WEBVTT

00:00:02.239 --> 00:00:05.120
Pants people! How you doing? I just want to thank

00:00:05.120 --> 00:00:07.120
you guys so, so much for leaving that review.

00:00:07.559 --> 00:00:09.179
Wait, what? What? You didn't leave a review?

00:00:09.580 --> 00:00:11.019
Well, I'll forgive you. I'll forgive you. This

00:00:11.019 --> 00:00:13.259
is once because I'm a benevolent DM. Get out

00:00:13.259 --> 00:00:15.800
there. Leave us a review. Enjoy the show. We

00:00:15.800 --> 00:00:17.660
love having you and we love doing this. Let's

00:00:17.660 --> 00:01:02.890
go! now given to the Lucha Libre Team Challenge

00:01:02.890 --> 00:01:06.310
against the Mighty Pigman. Sponsored, of course,

00:01:06.310 --> 00:01:09.930
by Marfil Ironworks. Now, as exciting as this

00:01:09.930 --> 00:01:12.109
event is, I'm afraid we do have some tragic,

00:01:12.209 --> 00:01:15.090
tragic news for y 'all. Of the four Luchador

00:01:15.090 --> 00:01:17.069
challengers that were invited to join Pigman

00:01:17.069 --> 00:01:20.329
in the ring, three have become suddenly ill with

00:01:20.329 --> 00:01:23.810
serenade. Ganabotus, Magic Mouth, and The Change

00:01:23.810 --> 00:01:26.769
have all been reported as gravely ill, leaving

00:01:26.769 --> 00:01:28.969
only the aforementioned Dance Macabre to carry

00:01:28.969 --> 00:01:32.450
on their will. End of the fight. We at the network

00:01:32.450 --> 00:01:35.709
pass on our concerns to their families and pray

00:01:35.709 --> 00:01:39.010
for their recovery. In the meantime, Marvel Ironworks

00:01:39.010 --> 00:01:41.290
is currently searching for other worldly contestants

00:01:41.290 --> 00:01:43.989
to boast of the opposing side. With the Night

00:01:43.989 --> 00:01:46.310
of the Rumble so close, though, and Serenade

00:01:46.310 --> 00:01:50.069
on the rise, well, it may be hard to find replacements.

00:01:50.569 --> 00:01:57.590
More on this later. So no one told you life was

00:01:57.590 --> 00:02:02.269
gonna be this way. Your job's a joke, you're

00:02:02.269 --> 00:02:08.389
broke, your love life's DOA. I quit. Stephen,

00:02:08.389 --> 00:02:10.909
get in there. Fuck this podcast. No. It's like

00:02:10.909 --> 00:02:15.509
you're always stuck in second gear when it hasn't

00:02:15.509 --> 00:02:17.969
been your day, your week, your month, or even

00:02:17.969 --> 00:02:21.530
your year. Stephen has the most painful expression

00:02:21.530 --> 00:02:23.909
on his face right now. Yeah, well, I'm like,

00:02:23.930 --> 00:02:26.330
I wish I had my phone out because that would

00:02:26.330 --> 00:02:32.370
have been great for Instagram. The no phone near

00:02:32.370 --> 00:02:34.210
the mic rule is the best thing that's ever happened

00:02:34.210 --> 00:02:36.530
to me. No, it'll be fine on this side. Yeah,

00:02:36.629 --> 00:02:41.650
it would work. Bravo, I think. I keep going.

00:02:41.750 --> 00:02:43.330
No, no, don't encourage it. There's more theme.

00:02:43.370 --> 00:02:46.449
You encourage it. Here we go. I'll be there for

00:02:46.449 --> 00:02:50.569
you. I told you. When the rain starts to pour.

00:02:51.509 --> 00:02:58.080
I'll be there for you. I'm done. So. You know

00:02:58.080 --> 00:02:59.800
you're like 10 years older than they were in

00:02:59.800 --> 00:03:01.740
that show, right? You guys want to do the episode?

00:03:02.080 --> 00:03:04.460
That's not. That might be true. Is that what

00:03:04.460 --> 00:03:06.159
we're doing? I think it's true. Are we talking

00:03:06.159 --> 00:03:07.960
about friends right now? No, I'm singing about

00:03:07.960 --> 00:03:10.400
friends. What do you guys want to do? Clearly

00:03:10.400 --> 00:03:11.840
you don't want to sing with me. Well, gee, I'm

00:03:11.840 --> 00:03:14.039
really like, I wonder where we're going to find

00:03:14.039 --> 00:03:17.020
three luchadors to join this wrestling match.

00:03:17.340 --> 00:03:20.219
Shut up. It's just like such a weird number to

00:03:20.219 --> 00:03:23.680
just suddenly need. It's a surprise. Three. Huh.

00:03:27.129 --> 00:03:29.129
All right, well, I've got one little thing to

00:03:29.129 --> 00:03:31.629
jump in with before we get going. All right,

00:03:31.689 --> 00:03:33.669
hit it. What's your song? It was a couple, a

00:03:33.669 --> 00:03:36.449
few episodes ago, we were talking about coffee,

00:03:36.530 --> 00:03:39.969
and we had some grindy coffee. Yeah. And just

00:03:39.969 --> 00:03:41.469
kind of jokingly, we're like, oh, tell us what

00:03:41.469 --> 00:03:43.009
to do to make better coffee. And guess what?

00:03:43.689 --> 00:03:46.770
The pants people pulled through. A couple people

00:03:46.770 --> 00:03:48.830
were like, oh, yeah, you got to do this, you

00:03:48.830 --> 00:03:51.210
got to do that. Perfect cup of coffee. Well,

00:03:51.289 --> 00:03:53.530
guess what I'm sipping on right now? A perfect

00:03:53.530 --> 00:03:55.550
cup of coffee that Jeremy Wolf just made me.

00:03:58.060 --> 00:04:00.719
So I'd like to thank everybody who wrote in because

00:04:00.719 --> 00:04:05.000
this is really tasty. It's just French press.

00:04:05.680 --> 00:04:08.020
Hey, it's good. I like it. I appreciate it. Jeremy,

00:04:08.060 --> 00:04:10.219
thank you. If I didn't tell you before, Jeremy,

00:04:10.360 --> 00:04:13.599
thank you. Jeremy, your coffee is gross and reprehensible

00:04:13.599 --> 00:04:16.259
and I hate it. We've got mail. All right, fine.

00:04:16.639 --> 00:04:20.480
We've got mail. Drink a Rockstar. What am I opening

00:04:20.480 --> 00:04:23.000
here? You just whipped a knife out like, oh my

00:04:23.000 --> 00:04:25.800
God. That knife is extremely sharp. Be careful.

00:04:26.360 --> 00:04:29.730
I have like a... Like literally these Milwaukee

00:04:29.730 --> 00:04:32.329
flip knives. You just whipped it out like West

00:04:32.329 --> 00:04:34.689
Side Story style. Yeah, no. And that was mildly

00:04:34.689 --> 00:04:36.310
terrifying. Steve's got a whole serial killer

00:04:36.310 --> 00:04:38.990
bag full of them. All right. I'm familiar with

00:04:38.990 --> 00:04:42.790
knives. Yeah, I know. You serial killer. You're

00:04:42.790 --> 00:04:46.050
not familiar with hitting mics. Anyway, so in

00:04:46.050 --> 00:04:48.949
this package that I'm currently opening, very

00:04:48.949 --> 00:04:53.089
safely, I'll have you know. It didn't feel safe.

00:04:53.209 --> 00:04:54.990
Listeners, it did not feel safe in this room.

00:04:55.069 --> 00:04:56.769
Fear for my life. You guys are way too afraid

00:04:56.769 --> 00:05:00.189
of everything. Are some dice from our friend

00:05:00.189 --> 00:05:04.569
Zoobeard. Oh, shoot. Yes. Oh, shit. More dwarven

00:05:04.569 --> 00:05:08.430
relics then. I even got to name these dice. No

00:05:08.430 --> 00:05:12.889
kidding. These are gold vein dice. Oh, I like

00:05:12.889 --> 00:05:19.009
that. Check these bad boys out. Whoa. Those are

00:05:19.009 --> 00:05:21.079
pretty. And we got this sweet little dice bag.

00:05:21.240 --> 00:05:23.720
Those are pretty. This pretty floral print on

00:05:23.720 --> 00:05:26.620
it. That is gorgeous. Check that out. David,

00:05:26.620 --> 00:05:29.079
check this. Give me those dice. Don't. Oh, I

00:05:29.079 --> 00:05:31.579
want to. Don't. Give me those dice. I want to

00:05:31.579 --> 00:05:34.680
fart on them. Oh, I can't fart on these. They're

00:05:34.680 --> 00:05:39.819
beautiful. Oh, look at that. Gold vein. Wow.

00:05:40.439 --> 00:05:42.220
It's a very appropriate name for those dice.

00:05:42.519 --> 00:05:44.980
Let's see. How do you roll, though? Oh, God,

00:05:45.060 --> 00:05:46.899
they're tainted. I tainted them. There we go.

00:05:46.939 --> 00:05:48.240
You might as well just keep them now. It's a

00:05:48.240 --> 00:05:49.920
good old nat four for you. Take these dice back.

00:05:50.040 --> 00:05:51.759
I've ruined them for you. No, no, no. You know

00:05:51.759 --> 00:05:54.019
what? Let's share them for now. He took the bad

00:05:54.019 --> 00:05:56.639
roll. Let's share them. Share the dice? Yeah.

00:05:57.120 --> 00:06:00.439
Well. I think we can do that. I think we can.

00:06:01.480 --> 00:06:03.259
Thank you, Zuby. Oh, no, I already ruined them,

00:06:03.339 --> 00:06:05.240
though. Yeah, that's exactly why I want you to

00:06:05.240 --> 00:06:08.240
have them. Damn it. Thank you, Zuby. I'll fix

00:06:08.240 --> 00:06:12.120
them. I'll fix them. And I'll kill these characters.

00:06:14.670 --> 00:06:17.370
Not fixed yet. What'd you roll? What'd you roll?

00:06:17.529 --> 00:06:21.550
It's a four and then a three. Thank you, Zoobeard.

00:06:22.550 --> 00:06:26.550
Perform my dark rituals too quickly. I'm sure

00:06:26.550 --> 00:06:29.050
we'll be cursing the Goldvein name soon enough.

00:06:29.149 --> 00:06:35.230
Oh, I hope you do. You will rue the day. I'll

00:06:35.230 --> 00:06:40.399
be there for you. Let's get started. Yeah. Let's

00:06:40.399 --> 00:06:42.699
move on. Let's get started. Once was enough.

00:06:46.279 --> 00:06:49.879
All right. Before we get into any sirenscape

00:06:49.879 --> 00:06:52.759
here, just because I don't want to go too crazy

00:06:52.759 --> 00:06:54.180
with all these different moods, we're going to

00:06:54.180 --> 00:06:57.980
be slapping across the audience. Emotional whiplash.

00:06:58.079 --> 00:07:01.639
Oh, yeah. Let's just keep it nice, quiet, serene.

00:07:01.660 --> 00:07:04.439
Just a moment. Just a moment. Till we see what

00:07:04.439 --> 00:07:07.500
we see and what's going on. Jules, we're starting

00:07:07.500 --> 00:07:11.079
with you. Damn it. Oh, yeah. Real quick here.

00:07:11.139 --> 00:07:13.240
We're starting with you. Now, before we get into

00:07:13.240 --> 00:07:16.300
your scene, I want to touch on something. Last

00:07:16.300 --> 00:07:22.779
episode, I gave Zebulon a free feat. Now, this

00:07:22.779 --> 00:07:24.199
is something we talked about way back when in

00:07:24.199 --> 00:07:26.060
episode zero, character creation. We're finally,

00:07:26.079 --> 00:07:29.000
finally coming to the culmination of that. I

00:07:29.000 --> 00:07:31.240
wanted to have the right time to introduce it,

00:07:31.300 --> 00:07:33.060
and I think last session was the right time.

00:07:33.740 --> 00:07:36.839
Yeah. But given this. Given that you got the

00:07:36.839 --> 00:07:39.339
free fee at level four along with your two ASIs,

00:07:39.540 --> 00:07:42.740
I think it's only fair that Jules, you get one

00:07:42.740 --> 00:07:45.819
ASI point. I like to think as you face down your

00:07:45.819 --> 00:07:48.019
family for the first time in years, as you're

00:07:48.019 --> 00:07:50.459
stepping away from this confrontation, maybe

00:07:50.459 --> 00:07:53.060
there's just something stirring inside of you

00:07:53.060 --> 00:07:56.160
and you gain one point to put wherever you choose.

