a verbatim transcript of Nom and Graecie's conversation on 2026-03-23, regarding his plans as king and his actions during and right before his reign. (Nom's perspective) | (Graecie's perspective)
NOM: So we're gonna like, talk, I'm assuming now, yeah?
NOM: Okay. Where are we gonna go? I feel like you should probably decide.
GRAECIE: Hmm... Follow me.
NOM: (MUTED, REPEATEDLY) Please don't go to your beach. Please, please, please, please. Okay, anyway.
NOM: So where exactly are we going?
NOM: Oh, I didn't even know these were here. I've just climbed the side of the cliff every time.
NOM: I haven't actually had the chance to speak to Shan in a little bit. I haven't seen her around.
GRAECIE: Mm. She's been... keeping to herself a bit.
NOM: Oh, okay. (SLOWLY) Conversationalist... Um...
NOM: I mean, I feel like this should probably start with you first, no?
GRAECIE: No, I think I'd like to hear you!
NOM: I mean, I don't really know what—I mean, I said what I needed to say last time we spoke on the bridge, and then we said we would talk again later, so.
GRAECIE: Okay! Are you... ready to listen to me?
NOM: I said I was. It's why I wanted you to talk first. I want to hear what you have to say.
GRAECIE: Okay! (BREATHES IN) I'm worried about you, first of all. Like, very worried about you.
GRAECIE: Do you feel like you've changed for the better?
NOM: No. Not even—Not even close to that.
GRAECIE: Nom. You killed 4C.
GRAECIE: You killed 4C for something that you kinda turned around and did to Katie, but maliciously, later that day. Do you recognize that? Do you know that? Do you realize what you did?
NOM: I know exactly what I did.
GRAECIE: Yeah. And you know that you shared something that Katie told you in private, in confidence, in front of the entire kingdom, on purpose, at the same time?
GRAECIE: And you know you killed 4C for doing it on accident.
NOM: I didn't just kill 4C for telling Katie that, it's the fact that he lied to me and everything else as well on top of it.
GRAECIE: What is everything else?
NOM: What happened with me and 4C wasn't just one action.
GRAECIE: What else was it?
NOM: It was the tunnels, it was hiding things from Blue Kingdom, it was the stealing, it was the lies. It was—It was the everything, together.
GRAECIE: So you find yourself to be the judge, jury, and executioner?
NOM: I don't think I should be.
GRAECIE: Then why are you?
NOM: Because I have to be.
GRAECIE: You weren't the king. Why did you decide that?
NOM: Because... we have lived here a long time.
NOM: You have lived here longer.
NOM: Or have lived longer, at the very least. Owain said it best. If the magical words for this war to end would have been said—or, could have been said, they would have.
NOM: And the only way for future bloodshed to end is spill a little blood now to save a lot of blood later.
GRAECIE: So you spilled the blood of your friend instead of the blood of your enemy.
NOM: I spilled the blood of me.
GRAECIE: ...You spilled 4C's blood.
NOM: He's alive. He's out there somewhere.
GRAECIE: You killed him. You still killed him.
NOM: I did. And now he's gone from Blue Kingdom. And now he can't be hurt in the war that's about to come.
GRAECIE: How do you know that?
NOM: Because he's gone. I haven't—Have you seen him around?
GRAECIE: No. But just because they aren't in the Blue Kingdom doesn't mean they can't be caught in the crossfire.
NOM: And even more reason why we should end it before anything happens.
GRAECIE: How do you plan on ending it?
NOM: Look, I'm not gonna act like it was a planned—it was a planned thing, like I—I'm still angry at 4C, and, yes, I acted rashly that day, but I still care about him. He's still my friend.
NOM: Even after all that.
GRAECIE: You care about someone you killed and banished and put a bounty on? Did you forget about that? The words you said when you were crowned king did not imply care.
GRAECIE: If you turn around and you say, yes, you care about him, you can say that, but you cannot say that while there is still a bounty on his head.
GRAECIE: You cannot say that.
NOM: It's not a bounty for his head, it's a bounty to bring him back. I said—
GRAECIE: You said "a bounty on his head." That is—
NOM: It's not for him to be dead.
