WEBVTT

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Storyteller David here. You guys having fun?

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Great. Well, you know the fun doesn't have to

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end with the show itself. Check out our Instagram,

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fancypantspod at instagram .com. And hey, while

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you're at it, go ahead and rate us. Tell your

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friends about us. Let everyone else join our

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pants party. Thank you much. Enjoy the episode.

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And as he dropped to the dirt, and to bold Amun

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-Rath, who called on the wind, and blurred through

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the fight, cut down a million archer, moved towards

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Serpent's Bay. Sepulon struggling, his fear mingled

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with shame, but as Amun -Rath taunted, half -dragon

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did aim. Jaune and Chester both fading, two starting

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to die, as they loosed final arrow right through

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the snake's eye. And they won. Yeah, I really

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hard committed to this, huh? That was actually

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really, really good. That one gave me goosebumps.

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Yeah, that was fantastic. That was awesome. Yeah.

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Hope I can keep it up because like, man. Not

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after that. That was it. You peaked. I peaked.

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We peaked. Episode 26. I initially did this sort

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of change. We'll get around to eventually explaining

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what this all is towards the end of the arc,

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probably. But I hadn't realized how long form

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this arc could end up being. And, yeah, I really

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committed to something. And that's terrible.

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How are you guys doing? Good. Good. You're keeping

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up. You're doing well. Yeah. Cool. Yeah. And

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the way you keep talking about the finale, like,

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to me it feels like the arc's ending this episode.

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Oh, no. You wish. You wish. Anyone who's read

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the book and you know what's coming up at the

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end of this, well, just you wait. Because I am

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terrified for this party. So how are you guys

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doing tonight? What do you want to talk about?

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Or do you want to just get right into it? I don't

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know. I got a little bit of an Instagram shout

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-out that I want to do. I think Jeremy's got

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something on the docket. Or this is going to

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be a new Instagram call -out. Ooh, call -out.

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Yeah. Lay it down. Sakura Blossom. We got some

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beef. Lay it out. There was a comment made about

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our picture with Stomp pre -show last episode

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that referred to me as the oldest in the group.

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I believe that conversation continued with Steven

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and Sakura Blossom, and she continued to tell

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me how old I was. Making old man jokes. The comment

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specifically went, oh, the picture starts with

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the youngest in front and moves to the oldest

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in back. and Jeremy was at the end of the line.

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Excellent. Excellent. I will never forget that.

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I thought it was funny. And thank you so much

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for listening. You rock. Jeremy. Look, just to

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apologize for Jeremy, it is 5 .59 right now.

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It's almost his bedtime. This is probably the

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fourth time I've said this. I fucking quit. When

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I was a young schoolboy, Jeremy, people would

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pick on each other when they thought they were

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cute. You're opening a whole different can of

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worms here, man. What is this turning into? I'm

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just saying. Stop it. I'm just saying. What?

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Point being, Sakura Blossom, you're on my shit

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list. But I appreciate you so much. Thank you

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for listening. You rock. Thank you so much. Thank

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you for giving us good content. I actually have

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one little thing I want to do before we get started.

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We have previously, in our last Session Zero,

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brought up a co -worker of ours that listens,

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Jay Dubba, actually, ironically, named Jules,

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who is actually here in Fantasy Pant Studios

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today, right now. What? Oh, yes, yes. You didn't

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know? The OG Jules. And I've got, well, a little

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test. Let's just say. Oh yeah, this is mean.

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You told me about this. This is mean. You see,

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we're all co -workers here. And as a DM, I love

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causing strife and conflict both in the game

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and out of the game because I'm an asshole. Jules,

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I have in my hands one button. Now I want you

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to come to this mic and tell me which of these

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two players is getting this one button. What

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a dick move. Holy shit. I don't think this is

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going to be as successful or as much of a strife

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as you had hoped because when we were sitting

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at the bar the other day, I said, if I could

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give a button, it goes to Steven because of how

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well in the last episode he played true to Zebulon

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and his character. And I was laughing multiple

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times. So there you go, Steven. That was actually

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really easy. Thank you so much. Don't worry,

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Jules. I will sit here with my empty jar. I'm

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so sorry. You should probably earn them. My empty

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jar that I used to survive. So tonight is officially

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just shit on Jeremy night. Oh, yeah. It's fine.

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We've shit on Steven enough. I guess it's my

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turn. I'm usually the butt of the joke. So this

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is a nice change of pace for me. Well, thank

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you, Jules. Sorry to throw you in the fire. Excellent.

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That's all I had on my docket. So you guys ready

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to get ready to do it? Because we've got a lot

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to get to. Yeah, we'll talk about friends next

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time. Friends v. Letterkenny. All right, we'll

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have that. We'll have that. Capital F, friends.

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So let's get into this real quick. Go ahead and

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turn that up. Fade in when I need to. We are

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here. The same scene we left off. We are here

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in the plaza in Promise where chaos just unfolded

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and where now some amount of control is starting

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to seep back into the crowds. The crowds have

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now sort of rushed you. Now, we conveniently

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see the crowd is pulling away. Eamon, Wrath,

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and Bink, you know, the true heroes in the moment,

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they're being pulled away. They try to open the

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door to say something and just yanked. They're

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gone. Who knows what happened to them? We'll

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find out later. But you guys, more ignored than

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the rest. I mean, there's some thank yous thrown

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your way, of course, but a lot of folks didn't

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really see the full fight. But they know who

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Emil Rath is. He's on the network. And while

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these folks aren't wholly invested in the network

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itself, in the Radiant Citadel and its governance

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of the worlds, they do appreciate luminaries.

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They appreciate a good story. And they know who

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this luminary is. Unlike you. So he's being pulled

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away. You are still kind of there in the moment.

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Zebulon, you are staring down at the fanged mouth

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of the dead snake. And that cold fear is still

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gripping your heart and stomach. I feel like

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echoes of that supernatural power just lingering

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in your nerves, tingling under your scales. And

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while there are excited folk moving in around

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you, they sound far off. background noise. Instead,

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in your mind, you hear a different voice, one

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from the past. Stop being so scared, Zem. It's

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the voice of your brother. It's Arhalon. And

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your mind drifts back in time to a specific moment,

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where you see your brother sitting beside you,

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towering over you, even at the age of 15, still

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with his adult, manly voice, because, I don't

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know, he aged early. Early puberty for that particular

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half -dragon. And at this point, you are small

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to him because you're only five, six? What do

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you think? Yeah, five or six. He's ten years

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younger. Okay, yeah. He goes on. I told you he'd

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be fine. He's always fine. You have to stop being

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so scared all the time. He always says that luminaries

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are never scared, remember? And we are going

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to be luminaries, aren't we? Ha! Okay, fuck.

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Six -year -old Zebulon. How do I do nine -year

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-old Zebulon again? Yeah, that's right! Holy

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shit! That's right, Arlon! Can we just do this

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for an hour? No. You got like five minutes of

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this. I'm on my first beer. I'm making the most

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of it. So your brother flashes a big dagger -filled

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smile. And you smile too. And you look down at

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a well -worn wooden figure in your hands, a little

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toy. You can see where the paint has worn and

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the wood has been shaved off on this toy's waist

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and arms. The scars of a beloved toy are clutched

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in your scaled hands, just rubbed off over many,

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many days of play. You remember these details,

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but you can't remember the toy itself. Whose

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toy was it? Atash? Perhaps? Maybe the storm eye?

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That doesn't seem right, but... No, you just

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can't remember. But you remember the room. You

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remember the manor that you're sitting in on

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this overly -cushioned sofa. Couch. Whatever.

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Next to your brother. Fancy couch. We're doing

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that. You are in your mother's manor. Xena's

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manor. But it's not... Like it is now. Just littered

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with piles and piles of junk. Barely a floor

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to stand on. No furniture. No, no, no. It is

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neat. It is comfortable. You see, the butler,

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Morden, is preparing a number of trays and snacks

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in this almost small table in front of you. I'm

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just laying them out all neat and tidy. And...

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Ahead of you, a large white screen is rolled

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down against the wall, running through advertisements

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projected by a large crystal mounted to the ceiling

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above and behind you. You see that around you,

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the layout of furniture actually does make sense.

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While there's maybe a bit of a hoard room towards

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the back, like maybe a closet or a larger bedroom

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that Xena keeps some pile of precious sentimental

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items and valuable things, it has not yet spilled

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out all across the manor everywhere. It's all

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sort of kept within, her draconic instincts suppressed

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by her more human ones. And as the butler finishes

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laying out three sets of dishware and cups on

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the table and bustles away to perform another

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task, he sort of steps out of the room, and as

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he does, And Xena passes him in the doorway,

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still large and strong. Bigger than you, bigger

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than your brother at this point. And says, let's

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see if we can do this again. Thank you, Morden.

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That will be all for today. Go home and enjoy

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the evening with your family. You might just

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get to special if you leave now. Go, go, go,

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go. And the butler leaves. And Xena moves towards

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her children. You see she unfurls her wings half

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of the room and leaps over the couch in a single

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mighty flap. Just lands before you and plastering

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on a stern mother expression. Studies? She just

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looks at both of you. We already studied. Earlier.

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She nods. And training? Well, we're going to

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do some training a little later. Yes, mother,

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we wouldn't skip it. Must you persist with us

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every time? And Xena kind of does a fake sort

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of ponder, a hmm, scratching her scaly chin,

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then smiles and says, my good boys! And she reaches

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out, and her hand's just rubbing vigorously at

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both of your heads and horns. And maybe it strikes

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you then, as it often does, that you're really

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treated no differently from your brother. Even

00:12:34.549 --> 00:12:37.009
though a single glance at this family picture

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could reveal... The massive difference between

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you and the other two. Well, they have their

00:12:41.570 --> 00:12:45.730
brass gleaming scales and fin -like crests instead

00:12:45.730 --> 00:12:49.070
of horns. You have this darker matte sort of

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bland coloring. And you have these sort of curling

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horns, almost like a ram's, instead of the same.

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There's clearly something different. And you

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know that there is nothing of Xena in your blood.

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But it's never felt that way. Not in the way

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she looks at you. And she goes on. Okay, it's

00:13:11.059 --> 00:13:14.019
about time. She leans her horns and it goes and

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moves down to the figure in your hands. And she

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kind of like touches at its face, caressing it

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almost. It'll be on in a second. Then you hear

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a cough from the doorway behind. Xena turns to

00:13:28.399 --> 00:13:31.809
look and her joy instantly melts. The fear is

00:13:31.809 --> 00:13:34.370
only there for just a moment before a mask of

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bubbling happiness covers her features again.

00:13:37.110 --> 00:13:40.909
Oh, um, Mother, I wasn't expecting you. Did Morden

00:13:40.909 --> 00:13:44.730
let you in? And I imagine you turn to look, Zebulon?

00:13:44.909 --> 00:13:47.789
Mm -hmm. Roy, having to reach around and stand

00:13:47.789 --> 00:13:50.309
up full -on on the couch. Yeah, two hands on

00:13:50.309 --> 00:13:53.350
the couch, pulling myself up. Hell yeah. You're

00:13:53.350 --> 00:13:59.250
peeking over the back, and you see Sholay. She's...

00:13:59.939 --> 00:14:02.179
Standing in the doorway, the face of her human

00:14:02.179 --> 00:14:07.779
form is locked in a cold scowl. Mother? Shirley

00:14:07.779 --> 00:14:10.679
just stares silently for a second, looks at you.

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Tell me, is that toy still in your hand as you're

00:14:14.539 --> 00:14:17.240
reaching over the couch? Oh, absolutely. Her

00:14:17.240 --> 00:14:20.779
eyes fall right on that, then shoot right back

00:14:20.779 --> 00:14:24.740
to Xena. What do you think you're doing, Xena?

