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Welcome to Vikings and Valkyries, an actual play podcast. We are playing When the Wolf

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Comes, a role-playing game set in the twilight of gods and men. My name is Ian Stuart Sharpe,

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and I will be your Helblinder for the ongoing campaign which we call the Thought and Memory

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Saga. Snatching defeat from the jaws of cictory this week are the morsels of meat we know

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as Bill, Steve, CJ and Annina. Welcome one and all.

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Thank you.

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Welcome back after the winter break. I presume you all managed to avoid the Wild Hunt, no

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one whisked away by Allfather Odin?

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I mean, for a little while.

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Did you leave hay in your stockings for Sleipnir? That's the tradition?

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No, that was the problem.

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While we were away, we actually got some people asking us why we were away and hoping that

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we would never come back. No, actually they were quite nice. They said, are we expecting

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more episodes? To which I said, well, you know, as long as you pay me enough danger

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money, then I'll see what I can do.

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Yes, I believe they explicitly asked about Gigi's magnetism.

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That's exactly right. The fan mails were basically requesting you to send signed photographs.

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Anyway, we're back with a bang for 2025 and this time we are joined by writer, producer

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and actor Annina Kaski who's taken a moment out of her role as Saga in Bardic Quest to

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join us today and show you all how it's done.

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You're welcome.

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Fair enough.

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Hello.

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I listened to some.

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Thank you very much.

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Absolutely.

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Thank you. I don't need to do a intro because that was perfect. That's literally what I

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do.

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We desperately need someone to show us how it's done.

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Sorry, Ian, did you actually bring in a professional? What is this?

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I think we may be all on the chopping block, CJ.

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First of all, you were already on the chopping block every single episode. And secondly,

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yeah, it was my New Year's resolution to try and do something to improve our fortunes.

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CJ, you didn't have much of a break, did you? Because over the 12 days of Christmas, you

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were just writing the 12 Viking related articles of Yule instead.

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Yes, I wrote a whole lot of articles over the break, didn't I? I was on vacation, so

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I got to do things that I like to do.

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So endless articles about Viking stuff on your blog, which I encourage everyone to read.

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And I wrote a book as well. I sent it to my editor and even he was like, what are you

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doing with your life? I was like, I had two weeks off.

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Annina, you're a writer as well, as is Steve. What things have you penned recently and did

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you do them all within two weeks?

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No, I'm more of a think about it for a couple of months and then do the best. I am working

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on a book, a semi autobiographical book, but that's going to take a while. And also on

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a sitcom pilot. I usually write either very, very dark stuff or black comedy. So I'm going

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to try and just write comedy. And that's what I'm working on.

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We'll allow Bill and Steve to treat this as a bit of an audition to see whether they can

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jam their Odd Couple routine into your sitcom.

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I'm curious, do the English have any sort of tradition of darker comedy?

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I'm a bit of a half breed. Yes, yes. I'm Finnish. So I'm Finnish, bilingual and I grew up in

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Oxford. So I'm a bit of a cultural half breed, even though I am, you know,

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completely Finnish. We do a mix. Our Finnish Christmas is on Christmas Eve, not Christmas

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Day. So what me and my husband do is we take turns what day we celebrate it on. And this

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year was the proper one, which was Christmas Eve. Now, I do prefer controversial. I'm sorry

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for any Finns who might be listening. I prefer British Christmas food apart from the dessert.

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Apart from the desserts, apart from plum pudding, figgy pudding.

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I made some gingerbread. So we can't talk too much about food primarily because CJ has

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got a touch of the touch of something.

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I gurgled at the thought of English food.

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Is what has befallen you, CJ? Is it the revenge of the  draugr of Bjarni? Did your

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fart runes reverberate back on you?

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Yes, they came back with a vengeance. Oh, boy. I won't go much further than that. You can

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see on the news, there's an outbreak and I laughed it off and I said, you know, I'm going

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to live my life. And I did. And my son came back from daycare and the it's all watery

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diaper. I remember. Yeah, the the daycare later was like, you had a really watery diaper

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when it changed clothes. I was like, OK, that's not a big deal. Right. And a day later, my

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wife and her both just there we go. So fans of delicate disposition and listening to this

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probably check out out now, stop the recording. That reminds me because we know,

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obviously, the show must go on. Annina you can probably testify to that. It's an important

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mantra in in performance art such as this is. But that reminds me, we made Ed play in episode

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two when he had strep throat and talk. And he died in that episode? Has anyone checked

