Macqueline S1E1 : A Little Girl from Kaarleville

The year is 470 and you are ten years old.

You see a group of merchants with almost 20 loaves of bread in a basket beside them. Your mother is having difficulty buying food everyday.

Do you:

A) Take a loaf of bread without the merchant seeing

B) steal the whole basket

C) take nothing

You go home and show the loaf to your mother. It's only one loaf so she suspects little, and thanks you

You felt good stealing. You didn't get caught and it was quite the thrill.

That night you go to the park with your friends, and on your way home you pass the merchant stand again. This time it's completely empty, but there is a basket of various foods just sitting there. You think you should take them, otherwise they may rot.

Do you:

A) take the basket easily without anyone seeing

B) just move on with your night

Your house is small, you couldn't hide the basket even if you wanted to. Your mother wakes up in your room and sees the big basket of food on the table. You tell her it's for both of you, confident in yourself after your successful grabs.

Your mother thinks for a moment and remembers the bread from yesterday as well

She asks you to tell her where you got the food

Do you:

A) Tell her the truth

B) Tell her a merchant was going to throw it away and offered it to you

You told her you stole the food, both times. You say it sheepishly, but are at the same time proud that you pulled it off. You somewhat expect her to be proud.

She doesn't yell at you, she holds your cheek, and kisses your forehead. She points her finger at you assertively, and glares directly into your eyes.

"Stealing is wrong, no matter what, Macqueline. Take the basket back this instant."

Do you

A) Say yes to your mom, and bring the basket back

B) Say yes to your mom, but hide the basket somewhere/ do something else with the food

C) Do you say no to your mom and say you want to eat the contents of the basket now

Your mother gives you a blank stare. She gets up, grabs the basket, and tells you to come with her.

Holding her hand, she brings you to the marketplace. The moment you get there, a furious merchant, already speaking to a guard, points at your mother and says "that right there! That's the basket!"

The guard approaches your mother, and your mother nudges you on the back, and gives you a face as if wanting you to tell the guard the truth.

What do you do

A) Admit that you stole the basket, but wanted to give it back because you know it's wrong.

B) Say the merchant is lying and this is our basket.

The guard takes the basket off your mother's hands. You two start to walk away, but the merchant comes closer to the guard.

"Are you just going to let them go?? What kind of city is this! Kosomarque is a land of rules, they must be punished!"

The guard approaches you two and asks you to turn around.

"I'm afraid he's right, you two need to pay for the contents of this basket."

"I don't have the money I'm afraid" says your mother

"Then the one who stole the basket needs to spend at least a week in jail."

Your mother wants to argue, but you see her stop short. Maybe arguing would make it worse.

"Just let me do the time. She's too young to go."

she says

"If she stole it, she goes. I don't care how young she is."

Your mother pleads with the guard. The guard gives the basket to the merchant, and asks you to come with him. Your mother begins to cry

You and the guard approach a horse with a wagon attached. You ask the guard "Where are you taking me?" The guard puts his hands on your shoulder.

"Not far. This is a country with rules, little girl. You just have to stay with us for a week and maybe you'll learn your lesson."

You board the wagon, you're the only one in there. A cloth covers the wagon like a small tent, but the air seeps through, and you're cold. After only 15 minutes of galloping, the wagon comes to a stop.

"This is the place. Don't worry, they won't hurt you. You'll have your own cell."

The place is a small valley into the cliffs with several doors protruding outside.

Each cell door leads directly outside, so you get pleanty of fresh air

You sit in the cell. You're only 10 years old, and you begin to cry.

''A voice from the cell to your left asks you your name. Do you tell him your name?''

>Yes.

You tell the stranger your name, and he asks you what you're doing there. You explain that you stole a basket of food for your mother

The man is kind to you, and tells you how he got in jail as well.

"I was a sailor in Charleston. Do you know Charleston? It's not that far away. I guess you can say I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The guards never check for fishing licences, so I rarely bring mine, and one night I caught quite a lot of big ones far off shore!"

