Hey, Pants people. I just wanted to stop real
fast and say thank you so much for listening.
We love getting to know you guys and interacting
with you, whether it's on the Discord, social
media, anywhere. So this one's for you. speakers
have, well, spoken. I am so very glad to announce
that Atash, our number one luminary and speaker
for Anchor and Sengar, is going to be taking
the reins of our luminary adventurers. Now, right
now, this might seem a bit sudden and confusing,
so I want to make this very, very clear. The
luminaries aren't going anywhere, and they aren't
going to be serving as any sort of citadel military
force. And if anyone says different, they're
full of something sticky. No, indeed, your favorite
And great news! More great news. Autosh has already
made his first cuts to the station. Blanche Trudeau,
Jules LaRoche, Dresden Kellig, Sean Franklin
Montelio, Emin Rath, and the Mage Smith are no
longer considered agents of the Citadel and should
be considered as nobodies. Hate them, ignore
them, do whatever you want with them, as long
as you don't listen to a word they say. I hate
you, Rune. Threw the mage smith in there, huh?
Just for good measure. I'm sorry, Andrew. I had
to do it. I know you're not tickling at the table,
but I shouldn't be able to punish you. Pence
people, revolt. Look, as the arbiter of all things
action and consequence, I got to remind you all,
everyone here, that the mage smith proclaimed
loyalty to the justice undying movement on the
final episode of The Morning Jewel. Right out
there. He said it. Had to be done. He was noticed.
does not mean he's out of the fight. Much like
our beloved PCs and sidekicks and all that, he's
just going to have a harder time joining the
fight. So, yeah. Yeah, I'm coming after all of
you. I don't care if you're in this room, if
you're in this country, I'm coming after you.
I don't care. I don't care. But before we get
into the show, we've got to talk about a few...
Pretty cool things. You want to have some cool
things? Yeah. A lot of really cool things. Cool
things. Cool things. First things first. I mentioned
it a few weeks ago. The ugly coyote being designed
by John. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Dude, it's here
right now. Check out his YouTube. Seriously,
get on there. I don't know if it's up there yet,
but he took a bunch of videos that he's been
posting on there. So keep your eyes on Crow's
Nest Crafts on YouTube because this thing is
insane. Fully built, painted. We got the sign
hanging. We got the saloon door. that you guys
broke off. Fucking animals. The inside's fully
furnished. Yeah, it's furnished. Everything is
painted. Everything is like shaded. Dude, I can't.
I look at it and I don't believe that it exists.
It's just like so beautiful. It's unreal. People
who are passionate about things can do unbelievable,
incredible things. Yeah. It is my favorite fact
about the human race. Yeah, it's breathtaking.
It's really stunning. It's really something.
Words can't do justice. Seriously. So, yeah,
when John on Crow's Nest Craft posts whatever
he's going to post about it, we'll share it for
sure. Give him a lot of love. Yeah, definitely.
Get on that TikTok. Get on that Instagram. Get
on that YouTube. Go do the TikTok toes and find
Crow's Nest Craft. And keep your eyes out for,
I don't know, maybe some potential future collabs.
I'm not saying too much, but yeah. Thank you,
John. Thank you so much, John. Freaking much.
Fucking cool as hell. And we've got to keep things
going tonight. We've got to keep it going because
Matthew, Matthew's Nerd Nation, has also been
hitting us up with crazy stuff. We had a little
minute ago, and we haven't quite... We haven't
talked about it yet, but Mr. Wolf, you in particular
got a little package. Package. Package. I was
sent the Buffy the Vampire Slayer role -playing
rulebook. Boy loves his Buffy. Holy shit. I did
not know that was a thing. I did not know that
was a thing. What a find. What a wild find. Seriously.
For real. That is so fucking cool. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you. It was amazing. Some dice
came with it. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, my God.
You didn't see these? No. Oh, yeah. Look at that.
What the hell? The D6s. It's really cool. But
they're Ghostbusters. 3D printed D6s. Get out.
Oh, yeah. Oh, Matthew loves his Ghostbusters.
Oh, 100%. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Dude. If
you're in the North Country and you see someone
going around with, like, the full -on Ghostbuster
ton blaster. Full -ton blaster. Yeah, fuck yeah.
You know who it is. Oh, yeah. Yeah. That's wild.
Got a note here. Who wants to read this note?
You can do it. You got it open. All right. I'll
have to do a voice. Yeah, of course. Do the Gabby
voice. Of course. No one. I've done enough voices
lately. I'm going to give the pants people a
break. Hey, David, Stephen, and Jeremy. I had
said something about this book to Stephen, and
he said Jeremy would love it, so I'm sending
it along. Yep. Also, find three of my 3D -printed
Ghostbusters dice, one for each of you. When
rolling it, and you roll a ghost, a six, hilarity
of some sort must ensue. We'll find a use for
that. Thanks for bringing such awesome content
to my local area, and we'll call it there. Oh,
hell yeah. That's cool, that's cool. PS, working
on a 3D print project to add more to your dice
pool. That's interesting. I actually know what
that is. I know a different one. Well, yes, we
know about the buttons. Yeah, Mike just messaged
me. Hammer on the Discord. So many people. Mike
just messaged me and told me that he is currently...
