RuneScape Forum Archive | The Fate of Romeo

Darelzel

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"Foolish?" King Roald glared at Draul Leptoc. "You have served the city well these past ten years, Draul Leptoc, so I will forgive the insulting way you phrased your last statement. But I assure you that I had good reasons for inviting you all here. For far too long, the Gontamues and the Leptocs have been trapped in their pointless quarrels. But now, the city is facing such dangers that all our differences must be put aside. It is my wish that you may put aside your petty feud, and work together for the good of Varrock."

"Petty?!?" Draul Leptoc exclaimed. "The Gontamues have given the Leptocs nothing but grief. Romeo's grandfather helped finance the expansion of the Cooking Guild, taking away land that belongs rightfully to the Leptocs. And Romeo's father was once in love with my wife, before she wisely ditched that fool and married me. He never got over it, and constantly persecuted me. He made sure my every political proposal was defeated, and that I never reclaimed my grandfather's land."

"So, is that why you killed him?!?" Romeo exclaimed. The venom in his voice was clear.

The other guests present gasped.

"Romeo, I know you blame him for your father's death, but you must not..."

Father Lawrence never finished the sentence, for Romeo continued in his speech. If looks could kill, Draul Leptoc would have died right there.

"No, I knew all along it was not a hunting accident. Oh, sure, it happened while you two and Sir Prysin's father were hunting, but it was no accident. No, I suspected something was wrong with your story, even as young as I was back then. Really, a reknowned Hunter such as yourself 'accidentally' injuring my father, and his being torn to shreds by a pair of sabre-toothed kyatts ... I am surprised anyone believed that. What's next, Leptoc? Are you going to claim that the fire that consumed my home and killed my mother was a Firemaking accident?"

(continued)

04-Oct-2010 17:04:50 - Last edited on 28-Mar-2011 22:13:54 by Darelzel

Darelzel

Posts: 3,587 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

"You ... you have no proof!" Draul Leptoc exclaimed. "Besides, it was the Dark Wizards and their demon-summoning that caused that fire."

"Only because my old home was so far in East Varrock you couldn't pin that one on the barbarians." Romeo said coldly. "Your anti-barbarian vendetta stretches back for years and years, all because you want a few extra pieces of land."

Romeo advanced on Draul Leptoc, glaring angrily. "I suspected at least some of this, but I had no proof until three hours ago."

"Yes, three hours ago, I met with Juliet at Varrock Church. Naturally, I wished to offer her my sympathies and comfort her in her time of loss. And, of course, to take the opportunity to rekindle our great and glorious romance. Much to my surprise, she was more than happy to give me a great kiss right there in front of the congregation. And that was the first time I've ever seen the congregation ... both of them ... awake and paying attention, let me tell you."

"Anyway, shortly afterward, she gave me this book. The secret diary of Draul Leptoc. In it, my friend, you lay your soul bare, confessing to all the horrible deeds you've done these past two decades. Where shall I begin? Should I start with how you made sure all my food was drugged so that my brain would be scrambled and I'd be confused, forgetful, and denser than a dozen village idiots? And how, after I was stupid enough, you no longer had to bribe guards to arrange drugged food and I'd willingly eat it on my own?"

He waved a hardcover book in front of him for all to see as he strolled back to the front of his table. Draul Leptoc's expression betrayed recognition. The guests looked back and forth between Romeo and Leptoc.

Juliet spoke up. "I found this diary in a secret compartment at the back of my father's desk. When I read of what he'd done to poor Romeo, and how he was responsible for Romeo's idiocy, that's when I made my way to Varrock Church."

(continued)

04-Oct-2010 17:05:02 - Last edited on 04-Oct-2010 17:27:01 by Darelzel

Darelzel

Posts: 3,587 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

"My cousin's death gave me a good enough reason to be there. Officially, I was there to pray for her soul and light a candle in her memory. But in fact, I knew Romeo would be there to meet me, and finally we would be together."

She turned on Draul Leptoc. "And Romeo hasn't even gone into half the horrible things you've done, or the horrible things you're planning on doing! Did he mention how you were planning on hiring mercenaries dressed as barbarians to murder Horvik, the armormaster -- supposedly in a 'territorial' dispute over who had the right to sell helmets in this area? Or how you were even planning on having the king and queen assassinated by your mercenaries if the king didn't use the other murders you arranged as an excuse to go to war against the barbarians?"

Draul Leptoc stood there, speechless. He had been caught off guard.

"It's all here, in what is easily identifiable as Draul Leptoc's handwriting." Romeo said with a satisfied smirk as he casually displayed the opened diary to King Roald. "Just compare it with all the documents he has written or signed over the years."

