Hey pants people, I just want a quick second
here to bend your proverbial ear or proverbially
bend your actual I don't care. This episode and
this podcast is a huge, huge pride point for
all of us here. Now, I know we aren't exactly
a big fish in the podcast sea, or like even a
regular -sized fish. We're a minnow, damn it.
But we're a minnow with 100 main episodes, and
we've had a blast recording with an incredible
community of folks that have become part of the
story of Fancy Pants, as well as the story of
Fancy Pants, if you know what I mean. Seriously,
from the bottom of our hearts, thank you all
for listening and for believing in the little
podcast that could. I gird your loins, one and
all, for episode 100 of Fantasy Pants. of sharing
with y 'all so many incredible things. We've
seen the rise of new brave souls stepping into
the role of luminary adventurers. We've seen
the end of Taif's civil war and the revolution
of the downtrodden on Sansatyan. Worlds shaped
by the deeds of the righteous and the kind. But
there has been tragedy too. Tithers never hangs
on our hearts. I'm getting distracted though.
What I really mean to say is thank you. Seriously.
Thank you. Every one of you listening to me now,
every one of you that has heard my stories and
followed my words, our worlds are filled with
incredible folk doing incredible things. But
outside of their direct effects, these acts amount
to little without being heard. They inspire nothing,
and they fade away. By tuning into our show,
you're spreading the word, and you're giving
a second life to these stories. So, yeah. Thank
you all so much. Anyway. We shall bring it on
to our next story. For a minute there, I thought
you were going to say, like, I want to thank
you all, but I'm retiring. There's twists to
come in episode 100, but that's not one of them.
Episode 100! Episode 100! New theme song! New
theme song! Yes! This calls for a fear -abration.
I already opened my thing. Hey, oh, sorry. Jesus
Christ, David. Whoa, easy there. Hey, hey. Prost.
Prost. Prost. Yeah, we did it. 100, baby. What
a wild day. And actually, after this, we're going
to wrap up episode 100. We're going to go home
to our separate lives. Jeremy's going to stay
here because it is home. Yeah. I'm already in
my PJs, man. We're going to jump into an interview
with Hunter. Yeah, that's going to be super cool.
Hunter has a couple of shows. What we didn't
mention was that one of his shows, his third
show, or fourth or fifth, this guy's crazy busy.
He does interviews. And we're on one. So what
a wild night this is going to be. And what's
the name of the show? What's the name of Hunter's
show? Yes, Hunter's interview show, Over the
Table. Over the Table, yes. Okay, tip my tongue.
Yes, yes, yes, yes. We'll be recording that tonight.
We don't know exactly when it's going to come
out, but stay tuned, watch our spaces, and we'll
share it with you. Yeah, hell yeah. And thank
you again, Hunter. Can't wait to talk to you
later. Or a few weeks ago or some time ago. I
don't know what this lines up with when you're
listening to the show when we're talking. Anyway,
yeah. It's all relative, man. Time is relative.
Time is weird. It's a flat circle. We got to
talk a lot about time. Before we talk about time,
what do you want to talk about here in episode
100? I got a little thing. I feel like I got
a thing. What do you guys got? It's been a ride.
It's been a ride. It's been a ride. It's been
a crazy ride. I can't believe we are here. Danny,
no. Oh, Danny, Danny. Danny really wants to pull
my mic over. yeah man I can't believe we're at
100 it's really weird I'm but I'm excited about
what the next 100 looks like yes yes and like
I'm not saying anything set in stone but I've
put it out there a few times to the guys that
like I don't know where we are in the story exactly,
right? But we're moving pretty fast, and there's
some arcs that I might just decide to, yeah,
skip. Because I'm so excited to, like, move into
where we are now. The plot's really coming together.
100 episodes in, and we know what the plot is.
Isn't that crazy? Isn't that exciting? Right.
We're getting to figure it out. Well, you know,
now that we're so deep into this plot and things
are starting to come out, it would be weird to,
like, go do a pepper -eating contest right now.
We'll see. You know what I mean? I mean, I'd
be down for round two. Let's do it. Let's just
do that. Damn, you son of a bitch. Episode 100
and you still haven't learned. But I was going
to say, I was going to say, before I silence
my phone, maybe, just maybe, 200 will be the
end of our show. Maybe not long after. I don't
know. We could be 50%, 50 % through this incredible
story. I don't know. I'm blown away. I'm excited.
It's nice to like get a gauge, be like, okay,
this is maybe sort of kind of sort of where we're
at. So if you listen to the first hundred, I
hope you stick around for the second hundred.
And then who knows what's after that? It's not
like I don't think any of us want to disappear.
So I've got plans. What happens after episode
200? Stay posted on Discord, Instagram, all that
good stuff. We start our rap career after that.
Yes. Gentlemen, I have a question for you. Yeah.
Clearly, this is monumental. This is very exciting.
Everything we've been doing with the show has
been such a wild, crazy thing. And we're like,
we've got so much crazy stuff to do and see and
experience. But I want to know in your personal
lives, you know, because I'm thinking about how
we're here. We're hitting the peak of our show.
When did you peak? When did you personally peak
in your life? What was your big moment? What
the fuck kind of question is that? I'll let you
know. I guess I'll let you know. You're wording
it like it's already happened. It has. Oh, okay.
Well, then you tell me yours. I will tell you
mine. Oh, it's easy. Easy answer. The day of
my wedding. Wait, it's not what you think. So
corny. No, it's not what you think. My wife's
going to kill me for not instantly saying that.
Hold on. There's a reason why it was so good.
And it wasn't the wedding part. So on the day
of my wedding. Look at my wife's eyes. It's beautiful.
All that. Cool. But anyway, as we're about to
walk down the aisle to leave following the ceremony,
I get to pick all the music. And I had the DJ
play up the opening number with the main theme
song from Dragon Quest VIII. And hearing those
trumpets blare, I had my friend hand me a cane,
and I strolled down that aisle with a cane listening
to the Dragon Quest VIII theme, and I have never
been more cool. Dude, I knew you were going to
say a game that I have no idea what the hell
it is. Dude, he always talks about Dragon Quest.
You have to know what Dragon Quest is. Do you
know what Dragon Quest is? It's so good. Yeah.
I love Dragon Quest so much. It's like my thing.
I don't know. I certainly won't call it my peak.
It's not as cool as mine. It was still pretty
cool, though. My wedding party walked to the
RuneScape theme song. Oh, that's right. I was
in that. You were there. I was going to say,
I was like... Oh, that was really cool. That
was really cool. Yeah, that was a good one. That
was a good one. Not my peak, though. Not your
peak. Peak? Jeez Louise. Yeah. Criminy. I don't
know. Jeremy, you next. You've had a really boring
life. It's fine. Yeah, I guess so. You played
checkers once. That was your peak. I think in
a couple of years, I'm going to step it up to
chess or Chinese checkers. Oh, damn. We'll see
how brave I'm feeling. Jeremy Wolf. Oh, it's
nice to know that you're doing a... Podcasts
with two best friends on the decline. Yeah. Yeah.