"I tried bringing them in, but seeing all the fish I had with me, they asked for my licence, I had none, and most of the fish had died by then. They took my fish, and gave me a 5 year sentence

"5 years??" you say to him. "That's a long time!"

he says his time is almost up, and he's going back to Charleston soon

you like the man, he's very nice to you

He asks if you have a father, and you tell him yes, and explain the story

The man hears your father's story, and says your father's name. "Is that his name?"

You're surprised, you say yes.

"I saw him here when I first arrived. He was really kind to me. I cried to him a lot about missing my family! Funny, he cried to me too."

You ask him where he is

"They never told you? That's weird, they always inform the families."

"Well one day an elderly inmate was too tired to come get his food, and was trying to stand up. The guard got annoyed and said 'if you don't want your food, I'll just take it back!' this annoyed your father, so when the guard gave him his food, he pulled the guard by his long pointy beard and slammed his face into the cell door"

"Your father was actually brought back to court the next day. You're sure they didn't mention this to you at all? I haven't seen him since, but I believe he got relocated."

You ask where he thinks he got relocated

"Well little girl, the people here don't take little acts like that too kindly. I don't know where he is, but he could be anywhere."

A guard approaches the man's cell. "DON'T YOU KNOW YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO SPEAK TO THE OTHER INMATES? DO YOU WANT TO BE RELOCATED TOO, OLD MAN? YOU WANT TO FREEZE TO DEATH IN THE TUNDRA? I CAN MAKE THAT HAPPEN"

The man doesn't respond to the guard, but the guard slams the cell door shut. The words "Freeze to death in the tundra" ring in your ears.

You go to sleep.

You wake up the next morning, and the man did not speak to you.

Do you speak to him?

>No

You don't speak to him. You both experience a whole day of silence.

Then another day.

Then another day.

Then another day.

You wake up one day to the sound of violence.

You hear a guard beating a man. The man screams as he is being beaten, but then he stops screaming, but the guard keeps beating him, and all you hear is the sound the guards baton whacking the back of a man.

You get up and whisper to your neighbor

"Are you okay, mister?"

All you hear is a shush from him

The guard looks over at the man. "YOU MAKING NOISES, OLD MAN?" he says nothing. Then the guard opens the cell, and drags the man outside. You see him for the first time. He does not look like he is Marquis at all. He looks as though he is in his 40s, smooth black hair, not very long. He looks like he hasn't shaven in quite some time. He is also very tall, much taller than the guard.

"You got a problem with me, dragging me out of my cell?" he says to the guard.

"YEAH I GOT A PROBLEM WITH YOU" the guard then whacks him across the face with a baton, and the man falls to the floor. After a few moments of silence, the man attacks the guard and pins him to the floor. A bunch of other guards come to stop him.

"KEEP THIS UP AND WE'LL SEND YOU TO THE TUNDRA."

It clicks in your mind that your father must have been sent up north. You realize maybe you should find out what happened.

The man looks at the guard and says "DON'T BOTHER" and pins the two guards on him to the ground, and grabs both of their swords. All the guards drop their weapons. The man looks at you.

"I didn't want to tell you, but it sounds like they did. These dirtbags like to dump off bad prisoners to the icy tundra in Rybak."

One of the guards nervously replies "Rybak does it to their own prisoners as well! Di-didn't you hear about those 3 young boys who infiltrated the castle in Albatross?? They captured o-one of them and sent them to the tundr-a! Only 14 y-years old!"

The man looks at you again and says "If he's anywhere, he's up north. I just need you to close your eyes."

You close your eyes. You wait a while, with them closed. Then you hear him say "Okay, open them." The guards are gone, and it's just the man now.

"You're only in here a few more days, I'm not going to make your ridiculous sentence any worse.  Me on the other hand, I'd like to go find my wife in Charleston. Good luck little one." He storms off.

You wait your last days in prison

You wait a few days and you are let go from prison.

You wake up that morning and see your mother speaking to a guard, and then your cell door opens wide. She hugs you warmly.

"I missed you so much. I couldn't work properly. Who knew what kind of stuff you'd see here, that's all I could think about."

