“From great heights kings fall, yet further our gods. The truth of ascendence, short 
and hollow…without control”
You choose your quotes like a mother reading to a child, only reading the first act and 
sparing the sorrow which follows. The Saga is not a story of hope it does not end in 
salvation. I am no Thadene and even she turned away…in the end.
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Turzhlo: He here chief…. D’boys bring him in now…
Fuzhlo: Mmmmm. Send im in!
Turzhlo: Eeeeeeya!
[Anzhlo kicked in the back and falls to the ground in Fuzhlo’s tent]
Fuzhlo: [Sucks teeth] [grunts] Hmph! Get up.
[Anzhlo sighs and gets to his feet]
Fuzhlo: Why we here agin? Hmm?
Anzhlo: I wouldn’t want to steal your lecture…I know how much you love them.
Fuzhlo: Hmph! I no want to speak…want to gut you…spill you inside-out. 
Anzhlo: and yet…you won’t stop talking…
Fuzhlo: Come here. Now.
[Anzhlo walks over to Fuzhlo]
Fuzhlo: Look down der!
Anzhlo: [disinterested] Oh…something in the pit? I wonder…what it could be…
Fuzhlo: You see ‘im?
Anzhlo: [sigh] Yes…their face is missing…am I to guess who it is?
Fuzhlo: Kerret cut him good…he die slow…scream for you…beg for you protect…he weak 
like you…want udder to protect…
Anzhlo: So you killed another one of my friends…okay…
Fuzhlo: Next time…Next time is you…
Anzhlo: You said that last time I went into the city…are you sure it is me who is weak?
Fuzhlo: You mudder make you soft…protect you as a hatch…make you think you are strong 
when you are weak.
Anzhlo: [simmering rage] Don’t you dare talk about her…[speaking Saurian angrily] NI 
GE KA!
Fuzhlo: Ah! So you can speak our tongue!? [scoff] still sound like foreigner…like you weak 
mudder. You know who she cry for protect when she die?
Anzhlo: [snarling with rage] I am warning you …
Fuzhlo: Warn…I am through with warn…you no hatch now…
Anzhlo: [seething] That never stopped you before. Why would it stop you now?
Fuzhlo: You my only blood Anzhlo…but not always be…I think you will cry for her, when I 
cut you…
Anzhlo: [screams with rage and charges Fuzhlo] ARGHHH!
[Fuzhlo brings up a knee into Anzhlo’s belly and he collapses to the ground 
struggling to breathe]
Anzhlo: [sharp struggling inhales] eugh… eugh… eugh
Fuzhlo: I tell you…no go to city…I tell you…no take my clansmen…you no listen…so I will 
teach…maybe you too stupid as hatch….maybe now you have brain to learn…so I will 
teach…teach as I taught when you small…but now…she no here to soothe…she no take 
away pain…she no take away lesson…
Anzhlo: [sharp struggling inhales] eugh…I eugh…will…eugh…kill…
Fuzhlo: No, you wont…but you will listen…listen to pain…it is Uma’s words…not mine…
[Fuzhlo begins running his claw down Anzhlo’s back opening a long wound and 
peeling off his scales]
Anzhlo: [struggling not to scream] mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmngggg.
Fuzhlo: No want give me smile? [chuckle] but how I know you hear her word?
[sound of slicing and bleeding gets louder]
Anzhlo: [Scream of agony] NO! AGHHHHH!
-------------------------------------
Scene 1: Brucco chats with Orryn who is much more amenable to him- they make idle 
chat about the camp and the Order. Orryn offers to let Brucco run the desk for the day 
and give him a break from manual labour. Brucco is a little disappointed as this 
means he will not see Ysenda. Orryn teases him about this.
Brucco: Hey Orryn.
Orryn: Hey Brucco.
Brucco: I’ve been wondering…
Orryn: Yeah…
Brucco: Why do we wander around giving everything out? The camp is sprawling and 
cluttered and disorganised…surely if we centralised everything and encouraged people to 
come here for food…the system would work so much more efficiently.
Orryn: You still haven’t learned about this place have you [laugh]…that’s what we did when 
we first got here. The Jing basically just saw it as a trap…us trying to get them all into one 
place…the few who did come were wound so tight that it took all of us to prevent a riot.
Brucco: No kidding…
Orryn: Plus…if we put all the supplies and rations in one place…I think it’d be too much for 
the Saurians too resist…last thing we want is a fight to break out between The Order and 
Fuzhlo’s gang…Rain Chapel is technically outside of the city…so The Order’s Militant 
Branch are allowed to come here…it’d be a fucking bloodbath.
