Hey, Pants people, if you love the original music
we have in the podcast, you can find it all on
Spotify and I think Apple and like, you know,
the places you get music. Just search music from
the Fantasy Pants podcast. I bet if you just
search Fantasy Pants, it'll probably come up.
Check it out. has been spreading like crazy,
and I'm sure by now many of you are aware there
has been a spotting of Oozinoshikatsu on Senza.
And now, we know the word is coming out of Anissa,
and that's it. We don't know anything yet. I
mean, this could easily be another false sighting,
alright? All I can say for sure is this. If you
see the storm eye, stay away. And I am specifically
speaking to the kingdoms of Senza here. Hold
your militias back. Do not engage the storm eye,
alright? Hatashin is most trusted looking into
this right now. If he is truly on Sensa, he will
be apprehended. So heed my words. Do not engage
the Storm Eye! What the fuck is Kejo doing? You
see, Rune Rusong slides his arm across the desk
of his office, letting papers fly. Letting one
of his little experiments run loose in Anissa?
What happens when it's caught? Destroyed? Fear
of Ozen is the key to holding the situation together
and getting our assault force mounted against
the Incarnate. Yeah, it would be nice to have
a new Storm Eye to draw up some fresh fear, but
not one that can expose us. If the Invincible
Ozen falls to local militia or is revealed to
be nothing more than a suit of empty armor, then
people are going to start asking some difficult
goddamn questions. Goddamn the man and his fucking
ego. He'll be nothing, nothing without the Sapphire's
guidance. Founder of the Crystal Network. What
a joke. And yet he has the power to shatter all
of this. I can't trust anyone to do their fucking
job. Can I? You see, Rune just seething looks
down at his desk or shaking his head. Yara coming
back from the dead. Jai turning coat. Sturgeman
won't answer his stupid sending. Sturgeman! Sean
Franklin! The Haringon! It all makes me wonder.
And Rune Rusong looks up from his desk, his eyes
falling on the figure standing before his closed
door. Trace, the goblin, resplendent in his white
armor. His eyes meet Rune's and there is a long
silence. Triss shrugs. You let me in this Sapphire's
World business. I ain't spilled the beans yet,
right? No. I suppose you haven't. You know I'm
not being blackmailed, am I? No. No, you're not.
You're here because you want to be. You're going
to be the first Goblin Luminary, right? I can
make that happen. Yeah. Yeah, it might just be
that you're the only one I can trust. Yeah. I
have a new assignment for you. A big one. Kejo
knows the master phrase to interrupt the crystal
network. Hell, he could erase it, even destroy
it forever. That egotist might use his new toys
to make him move, and he has full access to the
auroral diamond's transmission node. Well, not
anymore. I'm officially placing you in charge
of security for the node. The Crystal Network
itself will be in your hands, and so it will
be in mine. And Trace just nods, stands at attention.
Yes. Yes, good, good, good, good. That should
take care of things here. And as for Senza, thankfully,
we did not leave Kejau there alone. When we see
Rudner's song, slide open a drawer on his desk
and fish us out, ascending stone. We slide upwards
from the office, through the ceiling of the first
floor of the House of Convalescence and into
the halls of the second. This region of the western
wing of the general care floor is a very different
feel compared to the rest of the Grand Hospital.
It is equally as opulent with white marble tile
floors and sleek, magically lit white walls,
but the impression given by the architecture
is somewhat undercut by portraits of posing luminaries
and a spread of toys on shelves, a few of which
bear the telltale accentuary mark of the Fallman.
Perhaps we hone in on a single Zebulon dolly
before it is scooped up into the arms of a little
silver -scaled dragonborn girl who hugs it to
her chest and moves to join a gathering crowd
of excited, white -robed children. We hear, mingled
with the laughter and the chatter, the sounds
of clanking armor and metal steps on polished
stone floors. Four armored boots. Our camera
whirls around to frame three figures approaching
the waiting children. In the rear of this group,
we see Director Felindora. The massive form of
the green -skinned planetar looks no less intimidating
for the plain brown robe she wears. Her long
hair falls over her shoulder in an almost casual
manner. Her wings are held tight to her back
and her feet fall silently upon the marble floors.
An easy, confident stride. And so you can see
the Children's Ward is reasonably well populated.
