Pants people, we've got a message for you from
our friends at Cheers Big Ears Podcast, hosted
by Chad, Matt, and Bob's. These three sit down
with adult beverages for some not -so -adult
conversation. Depending on the episode, very
adult conversation. So, cheers, Big Ears. G'day,
g'day, g'day. Don't skip. Let me... Interrupt
the podcast that you're currently listening to
with some blatant self -promotion. What do you
get when you mix two Aussie mates, a splash of
booze, well, more than a splash, and some microphones?
You get Cheers Big Ears, hosted by myself, The
Chad, and my mate, Matt, and sometimes, but more
often than not now, my missus, Bobby. It's a
podcast of adult beverages and not -so -adult
conversation. It's not serious, far from it.
Well, except for that one episode, but that was
just that one. We're available wherever you get
your podcast fix. Cheers, big ears. Let's talk
today about the most wholesome luminary I know.
That's right, we're talking about Otto Fallman
Root. Now, Fallman lived a charmed life in the
world of Godspread, the great, great world of
Godspread. He lived in a small settlement on
the edge of the Ribbon and owned the finest carpentry
shop I knew of on the world, even using cut -offs
to create toys for the local kiddos. It's all
changed one horrible day as the Ribbon's border
gave way to the rattle. The horrors of the unprotected
land came to fall upon the settlement in the
form of a family of bullies. The monsters stole
the lives of all but the Fallman's son, who were
able to barely escape the creature's hungry maws.
His wife, however, had not been so fortunate.
Having lost everything near everything, Fallman
made an incredible decision. To learn to fight
back and to use his skills to carbon to provide
for his son and bring joy to all the children
of the Concord world. He set off on an adventure,
soon earning a tool to accomplish both of these
goals. A magical carpenter's hammer, the bottom
of which held the hand of a chisel mallet. A
tool that could grow and change into a powerful
weapon. The hammerhead would morph into an interiorly
designed and deadly warhammer. And the chisel
mallet that handled space would form into a brass
pommel. Armed with this and dressed in a sharp
apron, the pommel would travel between the worlds,
making toys of famous luminaries and helping
those in dire need. It is late 20s. The farm
board counts among those luminaries. And as for
his son, Von Twig Ruth, he travels by his father's
side still, ever carrying a finely crafted toy
of his father's own, luminary likeness. And interestingly,
Farmer knows of other family members living in
Godless Capital's province. I've heard tell of
a niece, Meta, actually, who makes toys for all
those that visit. I even heard that young Hannah
started making luminary dollies. They found themselves
in the hands of kids all over the Concord world.
Now I wonder what set her on that path. Nice
tie -in. Yes. And that was all, Don. Hell yeah,
Don. Thank you, Don. Yeah, I like that tie -in
a lot. Really cool. Really cool. Yeah. What a
cool character. I love, you know, it's nice to
have some of these luminaries out there that
really are just these great, good people out
there doing their breasts, bringing toys to the
kiddos. Doing their breasts? What? I think you
said doing their breasts. Hey. Shut up. Don't
you rain on Don's parade. No, no, no. I got no
problems with Don or Don's luminary spotlight.
I'm sorry about him, Don. We'll get rid of him.
I always thought that like, you know, like a
war hammer like that or like a war pick, you
know, like the dwarven sort of weapon where it's
really just like a framing hammer that's got
like a four foot handle to it. I always thought
those those must be so. Horrible and devastating.
Are you still talking? Yeah, yeah. I'm talking
about... Oh, shoot. Sorry. I was kind of looking
over there. Foreman's weapon of choice. Unfortunately
for us, though, the Fallman is not the main character
of this show. We have to deal with these couple
of losers here and their hijinks. Your friendless
little hijinks. What? Hold on. I thought you
said it was the Foreman? The Fallman. The Fallman.
Yes. Okay. Yeah. I thought you said foreman.
Pay attention. I thought it was a carpentry thing.
You're failing the class. Last week, we talked
a little bit about a movie I spat vitriol, one
might say, towards The Rise of Skywalker. Jeremy,
you helped. Stephen was useless in this conversation.
But Jeremy, you alluded to, perhaps you were
going to think about the week over and think
of a movie that you might hate. Stephen hates
nothing. He's too zen for us. Humans. I definitely
forgot about it and didn't think of a movie that
I hate. Oh, my gosh. Come on. You got something.
No, there was a movie I walked out on one time.
You didn't hate it, but you walked out of it?
I mean, I guess. I didn't walk out of the rest
of Skywalker. Yeah, I don't know. That's different.
I wouldn't say that. I don't know. It just sucked.
What is that? Kung Pao Enter the Fist. Really?
Yeah. Wow. Okay. Blast from the past. Wow. I
don't know if I was just too young at the time
and didn't get the humor. Sure. I just thought
it was stupid. I mean, like, I kind of get this.
