Hello, Pants people. We've got another special
guest to talk to you about some exciting things
going on in our fun, nerdy world. So let me introduce
you to our friend, Sean, a .k .a. Odin Knight.
An actual real -life knight! A real -life knight.
Come on! It's the coolest thing! Ladies and gentlemen,
how are you all doing today? Really happy to
hear from you, man. Appreciate it. Thanks for
bringing me on over on the podcast and telling
everybody about this. And they've been listening
in and listening to a lot of what you guys have
been putting out there. So thank you very much
for doing what you guys do. And a lot of us are
actually excited to, well, I don't know if I
want to give away all this. You got to save something
for next week. Yes, yes, exactly. Well, that's
great. I really appreciate to hear that you've
been listening. Thank you, man. So we brought
you here because you. practice a pretty unique
sport that we think our fans might be interested
in hearing about. Yes. So the sport is called
Buhart, which is French for wallop. In the United
States, we probably say a lot more of armored
combat just for other people who are, for whatever
reason, not fluent in French or don't understand
how much of a beating that they can actually
take. That sounds a little bit more threatening
to them. People associate it with LARPing because
that's the easiest thing for people to recognize
because they see a lot of that in the movies.
But this is actual medieval tournament fighting
with modernized rules. Just like in the Knight's
Tale, there are, well, in the Knight's Tale,
I had two different divisions. With what we have
now, we have three different divisions. First
one is the duels, where just like in the Knight's
Tale, you will go around and start. Swinging
on people with either a long sword or a sword
and shield or sword and buckler, and you go through
on the point system for one minute, and based
off of the amount of significant strikes that
you land on your opponent, whether the head or
the torso or legs, you'll get a certain number
of points. You win that, and then you advance
on. In the pro fights, which the AMMA group is
primarily running right now, thanks to them,
and shout out to those guys over in Nashville,
Tennessee. The pro fights are pretty much UFC
and armor, and they do it to the 11th level.
This is serious hounding, whacking on everybody.
This is hardcore hitting. Hardcore. Hardcore
boo -hard. Hardcore boo -hard. Hardcore boo -hard.
Yes. And the more traditional side of it, which
I compete in the most. is the melee or grand
mealies so cool anywhere from like 3v3 all the
way up to the largest one i've actually seen
on youtube because you actually see this there
150 versus 150. massive battles you know, capture
the flag style, but it's, you know, Halberders
going up against Halberders and shielders and
people coming in trying to disrupt the Halberders
and getting whacked and all of this stuff. It's
mayhem. It's awesome mayhem. You must learn so
much about actual, like, melee combat. Like,
telling a story like this, I imagine you get
so much out of these encounters, these fights
that you wouldn't normally understand because
you're just kind of thinking about, like, oh,
fantasy fights, space fights. But, like, when
it's real, you know, it's incredible. Yes, I
mean, I've had a background in Muay Thai and
amateur boxing. I've done tough man competition
beforehand. I've done some sport taekwondo a
little bit. This is next level. This is like
you're actually going out and smashing as hard
as you can. You don't have to worry about actually
hurting the other guy. Damn. So you can just
go all out. rage as much as you want. You know,
there's nothing to hold you back. You know, just,
you know, obviously we're not trying to cripple
each other because we want the losers to go and
buy the drinks, but we go all out on this and
we love it. And it teaches you how the medieval
combat actually went because it's grueling in
that armor when you're really fighting all out,
that heat builds up. And if you're not in a cold
environment. That heat will kill you before your
opponent can kill you. If anyone's following
us on social media, I'll share the Flora Armored
Combat stuff and your stuff, Odin, on your page
as well. I appreciate that. Flora Armored Combat,
because we'll be growing. We'll be doing a whole
bunch of other stuff in the near future. Pay
attention to Flora Armored Combat. If somebody's
not following our Instagram page to see that
cool stuff, they should go to Florida Armored
Combat. They should look that up on Instagram
to find you and follow you. And is there anywhere
else that they should look to get your info?
The website will have everything up to date as
well as all the team socials, including our affiliates.
And your stuff will be up on there too as well.
So Google Florida Armored Combat. You'll see
us. You can't miss us. It'll be there. And then
we're all on the InstaTalk MetaTube. So you'll
be able to find us everywhere and whatever your
favorite social media platform is. And just enjoy,
enjoy the content. Awesome. And there's lots
more to come because we're just starting this
organization. And we are, as much as we are just
getting the ball rolling, we have a bunch of
people who are been fighting for a lot longer
than your organization has existed, but we decided
to all come together and work together and build
something bigger than just ourselves and leave
a good legacy behind, not just for us in steel
fighting. but for the people in HEMA, for the
people who are doing a lot of LARP and fantasy
LARPers, and even the D &D folks and the gamers
who want to be able to program a good video game
based off of fantasy and real -life armored fighting.
Yeah. And from what you've told me, it sounds
like you're ready to take it to the next level.
Do you mind telling us about that next level
next week? Oh, you know, if you really want to
start doing that, yeah, we can do that. Hell
yeah. We'll definitely do that. All right. So
we will see you pants people next week. And we've
got some more info from, from Sean Oden Knight.
And we'll get to the episode. Hell yeah. All
right, too. That's right. It's a twofer. And
I just couldn't help bringing a song about it.
And speaking of songs, we have a rather musical
duo to talk about today. You know them. You love
one of them. It's the talented, that's a pun,
Owlin Twins, Ulrich Songweaver, the Song of the
Night, and Vesper Songweaver, the Midnight Rhymer.