00:07:56.399 --> 00:07:59.519
Oh, hell yeah. Excellent. Oh, hell yeah. You

00:07:59.519 --> 00:08:02.139
got any ideas? Let me double check real quick.

00:08:03.199 --> 00:08:05.660
Sorry, D &D Beyond is being very slow, but I'm

00:08:05.660 --> 00:08:07.879
going to be putting it into charisma because

00:08:07.879 --> 00:08:09.939
I'm at a plus three right now, which will bring

00:08:09.939 --> 00:08:14.379
me to a plus four. Oh, shit. See, that's actually

00:08:14.379 --> 00:08:16.100
amazing because I love the idea. You're stepping

00:08:16.100 --> 00:08:18.620
out of this room, and charisma is a lot of your

00:08:18.620 --> 00:08:23.540
self -drive, your force of will, and your ability

00:08:23.540 --> 00:08:25.459
to take that force of will you have and impress

00:08:25.459 --> 00:08:28.100
it upon others. And I think that's what you feel

00:08:28.100 --> 00:08:30.079
stirring in you as you face down your family

00:08:30.079 --> 00:08:33.850
for the first time in many years. Your resolve,

00:08:34.029 --> 00:08:36.490
your ambition just burning inside of you, and

00:08:36.490 --> 00:08:38.210
you gain that extra point of charisma. You come

00:08:38.210 --> 00:08:41.570
out there looking just a little bit taller, having

00:08:41.570 --> 00:08:45.169
just a little more presence. And as you step

00:08:45.169 --> 00:08:48.889
outside of this crystalline spire, back into

00:08:48.889 --> 00:08:52.169
the auroral town proper, back and facing the

00:08:52.169 --> 00:08:54.450
sort of great amphitheater and the other speakers'

00:08:54.529 --> 00:08:58.309
homes that surround, you notice one thing. Off

00:08:58.309 --> 00:09:01.820
to the left. kind of tucked just a little ways

00:09:01.820 --> 00:09:06.320
around the spire. You see Cirilla. She's holding

00:09:06.320 --> 00:09:11.720
something to her ear, nods, and brings it down

00:09:11.720 --> 00:09:13.899
to her pocket. Go ahead and roll me a perception

00:09:13.899 --> 00:09:16.840
check. I'm not great at those. No, neither of

00:09:16.840 --> 00:09:21.240
you are. It's fantastic for me. I'm still not

00:09:21.240 --> 00:09:26.659
great at those. It's only an 11. You don't see

00:09:26.659 --> 00:09:29.000
what she pockets. No, I don't. Small and round

00:09:29.000 --> 00:09:31.519
and something familiar about it, but you don't

00:09:31.519 --> 00:09:33.820
see what it is. She slides into her pocket, but

00:09:33.820 --> 00:09:37.740
you do see that she fixes you with this glare

00:09:37.740 --> 00:09:40.259
as you step outside. It's just a slight smile

00:09:40.259 --> 00:09:43.460
tugging at the side of her lips. Would you say

00:09:43.460 --> 00:09:45.080
that we've taken a long rest by now? How long

00:09:45.080 --> 00:09:48.059
has it been? Since the last combat, you have

00:09:48.059 --> 00:09:49.940
not. You would need to like full on sleep and

00:09:49.940 --> 00:09:51.539
everything. Oh, okay. Takes about eight hours.

00:09:51.980 --> 00:09:54.860
Nevermind. Nope. You do see though. Oh, wait.

00:09:55.600 --> 00:09:59.379
No, never mind. Continue. You do see, though,

00:09:59.399 --> 00:10:04.759
behind her, hands sort of folded in like a sort

00:10:04.759 --> 00:10:09.559
of at rest position. You see Dresden close by

00:10:09.559 --> 00:10:14.200
her side. And as she looks into your eyes, she

00:10:14.200 --> 00:10:17.620
smiles towards you. He also catches your gaze.

00:10:17.840 --> 00:10:20.320
And while she's not looking very, very quickly,

00:10:20.340 --> 00:10:24.299
you see another hand symbol. Three fingers raised.

00:10:24.870 --> 00:10:28.149
Followed by a clenched fist. Can we come up with

00:10:28.149 --> 00:10:30.750
a response for that? Sure. That Jules can do

00:10:30.750 --> 00:10:33.669
back? Yeah. You know this signal means serious

00:10:33.669 --> 00:10:36.629
danger. Yeah, Jules scratches the right side

00:10:36.629 --> 00:10:39.169
of his head right in his temple. And you catch

00:10:39.169 --> 00:10:43.029
a very terse nod. Very quick. Barely noticeable.

00:10:43.929 --> 00:10:46.190
Is terse the right word? I don't know. It's a

00:10:46.190 --> 00:10:49.129
nod. So what does the response mean? What does

00:10:49.129 --> 00:10:53.620
it mean? I don't know. I assume it's seen and

00:10:53.620 --> 00:10:55.860
accepted or something like that. Yeah. It sounds

00:10:55.860 --> 00:10:59.139
kind of boring, but it's flavor. It's a little

00:10:59.139 --> 00:11:02.259
flavor. Yeah. Hell yeah. I'm into it. His face

00:11:02.259 --> 00:11:04.659
does not change. He plays the part very well,

00:11:04.740 --> 00:11:07.779
but there may be something behind his eyes, some

00:11:07.779 --> 00:11:12.820
anxiety as you move away. I mean, do you move

00:11:12.820 --> 00:11:17.460
away? Yeah, I do. I don't think now is the time

00:11:17.460 --> 00:11:23.240
to pursue that. Feeling your cousin's gaze on

00:11:23.240 --> 00:11:27.080
your back, you step away from the spire, move

00:11:27.080 --> 00:11:31.399
down the street, back towards where Oren waits

00:11:31.399 --> 00:11:33.340
at the intersection before the amphitheater,

00:11:33.440 --> 00:11:36.419
where two of you, you and Zebulon, split off

00:11:36.419 --> 00:11:42.799
before. And as you move, you catch sight of Zebulon

00:11:42.799 --> 00:11:45.419
also moving down from the other direction. I

00:11:45.419 --> 00:11:47.340
imagine you're heading back to Oren, Zebulon?

00:11:47.580 --> 00:11:52.549
Yeah, exactly. Okay. Yeah, he's not running or

00:11:52.549 --> 00:11:55.750
skipping. Maybe there's like a skip in his step.

00:11:56.169 --> 00:11:59.929
I'll say that. Yeah, I mean, like, it was heavy

00:11:59.929 --> 00:12:03.409
stuff, but you've done it. You have your passports.

00:12:03.730 --> 00:12:07.289
Now he's looking forward. He's excited. I mean,

00:12:07.309 --> 00:12:10.149
how long have we been waiting for this? 39 episodes.

00:12:11.129 --> 00:12:14.809
Here we are, finally. You guys begin to move.

00:12:14.929 --> 00:12:16.590
And actually, I will say, as you're kind of closing

00:12:16.590 --> 00:12:20.110
in, you see that Oren is already, involved in

00:12:20.110 --> 00:12:22.370
a very one -sided conversation with somebody

00:12:22.370 --> 00:12:26.009
else uh a loud voice like a whip crack just just

00:12:26.009 --> 00:12:28.330
casting over the crowds people kind of shuddering

00:12:28.330 --> 00:12:30.149
almost turning away from it as you hear jean

00:12:30.149 --> 00:12:32.129
franklin yelling at the top of his lungs like

00:12:32.129 --> 00:12:35.190
she knew speaking you already knew it all damn

00:12:35.190 --> 00:12:38.149
it of course she paid off a lot of them she even

00:12:38.149 --> 00:12:40.789
seemed surprised i wasn't so upset implied that

00:12:40.789 --> 00:12:43.730
i had to be thankful for all they gained from

00:12:43.730 --> 00:12:47.299
it thankful for cold deceit and murder. I will

00:12:47.299 --> 00:12:49.220
find another way, damn you. I will find another.

00:12:49.539 --> 00:12:51.860
Yeah, yeah, all right. Hey, this isn't the time

00:12:51.860 --> 00:12:53.559
or place. Come on, come on, hey. Oh, they're

00:12:53.559 --> 00:12:55.740
coming, they're coming. Jaune just turns around

00:12:55.740 --> 00:12:58.220
to look at you guys as you come. Just this total

00:12:58.220 --> 00:13:01.779
glare in his eyes. Fiery. Hey, what's the problem?

00:13:01.899 --> 00:13:04.440
What's the problem? Look at this. We got our

00:13:04.440 --> 00:13:08.519
passports. Congratulations. Yeah. Just steps

00:13:08.519 --> 00:13:12.259
away, just steaming. Jules looks at Oren. The

00:13:12.259 --> 00:13:14.720
fuck's his deal? Sounds like things didn't go

00:13:14.720 --> 00:13:17.500
so well, but how about you guys? Everything go

00:13:17.500 --> 00:13:20.120
okay? I mean, you're back, so that's something.

00:13:20.179 --> 00:13:22.740
You got your papers, right? Yeah, Zebulon just

00:13:22.740 --> 00:13:26.500
flashes his papers. Yeah, we're good. I guess

00:13:26.500 --> 00:13:30.259
we're luminaries now. You're luminaries now,

00:13:30.299 --> 00:13:33.539
that's it. That's right. Oh, man. Now, from here,

00:13:33.580 --> 00:13:35.460
let me explain real quick. From here, you are

00:13:35.460 --> 00:13:37.820
free to travel the world as you like, right?

00:13:37.919 --> 00:13:39.519
You got the passports. No one's going to stop

00:13:39.519 --> 00:13:42.320
you. You go where you want, when you want. Occasionally,

00:13:42.320 --> 00:13:44.639
speakers will request you for specific assignments,

00:13:44.899 --> 00:13:47.440
which you may choose to undertake. It's up to

00:13:47.440 --> 00:13:49.620
you. Apart from that, luminaries will typically

00:13:49.620 --> 00:13:52.539
travel on patrols to various worlds, might visit

00:13:52.539 --> 00:13:54.500
festivals, make an appearance. People are going

00:13:54.500 --> 00:13:57.500
to love to see you out there. And we'll investigate

00:13:57.500 --> 00:13:59.399
dangerous or troubling matters as they see fit,

00:13:59.559 --> 00:14:02.720
right? So, honestly, all the freedom, it's all

00:14:02.720 --> 00:14:05.460
yours. As you accomplish tasks, do what you do,

00:14:05.559 --> 00:14:07.740
get known. It's recommended that you get as much

00:14:07.740 --> 00:14:10.830
footage as possible so we can keep up. Keep the

00:14:10.830 --> 00:14:13.809
public excited about you, you know. And, yeah,

00:14:13.929 --> 00:14:16.070
more folks excited, more folks visiting your

00:14:16.070 --> 00:14:18.769
sponsors, more money in your pockets. Sound good?

00:14:19.549 --> 00:14:22.690
Well, yeah, it sounds good to me. I really, you

00:14:22.690 --> 00:14:24.029
know, I think I'm going to enjoy the freedom.

00:14:25.149 --> 00:14:29.610
Yeah, sounds good. All right. Great. I put your

00:14:29.610 --> 00:14:31.809
main address currently as the Ugly Coyote, but

00:14:31.809 --> 00:14:33.389
I can change that if you want somewhere else.

00:14:33.850 --> 00:14:35.470
It's only the speakers that know it. It's just

00:14:35.470 --> 00:14:37.009
they got to know where to send people to get

00:14:37.009 --> 00:14:38.190
over here. That was going to be my next question.

00:14:38.289 --> 00:14:40.990
Is this a public address? Yeah, no, not public.

00:14:41.129 --> 00:14:43.470
Okay. We don't want the paparazzi all over you.

00:14:43.509 --> 00:14:45.450
We're trying so hard we can to keep them away.

00:14:45.750 --> 00:14:52.570
Where do they send the fan mail? I mean... Is

00:14:52.570 --> 00:14:58.129
there, like, a P .O. box somewhere here in a

00:14:58.129 --> 00:15:01.789
royal town where I can collect that? I can make

00:15:01.789 --> 00:15:05.029
your address public. Absolutely fucking not.

