Pants people, listen up. We are so excited because
every year, every year, we're getting a little
bigger doing more crazy things. We're showing
up at events, doing live shows, we start our
Nerd Out Nights, and we may have some things
cooking in the future. I can't talk about it.
I can't talk about anything. I just want you
to know that you should follow us on our social
media pages, Facebook, Instagram, Discord, wherever
you can find us. Keep your eyes on it and keep
looking because maybe, just maybe, you'll see
some cool new updates from Fantasy Pants. Small
-scale attacks by a young dragon on Palanoa has
brought the Mage -Smith and Zubia and Rubyfist
together in a collaborative hunt for the monster.
Meanwhile, Jericho the Traveler and Rory King
have allied themselves with the Light Sea Lancers
to discover the truth behind the mysterious spirits
appearing all across Central Janai. I would need
to... And I would tell you what Bob and Goaty
have been about, but, uh... Yeah, well, kids
do watch this show, so, uh... Needless to say,
Goaty's stink has left its mark on the werewolf
clans of Thelmira, and, uh... It ain't washed
and cleaned for a long, long time. In other news,
handsome giants once again single. So I guess,
all in all, we're looking at a typical week here
in our crazy Concord worlds. That was fun. That
was fun. Bring them back. Bring them back. We
got a lot of luminaries out there. And I love
that they're, like, all together now. They're
hanging out. They're doing things. They exist.
Yeah. They're solving problems. They're doing
way cooler shit than you've been doing. Fuck
off. I'm telling you right now. I'm surprised
storytelling. That was mean. I'm surprised Storyteller
Oren stoops low enough to talk about, like, the
celebrity gossip. Who's dating who? But here's
the thing. It's what he's supposed to do. It's
what they want. He does, he largely, he wants
to have a lot of, like, if you see it a little
bit in the show, he doesn't have a lot of say
in what he does. Like, when he went off his way
to speak about Zebulon and Jules when the Citadel
and the network at large didn't want him to,
he got in trouble. Like... He's a mouthpiece
for a larger collaborative sort of group. While
he adds flair and flavor to his show, a lot of
what he does, he has to say. It's all about the
ratings. He's talked about the royal family of
Sarul, who he knows are corrupt. And he talks
about them like they're great, great people because
he has to. It's an interesting thing. A little
weird. Yeah. Yeah. All about the ratings. What
would happen if somebody were to, I don't know,
take over the airwaves? Ooh. Crystal waves. Is
that what we're doing now? Taking over the crystal
waves? No, I don't know. Who knows? Who knows
what's going on? I don't know yet. So many mysteries
abound in the Citadel. Mysteries abound. Yes.
Speaking of... Hang on, I'm trying. Speaking
of abound, I'm... I was bound to be... Nope.
Nope, hang on. You're almost there. You're almost
there. I was bound to lose sleep after that last
episode. I'll tell you, that was a good one.
I mean, that shit was crazy. Hey, hey, that was
good. No, no, no, it was all right. It was all
right. Hey, shut up. Try it again on more sleep.
Okay, yeah, I will. I played so much D &D this
week. It's crazy. And the holiday week just ended.
It's over. It's great. We're going into spooky
season. Halloween's right around the corner.
It's already here. It's already Halloween. I'm
listening to scary stories all day long. We've
discussed this before. September 1st. Hell yeah.
But that's not the banter. Hang on. I already
segued. I can't re -segue. Speaking of Halloween
and scary stuff, I was pretty scared. Fuck. Never
mind. So the last episode was wild. I mean, easily
one of my favorites you've ever done. I mean,
the combat, your role play, all throughout it.
Holy shit. You gave me goosebumps. You gave me
goosebumps. And yet I lost sleep. I felt... weird
about that one. I felt horrible about it because
I made a certain choice in that episode. And
it's not really a choice I would say that I made.
It's more a reaction I made to you guys doing
something really, really cool. But I want to
talk about this a little bit because I think
it's the kind of thing, I like to talk about
table talk, talk about like, you know, when we
do things a little different with what the rules
say and why we do it and why I think it works.
Because a lot of people out there might not think
of, I think, the same way as we do. It was very
interesting, right? So we have this moment. I'm
about to strike John Franklin. And I'll put it
out there right now. This is a pretty arbitrary
decision I made. Nothing written down says this
villain is going to kill John Franklin. And he
had. Blanche as his primary target. Blanche,
he knew your name. He knew who you were. He was
dueling you. You were insulting him left and
right. He wanted you dead, but he couldn't get
in. And so I decided in the last minute, okay,
then if I can't hurt you, I'll hurt Jean. And
through hurting Jean, I'll hurt you that way.
I'll choose a psychological and emotional wound
over a physical one if I have to. So Millar goes,
he goes to distract Jean. First time around,
he lives. And I was sound back. I said three
attacks. I said it in the episode I ended. I
meant it in this next episode when we started.
I was going for those three attacks. It was going
to happen no matter what. But he survived. And
one round later, we found ourselves in the exact
same predicament. So wild. Crazy. I roll hit.
Damage enough. Goes unconscious. AC drops. And
here I have advantage to finish him. And as I'm
going to roll a die, as I go, I mean... Before
my hand can drop that thing, Stephen flies in
here with this dramatic beat. Now, mechanically,
that wouldn't be allowed to happen, right? Because
it's a reaction. But like, I mean, it was such
a, you imagine the scene in the movie when Blanche
throws a sword and says, you know, strike me.
I'm the one you want. Do you have any honor?
If you do, come for me now. And Malar, seeing
that you're open, seeing your haste has dropped,
your AC's dropped, you know, spell sword or spell
song, sword song, sing song, blade song, sing
song, sing song's gone. No more sing song. I
like sing song. And like, I mean, what a beat.
What I, mechanically what happened there is we
essentially stopped combat, paused it to allow
for an out of combat scenario and sort of, sort
of like a check. And I think. That's something
that DMs should consider doing because it was
honestly so amazing. I mean, the roll was not
a gimme. It was a close thing. It was, yeah,
yeah. I mean, you had a flat check on that. Oh,
and it worked. It worked. So. Like I said, I
lost sleep because I wasn't sure if I made the
right call there. That was a very big choice.
I wasn't sure if going with that made sense.
But what world could I have said no? Well, yeah.
Just a cool, cool moment. Just a cool thought.