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She gestures the toy to the screen. Do you think

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this is the kind of thing my grandchildren should

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be exposed to? Do you think I want their heads

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filled with foolhardy ambitions? This luminary

00:14:38.539 --> 00:14:41.679
worship is unhealthy and dangerous, and you of

00:14:41.679 --> 00:14:46.639
all people should understand that. Now, I want

00:14:46.639 --> 00:14:49.000
to give you the freedom to raise these children.

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You know I do, but you are giving me cause to

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worry, Xena. I would hate to force them to lose

00:14:55.220 --> 00:15:03.600
another... Words lost to this bubbling jumble.

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Can't make it out, like gurgling water. You see

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Arhalon beside you, refusing to turn from the

00:15:11.259 --> 00:15:14.279
screen, his eyes burning. He does not look in

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that direction. He ignores it, shoulders up and

00:15:17.080 --> 00:15:22.120
defensive. But there's hurt on his face. And

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Xena starts yelling, These are my children! Mine!

00:15:25.639 --> 00:15:29.029
I will raise them under my wing! You know I do

00:15:29.029 --> 00:15:31.409
not share your concerns, Mother, and you cannot

00:15:31.409 --> 00:15:34.330
force them upon me. Besides, this is not just

00:15:34.330 --> 00:15:42.529
any luminary. He is a... And then... How can

00:15:42.529 --> 00:15:45.110
you say that after what he did to you? To all

00:15:45.110 --> 00:15:49.570
of us? And this whole conversation begins to

00:15:49.570 --> 00:15:52.950
take on this dark, watery character. You can't

00:15:52.950 --> 00:15:56.549
make out any words. You can't make out any words.

00:15:58.250 --> 00:16:02.269
And as this goes on behind you, back and forth,

00:16:02.309 --> 00:16:03.889
you don't remember. You can't remember what they're

00:16:03.889 --> 00:16:06.769
saying, Zebulon. And you feel this bubbling up

00:16:06.769 --> 00:16:10.129
of anger and loss regardless. At words you don't

00:16:10.129 --> 00:16:12.970
know, the feeling is there. And in that certainty,

00:16:13.009 --> 00:16:14.789
only a young child can feel you know that this

00:16:14.789 --> 00:16:17.990
is your fault. It's all your fault. You can feel

00:16:17.990 --> 00:16:20.090
Arholon's gaze on you. You can feel the heat

00:16:20.090 --> 00:16:24.950
and anger and blame in his eyes on you. And then

00:16:24.950 --> 00:16:31.549
he is gone. Xena. is gone. Sholay is gone. You

00:16:31.549 --> 00:16:33.830
see, before you, the figure of Illuminary begins

00:16:33.830 --> 00:16:36.809
to resolve itself on the screen, to the sound

00:16:36.809 --> 00:16:39.529
of roaring applause from the folks gathered there

00:16:39.529 --> 00:16:41.750
on the network, and you look to the screen to

00:16:41.750 --> 00:16:46.649
see, and it is gone. Who was it, Zebulon? And

00:16:46.649 --> 00:16:49.590
you remember the toy, the toy in your hand. Look

00:16:49.590 --> 00:16:52.450
at the toy, Zebulon. Look at the toy. Whose figure

00:16:52.450 --> 00:16:55.049
is it? Zebulon, you have to remember. You have

00:16:55.049 --> 00:16:57.580
to remember. Look at the toy. Look at the toy,

00:16:57.620 --> 00:17:03.480
Zebulon! Look at the... And it's gone. That memory

00:17:03.480 --> 00:17:11.799
is gone. Zebulon, you stand in the plaza in the

00:17:11.799 --> 00:17:13.380
town of Promise and you're staring at the corpse

00:17:13.380 --> 00:17:17.019
of this giant rattlesnake. And while you still

00:17:17.019 --> 00:17:19.319
feel echoes of that fear in your bones, in your

00:17:19.319 --> 00:17:22.759
scales, a line from an old memory echoes through

00:17:22.759 --> 00:17:26.730
your head. Stop being so scared, Zeb. Your brother's

00:17:26.730 --> 00:17:30.029
voice. I told you he'd be fine. He's always fine.

00:17:30.130 --> 00:17:32.150
You have to stop being so scared all the time.

00:17:32.549 --> 00:17:35.250
He always says that luminaries are never scared.

00:17:35.670 --> 00:17:38.769
And we're going to be luminaries, right? That's

00:17:38.769 --> 00:17:40.849
right. That's right, Arhalon. We're going to

00:17:40.849 --> 00:17:43.470
be luminaries. And you remember sitting together

00:17:43.470 --> 00:17:44.930
on that heavily cushioned couch? You remember

00:17:44.930 --> 00:17:47.349
Xena coming in and sitting down beside you, putting

00:17:47.349 --> 00:17:49.210
a gentle hand on your horns as the projector

00:17:49.210 --> 00:17:52.269
begins to show a roaring crowd? And you remember

00:17:52.269 --> 00:17:54.849
watching as Ojin Yoshikatsu, yeah that's right,

00:17:54.930 --> 00:17:57.309
the Storm Eye. He stands before the applause,

00:17:57.509 --> 00:18:00.069
soaking in the glory of another hard -earned

00:18:00.069 --> 00:18:02.950
victory over the forces of chaos. And you remember

00:18:02.950 --> 00:18:06.150
that toy, clutching it in your hand, a mirror

00:18:06.150 --> 00:18:08.950
to the luminary on the screen. The wooden samurai

00:18:08.950 --> 00:18:11.130
armor of your Ozin figures, it's well worn at

00:18:11.130 --> 00:18:12.730
the waist and arms where your half -dragon scales

00:18:12.730 --> 00:18:16.049
have often held it. Worn down over hours and

00:18:16.049 --> 00:18:18.970
days of play. You remember all of this, Zebulon,

00:18:19.029 --> 00:18:22.950
and you feel a little better. Because it is a

00:18:22.950 --> 00:18:29.450
good memory. And your mind returns to the now.

00:18:30.589 --> 00:18:34.069
To the plaza and promise. That gave me so many

00:18:34.069 --> 00:18:37.089
goosebumps. That was pretty intense. That was

00:18:37.089 --> 00:18:41.089
good. What are you talking about? I don't know.

00:18:41.230 --> 00:18:45.970
Okay. I don't remember. Okay. We'll go with that.

00:18:48.650 --> 00:18:52.619
I think as your... having this moment looking

00:18:52.619 --> 00:18:56.279
at this as this corpse and and sort of uh mind

00:18:56.279 --> 00:18:58.859
wandering back to the past we pan over to to

00:18:58.859 --> 00:19:03.059
jewels oh no your hand is is covered now obscured

00:19:03.059 --> 00:19:05.480
the the whatever happened to you before cannot

00:19:05.480 --> 00:19:08.539
be seen and you look over and chester's still

00:19:08.539 --> 00:19:10.539
there sitting beside you but he's looking at

00:19:10.539 --> 00:19:13.819
you with with some deep deep concern i'm not

00:19:13.819 --> 00:19:15.119
gonna make you roll an insight check because

00:19:15.119 --> 00:19:18.119
it's chester you know you know but i think i'll

00:19:18.119 --> 00:19:20.660
just i think i'll just give him a nod of I'm

00:19:20.660 --> 00:19:22.880
all right. I will tell you that, you know, for

00:19:22.880 --> 00:19:25.299
a fact, when there's a chance, I mean, right

00:19:25.299 --> 00:19:26.880
now it's going to be hard. There's people everywhere

00:19:26.880 --> 00:19:29.059
in this festival. He's going to want to talk

00:19:29.059 --> 00:19:31.220
to you about this. And he just, like, he looks

00:19:31.220 --> 00:19:32.660
at the hand and looks at you and gives you this

00:19:32.660 --> 00:19:35.420
kind of dark, like, nod. Like, this isn't done.

00:19:35.480 --> 00:19:37.839
We have to have this conversation. I mean, I

00:19:37.839 --> 00:19:39.819
just kind of assumed that Chester and I were

00:19:39.819 --> 00:19:42.160
close enough where he knows all this. Oh, you

00:19:42.160 --> 00:19:44.319
told him everything. Oh, yeah. Oh, wow. Okay.

00:19:44.819 --> 00:19:47.079
So, yeah, he's, I mean, I think he's still concerned

00:19:47.079 --> 00:19:51.940
because this was never expected. At least he

00:19:51.940 --> 00:19:53.140
knows where it came from. I think he's still

00:19:53.140 --> 00:19:57.180
very worried. And I imagine you feel the same.

00:19:57.279 --> 00:20:01.200
What happened? And you think back to that moment.

00:20:01.259 --> 00:20:04.440
You think back to reaching out. You think back

00:20:04.440 --> 00:20:07.740
to the loss you've suffered recently. To the

00:20:07.740 --> 00:20:10.619
panic you felt towards the Cherry Delights, not

00:20:10.619 --> 00:20:12.480
knowing where they are, what's happening to them.

00:20:12.619 --> 00:20:16.880
You think back to the rage at your parents. You

00:20:16.880 --> 00:20:20.069
think back to... The fear of almost losing Chester

00:20:20.069 --> 00:20:23.829
right there in that moment. Reaching out. Touching

00:20:23.829 --> 00:20:27.609
that dark well inside yourself. And it went wrong.

00:20:28.589 --> 00:20:32.430
And you remember your mother saying, Use it,

00:20:32.470 --> 00:20:37.029
Jules. And you don't know what this means. You

00:20:37.029 --> 00:20:39.130
don't know what's happening to you. You don't

00:20:39.130 --> 00:20:43.089
know if it's going to stop. How do you feel?

00:20:43.730 --> 00:20:47.720
I think Jules is scared. But I also think, I

00:20:47.720 --> 00:20:51.000
feel very much in control. Like I know what's

00:20:51.000 --> 00:20:56.119
happening, but I know that I can outsmart it.

00:20:56.700 --> 00:20:59.460
Jules will defy the devil even if he stands in

00:20:59.460 --> 00:21:04.059
hell. Mm -hmm. I like that. That was good. Zebulon,

00:21:04.200 --> 00:21:08.480
this is also a hard battle for you. You stood

00:21:08.480 --> 00:21:10.000
in the sidelines the whole time. Well, maybe

00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:12.460
you feel a little better thinking back on fond

00:21:12.460 --> 00:21:15.140
memories. How do you feel? Where are you at right

00:21:15.140 --> 00:21:18.829
now? Yeah, there was a whole lot of second guessing.

00:21:18.930 --> 00:21:23.930
And while Zebulon's trying to put on a good front,

00:21:24.089 --> 00:21:29.289
you know, getting that big final blow, he definitely

00:21:29.289 --> 00:21:32.190
feels bad on the inside. He would have traded

00:21:32.190 --> 00:21:35.809
that big moment of success just for a little

00:21:35.809 --> 00:21:41.430
bit of courage. Wow. I love the confidence on

00:21:41.430 --> 00:21:45.670
one side and just the... What would you call

00:21:45.670 --> 00:21:50.269
it? The broken, the defeat on the other. It's

00:21:50.269 --> 00:21:54.289
interesting. He let himself down. Yeah. You let

00:21:54.289 --> 00:21:58.369
me down. Thanks. Yeah. With your bad wisdom save.

00:22:00.630 --> 00:22:03.769
So I'll tell you this right now. You have a moment.