00:15:05.710 --> 00:15:07.549
All right, well, is there a place I can send

00:15:07.549 --> 00:15:08.909
it? You got another address I can send it to?

00:15:09.879 --> 00:15:11.840
I'll think about it. I'll think about it. Send

00:15:11.840 --> 00:15:19.899
it to Arlon's place. Oh, God. This is so fucking

00:15:19.899 --> 00:15:24.379
funny. All right. All right, so I'll get back

00:15:24.379 --> 00:15:27.860
to you all in there. But, hey, that's it. I mean,

00:15:27.980 --> 00:15:30.259
you can do what you want now. We can bop around

00:15:30.259 --> 00:15:32.120
to Rural Town a little more, check out the sights,

00:15:32.299 --> 00:15:34.779
or any other place you want to go, you can go.

00:15:35.440 --> 00:15:38.519
Ooh, Rural Town, huh? I mean... There's got to

00:15:38.519 --> 00:15:41.120
be all sorts of cool stuff here. I mean, it's

00:15:41.120 --> 00:15:44.539
a bit of a private locale. Most of the shops

00:15:44.539 --> 00:15:45.580
and all that stuff you're going to find in the

00:15:45.580 --> 00:15:48.360
Citadel proper outside. This is more where the

00:15:48.360 --> 00:15:50.440
network's made, more where shows are filmed.

00:15:51.419 --> 00:15:54.320
Outside in the preserve and all the different

00:15:54.320 --> 00:15:56.240
habitats and wildlife, that's where you're going

00:15:56.240 --> 00:15:58.200
to find folk just filming commercials, things

00:15:58.200 --> 00:16:00.899
like that. But, yeah, I mean, it's cool to check

00:16:00.899 --> 00:16:04.899
out. Oh, yeah, the Incarnates. Well, what do

00:16:04.899 --> 00:16:08.049
you think, Jules? I'm gonna let you guys figure

00:16:08.049 --> 00:16:09.289
this out on your own, though. I gotta get back

00:16:09.289 --> 00:16:13.309
to a show. Okay, well, thanks, Oren. You've been,

00:16:13.330 --> 00:16:19.509
I mean, so helpful, as always. Hey, I... I can

00:16:19.509 --> 00:16:20.970
never make up to you what you've done for me.

00:16:21.529 --> 00:16:24.389
And I'm so happy that at least I could do this

00:16:24.389 --> 00:16:28.409
much. Now, tell Kiana I'll be by later on. I

00:16:28.409 --> 00:16:29.610
want to take her out somewhere nice tonight.

00:16:30.309 --> 00:16:32.730
Haven't seen her in a while. That sounds good.

00:16:33.429 --> 00:16:36.070
I, uh... Oh, hang on. He steps in and gives you

00:16:36.070 --> 00:16:40.009
a hug. No. Oh, save you alone. All right, Jules,

00:16:40.070 --> 00:16:45.950
come here. Come here. All right. He just comes

00:16:45.950 --> 00:16:48.190
in and grabs you. Gives you a quick bear hug,

00:16:48.230 --> 00:16:51.330
steps away, and Jean don't even think about it.

00:16:51.350 --> 00:16:53.169
Jules comes up and pushes Jean Franklin into

00:16:53.169 --> 00:16:59.590
Oren. Yeah! And Oren quickly just moves away

00:16:59.590 --> 00:17:04.789
from a very angry, raging tortoise. Well, now

00:17:04.789 --> 00:17:07.990
what? Well, what happened in there, Keon? Why

00:17:07.990 --> 00:17:10.509
are you all... I mean, don't you want to talk

00:17:10.509 --> 00:17:13.890
about it? No. All I need to know is they would

00:17:13.890 --> 00:17:16.589
not hear me out. The speaker's being paid off.

00:17:17.150 --> 00:17:20.289
They're a part of it. Even a niconeer is a part

00:17:20.289 --> 00:17:23.190
of this conspiracy. Well, did you go in flashing

00:17:23.190 --> 00:17:26.829
that attitude? Yes, it's my attitude. That's

00:17:26.829 --> 00:17:30.450
why they ain't gonna say shit to you. You gotta

00:17:30.450 --> 00:17:35.250
play the game a little bit. What game? It's honey

00:17:35.250 --> 00:17:40.849
in flies, or something like that. What? Yeah,

00:17:40.930 --> 00:17:46.990
what he said. I'll figure it out. It's only a

00:17:46.990 --> 00:17:50.470
matter of time. I will expose them, all of them.

00:17:50.990 --> 00:17:54.309
Let's need time to find out how. Well, you know,

00:17:54.369 --> 00:17:56.829
we'll, uh, when the time comes, we'll help you

00:17:56.829 --> 00:18:02.980
with that. Thank you. I accept. Yeah. He just

00:18:02.980 --> 00:18:09.420
turns away. Yeah, Jules doesn't want to get too

00:18:09.420 --> 00:18:12.400
distracted. Zeb, we got to be careful. We still

00:18:12.400 --> 00:18:15.119
got things we got to do. Shit, we got to figure

00:18:15.119 --> 00:18:19.240
out. Well, yeah, let's... What do you think?

00:18:19.240 --> 00:18:22.259
Where should we start? You mind taking a little

00:18:22.259 --> 00:18:29.940
trip to see my incarnate? Wow. Yeah, I mean...

00:18:29.940 --> 00:18:33.549
Trying to find some answers here. And, uh, they

00:18:33.549 --> 00:18:37.730
might have some. Jeez, um, well, what did Orin

00:18:37.730 --> 00:18:39.490
say was going to happen to us if we went there?

00:18:40.329 --> 00:18:44.630
He didn't. Just told you don't do it. Well, I

00:18:44.630 --> 00:18:48.269
mean, Jules, if you want to go, I'll back you

00:18:48.269 --> 00:18:52.069
up. Aren't you worried about the kids? They're

00:18:52.069 --> 00:18:55.490
still... Oh, I know. They're still in Sasatyan.

00:18:56.210 --> 00:18:58.230
I can't help but feel like this might give us

00:18:58.230 --> 00:19:00.970
some more ammo when we go in there, though. Well,

00:19:00.970 --> 00:19:04.450
I'm with you. I'm with you, Jules. Am I about

00:19:04.450 --> 00:19:08.869
to kill us? Maybe. I, uh, I can get my phone.

00:19:09.029 --> 00:19:10.890
My map's still on my phone. I still don't have

00:19:10.890 --> 00:19:13.349
that map. I think we should find a place to rest

00:19:13.349 --> 00:19:16.130
up first, though. We don't know what's out there,

00:19:16.170 --> 00:19:19.150
and we're in no condition if something happens.

00:19:20.130 --> 00:19:24.430
Yeah, that's a good idea. I think Orange said

00:19:24.430 --> 00:19:27.349
he has a place around here. Did he say we can

00:19:27.349 --> 00:19:30.759
use it when we want? He left. He walked away.

00:19:30.859 --> 00:19:33.220
I mean, you don't even know where it is. You

00:19:33.220 --> 00:19:35.500
can go find him. Do we have to go to the ugly

00:19:35.500 --> 00:19:38.319
coyote to rest? That would be, oh, well, there's

00:19:38.319 --> 00:19:39.920
like the gate thing now. You can go in and out.

00:19:40.079 --> 00:19:41.960
We can go in and out. You can teleport back here.

00:19:42.059 --> 00:19:44.059
Yeah, I forgot there's a gate. Or we could do

00:19:44.059 --> 00:19:46.200
that, or we could spend the night in the rural

00:19:46.200 --> 00:19:49.180
town, get a hotel. Is there like a place to stay

00:19:49.180 --> 00:19:52.420
in a rural town? Yeah, you know what? There would

00:19:52.420 --> 00:19:54.359
be. Luminaries will stay here. Fairly frequently.

00:19:54.359 --> 00:19:57.319
Okay. I think that would be better rather than

00:19:57.319 --> 00:19:59.119
spending like another half an episode at the

00:19:59.119 --> 00:20:01.759
Ugly Coyote. Oh, yeah. I will say it's going

00:20:01.759 --> 00:20:04.160
to be expensive. How expensive? We're luminaries

00:20:04.160 --> 00:20:08.299
now. Yeah. The going rate for hotel rooms in

00:20:08.299 --> 00:20:10.619
a rural town, this is where, you know, the rich

00:20:10.619 --> 00:20:12.039
and the elite stay. It's going to be like 10

00:20:12.039 --> 00:20:14.079
gold a night. Oh, that's not bad. We just need

00:20:14.079 --> 00:20:17.640
one night. So speaking of gold, I think I made

00:20:17.640 --> 00:20:20.299
a mistake and have not added my gold yet from

00:20:20.299 --> 00:20:24.200
that last big. What did we get, 400 each? Yes.

00:20:24.220 --> 00:20:26.140
It's 500 each, then you took 200 out for Jean

00:20:26.140 --> 00:20:28.119
Franklin to pay him back. So we each got 400.

00:20:28.539 --> 00:20:31.619
Yep. And then you gave 200 to Chester to oversee

00:20:31.619 --> 00:20:34.680
things. Correct. Yeah, my inventory shows 214

00:20:34.680 --> 00:20:38.319
gold. Awesome. Okay. 10 gold, huh? All right,

00:20:38.339 --> 00:20:40.339
that's fine. 10 gold for each of us? Yeah, we

00:20:40.339 --> 00:20:42.980
could split it down the middle. Or three ways

00:20:42.980 --> 00:20:45.200
with Jean. If it's 10 for each of us, then...

00:20:45.200 --> 00:20:49.140
Oh, we could just share a room. John will sleep

00:20:49.140 --> 00:20:51.859
on the floor. Oh, yeah, John Walker. He'll get

00:20:51.859 --> 00:20:54.259
his own room. You guys make your way, you know,

00:20:54.259 --> 00:20:56.779
short ways down the road, find this pretty ritzy

00:20:56.779 --> 00:20:58.519
-looking establishment. Again, just this big

00:20:58.519 --> 00:21:00.880
crystalline structure, one of the largest around.

00:21:01.119 --> 00:21:03.480
You see, like, you know, costumed and made -up

00:21:03.480 --> 00:21:05.180
luminaries walking in and out, some of those

00:21:05.180 --> 00:21:09.220
white -robed wizards moving about. You push in.

00:21:10.059 --> 00:21:12.680
You each get a room, or you get two rooms, one

00:21:12.680 --> 00:21:14.839
for John, one for the two of you. Yeah, that's

00:21:14.839 --> 00:21:16.900
fine. John can pay for his own room. Sure, he

00:21:16.900 --> 00:21:18.720
wouldn't want to bunk up. Oh, absolutely not.

00:21:18.859 --> 00:21:21.220
Yeah, he'll pay for his own room. He will demand

00:21:21.220 --> 00:21:26.619
it. No, we forced him to. I can see Zeb at the

00:21:26.619 --> 00:21:30.299
desk. Hey, so, like, who else is staying here

00:21:30.299 --> 00:21:35.859
right now? Like, somebody I'd know, or? He's

00:21:35.859 --> 00:21:37.420
got this guy behind the desk, you know, just

00:21:37.420 --> 00:21:40.480
very fancy looking, sort of side parted hair,

00:21:40.640 --> 00:21:44.279
just like, oh, you would not believe. Come here,

00:21:44.319 --> 00:21:45.980
come here. Kind of gestures you closer. Yeah,

00:21:46.019 --> 00:21:50.720
yeah. So upstairs right now, Sturge Man. Yep.

00:21:51.019 --> 00:21:53.759
Oh, Sturge Man. You don't... Yeah. When did...

00:21:53.759 --> 00:21:57.039
You a fan? Jules' face immediately goes into

00:21:57.039 --> 00:22:00.660
a frown. Yeah, yeah, yeah. When did Sturge Man

00:22:00.660 --> 00:22:03.539
show up, do you think? Oh, he's been here for

00:22:03.539 --> 00:22:06.039
the last two nights. Isn't that interesting,

00:22:06.220 --> 00:22:10.000
Jules? That's fucking fascinating, Zeb. He comes

00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:12.569
and goes often. Spent a lot of time on the Citadel,

00:22:12.690 --> 00:22:15.190
and especially here in Rural Town. He has got

00:22:15.190 --> 00:22:18.049
endless money, that one. But I mean, hey, world's

00:22:18.049 --> 00:22:20.150
greatest detective, am I right? Wow. Yeah, I

00:22:20.150 --> 00:22:24.009
mean, big fan, so thank you really. I'm really

00:22:24.009 --> 00:22:28.190
glad to hear that. And I mean, you too, you too.

