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Today I want to talk about the pride of my homeworld
at God's breath, the Haringan druid known as
Crispin Dubois. Now Crispin's origins are shrouded
in mystery. We know that he was born and raised
in a small Haringan enclave, tucked into the
swamps at the edge of Nightwater Cove. We know
that this enclave was a target of a vicious,
macabre assault. Rumors speak of a horde of giant
undead crocodiles appearing out of the mists,
endlessly hungry and incredibly strong. Crispin,
they say, in an act of courage, lured these predators
away from his people and deeper into the swamp.
Then... Well, folks, then we don't really know
what happened. The crocodiles were destroyed,
one and all. Buried, they say, deep in the earth
and muck. As for Crispin, he returned with a
new druidic power. A connection had been established
between him and the land, and it's only grown
stronger over time. He was invited to join the
ranks of the Luminary Adventurers. And he agreed.
Now, Christmas is keeping a low profile since
its initial debut. He has served our worlds on
many, many occasions. Keep an eye out for this
one, folks. He's a special one. So, did you guys
have fun last week? Oh, tons. It was a blast.
Hold on, let me put this thing away. All right.
Yeah, put it away. Gross. Ew. Ew. Zip that up.
Okay. All right. I can see I'm going to need
this. Hey, hey, hey. Yeah, last week was a challenging
week for me. A challenging week for all of us.
Yeah. It was fun. I had fun. To say the least.
Yes. It was fun. I was pretty hard on myself
for messing up that John Franklin move. But I
talked to a friend of the show, Rochelle. Our
IRL level one cleric and self -described D &D
chaplain. And I was like super bumming about
it. And she said she was like, you know, mistakes
happen in D &D. And like, yes, it sucks. And
we had to acknowledge that and accept it. But
the thing or one of the things that we've always
prided ourselves on here is our authenticity.
It would have been so easy. To just re -record
it, take it out, fix the mistake, and move on.
Yeah. But the fact that we didn't, and the fact
that you, David, were so quick on your feet to
give us a fair chance, even though I messed up
with that extra check, I think that says a lot
about what we do here. Yeah, I mean... I'm into
it. I think it was great. And honestly, the thing
with failure is sometimes it just makes for a
better narrative. And the fight following that
attack that kept me in the battle. It was a really
cool fight. Yeah. We saw Give the Metallic Dragon
happen twice, both the features of it, the healing
and the wings. Holy shit. Yeah. We saw Jules
drop down at the end of the fight. I was this
close, this close. I hold my fingers very close
together. Pants people, you can't see that, but
it's very, very close. They're basically touching
this close to taking out our Jules LaRoche. Oh,
I mean, even in the shot that you took me down,
like you had a very real chance of just killing
me outright. It's scary shit. Scary shit. Big
old scary Boyd. I think I might have felt a little
bit different. I think I might have felt a little
bit different if that mistake led to a character
death. You know what I mean? I mean, we'd have
to go to like group therapy for a little bit.
Yeah, I just would have like hung up my headphones
for a little while. Do a couple episodes of that
Steven for punishment. But shit happens and I'm
ready to move on. As far as moving on goes, a
couple quick things. Let's talk wedgies. I don't
think we had a lot that we didn't catch. Obviously,
we talked about the few we had. I also was mistaken
in my – because I actually, before we realized
that I should have stayed, I was sticking around
in the fight when I should have just bolted.
I'm glad I didn't because we caught this instead.
It all worked out perfectly. The only tiniest
wedge I could think of is I think we missed a
nat one at one point that Zebulon rolled. I didn't
do anything with, but I was just in the – stress
place and uh you know what it worked out just
fine that stuff's flavor anyways i think it's
really just flavor you know i don't want to be
like i'm not too stringent on getting every nat
one i'm not here to like punish punish it's just
narratively interesting sometimes and when it's
not narratively interesting i don't really care
that much it keeps things fun yeah yeah that's
how i see it um my biggest nat one um we'll blame
my npc for this one uh maria the alvedado uh
entirely got her directions wrong I was explaining.
