Hey guys, it's Steven. If you're enjoying the
show, please consider leaving a podcast rating
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best ways to help us grow. Also, please find
us on Instagram at fantasypantspod and share
it with your friends. Thank you so much. Yara
Ivanka, a .k .a. Mesmerize, is one of the relatively
few luminaries chosen to represent this world.
As a child in the village of Bevel, Yara was
chosen to have the art of illusion passed down
to her from her elders. Where there was nothing
left to learn, Yara made the long trek to Katagrad.
To the awful marine, conquer Jewel. And to the
radiant Citadel. Once she reached the Citadel,
Yara was given a moniker of Mesmerize. In reference
to the eye symbols that adorn her fur robes.
A remembrance of her village. Alongside her near
silent, Goliath sidekick Grunt. Yara has conquered
many a terrible foe with the pursuit of justice
and glory. What'd you just do? Yeah, what was
that? I found some thick mud on the bottom of
my coffee cup. Oh, okay. I just saw this face.
I'm sorry that my coffee is muddy. Don't be sorry.
I'm happy for the coffee. I mean, it's just a
byproduct. It just happens when you make coffee
sometimes. It happens in my coffee maker every
single time. I don't understand why. I don't
get it. I don't either. It doesn't make sense.
Coffee pros out there, fill us in. Yeah. Yeah.
How do we make a cleaner cup of coffee? Or just
have a Rockstar energy drink. No. I would literally
never. This episode's sponsored by Rockstar,
but not actually. At 37 years old, I don't know
what a Rockstar would do to my heart. That's
fair. That's fair. Dude, I remember I was like
14 and I had like two or three Rockstars over
at my buddy's house playing video games and I
thought I was going to die. I believe it. Yeah.
Absolutely. Speaking of dying gentlemen. You
didn't die last week. So here we are. Here we
are again. I could be home playing Tears of the
Kingdom. But I'm not doing that. I'm here recording.
You know why? Because you lived. Because you
rolled 16 natural 20s. Explain yourself. Be ashamed.
I was on fire. That's all Steven. That's all
Steven. Yeah. I think there was like four, maybe
five 20s over the course of like, what, less
than a dozen rolls. That was. Completely absurd.
I would say probably at least 60 % or 70 % of
your rolls were 20s. I think there was some advantage
in there, so that might skew it a little bit.
Still. In that final 20, that unbelievably clutch
death save 20 to get up and keep fighting when
the only person left in the field was a blinded
Jean Franklin who was barely alive. I don't know.
I think Jean Franklin could have pulled it off.
My plan was to try to... persuade you to take
a button and unblind him. And then I thought
he'd maybe have a fighting chance, but. That's
possible. It's possible. But boy, oh boy, was
that close. It worked out really cool. Yeah.
And then, yeah, at that moment, I don't know.
I pooped my pants a little. Oh, for sure. And
then you crit. And then we had. And then I crit
my pants a little. So we had like bad crit and
good crit. Mm -hmm. All at once. Even I got a
crit. That never happens. Yeah. Good times all
around. Yeah. And don't worry, David. Yoshi will
be waiting for you when you get home. No. Tonight
the shirt stays on. I will not let you get under
my skin, Steven. Just under your shirt. Now we're
talking about this fight. Let's bring up, you
know what, the wedgies. Not a lot this time from
what I have seen. We didn't talk about this during
the week. Did I miss? No, yeah. I didn't hear
shit. What are you talking about? This is actually
a spur of the moment from my head right now because
I totally forgot this was a thing to do. So,
hey, I might miss some. Nothing good comes spur
of the moment from David's head. Realistically,
there's only one wedgie we have, and that wedgie
is I should have taken half damage. twice from
Dissonant Whispers, which I believe is 1d6 each
time. Correct? That's true. Yes, we forgot about
the half damage. So that's the only thing. And
it kind of balances out because I actually should
have been utilizing my bonus action displacement
earlier on in the combat. So again, one of those
things where we both did a thing. All in all,
balance -wise, everything equals out. We both
made a slight mistake. But yeah. Yeah, great
fight. Great, great fight. I had a blast. I love
playing a villain or any character that has any
kind of gimmicky power or role that I really
get to dive into. So really playing the illusionist
role felt awesome. Yeah, she was a cool character.
It was great. And now she's dying on the sands.
And what are these characters going to do? Leave
this luminary to die? Well, I guess we're about
to find out, aren't we? Anything else you want
to do, gentlemen? Anything you want to talk about
before we get into this? I think I'm ready to
play. Yeah. All right. I mean, you've got to
start the music for us to play. Yeah, I'm not
playing without music. It should be starting.
Isn't it starting? Do you hear it? Why is it
not? Okay, hang on. We are standing in the preserve
of the ancestors. You stand on the dunes of a
desert. The sky above you is... I'll say at this
point it looks like an afternoon sky, perfectly
blue and clear, but broken up by the many facets
and sides of the great auroral diamond that you
stand within. I mentioned before, this place
is absolutely massive, so much bigger on the
inside than on the outside. Just the tiniest
testament to the absolute power of this incredible
ancient artifact that this entire society is
based around. And yet, you still know so little
about it. But here you are, surrounded by every
imaginable habitat, and you are in the dunes.
