top of page

THE TOWER  LINUS Ugh. Can someone else please take  this, just for a second?  ANN No. We’re almost to the banker.  HAL Right, keep It up, Linus. You’re  doing a great job. Carrying things nobody else wants to carry is a very important skill.  ANN Wish someone’d taught you how to do  that.  HAL I am trying to toughen this one up  for you. I’m not the one responsible for him.  ANN You’re barely responsible for  yourself.  LINUS It’s just, I’ve been carrying It  for days now, and my shoulders are...What’s...ughhhh. That’s blood.  ANN See, that right there’s the benefit  of having so many different hands in the sack: it’s impossible to know whose blood It is.  LINUS Ugh. You are such an ass.  ANN And you need to get used to blood  with out throwing up. You are lucky no other crew saw you.  LINUS I just mean, what kind of crew is  this that I have to...?   ANN The kind you don’t belong to yet.  HAL Hahaha. Oh ya Having second  thoughts on sponsorship, Ann?  LINUS You’re an ass too, Hal.  HAL ...say that again.  ANN Ha, hon't look at me, you’re on  your own.  HAL Say...It...again.  LINUS (slowly)  You’re...an ass.  HAL Well...at least you’re learning to  follow directions. Ahahahah!  VORLAUF Linus, you’re gonna have to keep  holding the sack of hands until you’re cured of your aversion.  LINUS ...it’s fine. I’m okay with holding  the bag. Really.  HAL No you’re not. You are so clearly  not.  ANN Hey Linus, what’s that on your leg?  LINUS Ugh....  HAL AND ANN (laugh)  LINUS Its fine... its just blood... no  big... deal...  ANN You know, you’ve been so brave,  Linus. I...I really think I’ve come to fancy you.  LINUS Oh, that’s...really sweet. You know  I really--  ANN Does that feel good?  LINUS --that’s not your hand...  YEEEEHHHCCCCHHHH! BLLEECCCHHHH,  HAL AND ANN (laugh)  LINUS Ann! Ann. That is disgusting!  ANN Your face. I got ya.  LINUS Ha, I’m actually a little relieved.  I was worried when your hand was so cold...and hairy.  VORLAUF This is the life we’ve chosen,  Linus. Defending the realm can test a man. There’s another hand on your foot.  LINUS Ugh. Look, I realize the blood and  body parts make me uneasy but--  VORLAUF Melanie!  MEL How’d the new guy do?  HAL ‘E’s shit.  VORLAUF We’re all alive and the world is a  safer place. I’d say he was adequate.  MEL (laugh)  Whatcha’ got for me, uh...bag boy?  LINUS Linus.  MEL Don’t care, I’ll just forget It.  What you got in the bag for me?  LINUS Oh shit...uh...sorry about the  blood. Let me just get the...uhm... ...is this making things worse? This is making things worse isn't It.  MEL What happened to you? Did you fall  on your head as a child?  VORLAUF He’s still learning the ropes.  Here are the town forms as well.  MEL Ha! Your paperwork! It’s my  favorite; always so...thorough.  MEL (CONT'D) Yep. Looks like we are all set. And  where are your completed orders?  ANN Here, got It right here.  MEL Here you are...  And...uh...go ahead and take back your Sponsor ring.  VORLAUF Well...I guess that’s...the end of  that.  MEL Sorry, Vorlauf. But better his hand  than your own.  LINUS Wait, that’s It?  ANN What? Did you think we held a  burial ceremony for appendages?  HAL Well, that’s actually not a  terrible idea. We could make little, tiny coffins and little wreaths next to them and have little tiny moaners there It would be...  LINU Wait!  I want to be a part of this. All the way.  HAL What?  LINUS I fought with you all, I defended  you and I want to be able to do more. I’m ready.  HAL Haha, someone thinks they’re tough  now eh?  ANN Shut up, ya’ bobolyne.  LINUS Vorlauf?  VORLAUF That...is up to your sponsor.  LINUS Ann? You saw me fight.  ANN You saw what we did to Vorlauf’s  initiate when he didn’t follow the code right?  Yes.  LINUS  ANN Well that’s 1/10 of what I would do  to you.  LINUS The code is why I want to do  this...  MEL What? You think I'm going to help  you? I don’t even know your name!  ANN I’ll do It.  LINUS Ann, thank you.  