Now, this story begins with a world of dialogue,
where the two boys are born and raised with a
love. music. This talent and passion led the
twins to the world of Omizu, where Ulrich swiftly
mastered the shamisen, and the world of God's
Breath, where Vesper picked up the good ol' banjo.
God's Breath was a particularly important world
for the duo, and they spent a long time working
with reclaimers and studying the awakening song.
They also learned to fight furiously, having
been exposed to the horrors of the rattle. They
had specialized hand crossbows created to fit
the talents of their feet, allowing them both
to keep making marvelous music, all while modeling
murderous malefactors. The following time on
God's breath, different callings polled at the
twins, and they set off towards very different
horizons. Lord became the song of the night,
a luminary known for the sound of his stalking
villainous prey and dropping them in the dark
of the night. Before their souls are claimed
by the sky prison, he grants them the respite
of recording their stories in his music. You
see, he is his own version of the awakening song,
the song of the night for which he is named.
Truly a shining example of the luminary path.
Meanwhile, Vesper did something. Someone else.
He became the Midnight Rhymer, a notorious scluminary
that crazily challenges his hoes with lyrics
so shitty it has to be on purpose. I mean, it
has to, right? Honestly, it's just an absolute
disgrace to the noble banjo. How dare he? Anywho,
another pun. The twins now stand at odds with
each other, and it ain't hard to see why. Despite
Warwick's poetic turn of phrase and careful,
stoic demeanor, he's often mistaken for his fool
brother by those... many folks that can't tell
the difference between the stringed instruments.
It's gotten bad enough that Ork uses a series
of passwords when working with other luminaries,
just to be sure they don't get confused. One
interesting note, though. While the twins aren't
aligned in most regards, the names of their instruments
seem to tell another story. You see, Ork is named
as Shamus in his quest, the Instrument of Justice.
Meanwhile, Vespa is named as Banjo, the Instrument
of Undying. Thank you. DJ Donnie. It's actually,
no, that's the most name. Uh, dubs with a discord.
I was like, do you want to go with dogs? You
want to go down in the shadow? And he was like,
this actually came from my days in college where.
Oh, my God. It's always called DJ Donnie Dubs.
Oh, okay. For real. We're using that, and it's
non -negotiable. Nice, nice. I like it a lot.
So good. Well, thank you, DJ Donnie Dubs. Check
him out in the Discord. Spinning fresh tracks.
You guys want to know what else is fresh? Well,
it's fresh. Nice fresh cup of coffee. Oh, yeah.
A nice fresh cup of coffee from our friends at
Treasure Grounds. Give me like one quick second,
because in every bag of Treasure Grounds coffee,
there is a artist -made D20. Okay. These are
all small batch coffees of single origin. You
can trace them. They're great. They're lovely.
They're delicious. And if you go to treasuregrounds
.com, let me say it one more time, treasuregrounds
.com. One more time. Use code fantasypants. Say
it again. One more time. The treasured grounds
.com. I only wanted to say it twice because I
messed it up the first time. I wasn't trying
to do the, if you repeat the website three times,
people will remember it thing. No, I just wanted
to make you repeat it three times. Oh, okay.
So, so if you do that, if you do that once, twice
or thrice, use code fantasy pants, you save 10
% on your order and you get great coffee and
a D 20. Nice. Nice. That was one of my favorite
bands of my youth. What was thrice? Oh, thrice.
Yeah. Yeah. So that's it for me. Hell yeah. That's
how I wanted to start out. I thought you were
going to open it up and look at the D20. Oh,
no. I have the D20. Remember we opened it the
other day. Oh, right, right, right. Yeah, that's
right. The silver. Yeah. Yeah, from Paradox Dice.
Nice. We're a smoothly sealed bag. I didn't realize
it had already been opened. Yes. I opened it
and I had some at home because I wanted some.
Hell yeah. Yeah. Hell yeah. It's a great reason
to have some. I just wanted it. And yeah, so
I'm going to get some more soon. All right. Well,
welcome everyone to Unzip Part 3. Steven, what
color are your socks? No, they're white. White
tube socks. Hell yeah, Jeremy. This rip -roaring,
this exciting stuff. Black ankle socks. Hey.
With gray sole. Damn. Yeah. Yeah. And also, there's
an inscription on the bottom that says Hanes.
Yeah. Sponsor us. Sponsor us. Next fantasy pants
sponsor. Yeah, exactly. It makes sense. Boxers.
Briefs. Uh -huh. Yeah. Somebody out there, hook
us up with Hayne. Oh, speaking of sponsors, we
are a sponsor. Oh, yeah, we are. We are going
to be a sponsor. You know what we actually are
going to be? What? We are going to be called
a VIP sponsor. Ooh. What? Yeah. We're getting
VIP badges. Oh, yeah. You can go into the green
room with like the talent and shit. You're like
the voice actors. What? Like the lady from Arcane.
Are you talking about the Vermont Anime and Gaming
Expo? Yes, the Vermont Anime and Gaming Expo
on October 5th. Yeah. Can you say it again? So
if you're not going, if you're not going, nana
nana boo boo, if you are going, you might not
even see us because we might be bumping elbows
with the talent. Hell yeah. All right. I love
it. This is a two -episode night and we're already
insane. I know, dude. Yeah. Get ready for a very
silly night. If all else is done, do you guys
want to get into it? Because we've got a lot
to get into. It's been a while. I am like building
up this sort of story. I just need to, I don't
want to vomit it, right? Because it's been building
for so long. Sorry for taking over the banter.