And it was your creative thinking, your quick
thinking that made it happen. It's not like I
made that happen. You set that whole thing up.
I simply yes -handed it. Well, it was either
do nothing and watch John die or at least like
try to say something. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, yeah.
And at the end of the day. you know, thinking
about this and really agonizing over it, I decided
in the end to just roll with my instincts, to
take a book out of our page of John Franklin's
book. I decided that, like, you know, sometimes
you guys decide what's right in the moment and
it's probably the right thing because it's what
you felt was the right thing right then, right?
That make any sense at all? Yeah. But holy shit,
yeah. Such an episode. It was amazing. Yeah,
I thought it made for a really cool ep. I mean,
would it have been super sad and dramatic to
have a funeral? Yeah. But a D &D wedding? I don't
know how many of those you get. That was pretty
special. I knew it was going to be a wedding
or a funeral at the end of that episode. I didn't
know which one. You knew all week and you tortured
us all week. I had notes for both and I was ready
for both. But man, I was so delighted at how
cool that was. But I had a thought afterwards.
And my thought was simply that in allowing this,
it would have been cool to take something, some
cost for allowing this pause in the combat along
this moment. And my hands are fully off the chess
piece there. It's over and done. But I thought...
I wanted to pitch something to you, Steven, something
I thought was kind of cool. So really, really
quick, before we get into this episode, I want
to talk about scars in D &D. What? This is a
weird thing. It's scars. Because think about
this. In a world where magic can heal you, how
does one have a scar? It must be a very particularly
deep wound, I would think. Or perhaps a wound
that feels more meaningful, that your soul attributes
to being a part of yourself, right? Someone who
loses an eye in a dramatic moment, they probably
keep their eye lost, like Dresden, because that
moment was this dramatic beat for Dresden that
changed him as a person, that he carries with
him his whole life, and he identifies as a one
-eyed man. I think that might be a huge part
of it. Or it's also just maybe it's a nasty enough
wound that you can't just bring it back. My thinking
here... In this dramatic moment, Blanche taking
all of her honor on the line to challenge this
creature that wants more than anything in this
world to draw her blood. When Spearmaster Malar
stepped up and slashed you, got that one shallow
gash somewhere on your body. I like to think
that maybe it left a permanent, lasting scar.
What are your thoughts on that? I think that's
really cool. So, you're asking me about scar
placement? Yes, it's yes. I'd like you to tell
me, if you accept a scar, tell me where... I
accept a scar. Where'd you get cut? Your sword
gone. Leave yourself open. I come sliding in
with my spear. Well... And you bleed. If you
were a evil fish man with a spear, and you were
face -to -face with your enemy, where would you
strike? I'd go for the face. Really? I think
so. I was going to say the heart. Well, Blanche's
heart's protected by shell. I mean, if I can
get through that shell, I mean, the spear probably
could. Yeah, like turtle underbelly? Turtle underbelly?
That's true. Is that shelly? I don't think that's,
like, going to protect you from an, you know,
undefended spear attack. Yeah, I mean, I'm sure
it could pierce through. Yeah. For sure. So,
I mean, I don't think he made direct contact.
You know, he didn't pierce her right through
into the heart, but maybe just a skew right near
her heart. There's a scar that healed into an
X -like shape. I love it because it's like the
idea that one way or another, I was going to
scar your heart. Oh, you sick bastard. Wow. Hey,
that was you. You set that up. That is great.
Holy shit. And with that, we move on. The wedding
is over. Jean Franklin has left the party. Once
again, moving forward, we find ourselves with
the lack of a sidekick. Perhaps a void we will
find filled tonight. Perhaps. For it is time
to come home. I'll ask you guys. Let me toss
it to you. Before we leave Noari behind, Zinda,
the Golden Bay, all of it. Before we step onto
that Bastite conquered jewel. Is there any more
business you have in Noari? Do you want to run
any scenes? I don't know about, definitely not
a scene, but before leaving, Blanche sets her
apartment in order. She thinks she's going to
be gone for a little while. You know, she puts
sheets or something over the furniture. You know,
your stuff out in a cardboard box. No, no, she,
you know, she... She's been let go. I'm assuming
that she is able to come back to her apartment
at some point, her rooms. Fully fired. She turns
around to nobody. Who's coming with me? She goes
in and Jean's changed the lock already. Her stuff
is piled up in the hall. Oh, sorry, sir. It's
awkward, but we had to, uh... Okay, so I am assuming
that her room is still hers to come back to someday.
The master of offense will escort you out. She
just wants to grab a couple extra things is all.
Hell yeah. No, that's it. That's all I wanted
to say. Took a long time saying it. Go figure.
Go figure. Oh, we're in this mood tonight. Okay.
And she locks the door. and heads to the gem
station. You've been leaving this world over
and over for a while now, going on these crazy
adventures. First to San Satyan, then to Danatu
to fight the spiders. Actually, before that,
you went to Arnikek to get involved in some crazy
-ass sales flight race. You've been all over
the place. But through all of this, your home
has been here in the Golden Bay. Perhaps, in
a way, it still is, but... You feel it as you're
leaving that this is no short sort of reprieve
from your duties here. You have a task that it's
monumental. Right. Every time she's left up until
now, it's always been with the understanding
that it'll be for a short period of time and
that she has a responsibility to come back to.
This time she doesn't think it's going to be
a quick journey. And even before, when you leave,
you leave because Jaune's gotten himself involved
in some stupid -ass thing. He's like, oh, Jaune's
going to die again. Go save him. She's not leaving
for Jaune this time. Yeah. You're just leaving
for yourself. For her. Yeah. It's wild. You're
stepping into a new world, looking at a new horizon.
One filled with mystery. As you leave the Golden
Bay. Behind. You leave. Jules, anything you wanted
to do here before taking off? No. I think he
said what he's needed to say and done what he's
needed to do. Hell yeah. Imagine it's the morning
following the wedding. You had a full night of
celebration and goodbye. And so I think the goodbyes
this morning are not these deep, profound things,
but casual. Right. Because they truly are just
a simple see you later. You leave. Golden Bay.
