WEBVTT

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You guys want to hear something funny, kind of

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unique, not your typical D &D podcast? Then check

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out a message from our friends at Wing Women

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Podcast. Incoming message coming from the 588.

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Good morning, recruits. Welcome to hell. This

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is basic training. No one's supposed to die.

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Wing Women is a semi -historical actual play

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podcast. Have you pissed anyone off recently?

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No one I can think of. While I run through the

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blitted indexed list of people we've pissed off

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in the last couple of days. They endure discrimination

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from their male counterparts. All of your beds

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have been carried out of the nurse's station

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and placed in the middle of the jogging track.

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I don't think it was Ivan. He's weak. Against

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this bitter setting, our four motley heroines

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gain the chance to experience queer joy, gender

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euphoria, and equality for the first and perhaps

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the only time in their lives. How obvious am

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I being? See, I've kind of always thought that

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there is a level to some of us in this barracks

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that's visible. Have you been using the word

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shenanigans? I've been experimenting. Where did

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you learn that word? Until the next mission,

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this is us signing off. The time of mountain

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mania is approaching. May 1st through May 4th

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at Burke Mountain Hotel and Conference Center

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in Eastburg, Vermont. Get there, play games with

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us, watch us play our game, and have fun with

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games. Find out details at fantasypants .co.

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What is less known, however, is that there's

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a certain gloom in him that despises him even

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more. One whose origins and story closely match

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those of the Midnight Prince. And I am speaking,

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of course, of the criminal, criminal entrepreneur,

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Ron Riddle. Now, Ron Riddle was raised in the

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streets of the Los Angeles Rural, which you now

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know to have been a grim and sorry place. The

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young Uante struggled for years on his own. There

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were ever he needed to get by and get even. And

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unlike Jules, Riddle had no cherry delights to

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take care of him. He was alone, warmed only by

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a seething hatred for the royals of Cerule and

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their wayward son. Of course, when Tithos fell,

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Ron Riddle was one of the lucky few from the

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low sea to escape. Upon reaching the city of

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El, he allegedly scammed his way onto the Concord

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Jewel to Sosoko, seeking opportunity. After making

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his way to the Dinsing Night Market, Ron Riddle

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swiftly found dark work as a spirit dealer. And

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it was going well for him, up until Jules the

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Roach arrived in the market and was soon followed

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by Sturgeman himself. Spooked away from his work,

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Ron moved then to Sanctuary and found a promising

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position as a bookie and ticket scalper for Lucha

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Libre Battles. A position that crumbled when

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again, Jules arrived on world and was soon followed

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by Itosh and his celestial soldiers. I suppose

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you're starting to see the pattern here. I mean,

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Riddle certainly did. Nowadays, his current schemes

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and location are unknown. There are some rumors

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that he lives right here in the said L, and used

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his old tricks to smuggle contraband clients

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between worlds. So be wary. Any of you who happen

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upon a U .N .T. clad in black leather armor and

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a hooded overcoat, be doubly wary if this figure

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draws a sleek and impressive blow dart to his

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lips. And if you are Jules LaRoche, well, you

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best be wary of steel. Fun fact, if you use a

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magic wand to rearrange all the letters in the

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name Ron Riddle, you get, I am Mr. Scaly Iguana!

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Thank you, Horace! Nice. Yeah, a horse coming

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in with a second spotlight, a gloominary spotlight.

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A little spicy. It's nice and spicy. Fun little

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sort of character dynamic with Jules. Similar

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kind of world hopping, and you guys are always

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messing it up. Jules is ready for that fight.

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Bring it on. Well, I was thinking, I was like,

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if this world goes horribly, we might need the

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services of somebody like that. But if he's a

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Jules hater, then I don't think that'll work

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out. Nope. Yeah, just dress up. Changer. Or just

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ditch Jules, you know? Yes, it's me, Blanche

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Trudeau, and my friend here rules Jalosh. What?

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You know? Maybe it'll come to that. But I mean,

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what are the chances that things go badly on

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this world? High. Really fucking high. Yeah.

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Good point. Steven. About last week, you mentioned

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you had a little banter topic you wanted to bring

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up this week. I imagine you already forgot. No,

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no, no. You haven't? Oh, damn. Okay. All right.

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All right. Well, take it away then. So I often

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get annoyed by, in fantasy, you know, there'll

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be that like classic tavern scene. Somebody will

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sit down and they'll be like, oh. We got nothing

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but ale in here, blah, blah, blah, this and that.

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And the guy's like, yeah, yeah. Okay. Well, I'll,

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I'll just, I'll take a mead and people use the

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word mead and ale like interchangeably and bugs

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the crap out of me. I wanted to know if you guys

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had any fantasy pet peeves. I don't, mead and

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ale are the same thing to me. So I have no idea.

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You're part of the problem. I'm part of the problem.

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I've probably done that in this show. Mead is

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closer to wine than it is to beer. It's made

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out of honey. Well, listen to the beer nerd.

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I'll defer this one to you guys because I've

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not been playing along enough to have anything

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piss me off like that yet. I'm actually in a

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weird spot when it comes to tropes, right? Because

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I genuinely love cliches. Like if we're talking

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like the typical sort of cliches, you know, what

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annoys a lot of people are just like the same

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old, same old. But like to me, cliches are cliches

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because they're perfected bits of story, right?

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okay sure right so like there's a mentality of

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a dragon quest fanboy right by the way so it's

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it's kind of like what's been beaten into me

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but there is one thing i really really do hate

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in like a lot of and this is this applies a lot

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more to modern anime than to like western fantasy

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but i hate overpowered heroes right like i hate

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those like oh i went into a fantasy world and

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i'm already level 99 and nothing could challenge

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me and it's like I don't understand how he can

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have fun being like, oh yeah, this guy, he's

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so strong, he can't even lose. And it's like,

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that sounds so boring. And why are they watching?

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Because this might surprise you to hear, but

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I really love to watch heroes suffer. I love

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to watch heroes struggle and go through hell.

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I was going to say, I hate overpowered villains.

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Oh, that sucks for you. Oh no, you're at the

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wrong show. Oh yeah. I bet mead was also probably

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super expensive and not just like something that

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any common person would walk up to a bar and

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drink. It's like honey, right? Yeah. Honey's

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top tier ingredient. Yeah. Probably really expensive.

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It's like honey mixed with beer. It's, it's,

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you know, like beer or wine, but made with a

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large portion of honey. Yeah. Same thing. This

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is a weird night. This is a wild night because

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tonight we're kind of celebrating here in the

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studios. We've got a lot of new going on. In

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the minor news, I've got a new computer. Thank

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Atash. That piece of garbage is gone. That four

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gig monstrosity now belongs to my wife. Our wonderful

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benefactors and patrons, Reckless Brewing Company,

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gave me a newer computer that I'm using for recording.

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So thank you, Reckless. You made the show sound

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better. Jeremy was going to strangle me if I

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had one more like audio hiccup from my terrible.

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Yes. If you hear any crackles in the last couple

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episodes, pants people. Shit on David. Yes, honestly.

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But as we usher in these new, we are also tonight.

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celebrating and ushering out the old. Oh, yeah.

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Mr. Jeremy Wolf, what's going on? You tell us.

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Tell the world. This is the last night in our

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original studio. This is our last night in Jeremy's

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apartment. Actually. Yeah. Yeah. Mr. Wolf's moving.

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Uh -huh. Engaged, married, moving. Crazy series

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of events. The bachelor pad is going away. Next

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week, he's pregnant. But we're going. The studio's

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gone. We got a new one at his new place. Yep.

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You're going through hell the next week or two

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to get all that set up. It's a lot of stuff.

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The pants people love you for it. But we'll get

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it. And this dude is going to be awesome. It's

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going to be so cool. I'm so excited. And I'm

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also so in a way sad to see like this. We've

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been here. I mean, we start everything, not in

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this room, but one room over, we started it all.

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And then like two weeks later, we're like, hey,

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this room is terrible. Let's move to this room.

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And we're here. I've been like two years, you

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know, two years in this room every week. I'm

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yelling at you guys and you're crying, you know.

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We kicked Jeremy out of the bigger of the two

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bedrooms. Oh no, he did it himself. But it's

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funnier to say. no, we can't do this in here.

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No, we stopped using the, the smaller room. Jeremy

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was sleeping in the smaller room. So we had the

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larger room for the studio. Yeah. Selfless. So

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selfless. Yeah. And now it's like half torn apart.

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Um, our, our wall art and stuff is down. Yup.

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Yeah. It's a, yeah, the walls are pretty barren

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here. So if you hear some echoes, yeah, sorry.

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You'll only have to deal with it for two episodes.

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It's half a studio now. So yeah. Yeah. Uh, yeah.

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And then this, No, not this weekend. Sorry. Next

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weekend. Don't say it. I'll puke. Well, as well,

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as we're recording, as you're listening, it'll

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be this weekend. We're going to mountain mania.

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Oh gosh. Oh, live show. It's going to be awesome.

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I think David just pooped his pants. He's not

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nervous at all. What he said earlier was I'm

00:10:21.779 --> 00:10:27.879
going to throw up in my pants. Do that too. Oh,

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dog, dog, eat dog world. What? Yep. We're going

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to get drunk tonight. We're celebrating. Leave

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your dogs home when you go to Mountain Mania.

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Are you dogs? No, hold on. No, go on, say it.

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Are you dogs ready to have your day? Fuck, let's

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do this thing. It's only the first episode, guys.

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We open on a hazy swirl of vibrant purple lights.

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That is the world we look upon now, the plain,

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an immense, colorful nothingness that seems to

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expand in every direction, eternal and unyielding.

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Floating against this backdrop, we see the radiant

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citadel, but not as it looks in our modern day.

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We see the fossil that wraps around this diamond

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is barren of any structures or life. The royal

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diamond itself pulses with a dangerous red as

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it sinks slowly into the maw of the keening gloom.

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The dark cyclone looks to have half swallowed

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the diamond already, greedily sucking in its

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light. As you look upon all of this, a title

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card appears. The Deep Ethereal. 251 years ago.

