Storyteller David here. You guys having fun?
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pants party. Thank you much. Enjoy the episode.
It's a sad matter of life that sometimes, despite
your best efforts, things can still go so terribly
wrong. This is a lesson our heroes have just
been faced with when last we left off in our
tale. Despite some well -executed plans and some
well -reasoned arguments, the three youngest
cherry lights have been taken from Jules, ripped
from his very arms, and delivered to his diabolical
parents. On top of this, Sholay, Zebulon's grandmother,
has confirmed that she's used her political might
to ensure no agent will assist our heroes. And
see their footage shown and their stories shown
on the network. Having reached rock bottom, our
heroes were met by Ada, the proprietor from the
Ugly Coyote, who offered them a singular hope.
He brought them back to the coyote in a rush
and told them that just inside awaits their only
chance to have their footage shown and turn their
situation around. What did they find as they
pushed open those saloon doors? Well, viewers,
listeners, this is the part of the story where
I come in. Well, here we are. Storyteller Oren
is here. Storyteller Oren is here. Yes. Before
we get to Storyteller Oren being here, I want
to talk about work. Why? So we're all working
together now. I'm going to give you a 60 -second
timer. That's fine. That's fine. It's fine. We
got a mystery on our hands. We got a mystery
on our hands. Oh. Yes. So we all work at the
same brew pub now. Yes. That's why I got to bring
this to you guys. I need fellow investigators
on the floor. because there is a diabolical presence
in our brew pub. You see, for the last few weeks,
nay, months, a mysterious character has been
sort of known to the kitchen staff, a legend
unfolding over time. I'm really curious to know
where he's going with this. We're calling this
character the Half -Cookie Bandit. You see, some
malicious presence. Dude, that's everybody. Some
malicious presence in this brewery has been taking
half a cookie, eating it, and leaving half. Dude,
like. And I'm here to tell you that I think I
know exactly who the half cookie bandit is. I
am a half cookie bandit. I will say, yesterday.
Yes? Yesterday, I did see a half a cookie in
Stephen's hand. Dude. My. God. That's not a secret.
That's not a secret. I do that all the time.
Everybody does that. I'm not going to name names,
but like. We've already named all the names we
need. I'm not the only person who does that.
I don't know where that half cookie ended up.
You can't eat an entire one of those cookies.
They're like face size. He just admits it. No,
I freely admit it. Ladies and gentlemen, we got
him. This entire podcast was a setup for this
moment. I never hid this. We got him. Hold on,
hold on, hold on. What's the problem? I don't
know. It's funny. Oh, okay. People are always
asking, they're like, who has been doing this?
Who ate half a cookie again? Half the staff.
Half the staff does that. But I've seen you.
I've seen you do it multiple times. Yeah, of
course. No one minds. I freely admit it. It's
just funny. Okay. I'm not hiding it. I could
name names. I can bring people down with me.
I don't give a fuck. Well, you know what? Bring
them all down. No, I'm not going to do that.
We're not done yet. Once we stop recording. But
yeah, all right. It's all right. We aired that
out. It's out of the way. We have our culprit.
So I guess we can move on with the show, can't
we? So hold on. Am I now like King Cookie Cutter
and Halfer? You're the half cookie bandit. That's
your new sub name. Yeah, I just think now everybody's
going to notice when you have a cookie. And they're
going to make sure that you finish that fucking
cookie. No, I'm not. I'm not going to eat a whole
cookie. You know why? I'm going to leave that
half for somebody else. And somebody else is
going to come in and grabs that half. And then
somebody else comes in and cracks a new cookie
in half. And they're like, oh, look at that.
Steven cracked another cookie in half. Like,
no, no, no. There's like several people who are
cracking cookies in half. No, if everybody just
eats half of the same cookie, that cookie will
never go away. Damn. You just keep eating half.
If you eat half of it. I just can't wait until
this gets out. And then Steven walks into a grocery
store, and we cut into the back room, security
room, and a red light goes off, and Steven's
image on the screen gets blown up, and half -cookie
bandit in red letters appears, and they're like,
my God, he's here. We don't work in a grocery
store. Well, you go to one. This podcast is out
there. We're famous now. Millions of listeners,
probably. I don't look. I assume I'm popular.
You're not as popular as you think. Damn it.
I mean, I will say we do have such incredible
listeners that sometimes it feels like we have
a million listeners. It's true. Nice. Picture's
worth a thousand words and a Fancy Pants listener
is worth a thousand average listeners. And if
anybody wants half a cookie, if anybody wants
half a cookie, just hit me up on Instagram, Fantasy
Pants Pod. Send me your address and I'll send
you half a cookie. Oh, God. All right, all right.
I've got plenty to spare. He's totally serious,
folks. With that done, with that done, we've
got one more little bit we've got to run before
we can get this episode going. And this is important.
This is important for everyone. So, wait. It's
the stage. It's the stage. Blank minds. Blank
minds, gentlemen. My mind is empty. All right.
See a theater. All right. We see a loaded audience.
You're the audience now. You're everyone. You're
many people. You're looking at the stage, you
know, spotlight. I'm going to step on out with
my nice suit. I'm wearing a nice suit. I'm holding
four golden trophies in the shapes of a large
button each. Oh. Oh, yes. Because we are now
looking at the first annual Fancy Pants Zippies.
What? Zippies? Grammys, Emmys, Zippies? I don't
know. I do fannies. Panties? You like that better?
Yeah, the fantasy panties. The fanny panties.
I think fanny is a naughty word in some cultures,
so. Shoot. Zippies it is. Fancy man zippies,
we're here. I'm going to step up to the microphone
here. Thank you for coming, everybody. Thank
you for coming. You see, there are times in every
Master of Dungeons life when they've got so much
going on that they just lose sight of what's
important. which is to reward the players for
their incredible ingenuity, creativity, role
play, and just being overall fun dudes. And I,
as perfect as I am, may have fallen into that
pit hole in the last few episodes of the show.
David's admitting that he was wrong. I'm doing
it once. He's also admitting that he gives out
buttons just annually. I'm holding the button
trophies right now, and the audience members
are currently speaking their minds over there.
I could take these back in a heartbeat. I'll
leave this bit so fast. So, without further ado,
I'd like to award some buttons. Let me get the
buttons. Hang on. They're not golden, but...
Imagine. We imagine in this room. It's like the
whole game. David, the gold is blind in my eyes.
Yes, it's so shiny in the spotlight on my head.
Now, I'm going to give out these awards to four
people that are actually two people that greatly
deserve them. Because we don't have a lot of
contestants here in the Fancy Pan Zippies. Now,
first of all, our heartfelt speech button. It's
going out to Jeremy Wolf, everybody. Jeremy Wolf
for his speech to Arhalar at the end of episode
20. Amazing stuff. You played the character so
well. You played Arhalon so well. And that last
speech you gave was truly heartwarming. So sad
that all went south. You played Arhalon. Yeah,
apparently I played Arhalon. No, you played Arhalon.
You played him. Oh, he got played. I wasn't playing
him. Yeah, but you knew the character. You appealed
to the character in all the right ways. That's
true. And that last speech you gave is beautiful.
It was perfect. Take this golden button trophy.
Oh, thank you. This is actually like one. The
golden button means three buttons, right? No.
Fuck. And that's also your entire speech. Get
off the stage. Get out. Get out. We have more
of these to go. We have more of these to go.