Zebulon, you barely stand at one HP, your sheer
grit pulling you up from the jaws of death. Jules
is currently unconscious and dying. John Franklin,
also barely standing next to an unconscious and
dying Yara Ivanka. You see the Goliath grunt
and the goblin trace are on the ground behind
you, kind of down the slope of this dune. Grunt
unconscious, but stable. And trace actually not
hurt at all, but just fully bound by manacles.
In the most ridiculous display of, it shouldn't
be possible to hogtie someone with manacles.
You did it. I don't know how. But, hey, 20 versus
1, yeah, you did it. It's ridiculous. I'll take
it. Maybe shoelaces were involved. I don't know.
Hopefully. What do you want to do? Well, first
and foremost, Zeb's going to step over and feed
Jules a potion here. I'm sorry you have to use
one of those. No, don't be sorry. So early on
after getting it. Yep, just a... 2d4 plus two.
All right, let's see what we get. Go ahead and
give that to yourself. Zebulon, mama birds a
potion into Jules' mouth. Yeah, puts it in Zebulon's
mouth first, pries Jules' mouth open, and spits
into it. So that's six. All right, good. You're
back up. Then Zeb's going to head down the dune
to Jean Franklin, pulling out the second and
final pair of manacles that he has. Uh, Jan,
are you alright? Yes, I'm... I'm fine, I... He's
got this sort of far -off look in his eyes, but
he seems to focus, looking at Yara. What of her?
Um, Zeb's already putting the manacles on her.
Let's, um, let's stabilize her, wake her up.
She would, um, she knows. Uh, I'm gonna, I'm
gonna say, guess, decide that, um... since Chester's
no longer here, that Zeb has the recording diamond
on him, and he passes it off to Jaune. Why does
he record this? Maybe it'll be useful. Oh, yeah.
I mean, heal her. I was going to say, he's rolling
death saves here. He's rolling death saves. We've
got to do this. I think Jaune Franklin's already
scrambling over, because he's not going to let
someone just die. My idea was that we wouldn't
let more than, like, you know, 12 seconds or
whatever pass by before. You know what I mean?
Okay. Yeah, he reaches down. He's got five points
left in his pool. You tell me. Does he use all
five? No, just one. Okay. Enough to just close
the wound, the last arrow wound, and leave her
just barely breathing. Her eyes flutter open,
but she is manacled. Hey, what does your wound
have on you? Why did you come and do this? She
just kind of scoffs. So her blood just like running
from her lips. If you are to kill me, please
hear at least one request first. For my bested
warrior. Uh, sure. I mean, let's hear it. Take
my life. But do not tell what I have done. Rune
will have no reason to tell anyone now. Okay,
so... you're tied up, your friends are tied up,
and we're not going to kill you. And he's actively
disarming her, pulling her focus away. Why? We
would have killed you. I would have killed you.
Well, it seems awful messy, and, I mean, you
kind of are the bad guys here in this. Bad guys?
Yes. I have been a bad guy for a long time. But
my village, it is small. It is remote, far in
the ever winds of Arnikek. And these winds, they
are growing, every year growing. My people suffer,
and they will not leave, for this is our ancestors'
place. We need someone to come, to bring money,
to bring glory. To bring help. And I come. To
the citadel. And I am found by Runer's song.
And he tells me I do things. I will have the
fame. My people will not suffer. And I do these
things. But he records them. And now. Now I am
a luminary. But if I do not heed his call. I
will be exposed. And I deserve it, I do. But
not my people. Okay, well, and Zeb, like, pats
her on the shoulder. Why don't you stand up?
Maybe you'll get a chance to help your village
again. Jean, did you get all that? Eyes. How
do I turn this on? Nuh -uh. I call bullshit.
I call bullshit. He fully has it. He's recording
it. And just kind of looks extremely grim as
he's taking this in, actually. He's just silently
listening to this. You know, Rune offered the
same thing to us. I think we punched him. Probably
in the face. You did. Jaune was there. And here
we are now. So, I mean, don't give up yet, I
guess. Jaune actually just sort of nods at this
and steps forward. It's... Not too late. I understand
that desperation. I was lucky. I came to this
hotel seeking help in a personal endeavor. A
fight against corruption and dishonor. And I
was turned away. For my people are not popular.
I don't have the social graces, one might say,
to... Turned this fact around, and I ended up
with Rune. He promised me I would find someone
to take me on, a luminary to carry me to my goals,
and... Well, luckily, I'd only been with him
for about a week. And then I met these two. You...
You saved me from a fate worse than death. Dishonor.
So I thank you again, for I was a razor's edge
for becoming just like them. Well, Jean, we're
really happy to have you. I mean, you've shaved
our skin, you know, so many times. And I do want
to help you, of course. And I think that time's
coming. I will accept your help. I will tell
you all soon about myself, about what I have...
Witnessed? It's hard for me. Open up, I guess.
I haven't really had acquaintances before. You
have been very secret. I suppose I also haven't
really asked yet. I would like to know, but,
I mean, probably a bad time. Hey, George? He
was just talking to us like we were right next
to each other, so I think we're right next to
each other. Oh, okay. I thought you were up on
the sand dune. He could have been sweeping his
face around, looking up at the... Where are you,
Jules? You tell me. I don't know. You just said
John Franklin looked at both of us and said,
thank you both. That's true. You were in sight.
I assumed we were together. Okay, I guess I'm
further up the dune. Hey, while you're up there,
since you're definitely up there, could you just
disarm those two? Way ahead of you, bud. I got
them. Oh, man, Ben, you're so great. Trace is
howling back there. Is that some John Franklin
character development I hear down there? It's
been, honestly, this is a great John scene. It's
growth. It's growth. Yeah, it's really good.