Just got diarrhea some story out. It's going
to be awful. And awesome. The gemstone. The amethyst.
appears above the Radiant Citadel. Let's zoom
inside of it as you are finally safe. Safe from
the forces of the mist. Safe from the forces
of the Queen. Safe, but for how long? Because
you know you are returning to a very different
Radiant Citadel, to a very different Concord
Worlds. Worlds have changed so profoundly, and
probably not in a good way. I don't know why
this whiskey's hitting me, like, weirdly tonight.
I miss Sholay, too. It's burning. As you are
feeling the gemstone descend, I think Arhalon,
who's been very quiet, everyone's been very quiet,
finally kind of turns, not to you, but to Xena,
and speaks, Mother, are you okay? What I felt,
I know you felt it too. He was in our minds.
Are you okay? Xena's kind of just staring forward,
her eyes looking somewhat blank. She blinks a
few times. R, R, it's good. Everything's good.
I, uh, I don't remember. You don't... How...
But that... What you did to the queen. I mean,
are you... Are you still... You? Of course, yes.
I just did what I needed to do. It didn't make
me happy. Oh, to smash such a nice vase. Oh.
I'll need to find another to replace it. I already
had a place picked and everything. And Arlon
almost releases the sigh of relief, his shoulders
sort of drop a little bit, and he kind of, yes,
I will find you one, I promise. And then he turns
to the two of you. Still, I can't believe it.
I fought for them, for the injured, and they
turned on me while I was weakened from the battle.
But how can I blame them? Grandmother, what she
did. I knew she could never be trusted. And he
kind of reaches down again, that bandana wrapped
around his wrist. He feels it with one claw.
To change our minds. To erase such a piece of
us, of our lives. I don't care what her reasons
were. She was just wrong. Whatever justice is
coming for her, it is deserved. But thank you.
You all risked your lives for us. You faced down
my father and sent him to his final rest. I could
feel him go. He spoke to me in my head in a twisted
way. I think he thought he was doing the right
thing, dragging us with him. Thank you. You've
done a great honor to me and to my brother. His
eyes just fall right on you, Jules. I don't think
Jules says anything in response. I only hope
we can push forward without her help. I agree
that what she did was unjust. I am sorry that
I wavered. You just kind of feel a presence push
up beside you. Akio kind of pushing a snoot into
your thigh, looking up with... Proud dog eyes.
You get a little snort from Jean beside you as
he kind of sees this display. Turns his head
away. And the gem begins to descend. Docs. You
see it slides open. And the second the doorway
to the gem opens up and people begin to start
filing out, the second it becomes exposed to
the air of the Citadel. You can hear a cacophony
outside. Flashes of light. And you know, a horde
of paparazzi guild members are waiting outside.
A whole crowd waiting to see the long -awaited
amethyst from Yanito. The last time this thing
arrived, Shole came on it. And was very quickly
arrested following the release of these memories
to everyone. This is, I mean... Like I said,
the worlds have changed. Do you get in line and
move outside? It's quite a crowd. Wagons and
such. Horses! Terrifying. Blanche is trying to
stay in front and shield, less so Arhan, but
more so Xena. Blanche was a little curious about
Xena saying she doesn't remember. Is that...
Does Blanche think that's like a... A magic that's
keeping her from remembering? Or is that a Xena's
weird brain thing? Is that like a defense mechanism?
You could roll an insight check. Okay. That might
help. Roll psychology. Roll psychology. I'm going
to roll my paradox d20. Ooh. Nice. Just 11. 11.
You don't know. Something seemed off about it.
But you get a weird feeling at those words, but
you're not sure if there's some weird magic here
feeling, weirdness feeling, or something else.
Something to ponder over, maybe something to
read about later in the night. I think Jules
will follow Blanche's lead. I think he kind of
gets what's going on. And behind Blanche and
Xena, he will take his lute and make it shine
really, really, really bright. and just kind
of hold it over Xena so nobody can see. Oh my
gosh. I love that counter photography. It's so
good. Or take pictures or anything. That's good.
Oh, I'm going to piss off so many paparazzi.
I love it. And back lip of this brilliant light,
you all step off into the crowd. And as you go,
the crowd gets even louder outside. You just
hear what's going on. You hear the name Shole
getting thrown around a lot, but you can barely
make out any of the questions in this cacophony,
this manic, frantic screaming. There are shield
bearers that are keeping that bay enough, sort
of opening up a way so they can't block your
path as you go to move. Do you want to just push
on by? Xena and Arholon seem to go move. Akio's
just looking around like terrified. Jaune's smiling,
posing a little bit. Yeah, Blanche is going to
try to push through and try to lead everybody
through. Hell yeah. Take some time as you enter
the... belly of the beast as they're just screaming
all around you. And given what you've been through
this day, I imagine it's like you're somewhat
shell -shocked, too. You only recently came out
of this horrible fight and had to run to escape
imprisonment in the city. But eventually you
do get through. Shieldbearers keep them from
following you. There are obviously looks on the
streets, but the common populace don't move in
to bother you. It's generally not done. Let the
luminaries be. And so you move, and things get
quieter. When you reach the midpoint of the trade
discal, where the great sort of doors into the
auroral diamond are, where Xena's manor stands,
she turns away from you guys wordlessly. Again,
just kind of... Eyes distant, begins to move
towards it, and Arhalon goes to follow her, and
she stops. No, no, um, you should go with him.