NOM: I said to bring him to Blue Kingdom to face judgement. I didn't say I would kill him.
GRAECIE: Face judgement. Did he not already face judgement when you said you were the judge, jury, and executioner, Nom? You've already judged him. What more is there to do? Please, answer honestly.
NOM: I'm afraid that he isn't gone. So if he is gone, then that bounty, that order to bring him back here means nothing.
NOM: If he is still here and will do things that will interrupt the plan, then that can be a problem.
GRAECIE: And what is your plan?
NOM: Red Kingdom is not as well built as us, so if we get enough strong warriors to take out just the couple of them, they have a lot less members that have grew up there, that have really called Red Kingdom home. If we take out the right people at the right time, then there won't be a Red Kingdom anymore. The rest of them were—realistically, they won't rebuild. They'll leave. They'll go. They'll—They've lived there, what, a couple weeks? A month? Two months? They'll leave. They'll go.
GRAECIE: You said that Blue Kingdom is... better built? Than Red Kingdom?
NOM: Of course. Would you say not?
GRAECIE: Who helped build it up?
GRAECIE: Who spent—Yeah. And who's banished from the Blue Kingdom?
GRAECIE: Yeah. Just food for thought.
NOM: If you think my actions don't haunt me, you're sorely mistaken.
GRAECIE: No, I think they do, and I'm worried about that. But I also think that you should (consider—)
NOM: I will hold that sin to my—to what—to however long I live, whether it be long or short. I'm not—I'm not the hero here. I'm far, far from it. I'm just doing the one thing I know how to do. I'm ensuring that I am strong enough, that if I bleed enough, that the other people I care about don't have to.
GRAECIE: You don't have to be the only one bleeding. That's not how this works. It's not how any of this works.
NOM: Then what else—Then what else do I do? Because I know—I know, Graecie, we've known each other a long time. I know you care more about peace, about keeping—keeping everyone alive. And I mean, well, I care about that as well, but you care more about peace. You don't like fighting, you don't like warfare, I get that. But I said the same thing to you that I said to Mae. What do you think is a better situation? One final fight where we can end it all, or a million more fights to come where this war continues for how many more years? How many of your lifespans? Never mind mine.
GRAECIE: I—I agree with that, Nom. I don't disagree. But you haven't given a concrete plan. You want to scare them off, but what happens when they don't run?
GRAECIE: You mentioned—You mentioned Mae, and Mae actually told me something earlier. Something you said to her. You went up to her on the bridge.
GRAECIE: And you asked, if you had a way to end the war with no bloodshed, should you take it. Why did you ask her that?
NOM: 'Cause I think I found a way that no one in Blue Kingdom would have to die? That no one...
NOM: I care about would have to die?
GRAECIE: What is the cost?
NOM: More blood on my hands.
GRAECIE: What would you have to do?
NOM: I mean, Red Kingdom has to go! One way or another, the only way that the war ends is either Blue Kingdom goes, or Red Kingdom goes. You know as well as I do, I have—I have the strength to take down (LAUGHS) very least a good few of them myself!
GRAECIE: Make them all martyrs?
NOM: If I turn Red Kingdom to dust, what are they there to martyr?
GRAECIE: The other kingdoms, they'll learn of a tyrant king who decimated the entire Red Kingdom, and that—
GRAECIE: —is a threat. Why would you—
NOM: Not if I'm gone too.
GRAECIE: That's not how this is supposed to work.
GRAECIE: You wear a crown on your head!
GRAECIE: (OVERLAPPING) You opted in to run. The spirits chose you.
NOM: (OVERLAPPING) (LAUGHS) If you think a crown on my head makes me a king, you have not lived long enough.
GRAECIE: You are the king.
NOM: I am a king in title alone. I am a knight. I am a man with a sword with a mace with a mace with a morningstar—
NOM: With too much spite to live.
GRAECIE: Being a king, having the title, you are a king whether you like it or not. You have the responsibility to protect Blue Kingdom.
NOM: And in two weeks I won't be.
GRAECIE: Because you opted in. And in two weeks you won't be, but right now, I am not sorely mistaken, you are the king, and I have lived far longer than you to know that.