Brucco: I didn’t even know the order had a militant wing…
Orryn: They’re arseholes…but the Saurians know we’ve got them…Tilly made sure of it.
Brucco: Tilly?
Orryn: The Grand Master of the Cloister here.
Brucco: Oh…yes… of course…you know…I’ve always wanted to ask you…
Orryn: Yeah? Let me guess. Do you really believe in the Prophesy of the Divine Return and 
all the Order’s mumbojumbo?
Brucco: Well…yeah…
Orryn: No…but they do some good…I guess.
Brucco: You know….this is longest you have ever spoken to me without insulting me.
Orryn: Guess you’re growing on me…You want to man the tent today? Just track deliveries 
and direct the volunteers and monks? I fancied stretching my legs and getting a bit of 
exercise.
Brucco: Oh…right….yeah…sure, I could do that…
Orryn: [chuckle] Haha. That’s all you wanted to do when you first arrived…what? Someone 
out there you were hoping to see?
Brucco: Haha…don’t be silly…thanks for the break…honestly my back could use it.
Orryn: Yeah…right [chuckle]
Scene 2: Orryn takes Brucco toward the gate. Brucco bumps into Ysenda as he leaves 
after dark. She is looking at the stars …she discusses her mother, the darklands and 
her journey to Emedu…they share a moment.
Orryn: Glad I wrapped up…it’s a chilly night.
Brucco: You can say that again. You’d think the palisades would do something for the chill 
wind.
Orryn: Too much to ask…[chuckle] Worth it for that night sky though, eh?
Brucco: Mmm? Sorry Orryn, what was that?
Orryn: Something caught your eye mate?
Brucco: Oh…nothing…
Orryn: I spotted her too bud… no need to pretend. You’re a big lad. I am sure you can find 
your way to the gate alone… I can see you don’t want me hanging about right now.
Brucco: [Chuckles] See you on the new ten Orryn…
Orryn: T’ra pal.
[walks slowly over to where Ysenda is standing, staring at the sky]
Brucco: It’s beautiful, isn’t it?
Ysenda: Oh…hey Brucco…I didn’t see you there. Yeah…yeah, it is…
Brucco: Like a great dark ocean with racing silver fish streaking through the depths…
Ysenda: My mother used to describe it like a great big blanket…she told me if we were ever 
apart…that I could look up at the sky at night and imagine she was tucking me in.
Brucco: She’s…?
Ysenda: Gone…yes…I liked your description too though…my dad said something like that 
about the stars being dreams swimming in the endless sea…
Brucco: Is he gone too?
Ysenda: Yeah…I feel closer to them when I come here and look up…all those silly night sky 
metaphors remind me of the good times …the sky is always like this in the darklands. The 
air is too thin for clouds… and so it is just endless, clear night from horizon to horizon.
Brucco: What were they like?
Ysenda: The Darklands?
Brucco: No. your parents.
Ysenda: They were everything to me…literally…left their homes and everyone they knew in 
Vash when I was born…moved out to the edge of the world…so no one could hurt me…
Brucco: Because of the troubles?
Ysenda: [light snort] Because of what I am… Emedu has become more tolerant than other 
places…but it wasn’t always like that… in most places we are still killed in the street or 
[hesitation]…we are still seen as dangerous and unclean…we would have been hunted 
everywhere we went…
Brucco: So why did you leave the Darklands?
Ysenda: Nothing grows at the edge of the world…there is so little water…when we were 
three…my father would travel back and forth bringing supplies…when we were two…we 
moved closer to the cities…to Daya and Nurr… but the bandits and warlords [stops herself 
and sighs]… I got sold to a family In Terrqas…mum was too old…but when Herrand and his 
people took over…I took the chance to flee…headed down the mountains to Emedu 
and…followed the river until I got here…
Brucco: I’m…so….sorry…
Ysenda: I heard that Spawn could get work here…so I looked…but it seems there is only 
one type of work suitable for us…I couldn’t bring myself to do that…not after Terrqas… I met 
Orryn and the others at the old camp…before the pogroms…the rest is history, I guess…
Brucco: What would you do…if you could leave?