I believe Chester might request a quick stopover
in Zinda before you go. Short ways out of the
way towards the Bastite Conquer Jewel. So he
can pick up some nice silks and foul bricks,
as well as a fine tailoring kit. Just, yeah,
so we've been gone for like, you know, what's
it, 11, 12 days now? I feel like people are going
to be kind of mad. It's been a long time. I don't
think we've been gone this long before. Like,
this is, uh, whew. So yeah, presents. Ha ha.
Have we really not been gone that long? No, every
time it's been a couple days. This time you're
gone for a while. Jeez. Enjoying the hospitality.
Wait, so this was longer in real time than the
whole Sansatian arc? Yeah. Holy shit. Sansatian,
we were counting the hours. It was like two days.
Oh my god. A lot happened in those two days.
Hell yeah. With gifts in hand. Chester follows
you. You know Elephant this time. You travel
down that familiar jungle path, cross over the
bridge that you battled the giant caiman beneath.
Tickalosh no longer swims in these waters, and
there's no tourists gathered around. A somber
thing. As you know now, he was simply poisoned.
Another victim of Devaluma. But that's a shadow
that lies in the past behind you as you move
towards... the rising sun of a new story. Write
that down. That was cool. You reach the... You
reach the Conqueror Jewel docking bay. You see,
as you're just getting here, there's the Bastet
Conqueror Jewel. Lowers. You climb aboard. And
now, Jerry, play your cool thing. It's like Jewel
rises up into the sky. It's already playing.
Play the cool part. And banishes. And you're
back on the Radiant Citadel. And we'll call it
there. That's it. That's the whole episode. That
was a super mini arc. Yeah. Here you are. You
step off the jewel, I think, immediately, as
kind of happens every time now when you return,
even since it's on world. I think I mentioned
it before in Orin, but paparazzi guild members
were homing Zinda for you. And the silent burrs
and Margus, they're kind of doing a lot to like
keep you sort of hidden as you're moving around,
keeping people back. But now that you're back
in the public, as you step off the jewel, words
already reached this Adele that Jules is coming
home. Blanche Trudeau coming with him. And you
just step off to the flashing lights, cameras.
Just people going wild. I think shield bearers
are sort of pushing away, opening a path for
you as they often have to do. It's kind of funny.
It's one of the main jobs that do is just keep
people back when important luminaries reenter
the sit down so they can go about their business
and not be bothered. Blanche sees a paparazzi
who asks her a question. She stops for a moment
to answer. In light of the. retirement of Jean
Franklin as a luminary, I think it is only appropriate
that another tortle take his place amongst their
ranks. I love that. Jean Franklin did not retire
as a luminary. Well, he's not... He's not...
He's not here for a bit. Doing his... True. He's
not active. He's not actively a luminary. Hell
yeah, hell yeah. So she'll say it differently.
I love it. I just don't want to create a plot
hole because he did say specifically he's going
to stay a luminary and he even took on the title
of the Fisher King. Oh, the Fisher King. Yeah,
yeah, yeah. Given Jean Franklin's leave of absence
as a luminary. Oh. Leave of absence. No, no.
Total luminary. This will be fun. More than looks
to you. Blanche Trudeau. Blanche Trudeau. What
will be your luminary title? We have the Midnight
Prince, we have... What do we call you? Well,
it's obvious, isn't it? You can call me the Master
of Defense. It's so cool! Oh, it's so cool! Master
of Defense! Holy... Shit. I love that so fucking
much. Don't want to give up that title, man.
It's so cool. I mean, you are. You are the master
of defense. Truly, you cannot be hit. It is one
of your foremost qualities. I love that. You
hear this. People are just screaming, shouting,
getting all excited for once. Jules, the spotlight's
shifted from you, and you're kind of able to
move around sort of carefully as people are just
really interested in this new luminary. Blanche
has been hot on the public's radar, and this
is a scoop. We have to get into all this stuff.
We're going to have to go and meet your incarnate
sometime soon here. Ooh. As they're screaming
at you, one question you think you hear above
all the others, just like, Blastredo! Master
Defense! What happened to Ozen? What happened
to the Storm Eye? Thank you, everybody. No, I
actually do not have a sidekick as of this moment.
We'll be looking. You were his apprentice, weren't
you? Were you not? Were you not? Thank you all
very much. And you. Start to move away. They're
the same person running over to get you. And,
like, the shield bearers sort of beat them back
as you move away from all of this. She handled
that well. That was very political. I love it.
It was good. It was good. Yeah, not ready to
answer those questions. Yeah. But maybe soon
you will be. Blanche, where are you staying?
John Franklin has a room at the pale moonlight
that I'm sure that's always there. He's still.
So like, I was going to like, I was going to
drop that later. Like I was going to go to, to
the ugly coyote and like hang out and do all
this stuff and then be like, okay, well I'm going
to return to my rooms and then walk into the
pale moonlight and be like, I believe the Fisher
King left me a room. He stole it from me. Hey,
Hey, it's cool. What is with you? Turtles. Humans
just don't know, don't have a taste. When comfort
presents itself. Besides, I quite enjoy Borogod's
company. Oh, yeah. I forgot about him. Paparazzi
left behind, you are moving through the citadel.
Where do you want to go first? You could swing
by the pale moonlight? I think Blanche is going
to follow where Jules goes. I assume back to
the ugly coyote. To check in with everybody,
get reacquainted. Where are you going, Jules?
He's going to the Coyote. All right, hell yeah.
I need you to see it before I describe it. Otherwise,
I'm railroading. I need to hear it. I imagine
it's just a familiar scene now. Hell yeah. Oh,
yeah, it is. It's a scene we're going to see
so many times in the show. But honestly, it's
a lot of fun to do it. Walking down the road,
like silhouetted in the moonlight. The citadel,
like the auroral diamond. Yeah. Just kind of
silhouetted. Every time he comes back, he's just
looked defeated and just tired. Yeah. This time
back without your buddy. But look at Chester.
Oh, Chester. Who's just walking down the streets.
He looks a little nervous. He's like jumping.
Nah. Okay. A little bit. He's excited to be home,
but he's a little nervous because he knows it's
been a little while. He thinks there may be a
little bit of trouble when he in particular gets
back. He's got this gift basket kind of held
up high like some mighty shield against all the
woes of the world. You... You guys are going
to be all right. Just talk it out, okay? Yeah,
yeah, of course. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just talk
it out. Just, um... Hey, Jules, she asks. Not
a drop, okay? I didn't drink. Jules, I did not
drink. I don't know what you're talking about.