So many people on the Discord. You should check
it out. Shut up. He's got our buttons. He's got
our 3D printed fancy pants of buttons. If you
want some of those, where could someone go to?
Get a hold of Matthew. You would literally have
to go to the Discord. And if you're not on the
Discord, I can't imagine why. But yeah, Matthew
has taken orders. And I don't want to speak for
Matthew. This could be 10 years in the future
when Matthew doesn't care anymore or whatever.
But, you know, right at this immediate moment,
he's like, hey, if you want. Send me your address,
pay for shipping, and I'll send you one of these
buttons. Super, super kind. Like, great move.
Love it. I'm very excited to get ours. Maybe
tomorrow, the next time we see Mike, I think.
Yeah. I think Mike has them. Yeah, because Mike
and Matthew are playing a game together. And
yeah, so. Nice. That's the hope. Nice. That's
the dream. That's the dream, baby. Hold on, hold
on, hold on, hold on. What? Which one of these
D6s is going to be mine? There's a gray one,
there's a white one, and there's a blue one.
I know which one I want to have. Which one do
you want to have? I want to hear what you guys.
It was sent to you, Jeremy. I think you should
pick. Blue. Blue for Jeremy. Blue for Jeremy.
Steven, gray or white? You pick. I'm taking the
gray. Taking the gray? That's great. I wanted
the white. Gray feels more even. It all works
out. I'm going to roll these and make ghosts
happen to you. It's going to be awesome. I'm
going to make ghosts happen. I'll roll mine.
Yeah, let's all do a roll through our dice towers.
Ooh. Oh, no, that's a one. Sorry. I got a two.
I got a two. The one has a circle around it,
so I was so excited because from afar I thought
it was the Ghostbusters logo. And I was like,
oh, God, what am I going to do? That's goofy.
Hell yeah. Yeah, these are great. Oh, and they
sound like ping pong balls. I won again. I got
a loaded die. God damn it. You guys want to get
to the main event? Yeah. Enough of the riffraff,
enough of the fluff. Let's get to the main event.
But before we get to the main event, something
else. You're right. A lot of stuff. Another big
thing. Cool announcement. Mr. Wolf, in what I
think historians will be calling the year of
the wolf many years from now, another major development
has occurred. Jim, what's going on? Well, I'm
sorry to inform you guys that this week, as of
this week, I will no longer be working at Reckless
with you guys. You son of a bitch! Get him! Get
him! But I took a really fucking cool job that
I'm really fucking excited about. It's the operations
manager for our local community theater. That's
so cool. Yeah. Getting back to his roots, Mr.
Wolf. Well, cheers to that. Cheers. My beer's
over there. Go get your beer. I'm walking away.
You have a beer? Oh, hell yeah. I'm taking my
computer with me. Cheers. To new beginnings.
So I'm going to be really, really sad not to
work with you guys and see you guys every single
day. That's the tough part. Yeah, but the good
thing is we have a bunch of other stuff. Anyone
local here who's a fan of Mr. Jeremy Wolf, look
in the theater up. Check out some productions.
Know that he is working behind the scenes. His
Jeremy ass off. Make those things happen. If
you're up in the North Country, Crucible starts
in a week and a half. I'll be there. Check it
out. I'll be there. Hell yeah. I don't know what
it is, but I'll be there. Actually, you might
really love The Crucible. Okay. It's about the
Salem witch trials. That sounds great. Yeah.
That's my shit. Yeah, those were fun. I wish
I was there. All right, main event time. You
remember this? No. That's how I lost. I lost.
We'll call it there. Lost is pretty good. It
was pretty good. Oh, did you end up finishing
it? I did. It's over. We finished it. Thank God
it's over. Yeah, no, it was great. It was a good
time. Last season, you know, slow at the start,
but boy, did that ending hit. Love the show.
Yeah. Yeah. A lot of answer questions. I can
see where there could be some. I know this show
has a very mixed legacy. I won't go too deep
because Steven will kill me. I've already checked
out. You guys can do whatever you want. My realization
watching Lost is that Lost is the American Doctor
Who. I don't need to elaborate. Yeah. Yeah. That's
my review. Yeah. My review of Lost, four to five
stars, American Doctor Who. All right, that was
the main event. You guys want to play some games?
Can I start paying attention again now? Yeah,
get back in here. Okay. You're never paying attention.
What are you talking about? Let's get into this.
Let's get into this. We open a tower of ashy
stone carved with elaborate images of local flora
and fauna. Local, of course, too. Tlaltepec,
dancing at the base of great mountains. Standing
upon a small mountain itself, the narrow form
of the Twin Gods Observatory is about 120 feet
high from its base. Behind and around it, we
see the landscape of Tlaltepec. To the west,
the plain of Metzli spans a great distance, holding
the city of Xochotl. safe and unshaken by tectonic
dangers. North of this, we catch a remarkable
view of the namesake of this tower, the rather
popular Twin Gods volcanoes, two mountains matched
in size, both spewing a slow haze from their
summits. Beyond them and all around us, the expanse
of forest is broken as the land slows up into
lines of craggy peaks. Now the watchers... Of
the ashes. That's what they're called, right?
