Episode 15: Political Philosophy

[SCENE 1: The Dean’s office]

DEAN: Bruce. Investigator Animar says you’re closing in on a suspect.

BRUCE: That’s her opinion. We’ll let you know something when we know something. You’re sure it's wise letting things get back to normal?

DEAN: The creature is gone, all the magical wards are renewed and strengthened- I think everything is as safe as-

[a door crashes open]

LORD LANCOOK: Jules!

DEAN: Lord Lancook. To what do I owe the pleasure?

BRUCE: How did you get in here-

LORD LANCOOK: 10,000 Lessek, Jules! That’s how much I donated to this school specifically earmarked for security upgrades.

DEAN: And a very generous donation it was-

LORD LANCOOK: So how did my son, my only son, almost get his soul sucked out wandering around underground tunnels that were supposed to be off-limits to students! What exactly is my hard-earned money being spent on, Jules?

DEAN: Lord Lancook, you’re upset. Why don’t you calm down a little and we can discuss the matter?

BRUCE: Seriously, how did you get in here? Mundanes aren’t even supposed to be able to-

LORD LANCOOK: Careful, this mundane pays your salary! I may not be able to fart lightning or shoot daisies out of my ass or whatever you freakshows learn here, but I still have a lot of pull around here.

DEAN: Bruce, perhaps it would be best if you-

BRUCE: It’s not a matter of pull, sir, a mundane shouldn’t be physically capable of entering the grounds without permission.

LORD LANCOOK: I bankrolled the whole upgrade eight years ago when your goons showed up to take my son! I thought if he was going to have to renounce his title and his inheritance and spend god-knows-how long learning how to freeze things the least I could do was make sure he was safe. Of course I made sure “permission” for me to enter was baked in. I’m not an idiot.

DEAN: Please. I understand your frustration. Let’s talk about the matter shall we? Would you like a cup of tea?

[Electromancy Theme plays]

CREDITS: Electromancy, Episode 15 - Political Philosophy. Be advised, this episode features an emotionally abusive parent and discussions of terrorism and war crimes

[SCENE 2: History classroom]

[we hear the sound of a classroom bell]

LEONARD: Well, it sounds like I have to let you go. Don't forget your essays are due next Monday, and since I've given you all quite a bit of flexibility in your choice of topic I expect them to be well-researched. The library is open again- avail yourselves of it.

BRYNN: Leonard. We need to talk.

LEONARD: Brynn. I quite agree. Do you have next period free?

BRYNN: It’s study hall. So yes, if you write me a note.

LEONARD: Of course. Let’s take a walk, shall we? Back to our previous, uh, meeting place?

BRYNN: No. Someplace with lots of people around, far enough away that they won’t overhear us, but close enough that you won’t be able to mind-wipe me like you did Ellie and Devon.

LEONARD: What? How?

BRYNN: One of the bridges. It’s windy today, perfect for a private conversation.

LEONARD: You’re not afraid I’ll throw you off?

BRYNN: I’d like to see you try.

[footsteps, indoor to outdoor transition]

LEONARD: This is better. Good to get some fresh air.

BRYNN: A little chilly.

LEONARD: Brynn, we need to have a serious conversation.

BRYNN: I agree.

[beat]

LEONARD: Have they interrogated you yet? About the events of a few nights ago?

BRYNN: Surprisingly, no. Haven’t debriefed me about our time-travel trip either. Would have been nice to get a “glad you got back safely” or something before “we need to get our stories straight.”

LEONARD: I am glad you returned safely. Deeply, incredibly glad. But that being said, we do need to get our stories straight. I told them that I ran into you and Devon in the tunnels and was escorting you back when the creature attacked us.

BRYNN: So you threw me under the bus?

LEONARD: Weighing the potential consequences for me against your uncanny ability to avoid consequences, it seemed only logical.

BRYNN: Great. So glad to know you care.

LEONARD: They won’t expel you, Brynn.

BRYNN: They might expel Devon.

LEONARD: That wouldn’t be very… politically astute of them.