The making me do more work button. I don't know
why it's a thing. It goes to Steven Rodriguez.
I can already see him looking at me. Steven Rodriguez
for his making me improvise a letter mid -session
out of nowhere because he's a ranting, raving
madman. Yeah, that one was fun. Come take your
button. I'll take the button for that one. Guest
speech. You get like one sentence. I'd like to
thank all the little people. That's it. All right.
We're moving on. All right. All right. The callback
that I loved button goes to Jeremy Wolf. Jeremy
Wolf. Keep your eyes closed moment at the end
of 21. That got me. I got so excited when you
brought that call. Take this button. You deserve
it. Thanks. Pretty good. Great callback. Good
overall stuff. Speech? I'd like to thank myself.
All right, fantastic. That's it. We're cutting
here. Cutting here. Get out. And last but not
least, we got one more button here. It's a weird
one for the listeners, but it makes sense for
you. This is our world's greatest detective,
apostrophe after the S, button, going to Steven
Rodriguez for discovering the answer to a mystery
that we're going to resolve in this... But he
actually figured it out in between weeks. Cracked
the case. Take that button, sir. You don't get
a speech. We're done with this now. It's over.
I dropped the button. Hang on. I had to grab
it forward. Danny made her move. I am now. Oh,
she was eyeing it. She was eyeing that button.
Flush. Flush with buttons. Zebulon has more buttons
than Jules now. Whoa. This calls for a celebration.
Oh, shoot. Yes, it does. Let's pop a bottle.
Pop a bottle. Okay. All right. Over this mixing
bowl that we have brought into the studio, which
realistically, I don't know. However big the
mixing bowl is, is not going to stop a fucking
beer volcano. It's precaution. There we go. Here
it comes. Look at that. A normal bottle. Not
bad. Wait for it. Wait for it. We're good. All
right. Cheers, gentlemen. And with your drinks
in hand, are you ready to continue our little
tale? Ooh, I'll play. We're going to open Inside
the Ugly Coyote. I'm going to say we step forward
in time maybe just a few moments. I think the
scene we open on is actually like Zebulon sitting
at a table. I think you have the pangolin Jamal
is kind of resting in front of you looking kind
of awkward. And there's sort of this just awkward
lingering quiet in the air around this table
as you're waiting. Now, off to the side of the
room, you see that Ader has taken storyteller
Orin to have a sort of hushed conversation. There's
a lot of whispering, but the few raised words
you can catch, you get the impression that maybe
Orin has no idea who you are or why he's here.
You think about it, there wasn't a lot of time
for Ader to just like... Bring this guy in. So
he must have, like, showed up, get in my car,
and come find you. And so Orin's just here. It's
funny looking at it, too, because they really
couldn't be any more opposite, their figures.
You have a story to Orin, very, very lanky, very
thin. And Aedir is just a super heavyset, bulky,
broad -shouldered dude, almost like, just like
dwarfing him. But, like, the way they chat, it's
not unfriendly. You can definitely tell they
have a history together. As these two are sort
of having their conversation in private, we pan
back to Zebulon, whose eyes, I think, would linger
towards a door to the back, back to that same
kitchen. We sort of zoom past that door to where
Jules LaRoche is delivering some very difficult
news to the remaining Cherry Delights. Thanks,
David. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Jumping right into it,
Jeremy. Oh, yeah, I'm pushing you in. Right in
the deep end, we move into the room through the
keyhole. We see Chester, Mulligan, Fibro, and
Jeans all lined up on the back wall, looking
at you expectantly. Guys, we got some hard work
ahead of us. It's not going to be easy. Jules,
what? What happened? What happened out there?
You said I could trust you, Jules. We can't let
things lie like this, right? We can't. We gotta
go now. Jules, we gotta go now. Chester, we're
gonna go. Chester, how long have we known each
other? I know we've got a history, but... Man,
Jules... When have I ever let any of you down?
He just looks down and Gene speaks up. Jules,
you've told us some stories about your parents.
They're monsters, from what you said. Yeah. We
can't leave them in their hands. We're not. What's
happening to them? We're not. We're not going
to leave them there. Then what's the plan? What
do we do? I don't know what the plan is yet.
I don't know. We need to regroup. We need to
figure out what's going to happen from here.
But I... Miskin's with them too, okay? Miskin
is 10. He acts tough, but he's always had us
to rely on. I can't. And Jeans actually just
walks out of the room. You see the door open
and slam shut. And Chester's inside looks at
you. Jules. Jules, I'll go after him. Look, look.
Jules. Chester. Yeah. There's a real chance that
all of us could be dead right now. Okay? I know.
I know. And right now, everybody's alive, including
them, okay? And we're going to keep it that way.
I don't know how yet, but we're going to stay
that way, okay? Jules, that guy out there, he's
supposed to help, right? That's Oren from TV.
I've seen him on the Crystal Network, on the
projections. He's a big deal. I mean... Maybe
he can help us? I mean... I think that's the
plan. That's what we're hoping. That seems to
be what Ada thinks can happen. Okay? Alright,
yeah, yeah. We're connected with a guy like that.
We can turn all this around. Just promise me
one thing, alright? Anything. When things go
down, I'm with you. Every step of the way, okay?
I don't want it any other way. Alright. And he's
got his bow strung over his shoulder. He lifts
it up proudly up towards his neck. You nod. I
should go check on Jeans. Yeah, go do your thing,
okay? And he rushes out. Fyro and Mulligan both
are staring down towards the ground. Fyro looks
up at you. They'll be okay. They'll be okay.
I promise you, they're going to be okay. And
this is only temporary. There was nothing else.
There was nothing else. He just nods. He steps
to the door as well, opens it. Mulligan follows
him out, just quiet, staring towards the floor.
And the remaining Cherry Delights leave the room.
Jules sits on the bed and puts his head in his
hands. And a few tears roll down. This is...
It's defeat. It's... Breaking trust. This is
not supposed to happen. A few moments later,
you hear a knock at the door, kind of disturbing
you in your solitude. What? What? Hey, Jules,
it's Ada. Look, he's ready for you. All right.
All right. I get up off the bed and walk out.
Zebulon, outside, you see Storyteller Orn is
still kind of in that corner as Jules moves towards
the table where you are. Oren nods to himself,
turns, and moves towards you guys. He steps over
to the table and he sits down to the other side.
You guys both sit. I think you're already sitting,
Zebulon, I imagined. Yeah. Quick question, David.
Yeah. How does it feel to make a grown man cry?
You know, I do be a monster sometimes. All in
a day's work, huh? Yeah, you know. You, uh...
As you sit down, Jamal the pangolin reaches out
and skitters onto your shoulder. Fuck. He just
rests there. Oren takes us in. I think eighters.
Alright, I'm gonna... I'm gonna get you guys
something to eat. Alright, maybe some good drink.
You guys hold tight. Hold tight. He actually
looks over and he's like, Hey, Mulligan. Come
on, come and help me out. Mulligan. I guess so.
Come on, come on. Let's get some work going.
Get those hands moving. That's what we call God's
breath grieving. Come on, come on. And he takes
him out back. And Mulligan actually almost seems
like he perks up a little bit at the idea of
getting into the kitchen, of doing some work.
And they both move into that back room. The door
closes. And it's just you, two, your pangolin,
and Storyteller Oren. The other cherry delights
have all fled upstairs. Pepper, from what you've
heard, is either out in the town or upstairs.
