Hello, friends. We are gearing up to record another
episode of Fantasy Pants Unzipped, our little
behind the scenes Q &A show. So if you have any
questions about the show or any of our deep,
dark personal secrets, hit us up on social media,
Instagram, TikTok, Facebook. You can find us
all there at Fantasy Pants Pod. Thanks so much.
And I have some exciting news. Folks with signs
of talent have a lot to look forward to as we
close in on the Night of the Remembered. The
Mighty Pigman will once again be stepping into
the ring, taking on a myriad of exciting opponents.
Most of the challenge's names are yet to be disclosed,
but we have caught wind that luchador Dance Macabre,
a .k .a. Gary LaCortez, the sister of the tragic
past Mateo Cortez, will be joining this battle
in honor of her lost brother. This should all
be going down just before the Night of the Remembered,
so get your tickets quick, folks. Now, as we
all know, today is the day we've been waiting
for. The speakers have repaired their part, and
Jewels the Roach and Sibion Black will finally
be allowed access to the Preserve of the Ancestors,
where they will undergo the rituals to finally
become Ruminaries of the Citadel. Now, I expect
Qua to turn out the Iron Gates, and I will see
you all there, as I have requested to be their
guide to the Preserve. into the fabulous rural
town within. See you there, folks. David, do
you have anything to talk about at the top of
the show? Oh, my God, no. Oh. Excellent. Because
we've got mail. Mail! Oh, whoa, look at that.
All right. I didn't think about this, but I need,
like, a knife or something. More technical difficulties.
No, no, no, it's all right. I think I got it.
We got it. It's got those big, strong Sasquatch
hands. Oh, wait a minute. I should probably read
what was supposed to be in here as a letter first.
You are really struggling with that. Well, it's
like this tape that's really strong sideways.
Here, you try it while I pull up the thing to
read. I'm just going to watch. This is fun. So
this package is from our friend at Hooli Forge.
Look, five seconds. I got it. Yeah, I opened
it. That is the most inept looking. You loosened
it. I just ripped the fucking box. It's not even
open. It's open. All right. Just a crater ripped
into it. So after the package was sent, he sent
me a message and said, so I found my notes to
each of you left forgotten on the shelf. So he
sent me the, what he said to David. Oh, that's
me. Yes. From. Wait, wait. To David, this is
a first. This is a fancy pants first. I was kind
of looking forward to you not getting anything
in this package, to be personal. Because I knew
it was going to be in it. And I was like, oh,
man, that's going to be so great for David to
get shunned again. And then the message came
in. It was very nice. Very honestly. You're a
much better person than I am. For David, from
one cider drinker to another, may this rail spike
bottle opener serve you well. Thank you for running
such a fun story to listen to. Oh, what? So let
me pull that out. Give me that. Give me that.
Okay, that's fair. Yeah. Don't take it too long.
No, you're right. This is hard. Mm -hmm. Everybody's
shitting on Steven. Oh, I'm going to skip shit.
Look at this. What? Oh, that is so cool. And
I went to the beer store and I got you a bottle
of cider to open. I don't think I've ever used
a bottle opener. Just don't do it over your laptop.
Okay. Hang on. Let's try to hang out. Don't do
it over the floor either. I don't want cider,
Danny. Did you hear it? Did you hear that? I
heard it. All right. Fully forged. Thank you,
sir. That's good. Yo, let me see that thing real
fast. Yeah, yeah. Dude, this thing is amazing.
Look at that. That looks so cool. Yeah, that's
a hefty boy right there. That thing's excellent.
Dude. That is incredible. And this one is for
Jeremy. Knowing nothing of musical theory of
any kind, I attempted to make a pick of steel.
I don't know if this can be used or if it alters
the sound in any way, but my touch mark is in
the corner of one side, so you can flip it like
a coin if nothing else. Holy shit. As it can
be used for decision -making, I call it the pick
of minor destiny and bestow it upon you. All
right, let's find the pick of minor destiny in
here. Oh, that is fantastic. That is so cool.
Oh, my God. There you are. This is incredible.
Let's see if I have as much trouble as David
opening this. You know, I have scissors in the
next room. These are really nice little... They
are. Little packages. They really are. I have
to go grab scissors. I can't even get this started.
I like how the packages say Zebulon Black, Jules
LaRoche, and Cider Friend DM David. That's just
a special. Yeah, you are special, David. I'm
glad you finally got something. It's worth the
wait. That's the only thing you're going to get.
I know. Holy shit, that's cool. That is awesome.
That is a hefty -ass pick. That is so fucking
cool. Damn. Look at that. Oh, yeah. Wow. Yep,
and there's his punch mark up there. Sweet. Heads
or tails, baby. Oh, yeah. Thank you so much.
That is so incredible. Oh, yeah. That is rad.
All right. And lastly, Stephen. Wait, should
I read yours to you? I mean, I've already read
it. That's fair. I purchased these actual bone
dice from the venue where I got married. I left
them out in the light of a full moon overnight
and put them in a place of honor at the forge
while I made Jules pick so that Selune may guide
your heart and Moradin may guide your steel.
May your rolls never fail your needs. Wow. We
rolling bones, boys. We're rolling bones. Someone
wants Zebulon to live. Let's see these. No way.
Oh, man. So I got four D6 here. These things
are cool as hell. I'll pass these around. Check
these out. Oh, my God. I love that. That's like
the sneak attack die now. Holy shit. Well, that's
what he was saying to me. He was like, oh, man,
you could use those for your sneak attack die.
That's incredible. That's so wild. Yeah, I'm
pretty stoked for these. Hell, yeah. Damn. That
was one hell of a package. Thank you so much.
Thank you. Yeah, and we're definitely going to
post pictures of all this stuff, especially that
cool -ass bottle opener. Absolutely. And Hooli
Forge sells those on his Etsy page, so we're
going to link that stuff and check them out.
Yeah, hell yeah. That's insanely cool. And you
can just really see the handcrafted, the handiwork.
