Hello, all you beautiful pants people. Just wanted
to pop in to say thank you so much. Thank you
for listening. Thank you for being our friends.
And thank you for making this journey so meaningful
and worthwhile. Our cultures are rich and varied.
Our beliefs strain to one another. And this can
be a challenging fact to some, a cause for some
strife. But, you know, I like to focus thought
on our commonalities and how beautifully they
stand alongside our differences. Take our religions.
Whether your world reveres land, spirits, or
covenant gods, faceless prophets, or death itself,
we are all equally humbled by the great powers
that shape our worlds and lives. These old stories
of miracles bear so many similarities to one
another. Like the many, many tales of old mortal
heroes wielding divine or natural powers beyond
what we generally consider possible. Stepping
forth in times of calamity and making things
right. Mythical figures like Phi May Moon of
Samhka or Metzli of Talatepec. These old stories,
much like our celebration of skyline shows, how
we all connect to each other. Because there's
one thing that every person in every world can
appreciate. Steven? Nobody remembers how to do
this. No. It's been a while. It's been a while.
It's been two weeks. Two weeks. For us, yeah.
Mr. Jimmy Wolf has been off in Chicago. Oh, yeah.
Chicagoland. We haven't talked about that yet.
Oh, yeah. I legit thought Chicago was on the
West Coast. No, I was trying to think that we're
fucking up our timelines again, but we're not.
We're good. You're back. I'm back. Yeah, we couldn't
have possibly talked about it before. Wait. Wait
a second. Jeremy's just not there. He's still
in Chicago. It's like, fuck. We already recorded
the Chicago session. We're too good at this now.
Tell us all about it. Tell us about it. It was
fun. It was a whirlwind. It was a blur. Lots
of things happened every single day. Ate way
too much food. Oh, excellent. Way too much food.
I swear I gained like 30 pounds, but we don't
have a lot of stuff up here. So, right. You know,
when we go back, you know, we get everything
that we can't get here and get it in excess.
Four inch thick pizza. No, we didn't have any,
we didn't have pizza. Huh? No, no, but we went
to one of our favorite spots. It's called Portillo's.
It's like a, like a Chicago classic. I got like
Chicago dogs, Italian beef. What's on a Chicago
dog? Crinkle fries. They got the pizzas? Got
the pizzas? What's on a Chicago dog? What's on
a Chicago dog? It's a hot dog in a bun. And it's
got mustard, relish, a pickle, some peppers.
Cool. No ketchup. So the pickle makes it a...
You get murdered if you put ketchup on it. That's
what makes a Chicago dog. The murder. The murder.
The murder. Because blood instead. No, many establishments
have a wall of shame where if you get a Chicago
dog and request ketchup on it... you get put
up on the wall of shame. They just pin your whole
body up onto the wall of shame. It's just a thing.
They're like, hold on, let me get the ketchup
for you, and they pull out a Polaroid instead.
I don't know. I don't understand the reasoning
behind it. It's a thing. It's just a Chicago
thing. Well, if you are listening and you're
from Chicago, you are a barbarian, and get off.
All right, I want to make us some Chicago dogs
so you can see. They're wonderful. Okay. They're
really good. I'll try it. They're really good.
I'll try it. Well, Stephen, you have some news
for us, right? Very exciting news. Very, very
cool news. We kind of sort of have mail. Mail
time! Yes! Yes, Jeremy! Yes! It's mail that we
sent ourselves. And if you follow us online,
on our social media, or on Discord, then you
will already know that we have... An ugly coyote
zine. Boom, boom. But Steven, what's a zine?
What is a zine? Basically, take a eight and a
half by 11 inch piece of computer paper. Wow.
Hold it. Hold it landscape. Hold it sideways.
Fold it in half. And you have sort of like a
booklet. Say no more, fam. But then stack a bunch
of those on top of each other. Did you just call
him fam? He's talking. So it's a mini magazine.
It's a zine. And it's all about the Ugly Coyote,
our fictional tavern that we have on the Radiant
Citadel where our characters live and love and
laugh and stuff. Because you guys made me make
up a name on the fly that one time and I was
really tired. And here we are. And here we are.
It's a zine now. So what we're doing with this
little zine is we're simultaneously launching
a coffee account. K -O. slash, no, sorry, not
slash, dash. Hyphen if we want to get technical.
Okay. K -O hyphen dash F -I dot com slash fantasy
pants. Not the bad coffee. Not the shitty, gross,
disgusting drink coffee. It's the good coffee.
You know that's what it means, right? It means...
Yeah. What? K -O -F -I. They're talking about
like... It's like a cute thing. It's like, hey.
It's like, buy me a coffee. You can go here and
you can, you know, buy me a coffee. That's nothing
for me. Too bad for you. So we didn't pick KO
-FI because David dislikes coffee. We picked
it because when we receive one -time donations,
there are no pesky fees. We don't have to, you
know what I mean? So it's like, if you want to
give us a buck, cool, you're giving us a buck.
