The Dragonkillers

Scene 1. Dungeon On. 2

Scene 2. Conversation at Troll’s Head Inn. 9

Scene 3. Sixth Form Common Room 19

Scene 4. The Company arrive 24

Scene 5. The Council Temple 29

Scene 7. Back at the Magi Temple 44

Scene 8. At Warrior’s Gate - out and about. 57

the Dungeons 60

The Armoury 62

The Herbiary 64

Eating pasties by the statue (Market Square) 65

Jason cracks the locks (Market) 66

Market stalls 67

Walking from the Market back to the Inn

Attacked in Warrior's Gate 71

Sean, Michael and Rachel - after the transportation out of Warrior’s Gate 72

Escaping from Warrior’s Gate 73

Brendon, Lesley, Alison, Ian and Boran. 73

Sean, Michael, Rachel – meet monsters 75

Colin gets to Warrior's Gate – meets Floyd – Dur Boral 76

Sean, Michael, Rachel meet Peter 77

Brendon and Lesley on the Overwalk 78

Scene 1. Dungeon On.

Various images of a complex Dungeon system - including high vaulted halls and yawning precipices - not just a system of low corridors but a cityscape underground.

we are looking at the past progress of the group - glimpses of obstacles overcome, trapdoors sprung, monsters slain...

group are:        

Colin - tall male, dark long hair, thinnish (me ish) (A Ranger?)

Lauren - plumpish female, rounded features (Cleric)

Floyd - shortish, thickset male - braided hair (dreadlocks) and fancy goatee - a thrash mettler (Fighter)

Kev - tall male, young, (Mage)

Andy - long haired male, Asiatic appearance, mid-to-late twenties (Thief)

Bull - big fat male, shaved head, youngish features (Fighter)

disembodied voices echoing through the depths:

    -    We’re here.

    -    Where, the fuck, here?

    -    Where we’ve been going for the last few hours.

    -    the second gate.

    -    Well, show me.

    -    We took a left turn back there and then straight ahead.

    -    Show me on the map

Shot of map - people (Colin, Andy, Kev) pawing over it. Bull is in the background where an archway appears to lead into another large room.

(pointing finger)

    -    There, look!

    -    Well, I’m not sure...

We can see the full group now - most are standing (Bull over near the doorway, venturing into the other room) but a couple (Floyd and Lauren) are seated at the base of a wall - Lauren is leaning over Floyd apparently tending to some wounds.

Kev-        Anyone remember why we’re supposed to be here..

Floyd-    A Cobratine Belt

Lauren-    Floyd wants a Cobratine belt

    Kev looks nonplussed.

Colin-    The guy back in Solstine, remember? Don’t you remember?

Floyd-    I don’t actually want it, but I can use it.

Kev-        I must’ve been asleep.

Lauren-    Drunk.

Kev-        Hey, shut up! - Asleep... after heavily drinking...

Colin-    You don’t want it?

Floyd-    I want my Rage of Bethany belt but that’s knackered - ouch!

        Lauren is pulling a strip of bandage from a roll and proceeds to tie it around Floyd’s arm.

Lauren -    Hold still now, this needs to be tight. You’ve made a mess of this (his arm).

Floyd-    It’s that buckler (indicating his shield), I’ve gotta get something bigger. That things a major liability.

    Colin, Andy are standing with Kev looking towards the archway through which Bull has now entered the other hall.

Colin-    Well, it’s the right way, but this (map) shows only one room here, with a door at its end.

Andy -    That’s a separate room, completely.

Kev -        Hey, Bull! Found anything?

Bull -        (calling from the other chamber) There’s a door here!

Kev -        (relaying the information) There’s a door in that room.

    Bull’s pov - inside the other room - there are two large disks in the floor arranged next to each other, each probably three metres across, their edges touching the walls but with a small metal strip (a foot or so wide) between them. Each disk is a shallow dish covered with small metal spikes, so that Bull is inclined not to step onto them but to move between them to get to the doorway. He ends up standing on the metal strip.

Bull-         Lot of crap on the floor here (kicks rubble with his boot)... Kobold bones and stuff... Weird! (calling out) There’re these huge circles in the floor. They on the map?

Colin-     (consulting map) No, there’s one circle on the floor . A Well, I guess. It’s a single circle anyway, not two. The map shows one room, but that’s definitely a separate room.

Andy-    I don’t like this map. Who did we get it from?

Bull -        (pov) They’re like huge metal dishes.

Kev -        Maybe they’re oil lamps?

Bull -        (not answering) And there’s something in the ceiling above! (we see the ceiling over his head) Metal arms, holding something...

Kev -        (looking around, he has not yet moved into the chamber with Bull) Are they torch holders? Don’t step on them!!

        Colin walks up beside Andy who is looking at the archway (and Bull) standing beside Kev

Andy -    This map isn’t right - that’s a separate room, definitely.

Colin-    You did check for traps in that room?

        Andy looks suddenly anxious

Andy-    I checked for traps in this room!

        They exchange glances.

Colin-    (calling out towards the man) Bull!

Andy -    BULL!!

        zoom onto Bull - trap is sprung... The trap is sprung like a giant metal Venus Fly-trap, each dish rising up so that they clash together like cymbals, crushing Bull in the process - then the mechanical arms in the ceiling swing down and continuously strike against the undersides of the dishes that stand together now like a gong...

Kev-        fuck

Colin-    oh shit. A trap.

Andy-    We missed it, that was rubbish! rubbish! (covering his eyes ashamedly)

            (the subtlety of this remark is that it is an understatement, because they know the trap was not, despite appearances, fatal).

        trap keeps making a noise

Lauren-    (standing) Wait a minute, guys. That’s not just a trap...

Floyd-    (beside her) That’s an alarm bell.

                    Sounds of distant running (view of doorway through which they came)

Floyd -    Everybody out of here!!

Kev -        (pointing towards the trap) Y’know my ____ is still in his pack...

Floyd -     There’s no time for your bloody _____ – get your  (drawing his sword)

        They run out into a corridor

Lauren -    No way back there!

Floyd -    We can go around through the great hall

        They start along a corridor, behind them the shadows of approaching Goblins play on the walls ahead - Floyd has stopped, facing back,

Colin -    Floyd!

Floyd -    Go on, I’ll catch you up.

Andy -    Don’t be stupid!

Floyd -    I’ll catch you up! Go on! It’ll give us some time!

        They make their way back through rooms they have already navigated (which we may also have seen at the beginning). Maybe some near-miss moments jumping across precipices, or ducking spears etc. (Archers firing from high vantage points)

Andy-    This is classic stuff!

Kev-        It’s a wipe-out!

        (the banter is slightly at odds with the apparent seriousness of the situation).

    They are running down the corridor

Kev -    Where are we going?

Colin -    (looking at map) Keep on!

Andy -    This is taking us the wrong way!

Colin -    Another twenty metres, there’s a room!

        Kev (from above) - the others enter the octagonal shaped room - doors (solid doors - except a few?) in each wall - a well at the centre with a thin shaft of light spearing down from the ceiling - a domed ceiling with large portals opening all around above head height (six or seven of them - they should be immersed in shadow as is much of the ceiling)

Kev -        Now where?

    view under podium upwards incorporating the ceiling with the portals - Kev is looking at the basin and the lance of light rising from it.

Colin -    What’s this?

Andy -    I don’t know - don’t touch that light.

    Kev has his hand out towards the bowl surprised at Andy’s

    They are all looking around the room (rotating camera effect)

Lauren -    I recognise this, somehow.

Colin -    (reading map) This is a new part of the map

Andy -    I’ve not been here.

Kev    -    Folks, we got five at the most...

            Lauren is moving out of shot    

Colin -    One of these doors goes back to the main hall...

Andy -    Let’s have a look

Kev -        ah, I’m not feeling very safe and secure here, guys...

            Lauren is out of shot (she can be out of focus in the background...)

Colin -    (pointing at the map) That’s where we need to get to.

        The boys are all consulting the map.

Andy -    What’s this? (indicating something)

Kev -        Church with a Steeple?

        Above (end of rotating shot) - we can see Lauren moving away into an exit

Colin -    Air shaft - we can’t get down there

Lauren -    (searching into one of the open archways) Boys, in here...

Andy -    (still staring at map but directed behind him) I haven’t checked those, yet!

    From Lauren’s point of view - we see her venturing into a corridor - behind her the voices of the boys continue.

Colin -    Look, that line, there

Kev -        That’s the same, they join- see?

        Lauren is in the entrance of a corridor - she looks up - she looks down - the floor drops out from under her, we see her disappear downwards with a squeel.

    The boys look.

Kev -        oh great. (he steps out towards where Lauren has vanished - waving his staff in after her) bloody grea-

        Suddenly a figure falls into view - a low shot of the room with the portals visible - Kobols are climbing through them and jumping down...

     shot of Kobol raising its arm to attack Kev - the arm is sliced off- the kobol falls out of view - Colin is behind wielding his sword as more Kobols drop from the portals in the ceiling.

    some more fighting shots - Colin’s sword clangs off of the podium in the centre of the room - Andy reacts -

Andy admonishes Colin who is wildly flailing with his sword - Col, you’d be better off looking for the way out (shot of Colin’s blade reflecting the light of the light shaft)

Andy -    Don’t touch the light!

    he leaps to the podium edge and backflips off - Colin is still one-handedly trying to read the map - Gag where Colin is trying to look at the map and it gets sliced up by a Kobold blade leaving him with a thin strip that he examines suddenly (it shows the path out) - he suddenly points

Colin -    That one! It’s that one!

    Karl whacks a Kobol with his staff and runs towards the indicated doorway - overhead view shows Colin is making his way there too - Andy calls out -

Andy - Get out of the room, I’ll be right behind you

    Andy must negotiate a whole load of Kobols - follow his movement across the room leaping from one Kobol to another, jumping from door-frame to door-frame etc.

the kobols are standing between Andy and the exit (where Kev and Colin already are) - he takes a running jump onto the podium, flips into the air, passing through the light shaft, over the heads and swords of the assembled koboolds, lands parkour-style gripping the top of the doorway as behind him a forest of slender spines (they can be slightly flexible - very thin like concrete-reinforcing wires) shoots up from the floor of the room impaling all of the Kobols left alive. Andy falls through the archway, rolling badly and injuring his ankle.

he is helped away by the other two.

        He reaches the doorway, stops and hurls something behind him (something he picked up? a bone? not his weapon) - it passes through the light 

and suddenly - Andy runs off after the others along the corridor.

        Eventually they come running into a high-ceilinged chamber, rows of pillars along each side. They run to its far end where there is a huge closed door. The door is covered in a carved relief of people writhing and screaming, like a depiction of a Medieval hell)

        Andy starts working at the lock.

Colin -    Can you open it again?

Andy -    Should be easier this time. (gets to work)

        A wide shot reveals a horde of Goblins rushing towards them.

Kev -     In your own time, Andy.

Andy -    Don’t distract me

Colin -    No pressure.

Andy -    Hold on, hold on!

            Axes and arrows are falling all around - Colin is batting them away with his sword. Kev stands forwards and casts a bright explosive spell that clears a swathe through the oncoming horde - they fall back, momentarily. Then start to advance again .

Kev -        I’m all outta gas... (he’s run out of spells)

Colin -    Ok, pressure now, Andy.

Andy -    It’s done! (triumphant, moving to stand away from the door - but his hand appears to be stuck. He looks at it, the surface of the door appears to be welling out to envelop his fingers) Shit! (in a moment, the door has sucked him into its substance - his screaming face visible as if carved into the wood)

Kev -    (looking from the door to the advancing horde) Well, that’s it, then. (looking back as behind him the Kobold horde advances - he winces and closes his eyes, readying for the impact...)

        The horde descend upon the group. As the individual members are killed (are overwhelmed by the oncoming attackers) the panic begins to subside into hilarity (it’s a wipe-out - they find the situation intensely amusing...)

Colin is the last one left standing - he is laughing as the horde closes in on him...

After this it’s a pretty clear run to the top.

Yeah, but the last thing we need right now is to run across a wide empty space...

Scene 2. Conversation at Troll’s Head Inn.

Opens on Colin’s face - laughing as we have just seen him in the Dungeon. They are in an Inn (wideshot of everyone) - it’s a large, high roofed hall, trestles and chairs are scattered across the floor. It seems surprisingly bright and airy. There is the impression of the School canteen room about the place. Colin and the others are ensconced in a bay window. They have all lost their armour (although they may still be wearing their basic costumes). Andy is standing, pointing at Floyd, he is in the middle of an obviously funny tale which concerns  the man...

Andy -    ... and the rest of us are asking where is the bloody key... and he’s here at the depot –

Kev -        And he’s got the bloody key... 

(the presentation of some new item of clothing for Colin - in recognition of his sword swinging - i.e. an xp level-up - and a change of costume?! (the dragon emblem) )

    The group all burst out laughing again.

    Wideshot of the hall reveals it is full of adventurers, all manner of Earthlanders, dressed in their adventuring gear - weapons and staffs everywhere, clothes of all exotic and complex designs... beer is being served, people are grouped in what must be their adventuring teams, camaraderie, familiar with one another, friends... chatter, snatches of conversation...

    This is a confusion of conversations and exchanges - by the time we return to the group, their conversation has moved on a few (unheard) sentences.

Scene opens on a door - the door of a busy Inn. 

Colin walks across the room, passing various adventurer types as he goes - we get a good look at the various assembled. (Colin brushes by apologetically).

The sounds of cheering and greeting, a table in the corner is occupied by the others in the group who are waving and smiling at Colin’s appearance. (Floyd is drinking a cup of tea at the table)

Colin looks around - behind him we see Kev waving (Kev because he is the last one we saw with Colin)

Kev - (calling) Oi there! You looking for us?!

Colin turns and walks towards the group seated in the bay windows. They greet him with a cheer

Andy - The survivor! (raising a goblet)

Others are applauding.

Floyd - You never walked all the way back?

Kev - He did. 

Colin takes a seat with the group (the second one at the front of the table - back to the room). Colin is carrying Kev’s staff - he hands it over

Colin - I think you left this behind

view of whole group seated at the table

Kev - Ah, nice one, buddy. I owe ya. That’s got an IQ buff on it I need.

Andy - (off hand) He’s an idiot without it.

Lauren - He’s even more of an idiot without it!

Kev - (ignoring them, looking through the crowd towards the barman) Let’s get the man a drink.  

Floyd - You didn’t think of jumping, then?

Colin - There’s a greasy to the northwest of the Hall, it takes you around behind the second lower South Transept. Then there’s just a few stairs...

Bull - (is standing behind Colin (who must have taken his chair) - he pats him on the back with a large hand) My old trainer used to say - ‘the most important man in any Dungeon is the one who knows the way out!’

Kev - (teasing) He didn’t say anything about not stepping on gong traps then?

Bull - (laughingly) Yeah, well, I didn’t hear you give the warning...

Floyd - (interrupting as arbitrator) It’s part of the learning curve –we’ll know for next time.

Kev - Ah, next time!...

Andy - Can we have a decent bloody map for next time?

Kev - I don’t mind the two hour walk as long as there’s some guaranteed booty at the end of it.

Floyd - There’s no guaranteed booty.

Kev - But I thought...

Floyd - There may be a Cobratine belt, if it’s regenerated... It’s not the booty that’s the point...

Andy - Gloathe Meridian are guaranteeing booty.

Kev - Yeah, but they want a subscription from ya.

Andy - Yeah, well... and Soul Stowers work down to the seventh level, and you’re never more than half an hour’s walk from a greasy, that’s what they’re saying...

Floyd - They say that. They can say what they like until it opens... Anyway! I don’t want to hear talk about bloody Gloathe Meridian, please. I’m banning all conversation from my group until further notice.

Kev and Andy exchange faces of half-concealed amusement at Floyd’s indignation.

Floyd - (muttering) sounds like a bloody Hotel chain to me anyway...

Lauren - There is a way through the gong trap, though?

Floyd - Yes, of course there is.

Andy - I bumped into Banger Brinklow earlier and he said he’d taken a bunch of wall crawlers through there the other day in under four hours. But they didn’t get anything - he reckons it’s empty down to the sixth level now...

Kev - They’re guaranteeing stuff on every raid at...

Floyd makes a noise into his mug of tea...

Floyd - OK! Enough! (hand out to end the topic)

Lauren - That’s assuming there is a way through there...

Some comment about needing Bull there to help out (Bull - Well, as my old [master, leader] used to tell me - the most powerful person in any dungeon is the one who knows the way out...)

Somewhere around here Bull gets up to go (to the toilet?)

Floyd -    There is a way out of there.

Andy -    Oh yes, there is! I was talking to Banger Brinklow and he said he’d taken a bunch of wall-crawlers through there on Tuesday and they’d cleared it in under two hours...

there’s nothing down there - why are we going then? - it’s the excitement (challenge of the environment) - more bloody Kobolds - they’re selling subscriptions to the (new) Dungeon - if any of you subscribe to that Dungeon I’ll be very angry (Andy and Kev pull faces at one another)

Colin -    “Banger” Brinklow?

Floyd -    Brinklow owns the Ornate Plate makers over on Saruman Street, he’s been around for ages.

Andy -    He’s in his sixties!

Floyd -    He was here in the early days. John knows him (he is indicating the barman who has appeared to deliver the drinks Kev ordered)

John -    Aye, Banger an I go way back. We raided the Nether Crag together, before they built the bridges. (sees a few blank faces from the younger members) Ach! It was lang afore your time, young uns. Yon lads and lasses dinnae ken how easy things are these days. None o yer greasy tubes  fer us, we had te walk if we wanted te get below the green  .

Floyd -    (to Colin) John was one of the original Fighter class. Honoured by the Old King, weren’t you, John? (Floyd is being slightly mischievous here in provoking a story from the old soldier)

John -    Aye! I knew ma way ‘round a long sword well enough in ma day. (He takes a seat, ready to start a long story - Floyd might wink at the others at this point) (tucks his tray under his arm ready to tell his story...) There was this time a bunch of us down at the Fury Horn, it’s where ah picked up that wee penknife pinned to the wall here (indicating the Orc sword on the wall behind)...

            Suddenly there’s noise from behind in the Inn, the sound of music blaring out - People are looking around, expressions of surprise and some degree of disapproval on their faces.

John -      What the?... (getting up hurriedly) Damned neophytes. Hey you! I’ll not have contraband in mah establishment! Get that rubbish oota here!...

            He storms off through the crowd - we get a glimpse of a bunch of younger looking people seated around a shabby-looking battery-powered tape deck from which the music has been playing. Some of them are grinning mischievously, but some are looking on without amusement - perhaps someone turned the volume up a little too high as a joke...

        The group watch him go.

Kev -        Whoof! - Saved by The Prodigy’s Firestarter! I thought we were gonna get the old man’s life story then...

Lauren - Hey, show some respect...

Andy -    How the hell did they get that here, anyhow?

Floyd -    Ah, it happens sometimes. The Council can’t monitor every portal.

Lauren -    Well, they’ll only get it confiscated. Silly idiots. What did they think they were doing?

Kev -        Exactly - I mean, everybody knows that Jilted Generation is a better album.

Colin - What’s going on?

Andy - Some kids with a camera.

Kev - (turning back in his chair) Well, at least they saved us from the old man’s life story...

Floyd - Hey, a little more respect (with some seriousness)

Lauren - (leaning forwards - Kev looking down her cleavage?) What did they think they were doing, anyway? Silly boys...

Andy - I thought it was one of your mob shooting off by accident

Kev - Hey, 

Lauren - (sitting back down) Well, they’re lucky John caught them, if it’d been the Council they would be in serious trouble.

Kev - (craning his neck to look again) What’s he done with it.

Lauren - He took it off them.

Floyd - I’m sure they’ll be able to collect it at the Gate on their way back.

Kev - Nah, he’ll sell it on eBay...

     something about the Council’s control here - no guns allowed!! (guns)

Bull -        (has reappeared - standing - after having nipped off somewhere...) Hey chaps, looks like some kind of delivery being made to the Dungeons...

Bull -        (has reappeared - standing - after having nipped off somewhere...) Hey chaps, some kind of parade on Main Street. It’s the Gloathe Meridian bods...

            There seems to be a commotion outside - people are moving to look out of the windows. Some of the team try to peer through the windows, the rest stand up and follow a crowd slowly moving out onto the street.

            Outside. It is a large courtyard, the centre of town. Crowds of people are moving by. Amongst them, and the cause of the commotion, is a massive, troll-like beast being hauled on great ropes across the cobbles. Maybe some other creatures or large cages, containers are part of the procession. Banners and flags proclaim ‘Gloathe Meridian’ ‘the newest Dungeon in Town’ ‘Opens this full moon’ ‘Guaranteed Booty’ ‘Thousands of random finds and encounters’

Andy -    (looking passed Floyd down the street) Heyup - what’ve they got here...

View of street and the Leaching Troll

Andy - Haven’t seen one of those before.

Floyd -    It’s a Leaching Troll. Pretty viscious. Don’t normally see them out of the mountains - they secrete a metal corrosive on their skin - you can’t use steel against them.

        (the tethers holding the creature are padded with wool, ropes not chains)

Kev -        It sweats acid - niiice!

Passing Wrangler - Not if you’ve gotta carry her all the way from Port Standing (Shallowweir, Wightwater) it’s not - We’ve reshod the back wheels twice now - and she gives off a spoor that rots the buckles on your shoes and the buttons on your coat.

Floyd - What’s her temperament like?

Bull - (patting Floyd on the back) Heh! He wants a date with her.

Passing Wrangler - Ha - well, she’s a fiery bitch when the mood strikes, but we got her pretty well dosed up for the parade.

Floyd - Makes sense.

Lauren - I think it’s cruel tying it up like that! (she turns away, not very interested in the spectacle - Colin is standing towards the back of the crowd and she moves up beside him)

Andy - Cruel?! That thing wouldn’t think twice about pulling your head off if it had its hands free... 

Passing Wrangler - Ah, i’s for her own good as much as yours. She’s in no pain and the ol’ girl’ll be happy once we get her underground. I warn you though, if you’re thinking of taking her on when it’s all open I wouldn’t bother going with your best gear - she’ll strip that off as soon as look at yer

Floyd - Sounds like my kind of lady...

Kev - Until some buffed up über team come along waving their war mallets around their heads...

Floyd - Ahh, it’ll probably spend most of its natural wandering around the tubes snacking on Kobolds and avoiding anything that as much as smells like a raid.

They are walking off, following the crowd...

Andy -    Where do you think they’ll take it?

Floyd -    That’s got to be going down to at least the fifth level. Unless Gloathe Meridian has unilaterally decided to change the levelling system...

Andy -    Do you think we’ll ever go down that far?

Kev -    Are you kidding? You can get killed below the fourth. I mean really killed!

As this conversation goes on, Lauren is talking to Colin -

Lauren - I’ve heard you’re bringing your first party across at the weekend? (Colin nods, smiles agreement) You haven’t told us much about them?

Colin - (shrugging) There’s not much to tell, really.

Lauren - They’re from your school?

Colin - It’s my Sixth Form group.

Lauren - Ahh! (pause) Floyd says there are seven of them?

Colin - (as if it had just occurred to him) Yeah. Yeah, there are.

Lauren - That’s a lot all at once. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anyone inviting more than three people over together. Floyd says he never brought over more than two people at the same time... How did you get permission for that?

Colin - (vaguely) I just... did, that’s all.

Lauren is obviously suspicious of this reply,

Lauren - Oh... You know you’d get into very big trouble with the Council if you didn’t have permission–

Colin - It’s fine, honest.

Lauren - Are you bringing them through Warrior’s Gate? Because they’ll know if you do... 

Colin - I don’t have to, do I? (slight smile) 

Lauren - (aside) hmm, no, you don’t, do you, and I still haven’t met anyone else who uses the gate you use... but that’s not the point – (rallying) There’s a whole process they expect you to go through, to make sure your guests are ready for the experience. It’s different from coming through your own gate, being invited, you know, it can be quite frightening.

Colin - I know all about that. 

Lauren - (suddenly) You have prepared them for coming here, Colin?

Colin shrugs a vague reply

Colin - Yeah... They know all about this place...

Lauren - Hmmm (thinks)... Colin, why are you bringing them here?

            Suddenly, it appears that the creature has pulled free of one of its restraints. It rears up. People run panicking, maybe someone is bitten (swallowed!) - then a dark robed figure appears from the crowd, raises his arms casting a spell and the creature is stunned.

Wranglers and official types gather around, the crowd recovers, we see Kev, Floyd, Andy watching from the front

Kev -  Sweet!

Andy -  Woaa, niiice!

Floyd is looking into the crowd that has gathered around the Troll - he sees something,

Floyd - Well now, that is interesting...

Floyd is turning back towards Colin and Lauren, Kev follows him,  Andy is hanging back.

Kev - What?

Floyd - Over there - see the guy in the dark hood (Kev is straining to look)

Kev - Yeah, yeah, who’s he? (close up of who they’re looking at)

Floyd - He’s in the Vangorean Guard. That staff is standard issue and the back pack is an arcane battery. He’s dressing like a civi but that’s some hardcore military hardware he’s carrying around on his back. 