00:11:51.710 --> 00:11:55.009
And we see a figure flying into this fray. A

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brass dragon, beaten, exhausted, wings moving

00:11:58.029 --> 00:12:02.110
with a pained limp. Xolay is so tiny compared

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to the cosmic battle before her, yet she pushes

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onwards. For nearly seven years, she has pushed

00:12:08.049 --> 00:12:11.389
and pushed, and now, finally, she looks upon

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Journey's end. Xolay circles the diamond, surprised

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to find no pull from the storm below. It seems

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to grip only at the diamond itself. Still, her

00:12:20.490 --> 00:12:23.169
calm demeanor has been broken by panic. So much

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hardship, so many sacrifices, and it seems she

00:12:25.950 --> 00:12:28.679
may be too late. She moves in close to the diamond,

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searching its facets, searching for... for...

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there! Up against the edge of the black fossil,

00:12:34.899 --> 00:12:37.899
there's an opening into the diamond. One that,

00:12:38.100 --> 00:12:41.279
in our modern day, is covered by a set of giant

00:12:41.279 --> 00:12:45.200
iron doors. Shirley dives into the opening, crashing

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down into a long, crystalline hall. There's light

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up ahead, some kind of vast, open space. She

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moves towards it, stopping only when a figure

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resolves itself in the opening ahead. A figure

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that also sports wings and draconic features.

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A figure formed of brilliant blue stone that

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seems to hum with light melodic tones in the

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sound of a storm. Hello, chosen one. Your voice,

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Jolay, approaches. I have spoken to you once

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before. through the sapphire on Tythos. Yes.

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I am known as the Sapphire Wyvern, one of the

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25 dawn incarnates that serve the great god that

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is the soul of this structure, who you mortals

00:13:37.279 --> 00:13:41.259
once called the Sunweaver. In your crude mortal

00:13:41.259 --> 00:13:44.639
terms of thinking, you might consider us incarnates

00:13:44.639 --> 00:13:49.980
to be his sworn knights. I was selected to greet

00:13:49.980 --> 00:13:55.480
you here, alone, as to not overwhelm. Do you

00:13:55.480 --> 00:13:58.879
still hold the gemstones, one for each of your

00:13:58.879 --> 00:14:03.820
worlds, that have touched the chosen fragment?

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I... I do. Then you have nearly fulfilled your

00:14:09.320 --> 00:14:13.820
quest. This is good. History will remember your

00:14:13.820 --> 00:14:17.919
efforts, chosen one. You have saved your world

00:14:17.919 --> 00:14:24.220
and all worlds. I didn't do it alone. Many fail

00:14:24.220 --> 00:14:27.980
to see this done. My husband, he waits outside

00:14:27.980 --> 00:14:30.240
the rift with a few of our party that yet remain.

00:14:30.639 --> 00:14:33.519
We should make haste for all of them. Show me

00:14:33.519 --> 00:14:36.919
now what I must do to save our worlds. And to

00:14:36.919 --> 00:14:39.080
that we just hear a dark laugh vibrate down this

00:14:39.080 --> 00:14:42.000
crystal hall. A laugh that cracks like the peals

00:14:42.000 --> 00:14:48.070
of thunder. You will find, dear chosen one, that

00:14:48.070 --> 00:14:52.009
we fallen gods think very little of haste. There

00:14:52.009 --> 00:14:56.230
is time yet to tell you of our history, of Shadrakhan,

00:14:56.490 --> 00:15:00.470
the perfect paradise of the war that torn apart.

00:15:01.429 --> 00:15:05.690
Come. This figure turns away, begins to move

00:15:05.690 --> 00:15:08.169
back into the opening, into the light, and Sholay

00:15:08.169 --> 00:15:12.090
begins to rush. Time! There is no time! The structure

00:15:12.090 --> 00:15:15.350
is half consumed by that cyclone outside! Yes.

00:15:16.149 --> 00:15:20.009
A failsafe, in case the worlds were not connected

00:15:20.009 --> 00:15:24.490
soon enough. If consumed, the diamond seals will

00:15:24.490 --> 00:15:28.129
break and the fragments of Shatrakhan will reunite.

00:15:28.370 --> 00:15:33.830
This cannot happen, not yet. But we do have time.

00:15:34.309 --> 00:15:38.690
Hurry not. I don't understand. Isn't that my

00:15:38.690 --> 00:15:41.009
purpose here? To use this place to connect the

00:15:41.009 --> 00:15:46.759
worlds so we may stand together? Yet, this activated

00:15:46.759 --> 00:15:50.240
diamond will connect the fragments without fully

00:15:50.240 --> 00:15:55.039
unifying them. A sort of unification, but with

00:15:55.039 --> 00:15:59.600
shackles, safeguards. We cannot risk another

00:15:59.600 --> 00:16:05.200
war. So, Jolie kind of is moving closer, wincing

00:16:05.200 --> 00:16:12.299
in thought. It's a bridge of sorts. Yet, a bridge.

00:16:13.840 --> 00:16:16.840
And as she moves up beside the sapphire wyvern,

00:16:16.919 --> 00:16:19.340
the preserve opens up before her and beneath

00:16:19.340 --> 00:16:21.919
her. We see the familiar amalgamation of climates

00:16:21.919 --> 00:16:23.759
tied together beneath a diamond -rejected sky

00:16:23.759 --> 00:16:28.320
of pulsing red. Vast mountains and deserts and

00:16:28.320 --> 00:16:32.379
seas and arctic shores all blending together

00:16:32.379 --> 00:16:36.759
in this one place, this one magical, beautiful

00:16:36.759 --> 00:16:41.240
place. And Sholay stares in awe. I recognize

00:16:41.240 --> 00:16:45.899
this place. Or pieces of it. It's all of the

00:16:45.899 --> 00:16:50.039
worlds. Fragments from them conjoined. What?

00:16:50.519 --> 00:16:53.059
Her eyes focus on something right down below

00:16:53.059 --> 00:16:57.940
in the very center of this vast landscape. What

00:16:57.940 --> 00:17:02.600
is that at the center? She points to this dome

00:17:02.600 --> 00:17:06.039
-like amphitheater jutting out of the natural

00:17:06.039 --> 00:17:10.220
landscape made of raw diamond. That is our destination.

00:17:11.529 --> 00:17:14.750
where my kin await our coming, and where your

00:17:14.750 --> 00:17:19.670
journey will find purpose and completion. Sholi

00:17:19.670 --> 00:17:23.509
nods and unfurls her wings, ready to take flight,

00:17:23.690 --> 00:17:27.809
ready to make that final leap, ready to see this

00:17:27.809 --> 00:17:32.569
through. And the sapphire wyvern, fixed over

00:17:32.569 --> 00:17:38.210
this long look, raises a single claw. A warning,

00:17:38.450 --> 00:17:44.509
Sholi. My kin, once all has been explained, they

00:17:44.509 --> 00:17:48.329
will ask only one thing of you. To touch the

00:17:48.329 --> 00:17:51.910
command node of the auroral diamond. To attune

00:17:51.910 --> 00:17:57.130
to it and to speak a word. Do not show haste

00:17:57.130 --> 00:18:02.630
in this. Touch the node, but feel it. Explore.

00:18:02.710 --> 00:18:05.690
Stop. Why are you laughing? How dare you? Node

00:18:05.690 --> 00:18:09.829
is not a weird word. Come on. What the hell?

00:18:10.349 --> 00:18:16.650
What do I do? What do I do? You're doing great.

00:18:17.049 --> 00:18:19.910
Keep going. Damn it. This is intense, dude. You

00:18:19.910 --> 00:18:23.829
were talking about exploring the node? This is

00:18:23.829 --> 00:18:26.509
serious time for serious podcasters. Damn it.

00:18:28.029 --> 00:18:37.769
Explore it. Stop. I can't. All right. I'm just

00:18:37.769 --> 00:18:40.329
going to turn away. Get out of here. Plug your

00:18:40.329 --> 00:18:43.690
ears. This isn't for you. It's for them. My real

00:18:43.690 --> 00:18:47.230
friends, the listeners. Find the secrets they

00:18:47.230 --> 00:18:52.289
will not likely share. This diamond is a bridge,

00:18:52.630 --> 00:18:55.910
but one that connects more than just the fragments

00:18:55.910 --> 00:19:06.569
of our world. Now, come. God damn it! You stop!

00:19:11.150 --> 00:19:15.210
You didn't see it when you wrote this? No. I

00:19:15.210 --> 00:19:19.210
wrote it like 30 minutes ago. I just finished

00:19:19.210 --> 00:19:22.170
my shift. I was driving quick. I don't understand

00:19:22.170 --> 00:19:24.529
why note is dirty. I didn't do this on purpose.

00:19:26.029 --> 00:19:32.259
Why? And the two dragons take flight, launching

00:19:32.259 --> 00:19:34.099
out over the Preserve of the Ancestors towards

00:19:34.099 --> 00:19:36.880
the lone crystal amphitheater in the place that

00:19:36.880 --> 00:19:40.220
would one day become known as Auroral Town. You

00:19:40.220 --> 00:19:45.339
gonna laugh at that? Is that funny? No. Jesus

00:19:45.339 --> 00:19:50.579
Christ. Oh my God. Okay. All right. You know

00:19:50.579 --> 00:19:53.279
what? I'm getting you back for that. Because

00:19:53.279 --> 00:19:58.819
the time for laughing is fully over. Wow. I'm

00:19:58.819 --> 00:20:05.019
sorry if I ruined your thing. I feel like I'm

00:20:05.019 --> 00:20:07.440
in sixth grade and I just can't stop laughing

00:20:07.440 --> 00:20:09.660
at a fart joke or something. You wrote the word

00:20:09.660 --> 00:20:12.819
node in a bunch of other spots. What do I do

00:20:12.819 --> 00:20:15.640
now? Rewrite the whole fucking thing? Node is

00:20:15.640 --> 00:20:19.160
a word. No, no, it's fine. Node is a great word.

00:20:19.279 --> 00:20:21.940
I don't understand the wrong with... Google node.

00:20:24.660 --> 00:20:31.160
It's everything that... God damn it. God damn

00:20:31.160 --> 00:20:37.759
it. You must find the node and explore it. Now,

00:20:37.759 --> 00:20:51.220
come. I say leave it all in. Oh my god. Wait,

00:20:54.240 --> 00:20:56.900
there's more? Yeah, now they'll ruin your lives,

00:20:57.059 --> 00:20:58.519
right? Oh, God, yeah. All right, let's do the

00:20:58.519 --> 00:21:02.039
thing. Maybe. I have one question for you guys.