You're not giving us 90 cents or whatever. So
that's where the zine comes in. Wow. If you make,
if you do a minimum of five bucks for us. We're
going to mail you one of these. You just got
to get us your address and you're going to get
one. And they're really cool. The front cover
was done by our friend Hungry Familiar. In the
center of the zine is a removable double -sided
map of the Ugly Coyote drawn up by our friend
Rochelle Sound Pukey Girl. Then on the back cover,
you have the character portraits done by Eric.
who we've talked about a lot. Our Arakasan, he's
on Instagram as well. You can find him. And then
in between all of that stuff is a bunch of good
things. A couple of mini adventures written by
David, some history about the Ugly Coyote, some
write -ups about the Cherry Delights who live
in there, a little menu and all sorts of fun
stuff. It's all slotted perfectly to make it
into your worlds. Nothing that's tying it directly
to this setting so that you can take it, put
it in your world, and have all the characters
be there in their own ways that you decide if
you're a DM and you want to add some fantasy
pants flair to your setting. So your players
could someday show up to the Ugly Coyote. Yeah,
yeah. And me, Chester. Hey! Chester's in it.
Chester's in it. He's in it. He's in it. He got
benched. So that's it. That's our spiel about
the zine. You'll probably hear about it again.
If he didn't, he'd be dead by now. Probably.
With all that being said, do you guys want to
put the zines away and play some dreams? What?
I don't know. You rhymed. Let me start. Okay.
Let's retract that. That's not the segue. We
can't use that. So I'm going to keep talking
about zines for a second. All right, take it
away. All right, and I'm going to find a better
segue at the end of this. I don't have it now.
It will be there. I just need to say one thing.
Looking at the zine, the cover and the back and
the map in the middle and all this coming together,
it really makes me think about how much this
whole campaign, how much what we do is so completed.
by the community. I mean, like, I'm sitting here
with my dice tower, and I've got my gold vein
die from Zubir, my full metal die from the captain.
You're looking at a zine that has so many hands
reaching out and making it. We're eating candy
from Michelle in the corner. Like, everything,
this is amazing. I just want to say real quick
that you guys are incredible for, for reaching
out and like touching this campaign in so many
ways. You're, you're having the luminary spotlights,
having all these little things. It's, it's just,
it's, I don't know. It's really cool. It's really
humbling. I didn't expect there'd be so much
community involvement in, in, in doing this sort
of thing. And I'm so thrilled by it. Um, you
know what else is thrilling? It was quite thrilling.
It was a little ham -handed. Shut up. Shut up.
Real quick, real quick, before we get into this,
I do have something to say here. Last episode
was awesome. I had a whole encounter ready to
go. I had the Ettin ready to fight. I had the
Paraton ready to go down. This is going to be
a dangerous fight, potentially, again. And we
just didn't have it because you guys were creative
and cool and awesome. And for that, I have a
button for each of you. Hey. Because you've saved
this arc for me one episode longer. That's worth
it. And honestly, I love creative play. I love
what you guys did. It was really cool. And maybe
it's a little late to the party. Maybe, maybe
I should have done this last time, but I was
so excited I couldn't do it. Jeremy Wolf. When
I said the name Zavar, I expected literally no
response whatsoever, and you caught on to it
immediately. You even quoted the scene in episode
fucking 11. Damn straight. The only time this
name has ever been said on the entire show, if
I'm not wrong. Take a second button, sir. You
deserve it. I will take this button that you're
giving me because you feel bad after we discussed
this just before we started recording. Hey. I'll
take a pity button. Oh. I definitely closed Discord.
Oh my God. I 100%. Okay, hang on. Hang on. Thanks
a lot, Zoobeard. Was it for real? Zoobeard. That's
awesome. I'm going to read his Discord live in
case it's funny. Oh, okay. You know, I'm going
to read this out loud in this episode because
it's really cool. Okay. This is Zoobeard reacting
to the Luminary Spotlight he finally heard in
the episode. Oh, dude. Excellent. Already heard
your Luminary spotlight on Instagram. Real. But
I didn't realize it was going to be in the episode
until today. You guys are more than a podcast,
just like Zoobeard is more than a character.
You deservedly have a great and loyal fan base.
I was just talking about this. Oh, man. I love
that guy. You fucking guys are so cool. Dude,
for real. I can't even. It's so cool. So real
quickly, I'll touch on the Spotify Rewind thing
just came out, and we got to look at. Some of
the stats and things like that. And my biggest
takeaway, you look at the number of people who
like listen to your podcast more than any other
podcast. It was 29 people. We were number one.
Yeah. And then it jumped up to, I don't remember,
for like top five was. 85. 85. Holy shit. 85
people were in their top five podcasts. I think
it was 85. It was somewhere right around there.
I think it was 80 something. Just on Spotify.
There's over 100 in the top 10, right? That's
fucking wild. Yeah, top 10. 110 have us in their
top 10. Top 10. I mean, I'm going to guess that
a lot of people just don't listen to 10 podcasts,
period. I know I do. But, and then you think
about it, that is just on one platform. It's
fucking wild. Insane. So you, listening with
headphones on your way to work. Thanks. On the
bus. Thank you. For real, thank you. Man, speaking
of top tens, you know what's going to be a top
ten episode of Fantasy Pants? Episode 60? This
one right now. Grown. It's getting better. We're
getting hotter. Okay. Before we get really started,
because I'm going to have a flashback to get
this going. Spoiler alert. Before that, what
do you guys remember about the term Mazir Drakon?
