The second shard was in the possession of an acclaimed actor named Torvel, leader of a troupe of players known as the Lord Chamberlain's Men. He is willing to offer the shard, but there is a catch: in exchange, Torvel wants Strongarm to broker a deal with the Master of Revels.

For those of you not native to Holfort, that's just what they call a minister in charge of partying.

The Master of Revels agrees to Torvel's terms in exchange for Stonefire Lanterns, which have been made famous by Huan Strongarm's legend. To this day they are still lit during holidays celebrating parts of his life.

Huan Strongarm: A Bartfort Folktale, by Lufas Maphaahl

"Ah, Olivia!" Torvel recognised the fairy immediately, kissing her hand flamboyantly. By now the play was over, and they had taken the chance to corner him backstage. "I hope you have had a most stupendous day!"

"I liked your play," she smiled, and meant it. She had found herself warming to it the more it went on.

"It is weirdly good, isn't it?" Torvel laughed. "By its reputation you'd think it was just smut; no one ever mentions how funny it is!"

Olivia copied the voice of Crantius Colto. "Plenty of time, my sweet."

Torvel slipped seamlessly into character. "Plenty of time." They both bust a gut laughing. The thespian actually had to wipe a tear of mirth from the corner of his eye. "But I digress: who are your friends?"

"This is my adventuring party!" Olivia deliberately avoided introducing them, mostly because the only one of the love interests whose name she remembered was Julius. "We were actually looking for something called Sudani Glass…"

"Wait here." At the back of the dressing room was a trunk full of crap that Torvel had received from his fans: after a bit of rummaging he pulled out a shard of blue glass, bigger than the one they got from Torva with two sharp edges that jutted out like a fork.

"I just noticed how similar their names are," said Leon suddenly. "Torva and Torvel. Do you think that's a coincidence?"

"Here," he smiled warmly. "I hope you have a most wonderful adventure."

Olivia's jaw dropped slightly as she accepted the shard, almost unable to believe his generosity. "Thank you," she said gratefully. "Bibrus is lucky to have you."

This actually made the actor blush slightly. The Bookseller was right: Torvel did clean up nicely.

"Is there anything we can do in exchange?" Greg offered. He was keenly aware that Leon was only adventuring with them until night fell, whereupon he had arranged to hunt down Elodach once and for all. There wasn't a whole lot of daylight left, and he was afraid of losing his chance to prove himself. "We're all adventurers. We don't mind offering any help you may need."

Torvel looked at him for a second, then began whispering conspiratorially in the fairy's ear. "Am I a Quest Giver? Is that what's happening?"

"Bad news guys," remarked the wolfdog. "There's a chance I may no longer be able to call myself the most self-aware man in Holfort."

Angelica laughed goodnaturedly. "Do you even qualify as a man?" Leon gave her a flat look.

"I was turned into a dog, not a woman. Would you like me to roll onto my back so you can check?"

"Please don't."

"Hang on a sec. If I'm going to do this I'm going to do this right." Torvel began limbering himself up as they watched in amusement. Suddenly he posed melodramatically. "Greetings, good sir! I wonder if I might tell you a sad tale?"

"Seriously," said Leon. "This is EXACTLY how Torva introduced himself."

"I'm listening," smiled Julius.

"My name is Torvel, leader of the accursed troupe of actors you see around you."

Greg blinked slowly. "Why are you accursed?"

The thespian broke character for a moment. "Sorry! I, uh, thought everyone in Holfort knew about our troubles."

"We're from out of town," said Brad apologetically.

"I'd heard that a band of players got on the wrong side of the Master of Revels." Julius was frowning deeply, as if he could barely remember it. "Was that you?"

Torvel coughed in embarrassment. "Yes, well, in our last performance in the palace, some… accidental damage ensued."

Leon snorted quietly. "Go on," prodded Jilk, who had attended the party in question. "What sort of damage?"

"Well, the lanterns were overturned, tapestries were burnt, and the Master's eyebrows were singed."

The Prince's eyebrows shot upward as it all came back to him. "That was you? My dad still laughs about that sometimes!"

"And he held that against you?" Olivia asked. Characteristically, she had assumed that Torvel and his men held no fault in the matter.

"Indeed he has," nodded the actor regretfully. "Beyond all reason. We cannot perform in the palace ever again, he says."

"Right," nodded Chris. "So you want us to…"

"Plead my case with the Master of Revels, yes. He won't speak with us, but perhaps you can reach him."

