Hey, Pants people. If you live in the area, you've
got to join us at Reckless Nerd Out Nights every
other Monday at Reckless Brewing Company in Bethlehem,
New Hampshire. You can find all the info at RecklessBrewing
.com. R -E -K -L -I -S Brewing .com. that we
tend to gloss over the lesser celebrated heroes
in our worlds. So today I am putting up a spotlight
on some of the bravest souls we've seen in all
the conquered worlds. I am talking, of course,
about the Shieldbearers, the military force of
the Radiant Citadel, answering directly to the
speakers. Now many of you, the Shieldbearers,
are simply the Radiant Citadel's security and
policing force. While that is not an accurate
representation of their general work, it misses
the mark on the most vital and dangerous... duty
shut up stephen you see for many years the steel
bears were the only military force shared between
the worlds as such they would often be sent by
the speakers to boast the ranks of other militaries
in need or to engage in rescue efforts during
a catastrophe though they try not to engage in
civil battles on the worlds they assist Such
as during the civil wars on Taib, they often
find themselves moving in the crossfire or protecting
innocent lives. It is for these reasons that
shieldbearer officers have a higher mortality
rate than any other militarized power in all
the world. A fact that all officers know when
they don the brass, as they say. Thankfully,
this is an issue that the current Captain Commander,
Aureon of Dialogue, wishes fervently to resolve.
So for his sake, for the sake of all the human
officers that protect your lives, it is time
to give back. Go to your speakers and demand
that I, Taj, be allowed to send his own celestial
soldiers where they are needed. With your help,
and with any decency from those making the rules,
we may soon see our guardians guarded in turn.
I don't like this, David. 19 pages. Jesus. 19
pages of script last episode. Wow. I'm tired.
I always feel strange about those episodes that
lack, like, you know, gameplay. But I also want
to showcase the continued follow -up to what
you guys did on, you know, previous quests. And
beyond that, I do want to maintain story threads
we've started. Like, I like to look at stories
kind of like mathematical equations. I've always
kind of said this. characters the variables and
their choices are the processes and the more
characters and choices that you kind of have
the fucking Crazier and crazy that shit gets
I feel right now. We're doing with one of those
insane whiteboard You know Jander's gonna come
in and solve it at the end and nobody else can
figure it out. It's just ridiculous Sometimes
I just want to take a little time solving for
X, you know, just solve for X clear the board
a little bit But then you know from from my view
as a player like as I'm sitting there trying
to solve for X All the other things are happening
in the background and I can't keep up with them.
You're wrong. See, I'm solving for X. I'm the
janitor. You're the idiot professors who aren't
as smart as me. Rude. Yeah. Well, regardless
of what you think about the last episode, there
was a lot of chatter about it in the Discord.
So I think the pants people enjoyed it. The Discord?
Let us know. Don't. Don't. We can't do it again.
Yeah. Go to the Discord. Let us know. We can't
do it. What you thought of episode 113. You did
it, David. I know. I know. I opened the door
and I firmly shut that door very quickly. Like,
nope, never mind. I will open the door to a naked
lady. It was like, no, we're not doing that.
We were closing the door so fast. Have you heard
of Discord? Have you downloaded it? Stop it.
Anyway. These worlds are changing around you,
gentlemen, and your heroes. For my part, I'm
going to run hardly any notes for these next
few episodes. We're doing two tonight. It's going
to get a little wild because I'm on vacation
now. Did my self -indulgent record stop feature.
Now I'm going to take a nap in the corner. I
want you two to run this thing, kind of, sort
of. It's time for our heroes to react to a swiftly
changing world entangled in a spider's web of
lies and politics. What are you guys going to
do now? Yeah, I'm not sure. I mean, I'm going
to wait for you to set the scene, I guess. But
I'm thinking, do we have to go underground at
this point? It seems like we have maybe some
allies, but the authorities at large, I don't
know if, are we on notice or are we being hunted?
These are all fine questions and questions that...
We are going to answer tonight. Great. So what
do you think? Do you guys want to just get into
this? Let's get into it. Before we lose our minds
and devolve into beasts of silly banter. You
can do that. That's going to happen next episode.
Because it's our second of the night. So let's
take our serious time to be serious podcasters.
Super serial. So fucking serious right now, gentlemen.
Duty. Let's open on a scene. Flickering screen
on the wall of the ugly coyote crystal projector.
And we see Storyteller Oren dropping those last
few words of our last episode. Jules LaRoche,
Blanche Trudeau, Dresden Gellick, Jean -Franklin
Montelio. In my opinion, some of the worst villains
our conqueror world have seen. But that's all
the time we have, folks. We'll call it there.
We pan away from that image, and we see in this
darkened room, Jules LaRoche, Blanche Trudeau,
Dresden Kellig, perhaps a number of others around,
eight are sort of behind the bar. It's very slow
here tonight, and it looks like it's not going
to get any busier. This place has been fully
doxxed. I realize you're probably kind of going
undercover, and at this point in time, everyone's
going to want this place anyway, but the mage
smith also just did mention it, so at this point,
it's kind of like public knowledge anyway. But,
I mean, Jules LaRoche, the Midnight Prince, you
know, Blanchard O, the Master of Events, they're
not going to hide anywhere in the Radiant Citadel.
