ZZ-KOR05 (Apr 18, 2023)
Puzzle
“Rune.”
Knowledge | 2 Words
Clue
Hover over the clues if you require!
Clue 1: What is the true name of 'Rune'?
Clue 2: Think about the Path of Roses, Mrs. Tudor's cult in the BIB cases of Debt Come Due. Try to remember who's part of it.
Clue 3: Who is Rune, the Zulu member, in Otherworldly Adventures? See HHS - which CaD member is linked to him?
Answer and Explanation
Answer: Katherine Wade
Explanation: Rune is Katherine Wade. When she visited Mary in Debt Come Due, she was asked to join the Kings, and she did eat Randall Rune, absorbing his memory as well.
Summary of Receipt
Capgras meets up with Rune. After Capgras learns she's Katherine Wade, she mentions that she actually ate Randall Rune/Dingane's actual soul before joining the CaD, thus preserving his memories. As such, she's taken over the Kings of Roses to continue Project Lazarus and Netzach, though for her own goals instead of Secret's. Capgras warns her that both the Zulus and Secret thinks she's breaking the Oath of Zilence (or Silence?), but since they can't really kill her, neither really pose a threat to one another.
Transcript
Receipt: ZZ-KOR05
Author: Capgras
Status: Super Secret
Subject: Kings Cult
Thanks to Blackwood’s detective skills, I was able to find my way to the Valley of Gilded Thorns, where the Kings of Roses are set up. I also had a conversation with… Rune. I think she’s going to be a major thorn in our side after all. She knows secrets she really shouldn’t, and even if we could kill her… we can’t. Not easily.
S.O.T.
Capgras: I’ve come to speak to Rune.
Kings Cultist: And who might you be?
Capgras: Shaka of Zulu.
Kings Cultist: You aren’t Shaka.
Capgras: Didn’t you hear? He was replaced. I’m the new Shaka.
Kings Cultist: New Shaka? I highly doubt—
Rune: That’s alright. I know him. He is, indeed, Shaka.
Capgras: Katherine? What are you doing here?
Rune: Give us some privacy, would you?
[The Kings Cultist left the CaDCom transcription range.]
Rune: Hi Alex! It’s so good to see you again.
Capgras: Hi… wait, wait, wait. Are you Rune?
Rune: Yep! And you got promoted to Shaka. Congrats! That’s a huge promotion.
Capgras: How… when… what?
Rune: Ah. I see you didn’t inherit Shaka’s annoying knowledge of nearly everything. That’s good. I’m guessing you didn’t inherit much from Shaka besides the title, huh?
Capgras: Uh…
Rune: Don’t worry, I won’t tell. You’ve got quite the title to uphold.
Capgras: I… wait. How do you know so much?
Rune: Well… you weren’t the only replacement Shaka considered. I figured it wasn’t really the right fit for me.
Capgras: …and leader of a blood Cult was?
[Rune shrugged.]
Rune: I’m doing what needs to be done. Same as you. Same as everyone else who burnt their tongues on the coffee. Anyway, I assume you’re here because it’s Shaka’s job to check up on cults, right?
Capgras: I… well, yes. Though, I’m here because of Netzach.
Rune: Oh?
Capgras: So, Shaka considered you as a possible replacement, and in doing so, he told you about Netzach? That seems…
Rune: Highly unlikely? Yep. Because he didn’t tell me about Netzach.
Capgras: So then—
Rune: Randall Rune. He knew about the Netzach project. Well, he knew at least as much as it pertained to the Lazarus project.
Capgras: Randall Rune…
Rune: Dingane.
Capgras: A Zulu?
Rune: Oh! I forgot you weren’t with the Cafe then, were you?
Capgras: No… I wasn’t. Though I think I get it. More or less. You were turned into a zombie—
Rune: More of a ghoul, technically.
Capgras: Ghoul. Sure. An undead half-demon of some sort.
Rune: Yep!
Capgras: Okay, and you were turned into that because of Project Lazarus. You were injected with Asmodeus’ blood… and Dingane was the Zulu in charge of Project Lazarus. You ate him, and due to your powers, you were able to momentarily retain his knowledge. But how did you keep all of this in your head for the past 3 years? I thought you only gained memories and feelings for a few hours at most.
Rune: Sure, when I eat someone’s flesh. I didn’t just eat Randall’s flesh.
Capgras: You ate his soul? You’ve been Randall this whole time?
Rune: I wouldn’t say that. I’m still me! I just retained Randall’s memories, knowledge and—
Capgras: Ambitions.
Rune: Yep!
Capgras: So, you taking over the Kings of Roses, that was to further Randall’s Lazarus research?
Rune: You’ve got it!
Capgras: Great! You can come back to the Zulus then—
Rune: Oh no. No, I don’t think I will. I don’t have to, Shaka. Dingane made a pact with Secret, not me. And I don’t really want Secret to benefit from my research.
Capgras: But… Fine. I see how it is. But you realize in the Zulu’s eyes, in Secret’s eyes, you’re a traitor of the Silence. We can’t let you just use Randall’s knowledge of our secrets for your own gain.
Rune: That does seem fair… but then again, you can’t kill me. So, if we’re done, Shaka. It’s been nice catching up.
E.O.T.