RuneScape Forum Archive | The Fate of Romeo

Darelzel

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---
Roddeck looked a bit troubled as he faced the angry group before him. "I knew this day would come." he said with a sigh.

"If you knew, why did you not do anything?" Cordero asked. "You know what we want. We want our jobs back, or new jobs."

"And we have determined that YOU are in our way." Monlum growled.

"Is that so?" Roddeck replied. "Are you sure you are not reading too much into coincidences?"

"Don't insult our intelligence." Monlum hissed. "You show up out of nowhere, and the very same day we're told our services are no longer required. Do you know we are violating a restraining order by merely being anywhere within fifty feet of Lumbridge? Do you know that we have been unable to find work since?"

"As a matter of fact, I do know. But we cannot discuss this here. Let us meet in that abandoned mine tunnel on the east side of the bridge, north of the house ruined by the goblins." Roddeck replied.

"I know where that is." Gee replied. "It's the abandoned Lumbridge mine. I was there when it collapsed. Before Sir Vant slew the three headed dragon. Before you came along and hatched ANOTHER dragon in your basement."

"Fine. Meet me there." With that, Roddeck teleported away.

"Juliet, I have a bad feeling about this." Romeo whispered.

"I know. But we cannot turn back now." Juliet replied. "I am afraid of what Monlun might do if we were to try to leave."
----
"The group could have easily turned down Roddeck's invitation, but they all knew they would not get anywhere if they just left." the woman continued. "So they went to the mine anyway. Much to their surprise, they found the tunnel open. Monlun and Gee, who had been there when it collapsed in the first place, were surprised to find that the place was as in as good a shape as it was before the three-headed dragon arrived."

"Not that I'd know. I came to Gielinor by way of Tutorial Island." I remarked.

"Anyway, Roddeck was there, as he promised." the woman said.

04-Oct-2010 17:19:16 - Last edited on 05-Aug-2013 17:05:22 by Darelzel

Darelzel

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

----
Once everyone was inside the wide passage, Roddeck spoke. "Good. Now we can debate this without curious onlookers listening in. There are a number of good reasons for my assuming your positions, but they are too sensitive to discuss in public."

"Stuff and nonsense!" Cadmus the crafter growled.

"Oh, and pray tell just what ARE these good reasons?" the Prayer tutor asked. Even she, the most serene of the lot, was starting to lose her patience.

"For one thing, your methods of tutoring were too cumbersome." Roddeck began. "Every time you were able to give someone new information because they'd advanced their skills, they had to teleport back to Lumbridge to hear it from you. My way of communicating them from afar is much more efficient."

"That's a load of camel dung!" Monlum growled. "Why weren't WE given this ability instead? The Slayer Masters have been able to do this ever since they first started giving tasks to adventurers. But do WE get such an ability? No! You have to show up and hog all the tutoring for yourself!"

"And WHAT have you done to the poor Lumbridge Guide?" Julian demanded. "Why is he only allowed to give out barely a tenth of his former knowledge? Who are you really? WHAT are you?"

Juliet, to her credit, attempted to defuse the situation. "Mr. Roddeck, sir. I do not believe you are unreasonable. But my friend Cordero has been unable to find work ever since he was dismissed. If it is within your power, can you please give him another job?"

Roddeck stared at Juliet. "It is nice of you to speak up for your friend. But still, I act under orders whose sources I am not allowed to name. And unless they grant me permission, I cannot help any of you."

"Not allowed to name?" Monlum growled. "That's it! We've had enough of your non-answers! You may claim to be simply an old gentleman who happens to know lots of stuff, but we know what you are. You're some sort of sorcerer, maybe even a Mahjarrat!"

04-Oct-2010 17:19:28 - Last edited on 05-Aug-2013 17:09:03 by Darelzel

Darelzel

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

"A Mahjarrat?" Roddeck laughed. "If I were a Mahjarrat, don't you believe I would have better things to do than give advice to new adventurers and instigate Cryptic Clues events?"

"I don't CARE what you are!" Monlum snarled, raising his pickaxe. "Since you will not give us our jobs back, you must DIE!"

Monlum charged at Roddeck, who raised his cane in defense. Roddeck swung the cane and struck Monlum in the face with surprising strength. His skull shattered, Monlum fell dead at the advisor's feet.

"You killed him!" shouted Cordero. Romeo and Juliet stood there in stunned silence.

"Goodbye." Roddeck said. And then he teleported away.

A wall of energy suddenly blocked the entrance to the mine. And then, there was a rumbling. Before anyone could do anything, huge boulders fell from the ceiling. The prayer tutor, Julian, and Gee were instantly crushed.