I'm not a big fan of the sort of idiot comedy
genre. And Gabby loves that. I like it. I like
some of them. It depends. Kung Pao was not one
of them. Kung Pao was. really really really really
dumb i barely remember it but i remember it was
really really dumb yeah i i recognize the title
i i don't know that i ever saw the movie or or
anything but um yeah i recognize when you said
it and it sounds really really dumb it sounds
really dumb i mean nowadays i i like some of
that you know like The Dude Wears My Car, Step
Bros, that sort of stuff. Oh, dude, Step Brothers
is great. Yeah, I like that stuff. So now I'm
wondering, like, okay, if I went back to that
stupid movie that we were just talking about.
Kung Pao. Kung Pao, yeah, yeah, yeah. Kung Fu
Panda. Maybe we should do a Fancy Pants watch
party. I'll watch Kung Fu Panda with you guys.
It's a good movie. That's a little jujitsu right
there. Redirecting a conversation. Redirect hate
into a mild enjoyment. A like. A love. Perhaps
a love. Some good stuff. Yeah, you had a lot
of good things to say about Kung Fu. I did talk
about that in the show more, haven't I? Yeah.
I couldn't remember. I just talk about things
and I don't remember what they are a lot of times.
That's where I'm at. Just finished Stormwind
Archive Book 5. It was amazing, by the way. Holy
moly, what a wild turn. I never expected for
the series. If you're not a big fan of Stormwind
Archive, you are wrong. And read them all. Sorry,
that's all I got. Glowing recommendation. I bet
he's going to put that on the front of his next
book. Oh, I hope so. And Brandon Sandow, if you're
out there, if you're listening to this, I know
you are. Huge fan of the show. Huge fan of the
show, Brandon Sandow. Come hang out with us.
Come play D &D with me, please. Make all my dreams
come true. You guys want to get into this? Because
last time around, we had a lot. I mean, like,
man, I thought we were going through some real
stupid, right? We had all this big stupid party
stuff. Went to the next episode and wow. I mean,
it was like kind of. Kind of crazy, right? Emotional.
A lot happened. I love the focus, like the Blanche
focusing on handsome Jai, that sort of camaraderie
built between soldiers who have done so much
in the name of, you know, whatever king or crown
they're loyal to. There was an innate connection
there. And I felt that it was really cool to
see you sort of create that bond. And, like,
medium on neutral ground. And then follow that
up with Jules speaking to Mesmerize and then
speaking to Trace. This, I think, was your third
or fourth time you've reached that hand of friendship
out. And finally, it seems finally, he broke
down and took it. And, man, both of you, I mean,
incredible work. I don't think, is anyone missing
buttons right now? Yes. I'm down. I'm down one.
You're on a button? Okay. You know what? Both
of you take a bite. Take a bite. That was honestly
phenomenal stuff. I want to give them to you
last episode. You were full. But take them now
because honestly, you deserve them. Oh, I thought
you were going to say you're going to need them.
That too. That too. It's David. We always need
them. We always need them. We'll get to that.
Uh -oh. Shit. But we had our fun, right? It's
time now to build into what comes next. But first
things first, let's step back in that scene.
to a goblin spilling tears down onto a red carpet.
Despite his glorious, shining, full -plate armor
and cape, he looks so small right now, so broken.
But he looks at you, Jules, and he says, What
you want me to do? And you know, you have won
this fight. Here in this tiny room, you have
found allies. Amidst a world that has turned
against you. Maybe with these allies you can
fight back. Maybe. But it is a daunting fight
ahead. What will be your first steps? I've got
a couple ideas. But I first just want to say,
David, I hate that you're making us feel bad
for Trace the Goblin. Maybe Trace was always
cool and you just couldn't see it. Maybe. What
are you thinking, Jeremy? I see your gears turning.
You said you had a couple ideas. Shoot. Well,
my thought is if you're dealing with a blackmailer,
the last thing you want to do is give them what
they want, right? Uh -huh. So we have people
like Handsome Jai who have, you know, done some
bad things, and I'm at least assuming that it
wasn't exactly his fault. Maybe that's just an
assumption. And, you know, you've got guys like
Orin who have a soapbox, the soapbox. Yeah. And
we don't know what rune is hanging over his head.
But if we can get those people like Handsome
Jai to lay it all out in the open to take away
runes power over them. I once knew a Haringan.
Of the 8 Mile Forest. And he bared it all in
a rap song before his... What? Before his enemies
could rap battle him with that same... What?
I don't know the reference! The movie 8 Mile?
No! Oh, oh. The M &M's character, his name is
Rabbit. I get it, yeah, yeah. And there's like
this huge... rap battle and like rabbit knows
all the stuff that his opponent is going to use
against him so he just lays it out in the song
he's like yeah i've done this i've done that
i've done all these bad things okay what are
you gonna say now and the guy is left speechless
and walks away in defeat so i'm proposing the
the eight mile strategy i like it and i kind
of want to combine it with an idea that i had
which was to find a way to get something concrete
on Rune so that maybe in the same breath, if,
you know, say Ornn is on the network exposing
everything here, he can turn around and say,
and speaking of Rune, check this out. By the
way, this guy's done awful shit too. Yeah. Yeah.
I like it. Are you saying these things out loud?
Are you talking about the whole, like, idea of
letting it all out to everyone here? Yeah, I
think so. Blanche recounts her story of the Haringan
from the Eight Mile Forest. You see horror in
the features of both Mesmerize and Handsome Jai.
