Storyteller David here. You guys having fun?
Great. Well, you know the fun doesn't have to
end with the show itself. Check out our Instagram,
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friends about us. Let everyone else join our
pants party. Thank you much. Enjoy the episode.
And as he dropped to the dirt, and to bold Amun
-Rath, who called on the wind, and blurred through
the fight, cut down a million archer, moved towards
Serpent's Bay. Sepulon struggling, his fear mingled
with shame, but as Amun -Rath taunted, half -dragon
did aim. Jaune and Chester both fading, two starting
to die, as they loosed final arrow right through
the snake's eye. And they won. Yeah, I really
hard committed to this, huh? That was actually
really, really good. That one gave me goosebumps.
Yeah, that was fantastic. That was awesome. Yeah.
Hope I can keep it up because like, man. Not
after that. That was it. You peaked. I peaked.
We peaked. Episode 26. I initially did this sort
of change. We'll get around to eventually explaining
what this all is towards the end of the arc,
probably. But I hadn't realized how long form
this arc could end up being. And, yeah, I really
committed to something. And that's terrible.
How are you guys doing? Good. Good. You're keeping
up. You're doing well. Yeah. Cool. Yeah. And
the way you keep talking about the finale, like,
to me it feels like the arc's ending this episode.
Oh, no. You wish. You wish. Anyone who's read
the book and you know what's coming up at the
end of this, well, just you wait. Because I am
terrified for this party. So how are you guys
doing tonight? What do you want to talk about?
Or do you want to just get right into it? I don't
know. I got a little bit of an Instagram shout
-out that I want to do. I think Jeremy's got
something on the docket. Or this is going to
be a new Instagram call -out. Ooh, call -out.
Yeah. Lay it down. Sakura Blossom. We got some
beef. Lay it out. There was a comment made about
our picture with Stomp pre -show last episode
that referred to me as the oldest in the group.
I believe that conversation continued with Steven
and Sakura Blossom, and she continued to tell
me how old I was. Making old man jokes. The comment
specifically went, oh, the picture starts with
the youngest in front and moves to the oldest
in back. and Jeremy was at the end of the line.
Excellent. Excellent. I will never forget that.
I thought it was funny. And thank you so much
for listening. You rock. Jeremy. Look, just to
apologize for Jeremy, it is 5 .59 right now.
It's almost his bedtime. This is probably the
fourth time I've said this. I fucking quit. When
I was a young schoolboy, Jeremy, people would
pick on each other when they thought they were
cute. You're opening a whole different can of
worms here, man. What is this turning into? I'm
just saying. Stop it. I'm just saying. What?
Point being, Sakura Blossom, you're on my shit
list. But I appreciate you so much. Thank you
for listening. You rock. Thank you so much. Thank
you for giving us good content. I actually have
one little thing I want to do before we get started.
We have previously, in our last Session Zero,
brought up a co -worker of ours that listens,
Jay Dubba, actually, ironically, named Jules,
who is actually here in Fantasy Pant Studios
today, right now. What? Oh, yes, yes. You didn't
know? The OG Jules. And I've got, well, a little
test. Let's just say. Oh yeah, this is mean.
You told me about this. This is mean. You see,
we're all co -workers here. And as a DM, I love
causing strife and conflict both in the game
and out of the game because I'm an asshole. Jules,
I have in my hands one button. Now I want you
to come to this mic and tell me which of these
two players is getting this one button. What
a dick move. Holy shit. I don't think this is
going to be as successful or as much of a strife
as you had hoped because when we were sitting
at the bar the other day, I said, if I could
give a button, it goes to Steven because of how
well in the last episode he played true to Zebulon
and his character. And I was laughing multiple
times. So there you go, Steven. That was actually
really easy. Thank you so much. Don't worry,
Jules. I will sit here with my empty jar. I'm
so sorry. You should probably earn them. My empty
jar that I used to survive. So tonight is officially
just shit on Jeremy night. Oh, yeah. It's fine.
We've shit on Steven enough. I guess it's my
turn. I'm usually the butt of the joke. So this
is a nice change of pace for me. Well, thank
you, Jules. Sorry to throw you in the fire. Excellent.
That's all I had on my docket. So you guys ready
to get ready to do it? Because we've got a lot
to get to. Yeah, we'll talk about friends next
time. Friends v. Letterkenny. All right, we'll
have that. We'll have that. Capital F, friends.
So let's get into this real quick. Go ahead and
turn that up. Fade in when I need to. We are
here. The same scene we left off. We are here
in the plaza in Promise where chaos just unfolded
and where now some amount of control is starting
to seep back into the crowds. The crowds have
now sort of rushed you. Now, we conveniently
see the crowd is pulling away. Eamon, Wrath,
and Bink, you know, the true heroes in the moment,
they're being pulled away. They try to open the
door to say something and just yanked. They're
gone. Who knows what happened to them? We'll
find out later. But you guys, more ignored than
the rest. I mean, there's some thank yous thrown
your way, of course, but a lot of folks didn't
really see the full fight. But they know who
Emil Rath is. He's on the network. And while
these folks aren't wholly invested in the network
itself, in the Radiant Citadel and its governance
of the worlds, they do appreciate luminaries.
They appreciate a good story. And they know who
this luminary is. Unlike you. So he's being pulled
away. You are still kind of there in the moment.
Zebulon, you are staring down at the fanged mouth
of the dead snake. And that cold fear is still
gripping your heart and stomach. I feel like
echoes of that supernatural power just lingering
in your nerves, tingling under your scales. And
while there are excited folk moving in around
you, they sound far off. background noise. Instead,
in your mind, you hear a different voice, one
from the past. Stop being so scared, Zem. It's
the voice of your brother. It's Arhalon. And
your mind drifts back in time to a specific moment,
where you see your brother sitting beside you,
towering over you, even at the age of 15, still
with his adult, manly voice, because, I don't
know, he aged early. Early puberty for that particular
half -dragon. And at this point, you are small
to him because you're only five, six? What do
you think? Yeah, five or six. He's ten years
younger. Okay, yeah. He goes on. I told you he'd
be fine. He's always fine. You have to stop being
so scared all the time. He always says that luminaries
are never scared, remember? And we are going
to be luminaries, aren't we? Ha! Okay, fuck.
