WEBVTT

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Hello, beautiful humans. Editor Jeremy here to

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start this one off. This episode was our first

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session back after two weeks, and during that

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downtime, I got some new stuff for the studio.

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And I did some rearranging and moving some things

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here and there. Well, that kinda led to a slew

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of technical difficulties during this session,

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so please, bear with me if you hear anything

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weird. Who knows? You may not hear anything,

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and it may just be my little editing brain that

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hears every single difficulty that we had. In

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any case, this is still an incredible episode.

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We got pretty damn goofy and had a whole bunch

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of laughs, and I know you'll love it too. With

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that being said, thanks so much for being here

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with us, and enjoy! and potential for the rich,

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gemstone mines of the mountains of Tithos. Their

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efforts truthfully made them one of the richest

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families among all worlds, giving them more power

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over the politics of Cerule and eventually established

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themselves as the green family of the whole world.

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Their influence has only grown since then, especially

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after hearing it between Crown Prince Samuel

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and his loving wife Cerise. Following the death

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of the current royals, the two took naturally

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the throne. To be continued... Now the family

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survives with only a fraction of their support.

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The tower, the city, their people. Nobody lost

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more to the fall of the Sapphire than the Roaches.

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Yet they carry on. Cirilla still holds her place

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within the speakers for the ancestors. And Samuel

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and Cerise hold many allies and assets from the

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top of the tongue. The future may be uncertain,

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but I am sure of one thing. The Roach family

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is far from finished. Hey everybody, welcome

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back. I'm Antsy, I'm Pansy, I'm David Monroe.

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his fancy pants and these guys are fucking...

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What's your name? Yeah! Steven! Yeah! And your

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name? What's your name? Jeremy. Alright, new

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listeners on episode... What fucking episode

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is this right now? Sixty... Sixty fucking two.

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If you're picking up sixty -two... Really? No,

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yeah. It's not sixty -two. It's sixty -fucking

00:03:06.099 --> 00:03:09.039
-two. Sixty -fucking -two! Enthusiasm. Sorry,

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it's here. I have an enthusiastic sense this

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morning. Okay. Since this afternoon. You really

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weren't. I was not. I came in and saw you sitting

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in your little booth cubicle there. I'm like,

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hey, David. And you go, hey. Look. It was 8 o

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'clock. That's too early. Look, these guys get

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up at like 4 o 'clock in the morning or whatever

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shit you do. It's insane. People think you're

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crazy. Occasionally 4 or 5 at the latest. Okay.

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That's insane. That's crazy. I mean, but. What

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time do you get done with work? If I'm up before

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10, I want to die. 10? Jesus Christ. 10 is my

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biological time. The day is half over. What time

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are you done with work? I know we're at 5 o 'clock.

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Okay. 4 o 'clock recording days. We're done what?

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Probably hard average 3? Yeah. Depending on the

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day. Wow, that's so worth getting up at 2 o 'clock

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or 4 o 'clock in the morning. What is your point?

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My alarm goes off at 5, and then I usually do

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prospect, and then I get to work. Yeah, I don't

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know. Okay. That's right. I forgot. We're omitting

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a very important detail, which is that Jeremy

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Wolf takes two hours to poop in the morning.

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Jeremy, prove me wrong. No. I'd say it's a solid

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40 minutes of pooping. Twice. I mean, twice.

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40 minutes combined. Why are we talking about

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this on the show? No, we're doing this here.

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We're here now. I'm driving this shit. No, I

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have a whole morning routine because I'm not

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fucking like you. I cannot just wake up, throw

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my clothes on, and be out the door in 10 minutes.

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Hell no. I wake up. I take Danny out. I do my

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business. Yep. Then I take a shower. Yep. Then

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I get out of the shower. All this time I've also

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made coffee and I have my cup of coffee with

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me. Which helps with the, you know. Yeah. Yep.

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Then I take a shower. I get out. I make breakfast.

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I feed Danny. I go in for another, you know,

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business trip. Pack your bags for their business

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trip first class. And then I come out and I take

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Danny out a second time. And then I get dressed

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and go. I love it. I love it. Stephen, how do

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you poop in the morning? I'm fully awake by the

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time I walk out the door. And that's how I like

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it. Just you wait until we are sponsored by Tushy.

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Just you wait. You hear that, pants people? Help

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us make this happen. Or manscaped. We're a manscaped

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crowd here. This is officially my most uncomfortable

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banter yet. Steven, tell me about your poop!

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In the morning. We don't care about night poops

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here. We're no longer fantasy pants. We're just

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poopy pants. Poopy pants. Or babies and broadswords

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in real life. Let's do it! Yeah, I like to poop

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in the morning. Right after I wake up, before

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the first cup of coffee. Then I'm making breakfast

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out the door, do my morning walk, and then I

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hit to work. See, thank you. You have a routine

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that helps you to wake up and greet the day.

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Yeah. Yeah. You're a vampire. I crawl out of

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bed. I splash water on my face, deodorize, crawl

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into my car, drive to work, get to work, go right

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in the bathroom and shotgun to the toilet, crack

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the bowl. That's my morning. I might be lactose

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intolerant. I love dairy. Dude, I'm the same.

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Seriously. If I have cheese or any dairy the

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night before, That morning. All right, guys.

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I bought eggnog earlier this week. No, you don't

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want to hear my egg? Okay. Guys, I'm going to

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have so much. I'm going to have a lot of fun

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editing this one. Steven, take the wheel. This

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is terrible. Steven, please save us from this

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conversation that David had started. I just finished

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it. I think we did an appropriate amount of toilet

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talk. That's fair. I think we can leave lactose

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intolerance for... Next episode. You know what?

00:06:50.910 --> 00:06:53.110
For the Discord. If you want to hear lactose

00:06:53.110 --> 00:06:56.319
intolerance talk. This is where you're going.

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You just give it to Steve and he's going to show

00:06:59.100 --> 00:07:01.860
the discord again. Go to our Instagram page.

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We've got the link to our link tree there. You

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can find discord. Yes. On there. And if you have

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Steven chills for discord on your bingo card,

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make sure to market now. Oh, I'm talking. I'm

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talking. Here we are. I had to stop it. Thank

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you, Steven. Yeah. Let me, let me apologize to

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all you pants people. All right. Yeah. See, the

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bummer now is that we talked about poop for so

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long that we don't have really enough time to

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be like, hey, let's talk about this some other

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fun thing. Yeah. Do you want to just tell us

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another fun thing? Get go. We're warming up.

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We don't need to have warm up be our banter.

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We can have banter be our warm up or fucking

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warm up before our banter. Wait just a minute.

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Doesn't that mean the same thing? I'm warming

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up like a shit in the rain. What? So here we

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are. You guys want to do a flashback? Wait, hold

00:07:55.410 --> 00:07:56.769
on, hold on. You guys want to do a flashback?

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Yeah, I do. But first, we got to talk about the

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shit in the rain thing. No, we're past that.

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Did you make that up? Is that a thing? Give me

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the sirenscape. I mean, this is the guy that

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just last week said suck on your ponytail. Or

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two weeks ago. He was, you know what? He was

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in Florida where the rain's really warm. What

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did you do in Florida, David? Yeah, what did

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you do in Florida? What was in that hot tub,

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David? What did you do in Florida? What was in

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that hot tub? Let's do a flashback. This picture's

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gone too long already. Everyone hates us. Let's

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go. This is going to be a fun one. I've been

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waiting on this one for quite a while, and I

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only recently found time to really put it together.

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But I've been wanting to drop this little bit

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of lore about a cherished character of our show

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for some time. Let's learn a little more. How

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about Dresden Kellig? Now, establish this point

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in time. Now, early in his 13th year, we've established

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in our flashbacks that Jules met Dresden on the

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same day that Dresden lost his eye. Then, late

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in his 15th year, Jules is forced into the Black

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Candle ritual where he gains his shadow -touched

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abilities. This little escapade that we're going

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into today happens somewhere between these moments.

00:09:13.070 --> 00:09:15.509
during years of a close secret friendship between

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a rebellious prince and a soldier in training.

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Jeremy, how far into this relationship are we

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now on this night? How old are our heroes during

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this fateful encounter? We are both 15. Okay,

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so you've known each other for a couple years

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now. A couple years, yeah. Hell yeah. All right,

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this relationship's really been developing. I

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love it. I love it. So let's get into it. We

00:09:42.230 --> 00:09:46.950
hear a click of a lock, followed by the creaking

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of old wood, as a thick, iron -banded oak door

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swings open into a dimly lit space. Stone walls

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line the hallway outside this room, serving as

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a background to two young figures. Now, Jeremy,

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do these figures require a description, or are

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they exactly what we have come to expect from

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a young Dresden in jewels? Any updates on their

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last appearances? Nope. Dresden now has his eye

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patch. Yes. Having lost it two years before.

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Although I don't know if it's necessarily a real

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eye patch. Oh, okay. I think it's probably just

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maybe like a strip of burlap. Hell yeah. Or something

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just tied around his head. Hell yeah. And over

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his eye. I imagine he's dressed in some sort

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of a bear uniform, probably sort of the blue

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of the LaRoche colors. Jules' usual torn up,

00:10:39.159 --> 00:10:42.259
sort of defiant outfit. Right. Hell yeah, I love

00:10:42.259 --> 00:10:45.399
it. We see Jules pockets a key that he stole

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from Zavar earlier on in the day whilst the man

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was lighting up candles for the usual rituals.

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And the two of you just stare into the cult magician's

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personal study. Let me ask you, Dresden, was

00:10:59.860 --> 00:11:03.139
this little break -in your idea, or was it Jules's?

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I think it was Jules's initial idea, but both

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Dresden and Jules. have each other's back in

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everything that they do. And so while it was

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Jules' idea, Dresden's there for it. Hell yeah.

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No questions asked. And I hate to put you on

00:11:21.279 --> 00:11:23.820
the spot like this. I know it's a weird place

00:11:23.820 --> 00:11:27.399
to be as a DM. So don't. As you stand here staring

00:11:27.399 --> 00:11:28.919
into the room, are there any words exchanged

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between these two? No. No. At least not from

00:11:32.799 --> 00:11:37.960
Dresden. Okay. At this point, for the most part,

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He's mute. Interesting. He does speak with Jules.

00:11:45.679 --> 00:11:50.299
Oh, okay. But more so when they're in total privacy.

00:11:50.679 --> 00:11:55.100
Gotcha. Yeah. Hell yeah. All right. The two boys

00:11:55.100 --> 00:11:59.220
stare. They see a chamber that is quite large

00:11:59.220 --> 00:12:01.700
for a servant, a real showcase in a special place.

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Zavar holds in Jules' house beneath his mother.

00:12:06.669 --> 00:12:09.070
though it is also extremely cluttered, making

00:12:09.070 --> 00:12:12.149
the space feel so very enclosed, claustrophobic.

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A true mess of books and papers piles across

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one side of the room, the shelf they might belong

00:12:17.789 --> 00:12:19.970
on nearly empty where it stands against the wall.