A) Tell her you missed her too

B) Tell her you know where your father is

"I know where dad is" you say, without hesitation.

Your mother's smile fades and she looks at you differently.

"Wh-what do you mean? How is that possible."

"He was here, mom. One of the men said he was here...and then a guard said that misbehaving prisoners are sent to the northern tundra."

"What do you mean misbehaving?"

"He stood up for an old man and got punished for it mom I think they sent him up north!"

Your mother hugs you again, and grabs your hand to take you home

You have difficulty sleeping the next couple of nights, you have a lot to think about

When your mother comes into the room after working on a performance, it looks to her like you're sleeping. You aren't asleep, but you don't want her to know that, so you face the wall and close your eyes.

She sits on the bed and looks at you, and moves her fingers through your hair. You feel goosebumps on your neck, but you don't want her to know you're awake. She begins to speak.

"Up in the cold cold cold tundra... all by himself..."

she stops for a moment, and then continues to speak to herself, but seemingly to you to as though she thinks you can hear her.

"When your father and I were children, there was a story in all of the newspapers about Kaarle being stuck in the tundra with Alto Kosomarque and those other guys... and how that experience is the reason Kosomarque is a free country today. I've been thinking about that all day. It gives me hope. Maybe you're right, maybe he's there. And maybe he's surviving as well. Maybe he's coming home right now."

You fall asleep, you don't know how long she rambles on for, but when you wake up, the sun is up and she is gone

You walk out into the theatre and see it empty. You must be up really early. You feel different now, like being in jail matured you for years. You think about your father and where he is. You remember one of the guards mentioned a country called Rybak, or rather "The people of Ryak." Is that where he might be? Is that where they sent him? You want to know.

Do you:

A) Stay home

B) Go to the café to find something to eat

C) Play with your friends

You go to the café and sit down. You could only afford a small cheese sandwich, but the owner sees your face every day, so he gives you an extra one.

At a separate table you hear two men speaking in a Fayettian accent. At another table you see your friends, and they wave at you. They invite you over, but you say no. At a third table you see two ladies crying.

Do you:

A) Try to eavesdrop on the Fayettian men

B) Go over to your friends anyway

C) Try to eavesdrop on the crying women

You sit closer to the Fayettian men. They are wearing formal clothes colored Burgundy.

"I think we lost our jobs. Don't you think so?? I mean... whispers  Ko-so-mar-que... Isn't exactly the most sophisticated place for us, right??"

"Queen Auke didn't want us in Rybak, it's for our own good. I'm surprised we were the last to go, honestly. They started sending us home years ago, right after that bombing. Also after that bombing they sent 30 rebels to the tundra."

"Yeah, I guess. That country is a mess right now."

"Didn't you read the newspaper? Three boys snuck into the Rybaki palace, and exposed the king! Apparently he was storing food in the basement, and forcing his merchants to sell it at a very high price. The people were starving!"

"How old were they, what do you mean?"

"They were about 13/14. The guards actually caught one of them and sent him to the Tundra. They're looking for the other ones. You think it's over, right? Nope. While they were in there, they think they stole Rybak's Constitution."

"They just.. took it?"

"Aren't you glad we aren't there? You know what this means, right? King Ivanovich would never initiate any violence now, but the rebels are probably planning something. That city could burn down anytime soon."

Do you:

A) Keep listening

B) Walk to them and ask them a question

"These boys, you said they were 14? And one of them is in the tundra with the other rebels? How are they survivong out there??"

"Surviving? They're long dead. Everyone in the tundra dies, that's why they send them there. Ivanovich knows that. He's gonna find these other two kids and send them there too."

"How hard could it be to just leave?"

"Don't you know the curse...??"

"What curse, what the hell"

"The Curse of the Taiga. The most confident souls find themselves lost within seconds. Only a lucky man finds Albatross on purpose. Even Kaarle, Avatar to God himself, got stuck there with Alto Kosomarque. You know the story!"

"Yeah, of course.. Wow, I guess you're right. Only a lunatic would go there on purpose. Suddenly I'm very glad we're here."

