My name is Talon.
I'm the last Blackblood, or so I've been told.
I escaped when Everit Dred killed all my people.
I cut off the points of my ears to hide in plain sight.
A tiny creature lives inside me,
passed to me by my dying mother.
It gives me the power to open portals to another world
and summon powerful demons called Lu-Qiri.
But I can only summon them when I have their names,
something that's proving to be a challenge.
The Prime Order wants me dead,
but I've found sanctuary at the farthest edge of the Realm
in a place known as the Outpost.
Previously on "The Outpost"...
I'm Captain Garret Spears.
I don't really think you could last a few rounds with me.
Gwynn.
Hail to the Queen!
I, Gate Marshal Cedric Wythers, acting magistrate.
Marshal Wythers is your father?
The name's Janzo, best brewer in the Realm.
If you have colipsum in your blood, fly eggs,
and you're injected by a Plagueling,
they grow into a parasite.
This is the Vex Rezicon, the Book of Names.
Only the Dragman can understand.
I'm the Dragman.
Your word you'll free my family?
You have my word.
I'm putting together a team to go after Dred.
I hope you find him.
Ooh.
The tracks lead up through the ruins.
What is this place?
It used to be Dun-ebdin.
When the Prime Order overthrew the royals,
Lord Ebdin refused to swear fealty.
They smashed down his gates,
burnt his castle...
...killed everyone,
including Lord Ebdin himself.
Are they gonna do the same thing to us?
That is why we cannot let Dred reach the capital.
- You understand? - Yes, sir.
Good.
Hyah.
Keep your eyes open.
Stay alert.
Leave the horses.
I'm not going in there, sir.
Dred's in there.
We haven't been chasing him for two weeks
to just turn and run
because you're afraid of the dark.
Yes, but it seems like a bad idea to...
All right, all right.
Wait here and keep watch.
Stay together! Stay together!
This is for Talon...
...and your Queen.
- Synced and corrected by VitoSilans - -- www.Addic7ed.com --
This is the same name.
We've been here for days.
Is this really the only name you're going to give me?
Dragman, there are supposed to be hundreds,
maybe thousands of Lu-Qiri on the other side of the portal.
So, if I'm going to help Gwynn defeat the Prime Order,
I need to open the portal and summon all of the demons by name to this Realm.
Look, I know you can talk. Explain yourself.
Why have you only given me this one name?
Fine.
So, is this the first one you want me to call?
Hopefully this demon's a little friendlier than the last.
Stand back.
Talon?
Come on, Talon.
Deep breaths. Exhale on the release.
My people say it's wrong to take what isn't given,
especially a life.
You do not have to enjoy the kill,
but we do need to eat.
We only kill to survive.
Shoot on my mark.
Not yet!
It's going out of range, Talon.
A clean kill!
Remmick will feed us all winter, Talon.
We'll use every part.
And every time it fills our hungry bellies,
we'll remember its life and be grateful.
Yeah?
We liked you just as well when your ears were pointed.
Didn't we, Myron?
Oh, whatever made you think to cut them off?
Right, here. I'll finish cleaning that for you.
Now, go and fetch me some water.
There's some serious cooking that needs doing.
Okay.
Oh, hello.
What have these savages done to you, taking your ears?
- I did it on my own. - Disgraceful.
Your mother will be so ashamed of you.
You don't know me or my mother.
Oh, but I knew you both.
Of course, the last time I saw you,
you were no bigger than a cat.
Why did you kill them?
They were only humans.
Come. Live among your own people again.
My people are dead.
Your mother passed the Asterkinj to you,
so you could pass it on to me.
I don't know what you're talking about.
We only kill to survive.
Ekkundi is not your Lu-Qiri. He is mine.
You've seen someone like me, haven't you?
With this mark?
- Once. - Where is he?
Dead.
Varlek was my brother.
And then she said that she loved me.
It was right after I saved her life, really.
Although, technically, I guess she did also save mine.
Then she kissed me.
She said it was just to distract me from the pain,
but I mean, does that even make sense?
Now if Garret was out of the picture, well,
maybe... maybe her... her love would change from... from sibling love
to, well, you know...
But who could compete with muscle boy, eh?
Are you talking to a Plagueling?
Janzo!
- Are you all right? - Naya, yes. Sorry, I'm fine.
You just startled me a little bit.
Oh, do excuse the mess. It's just I'm terribly busy.
Just trying to figure out this Plagueling problem.
Oh. Have you slept?
Janzo can sleep once he solves the plague.
"Once Janzo solves the plague".
- People are dying. - Well, I thought you had solved it.
If people stop taking colipsum, they won't become Plaguelings.
Well, yes, but they're not stopping, are they, you silly little girl?
It's an addiction.
Mum says we're low on ale.