Six -year -old Zebulon. How do I do nine -year
-old Zebulon again? Yeah, that's right! Holy
shit! That's right, Arlon! Can we just do this
for an hour? No. You got like five minutes of
this. I'm on my first beer. I'm making the most
of it. So your brother flashes a big dagger -filled
smile. And you smile too. And you look down at
a well -worn wooden figure in your hands, a little
toy. You can see where the paint has worn and
the wood has been shaved off on this toy's waist
and arms. The scars of a beloved toy are clutched
in your scaled hands, just rubbed off over many,
many days of play. You remember these details,
but you can't remember the toy itself. Whose
toy was it? Atash? Perhaps? Maybe the storm eye?
That doesn't seem right, but... No, you just
can't remember. But you remember the room. You
remember the manor that you're sitting in on
this overly -cushioned sofa. Couch. Whatever.
Next to your brother. Fancy couch. We're doing
that. You are in your mother's manor. Xena's
manor. But it's not... Like it is now. Just littered
with piles and piles of junk. Barely a floor
to stand on. No furniture. No, no, no. It is
neat. It is comfortable. You see, the butler,
Morden, is preparing a number of trays and snacks
in this almost small table in front of you. I'm
just laying them out all neat and tidy. And...
Ahead of you, a large white screen is rolled
down against the wall, running through advertisements
projected by a large crystal mounted to the ceiling
above and behind you. You see that around you,
the layout of furniture actually does make sense.
While there's maybe a bit of a hoard room towards
the back, like maybe a closet or a larger bedroom
that Xena keeps some pile of precious sentimental
items and valuable things, it has not yet spilled
out all across the manor everywhere. It's all
sort of kept within, her draconic instincts suppressed
by her more human ones. And as the butler finishes
laying out three sets of dishware and cups on
the table and bustles away to perform another
task, he sort of steps out of the room, and as
he does, And Xena passes him in the doorway,
still large and strong. Bigger than you, bigger
than your brother at this point. And says, let's
see if we can do this again. Thank you, Morden.
That will be all for today. Go home and enjoy
the evening with your family. You might just
get to special if you leave now. Go, go, go,
go. And the butler leaves. And Xena moves towards
her children. You see she unfurls her wings half
of the room and leaps over the couch in a single
mighty flap. Just lands before you and plastering
on a stern mother expression. Studies? She just
looks at both of you. We already studied. Earlier.
She nods. And training? Well, we're going to
do some training a little later. Yes, mother,
we wouldn't skip it. Must you persist with us
every time? And Xena kind of does a fake sort
of ponder, a hmm, scratching her scaly chin,
then smiles and says, my good boys! And she reaches
out, and her hand's just rubbing vigorously at
both of your heads and horns. And maybe it strikes
you then, as it often does, that you're really
treated no differently from your brother. Even
though a single glance at this family picture
could reveal... The massive difference between
you and the other two. Well, they have their
brass gleaming scales and fin -like crests instead
of horns. You have this darker matte sort of
bland coloring. And you have these sort of curling
horns, almost like a ram's, instead of the same.
There's clearly something different. And you
know that there is nothing of Xena in your blood.
But it's never felt that way. Not in the way
she looks at you. And she goes on. Okay, it's
about time. She leans her horns and it goes and
moves down to the figure in your hands. And she
kind of like touches at its face, caressing it
almost. It'll be on in a second. Then you hear
a cough from the doorway behind. Xena turns to
look and her joy instantly melts. The fear is
only there for just a moment before a mask of
bubbling happiness covers her features again.
Oh, um, Mother, I wasn't expecting you. Did Morden
let you in? And I imagine you turn to look, Zebulon?
Mm -hmm. Roy, having to reach around and stand
up full -on on the couch. Yeah, two hands on
the couch, pulling myself up. Hell yeah. You're
peeking over the back, and you see Sholay. She's...
Standing in the doorway, the face of her human
form is locked in a cold scowl. Mother? Shirley
just stares silently for a second, looks at you.
Tell me, is that toy still in your hand as you're
reaching over the couch? Oh, absolutely. Her
eyes fall right on that, then shoot right back
to Xena. What do you think you're doing, Xena?
She gestures the toy to the screen. Do you think
this is the kind of thing my grandchildren should
be exposed to? Do you think I want their heads
filled with foolhardy ambitions? This luminary
worship is unhealthy and dangerous, and you of
all people should understand that. Now, I want
to give you the freedom to raise these children.
You know I do, but you are giving me cause to
worry, Xena. I would hate to force them to lose
another... Words lost to this bubbling jumble.
Can't make it out, like gurgling water. You see
Arhalon beside you, refusing to turn from the
screen, his eyes burning. He does not look in
that direction. He ignores it, shoulders up and
defensive. But there's hurt on his face. And
Xena starts yelling, These are my children! Mine!
I will raise them under my wing! You know I do
not share your concerns, Mother, and you cannot
force them upon me. Besides, this is not just
any luminary. He is a... And then... How can
you say that after what he did to you? To all
of us? And this whole conversation begins to
take on this dark, watery character. You can't
make out any words. You can't make out any words.
And as this goes on behind you, back and forth,
you don't remember. You can't remember what they're
saying, Zebulon. And you feel this bubbling up
of anger and loss regardless. At words you don't
know, the feeling is there. And in that certainty,
only a young child can feel you know that this
is your fault. It's all your fault. You can feel
Arholon's gaze on you. You can feel the heat
and anger and blame in his eyes on you. And then
he is gone. Xena. is gone. Sholay is gone. You
see, before you, the figure of Illuminary begins
to resolve itself on the screen, to the sound
of roaring applause from the folks gathered there
on the network, and you look to the screen to
see, and it is gone. Who was it, Zebulon? And
you remember the toy, the toy in your hand. Look
at the toy, Zebulon. Look at the toy. Whose figure
is it? Zebulon, you have to remember. You have
to remember. Look at the toy. Look at the toy,
Zebulon! Look at the... And it's gone. That memory
is gone. Zebulon, you stand in the plaza in the
town of Promise and you're staring at the corpse
of this giant rattlesnake. And while you still
feel echoes of that fear in your bones, in your
scales, a line from an old memory echoes through
your head. Stop being so scared, Zeb. Your brother's
voice. I told you he'd be fine. He's always fine.
You have to stop being so scared all the time.
He always says that luminaries are never scared.