BRYNN: You think his family will protect him.

LEONARD: Certainly. Brynn, I am at the risk of not just getting sacked here, but-

BRYNN: I get it. But if you want me to cover for you, you have to tell me what you did and why. That’s the deal on the table. And I’m not negotiating down.

[beat]

LEONARD: You’re putting me in a very difficult position.

BRYNN: You put yourself in a difficult position.

LEONARD: Alright, but not here. Not now. It has to be after the Dean speaks to you. Gets your statement.

BRYNN: That requires a lot of trust on my part. And nothing you’ve done in the last few days has made me think you deserve any.

LEONARD: That’s…understandable. But the fact remains, if I tell you first, the Dean will find it when he mind-scans you.

BRYNN: Please. If I couldn’t beat a mind-scan, I would have been expelled years ago. Umbramancy obscures, remember?

LEONARD: No offense, Brynn, but your umbramancy vs. his psychomancy is like blocking bullets with an umbrella.

BRYNN: Even mundanes can learn how to resist mindscans. Plus there’s already more than enough in my head to convict you. Like I said before, this isn’t a negotiation. We do this on my terms or I go to the Dean and tell him the whole truth.

LEONARD: [pause - weighing this.] Alright. Sneak out of your tower and meet me in the testing room tonight at midnight. I’ll tell you what I can.

BRYNN: And what’s my assurance that you won’t just mind-wipe me when I get there?

LEONARD: I’d never do that to you.

BRYNN: You did it to Devon.

LEONARD: That was- I panicked, okay? I just needed to buy myself some time. You saw how well it worked. I’m not a psychomancer, precision memory manipulation isn’t a skill of mine.

BRYNN: That’s not an assurance.

LEONARD: Write yourself a letter, then. Put it someplace where you’re sure to find it. And tell Devon where you’re going. That way if I do wipe your mind, you’ll know immediately and you can go straight to the Dean.

BRYNN: I’d feel better about that plan if it didn’t come from you. But okay. Midnight. If they get to me before then I’ll… I’ll think of something.

LEONARD: Let’s hope for both our sakes that they don’t. I’ll see you tonight.

[footsteps as he walks off, then the Electromancers walk on]

BRYNN: Oh, hey.

JENNA: What are you doing outside our dorm, Brynn?

BRYNN: Would you believe I just like the view?

JENNA: Have you talked to Mr. Collins yet?

BRYNN: No, I’m not gonna do that.

JENNA: Then I have nothing to say to you.

[beat]

ELLIE: That was badass.

PEM: So we’re not all friends now?

JENNA: That’s up to Brynn.

PEM: You said she apologized.

JENNA: An apology is meaningless if you don’t also try to make up for your actions. Plus I’m not convinced she’s sincere. She’s playing an angle.

PEM: Well, yes. Welcome to Brynn.

ELLIE: Any more thoughts about the dance question?

JENNA: I don’t want to go to a dance, Ellie. I’m sorry. It just seems too… normal, right now. And everything is so not normal that normal feels… weird.

ELLIE: But that’s exactly why we have to go! We need a normal thing to plan and talk about and work towards so that everything isn’t schoolwork and memory wipes and time travels and monsters and death! And I don’t want to go by myself.

PEM: You could ask Dylan.

ELLIE: I am not going to do that.

PEM: Why not?

ELLIE: Because if he says no it will be even more humiliating to go alone.

PEM: What if Jenna and I agreed to go to the dance with you, as friends, only if you ask Dylan and he says no. That way you’re covered either way.

JENNA: Are you volunteering me, Pem?

PEM: Uh, maybe? I guess, I’ll go with you if Dylan says no. As friends. Or, even as a date, if you like. But I think that would be a little weird. Also I don’t really dance with other people.

ELLIE: Yeah, friends is good. Jenna, I’ll agree to Pem’s plan if you do.

JENNA: Sure. But again, and I can’t stress this enough, I did not bring any nice dresses here with me. I didn’t think I’d need one.

