WEBVTT 00:00:02.000 --> 00:00:05.639 Welcome aboard, pants people. Do they say welcome 00:00:05.639 --> 00:00:08.460 aboard on a starship? Maybe I'll ask our new 00:00:08.460 --> 00:00:15.300 friends of the Starship Tempest podcast. Starship 00:00:15.300 --> 00:00:19.460 Tempest. A genre -bending Star Trek podcast set 00:00:19.460 --> 00:00:22.199 between the times of Captains Kirk and Picard 00:00:22.199 --> 00:00:29.309 that brings you an actual play campaign. Two, 00:00:29.329 --> 00:00:31.370 three, four, five successes. Tell you what, in 00:00:31.370 --> 00:00:33.229 retconning, you can make it a difficulty five. 00:00:35.149 --> 00:00:38.350 With professionally designed audio drama elements. 00:00:38.729 --> 00:00:40.729 Captain, we'll be within range of their weapons 00:00:40.729 --> 00:00:43.530 in five seconds. With alacrity holding. Firing. 00:00:43.710 --> 00:00:51.130 Hang on! Nick! All while a group of lifelong 00:00:51.130 --> 00:00:54.289 friends foiled the GM's attempt at legitimate 00:00:54.289 --> 00:00:58.039 storytelling. It's Muppet Man. If you had done 00:00:58.039 --> 00:01:00.579 better on the sensor roll, then maybe your sisters 00:01:00.579 --> 00:01:04.099 would tell you. Teal's best assessment is, I 00:01:04.099 --> 00:01:06.739 think it's Muppet Man. Captain, we got Muppets. 00:01:07.219 --> 00:01:13.859 Now rise for the Klingon anthem. Peace depends 00:01:13.859 --> 00:01:17.180 on that power generator. So here we are. Remember 00:01:17.180 --> 00:01:25.829 your training. Hold the line! Can you tell him 00:01:25.829 --> 00:01:30.290 the tale of Gilgamesh? Does that help? Roll to 00:01:30.290 --> 00:01:35.129 tell him the tale of Gilgamesh. Warning. Warp 00:01:35.129 --> 00:01:40.010 containment critical. All hands abandon ship. 00:01:40.290 --> 00:01:44.870 I repeat, all hands abandon ship. While this 00:01:44.870 --> 00:01:46.930 is happening, I'm describing the complete plot 00:01:46.930 --> 00:01:51.549 of the movie Jack to Governor Cerullo. It is 00:01:51.549 --> 00:01:53.790 definitively not Jack. Okay, which is good because 00:01:53.790 --> 00:01:56.569 Todd McCarthy of Variety called it tedious, uneventful 00:01:56.569 --> 00:02:01.489 fantasy. He just prevented Tashi R from having 00:02:01.489 --> 00:02:05.049 a really bad childhood. And fixed that planet, 00:02:05.069 --> 00:02:08.949 which was still at war. Yeah. Starship Tempest. 00:02:09.310 --> 00:02:56.770 Available wherever you get your podcasts. spice 00:02:56.770 --> 00:02:59.370 things up for your partner. Now, you know I've 00:02:59.370 --> 00:03:01.550 never struggled, but even I have come to rely 00:03:01.550 --> 00:03:04.349 on some alchemical answers to these all -important 00:03:04.349 --> 00:03:07.449 questions. This is why I'm a firm advocate of 00:03:07.449 --> 00:03:10.370 Coronar Concoction's Giant Strength series of 00:03:10.370 --> 00:03:12.830 potions. Now, these potions are far from cheap, 00:03:12.870 --> 00:03:14.729 but let me tell you, they are worth the price. 00:03:15.069 --> 00:03:17.689 For the layman, a potion of Hill Giant Strength 00:03:17.689 --> 00:03:20.789 can still create an incredible experience in 00:03:20.789 --> 00:03:23.270 the bedroom. And for those with some serious 00:03:23.270 --> 00:03:25.849 gold to burn, wouldn't you just relish the feeling 00:03:25.849 --> 00:03:30.080 of Godlike power coursing through all of your 00:03:30.080 --> 00:03:33.319 limbs. Potion of storm giant strength. Come on. 00:03:33.719 --> 00:03:36.879 So if you want to feel like a luminary, place 00:03:36.879 --> 00:03:39.699 your orders today. The folks at Karnar have been 00:03:39.699 --> 00:03:41.900 working hard to better our worlds by bettering 00:03:41.900 --> 00:03:44.199 your bodies. This is just another of the many 00:03:44.199 --> 00:03:47.919 ways Karnar concoctions can improve your lives. 00:03:48.259 --> 00:03:50.759 And if this avenue of alchemical research is 00:03:50.759 --> 00:03:52.819 one that you feel passionate about, then I've 00:03:52.819 --> 00:03:55.719 got great news. Karnar is hard at work creating 00:03:55.719 --> 00:04:05.400 new, Coronor Concoctions is not accountable for 00:04:05.400 --> 00:04:06.759 any enhancement -related injuries or deaths. 00:04:07.000 --> 00:04:09.099 In rare cases, giant strength potion consumption 00:04:09.099 --> 00:04:10.740 can result in permanent hair loss, stone skin, 00:04:10.879 --> 00:04:12.620 mind melt, or possession. If your giant strength 00:04:12.620 --> 00:04:14.219 lasts longer than one hour, a local alchemist 00:04:14.219 --> 00:04:15.699 should be advised the product may contain cell 00:04:15.699 --> 00:04:20.319 fish. Coronor Concoctions. Alchemy for all to 00:04:20.319 --> 00:04:24.959 see. That was awful. This is like the stupidest 00:04:24.959 --> 00:04:27.720 three episodes we've ever done. Dude, I have 00:04:27.720 --> 00:04:31.240 one small thing that I want to say that I think 00:04:31.240 --> 00:04:35.560 could have made that, however impossible, a little 00:04:35.560 --> 00:04:39.180 bit better. What? When he's like, wouldn't you 00:04:39.180 --> 00:04:42.420 want this coursing through all of your veins? 00:04:42.779 --> 00:04:44.240 That's where I thought he was going. I thought 00:04:44.240 --> 00:04:46.100 you were going to say veins. You said limbs, 00:04:46.279 --> 00:04:49.339 and I was like, ah. Well, for Handsome Jai, it's 00:04:49.339 --> 00:04:52.480 basically a third leg. Well, right. Oh, my God. 00:04:54.040 --> 00:04:58.720 We are playing a family game, David. Hey. Hey. 00:04:59.459 --> 00:05:01.399 It's still Valentine's Day as you record this 00:05:01.399 --> 00:05:03.040 second half tonight, so I want to ask you guys, 00:05:03.220 --> 00:05:05.899 have you been lackluster in your personal endeavors 00:05:05.899 --> 00:05:12.339 lately? Oh, boy. Not a good banter? Oh, boy. 00:05:12.540 --> 00:05:16.730 Well, damn. I'm not feeding into that one. Maybe 00:05:16.730 --> 00:05:19.029 we'll have a sponsor someday. Who knows? An appropriate 00:05:19.029 --> 00:05:23.430 sponsor someday. Let's avoid love on this day 00:05:23.430 --> 00:05:24.850 of love. Instead, I want to talk about something 00:05:24.850 --> 00:05:27.350 else. I want to talk about something that I actively 00:05:27.350 --> 00:05:31.470 hate. All right? But to segue to I hate, I need 00:05:31.470 --> 00:05:32.709 to talk about something that I really, really 00:05:32.709 --> 00:05:34.810 like. I've been burning about this one. I want 00:05:34.810 --> 00:05:35.889 to talk about this because it's been going on 00:05:35.889 --> 00:05:38.329 for a while. NBC's Heroes. It's actually not. 00:05:38.410 --> 00:05:40.310 It's worse. It's my most hated thing. But first, 00:05:40.350 --> 00:05:41.250 I got to talk about something I really like, 00:05:41.310 --> 00:05:44.970 which is also a TV show. It is a TV show, Lost. 00:05:45.629 --> 00:05:47.810 All right. You've all seen Lost, right? No. I 00:05:47.810 --> 00:05:49.990 know of Lost. You've seen Lost? It's actually 00:05:49.990 --> 00:05:51.310 really good. So me and Gabby are watching Lost. 00:05:51.389 --> 00:05:53.050 We've been watching it for a while lately. We're 00:05:53.050 --> 00:05:55.370 into season two now. We watched it way back when 00:05:55.370 --> 00:05:57.069 we were younger and, you know, when we weren't 00:05:57.069 --> 00:05:58.230 together. Now we're watching it again together. 00:05:58.670 --> 00:06:03.420 And honestly, honestly, season one was... Really 00:06:03.420 --> 00:06:05.579 good. Really good. I think Lost at this Legacy 00:06:05.579 --> 00:06:07.579 now, that's just like this crummy show, bad show, 00:06:07.720 --> 00:06:09.800 because it kind of goes on a little too long, 00:06:09.879 --> 00:06:12.100 more than they want it to go on. It gets pretty 00:06:12.100 --> 00:06:14.720 convoluted. It's kind of, you know, weird. It's 00:06:14.720 --> 00:06:19.860 real fantasy pants, you might say. But honestly, 00:06:20.079 --> 00:06:23.600 it's really good. Seasons one and two are solid, 00:06:23.699 --> 00:06:29.180 solid. So it upsets me that this is a show that 00:06:29.180 --> 00:06:32.279 was created by J .J. Abrams. who is a person 00:06:32.279 --> 00:06:36.180 that I currently am very upset with. Have you 00:06:36.180 --> 00:06:38.620 seen The Rise of Skywalker? Have you seen The 00:06:38.620 --> 00:06:41.180 Rise of Skywalker? Unfortunately, yes. Yes. Yes, 00:06:41.180 --> 00:06:44.720 I have. Okay. I despise that movie. I'm so mad 00:06:44.720 --> 00:06:46.639 at that movie. What do you mean? It's got the 00:06:46.639 --> 00:06:49.439 single greatest line in all of cinema. They fly 00:06:49.439 --> 00:06:52.759 now? No. Oh. Oh. So how about Palpatine Returned? 