00:22:28.230 --> 00:22:31.269
I've seen you guys. You guys are big. Thanks,

00:22:31.450 --> 00:22:33.430
yeah. Did you just get your passports? Yeah,

00:22:33.470 --> 00:22:36.589
yeah, we just did. We just did. Oh my gosh, that's

00:22:36.589 --> 00:22:39.490
incredible. I hope you enjoy your stay, and I

00:22:39.490 --> 00:22:41.829
hope we see you guys a lot. Thanks. Thanks. Yeah.

00:22:42.029 --> 00:22:45.390
And I don't know what I was going to say. You

00:22:45.390 --> 00:22:49.430
just walk away. It's so awkward. I was about

00:22:49.430 --> 00:22:51.690
to be like, just like conversationally, I was

00:22:51.690 --> 00:22:53.170
about to be like, tell Sturgeman I said hello.

00:22:53.269 --> 00:22:55.309
But then I was like, I do not want Sturgeman

00:22:55.309 --> 00:22:58.210
to know that we're here. No. You just walk away

00:22:58.210 --> 00:23:01.769
awkwardly. Oh, okay. Bye. Yeah. Yeah, exactly.

00:23:01.950 --> 00:23:04.380
He figured it out. As he was finishing up the

00:23:04.380 --> 00:23:08.000
sentence, he was like, mm -mm. Is there, like,

00:23:09.119 --> 00:23:14.099
a crystal computer or something around the desk

00:23:14.099 --> 00:23:16.740
that would indicate what room Sturgeman is in?

00:23:16.819 --> 00:23:20.220
And if so, can I roll a perception to see if

00:23:20.220 --> 00:23:22.359
I can figure this out? Ooh, there's, like, paperwork

00:23:22.359 --> 00:23:26.940
on the desk. Okay. Can I roll it? Yeah, as they

00:23:26.940 --> 00:23:30.359
go in. open up to knock you down. They are on

00:23:30.359 --> 00:23:31.640
one of these, you know, on the list somewhere.

00:23:32.019 --> 00:23:34.279
They flip through a few pages. Your eyes shoot

00:23:34.279 --> 00:23:40.119
down. That's a 13. 13. Let me roll something.

00:23:42.559 --> 00:23:44.599
It's too quick. You don't quite make it out.

00:23:44.880 --> 00:23:49.619
God damn. You thought you saw maybe the name

00:23:49.619 --> 00:23:51.160
Sturgeman on the third floor. That's all I can

00:23:51.160 --> 00:23:52.619
say. Like, you saw it like that, but you couldn't

00:23:52.619 --> 00:23:53.960
get the room number or anything else. Yeah, we

00:23:53.960 --> 00:23:57.039
at least know he's upstairs. Right. And as long

00:23:57.039 --> 00:24:00.259
as he doesn't know we're here, we're safe. Yeah.

00:24:00.660 --> 00:24:04.279
Seems like a rabbit hole. All right. So you guys

00:24:04.279 --> 00:24:06.279
stay the night. Jean Franklin, upon getting the

00:24:06.279 --> 00:24:08.680
rum, just immediately just moves away. He was

00:24:08.680 --> 00:24:11.440
in a bad mood before the meeting. Now he's just

00:24:11.440 --> 00:24:15.039
possibly the angriest you've ever seen him. Just

00:24:15.039 --> 00:24:17.400
really foul -tempered. He just moves away, doesn't

00:24:17.400 --> 00:24:19.140
say a word, just goes, slams the door to his

00:24:19.140 --> 00:24:21.920
room, and he's gone for the night. Yeah, given

00:24:21.920 --> 00:24:24.359
much resistance, Zebulon's not going to really...

00:24:25.000 --> 00:24:28.359
Try to push. All right. And you guys stay the

00:24:28.359 --> 00:24:31.460
night? Yes, and it's always very satisfying when

00:24:31.460 --> 00:24:33.740
I get to hit long rest on D &D Beyond and see

00:24:33.740 --> 00:24:37.019
everything reset. It's a very comforting feeling.

00:24:37.500 --> 00:24:39.940
You see probably the most lavish accommodations

00:24:39.940 --> 00:24:43.960
you've ever had. And I mean, for you, Jules,

00:24:44.039 --> 00:24:45.880
it must be very interesting. I think it's the

00:24:45.880 --> 00:24:47.660
first time you've ever stayed somewhere except

00:24:47.660 --> 00:24:50.599
for your home, except for the Tower of Authority.

00:24:51.339 --> 00:24:54.529
Somewhere this nice. Well, I was... About to

00:24:54.529 --> 00:24:59.650
say, it does feel uneasily like home to Jules,

00:24:59.750 --> 00:25:03.049
and he doesn't really like it. Kind of hates

00:25:03.049 --> 00:25:05.910
it. It's wild. I mean, you walk in, you see,

00:25:05.950 --> 00:25:07.829
again, the walls, everything here is made of

00:25:07.829 --> 00:25:10.730
this crystallized diamond, completely indestructible,

00:25:10.769 --> 00:25:13.509
just like chairs and beds and stuff set on this

00:25:13.509 --> 00:25:16.450
floor and between these walls of just diamond.

00:25:17.099 --> 00:25:19.619
Seems like a very painful place to sit and to

00:25:19.619 --> 00:25:22.319
sleep. I mean, the chairs aren't diamond. Just

00:25:22.319 --> 00:25:24.000
the walls, floors. I mean, you've got cushy,

00:25:24.000 --> 00:25:26.859
cushy feather beds and all that good stuff. Oh,

00:25:26.880 --> 00:25:31.420
yeah. It's nice. It's ritzy. And you get a long

00:25:31.420 --> 00:25:36.319
rest. So what now? What time do you think checkout

00:25:36.319 --> 00:25:38.279
is? I don't know. Why don't you call Don and

00:25:38.279 --> 00:25:45.990
ask? You fucking guys. It's noon. Jules raids

00:25:45.990 --> 00:25:49.529
the minibar. Yeah, I don't think we're really

00:25:49.529 --> 00:25:52.789
going to be sticking around. Yeah, I think this

00:25:52.789 --> 00:25:55.210
is purely just so that we can reset. Yeah, this

00:25:55.210 --> 00:25:57.990
was utility. All right. All right. Hell yeah.

00:25:59.049 --> 00:26:02.509
Jules, do you think that we should, I mean, stock

00:26:02.509 --> 00:26:06.750
up or anything? I mean, this could be dangerous.

00:26:06.829 --> 00:26:10.670
I think I've only got one health potion left.

00:26:11.210 --> 00:26:14.299
It wouldn't be a bad idea. Do we have shops we

00:26:14.299 --> 00:26:16.059
can go to? Most of the shops are going to be

00:26:16.059 --> 00:26:18.119
outside of Rural Town. This isn't really a place

00:26:18.119 --> 00:26:20.180
for people to stock up for adventures because

00:26:20.180 --> 00:26:23.960
most people are here just filming, shaking hands,

00:26:24.079 --> 00:26:25.779
meeting the right people, that sort of thing.

00:26:25.900 --> 00:26:28.059
Outside of Rural Town or outside of the Preserve?

00:26:28.500 --> 00:26:30.319
Outside of the Preserve in the actual Radiant

00:26:30.319 --> 00:26:32.799
Citadel. So when you go to the next setting,

00:26:32.880 --> 00:26:34.180
when you go to the next world, you might want

00:26:34.180 --> 00:26:36.259
to stock up. You could leave and do that now

00:26:36.259 --> 00:26:40.619
and come back. Well, I think we should just go.

00:26:41.150 --> 00:26:43.089
Yeah, because I feel like once we leave, I feel

00:26:43.089 --> 00:26:44.329
like we're just going to want to head to Saint

00:26:44.329 --> 00:26:50.150
-Étienne. Okay. First question as the day dawns.

00:26:50.650 --> 00:26:53.190
Do you want to bring Jean Franklin? You haven't

00:26:53.190 --> 00:26:54.589
heard from him. He's still in the room beside

00:26:54.589 --> 00:26:57.309
yours. Last you heard, the door slammed. You

00:26:57.309 --> 00:26:58.829
have not heard a peep from that wall. I mean,

00:26:58.849 --> 00:27:01.250
the walls here are completely soundproof, but...

00:27:01.250 --> 00:27:03.809
Yeah, I think Zebulon would knock on his door.

00:27:04.809 --> 00:27:09.140
Jean! Jean! There's probably a little padlock.

00:27:09.180 --> 00:27:11.380
Again, even the doors are these crystalline,

00:27:11.380 --> 00:27:12.799
kind of like the ones you saw before that sort

00:27:12.799 --> 00:27:16.000
of self -closed. You have to use little key cards

00:27:16.000 --> 00:27:17.460
that you hold to the door in a certain spot,

00:27:17.680 --> 00:27:19.799
whisper a certain phrase for each room. They'll

00:27:19.799 --> 00:27:22.799
just kind of open it. You don't know Jean's.

00:27:23.339 --> 00:27:25.339
And so you think there's a lot of people you

00:27:25.339 --> 00:27:27.380
can open up that has little holes drilling through

00:27:27.380 --> 00:27:28.960
the door so you can actually get sound through

00:27:28.960 --> 00:27:30.500
if you need to call out. So you call into the

00:27:30.500 --> 00:27:34.579
room. A moment later, door opens before you.

00:27:35.240 --> 00:27:42.490
Jean Franklin stands tall. In a real hushed tone.

00:28:03.799 --> 00:28:05.960
weirdly kind of far -off look in his eyes, very

00:28:05.960 --> 00:28:11.900
downcast, and just... How much must we bend the

00:28:11.900 --> 00:28:17.720
law to accomplish our goals? I... Well, I'm not

00:28:17.720 --> 00:28:20.480
really sure, but whatever happened to Typhos

00:28:20.480 --> 00:28:22.200
is going to happen to the other worlds next.

00:28:22.319 --> 00:28:25.599
It could be yours. You don't know that. John.

00:28:25.680 --> 00:28:28.660
What? We are trying to gather information here.

00:28:29.039 --> 00:28:32.150
And you know damn well... That the people that

00:28:32.150 --> 00:28:34.490
have that information are not going to willingly

00:28:34.490 --> 00:28:38.569
give it to us. You just tried it yourself. Damn

00:28:38.569 --> 00:28:43.029
it. Fine. You're right. I won't like it, but

00:28:43.029 --> 00:28:45.609
I'll go along. We're not going to hurt anybody.

00:28:45.690 --> 00:28:51.410
We just need to find answers. Yes. Yes, we do.

00:28:52.809 --> 00:28:57.130
Fine, then. Let's go. All right. Let's go. Do

00:28:57.130 --> 00:29:04.539
it. Do it. Let's go. And you go. You both just

00:29:04.539 --> 00:29:07.579
said that, and then you both turned at the same

00:29:07.579 --> 00:29:11.660
exact time and stared at me. Take it home, Jeremy.

00:29:13.359 --> 00:29:17.799
You move out of the hotel. What's a good hotel

00:29:17.799 --> 00:29:25.799
name? I wasn't expecting this. Crystal... The

00:29:25.799 --> 00:29:30.250
Crystal Stallion. All right, so we know it's

00:29:30.250 --> 00:29:32.549
not that, and you guys step out onto the streets,

00:29:32.650 --> 00:29:37.509
and you... I can see a big, giant diamond stallion

00:29:37.509 --> 00:29:40.490
rearing up on his hind legs. Oh, yeah. Out in

00:29:40.490 --> 00:29:42.630
front of the building. All right, fine. Crystal

00:29:42.630 --> 00:29:46.890
stallion. Sounds fancy. It does. Not quite as

00:29:46.890 --> 00:29:49.150
fancy as a pale moonlight, but it'll work. Fuck

00:29:49.150 --> 00:29:54.910
those guys. And you move down the streets. Moving.

00:29:55.420 --> 00:29:57.920
through Auroral Town, passing all these people,

00:29:58.019 --> 00:30:01.799
going to their tasks, rushing and rushing, but

00:30:01.799 --> 00:30:05.079
you're moving beyond them, beyond the city, to

00:30:05.079 --> 00:30:09.660
the north, right? You know that where you want

00:30:09.660 --> 00:30:12.099
to go, where the Sapphire Wyvern would be located,

00:30:12.160 --> 00:30:15.940
is in the habitat most like the area close to

00:30:15.940 --> 00:30:19.440
the Conquer Jewel of Tythos. Right. Which would

00:30:19.440 --> 00:30:21.779
make it most likely, and I think this was pointed

00:30:21.779 --> 00:30:24.250
out to you before, the sort of... rugged, stony

00:30:24.250 --> 00:30:28.829
mountains to the far north of this preserve.

