Our quest, Tales of Gael, is a live tabletop
podcast. And, you know, we lost. Now we are here
to talk. Your eye. We want it. I want to give
you my eye. No. My other option is that we could
just wait until the eye is fully matured in you
and it has then consumed your body. And maybe
something will happen in season two. Did you
manage to get her? Sadly not, but it will be
easier once the eye has matured. What about the
mirror? The shard was practically empty, so it
was easy to grab. When do we get rid of these
stupid masks? Not till we're back in Vera. You
must enter and claim the item inside. Once you
have it, our master's mission will be clear.
If you want questions, you can ask. If you want
toilet roll, you can have it. And if you want
a room, there's fucking 16 more. I feel like
an alliance may have formed between us. Atticus,
would he miss you? Master Atticus probably doesn't
know my name. So you're not important. Oh no.
Made a shipwreck. Look at this thing. It's beautiful.
It's an incomplete dragon kit. Banner Rapids
respects me, guys. They'll follow me anywhere.
Oh, really? Ah, you must be the leader there.
Sure. Yes. On the world of Gael lies a constant
named Varys. This is our destiny. No. This is
our quest. Thank you. Those of you that have
been tuning in might recall that Oren had a bit
of a breakdown yesterday during his segment.
He's been under a lot of stress following his
tragic experiences on God's Breath, and it, well,
it just hit a boiling point, I guess. So for
now, Oren, or Cully, has left to get some much
-needed help at the House of Convalescence, where
he'll be staying for an indeterminate amount
of time. He has requested absolute solitude during
his recovery, so we ask that fans do not trouble
him. Any kind comments or gifts can be sent to
our usual studio address, and I will personally
see them delivered. And who am I? Well, my name
is Rune Rusong. I have been working behind the
scenes of the network for many years now as an
agent to many top luminaries. As such, the powers
that be felt that I might be an appropriate figure
to take the reins temporarily until Gully is
ready to return. Now I know a lot of you are
concerned over Cully's statements of blackmail
and mistrust. I can assure you that these were
simply the confused ramblings of a mind broken
by trauma. Please, don't hold it against my good
friend. The death and return of his son, the
coming criminal trials of his niece. I mean,
clearly good Cully has been through a lot of
anguish. I'm sure even now he is suffering profoundly.
Yeah, I did it. Don't like it. Yeah, I did. I
don't like it. I hate it. I think I wouldn't
do it. I didn't make you do any of this. Yeah.
You did this. No, this is not. It's your fault.
This is not my fault. You did this. This is not
my doing. It's your fault. I didn't roll a die
about it. This is not my fault. I won't take
responsibility. There are consequences. God.
Now people might be suffering profoundly. You
ass. You horse's ass. So. You want to lighten
up the mood before we start real fast? Yes, please.
Yeah. Yeah. I have proof that there is still
joy in this in this cruel, cruel world. OK. And
I've seen this two or three times in the past,
like. couple of days enough to like bring it
to the front of my mind and it happened to me
on the drive over here okay no matter how many
computers kids have in their pockets or how many
tiktoks or snapchats they're gonna do stevie
you're oldest yeah there is still an age group
of children that will do the arm motion for you
to pump your toe to honk your horn oh yeah dude
i see it all the time up here and that gives
me profound joy yeah Yeah. Do you do it? Oh yeah.
I try to, it's like, I pick an appropriate time,
you know, like if I'm, if I'm in traffic and
there's a bunch of pedestrians around, no, I'm
not going to honk my horn. You cracked me up
as you're over there. Like, yeah, me and my gigantic
truck. The kids, like I'm driving a semi, kids
see me going, you have a four foot long truck.
Yeah. It's like the smallest truck they have.
It's the F none 50. You literally call it the
F none 50. Yeah. Yeah. But no, I don't think
it matters if you're driving. I think it's just,
I think they'll do it to whatever. Dude, they
do it for me. Really? Yeah. I've seen it. It's
funny you brought this up because I've seen it
at least two times in the last two weeks. See?
Yeah. It's happening. Damn. And it doesn't have
to be a truck. It doesn't have to be a big truck.
No. It's never happened to me. They just want
you to honk your horn. It's a dumb car. It's
not the key of soul. I'm just kidding. It's more
trucks than your truck. No, that's not true.
Dude, I had to go to Shaw's today for a little
work run, and I was so blown away. So we talked
about this before on the show. Sorry, we're going
to extend the banter a little bit. We talked
about this a little bit on the show, how it's
like, yeah, we celebrate Halloween at the start
of September, which I think is fully reasonable.