I think I said west, like, oh, northwest, northwest.
Every time you hear the word west, just assume
I said east. Oh, jeez. Oh, my goodness. I listened
to the episode, and I was like, that's not at
all how the map works. But she was really bad
directions. It's not me, guys. It's her. She's
very sorry. Yeah, we'll go with that. Yeah, you
will. But yeah, I think that's all for wedgies.
And I do have one more little announcement. I
know this is going to seem a little out of the
blue and a little crazy. This is wild. Here's
the thing. He's reaching for the jar. Here's
the thing. We're not getting into all the nitty
gritty details of this right now. But these two
gentlemen here are currently putting up with
a lot of bullshit from me. Because I had plans
upon plans upon plans for this arc. And I've
been changing them last minute, throwing them
for the loop. You'll find out what I'm talking
about in a little while here. You guys have been
serious troopers. Seriously. Take these buttons.
Each button. You earned them. All right. Thank
you. I will take this button. With that buildup,
I was kind of expecting like two or three. Oh,
my God. Who do you think I am? A bunny for the
best players in the world. Aw, thanks. Thank
you for putting up with my constant baloney.
I also want to say, real quick, for anyone that
is familiar with the book, you probably noticed
I took a lot of liberties with the creature we
dealt with last week. Mostly I cut down on its
ability to do, like, insane burst damage. I cut
down on that. Just, yeah. Yeah. Think about that.
He took it easy on us. In favor of legendary
actions it did not have and more consistent damage
and a few more magical tricks, some of which
I have yet to reveal. But it's a good thing we
probably won't see that boy again, huh? Fucking
Boyd's. He's probably gone. Never again. Yeah,
I'm sure he's gone. We scared him off. Yeah.
Almost. He was terrified. So where do we go from
here? Right? Where do we go from here? Well,
I know where. We're going to go to the Radiant
Citadel. Still shining the cool blue of night.
Now, when we left our heroes off, it was about...
11 o 'clock p .m. We're going to shift forward
a little bit. Maybe 2, 2 .30. The dead of the
night. And we see the diamond there. Amongst
the swirling chaos. The keen and gloom down below.
Thunder roaring, threatening. We're not focused
on that. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. We're going
to pan up to the smooth, fasted walls of the
auroral diamond. And we're going to pass through
them. It is night. Inside as well. The faux sky
above the preserve of the ancestors. Shimmers
with thousands of stars against the blackness.
Shining down on an open expanse. A hodgepodge
of habitats and environments that you guys are
somewhat familiar with. And the center of all
of this. Still glowing like a beacon. In the
midst of this cool peace. We see a rural town.
We're going to pan down to the crystalline streets.
The area still abuzz with a constant stream of
information and drama passed between structures
by cables and playing out on diamond screens
on the sides of buildings. Except few folk wander
the streets at this hour. While there is light,
while there's activity, there's very little life
here right now. Very, very little. And as we
pass by maybe a few dark figures, our eyes moving
swiftly. down the streets, towards the city's
center, towards the amphitheater, in the surrounding
manors of all the speakers, of all the worlds,
we're going to hone in on one particular figure,
moving towards a square -shaped manor. We see
a sign before the door reveals us to be the home
of Fortino Infante, speaker for Saint -Étienne.
And as this figure closes in on the structure,
moving right up towards the door, a grim -faced
shield -bearer guard nods expectantly towards
them. And I've just got to ask you, Stephen,
does Crispin Dubois nod back? Yeah, of course
he does. The guard sees this, whispers a word,
steps to the side as the door slides open, and
he gestures you inside. Um... Yeah, Crispin's
gonna step inside. He whispers Zuko, head to
the back. They're in the office, waiting. The
door closes. You step inside to this darkened
manor. There are no servants about. There's no
light emanating from the crystalline walls, but
you do see the light from the far back, down
a hallway. All the doors to the sides are closed,
just one singular door open at the very end,
where you can see a desk, and you can see a figure
behind the desk. Do you approach? Yes, Crispin
approaches. As you move closer, as you step into
the room, you see there are actually two figures
within. One is a dwarven man with brown skin
and no beard. He has small spectacles resting
at the tip of his tiny nose in a loose white
silken nightgown. His dark -rimmed eyes are wide
and frantic. They glance your way as you step
into the room, but turn immediately back to their
true focus. A woman. Old and copper -skinned.