Bull - Never heard of the Vangorean Guard.

Floyd - They’re like the special ops of the Council’s military wing. Trained almost exclusively in stealth charms and combat spells.

Kev - Ninja Mages, cool!

Floyd - In their place, yeah. But I don’t like to see them ‘round here...

Colin and Lauren have made their way up to where the rest of the group are

Lauren - (sort of discreetly, but they’ve already had this conversation) Floyd, I think you should talk to him.

Colin laughs.

Lauren - I just don’t want you getting yourself into trouble, young man.

Floyd - Lauren’s right, chap. You don’t go breaking the Council’s rules lightly... Who are these people, are they... special to you in some way?

Colin - (shrugging) No, not really.

Floyd - Well, why do you want to bring them here?

Suddenly, Andy’s call interrupts. He is walking towards them reading a piece of paper in his hands,

Andy - (reading) Over two thousand physical miles of novice runs. Non-lethal down to the seventh level. Guaranteed booty. New Monsters every Month. Special introductory offer: Free Cobratine belt for the first one hundred subscribers...

Floyd’s attention is obviously caught.

Andy - (handing sheet to Floyd) We gotta check this out, big man. Come on.

Andy walks off. Kev follows. Floyd looks at paper then at Colin.

Floyd - Look, I’ll talk to you when we get back, ok?

He follows. Lauren tuts, walks off after Floyd.

Lauren - I thought you weren’t interested in Gloathe Meridion? 

(fading into the departing crowd)

Colin is left behind watching them go - he is alone in the street - he smiles to himself, looks down, then walks out of shot

Colin -    Who is he?

Floyd -    Vengorean Magus.  Don’t see many around during daylight. And you don’t want to be seeing them at night. Those guys are trained almost exclusively in stealth spells and combat skills.

Kev -        Ninja Mages, wicked!

Colin -    Pretty dangerous guy, then?

Floyd -    Well, let’s just say I’d rather face a pack of Mire jacks in a locker room than one of those guys in an empty football stadium...

 something about the Council (Varalnis) using them...

Floyd tells his story (he controls a gate) about how he spent months playing D&D with his mates before he said to them he could take them to a real place

the conversation around the table is focused on Colin’s first group of visitors to realm - it’s like a rite of passage for him, like his Confirmation, or losing his virginity, something everybody has a story about - I remember my first time...

(Floyd or Lauren speaks privately to Colin after discussion around the table)

“You have told these people where they’re going, haven’t you Colin?”

“Yes. Yes, I have” (he smiles fixedly - it is clear he has not)

(he is actually being quite foolhardy in not following the rules about this - ordinarily, you would be damaging or severely limiting your future life (career) on Realm by not following the Council’s rules...

Colin -    Can we go out and follow it?

Lauren -    Erm! Actually, you need to be somewhere, don’t you?

Colin -    (realising, not happy) Oh, that doesn’t matter!

Lauren -    It does, young man. If they’re expecting you. Time’s wasting here.

Andy -    What’s this?

Colin -    Oh, just some school thing...

Lauren -    It’s important you have a normal life, as well. (Kev in the background - waving a mug of beer - “Here’s to a normal life!”)(Lauren handing Colin his bag and wheeling him towards the door. To the others) He’s going on a school trip this weekend.

Andy -    Wahey! Where to?

Colin -    Eden Vale, in the Peak District. It’s with a bunch of the Sixth Form but I can’t be bothered...

Floyd -    If they’re expecting you, lad, you oughtta go.

Kev -        (who has been otherwise occupied by the Ninja Mage) Heh! Have a nice time fella. I’ve been to the Peak District. It was rubbish.

Colin -    Thanks, Harry.

Lauren -    Try to think of it as a penance. If you have your time here, you’ve got to do some time back on the Homeworld.

Kev -     (mostly aside) Yeah, I remember the Homeworld. It was rubbish.

Colin -     I just wish...

Floyd -    What do you wish?

Colin -    (embarrassed a little) Oh, I don’t know. Wouldn’t it be great to bring them all here, instead?

        To Colin’s surprise everybody in the group bursts out laughing.

Andy -    Nice one, Col.

Floyd -    I don’t know about that, kid.

Colin -    (honestly) Why? Why not?

Lauren -    It’s just... there’s a whole lot of reasons.

Floyd -    You’d never get it okayed with the Council for a start.

Kev -        It’s not that, boss. It’s because they wouldn’t get it. (with some venom)

Andy -    They’re In the Dark, remember? Not like us.

Kev -        yeah, bloody Moles.

Colin -     Well, we were all Moles, once. Weren’t we?

Kev -        Nah, mate - if you’re a Mole, you’re always a Mole.

Lauren -    Just think of it as the down side of being Enlightened... You got chosen to come here, but that means you have to keep the secret.

Floyd -    You’ll get used to it, kid. Remember, there’s a reason it was you and not they...

         (“That’s a great Earthlander line” - some debate about the locals?? A hint of the revelation to come, that Realm natives are a subjugated group...)

Anyway, have a nice time.

Andy -    Yeah. Enjoy the holiday, mate.

Kev -        Yeah - apparently they got sheep in the Peak District! Imagine!

            Lauren is leading Colin to the door, the others are waving farewell. We follow Colin out and watch him walk down the cobbled street towards the great fascade of the Gamer’s Gate, a vast, Cathedral-like structure in the centre of the community, which surrounds the gate that leads back to the ‘Real World’.

    Colin stops and looks back along the street where adventurers are walking to and from the Dungeon entrances, the lines of specialised adventuring shops, the mediaeval splendour of the buildings. He turns and steps through the gate...

1  greasy tubes - magically enhanced tunnels which can be walked through at a highly accelerated pace (one or two steps will carry you several miles) - these are normally referred to in the vernacular as ‘greasies’ : “We took a greasy down to the seventh level”. They are not  portals, in that the tunnel must be a physically present link between the origin and the destination. It has been found, however, that the linking tunnel does not need to be of a uniform or large scale and can, in fact, be reduced to approximately the width of four fingers at its narrowest gauge. Passage through the ‘greasy’ is achieved by physically walking and the effect has been described as walking on travellators commonly found at Airports - a sense of increased momentum whilst moving forward followed by a sudden deceleration on exiting the tube. Although the connecting tubes may be no larger than a drainpipe (see above), there is no perceptible sense of compression experienced by the traveller, although if the walker stops in mid journey they may experience a sensation that is commonly referred to as ‘swamping’, a feeling of being held or dragged back, particularly on the legs as if walking through a swamp. It has been proved impossible to change direction whilst walking through a greasy. Most greasies can be traversed in two or three steps. Most people confess to travelling through them with their eyes closed. In experiments it has been found that if the exit to a greasy is too narrow to accommodate the traveller then the traveller cannot leave the tube, they are essentially stuck until the exit is made wider (or the tube extended into open space) or the traveller is magically extricated from the tube.

2  below the green - to a depth where green things (plants) do not grow - the deeper levels  'Below the green' – back in the day the early Soul Stowers used to glow green when they were active (i.e. going to save your life) – it was stopped as the levels became more familiar and it became more generally known which were 'safe' and which not – and because “the bloody things gave away your location in the dark – nothing a Goblin archer likes more than a nice glowing light to aim at...”

Scene 3. Sixth Form Common Room

Transition to Colin walking across the playing fields towards the school.

Colin Green

Ian Whiteley

Colin enters the Sixth Form Common room (glimpse of school corridor through the open door) - a bay of windows looks out onto the front of the school, a small landscaped area of flowerbeds, then the main path where the cars and buses drop off. Ian is playing a game on his phone.

It’s raining outside.

Colin - Mr. White

Ian - Mr. Green

Colin takes a seat in the sofachair beside Ian. He puts his bag down (which includes his sword wrapped in a blanket (his cloak) (his new cloak). Ian notices but pointedly does not comment.

Colin - Who are you texting?

Ian - No one. Online Soduko. I’m top of the leader board!

Colin -

They sit in silence for a while - Ian playing his phone. 

pause

Ian - You didn’t see Bell when you came in?

Colin - No. I haven’t seen anyone yet.

Ian - The main doors were locked when my Mum dropped me off. The old geezer caretaker had to let me in. He wasn’t happy about that. Miserable git.

Colin - Maybe they’re running late. 

Ian - Well, she should be here, it was her name on the letter.

silence Maybe show the rain starting to get heavier...

Colin - It’s starting to rain. Did you get some walking shoes, then?

Ian - I borrowed my brother’s, he’s my size.

Colin - Good. You can buy anything you need there, anyway.

Ian - I’m not spending any money there - the only reason I’m coming on this trip is ‘cos the school are paying for it!... (looking around) I hope we’re not the only ones here. I’ll be pissed off if we’re–

Sean appears at the doorway - he looks at them (shot of him close up - shot from his pov at the two boys on the couch -

Sean - Oh, fucking hell

He leaves.

Ian - Oh bollocks, Docherty’s not coming is he?

Colin - Looks like it.

Ian - Oh bollocks... why is he coming?

Colin - It’s the whole lower Sixth, isn’t it?

Ian - Yeah, but he’s not even doing ‘A’ levels, is he? It’s gonna be like a remedial class with him there. That’s pissed me right off, that has...

Colin - (pulls out the Kobold model) Here!

Ian takes it, unhappily,

Ian - What’s this, then?

Colin - That’s a Kobold, It’s like a rat-like, dog-like creature that stands on its hind legs, uses metal weapons, has a clan-based society. Low intelligence but very aggressive and territorial.

Ian - (examining it) Right, holding a sword - a rat-like creature with opposable thumbs?

Colin - Why not?

Ian - Because, they don’t have hands for a start, they have four feet.

Colin - They eat things with their hands, don’t they?

Ian - They don’t have opposable thumbs.

Colin - That’s just what you said about the Gnoll.

Ian - Well, der!

Colin - Why couldn’t they evolve thumbs?

Ian - Because, it’s to do with the way their bodies are built - they don’t have free hands, so they don’t use them that often - but monkeys can walk on their back legs so they have their hands free and that’s where the selective pressure comes in...

Colin - well, dogs can walk on their back legs...

Lesley enters the room, she puts her bag on the floor. 

Lesley - (politely) Hello.

Ian - Yeah, we were just talking about you.

Lesley - Oh?

Colin - No, ignore him. Shut up, Ian.

Colin smiles shyly, Ian gestures,

Ian - Well, she’d know more about it all, anyway, she’s the Biologist.

Lesley - Not until I do my Degree, I’m not.

Ian - Oh well, don’t ask her then, she’s not fully qualified.

Lesley - Ask what?

Colin - (embarrassed) Oh, nothing.

Ian - Why a creature couldn’t evolve from a rat to stand on its back legs, and carry a sword?

Lesley - Well, it could, couldn’t it?

Ian - So, why aren’t there any?

Lesley - (All the while she’s looking in her bag) Well, it’s about evolutionary niches, isn’t it? There’s no available space in the matrix for rodents, because apes and monkeys occupy the niche... Are you the only two here, then? (She finds a tube of lipstick and starts applying it as she talks to them)

Ian - We saw Sean.

Colin - But he went out again.

Lesley - Oh. If it’s just you two then I’m not going.

Ian - Oh, that’s nice! 

(Colin is smiling)

Lesley - I don’t want to be the only girl.

Ian - Well, Docherty will be there so he’ll look after you. (almost to himself)

Lesley - Huh? (face - what are you talking about)(may not be necessary - it’s not clear who Ian is referring to here...

Colin - Everybody’s coming. Alison, and Rachel.

Lesley - (to herself) Oh God...

Ian - Are those your walking boots?

(close on her furry lined eskimo boots)

Alison enters the room, 

Lesley - Uh, Yeah, and so?   (Some man was following me) (she sees Alison) Oh hi-i!

Alison - Hi (waves) (she’s already wearing her waterproof mac)

Lesley - Oh wow - is that your waterproof coat?

Rachel enters the room

Alison - (proudly) Yeah, my Mum bought it for me.

Lesley - That’ll keep you dry.Rachel - (over towards Colin and Ian) Have you seen any teachers around?

Colin - Er, no. Ian saw the caretaker.

Alison - Yeah, it’s really good. It’s not very trendy, though.

Lesley - (showing off her boots) I got these yesterday!

Ian - (the boots) You’re not wearing them for walking up the mountains?

Lesley - They’re real Italian leather. There aren’t any mountains in the Peak District, anyway.

Ian laughs out loud

Ian - Yes there are!

Lesley - Not real mountains. Not like Kilimanjaro, or anything.

Ian - Ah, I’m gonna laugh about that all the way there.

Lesley - Whatever. (hand out)

Rachel - I’ve got a map of where we’re staying. (fetching it out of her bag) spreading it out over the tabletop

Sean, Brendon and Michael enter laughing. (some interactions with each other) Sean pats Lesley’s bum as she leans into her bag 

Lesley - (genuinely offended) Fuck off! (looks at Brendon who is walking passed her)

Brendon - (laughing) It wasn’t me! It genuinely wasn’t me! (to Sean) You’re gonna get me killed, dude.  It was an accident! It was a genuine accident!

Sean - (laughing, sits between Colin and Ian - they make space with uncomfortable faces) Is this the geek table? I’m just gonna sit here between you geeks - What’s that (grabs the model from Ian’s hand - Ian tries to take it back, Sean snatches it away) It’s all right, I’m not nicking it! (examining it) Fucking hell! That’s weird. (to Ian) What have you got this for?

Ian - It’s not mine, it’s his (Colin)

Sean stays examining the Kobold

In the background Brendon is opening the window - taking out a smoke

Sean - Did you make it and shit?

Colin - I bought it and painted it.

Sean - Man... It must have taken you ages

Colin - It took a while

Sean - Fucking hell, that’s... sad 

Brendon and Michael laugh. Brendon is leaning out the window smoking. (try to suggest that this stuff is limited to the boys’ attention, not the whole group)

Sean - No, I mean, that’s your whole life, mate... 

Sean - (on the back of the laughter) No, it really is, mate... My sister’s husband is into this sort of stuff - he collects them tranformers, too. He’s a complete wanker – Colin - Maybe he just has an imagination...

A look from Sean (at this point he breaks the model - we don’t need to see that) (a tightened fist)

He feels his mobile calling in his pocket and retrieves it - holds it to his ear

Sean - (into mobile) Yeah, yeah... I’ll come out, buzz me when you’re here...

He’s looking at his phone as he starts to put it away. Then he stops,

Sean - Here, look at this... (a salacious grin)

He shows the screen to Colin who looks away (angry) and then to Ian who is insulted,

Sean - (at Colin) That’s real life, that is.

Michael - Show me

Sean stands, showing Michael the phone, Michael laughing...

Michael - Dirty bitch...

Rachel is spreading out the map onto the low table, they are all leaning over it, Rachel pointing,

Rachel - This is where the Hostel is.

Alison - Is that the Peak District? 

Rachel - This area up here is, it goes off the map.

Sean looking over from his standing position

Sean - Where’s Sheffield?

Rachel - Sheffield’s not on this map.

Lesley - Why do you want to know about Sheffield?

Michael - ‘cos that’s where we’re going. Sean’s brother got us some tickets for a private party.

Sean - At The Society. It’s a boss gig. There’s no way you’d get a ticket for it, usually. My brother’s Promo Company are doing a special night, so he got me some. (to Lesley) I’ve got one spare if you want to come.

Lesley - (surprised) How are you going to get there?

Sean - (moving to the window - looking out) My brother says there’s a train that runs into Sheffield every twenty minutes. So, hitch a ride, go to the party, come back the next morning. It’s an all-nighter.

Ian - And then walk up a mountain? You’re going to be a bit tired, aren’t you?

Sean - I’m not walking up any mountains. You can walk up a mountain, if you like. 

 It’s gonna be like this (out of the window, the rain) anyway.

Ian - That’s why the itinerary said to bring waterproof clothing.

Sean -

(well, how are you going to do that? and go walking. I’m not walking. 

His phone goes again, he looks at it (turns off the vibrate), gets up onto the window ledge

Sean - Be right back.

He jumps out.

Brendon has moved back to the table where the map is. Colin stands and goes to the window - we see Sean standing next to a car, leaning into the open window talking to the driver. On the ledge the broken Kobold lies where Sean has left it. Colin picks it up ,holds the handle of the window, looks out towards Sean (a moment of decision) (he decides - Sean stays - then leaves the open window and goes to the light switch and turns the lights on - going back to the window after Sean has returned)

Behind him, the conversation carries on, Rachel criticising the idea. 

Rachel - Brendon, you’re not really going to this night club, are you?

Brendon - (evasively) Dunno yet, I might.

Michael - You said to Sean you were going. You’d better tell him if you’re not.

Ian - He can let me have your ticket.

Michael - There’s no way you’re going. You’re way not cool enough.

Ian - As if I really want to go! You don’t think you’re gonna get away with it, do you?

Rachel - Ian’s right, Michael - you could get chucked out of the Sixth Form for something like that.

Michael - As if I cared.

Rachel - But you can do that sort of thing any time you want out of school.

Michael - It’s sixty quid for a train ticket to Sheffield!

Rachel - You’re stupid! (she starts looking at the map)

Lesley - I must admit, it sounds a better than walking up a mountain if the weather’s going to be like this (outside)

Rachel - Oh, don’t you start, please.

Lesley - Well, if it’s raining.

Brendon - It will be raining, it’s the North, it always rains...

Sean comes back in through the window - playfully thumps Brendon on the arm (he’s excited by what he picked up)

Ian - Which is why the itinerary said to bring adequate waterproof equipment

Colin goes and shuts the window - lowers the blinds -  as Sean sits down at the map in Colin’s seat.

Sean - Yeah, and you’ll be carrying your laptop up a mountain, keeping it over your head to keep the rain off (mimes).

General laughter.

(Brendon - Is that waterproof?)

Jason arrives - wet and bedraggled - carrying all his stuff in plastic shopping bags.

Brendon - Hey, look who’s here!

Rachel - Hello Jason.

Brendon - What’s with all the bags? 

Michael - Is it raining outside, mate? (laughing at him)

Rachel - Ignore him, Jason, come and put your stuff down

Jason walks passed the table, spraying water

Lesley - Hey! That’s wet.

Michael - Watch it, dickhead!

Jason turns 

Jason - Sorry.

His boots hit Sean on the head (or his bag splits - the handle breaks and contents spill onto Sean), Sean stands up, pushing Jason who goes flying onto the sofa (onto Ian?)

Sean - You fucking twat!

Rachel - Sean!

Lesley - Leave him, Sean.

All this time Colin has been closing the blinds over the windows. 

He switches the lights on. He shuts the main door. He goes over to Ian, holds his arm, confides,

Colin - Don’t worry. Everything will be fine. Trust me.

Colin picks up his bag. Curious look from Ian and Colin walks passed the group carrying his bag, opens the door (a blaze of daylight) and goes outside. He leaves the door open.

People start to notice the light from the doorway.

Rachel has an Ordinance Survey map of the Hope Valley. Sean/Bren/Michael appear - Brendon smoking out of the window sees the car that Sean is waiting for - Colin thinks about shutting the window on Sean before he comes back in (Out of the way, Geek)- Sean gag about Ian taking his ‘computer’ - “he’ll be holding it over his head to keep the rain off”- Sean comes back in - Jason appears, wet through carrying his stuff in carrier bags - Sean is sitting down - Jason turns around near him, hitting his head with his bags (he has a pair of cruddy walking shoes - football boots? tied to his bags that swing around and hit Sean)- Sean lashes out - “Fuck off, you twat” - pushes him over - Jason goes flying - girls “Sean!” “Leave him” -  a moment of sudden explosive violence - during all this Colin is doing his magical bit...

Scene 4. The Company arrive

Colin’s speech.

silence - no one speaking - no conversation - thinking hard.

- It’s stopped raining

Colin laughs

- It’s just not raining here.

(Where did the common room go?)

It’s about them ignoring Colin and questioning where they are despite him literally telling them... 

- This is... the carpark...

they come through the gate - Colin telling them where they are - they come up with some theories (an earthquake destroyed the building?)- Colin says ‘that’s not it’, the answer is this (this is another world) - they start checking their phones - Colin says there’s no signal - Sean gets signal (he thinks he does) Colin takes phone - Give me my phone! (Colin gives it back - the battery will die soon, anyway (“it does after a few minutes”) - Sean looks -my battery’s dead!)  Violent reaction - it comes from a fear and a growing sense that Colin is telling the truth (what the fuck did you do to it?)-

the Gate disappears (don’t show it disappearing - somebody, Ian, suddenly announces that it’s gone)- Colin says we’re not going back until we’ve gone on (slight mechanical problem here - does Colin know how to make the gate disappear - surely, no one else knows how to do that?! maybe he’s just started learning how to do that - an indication of his nascent powers as Gatekeeper) (this could be a hint that the gate is tied in to Colin’s pyschological state - it disappears when he becomes afraid that they might use it to go back home...) - Sean challenges Colin - get that fucking door back! attacks him! (this suggests that he/they are really aware that Colin is telling the truth and that, therefore, the Gate really is a way back home) Colin vanishes!

Colin reacts angrily too (like, this is not your world any more) - a sense of the not entirely benign nature of his reasons for bringing them here...

Colin -

We’re not going to the Peak District, I’m sorry about that. The letters were a lie, I sent them. I’m sorry about that, too, but I couldn’t think of a better way to get you all here. This isn’t where you all thought we were going. This is somewhere else, entirely. This is another world.

You probably know quite a lot about it already, in a weird way. There’s lots that will seem familiar. But there are things that are very different, too.

There are monsters here. And amazing things, wondrous sights and experiences. Things you won’t believe, at first. Things you thought were only myths and legends, things you’ve only ever dreamed about: Monsters and Magic, dungeons and dragons, great ancient races and lost civilisations. This is a world of Heroic Quests, and the struggle of Good over Evil, and of terrible truths.

This isn’t the world where you were born. This isn’t the Hope Valley. Welcome to my world.

Lesley - It’s stopped raining.

Colin - (laughing) No, it just isn’t raining here.

Michael - Where’s the fucking school gone?

Brendon - It just...disappeared.

Alison - The sky! (wide eyed)

Brendon - It must have been... there must have been... (small type) an earthquake  or something

Ian - An earthquake?!

Brendon - Well, I don’t fucking know! - it’s gone... that’s where the... it’s the car park...

Alison - We must be dreaming.

Lesley checks her phone

Lesley - I’m not getting a signal.

The others start checking their phones.

Colin - You won’t be able to use your phones here

Brendon - I’m not getting anything!

Colin - There are no signals here. Listen to me.

Sean - Fuck this. I’ve got something. It’s ringing...

Colin reaches over and takes takes hold of the phone -

Colin - Look –

Sean snatches it back off him

Sean - Get the fuck off!

Colin - Listen, there isn’t a signal here - they don’t work - and anyway the battery will die soon, it does after a few minutes...

Sean checks his phone. (it’s dead)

Sean - What the fuck have you done to my phone?! (checking it) You’ve fucking bust my phone!

Brendon - Mine’s gone.

Lesley - Mine has, too - it’s dead.

(this must appease Sean slightly - make him think it wasn’t Colin’s fault)

Sean - What the fuck’s going on here?

Colin - I’ve told you. Just please try to understand. This isn’t your world any more...

Sean - Fuck off - just shut the fuck up!

Rachel - Sean, please.

Sean - Well, he’s fucking... (pissing me off)

Sean - Well, he’s pissing me off right now and if he says any more I’ll pop him one, I’m not kidding.

Alison - I think we’re all dreaming.

Sean - Oh, and fucking shut up, as well. (squinting, not looking at he

(Alison is shocked - Brendon stifles a laugh)

Rachel - Sean! - Calm down, please. We need to work out what’s happened here.

Colin - Look, I’m sorry - I realise this is a lot to take in but, I ... there’s a village not far from here called Warrior’s Gate - where there are people just like you and me - if we go to the Inn there –

Brendon - (seeing at Colin’s sword) What are you wearing, mate?

Michael - (looking) I don’t see any village.

Colin - Just along that road and over the hill. There’s an Inn there -

Ian - Er, I don’t want to alarm anyone but the door has gone. The door has just gone.

They look. Everyone looking - wide shot. Sean turns to Colin.

Sean - You’ve done something. You’d better undo it.

Colin - Listen, if we go to the Troll’s Head Inn where I’ve booked rooms, honestly - It’ll be all right.

Sean - (he’s advancing) Look mate, I don’t know what you’ve done there but

Colin - Just do as I ask, I know this place. 

Sean - Right, I fucking warned you (he reaches out grasping Colin’s jacket)

A tableau - the two facing each other

Colin - This isn’t your world anymore.

Colin disappears.

Sean shouts out - frustrated (he was about to hit someone) - runs and kicks Colin’s bag - it rolls in the grass (what’s in it?)

A wide shot of them all standing around looking at the spot where Colin stood. 

Brendon - So, now what?...

Lesley - He disappeared.

Alison - (wiping her eyes from crying)  I told you we were dreaming.

Rachel - Let’s try and understand what’s happened - now, does everyone remember how we got here

Lesley - We came through the door.

Rachel No, but after that, we must have travelled on a bus or train, or something?