I think Yara's the first one that begins to start
to see, nodding slowly. You've always worried
that my village will suffer if I am not to be
a luminary anymore. You have been on Arnikik.
You have seen the Everwinds. It is a hard life.
They need resources, money. Did I send? But perhaps
there is another way. Perhaps it is time to let
these sins be known. For I am also never wise.
I should be honest. It is literally your name.
It is my new name, yes. We can quite literally
take his power from him. And you don't have to
do it alone. There are others in this room, surely
others across the Concord worlds. who would like
to see an end to this blackmail. Jaya's just
staring down into a glass of black jelly wine,
shaking it and looking at the ripples, looking
at his reflection. It's not so simple, though.
I mean, the things we did, it is not... We're
not the only ones who will suffer. The Empress.
Every foundation I've worked to build did these
things to build could crumble if they know the
blood on the hands that built them, right? I
mean, no, no, no, no. I just want to forget.
I just want to forget. So then you rebuild anew.
This is how healing starts. You can't heal everything.
You can't. You'll fight this battle for the rest
of your life. It could get better. It certainly
can't get worse, can it? It's like saying those,
hearing those words. He looks down again. He
says something very quietly. It's like words
spoken to himself that seem to carry to you regardless.
He just says, The war never ended, did it? I'm
still fighting. And he kind of just lowers his
head. But another voice speaks up. I don't think
that's going to work anymore. Maybe before, but
it's complicated. Trace is looking to you now,
both of you. It's not just blackmail. Rune is
allied with Artash. He has Artash's own powers
now. If he suspects a crime is committed, he
can charge. He can arrest. He can order the arrest.
Your friend there, the storyteller. Looks at
you, Jules. You were on God's breath, right?
You saw all of it, right? Yeah. Collaboration
with undead or evil spirits. Assistance to mass
murder. These are the crimes he is charging Keanu
with. Fuck. Wow. What a dick. That's lifetimes
in the Sky Prison. And he'll do it. He'll arrest
her. That's why Auron's speaking out. He doesn't
want to, but he can't let her go. Not like that.
Rune knows weaknesses. He knows how to target
them. He knows how to go in for the kill. And
now he's armed with Atash's own holy blade. He's
armed with the law. So how can we sever that
tie? Or can we? We could try to keep... Kiana
safe somewhere, but where's safe from the Shieldbearers
and Artash combined? We need to find some way
to take Rune down a peg or ten. He's too dangerous
to move against in the open. Maybe I can look.
Maybe I can find a way. Keep my ears open. Keep
doing what I'm doing, but do it for the right
reasons. Do you... Make other calls like this
to other powerful people? Not quite so big as
Handsome Joy. The Sturge Man, of course, but
he's been hard to reach. I think Rune's scared
of him. Well, Rune is wise to be scared of Sturge
Man. I don't know. What do you think you could
find? I mean, I can't imagine Rune has a little
black book in his desk drawer. I don't know about
that, but... Perhaps I can just keep staying
close. Perhaps we can find an opening to take
him out. Might be the only way. Or perhaps there's
a way to drive a wedge between him and Artash.
Break up this connection. It's what gives him
power, right? Gives him both power. Breaking
the connection would be easier to stomach than
assassinating Rune altogether, though I certainly
have given it thought. I'm pretty sure Jules
promised it at one point. Oh, yeah, that's probably
true. Jules promised to kill a lot of people.
That sounds like something Jules would do. Actually,
I want to ask right now, hearing all this, Jules,
do you still carry that thought? Do you feel
murder in your heart right now? Do you feel a
desire to end this with blood? Yes, he does.
Something swims behind your eyes. eager and excited
within you and outside of you. I don't know if
it's as prevalent as it was to the point where
he would intentionally make a plan to do just
that, but in the same room, given the opportunity.
Hell yeah. A relatively safe opportunity. I feel
like there's one little piece that I'm missing
that can be like, yes, this is the way to do
it. And you have an agent now. I'm thinking so
hard. It feels like we're missing just one little
piece. And you don't need to make moves now.
I mean, you actually are probably at the point
of you're going to be late for a very important
meeting soon. So you might want to consider just
keeping this relationship open and thinking of
something in the meanwhile. Yeah, I guess for
now we'll just have to let time pass. Gather
whatever information we can. See if Trace comes
up with anything or if he stabs us in the back.
Don't do that to us, David. Steven still doesn't
trust Trace. I don't know. I think Jules has
always trusted Trace, and he knew that sooner
or later. He'd crack. Yeah, absolutely. As you
guys are kind of deliberating this, Handsome
Jai sort of stands up and begins to move throughout
the room. I think it's small. He pulls baskets
out from underneath couches and fishes out of
them, goes behind the bar and is fishing around.
You hear glass clinking as he's gathering a bunch
of items together. almost like his arms fall,
and he's sort of stumbling about, still very
much kind of out of it. Jai, we have a meeting
we have to go to. Wait just a second. Yes, I'll
wait. I just want to let you know that your concerns
are very important to me, and I want to hear
your thoughts and see if we can find a solution
that... Meets both of our goals. I think I could
get along with you, Blabs Trudeau. Pretty close.