And we're going to be luminaries, right? That's
right. That's right, Arhalon. We're going to
be luminaries. And you remember sitting together
on that heavily cushioned couch? You remember
Xena coming in and sitting down beside you, putting
a gentle hand on your horns as the projector
begins to show a roaring crowd? And you remember
watching as Ojin Yoshikatsu, yeah that's right,
the Storm Eye. He stands before the applause,
soaking in the glory of another hard -earned
victory over the forces of chaos. And you remember
that toy, clutching it in your hand, a mirror
to the luminary on the screen. The wooden samurai
armor of your Ozin figures, it's well worn at
the waist and arms where your half -dragon scales
have often held it. Worn down over hours and
days of play. You remember all of this, Zebulon,
and you feel a little better. Because it is a
good memory. And your mind returns to the now.
To the plaza and promise. That gave me so many
goosebumps. That was pretty intense. That was
good. What are you talking about? I don't know.
Okay. I don't remember. Okay. We'll go with that.
I think as your... having this moment looking
at this as this corpse and and sort of uh mind
wandering back to the past we pan over to to
jewels oh no your hand is is covered now obscured
the the whatever happened to you before cannot
be seen and you look over and chester's still
there sitting beside you but he's looking at
you with with some deep deep concern i'm not
gonna make you roll an insight check because
it's chester you know you know but i think i'll
just i think i'll just give him a nod of I'm
all right. I will tell you that, you know, for
a fact, when there's a chance, I mean, right
now it's going to be hard. There's people everywhere
in this festival. He's going to want to talk
to you about this. And he just, like, he looks
at the hand and looks at you and gives you this
kind of dark, like, nod. Like, this isn't done.
We have to have this conversation. I mean, I
just kind of assumed that Chester and I were
close enough where he knows all this. Oh, you
told him everything. Oh, yeah. Oh, wow. Okay.
So, yeah, he's, I mean, I think he's still concerned
because this was never expected. At least he
knows where it came from. I think he's still
very worried. And I imagine you feel the same.
What happened? And you think back to that moment.
You think back to reaching out. You think back
to the loss you've suffered recently. To the
panic you felt towards the Cherry Delights, not
knowing where they are, what's happening to them.
You think back to the rage at your parents. You
think back to... The fear of almost losing Chester
right there in that moment. Reaching out. Touching
that dark well inside yourself. And it went wrong.
And you remember your mother saying, Use it,
Jules. And you don't know what this means. You
don't know what's happening to you. You don't
know if it's going to stop. How do you feel?
I think Jules is scared. But I also think, I
feel very much in control. Like I know what's
happening, but I know that I can outsmart it.
Jules will defy the devil even if he stands in
hell. Mm -hmm. I like that. That was good. Zebulon,
this is also a hard battle for you. You stood
in the sidelines the whole time. Well, maybe
you feel a little better thinking back on fond
memories. How do you feel? Where are you at right
now? Yeah, there was a whole lot of second guessing.
And while Zebulon's trying to put on a good front,
you know, getting that big final blow, he definitely
feels bad on the inside. He would have traded
that big moment of success just for a little
bit of courage. Wow. I love the confidence on
one side and just the... What would you call
it? The broken, the defeat on the other. It's
interesting. He let himself down. Yeah. You let
me down. Thanks. Yeah. With your bad wisdom save.
So I'll tell you this right now. You have a moment.
Eamon Rath, you know, I want to basically cordon
off the area, like I said, and investigate. Right
now he's kind of reassuring folks. I mean, you
can hear his voice raising about people as he's
telling them, you know, everything's going to
be okay. It's going to be fine. We're going to
look into this. We're going to stay here for
the festival and make sure this does not happen
again. He's doing all the paperwork. He's doing
all the paperwork. That doesn't mean you can't
do some work yourself because in this moment,
I will say, there's a wagon. that this snake
was released from, that's sitting open. And not
a lot of people have moved over to this. A few
people are kind of like scattered around it,
kind of nervously looking at it, wondering if
another one's going to pop out. Now, you know,
I'm going to have to eventually go and investigate
it. But if you were interested, you could take
a look yourself first. Yeah. Hey, Jules, Jean,
Chesser, well, I'm going to ask, excuse me, I'm
going to ask doing that. There you go. Get it
right. We should maybe go and clear the wagon
over there. Make sure the coast is clear. Yeah,
that's not a bad idea. Yeah, makes sense to me.
Yeah, we'll secure the scene. And loot. John's
just like, I'll try to hold the barrier. Keep
him away from you for a moment. You can take
a look yourselves. All right, I guess. Yeah.
And Zebul head over cautiously and poke his head
in the back of the carriage wagon. I think as
we get up there too, Jules is going to passively
just kind of look around for a glove. Oh, interesting.
Okay. All right. Preferably a right -handed glove.
Yeah. I'll lump it into the same check. Are you
also looking at the wagon or is it Zebulon? Okay.
So you guys are both looking in there. You have
a particular goal. Both of you can roll me investigation
checks. 17. Wow. I wasn't expecting that. How
about that? Okay. All right. Sometimes the dice
roll well. And sometimes they don't. Natural
one. Jesus Christ. Thanks for sucking up that
bad roll for me. Hey, we got it out of the way.
So, Zebulon, you're peeking in to look at this.
Jules, you go to peek in, too. And as you sort
of look in there, you hear like a... You're banging
your head on the top. There's a horse just whinnies
right behind you. Your head's a little dazed.
Your eye's water. You can't see. What the hell
was that? Goddamn. It's just a horse from earlier,
Jules. I've had enough surprises today. Come
on now. He's been here the whole time. Jesus.
He's been here the whole time, yeah. You should
have expected that. He's falling one foot behind
you. I was unconscious. Oh my God. I need to
keep horses around all the time. I don't know
how that thing got loose. Someone should go to
inspect that hitching post. Uh, you are not startled
by this, by this sudden horse. Uh, so you kind
of go in there, you look around and you're trying
to be fast because there are people kind of around,
you know, I mean, a rat's going to come by soon.
Um, and, and, you know, it's not like you're,
you're, you're, you're going to report all this
stuff to him and there's no clues. You're going
to steal clues. I know. Um, But there's no reason
you can't take a look and see if there's something
you can find that could be helpful for you. And
I will say you do find this. Basically, you see,
for one thing, there are some restraints set
up in here that would be used to hold the snake.
And actually, you do find there are some very
heavy leather gloves that would have been used
to reach around the fangs and stuff like that.
The risk of poisoning yourself. These look useful.