Check on the kids, and the coyote, okay? I'll
make it go. Fire rusted. Really, really well
done. Very well. I'm sure you will, Mother. You
are okay. Mm -hmm. Yeah. I'm okay. I suppose
Fibro should... He's probably missing me by now.
I should make sure he's doing okay and keep up
with his studies. And he kind of turns to face
you guys. Xena gives you a last look and a nod,
and she turns to go into her home. I'm worried
about her, Jules. Me too. I think she's trying
to protect Ahalan. Fear is a crazy thing, huh?
I don't know how to help her. We'll figure it
out. But she's right. We should get to the kids
for now. Yeah. And you move again. Down the trade
disc, Al. Down the, at this point, pretty busy
streets. I believe this is all happening kind
of like late afternoon, early evening, given
the timeline of events. So kind of, you know,
a hot time for her shopping. And so you push
and push. past all the good shops and the good
ends and the good places to be, and towards the
bad ones, towards the ugly coyote. And you find
yourselves outside. A familiar scene. Our heroes
returning home. In this case, you've only gone
for a day and a night, and yet it sounds like
so much has happened. From what you've heard
from Dresden, there was an attack last night
while you were away. He repelled it, but you
don't know anything about this yet. There's so
much to know. I mean, you asked Sholay to send
Jordan a message before it all went down. Maybe
she did. Maybe he has news. You guys going in?
Or do you want to just walk on by? Go somewhere
else? We're going to go see Penny. Hit the casino.
I love that. Pull up the soundboard. Now that
we're at the Coyote, Blanche is following Jules'
lead. Yeah, I mean, in typical Jules fashion,
a familiar sight of walking in and going straight
to the bar, sitting down, and he just reaches
over the bar and grabs a bottle of bourbon, grabs
two glasses, fills them to the brim, and slides
one over to Blanche. Is Dresden at the bar, too?
He's probably just chilling there. Oh, shit,
yeah. Okay, so yeah, he's sitting there. Jules
will sit next to him. And he'll grab three glasses.
They know. They know. And he just spreads them
out. And the three of them start drinking. I
almost wonder, do you think there's a moment
where Jules almost grabs a fourth glass? Because
in previous adventures, your best buddy. Signs
how I drink with you. Because it's legal in the
Radiant Citadel. Because it's like Germany or
whatever. No, but... I think he will look over
at the fireplace. It's still above it, right?
It is. Memorial sits. And he'll just kind of
gaze at that a little bit. As you walk in very
quietly, all the trigger lights are all kind
of pushing it around. It's not as animated as
usual because it's only been one day, and yet
a lot of stuff has happened, so they're very
excited. Arhalon steps in, immediately Fibro,
who's in a book. He sees you guys, he's kind
of waving, he's excited, and he sees Arhalon,
he puts the book down, runs over, and just full
-on wraps his arms around him. Arhalon, I'm so
sorry. I've heard about... I'm so sorry. And
Arlo just kind of takes him in a hug. He's like,
it's fine. Jules and Blanche made sure of it.
It's fine. I think like as they're all moving
in, the chariot of light sort of gathering around
you, you kind of see Jean and Akio maybe like
towards the fireplace, kind of more towards the
entrance. Jean seems like he's still awkward
around them all. He kind of just doesn't, he's
not great with kids. He's kind of standing there
awkwardly. Akio sort of sees him stand back and
looks back at him just, Roof, I have been a bad
dog to you, brave turtle. I did not introduce
myself. My name is Akio the Akita, last disciple
of the Storm Eye. I am also Blanche's sidekick
and best friend. Roof, who are you? And Sean
just kind of... Now I feel super awkward that
we never introduced them this whole time. You
don't know who I am. Jean -Francois Montelio,
the Fisher King. I'm sure sir has mentioned me
loads of times. I... She might have called me...
Tadpole. Nope. What? But... I'm sir's best friend.
I have been trained by her since I was a mere
child. Should I prove it? Do you want to take
this outside, dog? Oh, yes. I would just love
a walk. You're just hearing that from the doorway
as you're all... As they walk out. As you move
into the bar. Bring the sparring blades. And
they all just go outside. Saludos. They'll keep
each other busy. I like to picture Blanche sitting
in between Jules and Dresden at the bar. And
maybe there's a moment before the kids all...
swell around us, and Blanche asks, Now, I know
you two have a uncanny sort of way of communicating
that I just can't read, but what is your plan
for the children? It doesn't seem like the coyote
is safe any longer. No, it's not. Blanche, for
the first time, I don't know what to do. I don't
know. Well, we have fewer friends now than we
used to, but we still have allies. Jean, of course.
Maybe, I know he's not a fan of the children,
per se, but... It's a big castle there in Zinda.
Ahalan still has a good relationship with the
Warren on God's Breath. I mean, dare I say, Zina
even, although I am a little concerned for her
current state. Also, as you're saying, these
options like places to take the kids away from
here, Aether... Was at the bar, just cleaning
the glass. I think when you walked over, he just
kind of nodded, passed you some drinks, and is
like, as you begin to speak, he just sort of
eyes trail down, and you see he just kind of
retreats into the back room. Just something about
his posture. He knows you're right, but... The
door closes behind him. It's not his fault, though.