Now, most of them await a simple curing of disease,
as well as some aftercare and assessment. There
are a few awaiting restoration magics, though,
the poor things. And with so many celestials
being pulled to guard the conquered worlds at
large, well, things have been difficult here
in the House of Convalescence. As she speaks,
we see that the radiance of her eyes is focused
not on the children, but rather on the two luminaries
that walk just in front of her. One that we see
is a tall, muscular form wrapped in bright, silvery
armor. An image of a rose is emblazoned on the
chest of his plate. With his usual helmet removed,
we see a face of lightly tanned skin. We see
short, platinum blonde hair and blue, silvery
eyes. There's a haunted air about the man. One
that seems to vanish as he smiles widely towards
the waiting children. Diamante Cloudbreaker,
the Knight of the Platinum Rose. The other we
see is an elven woman wearing ancient -looking
bright mithril plate edged in blue enamel. The
chest of this armor is emblazoned with a platinum
star hanging over a swirling galaxy. We see long,
blonde hair falling on a tail down the woman's
back. Her eyes are cerulean blue and seem to
hold a calm wisdom typically only seen in the
elderly among humans. Platinum Knight Ahri. Two
luminary paladins whose origins and fonts of
power remain a great mystery to the larger, conquered
worlds, and even the most powerful beings that
inhabit them. Felindora stops suddenly. The light
of her gaze intensifying on the two knights as
she looks to both of them. I wonder. You both
have some proficiency in the removal of diseases
and toxins, do you not? You mentioned as such
when you reached out about this collaboration.
Now, I'm aware that olds have a part to play
in your divine power, but one can't help but
question whether there is a greater force behind
your... Gifts. A pause, and Philandora's lips
curve into a slight smile that almost covers
the eager hunger behind her words. Staffing as
it is, I simply wish to understand if other healing
options exist outside of mine and Atash's own
celestial forces. Another short pause, and we
see Ahari's about to respond when the hall fills
with strange... back noise, the muted sounds
of blaring music almost shaking the walls. Distinctly,
we hear the sounds of a shamisen and a banjo.
Felindor's smile falls flat, her eyes glow brighter,
brow furrowed with suspicion. What is this? I
certainly don't approve of any sort of concert.
How anomalous. Her wings unfurl, filling the
wide hall. I will attend to this immediately
and make my rounds of the hospital. I do not
trust this commotion. She turns to move when
a platinum gauntlet firmly catches her hand.
Diamante's hand looks so small against the angel's
green skin, yet he stands unperturbed. as Felindora's
brow raises dangerously. Ari steps up between
the two of them and speaks. My Lady Felindora,
your duty is to the children, and in the spirit
of our future collaboration, I insist you allow
us to deal with this disturbance. I will report
back to you soon. Felindora's gaze is stone,
but that word... Collaboration seems to soften
it just a touch. A trial, then. Very well. I
expect to hear this noise quelled momentarily.
Be swift. I would so like to continue our conversation
about your gifts. In the spirit of collaboration,
of course. She turns to the crowd of children
cramming the hall ahead, many of whom have started
swaying to the rumbling music. I am afraid your
luminary visitation must be delayed, children.
Our brave knights have a matter to attend for
me. I will conduct your regular checkups in the
meanwhile. The air is suddenly filled with the
somber sighs and moans of exaggerated children
in distress. See a few of the youngest being
to wipe it, tear -filled eyes. And Diamante,
still smiling, steps towards them. Keep your
shields bright and your hearts full. Hope is
the best thing we can brew today. Happy Skylights,
kids. And with a nod, Ari moves in and adds,
Happy Skylights, children. May platinum wings
guard your steps. And we see the two platinum
knights, servants of a god unknown to these worlds,
turn and sprint down the hall, the sounds of
rhythmic clanging armor joining the concert outside.
Our camera follows their run, sliding slowly
upwards, they rush towards the center of the
hospital, pushing past distracted crowds, gathering
at front -facing windows, and moving out onto
the surrounding balcony. And our camera rises
still and continues on as we slide up through
the ceiling of the second floor and into a new
hall. A bell rings out as the stone -wrought
elevator arrives on the third floor. Long -term
care. The floor that Orin is being held on. The
door slides open. And we see a number of heroic
figures charge out. Fade to black. Thank you,
Mike and Zila. It's Hammer of the Discord, Astropathic
Art. You know them and you love them. Hammer
of the Discord. Moving this thing forward. Every
time we switch between the arcs, I want to slide
back over here and see what's going on with the
Auron Rescue. Damn. The Luminary's coming together.
That's wicked cool. You remember Philandora?
