Well, hello there. Haven't seen you around these
parts before. Might I tell you a little bit about
Reckless Nerd Out Nights? Every other week at
Reckless Brewing Company's Pine House. It's a
hippity -hopping time. Seriously, guys. It's
awesome. Every other week we're hosting a game
night at 6 o 'clock p .m. to 9 o 'clock p .m.
Monday nights. It's super, super cool. I'm going
to get in some magic this week. I'm so excited.
I did a Commander game the other day. It was
so cool. And then I'll be running some one -shots
here and there. We're also getting some local
DMs together to run one -shots of their own.
Seriously talented, seriously cool people. Please
come by. Please check them out. We're putting
tickets up on Eventbrite. Just search for Eventbrite,
Reckless Brewing, Nerd Out Night. You should
find us, grab some tickets. The second they come
up, you want to get them fast because they are
selling out so quick. People are excited because
it's awesome. So please, please, come on by.
Yeah, come on by Reckless Brewing, where we make
beer. Before they could chew there. ...somehow
uninformed there was a misunderstanding involving
Atash's involvement in the restructuring of Sansatyan's
government. His intentions in organizing a raid
against the former Tressner and the CEO of Marfa
Ironworks were called into question, and public
opinions were hot. Now I'm here to inform you
that Atash has apologized publicly for this misunderstanding
and will be pulling a majority of his forces
out of Sansatyan as a show of good faith. Local
leaders such as Paloma Cruz... The party angel
is one of their own. Atash insists that his actions
were motivated entirely by a pursuit of greater
justice and peace. He wishes more than anything
to avoid such misunderstandings in the future
and expresses no small gratitude to those that
pointed out his mistake. Did we just win or was
it a sham election? Because that feels really
easy. I think we... I don't trust him. You want
straight answers or do you want to just read
it yourselves? I don't think we won. I think
he's shifting tactics. Well... Before we talk
about political unrest, I have something more
important to talk about. Okay. All right. Now,
see if you can follow my train of thought here.
Mm -hmm. Choo -choo. We've talked about no takesies
-backsies. There are some others I'm sure you've
heard of. You smelt it, you dealt it. I hate
this train of thought already. First come, first
served. Mm -hmm. All right. Yep. You snooze,
you lose. Okay. Yep. Two wrongs don't make a
right. Is there an end to this? Possession is
nine -tenths of the law. Are you reading these?
Okay. You lost me on that one. Okay. Finders.
Keepers. Oh. What do you mean, Steven? What do
you want? Do tell. What do you want? So while
we were setting up for recording, I found on
the floor, forgotten, a button. Oh. A physical
button, the very same that we use in our game.
And I declared finders keepers. So that's a button
I gave you that you dropped on the floor? I don't
know where the button came from. Well, yeah.
How many buttons in your jar right now? I have
zero. Did you have a button? Last time. No, I
used my last button last time. So it's not a
button. No. It is important to note how far this
button was from David's position. Yes. This button
was under the heater. On the opposite side of
the room is David. On the opposite side of the
room. The spot where Steven and I stand. Keep
our buttons. This button very well could have
been mine at one point. It could have been Jeremy's
at one point. I dare say, David, it could have
been yours. But I found it. And I want to keep
it. So you're saying if I find a button, I can
keep it and use it like I have the one button
armed and ready, cocked in my DM pistol, aimed
at old Johnny Franklin boy. You're saying if
I found a button, I could have a second one?
A second button? Well, no. I think that if you
find a button, it goes back in your button container.
Oh, no. Oh, my gosh. All the buttons fell. Well,
you're not doing this in good faith now, I feel
like. One, two, three, four. Five, six, seven,
eight. And all the buttons on my shirt. That's
a totally different argument. That's a totally
different argument. Those buttons came off my
shirt. Oh, look. Don't you dare. You can't do
this. Oh, look. I found those. I found those.
I'm keeping them. Buttons have the power that
we give them. If you want to take buttons off
of shirts, then you're going to cheapen the power
that these. White buttons that we all recognize
have. I'm not declaring martial law over here.
I am taking finders keepers to the brain trust
here. You're destroying capitalism. You're destroying
our economy. So I think it is also fair that
maybe we set the button aside on our side of
the table. Why your side? And poll the pants
people. Is this appropriate? Is that an appropriate
response, David? We'll let the pants people decide
where this mystery button goes. No, no. Does
it go to the finder or does it go back in the
button economy? How about this? As DM I meet
you halfway. How do you like that, gentlemen?
You're not getting another butt. No. Maybe I'm
not. Maybe I am. Because we're not going to let
the pants people decide. We're going to let the
pants person decide. Because as we record this,
I believe just yesterday was Jeannie's birthday.
Windy Luminary's birthday. Yes. Sakura Blossom's
birthday. It was. I think she can decide where
this button lands. I'm opening up Discord. Ooh.
Don't worry now. Why not? Show her the episode.
Don't show us the button. All right, fine. Yeah,
it's more fun that way. Okay. Just be like, okay,
cool. I'm fully on the spot in this moment. The
world is watching. Oh, no, no, no, no. You cannot
put it on David's side of the table. We'll remember
the choice you make. I have the best eyes. So
it's just, yeah, you better drink. Now that's
a crack. Drink to your loss. All right. Well,
with that, not settled. Not at all settled. We
got to keep them coming. It's like, oh no, who
will the button go to? That's the hook. That's
the, we got them. We got them by the, you know,
the place. I want Jeremy to mute me. I love that
you made a hand gesture with that. You know what
I'm talking about. We got them by the zipper.