He nods. I see myself in you. He comes around
to you, the both of you, probably standing in
the center of this chamber where Trace is, and
you see his arms are filled with items. Just
before you go, I gave you some trouble. And my
squad gave you some trouble. And I mean, I was
impressed. You did it all. I mean, I saw a lot
of that. You did all of it. You took the fart
right in the face. God damn it. Blanche's eyes
just kind of cast down. So I want to reward you
for everything you've done. first because it's
kind of important uh you see like he actually
reaches into his pocket and he was like reaching
through his pockets feeling nothing he's like
all right you gotta make it and he kind of holds
a hand out just a palm up and he closes his eyes
and you feel almost like this phantom breeze
in the room and again just like when trace entered
there was that sort of multicolored flame that's
like came down from this uh the ceiling you probably
imagine the same thing happened when you came
in this room A smaller flame, a series of sparks,
sprinkles down into his hand and begins to take
shape into a lightly glowing, color -shifting
stone. Looks like a sort of rough, sort of craggy
stone. He hands it to you, Blanche. And you feel
this sort of pulsing warmth coursing out from
its center. That's a key. Only active when you're
on the same world as me. So if you're on the
Citadel... Boom. Just activate it. I can let
you in if you ask. Whoa. We got the back door
came. We got the back door here. Same as Trace.
So here's a way to meet up. You don't need to
go through the raven handsome house every time
you want to come meet up. That's awesome. Might
be kind of worthwhile. It's just, you know, I
might not always because I've got people here.
It's never you, Jules. You're out. Wink. Oh.
Hey, I can potty. So you're not, you're more
Evans type. But there's more. Hang on. Let me,
he reaches down. And first he pulls out a clear
bottle filled with a swirling cloud of red and
pink gas. This is a weird one. Sorry, I'll call
it in our concoction stuff. They like to give
me samples of the new exciting things. Promote.
I figure I'm not doing much with it. I kind of
lost most of these. This is a polyamorous fog
filter. If you remember, this came out for the
show more. This is an Andrew original. Oh, God.
Throw this gas cloud out, and everyone becomes
a neighbor with each other within the space of
it, basically. Man. We'll give them the cakes
a bit deeper if it comes down to it, but you
get one of these. You have a hungry moss and
a polyamorous fog filter now from the Andrew
arsenal. I can't wait for the time where we're,
like, in this deep underground, dirty, grungy
dungeon. We're fighting, like, these awful monsters.
It's like, hmm, let's make them kiss. Let's make
them kiss. That's a pretty good one. Oh, hang
on. He pulls out a strange -looking... It's like
a bottle with this weird -looking stone floating
in a hazy gray liquid. It almost looks like a
toenail clipping. Gross. This is a potion of
stone giant strength? You know, we got a whole
promotion. I didn't mean to bar you with it.
It's pretty funny. Hands it over to you. And
actually, then he pulls out... Another bottle,
and your fears are confirmed because there's
definitely a toenail clipping in this strange
orange liquid. This is a potion of fire giant
strength. Both of these potions will set your
strength score for a particular time much higher.
I believe it's 21 and 23. Wow. Huge. Yeah, so
for a strength -based character, that is going
to... Give you a huge boost to your two hit damage.
Where are we going to find one of those? I don't
actually, I think no one in this party is strength
based right now. But hey, if you get Arholon
or Jean back, they would be killing it with these
things. So the potion of stone giant strength
is 21 and the fire giant is 23? I think so. I'll
double check that, but I'm pretty sure that's
what it is. Might be 23 and 25, to be honest.
Okay. It increases your strength score for how
long? I want to say it's a minute. Could be more
than that. I might be a fool. Okay. Well, hopefully
we won't need to pop them this episode so we
can... Yeah, we'll tend to look it up. Look it
up. Get everything ironed out. This is... You're
going to love this one. Yeah, this... I feel...
I shouldn't even do this, but you did a lot of
fun, cool, crazy, weird stuff. And we haven't
gotten a payout. I gave you a payout, so I'm
giving you more rewards. I'm being nicer. You
see he pulls out two matching vials. Light blue
liquid that seems to hum and crackle with innate
energy. White streaks of light occasionally sort
of flashing within the blue. These are potions
of maximum power. It's two of them. What these
do, if you cast a level, I believe it's fourth
level or lower spell, you just do the max damage.
You don't roll to die, you just do the max possible
damage on that spell. You just can drop a pretty
powerful nuke on a combat with this thing. So
is that like a bonus action to use? Yeah, a bonus
action to drink for yourself. So you just drink
that and then you can just drop one. powerful
spell. It's the next spell we'll be. Dude, that's
crazy. It's pretty cool. So put one of those
on each of our belts, I figure. I think so. Yeah.