Shut up! I love it. John, we love you. No, that's...
You take your time, buddy, okay? We'll be here
for you whenever you're ready. I will not stand
for fourth wall breaking in this story. Go back
to that legality. Okay, yes. Jules has already
been disarming everybody. Okay, sweet. Hell yeah.
So maybe Zeb's going to grab Jaune and bring
him up the hill and have him put a hit point
into Grunt. Grunt. You do not have any more manacles.
Yeah, I know. Okay. disarmed with one HP, and
there's three of us fully armed. So I'm thinking
that he'll come to. Jaune puts the hit point
in him. Yara, I imagine, you said yesterday to
stand up. She stands, and she follows you up
the dune. Okay. How about this? How about Zeb
readies an action to stab Grunt if he's hostile?
Okay. Jaune lays a hand down his back. Some light
pulses from him. into the body of this Goliath,
whose eyes snap open, and he, like, immediately
goes into combat position and then clocks Yara
just behind you, who shakes her head gently.
And he just kind of lowers his fists. Zeb points
next to him on the ground. Think you could carry
that one? Aye. He just picks up Trace. Oh, perfect.
Excellent. I didn't even think about that. We
were discussing this earlier, trying to figure
out what the hell we're going to do. Yeah, it
came to me like a little while ago. That's perfect.
Yeah. That is perfect. I think you're a Mesmerize.
It's a cool name. It's cool. Super cool. Yeah,
thank you. Speaks up. I am afraid you will not
catch a room. I had created a phantom steed just
over the dune. You will be far away by now, even
when the magic was let go. It lasts for a minute.
Look at his in time. I hope that's true. Well,
do you have anything useful that we could use
to catch him? You know where he's going? Likely
to Aurora Town. Then back to the Citadel, through
the gates. Do you know where he lives? He lives
in his office. Up the stairs. But it should be
trapped. I will be careful. Sounds like a problem
for another day. Yeah. There is one thing I can
tell you that may be of use. You seek the incarnate,
yes? That's right. That's the word. Incarnate.
I remember. God, you'll get it eventually. It's
funny. I changed it from the book. Yes, in the
book. There are, like, a bunch of incarnates,
but there are also dawn incarnates. Those are
the big incarnates. And I decided to, like, do
it with all the other incarnates and just have
all the dawn incarnates be incarnates because
I wanted to spare you guys that. Yeah, that's
a little confusing. I'm trying to cut down on
a lot of the jargon, the fancy jargon, as much
as I can. I really have no idea what you just
said. That just confused the shit out of me.
It's fair. It's fair. Yes. The incarnate, if
you please, Mesmer, point the direction. She
kind of glances off to the northwest and says,
Grunt and I, we scouted before to make sure the
Incarnate will not come upon us during our fight.
It is there, to the northwest. They do not move
around much. They are slow. It should still be
there. You'll find it. Zeb looks over at Jules.
How far to the northwest? What? She said it was
to the northwest? Yeah. Why are you asking me
how far? Well, no, I was asking her, but looking
at you. He looked at him when he said this. I
was like, why are you asking him? Mishmer, how
far to the northwest is it? I'll say right now,
you are pretty close to where you reached the
bottom of the steps and went into the dunes.
They wanted to catch you basically moving into
the dunes itself. So you are almost at the...
the southeastern corner of this, like, habitat.
And we can imagine this habitat as, like, a larger
sort of square, just almost a squared grid of
this gigantic, you know, many habitats, amalgamation.
It's probably about a mile or so of, like, actual
full desert. Oh, okay. And she just says, it
is close to the edge, maybe three quarters of
a mile. And we're going to have to walk north
to get to the city anyway. It's true. The city
is essentially directly north of where you stand.
Should we just detour, Jules? I think so. Okay,
troop. I'm going to count on you all to cooperate
with us here. Yeah, you know, I like to give
people the benefit of the doubt, but just, you
got to understand, you got to come with us. We
can't just let you go right now. You threatened
before. The sky prison. If this is your goal,
I would ask that you kill me now. Here. No one
will see. We made sure there were no witnesses.
That is why we chose this spot to fight. Well,
things are different now. You just got to give
us a little more time to trust you a little more.
Our goal right now is really just to get out
of the desert here. And you guys kind of have
to come with us because Zeb rattles his saber.
We've got the weapons and you don't, so... I
think she just looks at the Goliath behind her
with Trace just kind of like growling and half
-sobbing just over his shoulder. Just kind of
gives him a sort of long look. He just nods and...
Aye. All right. Late is settled. Lead the way.
All right, yeah. And we can start to move towards
the northwest. Hopefully not into another trap.
Hopefully. I mean, yeah, let's, I mean, at least
Zeb is going to try to roll insight on this lady.
Sure. Is that an 18 or a 16? 16. Okay, so with
my wonderful minus three, that's a 13. I got
one less than Zebulon. She seems to be honest.
Okay, then we are going to... Do what she says.
What she suggested. We're going to travel in
the direction that she proposed. Yeah. Sounds
about right. You begin to move. I think for Yara
and Grunt, this is just like the most grueling
trek. As I mentioned before, she was sweating
and sweating standing in these dunes before in
this heat. And even just wearing these fur robes
she's wearing, they're overly hot for this weather,
but they are... something she's not willing to
part with. And, like, this is not her climate.