ELLIE: Let me worry about your dress. Please. So much more fun to worry about than monsters and death. Can I stress the death? So much more fun.

JENNA: Okay, but that means you have to hold up your end of the bargain.

ELLIE: Alright, alright. I’ll try and track him down at lunch.

[SCENE 3 - an office, or an empty classroom]

DEVON: I don’t understand what’s happening, Mr. McCray. Why did you pull me out of study hall?

BRUCE: Eh, you’ll find out in a minute.

[door opening]

LORD LANCOOK: My boy! Come here!

DEVON: Dad? What are you doing here?

LORD LANCOOK: Can’t a father check in on his son after what must have been a traumatizing experience?

DEVON: Uh… no. A father cannot. Not here. It isn’t allowed.

LORD LANCOOK: Everything’s allowed, if you know the right levers to push. Rules are for people who aren’t willing to assert themselves. Surely I taught you better than this.

DEVON: Rules are for… keeping society functioning, dad.

LORD LANCOOK: Some rules, sure. But most are just the will of a few people with a certain kind of power, and can be challenged by those with a different kind of power. The people at this school have power over the primal forces of magic. But I have power over the bureaucrats who control their funding. Never thought it would matter much, but then, I never thought my own son and heir would develop ice powers.

DEVON: I’m not your heir anymore, remember. Mages can’t inherit titles.

LORD LANCOOK: Well, perhaps not at the present moment. But that is another rule which I think will bend when the right sort of pressure is applied. I don’t want to see your cousin Henry and whatever completely inadequate woman he ends up marrying become the new Lord and Lady Lancook. And I’ll do what I can to prevent that.

DEVON: Then you’d better start looking for another wife so you can have another kid. You’re not getting any younger, dad.

LORD LANCOOK: Devon, Devon my boy. My miracle child. I could never do that to your mother. I prayed for a son. Then you were born and it looked to everyone like you were a daughter. Then when Julia passed, I started to get used to the idea of only having a daughter, of having to hope you gave birth to a son to carry on the line before I passed. But then, the miracle. You told me in no uncertain terms that you were a boy! I was thrilled. 50 years ago the law would have treated you as a girl anyway, but social mores had marched on. Now you were a boy if you said so, and you could be the new Lord Lancook. And then, just as I got used to that idea, it started to get cold every time you entered a room, and the magecorp came knocking. Well, if that archaic law could change, so can this one. I have already invested a lot of capital and a lot of favors to make that possible, and I think we have a real chance. None of which matters if you get yourself killed mucking around in the service tunnels.

DEVON: Ah.

LORD LANCOOK: I just don’t understand it, son. You’re not reckless. You’ve never been. Determined, certainly. Stubborn, even. But cautious, always cautious, even when you were small. I don’t understand why you would risk your life like that?

DEVON: It’s really complicated, dad.

LORD LANCOOK: I don’t think it’s complicated at all, I think it’s that Brynn Tessek girl. She’s nothing but trouble, and she’s going to drag you into it.

DEVON: What do you know about Brynn?

LORD LANCOOK: I know more about her than you think. Had my people do some digging, when I heard you and her had become fast friends. Wondered what kind of family she belonged to. Turns out none. No family of any sort- magecorps plucked her out of an orphanage in Kalos. At first I thought - well, he’s always been a kind-hearted soul. Perhaps he’s taken her on as a project of sorts. But no. It’s clear from the reports I’ve been getting that you’ve become part of her project. A project of destabilization and chaos. And now she’s nearly gotten you killed.

You have to be more careful Devon. Learn your craft. Make better friends. And for god’s sake, stay alive.

DEVON: You really muscled your way in here, spending I’m sure a not insignificant amount on bribes, just to tell me to make better friends. You know the hierarchy here is based on magical power, right? And Brynn is way more powerful than I am.

LORD LANCOOK: That will do you no good when you’re both in prison or dead. She’s bad news. I’m asking you, as your father, to reconsider. You might not be so lucky next time.

DEVON: Ugggghhhh I wasn’t lucky, dad. They were lucky to have me. I took charge of the situation. I found the mana battery, I held off the creature while Brynn banished it. Everyone in those tunnels probably would have died without me.