It is July 9th while we're recording this. They
were putting Halloween stuff out at Shaw's. Yeah,
it's the next major holiday. So like July 4th
happens and we're in July. It's like, oh yeah,
it's already Halloween. Get your costumes, get
ready. Spirit Halloween's open everywhere. They've
been studying it. The sooner they put holiday
stuff in there, the more they sell. You know
what I mean? It's crazy. They're not going to
sell a single, well, I mean, they'll sell single
things, but they're not going to sell. nearly
as much halloween stuff the day after halloween
that's where it drops off that's where it dies
so if they start immediately after fourth of
july they have the whole run -up to halloween
to sell halloween stuff it's crazy it's the only
one yeah and as far as i'm concerned any time
of the year is a perfect time for spooky wookiee
i'm not you know what i won't i won't disagree
with that i actually love like like summertime
is where i really get into my horror podcast
you know what you know what i agree i agree god
bless capitalism Speaking of horror and scary
stuff, pretty scary last episode at the end there.
I think that was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed
throwing you in the sort of truth -telling eye
-to -eye situation. I mean, I would have come
at you so nasty and hard, Salome. You know, you're
a third character. It's okay to get real mean
with you. Yeah, exactly. It's like a challenge
now. See how many characters Steven can make
and how he's going to make the next one even
tankier and harder to kill. I think my legs are
still shaking. I was so ready, but you were clever.
I mean, you were clever. And now we have a whole
other plotline happening there, but I think it's
time. We spent some time out there on the Seydel.
I think it's time we moved back to Unido. Let's
rewind our clocks a touch. While Dresden and
Salma fight to protect the cherry delights on
the radiant Seydel, on Unido, on the world of
Hallery and the city of Unido, I should say,
Jules and Blanche are... Now I need to set the
scene here, but I'm going to need a little help.
I'm going to need Stephen's help. Because in
order to solve the mystery our heroes have been
entwined in, I want to utilize a trope much favored
by the troubled genius detective genre of television.
One known as the Mind Palace. The method of loci,
as it used to be known, actually. Basically,
this is a means for the very intelligent, very
disciplined Blanche Trudeau. to compile and consider
her clues and her memories in some kind of metaphysical
manifestation of her mind. Kind of helps to,
you know, view information as objects or something,
anything. We can get crazy with this shit. Let
me ask you, Blanche, what does your mind palace
look like? That smile scares me. Oh, no, you
shouldn't be scared. No, no. Okay. You have high
intelligence. This makes sense, right? I think
it's a cool way of being like, you have high
int, and you guys don't have the memory of your
character. Is this what smart people do? I don't
know. I'm not smart. I know. This is a foreign
concept to me. Well, no, it's not a foreign concept.
I know about the concept of mind palaces. I just
don't have one. Stephen Moffat would have done
this, and he's a writer of some kind of quality.
Do you want to see Blanche's mind palace? Let
me see the palace! So, when Blanche... enters
her mind palace, at least in her mind. I don't
think she physically does this, but she pulls
her head into her shell. What? And when she opens
her eyes, she's in a library, but it's a circular
library, and there are many, many levels and
layers, so she can lean over this wooden... That's
curved all the way around. And she looks up and
she sees levels, levels, levels, levels, levels,
levels, levels. And she looks down and she sees
levels, levels, levels, levels, levels, levels,
levels. Just vanishing into like darkness either
way? Well, I think darkness below. I think those
are the like deeper, older memories. And brightness
above. I think those are the memories that are
at the top of her mind. The really fresh stuff.
That's so cool. And as she travels through this
library. There are little vignettes that will
help her remember where she has these books that
contain her memories. You know, there's a decanter
with scotch over here on a sturdy wooden table
with a purple seat next to it. She goes a little
further. She goes to another level, and there's
a go board. Situated between two chairs. It's
all the old strategies. Yeah, just the things
that she likes to use to relax. There's going
to be a display of her old sword. Maybe now Ichigenka
has its own spot. In her mind palace. Over there
is where you keep all your oceanic terms for
moves. Like a thousand of them. A bunch of unused.
Yeah. Like, oh, that sounds cool. Put it away.
Slap it in a bucket. Throw it on a shelf. That
book's right on top, man. See, cucumbers lament.
Oh, God. What's that going to look like? That's
a bedroom move. Anyway. Stay out of that memory.