It's something else. It is dwarven. Yeah, exactly.
He's got some videos up on his Instagram page
of... you know, parts of him making stuff. It's
really fascinating. Sweet. Yeah, very cool stuff.
Hell yeah. Well, I'm glad you had something.
Because, man, what a pretty bad, sad opener if
you didn't pull that out. Starting the night
on a high note. We are, we are. We can only go
down from here, and we certainly, certainly will.
Oh, and I can't let David drink alone. Same.
Well, thank you. Cheers, Hooli Forge. Cheers.
Now, as we get started. I have one more high
note to deliver to you guys. So, we talked about
it last time, but it wasn't quite... ready yet,
and the world wasn't quite moved on to the point
where you could get your pay for these last two
missions, actually, as you found a sponsor at
the end of Sipsunko, but it was a pretty new
sponsor. I couldn't really justify you making
money off of them yet, as they were just barely
getting moving. Pepper had just gone back to
the world to sort of take over the stand. So
I fronted you the 200 gold that I intended to
give you from Jean Franklin, which you'll owe
him back. But now God's Breath has also been
completed. And where we stand now... We'll say
a little over a week has passed since we ended
our last episode. And before we get into what
you guys have been doing in that downtime, let's
talk about the money that you're raking in. Oh,
yeah, baby. Music to my ears. Show me the money.
I have one million tabs open right now. That
means your computer should be on fire. That's
why the Internet's so shitty. You're taking all
the Internet. So I have a little system in this
campaign where basically you're going to set
a flat amount for the adventures you do. Kind
of based on what you make from the book, but
probably a little bit undercut because there
are other ways that money is going to come in.
So basically you go out, you do cool adventures,
you become cool luminaries, and you have a sponsor.
Just by merit of you going out and doing stuff,
getting known, accomplishing quests, you're going
to make some money. That sponsor is going to
get hit. Because people are getting to know your
names. But you're also going to accrue bonuses
if you bring back footage of particularly cool
things you do and have them played on the network.
So, as it stands, 200 gold was your base gain
from Sipsunko. 300 gold was going to be your
base gain from God's Breath. But, you gained
an extra 100 gold for bringing back the footage
of Tythos, recovering that from Rune, and handing
it off to Orin. Nice. Sweet. You won two games
on Sumsunko and got the footage. 50 gold each
for those two wins. You had footage, I didn't
mention it before, of the pangolin save, basically
taking out those con men, and I think Zebulon
posed some pangolins. It was real goofy, but
that was a known broadcast that weren't mentioned.
If you were shown there, then hey, the folk who
helped Amun -Rath to save the day. have now been
unveiled. That sounds about right. 50 gold. Hey.
You got footage saving Gammon Zungun from the
fire. 50 gold. Nice. You got footage fighting
the rattlesnake in God's Breath. That's going
to be worth 100 gold. And you got footage fighting
the coyotes on God's Breath. That is another
100 gold. So that is a total of 500 gold base
and 500 gold. extra from footage. You gain a
thousand gold to split amongst your party. Hell
yeah. That is fantastic. I love it. Feels a little
weird to gain a hundred gold from filming the
collapse of an entire planet. But yeah, I guess
we can capitalize off that. Profiting from tragedy.
I mean, I'm not going to say I don't want it.
You're right. Is that not the most Hollywood
thing? Oh, very. Yeah. You're in the system now.
You're playing the game. That sounds very Homelander
-ish. Yeah. You're playing the game, and you
guys are good at it. So let me ask you. You've
had a little time. Maybe this gold came in. You
got a note from Peppers Peppers just thanking
you profusely for the opportunity, saying business
has been booming. He's running wild trying to
keep up, but he's loving the work, loving the
farming. He took right over the fields. The community
has welcomed him with open arms, and Peppers
Peppers is doing great, especially after that
last announcement. Good for Pepper. Yeah, he
held him out. He didn't have to. He was like
a thug that was hired to beat you up, and then
you turned his life around. I know, but the name
just sells the business. It's just like a pun.
A pun changes a whole character's life. And so
there you have it. You have this money. Do you
want to spend it on anything before this big
day starts? I didn't have a whole lot that I
wanted to buy. I was going to buy... a couple
pairs of manacles. Those are just two gold apiece.
I was going to buy, I think I have one already,
Potion of Healing. You do have one, yes. Okay,
I think I'll just pick up a second Potion of
Healing. And since we've seen poison so much
in this adventure already, it's a bit of a big
buy, but I was going to buy a dose of antitoxin.
Ooh. Ooh. That's a great idea. Just to have,
just in case, 50 gold. So considering we just
gained 1 ,000, that's not insignificant. So that's
it for Zebulon. Hell yeah. All right. And Jules,
what about you? I don't think he's interested
in anything just yet. Are we splitting the gold
evenly, or are we keeping one big pool? I think
we should split it up. Okay. Pay Jean back. You'd
pay him back? Good, good. Pale moonlight costs
a lot of money, and you do not want Jean Franklin
moving into the ugly coyote with you. Fuck those
guys. Yeah, okay, so that leaves us $800. So
you need to get $400. $400, yeah, and I think
I'm going to give $200 to Chester. That's nice
of you. I'm going to give $200 to him. That's
very nice of you. Whatever he needs it for, either
him or the family at home. Yeah, so I guess you
could say it's for everybody. Yeah. Hell yeah.
Whose stomach just growled? Yeah, that was me.
I hate that this thing picks up what my stomach
does so well. Oh god, that's awesome. So. Any
other antics you want to get up to before we
move forward in time? I don't want to throw you
guys around too, too much. Your world, your story.
You want to do some wild, wacky shit? You tell
me. We'll do that wild, wacky shit. You said
any other antics. We haven't anticked yet. You
spent money. It's antics. I don't know. Geez,
now I feel like there have to be antics. Since
you're prompting antics. No, not sex manacles.