00:21:02.799 --> 00:21:07.740
How many spell slots do you use? Do you use any

00:21:07.740 --> 00:21:10.059
abilities? Anything that can help bump up this

00:21:10.059 --> 00:21:14.559
number? I'm going to use a third -level spell

00:21:14.559 --> 00:21:17.140
slot. Oh, holy shit. Wait, actually, before you

00:21:17.140 --> 00:21:19.440
use anything, I will say this. I think it's important

00:21:19.440 --> 00:21:22.000
that I note this, because you in the moment understand

00:21:22.000 --> 00:21:25.420
the level of these fights. this one is not as

00:21:25.420 --> 00:21:27.980
bad as the last. Oh. If the first was a two on

00:21:27.980 --> 00:21:30.119
a skill five and the second was a four, this

00:21:30.119 --> 00:21:33.859
might be a two or maybe a one. It's not as bad

00:21:33.859 --> 00:21:37.099
as the first. Now, a low roll is still very bad

00:21:37.099 --> 00:21:39.640
in its own way, but I'm not going to, yeah, it's

00:21:39.640 --> 00:21:42.140
not. I'm still going to use a third level spell

00:21:42.140 --> 00:21:45.460
slot. Okay. Hell yeah. Hell yeah. Yeah. Jules

00:21:45.460 --> 00:21:49.500
can't. Okay. Oh shit. I just, it's. You can use

00:21:49.500 --> 00:21:51.700
a Bardic, bump it up by five. Oh, that's right.

00:21:51.759 --> 00:21:55.480
Yeah, I could. You're looking at 30 now. 30 added

00:21:55.480 --> 00:21:58.019
to your roll. If you can get 40, that drops you

00:21:58.019 --> 00:22:00.740
up to two tiers. Remember, every 20 is a tier

00:22:00.740 --> 00:22:03.099
of me doing damage to you. I got all of my Bardic

00:22:03.099 --> 00:22:07.579
back. Let's use one. Use one? 35. So roll a D100

00:22:07.579 --> 00:22:12.319
plus 35. Let's see what happens. Oh, man. It's

00:22:12.319 --> 00:22:14.220
a good thing we used some stuff. I got a 27.

00:22:14.819 --> 00:22:18.920
Oh, wow. But that bumps you up to, what, 62,

00:22:18.940 --> 00:22:24.220
right? Right. I think so. Did you say 35? 35.

00:22:24.740 --> 00:22:30.380
So that's actually huge. Yeah. Wow. That Bardic

00:22:30.380 --> 00:22:31.980
Inspiration was clutch. That netted you an extra.

00:22:32.079 --> 00:22:35.019
Nice. Got you into the next tier. Nice. Hell

00:22:35.019 --> 00:22:38.900
yeah. Okay. I knew it. I just, I could feel it.

00:22:38.980 --> 00:22:40.779
I knew I was going to roll low. I'm going to

00:22:40.779 --> 00:22:43.859
start making some rolls then. My brand new HP

00:22:43.859 --> 00:22:49.369
that I just got back. I don't like the look on

00:22:49.369 --> 00:22:52.490
that face. A couple crits. Get the fuck out.

00:22:53.250 --> 00:22:57.009
Fuck. Just roll my straight bunch of 20s. Let

00:22:57.009 --> 00:22:58.589
me break this down. Once again, Akiva and Blanche

00:22:58.589 --> 00:23:02.750
are your frontliners? Yes. Okay. Damage has been

00:23:02.750 --> 00:23:04.529
calculated. I'm just going to roll something

00:23:04.529 --> 00:23:10.359
real quick. Panic. Jules, you become aware. of

00:23:10.359 --> 00:23:13.460
yourself with a sickening lurch. The world around

00:23:13.460 --> 00:23:15.900
you is a blur of motion. You notice immediately

00:23:15.900 --> 00:23:18.380
that your hands are wrapped fiercely tight around

00:23:18.380 --> 00:23:22.119
the rod of flying and you are speeding heedlessly

00:23:22.119 --> 00:23:24.200
through the park only ten feet off the ground.

00:23:24.359 --> 00:23:25.539
You find yourself veering towards the trunk of

00:23:25.539 --> 00:23:31.619
a nearby tree. Roll a dex save. Oh god. It's

00:23:31.619 --> 00:23:35.940
a ten. Ten, okay. With a ten. It's not a critical,

00:23:36.059 --> 00:23:37.799
like you're able to sort of veer yourself a little

00:23:37.799 --> 00:23:40.220
bit, but you still end up butting into the tree.

00:23:40.440 --> 00:23:43.160
The rod itself takes the brunt of the force.

00:23:43.259 --> 00:23:45.640
You get flying off it, start fleeing. Boom, boom,

00:23:45.640 --> 00:23:48.759
rolling into grass, sliding onto like the stone

00:23:48.759 --> 00:23:52.319
tile path. Pain shoots through you. Pain from

00:23:52.319 --> 00:23:53.720
the five points of damage you take from this

00:23:53.720 --> 00:23:56.559
fall, but also from the 15 points of damage that

00:23:56.559 --> 00:23:58.700
you've taken earlier on. You notice that your

00:23:58.700 --> 00:24:01.259
gaseous claws rip down your shoulders. God damn

00:24:01.259 --> 00:24:03.859
it. Holy shit. That means I'm taking so much

00:24:03.859 --> 00:24:07.920
more. So that's 20 total? Uh, that is 20 total.

00:24:08.000 --> 00:24:10.539
Fuck. I'm gonna be down below half. Oh my god.

00:24:10.779 --> 00:24:12.400
Now I didn't do the best job describing this

00:24:12.400 --> 00:24:14.400
environment because last episode was a fever

00:24:14.400 --> 00:24:16.180
dream. And I have essentially zero ability to

00:24:16.180 --> 00:24:17.740
imagine things in terms of distance by yard or

00:24:17.740 --> 00:24:19.740
foot. So I did some research. Alright? Looked

00:24:19.740 --> 00:24:23.519
into it. Uh, and this is final. This park, the

00:24:23.519 --> 00:24:25.140
Park of the Elders, is essentially a 200 foot

00:24:25.140 --> 00:24:28.579
wide, 1 8th mile long walking trail. Whatever

00:24:28.579 --> 00:24:31.220
ridiculous thing I said last week, just forget

00:24:31.220 --> 00:24:33.299
about it. It is surrounded by a 20 -foot high

00:24:33.299 --> 00:24:36.359
wall with a curving, overhanging roof. Two gates

00:24:36.359 --> 00:24:38.180
are set into this wall at each end of the park,

00:24:38.279 --> 00:24:40.559
one south gate and one north. There are memorial

00:24:40.559 --> 00:24:42.140
plates set into the eastern and western walls,

00:24:42.240 --> 00:24:44.940
lining the entire way down, like massive gilded

00:24:44.940 --> 00:24:47.559
graves to those who were killed in Baraki the

00:24:47.559 --> 00:24:50.440
Dragon's assault on the city. At the center of

00:24:50.440 --> 00:24:53.420
the park, where you had stood... There's a 30

00:24:53.420 --> 00:24:55.700
-foot -high statue of Queen Jinmi, the savior

00:24:55.700 --> 00:24:57.859
of the city, and the one who slayed the dragon.

00:24:58.359 --> 00:25:00.819
Now, three different paths push through the park.

00:25:00.980 --> 00:25:03.500
Two line the wall memorials, and one cutting

00:25:03.500 --> 00:25:05.400
through the center and leading to the statue

00:25:05.400 --> 00:25:08.400
itself. Now, this park is filled with natural

00:25:08.400 --> 00:25:10.940
beauty. We see great trees with curving trunks

00:25:10.940 --> 00:25:13.079
and needle -like leaves that spread out at the

00:25:13.079 --> 00:25:15.440
ends of branches like umbrellas hanging above

00:25:15.440 --> 00:25:18.200
the pathways, assumedly grown through druidic

00:25:18.200 --> 00:25:20.019
magic, as they look much older than the nine

00:25:20.019 --> 00:25:23.799
years, you know, this park is. We also see many

00:25:23.799 --> 00:25:25.980
sleek, large boulders set along the path, half

00:25:25.980 --> 00:25:28.480
submerged in the well -manicured grass. It is

00:25:28.480 --> 00:25:30.660
a place that holds a special message to the people

00:25:30.660 --> 00:25:33.380
of Unido, that whatever may come to hurt this

00:25:33.380 --> 00:25:36.220
city, it will recover, and it will become beautiful

00:25:36.220 --> 00:25:40.019
again. I imagined that you entered the park from

00:25:40.019 --> 00:25:41.700
the southern gate and moved along the central

00:25:41.700 --> 00:25:44.319
path towards the statue. There, you moved to

00:25:44.319 --> 00:25:45.819
the northern side of the statue, the way it's

00:25:45.819 --> 00:25:48.579
facing, and proceeded to investigate. That's

00:25:48.579 --> 00:25:51.289
when the mist swept over you. So it may be strange

00:25:51.289 --> 00:25:53.890
to you, Jules, to see that you are hurtling at

00:25:53.890 --> 00:25:56.849
blinding speed back towards the southern gate.

00:25:56.930 --> 00:26:01.869
Why? Why? You wonder this as you go. Your charlotte

00:26:01.869 --> 00:26:04.109
sprawled out on the path as you kind of get up.

00:26:04.150 --> 00:26:05.390
And as you're kind of getting up, you look behind

00:26:05.390 --> 00:26:07.269
you. And down that same path, you see Akio is

00:26:07.269 --> 00:26:10.009
moving, pushing just a short ways behind you.

00:26:10.210 --> 00:26:12.369
He sort of skids to a stop. Suddenly, it looks

00:26:12.369 --> 00:26:14.329
around. His eyes fill with an urgent confusion.

00:26:14.430 --> 00:26:16.630
And his heart, you can see in his eyes, it's

00:26:16.630 --> 00:26:20.150
beating fast. Yours is beating fast. Like panic.