VORLAUF You’re sure you want to do this,  Ann?  ANN He rode with us. He carried the  bag, and he knows the risk without the reward. We’ve lost worse prospects recently...and he is eager.  VORLAUF You know my rule.  ANN I do, and you won’t have to worry.  I’d kill him myself.  LINUS What are you talking about?  VORLAUF Well, that means we have to decide  which way we want to initiate him. The trench or the tower?  HAL I say the trench. Let him earn It.  ANN The tower.  HAL My, you do have a lot of faith in  him, don’t you?  ANN I want to find out if he has faith  in us.  VORLAUF Tower It is. Mel?  MEL VOWS TO THE TOWER!!!!  BANK VIGILES (Cheer)  MEL Alright then. Follow me.  VIGILES New Blood. New Blood! New Blood!!  LINUS Did you pick the tower because It  plays to my strengths?  ANN No, now shut up.  Hal, give me the hand bag.  HAL Here.  LINUS What?!  ANN I’d close my mouth if I were you...  LINUS No! Don’t!  HAL (calling from a distance)  See you on the other side, Linus...if you make It. (Laughs)  LINUS How far are we going?  SCENE BRAKE  ANN Get in there.  LINUS Hello? Where are we? Anyone?  MEL This is the tower.  LINUS What?... What was that????  MEL The bag is now locked and the key  is in your pocket. Do not remove the bag under any circumstances until you are told.  ANN This is where I find out if I made  a mistake or not.  MEL Now, uhm, you? I never did get your  name.  LINUS Linus.  ANN Don't talk!  LINUS I’m sorry! Is that part of my  initiation?  ANN Initiation? This is a test. This is  for me, not you...  MEL Becoming a Vigile means protecting  the land and its people. It means standing for order and peace. It means trusting that your fellow Vigiles are here for you as much as you are here for them. It means.... CALM...AMIDST CHAOS!  ANN WALK FORWARD!  LINUS BUT I CAN’T SEE!  ANN WALK! FORWARD!  LINUS IT’S...IS THIS A LADDER? WHAT DO I  DO NOW?  MEL ABOVE YOU IS A WINDOW. ASCEND THE  LADDER SO YOU MAY OPEN THE GATED WINDOW ABOVE TO FREE THE CROWS FROM THEIR CONFINEMENT AND FREE YOUR VIGILE BROTHERS AND SISTERS FROM THIS DEFEANING CLAMOR.  LINUS I...UMMM...  ANN GO!  MEL COME ON! FOR LAND SAKE, DON’T YOU  HAVE EARS?!  LINUS I’M GOING TO FALL!  ANN THEN FALL ALREADY SO I CAN GO HOME!  LINUS PISS OFF!!  Linus reaches the top of the ladder. He paws at the wall, but can’t find the window.  LINUS (CONT'D) WHERE’S THE WINDOW? I CAN’T FEEL  It?  MEL THE WINDOW IS SIX FEET ABOVE YOU.  LINUS BUT I’M OUT OF LADDER!  ANN LINUS, REACH!  LINUS I CAN’T SEE! I CAN’T REACH It! I’M  SORRY!  MEL VERY WELL, ANN, YOU HAVE WASTED THE  COUNCIL’S TIME. GIVE ME YOUR RIGHT HAND!  ANN WHAT? NO! THAT WASN’T PART OF THE  TEST!  MEL YOUR HAND!  LINUS NO! WAIT! I CAN GO...HIGHER...  MEL IN THE NAME OF THE VIGILES, YOU  WILL REMEMBER THE TIME YOU PUT YOUR FAITH IN TO THE WRONG HANDS.  ANN LINUS!  LINUS I’M TRYING! I’M...GOT It!! I’VE GOT  THE LEDGE. AHH! THE LADDER!! It FELL!!  ANN THE WINDOW!  AAAAAAAH!  ANN (CONT'D)  LINUS UGH! Ann?! ANN?!  ANN Linus....  LINUS I can’t get down! I can’t move! If  I let go of the window, I’ll fall.  LINUS (CONT'D) What? Who’s that?!  ANN It’s me. We need escape out the  window.  LINUS What? What happened?  ANN We need to jump! GO!  LINUS We’ll never survive! We’ll fall to  our deaths!  ANN Linus...trust me!  LINUS Uh...uh...Oh, hell...  AAAAAAAAAH! Hu?  LINUS (CONT'D) I’m...I’m....  What. Who are you?! Let me go!  VORLAUF Oh, hold still!  LINUS Wait, I know that...  HAL Oh, look. A dead man.  VORLAUF Welcome to your new life.  LINUS What...? How did...? Where’s Ann?!  ANN I told you to trust me!  MEL (Laughs)  LINUS When?!? Did you... How?!?  VORLAUF Faith in your sponsor...that’s how.  MEL Linus! Do you vow to uphold the  Code of the Vigiles? To protect the land from the darkness of magic and dedicate yourself to eradicating It in all it’s forms?  ANN And under Penalty of having to deal  with me?  HAL And me!  VORLAUF And me!  THE CROWD  AND ME! LINUS  You bet  I do!!  MEL Here, catch!  