You just know he loves these kids. He's come
to, but what's he going to do? He knows you're
right. He was paralyzed in bed when they were
all attacked. I mean, intentions are so high
here. Is he safe either, though? Well, I mean,
Jules is not going to leave with everybody without
offering Ader to come. Sure, of course. Yeah,
and I don't know if he would. I hope he would.
Yeah. I mean, if we go to God's breath, he might.
That's true. Back home. I think as you're having
this conversation, I will say this. The Cherry
Delights all kind of move in. And there's something
in their smiles, really round stuff, who has
this big mischievous kind of grin, like she's
hiding something. And a lot of them kind of like
looking around. Miskin's kind of looking both
ways, like he's being a little suspicious. I
think it's, you know, obviously you wouldn't
read it, but I think even Dresden knows something
that hasn't quite come up yet that you don't
know. Jules, it's kind of a weird spot to put
you in. I should tell you now the message Sholay
sent him. I was just about to ask that. If you
do, I'll tell you right now. You can relay it.
So I'll tell Dresden, you can't, so Jules' part
of Jeremy, don't listen to this. This is for
the Dresden half of Jeremy who can then relay
it to the Jules half. Does that make sense? Good,
okay. We're on it. Yeah, sure. Hell yeah. Okay,
so after a moment of silence, Jules will kind
of turn his head a little bit, not looking at
Dresden, just kind of turning his head in his
direction. What did Shorley say? And as if in
a memory, we hear her words through the whispers
of a stone. You are to lay low and await further
instruction. we can still stop them. Tell Jules
a gift is coming for saving me from myself. Dresden
knows what this gift is. Ooh. Because it's already
here. Oh. Is it a puppy? Oh, it's a puppy. It's
a puppy, isn't it? It's a puppy. Do you want
to know what it is? You want to know what it
is? We already know what it is. You know what
it is? Yeah, well, and... Jules will ask. You
know what that's all about? Before I answer your
question, can I ask you one? Sure. I imagine
Jules, because he's not a cartoon character,
has multiple sets of clothes. Describe for me
what maybe a back -up outfit of Jules would look
like. Oh. God, I don't know. The kind of casual
wear he might have kicking around. The Where's
Waldo shirt? Yeah, exactly. I was thinking the
exact opposite. I was thinking it might be, you
know, like a solid black suit. Okay. Or jumpsuit,
or I don't know. Something really just really,
really dark. Okay. Like a dark tunic. Sort of
similar, like, what do you call old style pants?
Pants? Knickers? Pantaloons? Pantaloons? Knickers.
Knickers, there you go. Dark tunics and some
knickers. I love that. I think black is a great
choice. And that's purely as he's just like,
you know, he's the midnight prince. So if he's
in the dark, it kind of helps him get in and
out of spaces. The dog hair is going to show.
The pangolin hair is really going to show. But
yeah, no, I imagine, you know. You ask Dresden
that question, and before he can form an answer,
you hear a step at the top of the stairs behind
you. At first, you almost don't recognize the
young woman coming down the stairs, dressed in
these black clothes, this dark tunic. Her general
figure is smaller than yours, and so it runs
pretty long on her. The pants, the knickers,
while rolled up to make for a difference in size,
are also tight on the thick muscles of her legs.
Her sleek black hair is down and damp, dropping
down to her waist, and her dark eyes are filled
with humor. As dance macabre. Wow. Finally, you're
back. What? You have a lot of work to do, Jules
LaRoche, to get this place ready for me. Oh.
Jules has just a bewildered look on him, and
he'll kind of look her up and down. The children
start giggling. He writes them just personally
laughter, and Miskin kind of just pulls her aside.
She slides on the stairs, that absolute grace
in her step. She just seems to dance down to
the floor. The Orcish woman, Ming Kong, that
currently commands the Shieldbearers. She just
told me to thank Sholay. There was some talk
around the holding cells, Shieldbearers speaking,
saying that Sholay is admitting to everything
Atash has charged her with. Not putting up any
kind of fight. I wonder if... And she... moves
up to you. Your clothes do not fit me, but do
you like the new look? It's been a long time
since I have not worn uniform. And there's something
in her eyes so sad. Jules will look at her for
a brief moment and then pull her in for a really,
really tight embrace. I can't do this. I can't.
You can. How? You can. You're not alone, Jules.
Shirley has made sure of it. I'm here now. All
of your friends are here. And I'm not going anywhere.
I can't. I was released from civil custody until
the Sky Prison would not have me, but... Art
of art, it speaks for my world. I am no longer
a luchadora of San Satyan. I am no longer a resident
of San Satyan. I have no home, no possessions,
no money, but it's fine. Because we're going
to help each other. But what do we do now? Where
do we go from here? Step by step. First, You
need to help me move things in. Because I have
moved in with you, whether you're not just a
rush. And then, step by step, I think you're
looking into each other's eyes. You see that
resilience in her dark eyes. Someone who has
also just lost everything. I mean... And maybe
for a moment things feel all right, and then
what you dread most happens. Where's Chester?
Yeah. Roundstuff's voice. Where's Chester? Jules?
Jules pulls back from the embrace and turns around.
Everyone, dance, everyone is looking to you now,
and there's a new concern. You notice one Cherry
Delight is not down here. Yeah. Jeans is not
here. Yep. Chester had to go do something. But
he'll be back. Oh, okay. And just like that round
stuff looks so, like, totally down with it. And
nobody else has that reaction. Mulligan shares
a look with Fibro across the room. I sort of...
Wide and concerned. Jules clocks that and looks
over. I will get him back. And they, not wanting
to make a scene, not wanting to sit around, they
just kind of both nod towards you. And they do
look better. Because they trust you, Jules. Because
they know you will always see things through.