00:26:20.690 --> 00:26:24.690
You see Akio looks bloodied as well. Large gashes

00:26:24.690 --> 00:26:27.269
taken out of his back, a gnarly little scar down

00:26:27.269 --> 00:26:30.150
his face. He has taken 15 points of damage. That's

00:26:30.150 --> 00:26:34.069
not as bad as I expected. Chester stands with

00:26:34.069 --> 00:26:36.509
his back to the statue, his crossbow in hand

00:26:36.509 --> 00:26:38.769
and loaded. He's aimed at the space just in front

00:26:38.769 --> 00:26:41.849
of you, Blanche, where a pile of stone is crumbling

00:26:41.849 --> 00:26:45.589
and cracking into a fine gray dust. Chester is

00:26:45.589 --> 00:26:47.630
a kind of... Holds this crossbow. He kind of

00:26:47.630 --> 00:26:49.609
like almost like lets it fall limp and puts his

00:26:49.609 --> 00:26:52.289
hand over his arm across his chest where you

00:26:52.289 --> 00:26:55.109
see he's taken a solid rake and 15 points of

00:26:55.109 --> 00:26:59.250
damage. Holy shit. Blanche, you actually came

00:26:59.250 --> 00:27:03.450
out surprisingly well. Really? Only one. I think

00:27:03.450 --> 00:27:05.609
you have like one gash probably down your lower

00:27:05.609 --> 00:27:08.109
leg. Five points of damage is all you've taken

00:27:08.109 --> 00:27:10.970
in this. Because you have really high AC. Okay.

00:27:11.569 --> 00:27:14.509
Because I rolled a lot on you. Sure. And I actually

00:27:14.509 --> 00:27:16.369
crit everybody else once at least. Oh my goodness.

00:27:16.630 --> 00:27:19.210
Yeah. But you did not take anything. All right.

00:27:19.210 --> 00:27:22.069
Well, I'm the frontliner, so at least she's in

00:27:22.069 --> 00:27:24.650
good shape. That's not a bad thing. You're taking

00:27:24.650 --> 00:27:27.069
this in. You immediately realize Jules and Akio

00:27:27.069 --> 00:27:30.349
are gone. Chester's there beside you. You note

00:27:30.349 --> 00:27:32.829
the new gigantic gouges and be five feet around,

00:27:32.970 --> 00:27:35.210
carve the base of the statue and turn a few of

00:27:35.210 --> 00:27:37.559
the boulders further away. And again, if you

00:27:37.559 --> 00:27:38.859
look at them just the right way, they look to

00:27:38.859 --> 00:27:42.319
be almost humanoid slash avian in shape. You

00:27:42.319 --> 00:27:43.779
know, the piles of dust being kicked up in a

00:27:43.779 --> 00:27:46.259
breeze that pushes through the park. And you

00:27:46.259 --> 00:27:48.940
note the open spell book in your hand. Yeah,

00:27:49.000 --> 00:27:50.160
that's the first thing Blanche is going to look

00:27:50.160 --> 00:27:52.380
for. Turned again to a page of forgotten notes.

00:27:52.619 --> 00:27:54.240
Give me a sleight of hand check. See what you

00:27:54.240 --> 00:27:58.539
got down there. I'm debating using my last button.

00:27:59.480 --> 00:28:01.740
Because sleight of hand is just straight dex,

00:28:01.779 --> 00:28:06.279
right? Yeah. Unless you have, you know. Proficiency

00:28:06.279 --> 00:28:09.579
in it. I don't okay screw it. Okay. I'll take

00:28:09.579 --> 00:28:12.660
a little button boy. It's plus four for decks

00:28:12.660 --> 00:28:23.240
I was excited over your glasses. He was already

00:28:23.240 --> 00:28:29.700
drunk Okay, 16 for the first natural one on the

00:28:29.700 --> 00:28:33.319
second so I'm sorry, 12, which makes 16. Well,

00:28:33.319 --> 00:28:35.019
you got to roll at the same time, so you don't

00:28:35.019 --> 00:28:36.460
feel like you wasted that button. I don't know

00:28:36.460 --> 00:28:38.039
what you want me to do. I only have four sets

00:28:38.039 --> 00:28:43.420
of dice here, so. 16's pretty good. That's good.

00:28:43.980 --> 00:28:47.700
You look down at your notepad, and you see addendums

00:28:47.700 --> 00:28:49.480
to the notes you already wrote, where under where

00:28:49.480 --> 00:28:54.599
it says 10 tigers and W, you see four gargoyles,

00:28:54.599 --> 00:28:59.420
stash statue, dash draconic. In you, there's

00:28:59.420 --> 00:29:01.640
more written on to the words that were going

00:29:01.640 --> 00:29:05.799
before. It now reads, I was a hero, celebrated

00:29:05.799 --> 00:29:09.819
and loved. You forgot me. I did it all for fame.

00:29:10.220 --> 00:29:14.779
I sacrificed all to be remembered. And below

00:29:14.779 --> 00:29:17.420
that, it seems to cut out very hastily as you

00:29:17.420 --> 00:29:22.000
went down, you scrawled out three letters. Strokes

00:29:22.000 --> 00:29:23.599
that press deep enough into the page to nearly

00:29:23.599 --> 00:29:25.920
tear through it. Letters that are huge, blanched.

00:29:25.940 --> 00:29:28.079
Not like your typical writing. Like this is supposed

00:29:28.079 --> 00:29:30.519
to scream out at you from the page. You're taking

00:29:30.519 --> 00:29:33.279
this all in a second. And your heart sinks as

00:29:33.279 --> 00:29:39.079
you see those three letters. K -U -N. Huh. Kun.

00:29:39.720 --> 00:29:42.299
Like the start of Kun on June. And you remember

00:29:42.299 --> 00:29:44.759
that he was supposed to meet you here in the

00:29:44.759 --> 00:29:48.799
park. Whoa, dude. I'm getting goosebumps. Shit.

00:29:48.819 --> 00:29:52.559
I'm getting goosebumps. Wow. Just rolled something.

00:29:52.700 --> 00:29:56.119
Sorry. Jules is about 100 feet south of the statue.

00:29:56.279 --> 00:29:58.180
Akio is 60 feet south. Blanche is 10 feet north

00:29:58.180 --> 00:29:59.819
of it. And Chester is standing against it. What

00:29:59.819 --> 00:30:02.960
do you do? What happened? Why are you flying?

00:30:03.140 --> 00:30:06.559
Why are you moving? What happened that you can't

00:30:06.559 --> 00:30:13.099
remember? Fuck. Fuck. I don't know. What happened,

00:30:13.200 --> 00:30:16.500
Jules? Tell me. David, what happened? I don't

00:30:16.500 --> 00:30:20.119
know. I mean, I know once Jules comes to his

00:30:20.119 --> 00:30:22.380
senses, he's running back toward the middle.

00:30:22.759 --> 00:30:25.599
Okay. He's going to go back to regroup. Akio

00:30:25.599 --> 00:30:28.220
kind of looks around. Oh, what? Why am I running?

00:30:30.140 --> 00:30:32.539
Where's Master Blanche? Master Blanche! Master

00:30:32.539 --> 00:30:35.900
Blanche! Akio, this way! Oh, all right. You said

00:30:35.900 --> 00:30:38.059
the park is just an eighth of a mile long, so

00:30:38.059 --> 00:30:40.480
presumably anywhere in the park you can see the

00:30:40.480 --> 00:30:44.359
other end. I mean, there's a lot of trees. kind

00:30:44.359 --> 00:30:45.359
of blocking the way. But yeah, if you're staying

00:30:45.359 --> 00:30:47.240
in the mill path and you look down, the statue

00:30:47.240 --> 00:30:48.839
would block your way. So if you loop around to

00:30:48.839 --> 00:30:49.839
the south end of the statue, you can look at

00:30:49.839 --> 00:30:51.779
one end and look at the other end down the pathway.

00:30:51.980 --> 00:30:54.400
It's hard to make out the other side paths as

00:30:54.400 --> 00:30:56.900
well through all the trees and stones and flora,

00:30:56.900 --> 00:31:00.519
but... I'd imagine that pretty quick off, we

00:31:00.519 --> 00:31:02.500
would all regroup, you know, Blanche would turn,

00:31:02.660 --> 00:31:05.160
Chester, where are the others? And they would

00:31:05.160 --> 00:31:07.940
take their time to find each other. Hell yeah.

00:31:08.720 --> 00:31:12.279
You all come together. The fuck was that? I...

00:31:12.859 --> 00:31:17.319
Here, let me show you and show Jules what she

00:31:17.319 --> 00:31:21.099
wrote. When I came to, it was just Chester and

00:31:21.099 --> 00:31:24.160
I. Are you hurt? It looks like you're all a little

00:31:24.160 --> 00:31:27.640
worse for wear. Yeah, I got hit pretty good.

00:31:28.099 --> 00:31:34.880
You look all right. What? Thank you. Why would

00:31:34.880 --> 00:31:37.660
we have decided that the best course of action

00:31:37.660 --> 00:31:42.460
was for you, Jules, and you, Akio, to run? Yeah,

00:31:42.480 --> 00:31:44.440
I don't like this. Jules, gotta stay close, man.

00:31:44.920 --> 00:31:46.359
How is Psyche gonna protect you if you're running

00:31:46.359 --> 00:31:48.839
away? No, no, no. Wait, what? The implication

00:31:48.839 --> 00:31:53.680
is that whatever happened during the mist, we,

00:31:53.900 --> 00:31:56.960
as a group, decided the best course of action

00:31:56.960 --> 00:32:02.299
was for them to run. Was it so bad? I don't know.

00:32:03.019 --> 00:32:05.740
I don't remember a fucking thing. Well, it seems

00:32:05.740 --> 00:32:09.420
here that Kunon June is going to have some answering

00:32:09.420 --> 00:32:11.960
to do. Do we... immediately confront him with

00:32:11.960 --> 00:32:15.019
this information, we could spook him. He's been

00:32:15.019 --> 00:32:18.180
helpful so far. I don't know what else to do

00:32:18.180 --> 00:32:20.180
but just go and find him. Well, he was supposed

00:32:20.180 --> 00:32:24.119
to meet us here. Yeah. So I guess... I think

00:32:24.119 --> 00:32:26.519
where we left it was he was going to the castle.

00:32:27.039 --> 00:32:29.619
We were going to come here first and then we

00:32:29.619 --> 00:32:32.019
were going to go to the castle. And it was kind

00:32:32.019 --> 00:32:34.380
of like a we'll meet you along the way sort of

00:32:34.380 --> 00:32:36.819
thing. Yeah. You told him you were going here.