There's also a giant mural on the wall. A giant
mural showing Zebulon and, you know. And Jules.
There's no hiding. No. No. But this, I mean,
we'll get to that. This has just happened. This
just happened. Now, everything we saw, all those
clips we saw have been happening over the last
few days. Right now, we're opening three days
after the fall of The Pearl, the second fall,
as they're calling it. And things have gone crazy.
Earlier today, the last episode of The Morning
Jewel aired. A very mysterious person called
Never Lies said some cool stuff. You've been
a privy to all of this, I'll say. Basically all
this information. There's certain things that
you wouldn't know. Obviously you wouldn't see
the scene at the end with Cerise. Even the scene
with Cirilla likely might not have gotten out
into the airwaves. But you saw the big stuff.
You know that Sansa Tian has fallen. Dance has
been arrested. You know that Noiri Blanche, your
world, is now under the protection. Of the angels.
I guess they really don't need a master defense
anymore, do they? They've got Atash. Right? Yeah,
I guess. I mean, you've seen all of this fall
out. And as those words sort of echo, Orin's
last words, and everyone's kind of staring and
maybe some kind of shock and awe. The first to
speak, sort of squeaky voice from behind you
says, I, I, Joel's like, I can't believe this.
I was totally there on God's Breath of Noir,
and I wouldn't mention neither. It's messed up,
man. I was there. I'm practically a sidekick.
What the hell? Dan Toittle takes all the attention.
I swear. Oh, my God. But this is bad, though.
This is really bad. I mean, that's... I just
wish I was in it with you, you know? It's bad.
Do we think that there is a significant... Like
an important reason why Chester wasn't named?
Or are we just being silly? The first thing you
think of is Chester is not a registered sidekick.
He could have mentioned, but there's not much
purpose in doing that. Although, you know, he's
very interested in becoming one. He wants to
be registered as your sidekick. He's been pushing
for it. I think you just got to sign papers with
him or something. He's not a legal adult, so
he probably can't just sign on himself. As a
Luminaire, you're kind of taking responsibility
for him as a sidekick. Yeah, that's probably
really why. Everybody else is already in the
spotlight. Chester's been with you this whole
time, but hasn't been noted as much as everybody
else. Right. How about, would it be really weird
to try to roll insight on, like, Oren's performance?
No, please. I love that. That's very smart. Anyone
can do that. Yes. Yes. Come on, baby. Give me
something good. Anyone can do that. In my head,
just before this scene happened, Dresden had
come in from the back alley, and he's kind of
hanging out in the shadows, like the door to
the kitchen, watching from the sides. So Dresden's
going to roll in sight, too. Yeah, have him roll.
Blanche rolled a 2. Oh my gosh. Jules rolled
a 19. Yeah! Not bad. And let me check Dresden
here. You might have a point, young Chester.
The fact that... Orin didn't mention you could
be a tip of his hand. I mean, like, because if
Orin really wanted our total downfall, right,
wouldn't he have mentioned Chester? But, like,
maybe he was able to get around not mentioning
Chester because he's not a registered sidekick?
Like, why would he not drag Chester's name through
the mud as well? It's a good question. Could
be an interesting answer. Jeremy, you were old.
You're 19, you said. Yes, and so did Dresden.
Okay. Whoa, double 19s. That's worth like. I
like to think like in this moment with the double
19s, perhaps like Jules, you're still quiet after
all this. You turn, look to Dresden. Dresden
looks at you. You share a nod. You both kind
of had to caught the same sort of vibe. Jules,
you catch especially because you're the only
one here, apart from Chester, who's met Cully,
met Oren. There was a moment during his broadcast
right before. he started dropping the bomb on
you guys where you saw him, his eyes focused
on the screen and something hardened in them,
something just setting in his jaw. And it felt
like someone who was about to tear like the,
the, the sort of bandages off of a still sort
of festering wound. Someone who was about to
do something that was very painful, but they
had to, he's, he's done it before. He's done
it before where he's had to like say stuff that,
You know, you've heard, we heard him do the like,
yeah, and say things. Yep. This time it's different.
This was bad. And he used his own words in there.
No one else could have talked about what happened
on God's part. That had to have been him, right?
Right. It's not like someone wrote the script.
He talked about things that only he knew about.
They've got Kiana. What happened was everyone.
Kiana's gone. Something's going on. Kiana's not
with Cully. Fuck. Yeah. They're using Kiana against
him. Jules will turn to Chester. Something's
not right, buddy. Well, yeah, Jules. But... Nothing's
right. We're fucked. Would you let me fucking
finish? Sorry. No, I'm just stressed. And we
need to figure this out together. As Luminary
and Sidekick. You mean it, Jules? Are we signing
the papers? Look at me. I'm looking. Yeah, man.
We're entering uncharted waters. Okay? That's
why we gotta be together. Always. Hey. Jules
and Chester. His hand's like out to you, just
excited, trembling. Chester and Jules. I'm gonna
watch your back. I promise I'll protect you no
matter what, alright? It's my job. It's my duty,
you know? I'm good at it. And Jeans, she's totally
fine with it. I've been doing all this, you know,
stuff. The recordings. Don't look at your diamond,
by the way. I got some videos on that. Too late.