Oh, yes, good. We were too drunk to remember.
I mean, no, we weren't. Is that lace I see in
that bag, Chester? You guys move up to the other
coyote. And as you're actually approaching the
saloon doors of the old rundown inn, looking
a little better now. Looks like some more money's
been put into it in the last ten day. The doors
actually seem to open before you get there. And
you see a figure is leaving the coyote. Kind
of pushing out, not really paying attention to
you. It almost runs into you. As you see the
red bandana holding back the black braided hair
of Kiana. Who... Pops up and... Oh, my. Jules,
you're back. Yeah. I see you're somebody else's
heroes now. I've heard a lot of talk about your
work on Noiri. We take care of our family. Well,
actually, speaking of family, I'm actually just
leaving to meet Uncle Coley for lunch. He'll
be glad to know you're back, though. He's been
worried about y 'all. Where's Jean? Uh, he's
staying back for a little while. He's got some...
He's got some things he's got to take care of.
Understandable. All right, I'll let you. So he
stops and looks at Chester and just kind of,
you got a gift for jeans? You've been gone a
while. Chester's, yeah, you know what? I think
it's something lacy. No, it's just a kind of,
oh, all right, well, your funeral. Good luck.
I should actually say, this is actually important
to me. In the book, in the art, Kiana wears jeans.
Jeans are canon in the Radiant Citadel, so jeans
has jeans too. They both have jeans. They're
jean friends. Yeah. I just want everyone to know
that. Denim jeans are canon. Yeah. They're canon
in this old -timey world. Hell yeah. I mean,
denim's really old. Denim's really old. It is
really old. Kiana kind of nods and gives you
a quick, like, very brief hug. She's always happy
to see you, Jules. You're her personal hero.
And she sort of kind of moves away, like, gotta
go. I'm running a little late, but I'll see you
later. Yeah, tell him I said hi. Will do. Yeah,
he'll be happy. She's kind of waving. Kind of
starts running down the street, and you turn
towards the old, ugly coyote. You push inside?
Yeah. As the door opens, you come face to face
with the edge of a blade. Proffered your way
in challenge as you hear round stuff speak and
say, Halt! Jules pulls out the stirred sword.
Holy crap, what is that? Let's see how your practice
is coming along. Yes. Let us lock blades. And
then when I win, I will be your sidekick too.
All right. Let's see what you got. Yeah. Let's
lock blades. Roll a check here. Oh, my God. What
am I rolling? Oh, man. What am I rolling? Roll
an attack roll against this child. No, let's
both roll attack rolls until you retire. Okay.
All right. Round stuff has like a plus 18 to
hit. Alright. She's been practicing a lot. 17.
You just quickly twist the sword and her dagger
in her hand goes flying off. Thunks into the
wood. Pulls out a kitchen knife. Again! 10. Against
a kitchen knife? Hang on. Just gotta roll. Let
the dice decide. Well, because I have a negative.
Goes flying. Pulls out a shiv. Jesus Christ.
Come on. I've been working really hard. I'm gonna...
What'd you get? I got a 14, but Jules plays it
off and... Oh, I rolled a natural one. Oh, shit.
She bashes her thing to the side a little bit.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Easy,
easy. Nice. Guess you need to let me join your
team. High five. Just like very low high five.
When you're old enough. What is your sidekick
name, child? I will be the raging rabbit. Is
that okay? That has quite the ring to it. I have
a bunny suit, I think. It's canon. Actually,
I'm going to say this, Blanche. It's very funny.
You're watching this wacky little thing take
place. What's funny here is obviously she's not
trained in any sense, but her form, the set of
her eyes when she goes to strike, the way she
holds the weapon loosely yet firmly. There's
potential here. As a person who knows students
who's trained before, you're like, wow, with
the right training and years, she could be something
special. Who taught you to hold a blade, raging
rabbit? Well, Mulligan did, but that's because
he was helping me help him cut the vegetables,
and now I can't do that anymore because I tried
to stab him that one time. That one time? Well,
because after that I didn't have a knife anymore,
but spoons get right in the belly. Farm is nothing
without discipline, child. Okay, how do I discipline?
Well, for one, you don't stab your friends. Oh,
and that makes me better? Start there, and that
will make you better. Okay, but if I don't stab
anyone, how do I get XP? I was taking a sip of
beer when you said that. You fool! Blanche has
a similar reaction, and kind of, like, laughs
it off. I am not going to engage anymore about
combat with this child. Or Blanche is not. You
just have this conversation with Jules, you're
kind of like, you're shaking your head, sitting
back, and then you hear kind of somewhere above
you, a very quiet like, Hey Jules, I'm glad you're
back. He doesn't even look. He's still looking
at round stuff. Good to see you too, Miskin.
No one sees me. I know. This voice, I will say,
you don't see it. You probably expect it, but
it's emanating from like a crawl space and the
ceiling with a small knot hole and one little
orcish eye staring down towards you. Gotta get
back to my rounds. I'll come visit you soon.
We'll have a milk together. Gotta do chocolate.
Yeah! It just kind of vanishes from his spot.
As all this commotion's happening, you see on
the top of the steps, Jeans kind of steps into
view, looks down at you, and starts running down
the stairs. Chester kind of, hey, darling, what's
going on? Puts his arms out expectantly, and
she pointedly moves right past him, hugs you,
Jules. Whoa. I'm so glad you're back. I've heard
stories of what happened. It's harrowing, wasn't
it? But you're back and you're safe, so it's
good. Yeah, we're all safe. Good. And she turns
from you, her eyes falling onto Chester, who
looks a little more sheepish now, kind of shaking
his, his gift basket sort of shaking his hands.
You were gone for the entire March of Vice. Did
you have fun, Chester? Oh, you know what? Not
at all, because I was missing you so bad. Couldn't
have any fun. She's just, this lawnmower is just
staring at him. You've been drinking. A lot.
No, wait, wait, wait, that's not true. She just
grabs him by the ear. Come on. No, ow, ow, ow,
ow, ow, ow, ow, ow. Jules, hey, hey, Jules, help,
help. No. She's just dragging him upstairs. Wait,
wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Talk it out. Talk
it out. I had to blow off some steam, all right?
Things got bad. They got real bad on the first
day, right? You see she, like, stops, maybe midway
up the stairs, and looks back to him, and...