00:06:53.120 --> 00:06:54.759 Which line are you talking about? Dude, there 00:06:54.759 --> 00:06:56.660 is a treasure trove of bad lines to pick from. 00:06:56.660 --> 00:06:58.949 The very last line of the movie. I don't even 00:06:58.949 --> 00:07:02.730 want to utter it. I don't even want to. I'm so 00:07:02.730 --> 00:07:06.029 mad at that movie. I'm so mad at that fucking 00:07:06.029 --> 00:07:07.910 movie because they could have done something 00:07:07.910 --> 00:07:09.930 good with it, right? I honestly, I watched the 00:07:09.930 --> 00:07:12.069 movie like two years ago, whatever. I am up at 00:07:12.069 --> 00:07:13.850 night sometimes just thinking, seething about 00:07:13.850 --> 00:07:15.449 how I could have made that movie better. And 00:07:15.449 --> 00:07:16.430 you know what? I don't even want to make movies. 00:07:16.509 --> 00:07:17.589 I probably couldn't have made it any better, 00:07:17.649 --> 00:07:19.649 but still I look at it and it's just so full 00:07:19.649 --> 00:07:23.129 of unbelievable flaws, sheer cowardice, avoiding 00:07:23.129 --> 00:07:25.230 trying to like do anything or fall upon anything. 00:07:25.290 --> 00:07:28.149 It's like, When you're making up movie series 00:07:28.149 --> 00:07:29.649 on the fly, right? When you're making a trilogy 00:07:29.649 --> 00:07:31.029 up on the fly and you don't know what the fucking 00:07:31.029 --> 00:07:33.949 plan is, that's called improv. And one rule of 00:07:33.949 --> 00:07:36.949 improv is yes and. They just no -butted the entire 00:07:36.949 --> 00:07:39.790 second movie. I didn't love The Last Jedi, but 00:07:39.790 --> 00:07:41.629 don't no -butt the whole second movie. You make 00:07:41.629 --> 00:07:44.589 the movie pointless, right? Sure, yeah. Stupid, 00:07:44.769 --> 00:07:47.430 cowardly, vile, incompetent mess of a movie, 00:07:47.509 --> 00:07:50.430 and they fly now. And I'm mad about it. Anyway, 00:07:50.569 --> 00:07:53.029 anyway. What movie do you guys hate the most? 00:07:53.209 --> 00:07:55.170 You know a movie like that? Some blood boil you? 00:07:55.629 --> 00:07:57.920 I can't think of anything. Make you want to vomit 00:07:57.920 --> 00:08:00.839 in the sheets. On the fly. But I bet you I can 00:08:00.839 --> 00:08:04.279 remember one by next week. Okay. You know what? 00:08:04.360 --> 00:08:06.980 All right. I'm not like a huge movie buff. And 00:08:06.980 --> 00:08:11.459 even movies that I like, I can't like re -watch 00:08:11.459 --> 00:08:14.120 a movie. If I see a movie, even if it's one that 00:08:14.120 --> 00:08:16.100 I really love, it's got to be like a year or 00:08:16.100 --> 00:08:18.160 two before I can watch it again. So if I come 00:08:18.160 --> 00:08:21.480 across a movie that I don't like, I'm simply 00:08:21.480 --> 00:08:24.240 just not going to watch it. Like I have a... 00:08:24.970 --> 00:08:27.009 I have a fairly recent memory of a movie I went 00:08:27.009 --> 00:08:29.389 to see with Rachel in the theater in Lancaster 00:08:29.389 --> 00:08:31.250 within like the past year or two. And I remember 00:08:31.250 --> 00:08:34.370 really disliking the movie. I already don't remember 00:08:34.370 --> 00:08:37.529 what movie it was. How do you have that? I want 00:08:37.529 --> 00:08:39.409 that level of zen where I can just let go of 00:08:39.409 --> 00:08:41.190 the things I hate. Yeah, I already don't remember 00:08:41.190 --> 00:08:43.289 what it was. You are truly a Jedi amongst us. 00:08:43.429 --> 00:08:45.490 I'm going to try to look it up. You're just kind 00:08:45.490 --> 00:08:48.049 of like, ah, feel the peace, let the force flow. 00:08:48.110 --> 00:08:50.350 I'm just like, goo, let the hate flow through 00:08:50.350 --> 00:08:52.750 you. The rise of Skywalker will bring you to 00:08:52.750 --> 00:08:56.440 the dark side of the force. It brought me. It 00:08:56.440 --> 00:08:58.340 brought me. What are you looking up? You don't 00:08:58.340 --> 00:08:59.580 even know what the movie is called. Yeah, I know. 00:08:59.620 --> 00:09:01.860 I literally am looking up movies that came out 00:09:01.860 --> 00:09:04.679 in 2024. Okay. Let's give Steven a minute. We 00:09:04.679 --> 00:09:08.179 got a vamp. No, I assumed you were going to say 00:09:08.179 --> 00:09:10.899 something nonsensical. We can talk more about 00:09:10.899 --> 00:09:12.940 The Rise of Skywalker, but we need about 30 minutes 00:09:12.940 --> 00:09:14.960 for me to get through that one. I'm very mad 00:09:14.960 --> 00:09:17.320 about it. I just don't understand why they didn't 00:09:17.320 --> 00:09:18.519 continue Kylo Ren as the main villain, right? 00:09:18.580 --> 00:09:20.019 I understand they want to have the redemption 00:09:20.019 --> 00:09:21.879 arc, blah, blah, blah. He didn't need it, and 00:09:21.879 --> 00:09:23.220 it was better if he didn't have it because they 00:09:23.220 --> 00:09:25.500 built up so long that Kylo Ren was going to be 00:09:25.500 --> 00:09:27.679 more powerful when he cut all the good out of 00:09:27.679 --> 00:09:29.519 him, right? It's like the story of he killed 00:09:29.519 --> 00:09:31.899 every person that mattered the most to him. He 00:09:31.899 --> 00:09:34.440 only had to kill one more who died in the movie 00:09:34.440 --> 00:09:37.110 anyway. He could have killed Leia, right? Boom. 00:09:37.250 --> 00:09:39.090 Start the movie off with that. Bam. He goes full 00:09:39.090 --> 00:09:41.929 dark side because he's finally cut the last string 00:09:41.929 --> 00:09:43.970 of light from him. And then he gets more powerful 00:09:43.970 --> 00:09:47.149 because the dark force is surging through him, 00:09:47.230 --> 00:09:49.029 which makes him a serious villain again. Because 00:09:49.029 --> 00:09:50.870 I understand he got beat twice. So how do you 00:09:50.870 --> 00:09:52.210 make a villain scary when he's beaten twice? 00:09:52.350 --> 00:09:55.909 You make him stronger. Sorry. You just double 00:09:55.909 --> 00:09:58.129 down. Double down on that shit. Double down on 00:09:58.129 --> 00:10:01.929 The Last Jedi. Don't be a coward. JJ. But I really 00:10:01.929 --> 00:10:05.799 like Lost, so thank you for that. It's Rey. What? 00:10:05.799 --> 00:10:13.240 Skywalker. Damn you. Mufasa was the movie that 00:10:13.240 --> 00:10:14.740 I saw with Rachel in that theater and I didn't 00:10:14.740 --> 00:10:19.139 like it. Oh, poo. Yeah. I remember coming in 00:10:19.139 --> 00:10:21.659 the next day and complaining to you, Jeremy, 00:10:21.720 --> 00:10:23.299 about all the reasons why I didn't like it. Yeah. 00:10:23.340 --> 00:10:24.740 I don't really remember what any of those reasons 00:10:24.740 --> 00:10:27.009 are anymore. I don't remember either. Yeah. So 00:10:27.009 --> 00:10:28.590 anyway, we're sponsored by Disney tonight. The 00:10:28.590 --> 00:10:31.070 animation was a little creepy to me. Shitting 00:10:31.070 --> 00:10:33.350 on Disney movies. Yeah. So I don't know. Hate's 00:10:33.350 --> 00:10:36.850 a strong word. I don't really hate movies, I 00:10:36.850 --> 00:10:38.429 don't think, because they just don't bother me 00:10:38.429 --> 00:10:40.470 that much because I forget them. But the missed 00:10:40.470 --> 00:10:42.809 potential. Yeah. Oh, yeah. It's totally there. 00:10:43.809 --> 00:10:46.090 I mean, I don't know. There's like a gazillion 00:10:46.090 --> 00:10:49.429 movies that come out every year. Just watch a 00:10:49.429 --> 00:10:51.149 better one, I guess. Just watch a better one. 00:10:53.309 --> 00:10:55.370 It's like D &D. I'm just trying to answer your 00:10:55.370 --> 00:10:57.970 question. I don't hate any movies, really. I 00:10:57.970 --> 00:11:02.950 don't have that same vitriol. Anyway, you're 00:11:02.950 --> 00:11:05.789 standing in the... I think I gotta make a save 00:11:05.789 --> 00:11:07.750 still, right? I think I'm blind. I think Blanche 00:11:07.750 --> 00:11:09.769 is blind. Eh, fight's over. You're fine. Wow, 00:11:09.929 --> 00:11:11.830 okay, for free? It goes away in a minute. You 00:11:11.830 --> 00:11:13.269 just wipe it off. I don't care. I don't care. 00:11:13.870 --> 00:11:17.220 Fight's over. You're in the club. You're in handsome 00:11:17.220 --> 00:11:19.399 house. Honestly, we'll just pick up where we 00:11:19.399 --> 00:11:21.919 left off. Blanche, you're standing, chair knocked 00:11:21.919 --> 00:11:24.539 down behind you. Mimics are blabbing. I think 00:11:24.539 --> 00:11:27.600 the one, like, people start rushing in. You see 00:11:27.600 --> 00:11:30.000 cute Callie, the yuan -ti, sort of breaks from 00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:32.200 the crowd and is kind of working with the mimic. 