And where's the girl? That'll kind of snap Jules
out of it. Yeah, guys, where's Jeans? Oh, she's
in her room. She's working on, she's making the,
she runs up, like, leans up towards you on tippy
toes. Disguise, kids, so we can go hide around
anywhere. It's pretty cool. Nice. Well, kids,
why don't you come this way? I've got some fun
stories to tell you about our journey. Oh! Ooh,
ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh. Come on, miskin. Miskin's
kind of like trying to stand close to Dresden,
arms folded, trying to look cool. And she just
grabs him, pulls him, yanks him along, and they
kind of all rush around you, Blanche. So Blanche
wrangles the kids to do story time so Jules can
do more important things. She's like fucking
Mother Goose. Do you want me to go upstairs?
Do you want to go upstairs? That's your call.
Blanche gave you the opportunity to go upstairs.
He's got to go upstairs. Okay. You go up. Yeah,
but as he goes up, he's going to grab Dance's
hand. I can't do this alone. She smiles big at
that. One of those rare smiles where you see
her teeth. And nods and goes along with you.
Essentially pulling you up the stairs. She does
not like to go up. She likes to go first. She's
just like... You reach the top of the stairs,
look down the hall, you see... One closed door.
I believe Jean shares a room with a few other
kids, but you know none of them are there now.
It's just her. You say the door's closed? Yes.
Okay. Jules will give a light knock and then
crack the door open. You crack the door open.
You see there are a number of... You heard her
announce a disguise kit. You see all these sort
of implements that might be a part of that. Pieces
of cloth and like... You know, buttons are sewn
onto shirts, and it looks like some fake hair
and stuff kind of on the floor, as if they were
being worked on, kind of like a mess. But she
has abandoned those. You just see jeans looking
small, sitting on the edge of her bed, and crying.
And you see the window into the room is open.
Oh. And she looks at you, and... You know that
he was here. That he had left some time ago.
But he beat you here. Yeah. She doesn't say a
word. She just... Jules will go over and sit
next to her. I told you. He worships you, Jules.
He loves you with everything he's got. He's broken.
He told me he wasn't coming back. Why would he
say that? What's wrong with him? Something's
got a hold of him. Look at me. I will get him
back. I will get him back. I think on those words,
echoing softly through the room, we fade. To
black. We let a short time pass. Perhaps we see
everyone now gathered downstairs. Everyone in
one place. Together. Your stories I'm sure somewhat
toned down for the kids have inspired some excitement
around stuff is just running around like they're
trying to use like a play sword to beat on the
echo which is kind of. you know, parrying her
easily as President sits at the bar. It's the
ultimate babysitter. It's so good. And that's
when the tigers showed up. No! Wow, real tigers?
Wow! I think... Those really random tigers? When
Jules and Dance get back downstairs, I'm assuming
Jules left at that point. Yeah, let's say everyone.
I think Gene also even slowly comes down with
you. All of you kind of. I think in some way
kind of seeming like he wants to just feel some
sort of innocence. He'll go over to where the
kids are crowded on Blanche and he'll grab Dance's
hand and pull her down to the floor and sit crisscross
and just listen to Blanche with the kids. And
Blanche's words ring out for a while until her
story comes to an end. How do you end your story,
Blanche? Is this a, and they lived happily ever
after situation? It's the people of the world
were saved. And your friend Jules was so brave
in making that happen. You know what I mean?
Everyone's. At this point, Jean's also back,
and he's been listening to this too, because
he had no idea what was going on, so he's just
kind of watching. I think you can see him shed
a little tear. Are you crying, Roof? Shut up,
dog! Do you need assistance, Roof? Still in the
back corner. There's a long period of silence,
and then dance. Seems to kind of like get very
animated. She's like crisscross and she just
in like a fluid single motion is just like on
her feet. Again, just that perfect athleticism.
And she's kind of like claps her hands together
and almost like she's just put on some facade.
Well, you will not do them up around any longer.
I'm going to buy some clothes and things to move
in Jules. So you are taking me out to shop. It
will be a date. And she stops and thinks. And
looks down. Bunny girl, round stuff. How long
has it been since Jules has taken you on a date?
And I just kind of looks up at her and kind of
like, eyes wide, and just kind of giggles. I
don't think Jules has ever taken me on a date.
What? Jules, Mateo always used to take me on
dates. Big brothers can't always just stay cooped
up all the time. Young ladies are not caged birds.
This is an outrage. Jules, you will have to fix
this now. You will be taking round stuff and
I on a date immediately. Jeans too. And she points
over to Jeans and kind of looks up like kind
of surprised. No, no, I don't. Jeans too. Folds
her arm kind of like this very, very firm gesture.
And see Jeans kind of smiles a little bit. And
yeah, and Jules will look over to Jeans. And
for the first time since he's been back, he'll
crack a little smile and he'll say, Jeans too.
And she'll look. Dangerous kind of look. Then
turns over. Blanche, do you also want to go on
a date with Jules? Well, hey, hold on, hold on,
hold on, hold on. Hold on. We need some fucking
security to stay back. Actually, honestly, I
think you're saying this and, like, Ader steps
out of the back room. He's been, like, probably
listening to the whole story. The door bursts
open. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Hey, hey. I held
my tongue when you waltzed in here and moved
on in, but there's no way you're taking these
kids out in the streets. It's dangerous out there.