Pulling them in. They're like, oh my gosh, who
will the button go to? We got to find out. Tune
in next week. Don't drop the show randomly off
of this week. And you'll know, maybe, if we get
an answer before then. This has gone on too long.
I want to play a game. Let's play a game. Yes.
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. I've been doing
a lot of goofing around, gentlemen. I've been,
uh... Oh, hear that. I've been putting this off
for far too long. Little side adventure in the
world of Danitu with old Stomp, old I'm in wrath.
Little side adventure on the Morning Jewel, which
turned into a bit of a bigger thing than I thought
it would be. Your first time really meeting this
larger -than -life character that's been around
from the start of this show. Been seen here and
there, but now your first conversation, and it
got... I mean, intense? That was spicy. It was
spicy. It was a lot. It was a really difficult
episode. It was a battle, like a real struggle.
I was saying afterwards, it felt like when he
was about to walk off, you know, I kind of won
out in those first two debates. And he was about
to walk off the stage feeling so good, so sure
of himself. And then, just like the figure beaten
down. Dune's kind of standing up with the last
of strength. Jules fires off one last remark,
one last argument. What if Sansa Tian, he says,
pulling me right back into a fight that I was
sure I could win, only to be beaten brutally,
humiliatingly, on the network in front of the
eyes of thousands. He's a hero, guys. How could
you? You jerks. You monsters. And then the election
and the Pari Angel wins. I don't know. That already
happened. Right. Arnavaza had already won, and
it was legitimate. The people were very happy.
Yeah, but, I mean, Atash was still there at that
time. Like, he was still there in full force.
Who's to say what really happened? Who's to say?
Yeah, all sorts of intensity, all these little
misadventures, and time has passed some days.
But the time has come. Tomorrow, the March of
Ice begins on Noari. Before we get into that,
before Jean Franklin comes to the Ugly Coyote
with a request for his partner, some great desire
behind his eyes, some great need, before we touch
on that, let's talk about what happened directly
after your interview. You've heard a bit of it
from storyteller Oren Atash has pulled out. He's
no longer overseeing the restructuring of Saint
-Étienne. and of the city. And so the world is
sort of left to flourish, more or less under
its own governance. Perhaps this is a very, very
good thing. Who can say what could have been
had this little misunderstanding not happened?
Ardavasda, however, will remain, which, if we
remember the conversation between Speaker Chollet
to Crispin and Dresden, this was Atash's true
aim, she believes. The speakers, the real power.
Gaining two speakers, or losing two enemy speakers
and gaining one for himself to really offset
the balance. Perhaps Sansatyan itself never really
mattered that much. He would have been happy
to have it, but the real power, the real goal
remains in hand. I hope to sell your efforts
short, because what you did was big. To demonstrate
that, just the next day, because with how fast
these jewels move around with sending stones,
all this stuff, letters can move very quickly
throughout the Concord worlds. It's only the
next day that one arrives at the ugly coyote
for jewels. A letter? A letter. A letter! Did
a little boydy bring the letter? I think just
looking at it, smelling maybe the little bit
of sweat smell coming off of it and just seeing
like the, hey, come on, the sort of kind of rough.
non -floral handwriting across the front, you
realize this is from Gabriela. It's from Dance.
Oh, shit. As you all read it, in her very sort
of terse, kind of like straight, kind of way
of way of way of writing, you just read, Jules,
I watched you on the morning jewel. Many here
do not understand what you have done. They did
not see the danger brought on by the celestials,
but I did see. Thank you. You have made our world
better. You may have saved me as well that angels
were unhappy with things I have said to the public.
They were watching me too closely. Thank you.
I also noticed how scrawny you look on the network.
Return here soon so I can build your muscle.
I have been considering some new grapples and
need a partner I can try them on. They are pictured
below. And as your eyes move down, there's a
number of sketches that I think turn Jewel's
loot beet red. Probably slides at close. What's
that? What are you reading? Nothing. Okay. Nothing.
Why is your loot weird? Nothing. Go. Go. Okay.
P .S. You up? So that's that. Have you been visiting?
It's been a... A while since Sansatyan. Have
you been doing back and forth here and there?
Once, maybe, I think. Oh, yeah. Maybe it'll be
easier now that the... Because as you went back
before, it's like things seemed peaceful, but
there definitely was this air of tension that
you felt seeing the sort of forms flying over
the streets, these bright -lit Pari angels watching
over everything with their glowing, pupil -less
eyes, just unsettling. Little people cheer when
they walk by. or flew by. Gabriela did not cheer,
just glared up, unsure, untrusting. What you
have done was a great service to her. And despite
the lack of any sort of flowery language, you
could feel the emotion poured into these words
in this letter. The relief and the gratitude.
You should visit soon. But first, but first,
we got an arc to do. Let's talk a little bit
about other things that are happening in the
meantime before we just go on and dive in. The
two returned Cherry Delights have started helping
out around the Coyote. There's little fear now
of any attempt from the LaRoche family to have
them taken away again, now that the LaRoche family
have been essentially removed from power. Even
Arya herself has come in from time to time, only
giving a knowing smile and nod at their sort
of presence here. The Shieldbearers have no one
left to make a demand to do this. Shelly herself
was... offering to essentially try to get them
back to protect them, and so you know that they
are safe jewels. Arhalon has set up his conspiracy
board, as promised, but not at his apartment.
