Morte :“The other YOU, he… he didn’t care very much for anybody.For anyone. We could have ALL died in the Fortress, and he wouldn’t have blinked. So… I just want you to hold on to your differences, because… well, I like this you better. A LOT better.”

Nameless One :“But that’s not all you want to say, is it?”

Morte :“No…” Morte paused. “There’s one other thing — I may not have liked that other you very much, but he was one smart basher — the smartest basher I've ever known; he always had every angle covered. If he died at the Fortress, that means… well…”

Nameless One :“You don’t think I can succeed, do you?”

Morte :“No…” Morte shook his head. “It’s not that, chief. Because it’s not always who’s smartest, or who’s the most powerful, or who’s the toughest… sometimes it comes down to who you are and what you really want. I mean, once you wanted to become immortal — but in the end, is that really what you wanted? Just be sure of what you want this time, is all I'm saying.”

Nameless One :“Fair enough. Look, Morte… we haven’t really talked about this, but you know you don’t have to come with me to this place, right? I'll understand if you don’t want to.”

Morte :“Yeah… I know, chief. And I can’t lie to you… I don’t want to go… but I will. Just know that once we step through that portal, it isn’t going to be just about you anymore. This is our lives you’re playing with, and we don’t get back up when we die.”

Fall-from-Grace :“It’s because of what Ravel said in the maze.” Grace’s voice was soft, so soft I almost missed it. “Isn’t it, Morte?”

Morte :“What Ravel said, in the maze — she said you draw people who suffer to you, like a lodestone.” Morte shook his head. “Maybe it’s because you've been suffering all this time. Maybe when you end up settling things… maybe we'll know a bit of peace, too. Maybe.”

Novelty Dicemaker : “Do you know what this is?” She raises her hand to reveal a piece of metal shining on her index finger.

Harrier Du Bois : “Your lucky charm? Some kind of a ward?”

Novelty Dicemaker : “It’s a mourning ring,” she replies. “I made this when my first company failed. It was a small jewelry shop right here in the East Delta Commerce Centre, built with the little I inherited from my parents…”
“I drove it to the ground within a year. I didn’t have what you would call a *viable* business plan.”

Harrier Du Bois : “Why are you telling me this?”

Novelty Dicemaker : “It wasn’t just the jewelry shop either. I always thought that it was just the world, that you were supposed to try again and again until you finally succeed.”
“And now you’re telling me, what,” she closes her eyes, “that it was all because I didn’t run my little shops and ventures from a dump inside an abandoned chimney?”

Harrier Du Bois : “I’m sorry. I don’t know what to say. It’s entropy.”

Novelty Dicemaker : “Yeah.” She stares out of the window, not really hearing your words. “Or maybe it’s the entire world that’s cursed? It’s such a precarious place. Nothing ever works out the way you wanted.”
“That’s why people like role-playing games. You can be whoever you want to be. You can try again. Still, there’s something inherently violent even about dice rolls.”
“It’s like every time you cast a die, something disappears. Some alternate ending, or an entirely different world…” She picks up a pair of dice from the table and examines them under a light.
“But anyway, thanks for sharing your theories, officer.” She gives you a tired smile.