I heard, yes. So it was pretty bad then. Are
you all right? I heard there were deaths. Yeah,
you know, a few, but it's fine. I'm good, you
know? There's a long stare. Sweetie, I'm good,
alright? Come on, I want to give you some presents.
I have presents! She takes the bag in front of
her and she sort of smiles at that and her eyes
flicker to you, Jules. I think she shares a slightly
concerned, kind of long look. I think Jules has
the same expression. Then her eyes flicker back
to the shaking present. Come on, hey, it's good
stuff. You can sew that dress you want to sew
for round stuff, huh? Get her out of that weird
bunny suit. Though she's pretty attached to it,
I don't know. Come on. And she kind of grabs
him, this time by the hand, not the ear, and
leads Chester up the stairs. All right, Jules,
I'm gonna be on for a while. See you later. Doors
close upstairs. Chester also leaves the party.
Chester has acquired ball and chain. I should
say this too, because I realize now listening
to older episodes, I just want to get people
aged up to where I feel happy with it. I did
say Jeans was 13 when this all started. I'm going
to say her birthday happened just after the fall
of the Sapphire, because I've been thinking of
her as 14 at least all this time. So she's 14
now, Chester's 16. Two -year gap. Is that weird?
I don't think so. I hope not. Two -year gap?
Two -year gap. Two -year gap. She's a little
bit older than that. I don't think so. Or a little
bit older than... Her birthday's a little earlier
than his, so she's 14 when he's... Anyway. They're
teenagers. I'm more into it about this. Yeah,
they're teenagers. It's fine. Who else is in
this fucking crazy -ass place? I don't know.
You tell us. You hear... After this goes away,
they go away, door closes, you're sitting there
for a brief moment of silence, and you're gonna
hear Luke go, Hey! Hey! Hey! Oh! No! No! And
you hear, like... Like, you see Ader starts running
out of the kitchen from behind the bar. As you
see Mulligan comes running out with a ladle he's
whacking him with. Just, how many times do I
need to tell you to keep your nasty fingers out
of the chowder? Oh, hey Jules. I've been waiting
for you. I baked a special cake for your return,
but somebody ate it two days ago. Looks to Ader,
who kind of sheepishly, well, you know, it was
a pretty good cake. How the heck did you ever
run this place alone? You only make all of our
jobs harder. Ader just looks kind of sadly down.
Rats are just, leave Ader alone. He doesn't mean
to be a horrible menace. Ader just kind of looks
sort of sad. But then he kind of looks up at
you, Jules. And there's something very, very
serious and very grim in his eyes. He says, I'm
glad you're back. When you catch a second, you
mind helping me with something in the back room?
I got the second. Okay. You go with him? Yeah.
Blanche, you kind of stay behind. Round Stuff
is like turning her weapon towards you now. You
look strong. Let's go. Yeah, if Blanche wasn't
asked for, yeah, she'll stay and play with Round
Stuff. This is so awesome. Oh, it's so cool.
Just imagine. That's like just like stand up
straight out exactly You step into the back room
which is also the kitchen I forgot here's the
bedroom is the kitchen which is part of why Mulligan
probably hates him so much right now It's Morgan's
I am currently working on something. Hey, we
just need a quick second tools. Could you uh,
please? I have no control over these kids. Just
give us a second. Come on Oh sure thing tools
nods a few what it was that easy. Why is it?
Okay Well, look, I don't want to bother you immediately
with things like this, but... Well, it's par
for the course these days. Yeah. About a week
back, I went out, busy a night in the bar. Don't
know who did it. Never saw a face, never saw
a form, but pulls out. He reaches under his mattress,
under his pillow, and slides an envelope out.
This was waiting. It's addressed to you. Jules
takes it. As you look down, you see the very
familiar wax seal in the back, the mottled white
and blue pressed into the form of five towers
of Sarul, your family's mark. Damn. I don't know,
this is probably overkill, but I was trying to
see if I could cast Dispel Magic. Oh, interesting.
But I am out of slots for that one, so I cannot.
You have actually fully... You would have had
a long rest. We did. Okay, I'm going to cast
a spell of magic. Just in case. It might be paranoia,
but... You don't feel any magic coming from it.
As you cast it, I think you go and there's nothing.
But hey, it never hurts to be paranoid when it
comes to her. You open it? Yeah. I'll give you
some time. He moves away, kind of feeling this
is something bigger than him. The door closes
as you pull out a single piece of parchment.
A very short letter. And you read. My dear baby
boy, you must know that our house has been pushed
into a delicate position by the lies of the ignorant.
I know how you must worry for your family. Our
kingdom is gone. Your father, ever the fool we
locked away for centuries. Your dear cousin has
it all, power stripped from her. It is now utterly
useless to us. You'll be right to worry for them
both. my child. But you need not worry for me.
In the midst of this chaos, I have left the Citadel.
I will not tell you where I am now, only that
I will be staying with a close friend. She has
recently adopted a young boy of her own, and
I'll be helping to raise him. I will teach him
all that I taught you when you were a child.
He does not have your stubbornness, so I expect
my lesson to be rather... Eye opening. But never
fear, my little boy. This new prospect could
never replace you in my heart. Soon enough, mummy
will come back for you. Jules balls it up. And...
Damn, I want to set it on fire. But I can't think
of a cool way to do it. Yeah, he doesn't have
anything that creates fire. Is there a fireplace
in there? Can you create fire with bardic creation?
We were in the kitchen. I don't think fire is
an item. Yeah, there's like a... Okay, yeah,
I'll go to a stove. Yeah, there's a stove there.
I'll crumple it up, turn the stove on. It's already
on. There's chowder cooking off, so you just
throw it right in the fire. Okay, cool. I just
throw it right on. Throw it right in the chowder.
Throw it right on. Hell yeah. Just stand there,
watching the letter burn away. I imagine a short
time later, you step back outside. Yeah. I think
he doesn't even give it a second thought. He
throws it on the flames and then walks out while
it's still... Burning a Danvers. I'm taking the
chowder. Oh, you'll have to put it back on the
burner. Sorry. It smells amazing in there, by
the way. He's getting better. Not after that
leather got burned. Maybe not. Good thing you
cast the spell magic. That would have been rock
chowder. Hell yeah. You step back out. Everyone's
kind of doing their thing. I think, like, maybe
we just see a moment of round stuff getting disarmed
again. Oh, man. Okay, well, all right. So I'm
going to practice the foot thing you said and
the fundamentals, and then, yeah, you're going
down. Keep trying. I'll see how you progress
the next time we return. Okay. Yeah. Oh, she's
looking around. I think she's, like, counting
on her fingers, like, jeans and mulligan later.