You haven't seen him for a hot minute. Jules,
uh, you doing okay? Yeah. I'll be fine. All right,
because that can... I mean, I can handle this
if you need to. No. Okay. We do this together.
You just let me know. I'll be right here. All
right. Oren's eyes are darting quizzically back
and forth between you two. Now, uh, I can't say
I know what your situation is. It ain't to fill
me in on a little bit, but I don't know much.
But I am sorry. Sounds like you've experienced
a loss. That's hard. And if I can help, I will.
But to be really honest with you fellas, Ada
rushed me here out of nowhere. He came to me
and said that y 'all could help me with a certain
situation I'm in. And in return, I could help
you. Show some footage on the network. Now I
have privileges that other folks don't have.
And if you guys really can't give me a hand...
I'd be happy to help in any way I can. Ada says
I can trust you to keep this quiet. And that's
what I need. Subtlety. Discretion. You get me?
Well, Mr. Oren, we do have some footage. Please,
just Oren. Oren. Oren. And this is a superstar.
Yeah. This is probably a weird situation. Someone
who Zebulon has watched. On the Crystal Network.
Yeah, both of you have. For a long time, yeah.
I don't think it phases Jules. Hell yeah. Basically,
Mr. Oren, some of the footage that we have, if
shown on your marvelous network, well, we'd be
famous. We would be on the billboards, on cereal
boxes. Uh, I mean, you can imagine. The whole
nine. I mean, I've seen it time and time again.
I hope. I hope that's true for your sake. I do.
I heard Ada said something to the doc. I think
he was told by that jeans girl that's been working
with him here. It's not just that, though. There's
some people that need to be exposed. Well, might
be I can help with that, too. That's mighty tricky.
And we'll get to that. But if y 'all don't mind.
I'd like to give you details on what I need before
I give away too much. You understand? Like I
said, discretion is very important here. As you
might understand, I'm kind of a high -profile
figure. And the paparazzi guild is all over the
place, crawling after me. As long as this stays
mutually beneficial, my ears are open, and you've
got my trust. All right. Well, to put this nice
and simple... I'm going home to God's breath
in a few days, and I might need some bodyguards.
That's my simple answer. The whole picture, well,
it's a story. I'll start with this. He reaches
into his vest and he pulls out this envelope,
just with this rustic, old -looking parchment
paper, and tosses it onto the table between you
guys. Give that a read, will ya? I want to get
your opinion on it. I think Jules is going to
let Zebulon take it, but Jules is going to scoot
his chair over. Sure, I'll read it. Oh, it's
really long. I can also read it. Let's give it
a shot. If you stumble too much, I'll take it
back. If we waste six minutes doing this, then
we can just... I get on with this, Zeb. Y 'all
want me to read that for you? Oh, sorry. You
meant out loud? Dear Uncle Oren, I know it's
been a while since I last wrote. It's been a
longer while since you've written me back. It's
okay. I know you're busy. With the Awakening
Festival just around the corner, it felt like
the right time to send you a letter. I just wanted
to let you know. that things have been going
well for me here on God's Breath. I've seen you
here and there. When I pass by one of them projectors
in Promise, you look good. The people around
town ain't so keen on you these days. Always
saying that you're selling our culture to the
masses and making it big off something you don't
own. Zebulon puts the letter down. This is really
tough to hear, Mr. Oren. Eh, nothing I ain't
used to. That's not the important part. Keep
going. Keep going. I can't say I know a lot about
that, but I'm happy for you nonetheless. Now,
I know you can't see me on any fancy crystals,
so this paper is all I can send to prove that
I'm all right as well. I've had some recent troubles,
though. Old Den's farm in the ribbon has gone
dead, like much of the others. It's getting hard
to find work in Promise and in the surrounding
land. Now, I don't want you worrying none, but
I've taken up a job at the new farm in the Rattle.
I ain't telling you whose farm or where it is.
I don't need you sending folk to come and check
on me or trying to haul me off world to the protection
of your big diamond city. I mean it when I'm
saying that I'm fine. The folk here are real
nice to me. even when I mess things up here and
there. Also, Cully's coming along to stay with
me here. I just got a message from him yesterday
that he's on his way. I'm hoping it can be just
like old times. He says he misses you, by the
way, and that he hopes you'll come to visit.
No offense, Uncle, but I disagree with him there.
I'd rather you stay in your city, making your
show, and leave me to my painting and farming.
A letter here and there wouldn't bother me none,
though. It's love, Kiana. Thank you. I'll take
that back, if you don't mind. Yeah, that was
a lot. You can just have that. I'm sorry, Steven.
I didn't realize what that was. I was willing
to read it, but I wanted to give you guys a chance
to do some talking, too. I didn't really realize
what was happening in that moment. Get that Zebulon,
you know, feel in there. And it only took three
minutes. It's a long letter. It's a long letter.
But also, like, I couldn't just be like, it's
five sentences in the actual letter, because
that's stupid. And I'm trying to make a believable
story here, kind of, sort of, ish. So Oren takes
that back, folds it up. Well, that's the situation.
Kiana's my niece, and though we may be somewhat
estranged these days, I do have my concerns.
Now. Let me explain a little more. Yeah, no offense,
Mr. Oren. It seems like a pretty normal letter
to me. It seems like Kiana maybe doesn't really
want to see you. That is going to be a little
bit of a problem, but not so much a problem as
you might think. We'll get to that. We'll get
to that. What's your concerns? Well, first things
first. The rattle. What do y 'all know of God's
breath? Not a lot. Well, I can't say I know a
whole lot about it either. I know that's where
you're from. Yeah, well. And eight or two. It's
got an air of mystery to the rest of the world,
generally speaking. The people of God's breath
are rather defiant towards the Crystal Network
and towards the Concord in general. They like
to keep their culture close to home. They're
simple farming folks, staying away from the big
cities and the tourists and all that. So how
did you get to doing what you're doing? Again,
that's a story. And I'll tell it, I promise.
Because it has... A lot to do with what I'm asking
here. But first things first, let's talk about
God's Breath. Now, God's Breath is a beautiful
farming country. Like I said, we got a small
world, small population, one of the smallest
amongst the Concord worlds. It is gorgeous, pristine
land for the most part. You have a central town
of promise. And all around it is an area called
The Ribbon, where we have many farms set up.
Problem is, the ribbon of beautiful farmlands
has been dying. Every year the harvests are bringing
in less and less with smaller gains. It's getting
worse. No one knows how to stop it. And so people
of God's breath are facing the real danger of
starvation or over -reliance on the radiant citadel.
And that is a terrifying prospect to my people.
So some of these folk have decided to take a
different direction. They want to help themselves.
I get it. So let me tell you about the rattle
now. It's a wild, miscovered land beyond the
ribbon, where the air smells always of metal,
and the land shakes and screams beneath your
feet. Many dangers lie in those woods. Dire coyotes,
giant rattlesnakes. Giant hard shells burrowing
reptiles known as boulets. But there's more than
that. More than the typical dangers you may find
in the wilderness. There are tales and rumors
of things out there in those lands. Dark things.
Evil things. Whole farms and houses swallowed
up by the land itself. A palpable malice pressing
in on all those who linger in the mist. Driving
them mad. I've spent my own time in the rattle.
Used to explore it for fun. Some things happened.