Brendon - There was no travelling.

Rachel - Ok, does anyone recognise where we are - any landmarks

Michael - It’s just trees and shit

Lesley - We need the map 

(they look to where the door was)

Rachel - Well, does anyone remember something on the map, a feature - what about - what about that line of hills

Brendon - It’s not on the map - none of this is on any map - he told us, didn’t he? You heard him. He told us where we are. 

Sean - (looking at Ian) Where’s he gone?

Ian reacts - “hm?”

Sean - He’s your mate - where’d he go?

Ian - I don’t know - I haven’t got a clue - I don’t know anything about any of this.

Brendon - He said there was a town. Near here somewhere.

Rachel - Warrior’s Gate. He said there was a town called Warrior’s Gate.

Michael - Along that road, he said.

They all look at the horizon.

Nobody moves.

Then Sean starts down the hill.

Brendon - Where are you going.

Sean - (not looking back) Going to this town (turns and says as he walks) Gonna go to this town and get a taxi back.

Brendon - What do you mean “a taxi”?

Sean - I don’t care how fucking much it costs him - he’s paying for it (gesturing to indicate Colin) I’m gonna make him - I’m gonna get a taxi back to his fucking front door and make him pay...

A wide shot shows them starting to walk down the hill towards the distant road.

 Rachel - We need to try and understand what’s happened. Now, does anyone remember getting here - travelling, on a bus or train?...

Brendon - There was no travelling.

Scene 5. The Council Temple

Colin is teleported to somewhere in the Temple. 

Colin - confusion - darkness - he falls/has fallen to the ground, there are dark figures all around him (light after images burning Colin’s vision- a shifting image of Sean hovers in the dark space...)

lights (a skylight - natural light streaming down) Colin is in a well-lit room - it’s a transportation portal - specifically designed in the Temple to facilitate the sort of Magic that has been performed to get Colin here

the figures around the room are Mages who have just performed the summoning spell - they are clearing up, locking down the room as if it were a complex piece of machinery, like a nuclear reactor, that needs to go through a precise and careful procedure to shut it down safely.

a door opens - a Magi Official - slightly militaristic looking - enters accompanied by a soldier-mage.

 (takes Colin through the Temple explaining that he is in trouble and he has been summoned)

Magi Official - (sternly) Colin Greenfield? You will disarm yourself.

Colin undoes his sword - hands it to the Magi Official.

Magi Official - Follow me, please.

Colin - Where am I?

Magi Official - You are in the Central Basilica of the Council a Magickas.

Colin - This is Newkeep? How –?

Magi Official - You have been ported here at the behest of Greater-Councillor Varalnis. This is an official requisition; you have been summoned in consideration of a breach of Article Fifteen of the Visitor Principles. You are not required to make a defensive plea - the transgression has been detected and verified by Council operatives - You have no rights under law, nor recourse to any protection under International laws or putative rights emanating from the Home World. Your presence here is required as a matter of procedure. Mind that step.

Colin - My friends - My friends are back at Warrior’s Gate.

Magi Official - It is the current location of your friends that is at issue here, young man.

Colin - Where are you taking me?

Magi Official - Your presence has been required before the General Council which is currently in session.

Colin - My presence has been required?!

Magi Official - It is an unusual summons.

Colin - But - What do they think I’ve done?

They are at a doorway - Magi Official stops and indicates that Colin should go through...

Magi Official - You can ask Greater-Councillor Varalnis that yourself.

Colin looks at the doorway - the Magi Official gestures to make it clear that he should walk through. 

Colin walks through, along a narrow corridor, into a dim, murky theatre, the Council are arrayed all around - it’s like an old medical theatre - a series of rising tiers behind which the Council members sit, centred upon a smallish central space where Colin now takes a stand. A shaft of light - not startlingly bright but bright enough so that Colin must shield his eyes before he grows accustomed to it - falls upon the central podium.

Faces glimpsed in the gloom. One of them speaks - Varalnis

Varalnis - Master Greenfield.

Colin looks up (shielding his eyes - trying to discern the face of the speaker in the shadows)

Varalnis - It is with some regret that I note this is your first visit to the Council of Magi. I say ‘regret’ because of the inauspicious circumstances which have precipitated this occasion. For the benefit of the gentlemen of the Council, this is from a report I received a short while ago from Scry-Ops indicating the unauthorised transdimensional materialisation of eight subjects in the Warrior’s Gate region.

Corralnis stirs in his chair near Varalnis

Corralnis - (leaning over) Councillor Varalnis, are you saying that we have eight visitors to our shores whose arrival we have not been wholly expecting?

Varalnis - That is exactly so, High Councillor. And I need hardly explain to the assembled gentlemen the potential dangers of failing to follow the correct protocols for inviting Home Worlders through a Gate.

Corralnis - Nevertheless, I think you might perhaps explain them to the young man, who by your own implication appears not to be entirely aware of them.

Varalnis - It is the degree of his ignorance of the protocols that I intend to establish in this audience, High Councillor.

Corralnis - Very well. If that is your intention, then perhaps you should address yourself towards the young man himself. (gestures towards Colin)

Varalnis hesitant - turns to Colin

Varalnis - Master Greenfield, I draw your attention to Article Fifteen of the Visitor’s Proclamation to which all Gate Users are bound in filial duty from their first manifest step upon the lands of this world and of which all visitors are explicitly made cognisant by the authority of the Council at the event of their inaugural visit.

Colin stares up at Varalnis

Colin - I... er...

(He looks towards Corralnis)

Corranis - The Greater Councillor is asking if you remember being told of the Visitor Principles the first time you arrived here at one of the Great Cates.

Varalnis - I am asking if you remember being told on your arrival at one of the Great Gates of the duty of responsibility you owe towards those like you and to the world which you were visiting.

Colin - I was never told when I first arrived.

Varalnis - That is somewhat difficult to credit!

Colin - But I never... (arrived at one of the Great Gates)

Varalnis - (interrupting) And so, having not been told on your arrival, are you asking us to believe that you have never at any time become aware of the so-called Visitor Principles during your subsequent travels between worlds?

Colin - I... uh... (looking at his feet)

Varalnis - Precisely. The Principles are common knowledge within our community and even if your ignorance of them were creditable, it would not mitigate the seriousness of what you have tried to do. Which brings us directly to your charges - would it be possible to tell us who they are?

Colin - They are... my friends.

Varalnis - Indeed. Then, as friends, you have explained to them the importance of maintaining a proper respect for the world which they are visiting rules governing their visit to this world?

Varalnis - Your friends? And have you made them aware of the rules governing their visit to this world?

Colin - rebellious

Colin - There aren’t any.

Varalnis - I beg your pardon?

Colin - I haven’t given them rules - they don’t need rules.

Varalnis - I see. So you haven’t told them, for instance, that technological anachronies are not to be introduced into the local economy - anachronies such as, oh, (faux thinking) mobile phones, for instance?

Colin - No.

Varalnis - I see. You’ve taken it upon yourself to dispense with more than forty years of careful   

Colin - I don’t think you do! It’s not about rules, this place - it’s about - imagination! Freedom! Who are you to decide who comes and goes, anyway?

Varalnis - (outraged) We are responsible for these matters!

Colin - What? What for - for making sure that only the most suitable arrive here, with your procedures and regulations. And suitable for what? To become part of the Council? Well, what if those aren’t the sort of people who need to come here? What if that isn’t what coming to this world is all about!

Corralnis - And what, young man, do you think coming to this world is all about?

Colin - It’s about... I don’t know... It’s –

Varalnis - Is it perhaps about the importance of ensuring that visitors from the home world do not upset the delicate order of this world’s societies by introducing technologies that have not yet had time to develop naturally? I remind you that firearms still work here, even if mobile phones do not.

Colin - They haven’t got any guns with them.

Varalnis - And you are sure of that? (Colin realises that he isn’t!)  Do you even know what they have brought with them? Did you see what was beneath their clothing? What was hidden in their bags? And what of the things they bring with them that you cannot see? Do you know their medical histories? [on Colin mid distant] Do you know what diseases they may be carrying here - [on Varalnis] do I need to remind you of the devastation wrought to the indigenous peoples of the Americas, of Peru, to the Medieval world when disease was introduced by contact with foreign visitors?

Colin - (is stunned by this - he hasn’t thought about it, obviously) [on Colin - close up] I... look, I know them...     

Varalnis - [looking away] Hmm, I’m afraid you know as much about what they are carrying beneath their skin as what they are carrying in their pockets.

Colin - (sighing) They’re just mobile phones - they don’t work here - there aren’t even any networks - they don’t matter!

Varalnis - And the quantity of cocaine that one of them has in his possession - does that matter? 

Colin - Cocaine? I... who? (eyes closing) Sean...

Varalnis - Yes, I’m afraid one of your friends appears to have brought it upon himself to acquaint the unfortunates of this world with that vile and filthy substance, no doubt at a healthy profit to himself. We have positive identification of a quantity greater than might be expected for personal use. I’m presuming this has been done without your consent. 

Colin - What, no! I mean... (he realises that any answer is puts him in a bad light)... yes.

The Council doesn’t necessarily know that Colin hasn’t even told the company about this world - they just know he hasn’t told them about the company. Varalnis assumes that all of Colin’s friends are male and that they are complicit in coming to this world without the authorities knowing (it’s nearly paranoid). Corralnis says - You never told them about this world, did you? He shows his allegiance by sympathising with Colin’s motives.

Old Magi - Councillor Varalnis, am I to understand that we now routinely screen entrants to these lands for possession of drugs?

Varalnis - Now that governance of the known gates has fallen under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Council, My Lord, the applications of the World Map have been extensively increased.

Old Magi - Are we really to become this World’s Department of Customs and Excise?

Varaknis - My Lord, as our influence has grown, so have our responsibilities.

Old Magi - I’m not happy. In my day we kept well out of social affairs. I don’t see what policing the borders has to do with Mastering the Art.

Corralnis - We are of the old guard, my dear Malachere, I’m afraid things have rather moved on since our day... As I think we ought to now - Greater Councillor Varalnis - It is clear that the young man standing before us has made something of an error of judgement for which, I’m sure, he is most contrite. He has broken our rules – I’m assuming some sort of penalty is to be administered?

In the meantime, a guard has climbed the steps behind Colin and comes to a stand beside him. [Colin looking left - Guard beside him]

Varalnis - Master Colin Greenfield - in light of the blatant disregard you have shown for the authority of this Council and the integrity of its rules concerning the care and administration of Visitors to this world and the well-being of its indigenous inhabitants, I am withdrawing the privileges extended to you by this Council, commencing with the immediate confiscation of your Soul Stower - and in due course, consideration will be made of your future uninhibited passage to these lands...

Colin - What? No! That’s not... 

Varalnis - You will be escorted from this chamber and remain in this building, or return to your home via Wizard’s Gate and await our final full adjudication. That is all!

Colin - You can’t do that!!

A clerk stands beside Varalnis offering official-looking papers that Varalnis duly signs–

Varalnis - (not looking back) Yes. We can.

Colin - But, it’s not...

Corralnis - I think - a little time for reflection would be prudent. Master Greenfield, make your way to my quarters and wait for me there. I will be with you shortly. Once we have considered all of the evidence, I am sure a reassessment of your behaviour will be in order. Now, go, we have a lot to discuss.

(Colin hands over his Soul Stower to the guard and follows him out of the auditorium)

[Colin looks up at them - they have made their decision - he turns, walks down the stairs into the darkness, the door opens and closes behind him...]

something that hints at the pitfalls of a Gatekeeper - your intentions were worthy but you have been betrayed by events... (it is the danger that any of us who stand outside the crowd - stand aside - manage from afar - face...)

later - You need to know who your friends and allies are...

Colin realises that he can... he becomes resigned.

Colin - What about my friends?

Varalnis - They will be contacted and taken back to the Homeworld.

Colin - But that’s not fair - You can’t –

Corralnis - (holding out a hand) Young man. I think, for the moment, given what we have just learned, you might consider a tactical withdrawal. Go to my office and wait there. I will see if something can be salvaged from all this. (close up) Now go, I will be with you shortly. 

Colin - Look, it’s – I won’t let them go anywhere outside of Warrior’s Gate

Varalnis -

 At some point a really ancient old boy interrupts- maybe asking Varalnis whether they really do now possess the technology to find drugs on visitors (don’t like this*)  - or - do we really oblige our brethren to abide by some so called code of conduct? is it true the old king has entrusted the governance of all the gates to this committees jurisdiction? 

(Varalnis - it was ratified only last month, Councillor)

- In my day we kept well out of the affairs of state. I don’t see what policing the borders has to do with Mastering the Art.

 Corralnis answers him -

- we are of the old guard, my dear Malachere, I’m afraid things have rather moved on since our day...

so establishing this idea that Corralnis sees himself as part of a traditional Council (against which, Varalnis is the innovating force) - make it seem a rather melancholy admission by Corralnis - he is just an old man being overtaken by the times...

* something about the increasing politicisation of the Council - in my day we took no interest in the affairs of the crown or the state - and were better of for not being involved 

to which Varalnis reasonably explains why they should be involved (because, again of the impact that people are having on the world - this is the irony of Dun Boratt - that Varalnis protests he has only this world interests at heart but really he is exploiting its resources...)

Varalnis - and are you also aware of the reasons for the existence of such governances - because if you are then your actions suggest an arrogant disregard for the authority of this Council and, if you are not, then they bespeak of a negligent lack of foresight concerning their possible consequences. 

Varalnis - you didn’t think it necessary to furnish your charges with anything so (useful) as a soul stower - if they go down into a dungeon they won’t be immune in the way that you were

they won’t go down into a dungeon - I’m just letting them go around Warrior’s Gate

(or, maybe, he hasn’t thought that far ahead - what did he think they’d do after wandering around Warrior’s Gate for a day?) (Varalnis - what about if they were mortally wounded here? what about their parents, back home?)

Colin has thought about this - he has brought them here because he has realised he doesn’t have to abide by the council rules because of the special gate (back door) that he is using - I didn’t have time to tell them all about this world - it’s stupid - you test people and give them exams to see if they’re suitable to come here - who are you to decide who is suitable - maybe these are the kinds of people who need to come to this world - not just people you might be suitable for the Council [i.e. he takes a high moral ground accusing the council of being selective for their own reasons - Varalnis points out the control of disease, the control of pests (rabbits in Australia) - then, the coup de gras, Sean smuggling drugs in]

Varalnis has the higher moral ground by describing the potential dangers  that are presented by bringing people unchecked into the world - disease - a third of the Earth’s population died out because of a pandemic - have you thought what might happen to the indigenous population of this world if exposed to some of the diseases we have developed an immunity to? 

Colin realises this this was a danger - but says that he was careful 

Colin gets stroppy here because he says - yeah, i did think about all that stuff - i’m not stupid (he is getting in position to take a fall here - it’s the first inkling that being the Gatekeeper is a thankless, near-impossible task - trying to anticipate all the possible outcomes of a situation 

- Varalnis reveals that a quantity of barbituates (whatever Cocaine is) has been brought through, commonly known as Cocaine - Colin realises “Sean...” - Varalnis drives home his point - yes, so you did not know about the presence of the drug etc. - a soldier mage appears - you will hand over your soul stower and the protection of the Council in the dungeons - pending a thorough review of all the evidence , you will remain in this building, or return to your home via the Wizard’s Gate until we have arrived at an opinion regarding your future access to this world ...

at some point, Corralnis interjects - he suggests that Colin might be intimidated by the surroundings, that the strange circumstances and procedures cannot make him feel relaxed - that they should try and accommodate his youth and lack of experience - he is the voice of leniency and of alliance in the scenario.

Colin’s offences - 

bringing ‘Home Worlders’ into Realm without referring to the Council - without receiving permission - without screening or vetting

Sean bringing drugs (this is why visitors should be screened)

Use of an unauthorised gate? (this is a bombshell - maybe should be kept quiet at this point)... this, of course, is the real reason why Varalnis has summoned Colin to the Temple - to question him about the other gate... he detains Colin - Corralnis appears and seems to rescue Colin (sending him through a gate/ or by magic back to Warrior’s Gate)

Scene 6. Company arrive at Warrior’s Gate.

 - back to the company who are arriving at Warrior’s Gate - they find the Inn, they find the rooms and the letters in them (each got allocated the right room - same as before - this is Colin’s nascent Gatekeeper-ness coming out) - what will they do - go out there or wait inside?(some kind of crux here? something that echoes what Colin has just gone through)

The Company enter Warrior’s Gate

We see the company walking along a path sided with grassy, flower and weed strewn banks. Sean has his top off and tied about his waist - we can see his tattoo over his shoulder (typical, Beckhamesque affair) - they are in the middle of a conversation about holidays –

(waterslides)

 Brendon - So, I guess we’re not camping in the Hope valley anymore.

...

Ian - (sarcastic) Well, did you bring a tent?

Lesley - It might not be far away - the Conference Centre could be just over the hill.

Brendon - Yeah, but it’s not though, is it?...

Ian - This is turning into a rubbish holiday.

Lesley - Holiday? It’s not meant to beopen on sky - pan down - this part of conversation unidentified...

Brendon - It’s meant to be a curriculum focused field trip.

Lesley - Exactly... I went to Magaluf last year.

Rachel - I’ve been there - I went there with my Mum.

Lesley - (frowning) Did you?!

Rachel - Or was it Malaga?

Brendon - The best place I went to was Corfu - we were near this massive water park - they had these wicked huge water slides...

Lesley - There was a water park at Magalouf - you could get drinks in the pool - you stayed in the pool and there was a bar in the middle of it.

Ian - And how did you get served drinks at a bar?

Lesley - I always get served at bars.

Brendon - They don’t give a sod about your age never ask for id when you’re on holiday. A mate of mine hired a car in Spain - he didn’t even have a licence or anything.

Michael - Do you have to have a licence in Spain?

Brendon - Yeah! Of course you do.

Ian - No, it’s like Dodge City over there - you can do what you like!...

Michael - Where’s Dodge City?

Brendon - It’s in Magaluf, mate.

Ian - Or is it Malaga... (slightly distracted - he’s looking up at the sign ahead)

They approach the sign welcoming Visitors to Warrior’s Gate. They stop before it, except Sean who walks ahead - grimly determined.

(Warrior’s Gate sign - 

Town logo and Council emblem 

Warrior’s Gate 

Maintained under the auspices of the Council of Magus  Providing thoroughfare to

 Dur Borrnash

 Voir Craquelure and Nether Crag

  Pikattibillimme (Crystal Caverns)

 Shamahlazhaan

 Tausendundeine Brücken

 (and newly inscribed) 

Gloathe Meridion  

Adventurers are cautioned that Soul Stowers are not active outside of the Dungeon Antechamber.

View from above - a staggered line as they start to move towards the village - Ian, Brendon (?) lingering behind - studying the sign

Brendon/Ian? - (muttering) We’re not in Kansas anymore...

We are close to the stone bridge that spans the river - the river is narrow and runs at the base of a deep gorge, probably thirty feet or so deep and surprisingly narrow. Sean is already crossing the bridge. Michael maybe runs up beside him. Nobody says anything as they enter the town.

Sean stops in the street as they get to the Troll’s Head Inn. They all catch up with him. As Ian walks into shot he says quietly,

Ian - Where the fuck are we?

Rachel is looking up at the Inn sign

Rachel - He said he’d booked us rooms at the Troll’s Head Inn.

Sean - I ain’t going to no Inn.

Rachel - Well, what are we going to do, then?

Sean - I’m going to find a phone that works and then I’m calling a taxi home - and he can fucking pay. (pointing off back the way they came)

he starts to walk off

Rachel - I think we should stick together. (Sean stops, turns around) Look, I think we should stay as a group, until we find out where we are. 

Brendon - We know where we are.

Rachel - Until we know for certain, then. 

Ian - What do you mean ‘we know’?

Brendon - Well, explain the door, then. (gesturing behind them)

Sean - We don’t know fuck.

Ian - It doesn’t make sense. It can’t make sense.

Lesley - It is what it is. End of.

Rachel - Look, why don’t we ask in here if they have a phone.

Brendon - There are no phones! 

Rachel - Well, we’ll ask the Manager - he’ll be able to tell us if there’s some way we can get in touch with the school, or someone at home, or something... we’ve got to talk to someone!

Two guys conversation:

- So, John says the Crag is back up

- They cleared the rockfall at the Widow strand but there’s no point going down yet, it’s gonna be packed

- Nah, I don’t think so - not with Meridian on its way

- Ya think

- People are saving their best stuff for that – no point trashing decent armour before you can get down to the new runs...

- Heh! That place is gonna get cleared in second.

- Nah, I don’t think so - if you look at the grading, they’ve done a pretty good job, I reckon - it’s easy in several sections but they’re all above the green and there’ll only be wall crawlers in there but it’s long enough, it’s spaced out enough to keep things moving. But once you’re down through the third tier I reckon things could get pretty hairy. And God knows what’s down below the fourth, there’s no maps available as far as I know.

- I saw the Leeching Troll they took down

- Yeah – bitch! – she’s gonna bite hard

- I’m not taking my best stuff down there if we go after her

- Ah, we got a while before that - whoo - sorry! [he bumps into Rachel]

- Where’s she gonna be, do we know?

- They’ve not said. Bryson said he’d seen a schematic that showed a nest site ‘round about the end of the third tier but you know what he’s like...

- It’s the details - the details, man!

- Heh!

- Well, I didn’t see any males

- There’ll be males down there - there always are, they’re tiny, well, man height, so they’ll have got in the old tubes ages ago just through natural propogation

- They’re all one Dungeon when you get deep enough, anyhow

- Exactly. 

-

They look at the Inn.

Someone walks by - they look at him - Lesley hand to face

Lesley - Oh my god - he was wearing a dress! I don’t believe it (as she’s walking into the Inn)

Inn - Interior.

First Impressions - It’s not like any Pub or Hotel they’ve ever been into. John is in the corner wiping tables. He looks up as they enter.

John - Aye, afternoon ladies and gents.

They stand around - not sure of what to do.

John - You folks new in town? 

Rachel - Yes, we are.

John - Aye. Thought as much.

Rachel - We wanted - we were just wondering –

John - You’re not associates of young Master Greenfield, by any chance?

Rachel - Colin Greenfield! Yes!

John - Aye - ah wondered. You’re meetin him here, then?

Rachel - [John from behind facing Rachel and Brendon and others] I don’t - We’re not sure. He was with us, and then –

Brendon - He disappeared. Into thin air. Like, actually disappeared. [confrontational - expecting this to surprise John]

John - Aye. Well, that happens off an’ on ‘roond these parts. I’ll show yer ta ye rooms, if yer want.

Exchange of glances between Rachel and Sean

Rachel - Well, we’re not really –

Sean - We just want to use your your phone, mate. Can we use your phone?

John - Ah cannie help ya there, lad, am afraid. Ya shoulda been tol aboot the phones at the Gate - I can tek a message if ye write it doon. Who is it ye tryin to contact?

Sean - (turning away) Fuck it!

(Rachel - Well, we’re not sure...  (looking around to the others)   

John - Look, why don’t ye check into yer rooms, mek yersel comfortable an’ ah’m sure Master Greenfield will be along soon enou – people get called away ta help oot in a Sortie an’ the like, it happens al the time... dinna worry.

Brendon - We have rooms booked?

John - Aye, booked an’ paid fer. (slightly quizzical - you didn’t know?!)

Rachel - How long for?

John - Fer the night. But ah can keep’em longer if yer so wish - it’ll be quiet roond here ‘till the new Warren opens, (an then we’ll be knee deep in Wall-crawlers) but that’s not till a fortnight.

(Indecision - they are digesting this information.)

John - Ah tell ye what - I’ll show you ter yer rooms and ye can get changed oota that apparel - ye’ll only get stared at dressed like that.

(you can get changed - you don’t want to be standing around in that get-up - people will only stare...)

Going up the stairs -

John - The name’s John Preston, by the way, yoo need anything yoo gev me a call. An when you’re ready te ga oot exploring ahcen point ye tall the best shopkeepers – An it’s market day tiday! Ach, there’s plenty fer yerti do en Warrior’s Gate!

[at the rooms - shot in room, door opens inwards]

Ye got three rooms, three cots apiece - [final door] this has the best view.

[Sean walks by ]

Sean - (under breath) Cheers.

[Michael follows him, then Brendon who turns to Ian]

Brendon - This one’s full, mate [gesturing along the corridor] Looks like you’ll have to share with Gayson.

Ian looking unhappy, Jason behind him pushing the door to the room.

John - The packages are compliments of Master Greenfield, looks like there’s one fer each o yer. Come doon whe yer ready and ah can fix ya up somethin t’eat till yer man returns.

Cut to the girls in their room.

Rachel in the girls’ room, sees package on bed - sees her name on label... picks it up, in the background Alison and Lesley are opening their packages.

Lesley lifts up her gift of trousers, frown, hand to stomach

Lesley looks at the gift, a smile - she’s excited because it’s new stuff to try on - 

Lesley - [holding up her trousers short dress] What are these? (neither good nor bad - just unusual) [holds them up against her face] Look at this.

Rachel - Moleskin, are they? Looks like Moleskin. Should we wear these?