She came in the show once, like way back. The
Initiate? Oh, no, no, no. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yes, of course I do. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah,
funny. Like, a character I brought up because
you went to the hospital is sort of almost like
a character I didn't really have a plan for,
and now it's like, oh, no, she's a big deal here
because if she gets aware of what's going on,
Planetar? Sure. It's over. Yeah, she's going
to mess it up. The whole thing's over. She's
going to mess it up. Yeah, got to love that distraction.
Wow. But with that done and continuing on, I
think it's time for us to move on. through the
Radiant Citadel and onto the world of Dyalangan.
Let's check in on Jules and Salome, huh? Yeah,
I'm excited to get back to Salome. We open day.
Sky filled with gray cloud, light drizzle of
rain pattering down upon the meadow -covered
island of Malabulac. You have been traveling
for some time now, probably took one night's
rest. You left the city after a harrowing battle
with storm giants. You hastily fled the city,
and you're making your way now to a sky bridge
known as Hope's Dagger, which leads to the cursed
island of Limbacluha, where you know there is
a great tree about the Langpuno. Beneath this
tree, it's said that Apong Il. There are so many
questions you don't have answers to. That creature
in the sky, they say it is Pangil Nengbon, the
last Bakunawa. But you know it is not. It is
Paul. You've seen images. You've seen visions
of a great cavern with huge twisted roots forming
the ceiling. It has to be there. Paul must be
there. Will he return there? Will there be answers
there? You don't know really anything. You just
have a path before you. Really fast. I don't
think this is going to be relevant. I don't think
we need to fix it right now. But I just took
a long rest, and I was at like 19 out of 50 -something
hit points, and it reset my hit points to 19
out of 19. Oh, my God. That's actually canon
in his days. You're here. 19 hit points on Salome,
and that's set. You know it takes near a full
day to reach the southeastern coast of Malabulac,
and you're probably getting close now. I imagine
you traveled long into the night, slept a ways
into the afternoon. You've moved away from where
the island is more well -populated, and now you
are... There's a skybridge you know hanging to
the south of Malabulac that heads to other islands
in the archipelago. Nice job. There's a lot more
traffic there. But where you're going, there's
almost no traffic. Because no one, no one goes
to Lombokluha. No one travels the Hope's Dagger
Skybridge. For beyond that is just a tragic past.
And a land cursed. You are probably, I imagine
now, it's sort of getting into the late afternoon.
And you know that very soon here you should come
upon. The bridge itself. Perhaps you can vaguely
make out the coastline ahead in like a misty
haze. There's something huge rising up and curving.
You can't quite see it yet. Salome. That vision
you had. I think that was the night before now.
You had it again two times. Short periods, but
it's strange. Every time it's the same thing.
The world seems to... take on that dreamlike
haze, that silvery quality, and nothing changes
except for jewels overlaid with the image of
the avatar of Zomade Shah, the demon that he
will inevitably become. This vision is strong,
Salome, a future that wants to be born. Is it
the result of... Of inevitability? Or is it just
maybe like a force on this world is pushing for
this future? It's so hard to tell. And you could
feel something with every step you take. Something
repulsive in the air. Carry on the occasional
warm breeze coming off of the southeastern sea.
But you are moving ever closer to a rot infection
in the body of this world. Salome looks less
distracted. all the time now because she doesn't
have these visions constantly flooding. It's
just this one that repeats occasionally. So she
seems more grounded as we're walking towards
the bridge. I think 19 HP will do that to you.
You trip on a rock, you'll die. It's canon. And
she asks Jules, does your intuition... Act the
same as mine and give you a feeling of foreboding
as we head towards the bridge. I'll say this,
Jules. I think it's different for you. You don't
feel that innate, like, presence of rot and wrongness.
But you know it's there. Because with every step
you take, something inside and behind and beyond
you seems to chuckle. Seems to... vibrate with
joy, so excited. Something is coming. I get it
24 hours a day, and it just keeps growing and
growing. So right now, right now is the worst.
Choose the rush. Gabriela speaks up. Are you
going to become a demon? It's a very stark question.
Her eyes are fixed on you. You just kind of turn
to see her just stand there, arms sort of folded.
Arhalon kind of stops behind and kind of looks
almost awkward. If I do, kill me. Of course.
Roll Perception for me. Or to Earl Insight. 17.