I'm going to pick these up. Yeah, you can take
those gloves. If Jules happens to see it, you
do find, actually, a little satchel hanging on
one side. There's 20 gold, maybe like a little
emergency fund. You also find, hanging on the
other wall, two poisoner's kits. Oh! No shit!
I mean, what? Well, yeah, I mean, I guess you
shouldn't be surprised to find that. Yeah, yeah.
Zebulon's going to grab the poisoner's kits.
And he's going to grab the 20 gold. I mean, that's
two pangolins worth. That's two pangolins. Basically
tucked in the very back of it, you see three
vials from this large sort of almost like a hanging
belt in the back. You see a number of vials are
missing from it. But you see three vials of a
viscous yellow liquid. Ooh. All right. Yeah,
going to pick those up. All right. So you make
your way through, grab what you grab, and that's
all you see on your DC. 17. So, you step back
out. Jules, you're still nursing your head wound.
Sure. Look at this stuff I found. I found all
this poison stuff. Holy shit. And look at these
cool gloves, too. Hey, can I have those? Yeah,
but we each take one. I think they're pretty
cool. Yeah, I'll take the right -handed one.
Oh, I want one. Well, no. Chester. Oh. Let's
rock, paper, scissors for the right -handed glove.
All right, but I'm going to use my left hand
on this one. All right, Jules. That seems weird.
Zeb gives Jules the gloves. My preference is
variable. All right, so you slide on the gloves.
You have a better way to sort of keep that contained.
Actually, I don't know. Plus one AC with those
gloves. Imagine that. Wow. Who'd have thunk?
Right, David? No, actually. So, yeah, I mean,
if I'm getting both gloves, I'm going to put
on both gloves so it just doesn't look weird.
Yeah, that makes sense. Okay. All right. And
I'm going to say, like, you were far enough away
at the time, Zebulon, you didn't notice. Yeah.
Zebulon has a passive perception of 9. Exactly.
I would need, from where you were, I think I
would need at least a 12. Sure. So that's not
going to do it. Yeah, so you step out of there.
And you move back to the crowd, which is, again,
sort of gathering around. You kind of see an
opening here. There's definitely some folks that
are moving over, like, hey, y 'all, were y 'all
part of the fight? You take that thing down?
Part of the fight? I mean, yeah. Yes, we did.
Oh, hell yeah. And just a lot of pats on the
back, isn't that? People offering, like, hey,
you know what? My cousin owns a stand over here.
It sells your hominy. You ever had it? No, I
mean, I love Harmony. Oh, come on, come on. And
they're leading you around. People just start
taking you around to stalls and grabbing some
food. Now, I'm going to ask you, like, you're
here at the Promise Festival, or the Awakening
Festival in Promise. What do you want to do here?
Is there anything in particular you want to,
like, seek out and enjoy? Or are you kind of
ready to get out of here and kick it? Yeah, enjoying
stuff is not really in Jules' mind at the moment.
Jules is kind of still in, like, like a state
of shock where everything that's kind of happening
around him just is not, doesn't feel okay. So
I think he's just kind of walking around dazed.
He's following Zeb, going wherever Zeb wants
to go. Or Chester. Yeah, I think Chester's, his
eyes are good to you. Yeah, he's just, Jules
is just dazed right now. Chester is like standing
beside you at every second, eyes like watching,
going from your hand to your face. He's worried.
There could be more to it, and he's very concerned.
Zebulon, are you just kind of like... Zebulon
is eating it up. He's got 20 gold fresh in his
pocket. People are giving him attention, giving
him free food. He is along for the ride. Wants
to see everything. Hell yeah. Yeah, so you're
moving around. I love the image of this party.
You're just being led by folks, just smiling,
going to eat, just feeling much better. You have
the traumatized Jules and Chester right behind
him. And then behind him, Jean Franklin with
the most disgusted, distasteful expression on
his face. Like, ugh. Ah, Harmony. That doesn't
sound like a food name at all. I bet it's as
disgusting as it sounds. Jean, you should try
some of this. Actually, what is Harmony? Give
me a second here. I thought you were going to
tell us. Yeah, I was waiting for a little explanation
here. I don't know if someone here would be able
to tell me. I thought you were saying harmony
at first. I'm like, what the hell is this referring
to? Harmony is food produced from dried maize
kernels that have been treated with an alkali
in a process called nixtamalization. I still
don't know what it is. This guy's telling you
all that. He's just going on and on. Wow, yeah,
I totally understand that. That sounds great.
Yeah, nixtamalization, you know. Who'd have thunk?
Who'd have thunk? Yeah. No, it's great. Well,
what does it taste like? It's kind of like corn.
Better? It's better corn. He points to the stand
and just says, hominy. And then quotes, better
corn. Better corn. Wow. Can't lose. I mean, I
like corn. Guys, this is the new Fantasy Pants
slogan. Better corn. Yeah, so imagine you're
going around, grabbing some food here and there.
You've got rice and gravy here and there. There's
roast pork and this and that. It's a festival.
And over time, as things kind of settle down
a little more, you begin to hear the low chorus
picking up again. Let me actually get some market
sounds on here. That'll do. Chorus sort of picks
up in the background. You can just hear the place
starting to slowly come back to life. New names
are being shouted here and there. Heroes who
came in and saved the day when all looked bad.
So, you're grabbing food. Are you eating while
you walk, or do you want to sit down somewhere?
What's your plan? Oh, yeah, there's no sitting
down. There's a lot to see. All right, hell yeah.
You're moving from place to place, and as you're
kind of moving down the street, there's a point
where... a figure kind of moves out of the crowd
and is suddenly just standing beside you, like,
very, very swiftly. Like, you don't even realize
they're there until they're just, like, staring
you down. And holding an item kind of right in
front of your eyes, you see this small diamond
and slender, dark fingers. And I imagine you
turn towards this character. Yeah, hi. What's
this? You immediately recognize a figure you
saw earlier, and the diamond was sort of a giveaway
as you saw them holding it, recording your earlier
combat with the rattlesnake. And I'll say some
time has passed, maybe like half an hour or so,
as you've moved through the town, enjoying yourselves,
and just kind of like dealing with, I guess,
the fallout of that combat. Nice. Can't open,
by the way. Thanks, yeah, it worked for me too.
This figure earlier on was wearing sort of almost
like this purple tunic with the yellow sash,
almost a religious garb as they were sort of
leading this chorus. That's not the case anymore.