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in on him to see whether he's actually  well? He's lost his voice permanently. I was

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talking to my sister and but the family was not upset. Just I mean, I think he is, but

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he can't say anything. So no one's really sure. But the rest of them are fine. His sisters

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are fine with that. It's for the best. It's for the best. It was a bit sassy anyway. So

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well, Ed, if you do listen to this, then feel free to mime in your complaints. Every episode

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I like to see whether you can earn your Odinnic inspiration points. And so this week I have

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a question for you that's inspired by Annina's love of Lord of the Rings. We chatted last

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week and you said you had the Lord of the Rings inspired wedding, is that correct? Yes,

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yes, we did indeed. We got married in November. So very, very recently, Bill is showing us

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his collection of Tolkien books, forgetting that it's an audio medium. It was for you.

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Oh, thank you. I appreciated it. Yeah. Ordinarily, I cover up your window so I don't have to

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see anything of that. I know he's not joking. I know that's true. All right. So the question

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for your inspiration points, which you can potentially spend to save yourself an appalling

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demise is this. Can you name me five races that occur in Tolkien's works that were drawn

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from Norse mythology? It's a tricky one. Elves. Elves is correct. Tolkien's elves were drawn

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partly from Celtic mythology, partly from Norse and the division between his Calaequendi,

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the elves of light and the Morlequendi, the elves of darkness, such as Steve's, echoes

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that Norse division between the Dokkalf and the Ljósálf, the light elves and the dark

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elves. So that is very apropos, CJ, and that is one of the five. Depends how direct the

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correlation has to be. Surely the Hobbits and the Halflings, because... I cannot give

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you that one, mainly because I have excised any of the small folk with hairy feet from

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When the Wolf Comes. But no, they were an invention of Tolkien's own. They don't come

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from Norse mythology. And I'll give you another clue as well. It's not gnomes, because gnomes

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were the invention of a 17th century Swiss mythologist. The things you know, Ian. Well,

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dwarves, I'll go there. Let's go dwarves. Dwarves, correct. Dwarves or Dvergr, So he

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took the names of 12 of his 13 dwarves that are in the Hobbit from the Old Norse Voluspa,

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which is part of the Elder Edda. And he also took Gandalf's name from that as well, which

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is effectively Wand Elf. It's a lesser known race, but I'm guessing maybe the Bombadilions

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came from an original Norse source. And we only know one in the extant world. You're

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gonna lose us that inspiration point. I always do, C.J. Come on. We've basically flushed

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that down the toilet. I'm gonna go for ants. Surely Ents. Oh, good one. Ents are not in

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the list. I'm gonna go for Ents. Ents are not on my list. I suck at this, Chris. The

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eagles then. No. Trolls, guys. Trolls. Come on. The trolls. Trolls. 100%. Why are you

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sitting there looking sickly instead of offering that up earlier? Come on. It's a lovely fast

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night. I'm letting this be a team effort. Yes. In Norse mythology. And the dragons. Yeah,

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I will accept the dragons and drakkar as well in the Norse sense. Trolls, obviously called

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Risa, Jotnar, or Thurs in Old Norse. Although ironically, the idea that monsters like trolls

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be below ground before dawn dates to the Edda in the Alvissmal. But the god Thor in that keeps

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the Dverg or the dwarf, not a troll, talking until dawn and then sees him turn to stone.

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So a little bit of a blending of things that Tolkien made more clearly separate. All right.

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So I've got dwarves, elves, and trolls. Correct. Dragons. Yep. One more. Just one more. This

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is very irritating, Ian. I can't begin to tell you. What about ogres? Nope. They're

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wrapped in with trolls. Yeah, Steve. Geez. Not giving you that. I'm sorry. It's not part

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of my family tree. This is very irritating. Why can't I think of anything else? I feel

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like I'm going to get another, you know, klaxon noise. But orcs? Or is that same as... Oh

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my God. Well, you know, orcs aren't... Isn't too bad because they are referred to in poems

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like Beowulf, which is Anglo-Saxon, as the Orcneas or the devil corpses. I tell you

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out of the spirit of you just joined us and I don't want to be mean, we'll give you the

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inspiration point. You could have had the Balrog, which comes from the name of Odin

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as high, the baleye, a nickname for Odin, his epithet. You could have had wargs. I was going

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to say wargs. I was, but I just... Yeah, yeah. You were so snarky about my last... You want

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me to edit it in afterwards? Yeah, warg! There you go. What about Beorn? Yeah, you could

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have had Beorn as a shapeshifter, very similar to, you know, Bjarki, the warlike little

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bear of Norse myth. Well, you could have had wizards as well, wizards as a kind of race.