With that, he tossed the book to one of the guards. "Give this to Captain Rovin," Romeo said. "It has all the evidence we need to prove this man guilty of high treason."

As the guard exited to search for Captain Rovin, King Roald's gaze fell on Draul Leptoc. "Are all these allegations true?"

Draul Leptoc turned from Romeo, to Juliet, to King Roald. His face was red with anger. For a moment, he had no words, and just stood there sputtering incoherently.

"B - b- betrayed by my own daughter!" he growled. "Curse you! Curse all of you!"

"So you do not deny it?" Roald asked.

"Why should I bother?" Draul Leptoc spat. "Now that I have nothing to lose, I can tell you to your face what I think of you. You, King Roald, are a woeful incompetent who's too stupid to hire guards above level 21, and a failure at keeping Misthalin safe."

(continued)

04-Oct-2010 17:05:14 - Last edited on 04-Oct-2010 17:29:56 by Darelzel

Darelzel

Posts: 3,587 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

"Were it not for passing adventurers coming to your rescue, Varrock would have been burned to the ground long ago! You couldn't be more foolish even if I fed you that drug I fed to Romeo all these years!"

"But mark my words! I have heard rumblings from the Barbarian Village. I have heard their chieftain Gunthor may be willing to go to war against the magic users soon enough. The barbarians may finally be ready to leave their encampment and lay waste to Misthalin! And when they do, don't say I didn't warn you!"

----

The tramp paused, for breath, and took a drink.

"I don't get it." I said. "If Draul Leptoc did all those things, why'd he write them down in a diary? Wouldn't he be worried that someone would find it and use it against him?"

"He thought the secret compartment in his desk was a good enough hiding place for it." the tramp replied. "Besides, he had all these deep, dark secrets inside him that he couldn't tell anyone about without being executed. I suppose he had to tell someone, even if that 'someone' was nothing more than a book that only he was meant to see. By writing down all his secrets, it probably kept him from blurting them out in anger one day."

"That makes sense." I said. "So, what happened next? I'm guessing Romeo and Juliet were rewarded for exposing Leptoc's treachery, and they got married and ran off to some far off island."

"Well ... that's not quite what happened." the tramp said. "Though it'd be a good other version to tell the youngsters. But you, my friend, are a hardened adventurer. You've seen the world, and all the horrible things people do to one another. You know the truth behind the plague of West Ardougne, and have seen the pettiness of the Sinclairs. You've seen lies, war, and murder aplenty..."

"Yes, get to the point." I said.

"The point is, since you're a hardened adventurer, you're prepared for the story of what really happened next." the tramp said. "Let me resume."

(continued)

04-Oct-2010 17:05:25 - Last edited on 04-Oct-2010 17:31:43 by Darelzel

Darelzel

Posts: 3,587 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

----

King Roald stared at the treacherous nobleman. The face of Varrock's reigning monarch betrayed no emotion. "Draul Leptoc, you are now charged with treason against the throne of Varrock. Your lands and possessions are now forfeited to the Crown. And it is my decree that your house and your belongings become the property of Gunthor the Brave, chieftain of Barbarian Village. I give this to him as a peace offering."

With this final insult, Draul Leptoc's eyes crossed. He seemed ready to utter another series of curses, when there was an unexpected interruption.

Cordero, the cook, stumbled into the dining hall. He looked to be extremely ill. "Your majesty ... I have failed you."

Romeo, in particular, stared in shock. "This ... this wasn't supposed to happen!" he blurted out. "You weren't supposed to drink the wine!"

Cordero then collapsed to the floor, and then lay still. Father Lawrence and one of the guards rushed to examine the fallen cook. "He's dead." the guard said. Father Lawrence made a sign, and muttered a prayer.

Queen Ellamaria shrieked. "Poison!"

The guests looked on, in various expressions of horror. Ambassador Ferrnook was looking especially fearful.

Draul Leptoc appeared just as surprised as the other guests. "This was not MY doing!" he said.

"Of course it wasn't! It was HIM!" Squire Greco leaped from his chair and pointed at Romeo.

"Me?" Romeo asked. "What makes you think I have anything to do with this? Leptoc's the only murderer in this room!"

"Then why did you say the cook wasn't supposed to drink the wine if you didn't know something was wrong?" Squire Greco said, in a suspicious tone. His tone, however, was weak, and he appeared shaky.

Romeo started to speak, but stopped. He shrugged, and then said "All right, you caught me. I guess my brain hadn't fully recovered after all."