Ysenda: I honestly don’t know…there is nowhere left to go….Maybe, I’d try the gap…head 
into Ansa…I hear, so long as you can fight they don’t care who you are…
Brucco: gods…I always wondered what drove people to go there…through the gap…I 
never imagined that such desperation existed in this world…I am so sorry for what has 
happened to you Ysenda…I wish with all my heart I could make it right…
Ysenda: I feel peaceful right now Brucco…looking up at the racing stars…they always 
change…every night, brand new patterns and constellations streaking by…reborn every new 
night…[shiver against the cold]
Brucco: well… [taking coat off] if looking at the stars gives you peace…then all I can do, is 
help you to enjoy it for a little while longer, here put this on [puts coat on her shoulders] it 
should keep you warm…
Ysenda: Thank you Brucco…will you stay with me for a little while longer…please…
Brucco: Of course…It would be my pleasure….
---------------------------------
Scene 4: Following the attack on Sir Casper, the people of Wide-End organise a Town 
hall meeting where it is agreed that the Saurians will provide security. The people of 
Wide End will provide them accommodation and work permits. Some are still opposed 
but Yvonna makes an impassioned speech filled with conceit.
Karolyn: All those in favour of the motion say aye.
[Large number of ayes]
Karolyn: The neys…?
[one or two firm neys]
Karolyn: The ayes have it. From tomorrow the Wide End borough fund will finance the 
works permits and entry passes for Mr Anzhlo and his people to provide local security. Each 
family will use their lands and property to provide accommodations and will be responsible 
for paying for their security detail’s ration levy…any who are concerned that the costs may 
be burdensome, should petition the Isolde house who will be managing the contract.
Lord Raiivo: This is outrageous! Outrageous!
Karolyn: The borough has spoken, Lord Raiivo. The ayes have it.
Yvonna: Karolyn, if you don’t mind.
Karolyn: Of course, Yvonna.
Yvonna: I know that Lord Raiivo, and some others here present, are still unsure about this, 
and I both understand and respect the caution and the reticence. It is a big change…but a 
necessary change. One I grappled with myself for some time. However, in the time that 
Anzhlo and his men have served me…I have been nothing but satisfied. There were some 
teething problems and some misunderstandings, but, with honest and frank communication, 
and a little compromise, I have come to think of them as close friends. They are not the 
savage monsters of tale and legend and, when they arrive and you invite them into your 
homes…you will learn as I have…that they can be as gentle as any renfolk. Please consider, 
Lord Raaiivo, the fear and anxiety you feel welling in the pit of your stomach…think how 
much greater that would be for any bandits or hoodlums who contemplate visiting harm on 
our people…who want to enter our homes UNINVITED! And take away our loved ones…as 
they took dear, sir Casper [pause…sounds of Lady Casper crying]…I promise you…on 
my honour….you will not come to regret it…
Scene 5: Yvonna prepares food for Anzhlo (implied that it could be Erik). He is clearly 
very pleased and invites her to ‘share his kill’ by eating the same piece he is eating. 
She refuses and one of the other Saurians tries to explain that it has a bigger meaning 
in their culture. Anzhlo cuts him off but Yvonna recognises that she is ‘making 
progress’ with Anzhlo and is pleased.
[Sound of Anzhlo tucking into a meal, cutting meat and chewing it slowly]
Anzhlo: This is delicious Yv! Who would have thought you could cook too! You really are the 
full package.
Yvonna: I have had little to do around this house, I am afraid to admit. Learning some 
domestic skills had helped stave off the boredom. I do apologise, if the meat is a little fatty…
Anzhlo: No…no…not at all…it’s rare to eat anything with this much fat on it…I’m so use to 
lean and stringy…this is delightful… come…sit with me…
Yvonna: [smiling] Okay…
[she sits on Anzhlo’s lap Anzhlo kisses her on the cheek]
Anzhlo: Would you like to try some?
Yvonna: Ummm….thank you for the kind offer…but…
Anzhlo: No. no…. I understand…
Saurian 1:[interrupting] I have some chief?
Saurian 2: [mocking] You want be his mate? He bite already!
Saurian 1: Sorry boss…
Yvonna: Sorry?…
Anzhlo: [soft laugh] Its just…a ritual for my people…
Yvonna: Oh?
Saurian 2: Chief ask you share from same strip…from his kill…ask you –
Anzhlo: [coughs loudly to interrupt] It’s a silly ritual…no real meaning…
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Scene 6: Brucco shows command and insight whilst directing volunteers and monks. 
Ysenda is impressed and tells Brucco that she may have misjudged him.
Brother Seldom: Before we do that we should shift all that rubbish over by the north 
wall…make some more space so the jing and living on top of each other.
Sister Always: Once it’s clear we might be able to dig another well there…if you thing there 
could be more water…
Brucco: It’s a nice idea but that clutter serves an important purpose…it’s where the pups 
hide when Fuzhlo’s Saurians come around at night… if we take it away they will be mortified.