And lastly, this is pretty cool. This tiny little
vial of this golden fizzy liquid that seems to
vibrate with an eager energy, almost like a small
hum coming off of it as it's sort of held up
close to you. This is a potion of heroism. This
potion gives you a bunch of temper HP, and gives
you the Bless ability, basically. The Bless spell
effects. Whoa. So, just gives you a really nice
general survival and get -things -done buff for
a hefty combat. Yeah, I wonder why we're getting
all these. I'm going to load you guys up. Don't
expect me to ever be this nice again. I'm about
to get so... Yeah, we're not going to be just
talking with Sholay. This is me apologizing in
advance. It's the Sholay fight! Yeah, there it
is. But in all honesty, this is kind of me apologizing
in advance, too, for the arc that is to come.
I'm going to make you guys so upset with me.
I'm doing something weird and new and terrible.
You're going to hate it. We'll get there. But
I think he just sort of steps back and he does
like a little sort of kind of hazy sort of stumbling
salute. Carry on, soldier. Blanche does a crisp
salute. Until next time, Jai. Stay frosty. Stay
cool. Aww. And then as you kind of turn away,
I think maybe the lights turned up. I mean, actually,
I don't know if you're leaving quite yet, but
he sort of backs away. So he walks over to Yara
and he's like, do you still want to like, you
know. She just flips his blank face. I mean,
we're already here. It's fine. No, we can just
drink and talk. And they just kind of, he like
sits down. She's kind of just sort of awkwardly
starting conversation. Trace looks to you both.
So what's the plan? You be our eyes and our ears.
If you can provide us an opening, we'll do our
best to be ready to take advantage. Okay. What
you're doing, Trace, is incredibly brave. And...
A testament to your character and, well, your
heroism. If only anyone else could see that.
It's alright. It's okay. Sometimes dreams die
and we find new ones. I'll redeem myself. I'll
be a good person. And we'll see what we see.
I think Mum will accept that. You're a hero,
buddy. A hero? Yeah. He's like, he's full, vacant,
sort of stare, looking down. You just see the
innate battle of a soul that is giving up on
a path he'd been walking for some time now, been
struggling down for some time now. I think you
would know, too, Blanche, because you, as Tortles,
you and Jean being the first Total Luminaries
was massive. That was huge. But I think you would
know that goblins face an even more difficult
cliff to climb. There are very few that travel
throughout society at all. Like, you know, through
the Concord worlds, they're just, they generally
keep themselves generally keeping to the darker
caves and Rotham or other such like cavernous
worlds. And not well liked. But here in the guise
of one of these, what they call monster races,
you see, you know, perhaps a true hero's heart.
When I first involved myself with Jules here,
I saw a different path for myself. Never sought
this one. But new opportunities have a funny
way of presenting themselves, and it may not
be on the path that you envisioned, but Trace,
I hope you get the future you deserve. And I
hope. The world can see how good you are. See
through his lies. Man, that won't be possible
without your help. Then we'll make it happen.
But I think... I think good, brave people should
get the recognition they deserve. Not just me.
All of us. That's what I'll fight for. That's
the future I want. I don't need to be the first
goblin luminary. So long as someone else can
be. Blanche takes her open palm and, you know,
like a sign. Slaps him right across the face.
No, like a camaraderie sort of like slaps him
on the shoulder. And I think we should make a
strength contest out of it. See if he falls over.
You want a strength contest? Yeah. I don't have
a sheet. I'm just going to guess what his number
is. Nine. 19 on the die. Okay. He stays up. He's
firm. Trace has been leveling up with you guys.
Trace would, at this point, be the same level
as you guys, as your sidekick. So, like, seventh
level sidekick. You just, boom. He's been working
hard, hard to keep up to reach for that dream.
You're a force, Trace. Inside and out. Rowan
won't know what hit him. I think he, like, turns
to you, Jules. He, like, brandishes his own stone.
I should have come around sooner, shouldn't I?
I'll make up for lost time. I promise. Let's
go get him. And he sort of vanishes. And Jai's
like, he didn't take the money back. I'm sure
he'll realize halfway back. He'll be back. Take
the money. Oh, yeah, we'll take it for you. What
are you guys doing now? It's getting to the point
where you need to go now. Yeah, let's book it.
Then why did you ask us what we're going to do?
Come on, maybe blow Shirley off. I don't know.
Stay at Ansemouth's party. Go back to the dance
floor. I've got a bone to pick with that dragon
fairy. Keo and Chester sort of moving him beside
you. Chester looks... Kind of perplexed, almost,
like he was expecting things to be harder. Like
he's expecting a fight, and he's still almost,
like, cautiously sort of putting away his bow,
his arrow, stowing his arrow, and he moves to
your side. Like, he looks tired. It's been a
long night for an old dog. Jules put his hand
on Jester's shoulder. Not everything needs physical
violence. Yeah. Only in self -defense. Only self
-defense. Yeah. Right. Of course. psychic puts
a fist up to meet you taps it that uh self -defense
only is going to come back to bite me in the
ass later on sorry we didn't seem we're dealing
with a spider situation started dropping down
from the ceiling i got you david i saved you
give me a button If anything is worthy of being
over limit, it's that. You gather around together.
You feel the sort of same colorful tickling flames
that wrap around your body as you're about to
leave. I think you actually see Yara shrugs and
just kind of like puts a hand on Jai's shoulder
and just spins around like, hey, all right. And
you are gone. Do you want to cut to Sholay or
do you want to go through Handsome House and
do your whole thing? How do you want to do this?