NOM: I am a king in title alone, Graecie. I'm not a king in—
GRAECIE: You are a king in power too. You are. You cannot deny that! You cannot deny that, you cannot downplay your responsibilities, and you cannot—
NOM: I'm aware of my responsibilities.
GRAECIE: —downplay your actions. Great! 'Cause you're a king! So act like it, okay?
NOM: I am acting like it.
NOM: What is a king to do? What is a king to do for his kingdom?
GRAECIE: A king is to listen to his people.
NOM: A king is to do whatever it takes to protect his people. And what am I doing right now? I'm listening to you. I've listened to Mae. I've listened to Scott. I'm trying my best. I get that you don't agree with what I'm doing, but the end of the day, and no matter how much you disagree with war, you have to admit, if they were in an advantageous position, would they hesitate? Would they kill us? Would they kill you? Would they kill Mae? Would they even hesitate for a moment to slaughter our entire kingdom? And I can't risk seeing that.
GRAECIE: Are you listening to understand me? Or just to respond to my words?
NOM: Your counsel means more to me than most.
GRAECIE: Because you like to have—you like to have the final say no matter what, and sometimes I think you just need to listen and sit in silence. It's okay to not have all the words to say. But when we were on that bridge over there, and I said "I accept your apology, but I do not forgive you," you said, "I'm not asking your forgiveness," which contradicts what you said just two weeks ago when you walked up to me, just down there, I was playing the dice game. You walk up and you said, "you know, if I'm wrong, and you weren't the one to share about my oath, I'm going to feel beyond horrible."
GRAECIE: But you don't want forgiveness? For the cruel words you threw my way?
NOM: I don't deserve forgiveness.
GRAECIE: Well, you said you weren't asking for forgiveness. That is a different, different statement.
NOM: Because I know it isn't a fair thing to ask of you.
GRAECIE: It's not how that works.
NOM: If I knew how things worked, I wouldn't be what I am today. (LAUGHS) I... may have this crown on. I am not a king. Not in that way. Sure, in this moment, I am a king. The end of the day, we—I grew up around you. You know what I am. I'm a knight. I'm—I'm born, and have been taught my entire life to fight. And even if I broke my oath, even if I lost that, I still know what honor is. And I know asking you to forgive me for the things I've done and the things I'm planning on doing isn't right on you, nor would I ever expect you to fully forgive me. I wouldn't—I don't forgive myself.
GRAECIE: Did you know... I was going to leave the Blue Kingdom? About fifteen years ago? Was gonna go back home, not come back.
GRAECIE: ('Cause) a young boy, stars in his eyes, willing to do whatever it took to protect his sister.
NOM: That part hasn't changed.
GRAECIE: And it reminded me—it reminded me that there are people worth fighting for. People who want to do good, do the right thing.
NOM: Well, what if the right thing is the wrong thing?
GRAECIE: Then you find another way, because there is always another way, even if you don't think there is, even if it doesn't look like there is.
NOM: I understand, but, please, tell me what this other way is. Because every time I've asked someone—I'm—I'm trying to hear everyone out. I'm trying—I understand that you're not gonna fully agree with my p—my point of view here, but no one has given me a—a way to fix it beyond this. People say, oh, try peace. We've tried peace! For how many years. We've seen these same buildings burn and be rebuilt over, and over, and over. So what would you do? Not trying to have a gotcha moment here, I really want to know. What would you do?
GRAECIE: I think there are bad seeds in that kingdom. I do, I believe that. The current monarch of the Red Kingdom is not my priority. I think she can do really well. I do think she can lead peace. I'm worried about the necromancer.
GRAECIE: He is my problem. He is my problem. So, if it were me, I would focus on him because I think he is planting seeds. I think he is—(SIGHS) He is trying to steer the kingdom from behind the curtain.
NOM: I agree. I've been thinking about how, if I was to go over there, who... who would be first that we should focus, and, yeah, I agree. That necromancer is not—
GRAECIE: I think—He is—He is the one out of all of those in the Red Kingdom I truly believe is what is stopping peace. He has something in his plans. He has already raised a horse from the dead.