(continued)

04-Oct-2010 17:05:39 - Last edited on 04-Oct-2010 17:35:16 by Darelzel

Darelzel

Posts: 3,587 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

He turned to face the crowd. "Yes, I confess. I have put poison in your glasses. King Roald, you and the queen have only a few minutes left to live at the most, so I hope you have made peace with Saradomin and all that. Father Lawrence, be prepared to give them their last rites."

Queen Ellamaria began gagging, attempting to throw up her drink. She was in full-blown panic mode. "Help me! Call a doctor! Hurry!"

"Oh, it's far too late for that." Romeo said smugly. "The poison I used is slow-working, and how long it takes to work varies depending on the person, but you should be dead in about seven minutes from now..."

Squire Greco, who had been looking seriously ill, fell back onto his seat, and then collapsed against his table.

"Maybe less." Romeo added. "Ah, I expected that squire to outlive Aeonisig and Prysin. I guess I was wrong."

"But why, Romeo?" Juliet asked, in a pleading tone. "We were free from my father, and could do what we pleased. Why did you do this?"

"Simple." Romeo replied. "I wanted more. I figured that since I was on a roll, I might as well get a few other enemies out of the way. Sir Prysin's father, I suspect, was paid by your father to hide the truth behind my father's death. So I decided to poison the King and Queen along with Prysin, that squire, and that annoying fool Raispher, and plant samples of the poison in the Apothecary building along with personal belongings of Father Lawrence and the cook."

"You were going to frame ME for poisoning the king?" Father Lawrence exclaimed, gaping in astonishment. "Your longtime confidant? Your friend for all these many years?"

"Bah!" Romeo glared at him. "With friends like you, I do not need enemies. Surely you could have figured out that your foolish Cadava potion plan would not work because of my diminished mental capacities! And the Apothecary was all too willing to go along with such nonsense. For keeping me from my fair Juliet, you both deserved to pay."

(continued)

04-Oct-2010 17:05:51 - Last edited on 04-Oct-2010 17:38:04 by Darelzel

Darelzel

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At this, the lord and lady from Ardougne, who had remained silent throughout most of this, began shaking and appearing sick.

Romeo did not notice, and continued. "Anyway, I've been caught now, and I will probably be executed alongside Leptoc. So you're spared, 'Lather Fawrence'. Your time can be spent now saying prayers for the soon to be deceased rulers of Varrock. They're done for..."

He noticed the collapsing Ardougne nobles for the first time as they fell against their table and lay still. Romeo's expression turned to one of horror.

"...unless the glasses were switched."

Romeo himself began to look ill. "Oh no... no. That fool switched the glasses around!"

"Oh, Romeo!" Juliet cried out. "You have poisoned yourself, you fool. You poor, dear, fool."

Her tone was not unkind. She ran to embrace the dying man. "You should have gone to a doctor ... or the Apothecary. Maybe they could have helped you..."

"I had too much pride ... to trust the Apothecary after what he did to us." Romeo said weakly.

"But I risked so much for you. You shouldn't have kept secrets from me." Juliet said softly. "Not after Phillipa..."

"It does not matter now, my love." Romeo said, looking more ill by the minute. He began to spasm, and backed a few steps away from Juliet.

"Adieu, adieu. Parting is such sweet sorrow." Romeo said, looking more like the confused romantic fool many adventurers had come to know in Varrock Square. "To die, to sleep. To sleep, perchance to dream, aye there's the rub."

Remaining standing only on willpower alone, he turned to face Juliet for the last time. He blew her a kiss. "Thus with a kiss ... I die." He collapsed to the floor, and was still.

Juliet screamed. "ROMEO!"

She ran to Romeo, kneeled down, and checked his pulse. Finding none, she broke down into tears. "Oh, Romeo! You poor, brain-damaged romantic fool. After all I did for you..."

(continued)

04-Oct-2010 17:06:07 - Last edited on 04-Oct-2010 17:40:39 by Darelzel

Darelzel

Posts: 3,587 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

She stared at the rest. "Yes. I killed Phillipa. Right after I discovered my father's diary. I knew right away what had happened, and at that moment I hated Phillipa for what she had done. She knew all along how my father had been drugging Romeo all these years, and knew to be in the crypt at just the right moment. She led Romeo away from the crypt before I could awake, and made him believe I was dead. She deserved to die!"

"So I killed her. I surprised her on the west balcony, shoving a spear from the barbarian village into her chest. I didn't even have to shove too hard. Not only did the spear go into her, but the momentum carried her off the balcony right away. My father knew, but this helped him in his plans so he planted the barbarian helmet just for good measure."