It's antics enough. No, I don't think Jules has
gotten into any antics. I think he's just been
hanging out at home. Okay. And he's very focused
on continuing the mission and what we're trying
to do. Zemulon, that actually makes me wonder,
how have you been? I mean, like, I know last
time you'd finally achieved the fame you've been
looking for your entire life and basically just
had the rug pulled out from under you. Your first
foray into the adoring public was one that was
fraught with just sorrow and anxiety. And you
didn't really get to appreciate it. And what
is it like in the following days? Because the
hype does not die down. If you step on the streets,
people go nuts. People ask for your autograph.
People are trying to shake your hand. What does
that look like? Yeah, I think... Not I think.
At first, once Zebulon gets back from... his
brother's apartment. He just wants to hide away.
He doesn't want to participate in the fame. He's
not grateful for it. So I'd say, I think maybe
the next day, once the shock is done and over
with, Zebulon tries to go out and talk to people.
He wants to get out and experience what it's
like to be famous. So he does it after a day
or so. And it just maybe isn't what he was expecting
or it doesn't feel right. He's trying to participate.
He's trying to benefit. But it's falling flat
right now. Wow. Wow. Yeah, just a lot of fake
smiles and waving and damn. Yeah, fake smiles.
I like that. It's rough, buddy. And so the days
pass. And when you find yourselves moving down
the road, or up the road, I should say, up the
coil of the serpent from the ugly coyote towards
the sort of upper end of the trading discal,
where the great iron gates that open up into
the auroral diamond itself, into the heart of
the citadel, await you. And as you move, and
people on the side of the streets... Do you mind,
sir? Dear Lord. Lord Stephen. Zebulon realizes
he was too excited and he skipped breakfast.
And you see like people lining the road on both
sides, cheering you on, waving you forward. Children
just like running up to you and parents kind
of holding them back. You know, it's just this
like this, this. grand march and you see this
roaring crowd the second you kind of come in
view of it you just hear this applause people
hundreds of them just cheering you on Jules you
look up the road from there and while they're
not like in the main sort of crowd you see a
lot of the low city folk of Tythos your people
are standing out watching with teary eyes and
fists raised to the air And you move into the
embrace of the crowd through them towards the
sort of great open plaza. Zebulon, while she
doesn't jump into the festivities herself, she
does not leave her home. I think you peek over
at Xena's cottage or Xena's sort of manor and
you see like from an open window at the top,
fire belching out to the sky. And Xena's like
waving you along like, Zebulon! Zebulon! Yes!
Zebulon! She's so sweet. Adorable. She's the
sweetest, isn't she? Oh, my God. Oh, it is a
raucous party. The gates are closed at the moment,
and standing before them, smiling a huge smile,
Storyteller Oren, Cully Sr. But at least in front
of the crowds, he's gone back to his old name.
Well, his old new name. New old name? I don't
care. His familiar name. He stands, you know,
sort of a number of shield bearers have kind
of lined up to keep the crowds sort of backed
away. Shield bearers who tend to glare in your
direction, Zebulon, as you move by. Both of you,
really. The shield bearers? It feels like we
have fewer and fewer allies here on the Citadel.
Yeah. And what do you do? Crowds are starting
the cheers to die down. Everyone goes quiet,
watching as you step forward. Do you have anything
you want to say in this moment, or do you want
to go right to Oren? I don't think Jules says
anything. I think he's just very... He's used
to being known, and he's still got his game face
on. It just doesn't faze him. He's just still
internally focused on what we're trying to do.
Damn, you really put me on the spot here. That's
what I do. All right, yeah. As the crowd quiets
down and they get up towards Orin, Zeb will turn
around and just simply put his arms out and say
to the crowd, Thank you, Radiant Citadel! Roaring
cheers. You clap on the back from Orin behind
you as you turn away from him. Just like a...
Yeah. Just like laughing. You actually hear another
voice kind of breaking out from behind the crowd.
Like, hey, move it. Sean Franklin pushes his
way through and starts running through. You're
in the way. He runs over to you. Sorry, I overslept.
Those cozy fucking beds at the Pale Moonlight?
They're incredible. You would not believe. Must
be easy when you're sleeping on that goose down.
He takes a look around. Where is Chester? We
ought to be signed up as sidekicks. He should
be here. What? Is he late too? Chester's taking
care of some business at home. All right, but
he needs to be here to sign up as a sidekick.
You understand this, right? He won't get the
full umbrella permissions that we get if he's
not here. Yeah, not yet. Chester's not going
to sign up right now. What? In time. You're never
telling me anything. Fine, fine. Very well. We
don't need him anyway, right? Right? You spent
so much time on that feather bed of yours that
you've been missing out on all the news. I deserved
it. After God's breath. Anyway. But that's behind
us. The wonders of Aurora Town awaits. And I
think he just looks forward, just staring at
Cully excitedly. Orrin Cully. It's going to be
so hard to fix that. This is Orrin excitedly
who just like looks around everybody. The crowd's
sort of still farther away, still watching quietly.
And he just looks at you guys and sort of speaking
more, more, you know, in a lower voice. So it's
not caring to everybody. Just, you all ready
for this? This is exciting stuff. Yeah, this
is, I think it's pretty terrifying more than
exciting. Let's just do the thing. Yeah, yeah.
I mean, there's a couple things we gotta go over
real quick. First of all, how's Kiana doing?
I mean to get by, I really do, but I saw she's
been painting, right? That's something good.
She's safe and appears to be happy. Good, good,
yeah. I mean, I want to bring her into a rural
town where I live, but it's kind of a lot there,
you know? All the politics and all that. Best
she stays out of it. And I know God's breath
and... The googly coyote, they're one and the
same in a lot of ways, a lot of respects. You
know, I know Ada would take care of her. It's
nice having people her own age, and the paintings
are, like, they're fantastic. Yeah, yeah, I bet,
I bet. Oh, that's awesome. Well, anyway, same
time for that, right? I think it's time we show
you what's going on inside. Now, you ever been
inside the preserve? I know you've got family
there, as if you don't, but... I know it's also
pretty restricted. I'm not sure if Sholay ever
bent the rules for you. And I'll tell you that
she did not. You have never been inside the diamond
itself. Yeah, Sholay and rules. No, I haven't.