Suddenly they're still wearing sort of a deep
purple, but now it's like this long traveling
coat with this sort of long train behind it,
yellow accents sort of underneath, buttons down
the front, a rainbow -colored scarf. This seems
to be, again, some kind of... religious symbol.
You've seen a few people like this around town
with these similar scarves. You see a figure
who's, while they are human, while they are God's
folk, their features almost feel elven in their
sort of elegant beauty. Their full lips and their
shrewd eyes that just seem to belie their younger
age. They must be only 20? Close to your own
age, and yet their eyes feel so wide and so Wily,
so determined. There's something there that seems
almost dangerous. Predatory. Yikes. That's very
unsettling. You see a large sort of fluff of
black hair. And this figure looks at you and
just says, Well, how y 'all doing? Well, I'm
doing a whole lot better now. That snake's dead,
huh? Yeah, that was something else. Saw the whole
thing. Tungsten Ward's the name. They put out
a hand. Tungsten, Tungsten Ward? Tungsten. Tungsten.
Nice to meet you, Tungsten. Now, y 'all don't
seem like you're from the area, wink. Uh, well,
no, we just, um, we just flew in. Right, with
Lady Dre, yeah? Well, that's right, you've sure
been watching a lot. I have. You might say it's
my religious duty. I'm what you might call a
proclaimer. We're sort of the, uh, the wandering
storytellers here on God's Breath. Now, this
song you hear around you, this awakening song
that tells every tale that's ever been told on
this world, it's our job to find these stories,
turn them into song, record them. It is my duty.
And now, forgive me for saying, but I just got
this feeling in my bones that y 'all have more
going on than just fighting a snake. Like, it's
just the beginning of whatever you're here for.
I'd like to roll an insight check. Go ahead.
Yes. Zebulon's just feeling like there are a
whole lot of questions. I'm getting some serious
cult vibes here. Yeah, I'd also like to know,
can I roll a religion check after this? You can
roll religion or history as well. Okay, let's
do the insight first. That's only an eight. Negative
three for insight? Yes. Holy shit. Yes, I do.
Wow. I'll roll history now. And that's a nine.
Yeah, you can't be sure of any of this. Can Jules
get in on that insight? Absolutely, you can.
It's an 11. Again, you're not sure. I mean, with
11, it seems like they're on the level. It seems
like they're honest. Well, yeah, we're just here
to help out Lady Dre. She's got a bit of a job
for us. And, you know, figure while we're here,
we'll see the festival. I mean, snake aside,
it's great so far. Everyone's really nice. I've
got this corn stuff. Yeah. All right. It's a
beautiful country. Oh, it is, isn't it? Yeah,
of course. We love our God's breath. Now, I saw
Emonrath out there, right? Yeah, Emonrath. He's
kind of one of my friends. You know, I got that
impression. And I don't know who you are. Not
a luminaire I've seen on the network. Uh, well,
yeah, no, we're quite, uh, just, you know, making
our way to the network. Um, you know, we'd like
to, uh, get a couple of things under our belt
first. Um, you know how it is. That's exciting
stuff. We don't have much luminary action around
these parts. Only one we really know of is Crispin
Dubois. Oh, yeah, well, we're, um, you know,
I mean, someday, you know, you're going to hear
our name right next to Emin Rath. He's, he's
great. I mean, don't get me wrong. Um, but, uh.
You know, we're pretty cool. That gaze locks
on you in like a fierce sort of way. And that
grin almost becomes a wolfish. Just like, well,
I thought so. Thought you might be the tellers
of a good story. Now, see, us proclaimers, we
can be a little competitive when it comes to
finding the best of the best to tell to the Covenant
Guards. I'd like to tell your story. I think
you're going to have a leg up. Because this and
Zeb points back and forth between himself and
Jules. I mean, we've got Jules, right? We've
got quite the story. Let's hear it then. Yeah,
that's all you, Zeb. You go ahead. Come on, Jules.
Let's hear the story. Why don't you start? And
actually, like, they pull out a drawing pad or
a writing pad. Quill dips it in, like, a pocket
on there. jacket they just dip in. There's like
scrap ink in there somehow, like held in some
sort of vessel and starts writing down. I think
as that happens, Jules kind of elbows Zeb. Well,
it'll, uh, just one sec, one sec. Sure. Zebulon,
what is going on here? We're in a place we don't
know with a person. We don't know who the fuck
that is. It's a storyteller. We don't know this.
We don't want to tell our story. We don't know
that. Zebulon, remember why we were hired for
this job? Remember? Secrecy. Secrecy. Discretion.
That's all we got. We ain't got skills. Nothing.
Yeah. I do remember the secrecy part. Okay. Do
you remember the secrecy part? Zeb, Zeb, Zeb,
Zeb, Zeb. We have to follow through on our part.
Orin doesn't get us on the network. Okay. One
sec, one sec, one sec. So, Tungsten. Yes? When
do you do your storytelling? Well, it's... witness
a story. That's what this little pretty thing's
for. Holds up that diamond. I can go through,
make it into sound, and write it down. It'll
enter the books, and probably next Awakening
Festival might just release it. Oh, that's like
by the moon, or... It's yearly. Oh, it's yearly.
So whatever I, whatever our story isn't gonna
be heard for a year? Can't make any promises,
but this is starting to sound really good. Now,
why don't y 'all just tell me why you're here
with Lady Trey? What's she doing? Zep, Zep, Zep,
Zep. Hold on, hold on. I just... Zep, one sec.
Jules. Jules. Ah, I stepped in a horse poop!
John! Disgusting! I hate this world! Jules, Jules.
They're not going to tell our story for a year.
Zep, Zep. They're asking about... Lady Drake.
For next year. Sam. Steven. I don't know, man.
This is David's call. But you might have to roll
persuasion or something. Holy fuck me. Oh my
god. Amazing. Plus seven, bitch. Okay. Was this
contested? I don't know. You're making the rules
now. No, I'm not. I'm trying to play. That's
21. Normally, players don't get swayed by their
players. It's your choice. What's the DC on persuasion
for Zeb? Steven, you choose. What's the DC? What?
I don't know. I hit 21. That's going to hit whatever
it is. All right. I think that's good enough.
The way the game works, I control everything
except you. Okay. Well, I don't know what Zeb's
persuasion DC would be, but I'm going to guess
that 21 is more than enough. So even though,
I mean, this could be it. We're on a scary world.