00:11:32.240 --> 00:11:34.320 She, like, does some weird, like, touches it 00:11:34.320 --> 00:11:35.860 and sort of moves her hand in a weird way on 00:11:35.860 --> 00:11:38.580 its back and it kind of just splits out. Sexy 00:11:38.580 --> 00:11:40.740 Avan, who comes rolling on the carpet, rolls 00:11:40.740 --> 00:11:42.820 up next to Akio in the middle of the chairs, 00:11:42.960 --> 00:11:46.120 still kind of blind and lying there. Breathing 00:11:46.120 --> 00:11:51.799 hard. Well, that was humiliating. The mimics 00:11:51.799 --> 00:11:54.200 actually, like, as sexy Callie sort of slithers 00:11:54.200 --> 00:11:55.580 between all of them. Sorry, cute Callie. Get 00:11:55.580 --> 00:11:58.559 them all mixed up. Kind of like does a soothing 00:11:58.559 --> 00:12:00.179 touch and they all kind of go bleh and kind of 00:12:00.179 --> 00:12:02.399 return back. And it looks like maybe these mimics 00:12:02.399 --> 00:12:05.580 were more or less tamed as they kind of sort 00:12:05.580 --> 00:12:07.759 of fold back into chairs. Tamed, but they did 00:12:07.759 --> 00:12:10.200 a boatload of damage to that guy. Tamed by her. 00:12:11.419 --> 00:12:15.339 He's playing the game. And that's the game. The 00:12:15.339 --> 00:12:17.580 crowd is still cheering, going wild. Chester's 00:12:17.580 --> 00:12:19.860 with him. Yeah! Whoa! Jules, did you see that? 00:12:19.980 --> 00:12:23.419 You were in that! Oh, shit! I think you see, 00:12:23.480 --> 00:12:25.399 like, as, like, everyone's cheering, Callie kind 00:12:25.399 --> 00:12:26.820 of moves to the center, starts kind of, like, 00:12:26.879 --> 00:12:31.139 fussing over sexy Avan, and maybe, like, flitting 00:12:31.139 --> 00:12:34.139 up over the crowd, you do see, maybe it was watching 00:12:34.139 --> 00:12:37.159 the whole time from above, this cat -sized purple 00:12:37.159 --> 00:12:40.039 dragon with butterfly wings, kind of just still 00:12:40.039 --> 00:12:44.629 glazed eyes, kind of, that was pretty good. slides 00:12:44.629 --> 00:12:47.129 down and kind of join. And the three of them 00:12:47.129 --> 00:12:50.389 kind of come together in the center of this circle 00:12:50.389 --> 00:12:52.929 of chairs. I think there's a wave, and the crowd 00:12:52.929 --> 00:12:56.570 kind of starts dispersing. That's the one. I 00:12:56.570 --> 00:12:58.649 found the word. There you go. Boom. They start 00:12:58.649 --> 00:13:00.330 dispersing out, kind of going back to the party. 00:13:00.350 --> 00:13:03.629 The party lords have gathered. They've ushered 00:13:03.629 --> 00:13:07.529 them away. And so we soon see a large sort of 00:13:07.529 --> 00:13:11.679 gap moving here. around our characters. Akio 00:13:11.679 --> 00:13:13.980 sleeping. Chester kind of moves up beside you, 00:13:14.019 --> 00:13:16.379 Jules. Blanche, you're standing triumphantly 00:13:16.379 --> 00:13:19.399 on the back of this chair. Your vision clears. 00:13:19.399 --> 00:13:25.220 Wiping her eyes. Yeah. Just frantically. You've 00:13:25.220 --> 00:13:27.899 been a bad time. I've had a lot of things in 00:13:27.899 --> 00:13:33.299 my face tonight that I don't care for. Yeah. 00:13:33.600 --> 00:13:38.159 Yeah. It seems like. As you're kind of recovering 00:13:38.159 --> 00:13:41.779 from that, as you gather with Chester, the three 00:13:41.779 --> 00:13:44.879 party lords kind of stand and wait. Blanche, 00:13:44.919 --> 00:13:47.600 do you want healing? Do you need healing? Probably 00:13:47.600 --> 00:13:50.779 not. Okay. Probably not. I'm going to hope not. 00:13:50.960 --> 00:13:52.759 You see they're almost like in a huddle in the 00:13:52.759 --> 00:13:54.440 middle of the chairs, kind of speaking quietly 00:13:54.440 --> 00:13:57.740 to each other, nodding fervently. Yeah, maybe. 00:13:58.639 --> 00:14:00.899 Right? Better safe than sorry? Yeah. Make your 00:14:00.899 --> 00:14:06.159 second guess. Let's do 16 down. You're 16 down. 00:14:06.259 --> 00:14:10.509 Okay. Let's do... Let's do level 2 cure wounds. 00:14:10.970 --> 00:14:17.750 It's 2d8 plus 4. You're back at full. I got 17. 00:14:18.009 --> 00:14:21.230 Oh, yeah, baby. Come here, Jules. Give me a kiss. 00:14:22.629 --> 00:14:26.230 Don't have to tell me twice. It's almost Valentine's 00:14:26.230 --> 00:14:29.269 Day. When this episode comes out, it'll be after 00:14:29.269 --> 00:14:34.049 Valentine's Day. Two for... Two tonight, folks. 00:14:36.059 --> 00:14:38.659 Oh, just cure wounds, you said? Yes. So you had 00:14:38.659 --> 00:14:39.919 to move up. So you guys are all gathered together 00:14:39.919 --> 00:14:41.559 now. Yeah. So you heal the plants. You're all 00:14:41.559 --> 00:14:43.320 on that side by the chair. You look up. Chest 00:14:43.320 --> 00:14:45.620 is with you, too. And again, literally just on 00:14:45.620 --> 00:14:47.240 top of the sleeping Akio, they're all huddled. 00:14:47.340 --> 00:14:48.940 They kind of stop huddling. They break away. 00:14:48.960 --> 00:14:51.840 They look over at you. Three sets of eyes, a 00:14:51.840 --> 00:14:55.610 fairy dragon, a snake lady. and a white -scaled 00:14:55.610 --> 00:14:59.450 lizard folk. Handsome Jai's three sidekicks, 00:14:59.450 --> 00:15:02.710 his old sort of guerrilla military squad. You 00:15:02.710 --> 00:15:04.470 didn't know that. He did say, I think this actually 00:15:04.470 --> 00:15:07.169 happened to mention to you about, he is my squad 00:15:07.169 --> 00:15:08.629 leader, my captain, so you would gather that 00:15:08.629 --> 00:15:10.490 there may be a history there. From the Civil 00:15:10.490 --> 00:15:15.909 War. Yep. Now, sidekicks. Now, this, whatever 00:15:15.909 --> 00:15:19.269 this is, party lords, these frivolous, wacky 00:15:19.269 --> 00:15:22.269 roles they play, but I think as you look at these 00:15:22.269 --> 00:15:25.710 people, As you see something dark in their expressions 00:15:25.710 --> 00:15:28.789 as they take you in now, a lot of the humor you've 00:15:28.789 --> 00:15:31.809 seen before, it seems to have evaporated. And 00:15:31.809 --> 00:15:34.750 I think it strikes you now. You have to wonder, 00:15:34.950 --> 00:15:39.570 who are they really? Who is Handsome Jai, really? 00:15:39.970 --> 00:15:42.570 I think they've seen some shit. Yeah. What do 00:15:42.570 --> 00:15:46.950 you want to do? Well, we won. Yes, what now? 00:15:47.889 --> 00:15:50.429 Look at each other and then sexy app and steps 00:15:50.429 --> 00:15:53.279 forward. Sorry, yeah, sexy app. Ah! Too many 00:15:53.279 --> 00:15:58.940 prefixes. Adjectives. That's the one. You won. 00:15:59.740 --> 00:16:02.240 I mean, you impressed all of us. That was something 00:16:02.240 --> 00:16:06.940 else. I think you see... If he says but, Blanche 00:16:06.940 --> 00:16:11.909 is going to punch him in the nose. Please. You 00:16:11.909 --> 00:16:13.850 see he draws out and be like, it's hand -drawn 00:16:13.850 --> 00:16:15.549 by Q. Callie. Maybe she was holding it there. 00:16:15.669 --> 00:16:19.190 Draws out the lamp, this oil lamp with a constant 00:16:19.190 --> 00:16:22.250 sort of rainbow flame flickering. Just this brilliant 00:16:22.250 --> 00:16:26.330 bright flame shifting colors. He holds it up. 00:16:27.309 --> 00:16:31.389 So, you're in. I don't want to derail this too 00:16:31.389 --> 00:16:33.950 much, but do we know anything about Handsome 00:16:33.950 --> 00:16:36.000 Jai's patron? Go ahead and roll me a history 00:16:36.000 --> 00:16:39.559 check. Oh, yeah. I love rolling me some die, 00:16:39.820 --> 00:16:45.159 especially when I've got a decent bonus. What? 00:16:46.360 --> 00:16:50.320 22. 22, okay. There's a lot of mystery surrounding 00:16:50.320 --> 00:16:54.419 this patron, more just because it's pretty hands 00:16:54.419 --> 00:16:56.720 -off. But from what you know, essentially there 00:16:56.720 --> 00:17:00.250 was an incident during the war. some great sort 00:17:00.250 --> 00:17:03.029 of mission where Jai Raju was going to sacrifice 00:17:03.029 --> 00:17:06.349 himself in some alchemically sort of based explosion, 00:17:06.650 --> 00:17:09.839 taking out a lot of people with him. uh just 00:17:09.839 --> 00:17:11.900 surrounded by enemy forces his squad had been 00:17:11.900 --> 00:17:14.160 separated and they managed to get away and as 00:17:14.160 --> 00:17:16.980 he did this as he committed this act as he was 00:17:16.980 --> 00:17:19.799 essentially going to die he found that he was 00:17:19.799 --> 00:17:23.259 instead of in the the fugue plane where you go 00:17:23.259 --> 00:17:26.259 when you die his body was fine he was alive instead 00:17:26.259 --> 00:17:28.259 somehow during the shockwave of this explosion 00:17:28.259 --> 00:17:31.259 he found himself in the plane of earth one of 00:17:31.259 --> 00:17:33.119 the four elemental planes that feeds into the 00:17:33.119 --> 00:17:38.970 world and here he met In this moment, a great 00:17:38.970 --> 00:17:42.109 genie, a Tao genie, a genie of the earth element, 00:17:42.190 --> 00:17:45.250 these are grand spirits of the elements, who 00:17:45.250 --> 00:17:48.910 offered him a wish. Jai asked for the power to 00:17:48.910 --> 00:17:51.269 end the war. All he wanted was to end the war. 00:17:51.869 --> 00:17:54.809 And the genie granted him its own power. Good 00:17:54.809 --> 00:18:00.289 guy, Jai. Made him a powerful warlock of the 00:18:00.289 --> 00:18:02.430 earth element, essentially. And so Jai was brought 00:18:02.430 --> 00:18:04.869 back to the world, sent back by the genie, and 00:18:04.869 --> 00:18:08.519 he did. Bring an end to that war. Little is known 00:18:08.519 --> 00:18:11.859 about exactly what happened following that. I 00:18:11.859 --> 00:18:14.119 mean, tales of grand battles have filtered out 00:18:14.119 --> 00:18:18.279 from the new empire of Taib, essentially. All 00:18:18.279 --> 00:18:20.880 his grand heroic deeds of handsome Jai and his 00:18:20.880 --> 00:18:24.799 cohorts. And following all that, they were shoo 00:18:24.799 --> 00:18:28.059 -ins to become Illuminarian sidekicks. You keep 00:18:28.059 --> 00:18:32.200 talking about alchemical stuff. Is Jai like a... 00:18:33.420 --> 00:18:35.319 warlock, artificer, multi -class sort of thing? 