He actually, for the most part, has fully moved
out. The solitude there was not doing him any
favors in this time. And while he has visited
the Coyote frequently to ask Fyro to look into
specific terms and bits of lore, to chat with
you, and even to visit with the miskin roundstuff
from time to time, he's not staying with you
guys there either. No, Arholon thought it was
a fine time to move back in with his mother,
and he'll be staying at Xena's home for the foreseeable
future. Someone else that needed a break from
the solitude. Yeah, fair. Poor Xena. Yeah, but...
In a way, in losing one son, I guess you could
say she had one returned. There was almost a
coldness there before that seems like it's been
mending. Now that Arhalon wakes up every day
to his mother's presence again. Perhaps there'll
be joy found. But that's not our story, that's
a different story. One to be played out in the
sidelines. Moving to our story, let's talk about
Blanche. Blanche, you remained on the Citadel
following the incident on the Morning Jewel.
This was by order of Lord de Piero Montelio.
Following the recent murder of Prince Amalmata,
Prince of Coin Amalmata, he has grown concerned
that something nasty could happen during his
son's journey to the city. Now, your men are
well trained, your tortles, your guard. You know
they will see the tortle lord delivered safely
to the city without you. I think you would know
some of the incident involving Hamamata. You
would obviously be aware of major events, especially
revolving around the princes of coin and kings
of coin of Noari. So you know that basically
a blood letter protest, these revolutionaries
that have come up, masked and wearing stained
aprons, stained with jelly -made dye, went wrong.
Just broke bad. Some folks just rushed a cart
carrying the prince. And he was... killed right
there in public those uh that committed the atrocity
have been taken in by the the silent verse the
sort of militarized police force controlled by
the kings of coin it's going to be a quieter
uh sort of celebration this year as it seems
like uh one king of coin will not be involved
and maybe another as well because uh tragically
Messer Solenevim, the king of coin overseeing
the weaver's trade, also will not be attending
as his son died a month ago in a horse riding
accident, trampled by his own mount. Must have
rolled a natural one. Fishy. Fishy. No, they
happen. A lot, honestly. Horses in these worlds
are just terribly dangerous. Does Blanche know
anything about the... The politics between the
Kings of Coins, something that she could link
these two incidents together with? Maybe a certain
political stance that these two share or shared?
I will say this. The Kings of Coins are amiable.
And as far as linking them together, maybe you've
looked into this a little bit. You seem like
the kind of person who's very careful. There
were plenty of witnesses. Plenty of witnesses.
It was just a horse riding accident. The horse
just went a little crazy. Just trampled him.
Nothing really to it. I don't buy it. These freak
things happen. Perhaps I just wanted to limit
them out to people in this arc. Who knows? Okay.
Or perhaps there's meaning. I'm not saying there
isn't. I'm just saying wink. I'm just saying
wink. I'm just saying wink. So Jean Franklin
must be your concern now. You've been instructed
to see the boy brought to Zinda into the palace
of Amos Nier, the sort of grand messer, the king
of coin that oversees the jelly trade, the richest
and most powerful of the lot. De Piero expects
this to be a battle for you. as he expects his
stubborn son to skip the festival entirely. You
know that is not going to be the case. Jean Franklin
wants to return for his own purposes. So, if
there's nothing else to be done beforehand, I'd
like to open up on a scene within the Ugly Coyote.
Perhaps... sitting at a table downstairs, late
at night, candlelight sort of flickers along
the bar, maybe a fire in the chimney place. That's
what you'd call it. Close. Try again. A chimney
in the fireplace. Is that better? Anyway. The
scene is comfortably lit. Jean is sitting at
a table, maybe Blanche by his side, Jules on
the other. I'm assuming that Jean has told you.
All of his suspicions over his father and the
other kings of coin. His discovery of the note
his father left. He believes they committed murder.
He believes that the jelly flower was essentially
this barter they did not intend to see their
side of. And so they murdered the person, this
Eden figure that he's read about in order to
get the flower for free. Monsters. If we're partners
now, I really hope he'd tell me all of that.
I'm assuming he has, because I don't want to
say it all again. Perhaps he'll let it out here,
perhaps he'll let it out elsewhere. In this moment,
I'm assuming that information is out there. And
so we begin on this. Tomorrow, the March of Vice
begins on Noari. Now, every year, the city of
Zinda holds what they call the March of Vice.
This is, in essence, a celebration of wealth.
A chance to engage in unbridled hedonism for
ten full days. They dress up some actor to play
as the Masked Prince of Ice and lead parades
all through the city, basically just a non -stop
city -wide carnival. Utter madness, if you ask
me. What is important is that on the first day
of this march, the Kings of Coin always meet.