You know, Jules, you read that, you got that
high roll before. Arnikek is just this massive,
massive tundra world. It is the farthest thing
away from this grueling heat of this desert,
and it's showing on them that this is hard for
them. But they are keeping up. Yeah, I mean,
we're going, like, less than a mile. You know,
if she really looks like she's suffering, Zeb
will share some water, but... I mean, even I,
Steven, can walk pretty far in some serious heat.
You, Steven, are not at 1 HP. Fair. Fair. However,
remember how many HP we had at the end of the
Kilkenny Ridge. That's also fair. And also, you,
Zebulon, are also at 1 HP right now. Yeah, yeah,
yeah. That's pretty rough. Actually, I think
Jean -Francois would pull up beside you, because
you must look like you're in terrible shape.
Jules, you have at least some healing going on.
Zebulon, you're... still being carried on by
the sheer grit that, like, pulled you to your
feet in the first place. I could heal you a little
more. I have more power in me, not much, but
I can make you more comfortable at least. Don't
worry about it, John. I got this. And I'm going
to cast Cure Wounds. Oh, nice. I thought you
were just going to be like, no, don't worry about
it. He's fine. I was thinking the same thing!
You don't got much left. Let me take some of
this for you. So we've got cure wounds, 1d8 plus
3. All right, so that's 7 back for Zeb. It's
not terrible. Oh, my goodness. Wow, Jules, thank
you. That's, wow. He's standing a little taller.
He's not slouching as much. Wow, that's so much
nicer. Nice to see a little spring in your step.
Yeah, thanks, man. All of this entire group is
moving, and, like, everyone here, even after
the healing, is still just in. terrible shape
except for the wriggling goblin who's still just
hot completely unscathed oh yeah he didn't take
any damage you have disrespected this goblin
on so many levels every time come on man we've
it's amazing you've just you've shown this guy's
parade every time he shows up yeah it makes you
wonder why he hasn't come and joined us yet because
this is the situation he keeps getting himself
into he hates you more and more every time yeah
but it's not getting him anywhere It really isn't.
Not getting him anywhere. Jean Franklin is doing
great. Pepper's doing great. Like, and I wonder,
because these guys are moving with you. Yara
and Grunt seem like they're, you know, they seem
noble. And they seem like they're not enemies
of you now. But, I mean. And Trace is still just
going on and on, just filth and expletives. And
I'll kill you, I will. Trace will get out of
this and he'll kill you. I'll fucking kill you
and eat you all up. Just so angry. And like,
you know, there's no, he's going to come back.
He will always come back. Hey, Trace, buddy,
we could have killed you today. So if you don't
mind just zipping it. No. Yeah, you zip it, you
dragon. I'll take you down, I will. Jules is
going to rip part of his sleeve off and go and
put it around Trace's mouth. It's going on and
on. And that thing hasn't been washed. Oh, yeah,
I took the part from the pit. Yeah, a couple
of arcs, I don't think. Nonsense typos. And so
you move. The heat is brutal. The sand beneath
your feet is constantly shifting. There's probably
a lot of just like near stumbles, near incidents
as you go dune over dune over dune. And it's
funny because as you crest the tile as points,
you look out ahead and you just see the desert
comes to an abrupt end. And there's just other,
there's a great sort of... grass fields, right?
Savannas in one direction. You see trees beyond
that. You see the mountains rising up. You can
see a piece of everything. You can see the sort
of giant crystalline spires of a rural town far
off in the distance to the north. And go ahead
and roll me investigate check with advantage
because you know the direction to go. Wow, Jules,
it really is pretty out here. I mean, I've never
seen anything like this. Might be fake, but it's
still beautiful. Yeah, I rolled single digits.
17. Okay. Debulon, you're taking in the sights.
I mean, it's so pretty out here. And you're not
focused. You're just looking around at everything
else. And so you don't see it. The far -off sort
of splash of this lighter blue just resting atop
one of these dunes. But Jules, you clock it.
It's about, well, maybe 200 feet away now. Hey,
Zab. Look over there, about 200 feet. Oh my goodness,
it was like right there the whole time. Zeb turns
all the way around. It looks like it might have
just climbed over the top of one of these dunes.
You can see it's sort of blurred in the heat
waves. Just a few dunes away. Is it just me,
or does that look a little like an illusion?
I don't know, can I roll Arcana? You can roll
Arcana. That's a 15. 15. I'll tell you this.
You look at this thing, and maybe you move just
a little bit closer to it, and what strikes you
is how you ever, even for a second, could have
thought that the illusion from before was really
an incarnate. Because as you take this thing
and as you move closer to it, there is something
in the air. An electricity, a force, a gravity.
You feel pulled towards it. Your eyes falling
on it barely can look away. These shimmering
turquoise gemstones that build up the bulk of
this great and mighty lion, this beast, with
its gemstone mane falling all around it, glimmering
in the fake sun, watching you, standing tall,
seeming taller than you can imagine. seeming
more noble than you could have believed. There
is magic here. Powerful magic. You can feel it
in the air. On every hair on your arms and body,
you can feel it, Jules. I imagine my, uh, Jules'
hand kind of tingles a little bit. I imagine
so as well. What do you do? Sippion pulls out
his short bow. Zeb, no, no, no, no, no, no. I
would not do this. No, no, no. I would not. This
one's real. This one's real. You sure? You see
the way it's like shimmering? I mean, you can
try, but I'm going to go that way. And Jules
points the complete opposite direction. All right,
let's go talk to this thing. Let's do it. I think
you go to step forward and jump right in. One
just says, I will watch them if you'd like. You're
the luminaries. You're the one that's supposed
to meet with this creature. I will take care
of these ones, give you privacy. Is this the
kind of thing where, like, privacy is expected?