LORD LANCOOK: Well, color me impressed. If that’s really true, you should have no trouble making friends who will actually be useful to you after you all graduate.

DEVON: Is that all?

LORD LANCOOK: For this visit. But you know I’m keeping an eye on you.

DEVON: You always do.

[SCENE 4: The Cafeteria]

JENNA: Dylan at four o’clock.

ELLIE: Yeah, yeah, I see him.

PEM: Are you going to do anything about seeing him?

ELLIE: It’s just him and Lucas. I don’t know if that’s a helpful thing, or an unhelpful thing? I don’t really know how Lucas feels about me after… everything that went down. With the monster, and the fighting and the sneaking out, I mean-

JENNA: Are you asking Lucas out?

ELLIE: No…

JENNA: Then why does it matter how he feels?

ELLIE: Oh, I think I should, like, wait until I can get Dylan alone. Maybe if he gets up to get more food or something? Or I could do it after Bio…

PEM: I have zero faith in your ability to not chicken out if you don’t have us here to support you.

ELLIE: Ugh, fine. Just give me a minute to psych myself up.

[background noise fades up and then down again.]

DEVON: Brynn!

BRYNN: Devon!

[at the same time]

BRYNN: I have to talk to you. I talked to Leonard and-

DEVON: My dad is here.

BRYNN: What?

DEVON: Yeah, I guess he went and got him put on some official committee just so he could come here and tell me not to hang out with you anymore.

BRYNN: Yeah, but, like, what’s he gonna do to you? While you’re here.

DEVON: I’m a lot more worried about what he’s going to do to you.

BRYNN: Pfft. Let me worry about that.

DEVON: Brynn, I’m scared. My dad is really, really good at getting what he wants, and now that he thinks you put me in danger, what he wants is probably you in prison. It might be better if… I’m not seen with you. For a while.

BRYNN: No. Okay. No. What? That is… ridiculous.

DEVON: I’m sorry.

BRYNN: *telepathically* But you can still read minds and I can still disappear. Secret friendship?

DEVON: *telepathically* Maybe? Sure? I do want to hear what Leonard said.

BRYNN: *telepathically* Well, that’s just it, he hasn’t said anything yet. I’m supposed to meet him at midnight.

DEVON: *telepathically* That’s dramatic.

BRYNN: *telepathically* Yeah, well, I’m telling you so that if I end up with a gap in my memory you’ll know why.

DEVON: *telepathically* Sure.

BRYNN: *telepathically* I’ll keep you posted. We should talk now so anyone watching us doesn’t wonder why we’re grinning at each other like idiots. *out loud* Guess I’ll sit by myself.

DEVON: Not with your new friend Jenna?

BRYNN: We’re, uh, going through a thing. I’ll see you later.

[transition again]

DYLAN: So, Reese passes the ball to me, but I am flaming up so hard trying to burn down all those freaking brambles that Cora and Susan put up. I see it coming, and I reach out, but my hands are still so hot I literally singe the outer skin off of the ball - like I’m starting to just incinerate the damn thing. It’s still regulation, but if I burned up any more if it, it wouldn’t be. So I’m just tossing it up and down waiting for my hands to cool off enough that I can pass it to Carl, who is wide open right by the floramancer’s goal, when this totally fresh-looking green vine whips out of the burning patch of thorns right in front of me and sprays me with, like, a cloud of pollen, like completely blinding me. That’s when Cora popped up behind me and spiked the ball straight into our goal. Like, I’m not even mad it was such an insane play.

LUCAS: Ugh. I can’t believe I missed it.

DYLAN: Yeah, we probably would have won if we’d had Mel. But we’ve got a deep bench. You, uh, look distracted.

LUCAS: Yeah, I just got a funny feeling. I’ll, uh, catch you later, okay?

DYLAN: Sure.

[transition]

JENNA: Looks like he’s alone. Now or never, Ellie.

ELLIE: *sigh* Fine. I’m going.