NOM: I don't think—I don't think it's just him. I mean, the rogue, frog. We know what—
GRAECIE: The craziest thing about him, I ran into him the other day, and he was... normal. He wasn't mad, he wasn't mean, he was... just like you or me.
NOM: People are rarely just good or just evil. It doesn't—They're—People are gre—are capable of great good or great good evil. Just because he can be normal one day—
GRAECIE: He had a mask that dropped. And it's not that, I—I don't trust him, I don't, but I think there's more to him than meets the eye. So yes, we be careful, we watch them, but I wouldn't be surprised if he was just another case of a mad king. The crown and the power didn't sit right. I don't know! I just—(SIGHS) Seeing that horse zombified, it...
GRAECIE: It broke something in me, Nom. It's not right.
GRAECIE: Doesn't fit. With the circle of life, it doesn't. That's not supposed to happen.
NOM: I agree that the necromancer is by far the worst thing about Red Kingdom at this moment, but...
NOM: Unfortunately, they all still stand by him, which is leading to more questions.
GRAECIE: They don't. They don't. Nom, they don't.
NOM: I mean, they haven't exiled him.
GRAECIE: Exiling is a much less common thing to do. But they let me. I walked into their kingdom to yell at him for giving the Creaking King hearts. And all of them pointed me in the direction, and they said, "please go talk to him because he won't listen to us, and we don't like what he's doing." So, you know, maybe, maybe... we're not so different. And it's easy to get caught up with the divide, it really truly is, and I understand that. I was caught up with it at one point. Years ago, I was. I don't blame anyone who falls into that category. But if they're letting a member of the Blue Kingdom walk into the Red and point out exactly where the necromancer is, does that not say something to you, Nom?
NOM: Of course it does, but, ultimately, he's still there.
GRAECIE: Does that not point towards a bigger problem?
NOM: There is bigger problems! But we can't afford... The Creaking King is an issue, but it's an issue that will be dealt with. It's—He'll—
GRAECIE: The Creaking King is an issue that needs to be dealt with first. That... (SIGHS) That is my biggest concern. That, and the plague going around. Are you sick too?
GRAECIE: (SIGHS) You're lucky then.
NOM: I got—I got over it.
GRAECIE: You got over it?
GRAECIE: No one's got... How?
GRAECIE: Everyone's just been getting worse.
NOM: I did get worse, but... Yeah. It's—It seems like it's left me now anyway.
NOM: I know the Creaking King has something to do with it, at least on a... on a base level.
GRAECIE: The Creaking King got rid of your plague?
GRAECIE: Have you been talking with him?
NOM: Well, he's been the main one doing the talking, but you think my allegiances lie with some stupid tree in the woods? That's not the case.
GRAECIE: No, but I'm worried about you gave up! What—What—(SIGHS) What did it it cost?
NOM: That's the thing! I... don't know yet.
NOM: I... have fifteen hearts now.
NOM: I have fifteen hearts. I have enough armor and weapons to fuel this kingdom for however long a war fights.
GRAECIE: Is that what you meant—
NOM: I have the strength, personally, to do most of that fighting myself.
GRAECIE: That's what you meant.
NOM: And if I take the frontline myself with these hearts, with that armor, with the potions that I've been getting Scott to make, no one else needs to die.
GRAECIE: Except for Red Kingdom.
NOM: Except for the people that want—that want this awful war to continue. And the main—I know the things I've done and the things I've said, you won't agree with, but I trust you more than most in this kingdom. I've known you my whole life. And I also know that if my decisions—if I can't handle the consequences of my own decisions, and I lose it? I know you're probably one of the only people that can actually take me down.
GRAECIE: Nom, I'm weak. Right now.
GRAECIE: Yes, I am. I have eight hearts. No one knows the extent of... how bad it's been for me.