00:12:20.289 --> 00:12:22.590
A number of tables holding jars and vials is

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overhung by a great number of crow corpses dangling

00:12:25.649 --> 00:12:28.830
off a line. Skeletons hang through the space,

00:12:28.970 --> 00:12:31.909
most of them humanoid and carved with deep, intricate

00:12:31.909 --> 00:12:35.639
patterns. Some, you can see, have the growth

00:12:35.639 --> 00:12:38.440
of horns sprouting from their skulls, unnatural,

00:12:38.759 --> 00:12:42.200
twisted things, uneven. In one case, the horns

00:12:42.200 --> 00:12:44.360
loop around, digging deep into the head from

00:12:44.360 --> 00:12:48.720
which it sprouts. You see all of this. You see

00:12:48.720 --> 00:12:50.879
how it is all pushed off towards the edges of

00:12:50.879 --> 00:12:53.279
this space, as if positioned with reverence away

00:12:53.279 --> 00:12:57.600
from a central desk. And here we see the room's

00:12:57.600 --> 00:13:02.250
single source of light, a magic. emanates from

00:13:02.250 --> 00:13:04.929
the surface of this desk. An array of light shines

00:13:04.929 --> 00:13:08.389
up from the wood, illuminating a small, pointed

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object that hovers in place, slowly turning round

00:13:13.809 --> 00:13:19.009
and round in its magical suspension. Jules sees

00:13:19.009 --> 00:13:23.409
this, and he is drawn towards it, carefully,

00:13:23.629 --> 00:13:28.309
quietly, crossing the room. I imagine Dresden

00:13:28.309 --> 00:13:30.700
stands at the door, which he... holds nearly

00:13:30.700 --> 00:13:33.480
closed, his eye keenly watching for any coming

00:13:33.480 --> 00:13:37.220
guard ever watchful for danger. Is this accurate?

00:13:37.679 --> 00:13:40.779
Yep. Jules is always the one that goes in to

00:13:40.779 --> 00:13:43.940
do the deeds. Dresden's the lookout. That makes

00:13:43.940 --> 00:13:47.620
so much sense. Hell yeah. So as Jules moves towards

00:13:47.620 --> 00:13:50.559
this central desk crossing the room, we can make

00:13:50.559 --> 00:13:53.980
out more of it. Firstly, we can see that the

00:13:53.980 --> 00:13:57.379
small object looks to be a break or a fragment

00:13:57.379 --> 00:14:01.039
taken from something larger. At first glance,

00:14:01.179 --> 00:14:05.159
it almost looks to be a dark stone, but Dresden,

00:14:05.279 --> 00:14:08.340
you've lived in this tower for some time now,

00:14:08.399 --> 00:14:11.179
and you've seen the great black fossils embedded

00:14:11.179 --> 00:14:13.440
in the masonry. You've seen where they break

00:14:13.440 --> 00:14:15.179
from the stone throughout the floors of this

00:14:15.179 --> 00:14:18.840
tower. You recognize their sheen here. This is

00:14:18.840 --> 00:14:21.980
a piece, the tiniest little piece of one of these

00:14:21.980 --> 00:14:25.539
fossils. You can't imagine what Zavar would want

00:14:25.539 --> 00:14:28.080
with something like this. why it might be placed

00:14:28.080 --> 00:14:31.299
in a so reverent a spot in his study, but there's

00:14:31.299 --> 00:14:34.340
more on the table surrounding it. Old, withered

00:14:34.340 --> 00:14:37.379
pages scribbled with a strange, looping script.

00:14:37.980 --> 00:14:40.259
Now one of these pages, a faded image of some

00:14:40.259 --> 00:14:44.279
great serpentine dragon. Minimalist depictions

00:14:44.279 --> 00:14:46.580
of mountains and trees in the foreground reveal

00:14:46.580 --> 00:14:50.710
the creature to be of truly immense scale. There

00:14:50.710 --> 00:14:53.789
are notes from Zavar, too, written in his fevered,

00:14:53.789 --> 00:14:57.429
manic script. Notes that Jules can almost read.

00:14:58.070 --> 00:15:01.850
And he moves closer. And here we change perspectives

00:15:01.850 --> 00:15:04.190
in this scene. We move from the curious Jules

00:15:04.190 --> 00:15:06.509
to the very wary Dresden, who turns from the

00:15:06.509 --> 00:15:09.690
doorway to look towards his friend. And he sees

00:15:09.690 --> 00:15:13.330
the pattern on the floor. It is almost invisible

00:15:13.330 --> 00:15:15.289
against the gray floor, running like a natural

00:15:15.289 --> 00:15:18.429
groove in the stone. But it is perfect. It's

00:15:18.429 --> 00:15:21.460
too perfect. In an instant, Dresden sees where

00:15:21.460 --> 00:15:23.919
this line connects to others, forming a glyph

00:15:23.919 --> 00:15:27.779
in the stone. And as Jules steps down, as the

00:15:27.779 --> 00:15:30.519
glyph begins to glow and hum with power, as the

00:15:30.519 --> 00:15:33.159
air rushes from the room and all fades into a

00:15:33.159 --> 00:15:36.000
deep and deadly silence, Dresden is already charging,

00:15:36.179 --> 00:15:38.539
shoulder forward, crashing into Jules with all

00:15:38.539 --> 00:15:41.720
the force in his body. The two go sprawling deeper

00:15:41.720 --> 00:15:44.159
into the chamber as the space behind them erupts

00:15:44.159 --> 00:15:46.240
into flames and the silence is shattered by a

00:15:46.240 --> 00:15:51.720
BOOM! The blast is small, contained to the glyph

00:15:51.720 --> 00:15:54.559
at the room's center. The force of it is strong,

00:15:54.759 --> 00:15:57.299
though. Jules, where he lies pushed against a

00:15:57.299 --> 00:15:59.480
stone floor, is mostly untouched by this force.

00:16:00.279 --> 00:16:02.940
Dresden, though, closer to the blast and positioned

00:16:02.940 --> 00:16:05.879
above his friend, is thrown into the air. He

00:16:05.879 --> 00:16:08.519
crashes hard against the central desk. Papers

00:16:08.519 --> 00:16:11.860
are sent flying. Wood shatters. As the desk collapses

00:16:11.860 --> 00:16:14.659
beneath his weight, Dresden rolls from the splintered

00:16:14.659 --> 00:16:17.980
wood. The light of the spell fades and dark splashes

00:16:17.980 --> 00:16:20.100
of blood on stone are the last images we see

00:16:20.100 --> 00:16:24.200
as it flickers out. And Dresden, you feel pain.

00:16:24.740 --> 00:16:29.179
A deep pain buried beneath your right arm. Something

00:16:29.179 --> 00:16:33.700
driven far into flesh and muscle. You think of

00:16:33.700 --> 00:16:35.860
that fossil fragment suspended above the desk

00:16:35.860 --> 00:16:40.460
as your mind drifts off. For a moment, there

00:16:40.460 --> 00:16:43.720
is movement as you come to. Grogly, you realize

00:16:43.720 --> 00:16:46.820
you're being carried. Your body draped over a

00:16:46.820 --> 00:16:50.220
struggling Jules' back. Your awareness is swimming,

00:16:50.299 --> 00:16:53.259
drifting in and out in pulses of darkness. You

00:16:53.259 --> 00:16:57.419
are moving across the study. Darkness. Pushing

00:16:57.419 --> 00:17:02.100
through the door. Darkness. Moving down the darkened

00:17:02.100 --> 00:17:05.180
hallway in darkness again. You feel something

00:17:05.180 --> 00:17:08.519
soft moving over your head. A cloth? A curtain?

00:17:08.819 --> 00:17:11.279
You feel your body finally lowered back against

00:17:11.279 --> 00:17:14.700
a wall. Your eyes open. Flicker, become focused.

00:17:15.359 --> 00:17:18.539
You sit beside Jules. The two of you hide beneath

00:17:18.539 --> 00:17:22.039
a small table covered in a red cloth. Where these

00:17:22.039 --> 00:17:24.920
two cloths meet, a crack between curtains, you

00:17:24.920 --> 00:17:28.180
can peer into the hall beyond. You can see men

00:17:28.180 --> 00:17:30.599
in armor move through the darkness, lighting

00:17:30.599 --> 00:17:33.279
sconces as they go. They move from the direction

00:17:33.279 --> 00:17:37.079
of Zavar's study. They move towards you. You

00:17:37.079 --> 00:17:39.319
realize through the haze and the pain that they

00:17:39.319 --> 00:17:41.900
are looking for you. Looking for the intruders

00:17:41.900 --> 00:17:45.430
into Zavar's chambers. They will find you, and

00:17:45.430 --> 00:17:47.890
there will be severe punishment for you, Dresden,

00:17:47.990 --> 00:17:51.269
probably death, and for Jules. You look to Jules

00:17:51.269 --> 00:17:52.910
beside you, and you can see his mind working,

00:17:53.049 --> 00:17:55.529
scrambling for a way out. You can see the heat

00:17:55.529 --> 00:17:59.410
of defiance in his eyes, desperately trying to

00:17:59.410 --> 00:18:03.309
bury a spark of primal fear. You can't move your

00:18:03.309 --> 00:18:06.130
body, Dresden. You want to reach out, you want

00:18:06.130 --> 00:18:09.529
to save him, but you can't move. Your eyes flicker

00:18:09.529 --> 00:18:12.130
to the curtain, to the armored boots stepping

00:18:12.130 --> 00:18:16.319
up. Just in front of you. Your mind wants to

00:18:16.319 --> 00:18:18.279
fade away again. Drawn in by the stabbing agony

00:18:18.279 --> 00:18:20.779
behind your arm. That thing wedged deep into

00:18:20.779 --> 00:18:25.500
your flesh. Impossible. Is it moving? It's burning.

00:18:25.640 --> 00:18:28.700
In this moment. In this moment. What do you wish

00:18:28.700 --> 00:18:32.059
for most, Dresden? What thought burns in your

00:18:32.059 --> 00:18:37.900
mind? Distraction. Drawing their eyes away. Armored

00:18:37.900 --> 00:18:41.589
boots stop before the table. And you hear a voice

00:18:41.589 --> 00:18:47.109
ring out. The intruder! The boots turn. The figure

00:18:47.109 --> 00:18:49.430
poised, facing down the hallway, facing away

00:18:49.430 --> 00:18:52.490
from you to where his fellow guard points. And

00:18:52.490 --> 00:18:56.650
you see something in the dark. Something moving,

00:18:57.029 --> 00:18:59.849
vanishing around a corner. The men go charging

00:18:59.849 --> 00:19:01.950
after it, boots thundering against stone, running

00:19:01.950 --> 00:19:04.890
away, their steps echoing, fading, shouts drowning

00:19:04.890 --> 00:19:07.789
out until they are gone. Until you are safe.

00:19:08.559 --> 00:19:10.759
And as that darkness moves in for you again,

00:19:10.920 --> 00:19:15.339
your mind is locked in the features of that thing

00:19:15.339 --> 00:19:20.900
that drew them away from you. It was you, Dresden.