[transition]

LUCAS: Hey. What are you doing eating by yourself?

DEVON: Oh, hey Lucas. It’s… a long story.

LUCAS: I’ve got time.

DEVON: My dad is here.

LUCAS: That’s awesome! How’d he pull that off?

DEVON: It’s not awesome. He just kind of does what he wants and treats everyone like his little toys. Somehow he managed to even manipulate the Dean, I guess.

LUCAS: Wow, I think I totally misread that situation.

DEVON: It’s fine.

LUCAS: Look, so, this is weird, but I just looked at you and had this, like almost memory? Like remembering a dream you had the previous night, but- it wasn’t a dream, was it? Did we see each other on Saturday? I mean, after we got out of detention?

DEVON: I… don’t know.

LUCAS: What do you mean, you don’t know?

DEVON: It’s - complicated. I - are you missing time? Like, is there part of the day you can’t account for?

LUCAS: I don’t think so. Far as I remember I was pretty wiped after detention so I went back to my dorm and took a long nap.

DEVON: Hmmm. Uh… maybe we didn’t. See each other. Maybe it was a dream.

LUCAS: Why would I dream about you though?

DEVON: The mind works in mysterious ways.

[beat]

LUCAS: Do you want to talk? About your dad?

DEVON: Not really.

LUCAS: Yeah, well, you’re a tough guy. You took on that creature, and those ancient automata. Don’t let him push you around.

[transition]

ELLIE: Hi. Can I talk to you?

DYLAN: Hey Ellie. Sure. Do you want any of this pudding? I took way too much.

ELLIE: Uh…. sure. Just a little.

DYLAN: I don’t think Lucas used that fork.

ELLIE: Uh, okay. Um, sure.

DYLAN: He left very abruptly to talk to that cryomancer. Are they friends now?

ELLIE: I don’t know. If so, it's a very recent development.

DYLAN: So, what did you want to talk to me about?

ELLIE: Well, um, I was wondering, I mean, I was thinking, um, you’re, uh, I mean, I, there’s - do you have a date yet? For the formal? The fall formal?

DYLAN: Nah, not yet. There’s someone I was thinking about asking, but… I don’t know if she’d even want to go.

ELLIE: Oh. Um, well, uh I would go. With you. If you wanted to go with me, I mean, you wouldn’t have to worry about a person not wanting to go because I’m a person who does want to go. With you. To the dance.

DYLAN: Are you asking me to go to the dance with you?

ELLIE: If I can get the words to come out in the correct order then yes. Yes I am.

DYLAN: Ellie, look I’m… I’m flattered. I really am. I just-

ELLIE: So that’s a no then. Okay. Um, that’s fine. No hard feelings, I’m just gonna go, uh, over there now.

DYLAN: Ellie, wait!

LUCAS: What was that about?

DYLAN: It’s, uh, not important. What was that about?

LUCAS: Also not important. Hey are you gonna finish this pudding?

[transition]

PEM: How’d it go?

ELLIE: How do you think it went?

JENNA: I’m sorry Ellie. But hey, you put yourself out there.

ELLIE: Really wishing I hadn’t right now.

PEM: What did he say?

ELLIE: He said no. Well, actually, he said “I’m flattered but-” and I didn’t wait around to hear the rest but it can’t have been anything good.

JENNA: We’ll go with you Ellie. It’ll be fun.

ELLIE: Will it? Maybe this was a mistake.

[SCENE 5: The testing room]

[We hear eerie music and the familiar beeps and whirs, followed by the bubble of silence.]

LEONARD: I wasn’t sure you’d show.

BRYNN: It probably wasn’t a smart decision. But my curiosity got the better of me.

LEONARD: You were really in the past? 400 years in the past?

BRYNN: Seems like it.

LEONARD: You have no excuse for getting a B on that history essay now, you know?

BRYNN: Not in the mood for jokes, Dr. S. You promised me answers, remember?

LEONARD: You know there’s no going back, right? Once you know what I’m about to tell you-

BRYNN: Yeah, I got that part. Let’s just… get to it.