00:18:36.059 --> 00:18:37.559 From what you know, it's a pretty good roll. 00:18:37.680 --> 00:18:40.680 From what you know, he doesn't really make alchemical 00:18:40.680 --> 00:18:46.000 things, but Taib is a pretty large world's font 00:18:46.000 --> 00:18:48.079 for alchemical concoctions. That's why Karanar 00:18:48.079 --> 00:18:52.059 is a big thing there. And he had a lot of backing. 00:18:52.259 --> 00:18:53.900 Even during the war, he was able to use them 00:18:53.900 --> 00:18:57.440 quite a bit to sort of turn the tide. Probably 00:18:57.440 --> 00:19:01.160 used some pretty wild, horrible things. Okay, 00:19:01.220 --> 00:19:04.299 that's all of the off -railing that I care to 00:19:04.299 --> 00:19:09.799 do. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. Lantern's being held. 00:19:09.920 --> 00:19:13.160 Do you want to approach it? Or the lamp? That's 00:19:13.160 --> 00:19:16.039 what we're here for. Yeah. Let's do it together, 00:19:16.259 --> 00:19:20.259 Jules. And Blanche reaches her hand out. Jules 00:19:20.259 --> 00:19:25.099 takes her hand. Just the two? Yeah. Just as it 00:19:25.099 --> 00:19:26.680 goes in. And I think as you're reaching out, 00:19:26.819 --> 00:19:33.220 Avan... kind of puts a hand up. And I think Callie's 00:19:33.220 --> 00:19:38.240 the one that speaks. Before you take the plunge 00:19:38.240 --> 00:19:42.880 and step into the VIP lounge, I think it's only 00:19:42.880 --> 00:19:48.339 right we are transparent with you. Your friend, 00:19:48.660 --> 00:19:55.180 Yara, did not approach us under that name. She 00:19:55.180 --> 00:19:59.990 called herself Heather Skies. Now we're not idiots. 00:20:00.910 --> 00:20:05.630 We'd wondered at the death or disappearance of 00:20:05.630 --> 00:20:13.250 mesmerized. Never lies for some time. You seem 00:20:13.250 --> 00:20:17.089 to be a compatriot of hers. We're going to warn 00:20:17.089 --> 00:20:22.269 you. We know she's up to something. We know she's 00:20:22.269 --> 00:20:26.890 come to assassinate Handsome Jai. He knows too. 00:20:28.190 --> 00:20:32.289 We've been keeping you busy while he's been interrogating 00:20:32.289 --> 00:20:36.670 her on the inside. We're happy to send you his 00:20:36.670 --> 00:20:41.670 way, but it will not be a friendly party. If 00:20:41.670 --> 00:20:43.730 you're looking for a peaceful end to this, then 00:20:43.730 --> 00:20:46.950 you'll let us in now. We're looking for answers. 00:20:47.950 --> 00:20:51.309 We've been in contact with Jai. She tried to 00:20:51.309 --> 00:20:55.809 drug him. She's... wielding a dagger coated with 00:20:55.809 --> 00:21:00.250 purple worm venom from anchoring Sengar. Deadly 00:21:00.250 --> 00:21:03.769 stuff. You think we haven't dealt with assassins 00:21:03.769 --> 00:21:08.670 before? We had our fun with you. But now it's 00:21:08.670 --> 00:21:11.630 time for answers. And you're going to give that 00:21:11.630 --> 00:21:15.930 to him. He's waiting. Blanche reaches to touch 00:21:15.930 --> 00:21:20.890 the... Yeah. They sort of nod as you reach out. 00:21:21.410 --> 00:21:24.619 And you feel a pull. Something as you touch the 00:21:24.619 --> 00:21:27.039 lantern, almost like the flame you see, almost 00:21:27.039 --> 00:21:31.339 like grows and spreads. You feel these flickering, 00:21:31.339 --> 00:21:34.839 vibrant flames cover your body. They do not hurt. 00:21:34.920 --> 00:21:37.559 They almost like tickle a little. And then you 00:21:37.559 --> 00:21:39.700 feel your cells being yanked, ripped, pulled, 00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:43.059 shrinking, growing smaller, smaller, being torn 00:21:43.059 --> 00:21:46.980 from this reality almost and pulled into a smaller 00:21:46.980 --> 00:21:51.940 pocket dimension in a display of vibrant light. 00:21:54.179 --> 00:21:57.039 I don't think there's any way that, especially 00:21:57.039 --> 00:21:59.839 now that we know that this is a little hostile, 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:06.799 that Blanche would have left without Akio. I 00:22:06.799 --> 00:22:12.299 don't want to keep going and then all of a sudden 00:22:12.299 --> 00:22:15.500 something bad happens and we soup back out and 00:22:15.500 --> 00:22:17.740 it's like, oh, they've got Akio under a knife. 00:22:17.880 --> 00:22:21.220 It's like, no. It's just Akio for your mom. They're 00:22:21.220 --> 00:22:24.529 all with you. He can sleep in the corner here. 00:22:25.009 --> 00:22:29.470 Hell yeah. You are in the VIP room. You see a 00:22:29.470 --> 00:22:33.690 small dome of a cavern. Rough stone walls, meaning 00:22:33.690 --> 00:22:37.509 a stone floor covered by a red rug. Lush, cushion 00:22:37.509 --> 00:22:39.269 -covered couches line the walls, and a thick 00:22:39.269 --> 00:22:42.509 haze fills the air, smelling funky. This does 00:22:42.509 --> 00:22:47.250 not smell like cinnamon. Better or worse than 00:22:47.250 --> 00:22:51.650 dragon farts? Probably worse. Sorry, fairy farts. 00:22:52.410 --> 00:22:54.910 A full bar sort of spreads across one side of 00:22:54.910 --> 00:22:57.250 the room, and an elaborate dancing stage dominates 00:22:57.250 --> 00:22:59.470 the other. There are many crystalline lights 00:22:59.470 --> 00:23:00.990 that hang from the ceiling, like shimmering, 00:23:00.990 --> 00:23:03.869 glowing stalag... Fuck, I wrote mites. Is it 00:23:03.869 --> 00:23:06.569 mites? Tites? Stalag? Tites grip tight to the 00:23:06.569 --> 00:23:08.609 ceiling, right? Boom, stalag. Mites, you might 00:23:08.609 --> 00:23:11.410 walk into them? Ah, alright, alright. Stalag, 00:23:11.410 --> 00:23:14.750 tites. Anyway, I don't care. The lights seem 00:23:14.750 --> 00:23:18.009 to be dimmed at the moment. There is no music 00:23:18.009 --> 00:23:21.900 playing here, and very little sound at all. In 00:23:21.900 --> 00:23:23.359 the center of the room, you see that the red 00:23:23.359 --> 00:23:27.220 rug has been torn apart by spikes of stone closing 00:23:27.220 --> 00:23:29.240 in around the body of a blonde -haired woman 00:23:29.240 --> 00:23:32.940 in a voluptuous red gown. Though altered by illusion, 00:23:33.059 --> 00:23:34.500 you can see familiar features on the woman's 00:23:34.500 --> 00:23:37.819 face. The best lies, after all, do hold some 00:23:37.819 --> 00:23:40.619 amount of truth. Sharpened into a stone, press 00:23:40.619 --> 00:23:44.500 in around her pale neck, Yara's pale neck, though 00:23:44.500 --> 00:23:48.160 she looks surprisingly unbothered as she takes 00:23:48.160 --> 00:23:51.849 your appearance in with a raised eyebrow. And 00:23:51.849 --> 00:23:55.190 besides her sort of entombed form, you see a 00:23:55.190 --> 00:23:58.609 half -elven man. Youthful in brown skin, chiseled 00:23:58.609 --> 00:24:00.849 chin, high cheeks, dark brown hair, perfectly 00:24:00.849 --> 00:24:03.950 curled, hazel eyes, the color glossed over by 00:24:03.950 --> 00:24:07.069 some form of stupor. Again, like, the pupils 00:24:07.069 --> 00:24:10.269 look very small, and he's almost, like, swaying 00:24:10.269 --> 00:24:14.049 as he takes you in. Small of stature, but well 00:24:14.049 --> 00:24:16.009 -muscled. See, he's wearing a beige curtain, 00:24:16.150 --> 00:24:18.829 blue and green checkered shawl, open -chested 00:24:18.829 --> 00:24:23.240 to show a kind of... smooth, sexy chest. And 00:24:23.240 --> 00:24:27.500 Handsome Jai's smile is charm itself as he nods 00:24:27.500 --> 00:24:30.220 to you. As he snaps his fingers and you see the 00:24:30.220 --> 00:24:32.759 stone walls of the dome become translucent for 00:24:32.759 --> 00:24:35.359 a moment, muffled sounds of thumbing music resonating 00:24:35.359 --> 00:24:37.740 through them. Almost like staring through crystal, 00:24:37.859 --> 00:24:39.640 you see the inside of Handsome House surrounding 00:24:39.640 --> 00:24:43.019 the space, looking titanic. It is almost sickening 00:24:43.019 --> 00:24:44.839 to watch as this entire room you're in is being 00:24:44.839 --> 00:24:47.099 carried in the swaying hands of Sexy Avin as 00:24:47.099 --> 00:24:51.640 he returns to a table. Used to hear, have fun, 00:24:51.640 --> 00:24:54.819 chief. And in a blur, the gray color returns, 00:24:55.000 --> 00:24:57.079 the stone walls, the sound of the outside world 00:24:57.079 --> 00:25:01.119 vanishing entirely. The curtains have been closed. 