I guess I'll be the one to carry us forward because
my peak's still to come, baby. Oh, come on. Come
on. Yeah. Be honest with the pants people. Okay.
Well, how about this? How about let's rephrase
it a little bit because I have something that
I think is pretty cool for me, you know, in my
life, but I certainly wouldn't call it my peak.
Give me like a life. Not even life -changing,
but like a life -defining moment. Like something
that really makes you. Okay, I'll do mine first.
I'll do mine first. I just threw my phone off.
Holy shit. And I dropped it. Have you guys ever
truly, genuinely entered what they call the zone?
Every day. You're going to have to be a little
more specific. What kind of zone is this? um
you hear you hear athletes talk about it a lot
it's like when everything like slows down and
you're just like oh yeah it's on rocket league
all the time i know legitimately i feel that
when i dm sometimes really i'm really hot in
a session i'm feeling really good about it and
like and it's like it's almost like an out -of
-body experience It's almost addicting when you
really kind of feel like you're improv -ing and
pieces are coming to you really well. It's like
the rare Once Upon a Blue Moon. I'm not a good
improver. But when it lands, it's amazing. I
think it's like love. I think it's like you know
it when you're there sort of thing. You know
what I mean? One time in my life. Okay. I was
in the zone. Okay. All right. I was a lad. Eighth
grade. Oh, I think I know this story. Oh, you
certainly know this story. With a corncob pipe.
I was a student athlete, and I did track and
field. And in eighth grade, every single track
meet, I got second place to Zach. I don't remember
Zach's last name or anything much about him,
but I remember he was my frenemy. If you're listening,
Zach, screw you. My bitter rival. Yeah, Zach
from... Somewhere in southern New Hampshire.
Yeah. Find him, people. And both Zach and I,
who were at the sort of like top of the ticket,
made it to our, you know, middle school state
championship. Ooh. That's a big deal. That's
a big deal, Steven. Yeah, it was pretty cool.
It was pretty cool. So it was my last throw,
my last put, excuse me, nomenclature, words matter.
And I entered this zone. Everything really like
slowed down and it almost felt like I was like
out of my body and everything just went perfectly.
And I beat Zach. Yeah, it was great. It was fantastic.
The banner with your name still hangs in our
elementary school. Because you peaked in middle
school. See, that's what I was trying to avoid.
No, I'm married now. I'm a homeowner. I just
came back from this wonderful vacation. I'm doing
cool stuff at work. I've got upward trajectory.
I'll never beat Zach again. Fuck Zach. With all
the depression out of the way. Any other stories,
any anecdotes? Do you want to get to our next
peak? Yeah, sorry. I took up like a bunch of
time. Episode 100. That was cool. It's a cool
story. We're just like 25 minutes in. We're 12
minutes in. Oh, well, that's, you know. We'll
just call the Blanche scenes. We'll go for it.
You guys ready for this? We skipping over Jeremy?
Yes and no. What? I said, if you have any more
stories, right? I gave you the option. Do you
want to jump in? No, well, okay, if Stephen's
going back to middle school. Yeah, yeah. Fuck
it, I'll go back to middle school sports, too.
I know you have a wild history. This doesn't
have to be peak things. Like, I mean. I'm going
to pick on you, though, after you say it. I was
playing football in junior high. you were a football
guy that's that's surprisingly i was kind of
i kind of was like forced into it i'm just trying
to imagine like emo band jeremy oh dude you're
playing football too yeah yeah but were you still
i was terrible at it i had no idea what the hell
was going on i didn't know you had to memorize
plays so the coach would just say hey go out
there and i'd run out there and just stand there
cool where did i go were you still like six nine
though at this time like yeah no six eight Just
shy of pro. No, this kid that was like bullying
me a little bit. We were playing against him
and his team. And I saw him running at me. And
I'm like, shit, he's coming for me. I'm like,
but I'm going to come for him. Nice. And I got
into the zone. Fucking leveled him. What was
his first name? No. No? You don't know his first
name? No, I'm not going to say his first name.
It was Zach, wasn't it? Zach from... What was
it this time? Chicago? It wasn't Chicago at this
point, right? Michigan. Michigan, that's right.
Yeah. Zach from Michigan, we're coming for you.
Did you say Jack and Zach at the same time? We
don't know what his name is. Covering two bases.
Gentlemen, are you ready for this? I want this
to feel like a season finale of sorts. It's going
to be a little narrative. We're going to do some
fun stuff. We're going to close the loop on some
of our backstory threads, I think. We're going
to have a lot of fun, and we're going to see
what comes next. But first things first. Imagine,
if you will, an image of the Radiant Citadel.
A city standing upon a twisting serpentine fossil.
A fossil far larger even than any of its enormous
kin we've seen throughout the world. And wrapped
around a shining diamond. Around this structure,
24 colorful gemstones orbit, locking into a never
-ceasing dance. Only halting their movements
when they are called to port to dock at the passage
of respite that makes up the head of this fossil.
Beyond all of this, an ethereal mist drifting
away into a vast nothingness. And beneath the
citadel. The caning gloom, the dark, roaring
clouds of an endless storm, building into a vast
cyclone from which nothing can return. Lightning
cracks against the storm wall, and the pit that
makes its center seems to drop off far into black
eternity. We look upon this image, and because
this is Hollywood, baby, we hear a voiceover.
Time is a cyclone. It's wind. Obliterates all.
Drying oceans and grinding mountains to dust.
Its rain washes all. Rinsing all worlds clean
of memory and history and truth. Its lightning
burns all. And no being, even a god, can survive
the wrath of the storm. Yes. Time is a cyclone
doomed to revolve and repeat in a circle. perpetualized
by ignorance and giving way to a vast spectrum
of horror and pain. A cyclone that can tear worlds
apart, scatter their fragments, and then, in
the discerning gaze of its eye, pull them together
anew. What is that old adage again? The one with
the butterfly in the hurricane? I quite like
that one. The implication it carries, that all
acts, even small acts, can mark the beginning
point of their own storm, their own story. Of
course, it would take a great many flapping butterflies
to truly build to the howling winds of a hurricane.
But is that not true as well for most grand stories?
Is there ever just one beginning? And imagine
now, if you will, a great fortified shrine at
the edge of the sea. showered by the dark gray
clouds of a weeping sky. Perhaps you see these
sort of shimmering black walls, a grand sort
of archway gate that slowly creaks open. We are
on the world of Umizu, the reigning world, this
grand sort of island nation surrounded by endless
water reaching ethereal borders. And we're going
to zoom in just outside the shrine as this door
slowly opens to a figure, perhaps huddled against
the rain, waiting, waiting. We see Blanche Trudeau.
A very different Blanche Trudeau, I imagine.