Now I'm here. But that's not really what troubles
me about this letter. There's something much
more sinister. Something that truly scares me.
Shakes every bone in my body to its core. And
I wonder if you can guess what that thing is.
I guess I didn't really notice anything too extraordinary.
He nods, smiles a little bit, and says one word.
Cully. That name. Cully. What's that mean? Cully's
a boy. A boy I knew. Keanu's best friend in the
whole world. Up till he drowned to death. Ten
years ago. So, how is Cully gonna be on a farm
in the rattle? My thoughts exactly. Now listen,
this is why I gotta keep this secret. My niece,
she's always had... Cully's death was a trauma.
It was hard for her. She's always had a way about
it since then. She's alienated from other people.
I've tried to get her to come with me here, but
she wouldn't do it. She wouldn't come where there's
crowds. She always wants to stay alone. Alone
where she could paint. Painting macabre images
of events that she imagined. Or thinks she imagined.
Thinks she's in some kind of mental crisis? Might
be. Look, I got one more story to tell you. And
this is a big one. But I'll make it quick. Long
version can wait. All you need to know is that
there's a land out in the rattle once known as
Cradle Lace Lake. Used to be Cradle Lace Farm,
home to a large, happy family. During a terrible
storm, a sinkhole swallowed the farmhouse whole
and flooded, drowning the house in brackish mug.
There are many a tale to say that the house's
residents struggled to escape that pit, but the
farm's owner, desperate to keep her family with
her. dragged them back into the sinking house.
In the aftermath, when neighbors arrived at the
sinkhole's edge, all they saw were six pairs
of severed, undead hands struggling to escape
the water and then sinking in. Gone. Lost. To
the murk. In the years that followed, more tragedies
befell those who came to Cradle Lace Lake. That's
what they say. And that's... That's where Coley,
that's where he passed down. So you think that
he's come back as undead? I don't know. I don't
think so. But from what Kiana told me, after
the fact, after the incident, he's like sweating
now. You're realizing that maybe this is more
personal to Oren than just... A family matter.
There's more to this tale. He's sort of wiping
sweat off his brow. What she told me back then
was that she saw hands through the water grabbing
him, pulling him down, holding his head below
till he was gone. Most folk think that maybe
she just made this up. A factor of her guilt.
She was there. She watched it happen, and I think
that affected her, and she... Hang on. He reaches
into his jacket again and pulls out one more
rolled -up parchment. That litter wasn't all
I got. There's one more thing, too. Mind, I told
you, Kiana, she's got a penchant for macabre
art, right? She draws things, paints things that
ain't pleasant to see. It's always been that
way, so this... It shouldn't be too disturbing,
but... I don't know. It has me scared. He rolls
out this painting. And you look at it, I imagine?
Yeah. You see a painting that is beautiful, yet
terrible in its realism. You see it as a portrait
of a young woman, her ebony skin and gaunt features
showing a likeness to Orin that belies their,
or betrays their family resemblance. As do her
copper eyes, which are open wide in a visage
of pure horror. A trickle of tears forming at
their corners. Her head is wrapped in a red cloth
with a number of thin black braids hanging down
to her shoulders. Her mouth. Well, you don't
see her mouth. Not beneath the hand, pressing
over half her face. A hand large and bloated.
sickly gray and covered in spots of slick rot,
fingernails cracked and dirt -filled. Orne only
looks at it for a moment before he wraps it up
again and tucks it away too quickly, trembling
fingers as he pushes it into his jacket, a little
too rough. You can see why I'm worried. Now either
my niece may be getting worse in the mind and
may need help, or something else. But I can't
if she's, if she's ill. I can't have these paparazzi
guild members swarming over her. It's only going
to make matters worse. She don't deserve that.
She wants to be away from the crowds, away from
the fame. And if I go there with any real luminaires,
any big, big names, anyone I can't trust, they'll
throw her to the crowds. Those sharks. I need
people who aren't known yet. I need discretion.
She certainly has an aptitude for the fine arts.
This dead silent table. Over here is the penguin
sniffing it. I'm sorry. I just have to recognize
talent when I see it. No, she's brilliant. No,
seriously. I mean, if her arts weren't so upsetting,
I'd make a pretty penny on them. Talent recognizes
talent. And I should have put this before, but
content warning, listeners. We're going into
the horror arc. Oh, jeez. Oh, boy. Here I was
thinking we're just going to nice farming country,
going to gallop through the wheat fields and
all. And then we're going to fight a necromancer.
Yep. So the only way this is going to work is
if we all trust each other. Ada vouched for you.
He's likely my best friend I have here on the
Radiant Citadel. So I trust you too. And it sounds
like y 'all are in your own sort of pickle here.
So I promise you help me with this and I will.
Make sure to do everything in my power to get
your names out. You want to be famous? I'll make
you famous. I'll make it happen, as long as this
stays secret. I'm okay going into this being
relatively unknown, as long as you keep up your
end of the deal and we don't come out of it that
way. I promise. If half the things Ada says are
true about y 'all... And if that diamond you
got is as promising as you make it sound, no
way in hell you come out of this being unknown.
Hater doesn't know the half of it. I've got my
own personal family business to take care of,
too. All right. We take care of that. I don't
know what that entails, but I'll do what I can
to help, I promise. All right, we'll get there
in time. So the door opens and you see Ader muscles
in with a steaming platter. He's got three bowls
on it, like sizzling, and little bits of spoon
bread. He drops down like a crawfish stew in
front of y 'all. I'm saying y 'all in my own
voice now. I was going to say, you're in character.
I can't, it's so hard to like disassociate. But
he slides it over and actually Oren kind of steps
up like, sorry old friend, but I actually got
to go. I got a lot to do today. We only have
a few days before leaving, but listen, folk.
In three days' time, the Awakening Festival happens
in God's Breath, and every year I take these
days off, right? So we got ourselves an opening
where people won't expect me around on the network.
It won't be strange for me to disappear for a
while. And while I never actually go back to
God's Breath, as you can see, there's some contention
that comes to me. Let's just say someone else
does. You're probably wondering, how did Sojourner
Oren walk into this pub? And we aren't swarming
with paparazzi, huh? I mean, I wasn't, but. Yeah,
I guess. That didn't cross your mind? Not that
you mention it. Let me show you. And he looks
at you for a minute and he's like, once again,
stay secret, right? Oh my God. You see he takes
off his hat for a second and he puts it back
on. As he does. No way. He transforms, changes.
And you actually see in front of you, suddenly
rather than this skinny, this is very skinny,
very tall, very gaunt man, you see a husky, well
-built, large muscle, broad -shouldered woman.
Also dark skin with like a sort of like flowing,
God's breath sort of gown. Oh my God. And just
like wearing this hat and he goes, as you can
see, hang on, as you can see. Oh, what a twist.
I got myself an alter ego. Y 'all can call me
Lady Dre. I hate how much I love it. He points
to the straw hat, which is still on his head.
Her head. Now this thing here is what you might
call a hat of disguise. Basically always allows
me to cast a disguise self at will. Just take
it off, put it on again. This is my alter ego
I go around with sometimes, and this is how I
go back to God's breath for the festival without
getting my, well, my shit kicked in. Like I said,
my people, they ain't too keen on the Citadel
and the Crystal Network. They watch it. They
don't want to be a part of it. And me coming
in with my farmer's attitude when they don't
really see me as a farmer type anymore. Plus,
well, there's more to my earlier story, but we'll
get to that. They think you're just some flatlander.