I don't believe this has come up since Sapsunko
in like episode 18 or so. Yeah, I remember that
old guy said it about Ramin. It was like, not
the chosen one, but like a important person.
Yeah, yeah. You know, that's very close. Yeah.
So long and short of it, there was an old blind
man in Sbsunko that seemed to revere Amin Rasool.
He referred to him as this Mazir Drakhan. And
when prompted to explain the word, he went on
to tell you that it was an old word, an ancient
word passed down in old legend. Some would use
this to refer to Fai Maymoon, the legendary figure
in Sbsunko lore that called upon the spirits
of the land and pulled the tall mountainous borders
from the earth, protecting the residents of the
Valley of Zantini from an outside attack. This
was long, long, long, long, long ago. According
to this man, Mazeer Drakon translates to one
that is chosen by the spirits of the land. Whether
this translation is the same outside of Sipsanko,
you don't know. It is a world that worships great
spirits in lieu of gods. There have been a number
of such figures throughout the histories of all
the worlds, born during times of great crisis,
figures that wield unbelievable powers and the
ability to create miracles. He referred to this
man, referred to such people as being born with
the words of spirits in their ears. and as people
who could change the world in impossible ways.
And he did believe that Ramin Rasool was one
such figure. Because many know of Ramin's resurrection
by Atash, which is in itself very odd, as Atash
only resurrects criminals who have yet to face
full judgment. He never uses powers or the powers
of subordinate celestials to bring the innocent
back to life. But what makes Ramin's case even
stranger is the fact that he returned with burgeoning
celestial powers of his own. A seeming miracle.
Whether or not Ramin truly is a Mazir Drakon,
as the man thought, you do not know. But it seems
there is a Mazir Drakon that walks among the
worlds in the form of little Paul. And hearing
this, Jules, you might recall a number of times
where Paul seemed to be aware of something before
it happened, such as the storm over Tythos or
the fall of the Sapphire. So with that reminder
in place, I'd like to go into a little flashback.
And I need to, right now, say, this is going
to be dark. This is going to be very dark and
grim, and it will involve children. So, if that's
uncomfortable, skip ahead. Black screen. We hear
the sounds of metal grinding against stone. And
we open on a massive doorway, iron -made, closing
shut. on a vast mining cavern. As we stare out
at the light of day, disappearing behind the
great metal barrier, we can see a number of armored
men on the other side. Their eyes are haunted,
mouths tight. They look sickened by what they
see inside the cavern, by what they leave behind.
And as we see these men in this light, fully
vanishing behind the slamming of metal, we see
what Miskin sees. The Laroche Guard. that usher
the children from Aurora Town to the Fire Opal
Conquer Jewel, and then from the Gemstone Port
in Manzanare straight to the mines hidden behind
the nearby town of Hollow. Those men are gone
now. There are no men left within this mine.
Only monsters. If Jessenth Kellig was radish
in his features, then Zavar can be best described
as a boar. Slanted nub of a nose, bulging, uneven
eyes. His frame, with his hunched back and bloated
stomach, looks nearly spherical. No neck to speak
of. It's a grotesque sight, but not one that
would surprise Jules or Dredna. This is the man
they knew in their days in the Tower of Authority.
But the gray, slick skin, the sharp, dagger -like
teeth form perfectly for rending flesh, the eyes
sunken and lifeless. These features are new.
A stink radiates from the news of our particular
potent smell of rot that seems to fill the entire
massive cavern. His henchmen are much the same,
two of them, lingering in the light, though more
linger in the shadows of the deeper mine. Cold,
pale flesh, hungry eyes with no sparkle, long
tongues that hang from their mouths, lolling
and swaying around with their every movement.
One of them has their icy hands. Wrapped around
Miskin's arms, grip unnaturally strong. He's
been held fast as a monster called Zavar moved
between him and Paul, looking over his other
two gifts from Cerise. Round stuff had been taken
immediately to a nearby cell, and she now watches
her thick bars, hands shaking, where she grips
as her friends are appraised. This one, the imbecile,
he is worthless to me. Zavar speaks. A drop of
blood runs down Paul's forehead where Zavar's
long, clawed fingernail has cut a slash. Paul
stares forward, quiet, his consciousness buried
deep behind his eyes. I realize I've never actually
described Paul in much detail. I've always seen
a boy about eight years old, still very young,
always imagined, especially small, dark skin
with very short cut hair that never seems to
really grow. I imagine large eyes, light brown
with specks of shimmering gold, often staring
far off as if lost in a dream. And this one?