No. Trying to decide, do you want to roll to
see if you know anything about it? Or do you
want to just go in fresh? Do you think your characters
would know anything about it? Well, I mean, do
you think Sholay would have told us anything
about it? Possibly. Want to roll history about
it? Yeah, let's roll history. I think there's
probably a chance that Jules knows something
about it, given his family history. Influential
family. Yeah, absolutely. What did you say, history?
Yes. That is a six. She might have told you,
you forgot. That tracks, that tracks. You forgot
a lot of things, Zebulon. You son of a bitch.
I was two less than Zebulon. Wow. Wow. It's all
actually kind of a wild mystery to you. You don't
know much about anything. Even the word Aurora
Town being thrown around, you're not really sure
what this means. So I think Horn just nods, taking
this in. All right, then. Let's go. He just raises
his hands up, both to get the crowd going wild
and also as sort of a signal as you hear something
go. That's how you open the doors? Well, someone
saw that and I didn't do it. Is it like that
all over a rural town? Just raise your hands
up? Yeah, sure. Yeah. That was beautiful. The
doors swing open and... I think you're immediately
hit with, like, you're close now. Maybe closer
than you've ever been before to, like, the open
doors. The shield bearer is sort of blocking
people off even more. Some folks almost admit
they want to, like, push against them to rush
towards to see the inside. You hear birdsong.
You smell flowers and grass. And immediately
facing you as you turn to the door is just, like,
a lush green, almost like a forest. A grassy
floor and a forest path moving through this absolutely
immaculate scene. You can't make out much beyond
the trees. They're thick. But there is a light
somewhere ahead. And Oren just waves you in.
Go on. You go first. All right. Zebulon steps
through. Yeah. And you step through thick, thick
walls of diamond. As you move in here, a strange
thing. You feel the doors behind you close. And
all sounds of cheering crowds on the outside
are drowned out entirely, and you are standing
in the midst of this forest. Iron doors to your
back, and as you look up, you see that the walls
of diamond around you have taken on a very different
form. On the outside, it was just this pulsing,
glowing, sort of yellow light, bringing sort
of day to the surrounding fossil, to the citadel.
But on the inside, you see sky. You see sky sort
of cracked and broken by the sort of natural
facets and lines of the diamond around you, but
it is a fake sky. You feel a fake breeze rustling
the trees above you, pressing on your skin and
scales, and you look down towards the opening
in the trees, towards the point of light ahead,
and I take it you move forward? Yeah, definitely.
Let's go. You begin to move down, passing by
trees, approaching that light until you step
out and you see, for the first time, truly see
the preserve of the ancestors. I want to ask
you this real quick. What do you expect the inside
of the auroral diamond, the heart of the citadel,
to look like? I think Jules expects it to look
like paradise, but... It's also a tainted paradise
to him. I think visually he sees it as a quote
-unquote paradise, but it gives him an uneasy
feeling. Wow. Wow. I don't know. Maybe I'm way
off at left field. I kind of expect it to look
like a segmented, sort of like a cross -section
of an orange or something, where each wedge is
like a different biome. Where there's like this
beautiful green lush forest. Then maybe there's
more like a desert sort of setting. And like
an arctic setting. Holy shit. Alright, hang on
a second. You are both getting a button. Because
both your responses are incredibly close. Woah,
really? Oh yeah. No way. You step out onto...
This jutting out sort of face of a cliff. You
see there are stairs to the west that seem to
spiral down, switchbacking down and down and
down into a vast land below. What strikes you
first and foremost is the absolute enormity of
what you see before you. You see this absolutely
stunning amalgamation. of every biome, every
world that you could imagine. You stand on a
cliff, and as you stand there, you see, like,
there's a great sort of light beaming down from
the west side of this great space. I'm talking,
like, there are, the Citadel itself on the outside
is probably not even a mile wide, the world diamond.
And yet on the inside, you see miles and miles
of terrain. You see sun beams down from the west,
shining on this, like, large ocean covered in
this tropical island. You see where it hits the
coast. It becomes a beach, which becomes desert
dunes, which becomes stony, sort of rough wastelands,
which becomes a frozen tundra as it hits the
colder, sort of darker west side, or east side
of this open space. And then from there, moving
into another glacial bed, you see waterfalls.
seeming to appear out of the facets of the diamond
itself, the water coming from nowhere and spraying
down, dropping far and far off into these oceans,
into small rivers and lakes. You see as the land
moves farther and farther away from you, it rises
up and becomes more lush. You see the deserts
before you now, which turns into like the rolling
hills and grasslands of God's breath. into open
savannas, into swamps and wetlands, into temperate
forests and tropical forests, into lakes, and
at the very edge where it rises up, you see volcanoes
in one corner under the heat, fading into tropical,
sort of forested mountains, becoming more temperate
mountains, becoming arid, stony mountains like
those of Tythos, becoming these icy, frozen -over
peaks, jagged and tall. You see all of this.
And you see something strange that doesn't quite
fit. Sort of right in the center of it all, you
see a great river runs between the two oceans.