I mean, the snake was scary, but the world's
not scary. We can't just trust anybody. Okay,
hold on. The only person we can trust here is
the person that we came here to help. Okay. Sorry
about all that, Tungsten. Sure. Just, you know,
part of the gig. So the story is, I mean, it's
really, the most interesting part about it is
that it's still being written. Well, I know that.
I want to be there to see it. And I just don't
think it's ready. That's the idea. It's not ready
to tell yet. Of course. Because I ain't written
it yet. Yeah. So wherever you're going, I'm just
saying I'd like to tag along. Keep an eye on
things. Oh, well, that's not really my call.
Because I'm working for somebody, as you well
know. I will know. Look, look. Let's just get
down to it. I want to know where Lady Dre went.
I want to know what y 'all are doing here. You
got no business knowing our business. Now, I
ought to talk to Lady Dre herself, right? I showed
her the footage, and I want to know where she's
riding off to. Zeb, you know this is bullshit.
Well, hold on. You showed her what? I showed
her the footage of the fight just a while back.
Where's she going? Well, I guess I don't know
that. So why didn't she tell you where she's
going? I'm going to give you guys one quick thing
here. You should be pretty concerned about the
fact that Lady Dre apparently rode off. From
what you know, she was looking around town to
get some information. I was going to find you
and head out from there. I mean, I don't believe
anything this person is saying right now. Okay.
Yeah, that's fine. So you said? I forgot what
I said. All right, you forgot too. Yeah. Well,
damn it. Moving on. They ignore you. They're
focused on Seb. He's the easy one. Zebulon's
thinking about removing himself from the situation,
or I'm thinking about removing Zeb from the situation.
And Zebulon's trying to read Jules' body language.
Well, Jules wants out, too. Jules wants out,
too. Get out. I mean, if I'm getting that vibe
from Zeb, too, then I just look over and say,
let's get the hell out of here. Well, you know,
my corn stuff is all, I mean, I'm pretty much
out of my corn stuff. The stall was, I mean,
it's way back there. I'm going to go get some
more corn stuff. Yeah, we'll come with you, Zeb.
You see Tungsten's smile starts to just fade
just the tiniest bit. All right. It was nice
to meet you, Tungsten, but don't follow us. Tungsten
just stops in the middle of the road, and you
guys turn and start, like, walking away. And
I love that this is, like, serious religious
clergy here on God's Rev. He just snubbed them
and left. I love it. I mean, hell, it makes sense.
You move away. Are they looking? I don't know.
I'm not going to look back to check. Chester,
are they looking? Oh, hang on. Oh, by the time
I shoot. Yeah, they're looking. They're moving.
Let's just keep walking, keep walking. All right,
so you guys turn around and go back down the
street? Mm -hmm. Yeah. Yeah, we lost that one.
No, I stepped in the same poop! Damn it! John,
John, you need more corn stuff? No! You guys
are moving. What are you guys doing now? Just
going to another stall for more food. Okay. What
are you doing narratively now? Going to a stall
to get more food. Are you just going to wait
it out for Lady Dre to come find you? Like, what's
the plan here? I feel like once we've gotten...
Did we get away from their gaze? Yeah. I feel
like once we... Like, Jules is now kind of frantically,
like, looking around for Lady Dre. Give me a
perception check. Not going to do it. It's an
eight. Okay. Six on the die, plus two. Yeah,
you don't see anything. I mean, you're just walking
wherever you are and looking around, but you're
not out searching. Yeah, I mean, Zebulon's just
enjoying the market. You guys continue to enjoy
yourselves. I think Jules now is hyper -aware
that something's going on, but he clearly can't
see shit. The morning carries on. Zebulon is
hyper -aware that there are more stalls to hit.
You move through. You grab more food. I mean,
Debulon, you're popular at this point. You're
just the same as you're probably vomiting into
the streets again, just like on us of Sunco.
As more and more people are kind of granting
you favors when they recognize you as one of
the four that were helping, or one of the two
that were helping Emonrath fight. No, four. Yeah.
And let's just say an hour passes. Maybe another
hour passes. And no sign of Lady Dre. Yeah, I
think after two hours, I don't think Zebulon's
super concerned. I think after the third or fourth
hour, that's when Zebulon would start to be like,
hey, wait a minute. Wasn't Lady Dre supposed
to come find us? Wasn't Lady Dre supposed to
come? I mean, like, I've already hit, I've gotten
everything twice now. You literally threw it
up and ate it all again. Are you going to throw
up again? It tastes better the second time. That's
gross. That's awful. Oh, my God. Damn it, Seb.
Not the... Yes. I'm not going to say the words.
Six intelligence gets you. Yeah, that's where
my head went. No. It's not a dog. Love you, Danny,
but sometimes you throw up. Oh, she doesn't do
that. No, Danny's never eaten throw up? Nope.
Nope. Just sniff it. But that's it. Third hour
passes. Yeah, something's not right here, Zeb.
Something's wrong. I don't know what, but Lady
Dre should have been back by now. Man, I really
wish we asked Tungsten which way Lady Dre went.
I still don't really wish we asked anything.
Well, maybe we could ask somebody else. Lady
Dre must be well -known around here. Let's go
ask the nicest shopkeeper that we came across.
Tell you what. I did label this town as being
almost city -like in nature. It's large. And
like any sort of urban environment, Chester's
going to get advantage in the investigation world.
That's right. Doesn't he have a passive, can't
he hear conversations? That's right. He can.
Yeah. He can pick up information from listening
to people around him. Okay. I'm going to do two
things with this. Sweet. One. As you're kind
of moving around and you're mentioning Lady Dre
and you're starting to get nervous, Chester tugs
on your cloak. Hey, Jules. What's up? You hear
that? The guy here mentioned talking to Lady
Dre earlier in this pub. Said she was heading
off west towards the exit of town. I guess that
Tungsten character was speaking to her. She went
off in a rush. That's what I heard. I thought
you heard birds. Don't bring Boyd into this.
Did you hear anything else? Just that she left?
Do you know what Tungsten said to her? There
was one thing. Yeah. What? Well, it's a word
we're kind of used to now. I guess someone overheard
very loud someone, maybe Lady Dre, saying cully.
That's what them folks were saying, right? Cully?
Zeb, you know what that means. Well, yeah, he
was the kid from the letter. The one who drowned.
You don't think she's going to do something without
us? Maybe do something stupid? We were hired
to protect her, so she'd probably do that. But
on the way out, I did find these in the wagon.