Zavar looks into Miskin's narrowed eyes. I know
a lost cause when I see it. You may take them
both into the dark and feast. Paul does not react
to the words. Miskin tries to struggle to move
against the ghoul that holds him, to reach his
belt of ragged cloth. No! Roundstuff screams
out from her cell, prompting Dvar to turn in
her direction, his arm flashing out in dramatic
sweeping gesture. Do not touch that tiefling
under any circumstances. Her blood is blessed
by demonic influence already. Roundstuff with
her light. Purple skin and small tiefling horns
continues to scream out against the bars. Itsmin's
child has shown us the potential inherent in
tieflings, and this specimen will be even more
potent. Perhaps it will hold her new form even
during the light of day. He begins to move towards
round stuff, grinning a hungry growl entering
his voice. Congratulations, child. Come the toll
of midnight on the night of the remembered, I
will remake you. The bones of the ancient be
brimming with power. Power to be shaped. Power
to transform. Like the Tlacatecobalor that hunts
the rebellious scum for my masters, you will
become a most honored tool of Zalmat Eshab. But
such a high being has no need for reminders of
the past. He turns toward his two ghouls, each
holding a child. Take them now. Do what you will,
just do it out of my sight. No, no! Miskin, holding
back tears and still fighting, struggling. Roustaf,
stay strong. Jules is coming. The two are dragged
by the ghoul's paw, moving easily, and Miskin
dragging and kicking with every step. He's coming.
He's coming to save you and kill this monster.
Silence dinner. The ghoul calls out. You'll be
such succulent dinner. And Miss Skin, hearing
this, kicks out with all of his strength, pushing
his body higher, moving his hand towards his
waist. Not without a fight! He produces a dagger,
pulling it from the cloth of his belt, a weapon
stolen from one of the La Roche Guard on the
journey here. With an effort, he thrusts his
body downwards, driving the dagger into the ghoul's
leg. It does not scream out, it does not react
to the pain at all, but it does lose balance,
collapsing to the dirt and releasing its prisoner.
And Miskin begins to run, turning back once to
make sure the other ghoul, the one holding Paul,
had let the more complacent child go to give
chase to the quicker, more furious prey. Run,
Paul! Miskin charges towards the darkness of
the tunnels, heart pumping, eyes watering, leaping
step by leaping step in the darkness he can hide,
in the darkness he can escape, in the darkness...
A cold, clammy hand wraps around his leg and
he falls, hard, crashing to the ground. Did you
think... You could have Ronald's child. Zavar's
voice. You bear the weakness of a beating heart.
Lungs that must breathe. A body that can tire.
We have no such flaws. I am sorry I could not
make you better like I will the girl. But rest
assured your flesh will serve a purpose yet.
His grip is strong. His other hand reaches around
Miskin long, claw drawing towards the boy's throat,
and the ground begins to shake. Zavar snaps his
head around, searching the room, and his eyes
settle on something growing wide, something akin
to astonishment shows in the dark, faded pools
of his pupils. Miskin turns to look too, and
he sees what Zavar sees. He sees Paul. The boy
had run per Miskin's request. He had run, but
not to an exit. To one of the enormous, spine
-like fossils that protrude from the earth, the
cavern's edge. And he embraces it now, eyes closed,
face pressed against the rough, black bone. And
the shaking grows in intensity. A rumbling sound
echoes through the caverns, then behind and beyond
it, a deeper rumbling. Cracks form in the ceiling,
small at first, then splitting and growing. Dirt
showers the ground of the lab, followed by larger
stone. crashing down. One of them crashes onto
one of the ghouls that moves towards Paul and
the creature's head is crushed instantly. It
twitches and falls. Miskin feels the head and
his leg loosen. He looks for a moment to seize
a bar. He sees a manic smile on the creature's
face, every sharpened tooth revealed. Then Miskin
kicks out hard, slipping from the grip and running,
running again to the deeper tunnels. The shaking
ground seems to calm before him, giving stability
to his flight. Though he can hear the sounds
of falling, crashing stone behind. He hits the
tunnel, pressing deeper. And a voice rings out
behind him, booming through the cavern. A voice
filled with zealous fervor. A dark prayer. Oh,
Galaxania. Do you see? He speaks with the ancient
ones. He is Meseitra. A loud crack. Sounds from
behind. Misc in the tunnel entrance. Caves there.
Drowning out in all sounds. All sights. Yeah,
and that's what happened. That's so fucking stupid.
This is our tone. This is our tone. It's like,
we go so hard. Let's just fucking slap that,
though. You guys are back in the mountains, moving
swiftly. Miskin's a great storyteller. I figured,
like, I was like, you know what? I can just rescribe
to all the stuff he knew, but it's easier to
just have a scene, and now you guys know the
stuff he knew. It's just easier. He goes on as
you're kind of swiftly moving down the mountainside.
I ran through the tunnels in the dark. I heard
a cracking sound beside me there, like the stone
was opening up just for me. I felt Paul urging
me forward. I pressed through the dark for maybe
an hour until I saw light. Then I climbed out
into the desert and I ran. I ran and ran until
I was exhausted, banged up from pushing through
the tunnels. I was found by the Cabral's, that
family. And they kept me safe. I must have left
some trail behind me, fool, because men came
looking for me soon after. They didn't find me,
though. You know this was the bounty hunters
that Arlon dispatched. And once I thought it
was safe to move, I was going to head for the
city. I was going to find a way to message you,
Jules. Then the Yetin came. He looks back up
the trail, sort of towards the mountain peaks
that loom behind you, where maybe the faintest
sort of rumbling roar can be heard every now
and then, something screaming out in some agony
and rage. They're monsters, but I almost feel
bad for Shalmal. They lost their only son many
years ago, and they never found him. When they
heard of a half -orc, they considered it close
enough. Shal called me her cousin -child, I think.