And just on the coast of that river, which sort
of crosses sort of diagonally through this land
and this space. Right in the middle, right where
the savannah sort of blends into temperate forests,
there is a number of these strange crystalline
towers. They almost remind you of the towers
of Tythos. Just these strange sort of... diamond
structures jutting up from the ground and this
sort of light is pouring off in this multicolored
light almost like spotlights running around shining
across this this strange city in the midst of
all this wonder and nature you see in the middle
of it there's some gigantic like amphitheater
also made that same diamond just standing out
amongst all this you can hear booming sounds
coming from there some noise pollution what would
otherwise be this Absolute paradise. And you
stare down at all of this. Oren is behind you,
arms crossed, just watching your expressions,
watching your reactions. Wow, I guess... I guess
that's where we're going, huh? Yeah, looks like
they're nice and safe and sound down there. Now,
I know it's off -putting, but... Aurora Town
ain't so bad. And, uh... It's actually a lot
more easy than you think to get there. He kind
of gestures over, and you actually see where
this cliff you're standing on, it moves off to
the western side. Is it the stone steps are moving
off to the east? Could be wrong. Anyway, on the
side opposite of the stairs, you see this sort
of standing, a few gigantic doors also made of
the same sort of diamond, this sort of doorframe
structure is just standing in the middle of this
rock. Zebulon throws his arms up in front of
the doors. Of course. It's a... Nope. That's
not how that works. He tries it again. There's
nothing wrong with this one. As you're kind of
doing that, one of them flickers to light. There's
like some mages nearby. They're kind of like
pressing on the edges of these structures, running
fingers down, sort of this arcane script that
runs down each side. And it's almost very similar
to the Conquer Jewels. They whisper some words
quietly to activate, and you see like this white...
light filled with, like, just modeled various
colors, like, all the colors of the rainbow fills
the space. And a couple people just kind of appear
from the light and sort of chit -chatting with
each other, sort of move past you, leaving the
preserve out the way you just came. And do we
assume that these are just other luminaries?
Or do other people have business in here? You
could ask. Hey, Oren, are those other luminaries?
Or who else comes and goes around here? Oh, yeah,
no, no, they ain't luminaries. You'll know when
there's luminaries. No, these are staff for the
Crystal Network. Now, let me explain a little
bit to you here. Those gates will teleport you
right down to Aurora Town. That's that bit down
there. I'll show you a spot that doesn't quite
fit in with the rest. Now... That big one there,
that big building there you see in the middle,
that sort of theater, that's the meeting chambers
for the speakers. And all the surroundings are
homes for the speakers and their staff, as well
as studios and offices for talent workers, overseers
of the network. I myself live down there, and
that's where I work. That's where my show is
filmed and sent out. There are some luminaries
down there, too, that live there full -time.
It's expensive to get homes down in rural town,
but as you can see, it's prime property. Once
you get your passport, you'll be allowed here
regularly. Whenever you want, you can come on
in. So, Oren, what's film? It's a word. It's
sort of a strange term we use for the recording
properties that the oral diamond blesses to diamonds.
We come recording diamonds, and then you can
film. You try to get something. You try to get
me, boy. You try to get me, car. I ain't falling
for your trap, Stephen. All right, sorry, I had
to. She just looks around like, yes, this is
it. There is one thing I should bring up with
y 'all, though. And this is, I mean, basically
optional, but I would recommend that you follow
through on the usual stuff here. There is a bit
of a ceremony that luminaries go through before
they get their status, right? Now, the speakers
can't deny you your status, not without causing
a ruckus with the Concord Worlds. I mean, the
luminary system is supposed to be free of any
political bullshit. No favoritism of any particular
worlds or folk. And that's why we managed to
tie the speaker's hands a bit with our little
announcement, right? Because now the worlds know
who you are. And if they deny you, well, it's
going to smell of corruption. So, we got you
there. But even so, all luminaries are generally
encouraged to take part in a little ceremony
where you don't take the gates. You take the
steps. You move down into the preserve proper,
and you speak with the incarnates. Oh, yeah,
we're absolutely doing that. Uh, question for
you, Orin. Yeah, what's that? If we caught them
with their pants down, what does that mean for
you? Well, I had some trouble on my end. They
damn near stripped me of my show and everything.
Which, hell, at this point, I got my family back.
It's fine. I was ready. But the people raised
a riot. I mean, letters came in. People were
threatening to boycott the network, do all sorts
of crazy shit. And speakers came back. Let me
keep my job as long as I'm better about what
I report on the show. There's definitely a little
more oversight than there was before. Not worried
about any future consequences? If they come,
they come. Not what you guys did for me. It's
irreplaceable. I, uh... I still can't thank you
enough. So it's fine. Whatever happens, it's
fine. As long as you guys get yours. Well, we're
really sorry for the trouble. Don't be. Don't
be sorry at all. Well, let's get back to business.
Basically, how this is gonna go is you're gonna
meet the Incarnate. You know what an Incarnate
is? You know this, right? You know, these guys
are on all history? Yeah. Okay. 15. Natural 1.
Oh, my God. Oh, I thought that was a 7. Damn.
No, it's a 1. Is it a 7? No, it's a 1. It's a
1. So a horse kicks you off the cliff. Shut that
door. It's closed. It's Percy. Suddenly my backup
appears out of the forest. Okay. With that, Zebulon.
Jules, you don't know anything. I mean, you didn't
know much about the network before all this and
all the stuff going on with the Citadel. Sure.
pretty much raised to be a part of Tithos. Right.
And so you didn't really know much about what's
happening outside of your world, Zebulon. However,
you were raised here. You know a lot about the
Incarnates, and of course you do, because Sholay
would have filled you in on them. Sholay personally
knows them. When the Radiant City was founded
and the gateways to all the worlds were reopened
by Sholay at the end of her sort of grand adventure
in the past, which gave her the sort of position
of power she has now, She came to this citadel,
this great diamond, as it was seeming to be going
to drop into the Keenan Gloom, like it was going
to be absorbed, destroyed, you're not sure. And
all the worlds were facing, like, dangerous crises
that they couldn't really face on their own.
Sholay, seeking to find a way to save her world,
Anchor and Sengar, as well as all the others,
entered the diamond, flew inside of it as it
was about to fall, where she met the Incarnates,
these great gemstone beings. They take the form
of animals. uh that basically are sort of like
major animals on each of the worlds each of the
habitats that these worlds sort of uh represent
uh especially specifically in the area around
where the conquer jewel lands right so as you
might guess the ruby uh incarnate is a pangolin
as is the incarnate of subsunko So basically
these sort of strange gemstone animals wander
around this preserve. They give wisdom and insight
to these speakers. And it used to be that they
were kind of the major playing force behind a
lot of things that happen here. While they've
been less respected lately, matters like this
might have been like you had to speak to the
Incarnates and only if you were approved could
you become a Luminary. That's been waived. Now
it's just a sort of ceremony. It just makes you
look better, feel cooler to do it. But their
opinion isn't actually mattering anymore because
the people of the worlds have demands and the
incarnates can't really outweigh the populace.