No. But I think there's, like, like I said, there's
this gravity to this creature. It feels like
this ceremony has weight. Okay. And being around
this thing, there's just this expectation that
there's a right way to go about this. Okay, so
we can just intuit that it's not proper to bring
your prisoners to meet the incarnate? I feel
like you would get that. This being has so much
presence. Yeah, all right. Thank you, Sean. Let's
go meet this thing. Yeah, I'm in. Okay. And the
two of you venture on together. trekking through
the sands, down a dune, up, down another, and
you begin to approach sort of this largest dune
you've come across so far, just pushing your
way up, this thing staring down at you from above,
just shining, this feeling of electricity growing
and growing as you get closer. And I'd like you
to roll me a perception check. That's a 19 for
Jules. Don't even worry about it. Okay. Jules,
as you get closer, you catch a sound seeming
to emanate from this being. Hmm. There's these
melodic notes, this sort of song, constant and
ever and shifting, and something behind it as
well, like the sound of a roaring thunder. Oh.
And you approach. Yeah? And the two of you reach
the top of the dune and stand before this mighty
creature. It is about, I will say, ten feet tall.
It's huge. It just looks down at you, waiting.
Oh, man. I was just going to look up at it and
wait. Then we're going to have a real awkward
situation on our hands. Jules looks up and says,
Well, we're here. Hi. Is that what Jules says
to this incarnate? I just want to know. Yeah.
Okay. Yeah. Great. I love it. Yeah. Great. At
this point, he's just like, all right, let's
do this. Blank turquoise eyes just take this
in. Zebulon finishes looking at Jules. Turns
his attention back to the incarnate. Hi, I'm
Zebulon. Brass. La Roche. One the name of a trusted
friend. The other the name of bitter foes. This
is a strange duo defined before me. This voice
does not come from the mouth of this being. It
comes from every gem, like, vibrating out towards
you from, like, everywhere on it. And it's a
strangely calm voice. Monotone. Who's your foe?
Your family, who worships the fallen one. So
I'll take a shot. This is directed, you realize,
towards Jules. You know, I'd really appreciate
it if you didn't lump me in with them. The same
blood might run through my veins, but it ain't
that thick. Is this about the demon stuff you
were telling me about? Seems to be. You are partners.
Absolutely. Have you told him about the change?
Not yet. Then I leave it to you. Fuck! You say
that you are different, but I can sense. Jules?
You know, my heart's different. And that's everything.
I can't control what's been done to me. I had
no choice. Zebulon, look. Who? And I pull off
the glove. Oh my god, what happened? My family
happened. What did they do? Dark things. Evil
things, and they passed it to me. Well, does
it hurt? Can you help? Zebulon looks up to the
incarnate. We do not. Interfere. We have learned
long ago that we do not interfere. Well, why
not? If these people are doing stuff like this
to people like Jules, and they're in a position
of power, and you have, I'm gonna assume, some
ability to stop it. We're doing everything we
can to stop it. Because not you or anybody else
is doing anything about it. It nods towards you,
Jules. Your heart is different. And looks to
Zebulon. You say there is no one who stands against
the dark. And yet, your blood flows pure. With
her essence. Sholay. Trusted friend. She who
revived this place and connected the worlds.
The one bulwark we have. Yeah, well, she's not
always very helpful to me or very trusting of
me. She still treats me like a kid. You are a
half -dragon. You will live long. And yet you
are young. Too young to understand. Centuries
of history. The wait. Well, I mean, if somebody
could clue me in, then maybe I could start to
understand or learn. Or, I mean, there's so much
going on, like, with the world. It's so much
bigger than me. I just want to help. Then go
to Sholai. She is our trusted. You stand before
me as a luminary against everything she wished,
not knowing the sacrifices that brought you here.
Well, what should I say to her? She's always
so mean and yells a lot. I just feel like I can't
have a constructive conversation. Are you saying
that I shouldn't be a luminary either? This is
the only way I know how to help. Ours is not
to dissuade. Simply to guide through gentle strokes.
Stop it. Stop it. You motherfucker. My head went
there too. Don't. God damn it. It's a god damn
incarnate. It's serious. I know, but I wouldn't
have laughed until you said stop it. Look at
this fucking lion. It's a big deal. He can see
your dirty mind. He's gonna stomp on you. Oh
my god. Alright, fourth grade Steven's been put
away. Alright, get out of here, fourth grade
Steven. Oh, you've graduated to fifth grade.
Damn it. That's all it says. I'm trying to think
of what to say to this thing. I feel like we
should have gotten more. Not... I'm not saying,
yeah. It's cryptic as hell. Yeah, yeah, it's
super cryptic. So, so what do we do? Whatever
you wish. You have my blessing. You have found
this place. It seems you have survived a difficult
fight along the way. Mistaken in your wounds,
like, you still look pretty roughed up. Yeah,
we were ambushed by this guy who, like, I don't
know. We were just trying to come see you, and
he pretended to be you and attacked us. So we...