A Blanche Trudeau at the start of her journey,
her change. Much like the aforementioned butterfly,
this Blanche has yet to enter her cocoon. Blanche,
describe how you look. Here in this moment. When
Blanche first arrived at Amizu, she was younger.
Not young. I think in her 30s. Plainly dressed.
Calloused hands. From working. But she has the
same sharp eyes with hope and determination.
She's... She's excited to have arrived here.
It was, I imagine, not easy to get here. She's
eager to meet Ozen. A true fish out of water.
This is, I believe, your first time ever leaving
your world or possibly even your pool. The pools.
Yeah, certainly. Wow. Truly far -traveled. I
can't remember if you mentioned it, but Blanche,
we know, at the end of her time with Ozen was
in her sort of middle -aged years. How old is
Blanche now as she's about to meet her future
mentor? I feel like Blanche is in her 30s now,
maybe her later 30s. Okay. Okay. She's looking
to start a new adventure or any venture at all,
really. And starting late. She's got a lot of
catching up to do. Yeah. If she wants to be an
adventurer. With that eagerness, we see Blanche
looks up, excited. As the gates to the Shrine
of Storms opens, you know you are not allowed
to go in. Nobody is allowed to go in here. You
see a number of warriors stand perhaps at the
front of the gates. Or maybe just behind them
as they open. Wearing a similar garb that we
saw with Ozen. A sort of black samurai -like
armor. Kabuto helm mask. They do not have the
lightning bolt style horn coming up from the
closed off eye. Missing eye. And you can make
these comparisons very easily because between
two of these guards for the shrine, you do see
the storm eye. Once a guard here himself, the
lore states, begins to move out the gate. Kind
of maybe laughing, he pats one of them on the
back and kind of laughs heartily at something.
He's sort of stepping into the mud, splashing
up onto his shining armor. He doesn't seem to
care at all. And he's sort of moving forward.
And he... perhaps stops very suddenly, and his
one eye, one true eye in his mask turns and takes
in this figure that's been waiting for him. Oh?
And who might you be? Man, how do I do, like,
not old lady Blanche? Oh, that's interesting.
I'm Blanche Trudeau, and I'm here to deliver
my intentions to be... Your student. Uh, you
can't see much behind the mask, but you get the
impression that the eye is smiling. Oh, deliver
them yourself. Now, why would you do that? I
believe I requested that you simply have letters
delivered to me. Well, I knew you would get many
letters, and I hoped not few delivered in person.
And she produces a letter. from her pocket and
reaches to Hannah's toes. I think his hands are
a slides forth and he's, now we must be careful.
There is an implication that perhaps I spurred
you to break the laws of our conquered world
and smuggle yourself somehow into the world of
Omizu, which of course I would not intend for
that as some form of test. Small, like, laugh
as he takes the letter. Well, God, I kind of
want Blanche to be a little bit playful. I kind
of want her to try to, like, sleight of hand,
move the letter out, you know, as he tries to
grab it. Go ahead. Like, just kind of show him
that she's got, I don't know, some spunk or something
and some skill, maybe. Well, D20, I'm going to
say you have a plus two and I have a plus six.
Okay, cool. So it's a 14. It's a 10. Whoa, yes!
She looks cool! I wanted to do something cool!
So as Blanche, like, flicks her wrist and moves
the letter aside, she says, well, if you won't
ask how I got here, then I won't tell. I think
just a long sort of pause, this appraising eye
kind of scans you. Hmm. It is very interesting
to see one of your kind here. Turtle of the Golden
Bay. From my understanding, your people never
leave your region, let alone your world. How
curious. I got bored of fish and thought that
maybe fighting would suit me better. I have found
that those with sharp minds grow easily bored.
And I can see that you have a sharp mind. That's
very good. A blade well sharpened can cut through
any foe. A mind well sharpened can cut through
any problem. You can imagine that the latter
is far more versatile. Come, let me lead you
to the grounds of our dojo. You are accepted,
of course. Got it. I knew it. Honestly, you're
holding the letter and he didn't take the letter.
Sure, okay, he doesn't care. He doesn't care.
He realized being here was perhaps all you needed
to do. you're you're you're showing here uh he's
just impressed this may be a man to whom words
mean very little actions over words sure which
is which is great because i was a little worried
i was like i'm gonna hand this guy the letter
and david's gonna be like what does the letter
say um And then, guys, he's starting to, like,
he turns and somewhere, like, far to the east
of the Shrine of Storms, you see, like, rolling
sort of hills build up. He sort of gestures way
out to maybe, like, the small, like, structures,
like, buildings, not far from the shrine, but
not really on the same property of it, where
Blanche is going to spend many years eventually
with others, too, including our buddy Amirath.
Amirath. As... He begins to move that way. I
think you hear the Shrine of Storm's gate starts
to close. Perhaps you look over. Maybe in the
moment before it closes, you hear a sound of
rolling thunder emanating from the shrine, but
it's strange because the sky, while weeping,
is not a stormy sky. It's just a light sort of
gray haze. Your eyes will be turned over there,
and Ozen sort of playfully spins around. I'm
afraid you can't go in there. Very, very few
are allowed. Important dignitaries may get a
pass. And I myself used to work as a guardian
of the shrine, a great honor, here on Omizu.
While I do not currently hold that title, it
is still a place of great reverence for me. Kind
of looks back at the door, sort of musing to
himself almost. One day, perhaps, I may be chosen
as keeper and be allowed knowledge of the shrine's
innermost sanctum. But I would not be allowed
to leave the shrine after that. Not until my
death, so I'll hold off on that for a while.
We gotta get to that shrine. Imagine the secrets
held within. You did say your name, correct?
I believe he introduced you. Yes, she introduced
herself as Blanche Trudeau. Come, Miss Trudeau.
And he kind of gestures and begins to move with
haste. Yeah, Blanche follows those and, you know.
Her head's going left and right, taking in the
sight. I can tell this is going to be a lot of
fun for you. And for me. I've had little personal
experiences. It's been rather daunting all these
years. As a luminary traveling about, meeting
so many but building few true bridges. Yes, and
in addition to learning much, I hope to have
much fun. Have... any others arrived yet you
are in fact the first though i've received many
letters and there's like a pile of junk mail
we cut to his room and it's just yeah literally
just a trash bin full of letters yes you may
uh you may reward yourself the honor of being
the first pupil of the storm i damn that is so
shit he's some music and he's he just does this
a lot you kind of know this in his time it's
he's just very like wanders his mind wanders
and he has to speak where it goes um like it's
like the wise mentor but he can't shut up and
it's a skill in its own to like keep up and yeah
you know as the as the conversation changes he's
like half jogging while speaking to this calm
voice and you're kind of keep up with him uh
just Yes, the Storm Eye. It's a very cool name,
isn't it? Though I do have one single reservation
about this title. I've heard it said they call
me the Storm Eye because when I arrive in a crisis,
the crisis is at its end. All danger past. Now,
the sentiment is quite sweet, but it kind of
turns a sort of wagging finger. Any amazing sailor
could tell you how incorrect that description
is. For the storm will hit again, and it will
hit with force. Its true wrath withheld for its
second coming. So you see. He's fully, he's jogging
backwards now. Gesturing towards you. When you
find yourself in the eye of the storm, in the
false calm, you should not relax. You should
not celebrate. Rather, gird yourself. Speak your
prayers. For the worst is yet to come. Never
let your guard down otherwise. Yes, yes. My apologies,
I've gone off on one of my tangents. I tend to
do that. You'll, uh, I dare say you'll get used
to it. I think this may have been our first lesson.
