Unmasking the Artisans Session 19

Something stirs within as you rest. You dream away of being lost in bleak woodlands. No matter which direction you go, there is only more and more of the same forest. Lost, aimless, you cry out but no one is around to listen.

After what feels like centuries, you finally find your exit out of this strange nightmare and back home to your familiar cozy cottage. However… the colors are absent, only shades of gray still linger for some haunting reason. Despite being around familiar friends and family, you still feel lost and abandoned and you just yearn to know why!

You can hear the voices of loved ones speak but… how could they ever understand? If they cannot take away this… numbness… then… there must be a solution elsewhere. Why would anyone ever want to live like this?

The stage lights flash on. The usual Directors stand at the flanks, looking on with melancholy. For on the stage, there are silhouettes being harassed by ghostly shadows.   Sage: Life is cruel and unforgiving. Surely there is still time so the worst that is to come can be avoided?   Critic: You think it can be avoided? The only guarantee in life is suffering, and so shall our cast come to find out!   Sage: Bostwick!   The stage flashes to show Bostwick, who stands the furthest away from the group, swinging his halberd at his shade, each time the spectral comes back regardless of lethality.   Critic: Fight all you want, for the only company you will find is among the lost and wretched! Where demons want you dead, the shades come back to remind you of what you have done! For in the end, violence will always follow you.   Sage: Come now, there is a shared conflict but… it becomes a difficult thing to predict what happens after the Artisans are gone. Will shades be the only company available or will there still be living mortals to befriend?   Critic: Cassius Scarthorpe!   The lights flash to show Cassius covering his ears as two shades tug at his shoulders from both sides, vying to have greater say.   Sage: The fight for one’s dreams versus the dreams of others is a recurring problem. So much noise, so many demands. Could there be a way to find a middle ground or escape entirely?   Critic: He was born to be an asset and he will die like one! It is a question if he will throw it all away out of spite for his freedom or live in luxury at the cost of his autonomy. By that point, what difference is he to a tool?   Sage: Daniel Cognatio!   The lights flash to Daniel struggling against shades that compete for his aid, knowing that he holds light.   Critic: In fiction, heroes save the day and change things for the better. In reality, there will always be very few winners and countless failures! So many of the helpless will come crawling to pull you down with them. You would know, you were amongst them!   Sage: So what if he can’t help others? In a strange way, this shared suffering makes it much easier for him to relate to those who shared the same fate. He could very well represent the best of the Fell: those who can ease the suffering of others.   Critic: Gloria Fierro!   The lights flash to depict Gloria in an erratic state as she pivots with shotgun in hand to point it at surrounding shades.   Sage: The past will always be tricky to deal with. So long as the lost are restless, closure can not be found. There must be a proper ending to this somewhere. Should it not be found, I fear this battle will become one of attrition.   Critic: Come now, you speak about a soldier. Only in death will there be an end to all this fighting and carnage. The first will come for the enemy, as pride demands, then comes the self, as guilt and horror consumes the mind.   Sage: John Wrench   The lights flash on to show John sitting alone on a pedestal above the reach of the shades.   Critic: You may sit above us like a god but you are not in the heavens to be considered one. When your precious island breaks, who will break your fall: demons or shades? For angels and fey would rather let you topple over and be at the mercy of the masses!   Sage: There is still time. The fall could be cushioned, make that little island less lonely, buy a bit more time before it breaks, or… maybe even less conceivable, make the tower taller?   The stage lights then flash off, then back on to the Critic, "That is all for today's showing. Come again another time."