NOM: You have eight hearts but your hearts are bigger than most! (LAUGHS) I mean, they say Mae was the queen of a—the—the golden heart, but, I mean, Jesus! I'm not... gonna be the hero of this story. Matter of fact, history is gonna look back on this as me being a very, very evil person, and that's—that's what I've been. And the way I see it, that's what I need to be. And if taking whatever deal I took with that Creaking King, if that backfires and he tries anything, I'll put an end to it myself if no one else can. I'll use his boons to end this war, to end him, if possible. And if the only price to pay is my life, then that is a small price to pay for saving everybody. Or at least, everyone I can.
GRAECIE: Don't take any more of his deals. Please. Whatever you do, don't give him more power. I am...
NOM: He has no power over me. He can't have power over someone who is willing to do anything. What's he gonna do, make me swear an oath? I mean, we—(LAUGHS) we both know how the last one went.
GRAECIE: I don't think that's the concern, Nom. I don't know if you understand the gravity of the situation. There is... ancient arcane power flowing through that dungeon, flowing through him. He was changed. The way he's been talking, something changed him into that. I don't want to see you turned into the same. I'm—(SIGHS) I'm gonna go back home to the grotto. For a week.
GRAECIE: I'm going to try and figure out what this could be. I'm going to ask around. I'm going to see if anyone knows. But whatever you do while I'm gone, do not take any more of his deals. If you can do anything for me, if you care about my—my advice, my counsel, any of it, please... don't listen to him. He's singing sweet songs to trick you.
GRAECIE: And if he isn't telling you the price now, it has to be far worse.
NOM: I'm aware there is gonna be a price.
NOM: I know. I'm not as stupid as people think. I know the price that he's gonna ask. I know it's gonna be a dire thing. I know it's gonna flip and probably screw me over. I'm—I know all of this. I know.
GRAECIE: I don't want that for you. I don't. So please.
NOM: The only oath I've ever kept is protecting my little sister. It's the only one I've ever kept. I—
GRAECIE: So you'll take a deal, if it came down to it?
NOM: If it's sacrificing everyone else that I care about, no, but I'll find a way. I need you—
NOM: To promise me something.
NOM: There may be—There may be two people on this planet that I can actually ask this of. And once again, I am not going to be fair to you, and I'm sorry for that. If my actions backfire enough where I lose control, if I lift this thing anywhere near Katie, if I'm not in control of myself, if I fully go off the deep end, I need you not to hesitate.
GRAECIE: Okay. But that's not going to happen. So we don't have to worry about it.
NOM: It's not going to happen, I just needed—I just needed it to be said.
NOM: I'll take every precaution I have that that doesn't happen, but I would be lying if I was to say that I hadn't thought about it.
NOM: If I do end up finally dying on a battlefield, you live much longer than I do. Look after Katie for me. She's strong enough to look after herself, but she's also as stubborn as me. (LAUGHS)
NOM: Thank you. And I am... I am sorry, Graecie. More sorry than a simple knight could ever really put into words. I'm sorry for what I have done, for what I've said, and for what I am yet to do.
NOM: I don't want war. I just don't know what other option I have right now.
NOM: Take your trip back—back to your home, find whatever answers it is you can, and... just be safe. 'Cause I'm gonna continue to prepare. I'm going to get as many weapons and armor, and hopefully Scott will continue making potions.
NOM: And then, I suppose I'm gonna try and patch up whatever relations I have left with the people here. And then I'm gonna pray that the person that comes after me knows what it is they need to do.
GRAECIE: One more thing before I go. If 4C came back, would you apologize to him too?
NOM: An apology wouldn't really... fit, would it?
GRAECIE: What would you say? What would fit?
NOM: I miss you. Already.
GRAECIE: Well. I hope you get the chance to say that to him. If I find him, I will not be bringing him back.
GRAECIE: I just have to be honest about that. I will not
NOM: i wouldn't ask you to.
NOM: Please be safe on your travels, Graecie. And if you do find anything relating to the Creaking King or necromancers (LAUGHS) or anything of the sort, let me know.
GRAECIE: I will. Please don't take any more of his deals. At least, until I get back. Please.
GRAECIE: I'm not gonna ask you to promise anything. I just hope that you'll want to listen.
NOM: I'll try my best to do what I feel will save lives. I can promise that.
GRAECIE: Do what is best to also save your life. Don't throw it away. Okay?
GRAECIE: I believe in you.
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