Yeah. Y 'all know what that means. God's breastplate
flat. Really not a mountainous region there.
Sorry, that may have been a little of my personal
bias. So he stands up, or she stands up. I don't
know how to go about this now. You got to keep
track now. I know, right? They stand up and move
over to the door, saloon doors, and looks back
and he's just like, Oh, you want to take that
to go, you sure? No, no, Ada, I'm fine. Remember,
it's Lady Dre now. And, uh, points to you guys.
I'll be back in three days' time to collect y
'all. We'll be taking the, uh, the Jasper off
-world. She'll be about an eight o 'clock travel
time. Y 'all understand? We'll be there. Well,
doodaloo then. And she tips her hat and spins
and steps out of the... over the tavern doors
and steps out into the world outside and... They
close behind Storyteller Oren. Zebulon reaches
over and grabs the bowl of crawfish stew. He
was watching you, expecting you to be like, go
on, eat it. I'm only going to put his heart into
that. Y 'all especially need to eat. He points
to you, Jules. I'm not hungry right now. Zebulon
picks up a spoon. Is it spicy? Well... Yeah,
of course. Excellent. I don't make not spicy
food. Come on. It's the ugly coyote. We ain't
the pale moonlight. Hey, fuck those guys over
the pale moonlight. Yeah, fuck the pale moonlight.
That's right. We hate those guys. Dude, I'm really
surprised that... When I said I'm not hungry,
you did not say, well, Mulligan comes out of
the kitchen and looks at you. He's there. He's
there right now. He's at the door. It doesn't
work like that. I can't. No, it doesn't work
like that. I gave you the idea. You can't go
back and say, oh, yeah, he is. God damn it, that
face, David. Okay, I eat some. What do you think
of my homemade seafood stock? Do you smile? How
do you react? It's good. Is it good, Jules? Hey,
Jules. Jules? Okay, Jules takes a bite, and then,
because he's really not feeling happy right now,
so he is putting on the biggest performance that
he has ever put on to muster a genuine smile.
And you actually see a soft smile return to you
from Mulligan, who tucks himself back into the
kitchen, and you think maybe he's feeling just
a little better. Mulligan, what's in this? He's
back in the kitchen. I already said. Dead end.
Get out of here. Oh, God. So dumb. All right.
All right. Hey, Mulligan, give me the recipe.
Now, if you guys don't mind, I'd like to turn
the clock a little bit. Just down to later that
evening. I don't know if you guys, I imagine
maybe you're spending a quiet day in after everything
that's gone down. Yeah, I imagine Jeans isn't
talking to me right now. Chester's been gone
all day with her upstairs. Zebulon spent the
last two hours talking about the recipe with
Mulligan. All right, you got the recipe. Oh,
God. I think, like, as night's falling, you see
Aiders kind of, like, Setting up his own sort
of diamond that he's got. He's blowing it up.
It's all dusty covered. He's sticking it in like
a projection crystal with a little diamond slot
in there. And he's like, well, might as well
get an eye on the news here. Somewhere private.
I think what I've been hearing, this may be important
to y 'all. And he sets it up and it flickers
a light against the wall. And actually, I think
there's actually some customers in here now.
So they're all kind of watching, maybe a few
cheers go up as they see something. An image
appears of the great sort of gate into the preserve
of the ancestors, the sort of inside of the ethereal
diamond where, you know, a lot of the governance
gets done. You watch as like the gates are opening
slowly. You see like paparazzi black and yellow
checkered vests everywhere. all excitable and
jumping and trying to ask questions. Just all
this chatter as a small group starts to move
out of the inside. You see, first and foremost,
the familiar red leather uniform of Sturge Man,
who is stepping out basically at the head of
this small group. Behind him, you see this large
object like this. almost human -sized, maybe
like eight feet tall or so, crystal. And it's
got these sort of golden ribbons running around
it. It's kind of got this greenish hue. And as
it moves further in, as the camera's panning
in closer towards this, you can see there's a
man inside, frozen solid, his face locked in
this state of anguish. That's gross. I mean,
I just pictured Han Solo, but... It's not far
from that. You see, like, the hands up, the eyes
are open wide, and, like, staring out, unmoving.
And maybe there's a part of you looking at this,
looking at Casa Maroon, that wonders if those
eyes can see, and if that mind can think while
locked, preserved, and unmoving in that crystal
prison. Next to it, you actually see this, what's
called a pari. Or parry? They're basically a
type of lesser angel that are from Ankara and
Sengar. They're very tall with blue skin and
glowing orange eyes. They've got four great red
wings coming off their back. Long black hair.
He's got a shining breastplate over flowing white
robes. You know these guys are generally Atash's
sort of enforcers. As well as the prison wardens
for Zendayane Saab's The Sky Prison. And you
know... Exactly where Kasim is going now. This
Pahri looks in, takes in the sights, doesn't
speak a word, just nobly stares around, soft
smile on their face, as they, with one sort of
open hand, direct the glowing, floating crystal
along with them. Luckily, their own magic sort
of creating and sort of holding it together.
A Sturgeman steps forward, and everyone, Sturgeman!
Sturgeman! Sturgeman! I get a statement! Can
we get a statement from you? What are your thoughts
on this case? Just a little paparazzi coming
over. The surgeon puts his hands up and people
kind of move in. It is my pleasure to see justice
done here. There are some that may feel 300 years
is too long a sentence for this one's crimes,
but they lack understanding. Any doctor will
tell you that an infection cannot linger inside
its host's body, not without endangering that
host. Bad blood must be drained from the veins
of society. That will always be my creed. Are
the rumors true? Are the rumors true you had
assistance in catching this criminal? He kind
of looks around. This is true. Though the others
involved have asked that they not be revealed.
More just like, more shouts in version. Is there
anything you would say to them now, given the
chance? And I think there's a long moment where
he stops and thinks. And then turns back to that
one particular paparazzi member. Only that justice
has been done today. Justice for murderers. And
this slight pause where he seems to look directly
into the crystal watching him. And for thieves.
And watching this. Because you figured it out
outside. I want to give your characters the benefit
of this revelation. Your minds flash back then.
To the day you met Rune Rusong. When he challenged
you with that little mock battle. When you walked
away angry. And he was trying so hard to coax
you back into his arms. Into his loving embrace.
And he was telling you about his prospects as
an agent. You remember now him saying. I even
helped some of the big ones. Sturge Man? That
was me. And you remember. Me, Jules. You remember
when you're walking back from the densing night
market on Smasunko. Having small talk. And I
imagine Zebulon was geeking out about Sturge
Man. And me dropped that little fact that he
realized in the moment. That Sturge Man carries
amongst him many magical tools. One of them being
his proboscis Sturge mask. which also functions
as a helm of telepathy, giving him the ability
to read thoughts. You remember him asking you,
dead on, what you would call home, where home
is for you. You remember Jules, that you thought
of the cherry delights, and Zebulon, you thought
of the ugly coyote. The best way you could be
hurt, and where that weakness lies, delivered
to him. And you remember he left right after.