The first of many. I think he stops very suddenly,
skidding into the mud, splashing kind of up behind
him. And he actually bows to you. Whoa. Okay,
Blanche bows lower. His bowing form just kind
of shakes. I just laugh. And maybe in this moment,
when we see these two bowing towards each other
and we pan away from this, we pan up and up and
we pan through time, through many years of harsh
training, through many years of a close kinship,
a friendship being built. And I want to jump
ahead to a different time, to a different world.
perhaps to an older Bladstradow, fresh from her
training, standing on a beach of white sand and
looking towards an arena of stone. Perhaps you've
just heard word, maybe a relative sent you a
letter, informing you that Master Defense, the
current Master Defense is leaving his post in
the Golden Bay, and this next tourney will likely
lead to the... choosing of the next one yeah
so this absolute nobody you know past her prime
sort of just lady from the pools shows up to
compete as you stand upon these sands of this
beach as you look towards this arena as you hear
trumpets blaring and see turtles all around you
uh moving towards it many of them looking Like
fierce, fierce competition, fierce warriors.
Does Blanche perhaps say or mutter or think anything
in particular? Does her eyes focus on the prize
ahead? Yeah, she's very singular. At this point,
you know, she's fresh off her training, so she's
just sharp and focused, focused within, and doesn't
really care about her opponents. I guess it doesn't
really matter. There's no sense in worrying about
it. She doesn't know who they are. They don't
know who she is. She just has that one singular
drive to win. Hell yeah. To finally prove herself
as something. Here we see Blanche Trudeau push
forward towards that coliseum and into our story.
Now let's go somewhere else. Somewhere a little
less sunny. The... tower of authority, pillar
of authority, I can't remember which one it was.
The tower belonging to the... I'm pretty sure
it's tower. Tower of authority, look at that.
The tower of authority that looms over the city
of Cerule, over the world of Tythos, has many
floors. And there are quite a few that have these
grand, grand, empty chambers that seem to just
like fade off into blackness, almost like...
These vacant spaces themselves are meant to state
something about the sheer power of the LaRoche
family. We're going to cut to one of these where
we see, we hear a bellowing sort of laugh. Perhaps
we hear the sound of like ringing steel, ting,
ping, ping, ping, and then a blunted sword biting
into maybe like a light suit of armor. Maybe
no armor, maybe just cloth and flesh. We cut
to an image of Jules LaRoche getting knocked
backwards, already looking quite beaten, quite
bloody. As standing above him, we see Jessenth
Kellig, a younger Jessenth still training, but
quickly becoming one of the most loyal of the
LaRoche men. We hear a voice just say, No, no,
that's enough. I think my son has learned his
lesson. Haven't you, boy? As we pan to Jules.
We see Jules at this point in time, as early
in his 16th year. Now, in prior scenes, as a
reminder, Jules, late in his 15th year, some
months before this, was led to his mother's office
high, high, near the top of the tower, where
his... Palm was pressed into the nail of this
fossil, a black wax sort of dripping into his
hand, sucking down, becoming a part of him. This
agony that lasted for days seemed to leave his
hand, felt like it was on fire, like it was tearing
apart. But in the aftermath of this, Jules, you
gained some abilities. Abilities that nobody's
aware that you have. At this point in time, you
have access to invisibility and inflict wounds,
your shadow -touched features, innate power given
to you from the demonic elements that have been
placed into your blood. As you perhaps sit there,
sort of beaten and bloody, behind Jessenth, you
see a very kind of, I imagine putting on a very
stoic face, but with just the most trace amounts
of just like wanting to step forth, wanting to
just like wring his brother's neck, Dresden stands
there, sort of at parade rest. And Dresden, too,
not long before this, also gained an ability.
Some fragment of fossil embedded in his back,
a wish to see Jules protected. These factors
combined to create this echo that he can summon
and create, move around at will. Perhaps in these
last few months, the two of you have been...
planning. Justin kind of moves back. Yes. I think
he learned his lesson well. Didn't you, Welp?
Sword slides back in. Shit, I didn't practice
Jules' younger voice. Yeah, sure. He just kind
of smirks at that, not even realizing the sarcasm.
He just kind of turns away, sort of grinning.
Well, well, I suppose. Ah, the boy is late to
meet Zavar and his mother. Who will take them?
Who? Come now. And a number of, like, hands sort
of go up. I think Dresden and Jesden kind of
line up. A few other guards move forward. I think
four in total. And the rest will carry me. I
have grown quite. hungry. A bunch of figures
moving around. A fucking pig. Yeah, he has them
moving through a throne that they have to carry
around, so they kind of reach the end, you know,
reach their rod jutting out and kind of lift
him up with a heavy sort of, and he kind of,
whoa! Move along, then. I'll see you later for
your next lesson, boy. And you watch your father's
ruddy face grinning as he's turned away and led
uh sort of one direction in the darkness i think
maybe you're he's going one way you're going
the other you know that uh there are elevators
your father they give the magical elevators here
which is kind of the direction you're going uh
your father always says they make them feel kind
of motion sick so he's gonna have the guys carrying
up the stairs oh my god i hate him so much the
bagel hall is 15 floors up so i mean to be fair
i did this i said this is how he is You created
this monster. So I think you see, like, two guards
step in front. You see Jessin kind of grabs you
very roughly by the arms, yanks you up, pushes
you kind of, like, behind them. Dresden sort
of stands up beside him. The two of them are
kind of behind you. Jessin behind your left shoulder,
Dresden behind your right. Two other figures
in armor, you know, their silver armor, their
blue and white tabards. and they begin to march
you down through this long, pillar -filled, black,
sort of empty chamber to where it opens into
an elevator shaft. And I'll just keep asking
you, because I don't know how this is going to
go. This is your game plan. Do you make any moves
here, or do you go into the elevator? Sorry,
I'm opening up D &D Beyond on my phone, because
I might need it. Okay. Interesting. Okay, describe
again where we're at. Exactly. So you're in this
large, very dark, sort of dimly lit chamber.
Okay. Huge pillars line this room from front
to back, kind of vanishing off into obscurity.
And you are moving towards one of the walls in
this chamber where there's a door set into it
that leads into this small circular chamber.
It's basically an elevator where there's a stone
floor that magically just moves. It's like this
grinding. You can hear it sort of grinding down.
moves into place. And outside of the door behind
us, what's just outside that door? Uh, essentially...