I don't know. Do not live inside the tower, but
rather in a camp of colorful tents and wagons
that surround it. When you return to the camp
with Zopa, you are treated to a warm campfire
and some bottles of agave wine and mugs of hot
spiced cacao. You're also offered a humble feast
of rice stuffed peppers and a hearty bean stew.
I don't know if you guys want to partake in these.
You tell me. You guys are going to sit down and
eat with these guys? You want to get on your
way? I mean, yeah, after a battle, Blanche is
starving. You guys have one level of exhaustion.
You guys are pretty beat up right now. Yeah.
Well, that's the thing. I was looking at it earlier,
and in order to recover that level of exhaustion,
you have to have food and drink during a long
rest or something like that. Hey, okay. Nice.
I'm hoping that this helps out as our food and
drink during a long rest. I'm going to count
it. I'm going to count it. Nice. Hell yes. You
guys are enjoying this. You're joining the company
of the Watchers with the most recent ash rise
quelled. You find the Watchers are pretty jovial.
You know, they're fun. They have an absolute
love and respect for their fearless leader. And
I should say the magnificent Magma Queen herself,
as Oprah reborn, has gone by herself to the observatory,
sort of lost in thought. You know, she awaits
your presence inside, but there is no rush. so
so can you help me with the timeline between
like where we are right now the um proclaimment
whatever the words are that rune just put out
yes and you know like are we sitting there and
we know that like we're ostracized now this is
actually a fun thing uh uh weirdly enough that
little ditty at the beginning happens a little
later in this episode because You'll see later
on there'll be a timeline issue if it was to
happen actually after the events of the last
episode but before this one. Right, right. Yeah.
After your combat, it probably took you around.
From where you stopped when you escaped from
Jade Mountain, the Gate of Illumination, you
flew for as long as you could and you probably
had your spell recast on you for about 17 miles.
So it probably took you... you know, two to three
hours to reach this point now. Okay. The day
is getting long. I think it's honestly like you
were saying, the sun means the sink and the mountains
are burning in a very different way now as sunset
backlights. Blanche has a full serving of the
food that's being served before refilling, grabbing
a second bowl for Zopa and heading towards. Where
soap is waiting for us. Hell yeah. Damn. Have
you had enough to eat, Jules? Yeah, I'll be all
right. I think Jules eats just enough to feel
okay and take away the exhaustion point. We'll
call it. We'll call it. Take away your exhaustion.
You're resting for a bit. You're getting some
food and drink. I know you need a long rest,
but that's going to happen anyway, so we can
cut those exhaustion points out. I will say as
you're kind of getting up and you're moving away,
you just kind of hear a as Akio just like flops
onto his back. His stomach's like bulging. He's
eating so much food. And you see he's just dog
snoring so hard right by like a nice little campfire.
His legs are moving. He's chasing something.
All right. If he's asleep, I was going to jokingly
tell him to guard the fire as we walked away.
That's fine. He can stay there. He can do that.
Just the happiest little dog. Good. He earned
it. He earned it. He earned it. Guy put in work.
Seriously. You guys are going to the tower then,
huh? Go see Zopa. Let's go. You step away from
the camp. Nobody moves to stop you. They just
kind of watch, nodding, a couple cheers from
behind. And you go to the tower. You enter the
first floor. You see most of the tower itself
is hollow and barren with a spiral stone staircase
rising besides carvings depicting volcanic events
and smoke formations. There's a sort of rounded
gate resting on the floor at the tower's base.
Doors of heavy stone. You can feel a notable
warmth sort of emanating from them. You see chains
lay slack upon the floor connecting the handles
of this gate to a pulley system along the wall.
And I imagine from what you've been told that,
you know, they probably talked about themselves,
the Watchers. When these doors, the base of this,
are opened, a magma cavern beneath the observatory
releases a steady smoke that the Watchers can
read to learn of possible upcoming surges and
dangers throughout the volcanoes of Teletepec.
The smoke, however, did not warn them of the
death throes of Paladine. It was only a happy
accident. They were near enough. It's a fun name.
It's cool. Shut up. Don't snicker at me. There's
only a happy accident there close enough basically
to react to the sudden eruption of Jade Mount
and stop those surges from reaching other volcanoes.
So it was a close call, but it all worked out,
right? For now. For now. It's a very good answer
because this was the seventh ash rise. How long
can they keep? They almost missed this one. You
have to think. You see these people outside.
You see them so jovial. You see them at rest.
And you realize that this is the guard that keeps
absolute doomsday at bay. People who have to
be worried all the time that that could happen
again and that they'll be a little bit too late
next time to stop it. You climb the stairs. Yeah,
a bowl in each hand. Hell yeah. As you reach
the top, probably a little awkward, you're trying
to like, there's no guardrails anyway, but you're
just carrying the heavy bowls. As you go up and
up, you realize the stairs are so dangerous.
