking by and came over to try and help us block it.
Gatov: Sheila, you've been coming to this place? Aiding those who live here?
Sheila: ......
Gatov: (This is the first time she's taken action of her own accord since losing herself.)
Gatov: (I feared she was completely numb to everything, but...)
Gatov: I see you can yet feel the desire to help others, as someone who has known pain, and as my daughter.
Templar: Hmph. It seems those fiends have more or less been dealt with.
Royal Guard Captain: I see the Templars finally deigned to make their grand appearance.
Templar: This operation is now under Templar control. We can't permit the royal guard to seize all the glory, now can we?
Gatov: More fiends yet remain, and there are serious injuries among the citizens here.
Gatov: We must dedicate all the forces we have to saving the city—Templar and guard alike.
Templar: Any further action will be regarded as usurpation of Church authority! Keep flapping your gums and I'll have you dismissed for obstruction.
Man from the Slums: Someone help! My house caught fire in the attack!
Woman from the Slums: My brother is hurt! We need a doctor!
Templar: We don't have time to deal with you lot! Can't you see we're busy slaying fiends?!
Gatov: (The Templars are entirely blind to the suffering of these people.)
Gatov: (They care only for shielding themselves from the consequences of their own callous negligence.)
Gatov: (If matters are left to them, lives will be lost. There is only one choice left...)
Sheila: Fa...ther...
Gatov: Sheila! You...
Sheila: ...Please.
Gatov: Of course, girl. Now come. We've work to do.
Templar: What are you playing at, Gatov?! If you insist on making a nuisance of your—
Gatov: If you are so eager for my resignation, be my guest. People suffer before me. I will do what I can—what I MUST.
Templar: Wha—?!
Gatov: Come, Sheila.

minimum. The outer wall was mended and the
incident passed, but the fundamental problems
remained unchanged.
Shortly after this, I resigned my post as a

Royal Guard Captain: Sir, please tell me it isn't true! You're resigning as special advisor?
Gatov: I am, and have already spoken with His Majesty on the matter.
Gatov: Though I acted to aid the people of the slums, my conduct violated the city's rules. I clearly exceeded the authority of my post.
Gatov: I must take responsibility for that, though I do regret departing this soon from work so kindly furnished by His Majesty.
Royal Guard Captain: Whatever the Church's claim, your actions that day were laudable, sir. Surely some lighter punishment would have sufficed?
Gatov: That was not my only reason for leaving; I also do not wish to be the cause of further conflict with the Church.
Gatov: In an official post, I would continue to face their interference at every turn. But as a civilian, some endeavors will be easier.
Royal Guard Captain: Then you have already formed plans for the future?
Gatov: I cannot abide this city's willingness to sacrifice its own. I shall work to change that as I can—beginning with the slums.
Gatov: If you wish people to truly escape poverty, you can't simply hand them a loaf of bread and call it a day.
Gatov: You need to settle in and concentrate on actually changing the system—so that they can bake bread for themselves.
Royal Guard Captain: You believe this to be possible?
Gatov: To be sure, it will require the cooperation of the slums' inhabitants.
Gatov: According to a girl there, the locals were initially hostile to Sheila's efforts to help patch the wall. They thought her a tourist of sorts—a gawker at their pain.
Gatov: But as she continued to go there day after day, they slowly came to accept her.
Gatov: I shall need to put in that same effort. It will take time, but I hope my words and deeds might eventually win their trust.
Royal Guard Captain: I am ashamed that I watched you race into the slums that day and did not act myself.
Royal Guard Captain: In truth, I was a coward too afraid to lose all that I have built here. How is it you are immune to that same fear?
Gatov: I'm not, I assure you. Even now, the fear of losing the fruits of my efforts haunts me.
Gatov: But the thought of losing the respect of my own child was far more terrifying.

Sheila: ......
Gatov: Sorry to have kept you waiting, Sheila. Shall we?
Gatov: We've a colossal task ahead of us, and I'll be needing your help.
Sheila: ...Right.

Gatov: After that... Well, you know the rest.
Gatov: I spent the following years building a bond of trust with the people of the slums.
Gatov: In time, the Watch was formed as an autonomous peace-keeping force with me at the helm, and I gave my every effort to leading its members by example.
Gatov: I owe all that I am today to Sheila, who opened my eyes to a truth I had lost sight of. And more than that...
Gatov: ...Ah, but my apologies; this story has already run overlong. Get some sleep, or you'll certainly feel it in the morning. I will stand watch here in the mean.

Gatov: "My dear friend Aurelius, My promise with you was fulfilled when we reached the Faewood, yet my grand adventure has only begun."

Gatov: "I plan to follow Euden to his journey's end."
Gatov: "Were it not for your advice, Sheila and I might never have reconnected."
Gatov: "I can only hope that watching over the child you left behind can serve as some repayment for your wisdom."