(Rachel is holding up some sort of long robe - cream, pale green and black detailing)

Lesley - (sneeringly almost) Well, it’s not black but it might actually suit you.

Rachel - Why have we been given different clothes?

(Lesley looks at it frowning, she smells the material/touches it to her cheek)

Rachel - It’s not made of moles.

Lesley - I know! [to Rachel] 

Lesley - I don’t know but I’m wearing mine.

shot of her putting it on - upskirt and panties

Rachel - Ali? Are you OK? What have you got?

Alison is sitting on her bed, holding her necklace in her lap - something slightly uncomfortable about her manner.

Rachel - (looking at the necklace [Alison must be holding it up]) It’s beautiful. What’s wrong?

Alison is sitting on her bed holding a mace - elaborate - more beautiful than dangerous-looking - it isn’t obvious that this is a weapon, only that it could be used as a weapon...

Rachel - (taking the mace and examining it) Is this what you’ve been given?

Lesley - (pulling up the dress) Oh my God, is that...? 

Alison - What? (worried)

Lesley - (looking again) Oh no, it’s OK...

Alison - And I got some kind of dress, look (holding a smock-like garment up).

Rachel - (thoughtfully) We all have something – Are you OK, you seem a bit down? Look, I’m sure Sean didn’t mean to be cruel — he’s just — well, we’re all...

Alison - [slight smile] No, I know. I’m all right... [thoughtful, looks down] I was just... [looks up] Do you think we’re dead?

Lesley laughs, Rachel sits down on the cot next to Alison,

Rachel - No, I don’t think we’re dead.

Lesley - What were you worried about - whether you were in Heaven or Hell?

- she’s standing - admiring herself in the dress trousers - she winces [hand to stomach]

Rachel - Are you ok?

Lesley - I’m fine - I just need some Ibuprofen, or something...

Rachel - We can ask John if there’s a Chemists ‘round here.

Lesley looks at her (unlikely)

Lesley - Somehow, I don’t think so - what have you got there?

Rachel - [showing the bag] This bag, oh... (holding up some gold pieces) These were in it, too.

Door opens, the boys [Sean, Michael, Brendon]  barge in.

Lesley - Hey! We might have been changing!

Brendon - Go ahead, don’t mind us.

Sean - [sits on bed] 

Michael’s sword into view - Rachel staring at it in alarm

Rachel - What are those?

Michael is waving the sword around - “Hyah! Chah!” Rachel leaning back, hand raised to protect her face

Rachel - [indicating the sword hanging from a belt about his waist- Sean is wearing the sword on his right hip - i.e. the wrong side to draw it properly - later Peter points this out to him...]  Did you find them in your room?

Michael - Fuck yes - we got one each! [starts waving it about]

The others waving him away, moving apart - Hey! Be careful!

Rachel - Careful, Michael, please! There’s not enough room!

Brendon goes to the window - gets out a cigarette and lights it (same as in the Sixth Form common room)- looks out at the road below.

Rachel - (to Sean- she’s curious as to the significance of them all getting clothes) Did you get any clothes?

Sean - Yeah, some kind of jacket [waving away, dismissive] but I ain’t wearing it. Listen, what are we going to do? 

[he’s asking Rachel - this is a key moment for Sean - he is acknowledging Rachel’s special authority in the situation)

Rachel - Well, we’ll have to wait for Colin to come back, I suppose.

Brendon - If he’s coming back.

Rachel - He will and when he does he’ll have to tell us where we are, where this world is.

Ian - (appearing at the door) What do you mean, where this world is?

Jason is behind him - Jason is wearing his grey Thief’s smock

Michael - What’s that? (his staff)

Ian - I dunno - it was on my bed

Michael - Hah! You got a stick? (demonstrating his sword again)

Sean - Why are you carrying a twig around with you? [dark sarcastic]

Ian - [ignoring him] Look, what does she mean, why is she saying this isn’t the real world?

Rachel - Well, it’s not The Peak District!

Ian - Why not? It looks like The Peak District!

Lesley - It’s not The Peak District!

Ian - Why not? What’s here that couldn’t be in The Peak District? There’s hills and trees and grass and stuff!

Brendon - Mate, we’re not in The Peak District. [at the window, looking out]

  Brendon is looking out at the street below - he closes his eyes - blackness - he opens them - the street again - people walking below.  View from the street below up to the open window.

Behind him the conversation goes on (through the dark frames and the street view)

[dark frame] [close up of Brendon’s face - closing his eyes, split focus his face n foreground - them in background talking - otherwise it’s hard to follow who is saying what...]

(Ian - Why not? It’s ridiculous—

Sean - Look, it don’t matter – we just need to sort out what we’re going to do.

Lesley - Well, I think we should go and look around.

Rachel - I’m not sure that’s a good idea.

Lesley - Why - he said, that guy said there was a market and shops.

[end dark frame]

Ian - You want to go shopping?! 

[shots of passers by in the street below][some carrying swords]

[Brendon feels the wood of the lintel under his fingers, smells the straw of the bedding, the dusty wooden floor...]

Rachel - We’ve got money. These were in my bag.

Michael - That’s not real money.

Rachel - It’s gold - I think it’s actual gold.

Sean - Maybe there’s a train station.

Lesley - Well, let’s go look for the train station, then.

[Back in the room]

Rachel - But what if Colin comes back while we’re gone?

Michael - What if we get attacked and raped or something?!

Lesley - What?!

Sean - What the fuck are you talking about?

Ian - Look, he may be an idiot but he’s got a point.

Michael - Fuck off.

Ian - [hand out towards Michael to placate him] No, look, we should be careful – this is oop North remember, these villages are full of inbreds and psychopaths.

Sean - This isn’t the Peak District.

Michael - Yeah, this isn’t the Peak District, idiot!

Rachel - Please, can we all stop arguing – the point is that Colin obviously meant for us to come here so we can assume we’re safe

Brendon - [turning from the window] Except, he gave us those [he holds up his mace indicates the others’ swords] – they’re all carrying them out there

Rachel - Well, the point is we’re safe in here, then. We can wait for him to come back.

Brendon - The point is, what if he doesn’t? [stubs cigarette out on windowsill]

Jason - I s — (stuttering) s—

(everyone turns to look at him)

Jason - I s—

Brendon - sweat too much?

Jason - I s—saw someone w—w—

Brendon - Wearing a really crappy coat?

Rachel - Brendon, please.

Jason - w — watching us as we came in.

(Nobody reacts)

Sean - (darkly) What the fuck are you wearing? 

[it’s almost as if Jason has caused some kind of afront by wearing the coat - it contrasts with Sean’s decision not to wear his jacket]

Rachel - Sean.(off - in Sean’s frame coming from Rachel)(on Rachel) Jason, ignore him.

[slight awkward pause]

Lesley - Well, I’m not waiting around in here all day.

Ian - She’s right – let’s go and find a train station, or something.

Brendon - There’s no train station.

Ian - Right, well let’s prove it then.

Brendon - And when we find out there isn’t?

Lesley - Look, why don’t we just ask that guy? (gesturing two hands towards door - slightly irate)

Ian - Why don’t you ask him? He’s obviously part of this whole thing.

Sean - What whole thing?

Ian - It’s some kind of theme park, or something, like a games convention or something. He’s pretending to be from this other world.

Brendon - Now you’re being ridiculous.

Lesley - No, actually, that does make sense.

Brendon - Look, it doesn’t matter what we think this is — it’s out there.[indicates door] That’s all that matters. And we can sit around here all day debating what we think about it but it doesn’t change anything — we’re not going to wake up. It’s not going to go away. And the longer we sit here the more likely it is to come in through that door anyway, so that’s our choice, that’s the only choice we’ve got — we can wait in here or we can go out there but either way we’re still going to have to deal with it. At some point we’re going to have to deal with it. It’s all just a matter of when.

[shot of doorway]

Look, it doesn’t matter whatever we think it is - it’s out there. it’s outside that door and all around us and We aren’t safe just because we stay in this room, because this room is in this world and it’s only a matter of time before what’s out there comes in and finds us.  There’s only one way to find out what’s going on and where we are and it’s through that door.  So, we’ve got choice: we can stay in here and wait for it to come, or we can go out there and meet it.

Look, it doesn’t matter what we think this is — it’s out there, on the other side of that door. It’s out there and it’s not going anywhere. all just a matter of time before it comes in here. It’s, it’s not going away. We’re not going to wake up and it will all be back to normal. Whatever it is, it’s real. We just have to deal with it. So, we can stay here and wait for it to come and get us, or we can go out there and meet it. Either way, at some point we’re going to have to deal with it. That doesn’t matter. It’s not a matter of how we deal with it, or where we deal with it, it’s just a matter of when. (It’s always a matter of when.)

Lesley - But that guy, he said there were shops out there.

Ian - You want to go shopping?!

Lesley - If there are shops then there’ll be people with cars, maybe we can get a lift 

Alison - If he comes back

Rachel - – or go out and perhaps find someone who could help us get back home.

Alison - What if we can’t go back home! 

Lesley - (almost aside) Or we can go shopping.

Brendon - (turning) Well, we can’t just stay in this room – we’re in this world now, it’s outside that door. It hasn’t gone away. It won’t go away just because we don’t look at it.

Jump cut to looking into the rooms - 3 per room, the girls get a room with a double bed...

(a joke about Lesley Lesbo ...) Sean and Brendon, Ian and Michael (scenette of Sean saying to Michael - wait, wait - he’s in here first - to Brendon - so Sean changes the order of the room around but Colin still anticipates the change), Lesley and Alison (jokes), Jason and Rachel (jokes)...

packages on each bed - clothes and the objects - Ian’s staff (this should be included as staffs have been established from the Magi Temple as part of the Mage/Wizard equipment.

make this a jump-cutty scene, just snippets of comments, a summation of what happens

follow the girls into their room - three in a room, keep it simple (four cots?) - packages, where are we? Lesley’s period pains. open packages - clothes - Lesley gets some trousers (there’s something here about the appropriateness of trousers (dark brown moleskin), not just for their situation but also for her ‘condition’ Lesley gets a shortie dress - not much longer that her skirt but with splits up the side (this is going to pay off better in the scene with her menstrual blood... Rachel gets a bag (for herbs) and a long coat, Alison gets a necklace and a dress/skirt?

Brendon gets a mace and some gloves? Ian gets his stick. Sean gets a sword and a leather jacket (whether he wears it or not is a conversation topic). Jason gets his dull cloak (like a smock, a greenish grey colour) and lockpicks (Jason looks secretively at these). Michael gets a jacket.

they get some money in a bag.

culminating in them all sitting around in Sean/Michael’s room... Brendon looking – staring –  out of the window... (as in the original - staring at the people going by... no voice-over, though, his considerations are implied...)

what do we do?

They are talking about the gifts - what’s this - I’m not wearing this - fashionable? Where is this fashionable? 

Brendon declares something after looking at the people (after closing his eyes)

This is real?

The room is a kind of sanctuary - becomes more difficult to leave - is this what Brendon says? (This was hinted at in the original) It’s not a womb. They become sort of trapped in the room - looking out, peering over the window ledge.

Alison - Maybe we’re dead. Maybe this is Heaven...

they discuss whether they should go out now (ironically, considering their reluctance to enter the Inn) - a proper, head-on confrontation about whether this is a Fantasy World? - I think it could be worthwhile... establishes Ian’s position against Lesley’s. This would give them a reason to explore - or consider exploration - rather than just trying to get someone to take them home... 

They haven’t all tried on the clothes - this is the start of the debate - is wearing the clothes stupid or sensible?...

image of Brendon looking out through the window - closing his eyes (screen goes black) - reopens them... (it’s still there)... we see the world through his eyes, glimpses of the people - things that are specific and strange to this this world - a visual account of the kind of stream of observation that went on in his original soliloquy.

Lesley and the girls (they all get one room) - Lesley farts blames it on her stomach - I’m on - have you got any (cramps relief medicine)...

(there’s a change somewhere from believing that this is just somewhere else on Earth to knowing that this is a different world - it is shown in their concerns and attitudes towards help and their expectations (especially regarding phones) (that’s why having an argument earlier is better - sets the bench mark)

in their rooms - accepting/not accepting Colin’s gifts - throwing the gift on the floor - accepting the gift marks (at some level) an acceptance of their situation...

Lesley wears her trousers  straight away (an indication of her open-mindedness as in the original curiosity about magic) - leave Lesley in her short skirt - it’s useful for later on... (menstrual scene) - 

he starts to walk off - Rachel stops him - I think we should stay together - as a group - we can ask here if he has a phone... it’s the beginning of them thinking like a group.

they have an argument in the street (Brendon - there aren’t any phones! I’m telling you) loud - then someone walks by - they see his clothing, he looks at them with curiosity - he goes, someone -(Ian again?) mutters This is fucking weird...

Rachel reasonably - look, we’ll go in here, ask the Manager if we can use their phone - they’ll be all right about it.

The gag in the Inn is that John is expecting them - he’s matter of fact and unremarking of their presence or predicament - there are three rooms booked - aye

they ask for a phone - he’ll be surprised that they bothered asking but not, of course, at what a phone is - he suggests they wait for their guide (Colin) - he’ll be along no doubt - he disappeared, in front of us - oh, aye, that kinda thing happens a lot round here...

Then they are in their rooms - the scene ends when they go out into the town.

Scene 7. Back at the Magi Temple

Back to Colin at Temple - he is under guard? In a holding cell? An ordinary room? He is in Corralnis’ office - see end of Chapter 5. 

Corralnis appears - takes him to the Map Room - explains about the prophecy and the mark 

explains about the Old King in the nearby Castle (a long shot across the City?)

The Magi Tower will have “greasy tubes” all throughout and up to the top like express elevators - shots of people entering transport bays and disappearing...

This scene sets the context for the entire prophecy/Magi versus King context

- mentions Dur Boral (Dur Boratt) - he is setting Colin a mission - I want you to do this because you are out of the Council’s control right now (?)(no - if he’s going to give Colin back his soul stower - i.e. give him one with which he can track Colin’s whereabouts) then he can’t suggest that the soul stower allows the Council to keep tabs on him...) Sets up the idea of Varalnis having his own agenda (he’s playing on Colin’s resentment of Varalnis) - he is untrustworthy

What about my friends?

I will take care of them.

gives him a new soul stower 

- Do you know what this is?

- It’s a soul stower

- One not bound to the Council’s influence - they will not be able to recall you with it.

Corralnis says that Varalnis did not know Colin had not invited his friends (but had brought them over via his own gate and without warning them - Corralnis has a sense of Colin’s Gatekeeper-hood, and also of the clandestine nature of Colin’s actions.

Colin in the room - sitting at a window (a city scape?) - one door, closed.

The door opens, a guard enters and then Corralnis.

Colin says he is worried for the company.

Corralnis obliquely agrees - takes him to the World Map - on the way adds some details around Experimental Magic vs the Old ways, new responsibilities for the Council - new ambitions - explains how the World Map works (here some hint that the Gatekeeper might be able to access the gates we cannot see - or perhaps the Gates show up but are not yet reachable...) - pan up the side as they ascend the scaffold - blips of light - reveal the great scar of burnt area - this is where Newkeep lies and its surrounding shires - totally obliterated - mentions something called Dur Boral (Dur Boratt) - I want you to find it - it is crucial to Varalnis’ plans - Corralnis sets this as a Quest. End of scene.(What about my friends? I will take care of them).

As Corralnis enters.

Colin - (looking up, standing) Can you get me to Warrior’s Gate?

Corralnis does not respond - goes about the room putting away various books, touching various instruments that are fixed to the walls or freestanding on the ground - the room is his private study and lab - it is cosy and warm, despite being in the new tower - he has taken up residence but transported his old study wholesale from its previous location as if in defiance of the new order.

Colin - (wary of sounding subversive but sure of his conviction) I think my friends are in danger.

Corralnis - (reacting) You do?

Colin - (cautiously) There’s something... something’s not right – I’m not sure...

[beat]

Corralnis - The Council has always considered itself responsible for the activities of Home Worlders and has always severely punished transgressors of its so-called Visitor Principles – it has its reasons for doing so and, for the most part, they are good reasons – You are not the first to stand in the Arbiter Chamber, nor might you be the last.

Colin - No, not that. 

Colin - Look, I know what I did was wrong, but it’s just...

Corralnis - Something about the haste with which Councillor Varalnis organised your Soul Stower recall?

Colin - Yes! Yes, that’s it! How did he know so quickly that I had used my gate, and then had time to summon me?

Corralnis - He was waiting for you to breach the gate.

Colin - He knew what I was going to do?

Corralnis - I don’t think he knew that you were going to use an unattended gate. Indeed, I suspect he knows nothing still about the particular gate you have been using. He knew, however, that you were intending to bring across some unauthorised visitors from the Home World.

Corralnis - There was something about the haste with which you were recalled here, so soon after using your gate?

Colin - Yes. (thoughtful  surprised he hadn’t appreciated that himself) Varalnis said I’d been summoned because I’d brought over my friends without permission, but it was just a few minutes from when they came across to when I was ported here.   

Corralnis - The fact of the matter is that Councillor Varalnis was well prepared ahead of your friends’ visit to order your recall. He was anticipating your actions. To be honest, it would be more accurate to say that he feared them.

Colin - Feared?

Corralnis - These are interesting times – portents and prophecies are becoming manifest .... Certain events carry great significance. You have invited eight friends across the breach; The High Councillor believes that number is considered by many to be highly important... He thinks you are dangerous The High Councillor Varalnis has been told that believes that you may have a part in one of the most pressing emergencies to face the Council since its inception, and your transgression of the Visitor Principles confirmed confirms it. 

Colin - In what emergency? What does he think I’m going to do? Who told him I had a part? (thinking of people who might have given his plans away

Corralnis - I told him.

Colin - You?! (sudden wariness)

Corralnis - Yes. Here (hands him his Soul Stower)

[Colin looks at the Soul Stower]

Corralnis - Oh, it’s all right — I’ve had it modified so that the Council can no longer scry your whereabouts or issue another recall. In all other respects, it remains functional. 

Colin - You told him to recall me?... Why?

A pause - Corralnis fixes Colin with a stare.

Corralnis - I told him because to achieve a simple expedient — I needed to see you. Having you recalled was by far the quickest way to speak to you in person. As Councillor Varalnis manages the portals, his involvement was, unfortunately, unavoidable. 

Corralnis - He thinks you want to destroy the Council.

Colin - Destroy the Council?!

Corralnis - Yes. Here (hands him his Soul Stower)

[Colin looks at the Soul Stower]

Corralnis - Oh, it’s all right — I’ve had it modified so that the Council can no longer scry your whereabouts or issue another recall. In all other respects, it remains functional.

Colin - Why does he think I want to destroy the Council?

Corralnis - To be fair, it is your friends who have caused him concern but since he they do not carry Soul Stowers, he has had to recall you in their stead. (frame) Have you ever heard of the name Dur Boral?

Colin - No.

Corralnis - Mmmm, that’s a pity. [changing direction] I’m afraid, Colin, you may be right. Your friends may indeed be in some danger –

Colin - [standing] Then, I’ve got to get–

Corralnis - [stopping him with an outstretched hand] I have sent someone to take care of them. [Frame - over Corralnis’ shoulder, hand on Colin’s shoulder, Colin looking at Corralnis face:]Right now, Warrior’s Gate is their safest refuge. [hand on shoulder as he walks passed - Colin sits again - Corralnis is heading towards the door] [Frame - Corralnis’ face:]Trust me. [Frame - towards door,high, Corralnis walking towards door, Colin watching him go:] In the meantime, there is something I need you to see. It is the real reason why Councillor Varalnis summoned you before the Council, and why I encouraged him to do so, It is the reason why I enlisted the Councillor’s help in bringing you here Councillor Varalnis recalled you. It is the reason why we at the Council a Magickas currently find ourselves in a state of unprecedented turmoil and why these lands are facing an upheaval the likes of which has not been seen since the Great War...

Corralnis - Tell me, Master Greenfield, what you know of the Council. Be honest now, I realise we have something of a reputation for interference among the denizens of Warrior’s Gate, not entirely undeserved I must admit...

Colin - I know you control the Gates, well, most of them.

Corralnis - Ah, but what do you know of the History of the Hmmm... that is all anyone seems to know about us these days...

Colin - I know you control Magic use, govern it, I mean...

Corralnis - ‘Govern’ is fairer... sometimes it is necessary to exert more control when governance fails, but we do, I think, try to be just in all our activities. We are becoming, it seems, more responsible in our old age, Councillor Varalnis was right about that at least. [gestures around] And we are building a political apparatus to administrate our growing authority  - between you and me, I’ll admit I’m not comfortable with all of them and sometimes the pace of our expansion alarms me. But then I look back at our track record and, on the whole judge it to be good. We have benefited this world. In many ways, small and large, we have made things better. Your Soul Stower is a good example — there was a time, not all that long ago, when people used to die adventuring in the Dungeons... Imagine, no resurrection or convenient ‘port to the surface. Let me tell you, sorties proceeded with a lot more caution in those days... (smile, wink). Just ask John MacGroarty at the Troll’s Head. Hmm, on second thoughts don’t ask - he’ll keep you listening for hours he’d keep you talking for hours about old times. (laughter? smiles) I used to Team with John when we were, perhaps your age.... Heh! [memories]... But to be honest, I didn’t spend long underground — my interests were academic, in particular the study of the Arcane Arts — Hexes and Curses chiefly, and Prophecies. And so I came here, and I have watched this Institute grow up, from the rented rooms of it’s beginnings to the present Campus of several thousand Magi, and our scores of emissaries across the known continent. and I see all of that as a measure of the success of our way of doing things.  Y’ know, I actually do remember when all this was just fields! young man. (raised eyebrows - ironic). 

The rise of Experimental Magic since its founding by Arhimage Whitely a decade ago has transformed this Institute, made it one of the principle forces in the land - beyond what I thought could have been achieved at the beginning...

Colin - You were in the Council when it started?

Corralnis - I was one of its founder members.

Colin - I thought the Council was hundreds of years old

Corralnis - Not quite... We may look like very old men (wry smile) there have always been Wizarding Fraternities, Cabals, Magic Circles, groups of one discipline or another but the principle of an overarching, democratic Council is very recent. One of the few good things we have imported from the Old World. In my opinion. [sheepish] We may look an ancient bunch but none of us in the First Circle is over sixty-five, you know. (aside) Heh - ‘though I suppose to someone of your age that may already appear very ancient someone of your age...

[They come to a small wooden door - locked - Corralnis opens it (magically?) they walk through]

Colin - Is it true that you’re all from Earth?

[They have entered a smallish enclosed garden - where the prophecy is written][OR is this a largish space where the final confrontation takes place?][A manicured lawn with a small park bench opposite the Prophecy stone where people can sit and ponder its possible meanings...][a terrace of grass at the edge of a smallish cliff - so it’s isolated but a part of the Magi Campus...]

Corralnis - Regrettably that is true of the Inner Circles. You may already know, as visitors we have a natural propensity to Magic for some reason. It is a reason I hope we will understand soon, now that Experimental Magic as a discipline has proved so illuminating. I am told that the new Whitely-Fisher Conductor [Colin reacts to the name?] installed in the Main Tower may soon help us to unlock some of the fundamental principles of how the Magic of this world works. And, I believe, Experimental Magic is a subject for which indigenous students show as much natural aptitude as Homeworlders, so in time they will take their rightful place amongst us.

[they come out onto the plateau above the stone steps (with a stone handrail) that leads down to the bay where the prophecy stone stands - Colin gets his first glimpse of the view - is stunned by it - recovers - Corralnis is walking down the steps, his back to Colin as he replies]

Colin - What danger are my friends in?

Corralnis - I don’t know, exactly —

Colin - Does Varalnis have something to do with it?

Colin - What have they got to do with the Council?

[They are standing together looking at the stone - the stone has its back to us, we can’t read it yet]

Corralnis - [looks - beat, preparing to confide] One of the first roles undertaken by the Council on its foundation was as advisors to the Old King, the Dragon King. Since then we have enjoyed his patronage and, to some degree, his confidence... Primarily, our duty to him has been in the study and comprehension of the Dragon King Prophecy. You have heard of it?

Colin - No.

Corralnis - No. Too few of your generation have, I’m afraid. It is an ignorance that we may all come to regret. Some say sooner rather than later.  Very few Visitors of your generation have stood here.  Here. This is one of the founding principles of the Council a Magickas — the Dragon King Prophecy.

[A park bench (or a stone bench - fairly simple, crude slab) faces out over the ledge towards the vista of the river and the far bank which climbs steeply to the base of the Keep high overhead - directly a few feet in front of the bench, on the grass, a Stone tablet - smallish - on wall smallish stone on plinth on which is written:

O, charmed ring

Thy ageless circle binds the death of ancient Kings,

whose long disordered legacy will be 

Undone by Dragon’s Sting

From bitter lay

with fearless blade the bronze clad soldier makes its way

through lands afire to where cold stone once flowed

and Dragon Killer slay.

When eight blind eyes

‘round silent gape shall face the blaze of false sunrise

The Keeper of the Gates, once spurned, returns

to break the ancient ties.