Their orc is just... it's pretty rough. And he
just looks back to you, Jules, and goes quiet.
It's going to be safe now. We got you. I know,
but they're not. Roundslip and Paul, that thing
has intentions for them. I didn't know what it
was like for you, Jules. Until now, I didn't.
He actually just runs over and, like, hugs you.
Like, embraces your leg. Like, it must have been
hard. Yeah, it was. And then Jules will bend
down and kind of hold him by his shoulders. And
look him straight in the eye. We have to go back
for them. I hate that I have to ask you to go
back, but I will protect you. Jules, I was always
going back. I know. It's like shared moment.
These two intense sets of eyes looking at each
other. And then he, and God, I got to stop saying
things like I will protect you to people. Cause
then they just die. Oh God. He's looking at you
and his eyes sort of like clear for a second.
Jules, that moment in the cavern, I've thought
about it a lot. Paul, whatever Paul did back
there and that rumbling sound in the cavern,
it was so impossibly clear and close that I thought
it couldn't possibly be, but I've been living
in that moment and I'm sure of it. It was thunder,
Jules. Thunder like the Keening Gloom on the
Citadel. Thunder like that storm over Tythos.
And here, our little camera's going to pan away
from Miskin and Jules for just a moment and slowly
zoom in towards Crispin Dubois. Crispin, hearing
this, what expression do you wear? Crispin's
been listening to this and it's kind of put him
in a bit of a daze. And then at the mention of
thunder, that kind of tipped the scales and his
fur stands on end. And he's... Crispin's trying
to keep his composure. He doesn't want to give
away that he's scared, I think. Hell yeah. Let
me deception check. Just to see. Deception. Oh,
excellent. At a minus two. Here we go. Oh, no.
That is rough. Five minus two. I think there's
a notable stiffening, maybe. Like, just hear
this for a second. And I think, like, Jules,
you catch this with your passive insight. Your
eyes flicker to Crispin. Yeah, and Crispin's
eyes dart and he kind of audibly gasps. And with
that, let's drift back into a second flashback
because we're having a very special episode here
today and we're going to turn back that clock
again. Double flashback, baby! I got to make
a flashback sound now. In this particular case,
actually, we're going to have the second half
of a flashback we started a while ago. So, I
don't know. Maybe that counts as a full one.
I don't care. Let's cue some music. Let's drift
back into the mists of God's breath. Into the
swamps near Blackwater Cove. To a clearing surrounded
by tall, gnarled trees where Crispin Dubois stares
up at a truly enormous creature. A reptilian
face. Draconic, perhaps. It's hard to make out
so much in the dense fog. Some great wall of
water wraps around the trees that surround you
like the coils of a serpent. This thing peers
down from the skies. Or it could be more accurate
to say that it is the sky, mouth open, tongue
hanging beneath a throat filled with swirling
black clouds. Thunder claps within this stormy
cyclone. It is a scene much akin to peering into
the great Keening gloom beneath the Radiant Citadel.
And with a roar that leaves your rabbit ears
ringing, the creature has just said, We will
be sad again! Again! Crispin, what do you do?
You're playing it out. Oh, shit. Sorry, I didn't
warn you. What does Crispin do? What does he
do? Here, take a second to think. I'm going to
represent my rock star because I destroyed my
throat with the ghouls and again with this guy.
Yeah, that's pretty tough stuff. I got two episodes
and I'm in trouble. I mean... Crispin tilts his
head all the way back to take this thing in and
chokes out. He can just repeat the words. Does
that mean anything to him? I don't think it does.
I think if you wanted to learn about it, you'd
need to. Holy shit. That's a loud storm. Let
me turn that down. I think you need to seek out
that term in order to understand it, essentially.
And at this point, you'd have no reason to have
done that. Okay. Maybe he'll ask. He'll sort
of scream up like he's speaking to the sky. What
is... What is Shah Drakan? You just rail out
this thing, its mouth still open, eyes peering
down at you. And then... Truth. Truth in form.
We are lost. Drawn by the planes. Displaced and
consumed. Fragments. We gave ourselves all for
nothing. thunder cracking in the throat. Crispin's
looking to his right and to his left, and he's
getting closed in on... What? What do you want?
What do you want from me? Live. And unite them.
And the thing... Begins to fade away. The sounds
of rolling thunder. The sudden harsh wind, all
that fades, leaving you in the murky silence
of the swamp. For a moment. Then, noise does
return. The mists all around you come alive with
dozens of dark shapes. The things that hunt you,
that you've led from your village. They stepped
from the mist and you could see the elongated,
snapping maws of these giant crocodiles. You
could see their scales dripping away and pools
of rot riveting yellow bone beneath. You could
see their broken, brutal teeth. Some still coated
with the blood and fur of your friends and neighbors.
Undead monstrosities, born from the Shadowfell's
touch on your world. And they have you surrounded.
You knew this was going to be a suicide mission
when you ran, but the others had time to get
away. Your life and your death will mean something,
Crispin. How does that feel to you? He's... It
feels scary, but it also feels peaceful. He's
afraid, but he's grateful. Perhaps there's comfort
in this, in the wake of the horror you face now
and the strange vision you just saw. Perhaps
there's comfort as they move in, swarming all
over you. At least I'm gonna go out with a bang.