Oh, shit. No, you wanted to? Too late. All right,
well, I didn't mean it. Nothing, all right? I
believe that there's a possibility, according
to the authorities, that, Chester, you may be
a luminary sidekick at this point. Jules is the
real hero, right? I know that. And they're going
to find it out soon, too, right? Right? What
is a sidekick? It's done by the fireplace. Jules
looks back to Chester. Playtime's over for now.
We have work to do. And, like, you see this a
few times before, Jules. He's got that big, goofy
smile, but as you say that, playtime's over.
His face sets. His eyes go hard. You remember
the first time he donned his mithra when he faced
down the snake on God's breath? There's been
a few times where Chester's shown there is a
serious side to him. There is an adult side to
him, and he... looks at you with eyes that show
nothing. And he just nods. Oh, yeah. I know.
Like I said, I will protect you no matter what,
Jules. No matter what. I'm ready now. I've coined.
It just hit me that Jules blamed himself a lot
for Zebulon, for bringing him along. Huh. And
now he's doing the same thing with Chester. Fuck.
Yeah, I mean... Yeah, he has been, you know,
I mean, so it turns out better this time. Please.
Is Cully around or not? Is Ader around? Is he
watching with us? Yeah, he's behind. So you're
watching me like you're at the front of the room.
He's kind of a ways away. You see, he's like
been very quietly scratching at his sort of chin.
Oh, he's just like, well, I suppose we can just
go down and close shop. Don't get any business
for a while. That's fine. I got savings. Well,
Ada, you know Cully better than even Jules, I'm
sure. Do you think all this means that we should
be getting out of sight? I don't want to bring
any trouble to you and yours. He's just staring.
Just staring. He just kind of nods at that. What
the hell is wrong with you? This ain't him. He
wouldn't do this. I can't believe he would. No
matter what happens, for a friend's safety, the
freedom of their lives in danger, no, I can't
believe he would. All the same, should we be
worried about shield bearers or Arthash knocking
the door down to arrest us? Are we meant to flee?
I don't know. But if this was coming out... I'd
think they'd already have us surrounded. If they
were really coming after us, I'd think they'd
be here by now. Something feels wrong. Go ahead
and... I want... I think this is very interesting,
and so I would like... What kind of check? Like,
if we're playing GTA, I want to know how many
stars we've got. Give me a straight intelligence
check here. Eleven. Eleven. Yeah, it's... All
you know is he did say some very personal things,
you know, testimony that could be used against
you. I mean, that was enough for Atash to go
after the pig man. Testimony was enough, right?
But it was testimony from a trusted source of
Atash's. In this case, I mean, everything he
dropped was really just hearsay and rumors. What
I believe they did on this world. What I believe
they really did on this world. What happened
on God's breath that only I know about and there's
no evidence of. There's no true legal repercussion
here. And... Hatash may have made a move to make
arrests on Sansatyan. That was fucking bold.
And it probably cost him. For a moment, you were
able to turn the world against him for just a
brief flash because it was such a bold move.
You don't know for sure. You can't say for sure.
Maybe it's probably harder from just laying here.
I mean, there could be more. You feel like there's
more to this. There's something you're not getting.
Some piece that's not falling into place, but
you don't, you can't figure it out. You can't
grasp it. We need more information. Soldier Boy,
you've worked far. Do you have any way of contacting
Shola? You all do. We got the stone from the
shrine. Yeah. Who's holding it? The last we saw,
Jules had it, I believe. Was it Jules that gave
the... Ah, damn. Crispin had it. It's in the
ocean. Oh, actually, I should tell you real quick.
Just a quick update on one thing. Arhalon is
not here. He's gone right now because Arhalon,
after seeing that Jules was alright, continued
on with his quest. He saw Crispin's body to rest
on God's breath. He took Crispin home. He's been
gone for the last two nights. You know, supposedly
he's at the Warren meeting and assisting with
the Harangon folk there. setting up the services,
all that. All right. Yep. So Dresden will hear
Blanche's question, look over to Jules and nod,
and Jules will slowly pull out the sending stone.
And as he does this, Dresden slowly recedes into
the shadows, proceeds back to the alley, looks
left and right, closes the door again. and then
proceeds to slowly scour the entire building,
noting entry points, weak points, just kind of
getting a lay of the security of the place. As
you're looking at this up, you know there's basically
two main ways you're getting in, the front door,
and there's also the door into Ader's room slash
the actual full kitchen, which is also through
the stables. Those are two main entrances into
the coyote, apart from any sort of windows. It's
a pretty bad situation, I'll tell. You're talking
about security measures with the coyote. I think
that's actually a really cool transition into
something else I need to bring up. As you're
moving out, as you're looking through the window
at security measures, Dresden's eyes would obviously
fall on one of the most vital of security measures
you have here. Just above the fireplace, just
over the mantle, there is a sort of monument,
almost like a plaque. A gift. From a mysterious
source that came in just like the last, maybe
like the day before now. Following the recent
events of the last episode of The Morning Jewel,
you know that this was forged by the mage smith.