With his luminary pal. Yeah. So we beat him up,
I guess kind of arrested them. Zebulon turns
around and points back toward... Oh, wait, we're
up and over dunes, aren't we? You can kind of
vaguely see them far off. Okay, I was going to
say. They're on a dune. You can see this thing,
so it can see you. Sure, all right. It, like,
arcs it up and looks. Then, a question. You who
want to be luminaries. What do you think your
role is? A role? A role in what? As a luminary,
what is your role in this society? In these conquered
worlds? Well, I mean, it's to help, but it's
also to be, you know, Kind of cool and kind of
badass. Jesus. God. Beyond, like, magazine covers.
Oh, God. It just full looks at you, Jules. To
rid the world of the darkness. To rid all the
worlds. So that maybe everybody can live in peace.
Peace. The word blows past you like melody. intermingling
with it, as though you've hit some sort of great
note, as though it's coming off of this creature
in a long sigh. Peace is all we desire. Sweet
peace. In our millennia of life and death, we
have not found peace. Do you think you will?
All I can tell you, that's about to change. You
speak of conquering the darkness. Those who would
strike you. They are criminals. Attempted murderers.
And you have captured them. What will you do?
What is your judgment, Luminaries? I don't think
that's for me to decide. Then who? I just want
to break in here and say that I think my part
was kind of, you know, important too. I think
that's a major part of what it means to be a
luminary. Sort of like a public figure. Hopes
and dreams to the kids. I think it actually,
like, maybe turns away and looks at you. There
is wisdom in this. To be a leader. An inspiration.
Much like your grandmother. Much like friend,
Sholay. Everything is always about Sholay. Well,
well, Mr. Incarnate, what would you do with these
people? I mean, we can't be the judge, jury,
and executioner. We're just... We're just luminaries.
I cannot make a definite choice. But there are
options. Atash, the solar angel. Sovereign ruler
of Anchor and Sengar has his sky prisoned. Yeah,
I'm not really... I mean, there's gotta be something
else, right? That place is... I mean, they hurt
people there. You... Go through all the insight
checks, too, here. Ten. Five. Okay. Yeah, don't
worry about it. It just stares down at you. You
feel like a weight kind of growing on you. I
don't like that. You speak true. There is cruelty
in his justice. And yet, this is the path our
society has taken. The conquered worlds follow
Atash's example. Stray from Chalice. To serve
as a luminary, you must serve our touch. So we
either send them to the Sky Prison or set them
free? I mean, these are just people who have
gone astray and lost sight of what's important.
The evil that's taken over, that should be confined
to something like the Sky Prison. That's what
needs to be contained. Not these people. They
just... They lost their way. I think... It's
looking between the both of you. Its head just
arcs upwards. You follow a dark path. But...
There is wisdom in you. There is light in your
intentions. I am eager to watch and see. How
you will shake these worlds. You may go. Well,
okay. Thank you for that. We will take our leave.
I just want to say that you are, while very large
and scary, maybe a little less helpful than I
anticipated. And as we walk away, I just glance
over and say, The beacon of light. That's our
role. Then, shine. And you see it turn and step
away down the dune, slowly vanishing. So, what
are we going to do with them? It's something
you've got to think about. The general way these
are handled is luminaries go to worlds, solve
problems, catch prisoners. And send them to the
Sky Prison. I mean, Kasim Arun ended up at the
Sky Prison. And you were a part of that. As much
as you don't want to accept it, that was your
catch. Sturgeman came in at the last second,
took it from you. But you did that. He was yours.
And you have to do it again. If you want to follow
this path, you have to do it again. Because that's
the way the world moves. So, I know what Jules
wants to do. I'm a little conflicted. So let's
hear what Jules wants to do. Do you want me to
tell you what Jules wants to do, or do you want
Jules to just do it? I want Jules to tell me
what Jules wants to do. Okay. Jules looks over
to Zebulon. I'm imagining we're, like, on our
way back. We're walking back towards them sort
of thing. We need to free them. If we want to
be a beacon of light, of peace. Yeah. We need
to show it. Yeah, it's... It sounds like the
right thing to do. Even Trace? Even Trace. I
mean... Just because we don't like somebody doesn't
mean they don't deserve to be shown compassion.
Yeah, but I mean, he's dangerous. I mean... So
are we. Yeah. How long... So if we... If we turn
Trace in, how long is he going to be there for?
Is there something that we could roll to kind
of like... Gauge sentencing? You know, like if
I was a police officer, I would have some understanding
as to how long someone's going to go to jail
if I arrest them. Yeah, give me a... Ooh, what's...
What would be like a law roll? Maybe falling
under history? History was my first guess. I
like that. Yeah, I like that. I guess any intelligence
roll. Yeah. Religion actually could also work
because, I mean, realistically, Atash, his whole
sky prison, the whole legal system is kind of
grounded in the religion of the Sunweaver and
the Sunweaver's commandments, who is sort of
like the patron god of Ankar and Sengar, who's
become very, very influential amongst all the
worlds after Atash was sent in what could only
be described as a miracle to stop the demonic
invasion of Ankar and Sengar. A lot of the tenets
of the current law. Especially like Atash's laws
over his own world that have kind of spread and
become part of this main society are based on
the tenets of the Sunweaver. Well, Jules doesn't
know anything about the judicial system with
a natural one. Okay. I got a 13 for history.
Jules, you're trying to think about this, but
all you can imagine is horses. Zebulon. It's
like counting sheep, but there's just horses.