00:19:21.279 --> 00:19:26.180
A phantom, an echo of you. The face was obscured,

00:19:26.180 --> 00:19:28.619
but you know it. You felt it. You feel it still,

00:19:28.859 --> 00:19:32.700
buried deep within your body, deep behind your

00:19:32.700 --> 00:19:36.759
arm. You survived that night. Your wounds healed

00:19:36.759 --> 00:19:39.920
and life became as normal. But the fragment was

00:19:39.920 --> 00:19:42.660
never removed from you. It couldn't be without

00:19:42.660 --> 00:19:46.000
some suspicion. In the years that followed, you

00:19:46.000 --> 00:19:49.420
honed this new ability of yours. You learned

00:19:49.420 --> 00:19:53.259
to call upon this echo. To control it. To fight

00:19:53.259 --> 00:19:56.339
with it. You did this in secret, knowing that

00:19:56.339 --> 00:19:59.980
someday it might come in handy. Someday, when

00:19:59.980 --> 00:20:02.539
the time came for the prince to finally escape

00:20:02.539 --> 00:20:07.019
his tower prison. And you were right. But that's

00:20:07.019 --> 00:20:14.240
a story for a different episode. All right. A

00:20:14.240 --> 00:20:17.099
lot of flashbacks lately. That's how Dresden

00:20:17.099 --> 00:20:19.839
became an Echo Knight. That's how Dresden...

00:20:19.839 --> 00:20:21.660
We didn't really answer this. But in this setting,

00:20:21.700 --> 00:20:23.640
the Echo Knight's a very rare thing. In fact,

00:20:23.740 --> 00:20:34.980
there's only one. Just like Tiggers. Yeah. That

00:20:34.980 --> 00:20:39.160
was hilarious, David. Thank you. All right. All

00:20:39.160 --> 00:20:41.440
right. A lot of flashbacks. A lot of flashbacks.

00:20:41.579 --> 00:20:43.920
And speaking of flashbacks, I want to talk to

00:20:43.920 --> 00:20:45.380
you guys about a mechanic I would be interested

00:20:45.380 --> 00:20:47.380
in trying out during this next segment. We talked

00:20:47.380 --> 00:20:48.680
about this last episode, actually. I mentioned

00:20:48.680 --> 00:20:50.640
I was going to bring it up here, and now is the

00:20:50.640 --> 00:20:52.359
perfect time because we just started this party.

00:20:52.940 --> 00:20:55.519
So I have a weird thing I want to try out because

00:20:55.519 --> 00:20:58.859
I do that. It's fun. And this will be a segue,

00:20:58.980 --> 00:21:00.940
but hang on. So Blades in the Dark is another

00:21:00.940 --> 00:21:02.660
game system. It's really cool. It's all about,

00:21:02.720 --> 00:21:05.130
like, you sort of... performing these like elaborate

00:21:05.130 --> 00:21:07.190
heists as part of a gang and like a crazy fictional

00:21:07.190 --> 00:21:09.930
city. It's a really cool system and I want to

00:21:09.930 --> 00:21:14.029
steal from it. I want to utilize the flashback

00:21:14.029 --> 00:21:16.170
system from Blades in the Dark. Hell yes. If

00:21:16.170 --> 00:21:17.930
you're aware of the game at all, you know that

00:21:17.930 --> 00:21:20.029
basically during these heists that the players

00:21:20.029 --> 00:21:22.549
are on, during certain jobs, they are able to

00:21:22.549 --> 00:21:25.730
use a limited resource to essentially flash back

00:21:25.730 --> 00:21:28.230
to earlier on when they're planning this thing,

00:21:28.329 --> 00:21:31.150
where they acquired a certain item or some information

00:21:31.150 --> 00:21:34.049
or something basically in their downtime before

00:21:34.049 --> 00:21:36.690
it, and were like, hey, I have this now because

00:21:36.690 --> 00:21:38.450
it was part of my plan the whole time. Right.

00:21:38.809 --> 00:21:40.589
It sounds a little weird, but it's a really fun

00:21:40.589 --> 00:21:42.670
roleplay ability. It's like how sometimes we'll

00:21:42.670 --> 00:21:45.309
be like, oh, well, can we just retcon that, you

00:21:45.309 --> 00:21:47.170
know, I bought a potion back in town sort of

00:21:47.170 --> 00:21:50.509
thing? It's like that, but a little more elaborate.

00:21:50.650 --> 00:21:53.049
It's literally retconning as a mechanic, but

00:21:53.049 --> 00:21:54.970
it's cool as hell. So what we're going to do,

00:21:55.089 --> 00:21:57.960
it's really fun. It's really fun. So what we're

00:21:57.960 --> 00:21:59.940
going to do is you're going to flashback during

00:21:59.940 --> 00:22:01.779
this party. Maybe we'll keep it afterwards. Who

00:22:01.779 --> 00:22:03.180
knows? But at least during this party, during

00:22:03.180 --> 00:22:05.660
this little investigation of yours, I'm going

00:22:05.660 --> 00:22:07.440
to allow you to flashback at the cost of one

00:22:07.440 --> 00:22:11.480
button. Cool. Use these flashbacks to retroactively

00:22:11.480 --> 00:22:13.720
game items or information that can help you accomplish

00:22:13.720 --> 00:22:15.819
your objectives here. Ask for something that

00:22:15.819 --> 00:22:17.720
you could have reasonably planned or obtained

00:22:17.720 --> 00:22:21.059
earlier in this day. Roles might also be involved

00:22:21.059 --> 00:22:22.880
to determine the success or the degree of success

00:22:22.880 --> 00:22:24.500
of this flashback, depending on what you're asking

00:22:24.500 --> 00:22:27.259
for, right? It's not automatic if it's something

00:22:27.259 --> 00:22:29.240
that would require an actual role or work in

00:22:29.240 --> 00:22:32.519
the moment before. So that's all going. We'll

00:22:32.519 --> 00:22:34.319
play it out as though we just opened up the scene

00:22:34.319 --> 00:22:36.000
earlier in the day. It's going to be a good time.

00:22:36.039 --> 00:22:37.420
Because you guys are walking into this with no

00:22:37.420 --> 00:22:39.500
real plan, but you did realistically have time

00:22:39.500 --> 00:22:41.819
to plan to get more information. So it just turns

00:22:41.819 --> 00:22:44.019
into a that was your plan the whole time sort

00:22:44.019 --> 00:22:45.759
of thing. You know, let's do it. I'm excited

00:22:45.759 --> 00:22:48.619
to play. Yeah. Okay. All right. Let's see what

00:22:48.619 --> 00:22:53.859
happens. Let's see what happens. So we once again

00:22:53.859 --> 00:22:58.160
return to the manor. of Itzmin del Prado. Enormous

00:22:58.160 --> 00:23:01.079
and immaculate. Yeah, mixed in with the beauty

00:23:01.079 --> 00:23:02.720
and spectacle of this building, there's an almost

00:23:02.720 --> 00:23:06.619
industrial element. The building's walls are

00:23:06.619 --> 00:23:08.720
formed of wide white stones, tightened uniform,

00:23:08.980 --> 00:23:12.400
and near impossibility to climb. We see a number

00:23:12.400 --> 00:23:15.900
of chimneys sit on the flat roof. Two tall, standard

00:23:15.900 --> 00:23:18.880
pillars of masonry jut out above the east wing.

00:23:19.099 --> 00:23:22.640
Trails of smoke rise from these. Then one, a

00:23:22.640 --> 00:23:24.700
short wide thing gleaming with the make of steel,

00:23:24.839 --> 00:23:27.700
stands on its own over the building's west wing.

00:23:28.160 --> 00:23:33.180
And here we see a party in full swing. We move

00:23:33.180 --> 00:23:37.539
down to the terrace, down to the crowds of people.

00:23:37.599 --> 00:23:39.259
We move towards like sort of back of the building.

00:23:39.380 --> 00:23:40.960
And by the way, I've drawn a little map for you

00:23:40.960 --> 00:23:43.839
guys of this party. You guys can check out. It's

00:23:43.839 --> 00:23:45.519
really rough, but it showcases at least where

00:23:45.519 --> 00:23:48.850
you stand in accordance with each other. and

00:23:48.850 --> 00:23:51.210
sort of potential highlight guests you might

00:23:51.210 --> 00:23:52.970
want to talk to or various things. We'll add

00:23:52.970 --> 00:23:56.009
to it as we go. And it is very little. It's very

00:23:56.009 --> 00:24:00.390
little. Do you have that on you, actually, so

00:24:00.390 --> 00:24:02.650
we can pass it around? I believe it's on the

00:24:02.650 --> 00:24:04.829
table beneath a bunch of crap. Yes, it's under

00:24:04.829 --> 00:24:08.369
all that crap. Move that crap. That is the ugly

00:24:08.369 --> 00:24:11.130
coyote zine on top of that, David. And a plate,

00:24:11.269 --> 00:24:14.910
and a server pad from work, and Steven posted

00:24:14.910 --> 00:24:16.549
a bunch of stuff, and also one whole sweet roll.

00:24:17.859 --> 00:24:19.599
I'm not lying. This is all stuff that was on

00:24:19.599 --> 00:24:27.200
top of the map. Take that off. This is a disaster.

00:24:27.359 --> 00:24:30.160
Yeah, take the page out. Pants people, we have

00:24:30.160 --> 00:24:32.259
not played in two weeks. Yeah, it feels like

00:24:32.259 --> 00:24:35.220
two years. And we have like a little bit of a

00:24:35.220 --> 00:24:38.940
new setup. So like my headphone cord like lets

00:24:38.940 --> 00:24:43.509
me move like 10 inches away from my laptop. And

00:24:43.509 --> 00:24:45.430
other... To be fair, you routed it under a whole

00:24:45.430 --> 00:24:47.029
bunch of other cords right here. I tried to pass

00:24:47.029 --> 00:24:48.509
it right under the table to you, and you told

00:24:48.509 --> 00:24:50.609
me to put it that way. Hey, look at that. Now

00:24:50.609 --> 00:24:54.049
I got, like, 18 inches. I'm fine. I really...

00:24:54.049 --> 00:24:57.910
It doesn't... It's cool. It's cool. You'll also

00:24:57.910 --> 00:25:00.549
notice on the paper at the very top, I put two

00:25:00.549 --> 00:25:02.230
different leads. Just so you keep those in mind,

00:25:02.329 --> 00:25:03.769
these are the two things that you're aware of

00:25:03.769 --> 00:25:05.230
at this party that might be worth investigating.

00:25:05.730 --> 00:25:10.200
One is... Itzman's son? You've been told that

00:25:10.200 --> 00:25:13.980
Itzman has a son who apparently has been transformed.

00:25:15.440 --> 00:25:19.900
Something to look into. Another thing is you've

00:25:19.900 --> 00:25:21.779
been told that Itzman may have a private office

00:25:21.779 --> 00:25:24.660
or workshop somewhere in the manor. This is most

00:25:24.660 --> 00:25:27.279
likely where he's going to keep any sort of information.

00:25:27.579 --> 00:25:29.380
You could also assume this is also going to be

00:25:29.380 --> 00:25:31.680
very heavily guarded or protected in some ways.

00:25:33.480 --> 00:25:35.059
So that's what you know of right now. You might

00:25:35.059 --> 00:25:36.599
be able to get more leads as you go, as you move

00:25:36.599 --> 00:25:38.900
around. You have time here. The party has just

00:25:38.900 --> 00:25:42.799
started. It's about 5 .30 right now. You traveled

00:25:42.799 --> 00:25:46.119
up here. Things got a little started going on.