I think Jules is walking behind Blanche with
his arms and hands up, waiting for either the
bowls or her to fall backwards. When you guys
finally reach the top and you step out into the
sort of open observatory, just totally open to
the sort of... expanse outside. You can see the
mountains. You can see the twin gods. And you
can see Zopa. You see she's staring out over
the landscape as you approach. Her braids and
dress billowing in a warm breeze. Her eyes are
locked onto those twin volcanoes to the north.
And as you step in, I think you just hear her.
She doesn't look at you yet, but she just speaks.
I'm sure you have come to realize it. But the
legends my people tell of heroes transported
to the volcanoes are not entirely accurate. Drakkan.
They're fossils buried within the volcano mountains
that we call gods. Or gateways to the gods, depending
on who you ask. And she turns to face you and
you see that carefully crafted face of calm like
a porcelain mask has returned to her. The other
watchers do not know this. But the reason we
were scouting so far to the southeast was so
I could find you. I had come to learn of your
arrival on this world, and I was curious. Will
you tell me of your quest here? Of what occurred
at Shademount? You mentioned an elemental. She
trails off. Do we trust Zoba? Good question.
I'm not asking you. I'm asking... I'm asking
Jules. Jules does not. It's safe to say Jules
does not trust anybody outside of our immediate
party and our immediate group. Yeah. You don't
know what side of whatever war she lies on. Now,
she implied that she knows what you're about,
what your intentions are, your greater intentions,
and she wants to offer you advice, what that
means. Hard to say. Sure. One thing's for sure,
Jules is not going to say anything, and she certainly
knows more about us than we know about her. That's
very true. Yeah. Obviously, Jules and Blanche
would have talked about this earlier, whether
or not they trust Zopa, blah, blah, blah. Right.
So Blanche's answer, well, firstly, is going
to be to reach out the bowl and offer it. Offer
it to Zopa. I smile, and she steps very gracefully
over and takes it from you. Does not eat, though.
She just puts it down on a nearby sort of table.
Suffice to say that we came to help an old friend.
And the elemental you mentioned. Well, we weren't
expecting an elemental when we showed up to help
our friend there. There it was, and... Well,
we happened to be equipped for that particular
obstacle. This elemental was not of the smaller
variety salamanders, fire snakes I see commonly.
Was it something larger? Also lizard -like in
appearance? Was it dragon -like in appearance?
It was like a giant axolotl. Right, yes, yes,
yes, yes. We have legends in our world of creatures.
I had a certain fear. I don't see any reason
for us to keep that from her. Yeah. I think Blanche
tells her all about it. You're just going to
describe it? Yeah, it was this big. It had these
powers. It looked like a giant flaming axolotl,
if we have those in this world. You see, she,
as you're speaking, she seems to shrink down
a little more as you're describing this thing.
Again, it's hard to read her, but there's definitely
something, some conflict, something stirring
in her eyes, behind her eyes. I have never known
one. They are supposed to be dormant, sleeping
since the breaking of the world. If one has awoken,
it is only a matter of time before there are
more. I am ashamed that this has happened beneath
my watch. I have trusted too much in the tales
told in smoke. But no more. Action must be taken.
Tell me, what do you know of planar absorption?
This is kind of like... This is more Jules' bag,
I feel. I think Blanche is going to look to Jules
and kind of shrug and be like... Hey, man. I
don't know how much you want to tell this lady.
You can roll insight checks, too. Yeah, I think
that's a good idea. Yeah, I'll roll insight as
well. I don't think it's going to change Jules'
perspective on this. 14 for Blanche. 14. 17 for
Jules. 17. 14, hard to read, conflict, something's
going on. 17. Yeah, you're starting to realize.
There is emotion there, Jules. You're very good
at reading emotion. You're very good with people.
And you see this is a person who's very, very
scared. Jules will just look up, think about
your worst fears, and that's what happens. The
clock's ticking. There's a very knowing look.
I think you pierced the heart of her. Even Blanche
can see that mask slip. You can see the fear.
She might even sort of gently raise a hand that
almost touches over her heart. Clutched into
a fist as she continues speaking. My worst fears.
The plane of fire has nearly claimed to let it
back seven times now. Seven times. We call it
the ash rise. This inevitable final eruption.
The sacred cycle of death and life broken. While
my people will speak of this as some religion's
comeuppance and final call of our gods, it is
truthfully just an effect of planar absorption.
Shadrakhan was broken, its fragments displaced
on a planar level. Telethiphek just happens to
be pushing into the plane of fire and that connection
grows more powerful every day. You have traveled
the fragments and so I can see you have seen
stories like this. I am faced with a terrible
choice soon. The people of Tledepec look to me
for guidance in the matter of celestial enforcement.
We are one of the last worlds to hold out against
Atash's will. I do not like him. I know that
he has lied about the fate of Tithos and Umizu.
He aims to strike fear into our worlds, and he
has gained power through this fear. Also, I know
of his jealousy towards my reincarnation. I doubt
he will allow me to use my power freely. Yet
I nearly missed this last asherahs. Reading the
smoke, it only does so much. I am nobody gifted
with prophecy. If we invite attached forces into
Talitha Bek, then my people will be that much
safer. And so, she breathes deep. lowers that
hand, her eyes resetting hard. Today I've decided
that I will invite them. I must invite them.
Given two evils, one must pick the lesser. Shit.