You tell me. You set the pace here. No, I think
we're done with Handsome House. Yeah, we are
100 % done with Handsome House. Cool, so no more
cyberpunk nightclub music. I'm cool with that.
I imagine Jules is dragging Chester by the collar.
Oh no, come on, just a little more. We can indulge
now. Oh, shit. No. All right, yeah, okay. Let's
go talk to the grumpy, angry dragon lady instead.
Yeah. It's always so pleasant. I'm going to need
a beer for this. So let's cut then to a different
place in a rural town, a different spot in the
crystalline streets where they surround this
huge, sort of gigantic diamond amphitheater.
You've never seen the inside of this thing, but
this is where, you know, the speakers for the
ancestors meet. There are a number of sort of
great houses, these estates that surround, and
you can imagine this great sort of roundabout
street that surrounds the amphitheater. And this
is where the speakers live. I think, Jules, you
move down here. It's been a while. You probably
turn your eyes towards one building, one that
seems so much more dark than the other ones.
For even though there are only 23 worlds now,
there are still 25 buildings in Cyril the Roche.
you imagine still sits within one of them, all
her power stripped from her. But that's not your
goal here. As you move to the great dome that
is Jolay's lair, largest of all of these structures,
you see a single guard stand outside, a shield
-bearer officer. Huh. That's weird. Is that always
the case? She's always had a shield -bearer outside
her door. Interesting. Okay. I didn't remember
that. You move. With a nod, the officer sort
of looks to you, whispers to the door, does like
a sort of hand movement and slides open. He gestures
you inside without a word. So now we have to,
we kind of have to operate under the assumption
that Ariat knows we're coming to see Sholay.
Yeah, maybe. It's a weird thing because you told
Sholay about Ariat. Would she keep someone here?
Loyal to him and not to her. Well, yeah, I mean,
she's got to keep up appearances, right? Yeah,
that is true. That is true. Let's see what she's
got to say. Go inside? Let me ask, who's going
inside? Is it the four of you? Um, I don't know
that that's necessary. I think it could just
be the two of us, right? I think so. But given
the state of how things are, I'm also a little
nervous to leave our sidekicks outside alone.
I would guess maybe they can come in, but not
in -in. Yeah, I'm cool with that. I just don't
want to leave them outside, completely out of
range and sight. Sure, exactly. Where they're
safe, at least. Yeah. Step in. Akio. Yes, Master
Blanche. Will you watch the door for us here
in the foyer? I assume this is a foyer we're
standing in. I can watch the door. I can also
open doors now. Yes, we put a lot of time and
effort into that. We did. There's no knob on
this door. It's depressing. What if I have to
pee? What would you do if you had to pee further
in the building? A fair point. He like sort of
lies down, head sort of facing the door, ears
working, tail. He's on guard. The goodest boy.
All right. Let's talk to the lady, huh? No, you
stay out here too, Chester. Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa,
whoa, whoa. Jules, what? You keep an eye on the
Keo, and you let us know if anything happens.
I'll fill you in. Yeah, no, of course. Hey, sidekick,
ain't gonna question nothing. He kind of winks,
nods, steps back to stand by Keo. Besides, I
don't know if I want to, you know, get yelled
at by the old lady again. So, yeah, it's all
right. Keep your ears to the ground, Chester.
Who knows what you'll pick up. All right. Yeah.
Good luck. Chester's been weird and different,
and I don't like it. I can't remember if Chester
was there when... This could be a plot hole.
Because I can't remember if Chester was there
at the time when you spoke to Sholay about the
Cherry Delights being taken. That was the only
time I believe you've had a direct conversation
with Sholay, Jules. I don't remember. It was
not good. It did not go well. So disregard that.
He might just hear stories of it, but she did
not like you and it did not go well. Yeah. We've
had a pretty, pretty awful time. Almost every
time we talked to show a, except for the one
time where she cried a little bit. Um, but yeah,
she's turned, but maybe Blanche will, uh, do
better. Yeah. Maybe you. leave the two there
and you turn again you look at this thoroughfare
there's this it's grand open cavern you stand
in uh not unlike the one that built up the vip
room just this great dome you see off to the
side a treasure trove of information files and
cabinets and shelves and recording diamonds all
set up it's like this open line through it like
a hallway cutting through the horde Leads deeper
in and you can see a great shadow stands in the
dimly lit room. Wings spread. The ground rumbles
as she begins to move towards you. Do you approach?
Yeah, I think Blanche is going to kind of follow
Jules' lead on this one. Oh yeah, Jules is just
walking right up. No hesitation. The great form
changes, shrinking down into the guise of an
elderly woman. I just imagine this side camera
shot where she transforms. Jules is walking in
from the other side. Camera zooms in as she gets
smaller. Yeah, it's so cool. Jules LaRoche. She
says her eyes take you in. Fierce eyes. It has
been some time since I last spoke to you. And
she turns. Master of Defense Blanche Trudeau,
first pupil of Ozanoshikatsu. Blanche will do
whatever the shield -bearer customary salute
is, whether it's a hand -to -the -forehead salute
or a down -on -one -knee, whatever the custom
is. Two side fists really on the chest. Okay,
yeah. We have not met, but I have carried a vested
interest in you and your actions. I am Speaker
Sholey Brass of Anchor and Sengar. She just takes
you in for a second, takes in the salute, and
then her nods. Cleverness and courage rarely
come packaged together. Too often I feel this
world is filled with those with the capacity
to grasp the greater good, but that are shackled
by fear or indecision. Or, and she shoots an
eye over to you, Jules, those with the necessary
drive and heart but that charge foolhardily into
situations far beyond their simplified understanding.