He just cut to, like, jewels and just hear, like,
the sort of internal monologue. Just, no! Cut
to Zebulon. What'd you roll again? 13. 13. So
this is, I mean, I guess it depends. What would
you bring him in for? Just this attempted murder?
Or the prior assault? I mean, I guess I would
just try to bring it in as, like, an assault
rather than an attempted murder. Okay. I mean,
because we're not trying to make them serve a
gazillion life sentences. You know, Zebulon's
thought is like, okay, if this guy can go away,
get punished, get rehabilitated, then maybe that's...
Is it going to rehabilitate him, though, or make
him worse? Rehabilitation is certainly not the
primary objective of the Sky Prison. You would
assume between 10 and 20 years for a basic assault.
If it ends up being blown up into an attempted
murder, and the real facts of this are to come
out, maybe 50. That's not going to do him any
good. As a goblin, he would not live nearly long
enough to see the end of it, but don't worry,
they would likely freeze his time, in a sense,
to make sure he experiences the entirety of the
punishment. It's funny, I'm only now realizing
that... Likely my background and my bachelor's
in criminology have been fueling this sort of
animosity towards the actual prison system. Wait,
what? Wait, what? Huh? Yeah. What? I have a bachelor's
in criminology. So I spent like years learning
about how fucked up the prison system is in the
U .S. So I feel like that may or may not be inspiration
for all this. How is this the first time I'm
hearing this at all? Yeah, I was initially out
of school. I wanted to get into like police work.
And that just kind of didn't happen, which is
good, because I'm really, really socially awkward.
David, I don't know you. Holy shit. Anyways.
Detective Monroe. Oh, man, another world. Maybe.
Just maybe. Oh, geez, Louise. Jules, I think
that we would be safe if we let Mesmer and Grub
go. But I think we need to do something about
Trace. He's just going to come back. Wow. Jules,
he's going to kill us. You know damn well we
can kill him before he kills us. Yeah, but don't
you think we should be done killing? This is,
I will say, like the first time these two characters
have actually had like a solid disagreement over
something, I feel like. And this is awesome.
He's awake, right? Trace is full awake. Okay.
Yeah, Grunt's carrying him. Have we reached them
by now? If you want to have. I think that might
be helpful, actually. Okay, yeah. Yeah, you're
just getting up to him now. All right, so I'm
going to go up behind Grunt. I assume his head
is over the back of Grunt. Yeah. Okay. Jules
is going to go and face Trace and kind of hold
his chin up with his hand and look him straight
in the eye. Just glares back at you, panting
heavily. Why do you hate me? Excellent. Excellent.
All right. I pull off his gag. I'm not giving
you another button, but it was good. I look at
Steven. He knew. He was waiting. That was good.
Spits out. I hate you because you made a fool
of me. Time and time again she makes a fool of
Trace. No one makes a fool of Trace. No one can
get away with it. No. Trace. What? I don't think
you're a fool. Okay, you were under orders and
you attacked us out of nowhere. What would you
have us do? If I came out of nowhere. and started
attacking you, what would you do? You think you're
so noble. All you humans just think you're so
noble. No. No. We're all the same. All the same?
You tell that to a goblin. Hey, you don't know
what it's like. Monsters, they think us. Monsters,
when I came to this hill, looking for glory.
They laughed at my face every single one but
Rune. Only he saw potential. All the same. Just
like a human is to say that. You want to talk
about nobility? Rune ain't got none of that.
He just uses people because he's weak. He needs
strong people. He uses people that are just trying
to better their lives. For his own gain. Where
is he now? He just grunts. Go ahead and roll
me a persuasion check. That was a good argument.
You will not have disadvantage, but it is going
to be a high check if you want to break the ice
with this particular very angry goblin. Trust
me, Trace, you are no fool. I admire your strength.
Not enough, apparently. Oh, no. That's only a
10. I mean, I love the argument. And I think
what you see, I think what you see is, it's so
funny, like all your bad rolls are always your
persuasion rolls, which is like a ridiculous
bonus. No, it's always with Trace. It's true.
The same thing happened before. I will say this.
You say this. And it's not that he like snarls
at you. It's not that he like spits towards you.
He doesn't seem like he's still. He just, his
ears sort of drop and he just turns his head
away. Just take me away and be done with it.
Jean Franklin, you want to chime in on this?
David, do you want to convince yourself? I have
nothing to say to this guy. I think I will say
this. Jean Franklin will step forward. Yep, now
things are about to get complicated. It's always
the hardest task. I think Trace just, like, looks
in his direction, and this glare just, like,
reignites, like, and you, the traitor, turning
around, stealing from the boss. John just ignores
him. I... He's looking at you, Jules. ...did
not know much of Trace before we came together
under Rune. I... I left very quickly after I
joined him, and, well... All this speak of goblins,
this is the first I've heard of it. But he's
right. It's an unfortunate circumstance in the
network that some of us are not seen as popular.
And what sells in the network, what sells to
the masses, is generally preferred. My own people
had to fight tooth and nail to gain any reputation
in Zinda. And I have had a hell of a time, despite...
Like I said, my natural charms. You look at me,
I'm very charming, damn it. It's been very difficult
to make any headway as a luminary or even a sidekick.
He speaks true in that regard. I have been curious,
what will you do with him? Everyone's just watching
Yara and Grunt. And Grunt obviously say nothing,
but... Jules is going to walk around to Zebulon
and say, we are different. And we are going to
change things. And Jules is going to grab the
key from Zebulon and walk over and free trace.