They are invited to the palace of Grand Mesa
Emosnia, the King of Coin that oversees all jelly
trade. The affair is quite closed off. All but
the most necessary of staff are removed, and
the King's families are, for the most part, barred
from entry. But there are some exceptions. The
heirs of the kings are invited and expected to
attend. As my father's heir, I will likewise
be allowed. I'm sure, given the recent surge
in revolutionary activity and the death of the
Prince of Coin and Mamata, they will not stand
in Master Blanche's way as well. She is my father's
master defense, after all. The kings also make
an effort to bring in the highest of entertainment,
typically divas from Zinda's Elucidarium. Hell,
I heard that Diva Luma would be performing this
year. Quite a catch. You might know, this is
actually a luminary. A skilled battle diva who's
basically like, you know, rose from the elucidarium,
this sort of barred college in Zinda to become
like a sort of figure known by all worlds. Singer,
dancer, just all around cultural icon. So. I
am going to attend. I am going to play the good
son, stand by my father, participate in negotiations,
all of that. But I could also bring you in as
entertainment, Jules. You're certainly famous
enough, and rumors have been all over about your
musical talents. You and Blanche could look into
things behind closed doors, whilst I fulfill
my duties as heir. Now, I know, I know you about
the concerns, Jules, I understand. The child
is still missing, and there's so much to do,
but... You've told them all, the worlds, all
of them, to distrust figures and authority. Hell,
we kind of overthrew a government on the last
world. I say we go two for two, huh? A full expose
on the crimes of the kings of coin. What do you
say? You think they're really going to let me
set foot in there? I think their curiosity will
overwhelm their concern. I could use that. Everyone's
waiting to see what Jews or O's can do. Do you
realize you're one of the most spoken of people
here now? In the world. Eh. That, heh, what we
pulled there on the, uh, on the morning jewel,
I, uh, he's still, like, sweats thinking about
it, like, almost shakes. Atash was his hero.
He just stood before him, yelled at him, and,
like, just shakes his head. I can't believe it,
but this, I mean, it skyrocketed you jewels.
Everyone knows your name. And we've heard you
can sing and heard you can perform. You have
that lute on your back all the time, glowing
and looking all cool. I mean... This will be
the first time you've had a public... Yeah, yeah,
cooler than you, right? It's very... Right? Beside
the point. This is serious talk for serious luminaries.
All right, we're serious. We'll be serious. All
right. Super serial. All right. Look, if you're
willing to do this, well, let's just say I've
already approved you for invitations. You're
actually already in, but if you don't want...
Sorry, I went above your head, but I thought
you went... It's for you. I'll do it. You'll
do it? Really? Of course. Oh, this is great.
I mean, Master Blanche could see to it herself,
sure, but with someone else there to watch her
back. I mean, this would be excellent. Besides,
I don't know, and he kind of looks over to you,
Blanche, like, how willing she's going to be
to investigate the Lord of the House for murder.
I don't want to put you in that position, sir,
but... Well, Tadpole, I can tell you that I'll
be there, and my participation, that will depend
on you convincing me, I suppose. Well, um, all
right. Yes, yes. Well, it's time for that. Time
as we build forward into it. I know I'm right,
sir. I know I'm right. And you know. Right, Jules?
I trust you. Of course I do. Just this big...
Tortle smiles, big blue eyes. You just give a
little shiver. Yeah, he shivers. Yeah, I'm in
the mood. He's excited. I've been, this has been
all I've thought about for months, essentially.
I've been building up to this. It's why I left
in the first place. Why I worked for that damned
villain, Rune. All for this. Well, you don't
have to bear that alone anymore. We got you.
Yeah, we got you. You hear a voice from the stairs
in the corner of the room. Don't you think Jules
is going anywhere without a backup singer, right?
Jules, right? And Chester kind of nervously starts
moving into the room. Everyone kind of goes quiet,
sort of feels something. Some kind of unspoken
tension, maybe. I don't understand the significance
of this. We should stay quiet. You just get what
he's saying. Jules, hey, hey, look. I know what
you're going to say. I know you're worried, right?
But I'm good. I've had time. I've recovered.
I've rested. I've felt things through God's breath.
Look, it was rough, and I understand. I lost
my stuff there for a minute. Thank you. Thank
you for telling me not to go, because it was
good for me to have a break, to put things in
perspective, to feel better. But I do feel better,
and I've been training. I'm stronger. I got magic
now, remember? You did that whole loot thing.
I got fairy powers. I don't know. Jules looks
down at Chester. How does his face look? Describe
his expression, his eyes. I love this. I love
this. I think you look down at Chester and you
see like, as you kind of look down, as you're
kind of like, I guess looking into him, he looks
up at you and his eyes kind of just grow hard
and determined and defiant. am superimposed over
this. We have this moment of Cerise looking down
at her young teenage son. Young Jules looking
up with those same eyes, that same expression
of go ahead and tell me no. And we cut back.
I got one more for you. Jules looks over to Jeans.
She's like on the stairs too. Begrudging acceptance.
I think you actually see her slowly nod. I think
what hurt her most Was the way he was acting
after God's breath. The way this trauma had sort
of buried something dark within him. But you
don't see that anymore. He's been at rest for
a month. He's been actually like talking to someone.
He's been with Jeans somewhat seriously for a
while now. And the Chester you're seeing before
you're starting to realize. Maybe like sometime
in this last month his birthday happened. Maybe
now he's 16 years old. And maybe just in the
midst of all of this. He just looks so much older.
Okay. Jules moves his gaze back to Chester, and
then over to John Franklin. I don't go anywhere
without my backup singer. Oh, yes! Yes! Oh, yes!
Yes! Oh, sorry. Play it cool. Yeah, yeah, no,
that's, that's, yeah, I'm in. And it's gonna
be real chill and cool and stuff, because we're
going undercover. We're going undercover. Don't
die. Foreshadowing. Oh, God. And, like, there
could be danger. There's always the chance of
danger. You know that as a player. Jules knows
that as a character. But this, what's coming
now, it sounds pretty simple. You're just going
to go into a party and investigate. And, hell,
when it comes to sneaking around, snooping, Chester's
the man. He can even teleport now. You get to
decide what his other fey touch spell is. Don't
even do it tonight. If you want to, you can.