Colin reads aloud. No - make it a zoomable image.]

Corralnis - For over forty years we have scrutinised these verses on the Old King’s behalf, searching for their meaning in events across the lands. Some things are confidently known - ‘where cold stone once flowed’ is obviously Newkeep - the ‘Dragon Killer’ is his highness the Old King.

Colin - The Dragon killer? He actually killed a Dragon?!

Corralnis - (surprised) Your generation really know so very little of the legends and stories of these lands!

Colin - I just didn’t think Dragon’s existed, not for real.

Corralnis - (laughter) That is somewhat to the meat of the matter... but the fact is the Old King has killed many men in his time, and that, to most, matters more...

Colin - ‘O, charmed ring’? Is that some kind of Ring of Power?

Corralnis - (laughter) [Corralnis is seated now] No, though it is an avenue of thought that has led many to adventure. The ‘ring’ and ‘The ageless circle’ are generally thought to mean the Council a Magickas itself, a sort of play on Magic Circle, I suppose. at least, that is what worries Councillor Varalnis most above all which the prophecy speaks of.

Colin - [Colin sits beside Corralnis as he reads] “ Thy ageless circle binds the death of ancient Kings, whose long disordered legacy will be Undone by Dragon’s Sting”. Does that mean the Council will be destroyed?

Corralnis - That has been our fear for nearly forty years.

Colin - [Colin steps forwards - drawn towards the prophecy...] But it could mean the ancient Kings will be ‘undone’. (looking to Corralnis) It’s not clear.

Corralnis - And so you see why so many parties have expressed an interest in a proper understanding of the Dragon King prophecy. It’s ambiguities have marked it with distinction. And yet if it wasn’t for the odd occasion when some real-world event struck a remarkable resemblance to something it foretold then this prophecy would in all probability have disappeared the way of most others — into obscurity. And, of course, it is distinguished by the fact that the Old King himself .   As it is, a number of recent events has drawn many back to the old rhyme, not least amongst whom is the Old King himself, whose death it appears to foretell.

Colin - (studying) “Eight blind eyes”. Does Varalnis think that means my friends? Does Varalnis think that means my friends?

Corralnis - Yes, he thinks the number is more than coincidence. 

Colin - Is it  Don’t you?

Corralnis - No. 

Colin - You think he is wrong?

Corralnis - No. I think he is entirely  wrong. The final verse has always been the most ambiguous, though, in the view of many, the most intriguing. I think “eight blind eyes” is not significant, though it is often dangerous to ignore any part of a prophecy. No, for me the most intriguing part is mention of the “Keeper of the Gates”.

Colin - The Elves are sometimes called the Keepers of the Green.

Corralnis - Very good. And the Dwarves have been called the Keepers of the Stone. I’m glad to see that some of the old lore has not completely passed the younger generation by. But I’m afraid this appears to be of a different nature altogether.

Colin - What is it, then?

Corralnis - No one can be certain but my fear is that it is something ancient and powerful, something we have not seen in these lands for a good long while... [frame] Your Gate, how long have you been using it?

Colin - Always. It’s the gate I first came through.

Corralnis - That’s interesting. Of course, you could change it, you know?

Colin - I know. Most people use Warrior’s Gate, don’t they? Or Wizard’s Gate - that’s down here isn’t it?

Corralnis - The Campus is built around it. And Priest’s Gate, too, stands not far from here in the Hallowed Quarter. It has always been thought that people arrived through the gate most suited to them, at least I’ve always suspect that is how things were meant to work. It was always thought that a person’s Gate was in someway connected to their character type. I’ve always felt there was something comforting in the notion. But, as we know, people’s characters are mutable. At least, these days, people seem less willing to be constrained to certain types. And there may be many thousands of gates in addition to the ones we know and have named. So, when we discovered a way by which people could change the Gate they used, many took the opportunity.

Colin - Floyd told me about that. Then most people moved down here, didn’t they? He didn’t like that much.

Corralnis - Well, I understand his resentment. Warrior’s Gate was certainly a livelier place when I was dungeoneering there. But Newkeep is, as they say, where it’s happening in the modern world.

Colin - But there are no Dungeons here.

Corralnis - I’m afraid for many the Dungeons just don’t have the appeal they once held. Even with the benefits of Soul Stowers, there are easier pleasures to be had above ground, and less dangerous pursuits.

Colin - What has this got to do with Councillor Varalnis. And me?

Corralnis - To be honest, I don’t think it has much to do with you at all. But I’m afraid Councillor Varalnis thinks you are tied up in some way with the prophecy and with the Gates, which he is particular interested in for some reason. It is his area of specialisation, so I suppose it could just be a professional concern.

Colin - Is Dur Boral a Dungeon?

Corralnis - (a knowing look) Dur Boral is old Dwarvish. It translates, loosely, as The Weeping Earth. It could be a dungeon. It could be a natural phenomenon of some kind. It could be a code name for some secret activity.  but I’m not sure what it is,

Colin - Could it be something to do with the Keeper of the Gates?

Corralnis - It doesn’t appear to be related to anything in the prophecy, only that it has been cropping up in my reports with increasing regularity and it seems to mean something to the Lord High Councillor Varalnis. 

[beat as they look at the prophecy]

Colin - But I don’t understand - why does he care whether my friends are the “eight blind eyes” if none of the other parts of the Prophecy make sense anyway?

Corralnis - If it were true that there was no sense in the rest of the Prophecy then it would not be important. Come on, I’ve something to show you...

[jump cut to the World Map room [first, establishing shot of the the round building where the map is] - stairs and platforms - ]

Corralnis - If the third verse remains the most intriguing, the second has always seemed the most straightforward. It describes an invasion of these lands and the eventual death of the Old King at the hands of the “bronze clad soldier”. It’s generally thought that the most likely place for such an attack to originate was in the North East, the Ice Continent where the Dead King and From bitter lay

with fearless blade the bronze clad soldier makes its way

through lands afire to where cold stone once flowed

and Dragon Killer slay.

[pan to the scar]

The World Map is a precise simulacra of the entire globe, as accurate in scale as we can manage with the technology we allow ourselves. The most accurately measured object ever made in the world, precise down to the layers of the crust) and the core of iron at its centre. Any magical event that happens in the real world is revealed on the surface of the World Map — There! See? [a brilliant bright point of light - not just a flame - bright like a star] — That was particularly large, but even trivial spells leave a mark which we can plot. And from those marks we can trace the outlines of cities [image of map reflected in the lens of one of the telescopes around the World Map] [Newkeep - like a constellation][sequence of images of flares across the surface of the globe] and the paths of armies, [view of the telescope being cranked around - fine tuning - an array of lenses and imaging devices] the progress of battles, the course of individual journeys... [an operator plotting on a graph paper the image seen - callipers, pen, ink pot, sheets of paper, rulers, calligraphic devices] and from these things we can infer the geography of lands we might never hope to set foot on in our life times [the plotted map being carried away with a bundle]. That scorch mark appeared two days ago. It is the flare of a natural magical event - not something man-made but something that comes out of the magic of the world itself - and it covers the area between Newkeep and the Northern boundary of the Old King’s domain. When we saw that we thought of the prophecy. We were looking at our lands afire.

Colin - Is Varalnis trying to kill my friends?

Corralnis - There is a common sense view that holds the easiest way to forestall a prophecy is to prevent its constituent parts from being true - in my experience that’s not how these things work - but there’s a kind of simplistic logic to it. 

Colin - So, if my friends are the eight blind eyes, and they can be got rid of...

Corralnis - That’s the general idea, yes.

Colin - But look, why can’t we just go to Varalnis and tell him we’ve got nothing to do with it all?

Corralnis - Because, Colin, he thinks this is not just coincidence - he thinks your friends are here to fulfil the prophecy, that they are intent on the Council’s destruction. And he does not trust me.

Colin - What can we do?

Corralnis - I want you to return to Warrior’s Gate and take your friends back through your Gate to the Homeworld and stay there. 

Colin - It would be quicker if I took Wizard’s Gate home, then came back through Warrior’s Gate - you could fix it so I could do that.

Corralnis - No - I don’t want you to risk using one of the main Gates - those are the jurisdiction of Councillor Varalnis your progress will be monitored, you could be intercepted - Varalnis controls those. You can take a night-seeing mount from here, it will get you back to Warrior’s Gate by the morning - then use your own gate to get back home. I will let it be known that you slipped away from my quarters and are now somewhere hiding in the city - that will keep the Council operatives occupied long enough to allow you time to find your friends and take them to safety. I have arranged for someone to mind them until you arrive. Colin, let me ask you, why did you bring your friends here? (Colin, before you leave, tell me honestly...)

Colin - (slightly suddenly panicky) But I didn’t want them to go back just yet!

Corralnis - (pause) Why is that, Colin? 

Colin - (evasive - not sure) Because...

Corralnis - Whatever the reason for bringing them here, you must accept that their safety is of paramount importance (suddenly - it seems -- intrigued) Why did you bring them here?

Colin - Because I wanted to show them my world... [gesturing to the World Map] I wanted them to see this world... I want them to have an adventure, before it’s too late—

Corralnis - (reaction) Too late?

Colin - Before they all change, before everything changes...

Corralnis - [beat] A colleague of mine (the Gatekeeper) once told me that setting a company on a Quest is like throwing sticks into a River; once you’ve let them go you really only have two options — you can wade in and fish them out again, or you can stand on the bank and watch what happens to them follow their progress. [side view, them looking down at the World Map]. ... Rest assured, Colin, they will have had their adventure — to be honest, I should think they had just about all the adventure they can take, right now. In the meantime, I think we’ve reached the point where we have to get our feet wet. [walking off] Now, come on, young man. We must get you to Warrior’s Gate.

Later Colin mentions the throwing sticks comment - The (old) Gatekeeper comments - hmmm — well, he always keeps his sticks tied to a length of fishing wire (twine/line) (i.e. Colin’s Soul STower - whilst showing Colin the Soul Stower... handing it back - it falls into the jug that the Gatekeeper has set for it...)

something about watching people’s lives from afar and not being able to intervene (to mirror the World Map) - they are bothe seeing the world from above - they are both watching theprogress of lives - Corralnis is aware of what a Gatekeeper’s role involves, the frustration of not being able to control - sometimes we can affect, influence, but the outcome is always over the horizon...

An adventure can be a terrible thing to wish upon anyone, especially upon one’s own friends.

 It is in the nature of adventures that they are difficult to stage-manage - sometimes we have to let things take their own course and the best that we can do [They are watching the world map - hovering over the globe...] It is in the nature of other people’s lives that they are difficult to stage-manage - sometimes they can only be observed - sometimes the only influence we can have over them is to change what we can control, move obstacles into or out of their paths... sometimes all that is left to us is to change our expectations... and it is in the nature of adventures that they will often happen despite our best intentions, but also that they always happen to other people.  but if we can be sure of anything, it will be that they, and not us, will (have the adventure), your charges may not have had the adventure you may have hoped for but let me assure you, young man, they have had quite probably had all the adventure they can take right now. It’s in the nature of adventures that they are  It is in the nature of adventures that they happen when they are least expected, and that they happen to other people...

In my experience, an adventure can be an onerous gift 

In my experience, Colin, an adventure can be a very uncertain thing perilous gift

Well, an adventure can be a curse as well as it can be a gift. It is often all a matter of judgement - Often it is all down to one’s judgement of others – of other’s needs, of their desires, their hopes and their fears. And, in my experience, knowing what other people want is one of the most arcane sciences there is... (smiles) It is a difficult thing to strive to satisfy another’s appetites Making an adventure is not the same as having an adventure and, practised successfully by a very few and then often with no great degree of consistency. And when we fail, we can feel as far from those people as a satellite orbiting an unknown planet, but if we succeed... it can be like capturing their soul...

Well, in my experience an adventure can make for a complicated gift... What can be given as a blessing can be received as a curse. It is a kind of augury to predict how someone else will receive something that you yourself have cherished. It’s a kind of divination, and filled with a terror. And yet we strive for it in so much of our lives.  

Well, in my experience an adventure can be received as a blessing or a curse can make for a complicated gift... its good reception all depends on your intentions and on the expectations of your party and the difference is often only a matter of who’s having the adventure... What can be given as a blessing can also be received as a curse. And, let me tell you, young man, It is a difficult thing to second guess the expectations of others, to predict the responses of another human being — a kind of augury, one practised successfully by a very few, and then not with any great level of consistency. It’s certainly one of the most difficult kinds of magic we might practice, More often than not it ends with failure and any reasonable person would suggest it isn’t worth the effort  and is probably at the heart of almost everything we do  though probably the most fundamental. And yet, almost everyone will try. When we fail, as we most often do, the consequences can be dismaying, but when we succeed...

(a smile - turns to Colin)

Come on, let’s get you home... 

(Colin’s answer sums up the position Colin has towards this world - he states the importance of Realm to him as a place to escape from the normality of real life - )

[This question from Corralnis is significant in two ways - it is another occurrence of the refrain that continues through the whole story - Why did you bring them here - but it is also significant to Corralnis’ understand of whether Colin is the Gatekeeper or not - I think if Colin gives an answer which conveys a sense of giving them an adventure to them - of challenging their expectations about life then this suggests an adoption of a role which a DM plays - it’s the sense that he is living vicariously through the people he brings here - like an author, he experiences all sorts of otherness through the characters he writes/invites]

Corralnis talks about Varalnis being interested in Colin’s Gate - he has been asking after the ‘Gate Keeper’ - mention of the Gatekeeper (Colin mentions this later to Thelias - Thelias says, have you heard the Dragon King prophecy - Gate keeper in that) - Corralnis suggests that the Gate is important and that he suspects Varalnis is controlling a gate of his own - perhaps at somewhere called Dur Boral - shift the emphasis to Gates rather than Dragon Killer

Killer question - Colin asks “Why are you telling me all this/ why have you brought me here?”

Does this work?  Corralnis says - I know about your gate - how nobody else appears to use it - and suggests it is a legacy of something called the Gate Keeper - pretends not to know what/who that is but says it is definitely tied up to the way the gates work - and that if the gatekeeper is around (as evidenced by Colin’s gate) then one of the last pieces of the prophecy could be in place - asks him (some disingenuous) questions about the gate and what Colin knows about it - pretends that isn’t the answer - states this wouldn’t matter except for something that happened this morning - takes him to the World Map - the scar - mentions Dur Boral again - sends Colin back to Warrior’s Gate to pick up his friends and go home - he is trusting that Colin will meet with Floyd and that Dur Boral crops up again - he wants Colin to find Dur Boral and be prejudiced against Varalnis - he knows that Colin is the next Gatekeeper and he trusts that the Old Gatekeeper will find Colin and, when he does, by use of the bugged Soul Stower, Corralnis will locate and kill the Old Gatekeeper (all the time making it appear that Varalnis is the real manager of events).

So, ostensibly, Coralnis’ motive for getting Colin to the Temple is to ask him about his Gate - which he suggests is indication of the existence (continued existence) of the Gate Keeper. His deceit is not to let on that he knows what the Gatekeeper is, who is is (the Old man) and that Colin will become the new Gatekeeper. His intention is for Colin to find Dur Boral, be prejudiced against Varalnis, and lead him to the old Gatekeeper.

He shouldn’t be too clear on whether he knows what the Gatekeeper is - this will come out inevitably when Colin meets the old Gatekeeper...

(onto - if this is what it means, is it true - some events in recent history have started to suggest it is... off to World Map)(eight blind eyes was what I used to suggest your presence might be important - I’m afraid I misled the Greater Councillor there, somewhat. I don’t think this refers to your friends...) 

(explain control of the gates as one of the Council’s successes - also that the reincarnation via the soul stower was another early success (before that people risked death!!!!))

— I often think of this place as a factory, a machine for manufacturing magic...

(Wars of the Blood)

They walk through the Temple - steps, glimpses into laboratories, arcane machinery, the new tower, the old quarters, the gardens, towards the Map Room where The World Map is contained. As they walk, Corralnis explains:

In the past ten years the Science of Magic has (developed into one of the Art’s most powerful/influential branches) - thanks to the groundbreaking work of Archimage Whitely

but at the heart of what we do is the prophecy -

indeed, all prophecies and portents, curses and hexes - that’s where I started as a neophyte and, if truth be known,where my heart still lies...

Trouble here is establishing why Corralnis wants to see Colin - ostensibly it should be something about the prophecy and the invading armies - or at least the fact that eight people have been invited (in conjunction with all of the other things in the Prophecy that seem to have come true - the bronze armoured warrior, the seas on fire etc.) - but truthfully it is because of Colin’s gate - this is the secret that Corralnis knows and has allowed Varalnis to know about - it should seem that Colin is involved tangentially, whereas in fact he is a central, explicit, part of the prophecy.

The Council was originally set up (funded, really) by theOld King to investigate and unravel the Dragon Killer prophecy - that was Corralnis’ main job - see elsewhere)

Corralnis - 

Corralnis reveals the Dragonkiller prophecy - but concentrates on the burning seas part of the story - the Gatekeeper part is completely ignored until Thelias relays the whole of the prophecy - Corralnis emphasises the threat which the Council perceives the portents imply 

These are times of change, young man. 

Corralnis hands Colin his Soul Stower back (“here, they do not know you have it”) (of course, he’s modified it so that he can track Colin’s progress towards the old Gatekeeper)(“I’ve modified it so that they cannot recall you”)

Corralnis explains why Colin shouldn’t go to Warrior’s Gate - I will take care of them - then goes on to tell him about The Prophecy and Dur Boral (Dur Boratt).

The Council was set up by the Old King with the express intention of unravelling the prophecy (which the Old King himself had made in a trance) - but it has since become a more independent force, vying with the Old King’s authority -

Corralnis was one of the original Mages of the Council - he knows about the prophecy - is an expert in prophecy and augury - he has some sympathy for the old founding principles of the Council but he is also now contemplating the usurpation of the Old King with the Council as the new governing force in the region

Corralnis - The answer appears to lie in something called Dur Boral (Dur Boratt) - this name has significance for the Greater Councillor, it is important to him and his plans...

Corralnis waves the guard outside and shuts the door after him. Colin watches but doesn’t stand. Corralnis goes to the window, looks out.

Corralnis - I’m afraid the Gentlemen of the Council do not look kindly on those who invite their own friends to the party... they have good reason, of course. What Councillor Varalnis stated was true - there is a burden of responsibility on us to ensure that we do not endanger the people of this world by our presence.

He looks at Colin - stern but sympathetic. Colin guiltily looks away.

Colin - Are they really going to stop me ever coming here.

Corralnis - They would like to. (but, in fact , you know as well as I do, that they cannot)(Colin’s gate - the gate you use is not controlled by the Council)

Corralnis - (on Varalnis) he is very curious about your companions. You don’t think the Council routinely knows the inventory of every Earthlander who pops unexpectedly into its territories? It does not. A lot of energy and effort was expended on locating the whereabouts and whereto-fors of your guests - he is very keen to know what they are doing here, what their intentions are and what they have brought with them.

Colin - Why?

Corralnis - Have you ever heard of the Dragon Killer prophecy?

Colin - No.

Corralnis - No. Too few of your generation has. Unfortunately. 

More oblique - “These are suspicious times and portentious times, what with the Old King’s ill health and the Prophecy...”

He takes Colin to an old part of the Basilica  “This is one of the older parts of the Temple - I’m rather fond of it - a great deal quieter, a lot less rushing about...” (“Experimental _____mancy (thaumancy?) is a remarkable discipline but, like all new ideas, it engenders a certain manic urgency in its adherents...”)       shows him a plaque or a tapestry hanging in some alcove (this area is almost like an old cellar - arched alcoves, darker passages - the prophecy is etched/stitched onto it... 

Corralnis is making something out of Dur Boral (Dur Boratt) - he sends Colin off on a quest for that, rather than to rescue his friends at Warrior’s Gate (he will take care of that...)

The World map is the key to Corralnis’ discourse - it is by showing Colin that, and the mark on it that he gets to Dur Boral (Dur Boratt)...

3 things Corralnis must do in this scene:

explain why Varalnis summoned Colin to the Temple

implicate that Varalnis’ motives are dishonest (prophecy and map)

suggest Dur Boral (Dur Boratt) (which sends Colin on his way in that direction)

So,

Corralnis says - why do you think Varalnis brought you to the temple - 

Corralnis has suggested to Varalnis that Colin’s crew may be the “eight blind eyes” of the prophecy - a danger, therefore to the Council 

Corralnis suggests to Colin the mark and Dur Boral (Dur Boratt) (the mark disguises it - is a result of it)

Colin asks Thelias about the prophecy, which Thelias gives him - first suggestion of the Gatekeeper...

Colin meets the Gatekeeper (after Dur Boral (Dur Boratt)) which was Corralnis’ hope all along.

Therefore, Colin shouldn’t find out about the Gate Keeper until later.

Corralnis should introduce the existence of the prophecy (if not its substance) at this meeting.

Colin finds out about the prophecy from Thelias. (And also about why the Council exists and what Corralnis’ role was/is - to unravel the prophecy...) (in this version, Corralnis has sent Colin to Thelias not only to find out about Dur Boral (Dur Boratt) but also to find out about the prophecy)

Dur Boral (Dur Boratt) is more important to events of this story than the Prophecy - the prophecy is mostly about what comes later...

Scene 8. At Warrior’s Gate - out and about.

Alison - This all looks very strange

Brendon - Looks great from back here...

(Rachel – looking at map – behind her the others walk into view)

Rachel - Well, according to this that's the main square.

Lesley beside her

Sean - Where's the bus station

Lesley - There isn't one.

Sean - Well, train station, then – a taxi rank

Rachel - Nope

Sean turns away – disgusted (shii...)

Ian - There's a bakery – I'm starved

Sean sees someone walk by with a sword – takes note – adjusts his own sword – makes it higher on his belt

Brendon - What's that say?

Rachel - It says Armoury … and that's Herbyri.., Herbiary, whatever one of those is. He's marked where we should visit

Ian - We can spend some of that money you've got!

Alison move to Rachel's left shoulder (right side looking at her)

Rachel - No, the money's not for you

Ian - Since when?

Rachel - Because there's a shopping list on the back (turns paper over) 

Ian - No way

Brendon - (reading) Fifteen g — Sean's Armour, five g — Reagents for Rachel, one g for food … then it says there'll be some change...

Ian - Sean's armour? I want armour! (he is sidelined by the others)

Rachel - 'g' is these, I s'pose

Brendon - 'gold' (he is looking out to the market to move out of the way for Lesley)

Lesley - What's Reagents?

Rachel - (turning map back) I don't know...

Lesley - What's this out here? (dungeons)

Alison - Maybe that's the train station?

Lesley - Or some park and ride, or something?

Ian - There we go then!

Sean - We haven't got a car!

Michael - Der!

Ian - But there will be people there who do – we'll cadge a lift

Sean - Yeah, he's right (walking off)

Rachel - Wait! Look, let's not get split up – we'll go and and see if this is a car park, but if it's not – we should all come back here and wait for Colin

Sean - Whatever (walking off)

Ian - I'm going to buy some armour (walking off)

Rachel - Ok, but we should follow the map

Brendon - (sneery as he walks passed) why?

Rachel - To be safe...

Lesley is walking away – says turning – wide shot – the market behind her...

Lesley - Come on Rache, let's have a look around.

Large overhead shot looking down

Rachel - (looking down, almost to herself) Ok, but I just think it's important since we've got a map...

Rachel - Ok, but we must come back here when we've finished – we don't want to miss Colin when he comes back!...

small frame of her looking down at the map 

Rachel - (to herself) if he comes back...

[Page - shot of map]

They are all starting to walk...

Rachel is standing looking at the map still (so that we can have a shot at her hands and the map)...

the Dungeons

The Dungeons begin at the top of the slope – like the mouth of a volcano – the rocks around sculpted and carvings added in the form of dragons etc. - the long flight of stairs we saw at the beginning of Chapter 1 start here – there's no amphitheatre or flattened area before the entrance...

The point about this entrance is that it doesn't get used much except by novice groups or those just starting out on a particular dungeon – there are entrances further down the side of the hill (and behind the gate) which are greasy tubes that take you into various points on the dungeon (to save having to continuously go through explored areas) but these inevitably take you passed the beginning stages which newer groups will want to travel through (because of their experience/ skill levels) – some groups just enjoy the journey down the stair (although it gets hard after a while – complete journey down is about twenty minutes)

They are all standing at this entrance looking into the hole which, from out in the daylight, is a black gaping mouth, stairs going into it – maybe evidence of some ritual tokenism (like the swords at the Warrior's Gate sign)(a cairn – several cairns)

Lesley - Well, it's not a Park and Ride.

Rachel - No.

Ian - Ok, are we going in then?

Brendon - (face) pfffft!

Lesley - Are you mental?

Ian - (sarcasm) Are you mental! 

Lesley - Well, you go in then.

Brendon - Yeah, in you go, big man!

Sean - You've got your stick!... (this is sort of indirect – an aside, almost – turning to go) (laughter)

Lesley - (looking down) What do you think is down there?

Rachel moving closer – Alison beside her holding back 

Alison - I'm not going closer.

Brendon keeps his distance too.