Put that back on the shelf. Blanche, you stand
within your mind palace, looking down, you know,
reach the baluster, you're looking down, down,
down deep, looking back up towards the top, scanning
this room full of books, full of memories, full
of clues. Because you know you have one last
chance. Sholay has. said in the morning she will
ask you to leave and if you get through that
if that's something you can bypass even if you
can stay people are dying and it seems like it's
getting worse and worse you have to figure this
out tonight if possible you're looking down there
And I imagine something happens here. I think
Blanche, you are so regimented, so disciplined
that like you probably remember being here in
your dreams before. Like you taught yourself
to just wander through this place in your dreams
to like study, to learn, to wake up with new
epiphanies, new knowledge, where you like study
spells and that you've already kind of like looked
over before. Exactly. Yeah, that's that was.
Part of what I was thinking was she would, you
know, once she has read a spell, you know, she
can remember sort of what she's reading. But
it's like, you know, you have to really study
it and understand it to like grok it. You know
what I mean? So you prepare spells? So she can
do this in her mind palace. That's so cool. But
all these times, all this time you've been here,
every night you've been here, you've always been
alone in your mind. as one should be. And yet
for the first time, you feel a presence suddenly
behind you. You spin to see a golden, shimmering
light appear. Oh, cool. As Jules LaRoche, who
found himself in his own dreams, perhaps floating
on the notes of a song in your mind, in your
heart, something building, you appear here. In
this place. Very suddenly, Jules, like you were
pulled, like you connected to something. And
you're not sure why at first, where you are at
first, but it feels like more than a dream. It
feels so much more real. And you see Blanche
before you. You see a place made for Blanche.
And perhaps you would come to the realization
that you have in some way, you could feel it,
in some way connected your minds. And in truth,
this power of connection you have that has shown
itself so many times, it has brought you into
Blanche's own dream. Into her mind palace. Uh...
Hey, Blanche. Blanche is quizzically looking
at Jewel. She has her chin rested in her hand.
She's studying him. Top to bottom, she thinks
out loud. Now that's peculiar. Why did I imagine
Jules LaRoche here? You notice as you're thinking
this, as you're saying this, there's a golden
moat, a band, around Jules. Very similar to when
he used his bardic inspiration. Because as you
look down, you see that same moat is surrounding
you. There's almost a line of connection between
the two of you. I don't think you're imagining
me. She's still quizzically walking a circle
around Jules, just looking him over. Very peculiar.
Yeah, you're telling me. So you say you're the
real Jules LaRoche? Yeah. I don't know how the
fuck I got here, but here we are. Let's pretend
you are, Jules. Sure. What are you doing here?
You tell me. I don't know. I was just off having
my own wonderful dreams, and then suddenly I'm
transported here. Blanche reaches out and tries
to, like, touch the golden connection sort of
thing. I think... Oh. Do you want to go somewhere
with that? Yeah, I'll touch your golden connection.
Yeah. You touch that connection, and a book appears.
Shimmering golden light drops at your foot. A
book just like any other in this place. You want
to pick it up? Oh, yes. Sorry. Yes. Blanche is
definitely going to pick up the book as she's
like out of the corner of her eye watching Jules.
I'm not going anywhere. Stay right there, boy.
Sure. She picks the book up. You flip the book
open, and I think as you open the pages, I like
to imagine you open the pages and they start,
like, almost, like, moving very quickly. Like,
there's images drawn on the pages and almost
like those old sketch, you know, kind of flipping.
Oh, shit, that's cool. It's creating actual,
like, memory. I love that. That, like, as you're
looking down on it in jewels, you see this, too.
It begins to gain color and clarity, and it's
fascinating, Blanche, because you immediately
know this is not your memory. Oh. Oh. You are.
Oh, damn, this is so cool. Holy shit. You are
looking up at Sholay in the very room you're
sleeping in now. But you are looking up through
the eyes of Jules as Sholay says, Learn of the
Gwishin. Find the lie they are telling. The Dragon
Clan's lie. And then, only then can you know
the lie behind the lie. And you will know what
I have done. The book closes. Blanche holds the
book in both hands, and her expression is different
now. I don't know how this is happening, Jules,
but... Well, by all the gods, we'd better take
advantage. Come to my Ionido shelf. It's up just
a few levels by the go boards. Oh, it's amazing.
It's so cool. I love this. It's so cool. I lead
the way. I didn't know how you were going to
prove to Blanche that this was real. And I was
just like, I'm going to kick this along for a
minute and see what comes of it. And then I was
just going to play along. But that was awesome.