But you can also wait, because I don't think
we're going to need it yet. No, I'm going to
think on this. Hell yeah. Also, Steven, did you
hear? This is going to be simple. This is going
to be easy. Yeah, it's going to be. It's going
to be so easy, so simple, so chill. Walk in the
park. Walk in the park. Nothing to be scared
of. I love this. Just don't roll on that one.
We deserve this. Don't get turned by horses.
And you're good. Welcome back, Chester. Welcome
back. Feels like it's been so... I mean, it's
been like 40 episodes. Yeah, it has been a long
time. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Holy hell. Okay. Okay.
With this, perhaps the night turns to day. Jaune's
plan involves you all leaving in the morning.
Because in the morning, the March of Vice begins.
By early afternoon, you are expected at the palace.
I need to start getting these names right in
my brain. Because, like, there's so many new
names. Yeah, we should print out a sheet. Oh,
my gosh. That's the best idea I've ever heard.
I'm still using Notepad. I haven't gone to Google
Docs yet. David! I lost these notes three times.
Parents, people, revolt. Revolt. Oh, wait, it's
in the bottom. Hang on. Amos Neer. We're going
to start a campaign to get David to use Google
Docs. Make David use Google Docs. You'll never.
You'll never get me. Without further ado, morning
comes. Anything you want done beforehand, Chester's
getting ready to go. He's loading up his stuff.
He's excitedly packing his bag again, packing
some stuff into yours. You still have that handy
haversack given to you by Orin. It's basically
almost a bag of holding in itself. It's pretty
cool. Yeah, I think there's a big contrast between
Chester's energy and Jules' energy. I mean, Jules,
he's not sulking or anything. He's just kind
of matter -of -factly. Getting things together.
He's done this before. He's seasoned. It's a
fake nose? Look at this. Who am I? I'm not Chester.
Who am I? I'm not Chester. I'm a fake nose man.
Hey, where'd Chester go? Yeah, see? Look at that.
He's packing like all sorts of... I'm going to
remember that you put that in there because that
might come in handy sometime. Unless we had a
fake nose. Stupid. Okay. And perhaps you are
all off. Blanche, you've been here for a few
days. Time for your homecoming. But more importantly,
time for John Franklin's homecoming. First time
he'll be setting foot on Nuwari in a while. There
could be hidden dangers lurking for him. He is
part of this merchant monarchy after all. So
these revolutionaries are something to be concerned
about, of course. Right. This is a matter of
him trying to investigate your lord for murder.
That's, I imagine. Some kind of conflict. Oh,
absolutely. I mean, Jules said it best. Jules
said that he trusts Jean. And of course Blanche
trusts Jean, but the accusations are heavy, you
know? Extremely. So... How many governments is
this little turtle going to make you overthrow?
Right, exactly. Exactly. Last time he was like,
hey, Blanche, tiny little adventure, come with
me. And now he's dragging a teenager along into
the, you know what I mean? Like, Blanche is a
soldier, you know, and she's unsure about this
kid. You know what's funny, though, is speaking
of teenagers, on this note, I looked at my note,
Jean's 18. Whoa. He's actually pretty young,
too. He was actually younger than Zebulon. I
didn't realize that until I saw my notes. I was
like, oh, wait, Jaune's 18 years old? Yeah. Well,
yeah, he was a lordling. He's a tadpole. He's
a tadpole. Just gaining his little tadpole legs.
Exactly. And, you know, as long as Blanche has
been... I mean, because, you know, we've all
seen TV shows. They train these lordlings from
a young age to fight and battle. And Blanche
has been there and has seen that training and
has... Done that training with Sean. Chester
is a little bit of a wild card for her. Yeah.
Fair. Maybe she's sizing him up as a seasoned
veteran sizes up a greenhorn on the battlefield.
Roll me an insight check. All right. Yeah, it's
cool. Yeah, it's really cool. And you fashion
yourself a soldier, do you, boy? Nope. Just a
nine. Yeah, with just a nine, I think you see
this boy with his sort of casual, laid -back
atmosphere, his sort of like, you know, he just
seems too easygoing. His shoulders, you know,
kind of slumped. His posture, just, just, ugh,
ugh in that posture. I think Jules will look
over to Blanche. When everything in the world
is unconventional, there's no time to be conventional.
That didn't make it sound near as cool as it
did in my head. I didn't hate it. I liked it.
I liked it. What's interesting, though, is what
Jules knows that Blanche doesn't know is that
there are other ways to form a soldier. Sometimes
a soldier is formed by their mentors. Sometimes
they're formed by the world around them. Chester,
who grew up in the streets of Cerule, was fending
for himself, who essentially mentored Jules in
the ways of the street. He's got his own kind
of wisdom, his own kind of power. That is really
hard to understand. And as you look at him now,
Blanche, you fully don't understand it. He just
looks like a kid. Exactly. Yeah, you don't have
to convince Steve and Blanche is a different
story. Even though he's dressed up, he's got
his armor on. He has chain mail, I believe. He
has a bow on his back. He's looking like, you
know, pretty solidly built beneath it. He's been
training. He's been doing his push -ups. He's
bulked up a bit. He still just looks like a kid.