Will people please stop sneaking up on me?
Just walked in, Janzo. Not doing any sneaking.
Same.
Mum says, uh, you need to move your arse
and be useful for once.
And more wine!
And more wine.
Thank you, Munt.
Another dead one?
You want me to get rid of it for you?
Yes. Yes, please.
As you can see, I have got much to do
and very little time to do it in, so,
can I help you with something, Naya?
Uh, Queen Rosmund wants to speak to you.
Right, well, I'm a little busy.
At once. She's surveying her soldiers near the keep.
Yes, of course. Thank you.
Marshal Wythers, you must redouble your efforts
in discovering the identity
of the traitor who set Dred free.
The Watch is already overworked enough
with the influx of men into the Outpost.
Who knows this Outpost or its people like you, Marshal?
Ask your informants the names of those whose loyalty is suspect.
You want me to spy for you?
I need you to find out who set him free.
Not that you've exactly ever wanted my advice, but...
You're going to give it to me anyway.
Your men have had no time off.
They're exhausted.
They're afraid to ask you for fear of offending
the delicate ears of the Queen.
Hmm. Is that how you feel?
Me?
No.
I've never been afraid to offend anybody,
least of all, a little girl like Your Majesty.
I keep them on duty, Marshal,
because if Garret hasn't stopped him,
Ambassador Dred will go straight to the capital
and return with the full might of the Prime Order.
And your soldiers will join the Prime Order when they arrive
if you don't give them reason to love you.
And don't worry, my son will find Dred.
- My Queen? - Ah, brewer.
The sun sets on another day.
What progress have you made in finding a cure
- for the Plaguelings? - I've only just begun.
And I'm going to need some more infected
test subjects to carry on my research.
My soldiers will bring you as many bodies as you need.
It seems since I made a law against colipsum,
it's more prevalent than ever.
Well, nothing is more enticing than forbidden pleasures.
Hmm. Yes, well, rather than explaining to me why my laws are disobeyed,
how about you enforce them Marshal?
And find me that traitor.
Whatever you say, Your Majesty.
Brewer, have you seen Talon?
I was supposed to meet her here.
- You haven't seen her either? - No.
I'm gonna go and find her and, um,
clean myself up a little bit.
Oh, and, brewer, if you haven't found a cure,
we're all going to fall prey to the Plagueling epidemic
before the Prime Order even get here.
- Did you hear what I said? - Yes. Just find a cure.
He is a strange, strange man.
You have no idea, Your Majesty.
Oh.
You're alive?
I thought I killed you.
Excuse me, do you maybe know what is this place?
Don't make no difference to you since I gotta kill you again.
Munt, leave him! Leave him, leave him.
Sorry about that, Brogan. It's a bit ripe down here.
Munt, this is your new brother Brogan.
I told him to meet us down here.
- New brother? - Uh-huh, mm-hmm.
Welcome to the family, brother!
He's going to be joining our operation,
smuggling colipsum out of the Outpost along with Sill.
- Excuse me? - Uh-huh?
What is this disgusting place?
Oh, my friend, my friend, my friend.
What you are looking at
is the Realm's one and only colipsum farm.
- It's all natural. - Yeah.
Realm-wide distribution.
Munt!
Munt, you've been busy, haven't you?
I picked up another three from the night patrol this morning.
Oh, Munty, you are a good boy, aren't you?
Good boy.
Don't worry, don't worry, don't worry.
You get used to it.
Get used to it.
The more Plagueling bodies we have,
the more colipsum we can grow inside them, right?
Oh, Mum, I almost forgot, a bird came.
Greyskins have another shipment for you.
Uh-huh. All right, well, tell them that we will...
uh, we'll meet them tonight with all my gold.
Wait, you're not sending me out there, are you?
Of course not, you imbecile.
You think I'd give all my gold to those filthy Greyskins?
No, it's just really funny to make them go all the way out there and wait.
Yeah, all right, shut up.
- Get back to work. - Brogan?
Oh. Bye.
You're meant to be the brains of this operation,
so can you act like it?
Talon? Talon, wake up.
Talon?
How long have I been out for?
I don't know. I just came looking for you
and found you like this.
What happened to your head?
- Oh, no. - What?
Guess it wouldn't let her take it from me.
Um, what wouldn't let who take it?
The little blue creature thing in my head.
The one you use to open your portal?
She must have tried to cut it out of me,
but it wouldn't let her.
Oh, no.
They took the Dragman.
Who?
- Who took the Dragman? - A Lu-Qiri.
You summoned another demon?
Talon, you promised you wouldn't do that without me.
- And a Blackblood. - A Blackblood?
Yep, and she has her own demon,
the Dragman, and the name the Dragman translated.