That would be totalitarian in some regards. And
these strange gemstone beings can't really speak
for all the worlds like they used to. You know
that the incarnates are... I'll say this, with
XV, all you really know beyond that is that...
It is said the Incarnates are basically ancient
spirits embodying these gemstones. Spirits that
used to dwell in these various worlds in that
hope to guide them to the best possible future.
They are the overseers of this place. They are
as old as the auroral diamond itself. Older than
Sholay. And when she appeared, they gave her
the instructions she needed to reawaken the Citadel.
They know more about this diamond than anyone
else. Wow. Yeah, so start thinking about your
big picture questions, I guess. Mm -hmm. We should
have brought Jamal. Well, I was curious. I wanted
to know how much Zebulon thought that pangolin
is worth. At least 10 gold. At least. At least.
Ten times. Yeah, we know that's the bare minimum.
Giant ruby pangolin, at least 10 gold. Ten times
10 gold. So I think. Warren will keep talking.
All right, well, I mean, do you feel him on what
you know? Because he just asked what you knew.
Yeah. So you just tell him a little bit. He just
nods along. All right, good, good. That's good
to know. So how it normally works is most folks
are going to meet the incarnate connected to
their home world. But we've got some strange
situations here, right? Sabalon, you're not from
any particular world, not from birth, but your
bloodline is directly tied to Anchor and Sengar,
where Sholeh is from. For that, you'll want to
seek out the turquoise lion. She'll be found
in the region most log anchorings in Gauss climate.
So he points down to these sort of desert dunes,
actually very close to where you are, the first
sort of major biome you're going to reach at
the base of these stairs. He points down there
and says, somewhere in those dunes, you'll find
it. That sounds really badass. Now, Sean Franklin,
another strange situation for you. You can choose
to meet with Noiris Bastard Kamen. Or to go with
the others. This tradition is more for full luminaries
than for their sidekicks, so it's really your
choice. I think he just nods. And jewels. Well,
this is a... Hmm. This has all been kind of hush
-hush. Hell, I didn't even know about this till
this morning, but the sapphire wyvern of Tythos
isn't taking visitors. Hasn't been for a while.
In the Incarnate, I've been firm about this.
No one is allowed to seek it out. No one's allowed
to even enter the arid mountains out there, representing
Tithos' structures. And you can see, like I said
before, you can see that one strip of the mountain
range does look very similar to the ranges that
surrounded the city of Cerule, rich with gemstones.
I love what he's like. Now you're not allowed
to go right over there. See that? Over there?
Not allowed to go there, you kid. Don't go. There.
Hey, don't do it, motherfucker. What happens
if I do? There could be trouble. I mean, look,
even easier, right? We don't need to worry about
that. We're speaking around, and if you want
to just go with Zebulon here meeting the Turquoise
Lion, that's all we need. You'll be good to go.
You all just can gather together, find the one
incarnate, make your way up north to Tinseltown.
I said the wrong thing. I said the thing I'm
making a pun of. Did you just say Tinseltown?
It's staying in now. No, fuck it. Don't. Don't
do it. No! Make your way up north to Aurora Town.
Great. My simple brain is now revealed to the
world. It's Hollywood, damn it! You can redo
it if you want to. That's fine. Make your way
up north to Aurora Town. You decide. I don't
give a shit anymore. Yeah, that's usable. Please.
Just look at you guys. It's your choice. I can't
join you on this. This is more supposed to be
kind of an exploring it for yourself kind of
deal. Self -discovery, all that. I did it once
too, though. I mean, it was something else. Well,
we haven't really gotten here going the easy
route. So, Jean, don't come with me to see the
Turquoise Alliance just because that's what's
easy. Do what's best for you. And Jules, I'm
really confused. Oren, is the Wyvern even still
alive? Has anybody seen it? I don't know. Is
that why they're not letting anybody go there?
I gotta imagine the speakers looked into it.
Someone looked into it, but no one said anything.
Sometimes it's best not to get yourselves mixed
up in shit. We just got the payoff for everything.
Don't screw it up. Jules really wants to go.
Yeah, I mean, like, low -key, Steven wants Jules
to go. Yeah. But I also think it could fuck everything
up. I think so too. Okay, I'll say this. Jules
will go with Zebulon, but Jules has every intention
of going to the Wyvern. Holy shit. I don't know
when or how, but he's going to get there. Okay.
I'll say, for Jean Franklin's part, he just kind
of looks out, and you see his face turns towards
the more tropical region, by the edge of the
coast of the sort of western ocean bay. He just
nods and says, No. No, I have no real interest
in speaking with the incarnate for my world.
I have only one person to speak to, and that
is the actual speaker for Noiri. Onikaneer, we
have to have a discussion. And finally, finally...
I'm here. Once we get to Auraltown, I'm a loud
audience. And there is much for me to discuss.
You want to fill us in before you do anything
crazy? In time. What I wouldn't give to be a
fly on that wall. I will join in with you, Zebulon.
It is the fastest way to my goals, and so it
is the best way to my goals. I guess it's settled.
Let's go see the... Let's go see the turquoise
lion. Hell yeah. If y 'all see the jasper pecan
tree, say hi for me. What? Yep. Your speaker
is a pecan tree? My God, it's a pecan tree. Yeah,
no, I wasn't. Wait a minute. I was a little disappointed.
Pecan or pecan? I don't know what the accent
would be. It's pecan. You should do an Instagram
poll. I'm God's brethren. I don't give a shit.
I decide. I decide my regional pronunciations.