"What happens if he turns us away?" Olivia asked nervously, but Torvel just shrugged and smiled.

"Then nothing: you already have the shard and I can still perform in this theatre. No pressure."

They were starting to see why Bibrus was so devoted to him.

They returned to the palace, where Leon and Olivia were told to wait in a side room. Julius and the other love interests went to see the Master of Revels, who pretty much had to see them on account of their social status.

Angelica stayed behind, clearly desperate to talk to Olivia.

"You know, I just realised something," said Leon eventually. "Earis and Guts are going to throw Torva in prison, then they're going to go back to the theatre and find out we're not there."

Olivia gasped in horror. "I totally forgot about them!" The wolfdog nodded solemnly.

"Yep. They are NOT going to be happy when they-"

At this moment King Roland jumped into the room with a white sheet over his head, screaming like a crazy man. "Ooga booga booga!"

"Gah!" Leon yelped, leaping away in fright. "Shit fuck what the shit fuck what-" There was a loud crash as he accidentally backed through a window, his long yowl slowly fading from hearing as he plunged to the ground.

A few moments earlier, the two guards had walked up to the palace gates after finishing the last of their paperwork. "What makes you think they came here?" Earis asked curiously.

It was then that the large black wolfdog crashed through an upstairs window, plummeting to the ground and splattering into a smear of blood. "Hey Dog the Dog!" Roland shouted, sticking his head through the broken window as Leon's broken bones began knitting themselves back together. "That was for sneezing on me when my mouth was open!"

"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU ROLAND!"

"Instinct," said Guts flatly. "C'mon. Let's just wait for them here."

"I wanted to say that I was sorry!" Angelica blurted. They were finally alone, so this was probably as good a time as any. "You've been nothing but nice to me, and I screamed at you for no reason! I am so, so sorry!"

Olivia looked a little taken aback by her sincerity. "Oh! You… You don't have to apologise! You were right that it was because I-"

"You did absolutely nothing wrong!" Angelica interrupted, clasping the fairy's hands in her own. The intensity in her red eyes was starting to make her blush. "All you have done is be kind and supportive when you would have been perfectly within your rights to throw me away! Olivia, I am proud to call you my friend!"

"T-Thank you," the fairy blushed. "I-I'm really happy to be your friend too." Angelica couldn't help herself, snorting in a most unladylike manner. "What? What?"

"Nothing," she smiled. "You're just so cute." When Leon finally entered the room she was petting Olivia's hair with one hand and squishing her cheek with the other. He sighed in quiet relief.

"Are you guys busy?" he asked teasingly. "I can come back later if you like."

Angelica pulled her hands away, leaving Olivia looking mildly disappointed. "Don't be ridiculous!" She had turned bright scarlet, and for the first time looked like the teenage girl she really was. "How would you like it if I embarrassed you?"

Leon just scoffed. "Me? I scoff at your feeble attempts! Scoff I say! God Hounds have no weaknesses… What are you doing?"

The girls slowly advanced on him from two sides. "You sure like making fun of people," muttered Olivia. "Well, let's see how you like it!"

Leon yelped as they both began petting him, too afraid of hurting them to make a serious attempt at escape. "You are so soft!" Angelica gushed, running her fingers through his luxurious black fur. "You're softer than most cats!"

"I'm not sure how to feel about that…"

"Can I touch your ears?"

"Hwah!"

Leon yelped as Olivia began to squeeze his right ear between her fingers: it was impossibly, unbelievably soft, like velvet would feel if a goddess of love wanted her sheets to feel if she wanted them to feel better than any sex she could possibly have. "Oh. My. God."

"What're you…" Angelica began to fondle his other ear, suddenly getting it. "Oh. My. God."

"Please," gasped Leon, his vision beginning to blur from the indescribable sensation. "I can't… this feels so…"

"Great news!" Julius shouted, flinging open the door dramatically. "I made a deal with…" He trailed off, clearly not entirely certain of what he was looking at.

"Please," Leon moaned erotically. "No more…"

He slammed the door shut without another word.

When Earis and Guts saw the party leaving the palace, they immediately noticed the mortified embarrassment on the faces of Julius, Angelica and Olivia. Leon seemed pissed beyond belief, his fur almost standing on end as his tail stood ramrod straight. They looked to the other love interests for answers, but they looked just as confused as they were.

"Is everything okay?" Earis asked nervously.

"The Master of Revels offered a deal," said Julius quickly. "He said that he'll clear Torvel's record provided we can get him six Stonefire Lanterns."