00:22:03.869 --> 00:22:07.450
Eamon Rath, you know, I want to basically cordon

00:22:07.450 --> 00:22:09.630
off the area, like I said, and investigate. Right

00:22:09.630 --> 00:22:11.630
now he's kind of reassuring folks. I mean, you

00:22:11.630 --> 00:22:13.349
can hear his voice raising about people as he's

00:22:13.349 --> 00:22:14.710
telling them, you know, everything's going to

00:22:14.710 --> 00:22:16.690
be okay. It's going to be fine. We're going to

00:22:16.690 --> 00:22:19.150
look into this. We're going to stay here for

00:22:19.150 --> 00:22:20.630
the festival and make sure this does not happen

00:22:20.630 --> 00:22:24.490
again. He's doing all the paperwork. He's doing

00:22:24.490 --> 00:22:26.910
all the paperwork. That doesn't mean you can't

00:22:26.910 --> 00:22:28.910
do some work yourself because in this moment,

00:22:28.970 --> 00:22:33.690
I will say, there's a wagon. that this snake

00:22:33.690 --> 00:22:37.049
was released from, that's sitting open. And not

00:22:37.049 --> 00:22:38.849
a lot of people have moved over to this. A few

00:22:38.849 --> 00:22:41.069
people are kind of like scattered around it,

00:22:41.089 --> 00:22:42.849
kind of nervously looking at it, wondering if

00:22:42.849 --> 00:22:45.289
another one's going to pop out. Now, you know,

00:22:45.369 --> 00:22:46.789
I'm going to have to eventually go and investigate

00:22:46.789 --> 00:22:49.089
it. But if you were interested, you could take

00:22:49.089 --> 00:22:53.269
a look yourself first. Yeah. Hey, Jules, Jean,

00:22:53.509 --> 00:22:58.890
Chesser, well, I'm going to ask, excuse me, I'm

00:22:58.890 --> 00:23:00.809
going to ask doing that. There you go. Get it

00:23:00.809 --> 00:23:06.019
right. We should maybe go and clear the wagon

00:23:06.019 --> 00:23:10.859
over there. Make sure the coast is clear. Yeah,

00:23:10.859 --> 00:23:13.279
that's not a bad idea. Yeah, makes sense to me.

00:23:13.619 --> 00:23:22.380
Yeah, we'll secure the scene. And loot. John's

00:23:22.380 --> 00:23:24.480
just like, I'll try to hold the barrier. Keep

00:23:24.480 --> 00:23:26.380
him away from you for a moment. You can take

00:23:26.380 --> 00:23:29.819
a look yourselves. All right, I guess. Yeah.

00:23:30.400 --> 00:23:33.359
And Zebul head over cautiously and poke his head

00:23:33.359 --> 00:23:38.079
in the back of the carriage wagon. I think as

00:23:38.079 --> 00:23:40.480
we get up there too, Jules is going to passively

00:23:40.480 --> 00:23:44.920
just kind of look around for a glove. Oh, interesting.

00:23:45.420 --> 00:23:47.720
Okay. All right. Preferably a right -handed glove.

00:23:48.859 --> 00:23:51.500
Yeah. I'll lump it into the same check. Are you

00:23:51.500 --> 00:23:53.160
also looking at the wagon or is it Zebulon? Okay.

00:23:53.220 --> 00:23:54.559
So you guys are both looking in there. You have

00:23:54.559 --> 00:23:57.480
a particular goal. Both of you can roll me investigation

00:23:57.480 --> 00:24:03.220
checks. 17. Wow. I wasn't expecting that. How

00:24:03.220 --> 00:24:06.000
about that? Okay. All right. Sometimes the dice

00:24:06.000 --> 00:24:10.599
roll well. And sometimes they don't. Natural

00:24:10.599 --> 00:24:17.980
one. Jesus Christ. Thanks for sucking up that

00:24:17.980 --> 00:24:21.279
bad roll for me. Hey, we got it out of the way.

00:24:23.500 --> 00:24:25.279
So, Zebulon, you're peeking in to look at this.

00:24:25.640 --> 00:24:27.359
Jules, you go to peek in, too. And as you sort

00:24:27.359 --> 00:24:30.299
of look in there, you hear like a... You're banging

00:24:30.299 --> 00:24:32.079
your head on the top. There's a horse just whinnies

00:24:32.079 --> 00:24:34.839
right behind you. Your head's a little dazed.

00:24:34.839 --> 00:24:36.920
Your eye's water. You can't see. What the hell

00:24:36.920 --> 00:24:41.579
was that? Goddamn. It's just a horse from earlier,

00:24:41.779 --> 00:24:43.619
Jules. I've had enough surprises today. Come

00:24:43.619 --> 00:24:46.180
on now. He's been here the whole time. Jesus.

00:24:46.259 --> 00:24:47.640
He's been here the whole time, yeah. You should

00:24:47.640 --> 00:24:49.700
have expected that. He's falling one foot behind

00:24:49.700 --> 00:24:56.809
you. I was unconscious. Oh my God. I need to

00:24:56.809 --> 00:24:58.809
keep horses around all the time. I don't know

00:24:58.809 --> 00:25:00.309
how that thing got loose. Someone should go to

00:25:00.309 --> 00:25:06.369
inspect that hitching post. Uh, you are not startled

00:25:06.369 --> 00:25:08.589
by this, by this sudden horse. Uh, so you kind

00:25:08.589 --> 00:25:10.990
of go in there, you look around and you're trying

00:25:10.990 --> 00:25:13.269
to be fast because there are people kind of around,

00:25:13.410 --> 00:25:14.789
you know, I mean, a rat's going to come by soon.

00:25:15.069 --> 00:25:16.710
Um, and, and, you know, it's not like you're,

00:25:16.710 --> 00:25:18.910
you're, you're, you're going to report all this

00:25:18.910 --> 00:25:20.190
stuff to him and there's no clues. You're going

00:25:20.190 --> 00:25:22.769
to steal clues. I know. Um, But there's no reason

00:25:22.769 --> 00:25:23.990
you can't take a look and see if there's something

00:25:23.990 --> 00:25:26.109
you can find that could be helpful for you. And

00:25:26.109 --> 00:25:29.890
I will say you do find this. Basically, you see,

00:25:29.930 --> 00:25:32.109
for one thing, there are some restraints set

00:25:32.109 --> 00:25:34.410
up in here that would be used to hold the snake.

00:25:36.589 --> 00:25:39.390
And actually, you do find there are some very

00:25:39.390 --> 00:25:41.789
heavy leather gloves that would have been used

00:25:41.789 --> 00:25:45.650
to reach around the fangs and stuff like that.

00:25:45.769 --> 00:25:50.400
The risk of poisoning yourself. These look useful.

00:25:50.420 --> 00:25:51.940
I'm going to pick these up. Yeah, you can take

00:25:51.940 --> 00:25:55.500
those gloves. If Jules happens to see it, you

00:25:55.500 --> 00:25:57.859
do find, actually, a little satchel hanging on

00:25:57.859 --> 00:25:59.720
one side. There's 20 gold, maybe like a little

00:25:59.720 --> 00:26:02.839
emergency fund. You also find, hanging on the

00:26:02.839 --> 00:26:07.900
other wall, two poisoner's kits. Oh! No shit!

00:26:08.200 --> 00:26:10.259
I mean, what? Well, yeah, I mean, I guess you

00:26:10.259 --> 00:26:15.240
shouldn't be surprised to find that. Yeah, yeah.

00:26:16.059 --> 00:26:17.740
Zebulon's going to grab the poisoner's kits.

00:26:20.359 --> 00:26:23.259
And he's going to grab the 20 gold. I mean, that's

00:26:23.259 --> 00:26:26.619
two pangolins worth. That's two pangolins. Basically

00:26:26.619 --> 00:26:30.200
tucked in the very back of it, you see three

00:26:30.200 --> 00:26:34.160
vials from this large sort of almost like a hanging

00:26:34.160 --> 00:26:36.880
belt in the back. You see a number of vials are

00:26:36.880 --> 00:26:39.400
missing from it. But you see three vials of a

00:26:39.400 --> 00:26:43.220
viscous yellow liquid. Ooh. All right. Yeah,

00:26:43.299 --> 00:26:46.140
going to pick those up. All right. So you make

00:26:46.140 --> 00:26:48.940
your way through, grab what you grab, and that's

00:26:48.940 --> 00:26:53.680
all you see on your DC. 17. So, you step back

00:26:53.680 --> 00:26:55.319
out. Jules, you're still nursing your head wound.

00:26:58.480 --> 00:27:00.799
Sure. Look at this stuff I found. I found all

00:27:00.799 --> 00:27:05.400
this poison stuff. Holy shit. And look at these

00:27:05.400 --> 00:27:09.980
cool gloves, too. Hey, can I have those? Yeah,

00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:11.079
but we each take one. I think they're pretty

00:27:11.079 --> 00:27:12.559
cool. Yeah, I'll take the right -handed one.

00:27:12.599 --> 00:27:15.480
Oh, I want one. Well, no. Chester. Oh. Let's

00:27:15.480 --> 00:27:17.240
rock, paper, scissors for the right -handed glove.

00:27:18.009 --> 00:27:19.490
All right, but I'm going to use my left hand

00:27:19.490 --> 00:27:24.269
on this one. All right, Jules. That seems weird.

00:27:24.730 --> 00:27:27.849
Zeb gives Jules the gloves. My preference is

00:27:27.849 --> 00:27:31.170
variable. All right, so you slide on the gloves.

00:27:31.250 --> 00:27:33.690
You have a better way to sort of keep that contained.

00:27:33.910 --> 00:27:36.529
Actually, I don't know. Plus one AC with those

00:27:36.529 --> 00:27:38.789
gloves. Imagine that. Wow. Who'd have thunk?

00:27:38.809 --> 00:27:45.000
Right, David? No, actually. So, yeah, I mean,

00:27:45.059 --> 00:27:46.660
if I'm getting both gloves, I'm going to put

00:27:46.660 --> 00:27:48.579
on both gloves so it just doesn't look weird.

00:27:48.779 --> 00:27:51.119
Yeah, that makes sense. Okay. All right. And

00:27:51.119 --> 00:27:52.900
I'm going to say, like, you were far enough away

00:27:52.900 --> 00:27:56.980
at the time, Zebulon, you didn't notice. Yeah.

00:27:57.720 --> 00:27:59.880
Zebulon has a passive perception of 9. Exactly.

00:28:01.119 --> 00:28:02.579
I would need, from where you were, I think I

00:28:02.579 --> 00:28:05.319
would need at least a 12. Sure. So that's not

00:28:05.319 --> 00:28:08.119
going to do it. Yeah, so you step out of there.

00:28:09.309 --> 00:28:10.789
And you move back to the crowd, which is, again,

00:28:10.829 --> 00:28:12.769
sort of gathering around. You kind of see an

00:28:12.769 --> 00:28:14.289
opening here. There's definitely some folks that

00:28:14.289 --> 00:28:16.970
are moving over, like, hey, y 'all, were y 'all

00:28:16.970 --> 00:28:19.029
part of the fight? You take that thing down?

00:28:19.369 --> 00:28:22.329
Part of the fight? I mean, yeah. Yes, we did.

00:28:22.549 --> 00:28:25.130
Oh, hell yeah. And just a lot of pats on the

00:28:25.130 --> 00:28:27.269
back, isn't that? People offering, like, hey,

00:28:27.349 --> 00:28:29.150
you know what? My cousin owns a stand over here.

00:28:29.210 --> 00:28:33.519
It sells your hominy. You ever had it? No, I

00:28:33.519 --> 00:28:36.140
mean, I love Harmony. Oh, come on, come on. And

00:28:36.140 --> 00:28:37.279
they're leading you around. People just start

00:28:37.279 --> 00:28:39.700
taking you around to stalls and grabbing some

00:28:39.700 --> 00:28:42.480
food. Now, I'm going to ask you, like, you're

00:28:42.480 --> 00:28:46.019
here at the Promise Festival, or the Awakening

00:28:46.019 --> 00:28:47.779
Festival in Promise. What do you want to do here?

00:28:47.980 --> 00:28:49.000
Is there anything in particular you want to,

00:28:49.039 --> 00:28:51.440
like, seek out and enjoy? Or are you kind of

00:28:51.440 --> 00:28:54.539
ready to get out of here and kick it? Yeah, enjoying

00:28:54.539 --> 00:28:58.319
stuff is not really in Jules' mind at the moment.

00:28:58.980 --> 00:29:02.369
Jules is kind of still in, like, like a state

00:29:02.369 --> 00:29:03.809
of shock where everything that's kind of happening

00:29:03.809 --> 00:29:07.730
around him just is not, doesn't feel okay. So

00:29:07.730 --> 00:29:10.069
I think he's just kind of walking around dazed.