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Oh, I nearly said wizard. I was just saying, yeah, old men with beards. Would the bombardillion

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count then in that case? I mean, he's not a true wizard, but he's magical. The ring does

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not affect him. You've already got your five. So, so, so now... We're overachievers. We

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have a professional with us today. As we show all the time, we're overachievers. So Ian,

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I just want to clarify that's one inspiration point each, I believe. Or at least... Yes,

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yes, yes. You always like to clarify that, but no, it's one between you all's a fight

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over. Yeah, I know. I know that's the answer. I was just... I'm going to give you, I'm going

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to give you a chance for a bonus point. Let's do double or quits. Let's do double or quits.

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Okay. Because that's funny. For the bonus point, Annina, can you, can you name some Finnish

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influences on Tolkien? Especially because of the Kalevala, which is the Finnish national

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epic that he, he, he... So you can't mention that one, but whatever, whatever one's on

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it. Well, Elvish is a mix, is inspired by Finnish and Welsh. Oh, truly. Very true. He

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was a Finnophile. He was, and I mean, I've always said that, well, that basically makes

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Finnish people elves. So I'm actually an Elvish. Congratulations. Very good. I'm very proud

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of it. So yeah, he visited Helsinki and loved the language, read the epic, which is similar

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to, but very distinctly different from Norse mythology. So for instance, we have our own

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God of Thunder, similar, but we want in our own one. So we have a God of Water, Mother

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Earth, and loads of druids. And me and Ian were talking about how the sort of Kalevala

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druids are very, very wizardy. So... Bill, you remember Vainamoinnen from your Fiend

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Folio or Monster Manual one or Gods and Demigods, whichever one it was in. I've got all the

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old ones. I don't. Yeah, of course I remember. Yes. Yes. And what you had for breakfast

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yesterday. Anyway, so Alfar, yes, the elves, he invented his Elvish language of Quenya,

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influenced by the phonology and structure of Finnish. And so, Annina, if you wouldn't

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mind if you and Bill could just, for the purposes of this whole episode, speak to each other

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in Finnish. I'd appreciate that. Bill, crash course for you as an Alfar. I think, Bill,

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if you're going to do it properly, you might as well. I'm getting a little headachy in the

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back. Good thing it's an audio podcast. Such hilarity. All right, we will start with this

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week's adventure, which is called, and I don't want to put you off before we've even begun,

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but it is called The Horror of Fangstone Mine. Yeah, so it's a light and breezy outing. It

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shouldn't cause anyone any consternation. Is that how we all pronounce it? One of those

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picnic episodes. Exactly. So we left it just before the wintry break we left our Intrepid

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heroes. They had returned from the Trolls Tongue brandishing the land deed to the whole of

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Heimslit, which is now under review, being authenticated by the law speaker, Krapti

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Thorfridssen. He had suggested to you, very strongly suggested to you, that you authenticate

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the claims of Bjarnie and his Jotnar son Daniel and see whether the document indeed

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pertains to their family lineage. And because the former Imperial capital holds those records,

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it's a place known well to Steve, the former capital of Kóngssteinn, and it was broadly decided

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that you should head across the fjord, across the gulf that straddles Heimslit and make

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your way to the former capital to see whether you can retrieve said Imperial records. Steve,

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did you have anything to say on the subject of Kóngssteinn before you go? There's some words

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of warning, some suggestions to your colleagues and compatriots here, or do you want to vet

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them blunder in unawares? Well, okay, the blundering is going to happen regardless.

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But the I think the really salient points are it's a horrible place. Everyone will hate

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us and try to kill us, but the music is awesome. Good summary. All right. So this adventure

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is set in the last days of autumn or fall, if you're from a different continent to me.

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The darkness is broken by a shimmer of pastel pink, gold and silver in the southern skies,

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who at this event try to help you to imagine that the landscape is bathed in subtle yet

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mesmerizing twilight. And of course, the crimson scar glows in the sky clearer than ever.

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Krapti Thorfridsen has organized passage for you. It's a journey of a few hours and

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he has made introductions to a local pilot called Harbard, who knows the churning waters

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of the Helsund well. You are able to make your way to the docks where you can wave such

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dockets and papers as the law speaker has given you to requisition travel in Harbard's

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boat. You will also notice that as you do so and you find the ferryman there in the

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back of his boat huddled in a dark cloak is another figure and will introduce Annina shortly

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should you choose to, but there is definitely a foreboding presence holed up in the back.