00:32:36.880 --> 00:32:38.559
He set up so you could get into the guards and

00:32:38.559 --> 00:32:40.789
he told you he'd try to meet you here. if not

00:32:40.789 --> 00:32:41.990
at the palace, but he was getting information

00:32:41.990 --> 00:32:44.250
on what's going on, telling them about the empowered

00:32:44.250 --> 00:32:47.170
Gwishin, and you asked him to look into Baraki.

00:32:47.630 --> 00:32:50.549
So maybe he has some information on that. I think

00:32:50.549 --> 00:32:53.970
for now, we keep this mention of Kunan Jun by

00:32:53.970 --> 00:32:58.210
the Gwishin to ourselves. I'm not going to go

00:32:58.210 --> 00:33:01.210
so far as to say I don't trust Kunan Jun. I will

00:33:01.210 --> 00:33:03.430
note this. In your book, the way you wrote it,

00:33:03.509 --> 00:33:05.650
you were writing the dialogue from the Gwishin,

00:33:05.730 --> 00:33:09.400
and it's like your hand cut. and just very quickly

00:33:09.400 --> 00:33:12.380
wrote K -U -N, wrote Kun in very big letters.

00:33:13.180 --> 00:33:16.000
It still doesn't mean... You can't decipher.

00:33:16.140 --> 00:33:17.819
It's that hard thing of like you tried to write

00:33:17.819 --> 00:33:19.099
a note and you don't know how you're going to

00:33:19.099 --> 00:33:21.559
decipher your own... You don't remember the context.

00:33:21.900 --> 00:33:26.920
Because I only rolled a 16. Jeez. Well, we don't

00:33:26.920 --> 00:33:29.579
really have much options in terms of healing,

00:33:29.779 --> 00:33:34.500
do we? Not really. Okay. I can use more spell

00:33:34.500 --> 00:33:38.279
slots. I mean, if... If you guys don't need them

00:33:38.279 --> 00:33:43.480
for now, then... Yeah, I'm at 32 of 56. All right.

00:33:43.660 --> 00:33:46.359
I guess we can save them. It's up to you. I think

00:33:46.359 --> 00:33:49.480
I'm okay for now. Let's continue on and see if

00:33:49.480 --> 00:33:52.400
we can meet up with Kunan Jun. Maybe he's found

00:33:52.400 --> 00:33:55.180
something that can help us put these puzzle pieces

00:33:55.180 --> 00:33:58.319
together. Hell yeah. You guys are moving out

00:33:58.319 --> 00:34:01.180
of the park, then? Out of the park. Okay. Yeah,

00:34:01.500 --> 00:34:05.180
up to the palace. You begin to move down that

00:34:05.180 --> 00:34:08.460
path to the southern gate. Every wisp of mist

00:34:08.460 --> 00:34:12.199
has faded out. This place is once again so serene,

00:34:12.199 --> 00:34:17.059
so beautiful. You're walking when maybe, like,

00:34:17.079 --> 00:34:20.460
not far from where you crashed into that tree,

00:34:20.599 --> 00:34:24.000
Jules. Just, like, two trees down from there,

00:34:24.059 --> 00:34:26.440
just a few stone tiles down the path, the key

00:34:26.440 --> 00:34:31.610
sort of stops abruptly. and begins to move off

00:34:31.610 --> 00:34:34.329
the path, sort of sniffing at the ground. You

00:34:34.329 --> 00:34:38.510
turn to see Akio's nose push into the bushes

00:34:38.510 --> 00:34:41.650
at the base of a tree, and he kind of bites down

00:34:41.650 --> 00:34:44.190
something and pulls it out. He's biting down

00:34:44.190 --> 00:34:48.510
on the tip of a long orange feather attached

00:34:48.510 --> 00:34:52.969
to a blue cap, the magistrate's cap. And he kind

00:34:52.969 --> 00:34:56.769
of threw it over, just like, this is weird. And

00:34:56.769 --> 00:34:58.590
as he kind of, like, speaks these words, as you

00:34:58.590 --> 00:35:02.110
look at him, You watch. It's a drip of blood.

00:35:02.289 --> 00:35:05.849
Fuck. Falls from the branch above and splashes

00:35:05.849 --> 00:35:12.110
against his nose. Oh, no. Yeah. And you look

00:35:12.110 --> 00:35:15.489
up to see a body hanging from the branches of

00:35:15.489 --> 00:35:18.070
the tree, half concealed from the ground below

00:35:18.070 --> 00:35:22.010
by the bed of needles that it rests upon. Jaws!

00:35:22.210 --> 00:35:26.690
And Blanche will try to jump up into the tree

00:35:26.690 --> 00:35:30.389
to get to him, I guess. Trying to see if she

00:35:30.389 --> 00:35:33.710
can get there in time. Hell yeah. I don't know

00:35:33.710 --> 00:35:36.630
if he's already dead. Can Jules help out? Hell

00:35:36.630 --> 00:35:38.949
yeah. You have the rod, you can also fly up there.

00:35:39.190 --> 00:35:42.329
Oh yeah. Blanche is trying to climb up the tree

00:35:42.329 --> 00:35:46.889
and Jules is flying up. Jules gets there. 13.

00:35:47.570 --> 00:35:51.289
Make it up. Low branches. You fly up, two of

00:35:51.289 --> 00:35:53.690
you at the same time reach the top of this and

00:35:53.690 --> 00:35:58.110
you look at the figure of Kun Anjun. Chest is...

00:35:58.699 --> 00:36:02.019
entirely shredded and torn open, eyes clouded,

00:36:02.019 --> 00:36:04.000
staring towards the sky, reflecting the endless

00:36:04.000 --> 00:36:09.559
blue above. You start putting some pieces together.

00:36:10.539 --> 00:36:13.420
He was supposed to meet you here. Probably in

00:36:13.420 --> 00:36:15.179
the midst of that combat, you heard a scream.

00:36:16.340 --> 00:36:19.019
Jules, the healer, took off. Akio to protect

00:36:19.019 --> 00:36:23.179
him. But you forgot. And you see the figure before

00:36:23.179 --> 00:36:26.619
you has entirely bled out. You also notice that...

00:36:27.369 --> 00:36:29.570
He's holding two things in his outstretched hands

00:36:29.570 --> 00:36:31.570
as if pulling these things and holding them out

00:36:31.570 --> 00:36:35.130
was his last act of life. In one hand he holds

00:36:35.130 --> 00:36:41.250
a small bag. Just a very simple thing. In the

00:36:41.250 --> 00:36:47.150
other, a recording diamond. Whoa. I thought about

00:36:47.150 --> 00:36:49.090
this the other day and I meant to say something

00:36:49.090 --> 00:36:52.769
to you and I totally forgot. We have one of those.

00:36:52.929 --> 00:36:57.400
Yeah, we do. Blanche will reach out and grab

00:36:57.400 --> 00:37:01.980
the bag. You feel three very small things rattling

00:37:01.980 --> 00:37:05.659
around inside. You open it? Yeah, once she's

00:37:05.659 --> 00:37:10.500
back on the ground, Blanche and Jules will get

00:37:10.500 --> 00:37:14.780
Kunon June down, lying on the ground, and then

00:37:14.780 --> 00:37:17.559
she'll open the bag, hoping that's something

00:37:17.559 --> 00:37:21.320
really good because this guy was the only reason

00:37:21.320 --> 00:37:24.860
we got this far. You find three rings inside

00:37:24.860 --> 00:37:28.360
the bag. Three rings that look very magical.

00:37:29.059 --> 00:37:31.699
At a glance, there is power in these things.

00:37:32.480 --> 00:37:36.760
I imagine that Jules grabbed the diamond, and

00:37:36.760 --> 00:37:39.559
while Blanche is going through the bag, Jules

00:37:39.559 --> 00:37:42.360
will hold the diamond up to his eye. You touch

00:37:42.360 --> 00:37:46.039
the diamond, and you reach your mind into it,

00:37:46.079 --> 00:37:50.090
and you feel a great number of recordings. You're

00:37:50.090 --> 00:37:52.769
not peering at these, but feeling them, the impressions

00:37:52.769 --> 00:37:55.090
of them as they blur past you. Kind of like the

00:37:55.090 --> 00:37:57.630
mental thumbnails of videos you'd choose to skip

00:37:57.630 --> 00:37:59.050
over over a phone. You know, it's like looking

00:37:59.050 --> 00:38:01.469
over a phone camera. You just can see an impression

00:38:01.469 --> 00:38:03.449
of what these videos are, but you don't need

00:38:03.449 --> 00:38:06.349
to watch all of them through. They look to be

00:38:06.349 --> 00:38:08.010
mostly self -recordings that have taken place

00:38:08.010 --> 00:38:10.010
over the last few weeks. You get the impression

00:38:10.010 --> 00:38:12.030
that Kun on June recorded himself reiterating

00:38:12.030 --> 00:38:13.510
anything he thought to be important enough to

00:38:13.510 --> 00:38:15.550
take note of. He'd probably fill the diamond,

00:38:15.730 --> 00:38:17.190
re -watch it all, then write everything down.

00:38:17.920 --> 00:38:20.719
Seems like his kind of jam. You blur past these

00:38:20.719 --> 00:38:23.260
thumbnails, past Kunonjun's face before stuffy

00:38:23.260 --> 00:38:25.480
chambers with long tables, wide spaces filled

00:38:25.480 --> 00:38:27.960
with books, and images on the streets of Yanido

00:38:27.960 --> 00:38:30.199
with a smiling Kunonjun posing beside gleeful

00:38:30.199 --> 00:38:33.239
citizens. At the end of it all, though, you feel

00:38:33.239 --> 00:38:37.239
something important. The last recordings. A long

00:38:37.239 --> 00:38:39.440
one taken under an hour ago in the Sea of Dragons

00:38:39.440 --> 00:38:42.079
and a shorter one just after. I say long, but

00:38:42.079 --> 00:38:46.980
long... Honestly, they're both short. I earlier

00:38:46.980 --> 00:38:49.300
notes that were different. The two short ones

00:38:49.300 --> 00:38:51.699
taken just under an hour ago in the Sea of Dragons.

00:38:52.719 --> 00:38:57.239
Do you want to watch these? Yeah. You open this

00:38:57.239 --> 00:39:02.099
up and you hear record. And you see Kunon Jun's

00:39:02.099 --> 00:39:04.360
face kind of facing, selfie style, looking into

00:39:04.360 --> 00:39:07.179
it. The background is sort of a stuffy, again,

00:39:07.219 --> 00:39:09.500
a stuffy chamber somewhere in the Seat of Dragons.

