I heard some loud noises from outside of Young Vlad's hideout. Seems like there's a fight going on out there.
One of the Kain family's messengers was in trouble!
It seems like the messenger was looking for me. He had a letter from Victor Kain.
Invitation from the Kains posted:
The time has come. She calls for you. If today our hope is fulfilled, the true Mistress will return to our town. This event will mark the end of the Sand Plague, once and for all. We have love and hope for you.
I don't really understand exactly what the letter was about. I'll have to talk to Victor in person.
: Maria is going to become the new Mistress. Do you know about the Mistresses, Bachelor Dankovskiy?Bachelor: Yes. There's been a lot of talk about them recently.
Victor: We don't know if we should be happy about it or if we should cry. If she would grow on into a proud woman, who knows what sort of things she'd do? But the way things are now bring no less sorrow. Maria is leaving. We had such a beloved daughter and today she will disappear.
Bachelor: She wanted to talk to me?
Victor: Yes, but it is already too late. Maria is unconscious. The last of her attacks happened this night, and for a short time she returned to us but quickly fell downward again. Now she prepares for the awakening. I believe that my daughter will rise up from the depths she has descended into, but she will be forever changed.
Bachelor: Do you know what she wanted to say?
Victor: Before parting, my daughter wanted to do two things. First to talk to her mother, and secondly to pay visit to the other future Mistresses. She will probably never have the chance to talk to her mother. But it's necessary that the other women recognizes her.
Bachelor: Who?
Victor: In our town there were three forces. We are all fading away, but the young ones are left to grow. Two more young women will become Mistresses when their turn comes. One is Kapella, the daughter of Victoria. I do not quite know who the second one is. She would be the successor of Saburov, but something tells me Klara will not accept that role.
Bachelor: Why do you tell me all this?
Victor: We need the signs of succession from the other Mistresses. They have felt the awakening and know what this is all about. I think Kapella is sensitive enough to already know that Maria is the first to rise...
Bachelor: So what does this have to do with me?
Victor: Maria asked for you. She will wear the signs of succession for the rest of her life, and she would not want another one's hands to have touched them, except for yours.
Maria is sick and unconscious. Victor claims she'll wake up, but when she does she'll have changed into the Mistress of the town. The Kains claim that she will then have magical powers capable of stopping the Sand Plague, but that her personality will change. Probably for the worse. To allow this change, we need to convince the other potential Mistresses of the town to give up their rights to the title and give us a ring that symbolizes their power.
Kapella will probably make some sense out of this. I hope she'll be in the mood to talk after everything that's happened to her family.
There are a lot of raised voiced just around the corner.
They are coming from outside Maria's house.
Woman: Maria cannot be found anywhere... What could have happened? She can't have reached the Inner Chamber yet, it's too early for that purpose. We'd know at once if the Mistress appeared. That's why we're here.
Man: Above the statues of the Mistresses, the air is heavy. Just like before a thunder-storm. I could swear that I was some shadow, in figure and shape similar to Scarlet Nina. There, just by the gate to the crypt. She moved quickly but didn't seem to be in a rush. As if she wasn't quite touching the ground with her feet.
I better get this whole thing sorted out before Maria does something dangerous.
: I understand why you have come to see me...Bachelor: I come to speak about Maria.
Kapella: Well, it is to the best. In our sky, a new brilliant star lights up, for the first time in many years. We shall glorify it's rising.
Bachelor: Are you pleased about this? It seemed to me that you and Maria would be rivals.
Kapella: Don't insult me! Would I be worthy of the title of Mistress - now or in the far future - if I put my pride and my desires above the benefit of the dying town? The Mistress will return our town to life and so her coming is a blessing.
Bachelor: I fear that if Maria gets her way completely, this town will not be the way you would like.
Kapella: I know what you mean. Who knows how much time will pass before my ideas can take form? It will be many years so I will just settle in the town that Maria will build and take the place she has set aside for me... If there is such a place. But does this mean that everything is already in place? That I can't even ask her about the smallest of changes?
Bachelor: What are you talking about?
Kapella: If only we had a little bit more time, I can lead us on another path...
Bachelor: You have a good idea of how to remake the town yourself? I guess you've had time to think about it these past weeks.
Kapella: Oh, I have made plans. They are quite different from Maria's, I think. I have other strivings, other ideas and there would be other forces in play. The town we have now is gray and blood red. I want to make a town that is like an apple tree in color. Warm and alive. Everything would be different.
Bachelor: Different? Don't you mean better?
Kapella: Well... My plans are missing something. Just a little thing, but it cannot be helped. It is better to let the town have the Dark Mistress instead of none at all. We can't wait another day. And beside, dark isn't the same as malicious. Nina had that title, Scarlet Nina of the Night. Now Maria will inherit it.
Bachelor: So are you sure you want to support her in this? I think you know better than me what's going on.
Kapella: Here, give Maria my beads. It's a piece of jewelery from my mother. An ancient craft from the bones of the steppe with protective signs carved into it. I recognize her power. Let her rule be better than that of Nina's.
Summary: We have talked to Kapella and got her symbol, a necklace of bones. I don't know about you, but I'm not trusting Maria to do a good job with the whole running the town business. Kapella, however, has accepted her, at least for now.
Something is going on with the town crypts, but we'll have to wait for later to find out why.
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