00:29:10.089 --> 00:29:12.930
He's following Zeb, going wherever Zeb wants

00:29:12.930 --> 00:29:16.170
to go. Or Chester. Yeah, I think Chester's, his

00:29:16.170 --> 00:29:18.730
eyes are good to you. Yeah, he's just, Jules

00:29:18.730 --> 00:29:20.990
is just dazed right now. Chester is like standing

00:29:20.990 --> 00:29:23.190
beside you at every second, eyes like watching,

00:29:23.289 --> 00:29:25.430
going from your hand to your face. He's worried.

00:29:25.839 --> 00:29:27.500
There could be more to it, and he's very concerned.

00:29:28.420 --> 00:29:30.380
Zebulon, are you just kind of like... Zebulon

00:29:30.380 --> 00:29:34.019
is eating it up. He's got 20 gold fresh in his

00:29:34.019 --> 00:29:37.119
pocket. People are giving him attention, giving

00:29:37.119 --> 00:29:40.400
him free food. He is along for the ride. Wants

00:29:40.400 --> 00:29:44.349
to see everything. Hell yeah. Yeah, so you're

00:29:44.349 --> 00:29:46.369
moving around. I love the image of this party.

00:29:46.690 --> 00:29:49.150
You're just being led by folks, just smiling,

00:29:49.470 --> 00:29:51.930
going to eat, just feeling much better. You have

00:29:51.930 --> 00:29:54.009
the traumatized Jules and Chester right behind

00:29:54.009 --> 00:29:55.809
him. And then behind him, Jean Franklin with

00:29:55.809 --> 00:29:58.029
the most disgusted, distasteful expression on

00:29:58.029 --> 00:30:02.069
his face. Like, ugh. Ah, Harmony. That doesn't

00:30:02.069 --> 00:30:03.670
sound like a food name at all. I bet it's as

00:30:03.670 --> 00:30:06.829
disgusting as it sounds. Jean, you should try

00:30:06.829 --> 00:30:09.130
some of this. Actually, what is Harmony? Give

00:30:09.130 --> 00:30:11.400
me a second here. I thought you were going to

00:30:11.400 --> 00:30:13.740
tell us. Yeah, I was waiting for a little explanation

00:30:13.740 --> 00:30:14.880
here. I don't know if someone here would be able

00:30:14.880 --> 00:30:16.700
to tell me. I thought you were saying harmony

00:30:16.700 --> 00:30:18.440
at first. I'm like, what the hell is this referring

00:30:18.440 --> 00:30:23.799
to? Harmony is food produced from dried maize

00:30:23.799 --> 00:30:26.059
kernels that have been treated with an alkali

00:30:26.059 --> 00:30:30.319
in a process called nixtamalization. I still

00:30:30.319 --> 00:30:31.559
don't know what it is. This guy's telling you

00:30:31.559 --> 00:30:34.559
all that. He's just going on and on. Wow, yeah,

00:30:34.619 --> 00:30:36.539
I totally understand that. That sounds great.

00:30:36.900 --> 00:30:39.339
Yeah, nixtamalization, you know. Who'd have thunk?

00:30:39.539 --> 00:30:44.220
Who'd have thunk? Yeah. No, it's great. Well,

00:30:44.259 --> 00:30:47.380
what does it taste like? It's kind of like corn.

00:30:48.660 --> 00:30:53.240
Better? It's better corn. He points to the stand

00:30:53.240 --> 00:30:55.420
and just says, hominy. And then quotes, better

00:30:55.420 --> 00:30:59.000
corn. Better corn. Wow. Can't lose. I mean, I

00:30:59.000 --> 00:31:01.599
like corn. Guys, this is the new Fantasy Pants

00:31:01.599 --> 00:31:09.119
slogan. Better corn. Yeah, so imagine you're

00:31:09.119 --> 00:31:10.799
going around, grabbing some food here and there.

00:31:10.859 --> 00:31:12.279
You've got rice and gravy here and there. There's

00:31:12.279 --> 00:31:15.480
roast pork and this and that. It's a festival.

00:31:16.140 --> 00:31:18.759
And over time, as things kind of settle down

00:31:18.759 --> 00:31:22.819
a little more, you begin to hear the low chorus

00:31:22.819 --> 00:31:24.420
picking up again. Let me actually get some market

00:31:24.420 --> 00:31:28.839
sounds on here. That'll do. Chorus sort of picks

00:31:28.839 --> 00:31:31.380
up in the background. You can just hear the place

00:31:31.380 --> 00:31:34.799
starting to slowly come back to life. New names

00:31:34.799 --> 00:31:37.460
are being shouted here and there. Heroes who

00:31:37.460 --> 00:31:39.920
came in and saved the day when all looked bad.

00:31:41.299 --> 00:31:46.299
So, you're grabbing food. Are you eating while

00:31:46.299 --> 00:31:47.660
you walk, or do you want to sit down somewhere?

00:31:47.819 --> 00:31:49.559
What's your plan? Oh, yeah, there's no sitting

00:31:49.559 --> 00:31:51.799
down. There's a lot to see. All right, hell yeah.

00:31:52.539 --> 00:31:54.180
You're moving from place to place, and as you're

00:31:54.180 --> 00:31:56.380
kind of moving down the street, there's a point

00:31:56.380 --> 00:32:00.039
where... a figure kind of moves out of the crowd

00:32:00.039 --> 00:32:02.599
and is suddenly just standing beside you, like,

00:32:02.640 --> 00:32:04.980
very, very swiftly. Like, you don't even realize

00:32:04.980 --> 00:32:08.299
they're there until they're just, like, staring

00:32:08.299 --> 00:32:10.880
you down. And holding an item kind of right in

00:32:10.880 --> 00:32:13.700
front of your eyes, you see this small diamond

00:32:13.700 --> 00:32:18.619
and slender, dark fingers. And I imagine you

00:32:18.619 --> 00:32:23.700
turn towards this character. Yeah, hi. What's

00:32:23.700 --> 00:32:27.339
this? You immediately recognize a figure you

00:32:27.339 --> 00:32:29.400
saw earlier, and the diamond was sort of a giveaway

00:32:29.400 --> 00:32:33.220
as you saw them holding it, recording your earlier

00:32:33.220 --> 00:32:35.720
combat with the rattlesnake. And I'll say some

00:32:35.720 --> 00:32:37.900
time has passed, maybe like half an hour or so,

00:32:37.960 --> 00:32:40.259
as you've moved through the town, enjoying yourselves,

00:32:40.299 --> 00:32:42.359
and just kind of like dealing with, I guess,

00:32:42.380 --> 00:32:45.579
the fallout of that combat. Nice. Can't open,

00:32:45.680 --> 00:32:47.559
by the way. Thanks, yeah, it worked for me too.

00:32:48.039 --> 00:32:50.299
This figure earlier on was wearing sort of almost

00:32:50.299 --> 00:32:52.579
like this purple tunic with the yellow sash,

00:32:52.819 --> 00:32:55.839
almost a religious garb as they were sort of

00:32:55.839 --> 00:32:58.380
leading this chorus. That's not the case anymore.

00:32:59.059 --> 00:33:02.319
Suddenly they're still wearing sort of a deep

00:33:02.319 --> 00:33:04.220
purple, but now it's like this long traveling

00:33:04.220 --> 00:33:06.960
coat with this sort of long train behind it,

00:33:07.019 --> 00:33:10.779
yellow accents sort of underneath, buttons down

00:33:10.779 --> 00:33:13.359
the front, a rainbow -colored scarf. This seems

00:33:13.359 --> 00:33:16.750
to be, again, some kind of... religious symbol.

00:33:16.890 --> 00:33:18.910
You've seen a few people like this around town

00:33:18.910 --> 00:33:22.190
with these similar scarves. You see a figure

00:33:22.190 --> 00:33:25.890
who's, while they are human, while they are God's

00:33:25.890 --> 00:33:30.829
folk, their features almost feel elven in their

00:33:30.829 --> 00:33:34.230
sort of elegant beauty. Their full lips and their

00:33:34.230 --> 00:33:37.529
shrewd eyes that just seem to belie their younger

00:33:37.529 --> 00:33:41.170
age. They must be only 20? Close to your own

00:33:41.170 --> 00:33:45.549
age, and yet their eyes feel so wide and so Wily,

00:33:45.670 --> 00:33:48.390
so determined. There's something there that seems

00:33:48.390 --> 00:33:53.990
almost dangerous. Predatory. Yikes. That's very

00:33:53.990 --> 00:33:56.950
unsettling. You see a large sort of fluff of

00:33:56.950 --> 00:34:02.029
black hair. And this figure looks at you and

00:34:02.029 --> 00:34:05.130
just says, Well, how y 'all doing? Well, I'm

00:34:05.130 --> 00:34:07.450
doing a whole lot better now. That snake's dead,

00:34:07.549 --> 00:34:09.989
huh? Yeah, that was something else. Saw the whole

00:34:09.989 --> 00:34:13.730
thing. Tungsten Ward's the name. They put out

00:34:13.730 --> 00:34:16.659
a hand. Tungsten, Tungsten Ward? Tungsten. Tungsten.

00:34:17.199 --> 00:34:20.699
Nice to meet you, Tungsten. Now, y 'all don't

00:34:20.699 --> 00:34:24.039
seem like you're from the area, wink. Uh, well,

00:34:24.099 --> 00:34:28.260
no, we just, um, we just flew in. Right, with

00:34:28.260 --> 00:34:31.559
Lady Dre, yeah? Well, that's right, you've sure

00:34:31.559 --> 00:34:35.239
been watching a lot. I have. You might say it's

00:34:35.239 --> 00:34:38.559
my religious duty. I'm what you might call a

00:34:38.559 --> 00:34:41.199
proclaimer. We're sort of the, uh, the wandering

00:34:41.199 --> 00:34:44.760
storytellers here on God's Breath. Now, this

00:34:44.760 --> 00:34:46.579
song you hear around you, this awakening song

00:34:46.579 --> 00:34:48.699
that tells every tale that's ever been told on

00:34:48.699 --> 00:34:51.380
this world, it's our job to find these stories,

00:34:51.639 --> 00:34:55.900
turn them into song, record them. It is my duty.

00:34:56.739 --> 00:35:00.940
And now, forgive me for saying, but I just got

00:35:00.940 --> 00:35:03.840
this feeling in my bones that y 'all have more

00:35:03.840 --> 00:35:06.500
going on than just fighting a snake. Like, it's

00:35:06.500 --> 00:35:08.420
just the beginning of whatever you're here for.

00:35:09.679 --> 00:35:12.119
I'd like to roll an insight check. Go ahead.

00:35:12.219 --> 00:35:15.710
Yes. Zebulon's just feeling like there are a

00:35:15.710 --> 00:35:18.909
whole lot of questions. I'm getting some serious

00:35:18.909 --> 00:35:21.510
cult vibes here. Yeah, I'd also like to know,

00:35:21.610 --> 00:35:24.349
can I roll a religion check after this? You can

00:35:24.349 --> 00:35:26.650
roll religion or history as well. Okay, let's

00:35:26.650 --> 00:35:33.150
do the insight first. That's only an eight. Negative

00:35:33.150 --> 00:35:36.130
three for insight? Yes. Holy shit. Yes, I do.

00:35:36.650 --> 00:35:42.909
Wow. I'll roll history now. And that's a nine.

00:35:43.569 --> 00:35:45.989
Yeah, you can't be sure of any of this. Can Jules

00:35:45.989 --> 00:35:47.550
get in on that insight? Absolutely, you can.