Brother Seldom: I hadn’t thought of that…
Sister Always: Is there somewhere else we could dig that isn’t going to displace anyone?
Brucco: Brother Orryn and I have been thinking about that…we think we can expand the 
walls.
Brother Seldom: But the city guard don’t want the walls…
Brucco: To come down…we wont bring them down…we will just move them out a bit…we 
can built another section of outer wall before we remove the inside…
Sister Always: I think if we do that on the north side…the guard probably wouldn’t even 
notice..
Brucco: Quite. But we should inform them all the same. Last thing we want is to cause any 
trouble or have the guard think we are releasing anyone…
Brother Seldom: Heaven forbid…
Brucco: I share your sentiment, but if either the Abbot or the Grandmaster inform the guard, 
they are unlikely to push back…who would it be best to speak to? Which of the guards on 
the wall can be trusted.
Ysenda: None of them. They are all on the take.
Brucco: Sorry Ysenda, I meant to say- which one would it be easiest for us to approach.
Sister Always: Lieutenant Lance Major is in charge of the walls.
Brucco: Yes but he is in the pocket of the Saurians…we don’t want to involve him if we 
don’t have to..
Ysenda: I know the north wall guards. Orey and Penk…if you can slip them a few silver 
pieces they will keep Major off our back for a bit..
Brucco: Okay. Well that sounds like a plan to me. We will push out the north wall palisade 
to make more room and try for another well…I will supply the wood and the coin…if you can 
arrange the labour between you. Is everyone content that we start tomorrow?
-----
Brucco: Ysenda?
Ysenda: Oh hey…
Brucco: Did you need something?
Ysenda: No…I..I just came by to….[sigh] to apologise…
Brucco: Apologise? Whatever for?
Ysenda: I treated you unfairly when you first arrived. Told you that you weren’t welcome and 
that you couldn’t help…
Brucco: Well…I was a tad…I did rather have it coming back then
Ysenda: Yes…well…you’ve actually been a lot of help and you’ve got a knack for organising 
people.
Brucco: Pish! It’s you they are following Ysenda…we wouldn’t be anywhere without you 
leading the way! 
Ysenda: That’s kind of you to say…but…
Brucco: It’s not flattery Ysenda, it’s the god’s truth. It was you digging wells when I arrived 
here, it was you protecting the pups from those blasted lizards and it was you who showed 
me how this place works. I’m nothing more than a planner here. You are the soul of this
community.
Ysenda: Look, I still think you are a bit of a soft, useless toff…but I want you to know that I’m 
sorry and…that what you are doing for us…it’s appreciated.
Brucco: Well…I hope we have the pleasure of continuing to work together for some time…I
have found watching you quite…watching you work…I mean… when I see you, I feel…what 
I am trying to say is that…
Ysenda: okay…that is the Brucco, I recognise…give it a break before you hurt 
yourself…eh?
Scene 7: Yvonna wakes up with Anzhlo. Anzhlo is a little upset and offended at some 
of the remarks Yvonna makes about him as a partner. She tries to placate him and 
offends him further. She eventually explains that she is happy with him and that they 
only need to make small accommodations to make things more comfortable. She 
gives him a cuddle and wants to talk business. She mentions that some families in the 
Wide End Borough are short on cash and she recommends that they use Wide End to 
produce Psude-Karrow- a potent and addictive drug which is manufactured only in 
the camps. Anzhlo highlights some of the challenges of doing this and Yvonna 
encourages him to ‘solve’ them.
Yvonna: [waking, yawning and stretching] Good morning Anzhlo!
Anzhlo: Hmmmmm [sleepily] Morning.
Yvonna: Did you sleep well?
Anzhlo: After last night? I slept like the dead. How about you?
Yvonna: A little sore actually and… you get a little cold during the night…. Aaaand your tail 
takes up half the bed…
Anzhlo: Oh….right..
Yvonna: [tuttting] Don’t be so sensitive! We can always get a bigger bed.
Anzhlo: But I like you sleeping close…your body feels warm….like… basking in the sun…
Yvonna: You really are a softy aren’t you!
Anzhlo: Don’t say that. I am not soft.
Yvonna: I only mean that you are…loving…I didn’t mean soft…If you want me close… I can 
just bring some hot water bottles to bed…a simple enough solution…
Anzhlo: Okay…
Yvonna: Don’t be like that! You know I didn’t mean it like that! [snuggles up to him] 
besides there is something I need to discuss with you about our business.
Anzhlo: Mmmm?