00:30:29.609 --> 00:30:32.109
And I guess we're going north. Hell yeah. You

00:30:32.109 --> 00:30:34.950
are about halfway there right now. Oral Town

00:30:34.950 --> 00:30:38.150
is set in the direct center. As you step through,

00:30:38.269 --> 00:30:42.049
you see that where Oral Town ends, where all

00:30:42.049 --> 00:30:44.369
the diamond structures end, immediately it's

00:30:44.369 --> 00:30:47.849
overtaken by just lush, tropical jungle. I'd

00:30:47.849 --> 00:30:50.470
like to make a roll to kind of figure out if

00:30:50.470 --> 00:30:54.740
anybody's following us. Okay. Roll that. Let

00:30:54.740 --> 00:30:57.380
me say it's not tropical. It's temperate forest.

00:30:57.839 --> 00:31:01.359
Okay. My notes are written in my handwriting,

00:31:01.500 --> 00:31:04.099
which means they're barely legible. I mean, you're

00:31:04.099 --> 00:31:05.779
the one that's supposed to be able to read your

00:31:05.779 --> 00:31:09.160
own handwriting. It's too much to ask. Make that

00:31:09.160 --> 00:31:14.099
roll. Is that a perception? Yes. Okay. And I

00:31:14.099 --> 00:31:16.720
really want this one to be high. I'll allow investigation,

00:31:16.799 --> 00:31:22.140
too. I'm going to use the red dragon. Okay. That

00:31:22.140 --> 00:31:24.720
is a 15. Okay. Is that perception or investigation?

00:31:25.160 --> 00:31:31.299
Perception. Okay. You take a look around as you

00:31:31.299 --> 00:31:34.960
reach the edge of the town. At this point, the

00:31:34.960 --> 00:31:37.759
buildings are smaller. The people are much less.

00:31:37.920 --> 00:31:41.160
As you look back, you don't see anybody standing

00:31:41.160 --> 00:31:45.299
out. You don't seem to be followed. I'm now thinking

00:31:45.299 --> 00:31:49.759
that Sturge Man was probably in the building.

00:31:50.809 --> 00:31:52.730
maybe listening to what we were thinking about

00:31:52.730 --> 00:31:55.809
doing. Can he listen if he doesn't know we're

00:31:55.809 --> 00:31:58.990
there? Is it like a radar that he just sends

00:31:58.990 --> 00:32:02.029
out, or does it... Can I roll something to know

00:32:02.029 --> 00:32:04.230
whether or not I know this? Absolutely. Roll

00:32:04.230 --> 00:32:09.750
Arcana. No, it's only a 10. I don't think that's

00:32:09.750 --> 00:32:13.789
going to do it. I will say with a 10, you would

00:32:13.789 --> 00:32:15.809
at least know that the spell detect thoughts

00:32:15.809 --> 00:32:18.759
would only work on someone you can see. It's

00:32:18.759 --> 00:32:21.660
the spell detect thoughts. Yes, his helmet telepathy

00:32:21.660 --> 00:32:24.000
allows him to cast this at will, basically. Okay.

00:32:24.460 --> 00:32:26.460
That makes me feel safer. He could constantly

00:32:26.460 --> 00:32:29.359
be using it. Yeah, I feel better. But who knows

00:32:29.359 --> 00:32:32.019
if he wasn't hanging around the corner when we

00:32:32.019 --> 00:32:35.539
were talking to him. Possible. Only one way to

00:32:35.539 --> 00:32:42.019
find out. Keep going. Okay. And you push into

00:32:42.019 --> 00:32:46.759
the forest, into the trees, leaving Aurora Town

00:32:46.759 --> 00:32:52.539
behind. The forest lasts for about a mile, pushing

00:32:52.539 --> 00:32:57.519
through trees, habitat slowly kind of shifting

00:32:57.519 --> 00:33:01.220
and changing. Where you reach high points, you

00:33:01.220 --> 00:33:05.279
can look out and see that off to the east, it

00:33:05.279 --> 00:33:09.319
quickly becomes like low sort of wetland, swampy

00:33:09.319 --> 00:33:12.160
terrain, which from there turns more into like

00:33:12.160 --> 00:33:16.279
icy mush until it hits that second glacial bay.

00:33:16.920 --> 00:33:20.380
To the west, it becomes tropical. But here, it's

00:33:20.380 --> 00:33:24.279
comfortable. One might say temperate. One might

00:33:24.279 --> 00:33:27.599
say. That's a great way to describe it, Stephen.

00:33:27.859 --> 00:33:30.480
I'm glad I thought of it. Yeah. You're pushing

00:33:30.480 --> 00:33:35.400
through trees, past a great sort of lake. Sees

00:33:35.400 --> 00:33:39.319
something shimmering, moving around within it.

00:33:40.500 --> 00:33:44.980
Opalescent. Looks like the color of pearl. I'm

00:33:44.980 --> 00:33:48.089
going to take you to move on. Yeah. I mean, can

00:33:48.089 --> 00:33:51.069
I roll nature to see if I know what this pearl

00:33:51.069 --> 00:33:55.769
swimming thing is? Give me investigation. Investigation,

00:33:55.829 --> 00:33:59.670
not nature? Yes. Nothing natural about this.

00:33:59.769 --> 00:34:01.890
Okay, for Jules to get in on it? Of course. It

00:34:01.890 --> 00:34:05.450
would make sense. I'll arcana as well. Oh, just

00:34:05.450 --> 00:34:10.030
crit my pants all over this investigation. Stop

00:34:10.030 --> 00:34:14.130
it. That was the red dragon, but I do have a

00:34:14.130 --> 00:34:17.619
minus two. Okay. But, I mean, a crit's a crit.

00:34:18.000 --> 00:34:20.099
A crit's a crit in this case. I mean, it's not

00:34:20.099 --> 00:34:22.119
necessarily a crit on skill checks, but that's

00:34:22.119 --> 00:34:24.480
still plenty. I'm glad you got that crit, because

00:34:24.480 --> 00:34:27.480
Jules did not. You step over to the edge of the

00:34:27.480 --> 00:34:30.900
lake. It has this thing sort of slowly moving

00:34:30.900 --> 00:34:32.820
a little closer to the surface, almost breaking

00:34:32.820 --> 00:34:36.179
the top. You recognize what looks like a gigantic

00:34:36.179 --> 00:34:41.900
pearl carp. Another incarnate. Oh, okay. I thought

00:34:41.900 --> 00:34:45.719
we were, like, in the... The Sapphire Wyvern

00:34:45.719 --> 00:34:50.820
Zone? Not yet. Oh, okay. Huh. Well, that's interesting.

00:34:51.380 --> 00:34:54.679
Do I at least get to know what incarnate this...

00:34:54.679 --> 00:34:57.920
What world it's for? I'll tell you. It is the

00:34:57.920 --> 00:35:02.000
incarnate from Umizu. Which is the world that

00:35:02.000 --> 00:35:07.980
belonged to Ozen. Ozen. We might be getting more

00:35:07.980 --> 00:35:11.980
out of this trip than we thought. Well, yeah,

00:35:12.019 --> 00:35:14.590
but I mean, like, are we gonna... Are we going

00:35:14.590 --> 00:35:15.670
to try to talk this thing, or are we just going

00:35:15.670 --> 00:35:18.269
to keep going? I don't know. Would Zebulon talk

00:35:18.269 --> 00:35:23.269
to him? I don't know. I think it was probably

00:35:23.269 --> 00:35:25.789
a good move to try and talk to it, but I don't

00:35:25.789 --> 00:35:29.610
know if Zebulon would. I feel like maybe Zebulon

00:35:29.610 --> 00:35:32.610
just touches the surface of the water to see

00:35:32.610 --> 00:35:36.170
if he gets a reaction. It doesn't seem to react.

00:35:36.730 --> 00:35:39.510
I think maybe you see it stop for a moment, and

00:35:39.510 --> 00:35:43.710
it's swimming. Turn. And then begin to turn away,

00:35:43.929 --> 00:35:47.030
moving deeper down the lake, very, very slowly,

00:35:47.449 --> 00:35:50.969
deliberately. You see, this lake is beautiful.

00:35:51.110 --> 00:35:53.809
There's cherry blossom trees lying on the sides,

00:35:53.809 --> 00:35:56.250
pink petals falling into the water and floating

00:35:56.250 --> 00:36:00.590
on the surface. Huh, alright, alright. I guess

00:36:00.590 --> 00:36:04.570
to the water. Do you know what happened to the

00:36:04.570 --> 00:36:10.389
sapphire wyvern? It stops dead. You see this

00:36:10.389 --> 00:36:14.820
thing. Whirls around. Movement's not so slow

00:36:14.820 --> 00:36:18.639
now. And quickly begins to push towards you.

00:36:18.880 --> 00:36:21.940
Small waves breaking the surface. Zebulon steps

00:36:21.940 --> 00:36:25.599
back from the edge a little bit. He's a little

00:36:25.599 --> 00:36:29.980
nervous now. It breaks the surface fully. Small

00:36:29.980 --> 00:36:34.980
waves parting by its side. And you see this great

00:36:34.980 --> 00:36:39.420
carp made entirely of pearl. This is sort of

00:36:39.420 --> 00:36:43.559
luminescent, glowing white. broken into large

00:36:43.559 --> 00:36:47.280
chunks and pieces. Its mouth remains closed.

00:36:47.960 --> 00:36:53.059
Its sort of gemstone eyes staring through you.

00:36:53.659 --> 00:36:58.780
And you hear it speak. You speak of the Wyvern?

00:36:59.159 --> 00:37:06.880
Yeah, he's from Tythos. A survivor. I am sorry.

00:37:07.800 --> 00:37:13.980
Yeah, sure. From what I've heard, one of my world's

00:37:13.980 --> 00:37:19.199
children was a part of the tragedy. This is a

00:37:19.199 --> 00:37:24.119
grave shame upon Omizu. Any reason why that might

00:37:24.119 --> 00:37:30.360
have happened? I cannot say. You cannot go to

00:37:30.360 --> 00:37:37.119
the Wyvern. Why is that? You cannot go to the

00:37:37.119 --> 00:37:42.269
Wyvern. It is prohibited. Only the speakers.

00:37:43.449 --> 00:37:48.150
I look him dead in the eye. And why is that?

00:37:49.530 --> 00:37:57.070
Just a long silence. And then, if you go, we

00:37:57.070 --> 00:38:03.389
will stop you. What are you hiding? Tragedy.

00:38:04.349 --> 00:38:09.659
But it must remain a secret tragedy. Until we

00:38:09.659 --> 00:38:16.280
understand. We are not malign. Survivor of Tithos.

00:38:17.360 --> 00:38:22.639
I understand your sorrow. And we will find out

00:38:22.639 --> 00:38:27.219
why. You're not doing it quick enough. That's

00:38:27.219 --> 00:38:34.059
why we're here. Roll me a persuasion check. Seventeen.

00:38:34.440 --> 00:38:38.559
Nine on the die, plus eight. thanks to that charisma

00:38:38.559 --> 00:38:45.380
point. Oh, just silence at first, except for

00:38:45.380 --> 00:38:50.039
those same melodic notes, faint music emanating

00:38:50.039 --> 00:38:54.480
from every opal, sorry, every pearl that makes

00:38:54.480 --> 00:38:58.219
up this thing's body. And somewhere behind that

00:38:58.219 --> 00:39:01.099
again, again, now that you're so close you can

00:39:01.099 --> 00:39:09.670
hear it, roaring thunder. Why should we trust

00:39:09.670 --> 00:39:13.570
you? Who are you to ask for this permission?

00:39:14.969 --> 00:39:19.130
And you feel a weight. My name is Jules LaRoche.

00:39:20.170 --> 00:39:25.329
You may be familiar with some of my family line.