00:25:02.240 --> 00:25:06.920 That was a fun show. Really kept us entertained. 00:25:07.660 --> 00:25:10.380 Between questions, if you want to grab a drink, 00:25:10.460 --> 00:25:13.480 you might need it. And don't mind my lovely day. 00:25:13.539 --> 00:25:17.230 She's the shy, quiet type. barely said a thing, 00:25:17.309 --> 00:25:19.390 though I have been a perfect gentleman, asking 00:25:19.390 --> 00:25:24.670 her all about herself. He takes a long pull from 00:25:24.670 --> 00:25:26.710 his own glass, and then just, you see it just 00:25:26.710 --> 00:25:28.750 falls out of his fingers, showers on the floor, 00:25:28.950 --> 00:25:30.809 yarr under his sky's foremost, twitches a little 00:25:30.809 --> 00:25:34.730 at the sound, and whoops, whoops, sorry, my minded 00:25:34.730 --> 00:25:38.589 limbs are a bit off. Heather here, spiked my 00:25:38.589 --> 00:25:41.990 glass with some crazy shit. Unfortunately, for 00:25:41.990 --> 00:25:44.210 her, I poison myself with better every morning. 00:25:46.920 --> 00:25:50.839 And he kind of just looks at you. Jai, I am not 00:25:50.839 --> 00:25:53.779 here for the girl. I frankly don't care about 00:25:53.779 --> 00:25:56.819 her at all. I don't know her. I think she's made 00:25:56.819 --> 00:26:01.559 her own bed. Is there someplace that we can just 00:26:01.559 --> 00:26:04.440 talk without this charade? Soldier to soldier? 00:26:04.980 --> 00:26:07.839 Something is... Parley, if you will? Yeah, I 00:26:07.839 --> 00:26:09.700 think you see his eyes sort of like settle. The 00:26:09.700 --> 00:26:12.519 soldier, he liked that. You could feel he liked 00:26:12.519 --> 00:26:41.339 that. Does... Does... handsome jai not i mean 00:26:41.339 --> 00:26:43.519 like i'm not trying to be like do you know who 00:26:43.519 --> 00:26:46.420 i am but like literally does handsome jai not 00:26:46.420 --> 00:26:51.220 know who blanche is he is a top -ranked luminary 00:26:51.220 --> 00:26:55.299 you are probably the most prominent up -and -comers 00:26:55.299 --> 00:26:59.059 that exist right now right it is crazy to think 00:26:59.059 --> 00:27:02.299 that someone wouldn't know who you are he doesn't 00:27:02.299 --> 00:27:05.829 know who you are Okay. He can see his eyes. He 00:27:05.829 --> 00:27:07.930 just looks like he's... You're like, okay, this 00:27:07.930 --> 00:27:10.490 guy just... He's so out of it. He's so out of 00:27:10.490 --> 00:27:13.490 whatever's going on. Yeah. Then she'll introduce 00:27:13.490 --> 00:27:16.970 herself. Wait. Jean was the first total luminary, 00:27:17.069 --> 00:27:19.269 right? Not Blanche? Jean was the first. Right. 00:27:19.269 --> 00:27:21.309 Okay. And you know, his sidekicks knew who you 00:27:21.309 --> 00:27:23.210 were. He just seems like he's at a different 00:27:23.210 --> 00:27:25.829 level of... Yeah. So she'll introduce herself. 00:27:25.910 --> 00:27:29.710 I'm Blanche Trudeau. former Master of Defense 00:27:29.710 --> 00:27:34.390 for the Montelio family of Nuwari. I am now the 00:27:34.390 --> 00:27:37.569 second total luminary in existence, the first 00:27:37.569 --> 00:27:40.750 being my pupil, John Franklin Montelio, who is 00:27:40.750 --> 00:27:46.410 now King Montelio. I cut my teeth learning with 00:27:46.410 --> 00:27:51.349 my master, Ozen Yoshikatsu. He puts a hand up 00:27:51.349 --> 00:27:54.710 as you're kind of moving on. Your pupil is the 00:27:54.710 --> 00:27:59.660 king. You put a king on the throne, huh? I do 00:27:59.660 --> 00:28:02.279 know something about that. Come on, grab a drink. 00:28:03.180 --> 00:28:06.960 What would you know about that? I mean, who do 00:28:06.960 --> 00:28:09.099 you think put Empress Feruza on the throne, huh? 00:28:09.839 --> 00:28:14.579 We are pretty similar. Loyalists, right? Do you 00:28:14.579 --> 00:28:19.279 regret it yet? Your loyalty to your cause? You 00:28:19.279 --> 00:28:22.759 will. Eventually, you'll be like me. I'm going 00:28:22.759 --> 00:28:25.319 to grab a drink. and just very callously just 00:28:25.319 --> 00:28:27.240 walks away from Yara, who's just still kind of 00:28:27.240 --> 00:28:30.019 stuck in place. There's, like, this stone edging, 00:28:30.019 --> 00:28:32.799 kind of, like, and just pressing around her neck. 00:28:32.980 --> 00:28:35.400 He just walks casually over to the bar and sort 00:28:35.400 --> 00:28:37.680 of grabs something from behind it and gets fully 00:28:37.680 --> 00:28:39.799 loaded bar, glass, you know, all sorts of bottles. 00:28:40.819 --> 00:28:43.539 Noire, right? I think I got some jelly wine. 00:28:43.619 --> 00:28:45.779 Oh, yeah, of course. Pumps over to the jelly 00:28:45.779 --> 00:28:49.480 wine and it's the black liquid pouring in a glass. 00:28:50.140 --> 00:28:52.880 Slides one over where you are. He doesn't even 00:28:52.880 --> 00:28:54.099 look to see if he can take it. He grabs one for 00:28:54.099 --> 00:28:57.240 himself. I don't much have a taste for the stuff 00:28:57.240 --> 00:29:03.259 anymore, but I suppose that loyalty can test 00:29:03.259 --> 00:29:07.839 your honor. I think I've been tested in such 00:29:07.839 --> 00:29:10.880 a way before. I'd like to think that I have acted 00:29:10.880 --> 00:29:14.480 honorably. Do you feel differently? I want you 00:29:14.480 --> 00:29:18.319 to roll a check here. I like this a lot. Give 00:29:18.319 --> 00:29:20.920 me a persuasion check. See if he'll open up to 00:29:20.920 --> 00:29:23.099 you. Persuasion's really shitty for Blanche, 00:29:23.180 --> 00:29:25.920 but we'll go for it. I want to give you advantage 00:29:25.920 --> 00:29:29.299 because he's pretty messed up right now. This 00:29:29.299 --> 00:29:32.119 is stuff he doesn't want to talk about, but there's 00:29:32.119 --> 00:29:34.660 something in his system that's bad. Oh, I probably 00:29:34.660 --> 00:29:35.940 don't need the persuasion. Well, I mean, it's 00:29:35.940 --> 00:29:39.059 an 18 on the die with a plus zero, so yeah, 18. 00:29:39.980 --> 00:29:44.240 18. Okay. Yeah, he's pretty messed up. I think 00:29:44.240 --> 00:29:47.269 this makes sense. You say that, do you feel differently? 00:29:47.269 --> 00:29:51.789 He kind of just sways in front of the bar. His 00:29:51.789 --> 00:29:53.829 hand kind of raises over it and you see it comes 00:29:53.829 --> 00:29:57.210 down to the bar kind of hard. And when it does, 00:29:57.289 --> 00:29:59.930 a tremor of violence runs through this entire 00:29:59.930 --> 00:30:03.130 room. You see bits of stone crack and fall from 00:30:03.130 --> 00:30:05.549 the ceiling. And you begin to realize just how 00:30:05.549 --> 00:30:08.849 dangerous the situation is for you. A room of 00:30:08.849 --> 00:30:14.769 stone and a powerful sort of earth -based... 00:30:15.000 --> 00:30:18.779 A warlock. We're in his domain. You are, truly. 00:30:18.819 --> 00:30:27.259 Not a place to mess around. You kind of... War 00:30:27.259 --> 00:30:31.180 hero. That's what they call me, you know? But 00:30:31.180 --> 00:30:34.420 do you know how one becomes a war hero? Yeah, 00:30:34.440 --> 00:30:39.140 I'll tell you. You stop killing soldiers. You 00:30:39.140 --> 00:30:42.220 start killing innocents. You start torturing 00:30:42.220 --> 00:30:45.599 prisoners. You start poisoning wells and burning 00:30:45.599 --> 00:30:49.019 enough food to feed a city. Thankfully, though, 00:30:49.039 --> 00:30:51.559 when the war's over, the winners get to write 00:30:51.559 --> 00:30:57.960 a story, right? So, boom, war hero. No one has 00:30:57.960 --> 00:31:02.420 to know. Because the greater good is all that 00:31:02.420 --> 00:31:05.740 matters, right? Right? You don't have to be that 00:31:05.740 --> 00:31:11.720 way anymore, Jai. Oh, I'm not. I... Forget. I 00:31:11.720 --> 00:31:16.619 choose to forget every day. But I am getting 00:31:16.619 --> 00:31:21.079 off topic. Why are you here? Are you part of 00:31:21.079 --> 00:31:24.079 the assassination? Clearly you can see I'm not 00:31:24.079 --> 00:31:28.740 going to die. You can't get me. The assassination 00:31:28.740 --> 00:31:33.740 is over, and while I would hate to see the girl 00:31:33.740 --> 00:31:38.380 die, she's not a threat to you. Let her wave 00:31:38.380 --> 00:31:42.559 the white flag. Let us talk. It doesn't involve 00:31:42.559 --> 00:31:46.539 her anymore. She's nothing. Then why is she here? 00:31:47.500 --> 00:31:52.900 What did I do? Miss Mesmerize? Sorry, Heather 00:31:52.900 --> 00:31:58.539 Skyes? I frankly don't care why Mesmerize is 00:31:58.539 --> 00:32:00.400 here, or whatever she chooses to call herself. 