Rachel - I'm not sure I want to find out.

Lesley - (hand outstretched in front of her) There's a breeze, quite cool...

Ian - Maybe it's some kind of ride – like  a theme park Ride.

Lesley -

Ian - yeah, well... (turning, walking away) It's not a Park and Ride, is it?

Brendon laughing.

They turn and follow him away - 

The Armoury

Full plate and parts of plate armour adorn the walls, stands of armour collections – mostly mail of all kinds and some leather goods with metal and mail adornments – the forge, a few anvils, a lot of measuring equipment and templates – wooden body parts of varying sizes, drawings on the walls (types of fitting, types of cut)

the forge is open sided – an upper floor overhanging (like the one on the main street)

the difference between this and the one on the main street is one of specialisation – the main street specialises in mail and, particularly, mail links (rather than complete garments) – this is all kinds, plate to leather armour.

This is about Sean buying a shirt – leather body but with mail short sleeves and Ian not being able to wear armour

Ian doesn't have any money – offers some cash (notes) to pay for something – shopkeeper refuses with – not getting into that (hint is, of course, that there may be some kind of black market for earth cash)

The smith is hammering at the anvil – they stand at the doorway, smoke and fumes – he has his back to them, hammering, smoke, he raises a piece of plate that he is shaping – it glows softly pink, plunges it into a barrel of water – hissss, steam – Lesley waves a hand in front of her face – they are unsure how to approach this man – what to ask for, what they are even doing here... Brendon notices a breastplate hanging nearby,

Brendon - Jesus, look at this...

They notice a whole rack of body parts (armour plating) nearby, the walls are festooned with armour and the mechanisms used to make and measure it – calipers, rules, rings and lengths, templates, wooden sections of arms and legs, spare and example adornments, details, patterns, some of the armour is spiked and pronged, flanges and 

Smith - See anything you like?

This startles them – he is large, dark with heatburn and grime and sweat... he has probably noticed that they are wearing earth clothes but he doesn't comment...

Sean goes – I want this (there is an ornate set of armour on a frame, chest-piece, shoulder guards, arm guards – impressive like a Museum exhibit)

Smith appears

Smith - That'll be around the twelve hundred mark, sir.

Rachel - Twelve hundred gold?

Smith - (noticing that they are in Earth clothes) Gold, yes ma'am, we don't take Mastercard here... least, not yet.

Sean - How much we got?

Rachel - You've got fifteen gold.

Smith - Here, let's have a look fer you

(delving into a rack of leather torsos)

Smith produces the garment that Sean can buy (leather body, mail shoulders) – he starts putting it on Sean – quite rough and forceful, used to men who wear heavy armour – like a butch Nanny dressing her children

Smith - Guy bought this in the other day. It's from in the green but ah've added some shrapnel here and there, made it presentable... I could do a deal on this, ah guess. 

Aside to where Ian is trying on armour – he puts it on (no restriction this time) – a stance - Smith calls over 

Smith - You'll be better off without that, ma friend.

Ian - I've got money.

Smith - Well, don't go throwing it away – you'll be better off trusting to your staff and your wits, believe me.

Ian looks at his staff (as if thinking of it in those terms for the first time)

Brendon is nearby

Brendon - (sarcastic) Well, your 'staff', anyway... 

Ian - (indignant but keeping his voice down) He can't stop me from buying something

Brendon - He doesn't have to, mate, you ain't got no gold

Ian - (pulling some notes from his pocket) This is legal tender – he can't refuse this —

Smith - (from where he is standing fitting Sean with his torso) Hey now, son, you need to put that away — not having any of that in ma shop, if you please. You should've been told about that at the Gate...

Ian - But it's real money!

Smith - Not here it ain't. 

Ian is angry... reluctantly he takes the armour off, but there's some urgency to his action also, and some effort,

Ian - (muttering) I'm not having it anyway, 'making me feel sick...

Brendon - (laughs) It's making you feel sick?!

Ian - Yeah (realises what he's said)(frowning at the armour)(thinks)... must be the fire,can’t breathe, (touches tongue) like cordite, or something, feel weak…

Ian goes outside – behind him Sean is trying the top on, the Smith is trimming it, marking it with chalk (it is leather with some platelets)

Sean posing in armour (Fuck yeah! - an inane grin)

Ian looks back at the armour with suspicion and a growing unease...

The Herbiary

This is a close, dark, woody shop – floor to ceiling hung with sprays of dried herbs, huge jars along the walls full of grains and powders and whole roots, barrels of basic reagents standing all around the floor, more like a store room than a shop interior. The upper floor is essentially a storage room – old wooden stairs going up to it, bags and jars on the steps, sprays of dried plants stuck to the sides. Chemical equipment – glasses, jars, pestles, mortars, utensils, spoons, measuring cups, distilling jars. A large set of shelves, square boxes containing regeants, labels on the front.

First thing said to Rachel – 'You here for Regeants?' - Rachel exchanges looks with Lesley.

Rachel recognising things – things that make up potions.

Old lady (blind?) - kid that helps her out (Melissa) – as original.

This as in original

They enter the shop - sign over the door, a bunch of drying herbs - into the room, dark and dingy. Rachel is looking at the shelves, at the herbs arranged around

Rachel - Horehound... Sage... Sweet Marjora... (gesturing vaguely) That’s good for headaches... Mint, that's Spearmint that one, mix it in your bath, it's good for you. Basil, the King of herbs...

She frowns. 

Herbiary interior - there is an area where tinctures and balms are prepared - low table, bowls, pestle/mortar, muslin, cloths, jugs

Sean - You know these?

Rachel - Yes, but…(she shrugs) But I don’t.

Melissa appears,

Rachel - (bending down to her, hands on knees) Hello, is this your shop?

Melissa - No, silly! (haughty) This is my Nanna’s shop. My name is Melissa.

Rachel - That’s a very pretty name! (leaning down, straightening her oversized dress) And this is a very pretty dress, did your Mummy make it?

Melissa - My Nanna made it. She is a very fine sea mistress!

Rachel - Well, it's very pretty. You look like a real lady.

Melissa - Do you want to peruse our shop (walking away a bit, gesturing around)

Rachel standing, not sure

Rachel- Well...

Melissa - I can show you our balms

Old Woman - Melissa!

From the shadows, old lady appears (she has come down the stairs) - she walks into the light, her face raised - she has white blind eyes. Looks from the others.

Old lady hand on Melissa’s shoulder

Old Woman - Who have we?

Melissa - Seven people, Nanna. This Lady wants to buy something.

Rachel - (uncertain) Well... I wasn’t sure...

Old woman moves towards Rachel - reaches out, her fingers touching Rachel’s face - moves down her arm, holds her hands, touching her fingers... (Rachel exchanges looks with Lesley?)

Old Woman - Hmmm, yes. Your hands are good and your heart is open. You have made a good choice to become a Healer.

Rachel - (flustered) I.. well... (smiles, suddenly surprised at the Old Woman’s perception) How do you know about that? 

(note - mention somewhere later that Rachel had decided she was going into Nursing (paediatrics?) when she left school)

Old Woman, humphs, pats Rachel’s arm,

Old Woman - Come, we can get you all you need. Melissa, we will need all of the minor tinctures and the basic essential oils…

Melissa is grinning excitedly

Ian behind, looking around annoyed (Lesley sees him, Brendon)

Ian - I’m going out. It’s giving me hayfeaver, this place.

Ian leaves.

scene behind with Melissa carrying some huge jar - reaching to a jar on a high shelf - Lesley/Alison reaching to help her.

Outside. People passing by.

Some kind of argument between a group who have just ‘wiped’ in a Dungeon - blaming each other, on their way back to the pub...

(maybe the group from 1001 Bridges) Dom, Gita, Gilly, Ken 

Dom - — I’m just not gonna lend you the map.

Ken - I didn’t lose the map - the goddam thing was ripped from my cold dead hand

Dom - Well, maybe you’ll watch where you’re walking with it then

Ken - They jumped me, man, from above!

Gita - Wall-walkers can climb walls! Who would’ve thought.

Ken - I was taking a crap, I wasn’t scouring the walls for hostile incoming...

Gilly - Well, we’ll know for next time.

Dom - Ok, In future maybe we should only crap in pairs...

general laughter

A selection of people, glimpses, the crowd - 

A glimpse of Boran.

A glimpse of Gamorean Guard

A glimpse of Raven

A sudden focus on Jason as he creeps up to someone with their back turned to him who is in a crowd around some market stall (a man selling some kind of small familiar - gryphon, or some kind of flighted animal- not a stall, a one-off trader) - parallel frames of Ian’s face as Jason slips his hand into the open pocket and retrieves a purse.

Ian’s face - eyes wide, mouth open. Jason makes his way back towards the Herbiary. He sees that Ian has witnessed the theft. Open mouthed, looks at purse. 

Ian - What the fu—

Behind in the crowd, a sudden commotion, someone is aware that they have had their purse stolen - one shot, movement, people looking around.

Ian - (grabbing Jason’s collar) In there! For fu—

cut to inside the Herbiary, Jason tumbles in, turning heads. Ian walks in, round to window, looks out. 

Brendon - What’s up?

In the background Rachel is with old woman and Melissa.

Ian - (still at window) Ask him (gesturing) (scene through the window - people are looking around, guy has noticed something mossing from his purse…)

Jason scuttles to the corner - make him seem to disappear in the shadows

Ian - He just nicked — (lowering voice - Rachel in the background turns around?) He’s just pick-pocketted someone’s purse —

Jason - I didn’t—

Ian - I just watched you do it, you numbnuts!

Rachel - (coming forward) Jason, is this true?

He looks scared like a cornered animal

Jason - (he blurts out) Something made me! (then cowers away into his corner)

Brendon is at doorway, looking out, he turns back into the room

Brendon - Well, something’s going on out there (punching Jason’s shoulder) what did you nick, dickwit.

Rachel - Brendon, leave him. (Sean is standing next to her) Sean, do you want to say anything to him?

Sean is surprised

Sean - I’m not his fucking mother...

Rachel - Come on then, I think I’ve got everything I need...  (she heads back into the room, Mellissa is carrying her bag (heavy) to her, the old woman is in the background) ...

cut to Jason, cowering - he is holding (something) in his fist (which he looks at?)(Jason has nicked a key - the significance of this is pointed out by Raven - he didn’t steal money, he stole something that could lead to greater wealth, this puts him above a common thief - some parallel here with what Raven is doing to Jason, using him to gain a greater wealth - Jason is the key he nicks from the group...)

Eating pasties by the statue (Market Square)

This is outside of the market – shot of someone (Sean, obviously) looking up to the statue (which is of Sean!!! or the Old King - probably better the Old King...)

Some hint that Boran is watching them

They are looking at the Gate building - 

There's no Maccy D's here

vignette of them buying pasties from someone with a tretle table set out with produce (this looks like the small Farmers Market stalls you find at village fetes but without the bunting and twee decorative touches...

asking at the pastie store - 

Do you do cups (for drinks)

Most people bring their own with them – you can use your hands...

Drinking from the fountain in the square?

Ian - I'm not having one of those – don't know where it was made

(the stall holder overhears – embarrassment as she/he explains where it was cooked...)

Ian - Let's go find a Maccy Dees...

Lesley - Maybe he’s their King.

Ian - Maybe he’s who’s King?

Lesley - The people who live here - look, which king is it then, if we’re supposed to know who it is?

Brendon - What is that building? (the Gatehouse)

Ian - (distractedly) well, whatever it is, more people are going in than are coming out.(Brendon looks.)

Alison - Maybe it’s some kind of Underground train station

Rachel - We could go in and ask

They exchange looks. Brendon starts to walk up the steps towards the Gate

Rachel - (to Ian) Are you going to have a pasty?

Ian - (shot of pie stall) I told you, I don’t know what’s in them. I’m not buying anything not sealed in a cellophane wrapper.

Rachel - Just because it’s in a wrapper doesn’t make it safe to eat.

Alison - It tasted all right to me.

Rachel - It tasted lovely. If you don’t get anything from here I don’t know when we’ll get another chance to buy food. 

Lesley has come back from the statue

Lesley - There’s a poem on the other side, something about ‘rings’ and ‘dragons’.

Ian grimaces.

Lesley - But no name - it’s not anyone we know (directed to Ian)

Ian - (to Rachel) Maybe there’s a Maccy Dee’s near here.

a withering look from Rachel.

Brendon returns (long shot - get the whole building in...)

Brendon - Doesn’t look like a Tube station - but it’s too dark to see in properly

Lesley - Did you ask anyone?

Brendon - (obviously) No.

Rachel - Look — why don’t we go back to the Inn and talk to John - it’s getting late here anyway - Colin might be waiting for us as we speak.

Ian - Wait! (they all look) Give me some money, I want to get a pasty and a drink.

Rachel - They don’t sell drinks (handing over some coins)

They are all starting to walk away - turning to speak as they go.

Brendon - You can get a drink from the fountain.

Ian pulls a ‘fucking hell’ face - smirks all around...

as they leave - shot of Boran watching them - proper, full on shot - obscuring the picture in the foreground, the shoulder of Gamorean Guard...

Boran joke - Boran is ‘standing’ behind a wall - looks like a normal sized human - he jumps down and walks out from behind the wall (he’s been standing on a cart) revealing his true size...

Ian decides to have something to eat - which sort did you have?

Lesley - Wonder what's in there?

Brendon - (dismissively) Some kind of Bank or something, I guess.

Ian - (gnomically, he's been watching for a while) People go in, but they don't come out again...

(They look at him – he looks back mysteriously under his brows...)

Lesley - Maybe there's some back door.

Sean - (not relative) Sheesh, this place stinks!

Lesley - It's the horses (shot of stables) I quite like it.

Ian - Weirdo.

It's Medieval – Lesley thinks not, because of the sewerage – drains (a runnel down the side of the square and outside houses) and at the Inn the toilet door (don't know what they used to do for that in medieval times. Brendon – they used to shit on the floor)

In the background, Jason has approached the Thieves stall...

Jason cracks the locks (Market)

(standing by the Thieves stall) (Raven is sitting in the back of the store, just chilling out with his mate the shopkeeper...)

Shopkeeper - You all right there my friend?...

vague acknowledgement

Shopkeeper - Nice tunic, used to sell a lot of those... of course, all this skin tight stuff is all the rage now but if you've got something that works, I say... I see you’re looking at my practice pieces - I got the full range - what level are you at right now.. well, here you go, look at this - small double barrel, barbed eye, brass casement, have a go at that... you’ll need your picks [slight smile at Jason’s naiveté][Jason suddenly think, hand in pocket, pulls out ring of picks] Yeah, that’s the idea... If you’re just starting out you might be better off (rummaging around in stocks) (‘click’) Ah, right! There ya go. No problem. Not a beginner then, eh? haha. Er, here, look, try this... (looking for more examples) That’ll test you, three trip links on that model, I shouldn’t think (‘click’)... Ah, well, well done...[glimpse of Raven in the back taking an interest]  obviously something a little more... right, try this...

cut to Ian watching him, goes over, shopkeeper unhappy, all his devices are picked

shopkeeper - hey look here now, c’mon fella, people are gonna be asking for their money back - if you’re not gonna buy anything

Ian - c’mon, er, sorry about that... (grabs Jason’s sleeve, pulls him away)

Market stalls

this is in the middle of the market – so it's all about market stalls and types of produce – Lesley looking at some jewelry (actually charms and wards – magical items – she doesn't realise this). Food. Carrying equipment – bags, boxes, trunks. Practical tools – wrenches, levers, forks, crowbars, hooks, climbing equipment, crampons,. One-off stalls by artisans who create something special – like devices to find traps, or some kind of directional finder for underground, smoke flares (clever smoke that finds things, highlights things, clings to false walls, reacts to poison gas, can identify drafts through false doors...) bottles, cups, eating implements, condiments packs, foldable stools, hammocks, foldable beds, thin mattresses, tents, bivouacs, cloaks, leather goods (curing is done outside of town), rope ladders, rope, strapping, markers for found objects (magical markers? Glowing markers), map accessories – map boards, pencils, measuring devices, calipers, MAPS, maps on cylinders, miniature maps, books, papers, writing equipment, spell books, spell organisers, inks (magical and mundane). Pets, or familiars, birds for detecting gas, animals for use in magical spells, equipment designed to carry and contain these. Lighting, lamps, lampshades and caged lanterns, fuelled lights, candles, wicks (for using with rendered fat (??))- mirrored lamps for directional use, torches, tinder, kindling, waxed fuel, oiled and pitched fuel, reflective surfaces for lighting and for looking around corners and over ledges, mirrors for personal use, personal grooming kits, toiletries, sanitary equipment. Raw materials, perishable ingredients – stuff harvested by individuals outside of town, on rugs on the grounds like the vegetables sold at Greek Markets by the farmers who bring them in from the fields, these mostly not edible but medicinal or magical, rare fungi, rare weeds and flowers, hard tack, vials and containers (glass, tin, wooden, ceramic) for raw goods, 

OTHER PEOPLE shopping.

An archery range? Archery in a dungeon – short range archery – quick loading bows, crossbows, short muzzle crossbows (?) multiple shot bows.

The narrowness (at times) of the Dungeons is significant – ways and means of overcoming confined spaces (mostly for fighting and scouting – checking for objects/traps/monsters/others).

A montage

At some point we can see Boran in the background

And a Vangorean Guard.

Jason is hanging back

Ian - (facing him) C’mon (Blinkley).

the map.

Rachel in Herbiary -

buying herbs for Lesley

recognising herbs

“Healer”

Jason at Thieves Stall

all the different locks 

“Go on try your luck”... “Hey, get out of here, you’re making my stock look bad”

(standing by the Thieves stall) (Raven is sitting in the back of the store, just chilling out with his mate the shopkeeper...)

Shopkeeper - You all right there my friend?...

vague acknowledgement 

Shopkeeper - Nice tunic, I sell something similar myself... (something about Jason’s coat being a bit old fashioned - all this skin tight stuff is all the rage now... Sally wears skin tight black leggings etc.) I see you’re looking at my practice pieces - I got the full range - what level are you at right now.. well, here you go, look at this - small double barrel, barbed eye, brass casement, have a go at that... you’ll need your picks [slight smile at Jason’s naiveté][Jason suddenly think, hand in pocket, pulls out ring of picks] Yeah, that’s the idea... If you’re just starting out you might be better off (rummaging around in stocks) (‘click’) Ah, right! There ya go. No problem. Not a beginner then, eh? haha. Er, here, look, try this... (looking for more examples) That’ll test you, three trip links on that model, I shouldn’t think (‘click’)... Ah, well, well done...[glimpse of Raven in the back taking an interest]  obviously something a little more... right, try this...

cut to Ian watching him, goes over, shopkeeper unhappy, all his devices are picked

shopkeeper - hey look here now, c’mon fella, people are gonna be asking for their money back - if you’re not gonna buy anything

Ian - c’mon, er, sorry about that... (grabs Jason’s sleeve, pulls him away)

Buying Armour - 

Ian wants to buy but can’t - “You’d be better off not bothering” - “That thing (the stick) will keep you safe enough” - He’s got no money

Brendon and Sean buys

Going up to see the Dungeons ?

Eating pasties outside the Gate

The group in Warrior’s Gate. 

Later that night - they discover the gate at the town’s centre could take them home - they decide to leave - discover that Jason is missing and then must decide whether to go look for him - they decide to quickly look and then go, but are attacked whilst out on the streets - same as before - Brendon at the Inn (what does he learn from a meeting with adventurer? something pertaining to his future self?) - Sean, Rachel, Michael as group - Ian, Lesley, Brendon, Alison as other group - Jason on his own.

scenes of the market. stuff they are buying. Rachel needs to go to the Hebiary (to get stuff for Lesley’s period pains)

they mention with suspicion the cloak/coat that Jason is wearing - that’s what he was given, he looks like some kind of monk...

A montage of moments - paying for things with gold, in the swordsmith’s, sights and sounds, glimpses of strange goods at the market, cages of animals (familiars?), the monument in the square, eating a pastie on the steps (casually, “I wonder what’s in that building”. Ian, “Some kind of Bank by the looks of it”), 

A gradual shift in their acceptance of this world as a different place?

Their place in it all - this is a shift from feeling outside/apart from it all, to being in the midst of it all - it is suddenly happening, not at a remove, but about them, surrounding them.

Sean is checking out the other people wearing weapons - glimpses of their swords, he adjusts his belt to be more like theirs.

Buying a pastie - the unfamiliarity of the money - do they expect change? They get more change than they thought - the coins are worth more than they thought... (They offer a coin - vendor looks at it in surprise - I can’t change that, haven’t you got anything smaller?)

They feel like they are at a Convention - the funny costumes, the funny behaviours - they see nothing that makes them think that this is anything but an elaborate Convention - they’ve seen no evidence of magic or monsters (which is where the Orc attack was useful and played its part - the Orcs were a direct and unassailable rebuff to any notions that this wasn’t the ‘real’ and alien world) - everyone is human, many look familiar, have familiar accents, can talk about familiar subjects (Mastercard in the shop - “We don’t take Mastercard” - 

- Er, how do we pay?

- Well, we don’t take Mastercard (not yet anyways...) (he checks their pouch and sees they have some gold pieces to cover it)

Ian has some sterling cash in his pockets - he takes it out but the shopkeeper tells him he can’t carry cash through the Gate - the Council won’t let you...

Ian offers cash

Shopkeeper - Ah, no (waving it away) I’m not getting involved in all that - I deal in gold or something you’ve brought up from the tunnels — ‘have to be below the green, mind... but nothing else. I’m sorry, but that’s how it is...

Magic and Ian - armour impedes magical power - magic users wouldn’t want to use armour because it would stop them using magic - Ian doesn’t care (he wants to be a Jedi Knight) but he is told by the armorer that he shouldn’t bother - this pisses him off but does spark an interest in the mechanics of magic (“Why can’t I use armour? How does it impede magical use?”) a presage of his future development (developing the rigourous study of magic as a ‘science’ “experimental magic”) - but, ultimately, Ian doesn’t buy armour because he doesn’t have any money to (he’s given no coins).

Walking from the Market back to the Inn

A reverse of the page that brought them to the Market (page 120) (it’s slightly less effective, but keep the left-right movement so that we start with the sunset sky and Inn in the distance and then end on the closing market) — in the background stalls are being dismantled, produce packed away — there is the orange glow of dusk and long shadows - the blaze of sunset in first floor window panes...

A lantern up outside the Inn doors - its light faint.

Sean - (not relative) This place stinks!

Rachel - It's the horses.

Lesley - I quite like the smell.

Ian - Weirdo.

at front of Inn - a lamp outside the door

Lesley - It’s nicer than your aftershave.

Ian - I don’t wear aftershave - har har. (Ian is eating his pasty)

Surprise as they enter the Inn - it is teeming - John is rushing around through the crowds of patrons... there will be people here who have just returned from a Dungeon crawl - lots of money, lots of stories... much busier than when we saw it with Floyd and the gang...

On Brendon’s face as the enter the Inn - he sees how busy it is first 

Brendon - (very quietly, to himself) Oh fuck...

cut to full shot of room - busy - they enter...

John rushes by - they are trying to get his attention

John - ‘Busy tonight — I can bring some drinks up to y’ rooms, if ye like?

they go to the room. light in the windows is orange. Street outside (Brendon looks) is dark now.

Brendon - (as the others enter - he is there already, sitting on the bay - packet of cigarettes in hand) Well, no sign of Greenfield.

Sean sits heavily on one of the beds

Sean - (beneath breath) Fuck

John enters - two trays of mugs - puts them down in the bay window

John - Here ya go - better than fighting for a seat doonstairs - a Tag Team just cam in back fra Crystal Caves — seventeen weeks unnergroon wi only iron rations and stale water — Och! Brings back the memories, ah can tell ye!

they all have a mug (John is handing them around, or they are passing them around) - there’s one left on the bay (shot of someone - Lesley? Alison? - taking a sniff of the beer - surprised by the beer, suspicious of it)

Rachel - I... uh, I don’t suppose you’ve seen Colin... Greenfield, have you?

John - Nay, sorry love. ‘Tho’ ah’ve not been in all afternoon — Ahc’n ask ef any o the gals have seen’em  — mebbe he’s been delayed somewhere - it happens!

Brendon - (as John starts to walk away - he’s reached the doorway - Brendon is looking out through the window - seated on the bay) That — That building in the square, the big one with the steps

John - Aye - The Gatehouse

Brendon - Oh, right... it’s... what is it? Some kind of Bank, or something?

John is taken aback by this.

John - (squinting slightly) How did you guys get here?

Rachel - Well, there was this door, and we walked through...

John - Aye! Well... well, if you were paying attention you woulda noticed that was the building you walked through into – 

Rachel - But we didn’t walk through that building—

Lesley - It was just an empty field...

Brendon - (suddenly realising) (maybe standing - moving forward) Wait! Are you saying that there’s a door in that place that leads back home?

John - Aye, gates works both ways - (fingers walking, slightly patronising) You go through it one way te come here, you go through the other te go home...

Brendon starts to leave - he’s walking passed Rachel

Maybe Sean hasn’t quite cottoned on here - which is why he doesn’t up and leave

Rachel - Brendon! (she catches his arm??)