Wait, calm down. Slowly... just turn...
slowly explain exactly what you're talking about.
I thought you were the only Blackblood.
- No. - And how many names were given to you?
One.
But we need the Dragman if we want any more.
We have to save her.
Wait. You think... you think this Blackblood is bad?
- She kidnapped a child. - Do we know that for sure?
What do you mean?
Talon, how much do we know about the Dragman?
Explain.
The little girl only wrote one specific name for you to summon, correct?
Then the Blackblood who appeared
somehow walked the little girl
right out of your door all...
all the way through the Outpost
and right out of the gates, presumably.
And our little friend just went along with it
without causing any kind of scene.
Talon, I don't think we can trust the Dragman.
Do you even know where you're going, Talon?
Lu-Qiri tracks are pretty distinct.
It's going to get dark pretty soon.
How long after sunset do the Plaguelings start appearing?
The tracks end here.
Can't see any more.
Well, you're not gonna be able to see any more once it's dark, are you?
Oh, shut up, Janzo.
So glad you found us.
Where's the Dragman?
Somewhere safe.
You almost pass for human, Blackblood.
- Thank you. - It wasn't a compliment.
- So you're a Blackblood? - Pureborn.
Where are the rest?
All the Blackbloods were killed.
- You're the last? - Who are you?
And why are you here?
I'm here for the same reason my brother was,
to free our people from the prison world they were banished to.
The Blackbloods were not banished, only Lu-Qiri.
There are hundreds of Blackbloods in the Plane of Ashes
on the other side of the portal.
That's not true.
Did you not see me come from the other side?
Am I not a Blackblood?
Now you must do your duty.
Open the portal and help me save our people.
Is that why you kept the Dragman hostage?
To... to summon more of... more of your people?
You're lucky I've let you live, human.
If killing innocent humans is your plan,
then you're not my people.
- No human is innocent. - Talon.
I'm not your enemy, Talon.
- We want the same thing. - And I want the girl back.
Are you all right? What's it doing?
- It's waiting. - For what?
For me.
You commanded it not to kill me.
I need you alive, at least until you give me the Asterkinj.
Oh, and then you'll summon more of your people, will you?
Once you've got that thing from Talon's head?
- Talon, don't! - Why not? It can't kill me.
Oh, jolly good. Then, please,
let it keep beating you up to a pulp.
I have to save the girl.
She's not even here, Talon.
And if what you've just said is true,
then she is safe as long as she's valuable to you for a trade.
Please.
Another time.
Yes. Take the time to think about all this.
You will realize that I'm not the enemy.
Next time we meet, it will be as allies.
I doubt that.
We have orders to escort you directly to the Queen.
Can't you see that this woman
- is in no condition to... - I have my orders.
No, no, I don't need this thing for Talon.
It's important to make an impression, Your Majesty.
Even for your friends.
Gods, what happened? You look absolutely awful.
Oh, don't be like that. Come sit by me. Leave us.
Naya, fetch some tea.
Oh, and get rid of this obnoxious thing.
- You don't have to do that. - Do what?
Act like you're not royalty.
It won't change anything between us.
Please sit, Talon.
Thank you, Naya.
Don't worry, we can serve ourselves.
I'm so glad you're here.
I've been so looking forward to seeing you.
About what?
Well, don't you think it's time
that you put what happened between Garret and I behind you?
You think that's all that's wrong between us?
- That I'm jealous? - Well, isn't it?
- What else have I done? - How about when you saved Dred
so you could execute him yourself?
And then you let him escape.
And now Garrett's been gone for almost a fortnight...
If what I've heard is true, you had another chance
to kill Dred, and you let him go.
You should have gone with Garret to find Dred.
Janzo was dying.
Perhaps he was,
but you had your duty.
- See, there you go. - What?
You act like I'm your closest companion,
your dearest friend,
but really I'm just a weapon with a duty towards you.
Are the two mutually exclusive?
Can't you be both?
I might not be so good at the weapon part now.
Why? What happened?
The Dragman translated a name and I summoned a demon.
And?
Another Blackblood came through the portal, took control of it.
She escaped with the name, the demon, and the Dragman.
You still want to be friends?
Talon, I have a responsibility to this Outpost,
to the whole world, and so do you.
Don't worry.
I'll do whatever I have to to get the Dragman back.
Well, that went well.
How long have you been on duty, soldier?
Since this time last night, Your Majesty.
Give this man one sun cycle of leisure.
When you've had some sleep,
tell the brewer at the Night Shade
that your drinks are on the Queen.
Yes, Your Majesty.
- Just don't drink too much. - Yes, Majesty.
Rider approaching!
- Get him down. - Get him some water.
Thank you.
Where's everyone else, boy?
They're all dead.
All of them? What about Garret?
He is too, sir.