"So I killed my cousin, and I betrayed my father ... but it has all been for naught. Romeo is dead, and now, I must follow." She grabbed the dagger from the fallen squire.

"Oh, happy dagger! This be thy sheath." She then stabbed herself. She fell beside Romeo, and died.

King Roald broke the momentary silence. "I believe it is clear that only five drinks were poisoned, and only one of them went to the intended recipient. Nonetheless, we shall order the physician to take a look at us to make sure."

Queen Ellamaria was still nervous, and not sure whether or not to sigh in relief.

"Guards, remove the bodies from the dining hall." King Roald proclaimed. "All but the perpetrators of these horrible deeds shall be given a proper burial. Take Draul Leptoc away and imprison him until he can be given the execution he deserves. This dinner is now at an end."

---
"And that's what happened." the tramp concluded. "The next morning, Draul Leptoc was taken out beyond the north gate of Varrock for his execution. With King Roald, Captain Rovin, Sir Prysin, and a few others as witnesses, Leptoc was beheaded."

(continued)

04-Oct-2010 17:06:19 - Last edited on 04-Oct-2010 17:44:05 by Darelzel

Darelzel

Posts: 3,587 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

"Then, his remains, along with the bodies of Romeo and Juliet, were taken away by Captain Rovin's scouts to be disposed of somewhere in the Wilderness. The way I heard it, the bodies were all dumped in the stream of lava near the eastern Chaos Temple. You know, the one just southeast of the Graveyard of Shadows. And that was pretty much that."

I paused, trying to take in what I had heard.

"I can't believe it!" I exclaimed. "Romeo ... Juliet ... and the others, all dead. And all this happened while I was away adventuring?"

The tramp smiled."Lass, I know what you're thinking. Adventurers like you have been on so many quests they come to think nothing happens at all in the world unless they're there to make it happen. Yes, your actions have changed the course of many lives, but do you think we just wander around doing nothing until we need you for a quest? Nay, lass, we've got lives of our own, and they go on whether you're there to see it happen or not."

"But ... why wasn't anyone making a fuss about it?" I asked. "I mean, Romeo and the Leptocs were around for so long, and now they're gone. You'd think this whole thing would be the subject of much gossip around here."

"Ah, that's because King Roald kept a tight lid on the whole matter." the tramp said. "It would be bad publicity for the King if word spread that one of his employees and four of his guests, counting Romeo, had been poisoned at a dinner, so he ordered that the whole story must not be given to anyone outside the palace except the victims' families."

"Also, after this latest tragedy, King Roald wanted to close the book on the whole Leptoc/Gontamue mess once and for all. So Leptoc's execution was held in a place where there'd be few onlookers, and this whole business was hushed up."

(continued)

04-Oct-2010 17:11:28 - Last edited on 04-Oct-2010 17:45:09 by Darelzel

Darelzel

Posts: 3,587 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

"As far as some of the townspeople are concerned, one day Romeo and the Leptocs were here, the next they weren't. All they knew was that they had some sort of falling out with the king, and that it was best not to ask what happened."

"Of course, one of the guards told me the whole story anyway." the tramp concluded. "But he told me to keep it hush-hush, and only tell someone who could be trusted if they asked about it enough. Since you have saved the king and the city before more than once, you clearly fit the bill."

"Where is that guard now? Maybe I could ask him about this." I said.

"I'm afraid you can't. Just this morning, he was killed by a lesser adventurer looking to train his fighting skills." the tramp said sadly. "I lose a lot of guard friends that way."

I didn't know what to say. "This is all so ... sad."

"Aye, it is." the tramp agreed. "But if there's a lesson to be learned from this whole sordid mess, it's that evil begets more evil. Were it not for Draul Leptoc's schemes, which in turn were brought about by his family's pointless feud with Romeo's, Romeo and Juliet could have turned out to be better people than they were. Instead, they ended up causing more tragedy."

He paused, before continuing. "But the Gontamues and the Leptocs are gone now, and Varrock is probably better off without them. Now their vicious cycle of evil is over, and we only have to worry about external threats."

"I suppose..." I said. "It still seems ... strange."

"That it does. But life goes on. In time, most of Varrock will have forgotten them, and newer adventurers will never know them. While heroes who die battling an evil Mahjarrat or something get statues erected in their honor, traitors and murderers get no memorials. I'd be surprised if you found anyone willing to talk about them at all."

(continued)

04-Oct-2010 17:11:39 - Last edited on 04-Oct-2010 17:46:45 by Darelzel

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The Fate of Romeo