A memorial he mentioned in. It is a mastercraft
of metalwork, brass forged to a near -perfect
replica of Zebulon's outstretched hand. The scales,
shining brighter than his real ones ever did.
Sleek black steel forms these shadows that wrap
around the arm and the pointed claws when the
fingers end. Steel sabers, an exact match to
the two that Jaune still carries with him, or
has displayed perhaps at the Golden Bay, cross
over the palm. And I actually have an image of
this thing made by Zila. I think it was the first
thing Zila kind of made way back when. I think
Andrew went, Hooli Forge, went to Zila. Astropathic
Art. Astropathic Art and said, hey, can you make
this? Explained to her what it was from. And
then Zila dived into the show and the rest is
history. Now. Dresden, at this point, you've
probably looked over this thing when it came
in. I'm sure it was kind of like one of those,
you know, lots of stuff's going on, let's check
this thing over, any kind of magical mishappery.
And you did find something. The Mage Smith made
reference to a secret the memorial has, but of
course, these secrets can't be shared on the
network. Because they wouldn't be very secret
anymore. But you found this secret. Perhaps,
you know, you went over it, or everyone went
over it, scanning this thing. You found that
there are some diamond -set inscriptions wrapping
around the pinky figure of the hand that carry
a magical property. Essentially, the pinky is
a switch. And when it is showing, the effect
is dormant. If you move the pinky to the side
a bit so it's hidden behind the saber blade,
it casts the spell Pass Without Trace on the
nearest seven creatures, wrapping them in shadows
and granting them a plus 10 to stealth and letting
them leave no tracks behind as they move. I love
this because while it's extremely sort of Zebulon
rogue magical effect, it's also a spell that
had been carried by Crispin. It's kind of like
both the past in one. How dare you? So this is
really cool. The magical effect, and this is
something I want to bring up here too because
this is kind of a fun thing. I'll let Andrew
buy that with a button. We haven't fully assigned
buttons yet. Nice. But I knew he's got buttons.
So I was like, okay. Here's the thing. I was
like, you know what? I asked him like, can I
charge you a button for this? Because I want
to use you once again, Andrew, my eternal guinea
pig. Because I was thinking about trying to do
his buttons or something, right? I didn't know
what I was going to do. And I've been trying
to do these complex, you know, I tend to over
plan, right? Let's go to a complex table to make
buttons. Screw that. I don't want to do that.
I'm a chaos agent. I want chaos. I want things
to be goofy and nonsense. What I want is for
you to come to me, pants people, with your buttons,
and we'll barter. All right? I'm not going to
be nice. I might want a lot of buttons for little
things. This was a very cheap button get because
Andrew's done a ton of stuff and guinea pig,
and I think this is a really cool effect, and
I like it a lot. Hey, speaking of. What do you
want? Speaking of, dear pants person people,
you feel like you earned a button. Hit me up
on Discord or us up on Discord or Instagram or
wherever. Heard from a couple people already
about buttons that are due. Discord? Discord.
Heard of it? Stop. No. Stop it. But if you want
your buttons, you feel like you earned them,
you've got to speak up. Yes. Because it's too
much for us to keep track of because the pants
people are too generous. Here's what we're going
to do. Here's what we're going to do because
I like this a lot. Steven's your guy. He's a
nice one. Go to him when you want to get a button.
He'll tell you if you've earned a button. He
knows what's going on. Well, so I mean, like,
from now on, as shit happens, you know what I
mean? Like, when a package comes in the mail,
we'll be like, oh, damn. Take a button. Yeah.
But we're just kind of being... Yeah, we want
to get the retroactive buttons. Retroactive buttons.
That's on you. pants people because it's too
much because you're way too nice it's true too
much generosity we need we need your help to
remember all of it and make sure everyone gets
their due yeah when you get those buttons come
to me and you say hey uh my luminary exists in
this world perhaps my luminary is aware of justice
i'm dying aware of this sort of undercurrent
movement uh aware that these uh goofballs and
other poster boys poster blanches poster folk
for this movement so You need to go to... Basically,
if you want your Illuminati to do something cool,
help them out, have a dead drop for them somewhere,
some kind of cool effect, anything that can help
the story. I don't want to go too crazy. I don't
want... I'm not going to give them anything too
wild, but I'll let you barter buttons to do some
cool things. Whoa, plus three breastplate? What
the hell? That's going to look so good on you.
No universe. It'll kill him in one turn, if that's
the case. Curse effect. But no. I think this
will be fun. If you're also in this community
and don't have a luminary yet, come find me.
I want people to have luminaries. I want all
the luminaries. Because I want the luminaries
to be in the world, hanging out, helping our
heroes. Because as you can see, they need the
help. Or if you're Rory King, you can help DM
David out. Here's a Rory King. Rory King's a
mischievous. I think Rory King's got some deeper
ambitions going on. I don't think Rory King is
content to stand beneath the hand of the Sunweaver.