Outside of the chamber. Essentially nothing.
You know, your father's being led one way. I
mean, I'm gonna describe the hallway room, like,
describe the layout of what is outside the door
behind us that we came in. Uh, this is all in
one grand open chamber. There's no, like, other
rooms. You are here kind of getting your regular
sort of training sessions with your father. Right,
so how do we get into the chamber then? Elevator.
That same elevator that's coming down? There's
an elevator on one side, and there's stairs on
the other, very far apart. That's what I'm asking.
Yes. That stairs. Your father and his guard are
moving there. Okay. What's beyond the stairs?
Anywhere. A path to any floor. This is basically
just one huge, this entire floor is just this
one grand, open, empty room. The LaRouche family
does this, almost like... having these your father
loves to kind of surround himself like seeing
this this massive space that could belong to
anybody belonging to him and being used for nothing
just delights him endlessly needless opulence
exactly um literally the two ways out of this
room are the stairs he's taking in the elevator
they're going to take you up okay okay describe
how each character is laid out jewels is in the
center of four figures, right? Imagine if you
had a five -foot grid. Imagine the dots on a
five, on a dice. Does that make sense? Okay.
That is the most needlessly... Yeah, Jules is
in the center. There's a square of four guards
around him. Exactly. That's a better way of saying
the thing I was saying. Okay, and where are Dresden?
On Jessent. Dresden is behind you on your right
shoulder. Jessent is behind you on your left
shoulder. The two other men in front of you are
guards. You probably know their names. I don't.
They're Amos and Bigsleeve. Okay. Give me one
second. Okay. Okay. I'm going to try to explain
this as best I can. Okay. What I want to do.
Okay. This is all happening simultaneously. Does
anybody have his hand on Jules? No. Or is Jules
just in the middle of them? Just in the middle.
Just in the middle. Yep. Okay. Jules casts invisibility
on himself. Okay. What's the reaction from the
guards? I think the first thing is you're over
there, and you basically say something out loud,
like maybe whisper an incantation as you kind
of touch yourself. You touch yourself. Gross.
You whisper something, and I think you just kind
of hear Jesslyn say, What is that, prince? Something
wrong. And you just vanish. And he's, what, what?
He just screams. The guards in front spin around,
looking around. In that moment of realization,
Dresden will manifest his echo behind Samuel
and the others that are carrying him and will
have his echo deliberately run under him being
carried, knock over a couple of the guards so
everything collapses as a distraction. So what
he's doing, and his echo is just going to continue
up the stairs until he's 30 feet gone, it disappears.
So what I'm hoping is that the guards will see
Jules disappear, see this commotion over there,
and think that Jules has run that way. I love
it. I will say, so you're just barely moving.
The stairs wouldn't be close to disappear around,
but you could easily have the Echo move under
them as they're just moving away. Go behind a
pillar and gone. Exactly. They're not going to
be looking directly at that area immediately
when Jules disappears. And they said it's dark
in here. Exactly. Hell yeah. And then, yeah.
That's... What is this? Samuel just really...
Help! Help! Seize the boy! His guards drop him
a little bit. No! They start running. Justin
spins around. No, no, no, no, no! Starts running
after you. And as all of them run, Jules is getting
into the elevator, and so does Dresden. He goes
with? Fuck no. That would be way too fucking
suspicious. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Fuck. I mean... I
didn't think that far ahead. Oh, no. You're invisible.
If you get in there alone, that might be it.
I'm invisible, yes. Dresden turns around as the
other guards are going and says, I'll try to
head him off at the main entrance. And Dresden
also gets in the elevator and they go down. Okay.
And Dresden rarely talks. This is like, in this
moment... Oh, yeah, that wasn't young Dresden.
Whoops, I never practiced that. Yeah. Hell yeah.
Hell yeah. So he yells and he runs in. Boom.
You begin to slide down. No one questions that.
The elevator begins to descend quite quickly.
It's probably like some sort of spinning kind
of mechanism. You kind of crank to whatever floor
you want to go to and it begins to follow that.
So now I have a question of what does Dresden
know? Does Dresden know what to expect on the
first floor when this elevator opens? The first
floor is, again, quite open. It's the floor that,
you know, people are coming in to. Dignitaries
might come in and they might stay on the first
few floors. So it is. unbelievably opulent. There's
just furniture pretty well cluttered. This floor
is actually more structured. There are rooms
and carpets lining the hallways between them.
But when you get off this elevator, it will basically
just be a beeline right down this long hallway
between various offices and whatever guest rooms.
It will lead to the front. There will be a good
number of guards, but these guards are not expecting
invisible jewels. Okay. So we'll go all the way
to the first floor. Okay. Sets. And the elevator
opens and Dresden walks with haste toward the
front door. People look up, kind of curious,
seeing this maybe like, you know, Dresden's not
supposed to be here. There's some haste. Excuse
me. He recognizes that. Anybody see anyone come
down here? No, sir. No problem. Are you sure?
No, yeah, no, no. And he walks to the front door,
and as he's saying this, he opens up the front
door, steps out to the front, knows that Jules
is coming around inside of him, and he looks
around like looking for somebody. And he turns
around and says, Fuck! One of the gay guys is
kind of, What's happening? What's going on? Be
on the lookout for Jules LaRoche. Shit, Jules?
Oh, well, fuck, don't let me. He's somewhere.
Everyone's kind of turned around like, Double
up on the guard on each exit. Jules does not
leave. Cerise's orders, Jules does not leave.
Everyone kind of like lines up. People start
swarming around. Perhaps barely like figures
are moving from like, you know, towards the gate.
Barely like almost nudge Jules. Just kind of
sliding his body one way or the other to kind
of get between them. Kind of locking up behind
Dresden. But the door is still open and Jules
slides out. I imagine there's a moment as Jules
steps onto that first step. The light outside
like. bathing him, that he looks back and Dresden
knows that he's looking back. And unbeknownst
to Dresden, but maybe he feels that the two lock
eyes. Because as Jules is about to go and meet
new people and go on new adventures, for this
plan to work, Dresden must stay. Must misdirect
and feed information to you and commit himself
to perhaps a lifetime of solitude. I also think
that was the first time he spoke in a very, very
long time. Like, I think maybe that was the moment
that he decided to start speaking again. Because
it was so important. He has a job to do now.
Yep. That job requires him to use his tongue.
The silver tongue of Jules LaRoche isn't there
to back him up anymore. He's on his own now.
And perhaps then, there's one final nod shared
as Jules turns, leaving perhaps the... greatest
friend in the Concord world's behind to watch
his back from the shadows of the tower. And here,
I want to montage through the events that follow
the next few years. Not long after this, evading
the guard and living on the streets, having a
hard time adapting to life outside of his prison,
there's a day where Jules, after... A barely
successful attempt to steal some bread gives
it away. And his hunger is offered another piece.
