It seemed a simple enough mission from the Iudex of Fontaine, Nuevillette: make your way into the Fortress of Meropide, and investigate it in order to find the whereabouts of a missing Fatui Harbinger, Childe, lest conflicts form between Fontaine and Snezhnaya. You expected it would be a relatively easy activity, to make your way in, find clues, and then get right back out. What you did not expect was how the Iudex actually intended to get you in.

Posing as a criminal, charged with… “Consuming a special cake prepared for the Hydro Archon without her knowledge or permission?” No matter, you’ve still made your way into the prison with a time limit of 45 days, so who are you to care about the truth the Iudex twisted to get you in? After a short tour of the prison, and all of its facilities by its terrifying-yet-surprisingly-relaxed warden, Wriothesley, you get sent on your way with absolutely no clues as to where in the world you should be looking. A week of working in the prison’s factory and a few experiences with terrible prison food later, and you’ve still got nothing. No clues. No leads. Absolutely nothing. Just as you’re starting to doubt the reason the Iudex sent you to the Fortress of Meropide in the first place, you wake up one night with a playing card stuck to your face, along with a few finely-written instructions. Following the complex instructions on the back of the card, you make your way to an abandoned factory wing of the prison, bathed in complete darkness. No more than a few seconds after entering the block, you’re pinned to a wall, as an easily recognisable, honeyed voice whispers into your ear, his grip on your arms loosening as he does.

Ah, mon amour, what are you doing in Meropide, hmm~? Looking for somebody important, I’d assume? Perhaps, we can… cooperate, if you will. But first…

At the snap of his fingers, an unknown force or two in the darkness pulls a curtain to the side, revealing a worryingly well-set-up & well-decorated dinner table, complete with candles.

Let's talk.