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Is there a latrine nearby on the boat? I would like some privacy. I think I've eaten some

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spoiled something. It's urgent.

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I suggest you use the latrine the guards provided you with. Aegir himself, you just need to

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toddle off into their boy. It points to the direction, please. He merely gestures to the

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end of the pier. Bye. It's suffink cold innit today, boy.

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Is he going to be doing this all day today? Running off to the end of the pier? The man

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is not quite himself. He's not quite anyone else either. I miss food, but I don't miss

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that. The ferryman reaches out to you and says, are you right, boy? How are you doing?

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We have paperwork here. Harbard, is that your name?

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Aye. Oh, that's a load of squit, isn't it? Yeah. We have all these papers that apparently

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say you will take us to Kóngssteinn. You want to get in my boat and go up the old

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city? Yes, we do. And that on and all, he's covered in Charlie

193
00:20:35,680 --> 00:20:43,480
pigs and Harry wiggles. He's gesturing Bill's character, the alfar Ljomi who is festooned

194
00:20:43,480 --> 00:20:48,080
with bugs. While this is happening, you would have seen

195
00:20:48,080 --> 00:20:56,960
my character sort of peering over the edge and looking over and then suddenly plunging

196
00:20:56,960 --> 00:21:06,320
a hand into the water and pulling out very wet, very large, very wiggly fish. Got one.

197
00:21:06,320 --> 00:21:10,120
That's a useful skill. The only steps closer and addresses the dark

198
00:21:10,120 --> 00:21:15,440
figure. I see you are communing with nature, as am I.

199
00:21:15,440 --> 00:21:22,880
Huh? You speak to the fish. You connect to the fish.

200
00:21:22,880 --> 00:21:28,640
I was going to eat it. Yes, yes, very good. Yes, yes.

201
00:21:28,640 --> 00:21:37,120
And during this, the hood would have fallen off and you see a brown sort of snouted creature.

202
00:21:37,120 --> 00:21:44,720
It looks slightly like a bear, not quite. Oh, hello. I'm not sharing this.

203
00:21:44,720 --> 00:21:51,360
Not to worry. I have no need of such sustenance unless it's been mingled into the ground.

204
00:21:51,360 --> 00:21:54,960
Please continue, creature. What manner of creature are you then?

205
00:21:54,960 --> 00:22:04,520
Oh, I mean, I was a wolverine, but now I'm half of one.

206
00:22:04,520 --> 00:22:06,880
Indeed. Bill's flapping the fish. He's just flapping

207
00:22:06,880 --> 00:22:14,240
around in a hand. In game terms, in this universe, Annina is

208
00:22:14,240 --> 00:22:22,720
a járnviðjur, an ironwoodite, a child of the ironwood, uplifted to sentience by the

209
00:22:22,720 --> 00:22:29,760
Verdandi, the green seers of Jotunheim. They were child soldiers bred for war, and you

210
00:22:29,760 --> 00:22:35,840
know full well their fearsome reputation. What is your name, creature?

211
00:22:35,840 --> 00:22:41,840
Alma. Pleased to meet you. Likewise.

212
00:22:41,840 --> 00:22:47,520
A lot of people call me Beast, which I don't mind, but my name is Alma.

213
00:22:47,520 --> 00:22:54,400
I shall call you Beast. If you can remember.

214
00:22:54,400 --> 00:22:59,600
The ferryman says, Stop you piddling, mawther.

215
00:22:59,600 --> 00:23:04,080
Alma. All right then, mawther. Now that one.

216
00:23:04,080 --> 00:23:09,360
You the new jarl, eh? That Finnbogi ee owe me a pint of beer.

217
00:23:09,360 --> 00:23:12,960
I driv all the way to the tongue and on the way back that snowed.

218
00:23:12,960 --> 00:23:15,920
Bootiful, he said. He got something hotty dotty from the

219
00:23:15,920 --> 00:23:18,560
snow and then he says to me, What you gawpin' at?

220
00:23:18,560 --> 00:23:22,320
And after a few beers, well, I was on the huh. That will learn me.

221
00:23:22,320 --> 00:23:24,480
Quite. I used to have one of those.

222
00:23:24,480 --> 00:23:28,640
Um. Oh, you offering me a beer?

223
00:23:28,640 --> 00:23:32,080
We know where to find bears if you're interested in one.

224
00:23:32,080 --> 00:23:35,600
Oh, I like a beer. They like men.

