Secret Passage
Secret Passage
- Related Event: The Accursed Archives/October 2019
- Release Date: October 31, 2019
- Featured Characters: Jurota, Alain, Rex
Dialogue
Jurota: ......
Jurota: Splendid work, Rex—though I should have expected no less from you.
Jurota: To think one could dig a tunnel leading from the courtyard to a location outside the castle walls with such ease!
Alain: Well, this is just splendid! Now we'll be able to make a hasty retreat the moment we see the enemy coming!
Rex: Well, shucks, fellas. Reckon I'm just glad yer takin' a fancy to it.
Rex: If there's anything else what I could do for ya, don't think twice 'bout givin' yer good pal Rex a holler.
Jurota: You have my most profound gratitude.
Jurota: And as for your offer, I would ask that you construct a secret passage that connects the inside of the castle to the outside.
Alain: A truly inspired idea, my good man! One can only benefit from having multiple avenues of retreat.
Alain: Come then, Rex! Let me show you the location of my future panic room!
Jurota: Do you mean to say you ALREADY have your eye on a spot suited to the construction of a secret passageway?
Rex: "Craven is as craven does," as my dear mother used to say. ...Welp, let's get moving—this tunnel won't dig itself!
Jurota: This is...
Alain: The innermost room beneath the castle. It also just so happens to be unused.
Rex: Hoo-ee! There's more'n enough room here for me to work m'magic. Heck, there's even space for me to pile up the dirt what I'll be diggin' up!
Rex: Right then! Let's get this hoedown started!
Alain: Sir, yes, sir!
Jurota: Hold, friends. I understand the importance of striking when the iron is hot, but without proper tools and materials—
Alain: Two steps ahead of you there, pal. I already went ahead and got everything we'll need—it's waiting for us right now beneath our very feet!
Jurota: How truly magnificent...
Rex: Well, slap my rump and call me a mule! That's gonna be a heap'a help! Now lemme just... Hmm...
Rex: Say, gents? Which way do ya want this tunnel'a yers pointin', anyhow?
Jurota: I will defer to Alain in this matter, as I assume he already has a plan.
Alain: "A" plan? You wound me! I have already considered roughly ONE HUNDRED possible avenues of retreat from here.
Alain: Gentlemen? From this room, we can create splendid avenues of retreat in any and all cardinal directions!
Rex: Well, ain't that somethin'! Er, AIN'T it somethin', Jurota?
Jurota: Amazing as those possibilities may be, I would remind you that the construction time available to us is finite.
Jurota: Pray let us focus on a single path of egress that will be accessible to all.
Alain: Accessible to all... Oh, I see now! You're thinking people may be injured or ill or something, right? Good point.
Alain: Plus, we have children and the elderly to consider as well... Yes, in that case, there is only one clear choice:
Alain: We will create a passage that connects with the forest to the east!
Alain: Its mighty trees will shield our visages from the eyes of all would-be pursuers.
Rex: Got a couple'a nice paths out in that forest, too. Seems like a humdinger of a winner of an idea to me!
Jurota: Come, then—the work begins!
Jurota: To think our path would be blocked by such an immense stone... Truly, fortune frowns upon us this day.
Rex: A'yup. Smashin' up a rock that big might bring the whole works down on our heads.
Alain: In that case...RETREEEEEAT!
Jurota: ......
Rex: Hold yer horses there, friend. If we can't bust this here boulder up, we still might be able to just dig the path 'round it.
Jurota: Then let us do so; we have come much too far to turn back now.
Rex: Well, heck. This ain't good. I reckon we're comin' up on an underground waterway.
Jurota: Another detour, then?
Rex: Hmm. Well, if we make a route what for the water to get out and then maybe reinforce the walls a tick, I reckon we could keep plowing forward.
Rex: Still, I can't swear the thing won't collapse on our heads and flood the entire tunnel, so make'a that whatcha will.
Jurota: What do you make of our predicament, Alain? ...Er, Alain? Where did he go?
Rex: Didn't he say he was gonna haul back all the dirt what we been scoopin' out?
Jurota: He has been gone too long for that errand. Perhaps something hinders his return.
Jurota: An earthquake...?!
Rex: Aw, pig slop—that tremor put some real nasty cracks in m'support beams. Beat feet—this place is comin' down!
Alain: Jurota! Rex! This way! RETREEEEAT!
Jurota: Alain?!
Jurota: ...What is this? An underground cavern?
Alain: It just goes to show that you can never have too many avenues of retreat.
Rex: Wait. Did you dig the hole what connected this cave to our tunnel?
Alain: Thank you for asking! See, as I was returning to join you, I came across a wall with a most conspicuous crack.
Alain: With a single flick of my fingers, the whole thing came down and created a tunnel of nature's making.
Alain: An escape route within an escape route, as it were. Such things are often necessary in the name of the perfect getaway.
Rex: Well, it kept us from bein' smooshed under a ton'a dirt'n rock, so ya got m'thanks no matter how it happened.
Jurota: Back to business, then. Let us return to our task of digging the passageway.
Rex: Well, crud. I dunno, fellas. This bedrock here's tougher than my ma's meatloaf. Don't reckon we'll be able to clear it.
Jurota: We cannot proceed, and detours are not an option. Have we truly no choice but to turn back?
Jurota: The heavens have forsaken us!
Alain: Wait! Jurota, that's it!
Jurota: What is "it"?
Alain: The heavens! Come, gentlemen— let us turn our sights upward!
Alain: I know we've been detouring all over the place, but I'll bet gold to gingerbread that we've already cleared the castle!
Jurota: Hmm. Are you certain of this?
Alain: Of course! Who would know better than me—a man who spent his life exploring every facet of what it means to run away?
Rex: Ain't like we got much of a choice, so I'm willin' to give 'er a go. Ready? One...two...HRNNNGGGGH!
Alain: This is...er... Well, it's a room. At least there's no one here.
Jurota: I fear these are the private chambers of Master Euden.
Rex: Wait, we went and dug ourselves into the prince's dang BEDROOM?! Shucks, I hope he don't hang us or whatever royalty does when ya barge into their room...
Rex: Welp, no point gettin' hung up on it. Let's fill this in before anyone's the wiser and then skedadd—
Jurota: No. We leave the hole as it is.
Rex: Didja get thumped on the noggin when the tunnel collapsed? Why the heck would we do somethin' like that?!
Jurota: If we reveal this passage's existence to the prince—and he alone—he could use it as an escape route in times of emergency.
Jurota: Let us make the best of this situation. Surely this is the will of the heavens!
Alain: Huh. A private escape route for Prince Euden, is it?
Jurota: Though we have strayed far from our initial plan, I am pleased that our efforts have still borne some fruit.
Jurota: And with our mission complete, let us depart this place; a shinobi such as myself can only find peace in shadow.
Rex: And then let's feast it up to celebrate keepin' Euden safe!
Mym: Well, well. Look what we have here...
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