Guts gave him a blank look. "Master of… Dude, we were gone for part of this. Context, please."

As Julius filled them in, Olivia gave Leon a stroke - this time on his neck and shoulders - and promised never to do it again. "This isn't funny," he growled. "How would you like it if I squeezed your… Okay, so I can't really squeeze anything right now, but you know what I mean!"

"I'm sorry, Huan," said Olivia, trying very hard not to smile. "I promise, as soon as you turn back into a human you can squeeze us both as much as you like!"

"I'll hold you to that." Angelica snorted loudly into one hand, while Julius randomly stopped what he was saying to burst out laughing. "Anyway: Stonefire Lanterns. I know a guy."

Leon led them back to Burcan's Island; Olivia waved to her parents as they passed their shop, and when Earis and Guts greeted the owner of a high end tailor the others recognised him as Gaston Mercer, who was scammed by the criminal Cerval. In a small street to the right of Gaston's shop was a small store overlooking the canal, its front window filled with lamps and lanterns of all kinds.

"Here," said Leon. "This is the place."

Behind the counter was a wiry old man, clutching the tools of his trade in his bony hands. He squinted at them through a pair of narrow spectacles. "You have come to the right place," he grunted. "There is no better remedy for these dark times than a lantern made by Krys, Master of the Fraternity of Lantern Makers."

"Hi!" Olivia smiled. "I hear you make Stonefire Lanterns."

"Aye, I do," he confirmed. "But there's a problem." Greg gasped excitedly. "Each lantern requires a dram of gargoyle blood, and I'm all out."

The five dudebros cheered, turning and high-fiving gleefully. Krys watched with baffled amusement.

"Wow, I, uh, didn't realise that was such good news."

"They're just excited for a quest involving combat," smiled Angelica. "You were going to ask us to hunt the gargoyles for you, right?"

"I was, actually." Krys pointed to an enormous map on his back wall. "Gargoyles tend to spawn quite deep into the dungeon, but sometimes they escape into the Gehemene Marshes west of Saanavarh. I'd try there if I were you." He paused and frowned. "How many Stonefire Lanterns did you say you wanted?"

"Six."

"Then I will need six drams of gargoyle blood. Happy hunting."

As soon as they left the shop, Moissa Onemore returned to his knightly form. "Sire," he bowed. "I… I'm sure you are aware of this, but… the Gehemene Marshes…"

"They were where you were born, right?" Leon's eyes softened understandingly. "Listen, if you want to stay here…"

"No, that's okay. But if not too much trouble, may we please stop by the dwellings of the sorceress Ursahla? I was trapped in those catacombs for a very long time, and…"

Leon didn't ask questions. He didn't need to. He was a bro first and an asshole second. A 'brasshole' if you will. "That's not a problem. Honestly, if it's where I think it is then we need to grab something from there anyway."

"Thank you, my liege!" Moz flashed brightly in the light of the setting sun, getting complaints from the bipeds as he accidentally blinded them. "I swear to you, I will not forget… Oh, I do beg your pardon." He suddenly realised that he had been gesticulating wildly with the freezing axe. "I didn't make you dizzy, did I?"

"Naw," the answering hum seemed to say. "S'all good, brotha."

"So that's it then?" Greg confirmed, almost squealing with anticipation. "We're finally seeing combat! Should we pick up the saddlebags?"

"Oh gawd," groaned Guts.

"Not just yet," chuckled Leon. "I can only take us part of the way before we need a guide, and to get that guide we need a bribe."

This got him some suspicious looks. "What sort of bribe?" Chris seemed to dread his answer.

"What do you know about Orken Fever-Dream-Spirit?"

Side Quest: The Lord Chamberlain's Men

Summary: the other quest that becomes available after completing the Iona Catacombs. While Torva's Magic Lute gives you the funds to buy some cool equipment in Saanavarh, this quest requires you to collect Gargoyle Blood from the Ikaemos Swamp.

A lot of guides recommend that you complete Saanavarh first and Ikaemos second: don't do that if you want to complete this quest. If you leave Ikaemos with all four rings of summoning then this quest will be left impossible to complete. Back in Chapter 10 I mentioned a Let's Play by Gildiss: now THAT guy does Ikaemos first.

I appreciate ya.

If you've forgotten how Leon and Olivia met Torvel, it was in Chapters 12 and 13 when he was still referred to as the Beggar With No Eyes. Chapter 13 also contained the first mention of Krys the Lantern Maker, as an acquaintance of Bibrus.