Jules turns to Zeb. I will kill that fucking
gnome. I think Zebulon meets your gaze, but doesn't
respond. Yeah, I mean, like, I think that it's
great because you have this moment where you
both realize this at the same time. And when
you look at each other, as you say these sort
of cryptic lines, you know, you both know what
the other's thinking. You've just kind of gotten
to this point where you're on each other's level
so hard. I love that. I love it. As the... Oh,
yes, there's no sun. As the crystal re -illuminates
the fossil once the city is built around it,
as this brilliant light shines out and, well,
essentially morning hits the Radiant Citadel,
you awaken to a slamming open of the saloon door
downstairs. I imagine you're upstairs. You hear
a voice go... Disgusting! Awful! How can anyone
live here? Zebulon! Jules! Down here! Now! Wait,
now he's the first one awake? Got him. Hey, it's
a good question. You guys go downstairs? Yeah.
I mean, yeah, I'm not happy about it, but...
You both, like, I imagine sleepy -eyed, funneled
down the stairs. I think Chester's also with
you two, moving down. As you step down, you see
John Franklin is looking at you, and he looks...
unbelievably irritable. He's got, like, sleep
lines under his eyes. He looks exhausted. And
he's just like, There you are! Having fun here
in the ugly coyote? This is disgusting! Why you
won't stay at the pale moonlight? I can't understand,
but listen, anyway, I am exhausted. No, no, I
will have my say. I have been out all night looking
for agents after agents. Agent after agent, and
none of them, none of them have had any hope
of taking us on. Turned down again and again
and again. I have done things I am not proud
of. John, sit down. I have tried so hard to find...
I don't understand. John! What? Sit down. Why?
We have work to do. We have good news. What news?
Sit. No! He stomps his foot. He's so angry. Have
some crawfish stew. It's spicy. He, like, takes
one snip and slaps it off the table. Oh, my God.
Wow. Get out. John, get out. All right, all right.
Go back to the pale moonlighting with your kind.
I'm sorry. It has been a very frustrating evening
trying to find an agent for two people who seem
to have some sort of blacklist here. John! What?
Fucking listen to what Zeb's trying to tell you.
What are you trying to tell me? We have a prospect.
What do you mean, a prospect? You found an agent?
You? Found an agent? Well, I mean, in a manner
of speaking, yes. What? We just... Why? How?
When? We just have to complete a job. A bodyguard
gig. And then that's it. We're going to be on
the network. You're telling me the truth, really?
Jules? Yes? Roll an insight check. I don't care.
Fine, I'll roll an insight check on you. The
first roll of the episode. It was high. So then
you tell me. You actually roll for Jaune, but
oh well. It's a weird middle ground. He's looking
at you, and he kind of just like, his eyes widen,
and then he does just collapse into a seat. Why
did I do all that work then? Well, you did that
yourself. Why didn't you tell me you found an
agent? I'll just pick up my cell phone and give
you a call and let you know what's going on.
You knew where I was. Most of the time, a pale
moonlight, room 11. Neither of us are setting
foot in the goddamn pale moonlight. We're not
going there. So much better than this dirty...
We're not going there. Even if there's a fire.
Oh, my God. All right. I'm going to assume you
fill his own out on everything, right? You probably
sit down. He's exhausted. He finally shuts his
mouth for a moment, and you can just, like, give
him the whole load. Dump info. I imagine Chester's
probably already heard all this the day before,
but he's listening and probably cutting in here
and there to give updates. And you fill him in,
and he's just nodding. I see. Well, that's...
Huh. Well, if we're going to take up this job...
Some sort of bodyguard gig. We really need to
update your equipment situation. Now, listen,
listen. I do have some means, as you know. This
is a standard issue. I'm not a nobody. Not you.
I'm not some nobody, after all. But I will say
a lot of my money is tied up in things. I'm used
to a certain life of luxury. Certain foods and
resting conditions, you understand. so I've already
kind of paid ahead at the Pale Moonlight for
some time. But I suppose I could front you a
hundred each, if you promise to use it properly
to make sure we survive. In fact, I'm your sidekick,
aren't I? So perhaps I should be taking some
of that for my own equipment situation. I've
been meaning to buy a shield for some time. Well,
what does it mean to front us 200 gold? Well,
I mean, do we have to pay you 300 gold back?
Like, what is going on here? I mean, I'd love
if you'd pay me back the 200, but if you can't
make it, whatever. It's better I stay alive and
you stay alive and we have a chance at, well,
my goals than nothing at all. So here. And he
just slides 100 gold to each of you. Hey. I mean,
if you say so. He just kind of gives you a terse
nod. Well, you did find an agent. At least you
did some work. It was like a musical reward.
Yeah, yeah. He nods heroically towards you because
the music said so. No. Yeah, so I'm going to
ask you guys right now. We're going to cut some
time here because you've got a few days before
the next mission. And during this time, I imagine
you're going to do some shopping. You're literally
in the trade disc all. You can buy almost anything
on the Radiant Citadel. I mean, come on. This
is the main trading hub between... 25 worlds.
There's almost nothing you can't find. So let
me ask you right now. I actually made these players
do a little homework this week. What are you
buying? Zebulon, you go first. I am buying Jaune
his shield. Thank you. I will take that. I'm
buying some more. Ball bearings to replenish
what I already used. That's fun. I'm upgrading
those a little bit. I'm also buying some caltrops
that work similarly, but they're a little more
gnarly. It's so fun. And then I'm spending 50
gold, half of this loot drop on a single health
potion. Hey, you know, that might save your life.
I'm hoping so. Hoping so. I already informed
these players that this next adventure we're
going on is going to be incredibly deadly. Good
thing I've got one health potion. Good thing
you've got one health potion. It sounds like
you might have to use it on me. Well, because
you're the healer, so if you're down, someone's
going to heal you. Oh, boy. On that note, Jules,
what are you getting to keep yourself alive?
On the note of possibly having to use the health
potion on me, both myself and Chester have shit
for AC. You do. I am currently at 11, and Chester
is at 12. And, like, you guys never start with
armor. It just didn't really fit the characters
to have any armor. I had studded leather armor
for flavor at the beginning of the campaign.
Oh, did you? Yeah. I remember that. At the beginning
of the campaign. But I'm pretty sure it was just
for, like, flavor. It was, like, shredded up
bad armor. Right. And to give me at least a bit
of a bump against the... I don't know, you call
them zappies. So I'm going to buy each of us
a piece of armor. All right, hell yes. So jewels,
I'm proficient in only light armor, unfortunately,
so I am actually getting real studded leather
armor, which... That's a lot, right? No, it brings
me up to 12 from 11. Not still. Plus my dex modifier,
which is zero. That's full stud leather? I mean,
isn't that super pricey? That's studded leather.
I mean, that's 45. Okay, yeah. It's only 45.
Not too bad, not too bad. And then Chester's
getting a bigger moon than I am on it. I'm getting
him a chain shirt, which is 50 gold. Yeah, Chester
as sort of a watered -down ranger. Right. He's
pretty tough. Yeah. So he's able to get the medium
armor. I'm getting him a chain shirt, which gives
him 13 AC, plus his dex, which is 2. So he's
got an AC of 15 now. I like to think you step
out of the store. I'm sorry, Stephen. Go ahead.
I did offer you earlier to take some of Zebulon's
bank if you wanted to buy Chester something better
than a dagger. Oh, he's got a short rod, too.