00:39:09.619 --> 00:39:11.579
You recognize the architecture. And you can actually

00:39:11.579 --> 00:39:13.900
catch, like, a door in the back closing as some

00:39:13.900 --> 00:39:16.119
other, like, uniform magistrates are, like, leaving.

00:39:16.300 --> 00:39:19.639
Looks like he's the last one in the room. I've

00:39:19.639 --> 00:39:21.239
just met with a few other magistrates following

00:39:21.239 --> 00:39:23.519
the second attack of the memory -stealing Guishin.

00:39:25.280 --> 00:39:26.920
The city is in a state of emergency, though the

00:39:26.920 --> 00:39:28.380
actual facts of the emergency have still been

00:39:28.380 --> 00:39:30.460
kept secret from the outside world. People are

00:39:30.460 --> 00:39:32.059
putting on a brave face, but the residents are

00:39:32.059 --> 00:39:36.139
filled with dread. Spirit arbiters are all dealing

00:39:36.139 --> 00:39:37.980
with the empowered Gwishin throughout the city.

00:39:38.340 --> 00:39:39.840
My warning only confirmed what they've already

00:39:39.840 --> 00:39:41.739
discovered, and it seems their ranks are overburdened

00:39:41.739 --> 00:39:44.099
by this new threat. There'll be little help to

00:39:44.099 --> 00:39:47.119
us as it stands. Ambassador Pastar has been kept

00:39:47.119 --> 00:39:49.059
as in the dark as possible, but he is pushing

00:39:49.059 --> 00:39:51.219
hard to bring Celestials in to relieve the situation.

00:39:51.800 --> 00:39:53.820
I mean, so far the Queen's been against it, but...

00:39:54.480 --> 00:39:56.380
The ambassador has also been firmly against the

00:39:56.380 --> 00:39:59.340
leniency we have shown to Sholay and her party.

00:39:59.679 --> 00:40:02.679
He has demanded, very inappropriately, that the

00:40:02.679 --> 00:40:05.019
luminary guests be locked away for the protection

00:40:05.019 --> 00:40:07.599
of themselves and others. He's even offered to

00:40:07.599 --> 00:40:11.119
have his diva overseer do the job. Wildly, wildly

00:40:11.119 --> 00:40:15.099
inappropriate, but his nation does represent

00:40:15.099 --> 00:40:17.679
a vital trade deal to our world. I don't know

00:40:17.679 --> 00:40:19.880
how long we'll hold them off, how long we'll

00:40:19.880 --> 00:40:22.860
move freely. As mentioned before, there had been

00:40:22.860 --> 00:40:25.360
two assaults, one near 9am and one at noon. The

00:40:25.360 --> 00:40:27.780
second had three main locations impacted, the

00:40:27.780 --> 00:40:29.659
Sea of Dragons, the Tiger District Construction

00:40:29.659 --> 00:40:32.460
Zone, and the Park of the Elders. The first,

00:40:32.460 --> 00:40:34.619
however, had four, including the main gate. So

00:40:34.619 --> 00:40:37.380
the same place, three places both times, but

00:40:37.380 --> 00:40:40.639
why not the gate? Why not? Why only at 9am? I

00:40:40.639 --> 00:40:42.679
don't... No, I should mention something else,

00:40:42.719 --> 00:40:45.639
too. Attempts to move Arhalon and Xena Brass

00:40:45.639 --> 00:40:47.780
have revealed that they are tethered to the palace

00:40:47.780 --> 00:40:50.239
somehow. Whatever ails them gets much worse.

00:40:50.670 --> 00:40:53.389
life -threatening if they are moved at all. Perhaps

00:40:53.389 --> 00:40:55.230
this is why Xolay circled back after that first

00:40:55.230 --> 00:40:57.250
attack, when she tried to flee with them both.

00:40:57.929 --> 00:41:00.510
Perhaps this is why she still remains in the

00:41:00.510 --> 00:41:04.369
Seat of Dragons at all. And I think that's everything.

00:41:05.530 --> 00:41:09.829
His eyes look directly into the camera. Did you

00:41:09.829 --> 00:41:12.289
get all that, future me? I can't forget anything.

00:41:12.510 --> 00:41:14.829
This city is relying on Jules, Blanche, Chester,

00:41:14.849 --> 00:41:17.789
and Akio, and they are relying on me. On that

00:41:17.789 --> 00:41:19.389
note, I have two more stops to make before I

00:41:19.389 --> 00:41:24.320
go and meet them. a swallow, and then stop. And

00:41:24.320 --> 00:41:26.539
that was the first recording. There's one more

00:41:26.539 --> 00:41:29.559
after it. You want to watch it? Yeah. Record.

00:41:30.579 --> 00:41:33.059
We see the diamond is moving down a long hall,

00:41:33.260 --> 00:41:35.900
a series of steps into a darker, empty hall.

00:41:36.440 --> 00:41:37.960
Based on the architecture, you'd think this is

00:41:37.960 --> 00:41:40.199
still the seat of dragons, maybe somewhere beneath

00:41:40.199 --> 00:41:44.239
the palace. We hear, I've been looking into Baraki

00:41:44.239 --> 00:41:48.000
and I'm a bit confused. I mean, the records all

00:41:48.000 --> 00:41:50.579
seem to match the story we know. He flew in and

00:41:50.579 --> 00:41:52.360
laid waste to the Phoenix District out of nowhere.

00:41:52.460 --> 00:41:54.340
He was stopped only when Queen Jeannie faced

00:41:54.340 --> 00:41:58.420
him on her own. But that's the part I don't get.

00:41:58.619 --> 00:42:01.039
It's the body. I can't find any record of the

00:42:01.039 --> 00:42:03.980
body's disposal or collection. An adult dragon's

00:42:03.980 --> 00:42:05.460
body isn't something that can be misplaced or

00:42:05.460 --> 00:42:08.380
easily hidden. So what happened to Baraki? Was

00:42:08.380 --> 00:42:11.519
he buried? Sent off world? Sold for magical artificery?

00:42:11.980 --> 00:42:13.760
It's a little thing and it pokes a hole in the

00:42:13.760 --> 00:42:16.340
official story that I just can't ignore. Blanche

00:42:16.340 --> 00:42:19.559
will want to know this. Maybe he... Wasn't killed,

00:42:19.699 --> 00:42:21.420
just repelled? I mean, the official story says

00:42:21.420 --> 00:42:23.940
he was killed, yet I don't ever remember seeing

00:42:23.940 --> 00:42:26.000
the body. I don't really remember the events

00:42:26.000 --> 00:42:29.780
at all, to be honest. It's all oddly hazy. Though

00:42:29.780 --> 00:42:32.340
there was one other little thing. Looking into

00:42:32.340 --> 00:42:34.260
the matter of the corpse, I did find a record

00:42:34.260 --> 00:42:36.280
of burial cost that resulted from Baraki's attack.

00:42:36.960 --> 00:42:38.739
Everything seemed as expected, but there was

00:42:38.739 --> 00:42:40.719
one niche little detail that stood out to me.

00:42:41.280 --> 00:42:44.519
One coffin. A large coffin. Not dragon large,

00:42:44.659 --> 00:42:47.659
but large by humanoid standards. Ten by six.

00:42:48.400 --> 00:42:49.880
Anyways, this coffin was particularly expensive

00:42:49.880 --> 00:42:52.699
and fully paid for by an outside party, one unnamed

00:42:52.699 --> 00:42:55.079
in record. There was a burial cost written off,

00:42:55.159 --> 00:42:58.019
too. And the receipt mentioned a vague location

00:42:58.019 --> 00:43:00.780
of the single burial plot. Somewhere outside

00:43:00.780 --> 00:43:02.719
the northern gate of the city, near to the new

00:43:02.719 --> 00:43:05.380
construction of the Tiger District. Anyways,

00:43:05.480 --> 00:43:08.039
I know that's not very helpful, but I have one

00:43:08.039 --> 00:43:10.400
more thing I can do. I'm almost to the door to

00:43:10.400 --> 00:43:14.840
the magistrate's treasury and... Well, I better

00:43:14.840 --> 00:43:18.159
not record this next part. I'm afraid I may do

00:43:18.159 --> 00:43:22.659
something inappropriate. Something wildly inappropriate.

00:43:22.739 --> 00:43:24.780
But I'm starting to think it would be far more

00:43:24.780 --> 00:43:27.239
inappropriate for me to let my new friends down.

00:43:27.760 --> 00:43:30.719
And the camera turns to face him. Captures one

00:43:30.719 --> 00:43:35.860
final, surprisingly confident smile. Stop. And

00:43:35.860 --> 00:43:39.380
that's it. The final recording. The final words

00:43:39.380 --> 00:43:43.320
of Magistrate Conan June. How dare you, sir.

00:43:44.039 --> 00:43:47.059
How absolute dare you? You laughed at my cool

00:43:47.059 --> 00:43:51.940
back story. Have him call us new friends. You

00:43:51.940 --> 00:43:53.300
laughed when I said come. That's what you get.

00:43:58.340 --> 00:44:05.440
Damn it. I'm screwed. Holy shit. Yeah. Okay.

00:44:05.719 --> 00:44:08.400
You begin that ring or that bag of rings. Yeah.

00:44:08.679 --> 00:44:12.360
I'll tell you. You probably need to roll. Probably

00:44:12.360 --> 00:44:13.960
takes some time to, like, look at them to understand

00:44:13.960 --> 00:44:15.420
more about them. Sure, take a couple minutes.

00:44:15.739 --> 00:44:17.179
You just see one sleek and simplistic ring of

00:44:17.179 --> 00:44:20.280
black metal edged by golden bands. One's a bronze

00:44:20.280 --> 00:44:21.880
ring. Top of the set is a small emerald surrounding

00:44:21.880 --> 00:44:26.679
a closed eye. And just a gold ring bearing a

00:44:26.679 --> 00:44:30.820
fluorite stone. Do you want to roll? I guess

00:44:30.820 --> 00:44:32.239
you can roll Arcana to see if you can get an

00:44:32.239 --> 00:44:33.940
immediate sort of thing. It'll be kind of high,

00:44:33.940 --> 00:44:35.260
unless you have, like, a spell. I don't know

00:44:35.260 --> 00:44:36.920
if you have a tick match. No, I don't have any

00:44:36.920 --> 00:44:38.920
of that. Identify, but let me put something pretty

00:44:38.920 --> 00:44:45.670
high to get these. That's a... 19. 19. I'll go

00:44:45.670 --> 00:44:48.250
with a 19. I'll give you two of them now. Another

00:44:48.250 --> 00:44:50.090
one you need to, like, probably during a short

00:44:50.090 --> 00:44:54.590
rest, figure it out. Let's see. I'll give you

00:44:54.590 --> 00:44:57.969
the two that seem like they're the most obvious.

