The Kingdoms of Amalur weep this day.
For 38 Studios — that testament to Mr. Heinz’s ample ego, that vanity project designed to show us that Curt Schilling is good at everything he tries — is no more.
Don’t worry about Mr. Heinz. He’ll be OK. It’s not like he had any of his own millions invested. Schill will survive this.
The company’s employees, who were all laid off? They might not be OK. The state of Rhode Island, which loaned more than $100 million to spark job creation in a struggling economy, and will now never see that money again? Also, maybe not so much.
Mostly, though, I worry about the residents of the Kingdoms of Amalur.
I worry about Agarth, the fateweaver. He’s wandering around Amalur in a daze. The fates he is weaving today are confused and jumbled.
I pray that sadness won’t overtake Gadflow, the Winter Fae and king of the Tuatha Deohn, loyal subject of Tirnoch and instigator of the Crystal War. She is delicate of spirit and has already borne so much sorrow in her immortal existence. She must stay strong.
I hope that Tirnoch – the dragon of immense power with the ability to defy Fate and the subject of Tuatha worship – can still flap his mighty wings and still summon fire in his breath. A sad dragon is the saddest thing of all.
Indeed, the flags on all the castles in Amalur fly at half-mast today. The soldiers in the Crystal War lay down their arms and meet at the frontlines for a moment of brotherhood and simple comfort in their shared grief. The mortal races of the kingdoms fear for their bodies while the immortals fear for their souls. Throughout the land, fear grows that with the demise of Mr. Heinz’s latest venture, the valuable prismere crystals created by the gnomish scientist Ventrinio will lose their magical powers.
Ventrinio himself is nowhere to be found.
David Simon Cowell
The Dilemma