You do see for a moment there is a struggle in
her eyes. Like a hurt. And a... hesitation, like
she's trying to decide if she can kill you. And
then you see the moment in her dark eyes when
she decides, yeah. Yeah, she can. And her eyes
just settle. But we won't let that happen. I
mean, that's the plan. But we'll see. Back home.
In the old city. Grindy told me what happened
when you fought with Jesseth Kellig. You touched
him and he was changed, becoming that thing of
shadows. And you were changed. He said you spoke
in a voice that was not your voice. Is that going
to happen now? And you remember that moment,
Jules? You remember that searing hatred you felt
for Justin Kelly as you placed your hand over
his face? You remember that... feeling coursing
through your veins, hatred like a drug sparking
a tingling, overwhelming joy in something just
beyond you. You reached out then, and you changed.
And you remember another moment, too, on God's
breath. The rattlesnake looming over Chester,
your friend, your brother, in pain and peril.
And the fear you felt was so fresh, so cold,
like diving into a bath of ice water. And you
reached out, and you changed. Fear and hatred.
Twin fires burning inside of you, and they've
always been there, Jules. Even now they linger,
and you've grown so much. We've seen you grow,
learn to push them aside, to stand defiant against
them. Yet they linger. And the one who lit these
fires, the dominant source of your fear and hatred,
is here. On this world, on the path, before you
now, Jules, you know, she is here. As Gabriela
says this, I think you notice Arhalon is also
keenly watching and listening. Listening to the
recounting of what happened on San Satyan and
the new Sarul. It's not new information for him.
It's something you two have probably discussed.
He at least heard it from Zavar back during that
fateful combat in the mines. The role you played
unknowingly and uncontrollably in his brother's
death. And I'll say, he's an open book. Your
passive perception will be enough to look into
his heart and you see there's no hatred or rage
in him. Not even a spark. Because he's changed
and grown so much as well. He's just sad. Sad
and worried for you. You just see eyes that are
desperate to find some way to help his friend.
You think he will not be able to kill you. If
it comes to that. I have no idea what's going
to happen. Your guess is as good as mine. But
I know I'm going to keep fighting until the end.
And if he gets me. and my end comes early. You
kill me, and you keep fighting. A nod from Gabriella,
and Arlon just turns away. And Salome, how did
you react to these words? What goes through your
mind? You were there on Anchor and Sengar. You
saw how the avatar of Zalmati Shab then tore
through the ranks. Once you've come to understand
Jules, it could be so much more than that. Hell,
if Zalmati Shab can fully claim a vessel and
step into this world again, he could rival Atash.
It's difficult for Salome to understand because
she's not of this world. So she asks to the group,
maybe specifically to Jules, but... Out loud.
Is it easy for mortals to give in to evil? Always.
Then that means I must be surrounded by some
of the strongest among you. For here you all
stand against ever surmounting odds. Take heart
and have faith in each other. Jules, this is
too grim. Right? Despite what my old Lucho Libre
dress and name would suggest, I am not into the
edgy types. Let's just keep going. God. She's
just smiling. Just like a kind of light sort
of hug over the shoulders and she kind of just
drew her name. Her old name. dances ahead and
you move on you move towards that mist towards
that coastline until finally you step to a point
where the mist breaks on a breeze filled with
that warm feeling of corruption salome any any
repulsive instincts you might feel are quickly
and immediately dwarfed and flattened as you
take in the sight of a sky bridge. You see this
magnificent thing arcs into the air ahead of
you, stretching high above the trees and over
the sea beyond. The span soars without supports,
its path bending in serpentine curves that stretch
far into the distance. This thing hath to be
over a hundred feet wide. Wow. End. days of travel
long with statues of stern draconic features
were adorning it as like almost like Guardians
of the gate as you're moving to step towards
it and you know what let me find a picture of
this thing real fast cuz it's so Actually in
an open roll 20. We know I'm sorry Like a sim
it look Hey, yeah, this thing is so cool. Come
on. You find a good picture I had this pulled
up yesterday. Are you going to find this and
turn around your computer so that we can see
it? Yeah. Is that what's happening right now?
Imagine he just looks at it. He's like, yeah,
this is really cool. You guys should see this.
Dude, just put it out. I walk out of the room.
Okay, this is a little different because it's
longer than my version. Oh, God. Dude, I can't
see shit. That's not going to work. You can either
knock over your mic or your water. You've got
cables coming out of both sides of your laptop.
You have a dice tower on one side and a mic on
the other. I'm going to take a picture of my
screen on my phone and I'm going to turn it around.