00:44:58.929 --> 00:45:01.690
The sleek and simplistic black ring, I think,

00:45:01.690 --> 00:45:03.949
is one that maybe you had on your own personal

00:45:03.949 --> 00:45:06.550
shopping list. You're looking at the sort of

00:45:06.550 --> 00:45:09.230
inscription on the inside, and you realize this

00:45:09.230 --> 00:45:12.170
is something made. more or less four wizards,

00:45:12.230 --> 00:45:16.010
is known as a ring of preparedness. Huh. Once

00:45:16.010 --> 00:45:18.670
a day, the wearer of this ring, in Christ's attunement,

00:45:18.750 --> 00:45:21.969
can re -prepare spells during a short rest. Ah.

00:45:22.489 --> 00:45:24.469
It allows you to instantly memorize the necessary

00:45:24.469 --> 00:45:26.349
gestures and incantations from your book that

00:45:26.349 --> 00:45:30.070
would normally take you hours to do. That's excellent.

00:45:31.099 --> 00:45:33.019
You also notice that the other ring, the one

00:45:33.019 --> 00:45:37.039
with the eye, is a ring of X -ray vision. Oh,

00:45:37.079 --> 00:45:39.380
very cool. You've heard of these things. You

00:45:39.380 --> 00:45:41.000
know that when it activates, that eye is going

00:45:41.000 --> 00:45:43.039
to open up and look way too real and freaky.

00:45:43.159 --> 00:45:45.300
Hell yeah. Nice. While wearing this ring, you

00:45:45.300 --> 00:45:47.719
can take a magic action. Oh, wait. That's the

00:45:47.719 --> 00:45:51.380
new rules. You can take an action to gain X -ray

00:45:51.380 --> 00:45:53.880
vision within a range of 30 feet for one minute.

00:45:54.360 --> 00:45:56.380
Wow. To you, solid objects within that radius

00:45:56.380 --> 00:45:58.420
appear transparent and don't prevent light from

00:45:58.420 --> 00:46:00.239
passing through them. The vision can penetrate

00:46:00.239 --> 00:46:02.659
one foot of stone, one inch of common wall, or

00:46:02.659 --> 00:46:05.940
up to three feet of wood or dirt. Thicker substance

00:46:05.940 --> 00:46:09.440
or a thin sheet of lead block the vision. Whenever

00:46:09.440 --> 00:46:11.320
you use the ring again before taking a long rest,

00:46:11.420 --> 00:46:13.179
you have to succeed in a DC 15 constitution saving

00:46:13.179 --> 00:46:15.360
throw or gain one exhaustion level. Makes you

00:46:15.360 --> 00:46:17.880
sick to use. It's like, it's a lot. But once

00:46:17.880 --> 00:46:20.679
a day, you're fine at least. Or once, yeah, once

00:46:20.679 --> 00:46:22.199
between long rest, you can do it without that

00:46:22.199 --> 00:46:26.429
penalty. Shit. Well, I mean, I think Blanche

00:46:26.429 --> 00:46:27.889
is going to take the Ring of Preparedness anyway.

00:46:28.289 --> 00:46:30.750
Yeah. Oh, yeah. And the third ring, you don't

00:46:30.750 --> 00:46:34.349
know. Yeah. Do you want to hang on to the X -ray

00:46:34.349 --> 00:46:35.849
ring for now and we'll see what happens with

00:46:35.849 --> 00:46:38.329
the... Oh, wait, can I have that? Can Jules roll

00:46:38.329 --> 00:46:41.590
for the third ring? I'll allow it. Given his

00:46:41.590 --> 00:46:43.869
history. I'll allow it. He's a magic boy. Yeah.

00:46:44.010 --> 00:46:46.090
You're a magic boy too. Yeah, go ahead. Give

00:46:46.090 --> 00:46:48.269
me your Kona as well. Speaking of Chester and

00:46:48.269 --> 00:46:50.969
magic items... Yeah, guess what? What? Sorry,

00:46:51.010 --> 00:46:53.539
go ahead. Is misdirection on? No, that's what

00:46:53.539 --> 00:46:55.320
I was going to say. It's not. We're out of combat.

00:46:55.599 --> 00:46:58.440
You don't need it. No, no. You said last episode,

00:46:58.619 --> 00:47:01.239
I've got no excuse now. He said like three episodes

00:47:01.239 --> 00:47:04.079
ago. Yeah. I've got no excuse now. Next time

00:47:04.079 --> 00:47:05.800
you're in a combat, I'll put it up there. It

00:47:05.800 --> 00:47:08.980
was on there, but you forgot the whole combat.

00:47:09.179 --> 00:47:17.340
Arcana. Shit. That's only 17. You're only rolling

00:47:17.340 --> 00:47:19.800
for one. I gave you two. You know what? Fine.

00:47:19.980 --> 00:47:22.420
Fine. I'm generous today because I was pretty

00:47:22.420 --> 00:47:23.880
mean. I'm going to be mean again in a minute.

00:47:24.659 --> 00:47:28.440
God. The gold ring with a fluorite stone, you

00:47:28.440 --> 00:47:32.260
know, is a ring of puzzler's wit. A ring enchanted

00:47:32.260 --> 00:47:34.119
to sharpen the wearer's mind. I bet Zavar had

00:47:34.119 --> 00:47:36.239
one of these that he'd utilize when he wanted

00:47:36.239 --> 00:47:38.460
to get really into a certain project. You've

00:47:38.460 --> 00:47:40.780
probably seen one before. This ring has three

00:47:40.780 --> 00:47:43.960
charges and regains 1d4 minus one expended charges

00:47:43.960 --> 00:47:46.530
daily at dawn. When you make an intelligence

00:47:46.530 --> 00:47:49.269
check, you can expend one charge to grant yourself

00:47:49.269 --> 00:47:52.769
advantage on the check. Nice. Okay. Bolsters

00:47:52.769 --> 00:47:54.550
your mind, allows you to think more clearly,

00:47:54.610 --> 00:47:58.710
expand your brainwaves. I don't know. Okay. That's

00:47:58.710 --> 00:48:03.150
awesome. Nice. Three gifts. And it's one ring

00:48:03.150 --> 00:48:06.429
slot each, right? Each one would be in a tune,

00:48:06.469 --> 00:48:09.389
yeah. Yeah. Okay. I mean, does it make sense

00:48:09.389 --> 00:48:11.750
to the chest where we get the x -ray? That's

00:48:11.750 --> 00:48:15.369
actually not a bad idea. So I think Jules will...

00:48:15.369 --> 00:48:18.730
Hey, buddy. He's actually kind of looking down,

00:48:18.769 --> 00:48:21.710
I'll say. Like, almost like a joking note before,

00:48:21.869 --> 00:48:24.690
he did so with eyes that look kind of hollow,

00:48:24.769 --> 00:48:27.670
and he's just looking down at the body. But he

00:48:27.670 --> 00:48:31.650
has this kind of static, frozen half -smile to

00:48:31.650 --> 00:48:34.329
his lips that doesn't touch his eyes, that just

00:48:34.329 --> 00:48:37.889
kind of stared down. Jules goes up to him, snaps

00:48:37.889 --> 00:48:39.670
his fingers in front of his face. Oh, hey, sorry,

00:48:39.809 --> 00:48:42.570
Jules. Oh, am I getting the Rex Hair Vision one?

00:48:43.389 --> 00:48:47.250
Jeans is going to love it. Keep with it. Yeah,

00:48:47.250 --> 00:48:51.869
no, I'm fine. Hey, I'm fine. Here. And Jules

00:48:51.869 --> 00:48:55.349
will all flip like a coin off his thumb. He takes

00:48:55.349 --> 00:48:58.369
it, just looks at the ring for a long moment,

00:48:58.409 --> 00:49:03.269
then just, you know, I get it. People die. Just

00:49:03.269 --> 00:49:08.289
shouldn't be our people, right? No. He puts the

00:49:08.289 --> 00:49:12.079
ring on. People don't die. Not on our watch.

00:49:12.880 --> 00:49:15.000
I realize the irony in that somebody just died.

00:49:15.039 --> 00:49:18.639
Except for when they died on our watch. But realistically,

00:49:18.980 --> 00:49:22.820
if I move the magic and it hits you, Jules, you

00:49:22.820 --> 00:49:24.500
were right there. You were so close. You were

00:49:24.500 --> 00:49:27.860
flying. You probably were like seconds away from

00:49:27.860 --> 00:49:32.159
that healing touch. And you forgot. God damn

00:49:32.159 --> 00:49:38.400
you, David. You hear footsteps moving on you

00:49:38.400 --> 00:49:43.309
from down the path. You turn to see a familiar

00:49:43.309 --> 00:49:46.730
blue dragonborn, very hulking form, one of the

00:49:46.730 --> 00:49:48.349
guards that you spoke to at the gate to this

00:49:48.349 --> 00:49:51.210
place, followed by a number of others. Their

00:49:51.210 --> 00:49:54.429
immediate thoughts are so apparent as they just

00:49:54.429 --> 00:49:56.449
rush towards you like, Where's the magistrate?

00:49:56.530 --> 00:50:00.409
Where's the magistrate? And they freeze. Hands

00:50:00.409 --> 00:50:03.289
up. All the guards behind stop and look down

00:50:03.289 --> 00:50:05.150
in horror as they see the body that lies beneath

00:50:05.150 --> 00:50:10.590
you. No, no, no, no, no! He went in. He said...