00:32:01.019 --> 00:32:04.359 I'm here to talk to you about Rune, and I don't 00:32:04.359 --> 00:32:07.200 have the time to figure out my problems. and 00:32:07.200 --> 00:32:10.519 her problems in the same night. I have an appointment 00:32:10.519 --> 00:32:14.180 at 11 o 'clock. His eyes actually do go wide 00:32:14.180 --> 00:32:20.619 when you say Rune. Rune. Rune. What do you know 00:32:20.619 --> 00:32:25.359 about Rune? Not much yet, but we're hoping that 00:32:25.359 --> 00:32:31.359 you can teach us something. I told you. When 00:32:31.359 --> 00:32:33.220 the war is over, the winners write the story, 00:32:33.299 --> 00:32:36.869 they make all the bad stuff go away. Except, 00:32:36.869 --> 00:32:39.769 you can't get rid of all the evidence. It's still 00:32:39.769 --> 00:32:42.309 out there somewhere. Recordings and whatnot. 00:32:43.309 --> 00:32:46.130 And if you're clever enough, like a certain gnome, 00:32:46.269 --> 00:32:49.230 you might realize that a war hero's got a few 00:32:49.230 --> 00:32:52.430 skeletons in his closet. I don't think I can 00:32:52.430 --> 00:32:56.490 help you against Rune, because Rune's got me 00:32:56.490 --> 00:33:01.009 by the throat. I mean, all I want to do is forget. 00:33:01.369 --> 00:33:04.089 And if he lets it all out, if the worlds know 00:33:04.089 --> 00:33:08.759 what I am, What my squad is. We'll never be able 00:33:08.759 --> 00:33:14.519 to forget. No one will. Hell, Taib might blow 00:33:14.519 --> 00:33:17.960 up in a civil war again. Back to the front lines, 00:33:18.039 --> 00:33:21.660 soldier. I already know what you are. You're 00:33:21.660 --> 00:33:25.720 a soldier who is following orders, who can turn 00:33:25.720 --> 00:33:29.599 over a new leaf. You're a veteran. You deserve 00:33:29.599 --> 00:33:32.259 some respect. You want to add anything to this? 00:33:32.299 --> 00:33:33.960 Damn. This is a persuasion check. If you want 00:33:33.960 --> 00:33:35.900 to give a view of help action, this is a... Uh, 00:33:36.099 --> 00:33:38.400 yeah. Yeah, please, because Blanche is a plus 00:33:38.400 --> 00:33:42.119 zero. Jules will say, you know, I don't think 00:33:42.119 --> 00:33:45.799 we're all that dissimilar. Try to decide who 00:33:45.799 --> 00:33:47.619 should... I want Blanche to make the check, because 00:33:47.619 --> 00:33:49.160 she's built a rapport. But I'm going to give 00:33:49.160 --> 00:33:51.660 you her advantage because of that. I think that 00:33:51.660 --> 00:33:54.779 makes sense right now. You're the focus. You're 00:33:54.779 --> 00:33:56.500 the one he's watching. But he hears your words, 00:33:56.700 --> 00:33:59.039 kind of nods. We don't know what you've been 00:33:59.039 --> 00:34:03.810 through, but we can relate. We understand. Natural 00:34:03.810 --> 00:34:06.170 19. Well, I mean, it's a plus zero. So 19 on 00:34:06.170 --> 00:34:09.250 the first roll. Let's see if we crit. Nope. 19 00:34:09.250 --> 00:34:12.050 was the higher. 19's pretty good. 19's real good. 00:34:13.250 --> 00:34:18.750 All right. Snaps his fingers and you see the 00:34:18.750 --> 00:34:22.510 stone begins to... He whispers an enchantment 00:34:22.510 --> 00:34:26.230 and all this going around. Yara fades away, breaking 00:34:26.230 --> 00:34:29.090 deck. You see, like, as it slides back into the 00:34:29.090 --> 00:34:31.889 floor, the carpet where it was torn apart kind 00:34:31.889 --> 00:34:35.190 of just sort of is mended, perfectly sort of 00:34:35.190 --> 00:34:38.710 cleared. Yara kind of takes a breath and sort 00:34:38.710 --> 00:34:43.690 of collapses for a second, just... It is not 00:34:43.690 --> 00:34:45.929 what he says. I am not here to kill him. He would 00:34:45.929 --> 00:34:49.170 not... could not understand. It's the goblin. 00:34:49.889 --> 00:34:53.900 I'm here for Triss. It sounds like we maybe all 00:34:53.900 --> 00:34:58.380 have something in common, then. Trace. Oh, Trace. 00:34:59.079 --> 00:35:02.960 What time is it right now? Blanche checks her 00:35:02.960 --> 00:35:05.179 watch. I think we said things start off at 8 00:35:05.179 --> 00:35:08.719 .30 when you got in. I'd say it's 9 .30 now. 00:35:08.860 --> 00:35:11.400 It's probably been an hour out there. Okay. Makes 00:35:11.400 --> 00:35:13.500 sense to me. All right. Moving around, doing 00:35:13.500 --> 00:35:15.380 various things, probably a lot of in -between 00:35:15.380 --> 00:35:20.280 stuff. So, yeah, call at 9 .30. Oh, 10 o 'clock. 00:35:20.340 --> 00:35:24.320 He's... Do pretty soon. Goblin's got a way in. 00:35:24.579 --> 00:35:26.860 Rune likes to, you know, collect, give orders, 00:35:26.980 --> 00:35:29.900 blah, blah, blah. Needed his own way in, so he 00:35:29.900 --> 00:35:34.199 just kind of appears right here. If you want 00:35:34.199 --> 00:35:37.679 to talk to Rune, you can talk to the goblin. 00:35:38.300 --> 00:35:43.760 What does he collect? Money. From me. Hmm, I 00:35:43.760 --> 00:35:47.940 see. Just money. Though occasionally he wants 00:35:47.940 --> 00:35:52.949 me to... Yeah. So if the money stops, he releases 00:35:52.949 --> 00:35:59.610 footage? Yeah. All of it. And he, like, gets 00:35:59.610 --> 00:36:01.150 as far of looking at his eyes. Like, you can 00:36:01.150 --> 00:36:02.650 tell there's something unsaid, too. Like, maybe 00:36:02.650 --> 00:36:06.889 he's done some bad stuff for Rune as well. Oh, 00:36:06.889 --> 00:36:12.510 sure. Well, I think you and Heather over here, 00:36:12.570 --> 00:36:16.809 or whatever, have even more in common than any 00:36:16.809 --> 00:36:19.289 of us thought. She used to be just like you. 00:36:19.849 --> 00:36:24.630 So I am? Kind of looks sort of confused. You 00:36:24.630 --> 00:36:32.269 were one of Rune's. Huh. Oh. Why didn't you tell 00:36:32.269 --> 00:36:36.070 me? Well, I guess I haven't been the most pleasant 00:36:36.070 --> 00:36:40.010 host. I probably wouldn't have talked either. 00:36:40.750 --> 00:36:46.070 I can respect that. So, it's a we all hate Rune 00:36:46.070 --> 00:36:49.539 party then. I can get behind that. Do you hate 00:36:49.539 --> 00:36:52.920 Rune? Cap points to Akio. I don't know him, but 00:36:52.920 --> 00:36:55.519 I hate him. Ruff. Just, yeah, that guy sucks, 00:36:55.679 --> 00:37:02.039 straight up. Okay, so... What's our... What's 00:37:02.039 --> 00:37:05.300 our feeling about Trace? Like, when we last left 00:37:05.300 --> 00:37:08.039 Trace... I think one of the last things we said 00:37:08.039 --> 00:37:10.760 about him a few episodes ago was he owes us. 00:37:11.280 --> 00:37:14.780 Right, yeah, because Jules and Zed let him go. 00:37:15.369 --> 00:37:18.710 What are we hoping now to accomplish with Trace 00:37:18.710 --> 00:37:22.789 that we couldn't accomplish with Jai? Maybe hope 00:37:22.789 --> 00:37:29.210 to find out how we can get rid of the leverage 00:37:29.210 --> 00:37:31.789 that Rune has over Jai. It's also worth noting, 00:37:31.909 --> 00:37:37.519 Trace, like Jai, is... being blackmailed by Rune, 00:37:37.579 --> 00:37:41.139 right? He's like Yara, like so many others, like 00:37:41.139 --> 00:37:42.719 Sturgeman. Sturgeman actually was working with 00:37:42.719 --> 00:37:45.260 him. His identity can be held over him, but Sturgeman 00:37:45.260 --> 00:37:48.719 seems to be kind of somewhat confident in his 00:37:48.719 --> 00:37:50.559 ability to kind of weasel out if he needs to. 00:37:50.639 --> 00:37:55.760 He's scary enough. But Trace isn't being blackmailed. 00:37:55.760 --> 00:37:58.079 Trace is just his number one thug, the only one 00:37:58.079 --> 00:38:00.239 left to him from the original group you saw. 00:38:00.340 --> 00:38:02.599 He might get in closer to anybody else. He might 00:38:02.599 --> 00:38:05.340 know more than anybody else. He might be the 00:38:05.340 --> 00:38:08.239 most instrumental pawn in this chess game. You 00:38:08.239 --> 00:38:10.059 suddenly find yourselves playing. Yeah, so if 00:38:10.059 --> 00:38:13.019 Jules can cash in the favor, not just the favor, 00:38:13.079 --> 00:38:16.619 but also convince Trace that Rune is a bad dude 00:38:16.619 --> 00:38:20.840 and that in this room is the power to stop him, 00:38:20.920 --> 00:38:24.300 finally, quote -unquote, free Trace, you know, 00:38:24.340 --> 00:38:28.400 Trace can get some redemption. He can honor the 00:38:28.400 --> 00:38:31.260 debts owed to his, I don't want to say friend. 00:38:31.579 --> 00:38:34.659 Yeah. But Jules literally saved his life. We 00:38:34.659 --> 00:38:37.960 also need to convince Yara not to fucking kill 00:38:37.960 --> 00:38:39.480 him. Yeah, I think that's easy at this point, 00:38:39.519 --> 00:38:42.039 especially in this room, because Jai can control 00:38:42.039 --> 00:38:45.159 it pretty easily. The biggest problem, we've 00:38:45.159 --> 00:38:47.079 got an appointment at 11 o 'clock. Yeah, that's 00:38:47.079 --> 00:38:49.340 true. He's coming at 10. It seems like it'll 00:38:49.340 --> 00:38:51.719 all work out okay. You have time now. So I'll 00:38:51.719 --> 00:38:53.920 ask you, like right now, the situation's somewhat 00:38:53.920 --> 00:38:56.360 resolved. I think Jai just goes and takes a seat, 00:38:56.460 --> 00:38:58.420 maybe like one of the couches, kind of thumps 00:38:58.420 --> 00:39:02.670 down. Yara sort of... gingerly carefully begins 00:39:02.670 --> 00:39:04.690 to slide over. I think the dagger, you see he 00:39:04.690 --> 00:39:07.349 has a dagger at his hip. He kind of pulls it 00:39:07.349 --> 00:39:09.469 out and looks it over. You can see there's a 00:39:09.469 --> 00:39:11.949 purple sort of coating on the blade, and he's 00:39:11.949 --> 00:39:15.289 kind of looking at that. Clearly probably the 00:39:15.289 --> 00:39:16.670 one that she took. They mentioned that she had 00:39:16.670 --> 00:39:18.630 a dagger coated with purple worm venom. That's 00:39:18.630 --> 00:39:23.809 serious, serious shit. But he looks like he's 00:39:23.809 --> 00:39:26.230 somewhat placated, so she kind of moves and slides 00:39:26.230 --> 00:39:29.630 over kind of behind you all. Thank you for coming. 