Brendon - (reacts, aggressive) Are you kidding me? (i.e. why are you stopping me)

John - (making his excuses -) Look, lads and lasses, ye obviously haven’t been tol all y’oughteh - Na, ah’ve a few things to sort oot below, but when ah’m done we’ll go through the basics, an you can tell me aul aboot this other gate ye’ve found... (he leaves the doorway)

Brendon starts to move

Rachel - Brendon,  where are you going?

Brendon - didn’t you hear him - he said we can go home through that building!

Sean - (standing) You what?!

Rachel - Hang on, what about Colin?

they are moving out into the hallway

Sean - What the fuck about him?

Michael - Yeah! What the fuck about him?

Brendon - Listen, he’s not coming back for us, Rachel — he’s left us here. It’s up to us if we want to go home and we just have to walk through that door. (gesturing to wards the stairs, and the way out)

Lesley - I think he might be right, Rache.

(From the room) 

Alison - Where’s Jason?

(she’s looking at the single mug left on the bay of the window) 

Alison - (looking at the group, a hand towards the cup?) Where’s Jason gone?

Lesley - (jump cut - they are out in the hallway now, the other room doors are open - they’ve been searching in them) He’s not here. (she could be looking in the girls’ rooms)

Alison - Maybe he’s downstairs.

Brendon - He’s creeping around out there somewhere... (gesture outside)

Ian - (standing at the other door - having checked his room) You know I don’t think I saw him after the Herbiary.

Rachel - He’s run away.

Lesley - (to Ian) It’s because you shouted at him.

Ian - I didn’t shout at him!

Lesley - Yes you did!

Ian - He’d just nicked some guys’ money!

Rachel - We have to find him. (to herself)

Michael - Why? (sneery)

Rachel - Sean,  we have to look for Jason.

Brendon - Why? (angry)

Rachel - Because it’s not safe for him here on his own. And because he’s part of the group.

Brendon - Let Greenfield find him!

Rachel - You said Colin wasn’t coming back (very angry - she’s disgusted at his callousness) Sean, we can go to the Gatehouse and see if that is the way home but first we’ve got to look for Jason! We can’t leave him here. He’s one of us. We can’t go home without him. 

(the key to this is the dynamics of the group - the dialog about going or staying is encapsulated in their movement - Brendon is nearly already down the stairs, Rachel is staying put, Sean is moving somewhere between - they don’t need a discussion, their actions speak for their point of view…)

Sean - I’m gonna find him, then I’m gonna kill him

shot of Sean. end (deal with split, if at all, later)

(the point, partly, is that she is trying to stop Sean from going, rather than just appealing to his leader status - this is more about enlisting his help and realising she has influence over him (whereas over Brendon she has none...) rather than affirming him as some kind of leader)

Brendon - I’m not going looking for him (Rachel - so you can stay here incase he turns up)

Attacked in Warrior's Gate

Jason is running from them - Jason is running from the guard - hints of him being followed - he turns into a street and sees Sean - Sean sees him - “Hoi!” - he turns and runs down an alley – Raven calls him in through a doorway. Doorway shuts – (end here - Jason’s story begins on him turning around to view the room...) 

it's the Thieves Guild – like a small den, a seedy gentlemen's club, booths and alcoves, tables, a waitress serving drinks and food, patrons sitting in clandestine conversation in the smokey atmosphere.

Brendon left alone at the Inn – a conversation with John (would rather be here reminiscing  about Dungeon adventures than talking about my loft extension... this means Brendon isn't around when Boran turns up – so perhaps his suspicion of Boran comes from not having seen the act of rescue Boran performs (as far as he's concerned it could all have been Boran's fault to begin with)

Ian, Lesley, Alison off in one direction – 

Rachel, Michael, Sean run off in other direction

They all meet up somewhere – behind the Inn – they are attacked – Boran appears, Sean, Michael, Rachel are spun off magically - 

An area at the back of the Inn - there are some empty barrels (we don’t need to see John - he just appears, otherwise we have to go through the whole sequence of him seeing them then going in to get his hammer...)

John intervenes - but then advises that they’d better get to the Gate and go home  out of town now - he doesn’t know what they’ve done to piss off the Council but they should look on this as an opportunity to get away with it - just I don’t want the kind a hassle they can bring me - so they go with Boran

John - “I dinnae ken what youve done te annoy the Council, though I have an idea - but, wha’er it is, ah don’t need that kind a hassle. Now, ah can spin em some line aboot takin yon rookie there fer a no good footpad, but ah cannae hide ya fer long here, an ah dinnae want the likes o them moochin roond ma gaff, not when ah’m tryin te run a business here. Now take this as yer lucky break, an follow this fella back te the Gate.

(But Colin)- (If eh shows hes face roond here I’ll let’em know which way yer ga’an, bu’ ti be frank ah dinnae reckon he’ll be back any time soon. If he’s caught up in whae’er you’re in trouble fer then the Council’ve probably picked hem oop already.

cut to inside Inn with Brendon - Ian comes in -

“come on - we’re going”. leads him out. so, therefore, they’ve had the discussion about leaving but Brendon hasn’t been a part of it so he feels naturally antagonistic towards the idea and as though it has been foisted on him.

Boran is taking them to the square and - they intend- to the Gate

when they get to the square there are loads of guards at the Gate - Boran makes a split second decision - he ushers them around the square and up the slope - maybe the guards see them and start to give chase - 

Brendon is complaining - he intends to go out through the gate - Lesley/Ian tell him about the guards, that someone attacked them etc. (“They were the ones who attacked us!” Brendon starts to follow)

So, intending to go to the Gate deals with the obvious option (of going home right now) and seeing the guards at the Gate propels Boran on his own Quest - he has felt that he must have achieved the quest on intervening with the initial attack - but constantly his quest is being drawn out - until it is revealed for what it is (an opportunity to make redress for the death of Ian’s ‘daughter’)

They go with Boran to the Dungeon entrance and start their journey underground(!!)

Meanwhile, John goes back into the Inn. There is a mysterious hooded, cloaked figure sitting in one of the stalls. John addresses himself to the stranger as he walks by, “Ah hope ya ken what yer doin - i wouldne want the death of those bairns on ma conscience...”

start with massive pan across rooftops - starting at Inn door - group coming out - speech over, 

We’ll split up. Brendon wait here in case he comes back...

end on Jason in a lonely street somewhere...

Jason spots the guards at the Gate? They see him and start to follow - this would be useful to set up the idea of the guards being a threat (don’t need the glimpses in the crowd of before)

He starts running - glimpses of the chasing guards - he hides in an alleyway - they run passed, looking, seem to go off along the road (he is hidden partially because of his natural ‘ability’ to hide, which Raven spots) - one of them stops, in silhouette, Jason watches him - 

down stairs, jason looks behind and then hides in the alcove - pause - a guard appears, creeping doen the steps (it’s his slow movement that indicates he is following Jason)

guard turns down the slope… goes to end of path - a cat walks on the wall at his shoulder height (he reaches up and strokes it/he zaps it with his staff?)

guard looks down other alley, jason is watching him from around the edge of the wall, guard turns, Jason hides away, guard starts coming back, Jason is in the alcove… guard pauses near Jason, obviously trying to decide where Jason has gone - Jason is blending in with the shadows - guard moves on.

across the street a door opens slightly, a finger beckons Jason in - he follows - runs across to the door and ducks through - the door shuts behind him.

Ian, Alison, Lesley

Ian - Well… If he went that way we’re not going to find him… C’mon…

Alison - (Yelling into the darkness) Jason!

Lesley - (is on her way back - turns ) Come on, Ali. He’s not going to come if he doesn’t want to be found…

Alison pauses - thinks she sees something along the path, decides she doesn’t, turns and follows Lesley back to town)

We see them walking back towards the town a shimmering outline of a figure indicates a stealthed ninja mage is watching them go.

Cut to Sean and the others

Michael needs to be more whiney as in the original story - especially when they wake up the following morning...

Michael afraid of the dark streets - these are aliens here...

Michael - Ah man, this is creeping me out...

Whiney - they are ‘being followed’ (shut up!)

Sean decides he’s had enough - Fuck it -he starts to walk off determined to go to the Gatehouse, just as they are attacked... (how is this Michael’s fault - for the confrontation the following morning...)? Michael calls them back - he’s seen someone in the shadows... (so, Sean’s later outburst is a little unfair as it was by no means Michael’s fault that they were attacked - unlike the original - in the original they weren’t being shadowed...)

Back to Brendon in the Inn - sitting in a corner - a Gamorean Guard turns up, looks around - Brendon sees him - is intrigued

suddenly, John is beside him:

John - So, ye decided te stay, ah see?

Brendon - (surprised - seeing the guard- ) Ah... not... I mean... (looks back - the Mage has gone from the doorway - he looks back at John) You haven’t seen Jason, have you? With us when we first arrived. The skinny guy...

John - Eh? Oh, the Thief!

Brendon - (reacts) You know?... (decides to leave it)

John - Eh? No, cannae say I’ve seen him bu wi his kind thas nay surprise, y’ ken?

Brendon - (maybe not really understanding) Oh... ok...

John - You ok, young fella? (looking around at the Inn) {} Aye, it all seems pretty strange noo but yoo’ll get used te’it…{} all these people were like you once, heh, e’en I was way back in the Stone Age -{}  Aye! An’ when ah wus a youngster ah could tell ye stories of fightin ogres and scaling Temples an witnessing thengs yeh wouldnae believe {}, an neh am an auld man wi ma Inn an mah stables and mah seven full time staff all ah hear is young people tellin me stories of fightin ogres an goin places an see’an things ye wouldnae believe - but, ye ken, if ah were back home en the auld country, runnin an Inn like ah do here, all ahd be listening to es kiddies tellin me stories of how pished they got at tha weekend an aul folk tellin me how much their new conservatory cost an how many miles te th’gallon their new car got... an ah ken which ah prefer...

Michael, Sean, Rachel

Sean checks his pocket (cocaine)

Rachel into view behind him

Rachel  - Jason! (into view)(Sean hides his cocaine)

Sean  - (turning, head down starting to walk away - off hand) He’s not down here, Rachel.

Michael - This is freaking me out. {} Maybe he’s just disappeared - like Greenfield did... (Rachel pulls a face at him)

Rachel - Come on, let’s get back to the others.

Michael - Hey! I can see that place where we can get back home (pointing) {} Why don’t we just go straight there…

Sean - We’ll meet up with the others first. (walking back towards the Inn)

Rachel - (Michael is standing looking to Gate - she calls to him) Come on,Michael - we’re meeting up back at the Inn first.

Michael is lagging behind - reluctant

Michael - Why do we have to go back there - it’s full of weirdoes.

Sean - (behind him but not looking. Shot over his shoulder as Michael is being attacked) Jesus, mate - can you just do what you’re {} tol…

(He turns - sees Rachel being attacked… a gasp - we can see the Inn over his shoulder - link to next frame)

Frame from pov of Ian’s group - coming around corner -

Alison - Maybe he’s gone to the castle

Ian - What Castle?

Alison - Where John said there was a door home

Lesley - No, he wasn’t with us when John told us

Ian - He wasn’t there when we were standing around outside it

Lesley - He could’ve put a label on it. On Rachel’s map.

Alison - Colin?

Lesley - Yeah - why didn’t he label the castle? It’s annoying.

Ian - I’m not sure he wanted us to know.

Lesley - Why? You mean he wanted us to stay here.

Ian - No! Maybe. I mean he probably wanted us to find out for ourselves. 

Lesley - He labelled everywhere else.

Ian - Not everywhere – he didn’t label the market.

Lesley - You don’t label markets!

Ian - Der, why?

Lesley - Because there’s all sorts of things in them.

Alison - Maybe Jason found his own way to the castle and has gone home already.

Lesley - Yeah, maybe… well, it’ll be Colin’s problem when we’ve gone...

 they see in distance the others lying on ground - pov Sean’s group - a flag planted in fore ground - the Mages are preparing a portal circle - 

Lesley - What’s…

Shot of bodies prone in circle - Mage turning towards the visiting group

Close on Alison - she screams

beside her Boran appears - running towards Mage group who are preparing the portal - he lobs his axe - it spins, hits Mage who flips back as white blue explosion in the circle - other Mage propelled backwards stretched into skeletal smear in the air - light shoots up to the sky, the prone disappears

The Mage struck by Boran’s axe hits ground then turns to ash - the axe clonks on to the ground as the body disappears.

Back at Ian’s group - 

They turn a corner - walk down the street - ahead of them is Ian and Lesley - they wave,

view from Ian’s group - the others up at the top of the street - behind them figures appear - ‘Look out!’ 

Twin Column (parallel action, like the dungeon fight)

spell is cast that makes Sean’s group collapse, stakes are being placed around - Boran appears, with axe - cuts a stake (hence they don’t end up where they’re supposed to) - magical flash and the group disappear  - Boran flatsides a guard (he falls, dead, but not decapitated...), the other guards are in a panic and run...

Ian’s group are watching in alarm, behind them we see more guards appear - grab Lesley, she shrieks, flash of light, there are two more guards - they are startled, 

John appears - hammer in hand, the guards shoot some spells at him but he is immune (Ach! Away wi’ye!) (rock hard from all the Dungeoneering) - the guards run off (they blink away?)

Lesley flashes light

This incapacitates the two Mages attacking her group

The other two mages have finished posting Portal sticks around the prone bodies of Michael and Rachel

1 Mage is hauling Sean’s limp body into the circle 

1 Mage sees the light and looks towards it

Behind him Boran attacks - runs through them - striking posts just as the magical explosion happens in the middle - light to sky, the spell catches the group but also one of the Mages who is flung off into some other magical space (stretched ghostly image of him flying away) 

Boran hits the other Mage with flat side of axe - he skids over ground

John comes out of Inn - “What the?” he is carrying hammer (already…) 

The other two Mages (with Ian, Lesley, Alison,) try to attack John - ‘Ach! Away ye Sorcerous Bastard!’)

They see Boran advancing on them all (and the fact that their colleagues have gone) and they retreat away up the street - ‘blink’ away…

blink them away from Gate - towards the outskirts of town.

John - What the blazes is going on here?

Mage looks at John, raises hand (arcane missiles) fly out and hit John, to no apparent effect

John - Not a fucking chance, matey…

Hesitation, Boran is coming back along the street. The Mages make a decision and turn, John advancing after them

John - Awa’ wi’ya, Sorcerous bastads!

They blink off down the street - passed Ian who spins as they seemingly ghost right through him.

Large overhead shot of street establishing the remaining characters - no Mages, stillness…

Boran walks back.

Shot of Lesley as she raises herself up from lying on the ground.

John walks to her reaches out to her -his hand large against her thin hand - she stands 

Boran - Who sent them? (he helps Lesley to her feet - hand out)

Boran walks passed them, stands before the dead Mage.

John - Well, auld fella, looks like yoo turned up just in time… 

Alison - (runs to Lesley) Are you ok? (she hugs her, starts to cry, Lesley responds awkwardly, grimacing slightly)

Lesley - Yeah, I just, I fell over (thoughtful, what did happen?)

John - (looking around, at the dead Mage) Well! Some kind of party you’ve been having here?…

Boran walks by him, stops before the dead Mage.

In the background Alison and Ian are looking at the prone body

Alison - Is he dead? (wiping tears from her eyes)

Ian - Hmm (ruefully)

Boran - They look like Council Mages to you? (standing over the Mage).

Mage on floor burns up disappears magically burns up glowing along the edges red like embers smouldering - the ‘smoke’ coloured and magical whisping into nothing (so, burns up but no violent flames)

Alison squeels, hides her eyes/fingers in mouth.

John - Ach! - Ah guess there’s no way of telling now. ‘Guess they didnae want us te find oot..

Boran - Hmph! I didn’t mean to kill him. Mages have thin skulls.

John - Vangorean Guard, for what’s it worth.

as they are talking the other three are looking on in amazement

Boran - Long way from home, then.

John - Aye… speaking of which, what’s your business ‘roon here, auld fella?

Boran - No business… (starts to walk away) Business finished here, anyway…

He starts to walk away.

Lesley - (to Boran) Wait! What’s happened to Rachel and Sean?

Boran - (looks, thoughtful) 

Alison - They’re not dead?

John  - (now aware that the others must have been here and now are not) Something happened?

Boran - A Portal spell. I interrupted it. But too late.

John - So, they could be anywhere?

Boran - If they’re lucky.

Lesley - We don’t understand - what’s going on? Who were those people?

John - Somebody’s taken exception to your being here, young lady. Looks like those fellas were sent to take ye somewhere else.

Alison - Where’s Rachel? Is she dead?

John - Probably not. And to be honest, wherever she is, it’s probably better off than being here…

Brendon appears from around the front of the Inn (he’s got bored and come outside to look for the others), curious

Brendon - What’s going on?

John - (Matter of fact and quite serious now)(John walks back towards the front of the Inn - where Brendon is standing) What’s going on, young man, is that you are going home. ||Ah dinnae think ye should hang aroond here much longer than ye have te. An ah dinnae want Council Operatives snooping aroond mah Inn.|| Ah’ve got a business te run. || (He puts his hand on Brendon’s shoulder…) So, I say you make your way te the Gate accompanied by this venerable wee chap (John hand outstretched, Brendon notices Boran for the first time - Boran is scowling at John’s suggestion but doesn’t comment) and you get yerselves back fro whence you came. (Gently moves Brendon off down the street towards the Dwarf…) In the meantime, I’ll ask aroond, see if anyone’s got any idea of where yer friends might have ended up. || And when Master Greenfield finally makes an appearance I’ll have some questions t’ask aboot what he’s been doing t’attract all this special attention…

As they start to go Ian stops - he has kicked something on the ground - he looks down, it’s his staff. He bends and picks it up...

John - Aye, that’s right, make sure ye take everthin wi ya…

As they walk off down the street John is watching them from nearby the door of the Inn. He speaks into it to someone standing there but out of our sight.

John - Well, there they go. (he turns towards the unseen lurker at the door) Ah hope ye’ve made the right choice, there — Ah would’ne want the death of those bairns on ma conscience...

Walking down the street

Brendon - Well, what’s happened then?

Lesley - We got mugged. There were these guys in masks, came out of nowhere.

Ian - We weren’t being mugged, we were being kidnapped.

Brendon - Where’s Sean, and Rachel?

Lesley - I don’t know. They were lying on the ground, I couldn’t see what happened.

Ian - There was this light, you couldn’t see properly. Someone let a flashlight off. They must have taken them away. 

Lesley - John seemed to know where they might have gone.

Ian - Then he turned up. (to the Dwarf) 

Brendon - Who is he? (quietly so as not to be overheard)

They look at the back of the Dwarf’s head.

Lesley - I don’t know. He came out of nowhere. He hit some of them. He killed one of them.

Brendon stops briefly as they are walking.

Lesley - (explaining) The body (waving hands in an exasperated manner) disappeared.

Ian - Spontaneous combustion.

Lesley - It wasn’t combustion - there was nothing left!

Ian - Oh, you’re the expert on spontaneous combustion?

Brendon - (ignoring them) And you didn’t see where they took them?

Ian - There was a flashlight, I got, everyone got blinded for a moment. They must have set it off before they tried to kidnap us.

Lesley - It wasn’t them that made that flash — it was me!

Can this become a running joke - Lesley flashed them in the street?

Brendon - Well, where’s Sean?

Brendon - Well, at least we’re going home...

They explain what happened - 

Ian - They set off this light, like a flare

Lesley - That was me… I made the light

Ian starts to question this but they have reached the market square.

They get to the market square - across the square they can see dark figures loitering around the entrance to the Gatehouse

Brendon starts walking

Boran - Wait!

They wait. Eventually —

Brendon - (angry) Oh come on… (starts walking forwards)

[End Page]

Phoom!

Boran - (close on him) rrrrgh! Black Powder - This way!

Alison starts to follow - Ian too, Brendon hangs back

Brendon - {} What the fuck!? (amazed at the explosion, then at the others as they move away) We’re going there! (gestures to Gatehouse)

Ian - It just blew up!  {}

Lesley - (taking his arm) Come on, Brendon.

Brendon - (pulls arm away) No way — where are you going?  {}

Lesley - Brendon, Come on! (urgent)

Brendon - Call the police or something!      {}

Boran - I cannot protect you if you remain here — no one can!   {}

(they look around - people are coming out of buildings - the sense of people around is intimidating)

Brendon - Well, where are we going?

Boran - Away from here! (he walks away Alison Ian following)

Lesley - Brendon! (stern face)

Brendon’s face. jump cut

The path up to the Dungeon entrance is lined with lanterns.

They see the Gatehouse from the top of the slope - flames are leaping higher.

{}

Brendon’s face

Brendon - No fucking way! We can’t go down there!

Boran - (breaking open a lantern) I know the way. It’s safe.

Boran pours oil onto the ground

They look down the stairs into the yawning cavern. Brendon and Lesley look at each other.

Brendon - (turning to Boran who is spreading more oil) Look, let’s go back!

Boran - No going back!

{}

Brendon - But we didn’t blow up that building!{}

Boran looks up suddenly (close on face)(an empty lamp is thrown onto a pile of empty lamps) He runs towards the group

{}

Lesley - They can repair it, can’t they — build it again?

Boran - And whilst we wait you are not safe!

Lesley - Well, then, we’ll go back to John’s house — to the Inn — he’ll look out for us.

Boran - They blew the Gate to keep you here. That is what they want.

Lesley - Those guys in the masks? They ran off! They had a go, and then they ran away! They’ve gone!

(Boran explains why they can’t stay - they want you to stay - or go elsewhere…?)

Boran turns - throws a lantern behind him - flames shoots up - in the flames a figure glimpsed - a figure leaps out of the flames - his feet are on fire (because walking in the oil) - he leaps over the edge of the walkway (into the bushes below)… other figures are glimpsed beyond.

Alison screams, Brendon “shit!”

Boran starts down the stairway

Boran - Not gone yet...

Boran - Come! They want you alive — that gives us an advantage.

Alison - (as they start down the stairs) It’s dark! We can’t see the steps!

Boran - Trust your feet for now!

They lose sight of Boran

Brendon - He’s left us.

Alison - Er… hello!?

At the Gate - some people come out of the gate and walk down the steps chatting, like people coming out of a restaurant at closing time, they’ve just arrived or just returned from a Dungeon - the square is quiet.

they edge into the square, Boran cautious in front of them, axe out.

Suddenly, Phoom! an explosion in the gate - not massive but a real proper explosion of gunpowder - they feel the force of the blast - shot of them turning away - wind in hair - Alison squeals - the Gate building collapses - it has to be rendered useless at least for a short time - so the dome has to be made to collapse...

The explosion

Explosion from top of dome - the explosion happens inside the building - billowing dust and smoke from the entrance, glass smashes in the windows of nearby houses 

Not too much time spent on this

Explosion

Boran starts to lead them away

Brendon resists a little

They start to make their way up the slope, a brief over the rooftops shot of the building from the vantage point of the slope

Also - there is a resonance to the explosion - it is caused by a modern explosive, exactly the sort being used by Varalnis at the Open Cast Mine. So there is incrimination of Varalnis here (because it’s obvious and can be shown that this is not gunpowder or anything other than a modern plastic explosive) - maybe Floyd mentions this.

Boran leads them away - (muttering something about damned black powder…)

takes them quickly up the slope as behind in the square people start to arrive on the scene (the group who’ve we’ve just seen return)

The rationale - they have destroyed the Gatehouse 

Floyd - can’t destroy the Gate, the Gate’s indestructible (Floyd’s chat should explain something more bout the nature of the Gates - and explain this action more clearly)

to stop the group going home by that gate - Warrior’s Gate he town is dangerous to Varalnis and the Vangorean guard because of the number of powerful individuals who occupy it - it is something of a independent state in the area - governed and answerable only to itself - but the Mages reckon as long as they can keep the group there then in the confusion they may get the opportunity to pick them off - the people coming out if the gate suggests that it is in constant use and so cannot be monitored or trapped to specifically capture the group - there are too many people (potentially powerful adventurers) around (this is why John is content to let them go off to the Gate and use it - he knows it is unlikely to be trapped or occupied by the Council Mages)… But the other gates (Priest’s and Wizard’s) are more easily monitored and the use of those could be intercepted.

So, they run not necessarily being pursued - it’s the threat that their exit is being removed/blocked that Boran is escaping from - he wants to get them out of Warrior’s Gate entirely because he thinks this place cannot be safe for them…

Boran - (gesturing to the nearby alley) This way!

Brendon - Well — what? That’s where we’re going! (pointing to the Gatehouse)

Lesley intervenes

Lesley - Bren, come on — do as he says…

they are on the street that leads towards the slope up to the Dungeon entrance

Boran - (suddenly) Run!

They start jogging beside him.

Brendon - Where are we going? Where the fuck...?

Suddenly a Mage appears infront of them - Boran bats him out of the way - Alison squeels

Boran - Quickly!

They run up the slope.

(Boran throws lantern that lines the slope at Mage - burst of flame, figure running???)

Brendon - Where are we? We’ll walk back to the town!