You don't know what I'm facing. They'll be with
me. They'll be safe. How can you be sure of that?
Jules, the people after us are dangerous. I could
prove my strength to you right now if you'd like.
Should I chokeslam you into your own bar? Would
that be impressive? And he's... Just like a heated
tension there. She kind of stands towards him.
Ada. What? We're sitting ducks anywhere we go.
I mean, yeah. Might as well at least take the
fish out of the barrel. Did that make sense?
No, I like that. That's good. It was great. Put
on a t -shirt. Episode title, Fish Out of the
Barrel. I've been out quite enough of late. I
think if it's all the same to you, Jules, I'll
stay behind. I'd like to catch up on a little
reading. Yeah, of course. Is Dresden hanging
out? He sticking around? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, Dresden
is posted at the Coyote. You can give an update
to Soldier Boy. Soldier Boy and I will make sure
things are okay, yeah? Let's go do some shopping
therapy. Hell yeah. What stores are we going
to, David? We want to go deep into it. Where's
the Radiant Citadel mall? Whoops, I punched the
mic. Jesus Christ. He can't help but talk with
his hands. He can't help. My hands are going
crazy. What's the mall called on the Radiant
Citadel? Would there be a mall? It would be one
of those outdoor malls. It would be called...
Like a bazaar. The... Hang on. I got this. Hang
on. Something with a diamond. The... Hang on.
Shimmer shops. That sucks. I love it. The shimmer...
We're going to the shimmer shops. Where every
booze sparkles. Wow, the shimmer shops? Or I'll
just, mother loves that place. Oh my gosh. And
you leave the shimmer shops. For the shimmer
shops? Buy some toys. We're not going to go star
by star, one by one. No, that would be terrible.
Let's role play this out. Let's do it. I know
for a fact Jules doesn't have much gold. I'll
ask you one question. I got a lot of gold. I
got a lot of gold. Really? Yeah. How much gold?
I've barely spent like, I don't know. I'll check
my sheet, David. I don't have my computer open.
Like 115, something like that? That's not a lot
for... I don't know. That's a lot for gold. That's
a lot for gold, yeah. It's not for level 7. Yeah,
no. Yeah, yeah. No, it's not level 7. I have
one last question, though, before we head to
the Shimmer Shops, because I just bring this
up and it's kind of a funny thing. Head away
from the Shimmer Shops or to the Shimmer Shops?
Head towards the Shimmer Shops. Didn't we just
leave the... We just left the Shimmer Shops.
We've said Shimmer Shops so much that it's losing
all meaning. As you lead the coyote towards the
shimmer shops, Arlan does mention that Xena loves
the shimmer shops. Do you want to bring her along?
It's been a little time since you dropped her
off. Or bring her some flowers or something.
Yeah, I was just thinking that. Maybe we'll get
some flowers and then maybe a nice espresso.
And a fresh goat. Yeah. They have a goat shop,
right? Yeah, of course you bring a goat. There's
a fire sale going on tonight. wow we're bringing
a pet goat i can't wait to see it again after
today um arlan leaves with you as you guys head
out to the shops and i imagine there's just a
little montage of fun you know a fun sort of
couple hours perhaps spent in this evening out
at the shops maybe grabbing some some food grabbing
that espresso around stuff bouncing around a
toy shop uh dance is just trying on it's one
of those like montage girls she's like trying
all these new outfits she's uh she doesn't have
her uniform anymore she's gotta find a new style
i think she's trying out different things i think
she eventually sells on like maybe like just
a very plain looking white dress you know she
likes to fight in a dress it's kind of been her
get -go for a while now she's had the flakorgo
dress that she always fought in so that gets
more comfortable for her doing her like you know
martial arts so I think she grabs a few more
similar items, just minus the mask. I actually
had a question about that. Without the mask,
is she recognized? Honestly, no. No. Good thought.
She's not a person. She's known as Dance Macabre,
but now she is not Dance Macabre. In fact, she
probably tells you at one point if she was referred
to as Dance. She even just says, like, please,
Gabriella now, Dance Macabre is. Go on. Side
note, I just checked my sheet. I got the one
in the five right. I have 1568 for gold. That's
pretty good. Oh, nice, that's good. Ain't bad.
That's good. You spend all of it. I was going
to say. You don't dictate how I spend my money.
Those espresso prices on the Iranian sandal.
Yeah, no, I'm going to buy an espresso machine
at that rate. Yeah, right, for real. Arhalon
leaves with you, and I think he... Basically
just leaves so he's heading back in that direction
to head home. You pass by Xena's Manor on your
way and he breaks off to go there. We see your
montage so you have your fun. Perhaps afterwards
we see you leaving the Shimmer Shops with some
flowers and an espresso in hand heading up the
drive towards Xena's Manor. And you see a very
panicked Lunar Halon standing outside. Fuck.
I had a feeling. I think as you move in towards
him, he just looks up towards you. And our hammer
sort of pans away again as he just speaks a few
words to you. She's gone, Jules. The house is
empty. She's just gone. We fade to black. We
open once again inside the coyote. Now it is.
Later that evening, the diamond has gone fully
that dark blue. The streets are, little diamond
-lipped lamps are lining them, but the streets
are dark. I think inside, there is no business.
There almost never is, thankfully, for you guys.
Hater has set up the projection, and the crystal
projector is shooting out towards the wall. There
is a very important speech. about to be made.