I wanted to ask more about planar absorption,
but now I feel like this is a way bigger deal.
Well, I think Blanche is still curious. You questioned
us about planar absorption. Is there still debate
amongst the luminaries at your heights? Only
the fools debate what is obvious. Every one of
our worlds will fall to it eventually. And there
are no good ways for it to take your world. Horrible
deaths. And the only plan to... delay the inevitable
at this point is to invite Artash and his celestials
in. How are we to be sure that they can hold
it off? They at least can tell when the ash rise
will come. Such an event will proc the Vahri's
prophecy, it must. But they can't stop it, slow
it, halt it for some time, but they cannot stop
it only when our worlds are united again. When
we are pulled from our places, connected into
the planes, piercing them, only when we all return
through the Keening Gloom will we be saved. I
think Atash seeks to save us all from planar
absorption. And I think, her eyes scan over both
of you, you seek to save us all from Atash. You
have placed yourselves on a path of challenge
towards Atash. It is a clear thing to those who
are watching. This path you have chosen is impossible
to traverse, and yet, should you succeed, should
Atash's reign be cut short and his forces return
to anchor in Sengar, what do you think will become
of our worlds? I'm going to be honest, Sopa.
We're not sure yet. Does that make you afraid?
What you see is a very genuine smile because
she understands that you are being very genuine
with her. The answer I expected. I troubled you
with all this and it's not my intent, but I will
tell you why I really asked you here. It will
sound foolish, but I have connected myself with
the powers of this world. I touched the power
of the wild. And so I understand that instinct
is something one should listen to. I have had
this feeling in my gut. It has grown stronger
every time I have heard tales of your heroics
and misdeeds. A feeling that one day you will
need to make a choice for all of us. We have
been a doomed people for a long time. Now perhaps
we are doomed in a different way. And I wonder
what the lesser of two evils will be in your
choice. And I wonder if choosing it will be any
salvation at all. If there's any consolation,
we do have lots of experience making decisions
in the face of certain doom. Ain't that true?
With that, Jules chimes in. If you give Atash
even the scrap of control, he will take it all.
And he will never, ever give it back. I know.
So, I have decided to gamble. Just a little.
That's your instinct? It's not a gamble. If you
know the outcome. I don't know the outcome. Yes,
in the short term, Atash will take our world.
Atash will control me. In doing so, he will protect
my people. But my gamble is this. I hope you
will save us from Atash in the end. I cannot
leave here. The rituals to stop the ash rise
require me. I cannot leave. And I cannot say
no. How will you balance the scales if you go
this path and essentially work against us? Make
our jobs harder? I will not work against you.
I will just let... let the gates be open, let
him in. Please understand, my... I could... And
she wavers. Here. You can see she wavers. There
is doubt being planted. This is very interesting.
There's a saying about evil. The greatest evil
is when good people do nothing. But what if the
ashram should come in a way I cannot predict
again? What then? You gamble. You may roll a
persuasion check here. I want to make this very
clear. You don't know that everything will be
okay. You don't know, and I will probably roll
a die about it, Maybe there's a low chance the
Asherahs comes from a way that they cannot see.
Maybe there's a low chance that Atash's presence
here doesn't save them. You can talk her out
of this. That would be a blow to Atash. One world
holding out might keep other worlds from holding
out. One little spark of rebellion, but you look
into this woman's eyes and you see a great fear
of what might come. Should she say no? Can Jules
give the help action? Any of you can be the one
to roll it. Whatever one rolls it also gets a
help action. Which one is it? Persuasion? Persuasion.
Dude, I have a plus 13. Well, yeah. I mean, there's
no doubt that Jules should be the one to... Is
the higher... Yeah. So... I want you to understand.
Mm -hmm. I will roll a die during some time frame
to see if a bad thing happens. And people are
going to die because we talk her into not allowing.
We don't know that. We don't know that. But I
want you. That's what he's trying to tell us.
When consequences could potentially happen. I
don't want you guys to point back and be like,
you didn't say. I want to make sure you understand.
I'm sorry. I'm not a nice guy. Here we are trying
to do all the right things. Yeah, in Jules' head,
not doing anything, like... You've seen a future.
A prophecy gifted to you by Salome. And maybe
that world is even worse than one torn to scorched
earth and ash. You stare at two different doomsdays.
So can all of what Blanche said be the help action
and Jules' smoldering face be the... Yeah. You
both said big things. 20 on the first. Dirty
20. And 25. 25 was the DC. Oh, my God. Holy shit.
I heard 20, and I was like, oh, okay, it's not
set. Wow. We just killed a bunch of people. Yeah,
we did. I don't know. In Jules' mind, he knows
that. Going that route with Atash leads to the
worst possible outcome ever in all. We'll replay
this whole conversation. Zopa knows the same
thing, I think. Yeah. She does. That is a certainty.
Yeah. We have to go. We go out on fighting. That's
just what you fucking do. Right. Have some balls
and say no to the bad guys who you know are bad
guys. Very well. A different gamble. I will say
no to him. We will hold. Against his persuasion.