Jules, Jules, don't do this. You slip the key
in, hear it click. As I'm doing that, I'm looking
him right in the eyes. He's just staring at you
with these wide, wide eyes. I'm not staring angrily.
I'm staring with a compassionate stare. He's
not angry either. He just looks surprised. You
are no fool. You are strong. Trace wriggles,
dropping off of like Grunt's shoulder. Stands
up, as tall as he can, still tiny compared to
you, just looking you straight in the eyes. And
he turns, and begins to scurry away across the
desert sand. Stopping once to look back, and
then vanishing behind a dune. Well, great. Well,
that's just great. Zebulon's yelling this, but
you look up and you actually see Jean Franklin
catches your eyes and just gives you this single
nod. Jules nods back. So now we're luminaries
who don't arrest anybody as Zebulon's undoing
the manacles on Mesmer. For what it's worth.
I was planning on letting you go anyways. But
that guy? No way. I was taking him to jail. She's
just... You know, we're not going to achieve
what we're trying to achieve by doing the same
thing. We have to be a beacon. We have to show
everybody. That's true. But Jules, if we don't
play a little bit of this game, if we don't live
with one foot in this world... and one foot in
our world, then no one's going to take us seriously.
Luminaries who never arrest anybody, who don't
do the conventional things that they think a
luminary is supposed to do, we're going to be
off the network before you know it. So, how do
you think we should be judged for those that
we've killed? Brave situations or not, we have
killed. Yes. And how do you think we should be
judged for that? Oh my god, I need popcorn. John
and Cully were there even they said we were within
our legal duties to act. He was not. He came
like a snake in the grass or a snake in the sand
to try and kill us with no just cause. We are
different. So did these two. Yeah, I know. And
that's my One foot in one world and one foot
in another. There you go. So are we still luminaries?
No. Yara finally speaks up. You are better. When
the time comes, when you want to seek out Rune
Rusan, you tell me. Perhaps we should all get
revenge. You said yourself you wanted to kill
Rune. You said it last episode you wanted to
kill Rune Rusan. Jules LaRose. I didn't mean
to throw wood in the fire. I am sorry. If I can't
put Trace the Goblin in jail for 10 to 20 years,
then you can't kill Rune Roushan. Can I kill
Rune Roushan? I will stay out of it. You also
don't have this little antler thingy, so I don't
know what you're going to do. This is true. Can
I have back? No, I don't think so. I failed a
mighty beast for that. Yeah, I really don't trust
you at all. It's just an heirloom. Okay. How
much is it worth? We should get this conversation.
Yeah, I did say that. I don't got a defense for
that. And when the time comes, you know, who
knows? When the time comes, I won't take it away
from you. As long as you don't take it away from
me again. Aye. Well, uh... You can go too, big
guy. Whatever. Aye. Let's just, uh... Why don't
for now we say let's just hope we both continue
to grow so that the next time... Maybe this shit's
a little easier. Yeah, I guess we'll see what
happens. I think Grunt and Yar seem like they're
starting to step away, and she turns back to
you. So you'll travel to a rural town. I am headed
there now. Yeah, we're going back to a rural
town. We're not back there for the first time.
And hey, don't you forget, now I've got dirt
on you too. I think she smiles, this kind of
little smile. Not so much mocking, but almost
knowing. You just don't see the kind of person
that would, I guess, fall to runes? You know,
sort of antics? His pure blackmail? At least
not in the same way that he would. At least he
doesn't believe that he would. I think Zebulon's
intention is just like, hey, don't try to come
kill me again, because I have shit on you. and
I'm letting you go. So maybe we can not try to
kill each other again. That'd be swell. I think
she just kind of like, she just smiles at you
and nods to Grunt and then just turns back to
you both and says, you are good people. What
is ahead? It is dark. Do not let it change you.
And she begins to move away as well towards the
crystal structures ahead. And my last question
for you guys. Do you follow? I mean, yeah, but
I don't want to walk with them. It's like when
you say bye to somebody and you start walking
down the hallway in the same direction. What
are we going to do? I don't know. We can sit
there for a long rest and let them go. Or just
walk slower than they are. Yeah. I will put one
thing out there. It doesn't even need to be on
mic. But I want to make sure you have all your
options out there that you remember. There was
some talk about going past Oral Town to the mountains
beyond to the Sapphire Wyvern. Oh, well, that's
a Jules decision. Yeah, not right now. Okay,
okay, cool. I didn't know if that was something
you were going to do after meeting this incarnate.
Not when all of my spell slots have been used
up. That's a good point. And we are almost dead.
Yeah, hell no. Fair, fair, fair, fair. Hell no.
And I've got this cool new wand to sell. You
son of a bitch. All right. What's the plan? Are
you going to take a rest? Are you going to go
explore? Or are you going to cut to Aurora Town?
I think we're just going to cut to Aurora Town.
Yeah, I think we've got to get to Aurora Town.
Yeah. Then... Shut up. I got that. I heard it.
Shut up. Oh, yeah. We see Zebulon, Jules, and
John Franklin. Gathering together and moving
as well. Following the shapes of the two. Moving
ahead. Heading towards this great beacon of light
and noise. These crystalline structures sticking
out amongst all this nature. Heading towards
this place of light and darkness. And we'll call
it there.