Her black... Gray street hair is pulled into
a tight braid. Her confident, easy form is covered
by a red and yellow gown. Her shrewd eyes hang
over a wolfish grin as she, too, glances in your
direction. And you know, you know that this is
Sholay, the Brass Dragon, in her human form.
Ah, you're here. Early, too. Good. I have a few
questions for you. Luminary Crispin Dubois, but
first. And she turns away from you, reaching
into her sleeve, pulling out something small
and round. A recording diamond, which she casually
tosses onto the desk in front of the dwarven
man. And you know that this man, I imagine you
were invited here. You could guess at least that
this is Fortino Infante. The speaker for Sansation.
The one who offered you this invite. But I think
now you are starting to second guess who exactly
brought you into the fold. As you wait, Sholay
glances towards Fortino. Take a look for yourself
while I speak with my associate. Take your time.
Watch every second. You should understand the
fragility of your position in its entirety. And,
yes, it is already packed up into the ethereal
diamond proper. Ready for release upon my word.
The dwarf's jaw locks, eyes holding back frustrated
tears as he turns his back from you both and
turns his focus onto these swiftly moving images
on the face of the diamond. And Shirley turns
back to you. All right. I haven't done this on
the mic yet, so I might need like two or three
tries. I'm so excited. I'm so excited. Don't
overblow it. All right. All right. So excited.
How may I be of service? Sholay pauses for a
moment, eyes thinking, and just, First, I'm going
to ask you some questions. You would do well
to understand that I already know most of the
answers. I would just like to hear them from
you before we proceed. Is this understood? All
right. I love it. I fucking love it. Why did
you become a luminary? Why? To protect my community.
To protect? With money? With influence? Money
buys resources. This is true. there's more to
becoming a luminary than money. There is great
political power in your current position. What
do you intend to achieve with this granted power?
I'm not interested in power, Miss Cholet. She
smiles slightly at this remark. One last question.
You were one of the first witnesses to the recent
tragedy on God's Breath. The farmhouse slaughter.
What were your thoughts on the scene? Well, it
was certainly a gruesome tragedy. It was. And
I think you are aware that it is not the end
of such tragedies. Especially for God's Breath.
It's just the beginning, isn't it? You have no
interest in power. But perhaps you would have
an interest in powerful allies. People who may
be able to change and shape the face of these
things. To avoid such tragedies in the future.
That is why I have called you here, Mr. Dubois.
You see, I have come to realize very recently
that you luminaries hold certain powers and freedoms
that myself and my agents cannot attain. As such,
I have decided it could be worth my time to ally
with one of you. Now, I've done my research.
You have a certain reputation for subtlety and
discretion that your associates lack. You, as
far as luminaries go, seem to hold, well, good
reasons for seeking this position. You do not
seek fame and glory like most of the lot. You
are a practical man. And as a practical woman,
I believe we can help each other. I'm honored.
So you would be interested in such a relationship,
then? I am. Are you currently partaking in the
assignments? I am currently available. Very good.
Then you will go to San Sitian. What will I do
at San Sitian? Once you arrive, the exact trajectory
of your investigation will be up to you. But
I have... tidbits of information, pieces of a
larger puzzle. And I need to know more. Now,
we know that Samuel LaRoche is on Sansatian.
You may not be aware of the LaRoche family and
their role in our political environment, but
they are as devious as rumored. I want to know
why he's there. On top of this, we know that...