Do I get a button? Take a button. I already have
one. No, don't give me two. You'll both die.
You'll both die. I just like to say it sometimes.
It feels really cool, right? It feels really
cool. It's so much power. Yeah, a lot of power
in just a couple words. Yeah. And so with these
words of Shelley's in your mind, you begin to
move up, up the sort of curling stairs towards
the go board that marks off the guineado section.
All your new recent memories, you must go pretty
high up into the light where things are just
so bright here. And as you move, Blanche, you
think there is a contradiction before you. And
you know that is the first step. It has to be
your first step. This isn't like the last mystery
you both solved. In that case, the impossibility
of events led you to find the one path that connects
all the dots. You realize that there was only
one person that could have committed the crime.
But here, the dots just don't line up at all.
They just contradict each other, as if half your
evidence is built on falsehoods. But why could
that be? Could that in itself be evidence? What
do you know now? You know, the foe that threatens
this city is an extremely powerful Gwishin. This
Gwishin seems to be connected to three main points
of interest. The Tiger District construction
zone, the Park of the Elders, which was built
on the burned and destroyed remains of the Phoenix
District, and the Seat of Dragons, where the
ruling Dragon Clan resides. The main gates of
the city were attacked once, but strangely they
don't seem to be a point of major interest for
the monster, just one time attacked, never again.
Through these three points, these three primary
points, you know what the Gwishin must be? Daewon
Ha, who was killed in the Phoenix District by
Baraki, buried in secret by the Tiger District,
and who would hold a vendetta against the Dragon
Clan. A perfect explanation, right? A mystery
solved. Except for the words apparently spoken
by the Gwishn itself, written in your notebook.
I was a hero, celebrated and loved. You forgot
me. I did it all for fame. I sacrificed all to
be remembered. You forgot me. I was a luminary,
the best and brightest of them all. You forgot
me. Daewon Ha was not a luminary. So what can
explain it? What is causing this contradiction?
As you move to the Nido shelf, as you're digging
this through, I imagine this connection between
you and Jules. Something happens. You're inside
your mind, and your mind knows things. Your mind...
remembers things that you're the surface of yourself
cannot recall right and yet you see just like
bardic inspiration just like almost like i mentioned
julius is your loot on with you as well in this
place yeah uh i think he's fully equipped in
in hell yeah dream state except why are you in
your underpants jules i just thought i'm fully
equipped yeah i can tell i don't want to go to
that section Your loot lights up and beams of
light shoot off into one of the sections behind
the gold board, hitting a few different books
that then begin to glow that same golden light.
Do you want to approach these books? Yeah. Blanche
walks over and, and reaches up and sort of as
like a, I don't know, an allegory to what we're
doing. She looks down at the go board and there's
a particularly difficult exercise set up. You
know, like in chess, there are like famous chess
moves and players will like study them and they'll
go back through and they'll run like experiments
and stuff. She's got something like that set
up on the go board. A difficult puzzle and we're
here to try to solve it. Hell yeah. I love it.
What explains the contradiction, your first question,
your first hurdle? You reach out for the books.
You grab the first one and slide it open. And
you hear the words of Kun Anjun as he was speaking
of Baraki. Question, is Jules hearing all this
as well? Absolutely. Both of you are fully aware
of everything at this point. You're fully connected
in this dreamscape. Maybe he wasn't killed, just
repelled? I mean, the official story says he
was killed. I don't remember seeing a body. I
don't remember the events at all, to be honest.
It's all oddly hazy. You grab the next book.
Young Gee's line. I do not know why I did this
thing. I always thought I saw an honorable man.
And yet... You grab the next book. You hear your
own voice, Blanche, asking the question, why
did you make the burial site so large? And you
see an image. There's the pages of Young Gi blinking,
eyes sort of confused and hazy and just saying,
What do you mean? You grab the last book, again
seeing Young Gi. I don't know. I remember so
little. I can't even remember her face. You would
think you'd remember the face of the woman you
were raised. But I do not. Did you mean to say
you were raised by? What is it? Erased. Oh, you
erased. I thought you said you were raised. No,
sorry, you erased a line about Daewon Han, who
he was the one that erased her from history,
that buried her without honor. And yet you look
at these lines and you realize something was
wrong in both these statements. Kun Onjun and
Young Gi, why would this traumatic event? be
so hazy for them? Why would their memories be
off? I mean, I'm thinking about, obviously, we
at least think that Sholay did something to erase
memories of her husband. You were thinking about
that? That's what Stephen is thinking about.