Dude, what the fuck? Come over here. Come look
at this thing. Then go back there and react to
it. How cool is that? Dude, that's pretty fucking
sweet. Isn't that rad? Yeah, super rad. That's
pretty sweet. I like that. Just massive. Arcing
up. There's almost like. Golden design gleaming
in the soft light where it breaks through the
overcast sky. That soft rain still pelting you.
And there's no like supports and buttresses or
anything. It's just like there. It looks less
organic than I thought. Is it? Constructed? I
thought it was a body. It's actually important.
You notice there's no supports. And you have
heard that there are bones built into it. Much
like the towers of Sru. It's built too tall to
make sense. They were magically empowered by
these strange fossils. They say it could be healed
and wound scars in the structure themselves.
This thing should not be possible in any regard.
It is the most impossible structure you've ever
seen. I thought it was going to look more like...
like a snake skeleton. And we were going to be
like climbing through like rib bones. Yeah. Now
they did a little nicer look than that. And you
can see actually where this thing is moving farther
away from the coastline. There's a spread of
violent whirlpools and churning white waves in
the sea below the bridge. You see like the water
is just impassable. You could not bring a ship
between these islands. And so you realize that
these sky bridges that connect the islands of
the archipelago. They're essential. They have
to be here. They have to be maintained. If the
serpents that were had not lent their bones to
this cause, these islands could not be connected.
Almost like the Radiant Citadel itself. An impossible
thing connecting places that cannot touch otherwise.
We have so much to thank for serpents and Dracon.
You guys getting on that sky bridge? Nah. Actually,
I'm just going to turn around. I'm going to go
open a tavern. Salome's face maybe hints at fear
as she takes her first step onto the bridge.
The bridge breaks. You have 19 HP? You die. Swallowed
by a whirlpool. Crushed. Like a soda can. Great.
You step onto the bridge and begin to move. And
you actually notice, like, you haven't seen anyone
on the road for, like, the last number of hours.
A couple of farms have dotted the horizon here
and there. Very, very few even, like, residents
on this side of the island. And you're surprised
to see that there is actually a person up ahead,
just kind of standing on the bridge. You look
and see, like, where... Almost like there's a
little crenellated wall kind of on the edge of
the bridge. And there's a long sort of scar running
down part of that and running out across as if
it was struck by something. And this person you
see, as you get closer, you see it's an older
woman, a quite old woman, sort of crouching near
this thing. And you see she has like a long spear
that seems to serve as like a walking stick.
She's holding it up. There's a sharp, dangerous
looking blade in the end. As she's sort of standing
there, you can vaguely hear something as you
get closer. Just... She's singing. Singing to
the bridge. Singing to the wound. Roll a perception
check. Everybody or just, uh... Anybody can.
Ooh, dirty 20. Let's make it Jules and Salome.
Okay. Salome already got it. Yeah, that was 21.
21, damn. The two of you are kind of honed in
on this. You're watching this. And your eyes
turn from the woman to the wound, the scar, the
crack in the stone. And you see as if responding
to her voice and her movements of her hands,
they kind of sway around it. The stone begins
to knit itself together. Damn. You've heard the
term bone singer a few times now. So cool! I
want to be a bone singer! As the ritual is going
on, as you close her, I think you see the crack
is like half sealed, and she stops to guard you
as you pass. She's, hello, travelers. What brings
you to Hope's Dagger Skybridge? I have not seen
a soul upon the bridge in... might be months
till today. Tell me, are you here to join those
fool hunters on their quest? I would hope you
are not. It's kind of like looks and glances.
Her eyes might be just a little, like, blurred.
The starting of cataracts and... Oh, you are
Celestial. And you... I respond to you, Jules.
I swear I recognize you. I am Ina, Bonesinger.
Who am I speaking to? Jules doesn't say anything.
Oh. No. Salome will step up. I am Salome. These
are my travel companions. We... we sense danger
in the air. Do you not, Bonesinger? Everyone
senses danger these days. Look at my own companions.
The young, new Bonesingers who view themselves
as a militia, peacekeepers. This is our... cause.
To see the bridges stand and the gifts of the
serpents remain. Clear. Safe. Preserved. But
yes, there is danger. As I said, there are the
hunters. Off to slay the last Bakunawa. They
will die in Lubakleha. You will die in Lubakleha,
should you continue on. We do not wish to hunt
the Bakunawa. We merely wish to understand it.