00:25:46.839 --> 00:25:48.559
It was about 4 o 'clock when we got Pigman, a

00:25:48.559 --> 00:25:51.759
little after that. So 5 .30 now. And this thing

00:25:51.759 --> 00:25:55.019
goes late. The Night of the Rembrandt really

00:25:55.019 --> 00:25:58.099
starts in earnest at about 8 o 'clock when night

00:25:58.099 --> 00:26:02.700
falls and when the dead return. In a crazy sort

00:26:02.700 --> 00:26:06.420
of magical experience. It's magic. It's magic.

00:26:06.980 --> 00:26:09.559
But right now, things are heating up at this

00:26:09.559 --> 00:26:11.539
party because both of you found yourselves in

00:26:11.539 --> 00:26:15.140
heated situations. I said heated already. Ultra

00:26:15.140 --> 00:26:19.640
heated. Ultra heated. I'm new at this. Would

00:26:19.640 --> 00:26:22.079
you like a thesaurus? Let's pan down to the actual

00:26:22.079 --> 00:26:24.500
party. Let's pan down to Dresden and Jeanne.

00:26:24.990 --> 00:26:27.950
And another figure that stands before them, large,

00:26:28.170 --> 00:26:32.529
ruddy -cheeked, sweaty Samuel LaRoche, dressed

00:26:32.529 --> 00:26:36.009
in his finest garb, sort of fur -lined, and just

00:26:36.009 --> 00:26:39.269
cheerily, cheerily laughing, his voice booming

00:26:39.269 --> 00:26:42.789
through the party. He sought out Jean Franklin.

00:26:43.250 --> 00:26:45.809
And now his eyes have just flickered to you,

00:26:45.990 --> 00:26:49.109
Dresden. They look at your helm for a moment

00:26:49.109 --> 00:26:54.339
and flicker down. And he says, Oh! War pick,

00:26:54.480 --> 00:26:59.559
eh? A fine one, too. Marvel magical steel, if

00:26:59.559 --> 00:27:02.599
I'm not mistaken. You're no basic bodyguard,

00:27:02.700 --> 00:27:11.579
are you? Dresden just shakes his head. You keep

00:27:11.579 --> 00:27:14.759
him quiet. Very nice. I wish I could trade my

00:27:14.759 --> 00:27:19.819
own half as well. He turns back to Jean. Jean,

00:27:20.079 --> 00:27:23.410
you can see his shoulders. You know, lose some

00:27:23.410 --> 00:27:27.789
tension at this. He's, oh, yes, well, a grunt

00:27:27.789 --> 00:27:30.250
here, as I call him. He is a grunt, so he is

00:27:30.250 --> 00:27:35.950
grunt to me. Oh, he's marvelous. Marvelous, Montelio.

00:27:36.369 --> 00:27:38.769
Yes, well, he grunts very well trained. And anyways,

00:27:39.049 --> 00:27:43.829
you've sought me out, sir. Yes, yes, I have not

00:27:43.829 --> 00:27:46.630
done business with your father yet. I have been

00:27:46.630 --> 00:27:50.410
meaning to move in with the merchant kings of

00:27:50.410 --> 00:27:53.660
Zinda. Would you by chance be able to book some

00:27:53.660 --> 00:27:56.359
time with me? There's many... private meeting

00:27:56.359 --> 00:27:59.920
chambers here. We could talk. We should talk.

00:27:59.940 --> 00:28:01.660
His arm, like, kind of aggressively moves around

00:28:01.660 --> 00:28:03.920
Jean's shell and almost starts pushing him towards

00:28:03.920 --> 00:28:06.019
one of these chambers. Jean's kind of, like,

00:28:06.039 --> 00:28:09.819
moving with him. Please, sir, please. There's

00:28:09.819 --> 00:28:12.619
so much to talk about, so much to do. I have

00:28:12.619 --> 00:28:16.440
some money left over, some means. I know Samuel

00:28:16.440 --> 00:28:19.700
Roche, poor Samuel Roche lost it all in the fall,

00:28:19.759 --> 00:28:23.480
but it's not so true, I think you'll find. Of

00:28:23.480 --> 00:28:25.819
course, give me just... One moment, sir. One

00:28:25.819 --> 00:28:28.640
moment. He kind of breaks away from Samuel and

00:28:28.640 --> 00:28:34.920
takes a few steps back towards you, grunt. What?

00:28:35.579 --> 00:28:39.420
What do I do? What do we do? I mean, this could

00:28:39.420 --> 00:28:43.359
be good, right? You know him. Is he smart? I

00:28:43.359 --> 00:28:45.480
can see he's, well, he's underestimating me.

00:28:45.500 --> 00:28:48.460
People tend to underestimate us tortles. I can

00:28:48.460 --> 00:28:50.740
see it in his eyes. He thinks I'm an easy mark.

00:28:50.799 --> 00:28:55.099
I might learn something. Is he smart? Dresden

00:28:55.099 --> 00:28:59.559
is going to lean down really close to Jean's

00:28:59.559 --> 00:29:04.559
ear and whisper to ensure that nobody in their

00:29:04.559 --> 00:29:06.619
vicinity could possibly hear his voice. There's

00:29:06.619 --> 00:29:08.839
a space around you. You feel safe. So he leans

00:29:08.839 --> 00:29:12.160
down and he says, He's dumb as a pile of bricks.

00:29:15.220 --> 00:29:18.240
Jean just like smiles. You should be able to

00:29:18.240 --> 00:29:20.940
get whatever you want out of him. Oh, hell yes.

00:29:21.240 --> 00:29:24.480
Just do your thing. All right. Do what you do

00:29:24.480 --> 00:29:26.920
best. You can stand at guard about the door.

00:29:27.099 --> 00:29:29.140
And you actually do see, like, Samuels sort of

00:29:29.140 --> 00:29:31.240
moving towards it and, like, inlaid into the

00:29:31.240 --> 00:29:34.880
sort of back wall of the building. On the terrace,

00:29:34.980 --> 00:29:36.880
there are a number of rooms. Each one has a little

00:29:36.880 --> 00:29:38.440
number next to it, and it looks like they are,

00:29:38.640 --> 00:29:41.119
as I said, private meeting rooms in case people

00:29:41.119 --> 00:29:43.180
at the party want to get together and have little,

00:29:43.279 --> 00:29:46.619
you know, meetups and discuss business. I'm going

00:29:46.619 --> 00:29:52.079
to follow you. Yes. But you order me to stay

00:29:52.079 --> 00:29:54.839
outside. All right. I'm going to try to defy

00:29:54.839 --> 00:29:58.759
your orders. Oh. But put me in my place. Very

00:29:58.759 --> 00:30:02.079
well. He needs to see you're powerful. Very well.

00:30:02.140 --> 00:30:07.279
Yes. Grant, come. He just turns away and starts

00:30:07.279 --> 00:30:11.480
moving. He nods his head and follows. And Samuel

00:30:11.480 --> 00:30:13.700
is just beaming. His hands are sort of sweaty

00:30:13.700 --> 00:30:15.519
hands sort of wiping against each other as he's

00:30:15.519 --> 00:30:17.960
like taking this in like a man about to enjoy

00:30:17.960 --> 00:30:22.200
a Big Mac. I don't know. It's tasty. It's a tasty

00:30:22.200 --> 00:30:23.980
business proposition. That's scary accurate.

00:30:28.019 --> 00:30:32.900
Like me about to enjoy a Big Mac. You wander

00:30:32.900 --> 00:30:35.660
over to like a room labeled four, not far from

00:30:35.660 --> 00:30:38.339
where you stand now, and he props the door open.

00:30:38.880 --> 00:30:43.599
Please, Montelio. Yes, very well. Grant, stay

00:30:43.599 --> 00:30:46.039
outside the door. I don't require your services

00:30:46.039 --> 00:30:49.450
here. And he begins to move in. As he starts

00:30:49.450 --> 00:30:51.329
walking in, Dresden starts walking behind him.

00:30:51.630 --> 00:30:56.150
Grant, I'm serious, sir. Very robotic, Dresden

00:30:56.150 --> 00:30:58.730
still moves forward and kind of presses up against

00:30:58.730 --> 00:31:02.829
John Franklin. For the last time, I know you're

00:31:02.829 --> 00:31:06.170
my father's man, but I command you now. Do you

00:31:06.170 --> 00:31:08.809
hear me, you imbecile? Is there any brains in

00:31:08.809 --> 00:31:11.089
that helmet of yours, hmm? Anything at all? I

00:31:11.089 --> 00:31:14.049
swear, I'm so sorry, sir. These fucking ingrates.

00:31:14.069 --> 00:31:19.200
Look, you stay. Out here. I go in there, where

00:31:19.200 --> 00:31:21.500
smart people go to do smart people business.

00:31:21.660 --> 00:31:24.900
Do you understand me, sir? Nod your fucking head.

00:31:25.359 --> 00:31:29.039
Dresden nods. Farewell. And then snaps up at

00:31:29.039 --> 00:31:31.559
attention and turns around in front of the door

00:31:31.559 --> 00:31:34.140
with his back to the door. As you turn away,

00:31:34.359 --> 00:31:36.099
where Jean's facing away from Samuel, he does

00:31:36.099 --> 00:31:45.079
mouth sorry. He just turns back with this coy

00:31:45.079 --> 00:31:48.170
expression. Well, sir, I'm very excited for this

00:31:48.170 --> 00:31:51.009
opportunity to meet with you, Mr. LaRoche, please.

00:31:51.210 --> 00:31:54.210
And Samuel just, ho, ho, ho, just booming laugh,

00:31:54.369 --> 00:31:58.490
just appearing as the door closes. And you just

00:31:58.490 --> 00:32:00.329
kind of, all you saw there was like a small room

00:32:00.329 --> 00:32:01.990
with a couple little couches and like chairs

00:32:01.990 --> 00:32:05.049
and a little meeting table and just very sparse

00:32:05.049 --> 00:32:08.329
place of business. But now you stand outside.

00:32:08.930 --> 00:32:11.230
Samuel has no men of his own. And actually, I

00:32:11.230 --> 00:32:13.740
will say. Well, that's weird, isn't it? Well,

00:32:13.799 --> 00:32:14.759
it's actually kind of interesting. Wait, say

00:32:14.759 --> 00:32:16.619
that again? Since Samuel has no men of his own

00:32:16.619 --> 00:32:19.640
there. Okay. One thing you find very interesting,

00:32:19.700 --> 00:32:22.279
though, Dresden, you were told by Paloma that

00:32:22.279 --> 00:32:25.880
there are likely people, a Laroche guard up on

00:32:25.880 --> 00:32:28.559
the hill. You haven't seen anyone you recognize.

00:32:29.279 --> 00:32:33.579
Now, out of character, you guys, players, might

00:32:33.579 --> 00:32:36.180
know or would probably understand that the Laroche

00:32:36.180 --> 00:32:38.279
guard that were supposed to come to the world

00:32:38.279 --> 00:32:41.119
never came to the city. They went to Hollow.

