List of Grimoire Cards/Ghost Fragment: Thorn 4

"The Shadow and the Light

TYPE: Transcript. DESCRIPTION: Conversation. PARTIES: Two [2]. One [1] Ghost-type, designate [REDACTED] [u.1], One [1] Guardian-type, Class [REDACTED] [u.2] ASSOCIATIONS: Breaklands; Durga; Dwindler’s Ridge; Last Word; Malphur, Shin; North Channel; Palamon; Thorn; Velor; Ward, Jaren; WoS; Yor, Dredgen; //AUDIO UNAVAILABLE// //TRANSCRIPT FOLLOWS.../

[u.1:0.1] Such Darkness. [u.2:0.1] Impressed? [u.1:0.2] Far from it. [u.2:0.2] To each their own. [u.1:0.3] His Light is faded. [u.2:0.3] His Light is gone. [u.1:0.4] You are an infection. [u.2:0.4] I am that which will cleanse. [u.1:0.5] You are a monster. [u.2:0.5] Heh. An old friend once saw me as the same. He was right, and, had we met earlier, so too would you be. [u.1:0.6] You’d dare defend yourself – all you’ve done – as anything but monstrous? [u.2:0.6] No more than a hurricane. [u.1:0.7] Then you’re a force of nature? [u.2:0.7] I am all that is right. You may not see it – for lack of looking, or blind ignorance – but I am all that is good. [u.1:0.8] You’ve just murdered a good man. [u.2:0.8] He shot first. [u.1:0.9] Yet you stand. [u.2:0.9] Guess he missed. [u.1:1.0] He never misses. [u.2:1.0] First time for everything. [silence] [u.2:1.1] His cannon? Nice piece of hardware. [u.2:1.2] Well-worn, but clean. Smooth hammer. [u.1:1.1] It was his prize. [u.2:1.3] Guess he put too much faith in the wrong steel. [u.1:1.2] Is that where your faith lies, in steel? [u.2:1.4] Not for some time. My steel is only an extension. My faith is in the shadow. [u.1:1.3] Then my Light is an affront to all you are. I am your truest enemy. [u.2:1.5] One of many. [u.1:1.4] Would you end me? [u.2:1.6] Not you. Not now. [u.1:1.5] The shadow knows mercy. [u.2:1.7] The shadow knows no such thing. [u.1:1.6] Then what? [u.2:1.8] The other. [u.1:1.7] What other? [u.2:1.9] The dead man’s charge. [u.1:1.8] The boy? [u.1:1.9] You’d end him as well? [u.2:2.0] If it comes to that... We’ll see. [u.1:2.0] I won’t let you have the child. [u.2:2.1] Been long enough now, think maybe he’s a man. [u.1:2.1] You cannot have him. [u.2:2.2] Not yet. [u.1:2.2] I won’t let you. [u.2:2.3] That you could stop me is an amusing thought. [silence] [u.2:2.4] Here. [silence] [u.2:2.5] Take it. [u.1:2.3] Why? [u.2:2.6] Give the apprentice his master’s “sword.” It is a gift. [u.1:2.4] You cannot have him. [u.2:2.7] You fear for his Light? [u.1:2.5] He... [u.2:2.8] ...is special. [u.1:2.6] Yes. [u.2:2.9] I am aware. [u.1:2.7] You’re trying to tempt him. You’re feeding his anger. [u.2:3.0] The gun is a memento, nothing more. [u.1:2.8] You claim to be a vessel, a hollow shell where once a man stood, but that is just a lie. The man is still in you. [u.2:3.1] There is no man here, I am now, and for the rest of time, only Dredgen Yor. [u.1:2.9] “The Eternal Abyss?” [u.2:3.2] So, not all the forgotten languages are dead. [u.1:3.0] Hide behind whatever titles you wish, it is all still a façade. No force of nature would play such games. [u.2:3.3] Games? [u.1:3.1] The cannon. You wish to tempt the boy. To spur him on and fuel his rage. There is intent there. The actions of a man, monstrous, mad or otherwise... you are nothing more. [u.2:3.4] And what value does your conclusion bring, flawed as it may be? [u.1:3.2] That a hurricane can only be weathered, not stopped. Not redirected. A force of nature is uncaring and without intent, but a man... [u.2:3.5] Yes? [u.1:3.3] A man is none of those things. [silence] [u.1:3.4] A man can be killed. [silence] [u.2:3.6] And there it is... [u.1:3.5] There what is...? [u.2:3.7] A sliver of hope."