LEONARD: Alright. Have you ever heard of an island called Zev?

BRYNN: That’s a vacation spot for super rich people, isn’t it? Resorts and stuff?

LEONARD: It has… become that, yes. But believe it or not people live there. Some natives, some descended from the original settlers. Some tourists who just liked it enough to stay. I was born on Zev. I was always very interested in magic, academically as well as practically, and as long as I can remember I wanted to study it in Oswer. That’s where all the best work was being done. The problem of course, was that Oswer… doesn’t like foreigners. But as foreign nations go, Zev, being, as you say, a “tourist spot”, is considered pretty harmless.

That made me acceptable to the University of Gavnia. And that… acceptableness… made me interesting. To the Northern Coalition.

BRYNN: You’re working for the Northern Coalition? So you’re an actual terrorist then-

LEONARD: “working for” is a strong way of phrasing it. They helped make sure my scholarship application was accepted, and took care of some other things for me at home. The deal was supposed to be that I would occasionally supply them with some information. Through extremely secure channels. And when I was ready to return home I would be… well compensated.

BRYNN: So you’re a mercenary.

LEONARD: Not… entirely. I’m sympathetic to their cause. Just not sympathetic enough to risk my life and freedom out of pure altruism.

BRYNN: Why should this make me want to help you?

LEONARD: Because you’re sympathetic to their cause too, Brynn. If you were really at the battle of Imbira valley, then you know that most of what I teach is lies. Oswer wants to control magic, and they won’t be happy until they control it everywhere. The only way Oswer is going to stop expanding once they’ve secured Northern Wentonia is if the rest of the world starts treating their mages in the same way as Oswer does- registration, mandatory training and indoctrination, military service. And that simply will not happen. In most of the world, mundanes have learned to live with mages, side by side, as equals. Here is the place where magic is most studied and best understood but it's also the only place that will always see us as tools rather than citizens. And deep in your heart, you know that Brynn.

BRYNN: Yeah. Yeah, I do. I - a lot changed for me. When they found out I was… useful. Amazing the difference between an orphan with no family and an orphan with no family and magic.

LEONARD: That… explains some things.

BRYNN: [beat] So you were passing information…

LEONARD: And then they asked me to steal a book.

BRYNN: What kind of book?

LEONARD: I didn’t ask.

BRYNN: Where’s that academic curiosity?

LEONARD: Believe me, I wish I’d been more curious. My contact told me that the scroll would summon a creature that would take down the wards and let me steal the book. She didn’t say anything about it draining and killing students.

BRYNN: But you think she knew?

LEONARD: I’m sure she knew. I’m sure she was hoping it would kill quite a few more. The coalition sees all of you as enemy combatants, they’d bomb this whole place if they could.

BRYNN: And you don’t?

LEONARD: I see you as children, Brynn. And last I checked, killing children is a war crime. I didn’t want Ari to die. I liked him. But even if I’d hated him, I’m not a - I’m not a killer. At least I never wanted to be one.

BRYNN: You’re in over your head.

LEONARD: I am. And I’m making stupid mistakes because of it. Like mind-wiping your friends. That was an overreaction. A stupid, split-second decision. One that might have made things much worse.

They’re closing in on me, Brynn. I don’t know what to do. If you lie, and convincingly, you can at least buy me a little time to figure it out.

BRYNN: Devon’s father is on the warpath. If he thinks I led his son into danger, I don’t know what he’ll do. If half of what Devon has told me about him is true- I just don’t know if even I could weasel my way out.

LEONARD: Lords of Winter. We’re- we’re screwed, aren’t we?

BRYNN: Well, at least we’re screwed together now.

LEONARD: No. No, we’re not. I- I’m being a terrible role model to you, Brynn. I need to take responsibility for my actions.

BRYNN: What?

LEONARD: Tell the truth. Blame me. I’m going to… extract myself. It’s only a matter of time for me anyway. But I’m still faculty. I still might be able to get away. And leave you here to carry on the good fight.