Jules, your loot lights up. It shoots down the
floor a ways. Oh, God. A couple of books on different...
Floors actually light up now. Huh. Well, it looks
like we've got a lot of work to do. Just follow
the trail. And they head down to... Follow the
logic trail. The next one. You slide down. You
have to go down. You move down a ways. You see
a book. What is the marker for Sansatian for
your adventure there? Oh, gosh. Holy shit. There's
a display. With a vintage, antique -looking Lucha
Libre mask. Oh, that's cool. That's cool. You
move in, grab a book, and you see yourself looking
down at the recording diamond, looking down at
what you were recording off of Itzman's own files.
And you see at the bottom of the file, very hastily
scrawn, a note as if he was writing it down very
quickly before it fled from his mind. My mind
is razor sharp, my memory perfection, yet I cannot
recall a single detail about Calapsania's former
mate, father to Zebulon. A curse? An impossibility.
What did Sholay do? Okay, yeah, so that's one
of the reasons why we... Okay. There's just a
couple shelves up ahead you see another book
is glowing from this angle. She'll reach up to
grab it. Once again, you hear yourself. Speaking
a question. Speaking it, the Bastite came and
donned Incarnate. What do you know about Calypsania's
mate? You remember this feeling of all the gravity,
all the power pulling away from this creature
as if it was shrinking within itself. As if it
was absolutely horrified. But what does an immortal
creature like an Incarnate have to fear? What
did it know and why did it know it? Yeah, I remember
him, like, screaming. So now, harebrained idea.
Sure. Blanche is kind of wondering, like, is
there even a dragon called Baraki? Is that a
false memory, too? That's very interesting, Steven.
How much can you trust when memory itself can't
be trusted? And you know what? As you say that...
I'll say in this case a book falls down before
you, hitting the ground with a thud very loudly.
A book that seems to fall from the Sansation
shelf higher up. Must not be very important.
I guess I'll go on to the next one. Jules kicks
it off the ledge. Sorry, sometimes they just
fall off the shelves. I don't know why. Flies
on the edge of the head. 20 points of damage!
We've got a book concussion. No, no, no. Blanche
isn't going to pick up the book. Youngie again.
I wonder sometimes if nobody should hold this
kind of power. The power to change history. To
make a fool of everyone who believes in the truth
of words past. To change all but the material
evidence of an act and bury even that in lies.
And in time, the liars will make God and falsehoods
will become truth. History changed in every meaningful
way. And the very idea of truth itself proved
to be meaningless. Can you conceive of a power
more vile than this? The power to change memory.
So is this, is this like, cause the, the crystals
have this weird sort of unexplained power that
it's been Del Prado, like discovered and tapped
into. Did like show lay discover and tap into
some, Power that this world, like the diamond
or whatever. And she's rewriting. And she's rewriting.
All of history. Literally history and memories.
Yeah. I like this. That was where my brain was
going. You think of that. I'm not going to make
you find a book on this one. I think this is
very interesting. As you think about this, as
you think about the auroral diamond and the power
it has, the power to connect these worlds and
the power to. transmit these messages you can
see like what is the crystal network really what
is this ability you think about it when you look
at an image the crystal network you don't hear
it until you're actually perceiving it until
you're really looking at it what does that mean
you've never said that before that's right there
are no sound waves coming from images projected
are the images projected even really there where
where are you seeing them and where are you hearing
them In your mind? Jesus Christ. And what does
that mean? Taking a step further. The incarnates
were terrified when you brought up this thing.
Why would they be scared? Because Sholay's behind
the controls. And if she did this, if she was
to use the diamond's power, wouldn't she need
help to do something this grand, this powerful,
this terrifying? Yeah, but who? I mean, like,
besides, like, the Sunweaver? Or the Incarnates
themselves. Okay, so then did that Incarnate
freak out because it's ashamed of itself? What
it did? Maybe. Did it, like, surrender a bunch
of power to Sholay? Is she holding him hostage?
Think forward from this. What would happen if
it was revealed that this power existed? That
memory itself can be changed by Sholay and by
the Incarnates. When their goal is simply to
create peace, that goal would be shattered in
a heartbeat, wouldn't it? Wouldn't the people
be terrified? Well, but also, like, if Sholay
can do this, and she's been chilling here for,
you said, 250 years, why hasn't she done whatever
she wants to do yet? That's a good question.