00:32:41.380 --> 00:32:43.869
Yeah. Right, right. So you're not the group that's

00:32:43.869 --> 00:32:46.250
going to encounter them. But it's probably strange

00:32:46.250 --> 00:32:47.930
to Dresden here in this moment. Like, hey, why

00:32:47.930 --> 00:32:50.950
are they, you know? Yeah, so that makes us wonder

00:32:50.950 --> 00:32:56.730
what security does he have? Unseen. I mean, the

00:32:56.730 --> 00:33:00.410
armored guard. Sure, yeah, if he's that in with

00:33:00.410 --> 00:33:02.509
Eatsman, yeah. Right. I'd like you to do a perception

00:33:02.509 --> 00:33:05.349
check real quick. Oh, shit. On this note that

00:33:05.349 --> 00:33:06.650
we're talking about now, it's kind of interesting.

00:33:09.089 --> 00:33:14.910
Eh, it's only a 10. Okay. Shit. Yeah. Yeah, you

00:33:14.910 --> 00:33:16.450
see the armored guard are moving around here

00:33:16.450 --> 00:33:19.829
and there, and you assume, like, Hitzman, Marfil,

00:33:19.910 --> 00:33:23.410
the Tresna, everyone is so confident in these

00:33:23.410 --> 00:33:28.369
guards, in this product. I mean, most people

00:33:28.369 --> 00:33:29.869
here are showing up with a guard because this

00:33:29.869 --> 00:33:33.390
is essentially their show of force. Hell, you

00:33:33.390 --> 00:33:35.950
were able to come in with your weapons. That

00:33:35.950 --> 00:33:38.190
normally wouldn't really be allowed at a sort

00:33:38.190 --> 00:33:41.519
of major party like this, but... They're so confident

00:33:41.519 --> 00:33:43.640
that there will be no dangers that guests are

00:33:43.640 --> 00:33:46.660
coming in fully armed if they so desire. It's

00:33:46.660 --> 00:33:49.980
quite interesting. You stand there outside the

00:33:49.980 --> 00:33:55.619
door thinking over Samuel LaRoche. It's interesting.

00:33:55.980 --> 00:33:59.259
I mean, the fall was a terrible disaster. You'd

00:33:59.259 --> 00:34:00.740
think it would have destroyed the LaRoche family,

00:34:00.799 --> 00:34:03.099
but you know from your time with Cirilla that

00:34:03.099 --> 00:34:06.160
the family had many assets protected off -world.

00:34:06.400 --> 00:34:08.900
And you know their real strength. Or the allies

00:34:08.900 --> 00:34:12.360
they hold in the Fractured Horn, the cult of

00:34:12.360 --> 00:34:15.500
Zomateshab. Which I think begs the question,

00:34:15.719 --> 00:34:18.980
why is Samularosh here? As an investor looking

00:34:18.980 --> 00:34:21.420
for new opportunities with whatever assets he

00:34:21.420 --> 00:34:25.579
has still in his pocket? Or how much? How much

00:34:25.579 --> 00:34:27.980
does the man really know about the cult? He's

00:34:27.980 --> 00:34:29.760
always seemed entirely ignorant of the family's

00:34:29.760 --> 00:34:31.780
darker dealings to you, Cerise being the real

00:34:31.780 --> 00:34:35.349
power and cunning behind the throne. Yet... Maybe

00:34:35.349 --> 00:34:37.750
he still plays a role as an unwitting servant

00:34:37.750 --> 00:34:41.389
to the great horned demon. I think as thoughts

00:34:41.389 --> 00:34:43.670
of your time with La Roches, a time only broken

00:34:43.670 --> 00:34:47.289
by mere days, a coldness strikes you, Dresden,

00:34:47.349 --> 00:34:49.909
as you stand surrounded by these high and mighty

00:34:49.909 --> 00:34:52.889
people all around you. You don't know any members

00:34:52.889 --> 00:34:54.429
of the Fraction Horn outside of the La Roches.

00:34:54.570 --> 00:34:56.409
You don't know names. You don't know positions.

00:34:57.289 --> 00:34:59.889
You only know that there are many powerful people

00:34:59.889 --> 00:35:01.690
throughout the worlds that are a part of it.

00:35:02.090 --> 00:35:05.510
They trade favors. They elevate each other. And

00:35:05.510 --> 00:35:08.789
your eyes, sorry, your eye might flicker to the

00:35:08.789 --> 00:35:12.590
dancers on the floor, the swimmers in the pool,

00:35:12.650 --> 00:35:15.329
the chatting crowds on the dining tables. Could

00:35:15.329 --> 00:35:17.309
any of them be members of the Fractured Horn?

00:35:17.769 --> 00:35:23.010
Could they all be? As far as Dresden is concerned,

00:35:23.269 --> 00:35:27.090
particularly since he doesn't know these people,

00:35:27.190 --> 00:35:32.570
unless he has proven otherwise, he assumes everybody

00:35:32.570 --> 00:35:35.400
has some part in everything. Holy shit. I mean,

00:35:35.400 --> 00:35:37.519
yeah. And you have to be paranoid to have spent

00:35:37.519 --> 00:35:39.699
so much time within the family. Right, right.

00:35:40.099 --> 00:35:42.460
You're used to a life where every single person

00:35:42.460 --> 00:35:46.900
around you is an enemy. A known enemy. Yep. I

00:35:46.900 --> 00:35:49.019
mean, at the very least, he knows that none of

00:35:49.019 --> 00:35:52.380
these people are good people. Damn. You're looking

00:35:52.380 --> 00:35:55.500
at all this, taking it in, waiting back against

00:35:55.500 --> 00:35:59.179
the door. And suddenly you hear a whisper. As

00:35:59.179 --> 00:36:04.550
if right beside you. You're with the resistance,

00:36:04.710 --> 00:36:11.250
right? I need help. Meet me just after eight

00:36:11.250 --> 00:36:14.550
o 'clock. Meeting chamber two. This should be

00:36:14.550 --> 00:36:17.449
the moment when they're distracted by the start

00:36:17.449 --> 00:36:21.530
of the Night of the Remembered. Dresden cocks

00:36:21.530 --> 00:36:26.550
his head. There's no one there. Ooh, some magic.

00:36:27.170 --> 00:36:31.889
To nobody, he says, you better be careful who

00:36:31.889 --> 00:36:35.809
you're talking to. You better be sure that you're

00:36:35.809 --> 00:36:41.469
talking to the right one. I'm sure about you.

00:36:42.309 --> 00:36:46.429
What's your passive perception? Only 11. Okay,

00:36:46.510 --> 00:36:48.369
at least a 10 will be fine. I just want to make

00:36:48.369 --> 00:36:52.969
sure you're below 10. You peer up, I think, because

00:36:52.969 --> 00:36:54.269
you're already looking. You know to look for

00:36:54.269 --> 00:36:56.050
something. You're kind of like looking around.

00:36:56.309 --> 00:36:58.570
Someone is... And then you see people moving

00:36:58.570 --> 00:37:01.170
past you. Until there's sort of this open line

00:37:01.170 --> 00:37:03.550
for just a moment between you and sort of the

00:37:03.550 --> 00:37:05.650
far edge of the terrace, the edge of the balcony.

00:37:06.090 --> 00:37:09.889
Where once two figures stood, only one stands

00:37:09.889 --> 00:37:13.130
now. Kejo Kamal has wandered off to talk to somebody

00:37:13.130 --> 00:37:17.570
else. And Itzmin Del Prado is looking straight

00:37:17.570 --> 00:37:20.650
at you. The dying light of day catching the sheen

00:37:20.650 --> 00:37:22.969
of his glasses as he stares towards you. Fuck,

00:37:22.969 --> 00:37:26.690
David. The moment your eyes catch his, he turns

00:37:26.690 --> 00:37:29.210
away. Pushing his glasses up and, like, looking

00:37:29.210 --> 00:37:31.949
back towards the great, expansive view behind

00:37:31.949 --> 00:37:34.889
him, down, looking towards the city. The man

00:37:34.889 --> 00:37:39.849
on top. Of all the twists. Yeah. Unless this

00:37:39.849 --> 00:37:43.690
is, like, a distraction, but... I mean, could

00:37:43.690 --> 00:37:47.309
be. Trying to pull one over on us, David. Wow,

00:37:47.489 --> 00:37:49.989
okay. Let's pay it away from this for now. So

00:37:49.989 --> 00:37:53.900
he's not in control after all. Let's... Panda's

00:37:53.900 --> 00:37:56.739
somebody else who's not in control, seemingly.

00:37:57.099 --> 00:37:59.219
Oh, God. I still have no idea what I'm going

00:37:59.219 --> 00:38:07.179
to do. Blanche, this is a little gnome guy talking

00:38:07.179 --> 00:38:10.579
to you. Seems friendly enough. Yeah. What was

00:38:10.579 --> 00:38:14.699
the last thing he said? He said, first of all,

00:38:14.719 --> 00:38:16.360
you asked about where the bathroom was, the little

00:38:16.360 --> 00:38:18.820
turtle's room. He said, I can help you with that.

00:38:19.000 --> 00:38:22.460
He said, Blanche Trudeau, right? I'm a fan of

00:38:22.460 --> 00:38:25.309
your work. I know your pupil. He does you much

00:38:25.309 --> 00:38:28.190
honor. You see, me and him have worked together.

00:38:28.489 --> 00:38:30.789
Right. The name's Rudner Sog. It's a pleasure

00:38:30.789 --> 00:38:34.170
to meet you. Now, here's the thing. We talked

00:38:34.170 --> 00:38:36.889
about this a little earlier on. Jean Franklin,

00:38:37.030 --> 00:38:39.849
in the episode where Blanche first joins a party

00:38:39.849 --> 00:38:42.690
and is talking with him, did mention. He confessed,

00:38:42.750 --> 00:38:44.789
sort of, yeah. He confessed that he had worked

00:38:44.789 --> 00:38:50.230
with a criminal for a little time. I wonder if

00:38:50.230 --> 00:38:52.250
Blanche would connect these dots. Do you think

00:38:52.250 --> 00:38:58.070
that she would? Obviously, I want to say yes.

00:38:58.409 --> 00:39:01.650
Rune definitely seems skeevy. Okay. Do you think

00:39:01.650 --> 00:39:04.510
it's obvious enough that it's a gimme, or is

00:39:04.510 --> 00:39:06.730
it a dice roll? I think it's what you want it

00:39:06.730 --> 00:39:09.409
to be. Blanche is high intelligence. If you want

00:39:09.409 --> 00:39:11.510
to make a dice roll, it's a DC 10 intelligence

00:39:11.510 --> 00:39:14.070
check. Oh, okay. Let's do that. Let's just do

00:39:14.070 --> 00:39:16.429
that. I mean, that's what we're here for. I think

00:39:16.429 --> 00:39:18.329
you'll at least be suspicious with a DC 10. Let's

00:39:18.329 --> 00:39:22.550
do that. It's fun. Okay. Oh, mama. Come on, baby.