A mysterious bounty has been posted. To the payment
of 600 gold. It is my belief Samuel LaRoche posted
this bounty. Now we are still waiting on information
about the figure hunted. Only know little. But
600 gold is a lot. Already hunters are swarming
to the world to take up this job. We also believe
there is a connection. Between the Tressina of
Sansatyan, the leaders of Sansatyan City, and
the Illness Serenno. Now this is to be kept very
quiet. It's pure speculation, and to let this
leak could be disastrous for my own career and
position, but it is thought that this is why
Atash... And my own efforts to send proper aid
have been met with cruel indifference from the
city's leaders. We don't know what purpose the
illness would have for the Tresina. We do know
that it has been disproportionately affecting
the lower class. And we know that they were priorly
on the verge of a revolution. So you're not asking
me to participate in this bounty? But to learn
more about Serenno? I simply want more feet on
the ground. If you choose to investigate the
bounty, that's up to you. If you choose to investigate
Serenno, that's up to you. It is my belief that
all roads lead to the same resolution. The fall
of the Roche family. Because it's the sandbox.
Arc. Now I remember. There is one more matter.
My grandsons are currently on Sansation in the
midst of all this uncertainty. If possible, I
would like you to keep an eye on them. Stay away.
Do not reveal yourself as my agent. They are
arrogant and foolish both. I do not trust them.
Do you intend to have children yourself, Mr.
Dubois? Well, that's a personal question. It
is. She actually cracks up after a full smile.
Whatever your answer, I suggest that you... Well,
you think about it deeply. You will never sleep
another full night in your life if you do. I'll
do what I can to protect your boys. Good. Now,
Enchi turns away from you to the hunch -over
figure of the dwarven man who's just like, as
he kind of turns his eyes, sort of sensing that
he's been called back to you, there are tears
running down his face. Back to you, Speaker.
You can see I already have as much information
as you likely can offer me. I do not need you.
But you will turn a blind eye to my workings.
You will not warn the Trezina or the LaRoche
family of my interest. You will pardon anything
my agent does within reason. And this is towards
you, Crispin. Nods his head understandingly.
Whilst he investigates matters on Sansatian for
me. Is that understood? And just... Nods. Good.
Now, Mr. Dubois, I have a few more words for
my fellow speaker. You may go. He soundly turns
and leaves. Do not think this will be without
copious reward. You'll be paid handsomely, and
when you come back, once I know you can be trusted,
I'll bring you into the fold on information that
you... You could never have dreamed of. When
Sholay starts to speak, he stops in his tracks
to listen. And without even turning around when
she's done speaking, he just walks out the door.
We see this Harn gone walking down the halls,
approaching the gate where you see that the guard
is now inside, opens a gate for you. You step
back out into the city and... As you step out,
as the lights outside sort of fall on you, once
again, for the folks at home, give me a description
of Crispin Dubois. Crispin Dubois is a small
-sized Haringan. I have to be completely honest.
In our Unzipped, I talked about his coloring.
I remember him being mousy. I think he had something,
some sort of coloring on his face. I can't remember.
I meant to go back and listen. I feel bad. This
is a different Crispin Dubois now. Oh, yes. That
was Crispin Dubois. Yeah, exactly. Crispin wears
a red bandana around his face, covering his nose
and mouth. I love this. And when it ties back
behind his head, his ears are tied underneath
it. That is awesome. It's so cool. Honestly,
no reason for it. I just like it. I think it's
like his superhero mask. I love it, too, because,
like, Steven is a bandana wearer. Oh, yeah, for
sure. If I'm not hiking. Oh, yeah. I got a bandana
on. Known bandana wearer Steven Rodriguez. Art
imitates life, I suppose. Hell, yeah. Oh, fun
thing. Crispin wields a two -handed great club.
Small -sized harrington. Two -handed great club.
Again, just because I thought it was fun. Crispin
also has, spoiler alert, unbelievable stats.
Yeah, wait till that bonus ep comes out. We rolled
stats and it's just not fair. And we see this
figure step out into the light and we pan away.