I think you saw Kiana and Miskins on the ceiling
for some reason. And... Fibro! Oh! Oh, Fibro's
looking for you! I was supposed to tell you that
when I saw you. He's looking for you. Alright,
where's he at? Oh, he's not here. He's at Xena's.
With Arhalon? They've been spending a lot of
time over there lately. Huh. Well, I'm glad to
hear that. Yeah. He's getting out. Yeah. Learning
more. And Xena's so nice. Yes, she is. She made
me a whole goat. I couldn't eat the whole thing,
but she gave me a whole goat. You couldn't eat
the whole thing? That was a lot of goat. I'm
a little disappointed. I know. This just has
to be the whole show. We're just doing this.
Just a conversation with Ron, Stefan, Jules,
and Blanche. Seriously. The whole show. The whole
show. And Misskin watching. Cute as fuck. That's
what we want to do. I'm so happy to go another
round, but you've also heard that Fibro's looking
for you. Yeah. I'm going to go to Fibro. Okay.
All right. Xenas to see Fibro. Blanche, you hear
this, and maybe a thought strikes your mind now
that you hadn't really connected before. You
came back here because you wanted to discover
what happened to Ozen. What happened before Tithos.
And you remember, there already is a detective
on the case. You've met him briefly before. to
go over the file footage. He acted very strange
then, like something disturbed him in those,
and he almost seemed to forget the experience.
It was a very strange feeling. You never actually
met him on Sansatian, but you know of Arhalon
Brass, who is looking into Ozen. He was there,
a witness. Jules gave the whole update on everything,
and part of that was Arhalon heard Ozen speak.
During it all, he said some lie, a very strange
line, as he was cutting down the luminaries that
were there. What I do, I do for Shadra Khan.
Jules, if it's quite all right with you, I'd
like to accompany you to Sazina's. I wish to
speak with Arhalon. Yeah, of course. I mean,
we're partners now of sorts. I see it that way,
too. I'm glad. Same. Come on. Let's go. All right.
Maybe you can tell me all about this Xena on
our way. Oh, boy. I hope you save some room for
dinner. And with that, we just, boom, smash cut.
You are standing before Xena's door. You're over
there in, like, the sort of... The great sort
of iron doors that lead into the Citadel are
nearby. You're in a sort of circle of, like,
nice kind of manors, villas that surround this
space. Set out for, like, the kind of important
elites who aren't technically allowed into Aurora
Town. And Xena has a manor amongst them. As you
look, it's very nice on the outside. You know,
lawn is well manicured, garden is well maintained.
Outside is kept up very, very clean. From what
you've heard... Inside this building is going
to be a very, very different story. You guys
going to knock on the door? Yeah. Didn't you
hear weird sounds coming from inside? Here, a
pile of something crashes, some glass breaks.
And finally, Scattery steps up to the door. The
door opens, and you see this huge half -dragon.
She's almost like a female Arhalon, just standing
before you, looking around. Looks to you, Blanche,
with kind of a quizzical sort of look, headcocks,
and looks to you, Jules, and her eyes widen.
Oh! Oh, you! I remember you! You were that red
-haired boy! You were Zebulon's only friends!
Yeah. Yeah, I remember you! It's good to see
you, Xena. You too! I'm really sorry. You haven't
seen her since. He was special. In a lot of ways.
Yeah. He was the best. Oh my gosh. I'm so rude.
Come in. I've said you're a goat. I was hoping
you'd come. I have a goat for you. I've had it
for a while. Julius looks over to Blanche. Gives
her a little nudge. Oh, who's this old thing?
I am sorry, miss, for your loss. I thought to
bring you a small gift. And Blanche grabs, I
don't know, something from her, like, components
pouch, some little bauble. Oh, my goodness. She
grabs it and holds it open. Spectacular. Beautiful.
I know, just a blast. She throws it over her
shoulder. Perfect. Lights up and the whole room
is just piles and piles. The thing is gone. It
falls into a pile, rolls behind some stuff, is
gone forever. Um, but it's perfect. Lovely. Lovely.
Um, it was like, you look into this, cause once
upon a time, there's probably a bunch of rooms
all separated in this mansion, but you look at
like, like there's no rooms in here anymore.
All the, all the Wall Street rooms are burned
away or torn apart to make room for more stuff
piles. Um, She's kind of just looking into the
air, just looks like, Arr, Arr, you should come
see Arr while you're here. Arr's here. He's in
the back. Ah, yes, I am sorry to impose. I would
like to speak with Arhalon, if at all possible.
Great, great. Please let him know that dinner
will be served in 15 minutes, for I am a slow
-roasted goat. That sounds quite fast. Yes. You
must be already almost done. My slow roast is
a very quick roast. I have fire breath. Fifteen
minutes. We shall be brief then. She just leaves.
She just gestures. I think you see she points
to the back left of this open sort of interior
space. You can't see anything back there. It's
just piles and piles. She's like, if you go and
curve around there, turn left of the broken armchair,
and when you see the shard wine bottle, not the
first one, the third one. No, not the third one.
The fourth one. Then you turn left, and you keep
going. The back left. It's a back left. You'll
find it. As we're walking along, Blanche is like,
She said to the broken armchair, they appear
to all be in various degrees of broken. You carefully
move through just this labyrinth of junk, and
eventually you find a space where the floor had
been mostly cleared. Though you see books and
books have been piled in the semi -naked stacks
just everywhere, just walls of tomes. You know,
normally everything in the place is just all
screwed about randomly but here's just books
and books books there's some scattered along
to the floor uh you also said that the wall here
has been fully overtaken by portraits or like
diamond camera captured still images um news
scroll clippings maps torn pages from books and
handwritten notes all connected by a mess of
red string it's like a different kind of horde
a different kind of mess sure yeah um runs in
the family perhaps yeah you kind of turn the
corner see all this and you're about to Call
out and sizzling, and you just hear a voice ring
out from somewhere behind one of these walls
of books. It goes, Aha! Excelsior! I found it!