Will that protect us, or shall we still die?
You listen. Ah, no one listens anymore. You have
a wisdom of you, Celestial. But no, it is not
the Bakunawa that you must fear. The marshes
are filled with spirits. Burned and dead. Horrors
await in the swamps. They will tear you apart
long before you reach Athelang Puno, the great
tree. What choice do we have? You could turn
back. We must go. Has anybody ever made it? There
was one traveler who... Passed by recently. I
almost forgot. Went and returned. At the very
least, that one survived the journey. Do you
remember who it was? No. Sorry, my eyes. I didn't
get a name. We were not... It's not as courteous
a soul as you. Anything would help. I'm sorry.
Like to know how they did that. Yes. I would
be curious as well. There was mention among...
Yes, I swear I heard the words... Guide through
the swamps. The hunters. They may actually know
someone that could lead them through. But...
You must stop them. They will die in the swamps
or they will kill the last of the serpent kin.
Whatever the case, it is a tragedy. They march
towards the hunters, the fool youths. If you
are to tread forward, if I cannot ward you away,
stop the hunters. Tell them of their foolishness.
Please. Well, you were right. There is nothing
you can say that's gonna make us turn back. You
see a little tear running into the wrinkles of
her cheeks. This has to happen. What is to become
of our worlds when the young are so eager to
meet their deaths early? Does Salome think that
she's telling the truth about not... Knowing
anything. Roll insight. Great. Got a button for
that. There's a thing for that. Roll for that.
Docella may think all the dice about it. What
are we doing over here? Oh, damn. 27. Not a hint
of deceit. Okay. You feel like this woman really
is telling you everything she knows and she's
trying to like, she really is trying to ward
you away. Everything she said, fully truthful.
What can you tell us about the hunters? I know
little I tried to tell them to stop. The rocket's
lot stole my prayer beads, hoping they could
aid them on their journey. And they just carried
on. It was about, oh, just kind of like rubbing
her head, kind of trying to think, you know,
her eyes, she's, fingers are waving, she's trying
to like count numbers. Oh, ten or more, I think,
perhaps a dozen. How long ago? Not long at all,
actually. They are not traveling quickly. You'll
likely catch them if you continue at a good pace.
Do you remember anything that they said? Only
that they want to slay the traitorous Bakunawa.
That they have a grudge. The clan has a grudge.
And again, that they have some sort of guide
to lead them through the swamps to find its lair.
No mention of who that guide is? No. No. Okay.
Salome gets down on her knee to be at least closer
to eye level with the bone singer. You're blue.
You're perceptive. Yes. I am known for my perceptive
powers. She hands... She hands... The bone singer,
a gold piece. This is for your prayer beads.
Are there other bone singers on the bridge? I
am the only one who tends to this. There will
be no others on your path. Damn. Are there any
secrets to the bridge that you could enlighten
us with? Perhaps to swiften our journey to catch
up with the hunters? The beads I had held. It's
a few beads of wind walk. That would have helped
you greatly, but the hunters have them now. Was
one gold piece enough to compensate you for those?
It was not yours to compensate, sweet Celestial.
You should not go forward. You will die. You
look like you only have 19 HP. That's the title
of this episode, 19 HP. Salome will stand up
and start to move forward. I fear we must go.
Despite your warning, thank you for everything
you were able to tell us. I hope to see some
fool youths running back this way soon. I hope
she turns back what she's doing. Begins to sing
again as you move past. You hear the sound of
the stone knitting together. And you move. You
push on, moving down the curves of this bridge.
Each great, grand, sweeping curve is like hours
to actually... go and fully see through. And
you're just moving and moving. And eventually
you begin to hear another sound somewhere ahead.
The mist is beginning to sort of fade the further
you get out to see. And you can just hear like
a... Just some chatter. Sounds like a group.
Mostly male voices. As the mist... retracts.
A short ways ahead. You see kind of standing
at rest. Some of them are just like sitting down
upon the edge of the bridge. Some are laying
out like, you know, cloths to sort of sit on.