00:39:24.349 --> 00:39:27.630
Two on the die. Plus six. There's a lot going

00:39:27.630 --> 00:39:30.329
on. There's a lot going on, and you don't connect

00:39:30.329 --> 00:39:32.590
it. Oh, my God. He just seems friendly. I thought

00:39:32.590 --> 00:39:35.289
that was a gimme. Amazing. Amazing. Oh, I'm so

00:39:35.289 --> 00:39:38.449
excited. You, Steve, have to play this out like

00:39:38.449 --> 00:39:40.869
this guy is just some friendly partygoer. Yeah.

00:39:41.170 --> 00:39:43.880
You're fully allowed to think he's Stevie. to

00:39:43.880 --> 00:39:45.539
a point, you know? Sure. But you just don't connect

00:39:45.539 --> 00:39:47.460
that he's probably the criminal from Jaune's

00:39:47.460 --> 00:39:50.340
past. Right, right, yeah. Holy shit. Blanche

00:39:50.340 --> 00:39:52.199
is savvy enough that she knows what she's here

00:39:52.199 --> 00:39:58.480
for. She's here to collect information. Oh, you

00:39:58.480 --> 00:40:02.840
know Jaune. Well, that's a pleasure to, I don't

00:40:02.840 --> 00:40:04.340
know if they introduced each other last, you

00:40:04.340 --> 00:40:06.440
know, the pleasure to meet you thing. Ah, pleasure

00:40:06.440 --> 00:40:09.440
to meet you again, maybe. I don't remember. You

00:40:09.440 --> 00:40:12.780
didn't say that yet. No, no. Okay. Yep. Thoroughly

00:40:12.780 --> 00:40:16.280
awkward way to introduce somebody, but hey. It's

00:40:16.280 --> 00:40:20.199
your style. It's fine. And how do you find yourself

00:40:20.199 --> 00:40:26.119
here at such a lavish party? Do you know Eatsman?

00:40:27.019 --> 00:40:31.940
I know a lot of people. Well, I'm kind of a luminary

00:40:31.940 --> 00:40:34.199
agent. You know what? We'll talk about this as

00:40:34.199 --> 00:40:36.079
we go. You need the little turtle's room, right?

00:40:36.159 --> 00:40:38.000
I mean, it sounds like a real emergency. You

00:40:38.000 --> 00:40:41.519
need to go right now. Well, sir, I am a lady.

00:40:42.559 --> 00:40:46.000
Emergency. I wouldn't pry. I'm so sorry. Now,

00:40:46.179 --> 00:40:48.440
he kind of looks at the armor sort of guard beside

00:40:48.440 --> 00:40:51.820
you like, all hallways are locked up and guarded

00:40:51.820 --> 00:40:54.400
tight, unfortunately, but there are some exterior

00:40:54.400 --> 00:40:56.679
doors out on the terrace that lead into public

00:40:56.679 --> 00:40:59.659
restrooms. I can't show you the way. He looks

00:40:59.659 --> 00:41:02.119
at your face for a moment, and then he kind of

00:41:02.119 --> 00:41:05.639
gets this little smile. But I suppose they are

00:41:05.639 --> 00:41:07.900
probably swarmed at this point. And you turtles,

00:41:08.019 --> 00:41:11.059
I'm sure, have certain special needs when it

00:41:11.059 --> 00:41:13.239
comes to your toiletries. Surely our friends

00:41:13.239 --> 00:41:15.519
in armor here would not be opposed to us moving

00:41:15.519 --> 00:41:17.860
towards the private bathrooms in the western

00:41:17.860 --> 00:41:21.320
wing? Huh. And he looks at the armor, which kind

00:41:21.320 --> 00:41:23.539
of just like, its head sort of tilting towards

00:41:23.539 --> 00:41:27.059
him. Can I, can Blanche roll insight on this

00:41:27.059 --> 00:41:29.619
guy? Go ahead, roll insight. That's fishy, right?

00:41:29.840 --> 00:41:35.610
Roll insight. Now we're talking. 21. 21. Okay.

00:41:37.329 --> 00:41:38.670
Something about the fact that you're here with

00:41:38.670 --> 00:41:41.849
Jean Franklin. He thinks that you're up to no

00:41:41.849 --> 00:41:44.550
good. He thinks that you're doing something.

00:41:44.969 --> 00:41:48.010
And you can see the curiosity burning in him.

00:41:48.050 --> 00:41:50.550
It's just pure suspicion and curiosity when you

00:41:50.550 --> 00:41:53.289
look into his eyes. Okay. Yeah. She's going to

00:41:53.289 --> 00:41:58.730
roll with this. To the suits. She'll start to

00:41:58.730 --> 00:42:04.849
do like a little sort of potty dance. If you

00:42:04.849 --> 00:42:09.610
don't mind. Roll a persuasion with a help action.

00:42:09.789 --> 00:42:19.809
Oh, excellent. Just 11. 11. The guard does not

00:42:19.809 --> 00:42:23.670
move. Huh. And I'm assuming the guard is like

00:42:23.670 --> 00:42:27.489
standing in front of the bathroom or the door

00:42:27.489 --> 00:42:29.369
to the hall. You know, if you're moving through

00:42:29.369 --> 00:42:30.630
the place and you saw a guard, that's, yeah,

00:42:30.710 --> 00:42:32.659
I would say he's probably like. Close to that

00:42:32.659 --> 00:42:34.440
spot. He's kind of braced up sort of against

00:42:34.440 --> 00:42:38.320
it. Okay. Blanche is going to move to open the

00:42:38.320 --> 00:42:42.760
door. He puts his arm out in the way. Or it,

00:42:42.880 --> 00:42:47.920
I should say. Oh, boy. Well, I'm surprised at

00:42:47.920 --> 00:42:55.300
such lack of hospitality on Itzman's part. The

00:42:55.300 --> 00:42:58.980
red light behind the mask gets a little brighter,

00:42:59.119 --> 00:43:03.090
a little warmer. You feel ruined, just tug on

00:43:03.090 --> 00:43:05.409
you. Hey, let's step away for a moment, huh?

00:43:05.510 --> 00:43:09.570
Huh? Come on. She leans down, sort of to whisper

00:43:09.570 --> 00:43:13.010
to him. Do you know a different way to these

00:43:13.010 --> 00:43:16.630
lavish bathrooms? I'm sure we can think of something.

00:43:17.530 --> 00:43:21.849
I think we're going to get along. Come now. I'll

00:43:21.849 --> 00:43:24.849
escort you to the terrace. And he starts walking,

00:43:25.030 --> 00:43:27.289
like, ahead of you. He has, like, puts, like,

00:43:27.309 --> 00:43:29.030
an arm around your arm as you begin to move.

00:43:29.250 --> 00:43:33.000
Okay. Yeah, she's going to follow him. You begin

00:43:33.000 --> 00:43:36.980
to move away, and Rune looks up to you. The Mark

00:43:36.980 --> 00:43:39.539
V really are something else, right? They're,

00:43:39.539 --> 00:43:44.820
uh, yes, quite intimidating. I just wish they

00:43:44.820 --> 00:43:47.800
could take me to a decent bathroom. Honestly,

00:43:47.900 --> 00:43:49.219
they're smarter than I gave them credit for.

00:43:49.820 --> 00:43:52.380
I heard they're tough, too. But it does make

00:43:52.380 --> 00:43:54.239
one wonder, and he looks at you with a very sort

00:43:54.239 --> 00:43:58.300
of conspiring sort of expression. Have you noticed

00:43:58.300 --> 00:44:01.760
all the staff moving through with weapons? Well,

00:44:01.800 --> 00:44:05.699
yes, they didn't take mine either. Well, not

00:44:05.699 --> 00:44:07.059
just that. I mean, of course, they're not going

00:44:07.059 --> 00:44:08.960
to take weapons from guests. They want to show

00:44:08.960 --> 00:44:13.880
off the shiny new product. But the staff, they're

00:44:13.880 --> 00:44:16.599
built, they're trained, and they're armed. Why?

00:44:17.320 --> 00:44:21.739
Why would the staff be armed if the guard are

00:44:21.739 --> 00:44:24.639
such a show of confidence, if the guard are as

00:44:24.639 --> 00:44:29.190
invincible as they're supposed to be? Hmm. Unless...

00:44:29.190 --> 00:44:32.329
He kind of, like, winks at you. Unless they have

00:44:32.329 --> 00:44:36.389
a weakness? Unless they're all buck. What's your

00:44:36.389 --> 00:44:39.789
angle here, man? I'll be straight with you, Blanche

00:44:39.789 --> 00:44:43.789
Trudeau. You're conspiring, right? I love conspiring.

00:44:43.869 --> 00:44:47.630
I'm a bit of a conspirator myself. Now, I've

00:44:47.630 --> 00:44:48.909
told you before, I've worked with your young

00:44:48.909 --> 00:44:51.690
pupils. John Franklin and I go way, way back.

00:44:51.849 --> 00:44:54.610
Well, a few weeks back. And I know the sort of

00:44:54.610 --> 00:44:58.000
people he's working with. Real conspirators like

00:44:58.000 --> 00:45:01.420
me. People who really fuck things up. And when

00:45:01.420 --> 00:45:04.119
things get fucked up, little guys like me find

00:45:04.119 --> 00:45:09.079
paths, opportunities. I want in. I don't know

00:45:09.079 --> 00:45:14.500
what you're doing, but I want in. Hi, Mr. Rusong.

00:45:15.320 --> 00:45:20.400
I'm conspiring to comfortably relieve myself.

00:45:21.559 --> 00:45:26.050
What paths or opportunities? Could you offer

00:45:26.050 --> 00:45:30.809
me to such an end? And then after that, maybe

00:45:30.809 --> 00:45:34.210
I'll see what I can offer you in return. Hmm.

00:45:35.510 --> 00:45:40.630
Well, there is another entrance into the Western

00:45:40.630 --> 00:45:43.989
Wing, where the finer bathrooms are located.

00:45:44.289 --> 00:45:48.369
Of course, it will also be guarded. Oh, boy.

00:45:48.869 --> 00:45:52.230
I don't really want to start pulling my tricks

00:45:52.230 --> 00:45:57.539
out, but... Well, um, what else could we try

00:45:57.539 --> 00:46:01.719
to get by these, uh, these magic suits of armor?

00:46:01.760 --> 00:46:04.920
You seem to know a lot about them. I guess I

00:46:04.920 --> 00:46:07.320
know they're tough. They're trained to respond

00:46:07.320 --> 00:46:10.300
to any sort of threat. Hard to distract unless

00:46:10.300 --> 00:46:16.059
you have a very good distraction. But I think

00:46:16.059 --> 00:46:19.239
you might have a very good distraction. See,

00:46:19.360 --> 00:46:22.440
I know luminaries. It's kind of my business.

00:46:22.800 --> 00:46:26.269
And you came. With a big one. Done with a sack

00:46:26.269 --> 00:46:28.949
of rocks, from what I've heard. Easy to manipulate.

00:46:29.869 --> 00:46:35.369
Maybe Pigman can be your way around. Does Blanche...

00:46:35.369 --> 00:46:38.670
Have they moved out to the terrace yet? You said

00:46:38.670 --> 00:46:39.869
he grabbed my arm? Yeah, let's say you're moving

00:46:39.869 --> 00:46:42.690
through the door right now. Okay, can I see Pigman

00:46:42.690 --> 00:46:45.989
around? As you look out, you see towards the

00:46:45.989 --> 00:46:48.570
eastern side of the party, by the dance floor,

00:46:48.690 --> 00:46:50.989
Pigman is currently picking up three people.