And with that, something slams into you. Not
one of the creatures, nothing physical, but a
wave of emotion, palpable, nearly physical, coming
from somewhere deep beneath your feet, coming
from the land itself. Pure rage. Sickening and
intoxicating all at once, like nothing you've
ever felt before. Like bolts of lightning shooting
through your veins. Your muscles go taut. Your
body shakes with it. And these monsters are nearly
on top of you, but you feel, in this rage, you
feel larger. So impossibly large. As large as
this clearing. As large as the swamp. What happens
now? as these monsters come to claim their prey.
Crispin can feel this power, and he doesn't believe
it. He knows that nobody else will believe it.
He just wants to... He thinks, if I can get out
of here, I want to remember. And he starts to
say to himself, Shahadrakhan. Shahadrakhan. Shahadrakhan.
And as he's saying it, he can feel the... the
power in the ground. And the first time it happens,
it's like a ripple escapes from him through the
ground. And as the ripple pulses out, it pushes
all of these creatures back. And then it happens
again, a little stronger this time. And as it
pushes them back, it flings them up into the
air. And then the third time it happens, it comes
from the ground all around. And the ground and
the rocks just shoot up from out of the ground.
And these creatures get pelted with rocks and
boulders from below. And then as they start to
fall, they get hit from above as the rocks and
boulders start to fall from above. And then slowly
they eventually stop moving in the torrent in
the ground. Begins to slow. But the sand is still
moving and shaking like water. And the shapes
begin to disappear under the ground. And by the
time everything settles, they're not just dead.
They've completely been swallowed into the soil.
Holy shit. And as this happens, as they're swallowed,
That rage, that power drains from you, seeping
from your body like a dream from a waking mind
until it is gone. Until you are alone in the
swamp accompanied only by hidden, broken bodies
and swirling mist and the sound of distant thunder.
And we're back. So yeah, that's how it happened.
Round of applause for Steven. I'm just going
to give you a button. I'm just going to give
you a button for the scene. I'm going to give
you two buttons now. Oh, my goodness. That was
good. Wowee. I'm generous today. It's because
we give you shit before we hit record. Yeah,
that's true. Oh, my God. Holy shit. Got him.
Then for our third flashback. No, I'm so done.
No more flashbacks. Can't handle any more voices.
Just gotta whisper for the rest of the session
and the next one. Next one is jeans. And that's
how it happened. All the soft voices, yeah. Yeah,
exactly. Every soft voice. Oh, I need more soft
voices. Too many growls. I just like doing them.
That's your doing. I like doing them. I don't
know. You make it up. Yeah. No. Well, on this
note, I noticed, and this is like not making
fun. This is like fascinating, fucking awesome.
When you were doing those voices, your face started
going red and I could see the veins around your
eyes. Like, you know, like where you like take
a deep breath and then like close your mouth
and push really, really hard. It was that thing.
Well, I mean, it's got to take some sort of strain
to voice Vizar, the ghouls, and Miskin, who arguably,
like if I did them, would all have the same exact
fucking voice. Yeah. Yeah. They probably did.
No, no. I thought they were each unique. And
then the thing, the thing in the swamp. Oh, that
thing is a totally different beast. That thing
destroyed me. Yeah. Oh, okay. All right. Crispin,
following that event. Let me not punch my mic.
Hang on. It's been a while. Following that event,
Crispin, you never really touched that same level
of power. But that rage, you found a similar
rage within yourself. Or perhaps is it your rage
that you call upon? Or is it the rage of the
land again? The rage of that thing in the swamp?
Wow, that is such a good question. Maybe other
things like it? You get the impression when you
use your abilities, like seeing visions through
Augury, you're calling upon something, not just
the land, but something within the land. Something,
some things like what you saw that day. Yeah,
those are very obviously not Crispin's powers.
He's using those, borrowing those. I really like
thinking about the rage. That's very cool. Where
does that come from? Do you think he knows? I
don't think Crispin knows. That's awesome. Well,
I know Steven doesn't know, so I think Crispin
doesn't know. That's awesome. Yeah. Do you think
Crispin, in all the time after that, as he's
wondered about the Shah Drakon, do you think
he's come across the term Mazir Drakon before
was mentioned just now by Miskin? I mean, we
learned earlier. with Zebulon, how difficult
it was to track down and define these terms.
Yeah. I think maybe he's been looking. Do you
want to roll a history check to see if he's learned
anything? Oh, sure. Yeah, that's much more fun.
Ooh, nice. Let's do it. Give me a history check.
Let's see if your time as a luminary has taught
you anything. Plus zero. He really should have
talked to Sholay about this, huh? The time might
come. It's a 10. Just a 10? Just a 10. With a
10? I don't think you've heard Mazir Drakon before.
Yeah, I think these terms are rare, not well
known. I'll give you one thing. Difficult to
define. In your travels, you may at least with
a 10 have come across similar knowledge to what
Jules has of the term Shah Drakon. You understand
that it's from a forgotten tongue. Generally,
two words. Shah always seems to relate to land
or world. And Drakon... Seems to change always.