00:39:26.230 --> 00:39:30.409
A crack of lightning in the thunder. You talk

00:39:30.409 --> 00:39:34.610
about trusting us, but yet you put your trust

00:39:34.610 --> 00:39:39.920
in the wrong people. You've already misplaced

00:39:39.920 --> 00:39:45.440
your trust. I'm Zebulon. I'm pretty good at keeping

00:39:45.440 --> 00:39:52.400
secrets. Zebulon. Jules. John Franklin's just

00:39:52.400 --> 00:39:54.880
staying in the far back. He's pointedly not involving

00:39:54.880 --> 00:39:56.719
himself in this. I'm just saying that right now.

00:39:56.960 --> 00:39:59.300
It's probably for the best. It's definitely for

00:39:59.300 --> 00:40:02.840
the best. I want you guys to make... One of you

00:40:02.840 --> 00:40:04.900
can make a persuasion check with advantage because

00:40:04.900 --> 00:40:13.369
you have the help action. Okay. That's a 24.

00:40:14.170 --> 00:40:19.690
That weight on you grows like gravity is increasing,

00:40:19.769 --> 00:40:27.989
just a pressure. If you are to go on ahead, if

00:40:27.989 --> 00:40:32.949
you are to bear witness, you will not speak of

00:40:32.949 --> 00:40:38.929
it. It will be a secret thing. I mean, I pinky

00:40:38.929 --> 00:40:50.190
swear, or you don't have pinkies. Promise. What

00:40:50.190 --> 00:40:54.809
happens between the three of us always stays

00:40:54.809 --> 00:40:58.429
between the three of us. I just want answers.

00:40:59.530 --> 00:41:02.489
Do you speak true? This is not the incarnate,

00:41:02.530 --> 00:41:07.380
this is David. Do you speak true? I know Jules

00:41:07.380 --> 00:41:09.559
does. Yeah, I mean, it's hard to answer that

00:41:09.559 --> 00:41:13.059
without knowing. If we speak true and we don't

00:41:13.059 --> 00:41:15.579
keep to it, that's going to kill us later on.

00:41:15.699 --> 00:41:19.920
It's going to be so weird to get a clue into

00:41:19.920 --> 00:41:23.679
what's causing the cataclysm of this world and

00:41:23.679 --> 00:41:29.679
then go do a fucking luchador fight. I cannot

00:41:29.679 --> 00:41:35.570
say anything. I was so not expecting this. I

00:41:35.570 --> 00:41:38.949
mean, yeah, Jules is fine. Jules is very concerned

00:41:38.949 --> 00:41:41.289
about Zebulon, but I don't think that's going

00:41:41.289 --> 00:41:46.590
to stop Jules from saying yes. Yeah. Yeah. The

00:41:46.590 --> 00:41:51.030
weight vanishes. Gravity restored. I feel like

00:41:51.030 --> 00:41:53.050
we just entered into a magical binding contract.

00:41:53.449 --> 00:42:02.889
You just hear, you may go. You are allowed. Well,

00:42:02.889 --> 00:42:07.340
but before we go, Um, you were talking about

00:42:07.340 --> 00:42:12.239
ocean. Do you know where ocean is? You may go

00:42:12.239 --> 00:42:20.000
to witness Umizu's shame. And with that, the

00:42:20.000 --> 00:42:26.119
creature, the incarnate, turns and dives, the

00:42:26.119 --> 00:42:29.219
light of pearl vanishing into the depths of the

00:42:29.219 --> 00:42:36.699
lake. Umizu's shame, huh? Uh -oh. I wanted to

00:42:36.699 --> 00:42:39.880
ask it what it knew about Shadra Khan, but I

00:42:39.880 --> 00:42:43.840
don't think we would have gotten anything. Hey,

00:42:43.840 --> 00:42:48.380
John. I think we're going to keep going. Fine.

00:42:48.659 --> 00:42:51.039
I don't think... Could you feel the weight over

00:42:51.039 --> 00:42:53.300
there? Did you make a magical contract as well?

00:42:53.719 --> 00:43:01.139
I felt something. It's... Strange. John. Yes?

00:43:01.880 --> 00:43:05.409
What? What we're about to see. Whatever it is,

00:43:05.429 --> 00:43:10.510
this stays between us. We gave word. I'm a turtle

00:43:10.510 --> 00:43:12.829
of honor, if nothing else. You don't need to

00:43:12.829 --> 00:43:18.110
worry about me. I appreciate that, friend. Storm's

00:43:18.110 --> 00:43:22.409
on ahead. I take it you move on? Let's move on.

00:43:22.429 --> 00:43:25.449
Yeah, let's go. Man, I was not expecting this.

00:43:26.210 --> 00:43:29.630
Neither was I. Neither was I. See, this is what

00:43:29.630 --> 00:43:31.409
happens when we take over the story. We make

00:43:31.409 --> 00:43:36.500
progress. Or die. Or die trying, yeah. You keep

00:43:36.500 --> 00:43:40.539
moving. Just where the lake ends, the forest

00:43:40.539 --> 00:43:45.900
begins to slope upwards. And upwards. And upwards.

00:43:46.820 --> 00:43:50.480
And the trees begin to fade away to brush, to

00:43:50.480 --> 00:43:55.260
scrub. And soon you find yourselves moving over

00:43:55.260 --> 00:44:00.460
stony, rough mountain. You look to the sky at

00:44:00.460 --> 00:44:04.380
one point and you see. The more you feel. Something

00:44:04.380 --> 00:44:08.719
moving above you. Shooting off from somewhere

00:44:08.719 --> 00:44:12.800
to the west where perhaps a great volcano gives

00:44:12.800 --> 00:44:17.320
off a hint of smoke on one edge of this mountain

00:44:17.320 --> 00:44:23.820
range. A great black eagle. Obsidian, that's

00:44:23.820 --> 00:44:28.599
the one. Tell me a minute. A great obsidian eagle

00:44:28.599 --> 00:44:35.829
just flies. almost directly above you, turns,

00:44:36.150 --> 00:44:41.469
circles a spot somewhere directly north, and

00:44:41.469 --> 00:44:45.150
then flies back. Oh, so do we feel like that's

00:44:45.150 --> 00:44:48.989
a... Is it a scout? Or a sign, like a direction?

00:44:49.250 --> 00:44:51.250
You know this was from the size and from the

00:44:51.250 --> 00:44:54.130
feeling you got. This wasn't incarnate. You don't

00:44:54.130 --> 00:44:57.269
know which world. Oh. But it seemed like it marked

00:44:57.269 --> 00:44:59.670
something out for you. Yeah, let's head that

00:44:59.670 --> 00:45:04.829
direction. Let's follow it. You push. Stephen

00:45:04.829 --> 00:45:07.969
would be very familiar with the feeling, reaching

00:45:07.969 --> 00:45:11.650
the top of one peak, moving down and down, up

00:45:11.650 --> 00:45:17.409
another. It is an exhausting, just hours of travel,

00:45:17.510 --> 00:45:21.269
about a mile of just pure, rough mountain each

00:45:21.269 --> 00:45:26.550
peak, higher than the last. And then, you climb

00:45:26.550 --> 00:45:31.820
to the top of the tallest in this region. The

00:45:31.820 --> 00:45:34.820
only ones taller now are the aforementioned volcano

00:45:34.820 --> 00:45:40.659
in the far west and the icy polar caps to the

00:45:40.659 --> 00:45:47.920
east. Jagged and enormous. Where you stand, you

00:45:47.920 --> 00:45:51.539
look down upon the preserve, and it looks quite

00:45:51.539 --> 00:45:57.940
small. A rural town is quite small. As you summit

00:45:57.940 --> 00:46:03.349
the top, You face what looks like a large crater.

00:46:04.809 --> 00:46:07.590
Without any checks, I'll tell you this. At the

00:46:07.590 --> 00:46:10.309
very epicenter of this crater, just this sort

00:46:10.309 --> 00:46:15.530
of smooth stone dripping into like a sort of

00:46:15.530 --> 00:46:18.309
bowl, the very epicenter of this bowl, you see

00:46:18.309 --> 00:46:25.630
the corpse of an incarnate. Sapphires littering.

00:46:25.960 --> 00:46:29.219
The ground in the vague shape of some draconic

00:46:29.219 --> 00:46:33.860
creature. Once large and as imposing as the others,

00:46:34.039 --> 00:46:37.380
but there is no presence here. You don't hear

00:46:37.380 --> 00:46:41.400
the sort of notes, the melody, the thunder. You

00:46:41.400 --> 00:46:44.079
don't feel the gravity. You just see the bones

00:46:44.079 --> 00:46:49.679
of something dead. Wow. Go ahead and make me

00:46:49.679 --> 00:46:53.079
any kind of checks you want on the scene. I'm

00:46:53.079 --> 00:46:57.059
going to make a sleight of hand check. Yeah,

00:46:57.159 --> 00:46:59.380
what do I want to do? I'm going to do deception.

00:47:00.900 --> 00:47:06.360
God. Why do I give you guys freedom? That's a

00:47:06.360 --> 00:47:11.820
dirty 20. For deception? Yeah. It believes you.

00:47:13.780 --> 00:47:16.780
No, I went with perception. Hell yeah. I'll do,

00:47:16.860 --> 00:47:19.480
how about investigation? All right, do it. Can

00:47:19.480 --> 00:47:21.400
we just roll all the checks? Can I do Arcana

00:47:21.400 --> 00:47:24.219
next and then investigation and then intimidation?

00:47:24.679 --> 00:47:27.619
No, that's a single digit. All right. We'll start

00:47:27.619 --> 00:47:30.059
with a perception check. You see this thing,

00:47:30.119 --> 00:47:33.639
and your eyes are cast towards a number of places

00:47:33.639 --> 00:47:35.320
off to the sides of it where there's sort of

00:47:35.320 --> 00:47:40.320
black marks. Just there's almost like long scorch

00:47:40.320 --> 00:47:44.559
marks etched into the earth, into the stone.

00:47:46.239 --> 00:47:49.599
Investigation could give you more on these. I

00:47:49.599 --> 00:47:52.900
mean, can we just take 20? Yeah, you know, I'll

00:47:52.900 --> 00:47:55.829
let you. All right, take 20. That makes sense.

00:47:56.449 --> 00:48:00.789
I will need an Arcana check. What's take 20?

00:48:01.210 --> 00:48:02.829
It means that you basically get all the information

00:48:02.829 --> 00:48:04.969
you'll get, so I'll start giving you information.

00:48:05.670 --> 00:48:08.650
It's like you take as much time as it would require

00:48:08.650 --> 00:48:10.769
to just keep making checks until you get 20.

00:48:11.050 --> 00:48:14.690
Okay. So you take your time. Take 20 minutes

00:48:14.690 --> 00:48:17.590
or so. You're just, like, holding out. They'll

00:48:17.590 --> 00:48:18.989
say you take a half an hour to really observe

00:48:18.989 --> 00:48:21.250
the scene, and I'll give you a number of details,

00:48:21.369 --> 00:48:23.559
and I'll let you roll to, like, See what you

00:48:23.559 --> 00:48:27.860
can glean from this. You see those marks. As

00:48:27.860 --> 00:48:29.480
you observe the marks, you see there's almost

00:48:29.480 --> 00:48:31.460
like in some of them, there's actual incisions

00:48:31.460 --> 00:48:36.099
in the stone itself. As you draw near the wyvern,

00:48:36.239 --> 00:48:41.559
you see there's similar marks like actually in

00:48:41.559 --> 00:48:46.420
the stone, in the sapphire itself, which it must

00:48:46.420 --> 00:48:49.260
be some... crazy power to hurt this thing. Maybe

00:48:49.260 --> 00:48:51.139
you even take a knife of your own, Zebulon, and

00:48:51.139 --> 00:48:52.760
see if you can make any sort of dent and you

00:48:52.760 --> 00:48:56.159
cannot break through this sapphire. I'm guessing

00:48:56.159 --> 00:48:59.559
it's like the diamonds in Aurora Town. Yeah,

00:48:59.579 --> 00:49:02.639
very similar. Unmovable, unbreakable. Very, very

00:49:02.639 --> 00:49:05.300
similar, you would think. For myself and for

00:49:05.300 --> 00:49:07.320
any listeners who might not know, can you describe

00:49:07.320 --> 00:49:10.940
what a wyvern is for me? Because I'm not quite

00:49:10.940 --> 00:49:14.389
sure. This is like a dragon with no arms. I believe

00:49:14.389 --> 00:49:17.030
so. Oh, it's got like two legs and two wings.

00:49:17.429 --> 00:49:20.570
It's a dragon with no arms, almost like a serpentine

00:49:20.570 --> 00:49:23.570
looking head, like long neck. Okay. Yeah, kind

00:49:23.570 --> 00:49:26.449
of a lesser sort of draconic creature. Okay.