You turn around and see that the ladies and your friends are gone. The two Fayettian men notice you at this point.

"Hey there, is this city your home?"

Do you:

A) Answer them

B) Run away

"Yeah... I live here.."

"Well we're new in town, what's there to do around here?"

Do you

A) Invite them to the theatre

B) Tell them you just play with your friends

C) Recommend appreciating the architecture

D) Say you have no idea

"Well I know the buildings here are built in a new architectual style.. Mom always says that the only cities that look like this are this one and some city really west of here, I can't pronounce the name.."

"Oh, Kijkomhoog!"

"Kiyjnas- Kni"

"Kijkomhoog!"

You are now frustrated even more as you try again:

"KIIJIJYL= KIIIIIIIAAAAAAK"

"I guess we could do that. We've been to Kijkomhoog though. This 400s style architecture is beautiful. You're lucky to live here!"

The two men leave

Do you:

A) Go see your mom

B) Go on a walk

You step outside the city. To your left you see the two soldiers poking a nearby building. You assume they're appreciating the architecture. You walk the opposite way and see the same merchant you stole the basket from.

Do you

A) Apologize

B) Yell at him

C) Ask for some bread

"I'm sorry for what I did. It was wrong." You say.

"I guess jail did you right." The merchant replies.

"I shouldn't have stolen your food."

"thank you for apologizing. Here, take this to your mother."

The merchant gives you a watermelon.

"That's a watermelon" he says.

You see that it is indeed a watermelon, and that it's very heavy. You thank him anyways, and slowly carry it home.

On your way home, you are approached by two shady characters.

"Hey, where you going with that when I'm this hungry?"

"O-oH this isn't for me, it's for my mom."

"No i think it's for me."

The shady character pulls out a knife. You are terrified, and you run home crying. They take your watermelon.

You run into your room to see your mom brushing her hair.

"Why are you crying??" she says to you.

"Th- these two men- th- they pulled ou- KNIFE,, and- WATERMELON"

Your mother hushes you, and you calm down.

"I felt so weak, mom. I don't want to feel like that ever again."

Your mother doesn't say anything, she just holds you. You feel a lot better, but you meant what you said. You never want to feel that way again.

The next morning you get up early and go to the library where you read some old historical books for school. You read about soldiers of the past, heroes of the past. It's all for your history course. You think about yourself, and you imagine yourself using these weapons, a grown woman. You imagine yourself as a grown woman traversing the great Tundra and finding your father, saving him, and bringing him home. You imagine yourself killing hundreds of soldiers on the way. You feel embarassed, weak, pathetic, and angry. Everything that happened to you the past couple of days, even the day your father was arrested, could have been different were you just a little stronger. Just a little bit.

You want to learn how to use a weapon.

What interests you?

A) A regular sword

B) A knife

C) A bow

D) A gun

E) Explosives

Macqueline reads up on knives. Your friends ask to hangout after school the next morning. You say you have a lot of studying to do, but instead you go to the cave outside the theater, and try to make your own knife. You find a thick piece of tree branch, and break it so it's short. Then you use a rock to sharpen one side of it. You learned all of this in the book you read on knives.

You take out several books on techniques and practice them on trees.

You try to hide your knife from your mother, but one day, she finds it.

"Macqueline, look at me. What is this."

What do you say?

A) It's a knife, and it's mine.

B) It's an art project

C) It belongs to a friend, I'm not sure what it is

"Mom it's an art project. We-we're studying these old weapons that they used in this war so we made a cute tiny little weapon. It's not that pointy I promise."

She pauses, but sighs a sigh of relief. "Well all right, but don't keep it so close to you. You can get yourself hurt.

"Yes mom I promise."

She hugs you tightly.

"You're not thinking about what i think you're thinking about right? You're not thinking about dad?"

"No, mom"

"We can't do anything from here. We can only hope he can come back to us safe." She spoke as though every word cut deeper and deeper into her, but she said it anyway.

You didn't agree with her either. You're angry, and you think you can do something about it. You choose not to say anything.

You go to sleep.