Duke Bardorba's Secondary Residence, Graylands. 5:38AM

Duke Bardorba: ...So, the knights who came were not the King's men, but the Cardinal's?
Jan Rosencrantz: Knights of the cross led by Guildenstern, my lord.
Aide: “The Crimson Blades” - in direct service to the Cardinal.
Rosencrantz: Guildenstern led his men toward Léa Monde in pursuit of Sydney.
Bardorba: ...I see... send one of your men in the armour of these “holy knights”...set fire to the manor.
Aide: Fire... my liege?
Bardorba: The fool Sydney used his wyvern. We can't have witnesses telling the world, now can we?
Aide: But the hostages... your family!
Bardorba: Irrelevant! Burn it. Burn it to the ground!

The aide leaves

Bardorba: ...What of Parliament?
Rosencrantz: The VKP have formed a squad to deal with the felons.
Bardorba: The Riskbreakers... those meddling fools!
Rosencrantz: Your will, my lord?
Bardorba: ...Léa Monde is yours. Let no-one out of the town! You can deal with Sydney and the Blades there.
Rosencrantz: And Parliament?
Bardorba: I'll deal with those watchdogs... they won't trouble you further.
Rosencrantz: And the young lord Joshua?
Bardorba: He is my light... my soul. If aught should befall him...

Rosencrantz leaves.

Bardorba: Am I fated to rot and wither, even as I breathe?

Ashley: ...Well?

Ashley: Hmm... This is the only way in?
Callo: There's a great crevasse preventing entry above ground.
Ashley: And from the sea?

Callo: You do know we sent agents in, thinking those ruins were the Mullenkamp base. Not one returned.
Ashley: Not on account of the whirlpools, I'd wager...
Callo: Surely, it was men who killed them... how was it down there?
Ashley: Come down and see for yourself...

Callo: What's this?
Ashley: That's what I'm here to find out. It does seem well fortified for a wine cellar...
Callo: Oh? Léa Monde's wineries once vied with the best of Valendia. Since they went out of production, the remaining vintages sell for a premium.

Ashley opens an interior gate

Ashley: If I find any, consider them yours.
Callo: You plan to go alone?
Ashley: An agent with no combat experience would just be a liability.
Callo: ........
Ashley: Tell me what you know about Mullenkamp and this Sydney fellow.
Callo: Sydney Losstarot. Leader of the religious cult Mullenkamp. His real name and age are unknown. One of the many self-styled prophets of the apocalypse.
Ashley: So why would a cult missionary commit such a crime?
Callo: I do not know what the Cardinal thinks, but the VKP believes he is no prophet – indeed, he is in dark alliance with Duke bardorba, who controls Parliament from behind the scenes. That the cult is but a front. Perhaps this incident is a sign of some falling-out between the two?
Ashley: ... Or merely another of the Cardinal's witch-hunts?
Callo: There are many would-be prophets in the land these days, but Sydney is... different. His prophecies ring true, and those enraptured by the way he hums revelations – as though they were simple ballads! - all say the same: “He is a miracle.”
Ashley: .......
Callo: In any case, he has a strange power. He can guess the past of those he meets. He can even read hearts... they say his charisma is such that his followers offer both body and soul to him...

Ashley enters the gateway.

Callo: Agent Riot!!
Ashley: If I do not return by the morrow's eve, inform HQ, won't you?

Ashley closes the gate.

Callo: Godspeed...

A tremor shakes the cellar.

Ashley: No live burials today, thanks.

Strange, unearthly noises emanate from the rooms beyond

...And with that we're finally into the game proper.