I think one of them, you see one of them sort
of putting together some kind of like camp stove
situation to make up a pot. You see a group of
people. Maybe a dozen or so, as she said. All
quite young. Late teens to early twenties. You
think mostly human men? Do you get closer? I
mean, where else are we going to go? Truly. We're
on a fucking bridge. Where else? We go around
them. You do. Salome can fly around. Nobody else
is going to. Yeah, Salome's not going to ditch
everybody. And we all know Stomp has the route
of flying. Shut up. Yeah, we'll continue to walk
Salome and Jules shoulder to shoulder. In the
most non -threatening way possible. Right. Gabriela
is so threatening as she's walking up beside
you. You just got to see her stride, just like
full killer's movements. Arlan's kind of just
sort of trying to, he's trying to look small
and it's so hard for him. He's just this huge
guy. He's like shrinking into himself and he
just looks so awkward. As everyone's sort of
moving forward, I even see faces being to look
up towards you. Some puzzle whispering between
them. As you get closer, you see that this group
all seem to be pretty well -armed, with long
bows and full quivers, as well as short blades
similar in style to Ariat's and Zebulon's sheathed
their hips. They don't wear armor, you see. Rather,
they don vests of studded leather and short leather
trousers, all with matching patterns of turquoise
and brown. A few of them, you see, are wearing
hoods. At this point, as we're getting close
to them, Can Jules just slowly make his way a
little bit behind Arhalon, just kind of passing
by him so that for a brief moment, he is out
of sight. And in that brief moment, he is going
to cast Disguise South. Oh, nice. Holy shit.
I didn't think far enough ahead to think about
what he's going to look like, but he doesn't
look like Jules. That's pretty cool. That's pretty
cool. If you want to hear it, I have a weird
little... I don't have this guy's self in front
of me. I don't know what it can change. Can it
change your race? Or just your appearance? Okay.
Just appearance. You can make yourself, including
your clothing, armor, weapons, and other belongings
on your person, look different until the spell
ends or until you use your action to dismiss
it. You can seem one foot shorter, one foot taller,
appear thin, fat, and in between. You can't change
your body type, so you must adopt a form that
has the same basic arrangement of limbs. Otherwise,
the extent of the illusion is up to you. My thought
was if you could make yourself look like a celestial.
I don't know. That might be hard to copy the
wings, I guess. Sure, sure, sure. Might be hard.
When held up to physical inspection, the spell
fails. Okay, so they come over and touch you,
basically. I think so, yeah. For example, if
you use this spell to add a hat to your outfit,
objects pass through the hat. So basically, I
think Jules is going to make himself a little
heavier, and he's going to be sporting a beard.
Okay. Unrecognizable as Jules LaRoche. Yeah.
I like that. I like that a lot. Yeah, I think
that's pretty cool. Okay. With gloves on. Hiding.
Oh, of course. Yes, yes. Interesting. Interesting.
I'm going to roll a little something. Okay. You're
moving close. We see not Jules, Salome, Arhalon,
Gabriela, all stepping up towards this group.
And you see they have gone very quiet. They have
stopped everything they are doing. They are just
waiting for you to approach, and there's this
kind of tension in the air as you do. You remember,
nobody comes this way. What are the chances somebody
else would have happened upon the bridge at the
same time as these bold hunters? There is one
amongst the group that steps forward as you get
maybe around 30 feet away. A human in his early
twenties, deeply tanned skin, black hair shaved
to the sides, long oval earrings dangling from
his ears. He smiles towards you, though it looks
awkward and forced beneath a naturally furrowed
and serious brow. You take this to be the leader
of the group. Hello, travelers! What brings you
to the road to Lomboklaha? It is so odd to see
others. Upon the Hope's Dagger Skybridge. Is
it not? I should mention before we continue with
this, at the end of the spell, it does say, to
discern that you are disguised, a creature can
use its action to inspect your appearance and
must succeed on an intelligence check against
my save DC. What's your save DC? 18. 18. Pretty
good save. Not bad. Pretty good save, good to
know. Not bad. Good to know. I did make a roll.
Anyway. Do you answer? Not not, Jules. What's
Jules' new accent? Yeah, yeah. What? What's Jules
trying to put on a different accent if he talks?
You'll find out. You'll find out. But he won't
talk at first. We travel to many unlikely places.
Specifically today, we... Seek the end of the
bridge to find out what has brought a rot to
this world. You want to start that over? No,
keep it in. It's Palo talking to you out loud.
His name's Palo, by the way. He kind of just
nods. I see. Celestial, you know that... your
kind have a pretty hard time up here. So I've
heard. Clips your wings, the rot you speak of.
So far, I've found the journey quite simple.
What brings you, gentlemen, to the bridge? Well,
we are the soon -to -be slayers of the last Bakunawa.