Spirits, ancients, storms? And one strange chance.
I believe it was on the world of Zing. An old
man there referred to Dracon as meaning serpents,
an old tongue. That's as far as you've gotten.
I am going to mark down that canonically Crispin
has been to Zing and look up. what creatures
are on Zing that he may have seen to transform
into? Hell yeah, all right, all right. As you
are, as your mind flashed back to this moment,
Jules, you see Crispin's reaction to the words
you see as my flashback. Did you tell, I mean,
it was a joke. Did you tell everybody that moment?
No, no, no, it was just a joke. Okay, okay, gotcha.
Your attention on Crispin's noted by Dance, Arhalon,
and Miskin. And Crispin, as you kind of blink
out of this, you notice that everyone is looking
at you. It's a nightmare for me. I think Jules,
at least, Jules isn't necessarily surprised by
it. He gets it. I think he understands what just
happened, or at least the feeling of what just
happened. Yeah. He's been in it before, and he
knows. Crispin takes a step back to kind of,
you know, excuse me, that's a hard story to hear.
I'm sorry, child. I think what's kind of surprising
is Arhalon sort of steps towards you, and with
legitimate concern. Crispin, are you all right?
Yes, thank you, Arhalon. I lost my composure
for a moment. Please excuse me. Very well. Turns
away. Do you guys continue to move down the mountain?
Yeah, I mean, it really sounds like we need to
move with all haste. Let me give you guys some
information if you are ready for that. Yeah.
Yeah. Okay. Miskin? I think we'll go, as you
move down, as the Mourn Bridge comes out, you
just talked about going back. Miskin tells you
he can get you into the tunnels. Then he came
out of the tunnels he believes were forged by
Paul. New tunnels that lead into the desert.
Maybe they found this tunnel out, maybe they
didn't, but it's a small thing. Subtle. Very
likely not guarded. We have to try. He remembers
there are landmarks there that can help him find
it. But there is one problem. Jewels you could
squeeze through. Barely. Arhalon cannot. Arhalon
will not be able to make it into the tunnels.
And if this comes up as you're talking, Arhalon
just sort of nods and offers instead to create
a distraction. Should you intend to enter that
way, he will go to the front. And he will try
to hold the guard, lead them away, do what he
can to make sure there are no reinforcements
coming when you make your way inside. Arhalon,
I can't let you sacrifice yourself. It's no sacrifice.
Arhalon, you know what would happen. It's not
your choice. A child or me. It's an easy thing.
Arhalon, if you don't go home to Sholay, Eda...
A child. Two children. We have so little time.
And I'll tell you this. He's right. Because it
was about four o 'clock when you found the Eddins.
You made brief work of that, so we're going to
continue at four o 'clock as you're pushing south.
But your journey through the mountains took nearly
six hours, and it will take the same to return.
It's not easy footing. It's a hard climb. By
the time you get down to the farm you started
in, it'll be ten. An hour, at least, to get to
Hollow. Longer to take the path through Miskin's
Cave. It may be very near midnight, the time
of the ritual. when you arrive there, as it stands.
There's no time for other options. There's no
one else coming to save Roundstuff. I can't fail
again, Arhalon. No, you too. All right. I want
to ask a couple of questions. Yeah. The quote
-unquote, the front, the front door that you're
talking about that Arhalon wants to go to. Yes.
And the cave entrance. What is the distance between
those two? The cave entrance is maybe... It's
not... Actually, I'm just going into it. It's
probably a good half a mile. Maybe a good 600
feet. Half a mile. Okay. Yeah, it's far. He was
moving the case for quite a while before he pushed
through and got out into the desert. Okay, there
goes that. Were you thinking you could turn into
something and get us there quicker? Because what
if somebody flew on Arhalon as well? Yeah, Arhalon
does not have the difficult terrain. He can move
normal speed. So he goes ahead of you. He can
get there sooner, but... Oh, I'm thinking of
like... Somebody flying on its back with him.
That could be done. Yeah? Fuck. I really don't
want Arhalon to die. And, like, I could help
him, but it would be my other second -level spell
slot. Arhalon is strong. He may be able to hold
his own. Just fine. He's not trying to fight
them all. He's trying to lure them away. Sure,
right, right, right. He doesn't necessarily know
who he's walking into. Miskin will tell you that
there's at least eight men. The men that brought
them there, he thinks that's all there is, but
there could be more hiding around. All LaRoche
Guard. Not necessarily the highest trained, but...
It's not... Crispin's digging in through his
bag, looking for something to help, and he's
not coming up with anything. I've got nothing
for you. He's pulling out, I'll say for flavor,
just these little packets of herbs and tinctures.
Take this one, this one will... This one will
help you with your focus and take this one and
this one will get a little boost of strength,
a little vitality for you. But it's really nothing
of consequence. I think you're doing this and
almost like you're so nervous and you just feel
a huge hand just like resting on your shoulder.
You're a good soul, Crispin. A good luminary.
But you have to understand more than anybody.