00:39:30.800 --> 00:39:34.219 I was not sure what to do. I don't know how you 00:39:34.219 --> 00:39:37.320 ended up here, too, but I suppose you have, right 00:39:37.320 --> 00:39:39.840 now, more reason than I do, even, to want to 00:39:39.840 --> 00:39:41.400 take Rune out. He's the one behind it, you know. 00:39:41.420 --> 00:39:45.320 He's the one who's forcing Storyteller Oren, 00:39:45.420 --> 00:39:48.519 your friend, Kully, to say these things. Oh, 00:39:48.519 --> 00:39:51.719 I knew it. He's more powerful, more dangerous 00:39:51.719 --> 00:39:54.000 than ever. He has been made Atash's sidekick. 00:39:54.360 --> 00:39:57.239 Do you know what this means? What? Rune has? 00:39:57.559 --> 00:40:00.179 Yeah, Sturgeon told you that. Oh, I forgot that. 00:40:00.650 --> 00:40:04.369 He has the power now to arrest, to make charges 00:40:04.369 --> 00:40:09.269 in Atash's name. And we can stop that. But you 00:40:09.269 --> 00:40:15.869 need to do me a favor. Do not kill Trace. I have 00:40:15.869 --> 00:40:17.789 no beef with the goblin. I just want to send 00:40:17.789 --> 00:40:20.949 Rune a message that I'm here. Hopefully get him 00:40:20.949 --> 00:40:23.630 to back off. But if this is your wish, then yes, 00:40:23.829 --> 00:40:28.130 the goblin lives. He owes me. Thank God, in this 00:40:28.130 --> 00:40:30.159 moment. Realizing she's kind of been caught, 00:40:30.320 --> 00:40:35.280 her blonde hair fades away to long silver hair. 00:40:35.340 --> 00:40:39.280 Her skin grows even paler. Her clothing, her 00:40:39.280 --> 00:40:42.940 red dress kind of changes to a long, I think, 00:40:42.940 --> 00:40:47.699 black gown covered in purple and orange eye symbols. 00:40:49.320 --> 00:40:53.599 She takes on her true form. Again, elephant ears, 00:40:53.719 --> 00:40:56.500 she is an elf. So let me ask you now, what do 00:40:56.500 --> 00:40:58.179 you want to do? You know there's some time before 00:40:58.179 --> 00:41:00.599 Trace appears. How do you want to, like, hands 00:41:00.599 --> 00:41:03.980 are dry, he's gone quiet, sort of drinking. He's 00:41:03.980 --> 00:41:06.159 kind of basically put out there, like, hey, you 00:41:06.159 --> 00:41:07.980 can talk to Trace if you want when he shows up. 00:41:09.340 --> 00:41:12.000 You're kind of here anyway, so. I don't think 00:41:12.000 --> 00:41:14.860 there's much mechanics to be done here. I think 00:41:14.860 --> 00:41:17.000 it's really going to be role play and improv. 00:41:17.380 --> 00:41:18.659 That's how we're going to find our way through 00:41:18.659 --> 00:41:22.780 this. Hell yeah. Yep. Okay. Yara, I think, moves 00:41:22.780 --> 00:41:26.699 and takes a seat. Akio maybe like wanders over 00:41:26.699 --> 00:41:28.880 by her and lies back down, still tired from his 00:41:28.880 --> 00:41:31.280 dancing earlier. And she begins to sort of scratch 00:41:31.280 --> 00:41:34.179 at his ears. And he's kind of, oh, I like you. 00:41:35.780 --> 00:41:38.579 Chest is by your side, standing at guard, ready 00:41:38.579 --> 00:41:40.940 to go. He's like in front of you like Secret 00:41:40.940 --> 00:41:42.860 Service. Jules is kind of watching, waiting. 00:41:43.679 --> 00:41:45.480 You've had a history with Trace back and forth. 00:41:45.579 --> 00:41:49.320 He's, you know, very tense about this. What are 00:41:49.320 --> 00:41:52.599 you guys doing while you wait? I think Jules 00:41:52.599 --> 00:41:56.269 will ask. So what have you been up to? What have 00:41:56.269 --> 00:41:59.610 you been seeing out there? I have been underground. 00:42:00.349 --> 00:42:02.949 I had hoped to have a chance to strike at Rune, 00:42:03.070 --> 00:42:07.530 take him out. But then this happened. This sudden 00:42:07.530 --> 00:42:12.250 partnership with Atash. I never saw it coming. 00:42:12.250 --> 00:42:16.929 It's madness. But he's so powerful now. And I 00:42:16.929 --> 00:42:21.110 guess so is Atash. With Rune's connections, I 00:42:21.110 --> 00:42:24.579 worry what they will do together. Truly. Oh, 00:42:24.719 --> 00:42:26.880 I found my sister, by the way. She's here, actually, 00:42:26.920 --> 00:42:29.199 outside at the party. I found Tonya. Thank you 00:42:29.199 --> 00:42:31.599 again for helping. Has the Ring of Spell storing 00:42:31.599 --> 00:42:34.440 been serving you well? It was old family heirloom, 00:42:34.440 --> 00:42:36.880 but you earned it. Wait, what? I thought you 00:42:36.880 --> 00:42:39.420 had it. Yeah. We've used it a couple times. I 00:42:39.420 --> 00:42:42.440 haven't. You looked at me like, I'm like, yeah, 00:42:42.519 --> 00:42:44.920 it's been working great for me. Oh, well, I don't 00:42:44.920 --> 00:42:47.460 see Blanche in this conversation. I think Blanche 00:42:47.460 --> 00:42:51.019 is talking with Jai. Kind of like swapping, you 00:42:51.019 --> 00:42:54.059 know, war stories and, you know, talking about 00:42:54.059 --> 00:42:58.400 her battles against the Sahagin and, you know, 00:42:58.400 --> 00:43:01.539 complaining about field rations and trying to 00:43:01.539 --> 00:43:05.119 relate and keep the situation de -escalated. 00:43:05.340 --> 00:43:07.400 Yeah, yeah. So you just see that two sides of 00:43:07.400 --> 00:43:09.079 the room, they separate from each other. So yeah, 00:43:09.179 --> 00:43:12.260 Jules and Yara, Blanche and Jai, that's perfect. 00:43:13.760 --> 00:43:16.639 It's been working out good. It's good. I'm glad. 00:43:17.460 --> 00:43:21.139 Yes. I, uh, I'm sorry for all this. I thought 00:43:21.139 --> 00:43:24.300 it was a good plan. I don't know. I was frustrated. 00:43:24.400 --> 00:43:27.099 I could not find a way to strike out. Rudin's 00:43:27.099 --> 00:43:29.219 untouchable, but the goblin... The goblin can 00:43:29.219 --> 00:43:31.500 very much be touched. We're here now, and we 00:43:31.500 --> 00:43:34.780 got a chance. What do you plan to do? You want 00:43:34.780 --> 00:43:37.480 to kill him, you say? Will you try to turn him? 00:43:38.340 --> 00:43:41.099 I think he's almost already there. You should 00:43:41.099 --> 00:43:43.820 look surprised at that. Just... really. We've 00:43:43.820 --> 00:43:46.480 had a couple run -ins with him. Let me ask you 00:43:46.480 --> 00:43:51.039 this. You... have had your reputations tarnished 00:43:51.039 --> 00:43:55.219 greatly. You, one might say, stand on the losing 00:43:55.219 --> 00:43:58.599 side of a war. Rudner Song has become Atash's 00:43:58.599 --> 00:44:01.179 sidekick. He has become one of the most powerful 00:44:01.179 --> 00:44:04.880 people in the world. Now, if you were on his 00:44:04.880 --> 00:44:08.780 side, would you shift? Would you change? I worry 00:44:08.780 --> 00:44:12.440 that you are wrong. If you're on that side, you 00:44:12.440 --> 00:44:17.289 lose no matter what. I agree. I hope. Truly, 00:44:17.309 --> 00:44:20.630 I hope he does as well. Sorry I had to kill you. 00:44:20.769 --> 00:44:24.650 You know, way back in the... Preserve of the 00:44:24.650 --> 00:44:28.409 Ancestors. I do feel bad. That was... I almost 00:44:28.409 --> 00:44:30.750 got you. Yeah, I am over it. I almost... But 00:44:30.750 --> 00:44:33.489 you didn't. I didn't. You didn't. I'm sorry to 00:44:33.489 --> 00:44:39.369 hear of Zebulon. He was cool. Yeah. He was. I 00:44:39.369 --> 00:44:41.469 think we just kind of... The conversation continues. 00:44:42.550 --> 00:44:46.219 Chatter on the side of the room. As you talk, 00:44:46.239 --> 00:44:49.079 I think, like, Chester isn't in any kind of... 00:44:49.079 --> 00:44:51.559 He's just kind of watching, waiting, waiting. 00:44:52.219 --> 00:44:59.559 And then... You see, just like the lamp, a multicolored 00:44:59.559 --> 00:45:02.360 flame suddenly comes down from, like, the center 00:45:02.360 --> 00:45:05.420 of the sort of dome cavern, spiraling down, touching 00:45:05.420 --> 00:45:09.579 the floor, and... A small figure is standing 00:45:09.579 --> 00:45:13.079 in the center of the room. A goblin. You see 00:45:13.079 --> 00:45:17.320 Trace looks. Better than before. His sort of 00:45:17.320 --> 00:45:18.780 ratty armor's been changed over for like this 00:45:18.780 --> 00:45:22.780 really nice, fine plate. Absolutely shining and 00:45:22.780 --> 00:45:26.559 white. Red sort of cape coming down his goblin 00:45:26.559 --> 00:45:28.940 back, sort of trailing on the floor. It's a little 00:45:28.940 --> 00:45:33.739 too long, but it looks cool. His, you know, he 00:45:33.739 --> 00:45:36.420 has the same goblin feature. He looks less ragged 00:45:36.420 --> 00:45:40.199 somehow, less tired. And as he appears, his eyes 00:45:40.199 --> 00:45:44.039 sort of like turn. He catches, like, one long, 00:45:44.139 --> 00:45:47.400 like, across the room. Double take to you, Jules. 