00:35:49.050 --> 00:35:52.050
It's an 11. Again, you're not sure. I mean, with

00:35:52.050 --> 00:35:54.570
11, it seems like they're on the level. It seems

00:35:54.570 --> 00:35:59.869
like they're honest. Well, yeah, we're just here

00:35:59.869 --> 00:36:04.010
to help out Lady Dre. She's got a bit of a job

00:36:04.010 --> 00:36:07.090
for us. And, you know, figure while we're here,

00:36:07.170 --> 00:36:11.070
we'll see the festival. I mean, snake aside,

00:36:11.409 --> 00:36:15.929
it's great so far. Everyone's really nice. I've

00:36:15.929 --> 00:36:21.070
got this corn stuff. Yeah. All right. It's a

00:36:21.070 --> 00:36:24.650
beautiful country. Oh, it is, isn't it? Yeah,

00:36:24.690 --> 00:36:29.429
of course. We love our God's breath. Now, I saw

00:36:29.429 --> 00:36:33.070
Emonrath out there, right? Yeah, Emonrath. He's

00:36:33.070 --> 00:36:37.230
kind of one of my friends. You know, I got that

00:36:37.230 --> 00:36:40.489
impression. And I don't know who you are. Not

00:36:40.489 --> 00:36:42.690
a luminaire I've seen on the network. Uh, well,

00:36:42.789 --> 00:36:46.309
yeah, no, we're quite, uh, just, you know, making

00:36:46.309 --> 00:36:49.670
our way to the network. Um, you know, we'd like

00:36:49.670 --> 00:36:51.969
to, uh, get a couple of things under our belt

00:36:51.969 --> 00:36:55.110
first. Um, you know how it is. That's exciting

00:36:55.110 --> 00:36:57.349
stuff. We don't have much luminary action around

00:36:57.349 --> 00:37:00.250
these parts. Only one we really know of is Crispin

00:37:00.250 --> 00:37:03.090
Dubois. Oh, yeah, well, we're, um, you know,

00:37:03.130 --> 00:37:05.869
I mean, someday, you know, you're going to hear

00:37:05.869 --> 00:37:08.150
our name right next to Emin Rath. He's, he's

00:37:08.150 --> 00:37:11.869
great. I mean, don't get me wrong. Um, but, uh.

00:37:11.960 --> 00:37:16.099
You know, we're pretty cool. That gaze locks

00:37:16.099 --> 00:37:20.380
on you in like a fierce sort of way. And that

00:37:20.380 --> 00:37:24.340
grin almost becomes a wolfish. Just like, well,

00:37:24.420 --> 00:37:29.519
I thought so. Thought you might be the tellers

00:37:29.519 --> 00:37:33.079
of a good story. Now, see, us proclaimers, we

00:37:33.079 --> 00:37:35.619
can be a little competitive when it comes to

00:37:35.619 --> 00:37:38.420
finding the best of the best to tell to the Covenant

00:37:38.420 --> 00:37:43.269
Guards. I'd like to tell your story. I think

00:37:43.269 --> 00:37:46.469
you're going to have a leg up. Because this and

00:37:46.469 --> 00:37:49.510
Zeb points back and forth between himself and

00:37:49.510 --> 00:37:53.469
Jules. I mean, we've got Jules, right? We've

00:37:53.469 --> 00:37:55.889
got quite the story. Let's hear it then. Yeah,

00:37:55.909 --> 00:37:57.769
that's all you, Zeb. You go ahead. Come on, Jules.

00:37:58.070 --> 00:38:00.329
Let's hear the story. Why don't you start? And

00:38:00.329 --> 00:38:02.889
actually, like, they pull out a drawing pad or

00:38:02.889 --> 00:38:06.670
a writing pad. Quill dips it in, like, a pocket

00:38:06.670 --> 00:38:09.550
on there. jacket they just dip in. There's like

00:38:09.550 --> 00:38:11.269
scrap ink in there somehow, like held in some

00:38:11.269 --> 00:38:13.949
sort of vessel and starts writing down. I think

00:38:13.949 --> 00:38:18.750
as that happens, Jules kind of elbows Zeb. Well,

00:38:18.789 --> 00:38:25.769
it'll, uh, just one sec, one sec. Sure. Zebulon,

00:38:25.829 --> 00:38:27.630
what is going on here? We're in a place we don't

00:38:27.630 --> 00:38:29.969
know with a person. We don't know who the fuck

00:38:29.969 --> 00:38:32.369
that is. It's a storyteller. We don't know this.

00:38:32.369 --> 00:38:34.269
We don't want to tell our story. We don't know

00:38:34.269 --> 00:38:37.150
that. Zebulon, remember why we were hired for

00:38:37.150 --> 00:38:40.369
this job? Remember? Secrecy. Secrecy. Discretion.

00:38:40.409 --> 00:38:42.590
That's all we got. We ain't got skills. Nothing.

00:38:43.050 --> 00:38:47.690
Yeah. I do remember the secrecy part. Okay. Do

00:38:47.690 --> 00:38:49.230
you remember the secrecy part? Zeb, Zeb, Zeb,

00:38:49.230 --> 00:38:51.710
Zeb, Zeb. We have to follow through on our part.

00:38:52.849 --> 00:38:55.570
Orin doesn't get us on the network. Okay. One

00:38:55.570 --> 00:38:59.750
sec, one sec, one sec. So, Tungsten. Yes? When

00:38:59.750 --> 00:39:06.429
do you do your storytelling? Well, it's... witness

00:39:06.429 --> 00:39:08.130
a story. That's what this little pretty thing's

00:39:08.130 --> 00:39:11.230
for. Holds up that diamond. I can go through,

00:39:11.389 --> 00:39:14.849
make it into sound, and write it down. It'll

00:39:14.849 --> 00:39:18.730
enter the books, and probably next Awakening

00:39:18.730 --> 00:39:21.489
Festival might just release it. Oh, that's like

00:39:21.489 --> 00:39:25.050
by the moon, or... It's yearly. Oh, it's yearly.

00:39:25.730 --> 00:39:30.530
So whatever I, whatever our story isn't gonna

00:39:30.530 --> 00:39:34.139
be heard for a year? Can't make any promises,

00:39:34.239 --> 00:39:37.619
but this is starting to sound really good. Now,

00:39:37.639 --> 00:39:39.239
why don't y 'all just tell me why you're here

00:39:39.239 --> 00:39:42.000
with Lady Trey? What's she doing? Zep, Zep, Zep,

00:39:42.000 --> 00:39:45.320
Zep. Hold on, hold on. I just... Zep, one sec.

00:39:46.039 --> 00:39:49.800
Jules. Jules. Ah, I stepped in a horse poop!

00:39:51.139 --> 00:39:56.119
John! Disgusting! I hate this world! Jules, Jules.

00:39:56.219 --> 00:39:58.820
They're not going to tell our story for a year.

00:39:58.900 --> 00:40:03.199
Zep, Zep. They're asking about... Lady Drake.

00:40:03.599 --> 00:40:12.960
For next year. Sam. Steven. I don't know, man.

00:40:13.019 --> 00:40:15.000
This is David's call. But you might have to roll

00:40:15.000 --> 00:40:19.960
persuasion or something. Holy fuck me. Oh my

00:40:19.960 --> 00:40:27.579
god. Amazing. Plus seven, bitch. Okay. Was this

00:40:27.579 --> 00:40:29.920
contested? I don't know. You're making the rules

00:40:29.920 --> 00:40:32.760
now. No, I'm not. I'm trying to play. That's

00:40:32.760 --> 00:40:35.440
21. Normally, players don't get swayed by their

00:40:35.440 --> 00:40:37.739
players. It's your choice. What's the DC on persuasion

00:40:37.739 --> 00:40:40.900
for Zeb? Steven, you choose. What's the DC? What?

00:40:41.099 --> 00:40:42.840
I don't know. I hit 21. That's going to hit whatever

00:40:42.840 --> 00:40:44.340
it is. All right. I think that's good enough.

00:40:44.340 --> 00:40:46.039
The way the game works, I control everything

00:40:46.039 --> 00:40:50.579
except you. Okay. Well, I don't know what Zeb's

00:40:50.579 --> 00:40:53.099
persuasion DC would be, but I'm going to guess

00:40:53.099 --> 00:40:58.760
that 21 is more than enough. So even though,

00:40:58.840 --> 00:41:05.639
I mean, this could be it. We're on a scary world.

00:41:06.420 --> 00:41:10.139
I mean, the snake was scary, but the world's

00:41:10.139 --> 00:41:13.719
not scary. We can't just trust anybody. Okay,

00:41:13.780 --> 00:41:18.000
hold on. The only person we can trust here is

00:41:18.000 --> 00:41:24.440
the person that we came here to help. Okay. Sorry

00:41:24.440 --> 00:41:27.650
about all that, Tungsten. Sure. Just, you know,

00:41:27.690 --> 00:41:33.710
part of the gig. So the story is, I mean, it's

00:41:33.710 --> 00:41:36.969
really, the most interesting part about it is

00:41:36.969 --> 00:41:39.250
that it's still being written. Well, I know that.

00:41:39.949 --> 00:41:42.389
I want to be there to see it. And I just don't

00:41:42.389 --> 00:41:43.769
think it's ready. That's the idea. It's not ready

00:41:43.769 --> 00:41:47.230
to tell yet. Of course. Because I ain't written

00:41:47.230 --> 00:41:52.150
it yet. Yeah. So wherever you're going, I'm just

00:41:52.150 --> 00:41:54.869
saying I'd like to tag along. Keep an eye on

00:41:54.869 --> 00:41:58.280
things. Oh, well, that's not really my call.

00:41:59.139 --> 00:42:04.119
Because I'm working for somebody, as you well

00:42:04.119 --> 00:42:10.739
know. I will know. Look, look. Let's just get

00:42:10.739 --> 00:42:13.760
down to it. I want to know where Lady Dre went.

00:42:14.300 --> 00:42:17.159
I want to know what y 'all are doing here. You

00:42:17.159 --> 00:42:21.440
got no business knowing our business. Now, I

00:42:21.440 --> 00:42:24.739
ought to talk to Lady Dre herself, right? I showed

00:42:24.739 --> 00:42:27.519
her the footage, and I want to know where she's

00:42:27.519 --> 00:42:29.760
riding off to. Zeb, you know this is bullshit.

00:42:30.400 --> 00:42:32.760
Well, hold on. You showed her what? I showed

00:42:32.760 --> 00:42:35.639
her the footage of the fight just a while back.

00:42:36.440 --> 00:42:39.679
Where's she going? Well, I guess I don't know

00:42:39.679 --> 00:42:42.159
that. So why didn't she tell you where she's

00:42:42.159 --> 00:42:45.980
going? I'm going to give you guys one quick thing

00:42:45.980 --> 00:42:48.760
here. You should be pretty concerned about the

00:42:48.760 --> 00:42:53.980
fact that Lady Dre apparently rode off. From

00:42:53.980 --> 00:42:56.500
what you know, she was looking around town to

00:42:56.500 --> 00:42:58.840
get some information. I was going to find you

00:42:58.840 --> 00:43:01.559
and head out from there. I mean, I don't believe

00:43:01.559 --> 00:43:04.519
anything this person is saying right now. Okay.

00:43:04.900 --> 00:43:09.659
Yeah, that's fine. So you said? I forgot what

00:43:09.659 --> 00:43:11.500
I said. All right, you forgot too. Yeah. Well,

00:43:11.500 --> 00:43:17.679
damn it. Moving on. They ignore you. They're

00:43:17.679 --> 00:43:20.329
focused on Seb. He's the easy one. Zebulon's

00:43:20.329 --> 00:43:21.829
thinking about removing himself from the situation,

00:43:21.969 --> 00:43:23.829
or I'm thinking about removing Zeb from the situation.

00:43:25.130 --> 00:43:28.250
And Zebulon's trying to read Jules' body language.

00:43:28.769 --> 00:43:32.050
Well, Jules wants out, too. Jules wants out,

00:43:32.130 --> 00:43:34.090
too. Get out. I mean, if I'm getting that vibe

00:43:34.090 --> 00:43:36.449
from Zeb, too, then I just look over and say,

00:43:36.530 --> 00:43:38.869
let's get the hell out of here. Well, you know,

00:43:38.889 --> 00:43:41.449
my corn stuff is all, I mean, I'm pretty much

00:43:41.449 --> 00:43:44.690
out of my corn stuff. The stall was, I mean,

00:43:44.710 --> 00:43:47.949
it's way back there. I'm going to go get some

00:43:47.949 --> 00:43:50.360
more corn stuff. Yeah, we'll come with you, Zeb.