We are not servants of Sholay. We are servants
of the light. Justice. Oh, well. It's not entirely
selfless, I'm afraid. If both of her grandchildren
die, then she'll send me with you. It's not just
your skin. Yeah, hold on. I need you to come
back. I need you to try. Very well. A promise,
then, between comrades. Crispin reaches his small
-sized Haringon hand out to shake. And his one
hand that Ken's removed reaches out, shakes yours.
Besides, someone needs to keep an eye on you,
Jules. And there's actually a little smile here
at this. As he smirks, Jules walks directly up
to him. Staring him in the eyes. Don't you go
getting yourself killed. For Zebulon. Laroche
men killed my brother. I won't say my intentions
are selfless either. Not wholly. I want vengeance
for that. And I want... I want my light, my oath
returned. I will save the children. I will be
whole again. For Zebulon. Jules slowly extends
his hand. Another shake. I'm also curious, what
hand? The right. I think he halts and then takes
it. If it's going to make any difference in anything,
as they shake hands, Jules' lute lights up and
he gives him some bardic inspiration. Power floods
into him. Looks down at the golden moat. You
are my friend. And I do love you too. And he
just almost looks, has a moment of almost shame.
He kind of nods. You are a good man. And they
even dance like steps beside you. And she's had
her doubts this whole time. Even she just nods
in agreement. And he takes a step back, looks
at you. Jules looks at you, Crispin. And then
finally his eyes fall on Miskin. And through
all the rage and the pain, for the benefit of
the child, Arhalon smiles as wide as he can.
It's unnatural, almost creepy, but it's a try.
And he takes off and shoots down the mountain.
Crispin has been unusually animated just now
between getting riled up at the Paul thing. And,
you know, was still losing it a little bit with
the whole Arhalon thing. He's kind of regained
his composure, his calm, cool, collected nature.
Well, there's no more time. Let's go get the
little ones. You continue your journey down the
mountain. I'll ask, is there any way you want
to speed the journey, or are you going to just
get there? As it stands, you will get there to
the bottom around 10, to the tunnel around 11.
Yeah, I mean, I could use Wild Shape, but I don't
think I would be able to move all of us on horseback.
Yeah, Jules is not in the right enough mindset
to really think about anything else but just
moving to where they need to go. Okay. You know,
if something comes up, he'll hop on, but he is
just moving. Yeah, there's four of us now, and
even if Crispin turns, that's two people. I don't
think he can take three riders, so probably just
best to hoof it. Foot it, not hoof it. Literally
the opposite of that thing, yes. Rabbit feet.
You are moving down the mountain. I'll ask one
more thing. You've received information from
Miskin. You know where you're going last. You
know where this lab is. You know a little more
about this Claticolo, the creature that is creating
Serenno. That it's been child. I think I might
have accidentally let slip Sun in the last episode.
I didn't put it in the cutscene, so just... I
said sun instead in the cutscene. I don't care.
It's been sun. Apparently was the subject used
to create this demon. There was a mention of
it only happening at night. It only changing
at night. Because round stuff wouldn't do it
during the day. Right, exactly. Yeah, so it wasn't
directly that you mentioned it only changes at
night. It was a given for inference. Right, because
you said that she might even be strong enough
to hold her shape throughout the day. Hey, here
we go. You're listening. At least that much.
Hey, give him a third button for that. I buttoned
out. You guys are done. I think I'm over the
limit. I think I have four. No, he raised it
to five for this arc. Five for this arc. That's
right. Yeah. But no. But yeah, yeah. So you know
all these things. My last question is, you have
the sending stone. Before, like if you send a
message now, you do not get another one until
dawn tomorrow, but you hold information that
the other group might find useful? Yeah. We've
literally figured out that. The sereno creature
is Yitzman's son, and he reverts to his human
form during the day. And you don't know a lot
about Yitzman, but I think Dance would at least
like hearing that, like be going and telling
you all about, you know, he's the CEO of Marfil.
Right. He's, you know, he's a person of huge
interest to the rebellion. Right. So as long
as we understand that the party is sharing information
and we all kind of like pass that around, yeah,
let's craft a message here really quick. Hell
yeah, let's do it. 20 words, 25 words, I forgot.
25, I think. 25. Okay. So Crispin picks up a
sending stone. Rescued Miskin, saving utter delights
tonight. Severno creature is Eatsman's son. Believe
reverts humanoid, maybe tiefling form during
daytime. Once finished, meet Moreno Church. We
zoom into the stone. As you guys rush, zoom into
the blackness of the mouthpiece, and out the
blackness of the earpiece in the hands of Dresden
Kellig. You've been awake for some time after
resting following the battle with Pigman, and
you are preparing for this night. A party perhaps
riddled with danger, and maybe a hunt afterwards
if you are to learn more about this creature.
Do you have anything you want to say back before
the stone's magic fades? Yeah, I think he just
says, be safe. We'll be there. We'll be there
after. Sorry, I just wanted to clarify, not we'll
be there, like. There's no there, there. There's
no there, there. Crispin's sitting there, there
what? There was a mountain. But what about there's
there? And so we are back in Sanction City, in
the mining caverns beneath the Sereno Estate,
where this party rests and prepares for one last
hurdle. So the sending stone comes down. Do you
know what this means, boys? Yes, sir. What's
it mean, sir? What? I believe we'll have to kill
the pig man's brother. We'll call it there.