To take the question at a different angle, if
she's not willing to use this power, what would
have caused her to break that sort of oath, to
break that stubborn idealism? Why would she use
it if she wasn't going to use it all out, right?
Because she would have accomplished her goals.
You're right. She could have rewritten everything
to be perfect, but she didn't. She only seemed
to use it in a few rare cases to erase a person,
a person that you're starting to remember in
this moment, this connection with you and Jules.
You don't remember the person itself, but you
remember remembering them, if that makes sense.
Oh, oh, oh, okay. So, like, so Baraki is, I guess,
maybe Sholay, and Daewon Ha is Zebulon? Like,
was he going to squawk? Did he figure it out?
Was he going to say something, or did he say
something? Zebulon, the elder? The elder. Or
are you thinking of their son? Oh, I get, right.
The one that you don't remember, you would know
in this moment, the person you can't remember
is Shoei's son. Whose name you actually don't
know. Right, Zebulon's father, yes. That is,
as you say that line, as you think this through.
Oh, she killed her son. As you think this through,
more books light up in the Yanito section. Yeah,
at this point, I don't even think that there's
any commentary. I don't think they're speaking
right now. I think it's... You both on the track?
It's noses and books. Holy shit. Hearts pounding.
You're starting to realize this is so much bigger
than you thought. I'm imagining that a version
of what we're talking through is what Blanche
and Jules are saying to each other. You know,
I'm thinking this is probably taking place over,
I don't know how long of a time period, hours
maybe. I don't know how time works in a mind
palace, in dreams, whatever. I don't think we
have enough time to go through all the conversation
they're having. Hell yeah. No, I love it. It's
just a study thing. You move back up, I imagine,
to look at these last few books. Yeah, absolutely.
Kunon June again. That's the part I don't get.
It's the body. I can't find any record of the
body's disposal or collection. An adult dragon's
body inside can be displaced or easily hidden.
So what happened to Baraki? The next book. One
coffin. A large coffin. Not dragon large, but
large by humanoid standards. Ten by six? Anyways,
this coffin was particularly expensive and fully
paid for by an outside party, one unnamed in
record. There's a burial cost written off, too,
and the receipt mentioned a vague location of
a single burial plot somewhere outside the northern
gate of the city near the new construction of
the Tiger District. You see, uh, no words from
this one, but just... A memory of yourself, Blanche,
finding this burial site, seeing your innate
dark metal coffin, opening the lid, and you can't
remember seeing what was inside. Even now, you
look around this book, and you're about to see
it, and all of a sudden, almost like this magical
darkness covers over the page before you, just
like the darkness down below where your memories
are lost to time. That darkness swims before
you. Something is stopping you from seeing what's
inside. It will not let you, even in your own
mind, view. what you saw. It's there. The memory
is here. It's just locked. You open the next
one and it's Dresden speaking through this stone
saying, surely not there for draconic attack
nine years ago. Sent package to the world following.
Extreme guilt. Did not take it well. Be careful.
Now, what you find interesting is this implication.
Sholay not there for Draconic Attack nine years
ago implies that Sholay was probably there before
or after it, right? You wouldn't have any reason
to think she wouldn't be there. So was she there
near to the attack? You know she sent a package
back. And you know someone sent a coffin. A large
coffin. Large enough for a half -dragon. She
set that whole thing up and then dipped when
it was happening. set it up or do you think it
was her at all to begin with what can you trust
when memories are changed right because if there's
no there's no record of a body anywhere yeah
dragon body give me an arcana check oh cool yay
dice on the nature of this magic this is a pretty
important one both of us yeah you both can roll
it oh um 20 no more than that 22 same You're
thinking about this magic, both of you. Epiphany
at the same, I love that action. It's so cool.
You both kind of sit in there and you probably
both see, both your eyes go wide. You kind of
have this like moment of thinking this through.
This magic, you both are magic users. And so
you could probably think this through. It's similar
to a, almost like a modify memory spell, right?
But in this grand, grand, grand scale. But for
something like this to have worked, the lie.
We need to account for the physical evidence
left behind by the truth, right? There was no
body left behind by Baraki, but there must have
been evidence left of the dragon's attack. Evidence
left of the battle between Daewon Ha and the
dragon. The thing was destroyed and rebuilt.
This is a set fact. People seem to remember the
situation behind Baraki, but they know a dragon
destroyed the entire district. So what if the
memory of events was only altered by replacement?
An easier way to change things. There was a dragon.
And there was a hero who battled that dragon.