- That can't be true. - He's dead, sir.
I saw the sword myself.
Stabbed right through his heart.
And what did you do? Run?
Leave your commanding officer behind to die?
Well, no, it wasn't like that. He was already dead when I...
Coward!
They killed everyone. There was nothing...
Who did it?
Dred.
And some woman.
- Where are they? - Dun-ebdin.
Don't mean to disturb you, Your Majesty.
I'm sorry for your loss, Marshal.
Your son was a hero to all who knew him.
I know you loved him.
He was lucky to have you.
I just wanted to let you know
that I'll be leaving the Outpost for a few days.
I'm heading out to bring my son's body back.
He deserves to rest here.
I'll, uh... I'll send a squad of soldiers.
I need you here, Marshal.
You're about to go to war.
You need soldiers here right now,
not a tired old copper.
I need both.
But I can see that your mind is set on going.
Yes, it is, Your Majesty.
Bring him home.
Oi!
Where do you think you're going?
Garret needs help.
- Garret's dead. - Yeah, well, I don't believe it.
Yeah, I don't want to believe it either, but it's true.
- I'm going. - You're not going.
I'll collect the body,
and if by some miracle of the gods he's still alive,
I'll bring my boy back.
Yeah, well, I'm still going.
I have to stop Dred.
He's long gone.
That soldier took five days to get here.
The person who did this went in the other direction.
- So what? - So...
it means that bastard is ten days out of here.
Unless you can feed that horse
some of that magic blood of yours,
you haven't got a chance of catching up.
- Then watch me. - Dred is already at the capital by now.
You'll never get anywhere near him.
Then I'll fight my way in.
I'm sure you will, Blackblood.
But not even you will get past stone walls,
steel doors, and an army of Red Guard.
And once you're dead trying,
Dred will come back here with his army
and attack this bloody Outpost
and kill Gwynn and everyone in it!
Well, I have to do something.
What you have to do is stay here,
figure out how to summon up that damn army of things
or whatever they are,
and help Gwynn defeat the Prime Order once and for all.
I hate it when you're right.
I'm always right.
Hyah! Hyah!
Janzo, bring me another round.
You've had more than enough, my love.
I've seen whole regiments drink less.
Am I still conscious?
More or less.
Then bring me another.
I refuse to fight with you another minute.
You look terrible.
Thank you. So do you.
Janzo, we're going to need something stronger than ale.
And close the doors. I don't want anyone coming in.
You and I are going to play a game of Octor
until we can't see any longer.
Gwynn, I'm sorry about Garret.
Yes. Everyone's sorry.
It was your loss, too.
You know, Talon, you're the only real friend I have left.
Well, I don't envy you that.
- What? - Me...
...being all you have left.
Ouch.
Yes. Yes, a true friend wouldn't beat me so quickly.
What am I going to do now?
Dred has probably gone straight to the Three
and informed them of our rebellion.
In 20 days, we could have 50,000 elite Covenant soldiers at our gates.
Do they really care that much about the Outpost?
It's not the Outpost, Naya. It's me.
I threaten the very legitimacy of the Prime Order.
Without a royal to follow,
they can't bow down to the Three.
I threaten their very existence.
Then you must hide.
That accomplishes nothing.
I must fight.
But we can only muster 3,000,
mostly untrained and ill-equipped,
and now without a commander.
The regional governors were once barons and baronesses,
proud families that have been forced to give up their titles
and swear allegiance to the Prime Order.
Of course.
Perhaps many of them have not forgotten,
and would be happy to see the Prime Order overthrown
and replaced by a royal heir.
We invite the barons,
and our uprising will be revealed
- to every corner of the Realm. - Well, you just said yourself
that Dred will tell them anyway.
Maybe Dred won't make it.
I can't risk exposing myself.
Your Majesty, need I remind you
you have a spy in these walls.
They will discover your treasons anyway.
What do you suggest I do?
Send out riders to every former noble, calling them to arms.
Dare them to stand with you against the Prime Order tyrants.
Maybe you're right.
Send for the scribes.
So you're the Dragman?
You're just a child.
My mother was Maylock of Gellhall.
She was taught the Purpose by her mother, Aurenya of Gellhall.
So it's been passed through generations.
Yes, I knew her mother, Iothina.
You would have to be over 300 years old.
Time is not the same in the Plane of Ashes.
There's no sun to measure days.
No moon to measure seasons.
Who knows how long we have suffered there?
I'll do whatever it takes to return my people home.
It's time for a Pureborn to take the Asterkinj.
If Talon refuses to pass it on to you?
You cannot take it away from her.
She will give it to me.
Her only decision will be
whether it happens the easy way or...
it happens the painful way.
- Synced and corrected by VitoSilans - -- www.Addic7ed.com --