Well, we shall see, maybe, won't we? We might
just see. I also want to say real fast. Is that
complicated enough for you? I want to say one
thing real fast, too, because this is actually
really cool. And just another showcasing of how...
the story has changed the monument and this whole
thing came up way back when this is all andrew
sent me this stuff like half a year ago time
ago and he had mentioned at the time that he
wanted to send this to the other coyote and he
wanted to do it as a celebration of zebulon he
saw that zebulon's death might cause an undercurrent
of people who are followers of him and i like
the idea and i've been mulling it over and that's
actually when i had the idea that like because
initially i wasn't sure how how many people would
be fixated on this on the death of zebulon he
had been really early in his career um and as
heroic as he'd gone out you know it wasn't shown
everywhere but that thought process is actually
what inspired the whole idea behind the justice
undying movement the idea that zebulon's return
and his information he gave represents hope in
the face of despair represents that you know
there is nothing to fear in what's happening
to these worlds that perhaps you know, the others
are lying. Those in charge are lying. And I love
that. Like, I just want to say, Andrew, thank
you so much. You inspired this huge sort of element
of the show going forward. I think that's really,
really cool. So yeah. Thank you, Andrew. And
thank you all the pans people. Thank you everyone.
Sorry, but this is not an unzip. So let's get
back to the shit. You've got your 25 word message
already. Don't you, Jeremy? Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah,
of course. Guess what? Jules takes the sending
stone. out of his pocket, looks at it, tosses
it to Blanche. Oh, shit. All right, you ready
for this? Blanche is like, hi, Shola, you don't
know me very well, but my name is Blanche. No,
I'm just kidding. Okay. Do you want Blanche to
send a message? Blanche will send a message.
Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Now, it's worth noting that
you used this thing a few days ago, never got
a message back. Ah, fuck. But, Try it again now.
Okay. Are we safe? Can we meet you? Will you
help us? We seek answers. Will remain until your
answer. Blanche doesn't know who's really on
the other end of this, so I don't want to say
that we're at the Ugly Coyote. I feel like Sholay
probably would know. Yeah. Well, like we said
earlier, everybody knows, but that was 19, I
think. You pick this up and as you hear the knowing
that it's been picked up as well as you're kind
of transmitting this message, you speak these
words into it and then just a slow You are safe
for now. He will destroy your reputations. but
will not risk more yet. Tomorrow night, 11 o
'clock, my lair. Boom. Nice. Goes the dynamite.
Okay. So, Jeremy, what do we want to do between
now and tomorrow night? When is it now? It's
nighttime. I think Orin said, like, goodnight
or something like that. I think they mentioned
night somewhere. Okay. So I'm going to say it's
nighttime. As you're outside, it's kind of dark.
So we've got, like, 24 hours to kill? Yeah, about
24 hours to kill. One thing you should note,
Dresden, you've been moving around the property.
I'll just tell Dresden this as you're kind of,
like, scouting things out. Okay. No shield bearers.
No one in sight. Looks like they're coming towards
you. And something even weirder that you notice,
and this one really kind of sets in, no paparazzi
guild members. Why would they not swarm here?
Something is strange. It's as if there's been
an order put out not to come to you. You don't
know why. But no one is interfering with you.
No one is bothering you. And that in itself is
very weird because right now you should be the
talk of the city. You do need answers. But as
you stand outside, you do see... a figure is
approaching down the street. Doesn't look like
they're, they look like they're heading towards
the coyote, but not necessarily like they're
heading towards the coyote for you. Yet as they
get closer and begin to resolve themselves, you
know, in sort of like the dim sort of shadow
of the diamond, they step out of the shadow of
one building and the diamond's light falls upon
them. You recognize this figure immediately and
you probably do like a double take because it's
Captain Commander Arian. What the fuck? Did we
talk about on mic that we know Arya was the one
who downed the... Yeah. It happened while we
were there. Right. I forgot. It was Jules, wasn't
it, that rolled reception or something? It was
Blanche. Blanche. Yep. He rolled and we saw the
door closing with him. Right. You had a feeling.
You even said, you actually said in the gem to
Sholay, Arya is piloting. Okay. So do you mind
keeping all this, even though a little bit was
sort of off mic? Yeah. Okay, so then why the
fuck did Atash not crush Arya? Like, if Atash
is against the falling of the worlds and it is
known, I mean, like, do we know something that
Atash doesn't know? Who else? You told Sholay
this? And you saw this yourselves? nobody else
you had a nat 20 uh check to get like a sort
of a vibe off that to see that there's nobody
else in that room and you put together a puzzle
piece that why would there be nobody else in
the room this is something that only you know
okay i didn't i didn't i didn't completely grasp
that before so we've got at least some pinch
of leverage you have something and even more
than that as Dresden's watching as he sees Ariat
getting closer and closer. You can see a very
casual face, kind of like eyes sort of set, almost
like a slight wobble, as if Ariat's partially
in his cups. Because Ariat doesn't know. He doesn't
know that we know. And Ariat frequently visits
the Ellie Coyote for a private place to drink
some hard stuff. He doesn't know we know, then
that changes what Dresden is going to do. Play
it cool. Yeah. Another weird sidebar just to
put out there. Blanche, I think right now you're
probably actually staying at the El Coyote. The
Pale Moonlight is actually closed currently.