That's by the book, too. It is legitimately a
pecan tree. Really? Interesting. Yeah, some of
them are trees. There's more than one tree? For
the incarnates, yeah. Some of the incarnates
are actually trees. Almost a good amount of them.
What would happen if you go and eat a pecan?
When I say it's gemstone, it is literally made
of gems. There are pecans of jasper hanging from
it. So if you eat it, then you probably die or
something. You'd just be eating a rock. Eat a
rock. All right, all right. So I think Oren just
nods and looks at y 'all just, all right, well,
I'm going to take the gate down. I'll be waiting
for you in Rottletown. You look me up when you
get there, all right? Yeah, how can we find you
when we get there? Y 'all just need to ask. They'll
come running for me. Okay, well, wish us luck.
I mean, you've done this before. Do you have
any... Any advice? No, really. Just keep looking.
Trust me, especially in those dunes. You'll know
when you see it. Yeah, it's a pretty strong contrast
against the sand. And these things, they can
be intimidating. But stay strong, stay brave,
stay wise. You'll be fine. I mean, are they dangerous?
Do they attack people? No, no, no, no, no, no.
Nothing like that. They're probably just going
to ask you some questions, that's all. They like
to... Ask for some kind of trial sometimes. But
all you gotta do is meet it. Get its blessing.
Move on. Alright, well... I hope there's not
gonna be a whole lot of wisdom checks. I'm gonna
be really fucked. He starts to move away from
you. Good luck. He approaches the sort of doorway.
One of the many lakes where... teleporter doors,
which, as he approaches the sort of worker there
in the white robes, runs her fingers down the
edge, whispers a word. The gate slashes with
the light, and he takes one last look back at
you, tips his sarah hat, and steps through. And
you stand at the edge of this cliff, at the edge
of the steps, moving down and down and down into
this vast, vast wilderness. So, Jean... Why is
it that you don't want to see your speaker? Not
your speaker. Your... Yes. Incarnate. Incarnate.
You got it. There you are. You figured it out.
Thank you, Jules. No problem, buddy. That's what
friends are for. I'm not against it. Not necessarily.
It's just not important for me. Look, my only
objective is to clean up the corruption in Zinda,
the city -state I come from in Noari. In order
to do that, I have certain crimes to report.
And I could not get to anybody important enough
to talk to until now. But now I'm allowed inside.
Now I am basically cornering our speaker. Thanks
to you, I have my chance at justice. Finally,
justice. Well, I mean, be careful, Jean. I mean,
we've seen it here before. Corruption can run
really deep. It might go all the way up. Believe
me, it does. What? That was cool. You heard it
too. You heard it too. What'd I do? You said,
it does. It does. What? I didn't do that. Damn
it. Believe me, it does. It does. It does. I
don't know. I like to try to hold off laughing
long enough to give it a pause. It was a cool
line. It was. It was really cool. Yep. Yep. And
then we both looked at each other, and we could
tell we were holding it in. Oh, God. Yes. Yes,
yes, yes. Okay, well, that's, I mean, that's
the next challenge. But for now, how in the heck
are we going to find this thing? Look at it down
there. It's enormous. We ain't got anything else
to do but just go. He said, well, no. That's
all we got. That's all we got. Luckily, we're
pretty decent at walking at this point. Half
the damn campaign. And so I take it you begin
to walk yet again? Yes. All right. You begin
to move down switchbacking stone steps. And you
are high, high up now. So it's a long and dangerous
journey down and down and down and down. It's
funny, too, because you're moving, like, from,
you know, where the steps end one way, it starts
to get kind of cold and frosty, and as you sort
of move back and back and back, maybe like a
full mile the other direction as the steps sling
down, it gets hotter and hotter until the stone
beneath your feet is, like, baking. It's a really
long switchback. It's a really long switchback.
I mean, these stairs go way, it's like, it is
a trial in itself to move down. Not so much I'm
going to make you roll for it, but it's just
a long, long trial. Um, but you do eventually
reach the bottom. You step off the stone steps,
and you are standing at this strange midpoint
where, uh, the ground before you is like this
sort of stony wasteland, canyons dropping down
in this sort of rugged terrain on the, uh, east.
But then right to the west of you, sand begins
to sort of overtake these canyons and just turns
into these rolling, giant, sort of sandy dunes.
Well, I'm, uh, Pretty sure we're heading for
the dunes, right? I think so. Looks pretty hot
over there. All right, let's see how long this
takes you. Give me an investigation check as
you begin to move deeper in. As we start moving
in, I'm going to touch Zebulon on the shoulder
and cast Enhance Ability. Ooh, what? So you can
choose any number of things. You can choose Bear's
Endurance, which gives you advantage on con checks.
Also, you gain 2d6 temporary hit points. You
can choose Bull's Strength, which is advantage
on Strength checks, Cat's Grace, Dexterity, Eagle's
Splendor, advantage on Charisma checks, Fox's
Cunning, advantage on Intelligence checks, and
Owl's Wisdom, advantage on Wisdom checks. Okay,
yeah, let's go with... I mean, I don't think
you have to choose it immediately. Oh, okay,
great, excellent. I don't think so. I think you
do choose it immediately, which one you get.
Really? Fuck. Yes, I think you choose one of
those options that he keeps. Well, okay. How
long does it last? Up to an hour. Wow. Yeah,
let's do wisdom. Yeah. I don't think we're going
to encounter dex stuff or anything like that.
Right. Okay. Yeah, I'll take some wisdom advantage
in case that comes up. It's random as shit, but...
Hey, I mean... Why not? Why not? Thank you. 16.
You said that was investigation? Yes. 19. 19,
okay. Do me a quick favor, because you are seeking
out this, you're seeking out this gemstone being,
so you're kind of looking around, trying to spot
this sort of larger, I mean, you know what color
to look for amongst the sand, so you're kind
of investigating, even looking for maybe like
tracks here and there. I guess they wouldn't
really last, you could see that the wind, a strange
fan of wind is blowing constantly through this
place, moving the sand, shifting it. I do want
you to... Tell me your passive perception. Mostly
because this is going to increase having advantage
for an hour. It will increase your passive perception
by 5. Oh, wow. Yes. Okay, so my passive perception
is 9. Okay, so it's currently 14. Not bad. That's
a good passive perception. Yeah, that's great.