Meeting a young boy who would soon become his
closest confidant and guide to the city. A young
Chester. Hey, Chester and Jules, right? Jules
and Chester. And for two years it was. Evading
guard again, just playing it safe. Jules swiftly
learning the ways of the streets. The two of
them running games and pickpocketing, finding
dry places to drink and sleep and laugh. With
Dresden's help and his friendship carrying on
through notes and misdirections, you survive.
And where you feel the absence of that first
close friend, you do forge this deep bond with
this new, younger companion. Perhaps there's
a day, again, like two years after their first
meeting as they are moving through the streets,
And you're assailed by two figures who just,
boom, jump out from an alley before you. A portly
young boy and a sort of lanky, awkward elf. A
dwarf and an elf kind of stand before you and
then sort of waving a little. I think the elf
you see is waving this like very obvious fake
kind of wand. He's about to do something real
magical and crazy. Their faces are both covered
in like a cloth and just kind of give us all
your books and notes on magic. Books and notes?
We can't eat books. We agreed to roll them down
for food. Food, Fybro. Get it together. Right.
Fine. Give us all your food, then. And if you
have any books, I'll trade you some food back
for the books. Right? Fybro. You see, young Mulligan
and Fybro. Maybe the worst, worst muggers in
the city. Just a bunch of little criminals. Just
a bunch of little criminals. It's my share. I'll
give them my share, Mulligan, okay? Oh, well,
that's fine then. It's like I give you a book
or food. Which one do you want? Well, first you
give us... Hang on. First, you give us food.
Okay. All your food. And then I'll give you back
some of your food, but for any books you have.
So it's an even sort of trade, because books
are pretty important. It's a good trade. You
should do it. What do you got for food? Okay,
well, how about I give you these rolls? Okay.
Yeah, yeah, you give us those rolls. Wait, does
that stick at you? There you go. You can have
them. Yeah, this is good. This is easy. Yeah,
I worked better than I thought. Kind of maybe,
like, the young fireman sort of reaches out for
one. He has, like, a little bag, like this leather
satchel that, like, one of the very worn straps
just snaps. And the satchel opens up in a bunch
of pages of, like, magical notes. It just spreads
in the cobblestone streets. And, nah, beans!
He just reaches down and, like, snatches them
up. No, no, no! Hang on! Just don't run away!
We're gonna figure this out! Nah, I got you.
And then Jules bends down and starts picking
up the... Picking up the sheets. Well, I guess
I can trade you back your food for my own magical
papers. Nah, you can keep it. Sounds like you
need it. Jules, Jules. Don't tell me you're getting
attached to these guys, the idiots. Jules, come
on, come on. Jules and Chester, don't do it.
You can see something in your eyes. And you see,
like, when you're hearing that, these two look
up at you and their scarves kind of fall over
their mouths kind of awkwardly and they just...
You just see these two very, very pathetic. Like,
you're like, these two will not survive another
week on the streets. Chester, all I'm trying
to do is what you did for me. Oh, come on. That's
not fair. You're, um, you're the prince, right?
No. Oh, right, of course. We don't talk about
the prince. Um, but you are the prince. We don't
talk about the prince. Oh, sorry, sorry. Um.
I'm Jules. Fibrosis. Fibro's better. I don't
know why my name is that. Yeah, I'm just gonna
call you Fibro. I'm Mulligan. Mulligan's Fuligan.
At least you wish you was. Hey, Mulligan. Yeah,
here's another roll. Oh my god. Let me see, let
me hands shake as another two more companions
join your little group, your cherry delights,
your new small family. And for another four years,
these Sorry, for the two years these four work
together. Until one fateful night where their
stores were raided by a half -orc child. We saw
that story. You can torture me all you want.
I won't tell you anything. And with Miskin sort
of joining the ranks, their family grows even
larger. They possibly move one year beyond that
meeting with Miskin. One day when the full crowds
in the streets, Miskin obviously kind of sneaking
around, scouting somewhere ahead, hiding under
ladies' skirts and wherever he can find. Not
in a weird way. He's just good at hiding. You
said it. You made me. Band of armed robbers and
perverts. As they're kind of moving around, maybe
discussing, Jovi, what they're going to do this
day, you hear like a voice ring out. Hey, you
stumbled into me, you did. Didn't even apologize.
You little runt! You guys look up to see, and
you're coming to know this now, that in this
city, there are two kinds of people. Those who
stare into the despair that they face every day
and push beyond it and try to make the place
better, try to make the city better for everyone
that lives in it. But there are also those who
give in to this despair and try to dole it out
twice as hard to anyone they see. You see some
large, like, mason be like, staring down at this
one, like, small child, like, dark -skinned boy
who doesn't really, like, he's almost, like,
maybe fallen over. Like, you get the image and
he ran into this guy and then fell over and the
guy's now yelling at him. And another very young
girl sort of runs out, sort of dives out on top
of the boy and just, no, please, he doesn't mean
it. He can't speak. He doesn't really talk. It
was an accident. We promise. Accident, aye. I'll
show you an accident. Kind of like raises his
foot out to kick. Jules runs over. In between.
He stops dead as you kind of step there. You're
standing there in front of this young boy who
looks up with wide eyes. This young girl who
stands there. Maybe as you're kind of doing your
thing, you feel their presence come right behind
you or right beside you. Chester taking a spot.
Kind of glances back at the girl. Glances back
at you. Puffs out his chest a little more. He
wants to look cooler. Yeah. Yeah. You better
back off, buddy. Jules just stares him in the
eye. Don't do it. Whoa. They'll scare you a little
once. I think I'm terrified. And then Chester
looks at you and just, Jules, say the thing.
Say the thing, Jules. I don't know what that
means. What the fuck does that mean, David? What
the fuck does that mean? I don't know. I got
into my... All right. Jules gets all intense.
Oh. Looks and says, The thing. And the guy holds
his breath waiting for something to happen. I
don't know what you want from me, David. I don't
know. I don't know. I have no idea. Yes, and?
You feel two more presences come up beside you
as you're kind of like staring this figure down.
Fibro. Mulligan. Each taken aside. And finally
popping up somewhere from like down low. Miskin.
The cherry delights forming ranks. The two newest
members kind of staring on the figure. This man
kind of looks around, realizes maybe he isn't
worth his time and sort of storms away. And your
family turns around. Chester kind of gives you
a look like, oh, no, no, not again. As he sees
that look in your eyes, he sees the look that
they share. This small child, Paul. Chester,
come on. There's room for everybody in our family.
All right, well, welcome to the Cherry Delights.