225
00:23:35,600 --> 00:23:38,800
Well, I know that's the only ones that are going to drink it, isn't it?

226
00:23:38,800 --> 00:23:41,600
Drink it. A nice frosty beer.

227
00:23:41,600 --> 00:23:46,240
A frosty bear. Eir's wondering if he's having a stroke.

228
00:23:46,240 --> 00:23:50,720
He is. At this moment, Gigi walks walks back up the pier

229
00:23:50,720 --> 00:23:55,360
and gets onto the ferry and just says, All right, are we ready to go?

230
00:23:55,360 --> 00:23:58,720
Are we going to the old city? Are we done? If you had all your pleasantries?

231
00:23:58,720 --> 00:24:00,400
Are we? Hew you hard.

232
00:24:00,400 --> 00:24:03,600
I ain't a higgler, but I can't afford new jollifications.

233
00:24:03,600 --> 00:24:08,240
Jo... What? You should... They showed you the papers.

234
00:24:08,240 --> 00:24:10,560
Did they? Did they not?

235
00:24:10,560 --> 00:24:13,360
My heart and life slow you down, hew your hard.

236
00:24:14,160 --> 00:24:17,840
And then he catches Annina's character out of the corner of his eye

237
00:24:17,840 --> 00:24:21,200
and sees and goes, sees the fish flopping around and goes,

238
00:24:21,200 --> 00:24:23,280
You're not going to eat that, are you?

239
00:24:24,880 --> 00:24:25,380
Yes.

240
00:24:27,680 --> 00:24:31,040
Just don't do it in front of me, please. Not today.

241
00:24:31,040 --> 00:24:34,880
For a lifetime. You turn around.

242
00:24:34,880 --> 00:24:36,080
I'm a fucking jarl.

243
00:24:38,320 --> 00:24:40,960
And I have claws. Turn around.

244
00:24:40,960 --> 00:24:44,480
I've got a gun. Who the fuck are you anyway?

245
00:24:45,520 --> 00:24:49,520
That's one great mawtherr come running and she was something savage.

246
00:24:49,520 --> 00:24:51,760
She put on her past, didn't know what had done it.

247
00:24:52,400 --> 00:24:56,720
God, that's a rum'un. So where's we going? Up the city?

248
00:24:56,720 --> 00:25:00,160
Yes. To retrieve the documents.

249
00:25:00,160 --> 00:25:02,000
To the war-fit Kóngssteinn.

250
00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:04,400
Well, stop you blaring and croaking then.

251
00:25:05,360 --> 00:25:05,860
Right.

252
00:25:07,920 --> 00:25:10,960
You're a mixed bunch. Where are you going?

253
00:25:11,920 --> 00:25:15,440
To the old city. Oh, why?

254
00:25:16,880 --> 00:25:18,000
Why are you going to Kóngssteinn?

255
00:25:18,880 --> 00:25:25,120
Important business for the Jarl, the law speaker, the man, one of the men.

256
00:25:25,120 --> 00:25:27,120
Oh, oh, God Tongue. Yeah.

257
00:25:27,120 --> 00:25:28,000
Right. Indeed.

258
00:25:28,560 --> 00:25:32,240
Did you want to do any introduction to yourselves? Because as far as Annina can

259
00:25:32,240 --> 00:25:36,800
say, you know, there's three strange people have just turned up at the boat that she was happily on.

260
00:25:37,600 --> 00:25:38,560
Minding her own business.

261
00:25:41,280 --> 00:25:44,320
CJ spent several episodes telling us that the first order of business,

262
00:25:44,320 --> 00:25:46,640
especially in French society, is to introduce yourself.

263
00:25:47,280 --> 00:25:48,320
Yes, absolutely.

264
00:25:48,960 --> 00:25:52,240
And then he just runs off to the edge of the pier and squits all over the side.

265
00:25:52,240 --> 00:25:55,680
It was an introduction of sorts. He's having a bad day.

266
00:25:57,200 --> 00:25:59,360
So I'm Alma.

267
00:26:01,200 --> 00:26:06,000
Oh, thank you for reminding us to introduce ourselves.

268
00:26:06,560 --> 00:26:11,360
Where are my manners? I ate some bad something.

269
00:26:12,400 --> 00:26:12,880
And then he...

270
00:26:12,880 --> 00:26:15,120
Oh, you have to catch the fish fresh.

271
00:26:16,720 --> 00:26:21,760
And he tries to flit his cape and do his normal strut, but he's just a little

272
00:26:21,760 --> 00:26:25,680
off the end and goes, I'm Grjotgarth, the Magnificent.