Romeo barely had time to say "Juliet!" before a rockslide fell on him. Juliet cried out, and then she, Cordero, and the rest were all buried under tons of rubble.
----
"And no one made it out of that mine alive." the woman concluded. "Oh sure, people heard the rumbling. But no one else even noticed that the mine had briefly re-opened. Anyway, if you go there now, you'll find it looking much the same as it did the last you saw it."

"And what about Phillipa, and Leptoc? What about the census?"

"Well, next thing we knew, Romeo and Juliet's names disappeared from the census. Draul Leptoc somehow forgot he even had a daughter named Juliet. Phillipa forgot Juliet, too."

"But if no one other than Roddeck survived, how do you know all this?" I asked.

"It came to me in a dream," the woman said. "Last night, Juliet appeared to me in a dream, and told me the whole story. She faded from my dream soon afterward, begging that no one forget her, or her Romeo."

"So you and Juliet were friends, then?" I asked.

04-Oct-2010 17:19:41 - Last edited on 05-Aug-2013 17:11:29 by Darelzel

Darelzel

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

"Oh, we chatted every now and then." the woman said. "Anyway, Draul Leptoc felt this terrible sadness come over him, and he didn't even know why. Looking around his house, he didn't even remember who the bedroom upstairs was set up for. Phillipa couldn't help him, and was so confused. So they both left that house. Leptoc left the hunting trophies behind because they provided him with no solace. He had this dreadful sense of loss, and felt maybe a change of scenery could make him feel better. And that's the whole story."

"I don't know. It seems so ... anticlimatic." I said.

"Why? Because they did not get any romantic last words like in the story you told us?" the blonde woman asked.

"I don't know. It just seemed like your story wasn't even about them, and they just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time." I replied.

"It happens, sometimes. Not everyone can die as a hero, or as a villain. Anyway, I believe that's the true story of what happened to them." the blonde woman replied.

The thief just made a 'drink' motion with his hand, to imply that he didn't believe a word of it.

"So," I asked. "Has anyone heard any other stories they'd like to share with me?"
No one raised their hands, or looked up.

"Then I guess I'll be going, then. Thanks for your help." I told them.

And then I left the Jolly Boar Inn. I thought about the stories I had just heard. Were any of them more likely than the one I had heard from the tramp?

I realized it would probably not be worthwhile confronting Roddeck with the blonde woman's story unless I had more evidence. Otherwise, I would almost surely seem foolish. Granted, there was a lot I did not know about the mysterious advisor, but perhaps his story could wait for some other time.

For now, I had one more place I wished to visit on my quest for answers. And that was the Dancing Donkey pub.

--
End Act Two. Act Three begins below.

04-Oct-2010 17:19:53 - Last edited on 05-Aug-2013 17:13:38 by Darelzel

Darelzel

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

The Fate of Romeo and Juliet: Act Three

The Dancing Donkey was Varrock's smallest pub, located in the southeast corner of Varrock. Hardly anyone ever went there unless they were on business. Pub regulars Chancy, Davinci, and Hops had the place to themselves most of the time.

Today was no exception. Chancy the gambler, Davinci the artist, and Hops the drunkard were in their usual positions, and the bartender stood behind the counter. Aside from the above, there was no one else present.

Anyway, since shady business also frequently occured in this pub, I figured the regulars here might also know a few things they shouldn't.

So I went to the bartender and asked "Do you know anything about the disappearance of Romeo and Juliet, or of the Leptocs?"

"Why do you want to know?" the bartender asked.

"You see, they've been fixtures in Varrock ever since I first came to Gielinor. Now they've vanished, and it seemed no one wanted to talk about them anymore. Then I found one person who told me a story. But then later I found three more people who told me three other, completely different stories." I said.

"Interesting. So what did they tell you?"

"I guess I'll start with the tramp's story, since that's the one I heard first." I said. And so I told the tramp's story.

"That's ... pretty dramatic." the bartender said, after a pause. "And you believe the story?"

"At first, yes, but there were a few things I found odd. The tramp couldn't really give me a source that would back up his story, and there were some things that didn't quite seem right. After I helped Dororan and Gudrun, I started getting curious again, and asked about at the Jolly Boar Inn."

So I repeated the Black Knight's story, the thief's story, and the drunken blonde woman's story. "So you see, four stories, all mutually exclusive. And I don't know who to believe."

"Well, I can tell you a story, too." the bartender replied. "I happen to know the real story, told from a very reliable source."