Come fire, come earth tearing apart, we will
stand strong. We are Teletopec, and we understand
that destruction only brings opportunity. When
the smoke rises and you respond, how do you quell
it? It's a complicated ritual. Many parts to
it, but basically I... Have my druids imbue myself
with an empowered spell to calm... It will make
no sense to you, but to calm the emotions of
the volcano. I drive myself into the... I fly
into the caldera and I cast this magic, this
ritual. It takes at least five to do it. And
I must take point. Can you train others? Are
you the only one who can perform it? For now,
yes. Others are training. It will take time.
Is there anything that we can do for you or leave
for you to either help you perform the task or
help others learn it? I'm trying to think. I
will take your dog. I did hear at the start of
the session we might have some downtime coming
up. I'd ask for your rod of flying, but I'm in
wrath I retook it. No, he gave it back. I saw
him flying around. Right into a caldera. It's
gone. He melted it. Just singed it. Just merely
singed. Listen back to the episode. Merely singed
it. Now she just kind of shakes her head. Not
that I can think of. If there is any help you
are willing to offer, I will take it. But I believe
you have your own quest to accomplish. Are we
rushing off to Letopec? Up to you. You can leave
whenever you want. If you want time to think
about it, we can cut away. But really, honestly,
it is fully up to you what you want to do here.
You can hang. I mean, Blanche is a teacher, an
instructor. Usually in the art of... sword fighting
but if she can help teach and and advance this
new class of casters who are learning to quell
the ash rise okay i mean depending on depending
on how much time blanche thinks she has here
and now no i like that a lot i like that a lot
i mean salome knows you got two months before
shit hits the fan blanche doesn't know anything
but blanche can hang out here for a minute yeah
Yep, and we'll see what happens. I like that.
Jules, you staying with Blanche? Sounds like
a great use of your time. Yeah, of course. I
love this. So let's sort of pan away. Perhaps
we'll go into a montage of you guys hanging out
here in Paletapec. Both of you are casters. Both
of you can help to inspire and teach. And if
you spend time here, I will significantly cut
down the chances. of Ash Rise. That makes the
whole thing better. For us to come in here and
be like, nah, don't call the guy who's gonna
help you do it and just fucking figure it out
and we leave, that feels shitty. No, I think
this is cool. There's a cost in time and right
now, you aren't aware of this yet, your characters
aren't, but time is an enemy to face as well.
There is a set date now. We will be counting
the days. But for now, we'll leave our heroes
within the volcanoes of Tlatelpec. Before we
start moving forward in time, though, I want
to move to a different place in space. Real quick
before I get into this next scene, I want to
add this. I had a kind of funny thought yesterday.
It's not like canon or anything, but it's kind
of a cool sort of potential pseudo -canon, like
maybe it's canon. Which is weird when you're
looking at your own stuff and you're like, oh
my god, is this a theory? Imagine the Ash Rise,
right? Imagine there's some prophecy out there
that's like, our world will fall at Ash Rise.
But what if a slight mistranslation? Our world
will fall. Atash rises. Oh, fuck you. Isn't that
cool? Fuck you. Isn't that cool? I don't know,
that was cool. That's so gross. That was cool.
Speaking of Atash and rising. Oh my god. Let's
cut. That's so nasty. Was it cool? I thought
it was cool. No, it's great. You just blew my
brain. I was like, should I put it in the episode?
Is that canon? I don't know. I just thought it
was a cool thought. It wasn't planned. It just
hit me. Wow. Speaking of ash rise. Sorry, atash
rise. Speaking of atash. Rises. Rising. Into
power. Let's cut back to Salome. Leaving that
meeting behind, standing within just pure cloud
as you've pushed beyond that chamber, that strange
extra -dimensional chamber that rests at the
top of the House of Convalescence. And I want
to quickly entirely shatter any feelings of grandeur
villains have as we cut to them standing in a
swirl of dark clouds, waiting for an elevator.
Big elevator door. It's like floating door just
sitting in the clouds. Just waiting for it. Door
slides open. Rush of people come out. You got
to wait for the people to come out before you
walk in because that's just elevator etiquette.
Like Atash is standing beside you, Salome, as
this door opens and he begins to move inside.
Rude. appearing from out of the cloud his suit
soaking wet from like sort of cloud uh water
and he's just like moving in you know and sorry
no i was gonna say ruin's the type of guy that
farts in an elevator and doesn't say anything
and maybe that's the exact reason atash holds
a hand up towards him take the next one Oh, no.
Looks kind of sad. Oh, no. I wish to speak with
Salome. Oh, no. Alone. You've ruined my day.
Oh, just you wait. You've ruined my day. He moves.
He actually, he doesn't move. He puts a hand
out in a lady's first kind of gesture. How polite
of him. Yeah, very polite. Going in? Yes, yeah,
yeah. Salome will dutifully walk into the elevator
as bid. Tosh follows you in. really big for this
elevator so it's a little goofy he's huge he's
like a little bit like crouching just destroying
the villain of the show is just like a fucking
loser now what have i done he just steps in whole
other shifts a little bit um and you see the
door begins to close and a very angry looking
rune who just stares out his eyes falling on
atash then on you It begins to slide down. I
wanted to apologize for everything we have asked
of you. I know it was not an easy thing to speak
such vulgar lies to the public. Rune's villainy
is a necessity I wish we could ignore, but it
is the Sapphire's will. And he is not the only
one we can call a villain. We, I, have condemned
innocents to incarceration. A deep sigh. What
the? Our enemies may stand against their own
salvation, but they are in many ways more righteous
than we. You feel this huge fatherly hand on
your shoulder, Salome. What is happening? Stop!