Ouch. In you, Blanche, I see a rare potential,
a mind not unlike my own. I am both honored and
humbled to hear such words. Speak a shoelay.
Thank you. I trust. There's almost a playful
smile on her face, she says this next part. That
you are the reason this one, points to Jules,
has survived as long as he has. Now that's just
rude. That smile sort of fades. A shame that
you could not have crossed paths with this party
just hours before you did. But the past is set
in stone and diamond. We have matters of present
to discuss. I have been troubled by your words
from the second fall, Jules. I trust so few people,
and Captain Commander Ariad was one of those
few. I've always found him to be such an honest,
passionate soul. He really cares, at least I
thought he did. I have taken this matter seriously.
I have looked into it. But that isn't the part
that troubles me. No, you made a terrible error
in your report. You must have. I would like to
see this error rectified and true understanding
reached. Because you mentioned the Sapphire Wyvern.
Because if the Sapphire Wyvern, if any Dawn Incarnate
is behind any of this, we would not be having
this conversation. The sins they have witnessed.
The secrets they carry. You are wrong. You must
be. Roll an insight check. Eighteen. Fuck. Two
on the die plus one. Eighteen. Awful. I think
in this case an eighteen. You know what? In this
case, you see something in her eyes, Blanche.
There is that ferocity, that intensity, that
fire, but there is something behind it as she
speaks these words, almost like pleading, a desire
for you to reaffirm this suspicion that you are
wrong. It's not the Wyvern. You get the impression,
the tiniest impression of fear pounding against
her stoic demeanor, like a tidal wave against
the dam, like she's just so near to breaking
in this. This has her so, so scared. It... It
wasn't Ozen Yoshikatsu. Spika Sholei, let me
explain. And she'll kind of recap what she saw,
you know, between the eye in Ozen's face and
what happened after we destroyed the Ozen vessel,
thinking, hoping that she would recognize or
understand. what the, you know, the zooping out
of the gemstone meant and kind of like a way
of saying, like, if it wasn't the sapphire wyvern,
if it had nothing to do with the gemstone incarnates,
then maybe you can correct our thought process
here, but this is what we saw. Especially when
you reach the, talking about the gemstone itself,
some of the things it said. The way it sort of
vanished in the end, making a sound not dissimilar
from those the conquered jewels make when they
transfer between planes. You could see, like,
her face remain stoic, but her hand slowly rises
up, almost like a claw reaching down behind her
neck, and she kind of grabs the other hand, almost
pulls it down by force, like some old hat that
was about to be activated. There's a slight quiver
in her posture. Yes. How? This is... It doesn't
make any sense. If there's a Dawn Incarnate on
their side, they know everything. They know things
that can shake the conquered worlds. But what
of the others? Will they be stirred? Will they
be moved to action? I will speak with them, but
I fear there's little they can do. For they must
bear the secrets. They cannot reveal them. But
one going rogue, one could do... No. No, it's
impossible. Not while the others still stand.
Perhaps. I'm afraid to ask, Speaker Sholay. I
can't imagine that such secrets that give you
pause would be suitable for our ears. Do not
ask. Very well. This is troubling. I will be
honest, this is terrifying. But I will dwell
on this. Let the rogue incarnate be my concern
now. I relieve you of this burden. I wish I could
have spoken to you sooner, but I have been rallying
with influence I have amidst the speakers for
the ancestors. Atash cannot be allowed to write
our laws from the outside. He can start what
public outcry he wishes with his lies and schemes.
But in the end, it is the speakers who write
the laws. We hold the power, not him. My efforts
have been mixed, though. Unfortunately, the fractured
horn's influence on our governance has been strangely
sorely missed. I despise them more even than
I do Atash, but they were a reliable source of
frustration for the Celestial's efforts. Without
them, and with Speaker Atavazda as a loyal representative,
Atash is swiftly gaining more and more followers.
But I have nearly finished building my bulwark
within the Speakers. At this time, I have influenced
over eleven of the other Speakers. With me, I
hold half. Twelve of the remaining twenty -four.
But Cirilla's removal following the fall of Tythos
has set a dangerous precedent. One that Arthash
will leap at. Umizu's speaker is among those
loyal to me. And I fear he will not stay in seat
for long. I need one other, at least. And there
is one that teeters on the edge. One that Arthash
will also be eager to recruit. Speaker Juicy
Ju of Howry. Don't. Stop it. Juicy Jew? Juicy
Jew. Huh. Spell it. J -U space J -I dash S -U.
Okay. Come on. Don't do it. Okay. No. Juicy Jew.