And Zeb's going to pull out the poisoner's kits.
She probably, I mean, I think the scene is kind
of still locked down. See if we can get some
of that rattlesnake venom for us. I think that's
a great idea. I think especially here that might
come in handy. It's been like over three hours
since you dropped this thing. So now it's just
rotting there. Nobody's paying attention to it.
That's what I think. People probably moved it
by now. Oh, shit. Aren't they busy with the festival?
They're going to let a giant snake corpse rot
in the middle of the festival ground? Well, are
they going to hide a 30 -foot rattlesnake from
a couple of luminaries? Give me an investigation
check. All right. You know what? I'm going to
use my button for investigation. Okay. All right.
Do you want to be sneaky? I'll be sneaky. Interesting.
All right. I'll take your newly gotten button.
Do you have a DC? I'd like a 10. Oh, I got 11,
baby. Okay. Okay. All right. You ask around a
little bit. How dare you? How dare you, sir?
Denied me the high five and gave me the finger.
That was a little dirty. I apologize, David.
I feel bad about it now. You look around and
investigate and they say, nah, we chopped the
snake up. It's gone. Yeah, I know. I flipped
you off. Threw it in a well. Should have saved
the middle finger for after I got the snake.
That's right, you should have. They eventually
bring you down to like this. There's like maybe
a sort of covered sort of tent. They have sort
of moved away from the festivities, kind of just
barely outside town where they drag the snake
out to, basically until they could dispose of
it properly. And they show you the way. Once
you bring up what you're looking for and you
enter, it's just you and the snake. Okay. Zeb
flips the poisoner's kit open. I don't know.
Jules, you know how to use this thing? Nope.
You have no expertise in this thing, so you're
not... This is going to be either a DC -13 nature
check or a DC -13 straight intelligence check.
You don't get proficiency because you have not
trained with Poisoner's Tools yet. Can Jules
get this check too since there's two kits? Yes.
I'm sorry, what did you say the first... Check
was? You both take a fang. It's going to be either
nature, DC 13, or just pure intelligence. Okay.
Yeah, I'll roll intelligence. Okay. Eventually
you can get some training in this thing between,
you know, quests and whatnot. Yeah, I'm going
nature. All right. That's a fail for Zebulon.
That is an 11. You guys both try, and you've
never done this before. You're trying to, like...
Take a vial of the snake's fang and nothing's
really coming out. Maybe it's been too long.
You're not really super sure, but it's not happening.
I wish this came with instructions or enjoy my
button. Oh, I will. I will. I wish you had that
later. God damn it. Well, that was kind of fruitless.
Yeah, that was a bust. What are we doing here?
You could have helped, John, but... It's icky.
Jules, you're looking pretty beat up, Jules.
Are you sure that you're okay to travel? Yeah,
I'm good. I'm good. I'm just a little shaken
up. I'm not used to being unconscious. Yeah,
I hear it's really bad for you. Yeah. Yeah. Well,
here. Here, take this. Oh, never mind. I dyslexic'd.
I dyslexied that. I have a piton, and I read
it as potion real quick. You do have a potion.
I mean, I am up to like, I'm back up to like
13 HP. Oh, okay. Yeah. So then I'll keep my piton
for myself. I'm at 12. I need the piton. What
are you guys doing? Farting around a snake tent
for two more hours? No, but we have no idea what
direction Lady Dre would have gone. West. West
out the gate. So we're just going to go. Yeah,
I guess. God damn it. You can investigate there.
We just go west. Which gate did you say ladies
were going out of? The gate to the west. That's
all I know. West. Should we start there? I guess
that's all we have to go on. She's clearly not
coming back. Maybe there's a guard tower or something.
Maybe somebody saw something. Or we could just
go back home. Hmm. Yeah. No, let's go west. Okay.
West. Are you sure? Yeah. We got this. All right.
You guys begin to move again. You head towards
the western gate. And this is where I'm going
to bring up the second thing you get from Chester's
passive. Oh. As you're moving through town, you
get another tug on your cloak. Just, hey, Jules,
Jules, Jules. What's up? Cradle Ace Lake, right?
That's the place? Listen. And do you listen?
Yeah. as you kind of like open up your awareness
to what's around you. I think throughout the
day, you're always hearing these songs back and
forth, this awakening song. And I'm sure you've
paid attention to a lot of it as you are a fan
of music, but it's probably at some points just
faded out because it's just so constant. But
now as you're moving past a group, you hear Cradle
Laced Lake being mentioned in song. And you start
to catch a snippet of this sort of following
part of the song, which seems to be talking about
the history of this lake. I'd like you to give
me that drone. You hear. Cradle lace lake, another
claimed. A boy who took his father's name. Coley
with Keanu went to play. Rattle's ma did grin
that day. To water's edge. Led by a fool. Swallowed
by the hungry pool. Family shattered. Kind boy
dead. Coley Sr. Off world fled. And that song
seems to end there. Damn. Pieces are starting
to fall into place here. Where are you guys going?
Coley Sr. Offworld fled. Does that mean something?
I don't know yet, but it... Not when my intelligence
doesn't. It sure as hell sounds like something.
You guys reach a western gate, and I'll say,
as you're lining up, there's not a lot of folks
crowded around the outside of the town. Everyone's
more focused on the inside, so the people get
fewer and fewer the closer you get toward the
actual gates. There's a few folks hanging around
here and there, and you see one person that's
essentially just like... They're standing by,
like, a horse hitching post. Seems like maybe
he's renting out horses, something like that,
selling them out to people who are heading back
to home. Hey, are those tied up real tight? Well,
yeah, I believe so. Okay. Shall we do one? Zeb,
you want to get a little closer? Is this the
way to the Lace Lake? Cradle Lace Lake. Oh, yeah,
Cradle Lace Lake. Why the hell would y 'all want
to go there? Well, we heard about it in the song.
No, no, y 'all don't want to go down that way.
That's down in the rattle. I don't know if you
know much about Cod's Bread, but we don't send
people out to the rattle often. It's dangerous
ground. Well, how far can we go? I mean, what
do y 'all mean? I mean, they can hit the end
of the ribbon, but that's almost a day's journey.
Then we'll journey a day. We're here to see the
world. All right. We're tourists. Good luck to
y 'all, then. Don't worry. We got thick skin.
We'll show what's with the horses. Are they for
rent? Normally, but not to folk heading out to
the rattle. I ain't looking at my livestock.