Yeah, but if you wanted to buy him a better melee
weapon. Because I think I've only spent, like,
70 or 80 of the 100 gold. I mean, his dagger
is a plus 4 to hit, damages 1d4 plus 2. Right,
but if you wanted to buy him, like, a short sword
to give him, like, 1d6, it's probably, like,
5 or 10 gold. Let's see. I think it's more than
that. For short sword? It might be more than
that. I'm pretty sure it's more than that. Let
me just see real quick. Okay, so a short sword.
Oh, it's actually 10 gold. It's 10 gold. Yeah.
But it's 1d6 damage. Yeah, that's a huge difference.
No, it's not. Between 1d4? 1d4 plus 2. Well,
yeah, but won't you get the same bonus? It's
an average one damage higher, I believe. Is he
going to lose the plus two by wielding a short
sword? No, he has proficiency. Will it still
be the plus four to hit, though? Yeah, it's a
plus. Yeah, because he gets proficiency in simple
weapons, right? So any simple weapon, he'll get
the same. Yeah, he gets it. He'll still get the
plus four to hit. Yes, it'll be the same as a
dagger. So do you give him the short sword, too?
How much gold do you have left? I don't know.
I didn't count it out. Potion was 50. Okay. The
shield is, I think the shield's only like 5.
I'm sure you have 10 gold left after the caltrop.
You definitely have 10 gold. What about 15? I
think there is probably 20 gold left. I would
say 20 gold sounds about right to me. And I started
with 25 gold, or 28 gold or whatever. I take
that from you. So what about a 15 gold warhammer?
Yeah, I'm good. That is 1d8 bludgeoning. Let
me... Actually, warhammers are small. Yeah, he
can wear that. And it's also versatile. So that
could be a 1D10 if he's wielding it two -handed,
which I think that is the only way that he would
wield it. Shit. He doesn't have two -handed proficiency
in anything. Chester with a war here. If he's
taking a swing, he's not going to be doing a
short bow. I want to do something with this,
actually. As you're kind of going through, like,
shops, I think you see Chester wearing, like,
his chain armor now with his bow slung over his
shoulder, his quiver on his back, and he's looking
more like, he always looked like just kind of
a random street rat, you know? Suddenly, Chester's
got this look of, like, an actual warrior about
him, and you're starting to realize the sort
of, like, muscular physique that's been building
under his long jacket, which he still kind of
has tucked over his armor and everything. I like
where you're going with this. Yeah, I think he's
walking through the shop, and he looks over,
like, and maybe he's looking at swords, and his
eye moves over to, like, a warhammer. and his
eyes linger on it for a while, and he looks over
at you. Hey, Jules. Get a load of that, huh?
A miskin will lose his shit, right? You always
want one like that. Nice warhammer. Uh, Jules
is going to look over at his, um... Think you
can spot him? I mean, you think you can even
wield something like that? I mean... Yeah. Let's
just say I've had a... Pick it up. A rough time
of things. I learned a thing or two. He steps
over and he yanks up the shelf and sort of like
immediately swings it around pretty comfortably
around his head. Kind of, and then Chopper's
like, hey, hey, hey, stop that there. Oh, sorry,
sorry. Oops. But yeah, I can wield it. Wow, you
didn't even have to roll for that. Damn. Why
would I need to roll for it? I'm a ranger. Zeb
pulls out his purse and... What? He's got a coin
purse. What's the matter with that? He's a modern
man. I mean, you didn't preface it with coin
the first time. You just said purse. I probably
should make sure, right? Rangers actually are
proficient in non -simple weapons before I...
It's a martial weapon. Is that a non -simple
weapon? Looks like they are martial. Oh, sweet.
Awesome. Just double checking. One more sight
source real quick. So yeah, you see him swinging
around. He tucks it into his back, and again,
you just look at Chester, and this small friend,
this 15 -year -old boy, freckle face and wild
red hair, big gap teeth, is just suddenly starting
to look like kind of a badass. And I'm going
to look down at Chester, and I'm going to take
my hand, and just kind of like a proud dad moment,
I'm going to take my hand and just kind of pat
the side of his face and his chin. Hey, come
on, Jules, come on. Hey, hey. We're in public,
man. Zeb's watching. He's blushing. He looks
a little bit less like a warrior, more like a
kid for this moment. Hell yeah. And from that,
I'm going to say a few days pass. Is there anything
else you guys want to touch on during this time
period? Zebulon wants to find Pepper. Oh, yes.
That's right. Yeah, honestly, before those few
days pass, on the first day, Pepper would come
back at some point. Yeah, let's do this. He walks
back in, his ears down, almost to the floor,
just like this really sad rabbit walk, just barely
any speed at all, just step, step. He looks up.
Oh, hey, Zeb. I'm really sad about the thing
that happened. You know, with the kids. I like
them. They were nice. I know. That wasn't your
fault, Pepper. It was my fault. I came here,
and then they... I didn't realize you guys and
Rune were, like, bad, bad, you know? Peppers,
um... I should have told you sooner that Rune
knew where you were. He's sniffing. He's probably
crying a little bit. It wasn't your fault. Sturge
Man had everything to do with this. Sturge Man?
He would have been here with or without you.
Oh. Rune used you. Oh, well, I'm going to get
that guy. Yeah, we are. I'm going right now.
No, I mean, there's a time and a place for everything.
And Rune will get his due. But we're not ready
yet for that. You can trust me when I tell you.
When it's time for Rune to get his, we're going
to give it to him together. I don't know what
I should do. That guy, the guard, the shield
bearer guy, he was right. I am kind of wanted
in God's breath, and if he knows, then soon they're
all going to know. Once they all know, they're
going to come get me. I've got to leave the Citadel,
and I don't want to leave you because they're
my new friends, and I don't have any friends,
and I don't know where to go because God's breath,
I can't go back there. Well, I think, Pepper,
I think we might have a solution. Huh? His ears
prick up. Until such time that we need to get
Rune back. Yeah. How would you feel about a job?
A job? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I like those, yeah.
So, so, I mean. How many people do I have to
beat up? That's what Rune had me do. No, no,
it's going to be. Remember because I beat you
up? It's going to be simpler than that. Oh. It's
going to be, well, I mean, Jaune said that you
should be a farmer. Yeah, I was good at it, yeah.
Did you like it? Oh, I loved it. Yeah. Yeah.
God's Breath. Yeah, it was awesome. Yeah. So
we kind of wanted to know if you would want to
do something like that. I can't go back to God's
Breath. No. It would be on Sapsunko. His ears
prick all the way up. I like Sapsunko. Yeah.
Oh. Remember the pepper shop? I do. Yeah. Yeah.
They were nice peppers. They were. Yeah. Yeah.
Well, we were thinking that you would want to
grow those peppers and sell them. Really? What
the? Didn't they take me? Well, yeah, I mean,
it's kind of up to us. You guys hooked me up
with a sweet new gig? Yeah, Pepper, of course
we're going to hook you up. Oh, Pepper. We said
so. We said so. I'm crying laughing. We keep
our promises. He just kind of cries a little,
wipes his eyes. When can I start? Whatever I
can do to help you guys. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah,
I mean, as soon as you're able. All right. Wow,
wow. I'm going to start a pepper shop. What do
I call it? Timmy Lots Peppers. No. No. Jules
Hot Stuff. No. I like that one. I'll keep workshopping.
I'll think of something. You keep doing that.
Yeah. And I imagine the following. day. He takes
the noon ruby, probably with some written portion
from you, describing the situation, what you
want him to do, and he brings it straight to
Madame Colt. And I think that's the last you
see of Pepper before you head to God's Breath.