After that, Jules will lean down to Jeans and
Paul, and he'll look over at Paul and say, what
were you going after? Eh, eh. Kind of gestures
up, and there's a guy on the corner who has a
guitar. He was singing or playing a street thing,
which is the normal kind of street bum that sort
of has a... Case in front of him, people filling
it. It's barely anything inside. You can see
he just wants to be near the music. He loves
music. He's Paul. I'm James. Thank you. It's
been rough lately, the two of us. Been together
for a little while, and I don't know what happened
to his family. What you talking about? We're
your family. And this sort of reserved smile
kind of breaks out, and the boy just looks up
at you. His eyes that look both blank and yet
so full of depth. And he just says, family. And
perhaps here, with your family gathered and merely
a year, the last of your crew, round stuff will
be found in one of your stores, hungry, willing
to accept your hand. And some years later, the
storm. will set in the skies of Tythos, and your
new adventure, your story, will begin. And with
that, let us return to our story, return to where
we last left off, in the preserve of the ancestors,
surrounded by this tropical salt marsh, looking
out into this glistening sea that ends upon a
wall of diamond, cascading waterfalls. flowing
into it like some sort of great fountain and
bursting from the water here. This Bastite caiman,
a dawn incarnate formed by floating sort of stones.
This mossy green with streaks of red. This creature.
With the sound of echoing thunder somewhere emanating
in the air around it. This oppressive gravity
seeming to just... What's the word here? I already
said emanate. Put forth. There we go. Seem to
be putting forth from it. I don't know. I don't
care. It's Columbus week. I'm very tired. This
thing thunders onto the sands. Hello. Come to
greet me. A useless gesture. You luminaries do
what you want. No one cares for the will of the
incarnates now. Speak your peace and let me rest.
Great caiman. If you hold so much distaste for
us luminaries, then why do you meet us? Because
it is one of the few things still expected of
my kind. Cocks a giant gemstone head. Another
turtle. I met one of your ilk recently. He was
quite rude. I am sorry to hear that. I'm not
all that surprised, though. What was expected
of you before that is no longer? We would guide
and dictate. We would choose the speakers. We
would steward your words. to the proper place.
But let us not dwell on matters that no longer
exist. You have long since left the control of
the incarnates. Only one amongst your speakers
has respect for us now. They can still exist.
I seek your guidance now. Will you give it? Will
you answer my questions about our world and the
origins of it? Thunder emanates forth. You feel
like that gravity sort of pressing down on you,
almost pushing your feet a little deeper into
the sand beneath you. What questions? How did
the incarnates come to be? Did it happen that
thousand years ago? I can speak not of these
matters. The vows hold. Can you speak of... Before
this world, can you speak of Shadrakhan? Gravity
again. Boom, pushing. You feel like your back
sort of almost bend a little bit. You... What
do you know of Shadrakhan? We know... Struggling
against the weight. We know about the serpents.
It was their world before ours. Yes. It's fractured
now. Yes. This was our world. I knew it. I fucking
knew it. You came to us from your other world,
you tiny mortal beings. You came and you stayed
and we came. To love you. We led you, cared for
you, protected and served to see your every need
satisfied. But your tiny minds could not stomach
satisfaction. You turned a jealous eye towards
your own, found disgust in even your most minute
differences. You armed yourselves with tools
of steel and magical arts and you killed. And
because we loved you, your war became our war.
Your hatred poisoned our kind. Dracon clashed
in the skies, wet crimson tears. Countless souls
drowned in the blood of serpents. We gave you
all. and you soaked it in death. The gravity
around you begins to sort of lessen as if this
great weight just lifted from your backs. Great
caiman, I seek to provide an ebb to this flow.
If we don't find some way to work together, whatever
is left of our world will be, well, it'll be
gone. We are aware. We are the stewards he left.
But you are not ready. You are farther and farther
every day from ready. You cannot be united. Else
the war will come again. Who was he? What war?
Amongst us, Drakon. There was one who many would
call our king. A being of vast size and power,
dwarfing nearly all others. A being of incomprehensible
wisdom and heart whose true name is too great
for your ears. The mortals would know him as
he who parted the cloud and night and threaded
the light of dawn to the sky. Now the echoes
of his deeds have granted him the simplified
title of the Sunweaver. It was he who formed
the plan to save Shadrakhan. It was he who found
the auroral diamond and imbued it with his immense
power, whose body now wraps around the diamond,
a base for your city, and whose soul lingers
ever below. Soul lingers below. Holy shit. Do
you mean the Keening Gloom? Why can't I do Blanche?
I'm Blanche Trudeau. I'm Blanche Trudeau. Yes,
you should have introduced yourself. Steven,
you are Blanche Trudeau. No, I just couldn't.
I got out of it or something. Do you mean the
Keening Gloom? Thunder roaring out. Almost like
you feel approval in this. As if this is... the
sound of a nod to this thing. Is he pulling the
worlds back together? He used the diamond as
a focus, breaking Shadrakhan and binding the
pieces ever, forging a means of indirect communication
through the worlds, a means to build relationships
and garner peace. It cost our king his life and
caused the death of nearly all of our kin whose
souls remain trapped within the bones of most
man after centuries of lingering death. We can
reunite. It is his eventual will. We incarnates.
We were the Drakkon most loyal to the Sunweaver,
one for each civilization of an old world. We
came with him, removed from our bodies and granted
these avatars of stone. We are his eternal stewards,
set to watch the fragments of our worlds, judge
their people, and when the time is right... It
is our responsibility to bring Shadrakhan back
together. From what world does the Turquoise
Incarnate represent, and why did they choose
Sholay? We all chose Sholay. The Turquoise represents
Ankarim Sengar. Time had passed. dangers had
grown. We knew we must enact the plan. Create
a bridge. A safe bridge between the worlds. Sholay
seemed the most efficient option. Ruthless and
just. We watched our worlds, but she was the
one. we called upon to be our champion. 250 years
now. And who chose Atash? Atash! If the Sunweaver
is dead... Because you asked that, I'm gonna
go back. I was gonna like... Cut the scene, and
I'm like, shit, that's a pretty cool question.
It's a really cool question. The angel appeared
only 50 years ago from a plane of radiance connected
to Anker and Sengar. I believe he served a different
master before, but he was awed by the radiant
citadel, by the glory of our king. He took for
himself the moniker of Hand of the Sunweaver
and made it his quest to see our Lord's wishes
fulfilled. Shah Drakkon connected the world at
peace. He came before all of us and caught us
offering his aid, but he is arrogant. He could
not tolerate our patience. and now views us as
traitors to the Sunweaver's will. He knows nothing
of us! So Atash is, like, trying to force the
peace. Huh. I got the question, too. Who are
you? You know who I am. This is my valet. No,
I'm just kidding. He looks up. Brief pause. Zomate
Shab. Where did they come in in all this? You
are hit with such a powerful force of gravity.
I think the two of you almost fall over. The
two of you almost like bow. Almost like fall.
Collapse to your knees. Six on the die. I just
wanted to roll into that. You have old knees.