Basically, it's an amazing inn. All the staff
there had family that are now assumed dead and
gone. I think that following that, they probably
need to close for some time. There's no one there
to do anything. Sure. They're all mourning. That
was going to be part of my, like, I wanted to
gauge public interest. I was going to walk into
the pale moonlight and see what happened. But
that's okay. I'm very interested to see what
happens with Ari out here. Okay. I imagine Blanche
is kind of watching from the window. Maybe Dresden
is taking point by the front door and they have
that conversation, that exchange. He doesn't
know. Play it cool. Let him come in. Moments
later, as they're kind of waiting in there, probably
looking casual. Everyone look cool. We pass this
info to Jules so Jules doesn't do anything stupid.
Jules would be over there like, hey, idiot. Saloon
doors open. I love them so much. And Captain
Commander just walks in behind the bar. Ader
looks up. Oh, hey there, Aria. Long work week,
I'm guessing, huh? You would not believe. Looks
up to you guys. Oh, hey, that's right. Your regular's
here, too. I'm sorry about what that was. Hello
to something else. I've seen you guys in action.
I know you're all heroes. I'm sure the worlds
will figure it out too. Soon enough. You see,
there is sadness. True sadness in his features.
It's kind of like Narnia. And you see again,
he does have those two ashen dots, like a place
by his own fingerprints on his forehead. It's
a sign of day long, of morning. And Ariadne is
always in mourning. He, with kind of, again,
that sort of somber expression, turns over to
you, Jules. almost sort of awkwardly like, hey,
Jules, could we share a drink? There is something
you should know. Like, I'm curious, what are
you guys thinking? Like, do you have a suspicion
that this is the person that has caused so much
pain? What am I seeing in these characters right
now? Are you hiding this well? Are we making
deception checks? What's happening? Blanche is
thinking that I mean, this was definitely not
expected. At least Stephen didn't expect it.
So I'm going to guess that Blanche didn't expect
it maybe. But Blanche is thinking, you know,
if we pop this off sort of thing, if we start
to interrogate this guy and tell him what we
know, there goes our ability to travel through
the worlds. There goes our ability to peacefully
exist here at the Ugly Coyote. So if... we're
going to do this, we have to convince him that
we have power over him to not blow up our spot.
I mean, this is so dangerous because you have
just been painted as the villains of the Radiant
Citadel, and this is the captain commander of
the police. Right, but based off of his... If
something goes bad here. Right, but based off
of his reaction, he's like, hey, that guy said
some mean things about you, but... You can insight
check for more. Okay, sure. Yeah, let's do that.
You see the sadness is very apparent. You want
to insight check on that? Insight check on that.
Yeah, totally. Maybe I can actually roll something.
That's a 17. That is... Well, Jules rolled a
natural one. Dresden was a 12. Having a hard
time reading it, but Blanche, something about
that just didn't seem right. Something about
that just seemed like a lie. Didn't seem truthful?
Okay, sure, sure, sure. Like he was... Putting
on a face. Gotcha. I'd like you to make another
roll, though, I think. I think this makes sense.
Because you're right, this was unexpected, and
there should be tension in you at seeing him.
I want deception checks from everybody. I'm going
to roll a disadvantage. Oh, God. But I am going
to roll an insight check. He is a little drunk,
so disadvantage. Oh, no. Eight on the die, plus
zero. Both Jules and Dresden rolled the same
number. It's happening a lot tonight. And both
Jules and Dresden are getting a little smelly.
Oh, shit. Because both Jules and Dresden quit
their fucking game. That's amazing. I shit you
not. Wait, good crit or bad crit? Good crit.
Whoa. Good crit. Whoa. Whoa. Good crit. Dude,
that's got to be enough to throw off the Blanche,
like, not good roll. What was yours total? An
eight. An eight total? So here's what happens.
There's a moment, like, as you're kind of seeing
his lie, his eyes flicker to you, and you kind
of... Almost like something in his brow sets,
like he thinks. And you're kind of in this moment,
this silent moment of looking at each other,
trying to register each other, read each other.
And what do Dresden and Jules do right now to
sort of totally throw him off? You do something.
Two crits, you undo the fail that would have
happened there. I think that makes a lot of sense.
That's really cool. Jules will say, you got a
lot of courage coming in here with us. Well,
listen. I'm Captain Commander of the... He just
turns totally away from you in advance. I'm Captain
Commander of the Shieldbearers. Courage is all
I know. Like I said, I appreciate those who put
their lives on the line. I wish less people had
to. At least that's going to change now. You
can start moving deeper in. With Atash, moving
out on these worlds, I mean, it's a miracle.
Damn. For so long, the shield bearers, my people
have been holding these worlds together. These
rescue missions have watched so many. And I think
at that, he does touch his fingers to his forehead
and like close his eyes for a second. It's almost
silent prayer. So many fall, even on Umizo, a
few left behind to hold the crowd. But Atash
will see to it that these worlds. selfish, spoiled
children, share their resources, share their
powers. I know it. We can really be unified.
We can really be together. And nobody has to
die anymore. But, sorry, it's a bar. I shouldn't
get political. He kind of just walks over, walks
over to the bar, and he looks to you, Jules,
as he kind of like sits down. He has a seat sort
of open next to him, Ader, and he starts pouring
his usual and sliding it across. Yeah, Jules
will grab a drink. and move over to sit next
to him. But as he does, he nods Blanche over.