00:43:51.239 --> 00:43:54.760
You see Tungsten's smile starts to just fade

00:43:54.760 --> 00:43:57.780
just the tiniest bit. All right. It was nice

00:43:57.780 --> 00:44:09.320
to meet you, Tungsten, but don't follow us. Tungsten

00:44:09.320 --> 00:44:11.139
just stops in the middle of the road, and you

00:44:11.139 --> 00:44:13.599
guys turn and start, like, walking away. And

00:44:13.599 --> 00:44:15.800
I love that this is, like, serious religious

00:44:15.800 --> 00:44:20.210
clergy here on God's Rev. He just snubbed them

00:44:20.210 --> 00:44:23.409
and left. I love it. I mean, hell, it makes sense.

00:44:24.090 --> 00:44:27.769
You move away. Are they looking? I don't know.

00:44:27.809 --> 00:44:29.449
I'm not going to look back to check. Chester,

00:44:29.550 --> 00:44:33.349
are they looking? Oh, hang on. Oh, by the time

00:44:33.349 --> 00:44:39.809
I shoot. Yeah, they're looking. They're moving.

00:44:46.289 --> 00:44:48.250
Let's just keep walking, keep walking. All right,

00:44:48.269 --> 00:44:50.190
so you guys turn around and go back down the

00:44:50.190 --> 00:44:53.969
street? Mm -hmm. Yeah. Yeah, we lost that one.

00:44:54.429 --> 00:44:58.710
No, I stepped in the same poop! Damn it! John,

00:44:58.809 --> 00:45:10.530
John, you need more corn stuff? No! You guys

00:45:10.530 --> 00:45:14.650
are moving. What are you guys doing now? Just

00:45:14.650 --> 00:45:17.349
going to another stall for more food. Okay. What

00:45:17.349 --> 00:45:20.590
are you doing narratively now? Going to a stall

00:45:20.590 --> 00:45:22.570
to get more food. Are you just going to wait

00:45:22.570 --> 00:45:24.250
it out for Lady Dre to come find you? Like, what's

00:45:24.250 --> 00:45:27.989
the plan here? I feel like once we've gotten...

00:45:27.989 --> 00:45:31.190
Did we get away from their gaze? Yeah. I feel

00:45:31.190 --> 00:45:34.289
like once we... Like, Jules is now kind of frantically,

00:45:34.369 --> 00:45:38.030
like, looking around for Lady Dre. Give me a

00:45:38.030 --> 00:45:42.590
perception check. Not going to do it. It's an

00:45:42.590 --> 00:45:45.820
eight. Okay. Six on the die, plus two. Yeah,

00:45:45.840 --> 00:45:47.820
you don't see anything. I mean, you're just walking

00:45:47.820 --> 00:45:49.280
wherever you are and looking around, but you're

00:45:49.280 --> 00:45:52.579
not out searching. Yeah, I mean, Zebulon's just

00:45:52.579 --> 00:45:55.179
enjoying the market. You guys continue to enjoy

00:45:55.179 --> 00:45:58.340
yourselves. I think Jules now is hyper -aware

00:45:58.340 --> 00:46:02.780
that something's going on, but he clearly can't

00:46:02.780 --> 00:46:06.739
see shit. The morning carries on. Zebulon is

00:46:06.739 --> 00:46:08.860
hyper -aware that there are more stalls to hit.

00:46:15.070 --> 00:46:17.809
You move through. You grab more food. I mean,

00:46:17.829 --> 00:46:19.670
Debulon, you're popular at this point. You're

00:46:19.670 --> 00:46:21.989
just the same as you're probably vomiting into

00:46:21.989 --> 00:46:24.230
the streets again, just like on us of Sunco.

00:46:25.570 --> 00:46:27.190
As more and more people are kind of granting

00:46:27.190 --> 00:46:29.710
you favors when they recognize you as one of

00:46:29.710 --> 00:46:32.530
the four that were helping, or one of the two

00:46:32.530 --> 00:46:35.670
that were helping Emonrath fight. No, four. Yeah.

00:46:36.309 --> 00:46:40.909
And let's just say an hour passes. Maybe another

00:46:40.909 --> 00:46:44.949
hour passes. And no sign of Lady Dre. Yeah, I

00:46:44.949 --> 00:46:47.730
think after two hours, I don't think Zebulon's

00:46:47.730 --> 00:46:50.489
super concerned. I think after the third or fourth

00:46:50.489 --> 00:46:52.929
hour, that's when Zebulon would start to be like,

00:46:53.130 --> 00:46:55.550
hey, wait a minute. Wasn't Lady Dre supposed

00:46:55.550 --> 00:46:58.489
to come find us? Wasn't Lady Dre supposed to

00:46:58.489 --> 00:47:01.329
come? I mean, like, I've already hit, I've gotten

00:47:01.329 --> 00:47:06.250
everything twice now. You literally threw it

00:47:06.250 --> 00:47:08.929
up and ate it all again. Are you going to throw

00:47:08.929 --> 00:47:11.010
up again? It tastes better the second time. That's

00:47:11.010 --> 00:47:14.170
gross. That's awful. Oh, my God. Damn it, Seb.

00:47:15.570 --> 00:47:21.829
Not the... Yes. I'm not going to say the words.

00:47:22.010 --> 00:47:23.769
Six intelligence gets you. Yeah, that's where

00:47:23.769 --> 00:47:28.050
my head went. No. It's not a dog. Love you, Danny,

00:47:28.190 --> 00:47:30.250
but sometimes you throw up. Oh, she doesn't do

00:47:30.250 --> 00:47:31.989
that. No, Danny's never eaten throw up? Nope.

00:47:32.449 --> 00:47:37.260
Nope. Just sniff it. But that's it. Third hour

00:47:37.260 --> 00:47:40.880
passes. Yeah, something's not right here, Zeb.

00:47:42.059 --> 00:47:46.360
Something's wrong. I don't know what, but Lady

00:47:46.360 --> 00:47:48.940
Dre should have been back by now. Man, I really

00:47:48.940 --> 00:47:52.519
wish we asked Tungsten which way Lady Dre went.

00:47:52.619 --> 00:47:54.960
I still don't really wish we asked anything.

00:47:55.599 --> 00:47:58.659
Well, maybe we could ask somebody else. Lady

00:47:58.659 --> 00:48:01.099
Dre must be well -known around here. Let's go

00:48:01.099 --> 00:48:04.199
ask the nicest shopkeeper that we came across.

00:48:04.780 --> 00:48:08.380
Tell you what. I did label this town as being

00:48:08.380 --> 00:48:11.599
almost city -like in nature. It's large. And

00:48:11.599 --> 00:48:14.199
like any sort of urban environment, Chester's

00:48:14.199 --> 00:48:16.039
going to get advantage in the investigation world.

00:48:16.059 --> 00:48:19.980
That's right. Doesn't he have a passive, can't

00:48:19.980 --> 00:48:22.139
he hear conversations? That's right. He can.

00:48:22.619 --> 00:48:25.400
Yeah. He can pick up information from listening

00:48:25.400 --> 00:48:27.900
to people around him. Okay. I'm going to do two

00:48:27.900 --> 00:48:31.699
things with this. Sweet. One. As you're kind

00:48:31.699 --> 00:48:33.099
of moving around and you're mentioning Lady Dre

00:48:33.099 --> 00:48:35.400
and you're starting to get nervous, Chester tugs

00:48:35.400 --> 00:48:40.380
on your cloak. Hey, Jules. What's up? You hear

00:48:40.380 --> 00:48:44.099
that? The guy here mentioned talking to Lady

00:48:44.099 --> 00:48:46.840
Dre earlier in this pub. Said she was heading

00:48:46.840 --> 00:48:50.079
off west towards the exit of town. I guess that

00:48:50.079 --> 00:48:54.199
Tungsten character was speaking to her. She went

00:48:54.199 --> 00:48:57.340
off in a rush. That's what I heard. I thought

00:48:57.340 --> 00:49:00.659
you heard birds. Don't bring Boyd into this.

00:49:02.239 --> 00:49:05.960
Did you hear anything else? Just that she left?

00:49:06.119 --> 00:49:11.440
Do you know what Tungsten said to her? There

00:49:11.440 --> 00:49:15.400
was one thing. Yeah. What? Well, it's a word

00:49:15.400 --> 00:49:19.039
we're kind of used to now. I guess someone overheard

00:49:19.039 --> 00:49:24.079
very loud someone, maybe Lady Dre, saying cully.

00:49:24.900 --> 00:49:26.940
That's what them folks were saying, right? Cully?

00:49:27.460 --> 00:49:29.590
Zeb, you know what that means. Well, yeah, he

00:49:29.590 --> 00:49:33.809
was the kid from the letter. The one who drowned.

00:49:34.210 --> 00:49:37.050
You don't think she's going to do something without

00:49:37.050 --> 00:49:40.769
us? Maybe do something stupid? We were hired

00:49:40.769 --> 00:49:43.949
to protect her, so she'd probably do that. But

00:49:43.949 --> 00:49:48.789
on the way out, I did find these in the wagon.

00:49:49.469 --> 00:49:51.610
And Zeb's going to pull out the poisoner's kits.

00:49:53.090 --> 00:49:56.449
She probably, I mean, I think the scene is kind

00:49:56.449 --> 00:49:59.050
of still locked down. See if we can get some

00:49:59.050 --> 00:50:02.610
of that rattlesnake venom for us. I think that's

00:50:02.610 --> 00:50:06.070
a great idea. I think especially here that might

00:50:06.070 --> 00:50:09.510
come in handy. It's been like over three hours

00:50:09.510 --> 00:50:11.730
since you dropped this thing. So now it's just

00:50:11.730 --> 00:50:13.590
rotting there. Nobody's paying attention to it.

00:50:13.590 --> 00:50:16.010
That's what I think. People probably moved it

00:50:16.010 --> 00:50:19.829
by now. Oh, shit. Aren't they busy with the festival?

00:50:21.159 --> 00:50:23.000
They're going to let a giant snake corpse rot

00:50:23.000 --> 00:50:24.579
in the middle of the festival ground? Well, are

00:50:24.579 --> 00:50:27.099
they going to hide a 30 -foot rattlesnake from

00:50:27.099 --> 00:50:28.460
a couple of luminaries? Give me an investigation

00:50:28.460 --> 00:50:30.800
check. All right. You know what? I'm going to

00:50:30.800 --> 00:50:33.420
use my button for investigation. Okay. All right.

00:50:34.000 --> 00:50:36.539
Do you want to be sneaky? I'll be sneaky. Interesting.

00:50:37.179 --> 00:50:40.380
All right. I'll take your newly gotten button.

00:50:42.900 --> 00:50:46.980
Do you have a DC? I'd like a 10. Oh, I got 11,

00:50:47.139 --> 00:50:52.539
baby. Okay. Okay. All right. You ask around a

00:50:52.539 --> 00:50:56.480
little bit. How dare you? How dare you, sir?

00:50:57.920 --> 00:50:59.760
Denied me the high five and gave me the finger.

00:51:00.400 --> 00:51:05.019
That was a little dirty. I apologize, David.

00:51:05.079 --> 00:51:06.940
I feel bad about it now. You look around and

00:51:06.940 --> 00:51:08.800
investigate and they say, nah, we chopped the

00:51:08.800 --> 00:51:10.719
snake up. It's gone. Yeah, I know. I flipped

00:51:10.719 --> 00:51:13.829
you off. Threw it in a well. Should have saved

00:51:13.829 --> 00:51:15.730
the middle finger for after I got the snake.