And here you are, replacing the figures in your
mind. You know that the Daewon Ha people remember
was not Daewon Ha. Who was Daewon Ha? Who was
Daewon Ha? Daewon Ha, the woman who battled Baraki.
The woman whose guishin seems to be attacking
the city. And yet, the lines spoken by that guishin
don't add up. Who was this person, really? You
know. Don't overthink. You know. Oh, yeah. Yeah,
yeah. I think Daewon Ha was Sholay's son. Zebulon's
father. Hell yeah. Hell yeah. So you're replacing
the figures in the event in your mind. Daewon
Ha and Baraki about between two figures that
burned a district of the city, stole so many
lives, and set Yanido on a path towards destruction.
If Daewon Ha was Sholay's son... Then there is
really only one more question to answer. One
you've been circling for a while now. One that
makes everything fit into place. Who was the
dragon that destroyed the Phoenix District? Who
was Baraki? Surely. Take a button, each of you.
Oh, button. Baby boy. Nice. Take a button. No
more books glow. I guess we should wake up now?
Yeah. You might not like how I usually do it,
but... Blanche grabs Jules by the shoulder. What?
The shoulders, and they both fall over off the
railing down into the darkness below. Go to the
traumatic childhood memories. Oh, I love it.
And you wake up. Jolt awake. You basically had
a dream of falling, Jules. For a moment, I think
your mind is sort of blank and then it all floods
back to both of you. You look towards each other.
I think for a moment you see a golden, very,
very faint golden light between you. Yeah, that
was exactly my first thought was that Blanche
looks to Jules for some sort of recognition.
You know, like saying with the eyes, like, that
was real, right? That wasn't an actual dream.
Holy shit, gentlemen. Something I should ask
before I proceed with anything else. Sending
stones reset at dawn. I will say when you wake
up, it is now dawn. Is Jewelstone going off?
Does Dresden have anything he wants to say? I
think he just, just very simply, Ariad attacked
the coyote. It's over. Kids. Safe. Tristan's
an asshole. It's over. Kids. Dot, dot, dot, dot.
Jules is like, pissing himself. Safe. Jesus Christ,
Tristan. Sorry. Sorry. No, that's it. Okay. Hell
yeah. Just kids and like a 30 second pause. Safe.
Drum roll in the background. Hell yeah. How does
Jules react? I think he trusts Dresden enough
to take that and be okay with it. Hell yeah.
A lot of what wasn't said is important. He didn't
say come back, help me now. Jules knows what
happened. He can picture it in his head. With
the exception of Salome. That's going to be a
little fun little surprise. Hell yes. As you
Listen to this. You wake up and you just hear
the whispering. You look to each other. You grab
it. You hear Dresden's message as he's sending
it. Do you send anything back, Jules? No. Okay.
He understands. It goes through. It's like an
affirmative. Yeah. Hell yeah. I mean, that's
exactly why Jules left Dresden. Yeah. Because
of the likelihood of something like this. Yeah.
The insurance paid off. Yeah, everything's working
exactly how he wanted it to. Mae thinking of
the kids, her eyes scan over, look to Chester
who is sleeping. I think he's sleeping kind of
a little far apart from where you were, which
is rare for him. He usually stays close to you,
but something, it's like he moved away. But I
think seeing him sleeping kind of like alone
and like a little, you know, half caught. Akio
just kind of like wandered over and is like sleeping
on top of Chester now. Kind of like, you know,
he looked lonely. So the two of them are just
kind of snoring away still, fully taken by sleep.
Sholay's not in the room, but you can hear talking
from just outside. Some sort of whispered dialogue.
Is there anything you want to do before she comes
back in? I don't think so. Blanche just wants
to try to listen from here. Also, I don't know
that it matters too much, but we had a full rest,
right? Yes, full rest. Okay, cool. Sweet. Mind
Palace still counts. Before Sholay comes back
in the room. Blanche casts Shadowblade. No, I'm
kidding. I was like, what? Hold on, I'm not ready
for that. Hold on. You hear, the conversation
breaks off. Footsteps coming back. You can probably
hear bits and pieces of it and it sounds like
just general intel coming to Sholay and her basically
asking like, yes, yes, bringing trays of food
we have. Oh yes, they'll be leaving soon. Then
she kind of steps back into the room, sees the
two of you awake. You see her just like something
hardens in her eyes. She like nods slowly and
gestures the two of you forward. Her eyes kind
of look to the sleeping sidekicks in the back
and back to you and kind of like shakes her head.