No discipline in that one. No discipline in the
youth. Telling raunchy jokes the entire way forward.
No discipline and no posture. Two weeks under
my tutelage and I'd have him ship -shape. I cannot
wait to see that side episode. Who's that, Toots?
Oh my god, yeah! I just tried to make Blanche
as nervous as possible about this whole thing.
You approach the plaza. You approach the passage
of respite where the Bastite Conqueror Jewel
is coming to dock. Sorry, I get to use the sound
effects again. It's a sound effect. Bastite's
pretty cool. It's like a sort of maroon with
a sort of mesh of like a mossy green color. I
was kind of trying to figure out what this looked
like and it's kind of weird looking. It looks
cool. It's kind of a cool marbled maroon and
mossy green sort of comes to dock. Very beautiful.
You are approaching it, and I think you see kind
of maybe breaking out or you're leading up in
an alley just like pretty close by, kind of off
to the side, somewhere in the shadow, and yet
so open for you to see, as if waiting for you
to see. We see the figure of Dresden Kellig,
who perhaps brings Jules over with a signal.
Or Blanche. You guys were good buddies in that
last world. You know, I don't even think there's
a signal. No. I think they just know. Yeah, I
mean, yeah. Why else would Dresden be here? Why
else would Dresden be standing there, yeah. We
just go off to the side. Your words drove a dagger
into Atash the other night. His guard is up now.
But Speaker Sholeh is going to be looking for
a way to twist the knife. That's not cool. After
a brief pause. And don't worry about Paul. Calypso
won't harm him. She needs him. Speaker Sholay
has her eyes and ears scouring the worlds. She
will find him. And you'll be the first to know.
And then, without a second moment, wisps away.
Hell yeah. Bye -bye, soldier boy! Was that the
echo? Ooh! Yes! Oh my god, it's so cool! Yes,
that's fantastic. And probably, I like to imagine
Dresden couldn't speak to the echo before. But,
like, we left them off. They were going off to
learn more about their innate powers, talking
to the incarnates. Oh, so cool. Perhaps there's
a little more to Dresden, a feeling of power
that wasn't there before as he vanishes before
Jules' eyes. I love that so much. So cool. So
cool. Then Jules walks back to the group, I think,
with a little more hope that he's had recently.
Hell yeah. knowing this, having this little weight
off your shoulders. Maybe you can feel better
about diving into a wacky misadventure with Jaune,
knowing that, hey, the ultimate power of spying,
the ultimate eyes and ears on every world figurehead,
Jolie Brass, has got your back in this. If anyone,
anyone can find Paul, it's going to be her. All
that there is to do now is wait. And see how
you can make the world a better place while you
do, perhaps. So this party moves forward. Approaching
the Bastite Conquer Jewel. Climbing aboard. No
trouble now getting everyone on because, hey,
you're pretty high -ranking. At this point, when
you say, you know, the kid's with me, they let
Chester ride on. No invisibility hijinks, nothing
like that. You're good to go. We're done with
Ritz. I'm bored of him. I don't care anymore.
That's how plot points work on this show. It's
a good show, damn it. So you enter the jewel,
you sit down, and it rises. And there's a cool
sound effect right... This time I will put it
in. Thank you. Because I like this one. And...
Boom. You are in another world. The Concord Jewel
is packed, loaded with people. Everyone's coming
to Zinda for the March of Vice, but a lot of
people from other worlds want to be here too,
because it is just a non -stop party. Parades
everywhere, people throwing magical gem beads
everywhere. Just a good time. As you're sort
of moving down, coming down to dock, Jean sort
of importantly kind of, I think sort of haughtiness
has returned to him as he's sort of coming back
to his world, kind of falling back into his element,
much like the party in Saint -Étienne. Just,
well, well, here we are. Look at all these people.
Ugh, disgusting. Well, I mean, they flood the
city. It's terrible. Right back to it, huh? All
right, fine, fine. I'm just... Have you learned
anything? Yes. It's like running Jules. Jules'
best dad. All I'm saying is father had better
have sent an elephant. My long -awaited return
deserves at least an elephant. Right, sir? I'm
perfectly capable of walking, Jean. Yes, we could
walk, but they're going to walk, points to, like,
everyone. We should have an elephant. See you,
Dan. Okay, don't. Fine. Fine. You want to get
on my back? No. A little. Jewel. Roll for strength.
You'll die. Jewel rests, docking down at the
bay. The ramps are leading up to it. The door
sort of slides open and everyone starts spilling
out. It'll do you some good to walk with the
people, Jean. We'll see. We'll see. I am a prince
of coin here. I have to be seen as such. I mean,
I'm going into the city. I have to make an appearance,
right? Right? Right? Everyone loves a man of
the people. Yeah, man of the people right here.
Right, Jules? Come on. Sort of giving this side
thumb. Much like Sipsunko, you are struck immediately
by humid, hot air as you phase into Noiria, as
this door opens, as it hits you. And as you're
stepping out of the Bastite Conqueror, you find
yourselves in a tourist travel depot surrounded
by lush, lush jungle. The hum of insects fills
the air, playing harmony to an orchestra of birdsong.
And this is all buried behind the general chatter
and commotion of people. Just people all over,
swarming the information souvenir and food stands
and negotiating for rides into the city on ox
or horse -pulled wagons. They're all sort of
set out in a line just in front towards this
sort of main pathway that leads through the jungle,
a very open, wide path towards this sort of...
jelly fields and the city of Zinda in the distance.