Okay. Yeah, Blanche will approach and sit on
the other side of Ariat, so they're sandwiched.
Really, just for my own curiosity, does Ariat
have his twin blades on him? Always. Very similar
to the two blades you see over the mantle. Very
similar to Zebulon's, these two twin sabers.
Dresden will move over to a side table or a booth
somewhere that he has clear line of sight of
both the front door and the conversation that's
happening. I think he kind of looks over and
says to all of you, just like, I should tell
you, you do not need to worry. About the shield
bearers. We're not coming after you. I saw the,
you know, everyone saw. But it's all hearsay.
Nothing. Rumors. We all know it. I'm not putting
any orders out. No one from above. None of the
speakers have asked us to look into it. You're
fine. Does that help? How can we be so sure that
Antosh feels the same way? What's to stop him
from... Busting the door down and arresting the
three of us who sit here at this bar. Atash is
pushing for guardianship on some worlds, but
he's not the speakers. He's not a speaker. He
is still outranked, technically, by Shole Brass.
So the only thing stopping him is you and your
shield bearers. I mean, I guess you could say
that. I would say the only thing stopping him
is his integrity. Sense of decency. He's a hero.
The brightest of the bunch. But that's not why
I called you over here. Jules, he looks over
to you and you get this very awkward sort of
look in his eyes and kind of looks down at the
sort of swirling amber of his half -drank sort
of glass. You are in a relationship with Gabriela
Cortez. Correct? Do I really need to comment
on stuff that's already public knowledge? Sorry,
I'm doing the shield -bearer -officer thing.
This ain't an interrogation, this is nothing.
I feel I should tell you, she is here. She, I'm
sure you're aware, assaulted a speaker. As such,
she is being held in our barracks until her trial.
Art of Ozda is trying to work with her. Trying
to, you know, see her released. Speaker Art of
Ozda does not want to push any charges on her,
but this is a grave matter. I have already made
allowances if you would like to visit her. And
perhaps you can talk some sense into her. Art
of Ozda has certain demands. He's asking for
from her and they're entirely reasonable. What
are the demands? Well, public apology and acknowledgement
that Sansa Tian is much safer under Atash's wing.
Basically just a change in her stance and a calling
off of this justice undying whole thing. If she
speaks the right words, no charges. Free to go.
Otherwise, I'm... Assaulting a speaker, Jules.
And he kind of gets very firm with you here.
I think his hand rests on the table near you
and kind of clenches a little bit. This is...
We could be talking 30, 50 years in the Sky Prison.
I'm sure you know better than anyone she is stubborn.
She refuses to see any reason and she will face
the costs of her crime. Maybe you can... Help
her see that the stubbornness is going to do
her and the world's no good. Ader just kind of,
I think, whistles and steps back into the back
room, closes the door. He's like, I don't, this
is not something I want to be a part of. This
is very personal. This situation has gotten out
of control. Due in large part to those people
who said what they were told to say. She's not
going to be one of them. She's not weak. Arya,
I think what Jules is asking is, can you help
us? Or will you help us? I am helping her escape.
Whoa. He was like taking a sip and he starts
coughing. I did not know you were a comedian,
Blanche Trudeau. I am the captain commander of
the shield bearers. I want you to understand
I'm here because I like you, but I am the arbiter
of law here on the Citadel. Personally, I believe
that she is guilty of a serious crime. Why would
I, why would I help? I'm trying to help her now
by telling you what you should tell her because
she will face time. How about you go down and
see her? Anytime you want, I will make the arrangements.
Middle of the night, we'll wake her up and bring
her out. I'm sure she's very unhappy. Locked
up in a cell all day. No company. And a friendly
talk might give you both the inspiration you
need to do the right thing. For her. For you.
For the worlds. Blanche is going to make eye
contact with Jules. And the implication, basically
what I'm trying to do is in -game work out this
question, Jeremy. One out of ten, how hard do
you want to press in this conversation here?
One being like, don't give anything away, let
this guy walk out. Ten being not. Jules gets
the feeling that he is trying to lure. Sure,
into a trap. into a trap or to get more inside
information. Insight checks are always allowed.
Yeah. Yes. Let's do that on the, like our safety.
If we were to go to hell. Yeah. See dance. No,
that's only a six for jewels. That is a 15 for
15 jewels. You can't read it. You do feel this
nervousness. I mean, you're, you've had a hard
life. People in power have often, turned on you
and you feel that that right here blanche you're
reading into this a little more you don't think
you're in any danger you think he is here because
he wants something from you this is his motive
for being here he wants dance to call off this
movement she started because it is a problem
but he is staying by his threat dance can either
make these public sort of announcements or dance
can go to the sky prison. And that is a harsh,
harsh penalty for her. The question is what is
more, what is, what, what, what would you value
more jewels, her freedom or her righteous passion?