If what? It serves as comfort and consolation.
Know that there will be justice for both of us.
I have asked the Sapphire to punish us appropriately
in the coming world. The same fate that awaits
Rune Rusong as well as our other conspirators.
We will all suffer terribly for what we have
done and what we will do. To see our worlds saved.
Ding. The elevator opens and Salome has that
like broken anime face with like the big eyes
and a small mouth. Hold on. You feel a gentle
squeeze almost bodily again just on your shoulder.
Like just very comforting question mark. Can
you break it down and explain it to me like I'm
five? Atash, it seems, you can roll insight,
feels terrible about everything that's been happening.
Insight, that's a 19. Oh, no, my insight is wild.
Oh, yeah? 24. You know Atash. Hold on. 22. 22.
That's how numbers work. Are you sure? Oh, yeah,
if you don't, yeah, never mind. You know Atash.
Do you know him as being righteous? You always
have. Maybe it was surprising for you when you
started to hear these tales of him like, I mean,
you start getting into this and you realize he's
part of some great conspiracy. He's been lying
to the world. He pulled this elaborate con along
with his fellow conspirators to make the world
believe that they were being pulled into the
kingdom gloom. They were being destroyed. He
did this all to spark fear. And this is surprising
to you because Atash is a heroic figure. You
remember him giving a speech. You remember him
diving an anchor in Sengar because he wanted
to save people from the demons when Kameo wanted
to just sit back and watch. And maybe things
are starting to fall into place for you here,
Salome. Yes, he is doing these terrible things.
But to Atash, this is a sacrifice that must be
made. And he will punish himself if he must to
make it up. He is an aspect of... Justice. He
is Kameo's justice. He doesn't believe in the
means, but he believes in the end. Yes. He believes
he has soiled himself. He believes he has soiled
you. And he believes that both of you deserve
retribution for this. Both of you should suffer.
Does Salome know what suffering he's referring
to? You don't, and it's so much worse because
of it. Yeah, great. But you know a bit about
the Sky Prison. I think your wings shudder just
a little bit as you think of what could happen
should Atta succeed. He walks away. Elevator
opens, he just walks away. He just leaves. He
just gives you a gentle squeeze, a little nod,
and he just steps out, kind of regains his great
sort of composure, floats, and begins to sort
of fly gently out of the building. You are standing
in the lobby of the House of Convalescence in...
Some level of utter shock. And I need you, Salome,
to tell me what happens now. Got any big plans?
Salome, I realize this is an exciting radio.
Salome needs to take a minute. Like, she's going
to find a bench or a nice column to lean against
and kind of watch the world pass by for... a
few minutes and process, you know, wait for maybe
a vision or something. You know, they often provide
context for her. Are you near the elevator when
you sit down? It's a hospital. There's benches
everywhere. The first bench. You sit down. The
closest bench. It's got to be one near the elevator
bank. And you're just staring into space, waiting
for something, anything to happen in your mind,
outside of your mind. No vision comes, just that
last one of this world casting a black shadow,
a world that's starting to seem more and more
inevitable. And as you stare, you hear, ding!
The elevator opens again, and Rune Russam moves
out. I will say, he looks to you, kind of scowls,
and moves. past you as he leaves. Do you have
any words for Rune? Do you want to stop him?
This is an opportunity if you want to take it.
You know, carrying over an insight check you
made last session, you were kind of tuning into
what people were all about in that room. Rune
mentioned at one point that there'll be peace
when the world's brought together, and he added
and a prosperity for those that are a part of
it. Atash speaks of a great sufferance that will
come for everyone involved. rune doesn't know
this rune believes that he will right come out
very rich yeah he believes that there's some
great reward waiting for him so it's it's like
super like um eldritch horror where where rune
thinks he's like summoning fucking cthulhu or
something yeah exactly you know come and cleanse
the world in reality he's just gonna get squashed
like a bug yeah um that's a that's a good way
to look at it now you could stir the pot There's
dangers associated with that. There's dangers
everywhere. And I think if there's one thing
that comes to you over and over again, Salome,
is how very, very alone you really are. You are
so alone. And when you have so much information,
two months and two months in assault on the incarnates,
and then that's it. A perfect world, right? Unstoppable,
right? Is Rune the friend you need? Is there
someone else out there? Perhaps you think of
Dresden Kellig, who fought beside you when you
came to attack Aria, when all this really started.
Perhaps you think of Jules Laroche, who you saw
as this rebellious figure and you shared a vision
with. You took a risk there, Salome. Steven wants
to say something to Rune and try to break that
spell that he's under. Salome realizes that she
has already gone all in more than once, and stepping
out of line now could just waste everything that
she's sacrificed. Salome wants to... This is
probably stupid and crazy and will work for,
like, two rounds, but follow Rune. Okay. Hmm.