Maybe a half hour's journey by cart. Standing
out amongst these beasts of burden, though, is
a mount of much larger size and prestige. Jean's
eyes sparkle as he squeaks out, It's an elephant!
And you see a white -painted, open -topped car
attached to a great gray elephant with mild eyes.
A rider sits atop the elephant on a golden -embroidered
saddle, a brown -skinned halfling in a white
uniform, black hair and beard just trimmed immaculately,
who just sees your party just step out. Jean,
I think, runs forward, just fully, like, knowing,
this is me, right? This is me. The sort of pilot
looks down, just like, you are Jean Frigamontelio,
yes? My name is Taran Hal, and I will be your
ride into the city. And Jon just, yes, whoa,
whoa. It's an elephant. Sorry, composure. Man
of the people. It's an elephant. Blanche is unsure
about this. I mean, you know, there have already
been two prominent political figures who have
died, one by his own mount. It's a thing. But
that wasn't that one. They happen. So Blanche
is a little unsure. This is an elephant, not
a horse. It's not a horse. And I'll be honest.
Wait, you want to roll a die about it? I want
to roll a die about it. What kind of die do you
want to roll? What are you being honest about
over there, you liar? While Jules does trust
Jean Franklin, in a scenario like this, he understands
that... John Franklin's decision -making might
be a little shaky, you know, and he's definitely
following Blanche's lead. Okay. I'll say that.
Go ahead and roll insight. Roll insight. There's
also... Mmm! Crit my pants. Crit your pants,
okay. All over this Bastite. Why don't I have
a crit my pants sound effect yet? I don't know.
Whoa. What would that sound like? I'm slacking.
Oh, you're going to find out in a few days. Oh,
man, it's going to be bad. Oh, my gosh. It's
going to go right. No. Darn it. I tried. So you're
looking into this. For one thing, with that insight
check, I'm going to give you a twofold. First
of all, DiPiero Montelio. He would do this. He
would want John Franklin to become as over -the
-top as possible because DiPiero was always frustrated
by how the other kings of coin treat him. They
see him as lesser because he's not a tortle.
Or because he is a turtle, sorry. And they're
all, you know, turtles just aren't seen on the
same level as everybody else. And so he's kind
of like, he wants to put on a show, like, we're
as big as you guys are. My son's riding on an
elephant. You know this is classic DiPiero. This
is not, there's nothing nefarious about this.
He would have hired this guy. Okay. Looking at
the guy. Yeah, he seems everything that he is.
He just doesn't seem to be concealing any sort
of weapons. He seems genuine. You feel pretty
secure as you look at him. You scan it over.
Maybe you honestly, with that 20, you've probably
seen this guy before. Taron Howell's probably
well -known for just being a famed limousine
driver, essentially, of Noiri. So it's just like
that. Okay, so he gets the pass. Blanche isn't
quite done. Okay. Blanche is going to pull out
her Eyes of Minute Seeing. All right. She's going
to walk up, you know, behind Jaune and call up
to the driver. Question, is the elephant a male
or female? It is a female elephant. With your
eyes, I mean, seeing, peek right up in there,
real close. I knew it, I knew it, I knew it.
It must, yeah, it's a female. Jaune Mount, what
do you call her? Penny. Fine beast she is. And
Blanche puts on her eyes of minute seeing. What
are you doing down there? Which grant her advantage
on investigation checks. You can see much better
than normal out to a range of one foot. So kind
of as she's walking up to Penny, you know, she's
checking out Penny's feet. She's checking out
the harnesses that are holding. You're embarrassing
me in front of the elephant. She's. That's all
right, John. It's better to be embarrassed and
live than to fall off an elephant and, well,
not. We're riding the cart, not the elephant.
So I'm trying to just roll investigation on like...
Roll investigation. All of it. All of it. On
everything I can see within one foot of the elephant.
Advantage. Yeah. 23. Cart is well made. The wood
could be stronger, but it's made to be kind of
lightweight, easy to carry around. So it doesn't
really matter. Wheels are fixed on well. The
actual tether between the elephant and the cart
is very firm, very strong, not likely broken
easily by anything. It just seems like a well
-secure, well -made cart. I mean, this is what
good money pays for. All right. And I feel like
Blanche has done her job. She feels like this
is pretty safe. Master defense, yeah. Yeah. Do
you guys slide on the cart? I mean, I guess it's
a climb on into the cart, right? The back drops
down magically. I don't care. It climbs on it.
It's cool. Magic. We slide up on top of the elephant.
There's like a whole... Because it's like a fancy
cart. Sure. I just made sounds. I don't know
what that... You get on the cart. So the seats
are cushioned. It's super comfortable. It kind
of comes back up. And the guy just says, all
right, half hour ride to Zinda. Do you want if
I tell you about the sights you see on the way?
This is, I know for you, Lady Master Defense
Blanche Trudeau, and for you, my, hang on, Lord
Jean Franklin Montelio, Bear of the Gold of...
bear of the banner of the golden bay uh he's
trying to stumble over the i was gonna say i
was like david knows it david knows it david
forgot david's tired this is his fifth campaign
in a row this week um he says the thing uh uh
he's like but you uh the you two uh guests jules
la roche i believe right uh you you probably
don't know much about this area yeah do your
thing oh he's doing a thing he's excited to do
he's like yes it's almost like a jungle tour
and like you know theme park as you're kind of
going through and jules doesn't want to hear
it He's letting him do it, though, because he
can tell it brings him joy. Hell yeah. I love
that. Jewels are bringing joy. As you're going,
he's just like traveling, trotting along. He's
just like, now if you look to your right here,
you will see some of our local peli parents.
