The Outpost – Beyond the Wall

By: Patience Kapfer

After being attacked by a Bone Wolf, we see Talon (Jessica Green) and Janzo (Anand Desai-Barochia) finally make it back to the Oupost with the Colipsum. On the way through the wall the new Gate Marshal stops Janzo and asks for a taste of his wares. However, Janzo tells him the containers are empty and they have nothing that he wants. Unfortunately, both Talon and Janzo are straining against the weight of their cart so much that the Marshal knows it’s unlikely their containers are all empty. Janzo stutters around an explanation that the containers aren’t actually empty. He fills them with hops and barley, to which he is told he must declare them upon entry to The Outpost and pay taxes. As soon as Janzo and Talon enter the Inn, Janzo is forced to go see the Mistress (Robyn Malcolm). Instead of caring about Janzo’s safety, all she cares about is if he was able to get the shipment. He tells her that the shipment did, in fact, show up and they gave them nearly thirty shares of Colipsum. With this news, the Mistress is overjoyed and praises Janzo as her favorite son, rushing to give him a hug. Even after finding out that the Colipsum comes from the Greyskins, the greatest threat to the Realm, the Mistress doesn’t care as long as it’s pure and it’s cheap. Janzo is insistent that Colipsum coming from Greyskins isn’t right and leaves her room, telling her to send Munt next time if it’s so important to her.

After his meeting with the Mistress, Janzo returns to the safety of his basement lab and hears a noise somewhere behind him. Only to be grabbed by Garret (Jake Stormoen) as he’s looking for the source of the noise. When asked what he’s doing in there, Garret’s response is, “I need you to kill me.” He further explains that he was injected by a Plagueling and it’s only a matter of time before he turns, so it would just be better if Janzo killed him now. But while they’re discussing Garret’s impending death, Talon comes into the basement to remind Janzo he promised to help her find The Book of Names before the Dragman comes. Janzo proceeds to ask Garret a series of questions and attempt to collect various forms of data to help with his Plagueling research. Since Garret was stung only two days ago, he still has another one to four days until he begins to turn according to anything Janzo has heard. Talon insists that’s enough time for them to find a cure and it’s worth trying to at least find a cure, despite Janzo’s insistence that it’s impossible. Garret sends Janzo to go get Gwynn (Imogen Waterhouse) so that he can say good-bye, but while he’s gone Garret tells Talon she’s the only person he can trust to kill him. Talon protests saying that Janzo will find a cure, but Garret makes her promise that if he does turn she will put a blade through his mouth.

When Janzo tells Gwynn that Garret is dying she rushes to the basement to find him. She begs Janzo to cure Garret, but he says he thinks there is some type of parasite inside of Garret that is growing its way up into his brain. Gwynn asks him to just kill this parasite before it grows, which Janzo finds to be an interesting idea. Gwynn then tells Janzo that if Garret dies, Janzo is next. However, after explaining the situation further, Garret tries to convince Gwynn that she needs to leave so that she doesn’t get infected and so Janzo can do his work. Before Talon takes Gwynn away, Gwynn tells Garret she loves him and leaves in tears, afraid for his life.

Back in Gwynn’s chambers she explains to Talon that she’s been afraid of losing Garret for many years. Talon tells her not to give up just yet, if anyone can beat this, Janzo can. Gwynn makes note of the fact that it’s still obvious that Talon has feelings for Garret, but when Talon tries to leave Gwynn tells her to stay and says she meant it when she said she wanted them to be friends before giving Talon a hug. Gwynn tells Talon they’ll get through this together for now, and if he survives, they’ll sort it out then.

Back in the basement, Janzo forces Garret to drink rodent poison with the hope that it might help to cure him. As Janzo works, Talon goes through some of the books and finds an image that causes her to call Janzo offer to confirm her suspicion. The image is of the Vex Rezicon, The Book of Names! Janzo says that the page says the book is kept in some kind of temple, the Shrine Maer-Nokh. Janzo also happens to have an old map with Maer-Nokh on it; however, the temple seems to be deep in Greyskin territory. Talon says she’s going to go to the temple to get the book, despite Janzo’s protests that it’s dangerous. As she continues to insist, Garret wakes and offers to go with Talon, but she refuses and says she’s going alone. He says she needs that book to help them defeat the Prime Order and he has at least two days left so he would just like to do some small good before he dies. At Garret’s request, Janzo also insists that he’s coming too since he’s the only one who can translate the script and nobody else knows about Plaguelings as well as he does. Begrudgingly, Talon agrees to let them both come with her.

In order to leave, they have to scale the wall instead of walking through the gates because it’s the only way to get into Greyskin territory. Before they are able to leave, Gwynn finds Garret, clearly upset because she would rather they spend his last hours together than going on this “silly little trip.” Before he begins scaling down the wall, Gwynn commands him to come back to her and she watches him descend. Once they’ve all reached the bottom, Talon chains Garret so that if he changes he won’t be able to harm them. Beyond the wall, in the desert, Talon tells Garret she doesn’t want to kill him and it’s obvious how sad the thought of losing him makes her. They come across an old checkpoint with some barrels that look like they could contain some type of liquid to quench their thirst so Garret is more than ready to go check it out. Talon is more cautious as she takes the lead, exploring the checkpoint. As the men open one of the barrels and discover it’s merely dirt, Talon quickly realizes that it’s bait as an arrow hits the checkpoint. A Greyskin comes down the hill and engages Talon in battle while Janzo quickly unchains Garret so he can help fight. Talon is able to stab one, before the second Greyskin knocks her and Garret down, leaving Janzo to come to the rescue pouring acid on the Greyskins head.

While Talon, Garret and Janzo are on their journey to retrieve The Book of Names, Ambassador Dred (Philip Brodie) and his men are on their way to The Outpost, planning to hunt down what he calls “a creature resembling a woman, with blood blacker than coal” and to spill the blood of every breathing thing until she is dead at his feet. His warrior, Essa (Sonalii Castillo) is also in search of The Book of Names, having no trouble killing the Greyskins as she goes along and even eating one for dinner. Ambassador Dred and his army arrive at the gate along with cavalry. Upon being informed, Commander Calkussar (Michael Flynn) tells his soldiers not to open the door until he’s there and rushes to find Gwynn. Once he finds Gwynn, Calkussar tells her she must hide because he isn’t sure if they’ve come for her. Once at the gates the Commander tells Dred that the gates are always shut at night against their enemies. Dred says that surely they do not see him and his men as their enemy, as he had begun to wonder when his men didn’t return from their time at the Outpost. Calkussar says the men were fed and rested as they were sent on their way, but these are dangerous lands and it’s not uncommon for patrols to be attacked by bandits, bone wolves, plaguelings, and such. Ambassador Dred tells Calkussar to open the gates and show them the hospitality they deserve. Calkussar orders the gates open, despite his better judgment and allows the battalion inside. Gwynn hurries back to her chambers to pack her things and opens the window in time to see Calkussar approach Dred only to be stabbed in the abdomen. As Calkussar falls to the ground, the rest of Dred’s men remove their swords and Calkussar’s men drop theirs. Dred tells the men that “anyone loyal to Calkussar dies today” and then demands that Gwynn is brought to him, dead or alive.