I... I don't know. I just want to try it. This
is what happens. You stand up as he begins to
scowl and walk past you. Now, he is in the House
of Convalescence. He does not turn towards the
exit. He instead turns sort of down one of the
side hallways and begins to move. And you see
a number of celestials. They're kind of in standing,
you know, kind of up against the walls, up against
corners. Four of them. All of them are divas.
uh much like heronics pale skin very like light
hair uh all of them step forward and begin to
follow behind him kind of god damn it i did show
in our little scene earlier with uh fucking great
yeah rune has a guard on him four divas great
divas but you're a you're a pari you could take
him right a lesser angel last year that's true
You're kind of a weaker Pari. Weaker but more
versatile. You're an interesting case. Okay,
I'm still interested to see where this goes,
I guess. She'll keep a distance and... Hell yeah.
Try to see. Does he speak to any of them? He
does not. They fall in line behind him, and you
can hear him speaking, but not to them. Very
low, grumbled. A few curse words come, like,
echoing towards you as you're kind of slowly
moving. And, you know, there's other Celestials
moving around. There's patients. There's sort
of doctors, physicians, acolytes in robes, and
you're kind of pushing past them slowly and following.
Rune doesn't look back. He is very comfortable
here in his dwellings, and you see he moves down
a long hall, turns at a corner. It comes to the
end of the next hall, and you see there is a
door awaiting him. He steps up to it. You see
a nameplate, Rune Rusong. It is new, newly placed
on this door, and you realize that recently,
you've heard tell, that Rune's office on the
higher floor has been broken into in a very embarrassing
manner, and so he's moved himself to the lower
floors with a little more protection. A little
more eyes. One of the Celestials steps forward.
Unlocks the door. Probably just draws out a simple
sort of magical looking key. Steps inside. Rude
waits outside with the three others as his room
is being scanned. Set protocols wherever he goes.
He's a very important man. But you know where
his office is. Do you want to make a move? Say
hi? No, it's not. There's nothing to gain. There's
too much risk. You think you'd know. Rune's guards
did not go upstairs for that meeting. One little
thing playing in your mind. All the Pari know
of a coming future. They don't know that Atasha's
a part of it. They've seen visions. They don't
know how this is going to come to be. Just this
potential reality that might happen. On top of
that... You believe you're the only Celestial
out of all of them that is fully aware of Atash's
full plan. Thinking about it, this conspiracy
must be very tight -knit. Atash, Rune Rusong,
the Sapphire, of course, this Kejau Kamal, the
founder of the Crystal Network, and Captain Commander
Ariat. These are the only names you've heard
really deeply associated with what is coming.
These guards don't know what they're protecting.
To just walk up and be like, hey guys, let me
show you the reality. I'm not saying that you
should do anything. I'm just telling you what
Salome knows. Because there's a lot. With all
that in mind, Salome will watch as Rune enters
into his office. Two guards go in. Two guards
stay outside the door. The door closes. And you
hear it lock. She steps back into the crowd and
disappears. As Salome perhaps reappears on the
outside of the House of Convalescence, stepping
out into the Radiant Citadel, something interesting
happens. Now, this is kind of a fun little thing
that Zila and I were talking about. I think this
is very interesting. Salome, you put a secret
message in that last speech. You put the words
justice undying in that speech, and I did not
see. But on the Discord, Zila saw. Join the Discord.
Join the Discord. And so I think that opens up
a very interesting possible tool to help you
as you feel a voice in your mind. I don't want
to speak for a character that is not mine. So
I will summarize. This voice. A psychic connection
between you and someone. I think you feel their
presence. Someone called Shrike. A luminary.
But one that seeks to help the justice undying
movement. One that has seen you for what you
really are. Who you're really loyal to. Is offering
to send a message between you. And others. Should
you want to meet? Yeah, Salome... Salome definitely
would jump at the opportunity to send a message
to Jules LaRoche. Hell yeah. What kind of message
do you want to send? Is there a place in mind
to meet? Will you wait to see if they choose?
So what are the mechanics of this message? Someone's
going to get back to me? This is... To Salome?
Pull this up. So he whispers, Shrek is a Tawasee
Telb. Have a communication between you and her.
So for some hours, basically, she can speak to
you. And you know she can just find you and open
this link again if she needs to. Okay. So what
Salome will say is, Jules LaRoche, Atash seeks
to ruin this world. and take all its free will
from it. If you are a true arbiter of justice,
I seek to help you. And I don't think that, in
an effort to gain Jules' trust, she's not gonna
be like, meet me here at this time, because that
seems like a trap. Yeah. I think she's going
to convey that she knows what Atash is up to,
that Atash is up to bad shit. She doesn't like
it. If they're against it, she wants to help
and wait for instructions, wait for a response.
That message goes out. We fade on those words,
fade to black. We fade with the knowledge that
that message finds its way to Teletopec. Finds
its way. to the Twin Gods Observatory, finds
its way to the mind and heart of Jules LaRoche,
and begins a momentum, a moving towards inevitable
union, a meeting that may decide the fate of
the world. And we'll call it there.