Okay, good. Nice. Hi, I'm just rolling. What
you rolling? I don't know. So you guys move into
the desert. You see waves of heat running off
of these sands as you begin to climb dune after
dune. But I will say, with your check, you find
this thing extremely quickly. Okay, that's good,
I think. You cross over the top of one of these
dunes, and you see it. Yeah, that must be it.
It seemed to kind of almost, like, appear. At
the top of one of these dunes, standing tall,
this great turquoise gemstone lion. It's huge.
You see, like, great long gems forming this sort
of mane around it, all sort of slightly disconnected
from each other, sort of hanging around each
other by some sort of strange magnetic energy
just holding this thing in place. Like, half
of its form is just invisible. But you see this
thing standing tall, staring right towards you.
You're with a 19 investigation. Correct. It's
strange. It feels like the light isn't hitting
it quite right. I'm not really sure, but it's
there. Yeah, I'm not sure what you mean by the
light's not hitting it quite right. It's just
a weird feeling you get. Maybe certain parts
should be gleaming brighter in the light, but
it's also a faux light. You don't know. Like
it looks like a glitch or something, maybe? Yeah,
I was going to say, is it actually there? It
maybe looks like a glitch. A glitch in the matrix.
A glitch in the matrix? I don't know. It just
looks like something's a little bit wrong. That's
all. Can I roll something else to dive deeper
into this? Roll me Arcana. That seems fitting.
It's a magical being, right? That's a dirty 20.
Dirty 20. Okay. I don't know what that face is.
Son of a bitch. Fuck yeah. You crossed off this
dune. Zebulon. I think maybe you see this thing
and you're all decent, but you're just kind of
moving forward. John Franklin like, huh, well,
that was quite easy. Let's go. And begins to
move towards it as well. John Franklin, hold
up. You, Jules, just hard up. What? Hold on.
You're staring. I don't think it's that easy.
You are staring at this thing. Everyone stops
to look at you and you're staring and staring.
And you realize it. Jules. It makes so much sense
it would be you, because you have access to illusion
magic. And this is an illusion. John, that's,
uh... I don't think that's really there. What
does that mean? It's an illusion of some sort.
Well, who would... Who would make an illusion
of the... Why? I don't know, but I don't trust
that. Something's not right. Something's up.
How far off is it? Uh, right now, I'll say you
crossed the top of one, dude. It's about... Oh,
we'll say 120 feet away. Another sort of, maybe
there's one doom between you and it. It's sort
of standing off. All right. Zebulon reaches for
his short bow. Well, let's see what this illusion's
all about. You better be careful. This might
be a test of some sort. Well, it seems like we're
passing the test. We figured out it's an illusion.
I wouldn't be so sure about that. So then what
do you want to do? No fucking clue. Well, all
right, then. And Zeb knocks his arrow and fires
an arrow at this illusion. Roll me an attack
roll. 13. 13. This is only basically to see if
you hit the space you're shooting at. You watch
this arrow moves this illusion and passes through.
For a second, just like the shape begins to ripple
around the arrow as it just briefly moves through
it. And as this happens, you hear just behind
it a voice say, Fuck! Zebulon turns around. What
in the hell just happened? You turn around. Oh,
come on. And you see two figures moving up behind
you. You see one of them. And they're probably
about like... The 80 feet away, moving down a
dune, moving carefully and stealthily, you see
a near eight foot tall Goliath with a gray stony
skin adorned with marks of swirling darker gray.
These were giant kin. She's wearing only straps
of light leather and a matching leather battle
skirt with a thick. battle -weathered wooden
club inlaid with a number of smooth stones. This
figure is marching towards you, eyes focused.
Oh, fuck. You don't recognize him, but you sure
as hell recognize the figure next to him. A very
familiar goblin. Eyes filled with rage. Shit.
He stops moving slow and starts full -on just,
like, running towards you. And you hear, like,
as you, like, see this, maybe, like, jumping
on turns back, it's like, it's gone! The illusion
vanishes. In its place, two figures stand on
a dune far off. One of them is this silver -haired
elven woman. She's got sort of pale skin. She's
got very, very sharp angular features, thick
robes of white fur adorned with stitchings of
purple and orange eyes. She's holding out some
sort of antler that she's using as a focus, the
points of which are glowing with magical light.
You don't recognize her, but again, you do sure
as hell recognize the smaller figure beside her.
Hair side -combed, wearing this pretty obnoxious
sort of mint -colored suit. You see Rune Rusong,
and you realize you are surrounded, but you are
not quite all over you yet. That son of a bitch.
Everything stops. The figure's behind you, and
Trace is starting to move, and he sort of halts
where he is, watching to see what you're going
to do. Like I said, they're probably about 60
feet or so. They're kind of moving down, they
stop about 60 feet, and Rune stands farther away.
They're pretty far off at this point. Anything
you want to say or do? This isn't going to end
well, Rune. Why did you have to spoil my fun?
Oh, I've been waiting for this. Thanks for the
footage, man. Don't thank me yet, Jules. He's
sort of shouting this with the arms over his
head. Don't thank me yet! Tell you what, I'm
going to ask you a question. I was going to do
it as an incarnate, be all fun and cool, but
hey, you know, no worries. We'll do it this way.
Where do you start, huh? Where do we start here?
Huh? You tell us, because we'll finish it. All
right, good. I have been thinking, and I have
an idea. You see, it is hot out here. Feel that
burn. And I know this is a mockery of real sunlight,
but boy, does it feel real, right? I mean, could
you imagine crawling your way through the hot
sand, roasting in this heat? Because I could.
And it would be hell. Which is why, oh yeah,
we're going to start by breaking your fucking
legs. And we'll call it there.