Around the same time that this scene began, we
pan over to another area around this. A familiar
manor. A large spire jutting up taller than all
the others. We pan up to this spire. We pan through
crystalline walls to an upper floor. Now, the
last time we were here, we saw an office in the
back. We saw some Romans jutting out from the
central location. We saw a sort of spiral staircase
moving up to a higher floor. We're on that floor
now. where a number of quarters seem to be tucked
off to the edge of the main room with one sort
of larger primary door, the sleeping quarters
for Cirilla herself. Currently actually occupied
by Cerise, as she would only have the finest
room, Cirilla has been sent to one of the servants'
rooms, but still locked tight inside. We're not
looking for that room, though. No, no, no, no,
no. We are turning our attention to one particular
door. The door beside it, the door belonging
to Cirilla's personal guard, Dresden Kellig.
We pan through this door and come to you, to
your quarters. Before we touch on you yourself,
let me ask, what do your quarters look like,
Dresden? I think his quarters are very cluttered,
but it's very neat and tidy clutter. Like he
likes to collect things. Ooh, hell yeah. I think
at this late hour, we might expect to see a man
sleeping, but we don't. We see a man maybe standing,
maybe sitting. We see a man in quiet contemplation.
He's sitting over the side of his bed. There
you are. We see a, I imagine, very concerned
look in his eyes as we pan towards him. And real
quick, once again, folks at home, give me a Dresden
description. Dresden is mostly always wearing
his chainmail armor. He's got long brown hair,
slicked from sweat and oil, and he doesn't shower
all that much. His face is dirtied up. He's got
an eye patch over his left eye, which covers
up part of a scar that runs from the top side
of his left forehead down to his chin. Hell yeah.
We see Dresden, we zoom in towards that eye,
and... Sorry for the continuous chronological
shifts, folks. We're going to pan to a memory
from just a few hours prior. Maybe right around
midnight, as Cirilla is resting in her office.
She should have been asleep some time ago, but
no, she sits at her desk, staring down a small,
round object. An object that Jules LaRoche recently
almost saw, but didn't quite hit that perception
check. It is a stone of sending. Similar to the
stone you saw Arhalon use way back when to speak
with Sholay. Able to send short messages out
and retrieve them back once a day. Messages need
to be 25 words or fewer. It midnight has struck.
Cirilla waiting. Waiting for a message to come
through. She's tapping at the desk, fidgeting
nervously. Eyes flickering around as though looking
for her mother. For Cerise would not like this.
By her side we see two figures. Dresden Kellig
and his brother. Of course, Jessenth Kellig.
The ratty man keeps glancing over to the stone,
glancing over to Dresden. His constant sneering
smile on his face never quite falls off. And
then... Small mouths along the stone begin to
open, whispering nothingness. Trela snaps the
stone up in an instant, holds it up, and at her
touch, at her command, the mouths begin to speak
true words, a message coming through, a message
in shorthand, but saying absolutely everything
she'd hoped to hear and everything Dresden feared.
Tlacatacolo, assault successful. Jules gravely
injured. Possibly dead. Creature fled. Ordered
to preserve self. Maintaining Serino highest
priority. Jules infected. Death likely within
the week. Oh, that's lovely. That is lovely.
Do you hear that? She looks over at you, Dresden.
Isn't that just lovely? Finally. Finally. I want
you to roll an insight check real quick. Oh,
first roll. We get dice tonight. Ooh, baby. And
first roll is only a nine. Okay. Um, with a nine,
you... I want to tell you what you don't see.
I think that's fun. Okay. Dresden, your eyes
are focused on Cirilla. She's just these happy
musings of hers. Her sort of like stretch and
sigh of relief knowing that that intolerable
Jules LaRoche is finally, finally getting his
due. You're focused on her. So you don't see
the glance in your direction from Jessenth, from
your brother. The narrowed eyes watching you
with some suspicion. You don't see that. Of course
I don't. And we cut to later in the night. We
cut to Dresden on his bed, sitting and thinking.