It's written here! You hear, like, another, like,
someone sits up. You see Firebird's face go up.
What? Where? Read it out. Miss Tan's Explorations
of Zantini's Wild Flora. The Laopop flowers first
appeared during the miracle of the risen mountains,
as noted by writer Fimey Moon in his personal
journal, Climbing the Mountain. So there is an
autobiography! And we have a name! Stupendo Arhalon!
Oh, most excellent work! If we can cross from
Fimey Moon's own experiences, then we can certainly...
And then slowly, Fairo just realizes that you're
like... He just turns... Oh! Oh! Jewels! You're
back! Hey, guys. Sounds, gentlemen. Here are
books. Tapper, as Arhalon steps up and knocks
over a whole... Oh, damn it. Jules, hello. We
are making fine work in uncovering this mystery.
Ah, do tell. Well, they may be like... I think
you say that, and they kind of look towards each
other, like, just this long kind of cocked heads,
things, you know, eyes doing things. And then,
if I'm real funny, they kind of just nod to Arhalon.
And he turns back. It has been on my mind since
that fateful day, since Ozen spoke those words
to me. What I do, I do for Shadrakhan. I knew
that it must be at the heart of all this madness,
that word, that phrase. And now, well... He pans
over to Fibro, who very excitedly just jumps
in. We think we may know what Shadrakhan is.
Doesn't Jules know what Shadrakhan is? Yeah.
You know vaguely this. It was referred to as
the world of spirits. Though other translations
later on would have made it something like the
world of the ancients, the world of serpents.
It's hard. There's a lot of various translations
out there. But what it is, you don't know. And
it's pointed out to you that there's no world
for spirits. In Sapsanko, where originally you
heard these words, the spirits live in the world
amongst everyone else. There is no separate world
of the spirits. Not that... anyone's aware of
so it was a mystery what is this what and why
would ozen reference some some some phrase you
heard on susanko and maybe like you know what's
going on um but they seem to have something way
more concrete and the way they're looking at
each other the way they're standing the way do
you look like they they look like they haven't
slept in days Fyro's wearing the same clothes
he probably has worn like a week ago. And like,
there's pillows and stuff on the floor here.
Like, they're just like, there's books in front
of them where they probably fall asleep reading.
They give each other pillows as they do. You
get the distinct impression these two have been
buried in this little corner of this room for
days. Well, out with it, man. What about Ozen?
Another kind of look. And Fyro, we... Okay, just
hear me out. We can't tell you. Not until we
confirm our findings. And not until we fill you
in on what information we have gathered. It's
possible we have leapt to an incorrect conclusion
in our excitement. We don't want to push you
into the same way of thinking. It's not scientific.
Not when your fresh perspectives could reach
a different conclusion from ours and change everything.
But if we give you the evidence we have acquired
and you find yourselves sharing in our thoughts,
then that would be ideal. That proves it, right?
Then we're right. And you're right. Please, Jules,
humor me. It's almost like the DM can't just
give us the answers. Almost. You do know you're
talking to the person who might be able to fill
in some pieces. That's exactly what we want.
Or give some intimate insight. We'll give you
all the information we have. We just won't give
you the conclusion we've come to because we just
need different perspectives. We haven't slept
in days. Not much. A couple hours here and there.
We're crazy now. Lance, tell him your perspective.
Full fucking crazy, it's true. Well, as Jules
has alluded to, I personally knew Ozen Yoshikatsu.
I'm deeply invested in finding out what happened
to him. So I will hear you out. Present me with
your information, and I will do my best to come
to my own conclusion. Arhan looks troubled. I
think he just kind of looks at you for a long
moment and then... That's right. He had disciples.
You were one of them. He was an idol to me in
my youth. I always thought he was the best of
men. I always thought he was a hero, truly. And
then... Was he like this before? I watched him
murder Demilich and Gaius. He cut Okatapuri to
ribbons in a second. Didn't give her a chance
to fight back. A coward's strike. It's not the
Ozen I'd heard stories of. I thought the same
as you. And perhaps more of Master Ozen. But
I understand that you too have, not of your own
power, swung against those you loved. And I've
come to understand that you... Blanche Trudeau,
the detective that discovered why. Beezer's breath.
I may never have known what caused me to turn
my hand on Jules, on my brother, without your
investigative work in Zinda. I've heard the stories
in the network. You are something else. Thank
you, Ahalan. And it is because of that profound
respect that I once had for Ozen. that I choose
to give him the benefit of the doubt and use
my investigative skills to get to the bottom
of why this happened. I understand that you could
be of great help in that quest. Arlon smiles
this great smile, puts a hand out towards you,
and I'll say it is his right hand he puts out,
which seems, after all this time... to finally
regain all use. Very cool. A slight sort of glowing
comes off of it. Arhalon, fully at his best.
We just have to shake your hand. We've met briefly
before, but when you showed me the files you
found in Itzmindo Prado's manor, but oddly I
can't recall much of the scenario when we...
But yes, I am Arhalon, and it is good. Speak
with you. Hold on. Does Steven remember why he
doesn't recall it? We kind of mentioned it offhand
as sort of a part of this, but when you were
going over those files, one of them was about
Zebulon. It talked about Zebulon's father. Oh,
yes, yes, yes. And it's been noted that despite
everything, despite what he knows, he can't remember
a single detail about Zebulon's father. And even
though the details seem to fade, in Arhalon,
upon hearing... just his father reference right
lost his shit and then went full blank afterwards
and it seemed like he forgot most of the entire
encounter there most of the entire like scene
gotcha played out yeah blanche will reach to
meet his hand and shake it uh yes i regret that
our time then was brief but it seems like well
it seems like we have a little bit of time to
get into the weeds and try to figure this all
out hell yeah and now i'm going to add Arhalon
Brass to your sheet once again as a sidekick.
Nice. As you kind of have this moment shaking
hands, I think Phyro speaks up just like, well,
if you want to speed up a process, we do need
to double check a few things. There's a few references
we just came across today and last night that
if we can find the proper materials, we may be
able to... decipher more. As Fibro's talking,
Blanche is shuffling through her bag and she
pulls out her eyes of minute seeing and rests
them low on her little turtle snout. She's ready
to dive in and help out. Oh, you're ready to
read? I love this. Yeah, just full on investigating.