273
00:26:26,800 --> 00:26:29,840
My friends called me Gigi for short.

274
00:26:31,600 --> 00:26:34,160
I used to know a dog called Gigi.

275
00:26:36,160 --> 00:26:38,000
Very subtle, I think you'll find.

276
00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:49,440
I am Ljomi, a spirit of nature, of the connection of all the energies of the living world.

277
00:26:49,440 --> 00:26:55,280
And although I am normally quite cheerful and friendly, I'm still grieving for the loss of

278
00:26:55,280 --> 00:27:00,160
my dear friend who died tragically some time ago.

279
00:27:00,160 --> 00:27:05,920
And although we were very close, I feel I could have treated him better in life.

280
00:27:06,880 --> 00:27:10,320
And yes, I'm inconsolable, so don't attempt to console me.

281
00:27:12,720 --> 00:27:13,220
Okay.

282
00:27:13,920 --> 00:27:15,840
Hello, my name is Eir.

283
00:27:15,840 --> 00:27:18,960
No, Eir is the dead one. You're a robot.

284
00:27:18,960 --> 00:27:22,960
I am the one accompanying this imbecile who believes I'm dead.

285
00:27:22,960 --> 00:27:28,480
Instead, I am currently temporarily incarcerated in a robot body.

286
00:27:29,520 --> 00:27:30,480
Yeah, you smell...

287
00:27:32,480 --> 00:27:35,360
I smell probably of like hydraulic fluid or something.

288
00:27:35,360 --> 00:27:37,600
This body is ancient and falling apart.

289
00:27:39,120 --> 00:27:43,040
I assure you, I am in this entirely without my consent.

290
00:27:43,040 --> 00:27:46,160
Oh.

291
00:27:46,160 --> 00:27:55,680
I am a spirit of the earth, and I look to return to a more perfect body soon, I hope.

292
00:27:56,880 --> 00:28:03,680
Alma, you're assaulted by the stench of all of these people, whether it's bugs, beetles,

293
00:28:04,240 --> 00:28:10,560
fuel and hydraulics, or whatever is currently staining Gigi's satin pants.

294
00:28:10,560 --> 00:28:11,840
Mm-hmm.

295
00:28:11,840 --> 00:28:16,560
I think Ljomi's a little more woody and sort of earthy rather than a stench.

296
00:28:16,560 --> 00:28:18,800
I feel stench is overly strong.

297
00:28:18,800 --> 00:28:19,300
Yeah.

298
00:28:19,760 --> 00:28:20,480
No, it's a stench.

299
00:28:21,200 --> 00:28:22,560
Eau de forest.

300
00:28:22,560 --> 00:28:24,800
Is that what you're going for?

301
00:28:26,240 --> 00:28:26,720
All right.

302
00:28:26,720 --> 00:28:29,360
Well, again, the ferryman Harbard says to you,

303
00:28:29,360 --> 00:28:33,520
Come you here, I'm gonna ride out my boat across the diamond road.

304
00:28:34,640 --> 00:28:35,360
Great.

305
00:28:35,360 --> 00:28:37,360
As soon as Gigi is ready to go.

306
00:28:38,640 --> 00:28:39,680
Oh, he's ready to go.

307
00:28:39,680 --> 00:28:40,720
He's going right now.

308
00:28:41,440 --> 00:28:42,000
Let's go.

309
00:28:43,440 --> 00:28:44,400
Let's push.

310
00:28:44,400 --> 00:28:45,760
No, no, no, no.

311
00:28:48,640 --> 00:28:52,960
So you begin your journey across the Arctic fjord in this rusty speedboat,

312
00:28:52,960 --> 00:28:59,760
the cold morning air stinging your faces as the cracked out motor chugs through the glassy water.

313
00:28:59,760 --> 00:29:02,720
You're surrounded by these towering snow-peaked cliffs

314
00:29:03,360 --> 00:29:07,040
bathed in the uncanny glow of the crimson scar in the sky.

315
00:29:07,040 --> 00:29:10,000
The world around you is definitely quiet,

316
00:29:10,720 --> 00:29:15,120
occasionally interrupted by the shrieks of arctic turns overhead,

317
00:29:15,120 --> 00:29:18,240
the playful breaches of curious seals,

318
00:29:18,240 --> 00:29:25,360
and the parps of Gigi as he is on one side of the boat.

319
00:29:27,200 --> 00:29:30,080
Anyways, you churn almost.