You have spent years maintaining your position
in this family, long after realizing their wickedness.
What has been your role here? Not your role to
the higher -ups that you pretend to serve. What
has been your role to the people? I've been feeding
them information. Acting as a bit of a double
agent with Jules. All these years, these close
calls. Micken's pub in the first episode. Perhaps
some of it was luck and wits on Jules' end. I
don't know about that. But definitely a lot of
it has been his secret weapon on the inside.
Absolutely. Hell yeah. But now... Now there's
trouble. Now you know that the LaRoche family
has finally struck true. Jules may be dead. It
wasn't confirmed either way, and if not, he is
most certainly dying. And your position here
has not been fruitful as of late. Tythos gone,
Jules no longer being apprehended in the same
way, and... Cerise, while she's so close, the
head of this family, the head of the snake, she's
kept her distance, always so careful. Years of
service, and she's still so careful. Your influence
here is limited, and so I'm going to ask you,
Dresden, what do you intend to do? Dresden intends
to leave and go to San Sitian. When? Tonight.
The guards are, for the most part, at rest. Your
masters. Foe masters at rest. This is the opportune
time. And so, we do see Dresden wearing his chainmail.
Packed and ready to go with all of his belongings.
How do you want to proceed? How blocked is my
way out? There will be a single guard at the
main door. You know the words to get in and out
the main door, though. You can open it from your
side. And as it stands, you know the man. He
knows you. You may be able to make an excuse.
Do I know of any secret ways out? The one door
is the only way. Just the one? These crystalline
manners are very well fortified. Okay. We see
you open the door to your quarters, step through,
move quietly down the stairs. Well, we'll see
if it's quiet. Give me a stealth roll. Why not?
Ooh. Got a chainmail on. Disadvantage. Fuck off.
Oh, shit. Already? Eh, why not? It's fun. I mean,
I'm not necessarily trying. I'm not trying to
sneak out. That's true. I mean, if you're heard,
I mean, like, honestly, I think we touched on
this before. These rooms, just like in the hotel,
the crystal stallion. Change it. It should be
the crystallion. Change it. It's the crystallion
now. Yeah, there you go. It's like the tilted.
It's fancier. Everybody say it. Anyway. I don't
accept it. How do I accept you? The walls are
actually pretty much soundproof, so realistically,
unless someone's out and about on the main floors,
you're actually fine. Yeah. There's one way out.
I know there's people there. I'm not going to
try and... I just like roles with disadvantage.
They're funny. You're like the trusted guard
of the lady. Halt! What are you doing here? No,
I'm the one that tells you to halt. Explain yourself
to me. All right, then you move? Yeah. Okay,
you move down the stairs towards the one door
out. You open the door? I open the door. Oh,
whoa, whoa. Gardner decides, sort of startled
at the door behind him, just when they opened,
turns and looks at you. Oh, Sir Kelly. Uh, can
I help you? I'm terribly sorry. I didn't mean
to scare you. It's all right. Are you, uh, out
on a request from Lady Cirilla? No, no, I'm,
uh... I'm just gonna go for a little bit of a
walk. Oh. Well, take care. He nods, and you pass
by. You take care now. You know this man. His
name is, uh, Craig. You know, garden of blue
and white, normal LaRoche colors, but he's actually
one of the good ones. Have a good night, Craig.
Well, when you say it, it's not cool. I love
the grid. It's so different from Jules. I love
it. It's going to take me a little bit to get
used to it. Oh, it's so good. Both these characters
are so good. Yeah, we got a lot to fall into.
Let me ask you this. Do you, I mean, you know
that like you could move through the preserve
itself, go up the long stairs, all that stuff,
or you can just go to the gates. There should
be someone there that's willing to teleport you
to the main, you know, entrance to the preserve
and you could just get out the sort of normal
way. One of those will take hours. One of those
will take minutes. Yeah. Can I roll something
to see if I would know how safe it is to take
the normal channel? Ooh, I like that. Ooh, yeah,
yeah, yeah. Okay, give me either history or insight.