00:45:47.820 --> 00:45:49.800 Double take over to Jai and Blanche. Back to 00:45:49.800 --> 00:45:53.480 you, Jules. What in the fuck is this? Hey! Oi! 00:45:53.800 --> 00:45:56.840 What is this, Jai? Are you going against his 00:45:56.840 --> 00:46:00.219 back? You know what happens, right? If I don't 00:46:00.219 --> 00:46:02.860 go back to him, you know what happens. And Jai, 00:46:02.900 --> 00:46:07.420 like, stiffens beside you, Blanche. And you see 00:46:07.420 --> 00:46:10.840 this feature suddenly get very sober and very 00:46:10.840 --> 00:46:15.289 tense. What are you lying for? Here to take me 00:46:15.289 --> 00:46:18.530 out, are you? You think I'm a fool still, don't 00:46:18.530 --> 00:46:21.289 you? You think I'm nothing! If I wanted to take 00:46:21.289 --> 00:46:23.949 you out, I could have done it multiple times 00:46:23.949 --> 00:46:27.130 by now. Yeah. You know that's not what I want 00:46:27.130 --> 00:46:31.070 to do. You know me. What do you want, Jules? 00:46:31.869 --> 00:46:34.329 All I know is you've humiliated me time and time 00:46:34.329 --> 00:46:37.849 again. At Rune's place, in the desert, outside. 00:46:37.949 --> 00:46:40.539 I could have killed you, but I didn't. No, you 00:46:40.539 --> 00:46:43.179 just left me humiliated. You treated me like 00:46:43.179 --> 00:46:45.820 nothing. Well, I'm not nothing anymore, am I? 00:46:45.900 --> 00:46:51.199 Now, I'm high up. Rune's our type of sidekick, 00:46:51.219 --> 00:46:53.559 you know that. It's a secret, but I don't care. 00:46:53.900 --> 00:46:56.539 It's true. Which means I'm practically there 00:46:56.539 --> 00:47:01.360 myself. I may not be a luminary like you. I was 00:47:01.360 --> 00:47:05.619 torn away from it. Unlike you were, but I'll 00:47:05.619 --> 00:47:09.559 be even better soon. I'll be even higher. Everything 00:47:09.559 --> 00:47:13.599 I ever wanted. I'm about to have it. And you 00:47:13.599 --> 00:47:17.440 can't stop it. You can't get in my way. From 00:47:17.440 --> 00:47:20.880 the... I think I have a good interjection. From 00:47:20.880 --> 00:47:24.920 the couch, Blanche will say, I've heard the stories 00:47:24.920 --> 00:47:28.440 about you, Trace. From what Jules has told me, 00:47:28.460 --> 00:47:31.599 if he didn't set you free back there in the desert, 00:47:31.679 --> 00:47:35.760 then you would be in Atasha's Sky Prison as we 00:47:35.760 --> 00:47:40.260 speak. That's pretty good. That's really good. 00:47:40.300 --> 00:47:42.760 I like that a lot. Let's do our first check here. 00:47:42.880 --> 00:47:45.480 Let's do our first. We'll have a multiple sort 00:47:45.480 --> 00:47:46.920 of check situation to see where this competition 00:47:46.920 --> 00:47:49.539 flows. See, I see that as an assist, though. 00:47:49.599 --> 00:47:51.400 I see that as an assist for Jules. Jules' role, 00:47:51.579 --> 00:47:55.480 persuasion with advantage. Holy shit. There's 00:47:55.480 --> 00:47:59.480 no way. I'm not going to jinx it. Blanche is 00:47:59.480 --> 00:48:01.800 kind of sitting there with Jai. And, like, when 00:48:01.800 --> 00:48:05.420 Jai gets all tense, Blanche just tries to, like, 00:48:05.440 --> 00:48:09.699 chill him out. Just be like. I know that you're 00:48:09.699 --> 00:48:11.780 scared, but there's nothing he can do to hurt 00:48:11.780 --> 00:48:14.900 you. Just let Jules take care of this. This is 00:48:14.900 --> 00:48:20.920 their kerfuffle to figure out. Kerfuffle. Ooh, 00:48:24.539 --> 00:48:31.780 26. Maybe that's so. Maybe. But it's not the 00:48:31.780 --> 00:48:35.420 case now. No, he respects me. You know deep down 00:48:35.420 --> 00:48:37.519 they don't give a shit about you. You know that. 00:48:38.480 --> 00:48:42.199 This, like, strikes a chord. You see, like, he 00:48:42.199 --> 00:48:46.079 winces like that hurt. No, no, they never did. 00:48:46.840 --> 00:48:49.940 Never gave me a chance. Because I'm a goblin. 00:48:50.440 --> 00:48:54.219 I climbed here myself, though. Through my efforts, 00:48:54.380 --> 00:48:57.619 I'm the only one that stayed. Only one that was 00:48:57.619 --> 00:48:59.940 loyal to Rune, did what he asked. Everything 00:48:59.940 --> 00:49:04.019 he asked. And I could have it. Everything I wanted, 00:49:04.059 --> 00:49:07.039 I could have it. What do you want from me, eh? 00:49:07.480 --> 00:49:10.380 Why are you actually here? You know what I want 00:49:10.380 --> 00:49:12.780 from you. I've asked you every time we've met. 00:49:13.440 --> 00:49:17.679 I want you to join us. Join me. You are strong. 00:49:18.179 --> 00:49:22.500 You're admirable. And I know you know good from 00:49:22.500 --> 00:49:26.480 evil. They're just using you. But over here, 00:49:26.500 --> 00:49:29.539 we're a family. Everybody's accepted for who 00:49:29.539 --> 00:49:32.760 they are. And you can have everything you want. 00:49:33.719 --> 00:49:37.820 And you can get it. The right way. Not in the 00:49:37.820 --> 00:49:40.539 way that's going to haunt you for the rest of 00:49:40.539 --> 00:49:43.280 your life. Is that really a price you want to 00:49:43.280 --> 00:49:48.360 pay? Oh, this is really good. Roll me a persuasion 00:49:48.360 --> 00:49:53.539 check. Button for advantage. Nice. Okay. Nice. 00:49:57.400 --> 00:50:04.559 24. Yeah. We zoom in towards Trace's face. Mouth 00:50:04.559 --> 00:50:07.380 slightly open, eyes wide, hearing these words. 00:50:08.039 --> 00:50:12.940 He's shaking. Because you have struck a chord. 00:50:13.639 --> 00:50:16.539 A vein of thought that perhaps has been running 00:50:16.539 --> 00:50:20.920 through his mind all this time. We zoom in to 00:50:20.920 --> 00:50:24.099 the blackness, to the pupils in his eyes. In 00:50:24.099 --> 00:50:27.679 that darkness, we find ourselves in a cave. A 00:50:27.679 --> 00:50:31.639 memory of a cave. Small light flickering on the 00:50:31.639 --> 00:50:33.630 edge of this room. Black caverns, not unlike 00:50:33.630 --> 00:50:35.869 the room we stand in now, though much more narrow. 00:50:37.050 --> 00:50:42.210 Furnishings are much more, uh, rough, you could 00:50:42.210 --> 00:50:45.369 say. Looks like things fished from a garbage 00:50:45.369 --> 00:50:48.409 pile. There is some kind of sofa here, though. 00:50:48.849 --> 00:50:51.829 There's one, like, big kind of armchair. One 00:50:51.829 --> 00:50:54.130 arm is missing on one side. It's, like, half 00:50:54.130 --> 00:50:58.820 tilted. Uh, just looks patchy and gross. But 00:50:58.820 --> 00:51:00.619 as we zoom up towards this chair, as we kind 00:51:00.619 --> 00:51:03.980 of pan around it, we see an older goblin woman 00:51:03.980 --> 00:51:10.099 in like a scrappy sort of sack of a dress. She's 00:51:10.099 --> 00:51:12.940 got like a little book of one she found somewhere. 00:51:13.079 --> 00:51:15.880 It looks like the pages are wet, almost molded 00:51:15.880 --> 00:51:18.800 over. It would be like a comic scroll of some 00:51:18.800 --> 00:51:23.880 sort, showing the exploits of perhaps the luminary 00:51:23.880 --> 00:51:26.960 Ozen Yoshikatsu. She's reading a little story 00:51:26.960 --> 00:51:28.699 and we see the goblin in her arms, this little 00:51:28.699 --> 00:51:31.840 tiny goblin in her arms is staring at the pictures, 00:51:32.000 --> 00:51:34.780 hearing her words, ears, giant ears sort of flickering, 00:51:34.920 --> 00:51:39.119 taking it all in with this big smile. And as 00:51:39.119 --> 00:51:44.199 the scroll closes, it's stowed by the side as 00:51:44.199 --> 00:51:47.059 she rocks on this wobbling chair, this little 00:51:47.059 --> 00:51:53.960 goblin child. We can hear him. Mom, I promise. 00:51:54.800 --> 00:51:59.320 I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it. Me. I 00:51:59.320 --> 00:52:02.699 promise. I'm going to be the first goblin luminary. 00:52:03.900 --> 00:52:06.659 And we pan out from that cave. We pan out from 00:52:06.659 --> 00:52:09.599 that scene. Back out from Trace's eyes and we 00:52:09.599 --> 00:52:11.519 see now there are tears running from them. He 00:52:11.519 --> 00:52:17.539 is crying. I won't. I tried it the right way. 00:52:18.340 --> 00:52:23.920 They won't listen if I do this. I break my promise. 00:52:23.960 --> 00:52:29.039 I give up everything. I... His hands curl into 00:52:29.039 --> 00:52:32.920 fists. You see the shoulders of his brilliant 00:52:32.920 --> 00:52:36.820 armor sort of slacken. His arms drop to his side. 00:52:36.860 --> 00:52:42.039 His head lowers. Tears. Speckling the red carpet. 00:52:43.199 --> 00:52:50.059 Okay. Okay. Fine. What do you want me to do?