One that I'm sure Dresden has been eagerly anticipating
given the events of last night and the hero,
very sudden hero of the night that came to his
rescue. I think before we see anything, there's
a commercial in the fuzz of the screen. We see
Sagan to the backdrop of a rustic marine bar,
a rough -and -tumble dwarf with a gruff scowl
wearing black and white leathers with an eye
patch, and you hear... This is Helen Logash,
the Chiripor Badger. I'm the best there is at
what I do, and what I do is serve drinks at the
Empress Bar. If you're in the wharf district
of Chiripor, Come in, and if you say Harlan One
-Eye sent you, first round's on me, bub. The
commercial breaks down in static. I love the
Wolverine reference. It's so good. That commercial's
really working. I'm feeling thirsty. Slides you
a drink. Hell yeah. Thank you, Matthew. Matthew's
Nerdy Nation. Yeah, I think we mentioned it in
the Unzipped. No, no, we haven't played this
in the Unzipped. I saved it. No, but didn't we
talk about it? I don't think so. Did we? No,
okay. Oh, we did. Surprise! No, I don't remember.
Yeah, I don't remember talking about it. No,
we had this commercial. I was like, oh, I'll
put this in the episode. Okay, yeah, yeah. I
love just the idea of the cheesy luminary commercials
being such constant things. Anyway, fun time's
over. No more fun. No more fun. The... Commercial
transitions into a pattern of colorful static.
And a new scene lights up the projector screen.
A stage set on the trade disc, Al, near to where
the entrance into the Royal Diamond is. I think
you probably passed it when you went to the Shimmer
Shops. And you saw it being set up. You saw people
gathering at that point. We see paparazzi guild
members gathered once again, likely exhausted
from the constant stream of news and drama just
flooding the network in these recent days. Yet
they are as animated as ever, hurling question,
flashing their diamonds. We see them crowding
on a single, solitary figure, one with wings
unfurled and a band of light shining around her.
We see Salome the Sight Weaver, about to give
a public statement. And all the worlds are listening.
Salome. Perhaps you are tucking away a scroll
as you stand before this... cacophony once again
all these people screaming hurling their questions
hurling their words you've had one hell of a
day too i didn't mention this but you and dresden
both have like received sudden memories of a
person that didn't exist that now does it was
much less dramatic for you salome dresden knew
uh, Arathlon, by the way, Jules, he would know
him. He was a guard at the, uh, the pillar of
authority and Arathlon was often there, uh, speaking
with Cerise and quiet conversations. So for,
for Dresden, he was like, holy shit, a person
just existed that I didn't know existed. For
Salome, it's a little less dramatic. You wouldn't
know him personally. You were, I think until
recently you spent your time on anchor in Sengar.
It wasn't, uh, as common for the Celeste chills
to be out and about. Uh, you know, they are always
have been, uh, Something that made the world's
nervous. You hold a lot of power. You have great
numbers. You have great divine power behind you.
And so it's only now that you're really out in
public. Yeah. I guess Salome is kind of used
to at least visions being inserted into her brain.
Yeah. Yeah. That's a good point. What's a whole
other luminary? I like that. I like that a lot.
You're probably just like, oh, how funny. Yeah,
right. Exactly. I didn't know that could happen
here. We cut back for... A moment to a scene
earlier today. Perhaps there's a nearby sort
of staging house like set up for, you know, just
for this where Rune led you following your meeting
with Atash. With the Sapphire. They had one request
for you. Fix the damage you unwittingly did.
Just a speech. Simple press conference. You don't
even need to think of anything to say. Rune's
going to write it for you. And so as you're waiting
nervously in this room, waiting for what's to
come later on, eventually there is a rap on the
door and opens and a goblin sporting pristine
white armor comes in, carrying a scroll. This
is Rune's instruction. He says to read it exactly.
All right. You got it. You don't know Trace the
Goblin, Salome. To him, or to you, he's just
probably another stooge of rude. And yet, as
he proffers his scroll towards you, I believe
you have very high passive insight, correct?
Probably correct. Clerics are kind of ridiculous,
I imagine. Yeah. 17, if you want it. 17's good
enough. There's a certain hesitance in him as
he reaches out to hand this to you. A trepidation.
He's worried. Great. Okay. Salome will reach
out and respond. Got it. All right. And he looks
like he wants to say something to you. His large
goblin eyes kind of like sizing you up and he...
Shrinks before your celestial light shrinks away.
And he leaves the room. Closes the door behind
him. And you unfurl the scroll and you read the
speech. Should I bother reading this speech,
do you think? No. My hope is that you will read
it. For me. Perhaps I'm wrong. An impossible
situation, Salome. This expectation put on you.
I mean, if you do this, you will be trusted by
those you might consider your greatest foes now.
Those who want to threaten the freedom of every
living being in the conquered worlds. But you
know the damage this speech will do. How long
will you play into their hand before you reveal
the ace of your sleeve that you are not among
them? How long is too long to play the double
agent? All questions I imagine swirl through
your mind. I have no idea what Steven is going
to do as we flash back into the scene. screaming
words, and eventually, do you make a gesture
to quiet them? Yeah, she's walking up to this
podium, wherever it's set, totally deadpan. And
she stands for a moment, and if the questions
don't stop, then she'll... Raise both hands above
her head. To ask for silence. The silence that
follows is almost more terrifying than the noise.
Because you now know that every one of these
eyes and the eyes that follow them through the
lenses of their diamonds are on you. And Salome
begins to speak. Wait, wait, wait, wait. We'll
call it there.