00:51:15.789 --> 00:51:17.510
That's right, you should have. They eventually

00:51:17.510 --> 00:51:19.489
bring you down to like this. There's like maybe

00:51:19.489 --> 00:51:22.710
a sort of covered sort of tent. They have sort

00:51:22.710 --> 00:51:25.210
of moved away from the festivities, kind of just

00:51:25.210 --> 00:51:26.929
barely outside town where they drag the snake

00:51:26.929 --> 00:51:29.469
out to, basically until they could dispose of

00:51:29.469 --> 00:51:31.690
it properly. And they show you the way. Once

00:51:31.690 --> 00:51:34.530
you bring up what you're looking for and you

00:51:34.530 --> 00:51:38.809
enter, it's just you and the snake. Okay. Zeb

00:51:38.809 --> 00:51:41.469
flips the poisoner's kit open. I don't know.

00:51:42.250 --> 00:51:44.610
Jules, you know how to use this thing? Nope.

00:51:44.670 --> 00:51:46.469
You have no expertise in this thing, so you're

00:51:46.469 --> 00:51:51.989
not... This is going to be either a DC -13 nature

00:51:51.989 --> 00:51:56.409
check or a DC -13 straight intelligence check.

00:51:57.090 --> 00:51:58.789
You don't get proficiency because you have not

00:51:58.789 --> 00:52:01.150
trained with Poisoner's Tools yet. Can Jules

00:52:01.150 --> 00:52:03.550
get this check too since there's two kits? Yes.

00:52:04.329 --> 00:52:06.829
I'm sorry, what did you say the first... Check

00:52:06.829 --> 00:52:09.889
was? You both take a fang. It's going to be either

00:52:09.889 --> 00:52:13.570
nature, DC 13, or just pure intelligence. Okay.

00:52:14.170 --> 00:52:17.829
Yeah, I'll roll intelligence. Okay. Eventually

00:52:17.829 --> 00:52:19.070
you can get some training in this thing between,

00:52:19.210 --> 00:52:22.989
you know, quests and whatnot. Yeah, I'm going

00:52:22.989 --> 00:52:28.469
nature. All right. That's a fail for Zebulon.

00:52:28.869 --> 00:52:33.630
That is an 11. You guys both try, and you've

00:52:33.630 --> 00:52:35.150
never done this before. You're trying to, like...

00:52:35.369 --> 00:52:38.170
Take a vial of the snake's fang and nothing's

00:52:38.170 --> 00:52:39.289
really coming out. Maybe it's been too long.

00:52:39.349 --> 00:52:41.849
You're not really super sure, but it's not happening.

00:52:42.570 --> 00:52:47.289
I wish this came with instructions or enjoy my

00:52:47.289 --> 00:52:51.170
button. Oh, I will. I will. I wish you had that

00:52:51.170 --> 00:52:56.530
later. God damn it. Well, that was kind of fruitless.

00:52:56.769 --> 00:52:59.449
Yeah, that was a bust. What are we doing here?

00:53:00.570 --> 00:53:04.309
You could have helped, John, but... It's icky.

00:53:06.579 --> 00:53:10.840
Jules, you're looking pretty beat up, Jules.

00:53:10.900 --> 00:53:14.380
Are you sure that you're okay to travel? Yeah,

00:53:14.400 --> 00:53:17.139
I'm good. I'm good. I'm just a little shaken

00:53:17.139 --> 00:53:21.059
up. I'm not used to being unconscious. Yeah,

00:53:21.119 --> 00:53:25.599
I hear it's really bad for you. Yeah. Yeah. Well,

00:53:25.719 --> 00:53:31.460
here. Here, take this. Oh, never mind. I dyslexic'd.

00:53:32.039 --> 00:53:36.179
I dyslexied that. I have a piton, and I read

00:53:36.179 --> 00:53:42.320
it as potion real quick. You do have a potion.

00:53:42.500 --> 00:53:45.059
I mean, I am up to like, I'm back up to like

00:53:45.059 --> 00:53:49.440
13 HP. Oh, okay. Yeah. So then I'll keep my piton

00:53:49.440 --> 00:53:56.019
for myself. I'm at 12. I need the piton. What

00:53:56.019 --> 00:53:59.059
are you guys doing? Farting around a snake tent

00:53:59.059 --> 00:54:01.920
for two more hours? No, but we have no idea what

00:54:01.920 --> 00:54:04.710
direction Lady Dre would have gone. West. West

00:54:04.710 --> 00:54:07.050
out the gate. So we're just going to go. Yeah,

00:54:07.050 --> 00:54:09.369
I guess. God damn it. You can investigate there.

00:54:09.409 --> 00:54:13.289
We just go west. Which gate did you say ladies

00:54:13.289 --> 00:54:15.429
were going out of? The gate to the west. That's

00:54:15.429 --> 00:54:19.750
all I know. West. Should we start there? I guess

00:54:19.750 --> 00:54:22.269
that's all we have to go on. She's clearly not

00:54:22.269 --> 00:54:24.869
coming back. Maybe there's a guard tower or something.

00:54:25.010 --> 00:54:26.949
Maybe somebody saw something. Or we could just

00:54:26.949 --> 00:54:31.369
go back home. Hmm. Yeah. No, let's go west. Okay.

00:54:31.409 --> 00:54:35.139
West. Are you sure? Yeah. We got this. All right.

00:54:35.480 --> 00:54:38.980
You guys begin to move again. You head towards

00:54:38.980 --> 00:54:42.579
the western gate. And this is where I'm going

00:54:42.579 --> 00:54:45.000
to bring up the second thing you get from Chester's

00:54:45.000 --> 00:54:49.039
passive. Oh. As you're moving through town, you

00:54:49.039 --> 00:54:52.179
get another tug on your cloak. Just, hey, Jules,

00:54:52.280 --> 00:54:55.639
Jules, Jules. What's up? Cradle Ace Lake, right?

00:54:55.679 --> 00:54:59.739
That's the place? Listen. And do you listen?

00:55:00.679 --> 00:55:04.010
Yeah. as you kind of like open up your awareness

00:55:04.010 --> 00:55:06.050
to what's around you. I think throughout the

00:55:06.050 --> 00:55:08.050
day, you're always hearing these songs back and

00:55:08.050 --> 00:55:10.090
forth, this awakening song. And I'm sure you've

00:55:10.090 --> 00:55:12.050
paid attention to a lot of it as you are a fan

00:55:12.050 --> 00:55:14.269
of music, but it's probably at some points just

00:55:14.269 --> 00:55:17.110
faded out because it's just so constant. But

00:55:17.110 --> 00:55:20.050
now as you're moving past a group, you hear Cradle

00:55:20.050 --> 00:55:24.989
Laced Lake being mentioned in song. And you start

00:55:24.989 --> 00:55:26.570
to catch a snippet of this sort of following

00:55:26.570 --> 00:55:28.670
part of the song, which seems to be talking about

00:55:28.670 --> 00:55:31.289
the history of this lake. I'd like you to give

00:55:31.289 --> 00:55:39.969
me that drone. You hear. Cradle lace lake, another

00:55:39.969 --> 00:55:47.610
claimed. A boy who took his father's name. Coley

00:55:47.610 --> 00:55:54.550
with Keanu went to play. Rattle's ma did grin

00:55:54.550 --> 00:56:03.989
that day. To water's edge. Led by a fool. Swallowed

00:56:03.989 --> 00:56:11.050
by the hungry pool. Family shattered. Kind boy

00:56:11.050 --> 00:56:22.030
dead. Coley Sr. Off world fled. And that song

00:56:22.030 --> 00:56:25.630
seems to end there. Damn. Pieces are starting

00:56:25.630 --> 00:56:27.570
to fall into place here. Where are you guys going?

00:56:27.750 --> 00:56:32.679
Coley Sr. Offworld fled. Does that mean something?

00:56:33.119 --> 00:56:36.219
I don't know yet, but it... Not when my intelligence

00:56:36.219 --> 00:56:38.559
doesn't. It sure as hell sounds like something.

00:56:40.039 --> 00:56:41.639
You guys reach a western gate, and I'll say,

00:56:41.699 --> 00:56:43.659
as you're lining up, there's not a lot of folks

00:56:43.659 --> 00:56:46.139
crowded around the outside of the town. Everyone's

00:56:46.139 --> 00:56:48.320
more focused on the inside, so the people get

00:56:48.320 --> 00:56:50.139
fewer and fewer the closer you get toward the

00:56:50.139 --> 00:56:53.219
actual gates. There's a few folks hanging around

00:56:53.219 --> 00:56:54.960
here and there, and you see one person that's

00:56:54.960 --> 00:56:58.179
essentially just like... They're standing by,

00:56:58.260 --> 00:57:00.239
like, a horse hitching post. Seems like maybe

00:57:00.239 --> 00:57:02.639
he's renting out horses, something like that,

00:57:02.699 --> 00:57:04.679
selling them out to people who are heading back

00:57:04.679 --> 00:57:12.320
to home. Hey, are those tied up real tight? Well,

00:57:12.400 --> 00:57:18.239
yeah, I believe so. Okay. Shall we do one? Zeb,

00:57:18.280 --> 00:57:21.980
you want to get a little closer? Is this the

00:57:21.980 --> 00:57:26.670
way to the Lace Lake? Cradle Lace Lake. Oh, yeah,

00:57:26.769 --> 00:57:29.269
Cradle Lace Lake. Why the hell would y 'all want

00:57:29.269 --> 00:57:33.030
to go there? Well, we heard about it in the song.

00:57:33.550 --> 00:57:35.289
No, no, y 'all don't want to go down that way.

00:57:35.369 --> 00:57:36.909
That's down in the rattle. I don't know if you

00:57:36.909 --> 00:57:39.090
know much about Cod's Bread, but we don't send

00:57:39.090 --> 00:57:42.369
people out to the rattle often. It's dangerous

00:57:42.369 --> 00:57:47.869
ground. Well, how far can we go? I mean, what

00:57:47.869 --> 00:57:49.309
do y 'all mean? I mean, they can hit the end

00:57:49.309 --> 00:57:51.949
of the ribbon, but that's almost a day's journey.

00:57:53.820 --> 00:57:57.719
Then we'll journey a day. We're here to see the

00:57:57.719 --> 00:58:01.780
world. All right. We're tourists. Good luck to

00:58:01.780 --> 00:58:04.900
y 'all, then. Don't worry. We got thick skin.

00:58:05.380 --> 00:58:09.519
We'll show what's with the horses. Are they for

00:58:09.519 --> 00:58:13.099
rent? Normally, but not to folk heading out to

00:58:13.099 --> 00:58:14.559
the rattle. I ain't looking at my livestock.

00:58:14.860 --> 00:58:16.880
Look, I need to get paid back for these things,

00:58:16.920 --> 00:58:18.619
right? And I got to get them back at the end

00:58:18.619 --> 00:58:20.739
of the day. I'm sorry, but if I know where you're

00:58:20.739 --> 00:58:24.159
going, I can't give to you. Fair and square.

00:58:24.280 --> 00:58:25.860
Simple, simple. You know, it's not happening.

00:58:26.039 --> 00:58:29.159
So what would have happened to your horses if

00:58:29.159 --> 00:58:32.239
there was a 30 -foot rattler loose in the town?

00:58:33.119 --> 00:58:36.320
I mean, I would have let them go. I don't know

00:58:36.320 --> 00:58:39.519
what this is. You'd have lost them. I don't know

00:58:39.519 --> 00:58:40.760
where they're going with this, but yeah, sure.

00:58:40.980 --> 00:58:45.440
It might have happened. My name is Jebulon Black,

00:58:45.679 --> 00:58:50.440
and I killed that snake. All right. One, I don't

00:58:50.440 --> 00:58:54.820
believe you. And two, you're saying because maybe

00:58:54.820 --> 00:58:56.820
you might have saved my horses, I should let

00:58:56.820 --> 00:58:59.340
you definitely kill one. That's your argument?