And we'll call it there. And some large, colorful
birds with great beaks. take off from the trees.
You're turning around to other places and you
see this large moss -covered crack and a large
stone alongside of the road. Just like, oh, I'd
be worried about around these parts at night.
That cave to our left is the continuous homestead
of many varieties of Sturges, which you might
not see in your world. And he maybe goes on to
explain that Sturges are these nocturnal creatures
that are basically bat mosquitoes. I don't know
if I explained Sturge Man's joke before, but
that's the joke. They're bat mosquitoes. He's
Sturge Man. That mosquito. Okay, we're done.
Anyway, moving on. He points out various fauna
running through the trees. Maybe a tiger runs
through at some point. He just gestures to him.
A tiger? A tiger. They're cool. A tire growling
noise in the jungle. A tire falls on him. It's
an arctic claw. That's a tire brand. You're pointed
to various flowers that seem to sparkle almost
metallically in the bits of sunlight that filter
through the canopy above, and you're just trotting
along. Up ahead, we have the Pool of the Watcher,
which holds the giant caiman, Tickalosh. I think
I said that right. Hey, it's a cool guy. I don't
like being tickled. You look out, and you actually
see, again, like a jungle... amusement parks
or a tour ride you see like this this long pond
ahead about 50 feet wide where you move to intersect
it and sort of um vanishing off in distance in
both directions it's a very long uh pond you
see this stone bridge runs across it where the
trail meets um continues on afterwards uh there's
a fair crowd that's gathered on top of this of
this bridge kind of looking over the side at
something as you kind of get closer you can peer
over and see there's a just resting lazily at
the surface of the pool is this massive caiman
maybe 25 feet long You guys know what those are?
They're kind of like short, snouted alligators.
Sure. Yeah, just this big, 25 -foot long, almost
alligator, a little more tropical, a little cooler.
These glazed eyes just taking the crowd with
mild interest, sort of floats around from nibbling
bits and bods of foodstuffs that are kind of
tossed into the water in front of them. How do
you know it's a pond and not a river? People
have seen it. This is a major trail within your
road we're going through here. It's all well
explored. Oh, very well. I don't know where the
river is. The water's not moving. I don't know.
Okay. I was just... You said it was, like, 50
feet wide and, like, really, really long? It's
a weird pond. It sounds like a river. Maybe it's
just, like, it's probably open on all our sides,
like, longer, but that's just, like, it narrows
out, and this one's canal. Probably man -made,
even, just to make the bridge smaller, so it's
kind of a, yeah. Now I understand. You've taught
me something new about my home world. The more
you know. Actually, you probably know about Tickalosh.
As he kind of goes on to explain, it's all stuff
you know. Just, like, just, like, stop it. Don't
worry, don't worry. Tickalosh here is seen as
the guardian of the jungle in this region. He's
a peaceful soul. He just gets his food from passerbys
that wish to honor his presence. And you can
see he's just chilling. I think even the ride
proves like a shank of meat from his pouch. Just
says like, I pass by here frequently and I never
deny my dear friend a snack. And Jean kind of
laughs. So you're moving on. The crowd of people
at the edge of the bridge kind of, you know,
some of them are tossing food into the water,
but as the elephant approaches, the crowd sort
of pushes along to the other side of the bridge,
kind of getting out of your way, because you're
taking up some good space, you know. They don't
want to get trampled. Roll in that one. So they
clear the space, and you get a good view of the
great caiman just floating along the water's
surface, maybe five feet down below the bridge.
Jaune's just, like, looking at it with his eyes
wide, like, ah, Tikalash! Now, I remember coming
here to see him as a hatchling. A tadpole, if
you will, sir. Back when Mother was still alive.
I still can't believe she brought me to see him.
Dicolosh aside, the great caiman near the Golden
Bay have quite a taste for turtles, you know.
You know. You're kind of ricketing over the bridge
as John's reminiscing. I think he's kind of looking
back like, You know, sir, I actually spoke to
the bastard that came in Don and Connor when
I became a luminary. Quite a nice fellow, actually.
He actually commented me on my... A great force
smashes into the cart, violently pushing it over
the side of the bridge. The great maw of the
massive caiman, Tickalock, comes bearing down
on all of you. He roars, furious, crazed, his
teeth gnashing down and shredding the cart's
white wood as it topples into the water. The
elephant on the bridge collapsing and sliding
against the rough stone, the rider screaming
as he is thrown into the pool. And the cart hangs
by its tethers to the great beast of burden as
the elephant slides to a stop pressed against
the raised edge of the bridge. Your cart dangles,
half submerged, and I need a strength saving
throw from all of you to see who stays upon it.
But not this week. Because we'll call it day!
What the fuck is this magic? What the fuck, David?
What did you do? I don't know. I don't know.
That was horrible. I kind of liked it. What the
fuck? I don't like how it's just in my right
ear, though. I'm so scared. This is pretty good.
Oh, that's more of the jungle music. Yeah, let's
do that. That's fine. That's just music. Okay,
we'll do this. Hopefully it doesn't... What did
that? Yeah, but what fucking did that thing?
I want to know so bad. It was like every sound
effect went off at once.