ANN Put on the ring. It’s your  credential. And don’t ever make me take It back from you.  MEL Now stands before you: Linus, the  Vigile! For Vow and Code!  ALL OTHERS THERE FOR VOW AND CODE!!  SCENE BRAKE  HAL ...but I must admit, you did well.  ANN Ha, I’m just glad you didn’t try  and swan dive out the window.  LINUS Do you think Mel likes me? I think  by the end she was starting to like me.  HAL Oh, absolutely!  LINUS Really?  ANN Don’t be stupid. Mel’s a stone-cold  bureaucrat. She doesn’t care about anything except... I don’t know, efficiency or documents or something.  (MORE)  ANN (CONT'D) Maybe don’t listen to Hal as much  when we’re on our next assignment.  LINUS What is our next assignment?  VORLAUF There isn’t one.  ANN Oh no. Really?  HAL Your horse is ready, sir.  LINUS So, why? What are we doing if there  isn’t an assignment? Did I just do all that for nothing? Vorlauf, where are we going?  VORLAUF Recruiting. Follow me.  LINUS What does that mean?!  SCENE BRAKE  ORA What the...? What?  Hey! Hey! Wake up.  ISTEN Oh, hello. How’d you sleep?  ORA We were supposed to take turns! Why  didn’t you wake me up?  ISTEN I realized we were fine and figured  why not let both of us sleep.  ORA Oh. You just...decided that?  ISTEN Okay, so, I fell asleep.  ORA (incensed)  You left us defenseless?!  ISTEN Look, everything’s fine, okay? It’s  morning. We’re fine. I mean, sure, the fire went out and that’s less than ideal, but really...no harm done.  ORA Okay, but where’s Kevin? He hasn’t come back yet.  ISTEN No he hasn’t.  ORA Doesn’t that concern you?  ISTEN There’s a great many things in this  world that you know nothing about.  ORA What are you doing?  ISTEN You...uh...don’t know what this is,  do you?  ORA No. But, I’m sure you’re going to  tell me.  ISTEN It’s grau. An ancient practice of  synchronizing the physical and spiritual. You know how sometimes your body aches after a battle?  ORA Sure.  ISTEN It’s because your physical self and  spiritual self are misaligned.  ORA Or, you know, because I got hit  with stuff while Vigiles were trying to kill me.  ISTEN (Chuckles)  A wise, 190-year-old monk taught me this. Have you ever even met anybody who’s lived that long?  ORA No, no I have not.  ISTEN That’s right, you haven’t.  ORA Well... That guy Gary maybe...  ISTEN This isn’t just some crazy belief.  This is just how our bodies work. I used to be four inches shorter before I started practicing this every morning.  ORA Really? It actually made you...  taller?  ISTEN Look, if I’m truly chosen, don’t I  owe It to the world to take care of myself? Can you hand me some of that moss? I need to massage It into my temples.  ORA You have got to be kidding...  ISTEN Nope!  ORA So, I think it’s great that you  take care of yourself--  ISTEN Thank you.  ...But, need to Karras.  No.  ORA when you’re done, we really go and find Kevin and  ISTEN  ORA What? Isten, we have to. We can’t  just leave them out there. What if they are in trouble?  ISTEN Don’t let the slow, methodical  movements realigning my spiritual self fool you, we are on a very tight timeline.  ORA Timeline? What timeline?  ISTEN Look, they’ll meet us at the next  town. Karras’ll figure It out, he’s a bright guy.  ORA Really?  ISTEN Well, I mean, he can follow  instructions.  ORA What instructions?  ISTEN Nothing, look...I’m confident that  we’ll catch up with them in Dawnwallow.  ORA Dawnwallow? Why Dawnwallow?  ISTEN Because it’s where we’re headed.  They’ll be there.  ORA If you’re going to be leading us,  you have to tell me why we’re doing what we’re doing.  ISTEN I told you we were on a quest and  you agreed to join...you knew what you were...  ORA Wait! Listen...  ISTEN (ignoring her)  ...signing up for, you agreed to follow me and to let me handle these sorts of decisions.  ORA Isten! The trees!  ISTEN Ora, I am the Chosen One. He who is  prophesied. And I’m telling you--  SPIRIT (Neigh)  ORA Spirit!  But where’s Kevin...?  END OF EPISODE 11    

bottom of page