He's just waving farewell furiously, arm -like,
side to side, as he's moving on to the ruby.
Good luck, Pepper! Steven, that deserves a high
five. Nice job. Alright. Great. It's been many
episodes coming. Yep. Awesome. One more thing.
I want to touch on before we wrap this up and
go into the day of your departure. This is going
to take place on the very night before. Jules.
Yes. You've noticed that throughout the last
few days, Fibro has been reading nonstop. You
don't even know when he's been sleeping, if he's
been sleeping. just flipping page after flipping
page. And you know that he's done this before
when he's gotten down, he's been like diving
into his magical studies and this and that. And
now he's got these books on history and lore.
And he's just been like, just, just completely
devoting himself to just diving into them, really
trying to learn what he can and just not think
about anything outside. You know, that's always
been his way. Just sitting at a corner table
downstairs. With one, like, candle lighting his
sort of pages as he reads and reads and reads.
I imagine maybe you leave him to it, knowing
that's just how he copes. But finally, on the
night before, he kind of looks up at one point.
Uh, hey Jules? Yeah, what's up, Fibro? Can I
ask you a question? Anything. His eyes are, like,
wide and super tired looking. Uh, alright, um,
so, heh, this is interesting stuff here. So I've
been reading about Sapsunko. In these books,
I almost finished both of them, and wow, it's
amazing. You are there. Is it true? The mountain
range around the valley, is it? It's really as
tall as they say and almost straight on the other
side, and it's really there. There's really a
range guarding this valley. Yeah, and it's a
beautiful mountain range. Jules, you don't understand.
That's incredible. I mean, they say, both these
books, say that a single sorcerer, Phi May Moon,
climbed up this mountain in the middle of the
valley and, speaking to the spirits, summoned
this entire mountain range to guard against an
outside threat. Now, that's crazy, right? This
is magic on such a high level. I couldn't believe
it. These spirits in the land. I mean, no human
could do this, right? I've never heard of something
like that. Yeah, it's nuts. Wow. He's just, like,
he's just, like, phasing out just a bit. What
are you telling me, Fibro? I just, I don't know.
This idea that, like, that this human could call
upon some spirits and just, I mean, what are
these spirits? Do you know anything about them?
Yeah, it's like some wild kind of unknown magic.
Even though the lore and stories, it's almost
what he's trying to get to. It's not well described
how this process happened. How did one singular
person manage to raise an entire mountain range?
I mean, there's this idea that he called upon
the spirits of the land, which is a huge part
of Susanko's culture and kind of local reverence
and religion. The land spirits are like an important
part of it. And you do know one more thing about
these land spirits. You know a term connected
to them. Shadrakhan. Do you say that out loud?
I look over at Zeb. Shadrakhan. No. No. Sha...
Wait. Vizier? Vizierdrakhan. Vizierdrakhan. Vizierdrakhan.
So Vizierdrakhan is one who can speak with the
spirits. Shadrakhan is what you know as the land
where spirits come from. The land of spirits.
She is... the Laopop flowers? He nods at that.
Covering the mountains. That's actually what
they say here. They were born, created when the
mountains were born. As part of the same ritual.
It's amazing how this stuff can last for thousands
and thousands of years. People barely even remember
how this happened. This predates the union of
the world. This predates the citadel. And no
one knows anything about these spirits. It's
crazy, right? So are we scrapping God's breath
and going back to some psycho? He's just asking
you questions. I mean, did you say Shadrakhan
in front of him? Yes. Because I don't think you've,
you probably haven't brought these terms up with
Vibro. Well, I think I said Shadrakhan, and I
don't want to speak for Zeb, but I imagine, I
mean, you just said the same thing, maybe it
was in character, but Azir Drakhan. Shadra what?
Drakhan what? That mean something, Jules? I don't
know. I don't know what to make of that. It's
just... What's it mean? The words? Does it...
Did you just say words? Gibberish words? It's
a spirit world. A spirit world? That's what I
was told. Like a separate world for spirits?
I... I don't know. That... Where'd you hear that?
Because that doesn't... Look, that contradicts
what the history and the lore book here say about
the world of Sasako. I mean, basically what they
say is the spirits predated humans. It was their
world first. Humans came along, all humans and
all the other half -elves, elves, in this case
a lot of dragonborn, gnomes, and such and such,
orcs. They came along and they were led to creating
the society by the spirits and the land. So I
don't know, there's nothing I want to hear about
the world the spirits belong to. Steven, you
can feel free to take over on this because I
feel like I'm missing something. No, you're not.
I don't think Zebulon's there. You're not missing
anything. I don't know. He's just pointing out
contradiction. You're doing good. I don't know
what else to say. I will say, not every scene
has an answer. Not every scene is me guiding
or something. Some scenes are me just bringing
up new questions because questions need to be
brought up to be answered later. Fyro's just
curious. Okay, then that's that. All right, yeah.
All right, end of scene. You just kept asking
questions like you're trying to lead me to an
answer. No, no, he's just curious. He's the character.
He's a curious boy. He's a curious boy. This
is going to be a mess of a scene to cut and edit.
He's basically just saying what he's saying,
that the idea of a Shadrakana, a world of spirits,
contradicts all the history and lore of the world,
which is inherently interesting to him. You keep
reading Fibro, okay? He actually, I will say
one more thing, if that's okay. I'll allow it.
He's kind of like on a roll now, and he's like,
actually, it's fascinating. You see, and he kind
of grabs one of the other books he was holding
the other day, a God's Breath book that he got
from Aiders, and he flips it open. It's like,
you see, it's actually very similar to the way
God's Breath was founded as well. I don't know
what you know about God's Breath, but there's
some beings known as the Covenant Gods, five
gods local to the land, and they're also shrouded
in mystery. All we know about them is they're
these thin beings, long of limb and neck. that
apparently brought the folk of God's breath to
a new land long ago when they were being assaulted
by some mysterious aggressor. And they were brought
to the Promise and the Ribbon and the farmlands
they now use. And it's just like the story of
Susanko, right? These sort of ancient beings.
I mean, it's so wild. Every one of their worlds
has their own cultures, their own gods, their
own religions, and yet they all seem to culminate
in the same story. Sorry, sorry. No, no, no.
I'm just excited. No. I meant that when I said
it, you keep reading. Oh. You keep doing what
you're doing. Yeah, of course, yeah. And honestly,
if you're ever around a new world, please, if
you have the gold, you have the time, bring me
back a book. I'd love to read more. Maybe I can
help you in some way by diving into these tomes.
I'll bring you as many as I can, okay? You keep
doing what you're doing. Please. He actually,
like, despite his exhaustion, smiles this big
smile, like he just feels like he's been given
this... Grand Quest by Jules LaRoche. He's just
like nodding. Yeah, yeah, yeah, Jules, yeah,
of course. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And he's just like,
gets right back to it. Hell yeah. Hell yeah.
That was a mind fuck. Books aren't cheap, by
the way. I think they're like 25 gold apiece.
Yeah. I mean, if it solves the entire problem
of this universe, I'll make it rain. Hell yeah.
So. And that's like the end of that evening.
You guys rest. You know you need to rest well
and be prepared because the next day sees you
leaving. And once again, the windows of the coyote
fill with light as the ethereal diamond pulses
to life and morning comes to the radiant citadel.
The morning of your departure to God's breath.
And we'll call it there.