That's a 21. Okay. You know that these sort of
normal, you know, these gates of teleportation,
much like a lot of the other features, like the
Concord Jewel landing sites out on the outside
of the Radiant Citadel, the sort of main gate
going into the preserve, these are all sort of
maintained by, I'm trying to think of a cool
name for them. I've mentioned before, there's
these white -robed sort of workers that sort
of take care of everything for the, you know,
all the sort of deeper magical mechanics of the
Oral Diamond. They are called the retainers.
Right? Is that okay? Is that good? Yeah. Yeah,
of course. Unless you want to go with toll booth
operators. No, I don't. I don't. Less whimsical.
So the retainers, basically, they serve the speakers,
but they don't necessarily serve any individual
speaker. And from what you've seen, they are
generally people chosen for this world because
they are uncompromisable. Do not act without
writs. They don't report information to anyone
in particular. I think with the 21, you feel
like, as far as at least the people who maintain
the gate, you're safe. And they're the only ones
who would be around at this time of night, really.
There might be a couple of shapes moving around
throughout the city, but it's 2 in the morning.
No one's out and about. Okay. Okay. Then I'll
take the quick way. Okay. Yeah, that makes sense
to me. Yeah. They won't be able to chase you
as fast. You begin to move, striding around the
amphitheater. We'll say the gates are on sort
of the western side. And that is correct, west.
I got it right this time. The western side of
the amphitheater, moving down sort of the main
thoroughfare. You're saying I gotta go west?
The wind is saying you have to go west. I heard
east. She was wrong! You begin to move down streets.
Empty, but vibrant. with life, your eyes still
falling on bits of text and hearing that jingle
of music constantly thrumming, thrumming, just
this never -ending stream of narrative and energy
pulsing through this city, or tiny city. As you
begin to close in, you do notice a couple of
figures, kind of strange, moving down the road,
somewhat in your direction. Large, imposing figures.
The kind you wouldn't expect to be out here.
Now, you have a couple of options. There's an
alley to your almost immediate right. You could
try ducking into, you know, sort of holding still
there. Or you could push forward. You know that
the gates are just beyond these figures. What
do you do? I duck into the alley. You duck into
the alley. And imagine just hold and wait for
a moment. Correct. Good. Yep. Because the map
I made was for the alley. Perfect. Oh my goodness.
I knew this was coming. Wait, you knew this was
going to happen? No. I mean, I knew. You had
a premonition? Yes. Gotcha. This is not something
we talked about, but I knew. You hold, waiting
for the guard to pass. You hear them approach.
You hear them as they're just about to move by.
And then you hear... Something else. Well, brother.
I knew it. I knew it. The voice behind you from
the other side of the alley. Do you turn to face
it? Yes. And there he is. Jessenth Kellig. The
ratty man. Head balding. Teeth large. nose pressed
in, definitely did not get the looks in the family.
And yet his watery eyes glare towards you. His
smile is wide, beaming. There are two figures
beside him, each cloaked, faces shrouded. And
you can feel the figures moving down the road,
as well as others having joined them from somewhere
you don't know. Four figures in total pressing
in behind you, and you realize you are trapped.
How many times, brother, how many times do we
get information from one of the street rats on
Tythos? One of the rats in Cerule? How many times
did I almost have jewels in the palm of my hand
only for him to miraculously vanish? I'd known
for some time, but I was waiting, waiting for
you to out yourself. And now you have. Where
are you going, brother? That's nothing you need
to know. Oh, I'm afraid I do need to know. Because
I have suspicions that you're going to San Sitian
to help the boy. Help the prince. Your suspicions
are bullshit. Unfortunately, my friends here
don't seem to think so. So we've reached a bit
of an impasse. Because... Well, so long as I
have these suspicions, I can't simply let you
go. And, well, wouldn't it be convenient if that
nice, cushy position as Cirilla's primary guard
was erased? If someone more deserving could step
in? Someone who has not been appreciated as they
should be by the family? You think that's not
for a reason? I think I'm going to earn their
appreciation now. I'll be honest with you, I
will. You're a better fighter than me, brother.