BRYNN: I’m not going to betray you like that-.

LEONARD: You should. You have to. If I disappear now, it leaves so much suspicion on you. My mentor, my protege. But if you turn me in… of your own accord, then that makes the story different. You come off looking like a troublemaker, but one who's ultimately loyal. You get a second chance. I get to absorb Lord Lancook's wrath. I’m going to make preparations and… hope I can link up with my contacts before they get a seer on me. Are you a skilled enough umbramancer- can you perform Marakel’s shrouding?

BRYNN: Uh, I know the theory, but it’s an advanced piece of magic-

LEONARD: You’ll try? I don’t see any other way I can evade the institute’s seers.

BRYNN: I’ll try.

LEONARD: Okay. Thank you. We will meet again. Somehow. I don’t know when or how, but - somehow. I might- I have a way we can contact each other. If it’s an absolute emergency. You’re good at hiding things?

BRYNN: Uh, yeah.

LEONARD: Take this, then. If you absolutely need to make contact - make sure you’re in an isolated place when you use it, and I would have a lookout as well. Goodbye Brynn. Keep fighting. Just not- too much.

[Moon Glade plays]

CREDITS: Electromancy is written, produced and directed by Nathan Comstock. This episode was sound designed by Nathan Comstock with music by Thomas Dwyer. It starred Azul Nova as Jenna, Austin Hendricks as Ellie, Sena Bryer as Pem, Leslie Gideon as Brynn, Tuesday Orion Ibert as Devon, Joe Kearney as Bruce, Zachary Robb as Dr. Sumner, Karim Kronfli as Dean Ventrassi, Jason Cryer as Lord Lancook, Chris Magilton as Dylan, Aubrey Poppleton as Lucas, and Hedley Knights as Mr. Collins. Thanks for joining us again for season 2, and thanks to everyone who contributed to our crowdfunding campaign to make this show happen. This episode, we’d like to offer a special thanks to Jonah Comstock. Thanks for being with us from the beginning, bro! You can find out more about us at www.electromancypod.com. We’ll be back with another episode in 2 weeks, and stay tuned for a trailer for another show you’ll love, after the tag.

[SCENE 6: The Music Room]

BRYNN: Mr. Collins. Can I… talk to you?

COLLINS: Sure. Ms…?

BRYNN: Tessek? Brynn - you really don’t know who I am? I thought I was at least infamous among the teaching staff. I’m losing my touch.

COLLINS: Is there a point you were getting at?

BRYNN: Look, you have to let Jenna re-audition for the Orchestra. I really was messing with her sheet music.

COLLINS: What? Seriously? Why, why are you telling me this now? You do know I’m going to have to assign you detention, right?

BRYNN: Yeah, I kinda figured. But something happened recently to make me realize I need to take some responsibility for my actions.

Kingmaker Histories Promo

SOUND: Typewriter carriage sliding into place. Piano music fades in.

HOLZMANN: I’m sure you’ve noticed- things aren’t looking good on the world stage right now. We are enjoying a very tense peace that could break at any moment.

SOUND: The music picks up tempo.

EISEN: What are you doing in the Seltsamwald without a weapon?

COLETTE: I suppose I could ask you the same thing.

EISEN: What’s that thing on your head?

COLETTE: (laughs awkwardly) Uh…New trend in ladies’ headwear?

ARIADNE: As long as the Desrosiers bloodline was in possession of the Kingmaker, they would wield absolute power. I fused it to you, seconds after your birth.

COLETTE: Undo it! Take it out, please!

ARIADNE: Not until you agree to do something for me.

NINETTE: Oh dear. You’ve got something in your hair.

COLETTE: I know!

SOUND: The music stops.

TELESPHORE: So, the Kingmaker has killed your boss, and one horse. Combined, you have a death rate of a centaur.

COLETTE: Hopefully that’s the end of it.

EISEN: No promises.

SOUND: The music kicks back in for a final sting that slowly fades out.

HISTORIAN: The Kingmaker Histories, series two. New episodes coming in autumn of 2023.