00:49:26.769 --> 00:49:30.170
Okay. They were, in Tithos, they're actually

00:49:30.170 --> 00:49:32.030
very prominent within the mountain ranges around.

00:49:32.230 --> 00:49:34.389
They're one of the larger problems that a lot

00:49:34.389 --> 00:49:38.010
of the miners will face. Okay. So it makes a

00:49:38.010 --> 00:49:40.190
lot of sense you'd find one here, or that your

00:49:40.190 --> 00:49:42.730
incarnate would be based on them. Sweet. Thank

00:49:42.730 --> 00:49:45.760
you. Oh, Stephen pulled up a picture. That's

00:49:45.760 --> 00:49:49.119
terrifying. So you see these marks. I want you

00:49:49.119 --> 00:49:54.860
to roll Arcana or History. Debulon, you can make

00:49:54.860 --> 00:49:56.500
History with advantage for a certain reason.

00:49:56.760 --> 00:50:01.820
Okay, sounds good to me. That is another dirty

00:50:01.820 --> 00:50:12.150
20. 18 for History. Okay. Jules. This was powerful

00:50:12.150 --> 00:50:16.449
magic. As you run your fingers down the marks

00:50:16.449 --> 00:50:19.909
on the body of this creature, on the stone surrounding

00:50:19.909 --> 00:50:23.869
it, you know two things. There was a fight here.

00:50:24.929 --> 00:50:28.369
And whatever made these incisions was some kind

00:50:28.369 --> 00:50:34.969
of blade. A blade wielding lightning magic. Oh

00:50:34.969 --> 00:50:38.889
my... Zebulon, you see these marks. and your

00:50:38.889 --> 00:50:42.949
mind flashes back to Tythos, to the luminary

00:50:42.949 --> 00:50:47.530
Olka Tepuri, as Ozan Yoshikatsu appeared in a

00:50:47.530 --> 00:50:50.250
bolt of lightning, just seemingly from nowhere,

00:50:50.429 --> 00:50:53.949
stone shattering beneath him, and without a word,

00:50:54.030 --> 00:50:59.690
sliced her to pieces. Ribbons of flash of lightning

00:50:59.690 --> 00:51:05.670
cutting through her body. Oh my god. This...

00:51:06.989 --> 00:51:13.869
Was Ozen. Or at least his blade. How is he powerful

00:51:13.869 --> 00:51:18.929
enough to do this? He's... I mean, he's not alone.

00:51:19.050 --> 00:51:24.309
He said he does it for Shadra Khan. We gotta

00:51:24.309 --> 00:51:28.110
stop this, Zeb. It's so much bigger than us.

00:51:29.309 --> 00:51:33.809
All we can do is keep trying. Because doing nothing

00:51:33.809 --> 00:51:37.469
is not an option anymore. If we don't do anything,

00:51:37.949 --> 00:51:43.230
we're no better. Jules, you rolled a dirty 20

00:51:43.230 --> 00:51:49.590
arcana? History. History. Okay. I'm going to

00:51:49.590 --> 00:51:53.230
give you one more thing. Not an observation,

00:51:53.550 --> 00:51:57.909
not an answer, but a question that I think you

00:51:57.909 --> 00:52:02.769
might wonder, given the circumstances. When?

00:52:03.909 --> 00:52:07.699
When was the Incarnate slain? In comparison to

00:52:07.699 --> 00:52:11.619
when the sapphire fell. That is one of the thoughts

00:52:11.619 --> 00:52:15.780
that player Jeremy had when we saw that. Like

00:52:15.780 --> 00:52:18.840
there's some type of connection between these

00:52:18.840 --> 00:52:23.559
realms in the preserve to the outside worlds.

00:52:24.380 --> 00:52:26.579
And, I mean, the thing is, so little is known

00:52:26.579 --> 00:52:30.119
about the incarnates. So, so little. They are

00:52:30.119 --> 00:52:35.449
old. They are ancient and powerful. Entirely

00:52:35.449 --> 00:52:40.750
mysterious. Well, um... I think we... I think

00:52:40.750 --> 00:52:43.789
we found our secret. I think we got what we came

00:52:43.789 --> 00:52:47.550
for. I don't really want to be here any longer.

00:52:48.590 --> 00:52:52.369
Jules, uh... Jules lays his hand onto the Incarnate

00:52:52.369 --> 00:52:54.769
and kind of gives it, you know, just a little

00:52:54.769 --> 00:52:59.329
brush down. And says, Yeah, let's get out of

00:52:59.329 --> 00:53:04.199
here. I should also mention, too, that I... to

00:53:04.199 --> 00:53:07.920
say this before, but when Jules took off his

00:53:07.920 --> 00:53:11.099
glove to show Zebulon, he kept the glove off.

00:53:12.059 --> 00:53:18.340
Whoa. Interesting. Okay. And now he's embracing

00:53:18.340 --> 00:53:21.800
it as part of him, part of his luminary image,

00:53:21.860 --> 00:53:24.760
if you will. Wow. And it adds so much more to

00:53:24.760 --> 00:53:27.119
your mother. And if anybody asks about it, he's

00:53:27.119 --> 00:53:30.119
going to tell the truth about it. Shit. Yeah,

00:53:30.179 --> 00:53:32.829
when did that happen? When was that that it came

00:53:32.829 --> 00:53:35.769
off? Before Rural Town. Before Rural Town. With

00:53:35.769 --> 00:53:39.610
your Incarnate. Zebulon's Incarnate. Okay. So

00:53:39.610 --> 00:53:43.750
I wonder if Cerise or anybody would have... Cerise

00:53:43.750 --> 00:53:46.469
noted the hand and actually, like, stepped forward.

00:53:46.650 --> 00:53:48.989
She squeezed it. Oh, right. She grabbed it. Yeah,

00:53:48.989 --> 00:53:51.250
yeah, yeah. She was delighted by it. I don't

00:53:51.250 --> 00:53:53.070
think you specified that it was a gloved hand.

00:53:53.409 --> 00:53:57.349
I don't believe so. And if I did, I will. The

00:53:57.349 --> 00:53:59.710
only... I think you might have caught some, like...

00:53:59.929 --> 00:54:01.849
nervous glances at it as you move through the

00:54:01.849 --> 00:54:06.269
town. I think Jean Franklin looks, or has looked

00:54:06.269 --> 00:54:10.050
vaguely horrified by it, but he's also very bogged

00:54:10.050 --> 00:54:12.570
down by his own thoughts. I think he's not, not

00:54:12.570 --> 00:54:14.750
wanting to get into it quite yet. I don't know.

00:54:14.829 --> 00:54:16.650
Jules just thinks now is not the time for more

00:54:16.650 --> 00:54:21.710
secrets. Wow. Hell yeah. Anyways, I was just

00:54:21.710 --> 00:54:23.170
adding that to the flavor of the scene because

00:54:23.170 --> 00:54:26.409
it was with his fucked up hand. Oh shit, that's

00:54:26.409 --> 00:54:28.690
awesome. That he's running it down the, down

00:54:28.690 --> 00:54:31.460
the incarnate. Let's get the fuck out of here.

00:54:32.500 --> 00:54:37.719
As you touch the sapphire, there's just the vaguest

00:54:37.719 --> 00:54:40.940
sort of like vibration, something, something

00:54:40.940 --> 00:54:46.039
deep. Was it just you? Was it physical? Like

00:54:46.039 --> 00:54:53.340
the boom of a drum. Boom. And nothing. You begin

00:54:53.340 --> 00:54:57.039
to move away. I think John Franklin has stood

00:54:57.039 --> 00:54:59.599
at the top of this crater just looking down.

00:55:00.719 --> 00:55:07.860
And as you guys reach him, they say he died on

00:55:07.860 --> 00:55:14.519
Tythos. The Storm Eye. Do you believe it? I don't

00:55:14.519 --> 00:55:18.159
think we're done with him yet. He's got to be

00:55:18.159 --> 00:55:20.960
still out there. He was among the most powerful

00:55:20.960 --> 00:55:25.480
luminaries to ever live. One of the first. I

00:55:25.480 --> 00:55:29.940
hope you're wrong. And he begins to move down.

00:55:31.329 --> 00:55:34.730
Are you going back to a rural town? No, I think

00:55:34.730 --> 00:55:37.389
we skip right over a rural town. We got to get

00:55:37.389 --> 00:55:40.650
to San Sitian. Now that I see how it's spelled,

00:55:40.829 --> 00:55:44.829
I'm saying it wrong. San Sitian. Actually, I

00:55:44.829 --> 00:55:47.550
realized in the book it's San Situan, and I hate

00:55:47.550 --> 00:55:49.849
that, so it's still San Sitian. Okay. Because,

00:55:49.889 --> 00:55:54.130
like, it's so hard. You can't go to L. You can't

00:55:54.130 --> 00:55:57.690
do it. It can't be done. Like Pollo is spelled

00:55:57.690 --> 00:56:01.610
P -O -L -L -O. Yeah. Only one L, though. Oh.

00:56:01.690 --> 00:56:05.769
This next arc is going to be a true challenge

00:56:05.769 --> 00:56:09.989
to my ability to mispronounce every word ever.

00:56:10.489 --> 00:56:14.869
So here we go. We got this. I will say, if you

00:56:14.869 --> 00:56:17.570
hit Rural Town, you can use the doors to teleport

00:56:17.570 --> 00:56:21.579
to there faster. So it's up to you. You don't

00:56:21.579 --> 00:56:23.420
need to stop and play, but it's a little quicker

00:56:23.420 --> 00:56:25.539
to hit Royal Town because it's halfway right

00:56:25.539 --> 00:56:27.440
in the dead center of the preserve. Sounds like

00:56:27.440 --> 00:56:30.219
he wants us to go to a Royal Town for some reason.

00:56:30.219 --> 00:56:32.260
I don't know about that. My thought was we were

00:56:32.260 --> 00:56:33.760
just going to fast forward through whatever we

00:56:33.760 --> 00:56:36.789
did anyway. Right. Sure, yeah. Just put it out

00:56:36.789 --> 00:56:38.889
there. I want to make sure the sort of architecture,

00:56:38.949 --> 00:56:41.949
the structure of everything is known. So you

00:56:41.949 --> 00:56:44.849
guys move. Give Sturge Man a chance to lay his

00:56:44.849 --> 00:56:46.869
eyes on us one more time. You guys move. All

00:56:46.869 --> 00:56:48.329
right, guys, we're back in the Citadel. Let's

00:56:48.329 --> 00:56:50.269
go. Boom, back in the Citadel. John Franklin's

00:56:50.269 --> 00:56:52.550
just like, why didn't we use the doors? That

00:56:52.550 --> 00:56:57.110
was so much more work. Honestly. That's why,

00:56:57.230 --> 00:56:59.469
John Franklin, just to see your face. Do you

00:56:59.469 --> 00:57:01.969
know that by not using the doors, we had to go

00:57:01.969 --> 00:57:04.909
up the entire gigantic staircase again? Was that

00:57:04.909 --> 00:57:06.650
David or John Franklin talking? That took like

00:57:06.650 --> 00:57:13.170
fucking hours. Anyway, I barely remember it because

00:57:13.170 --> 00:57:15.289
it was like a montage. So let's keep moving.

00:57:15.469 --> 00:57:17.150
Yeah, it was just a hand wave. It was so easy.