Look, I need to get paid back for these things,
right? And I got to get them back at the end
of the day. I'm sorry, but if I know where you're
going, I can't give to you. Fair and square.
Simple, simple. You know, it's not happening.
So what would have happened to your horses if
there was a 30 -foot rattler loose in the town?
I mean, I would have let them go. I don't know
what this is. You'd have lost them. I don't know
where they're going with this, but yeah, sure.
It might have happened. My name is Jebulon Black,
and I killed that snake. All right. One, I don't
believe you. And two, you're saying because maybe
you might have saved my horses, I should let
you definitely kill one. That's your argument?
No, I'll keep the horse very safe. Look, this
just can't... Perception check. What about a
persuasion check? If you want me to do. Disadvantage,
though. Because you opened this up pretty bad
with telling him exactly where you want to go.
That's fair. Yeah. All right. I'll do perception
first, then I'll do my persuasion with disadvantage.
Perception was a four. Persuasion was a five.
Okay. You continue talking to this guy, and he
is not swayed at all by what you're saying. And
with that failed perception, what you don't hear
is a clattering of hooves down the road behind
you pulling a wagon. You don't hear it until
it's right up behind you. And the voice just
says, need a ride, y 'all? Bitch. I'm going to
lean over to the horse guy. Say, how much did
the buy win you, horses? It's a good riding beast.
It's going to be a good 300 gold. Oh, fuck that.
Yeah, I can't. It's a horse. We'd also need at
least two. Don't want him to die. I had to try.
I had to see. The figure just behind you is kind
of giving you like... I'll say this. The figure
behind you is not smiling. Tungsten looks at
you and in their eyes you just see like a desire
and you see like almost a desperation. Just like,
look, look. I know I come off a little strong.
I just... Like I said, we're all pretty competitive.
But let's be straight here, right? A little while
ago... People came into my town with bloody eyes
screaming the name of a boy who died ten years
ago. The name of a man who left just after. People
could have died. And the way Lady Dre acted,
the way she peeled off, I think y 'all are here
for that. Let me ask you this. You came to our
world. Some random person comes up to you. You
going to trust them? No. Well... Well, Jules,
Jules, um... Y 'all don't need to trust me, though.
You just need to use me. I ain't a fighter, but
I have resources. I can help you move. Tungsten
might be able to provide a little bit more than
just a... just a ride. Tungsten will... will
help you spin a tale. If you can tell us some,
too. And that smile returns big. Oh, you know
I can do that. If y 'all want to catch Lady Dre...
You better get a move on. We can talk on the
road. You first. Hop in. I'll be driving. Nope.
Zebulon's already on the wagon. Of course. No,
Jules is walking next to the wagon. It's going
to be faster than you're going to walk. It's
going to go. Seriously? I mean, you're going
to get tired. You can. It's probably slow moving.
You can jump off if there's a problem. All right.
Jules is going to get up in front of the wagon
with Tungsten. All right. And pull out his rapier
and set it on his lap. Boy, that's... You know
I'm clergy, right? No, it's fine. Let's just
go. That don't mean nothing to me. And with that,
are you guys okay with leaving Promise? No and
yes. Yeah, and I've got a question for Tungsten
whenever it's appropriate. Yeah, let's just say
you... And horses start... moving. You're in
the back. Maybe you can poke your head out and
talk behind the curtain as Tungsten and Jules
are sitting in the front. Chester's in the back
with Jean Franklin. You guys are slowly moving
out. Hey, so, Tungsten. Yeah? What can you tell
us about Cully Sr.? Cully Sr.? From Cradle Ace
Lake's song, right? Well, it's a story, alright.
And you start moving. Let me get my thoughts
together on it. I can... I'll give you the full
scoop, but what I really know is this. The guy
was sort of an adventurer, right? He took his
kid and his niece out to Cradle Lace Lake. This
kid died. Drowned out there. He broke the man
and he left the world. That's all I know. Really.
And you guys move. Now, I'm going to tell you
this. This journey is going to take most of the
day. You can sit there with your rapier out jewels.
This wagon's actually pretty comfortable. You
see this is probably Proclaimer Ward's actual
personal wagon, and it's filled with all sorts
of furnishings and comforts, foods, this and
that. Proclaimers that travel all over the countryside,
maybe they'll explain that to you as you're going
a little bit, gathering stories from here and
there. And it's a long day, if you want to. Lower
your guard. You can take a long rest during this
journey. Yes. God damn it, David. Yes. I need
my spell slots back. And that goes to anybody
here. You have maybe a 10 -hour ride, so there's
time for sleep. There's time for just sort of
downtime activities. And this wagon just moves
on the roads, tungsten happy to just... Stay
at the reins, watching as maybe you guys at some
point start to, as you kind of move into the
back with everybody else. Watching out the sort
of open back of the wagon as you pass rolling
hills and beautiful farmlands, groves of trees
set here and there. This beautiful blue cloudless
sky that as you sleep and wake, eat, rest, begins
to burn. With an evening light. Fiery, fiery
red. And clear like you could never see on Cerule.
Like you never saw on the Citadel. It's beautiful.
The birds flitting overhead. You know that what
you're moving towards, horrors await. And you
know that, Zebulon, you still feel this failure
inside your gut. You know that cowardice you
feel. You're only going to face scarier and scarier
things when this journey ends. Jules, what happened
to you in that fight, you don't know what it
means. You don't know if it's continuing. You
don't know what happens in the next fight if
you're going to be fighting this new threat from
within as well as all these external threats
without. You know that storyteller Orin, Lady
Dre, the only hope you have of saving the Cherry
Delights, of becoming a Luminary. has gone on
without you for reasons you might not fully understand.
And if he dies, this road is closed to you. So
I imagine this is a very quiet journey. Very
somber. Everyone sort of looking down their own
way. John Franklin looks, frankly, wagon sick
the entire time and vomits over the edge a couple
times. this is so much. And you move. You're
topping over a hill and I think you look out
over Tungsten calls you out. You guys peek out
the curtain and you see far ahead and down as
you're sort of reaching this sort of apex hill
that looks down over much of this landscape.
Far ahead you can see thick, thick forest covered
in thick mist. It seems to be spreading out slowly
over the farmlands. At this point, the sky is
a deep purple twilight. And I think here, amidst
this somber energy, in this place of darkness,
we see Jules reach for his loot.