00:46:52.209 --> 00:46:54.289
And like kind of doing a sort of waltz dance

00:46:54.289 --> 00:46:57.349
with them. They're sort of laughing. One person

00:46:57.349 --> 00:47:00.409
looks terrified. And then Mary is, you can't

00:47:00.409 --> 00:47:02.210
see her in the crowd, but she's somewhere sort

00:47:02.210 --> 00:47:03.650
of, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Put him down.

00:47:04.170 --> 00:47:05.849
Big man, big man, put him down, put him down.

00:47:06.929 --> 00:47:11.210
Hey, where's Blanche? Blanche! Where's my sidekick?

00:47:11.250 --> 00:47:15.769
You guys got to meet my sidekick. Okay. All right.

00:47:17.369 --> 00:47:21.730
Who, who is within? Is there anybody within,

00:47:21.789 --> 00:47:25.929
like, hearing distance? If I said something to

00:47:25.929 --> 00:47:27.449
Rune, would anybody be able to hear me if I said

00:47:27.449 --> 00:47:29.610
it under my breath sort of thing? The only person

00:47:29.610 --> 00:47:31.849
that's of interest is, as you kind of move out

00:47:31.849 --> 00:47:34.769
and you look around, this old dwarven woman,

00:47:34.989 --> 00:47:37.829
very sort of finely dressed in, say it last time,

00:47:37.849 --> 00:47:42.510
a fantasy pants suit. Danya Estella is somewhat

00:47:42.510 --> 00:47:45.590
close by. Every guest that steps out, her eyes

00:47:45.590 --> 00:47:48.690
sort of keenly shoot to. Gotcha. And you see

00:47:48.690 --> 00:47:51.570
she's watching you with... a dark sort of scowl.

00:47:52.650 --> 00:47:55.849
Fuck. I think Rune will even just say like, Donya

00:47:55.849 --> 00:47:59.070
Estella, watch out. She's a big one. And you

00:47:59.070 --> 00:48:01.369
recognize the name as one of the Tresna Mary

00:48:01.369 --> 00:48:06.710
warned you of. Okay. Blanche is going to push

00:48:06.710 --> 00:48:11.329
Rune towards Donya Estella. Like, not like to

00:48:11.329 --> 00:48:13.530
knock into her, but to like stand in front of

00:48:13.530 --> 00:48:17.369
her and distract her, hopefully. Interesting.

00:48:18.769 --> 00:48:21.250
Do you, like, just shove him? Do you, like, I

00:48:21.250 --> 00:48:23.469
guess give him any kind of sign that you're doing,

00:48:23.590 --> 00:48:26.510
like, there's a reason for this? Yeah, she'll

00:48:26.510 --> 00:48:29.130
under, she'll sort of, like, through gritted

00:48:29.130 --> 00:48:36.829
teeth, talk to her. Hey, Donya! She steps forward.

00:48:36.909 --> 00:48:40.110
She looks horribly disgusted by him. And you

00:48:40.110 --> 00:48:43.730
have a moment. And then Blanche is going to cast

00:48:43.730 --> 00:48:49.690
Message on Pigman. Oh, interesting. And she's

00:48:49.690 --> 00:48:53.429
going to say, I'll be right over, pig man. The

00:48:53.429 --> 00:48:56.889
three people you're lifting are quite impressive,

00:48:56.969 --> 00:49:05.269
but could you... It would be really impressive,

00:49:05.650 --> 00:49:10.409
pig man, if you could lift up... If you could

00:49:10.409 --> 00:49:15.750
lift up those suits of armor instead... Oh, yeah,

00:49:15.889 --> 00:49:18.530
which one do you want me to lift up? Invisible

00:49:18.530 --> 00:49:23.469
Blanche, which one? I mean, she'll... He's yelling

00:49:23.469 --> 00:49:25.030
this at a lot of people, and you can hear it

00:49:25.030 --> 00:49:27.670
really loud in your ear, too, because the message

00:49:27.670 --> 00:49:30.670
opens up a communication. This is so fantastic.

00:49:30.769 --> 00:49:33.489
Interestingly, message is the exact cantrip that

00:49:33.489 --> 00:49:36.030
was just used on Dresden. Sure, yeah, so you

00:49:36.030 --> 00:49:38.369
know all about it. Know all about it. Yeah, so

00:49:38.369 --> 00:49:41.449
she quickly tries to get this message out that,

00:49:41.570 --> 00:49:43.809
hey, I'm impressed that you can lift those three

00:49:43.809 --> 00:49:46.340
people. But how many armored guard can you lift?

00:49:46.760 --> 00:49:55.360
Oh, my God. How many? Okay. You just kind of

00:49:55.360 --> 00:50:00.199
hear like, is this a bet? Are you doing a bet

00:50:00.199 --> 00:50:04.239
on me? I bet you can't lift them all. Oh, man.

00:50:04.860 --> 00:50:07.119
You're going to regret that bet. You're going

00:50:07.119 --> 00:50:11.539
to. Holy shit. The people in the studio, they

00:50:11.539 --> 00:50:13.920
went, what are you? He's just dropping people.

00:50:14.360 --> 00:50:17.519
What are you doing, big man? All right, guys,

00:50:17.639 --> 00:50:20.739
everybody, everybody, look around. I'm going

00:50:20.739 --> 00:50:22.119
to do something that's going to blow all your

00:50:22.119 --> 00:50:24.980
minds, all right? The AG -5, they're pretty great,

00:50:25.039 --> 00:50:27.099
right? We're here to celebrate them. Look at

00:50:27.099 --> 00:50:29.260
these guys, they're crazy. But are they heavy?

00:50:29.440 --> 00:50:31.119
I bet they're pretty heavy. They look pretty

00:50:31.119 --> 00:50:33.860
heavy, right? So how many? How many AG -5s can

00:50:33.860 --> 00:50:38.519
the big man lift? Let's find out. One. He runs

00:50:38.519 --> 00:50:41.880
over and picks one up. And Mary is screaming.

00:50:42.940 --> 00:50:47.239
The guard looks shocked. He just snatches one

00:50:47.239 --> 00:50:50.300
underarm and lifts it up. Oh, look at that. He's

00:50:50.300 --> 00:50:53.539
struggling. This thing is like fighting against

00:50:53.539 --> 00:50:58.760
it. I didn't expect this. Neither did I. It's

00:50:58.760 --> 00:51:01.780
just so wild. He's just pushing through the crowd.

00:51:01.940 --> 00:51:04.059
This thing's sort of flailing. I think it's almost

00:51:04.059 --> 00:51:06.039
at first going to act out, and then it realizes

00:51:06.039 --> 00:51:08.739
there's guests everywhere. It cannot really resist.

00:51:10.079 --> 00:51:11.940
And just the whole scene is being created. People

00:51:11.940 --> 00:51:13.300
are kind of freaking out. There's those armed

00:51:13.300 --> 00:51:15.539
staff are sort of like panicking, looking around.

00:51:16.000 --> 00:51:19.059
Mary is about to faint and he starts moving across

00:51:19.059 --> 00:51:22.059
the party towards you. So he's on the eastern

00:51:22.059 --> 00:51:23.599
side. You want to move to the left with the sort

00:51:23.599 --> 00:51:26.119
of western side. Yeah. If Blanche sees any sort

00:51:26.119 --> 00:51:29.239
of opening, she wants to slip away into the door.

00:51:29.639 --> 00:51:31.739
So, yeah, basically, he's on the other side,

00:51:31.739 --> 00:51:33.420
so he has to move past you, where he stands,

00:51:33.440 --> 00:51:36.760
and he picks one up, and just kind of over his

00:51:36.760 --> 00:51:38.780
shoulder, and the metal sort of clings together.

00:51:38.960 --> 00:51:41.519
It's kind of just awkwardly sort of fumbling

00:51:41.519 --> 00:51:45.039
against him. Oh, they're fighters. They're fighters.

00:51:46.099 --> 00:51:48.400
Oh, hey, Blanche, there you are. How are you?

00:51:48.420 --> 00:51:49.940
You were out here. You were over there a second

00:51:49.940 --> 00:51:53.300
ago. I followed you over. That's crazy, and you're

00:51:53.300 --> 00:51:56.099
visible again. And he keeps moving on, pushes

00:51:56.099 --> 00:51:58.119
through more of the crowd, past the pool, past

00:51:58.119 --> 00:52:00.539
the dancers. western side where you see the one

00:52:00.539 --> 00:52:03.579
in front of the door um rune is looking at you

00:52:03.579 --> 00:52:06.880
with just some astonishment like how the fuck

00:52:08.749 --> 00:52:13.349
As Pigman lifts up the last of these metal sword

00:52:13.349 --> 00:52:16.590
clay. Oh, yeah! He picks them up. There's a moment

00:52:16.590 --> 00:52:18.650
as he picks these guys up. He kind of lifts them

00:52:18.650 --> 00:52:19.929
all above his head. Oh, my God. There's one sort

00:52:19.929 --> 00:52:22.429
of movement. You can tell it's about to all fall

00:52:22.429 --> 00:52:24.409
apart here. People are, like, rushing around

00:52:24.409 --> 00:52:26.150
him. So this is her chance. This is your only

00:52:26.150 --> 00:52:27.969
chance. Okay. And it will be guarded again in,

00:52:27.989 --> 00:52:29.909
like, five seconds. Sure, yeah. She wants to

00:52:29.909 --> 00:52:34.429
swoop in. Dumbest. I love it so much, though.

00:52:34.469 --> 00:52:35.909
It's like it's Pigman. You don't need to roll

00:52:35.909 --> 00:52:38.530
for it. He's an idiot. He's going to do it. It's

00:52:38.530 --> 00:52:39.909
like the one person you can just convince without

00:52:39.909 --> 00:52:46.590
a check. Anyone else, it's like, okay, I need

00:52:46.590 --> 00:52:49.030
the most outrageous persuasion check in the world.

00:52:49.150 --> 00:52:50.730
It just seems like something fun that the pig

00:52:50.730 --> 00:52:54.349
man would want to do. He's having a blast. You

00:52:54.349 --> 00:52:57.090
slip around past him, and there's so much chaos

00:52:57.090 --> 00:52:58.590
around him, it's easy for you to move around

00:52:58.590 --> 00:53:02.289
the crowd, move through, and you are in. You're

00:53:02.289 --> 00:53:05.030
back there. Uh, you find yourself in a hallway

00:53:05.030 --> 00:53:06.530
that you need to tuck around very quickly before

00:53:06.530 --> 00:53:09.570
the guard reestablishes place, but you find yourself

00:53:09.570 --> 00:53:11.530
in a hallway moving deeper into the room. It

00:53:11.530 --> 00:53:14.210
sort of hooks off to the, uh, whatever direction

00:53:14.210 --> 00:53:16.750
would make the most sense from West to back towards

00:53:16.750 --> 00:53:19.110
the center. Sure. Uh, do you want to mark it

00:53:19.110 --> 00:53:21.829
out on the map or is it not that important? It's

00:53:21.829 --> 00:53:24.110
not that important. Okay. Uh, what is important

00:53:24.110 --> 00:53:27.949
is you hear a voice, but you go, Oh, holy, how

00:53:27.949 --> 00:53:29.849
the hell did you do that? Oh, he kept up shit.