You are in a very difficult place. You have only
recently started seeing her in this way, but
so quickly she could be torn from you just like
that. I've, I've been waiting for, an opportunity
to... I've been thinking about this question
over and over, sort of. Okay. It's not anything,
but I just don't want... I'm like, I've been
thinking about this before. Blanche is going
to ask... Well, come now, Ariat. If you didn't
come here for that, surely you came here for
something more than a drink in the company of
some recently fallen friends. Oh, believe me,
I'm here for a drink. And to get away from it
all. It's been a hard... I mean, it just kind
of sets again. I know that this place, especially
now, is going to be the most abandoned pub in
the entirety of the Radiant Citadel. It's a very
safe place to get a drink without any pioneers
or eyes. I just want to turn off work mode, if
that makes sense. But also, yeah, I am here.
Because I would really like to see that girl
get let go in her own way. Yeah, she did a serious
crime. Yeah, you know, people need to pay for
what they've done. But what can I say? I like
her. She's passionate and that's good. Maybe
she won't make these mistakes again, given a
second chance. Well, we like her too. And we'd
like to see her go free as well. I mean, it's...
It's not like she... It's not like she doomed
Mizu or anything. You just... Am I rolling a...
Am I rolling an insight check? I'm rolling an
insight check on that. I'm rolling an insight
check. Or do you want me to catch the connotations?
You tell me. I'm trying to, like... I mean, I
don't want to show our hand. Yeah. But I'm trying
to stir things up a little. Okay. Okay. I'm trying
to... Maybe introduce some doubt? Am I supposed
to roll Deception against that? Roll Deception.
CBC's through you all the way, or have you got
an accomplishment? Oh, shit. I rolled it, like,
way out of the box. It was here. It was on a
nat 20. I gotta roll it again. I can't. You fool.
I have too much integrity, unlike some of us.
That's a fucking 10. Shit. I rolled pretty high.
Yeah, of course you did. He blinks. His eyes
focused on you, and in that blink... He suddenly
seems very sober. A strange thing to say. I can't
think of a more heinous crime. Surely, speaking
out against authority is a protected right and
not such a crime. If one would get 50 years for
dancer's crimes, I can't imagine the punishment
of... The fall of Umizu? What about Tythos? His
eyes go down to your sword. Yes. I am sorry about
your master. I had thought you had finished the
job with him, but it seems he had escaped your
clutches and is still out there. What would make
you think such a thing? Because the storm came
back, right? Once the... Pearl had left bay once
we'd transferred. The storm must have come back.
How else would the pearl have fallen? So you
think Ozen and Ozen alone is responsible? We
have evidence. Plenty of it to showcase that
Ozen is involved in Tithos and Umizu. Then you
don't appear to know much. Do you? And he kind
of leans in a little bit. Have any evidence to
suggest he was working with anyone else? No evidence
I have any inclination to share with you. There
are many complicated things happening throughout
our Concord worlds. Have been for a long time.
Perhaps you could explain it to me like I am
a mere tadpole. I'll explain. One thing to you,
Tadpole. You are villains now. The people do
not like you, and while we're not going to make
any moves against you, of course, because I know
the truth, that you are honest, good people.
But to make any insinuations against anyone in
a higher power position... in your current state,
would be very foolish. Because we have no evidence
that we're willing to share the time against
you, but that's not to say it can't be found
or otherwise discovered. You know, I've learned
a lot and taught a lot in the world of martial
arts and swordplay, and very rarely... Is the
move of mutual destruction ever the smartest
move to play? I see you have your twin blades.
You know how to use them. Is that a lesson you've
learned yet? Believe me. Preservation is my utmost
goal. Preservation of myself and of those that
I respect. I would. And he looks deep into your
eyes like his eyes are open wide in a way where
it's like he is trying to be as transparent as
possible right now. I would take it very personally
if a terrible thing were to happen to you, to
Jules, to you, Dresden, as I respect all of you
greatly. And I would mourn your deaths. But...
I think I've had enough to drink. And he drops
a couple gold coins on the counter. Ader seems
to have slipped away. I will take my leave during
his absence. Please give him my best. And please
consider coming down to the barracks. I'm sure
Gabriella could use some relief from the torment.
Stool slides back. I'll let you know. There's
like a wicked smile under his eyes now. I mean,
like, it's a smile, but there's still sadness
there, too. Have a nice night. Think carefully
about tomorrow. Tips his head, turns and begins
to walk away from you as you watch. Walking towards
those saloon doors, you see, like, Chester in
the corner has been watching all of this kind
of glaring his way. I'm so stressed. Ariat. Stops.
Doesn't turn back to you, just stops. That's
really interesting because Jules doesn't turn
around. They're speaking back to back. God, so
cool. So cool. You make sure everybody knows.
Whoever stands by and lets this happen is complicit.
Whoever says what they're told to say. is complicit.
Whoever aids for their own benefit is weak and
complicit. And in one way or another, this will
end with every single one of them bearing the
full weight of retribution. Just as undying.
Fuck, that was so fucking cool. Button for each
of you. For each of you. So fucking cool. Dude.
Amazing. Dude, Jeremy, that was so fucking cool.
High fives all around. Oh, my God. Where's my
button? Oh, yeah. It's your physical buttons.
I forgot that. I'm supposed to send some of these
to Meg, by the way. Yeah, do that. Holy shit.
Just like silence falls a heavy silence just
thuds over all of you. He stands there, not turning
towards you, just not moving. And then very slowly,
he walks out the door. And we'll call it there.