It hurts. You kind of fall into the sand. The
Great Betrayal. One amongst all kinds that nearly
match the size and power of our king. His true
name will never be uttered again. But you would
know him as Zomati Shab. The first spilled -up
line of fellow Drakanists spurred on the war,
both yours and ours, driven mad by a twisted
love for his subjects. His creed to see all peoples
freed from our salvation. During the time of
war, the Sunweaver defeated the betrayer, tearing
open a hole into the abyss. and sealing him away
over the millennia. I believe he has been changed
into something monstrous. But even now, he can
only return to our world through avatars of his
creation. Avatars like you! I can feel him. Feel
his presence. I'm not going to let that happen.
Luckily, we vowed not to kill. Whoa. Did this
dude just say that he would have killed you if
not for this vow? Sounds like it. Sounds like
it. Don't worry. I'll kill him for you. I have
one more question. And Blanche looks to Jules,
knowing that this question, I mean, you know,
asking about the demon lord is obviously very
hard, but maybe this is a different kind of hard
and Blanche wants to do this for Jules and just
hear David make this voice more. My throat, my
poor throat. What do you know about Calapsania's
mate? Dude, his eyes. Dude, did you just see
the pure panic in his face? That is interesting.
Open mouth, wide eyes. It's actually interesting.
You might expect, from my reaction, the gravity
to push down on you harder, the storm to rage
louder, but instead it seems to fully ebb, the
gravity almost pulling away. Like you are feeling
this effect of no gravity for a half second.
This thing almost like. Recording diamond. Recording
diamond. Alarmed. And I just say those words.
Like I think you have this moment of inspiration.
You say that. But I'll say like after you say
those words, it's already starting to flood away
from you. If you pull out the recording diamond,
it is not working. It does not work in the presence
of these things. It wouldn't work this entire
time. He's revealing truths that cannot be known.
But this thing, it almost like it's surprise
sort of. steps back this incarnate takes a step
back and as you say like I said you had this
moment of inspiration but those that line though
that thought is already starting to flee before
you like in this moment before this thing you
could feel it she like already forgot the question
that she just asked and it fixes you with its
past tight eyes and you hear a strange humming
alarm suddenly just ring out emanating from all
around and above you. The crystal ceiling which
is projecting an image of a cloudless blue sky
suddenly shifts to a deep, pulsing red. The incarnate
turns from you, looks to the sky, and you hear
it moan out, No! No! What are your initial reactions
here? What the fuck? Kind of like that. Wow.
Blanche's initial reaction is... Something's
happening. ...is to leave. Are you leaving? Blanche
looks to Jules like... Jules is just staring
up. Just a blank, almost defiant expression.
Her face washed in red light. Blanche, perhaps
you turn, understanding that something is happening.
Perhaps action must be called for. You spin and
you hear one last sort of roaring voice from
behind you. It is happening again! And now let's
let our mental screens return to our original
image. Because time is a cyclical cyclone and
shit. The radiant Cyadell hang over the Keening
Gloom, and we see now that the entirety of the
world diamond has taken on that same shade of
pulsing red. And because this is still Hollywood,
baby, we hear another voiceover. This one, an
echo of lines spoken to a young, or not so young,
tortle many years ago. I've heard it said that
they call me the Storm Eye, because when I arrive
in a crisis, the crisis is at its end. The danger
passed. Now, the sentiment is quite sweet, but...
And we cut to the streets of Saint -Cityan, to
a busy square in Fiesta Town, where a giant,
projected image of Storgela Orin furiously gestures,
speaking to the populace, to every populace,
warning them with wide and tearful and terrified
eyes. Beneath the screen, shining with a radiance
of his own, we see Speaker Ardavasda, the blue
-skinned Pari angel, right hand to Atash, speaking
solemnly to a crowd of terrified onlookers. Gabriela
Cortez, Dance Macabre, stands amongst them, looking
for all the words like she is ready to drop into
a fighting stance. Her dark eyes reflect the
speaker and celestial, and they narrow. Any amazing
sailor could tell you how incorrect that description
is, for the storm will hit again, and it will
hit with force, its true wrath withheld, for
its second coming. And we cut to Noiri, to a
banquet hall in Zinda where Jean -Francois and
Ledoux Montelio watch Oren's printed image as
well. Their mouths hang open, their hands firmly
interlocked. The makings of a dinner party surround
them and their hosts, Margus and Zeni Aruba,
as well as Amos and the recently revealed Larissa
Neer, stand in shock at Oren's words. Harlan
Burnshadow stands besides Fyodor in the back,
the two men looking grim and sickly. So you see,
when you find yourself in the eye of the storm,
in the false calm, you should not relax, you
should not celebrate. Rather gird yourself, speak
your prayers, for the worst is yet to come. And
now I want to take us back in time before the
meeting with the Bastite came in, before the
diamonds shifting red and the humming alarms
and the terrible news that swiftly spread throughout
all the Concord worlds. And I want to take us
back to Omizu. We look upon the Shrine of Storms
once again, now many years older than when it
was first seen by a younger Blanche. But it is
largely unchanged now. And here, as we linger
just outside the gates of the shrine, perhaps
on a beach of dark sand where low waves crash
against the shrine's black walls, we hear a different
alarm. A sound akin to many sets of ringing glass
chimes. Perhaps we hear a scream escape the walls
of the shrine, a brief and sharp, And we see,
standing on this beach just outside the grasping
waves, Dresden Kellig and Crispin Dubois. It
seems that Sholay's intel was good. Events are
transpiring just as she said they would. You
never saw the assailants enter, yet the Shrine
of Storms has been taken. And it is up to you
two to take it back. And I know you have, like,
no context yet about what's going on with these
guys. But do you want to say something cool?
No. Even better. Backshot of Dresden and Crispin.
standing side by side. Between them, you can
see the gates, and Crispin just reaches up for
a little fist, for a fist bump. That's like an
action hero! Well, yeah, of course Dresden fist
bumps back. Hell yeah, hell yeah! Dresden's arm
slowly moves up, just a little bit, because Crispin's
short as fuck. It's true! He is reaching, like,
above his head. Oh, I love that. Gives him a
fist bump. We see this. Boom. Our camera focuses
on that. And as you get to work, our camera zooms
back from these bumping fists, farther and farther
from Dresden and Crispin, and from the shrine
until our screen lingers on a nearby hilltop
that overlooks this entire scene. And here, the
ringing sound is quite faint. Faint enough. that
we, the audience, can easily hear the sounds
of armored footsteps approaching. Ch -ching,
ch -ching, ch -ching. Followed by a familiar
voice. Ah, I had suspected so. Very clever, Shourei,
but I'm afraid you have only forced my hand in
this. Ch -ching, ch -ching. Ozen Yoshikatsu steps
into our screen. We see the black armor of his
Kabuto helm shine beneath the golden light of
the curving lightning bolt that rises from his
mask. His long silver hair and beard sway with
a suddenly rising wind. His hand gently and grimly
hovers above the handle of his katana. The skies
above, already gray, begin to darken as Ozen
looks down upon the Shrine of Storms. A low,
rumbling sound mingles with the ringing chimes.
The sound of thunder. First, the fall of Tythos.
And now, Umizu's time has come. And we'll call
it there.