00:57:17.389 --> 00:57:19.809
I know. It felt quick to me. It didn't feel quick

00:57:19.809 --> 00:57:24.190
to me. Well, too bad. Meh. Whoops. Meh. You guys

00:57:24.190 --> 00:57:27.469
move to the great iron doors. The ones that you

00:57:27.469 --> 00:57:31.019
know push out. back into the Radiant Citadel,

00:57:31.179 --> 00:57:33.719
to the great serpentine fossil, to the great

00:57:33.719 --> 00:57:37.599
city outside. As you move forward, a few figures,

00:57:37.699 --> 00:57:40.360
again, sort of Citadel uniform, white robes,

00:57:40.360 --> 00:57:44.219
work on some mechanics, push on the outside of

00:57:44.219 --> 00:57:51.719
the door, whisper a word. The gate opens back

00:57:51.719 --> 00:57:54.329
out into the Citadel. You've been traveling for

00:57:54.329 --> 00:57:56.369
a long time today. I'm going to say as you step

00:57:56.369 --> 00:58:02.210
out, it is getting perhaps 8 o 'clock. The auroral

00:58:02.210 --> 00:58:06.349
diamond's light has shifted to be a cool blue

00:58:06.349 --> 00:58:09.610
as it's fading, fading, going dark, creating

00:58:09.610 --> 00:58:12.369
that sort of feeling of night in a place where

00:58:12.369 --> 00:58:15.429
there is no sky. You know any world you travel

00:58:15.429 --> 00:58:18.170
to, wherever the gemstone lands, will have the

00:58:18.170 --> 00:58:21.630
same time of day, basically. And the diamond

00:58:21.630 --> 00:58:26.019
tries to... Copy that. I will ask this. As you're

00:58:26.019 --> 00:58:28.820
going by, you see these figures. Maybe you can

00:58:28.820 --> 00:58:31.579
see on walls and charts and different facets

00:58:31.579 --> 00:58:33.800
of the diamond. We talked about this before,

00:58:33.920 --> 00:58:39.639
but the schedule, per se, for the various conquered

00:58:39.639 --> 00:58:42.179
jewels that will come, deliver people away, and

00:58:42.179 --> 00:58:44.119
you see the next one going to San Satyan, the

00:58:44.119 --> 00:58:50.579
next fire opal departure, will be in about an

00:58:50.579 --> 00:58:53.719
hour. Why are you looking at me? I'm waiting

00:58:53.719 --> 00:58:57.599
for you to speak. Why? Because that's Tian, where

00:58:57.599 --> 00:59:00.599
your Cherry Delights are. Yeah, I know. Why is

00:59:00.599 --> 00:59:04.579
everyone so quiet? What are we doing? Well, I

00:59:04.579 --> 00:59:08.579
need to get some armor. Okay, cool. Let's go

00:59:08.579 --> 00:59:15.099
get armor. Shopping? I love shopping. Do you

00:59:15.099 --> 00:59:19.099
guys need anything before we go do this? Yeah,

00:59:19.139 --> 00:59:21.760
yeah, let's... Let's go pick up some supplies.

00:59:22.219 --> 00:59:26.280
Let's do it. Vigor goes back to Jean Franklin.

00:59:26.400 --> 00:59:29.719
All that energy, that anger seeps out. I'm so

00:59:29.719 --> 00:59:32.059
excited to show you around. You like spending

00:59:32.059 --> 00:59:34.380
money there, huh? Oh, I love spending money.

00:59:34.460 --> 00:59:37.280
Absolutely. Sweet. This one's on Jean Franklin.

00:59:37.539 --> 00:59:41.480
No, no, no. You have your own money. I have to

00:59:41.480 --> 00:59:44.260
pay for the pale moonlight. I can't afford to

00:59:44.260 --> 00:59:47.219
be too spendy. I can't believe you waste your

00:59:47.219 --> 00:59:50.309
money there. Did I just hear the words can't

00:59:50.309 --> 00:59:53.730
afford coming out of your mouth? Do you want

00:59:53.730 --> 00:59:55.409
magic items or not? I know where the best ones

00:59:55.409 --> 00:59:59.349
are. Best prices. I hadn't considered any magic

00:59:59.349 --> 01:00:02.190
items. I've never been able to afford something

01:00:02.190 --> 01:00:05.530
like that. Yes, well, welcome to my world. You're

01:00:05.530 --> 01:00:09.369
going to love it. Now, come on, come on. So we

01:00:09.369 --> 01:00:11.989
talked about this before session. I got a list

01:00:11.989 --> 01:00:14.090
of some items that I know you guys might be interested

01:00:14.090 --> 01:00:15.550
in, some magic items. I don't want to get into

01:00:15.550 --> 01:00:17.590
it here because a gillion things and... Talking

01:00:17.590 --> 01:00:19.369
about the prices, mechanics, all that. That's

01:00:19.369 --> 01:00:22.070
not fun. We'll talk about two items in particular.

01:00:23.130 --> 01:00:27.170
Steven, you have some interest in the ever -smoking

01:00:27.170 --> 01:00:31.070
bottle and the immovable rod. Now, the immovable

01:00:31.070 --> 01:00:34.610
rod basically is, as it says, a sort of big metal

01:00:34.610 --> 01:00:37.889
rod that if you hold out and basically say a

01:00:37.889 --> 01:00:40.510
command word, it will... hold itself in place

01:00:40.510 --> 01:00:44.309
in midair anywhere, and cannot be moved by more

01:00:44.309 --> 01:00:48.090
than, I believe, 8 ,000 pounds of pressure. It

01:00:48.090 --> 01:00:50.250
is pretty cool. It will just stay where it is,

01:00:50.289 --> 01:00:52.869
static locked. You can do some fun stuff with

01:00:52.869 --> 01:00:55.670
that. The ever -smoking bottle is basically,

01:00:55.789 --> 01:00:57.949
as it says, a bottle filled with a smoke. If

01:00:57.949 --> 01:01:01.349
you open it, the smoke pours out, heavily obscuring

01:01:01.349 --> 01:01:04.329
an area. I believe it's 120 feet at first, and

01:01:04.329 --> 01:01:06.710
then it can open up to double that over time.

01:01:07.130 --> 01:01:09.500
So if you need to make a quick getaway. Boom.

01:01:09.519 --> 01:01:11.980
There you go. Smokescreen and you're gone. It's

01:01:11.980 --> 01:01:13.940
an action to use it and an action to stop it.

01:01:14.300 --> 01:01:17.820
Yeah, so you offered me both of these. Yes. And...

01:01:17.820 --> 01:01:24.079
300 gold each. And the bottle sounds very Zebulon,

01:01:24.199 --> 01:01:28.519
but I've always wanted to own and use the immovable

01:01:28.519 --> 01:01:31.539
rod. Hell yeah. I love it. So that's what I'm

01:01:31.539 --> 01:01:33.739
going for. It's funny too, because you remember,

01:01:33.920 --> 01:01:36.980
you've seen one of these used before in this

01:01:36.980 --> 01:01:42.030
podcast. It was used by Sturgeman. Oh, yes, yes,

01:01:42.130 --> 01:01:44.369
yes. It's one of the many items. He has quite

01:01:44.369 --> 01:01:46.909
a few of them on his utility belt of magic items.

01:01:47.610 --> 01:01:52.210
Well, I just removed 300 gold pieces. So there

01:01:52.210 --> 01:01:55.570
you go. I'm a little closer to Sturgeman. Wow.

01:01:56.510 --> 01:01:59.730
Aren't we all? Either die a hero or live long

01:01:59.730 --> 01:02:04.030
enough to see yourself become a Sturgeman. I'm

01:02:04.030 --> 01:02:08.780
sorry. Jewels. Yes. You had a purchase you wanted

01:02:08.780 --> 01:02:11.960
to make. Yeah. Well, yeah, since Jules gave half

01:02:11.960 --> 01:02:16.239
of his cut to Chester and the kids. Don't really

01:02:16.239 --> 01:02:19.639
have much to spend, but I'm going to properly

01:02:19.639 --> 01:02:23.280
get studded leather armor. It's 45 gold. Okay.

01:02:23.380 --> 01:02:28.559
Which leaves me with 169 left. Hell yeah. So,

01:02:28.579 --> 01:02:30.980
yeah. I don't remember. Neither of us can remember

01:02:30.980 --> 01:02:33.519
if we officially said I had studded leather before.

01:02:34.300 --> 01:02:36.699
But now I officially do. We're going to rectify

01:02:36.699 --> 01:02:39.280
that now. So I now have an AC of 12 instead of

01:02:39.280 --> 01:02:41.739
11. Hell yeah. Hooray. You've got to love that.

01:02:42.639 --> 01:02:45.300
You guys blur through the Citadel. All these

01:02:45.300 --> 01:02:47.619
shops are starting to close, but you get in last

01:02:47.619 --> 01:02:51.059
minute. John Franklin does some yelling, some

01:02:51.059 --> 01:02:54.539
haggling. The prices get raised, and you step

01:02:54.539 --> 01:02:58.940
out. Of course. You step out with some new stuff.

01:02:59.820 --> 01:03:01.639
You know, John, this thing was going to cost

01:03:01.639 --> 01:03:04.219
me $2 .50 until you started running your mouth.

01:03:05.400 --> 01:03:08.659
It's so much like you owe me $50 gold. You do.

01:03:08.880 --> 01:03:13.480
You do. I helped you. Look, they were clearly

01:03:13.480 --> 01:03:16.059
a crook. I told you not to buy it, but you did

01:03:16.059 --> 01:03:18.639
anyway. I'm just saying. Tell you what, get us

01:03:18.639 --> 01:03:20.199
a room at the Pale Moonlight and we'll call it

01:03:20.199 --> 01:03:24.199
square. I would never. I'll get you one at the

01:03:24.199 --> 01:03:26.730
Pale Moonlight. It's on your dime. You know what?

01:03:26.750 --> 01:03:28.610
Fine. If you want to come and live the greater

01:03:28.610 --> 01:03:30.650
life with me, I will allow it. One night only.

01:03:30.829 --> 01:03:33.889
No, I was bluffing. Damn it! You're so weird!

01:03:34.670 --> 01:03:41.690
Yeah. You begin to move. And you approach the

01:03:41.690 --> 01:03:45.869
passage of respite. The sort of great open spot

01:03:45.869 --> 01:03:48.969
where the conquered jewels will come down to

01:03:48.969 --> 01:03:54.130
dock. And you see this bright orange brilliant

01:03:54.960 --> 01:04:01.280
Fire opal slowly lowering in and awaiting passengers.

01:04:02.679 --> 01:04:05.400
Time is a little after nine o 'clock now. All

01:04:05.400 --> 01:04:08.320
right. Well, I guess we're going to queue up.

01:04:08.699 --> 01:04:10.579
I'm going to go stand in line again. Mm -hmm.

01:04:10.920 --> 01:04:14.159
Okay. All roads lead back to the lines, to the

01:04:14.159 --> 01:04:18.219
gems. Not much of a line here, actually. It's

01:04:18.219 --> 01:04:19.460
late enough at night. I don't think there's a

01:04:19.460 --> 01:04:21.880
whole lot of people. So you're pretty swiftly

01:04:21.880 --> 01:04:25.380
moving through. Get to the front. A man in white

01:04:25.380 --> 01:04:29.519
takes a look at you, and up to now you've had

01:04:29.519 --> 01:04:31.519
a hard time generally passing these folk, but

01:04:31.519 --> 01:04:35.460
not this time. Brief nod, flash some passports,

01:04:35.599 --> 01:04:39.360
and you are stepping in. Just the sheer power

01:04:39.360 --> 01:04:45.440
of it. Jules, perhaps Zebulon and Jaune move

01:04:45.440 --> 01:04:48.000
ahead of you, stepping in to the great open way,

01:04:48.139 --> 01:04:52.199
into the bright orange expanse within the gem

01:04:52.199 --> 01:04:56.170
to find seats. But you find yourself halted for

01:04:56.170 --> 01:04:58.349
just a moment, some feeling in the back of your

01:04:58.349 --> 01:05:03.809
mind and your chest. Your eyes turn, and you

01:05:03.809 --> 01:05:09.369
see that on the top of a roof very nearby, a

01:05:09.369 --> 01:05:15.250
figure appears in mist. You see Chester looking

01:05:15.250 --> 01:05:17.269
down at you. You can't quite make out his face,

01:05:17.369 --> 01:05:21.789
but you see a single fist raise into the air.

01:05:22.760 --> 01:05:26.079
The side of the old resistance. I'm going to

01:05:26.079 --> 01:05:30.239
grab my lute, light it up, and raise it above

01:05:30.239 --> 01:05:34.440
my head. There's this moment of connection. You

01:05:34.440 --> 01:05:39.139
feel each other in that same strange way when

01:05:39.139 --> 01:05:42.460
you shared this moment, when you both were given

01:05:42.460 --> 01:05:45.719
this boon. You can feel the unspoken goodbye.

01:05:46.860 --> 01:05:51.480
And you step into the gem? Yeah. And here the

01:05:51.480 --> 01:05:56.280
camera falls on Chester. His arm lowers. He sits

01:05:56.280 --> 01:05:59.420
at the edge of the roof. He sits and he watches.

01:06:00.699 --> 01:06:11.500
The gem raises. And you are gone. And we'll call

01:06:11.500 --> 01:06:11.780
it there.