Fibro goes, just like, so I'll throw everything
we have at you, but there are a few more books
we need. I need to sleep. Desperately. Would
anyone be willing to maybe pick up a few books
for me from the book den? It's right down the
road from the Coyote. It's a wonderful place.
You should really know it. You're a wizard, right?
As a wizard, you've got to know the book den.
I'm very interested. I shall go and fetch your
books for you. Yes, I could use a chance to spread
my wings a little. I will join you if it's all
right. You don't need to sleep yourself, uh -huh?
Ah, never. He's like half fallen asleep. He's
standing up. He stands up and he fully kind of
stumbles back, knocks on the power box. Ah, shit.
You'd better wait here. Xena said your dinner
will be done in... She checks her sundial. Any
minute now, I should suspect. Oh dear, not another
goat. Please. I can't eat another goat. She said
this time it will be slow roasted. That's still
burned to shit. Either way, I shall retrieve
the books. Jules, have you been to this book
den? Would you care to accompany me? Yeah, I'll
go. I'll take a walk. Very well. We shall find
our way. The list, Fibro. Oh, yes. Hang on. Actually,
real quick, and he kind of reaches around behind,
and then he's like moving around real quick,
grabbing books under his arm. And he's like,
Xena had a few books buried in her treasure hoard.
She said she doesn't mind if we take a few to
trade with Penny. Surely these will be enough
to trade into to borrow what we need from her.
It's pretty rare stuff, but I've been working
on a bit of a list here. And he comes over, you
see like there's a book called Brand of the Unicorn,
a book called Darkness Rising, Mirrored Hope,
and one of the very bottom, very thick, weirdly
big book called Proper Tea Preparation. No doubt
Arhalon's book. Here, if you just want to bring
these, surely she'll take these in trade. But
what we need here, and he pulls out like a quill
out of nowhere behind his ear, paper behind his
other ear somehow. He's writing down. Finding
Moon's autobiography, Climbing the Mountain.
We just discovered this one. A scroll we're looking
for. She might have this called Song of Our Deliverance.
Let's see here. It's from God's Breath. Oh, kind
of size. Xena's looking for the sequel to The
Romantic. novel Moondust, The Moon in My Hands.
Oh, that's a good one. That's a good one. It's
supposed to be very good. Do you have one? Because
Gina's looking for one. I don't, I don't. Okay,
well, you can find one. Gina has made me promise
to. I've had it to a page, Tanner. It is very
much also Tales of the Dragon, an amazing book
about the creation of the Shrine of Storms, and
Dragonbone would be the last one, the origin
of Dyalongon's sort of great sky bridges. I know
it seems random, but these are all very, very
important. Very, very important. You'll see when
you get back when you read them. I'll show you
what to look for. He hands it over. Please. You
told me to remind you to do the payout. Payout.
Oh, no. We're so late in the episode now. I'll
do it next time. Yeah. Just keep that in. So
people know why I didn't do payout. Oh, well,
I set it off mic purposefully because I didn't.
No, the way I do it now, it's on mic enough.
Okay. Hell yeah. It'll sound funny. And now I'm
going to leave all of this explanation in, so
it's a lot funnier. A little behind -the -scenes
sneak peek. Sneak -a -doof. This is what we usually
cut out. Yeah, Blanche will grab the list, because
God knows that she won't remember the names if
she doesn't have the list. You grab the list,
and somehow, as you pull the paper, Fyro's already
under a blanket on his pillow, and he's like,
Stupendo! I'm just asleep. All right. Take our
leave and head to the book den. Let's go for
a stroll. You go to a stroll. I think as you're
moving out the door, you can hear, Okay, it's
ready. Xena, Xena. The whole place is filled
with smoke. Guys, go, go, go, go. I think they're
sleeping, actually. Oh, damn. It's all right.
I'll keep roasting it. It'll be so slow roasted.
I hear goat. Excellent leftovers. Wonderful leftovers.
We'll be back in one hour? Will we be back in
one? Yes! I am not prepared to make a time commitment.
We'll be back in one hour, and I will slow, slow,
slow roast it for one more hour. You can see,
like, a charred wreckage behind her. We ate on
the road, but you're most kind. Nonsense! I'll
see you in one hour! You turned to me. Good day,
Xena. You turned to Maddie, you sure... His fire,
like... So stupid. I love Xena. It's been so
long. Oh, my gosh. The entire episode was just,
like, the wacky cast of characters in the city.
Let's go meet all of them. Yeah, yeah. As you're
walking down the road, you bump into Shule. Not
really. So you move down the road, move down
towards the coyote. You're going down the trade
disc all to where, once again, the shops sort
of go smaller and smaller. Public, it's a lot
less... Public -y? What's the word I'm looking
for? The public gets a lot less public -y? Shut
up. So anyway... You mean it's like more residential?
It's quiet. It's quieter down here. This is where
the ugly coyote is. It's here towards the tail
end of the great sort of citadel fossil because,
you know, it doesn't want a lot of people. And
so there's cheaper properties down here. And
amongst them is the book den. You see a very
quaint little shop. Quite small, actually, for,
you know, being some great hoard of books like
Favreau seems to think it is. Looks like maybe
a two -story shop. Small sort of entrance right
in the front. Kind of top between some larger
buildings. Very rustic looking. Do you want to
go in? I was expecting something a little grander,
but maybe she procures specialty books and scrolls.
I suppose we can give it a shot, eh, Jules? Yeah.
Opening the door to the shop, you are met with
the smell of old leather and fresh ink. See the
walls are lined with shelves of books, writing
supplies, and possibly some magical scrolls.
See a set of stairs leads up to the second level,
blocked off with rope and a simple private access
sign hanging from the banister to the wall. And
you see as you go in, a young elven woman sits
behind the purchasing counter, her nose buried
in a book. She seems to be totally enveloped
in the words she's reading, but notices as you
walk in. turns up to greet you by saying... Hello.
Welcome to the book den. And we'll call it there!
Hell yeah! So... Tune in next time because we're
partnering up with Meg, Hungry Familiar, and
her zine, The Book Den, for this next one where
we got Meg's voice clips, as you just heard.
Got a bunch of them. We're soundboarding this.
And also, just so you know, all those book titles,
or at least a good, good amount of them, all
Meg's titles from her zine. So check her out.
And we'll see you next week.