00:58:59.800 --> 00:59:03.219
No, I'll keep the horse very safe. Look, this

00:59:03.219 --> 00:59:06.199
just can't... Perception check. What about a

00:59:06.199 --> 00:59:09.400
persuasion check? If you want me to do. Disadvantage,

00:59:09.440 --> 00:59:11.280
though. Because you opened this up pretty bad

00:59:11.280 --> 00:59:12.860
with telling him exactly where you want to go.

00:59:13.000 --> 00:59:16.539
That's fair. Yeah. All right. I'll do perception

00:59:16.539 --> 00:59:18.679
first, then I'll do my persuasion with disadvantage.

00:59:21.960 --> 00:59:26.920
Perception was a four. Persuasion was a five.

00:59:27.780 --> 00:59:32.300
Okay. You continue talking to this guy, and he

00:59:32.300 --> 00:59:34.940
is not swayed at all by what you're saying. And

00:59:34.940 --> 00:59:37.360
with that failed perception, what you don't hear

00:59:37.360 --> 00:59:41.000
is a clattering of hooves down the road behind

00:59:41.000 --> 00:59:47.940
you pulling a wagon. You don't hear it until

00:59:47.940 --> 00:59:51.190
it's right up behind you. And the voice just

00:59:51.190 --> 01:00:00.690
says, need a ride, y 'all? Bitch. I'm going to

01:00:00.690 --> 01:00:03.230
lean over to the horse guy. Say, how much did

01:00:03.230 --> 01:00:06.710
the buy win you, horses? It's a good riding beast.

01:00:06.809 --> 01:00:09.389
It's going to be a good 300 gold. Oh, fuck that.

01:00:09.630 --> 01:00:14.550
Yeah, I can't. It's a horse. We'd also need at

01:00:14.550 --> 01:00:19.469
least two. Don't want him to die. I had to try.

01:00:19.980 --> 01:00:23.679
I had to see. The figure just behind you is kind

01:00:23.679 --> 01:00:27.039
of giving you like... I'll say this. The figure

01:00:27.039 --> 01:00:31.619
behind you is not smiling. Tungsten looks at

01:00:31.619 --> 01:00:36.659
you and in their eyes you just see like a desire

01:00:36.659 --> 01:00:38.920
and you see like almost a desperation. Just like,

01:00:39.019 --> 01:00:41.860
look, look. I know I come off a little strong.

01:00:42.079 --> 01:00:45.340
I just... Like I said, we're all pretty competitive.

01:00:45.800 --> 01:00:48.900
But let's be straight here, right? A little while

01:00:48.900 --> 01:00:52.599
ago... People came into my town with bloody eyes

01:00:52.599 --> 01:00:55.840
screaming the name of a boy who died ten years

01:00:55.840 --> 01:01:00.760
ago. The name of a man who left just after. People

01:01:00.760 --> 01:01:03.639
could have died. And the way Lady Dre acted,

01:01:03.820 --> 01:01:07.659
the way she peeled off, I think y 'all are here

01:01:07.659 --> 01:01:11.480
for that. Let me ask you this. You came to our

01:01:11.480 --> 01:01:15.539
world. Some random person comes up to you. You

01:01:15.539 --> 01:01:19.400
going to trust them? No. Well... Well, Jules,

01:01:19.519 --> 01:01:21.519
Jules, um... Y 'all don't need to trust me, though.

01:01:21.980 --> 01:01:25.480
You just need to use me. I ain't a fighter, but

01:01:25.480 --> 01:01:28.380
I have resources. I can help you move. Tungsten

01:01:28.380 --> 01:01:30.500
might be able to provide a little bit more than

01:01:30.500 --> 01:01:36.079
just a... just a ride. Tungsten will... will

01:01:36.079 --> 01:01:39.739
help you spin a tale. If you can tell us some,

01:01:39.780 --> 01:01:44.099
too. And that smile returns big. Oh, you know

01:01:44.099 --> 01:01:47.519
I can do that. If y 'all want to catch Lady Dre...

01:01:47.920 --> 01:01:50.119
You better get a move on. We can talk on the

01:01:50.119 --> 01:01:54.400
road. You first. Hop in. I'll be driving. Nope.

01:01:55.260 --> 01:01:59.679
Zebulon's already on the wagon. Of course. No,

01:01:59.699 --> 01:02:02.360
Jules is walking next to the wagon. It's going

01:02:02.360 --> 01:02:03.679
to be faster than you're going to walk. It's

01:02:03.679 --> 01:02:05.800
going to go. Seriously? I mean, you're going

01:02:05.800 --> 01:02:08.239
to get tired. You can. It's probably slow moving.

01:02:08.260 --> 01:02:09.900
You can jump off if there's a problem. All right.

01:02:09.920 --> 01:02:11.619
Jules is going to get up in front of the wagon

01:02:11.619 --> 01:02:15.360
with Tungsten. All right. And pull out his rapier

01:02:15.360 --> 01:02:19.409
and set it on his lap. Boy, that's... You know

01:02:19.409 --> 01:02:23.269
I'm clergy, right? No, it's fine. Let's just

01:02:23.269 --> 01:02:26.769
go. That don't mean nothing to me. And with that,

01:02:26.809 --> 01:02:29.949
are you guys okay with leaving Promise? No and

01:02:29.949 --> 01:02:32.690
yes. Yeah, and I've got a question for Tungsten

01:02:32.690 --> 01:02:35.230
whenever it's appropriate. Yeah, let's just say

01:02:35.230 --> 01:02:38.780
you... And horses start... moving. You're in

01:02:38.780 --> 01:02:40.239
the back. Maybe you can poke your head out and

01:02:40.239 --> 01:02:43.659
talk behind the curtain as Tungsten and Jules

01:02:43.659 --> 01:02:45.239
are sitting in the front. Chester's in the back

01:02:45.239 --> 01:02:48.559
with Jean Franklin. You guys are slowly moving

01:02:48.559 --> 01:02:53.460
out. Hey, so, Tungsten. Yeah? What can you tell

01:02:53.460 --> 01:02:57.840
us about Cully Sr.? Cully Sr.? From Cradle Ace

01:02:57.840 --> 01:03:01.360
Lake's song, right? Well, it's a story, alright.

01:03:02.239 --> 01:03:05.559
And you start moving. Let me get my thoughts

01:03:05.559 --> 01:03:07.409
together on it. I can... I'll give you the full

01:03:07.409 --> 01:03:10.730
scoop, but what I really know is this. The guy

01:03:10.730 --> 01:03:13.090
was sort of an adventurer, right? He took his

01:03:13.090 --> 01:03:18.570
kid and his niece out to Cradle Lace Lake. This

01:03:18.570 --> 01:03:22.610
kid died. Drowned out there. He broke the man

01:03:22.610 --> 01:03:24.809
and he left the world. That's all I know. Really.

01:03:26.349 --> 01:03:32.769
And you guys move. Now, I'm going to tell you

01:03:32.769 --> 01:03:35.070
this. This journey is going to take most of the

01:03:35.070 --> 01:03:37.960
day. You can sit there with your rapier out jewels.

01:03:39.219 --> 01:03:42.760
This wagon's actually pretty comfortable. You

01:03:42.760 --> 01:03:45.440
see this is probably Proclaimer Ward's actual

01:03:45.440 --> 01:03:49.320
personal wagon, and it's filled with all sorts

01:03:49.320 --> 01:03:51.619
of furnishings and comforts, foods, this and

01:03:51.619 --> 01:03:54.599
that. Proclaimers that travel all over the countryside,

01:03:54.820 --> 01:03:56.460
maybe they'll explain that to you as you're going

01:03:56.460 --> 01:03:58.739
a little bit, gathering stories from here and

01:03:58.739 --> 01:04:04.929
there. And it's a long day, if you want to. Lower

01:04:04.929 --> 01:04:07.090
your guard. You can take a long rest during this

01:04:07.090 --> 01:04:12.849
journey. Yes. God damn it, David. Yes. I need

01:04:12.849 --> 01:04:15.530
my spell slots back. And that goes to anybody

01:04:15.530 --> 01:04:19.190
here. You have maybe a 10 -hour ride, so there's

01:04:19.190 --> 01:04:22.909
time for sleep. There's time for just sort of

01:04:22.909 --> 01:04:27.389
downtime activities. And this wagon just moves

01:04:27.389 --> 01:04:31.739
on the roads, tungsten happy to just... Stay

01:04:31.739 --> 01:04:34.380
at the reins, watching as maybe you guys at some

01:04:34.380 --> 01:04:36.199
point start to, as you kind of move into the

01:04:36.199 --> 01:04:40.940
back with everybody else. Watching out the sort

01:04:40.940 --> 01:04:45.460
of open back of the wagon as you pass rolling

01:04:45.460 --> 01:04:48.599
hills and beautiful farmlands, groves of trees

01:04:48.599 --> 01:04:52.500
set here and there. This beautiful blue cloudless

01:04:52.500 --> 01:04:58.760
sky that as you sleep and wake, eat, rest, begins

01:04:58.760 --> 01:05:04.340
to burn. With an evening light. Fiery, fiery

01:05:04.340 --> 01:05:08.079
red. And clear like you could never see on Cerule.

01:05:08.820 --> 01:05:12.119
Like you never saw on the Citadel. It's beautiful.

01:05:13.320 --> 01:05:18.119
The birds flitting overhead. You know that what

01:05:18.119 --> 01:05:21.920
you're moving towards, horrors await. And you

01:05:21.920 --> 01:05:24.840
know that, Zebulon, you still feel this failure

01:05:24.840 --> 01:05:29.119
inside your gut. You know that cowardice you

01:05:29.119 --> 01:05:33.550
feel. You're only going to face scarier and scarier

01:05:33.550 --> 01:05:39.730
things when this journey ends. Jules, what happened

01:05:39.730 --> 01:05:42.269
to you in that fight, you don't know what it

01:05:42.269 --> 01:05:44.789
means. You don't know if it's continuing. You

01:05:44.789 --> 01:05:46.949
don't know what happens in the next fight if

01:05:46.949 --> 01:05:48.889
you're going to be fighting this new threat from

01:05:48.889 --> 01:05:50.829
within as well as all these external threats

01:05:50.829 --> 01:05:55.369
without. You know that storyteller Orin, Lady

01:05:55.369 --> 01:05:57.969
Dre, the only hope you have of saving the Cherry

01:05:57.969 --> 01:06:01.590
Delights, of becoming a Luminary. has gone on

01:06:01.590 --> 01:06:05.309
without you for reasons you might not fully understand.

01:06:05.429 --> 01:06:14.210
And if he dies, this road is closed to you. So

01:06:14.210 --> 01:06:19.730
I imagine this is a very quiet journey. Very

01:06:19.730 --> 01:06:23.130
somber. Everyone sort of looking down their own

01:06:23.130 --> 01:06:25.570
way. John Franklin looks, frankly, wagon sick

01:06:25.570 --> 01:06:27.630
the entire time and vomits over the edge a couple

01:06:27.630 --> 01:06:37.250
times. this is so much. And you move. You're

01:06:37.250 --> 01:06:39.170
topping over a hill and I think you look out

01:06:39.170 --> 01:06:43.269
over Tungsten calls you out. You guys peek out

01:06:43.269 --> 01:06:47.429
the curtain and you see far ahead and down as

01:06:47.429 --> 01:06:49.230
you're sort of reaching this sort of apex hill

01:06:49.230 --> 01:06:51.289
that looks down over much of this landscape.

01:06:51.869 --> 01:06:55.909
Far ahead you can see thick, thick forest covered

01:06:55.909 --> 01:07:00.550
in thick mist. It seems to be spreading out slowly

01:07:00.550 --> 01:07:04.489
over the farmlands. At this point, the sky is

01:07:04.489 --> 01:07:10.449
a deep purple twilight. And I think here, amidst

01:07:10.449 --> 01:07:14.429
this somber energy, in this place of darkness,

01:07:14.869 --> 01:07:19.329
we see Jules reach for his loot.