320
00:29:30,080 --> 00:29:32,080
That's the wrong word to use as well.

321
00:29:32,080 --> 00:29:39,040
A mere speck amidst the world of frost and stone until you reach the far shore

322
00:29:39,040 --> 00:29:42,720
and Kóngssteinn hoves into view.

323
00:29:42,720 --> 00:29:45,600
Once the capital of the region bustling with life,

324
00:29:45,600 --> 00:29:50,480
the ghost town is now silent, an eerie window into the past.

325
00:29:50,480 --> 00:29:53,280
Silhouetted reindeer roam freely,

326
00:29:53,840 --> 00:29:58,880
their bodies contrasting starkly against the snow-blanketed backdrop

327
00:29:58,880 --> 00:30:01,360
are moved by your arrival.

328
00:30:01,360 --> 00:30:06,560
As he pulls up to the wharf of the jetty and ties off the boat,

329
00:30:06,560 --> 00:30:08,160
Harbard says to you,

330
00:30:08,880 --> 00:30:12,320
I ought to be getting home soon before that snow.

331
00:30:12,320 --> 00:30:15,680
I ain't been stingy, but I'll give you to the afternoon.

332
00:30:15,680 --> 00:30:17,360
Do you keep a-trushing.

333
00:30:17,360 --> 00:30:18,400
Um...

334
00:30:18,400 --> 00:30:20,640
Robot, you speak robot.

335
00:30:20,640 --> 00:30:22,960
Speak to the man who speaks robot.

336
00:30:22,960 --> 00:30:24,000
It's clearly robot.

337
00:30:24,000 --> 00:30:25,200
I don't speak rustic.

338
00:30:26,800 --> 00:30:27,760
Can anyone translate?

339
00:30:27,760 --> 00:30:31,280
You're only going to take us this far?

340
00:30:31,280 --> 00:30:35,600
I'll give you to the afternoon, are you dutzy?

341
00:30:35,600 --> 00:30:37,120
Yes, she is.

342
00:30:37,120 --> 00:30:40,960
So we are at the wharf of Kóngssteinn?

343
00:30:40,960 --> 00:30:45,760
You're at the wharf of Kóngssteinn, and I would advise everyone to hear that

344
00:30:45,760 --> 00:30:51,120
Eir, the dokkalfar, he has crunched his way along the desolate paths

345
00:30:51,120 --> 00:30:58,000
of this abandoned city before, and so he is in possession of at least a mental map

346
00:30:58,000 --> 00:31:05,440
as to how this kind of time capsule suspended in the ageless winter landscape.

347
00:31:05,440 --> 00:31:11,200
He is in possession of this map, and he can guide you through the derelict pre-war buildings

348
00:31:11,200 --> 00:31:14,000
that stand eerily quiet.

349
00:31:15,520 --> 00:31:20,320
Above table, is it safe to say that the archives would be at or near the palace?

350
00:31:21,040 --> 00:31:22,880
That is a fair assumption.

351
00:31:22,880 --> 00:31:27,120
The Imperial capital once held Palace of the Urðr

352
00:31:27,120 --> 00:31:34,560
The Urðr  are the name given to the combination of the secret police

353
00:31:34,560 --> 00:31:42,160
and the Imperial midwives, the witches who run the empire behind the scenes.

354
00:31:42,160 --> 00:31:50,400
They are a Termagant order who have their fingers into all Imperial machinations.

355
00:31:50,400 --> 00:31:55,840
Do any of Eirs people live above ground?

356
00:31:55,840 --> 00:32:03,120
Generally speaking, without giving too much of a history lesson, the dokkalfar were birthed,

357
00:32:03,120 --> 00:32:07,360
were forced into their automaton forms.

358
00:32:07,360 --> 00:32:15,440
They borrowed their way across the Niu Heimar to the world of Nidavellir the dark fields,

359
00:32:15,440 --> 00:32:17,600
and hid there for many centuries.

360
00:32:17,600 --> 00:32:24,160
In recent years, they have staggered across the greenways and infiltrated their former homes on Midgard.

361
00:32:24,160 --> 00:32:29,040
Your people were drawn to this particular region by the vast mineral wealth

362
00:32:29,040 --> 00:32:36,960
and burrowed deep beneath the mines here, the diamond mines that were once the basis,

363
00:32:36,960 --> 00:32:40,720
and the reason for being called Kóngssteinn or Kingstone.

364
00:32:41,440 --> 00:32:42,880
So mostly underground, then?