I say it wrong. Okay. I'm bad at words. I spelled
that loud and I was like, wait a minute. I'm
stupid. Ju -ji -su. Ju -ji -su. Speak of Ju -ji
-su. Ju -ji -fu? Of Hallorane. I think she said
ju -ju -bee. Damn it! Fire breath. Roll the series.
TPK, let's start over. TPK, let's do this. Episode
one. I will do what I can about Ariadne. But
I don't need a majority vote to push him from
the shield bearers. That is why this is so crucial.
And I'm sure you guys probably told her about
Ketra Kamal, the note and all that stuff. Yeah,
we definitely laid everything out on the table
that we saw at the shrine. Okay. It's funny,
her gambit, the whole shrine was her gambit to
learn more. And boy, did she learn more. Yeah,
so like this is not just a meeting to talk about
what's next, but also a debrief from what happened
before. So after you've told all that, she continues
on, just sort of... And as for Kejo Kamal, he's
very hard to reach, but I should be able to arrange
access to a Nisa Academy. But all of that must
wait. As pressing as these concerns are, these
enemies in our midst, we must shore up our defenses,
right? Master defense? We have, I must admit,
we have been feeling rather vulnerable lately.
This is why winning over Ju Jisoo must take priority.
Unfortunately, there is little point in addressing
her directly, for it is an open secret that she
is simply a mouthpiece for the city -state of
Yanido, the city of judgment. Ju Jisoo is a loyal
solely to Queen Jinmi and her clan. And so, Yanido
itself will be the scene of this coming political
battle. I'm sure Artash has sensed this as well.
I intend to travel there shortly. You will be
joining me. Whoa, we're going with Xole? I require
you for this. You now stand at the heart of this
movement, this justice undying revolves around
you and your actions. It was a clever ploy of
Artash to pit Oren against you, but this is a
play that can be turned upon its wielder. If
I can prove these words are lies, if the truth
of your character can be shown to the queen,
it will help greatly in supporting my arguments
and bringing her to my side. And so you will
become tools in my arsenal. We're also working
on softening the grip on Orin. Jules here turned
one of Rune Rusan's... closest agents to our
side. You remember Trace. See, he raises an eyebrow,
looks impressed. Interesting. We know some people
he's holding under his thumb and Trace being
one of them. Jules here convinced Trace to try
and help us find some way of bringing him down.
This could be of great use to us. Yes. Runru
Song's alliance with Atash is a danger. But,
as stated before, we do not go on the attack
until our defenses are sound. We need the speakers.
We need majority. Otherwise, Atash will gain
it. So our part in this is to simply go with
Sholay and try to convince this lady that we're
cool? Basically, yeah. She just needs your character
to be shown. Persuasion plus ten, baby. Ianito,
this must be our next battleground. A very vitally
important battle. I will leave in four days.
Prepare, then. I will go ahead of you. Make arrangements.
I believe the queen's quite fond of me. They
revere dragons. On Yanido. A shard left over
from the days of the Drakkon, I believe. How
soon after shall we follow? Come one day later.
Five days for you. In those five days, do you
perhaps have any... Any actionable information
that we can use to further defend ourselves against
Rune? I would suggest you lay low. Making a move
against Rune now could... We jeopardize what
we need. If he turns it around on you in any
way, I do not want to see this progress in a
worse manner. Not when I so badly need you for
this. Believe me when I say, as important as
it may be to see your names cleared, it is more
important that we make sure you are available
to turn the Queen to our side. Well, I do have
some reading to catch up on. I suppose that can
keep me occupied for the next five days. Anything
else you want to say? I don't think so. I think
after everything, Jules just nods. Yeah, if she's
got no assignment for us and we're kind of waiting
on Trace, it's really just we're in a waiting
pattern, we're in a holding pattern. Yeah. Don't
make any moves. Wait to hear back from Trace.
wait five days to go be with sholey so i guess
wait is what we'll do yeah unless of course something
wild happens to leave world for a live show happening
at mountain media That I need to place in this
point in time. And we so conveniently have five
days to play with. I want to leave right now,
but no, I got to do five days because I need
to play. I just love Monty Mania. So at some
point, you do an adventure, but we don't get
to that. We'll get to that later. We'll flash
back to it. Because live shows are weird. She
nods in dismissal. Begins to turn away. Perhaps
you do the same. Moving back towards the waiting
Chester and Akio. Then she stops. You can hear
her footsteps. And Jules. Jules will stop and
turn around. Your efforts for me will not go
unrewarded. I am close. Very close. I believe
by the time we return, I will know where the
child is. I'm waiting for that day. Let us build
for him. A better world that he can return to.
And she moves. Taking on the draconic shape again.
You leave this place behind. Perhaps spurred
on by Sholay's confidence and yet chilled, in
your case, Blanche, because throughout the entire
conversation... Even as she turned her back and
left, that vast shadow of fear, you sensed it
falling over her, falling over you. There is
more to this. Secrets. So dangerous. So volatile.
They could shake the world to their core. Secrets.
The path to which may lay ahead of you. On Yanito.
On Halri. on your next adventure. And we'll call
it there.