04-Oct-2010 17:20:07 - Last edited on 05-Aug-2013 17:16:27 by Darelzel

Darelzel

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

"Really? Not a guard who conveniently got killed a few hours later, or a friend who 'mysteriously disappeared', or a dream that might be a drunken fantasy?" I asked.

"Well, the lady I heard it from sounded like she really knew what she was talking about." the bartender replied. "But I'm getting ahead of myself. Want to hear it?"

"Sure, why not?" I said.

"It all began when Romeo was walking back to Varrock Square after seeing Father Lawrence." the bartender began.

"Wait, I've heard this one. It's where he stumbled upon that Saradomist-Zamorakist conspiracy, right?" I asked.

"Well, not quite. He DID stumble on something, but that's where the similiarity to that thief's story ends." the bartender replied.

"Anyway, just as he was about to pass by the manhole, he noticed the flower gardens of Varrock palace on the other side of the wall, and thought of Phillipa. He was, at the time, still seeing Phillipa since he believed Juliet was dead. Anyway, he thought of going to ask Treznor the gardener if Queen Ellamaria could spare a few flowers."

"He turned in the direction of the palace, but Romeo was not paying attention to where he was going, and walked straight into the open manhole. Worst of all, he tripped over a log a woodcutter had dropped near the manhole, and fell headfirst into the sewer."

"Ouch." I said, in sympathy.

"Luckily, Treznor and Father Lawrence heard him cry out as he fell. Father Lawrence called for a physician, and soon Romeo was lifted out of the sewer by the guards. Thankfully, Romeo was not killed instantly by the fall, but he did suffer from head trauma. Father Lawrence soon had him taken to the Apothecary to see if anything could be done to heal the damage."

And as he spoke, I once again found myself almost transported to the scene.
----
"Hmm..." the Apothecary said. "I've just gone over the physician's report. It seems that our friend here had considerable brain damage before his accident with the sewer today."

04-Oct-2010 17:20:46 - Last edited on 05-Aug-2013 17:19:21 by Darelzel

Darelzel

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"Really?" Father Lawrence asked. "What sort of damage?"

"It's just the physician's guess, but he seems to believe that at some point Romeo ingested a drink that was stale beer mixed with mushrooms and Captain Braindeath's 'rum'. The combination led to the, ahem, cluelessness and foggy-headedness he has displayed for the last few years." the Apothecary replied.

Father Lawrence looked surprised. "I ... I should have known something was wrong. He always was a bit of a romantic fool, but then overnight he seemed to be becoming ... well, extremely dense. I'm not sure if there's a nice way to put it. He became prone to malapropisms and spoonerisms, and sometimes even got my name and Juliet's name wrong even thought it's clear he cares for us greatly. And, I am afraid, I should have remembered the problems with his short-term memory before persuading that adventurer to go along with the Cadava potion plan..."

"There is good news, however." the Apothecary said. "I believe the damage done is reversible. I believe I can mix a potion that will restore his mental capacity not only to the way it was before the accident, but to its state prior to drinking that horrid drink."

"You can?" Father Lawrence looked hopeful. "Than do it at once. Romeo's pitful, confused condition has been the cause of so much heartbreak. Long have I been waiting for the chance to atone to Juliet for that dreadful misunderstanding."
----
"Well, it took a while to get all the ingredients together, but soon the Apothecary had the potion ready." the bartender continued.

"Did they have to send someone on a quest to get all the ingredients together?" I asked.

The bartender laughed. "Nah, the ingredients were easy enough to find without getting any adventurers involved. It just took a while to make the potion, that's all. Anyway, after the potion was made, the Apothecary gave it to Romeo."
----

"Oh, my head..." Romeo stirred. "What happened to me? I feel so..."

04-Oct-2010 17:21:01 - Last edited on 05-Aug-2013 17:22:28 by Darelzel

Darelzel

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Romeo stopped, and then suddenly rose up. "Juliet!" he shouted. "Oh, I am fortune's fool!"

"Romeo..." Father Lawrence began.

Romeo interrupted. "Oh, I see it all now. How my brain was so clouded. But now the fog has lifted, and I see where I have erred. Father Lawrence, I am sorry that your plan to reunite me with Juliet failed. But now I see what you and that adventurer were trying to tell me. Juliet, dear Juliet, I have disappointed her so. But there is still time to make amends."