00:53:30.730 --> 00:53:34.150
Whoa. Wow. Sure, she was a little startled. I'm

00:53:34.150 --> 00:53:36.210
a little guy. Easy to sneak around. How did you

00:53:36.210 --> 00:53:39.230
break away from Tanya Stella? Did she see you?

00:53:39.849 --> 00:53:43.090
She was a little distracted by the pig man holding

00:53:43.090 --> 00:53:46.130
up the Marfle armored guard. Somebody of them?

00:53:46.570 --> 00:53:51.429
Mm -hmm. He's a very strong man. I mean, what

00:53:51.429 --> 00:53:53.630
an incredible security lapse you created. And

00:53:53.630 --> 00:53:56.869
all the pig men. I mean, that's good. That's

00:53:56.869 --> 00:53:58.650
good. Have you ever thought about being a luminary?

00:53:58.829 --> 00:54:00.909
Because I think I could use you. Stick around,

00:54:01.130 --> 00:54:03.690
Rune. Maybe I'll teach you a thing or two. I

00:54:03.690 --> 00:54:08.889
like you, Lance Trudeau. Let's find those lavatories,

00:54:09.110 --> 00:54:12.730
shall we? Let's go. He just pushes around the

00:54:12.730 --> 00:54:15.650
corner. You can see the hallway here shoots straight

00:54:15.650 --> 00:54:18.889
down towards the grand foyer. And you can see

00:54:18.889 --> 00:54:21.309
the armored guard is kind of way down at the

00:54:21.309 --> 00:54:22.829
end of the hallway, standing in place, facing

00:54:22.829 --> 00:54:25.789
away from you. And there's a doorway, sort of

00:54:25.789 --> 00:54:29.130
opulent doorway off to your right, that Rune.

00:54:29.559 --> 00:54:31.960
Sort of gestures you with his thumb. Bathroom.

00:54:32.780 --> 00:54:35.480
Now, do I get to know a little more about what's

00:54:35.480 --> 00:54:38.400
going on here? Blanche is going to crack the

00:54:38.400 --> 00:54:42.360
door just to see what's in there. It is a bathroom.

00:54:42.440 --> 00:54:44.659
You look in and see, like, gold -plated sink,

00:54:44.840 --> 00:54:47.800
white walls, absolutely pristine, shining, sparkly.

00:54:47.820 --> 00:54:50.519
You can see your reflection in every tile. Magical

00:54:50.519 --> 00:54:52.599
light sort of inlaid around everywhere. If your

00:54:52.599 --> 00:54:55.119
foot steps down the floor, it is fully warm.

00:54:55.719 --> 00:54:58.639
Just heated floors. I was a mason. Those are

00:54:58.639 --> 00:55:05.820
a big deal. Well, Rune, I was looking for a lovely

00:55:05.820 --> 00:55:10.159
place and possibly someone to help me procure

00:55:10.159 --> 00:55:13.980
some, she points to her nose, some fey dust.

00:55:15.820 --> 00:55:24.940
If you carry any. Smooth. Give me a second. Damn.

00:55:26.380 --> 00:55:29.219
I pre -gamed too hard. It's gone. All before

00:55:29.219 --> 00:55:33.280
the party. Well, I'll have to make do with whatever

00:55:33.280 --> 00:55:36.980
it is I have. And she slips in and shuts the

00:55:36.980 --> 00:55:40.360
door behind her. Wait, I... Door closes. Smooth.

00:55:40.860 --> 00:55:42.679
All right, I'm assuming there's a lock on this

00:55:42.679 --> 00:55:47.059
door? Yeah, yeah. Okay. She locks the door and

00:55:47.059 --> 00:55:51.099
she says through it, give me five minutes. And

00:55:51.099 --> 00:55:57.510
summons her familiar. Old Night Scream. What's

00:55:57.510 --> 00:55:59.369
that? Old Night Scream the Bat. Is that what

00:55:59.369 --> 00:56:01.789
we're going with? Night Scream? It's the Transformer

00:56:01.789 --> 00:56:05.409
from Beast Machines. Oh. Yeah, sure. Night Scream.

00:56:05.630 --> 00:56:07.989
Give me another one. Give me a name. This is

00:56:07.989 --> 00:56:11.329
an actual character now. This is your Bat familiar.

00:56:11.369 --> 00:56:13.289
This is a second time. Second time a character

00:56:13.289 --> 00:56:15.449
shows up, they're like a part of the canon. Okay.

00:56:15.570 --> 00:56:24.860
Then his name is Turbo. It's Turbo the Bat. Oh,

00:56:24.860 --> 00:56:30.079
my God. So, yeah. Well, shit. I guess I should

00:56:30.079 --> 00:56:32.840
have asked before I got in here. Are there other

00:56:32.840 --> 00:56:38.679
doors within 100 feet of this door? Huh. 100

00:56:38.679 --> 00:56:41.440
feet's a pretty long ways, David. Even if a room's

00:56:41.440 --> 00:56:44.500
20 feet wide. Talking about a door every 20 feet?

00:56:44.780 --> 00:56:46.500
I mean, yeah, of course there'll be other doors.

00:56:46.679 --> 00:56:49.019
You mean, like, but not inside this room? No,

00:56:49.019 --> 00:56:50.039
not inside this room. Out in the hallway, yeah,

00:56:50.099 --> 00:56:53.300
of course. Yeah, bats can slip through. The smallest

00:56:53.300 --> 00:56:56.179
of spaces. Is that true? I believe it is. Do

00:56:56.179 --> 00:56:59.860
you want me to look it up? No, that's fine. My

00:56:59.860 --> 00:57:06.539
assumption was that I could squeeze either under

00:57:06.539 --> 00:57:10.159
or over the door as a bat. Okay. I'm into that.

00:57:10.360 --> 00:57:13.179
You're into that? I'll say under it. Okay. Under

00:57:13.179 --> 00:57:16.980
the door. Room will 100 % see. Huh. If that's

00:57:16.980 --> 00:57:19.420
okay with you. I mean, it's not, but I don't

00:57:19.420 --> 00:57:22.329
really see how I can change that. Okay. He's

00:57:22.329 --> 00:57:24.190
still out there. You haven't gotten rid of him.

00:57:24.210 --> 00:57:27.349
You just closed the door for him. Okay. Yep.

00:57:28.329 --> 00:57:31.929
All right. Things are about to get pretty crazy

00:57:31.929 --> 00:57:37.849
up in here. I've seen a lot of shit. I'm not

00:57:37.849 --> 00:57:41.429
squeamish. He's right outside the door. And like

00:57:41.429 --> 00:57:43.230
you were all the 21 earlier. And I think like

00:57:43.230 --> 00:57:47.349
with that, I mean, he's being helpful, but you

00:57:47.349 --> 00:57:49.550
definitely feel something wrong. Like you don't

00:57:49.550 --> 00:57:54.340
feel wholly okay with this. Okay. Okay. Blanche

00:57:54.340 --> 00:57:59.500
is going to summon her familiar from... Turbo?

00:57:59.639 --> 00:58:04.099
Turbo, yes, the bat, from his pocket dimension

00:58:04.099 --> 00:58:10.559
and start seeing through Turbo's eyes. Okay.

00:58:10.619 --> 00:58:14.179
With the door locked, she'll sit her back up

00:58:14.179 --> 00:58:16.800
against the door and squeeze under with Turbo.

00:58:17.460 --> 00:58:21.079
You squeeze beneath the door? You're out in the

00:58:21.079 --> 00:58:26.239
hallway and immediately you see through his eyes

00:58:26.239 --> 00:58:29.119
as you're just like yanked up from the ground.

00:58:29.480 --> 00:58:32.420
Holding the face of a gnome who's just smiling

00:58:32.420 --> 00:58:37.000
at you with big white teeth. Just familiar. I

00:58:37.000 --> 00:58:41.400
had a feeling. So I take it you're looking, right?

00:58:41.579 --> 00:58:44.039
Can you hear me? Nod your little head if you

00:58:44.039 --> 00:58:52.119
can hear me. That noise. Now, I know you want

00:58:52.119 --> 00:58:55.039
to keep to yourself all that, but I really think

00:58:55.039 --> 00:58:57.860
it's best that you tell me exactly what's happening.

00:58:58.480 --> 00:59:01.699
Because I haven't decided yet if I'm going to

00:59:01.699 --> 00:59:05.440
fuck you. Because what I didn't tell you was

00:59:05.440 --> 00:59:22.039
that you're - I believe the missing word you're

00:59:22.039 --> 00:59:28.039
looking for is up. What I didn't tell you is

00:59:28.039 --> 00:59:30.619
that your little protege, he had a falling out

00:59:30.619 --> 00:59:36.280
with me. He betrayed me. And, I mean, sending

00:59:36.280 --> 00:59:38.300
you off to the armored guard right here and now,

00:59:38.380 --> 00:59:40.039
that could be a pretty sweet little revenge,

00:59:40.159 --> 00:59:43.059
couldn't it? So, here's what's gonna happen.

00:59:43.940 --> 00:59:46.659
You're gonna tell me every little thing, or I'm

00:59:46.659 --> 00:59:48.579
going to squeeze every little bat bone in your

00:59:48.579 --> 00:59:56.719
body until... The sound of a sending stone. Rune

00:59:56.719 --> 00:59:59.159
looks a little surprised for a moment, and you're

00:59:59.159 --> 01:00:00.559
like facing right into his face, and he's...

01:00:00.559 --> 01:00:04.400
He almost pulls the bat form away as he lifts

01:00:04.400 --> 01:00:07.820
the stone up to his ear. Close. You hear a whispered

01:00:07.820 --> 01:00:12.239
sound. And as his words are pouring into his

01:00:12.239 --> 01:00:17.219
ear, Rune's eyes grow wider and wider. There's

01:00:17.219 --> 01:00:19.699
a moment of just like sheer astonished fear.

01:00:20.519 --> 01:00:23.699
Mouth drops. And it's such a curve into this

01:00:23.699 --> 01:00:28.619
like wide grin. And as he lowers the stone with

01:00:28.619 --> 01:00:32.099
trembling fingers back into his pocket, his eyes

01:00:32.099 --> 01:00:35.239
fall to you meeting the bat's eyes perfectly.

01:00:35.280 --> 01:00:40.599
And he says, what the fuck have you done? And

01:00:40.599 --> 01:01:19.219
we'll call it there. Happy birthday, dear David.

01:01:22.239 --> 01:01:26.900
Happy birthday to you. It's just a fundamentally

01:01:26.900 --> 01:01:30.699
too long song is how I feel about the happy birthday

01:01:30.699 --> 01:01:32.820
song. But I appreciate that you sang it. Happy

01:01:32.820 --> 01:01:34.800
birthday, motherfucker. Happy birthday, David.

01:01:35.019 --> 01:01:36.480
All this talk of coffee. I should have known.

01:01:36.639 --> 01:01:37.119
I should have known.