This is for you. Just you. As usual in these
sort of situations. Blanche is going to follow.
Jules is late. Jules goes. As you get closer,
he begins to speak. It's very matter -of -factly.
Eyes very cold. There have been more deaths.
It seems the zones of attack are growing wider
with each passing event, and the assaults in
the mist more brutal. The unappeased Gwishans
of the city are also growing more powerful and
erratic. The spirit arbiters are completely overwhelmed.
I fear if this continues, the city will be lost
by nightfall. And it cannot be stopped. And so
we must talk. I have thought deeply on how to
approach you this final time. You are stubborn.
Eyes cannot fall on you, Jules. And so I had
considered more threats to yourselves or your
allies. I'd even considered threatening to call
off the search for the child Paul, but... No.
My foolishness already cost this world and Mazir
Drakon. A miracle I let slip through my claws.
A miracle in a person I respected. Now, I will
make sure you receive any information my eyes
and ears come across. That is my vow to you,
Jules. We will save the boy. We will pull him
from the fractured horns. Claws. Jules just nods.
So no threats. No tricks. Just this. And her
eyes soften. Please, leave me. Please leave Aharon
and Xena. Leave Yanito. Leave Hari. Leave us
to our fate. It cannot be stopped now, not without
a consequence greater than you could know. You
have discovered so much of this tangled web,
but it does not matter. The truth does not matter.
I should never have let you investigate in the
first place. This is not your... Burden, not
your sin. So please, please just leave. I ain't
going anywhere until we get some answers. It
doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. You don't
need answers. You need to go. Baraki. Yes, Baraki.
You tell me, Baraki. Shirley stands frozen. Eyes
wide. No. No. No, no, no, no. And she begins
to change. You will leave. Why? This is my crime.
We found the lie. Now tell us the lie behind
the lie. It's not yours to know. No one can know!
Spread the burden. A hand goes to her back, just
ripping at scales. Long claws ripping at scales.
No! No! After everything I've done for you, we
deserve to know. A building in her throat. She
looks down to you. You think you deserve. Why?
And those words are lit by flame, building flame.
Because we figured it out. And if we could do
it, it's only a matter of time before everybody
else figures it out. And guess what? We're the
only ones still standing here, willing to hear
you out. We still have more stuff to do, though.
Jules, be pissed. Like, how are we supposed to
just keep playing? I don't know. I don't know.
I just got to say that this kind of shit can
only happen with David Monroe and Mr. Jeremy
Wolf. Like, this episode has been wild and amazing.
Because the stuff that you have done here, David,
is bonkers. And the fact that you did that, Jeremy,
and, like, the story, I know, like, couldn't
even have been spoiled. Like, you were making
this while sort of getting, like, vibes from
David about, like, what's supposed to. Actually,
I thought about this earlier today. I don't know
if we've ever actually discussed on mic how we
figured this out. Save it for Unzipped. Ooh.
Tune in. Okay. Good shit, yeah. Okay. Yeah. It's
coming up soon, by the way. This arc is almost
over. You said like two months. I asked you the
other day. You said like two months. We have
some final stuff. I say soon. Soon for me is
like a year. It'll probably be like a month or
two months. One of those. Holy shit! I think
that deserves answers. It also deserves a butt.
Oh, wait, no. That was my button. Absolutely.
No, give me that button back. Hold on, hold on,
hold on. I got extras. Thank you. Gosh. Oliver
needs me to use that button. No, that was Jules.
What? Oh, yeah. No, this is my button. Jules,
this is your button. Well, right, but Jules gave
me a button, which then gave you a button because
of the... Yeah, yeah. But yes, Oliver did give
you the button. Yes. Okay, so it couldn't have
happened without either of them. Give me another
button. No. For interrupting me. Go away. Just
this explosion of music and light. Xolay, the
fire flickering in her throat, this frozen back
arch looking down at you. The deadly rage in
her eyes fading as her conic eyes going wider
and wider. As her last notes fade, you see the
flame in her throat. dies, a stream of smoke
billows out, and she slowly begins to shrink
back to her humanoid form. Now she steps free
of the smoke. You can see that she is crying.
She looks smaller than you've ever seen her before.
Small and frail, and you realize maybe you're
looking at the real Sholay, what the world's...
Turned her into what she has become as a result
of the sins she has done. The suffering she has
caused. She walks up to you, Jules. Steps up
just before you. Okay. Okay. I will let you in.
I will tell you everything. And we'll call it
there.