You can call me Paolo. Paolo Makerpa. And if
you are interested in seeing this, rot, torn
from the flesh of our world, then I would ask
you to join us. We will slay the serpent and
bring peace and glory to our clans. Well met,
Paolo. I have a question. If you wish to slay
the serpent, why do you not wear proper armor?
We need no armor. We're strong, right? Right?
Cat turns back and everyone's like, yeah! It's
all bluster. You can tell. Passive. They think
they're tough, and you're looking them over.
You're seasoned fighters at this point, and you're
like, oh, no. These people are going to die.
Very likely. One of them, you say, okay. Tesla
sets up. He's like, Paolo, what are you doing?
That's a celestial. Do you know what they are?
What they're doing to us? Huh? I swear, they're
the ones about the storm giants on Calvary. You've
heard of that, right? You were there? Were you
there? Kind of points to you. We fought the storm
giants. Fought the storm giants. Fought the storm
giants. Amado, hey, come on. They're friends.
They can help us. Help us! Why would they be
here to help us? They're going to get in our
way. You know they're going to get in our way.
Nobody wants us to be here. And I'm guessing
it's those celestials that are keeping things
buried that we don't know. Right? Right? What?
You have something to say? Turns to the bearded.
Ordinary person. Excuse me, but I study herbology.
And, uh... All I want to do is study this tree.
And these people are kind enough to, uh... To
help me reach it. Gabriella slides up close to
you. in a very, like, sort of defensive... You're
trying to play it so it's cool, and she's obviously
still kind of on guard the way she should not
be. Arhalon, again, just sort of hanging back.
He chimes back in. This is purely educational.
Once we get there, you let us do what we want
to do, and then you can do what you want to do.
The figure, Amado, just staring out. There's
something in his eyes, like, wide. They're gonna
arrest us. Amato, stop. They're gonna arrest
us. Like my dad. Bet she works for Atash, huh?
Bet she works for Atash. They're gonna, they're
gonna stop us. They're gonna, his bow slides
out, arrow knocked. They're gonna, and like everyone
else hears your words and they're kind of like
looking around. What are you doing? Stop, stop,
stop. Amato, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Put that
down right now. This young, he looks like he's
only like 19. He has like dark hair, bound a
short tail, blocky face, eyes just almost bulging.
He looks just scared, his hand trembling upon
the bow. But you do see he raises it and goes,
no! Blanche casts a spell. Not Blanche. She's
in the other thing. Roll for initiative. Okay.
Roll for initiative. Oh, fuck. Roll for initiative.
Come on. I have 19 HP. Oh, no! I rolled a two.
I have three initiative. No, this can't be. Oh,
fuck. Oh, my God. What do we got here? Okay,
let's see. Let's see. There is an 18 for jewels.
18 for jewels? Not too shabby. What's Gabrielle's?
Gabrielle has a, I think it was a plus three.
Okay. Almost positive. What's it based on? Dex.
Dex plus four. Oh, plus four. Hell yeah. Cool.
So she's 11. Oh, my God. Yeah. Toothed off by
your voice. What? Did you say? No. Arhalon. Arhalon
has 19. 19, hell yeah. And that's going to be,
who's the last one? Salome. Salome got a three.
Jesus. 19 HP Salome got three. I wanted to just
stop this right now. Unfortunately, the first
to go is actually me. you stupid dumb head arrow
knocked to bow string raises and twing it all
happens in an instant you see something whizzes
past the head of this young man you see a burst
of red when his ear is torn apart from behind
somewhere around in front of you there's a sound
like a ping In the air, that same sling was bounced
off of an invisible wall, and the young man,
Amado's head, just explodes. Blood and bone and
brain matter bursting out towards the crowd of
hunters. The leader of Paolo just dives down
towards the body, hands shaking. No, no, no,
no, no! He turns towards the other hunters, the
crowd, and screams. Sorry, initiative's over.
This fight's over already. He turns to the other
hunters and screams. What the fuck is wrong with
you, trick shot? Amado was of our clan! He was
your friend! Yeah, sure. Amado was my friend.
But I know that guy. And he's family. And nobody
hoits my family. What? And a figure steps out
from the crowd, heavy crossbow in his arms. As
his hood falls back, you see a mop of orange
hair matched by the wispy beginnings of a red
beard, freckled cheeks beneath eyes that do not
show the slightest spark of joy in seeing you.
And Chester says, Hey there, big guy. Long time
no see. And we'll call it there.