He rose to his feet, and faced Father Lawrence. "Father Lawrence, I will need your help. I believe that working together instead of seperately, we can devise a plan that will work. There must be no errors in communication, and no more potions. First, I need you to write a letter explaining to Juliet just what is going on. Then deliver it in person. If her father meets you, tell him you're asking for donations to the church. He's gullible in that regard, and you should be able to get past him and deliver the message to Juliet with no further problems."

----
"And so Father Lawrence did his part in the plan." the bartender continued. "It went off without a hitch. Draul Leptoc did wonder just why Father Lawrence was visiting him at home, but otherwise did not interfere. Juliet recieved the message, explaining what had happened to Romeo. And so she waited at the balcony that night, after everyone else had gone to sleep."

"And sure enough..."
----

Romeo climbed the ladder that he had placed against the balcony, and met with Juliet. "At last, we meet again, my love. You have recieved my letter explaining everything?"

"I have. Romeo, I am so glad you have been cured of your ... confusion." Juliet said, a bit awkwardly as she still was trying to take all of the information in. "O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?"

04-Oct-2010 17:21:13 - Last edited on 05-Aug-2013 17:24:26 by Darelzel

Darelzel

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"You know, now that my mind has been restored, I realize I have been perpetuating a common mistake." Romeo replied. "The phrase 'wherefore art thou' does not mean 'where are you', but why are you'. I wonder how many of the adventurers at Varrock Square tried to call me on that."

"It matters not, Romeo, for we have been united at last."

"Deny thy father and refuse thy name," Romeo replied. "Or if thou will not, but be sworn my love, and I'll no longer be a Gontamue."

"Uh ... for some reason I think that was my line." Juliet said. "I'm not sure why."

"Come! We must away!" Romeo called out. And Juliet climbed down the ladder after Romeo.

Phillipa, however, was observing all this through the window. And she did not look pleased at all.

----
"So they ran to Varrock Library, where Father Lawrence and Reldo were waiting." the bartender continued.
----

Reldo the librarian tried to take in the unusual request he had just heard. "So let me get this straight. You want me to edit out all mention of either of you in this nine year old edition of the Varrock Census, is that correct?"

"Yes." said Juliet.

"Indeed. We are here to see about having our names changed." Romeo replied. "When Juliet's father finds out that she has eloped with me, he will be most furious."

"Indeed he will. I fear for what may happen to Romeo should he find us." Juliet replied.

"We do not want Draul Leptoc to be sending any adventurers out to find us. If he wishes to find us, he had best do it himself. Removing our names from the census will cover our tracks. He will find it hard to convince people to assist him in finding people if there is no evidence that those people actually exist." Romeo explained.

"I am afraid we must move quickly." Father Lawrence said. "I cannot marry the two of you in my church. Already, a fuss is being raised in West Varrock. Juliet, I believe your father and your cousin know you are gone already."

04-Oct-2010 17:21:25 - Last edited on 05-Aug-2013 17:26:33 by Darelzel

Darelzel

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"We must make haste! Reldo, can you comply with our request?" Romeo asked.

"I can. But you will need new names. I believe I know someone in Lumbridge who can help you with that." Reldo replied.

"We know." Juliet replied. "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

"We are ready." Romeo replied. "Henceforth I never shall be Romeo."

"But you must change your appearances as well." Reldo replied. "You are already dressed in new clothes you have obtained from Thessalia on the way here, but that is not enough. Your hairstyles, hair colors, and maybe even further than that must be changed if you wish to avoid those who would search for you."

Father Lawrence nodded. "Ah, yes. We must travel to Lumbridge, and then to Falador. Does anyone have at least three teleport tablets on them?"

----
"As it turned out, Reldo found a few that Surok Magis had left behind. They were worthless to Surok due to the attempts to keep him in the library, so he had discarded them. So the three of them teleported to Lumbridge first, where they met a man who gave them a whole list of new names for Romeo and Juliet to go by." the bartender continued.

"It was then that they teleported to Falador, where they met with the Hairdresser and possibly the Makeover Mage. After that, Father Lawrence married the couple in Port Sarim's church, and the two of them, with their new appearances and new names, sailed away on a ship leaving for some island or another. Father Lawrence returned to Varrock, and denied knowing just where Romeo and Juliet had gone. And indeed, they did not even tell him just where they were sailing away to on that ship." the bartender continued.

"What about Draul Leptoc, and Phillipa?" I asked.

"Oh, Leptoc was furious when Phillipa woke him and told him what she had seen. Phillipa wasn't happy about it herself, having seen Romeo go back to Juliet after she'd stolen him from her."

04-Oct-2010 17:21:53 - Last edited on 05-Aug-2013 17:28:53 by Darelzel

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The Fate of Romeo