00:50:10.590 --> 00:50:13.269
He demanded we stay outside. He didn't let us

00:50:13.269 --> 00:50:16.650
follow. He said... You would protect him. The

00:50:16.650 --> 00:50:19.630
luminaries would protect me. What happened? What

00:50:19.630 --> 00:50:23.309
happened? We know just as much as you do. We

00:50:23.309 --> 00:50:26.789
lost our memories as well. This... This needs

00:50:26.789 --> 00:50:28.849
to be reported to the Queen. Her Majesty needs

00:50:28.849 --> 00:50:32.010
to know. I think it's time you returned to the

00:50:32.010 --> 00:50:34.750
palace as well. She's wondering what happened

00:50:34.750 --> 00:50:38.440
to her honored guests. Send the report and turns

00:50:38.440 --> 00:50:42.460
back. A woman in the back salutes, turns around

00:50:42.460 --> 00:50:45.519
and full books it. A young elven woman's gone.

00:50:46.739 --> 00:50:51.260
The guards kind of move in around you. The diamond

00:50:51.260 --> 00:50:56.800
and the rings, are they out? I imagine you had

00:50:56.800 --> 00:50:58.239
the forethought to like, if you want to keep

00:50:58.239 --> 00:51:01.599
them to pocket them now. Yeah, I think now Blanche

00:51:01.599 --> 00:51:04.360
has a diamond and Jules has a diamond. Yeah,

00:51:04.400 --> 00:51:07.219
I think before that though, I think. Before Jules

00:51:07.219 --> 00:51:09.940
gave Blanche the diamond, he put it to his...

00:51:09.940 --> 00:51:12.480
Can you transfer between diamonds? Yes, yeah.

00:51:12.500 --> 00:51:15.079
Oh, nice. And he transferred everything to his

00:51:15.079 --> 00:51:18.000
diamond. Oh, cool, cool. Yeah. When I say everything,

00:51:18.079 --> 00:51:19.699
I mean everything. That diamond's wiped now.

00:51:20.300 --> 00:51:22.900
Okay. As for the rings, I think Blanche is wearing

00:51:22.900 --> 00:51:26.800
the Ring of Preparedness. Okay. Oh, yeah. Jules

00:51:26.800 --> 00:51:29.420
is wearing his. Chester's wearing his. You are

00:51:29.420 --> 00:51:30.840
surrounded. The guards don't seem to immediately

00:51:30.840 --> 00:51:34.280
note any of this stuff as being strange. They

00:51:34.280 --> 00:51:36.820
wouldn't really know. you know, what sort of

00:51:36.820 --> 00:51:39.480
equipment items a magistrate would carry necessarily

00:51:39.480 --> 00:51:41.940
on them. Right. If they weren't missing. You

00:51:41.940 --> 00:51:44.019
see, like, some are kind of moving in, rushing

00:51:44.019 --> 00:51:45.380
out to grab a litter. They're trying to find

00:51:45.380 --> 00:51:48.420
a way to, you know, honorably move this form.

00:51:48.920 --> 00:51:54.059
We'll escort Kun Anjun back to the palace. Very

00:51:54.059 --> 00:51:57.440
well. Imagine we let some time pass here. The

00:51:57.440 --> 00:52:00.980
litter is brought back to cover the body. And

00:52:00.980 --> 00:52:05.280
as pallbearers are taken, he's led back. Out

00:52:05.280 --> 00:52:08.599
the southern gate, up the streets, a sullen parade

00:52:08.599 --> 00:52:15.000
of guards follows you. You watch people stopping

00:52:15.000 --> 00:52:18.179
and staring, which is wildly inappropriate here,

00:52:18.280 --> 00:52:22.699
but they do it anyway. Staring in awe at this

00:52:22.699 --> 00:52:26.179
procession until you reach the seat of dragons,

00:52:26.340 --> 00:52:30.300
until you reach the throne room of the queen.

00:52:31.260 --> 00:52:34.320
You're not allowed inside at first. The body's

00:52:34.320 --> 00:52:39.239
brought in. There's hushed whispering. Another

00:52:39.239 --> 00:52:42.639
form steps out, looks to you, almost nervously,

00:52:42.659 --> 00:52:45.280
and then moves down the hall. Is it fetching

00:52:45.280 --> 00:52:48.019
something? Not sure why later you are ushered

00:52:48.019 --> 00:52:50.840
inside. A number of guards are standing behind

00:52:50.840 --> 00:52:54.139
you. As you go in, you see Yungi is not in his

00:52:54.139 --> 00:52:59.119
familiar place. The bodock table is still set

00:52:59.119 --> 00:53:03.599
mid -game, but no form sits there. Just Queen

00:53:03.599 --> 00:53:06.739
Jean Mie on her throne, looking as regal as ever.

00:53:07.860 --> 00:53:09.519
But there's something dangerous in her eyes.

00:53:10.599 --> 00:53:14.460
Do you bow? The guards do. Yeah, Blanche does,

00:53:14.539 --> 00:53:16.699
just like she did before, like the guards do.

00:53:17.480 --> 00:53:21.320
You, like, whipped your head around her. You

00:53:21.320 --> 00:53:24.659
didn't last time. You're the question. Jules

00:53:24.659 --> 00:53:28.559
will do a half bow with his head up, looking

00:53:28.559 --> 00:53:32.010
at her. Chester looks to you. Mimics you almost

00:53:32.010 --> 00:53:34.309
exactly. Akio again just flops down the floor.

00:53:35.130 --> 00:53:40.550
I've been informed of the goings -ons. This is

00:53:40.550 --> 00:53:44.309
a great tragedy. Kunon Jun was so promising.

00:53:45.150 --> 00:53:50.269
To see him suffer such an accident is heartbreaking.

00:53:51.389 --> 00:53:56.750
But it does lead me to some questions as to why

00:53:56.750 --> 00:54:00.039
he was where he was and why you were... There

00:54:00.039 --> 00:54:05.000
as well. I find your movements today to be highly

00:54:05.000 --> 00:54:08.900
unusual. He took you into the Tiger District,

00:54:09.079 --> 00:54:13.960
brought you into the tea shop in the Heitei District,

00:54:14.199 --> 00:54:18.860
and now the Park of the Elders, which was, under

00:54:18.860 --> 00:54:25.739
my command, shut down. Why were you taking such

00:54:25.739 --> 00:54:29.050
an odd sightseeing tour, I wonder? He was suffering

00:54:29.050 --> 00:54:33.329
in silence, but he needed help with the Gwishin.

00:54:33.570 --> 00:54:39.949
The Gwishin? This is not... It seems Magistrate

00:54:39.949 --> 00:54:43.250
Kunonjun did have his fault. He was certainly

00:54:43.250 --> 00:54:46.130
lacking in his role as a guide. A shame, but

00:54:46.130 --> 00:54:50.070
we shall remedy our mistakes now. There'll be

00:54:50.070 --> 00:54:52.610
no more talk of Gwishins, no more moving around

00:54:52.610 --> 00:54:56.449
the city, no more of this nonsense. You are going

00:54:56.449 --> 00:54:58.070
to remain here as my guest, and you're going

00:54:58.070 --> 00:55:01.929
to be safe. I will make sure your rooms are well

00:55:01.929 --> 00:55:03.429
guarded, and we will offer you the best food

00:55:03.429 --> 00:55:06.510
and drink we can. We're still alive, aren't we?

00:55:07.630 --> 00:55:12.369
And my magistrate is not. Without our help, no

00:55:12.369 --> 00:55:14.730
one will be safe. The rest of your magistrates,

00:55:14.730 --> 00:55:16.050
any of us here on the palace... The rest of my

00:55:16.050 --> 00:55:18.090
magistrates! She stands, and you see, like, the

00:55:18.090 --> 00:55:20.809
guards almost, like, shuffle back. Uh -uh. Like,

00:55:20.889 --> 00:55:24.389
shocked. The rest of my magistrates will handle

00:55:24.389 --> 00:55:29.050
things themselves. What you are doing is highly

00:55:29.050 --> 00:55:31.710
inappropriate, and if you want to foster any

00:55:31.710 --> 00:55:36.190
relationship between me and your allies in the

00:55:36.190 --> 00:55:40.190
Citadel, I think you will fall in line. You will

00:55:40.190 --> 00:55:44.449
respect our traditions, our ways. You will enjoy

00:55:44.449 --> 00:55:47.610
my hospitality, and you will stay here and relax.

00:55:48.719 --> 00:55:50.719
I think we got to play along. I don't think we're

00:55:50.719 --> 00:55:54.300
getting anywhere with her. No. My apologies,

00:55:54.480 --> 00:55:59.019
Queen Jinmi. We are slow to learn your ways and

00:55:59.019 --> 00:56:03.440
your customs. I hope to be better equipped the

00:56:03.440 --> 00:56:07.719
next time we speak. Jules is about to say something

00:56:07.719 --> 00:56:14.679
stupid. But when Blanche says that, he kind of

00:56:14.679 --> 00:56:17.840
looks over, bites his tongue really fucking hard.

00:56:18.760 --> 00:56:21.320
And doesn't say something stupid. At the corner,

00:56:21.320 --> 00:56:23.599
you see Chester doing the same thing. It's like

00:56:23.599 --> 00:56:30.280
a full follow the leader. After you make your

00:56:30.280 --> 00:56:32.960
statement, the rest of you stay silent. The queen

00:56:32.960 --> 00:56:38.659
sighs, nods, sits back down. I apologize for

00:56:38.659 --> 00:56:43.619
my outburst. Now, there is one other remaining

00:56:43.619 --> 00:56:46.239
problem. The remaining magistrates are quite

00:56:46.239 --> 00:56:48.809
busy with their own affairs for now. But there

00:56:48.809 --> 00:56:50.670
is another official that has kindly offered to

00:56:50.670 --> 00:56:52.590
keep your party company while you relax here

00:56:52.590 --> 00:56:57.090
in my palace. And she gestures, and you see one

00:56:57.090 --> 00:56:58.989
of the guards steps up and moves the door, and

00:56:58.989 --> 00:57:03.030
the door creaks open, and two figures step in,

00:57:03.070 --> 00:57:06.130
one hulking form with great white wings and one

00:57:06.130 --> 00:57:09.150
very small, frail form that steps in and says,

00:57:09.329 --> 00:57:13.269
Atash once said there is no role more noble than

00:57:13.269 --> 00:57:16.030
that of a shepherd granted control of a wayward

00:57:16.030 --> 00:57:19.260
flock. Let me guide them to goodness. I'll just

00:57:19.260 --> 00:57:23.760
let them fall in my steps. And we'll call it

00:57:23.760 --> 00:57:24.000
there.