Boran - It is a hundred miles away…

Brendon - Are you actually mental?

Brendon - (bending over, gasping)(to himself) This is crazy. (stands) We’ve got to go back to the town. (to Boran) Which way is it?

Boran - You can’t go back

Boran is collecting his backpack from where it was stowed behind a rock

Brendon - Look! It won’t take them long to get here - they only have to go over the hill

Boran - That is a hundred miles away. (busily)

Boran - A day’s walk to XXXXX

Brendon - Well, where does this road go? (the Overwalk)

Boran - I will take you to the nearest human town, there I’m sure they will help you find your way home.

Brendon - (sneering) A human town?

Boran - A human town - a town of your own kind.

Brendon - Well, what kind are you then?

Boran - I am a Dwarf. Not of your kind.

Boran gets angry with them - (because of Brendon?) - he gets short with them

Alison - What—

Boran - What is it now?

Alison - What’s your name?

Boran is embarrassed at his petulance (briefly)

Boran - My name is Boran _____________

Boran decides to take them to New Keep and to someone he knows from the old days - Corralnis! Therefore, he knows how far they will have to travel and what kind of demands he will have to make of the group. So, he knows they will be no good travelling at night. They need their rest and they will have to walk during daylight and keep their heads down. He hopes to steal in to Newkeep and seek Corralnis’ assistance. He knows the Mages are connected to the Council but he also knows the complex nature of the Council’s make up, of the rivalries - and he knows that the Vangoran Mages are associated with Varalnis not Corralnis (this is part of Corralnis’ plot). It is an irony that plays to the kind of vagaries of plans which the Gatekeeper later talks to Colin about (the pot put down to catch the falling soul stower). 

He thinks it might take them anywhere up to three or four days to walk to Newkeep. It would be quicker to go through Bacradamion (by more than a day) and he might mention that later but he doesn’t want to go through there (shades of Fellowship of the Ring here). Of course, his hand is forced by the appearance again of the Mages chasing them.

Brendon is bending forward - hands on knees - exhausted after the run 

Brendon - Fucking crazy…

Boran walks away (ducks behind a rock, pulls out his backpack stowed there before he came to Warrior’s Gate). Brendon stands - gestures to the collapsed entrance

Brendon - Who the fuck were those guys?

Lesley - They were the same ones as in the street.

Boran - They were a class of fighting Mage, not seen much in these parts, though they hail from Western shores.

Brendon - What the fuck are they chasing us for?

Boran - (fetching his bag, he takes a cloth from the bag and wipes down the blade of his axe with it - he’s wiped the blood off on some grass earlier) Hmm, well you might ask.

Brendon - Well I am asking — and who the fuck are you, anyway?

Lesley - Brendon! He’s probably just saved our lives!

Brendon - (frustrated) Well... (gesturing at the gate) It’s not gonna take them long to get through that! They’re just gonna come over the hill, anyway! 

(Boran is securing his axe on straps along its side of his bag)

Boran - They are a hundred miles away. The arch was a portal here — now the arch is broken, the portal is no more.

They look at the collapsed tunnel in awe, working out what the Dwarf has told them.

Ian - A hundred miles away?

With shaky hands Brendon pulls out his cigarette carton and takes out a cigarette. He lights it, draws on it with relief…

Brendon - (to himself) Fucking hell...

Boran - It was an old route from the Dungeons to this ruined part of the world. Not much used now as no one comes here often these days. It’s put some distance between them and us, and whoever else set them upon us. 

Lesley - From the Dungeons?

Boran - Hmmm (maybe glances at her wondering why she doesn’t know about the Dungeons (think later revelations about who built the Dungeons))…

Brendon - Well, we can’t stay here — there’s got to be somewhere we can go!

Boran - (nearly to himself ) Possibly.

Brendon walks to the earth bridge that connects the promontory to the OverWalk.

Alison - Is that what those doorways were? Entrances to more tunnels? The Dungeons?

Boran - Hmmm.

Lesley - I thought a Dungeon was some sort of sex fetish thing…

(Ian pulls a face at her as if disgusted)

Brendon - What’s along this road?

Boran - It’s too late to go wandering now. Wait till the sun rises. Get some sleep in the meantime.

Brendon - Well, this road is going somewhere!

Boran - Twenty leagues [gestures], the Mountain Stronghold of Cadanell Awyr. Fifty leagues [gestures], the Western Harbour and a ship to any port that takes your fancy — It’s in poor shape though with all the pot holes and land slides, so I should go careful in the dark if I were you.

Brendon - Yeah, ok, I will then, thanks. Alright…

Lesley - Look, I don’t think we should go anywhere right now. But, you seem to know your way around, and we have got to get home tomorrow!

Brendon - What the fuck is a league, anyway?

Boran- (sigh) Find yourselves somewhere to bed down and get some sleep. We’re safe here for now. And whilst it’s dark travelling won’t be easy in these parts.

Ian - Sleep where? It’s all rocks!

Boran - Find some grass. Sleep on that!

Ian - But it’s, like, muddy —

Alison - Are you going to help us get home?

Back of Boran’s head - he is reluctant to answer.

Brendon - Aw, fuck it - come on, we’ll follow this road.

Lesley - No, Brendon, wait! (arm out towards him but looking at Boran) (to Boran) Can you at least tell us the way back home, at least?

Brendon - It's gone! That was the way back! (hand out towards the tunnel) They blew it up!

Ian - Colin could take us back

Brendon - (a gesture indicating that Colin is not there)

Boran - There is a chance, there is a City, and someone there I know who might help you…

Lesley - Ok, that's fine, if you can tell us how to get there.

Boran - I will take you but not until morning. Now, find some grass that is not muddy and sleep, you have a long walk ahead if you.

(he sits)

Ian - (suspicious) How long?

Boran - Not now. In the morning. For now get some sleep.

Alison - But what’s—

Boran - Sleep!

Alison - I was just going to ask you what your name is. We don't even know your name!

Lesley - Ian! Let’s get some sleep like he says, wait ‘till morning.

Ian - I’m getting hungry now…

Boran - Here! (gets something out of his pack - throws it to Ian) Eat! Find a bed. Go to sleep.

(Ian sniffing the cake/bread/biscuit cautiously)

Alison - But we —

Boran - What is it now?!

Alison - (wary, timidly) We don’t know your name? You haven’t told us your name?

Boran - (slightly abashed) My name is Boraneffudd Gareft, Son of Grór, Son of Bondor. If it suits you better, call me Boran.

Boran sits down - pulls his cloak and hood over his head (lights his pipe?)

transition - close up on Brendon side on blowing smoke - the smoke billows out across the scene...

we pan right...

we see them sleeping in a line, Ian lays with his eyes open looking across at the others (Lesley, actually but this may not be clear)...

Alison wakes up gasping, she looks around her into the dark, perhaps still asleep, then settles back down as the dream which woke her fades...

behind becomes a horizon with dawn breaking. 

close up on, Alison, Brendon, Ian sleeping backs against a rock - reveal campsite, a fire with pot over it is burning - Boran is not there, Lesley is not there.

dysmennoreah 

Pan across – we can see what the landscape around here is like – the ditch filled with trees and bushes, the wall snaking off along the mountainside...

through the trees, a stream, a pale thread of water pooling in the rocky ground, Lesley's blue jacket visible through the leaves.

Lesley is being sick into a stream – we catch the end of it (view from over her shoulder) – she sits up, wipes her mouth - she is aware of make up on her sleeve - she rubs her lips and her eyes - she examines her fingertips, seeing the make up stains on them. She ties up her hair with a band she had in her pocket. She uses her t-shirt (after undoing her blouse) to rub the make up off. We can see her bra, the curve of her stomach. She dresses again – pulls down her top. 

when Boran appears - Soak up the sun, make the most of it, the wind is in the West...

Back at the camp – There is a fire, a pot hanging from a branch over the flames – something in it – Brendon is looking into the pot. Behind him, Alison and Ian are asleep in the grass

Brendon looks up as Lesley appears

Brendon - uh, where've you been?

Lesley - (unconcerned) Exploring.

Brendon - You look like shit...

Lesley - Thanks

Brendon - I'm just saying... How did you sleep?

Lesley - Terrible, amazingly! (she is rubbing her stomach) Is ... Boran's not back yet?

Brendon - (uninterested) I haven't seen him.

The fire, the pot over it – Brendon investigates its contents, stirring it with the spoon that sticks out

Lesley is standing, hand on stomach, looking out at the horizon

Lesley - (to herself mostly) Where are we?

Brendon - We're in a world of wondrous sights and experiences, of myths and legends, of ancient races and lost civilisations. (he looks up as Lesley turns towards him) That's what he said when we came through that gate. You might not have been listening, but I was. There are monsters here, he said.

Lesley - And Magic...

(Brendon frowns at her)

Brendon - What happened to Sean and the others, back in the street?

Lesley - I don't know... but it was... weird.

Lesley starts checking her phone

Ian - (he's awake, looking at them. He stands, picking up his staff as he does) A bunch of guys set off some sort of flare then jumped us, and kidnapped the others.

Lesley - It wasn't a flare – it was me!

Ian - And that makes no sense.

Lesley - Well I'm telling you – it was something I did, some kind of... Magic!

Ian - Hah! Is that breakfast? (the cooking pot)

Brendon - I guess, if you like eating wallpaper paste.

Lesley - It's porridge, obviously.

Brendon - Oh, right.

We follow her – she has climbed up the slope back to the camp where there is a fire now, a pot of porridge cooking. The others are all awake, and obviously have been for a while. They are eating porridge off of flat stones with spoons that are really large flat sticks cut from branches. Ian, Alison and Brendon are sitting around the fire. Boran is not there.

Alison - (looks up as Lesley returns) Are you feeling all right?

Lesley - Yes (a little tersely).

Brendon - (not over loud) To be honest I think we're all gonna get the shits after eating this...

Alison - (disapprovingly) It's only porridge!

Lesley - And I wasn't... 

Ian - What?

Lesley - ugh, never mind (she goes and stands looking out at the horizon, her right hand massaging her stomach)

Brendon - (calling out) Well, I hope you cleaned up after yourself, I don't want to tread in anything you left behind when I go take a crap

Ian - (pulls face, laughingly) Argh!

Alison - Brendon!

Lesley - (over her shoulder, not smiling) Ugh, do you have to be so...

Brendon - What? We're all going to have to lay some turf at some point!

Alison - oh, please...

Ian - That's camping for you.

Brendon - I bet that's where the little fella's gone right now (gestures vaguely away) – He may look small but I bet he produces –

Alison - No more, honestly...

The boys are smuggly grinning to themselves.

Alison - (to Lesley) Do you think you should try and eat a little more – Boran said we will be walking all day!  

Brendon - Which was a lie! (continues in response to the others' looks of surprise) If that (gestures to the collapsed tunnel entrance) took us a hundred miles away then it's gonna take us longer than a day to walk back.

Brendon - Yeah and that's a lie! (in response to a frown from Alison) You heard him, this place is in the middle of nowhere! And it's a hundred miles from that town we were in. We're not going to be near anywhere at the end of today.

Ian - You don't actually believe that (the collapsed tunnel) was a hundred miles long?

Brendon - I believe it wasn't three meters long.

Alison - Do you think he isn't going to take us home?

Brendon shrugs

Ian - Oh, we're bound to meet someone else on the way. And when we get out of these hills, we'll get a signal back on our phones

Brendon is laughing softly to himself – he stands, Ian speaks to him as he walks off

Ian - I haven't seen anything that proves we're on some alien planet somewhere. 

Lesley - (absently) No, I'm ok... 

Brendon walks passed towards the roadway (Overwalk), as he passes Lesley

Brendon - Yeah, don't worry about breakfast, we'll stop at a Maccy Dee's on the way...

Cut to – Brendon looking over the edge of the wall on the Overwalk. 

Brendon - Jee-sus

The others appear beside him, looking down. He looks across at Ian

Brendon - What part of the Peak District did ya think this is then?...

Long shot – the wall is massively high at this point, (30 metres or more) plummeting to a rocky slope at the base of the peak, beyond a vague scrub of land

themes – the attack – Magic used by the attackers, magic used by Lesley. Where they are heading. Who is Boran. What is Boran/ a Dwarf. Colin. The others – Sean, Rachel. Boran's stories – the Overwalk, The Dwarves, The War and The Decimation, Marsden's Retreat, human cities, Elves.

Cut to them walking  – Boran is explaining where they are (the Overwalk)...  the Overwalk rises behind them, massively corroded, collapsed and dilapidated, in parts almost a series of rubble piles vaguely following a connected course. They have obviously climbed down by some route and are walking a path through the rocky countryside.

It is a clear day, mild, the grass is yellowing at the fringes, they can smell the dry soil, the scent of hay.

(they are looking at the rabbits slung on his backpack – that's what he was doing this morning...) This could be a Jackson LoTR fellowship shot, walking by...

They are excited to be going home- this is about a sense of anticipation (unjustified as it turns out) of being taken back home... their plans for tomorrow, how long have they been away...

“This is a world of imagination, of dreams, you can meet monsters here”, that’s what he said when we came through that door, none of you lot were listening, but I heard him...

... well, people can be monsters, too... 

Sean, Michael and Rachel - after the transportation out of Warrior’s Gate

Sean steps on the wasp here - angry, taking it out on his surroundings (but, of course, inside, scared of it).A potential fight between Sean and Michael, placated by Rachel – same as original. Tension resolved by resolution to get back home. Tension resolved by seeing smoke in distance.

Sean wakes. Close on him. A wasp is near his face, he waves it away, panicking, scrambles away from it as it appears to attack him – he stands – he stamps on the wasp, killing it.

Michael starts to wake – close on him, suddenly hands grab him and pull him to his feet – he's confused. 

1. Michael - Who-?

Sean - On yer feet, bro.

Michael - What the f – 

Sean - Why don't you just do what you're told?!

Sean shoves Michael, who scrambles away, their fists are clenched

Michael - What?

Sean - I told you to get a move on and you stayed there...

Rachel - (intervenes) Sean, it wasn't his fault

Sean bats her hand away – instinctive not aggressive

Sean - 

They see smoke on the horizon – someone is there...

Escaping from Warrior’s Gate

Brendon, Lesley, Alison, Ian and Boran.

The Overwalk now features with Peter and Sean - the Dwarf takes them underground straight away - there are moments where they may come to the surface - the first night e.g.

They climb a hill and emerge onto a plateau - in the distance,threading across the hilly landscape is the raised road of Barad Muir, broken down and totally collapsed in places, its onward course still nevertheless as evident and as confident as the day it was first laid...

this might work best as a series of jump-cuts, tableaux where various things are said and we get a good overall sense of the geography (the wall, the statues, the Ruined Lands)...

better - begin at the base of the wall - as if it’s suddenly sprung up before them...

Alison - What’s that?

Alison - Where are we?

Boran - Men call these parts Marsden’s Retreat, in jest, and this (upwards gesture) The Rebuff...

(they pass under the walk, the statues come into view...)

Boran - but in the old tongue it was “Barad Muir”, or the Overwalk.

Ian - Where it going?

Boran - Some say it rings the world - but it was not made to go anywhere, it stands...

Ian - Some kind of wall, like Hadrian’s wall — So, who’s it meant to keep out?

Boran - The ancient enemy.

(they are walking through a great rent in the wall, the structure towering high on either side) 

Ian - Yeah, well, not keeping anyone out now, eh? (gesturing around)

Boran - Hmph! Other things keep them away these days.

Brendon - Like what?

Boran - Progress.

Alison is looking out towards a grey, indistinct horizon - the Ruined Lands are only glimpsed here from afar - a sense of desolation is felt but the true extent of the waste is not visible)

Alison - What’s in that direction?

Boran follows her gaze - he is aware that she seems more sensitive to the distant devastation...

Brendon - We’re not going past it? (anxious, resistant)

Boran - There is nothing past it worth going to.

Boran - The Ruined Lands - nothing for days there but the wreckage of the Great War and the bones of the fallen. 

Lesley - nice.

Alison - It feels... evil.

Boran - Much evil was done in that place - it would be no surprise if the ground had not taken on some trace of it...

Brendon - We’re not going there?

Boran takes them through the Dungeon Entrance and then to a greasy tube?? (this could get them very far away in a very short time...)

Boran enters the greasy tube - apparently disappears (he’s actually travelled far away very quickly) - they stand around - Lesley shouts his name - they follow him.

emerging from the warren entrance (after going through the greasy tube)(he destroys the archway with his axe - immediate concern by the others who still do not know him - affect of him about to attack someone who comes out of the doorway (they see him lunging at them with his axe) then he strikes the stone work - the arch collapses

there’s no point in coming out of the Dungeon if we’re only going to go straight back in again - unless some kind of point can be made.

Unless, Boran intends to lead them out - shows them the route to follow away (to a village - boat home etc.) then is forced to take them down to Bacradamion - gryphons appear as they start to make their way down the slope - Boran leads them away into Bacradamion - the gryphon riders hold back, apparently reluctant (they are reluctant because Bacradamion is unmapped, and especially dangerous - because of the gravity effects.

must remember here that they are still concerned with Lesley’s spell - Ian and her are arguing.

Brendon - What the fuck did you do that for?

Boran - We don’t want them following us?

Brendon - Who?! Who are they?

also

they emerge into the ravine - above the ravine - the giant mouth of Bacradamion to their right - the mouths of other warren exits/entrances all along the hillsides - overgrown, disused, the hint of a one-busy thoroughfare (this is all at night, remember????)

Brendon - Where are we - are we on the other side of the hill?

Boran - We are a hundred miles from there

Boran’s state of mind here is - I’ve done my part - I’ve got them out, I don’t want any more hassle or anything more to do with them - I’m off!

Boran - (he is walking away  from them - leaving them...) (gesturing) The town of Bach’ti lies a mile or two yonder — you can get a boat from there to your Human City or wherever it is your going. (he’s moving away - they are left stunned on the grass bank) I wouldn’t talk to too many, if I were you.

Lesley - But, where are you going?

Brendon - What Human City? 

they go into Bacradamion - they camp for the first night - nothing yet about gravity effects, then the following “morning” (underground, remember.) Boran shows them the gravity effects.

Sean, Michael, Rachel – meet monsters

Sean runs away - andor falls? (down the slope) - he could escape (the point of falling is that he is safe, or is beyond the immediate reach of the enemy) - he runs back

This could have some play later at the Elve camp - the elder sees this in Sean and knows his essentially noble heart?...

Colin gets to Warrior's Gate – meets Floyd – Dur Boral

Floyd is waiting at the outskirts of town - it’s too dangerous, Council operatives are all over the place - explains where the others have gone - the Dwarf...

talk to Floyd – hints that Varalnis is implicated in the attack – the others are gone – mysterious Dwarf (assumption that Corralnis sent him - make suggestion so that reader may think Boran is a threat) mention Of Dur Boral – never heard heard of it, I tell you who will know – Thelias – this is a moral decision for Colin about what he will do – he is somewhat selfish in deciding to find out about Dur Boral.

Has Floyd been tasked by the Gatekeeper to direct Colin towards Dur Boral??? so, some moment after Colin leaves where Floyd and John confide that they hope they have done the right thing (he knows what he's doing – i.e. The Gatekeeper) – a mystery for the reason, an apparent conspiracy for them to worry about... (this makes Floyd appear on a bad side whereas it's revealed later that he is doing the work of good) (although, good is a topic – the Gatekeeper is as selfish as Corralnis in some regards)

Colin mentions that Corralnis gave him his Soulstower back (just to mark this clearly)

As Colin goes off to find the Bird Mage - at Floyd’s suggestion - we see Floyd’s face - he starts talking to someone out of shot 

Floyd mentions Colin’s Gate - just an offhand observation (good job you can get away with that Gate you use)

“I did what you asked - I hope he isn’t walking into more trouble… he’s a good kid and he trusts me….”

Floyd explains why the Gate here must have been blown up - Gate hasn’t been destroyed - Gate can’t be destroyed, can’t destroy gates, they’re indestructible.

But Warrior’s Gate is on the edge of Council jurisdiction - too many powerful individuals here, too many old chums of Council elders - so they they wouldn’t have been able to take control of this Gate - they’ve blown it up to force the group to head towards one of the other Gates, which the Council will be able to control (Wizard’s/Priest’s)

(some people got trapped in the Dungeons - because the Gatehouse holds some of the greasy tube entrances to them - they won’t be happy when they’ve finally  got back after a two week trek through the dungeons…)

They were seen leaving (eye witnesses - inevitable) with a Dwarf...

Sean, Michael, Rachel meet Peter

Peter - the Jesus Christ thing - also, 

(them) There were these monsters...

“Do I look like a monster to you?”

Brendon and Lesley on the Overwalk

Brendon and Lesley conversation at night

Lesley walking up the path to the top of the Overwalk. She comes to the plateau, Brendon is there on the ledge looking out over the night shrouded countryside. He’s smoking a cigarrette.

Boran makes a special effort to take them to the surface, believing they would be happier sleeping under the stars than under the rock...

They are on a ledge over a ravine - an incongruous balcony - some steps up lead to another above - this is like a strange folly carved by the miners to view the outside world - to the Dwarves the outside, above-ground world is akin to under the sea - a fascinating if alien and dangerous place…

This is all monolithic landscapes...

He looks up as she approaches.

Brendon - What are you doing up here?

Lesley - I could ask you the same.

Brendon - If you’ve come here to ask me to have sex with you then you’ll have to wait till I’ve finished this smoke.

Lesley - No, you’re all right, thanks.

Brendon - Suit yourself - I don’t make that offer to everyone.

Lesley - Uh, that’s not what I heard.

Brendon - Heh... 

She’s sitting next to him. 

Brendon offers her a cigarette, 

Brendon - It's my last one.

Lesley - (taking it) Are you sure?

Brendon - Might as well...

Lesley - It’s your last one?

Brendon - S’alright.

Lesley - (takes it) Thanks.

Brendon - No probs.

(later - when Ian and Brendon are down the Warren, in the water, Brendon checks his pockets- he still has a cigarette left (hidden?) but it’s wet now -  it hints that Brendon wasn’t being honest when he stated it was his last one.

She lights it, smokes. They look out.

some shot from above with some kind of cliff creature looming down - almost (?) about to pounce... though it doesn’t.

A pause. Lesley looks at him,

Lesley - Why are you being so hard on him?

Brendon - ?

Lesley - On Boran, why can’t you give him a break?

Brendon - Oh, the midget.

Lesley - He says he’s a Dwarf.

Brendon - I didn’t think it was nice to call them Dwarfs.

Lesley - Brendon. He’s not a little person - he’s another species...

Brendon - What, like some kind of monkey?

Lesley - They’re an ancient, noble race. (quoting something Boran’s said)

Brendon - Oh right, well, in that case I’ll cut him some slack then...

Lesley - Well, I wish you would - he’s probably saving our lives.

Brendon laughs.

Lesley - What? You don’t think he’s saved our lives?

Brendon - (shrugging - tapping out his cigarette) Whatever...

Lesley looks crossly at him.

Another pause (the looming monster pic?)

Lesley - What’s the matter? What’s up, you’re worried about something aren’t you? What is it?

Brendon - (not looking back) He’s fucked us up, hasn’t he?

Lesley - Who? Boran?

Brendon - Greenfield. He’s fucked us up well good.

Lesley - What do you mean he’s fucked us up?

Brendon - Well, you know what this place is?

Lesley - (turns, trying to form an answer, considering the thought possibly for the first time in any depth) It’s, I dunno... some kind of magical, fantasy… (vague)

Brendon - It’s a blank slate - that’s what it is. 

Lesley - A blank slate? You mean, like a fresh start?

Brendon - No. Not like a fresh start. We’re already where we are, we’re not starting again... this place is an empty room, we get to choose what goes in it — we make the decisions based on what we already know.

Lesley - Well, that’s great, isn’t it?

Brendon - Is it?

Lesley - Well, if we get to choose — then we can choose what we want to be, we can be anything! It’s our choice!

Brendon - Yeah, and what if we make a bad choice... (stands, walks away a little) It’s all right when we don’t have to make the choices ourselves, it’s not our fault if we end up being tossers, or criminals, or insane maniacs - but here...

Lesley - What’s to say we’ll end up being insane maniacs?!

Brendon - I’m just saying, it’s just an example... we might end up being, I dunno, what, fucking Saints, heroes or something...

Lesley - We are going home, you know.

Brendon - You think? And what do you think it’s going to be like when we get back - you think it’s going to be the same as before? You think all this won’t count. We’re never going home... even if we do get out of here...

B - ... what, because my Mum’s still dead and he’s still out there fucking his bitch girlfriend.

L - (shrugging) they’re grown up, people make mistakes

B - Yeah, well he made his.

L - But it’s not (he looks at her - she checks herself, continues quietly) — people can’t help who they fall in love with—

B - yeah - but you could wait three months while the person you were married to dies of cancer...

B - yeah, but they can maybe wait until the person they’re still married to actually finishes dying of Cancer before they run away with them...

back in the real world things stopped us from being what we wanted to be, here we get to choose (we can be heroes, or monsters)...

Bacradamion – Brendon and Ian discussions

©2012 Neil Gadsby.