Yvonna: More than a few families have come to me with concerns over payment.
Anzhlo: I thought they were all rich?
Yvonna: Asset rich…cash poor many of them.
Anzhlo: What does that mean?
Yvonna: A lot of their money is tied up in the city…and well…with all the trouble…they aren’t 
making much coin.
Anzhlo: They can sell their things to pay us then.
Yvonna: Don’t be so hasty…people are coming around to you and your people…but they 
haven’t fully accepted you yet. If you start messing with their money… they will turn 
quickly…and without their coin, we won’t be able to bring more of your people here…once 
you have the numbers, then we will have a freer hand…
Anzhlo: So, what are you suggesting?
Yvonna: What we do have in Wide-End, is lots of space and lots of large properties.
Anzhlo: Yeah…
Yvonna: How much psude-karrow can you make with all that cramped space in the camps?
Anzhlo: [chuckles to himself] How do you know about psude-karrow, eh?
Yvonna: I had a bit of a…habit…a while back…
Anzhlo: You were a psudae? [chuckle] you don’t seem the type!
Yvonna: Don’t laugh at me! Do you have any idea how boring…how 
monotonous…how…monumentally unsatisfying it was to live amongst these people…to live 
with that pathetic excuse of man…
Anzhlo: I had no idea privilege was so… dull…I’ve been enjoying it…
Yvonna: That’s because you appreciate it! You are hungry! You are passionate! You know 
what you want, and you take it! All I used to do is attend meetings and functions…make dull 
conversation with stuck up people…the karrow…it…well… at least I could feel 
something…[pause]
Anzhlo: we would certainly make more of it with the space here…but I’d have to bring a lot 
more of my people in…
Yvonna: I can absorb the cost of paying for the ration levy…at least for a short while…
Anzhlo: It’s not just that…
Yvonna: What is it?
Anzhlo: My dad isn’t just going to let me take them or the…’ingredients’…
Yvonna: Wait…I thought you were the chief?
Anzhlo:…I am…I split from my father when I left the camp…my Saurians are loyal to 
me…and I can tempt others away easily enough…but he is not going to just hand over the 
mixers…Psude is part of how he keeps control and we’d need access to the camp…to the 
jing…
Yvonna: Well…it sounds like you have a problem to solve…I won’t tell you how to solve 
it…you are a big man…you are the chief…I am sure you won’t disappoint me…will you?
Fuzhlo inspects his ‘herd’ with Turzhlo and visits his ‘mixers’
[sound of jing squealing and sounds of manual shearing…sound of thrashing and 
resisting]
Fuzhlo: [to resisting jing] Calm now! only need fur and blood…no thrash like that…maybe 
he slip…who know how much he take of both den eh..!
[squealing, followed by slicing]
Turzhlo: de herd getting weak…need new blood soon.
Fuzhlo: No worry. Plenty in camp. Maybe too many. I only worry bout mixer…were my 
mixers?
Turzhlo: Follow chief…I keep dem close.
[walk over to cage/cage rattles]
Turzhlo: Get up!
[weary groans]
Fuzhlo: Why dey look sick?
Turzhlo: dem is psudae, the sickness deep in dem..
Fuzhlo: why you let them use?
Turzhlo: no let dem boss…dey breathe from d mix…get into dem.
Fuzhlo: You know how mix Turzhlo?
Turzhlo: No Chief. 
Fuzhlo: Den how long dey na last?
Turzhlo: Dey Yilan, de snakes resist to it…resist to de spors…should last long time…
Fuzhlo: Make sure they do! I no have more mixer after dese!
---------------------------
Scene 8: Semion approaches wide-end and makes conversation with some 
saurian…he lets them know who he is and that he knows their boss. When they ask 
him if he wants to see Anzhlo, Semion refuses and offers them some work instead. 
Semion is testing Anzhlo, he wants to remind Anzhlo that he is a stakeholder/partner 
and provoke him slightly to see how he will respond.
Saurian 1: Who is dere?
Semion: Simply an old halfling taking an evening stroll…
Saurian 2: You from here?
Semion: No…I am from inside the city wall…I come here to walk and to think…I do not often 
see you here…may I ask…do you work for Anzhlo?
Saurian 1: You know the chief? 
Semion: and his father…yes…I am a chief myself…
Saurian 2: You want to speak with boss?
Semion: No…no…as I say…I am simply out for walking…with your permission of course.
Saurian 1: Give name…give clan…you can go…
Semion: Why, I am Semion Quietknife….but I would like to know…are you two be interested 
in some extra coin?