That wasn't always the case. But you've grown
since I gave you those scars. Training relentlessly,
learning to adapt to our master's dark magics.
Oh yes, yes, you are stronger than me now. But
I'm not without my own gifts. See, I've always
been much better at making the right friends.
You feel those bodies getting closer. Oh, so
you need your friends to fight your battles for
you? His face drops into a snarl. That is why.
Because you are weak. Seething. Take him! The
guards begin to move in. What they don't see
is the figure moving down the road behind them.
Just turning around the alley, coming towards
his commotion, completely unexpected in the dead
of the night. A Haringan having just left his
meeting. Completely unexpected. And we're going
to pan away from that. Now, I'm guessing our
listeners are on the edge of their seats wondering
what's been happening to our friends in the past.
Yeah, me too. To Jules and Zebulon. So just for
a moment, just for a moment, let's get a glimpse.
Let's get a quick glimpse of them. The clock
winds back. I'll be doing a lot of maintaining
time in this next arc. It's going to be a big
deal. If you say we pan over a coffin, I'm going
to punch you in the face. Graves in the sand.
We're going to pan back to Sansatyan. Once again,
it is 11 o 'clock and we are in the middle of
the desert. Serenno. You have Serenno. You're
all going to die, and there's nothing I can do
about it. Sean Franklin's standing over you,
frantic. Jules on the ground, having just been
healed from this brutal strike. Zebulon standing
by his side. There's a way out of this. I know
there is. There's gotta be. Zebulon's just staring
down at the ground. He was still on his knees
after healing Jules. And Zebulon pulls out what
Stephen thought was an antidote, which still
probably wouldn't have helped. but is in all
actuality, what was it, an antitoxin? Yeah, it's
an antitoxin. It helps before the save. Right.
Whoops. And he's looking at this, what he thinks
is going to cure him. Jules, here, take this.
Wait, wait, wait, that's not, give me that. He
snatches it from you. That's an antitoxin. Well,
that's going to make us feel better, right? No,
it might help later. Hold on to this. Did you
think it was an antidote? Well, yeah, it's for
poison, right? I'm doing your shopping now. All
right. Look, not much is known about serino yet,
but you have all the symptoms. And there's these
rumors that it comes across on a cold wind in
the night. That thing, it must have... Infected
you. That must be what's infecting everyone.
It takes the form of an owl, and no one knows
that it's that, a demon. That thing came for
me. We know where it came from. Who's sending
that out there? What do we do? Hey, grab that
scroll. The scroll? Oh. The scroll, the scroll.
Right, right. Yeah, the only one you guys are,
like, feeling so heavy and exhausted, Jean just
scrambles to pick it up, and he just... lifts
the scroll up and opens it, and he just freezes.
He lowers it down, and he looks at you, Jules,
and there's a look in his eyes that shakes you
to your core. We have another problem. I... I
haven't been around much, but I recognize...
Here. Take it. Jules takes it and starts to open
it up in front of... in front of him and Zeb.
As you begin to open it, Jean's still in the
background talking in the stream. It's marked
for four days prior. 600 gold bounty. There must
be more here already. They must have been latecomers.
We're already late to the chase. I don't know
what we're going to do. You hear this, and the
words kind of fade away, I think, as your eyes
fall on the scroll itself. Bold, huge letters.
Wanted. Dead. In a picture of a half -orc child.
It is a picture of Miskin. What? And we'll call
it there. Hey, Jules. Hey, Jules, what's going
on, man? Yeah, mousey -a, you know? Who the fuck's
Jules? Ah, shit, sorry, Jules. Wait, you know
what, Jules? You're also a big fella, though.
Hey, a big guy and a little guy. I know these
two. Ah, shit. Ah, no, it's recording. Get Chester
out of there. He's off the podcast.