365
00:32:42,880 --> 00:32:50,080
I'm assuming there's no one here to meet us, and it's not likely we'll meet very many people on the surface.

366
00:32:50,080 --> 00:32:51,680
Is that a fair statement?

367
00:32:51,680 --> 00:32:53,520
That is a fair statement.

368
00:32:53,520 --> 00:33:01,440
In terms of the menfolk, about 40 years ago, Kóngssteinn was the main city of this world's end archipelago,

369
00:33:01,440 --> 00:33:04,560
with more people living in it than in Hjálpmakaar today.

370
00:33:04,560 --> 00:33:08,800
But then the miners stumbled across something in the darkness, an underground,

371
00:33:08,800 --> 00:33:17,200
not a direct portal to Niðavellir through which they spied legions of your steam devils,

372
00:33:17,200 --> 00:33:25,840
and barely comprehending what they saw, they all fled, leaving the town in an instant.

373
00:33:25,840 --> 00:33:32,240
Um, there's no one here to meet us, which is probably just as well.

374
00:33:32,240 --> 00:33:38,320
Error will suggest that we head west from here into the town.

375
00:33:38,320 --> 00:33:40,480
Well, what's left of the town on the surface?

376
00:33:40,480 --> 00:33:44,160
We'll find maybe shelter at the farms on the outskirts,

377
00:33:44,160 --> 00:33:49,200
or we could keep going into the residential area on our way to the palace.

378
00:33:49,200 --> 00:33:51,440
Oh, you've been here before?

379
00:33:51,440 --> 00:33:52,640
I have.

380
00:33:52,640 --> 00:33:54,240
I, yes.

381
00:33:54,240 --> 00:33:58,640
I'm sort of from here, which is evasive.

382
00:33:58,640 --> 00:34:02,640
My people dwell underground.

383
00:34:02,640 --> 00:34:06,000
Do you remember being put in the can?

384
00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:07,200
I do, yes.

385
00:34:07,200 --> 00:34:08,160
Being put in the...

386
00:34:08,160 --> 00:34:08,560
Oh.

387
00:34:08,560 --> 00:34:09,200
Yes, yes.

388
00:34:09,200 --> 00:34:10,320
Was it painful?

389
00:34:11,440 --> 00:34:13,120
More spiritually than physically.

390
00:34:14,400 --> 00:34:14,640
Yeah.

391
00:34:15,680 --> 00:34:21,920
But it was that or Oblivion, and apparently I don't get to have Oblivion.

392
00:34:22,560 --> 00:34:23,840
Yes, yes, yes.

393
00:34:23,840 --> 00:34:26,800
How long will it take us to get to the place we're going?

394
00:34:26,800 --> 00:34:28,800
The palace, the records, the...

395
00:34:29,760 --> 00:34:31,040
How fast can you run?

396
00:34:31,760 --> 00:34:32,480
I like running.

397
00:34:33,200 --> 00:34:34,320
Can I come with?

398
00:34:34,320 --> 00:34:37,280
I'm looking for my brothers and sisters.

399
00:34:37,280 --> 00:34:39,120
I haven't seen them in a few years.

400
00:34:39,120 --> 00:34:41,760
It would be safest to stay together, I think.

401
00:34:43,600 --> 00:34:47,200
It's about half a mile will get us to the outskirts,

402
00:34:47,200 --> 00:34:49,360
maybe a full mile to the palace.

403
00:34:49,360 --> 00:34:49,920
Palace?

404
00:34:51,520 --> 00:34:52,560
Well, what's left of it?

405
00:34:52,560 --> 00:34:59,120
The buildings will be abandoned, but they will be otherwise intact.

406
00:34:59,120 --> 00:35:05,840
They were constructed before the war, designed with rounded edges to deflect the winter winds.

407
00:35:05,840 --> 00:35:10,560
Now, while they are deserted, the doors might be rusted or frozen shut,

408
00:35:10,560 --> 00:35:14,560
but they are all broadly intact.

409
00:35:14,560 --> 00:35:18,400
Okay, and there's no sign of anyone on the surface from here?

410
00:35:18,400 --> 00:35:26,960
Other than the reindeer, mooching and eating the moss that they can find on the ground,

411
00:35:26,960 --> 00:35:28,640
then there is nothing else.

412
00:35:28,640 --> 00:35:32,080
Like I said, it's like stepping into a time capsule.

413
00:35:32,080 --> 00:35:38,080
Each of these wind whip structures casting a haunting shadow under the pale arctic sun.

414
00:35:39,040 --> 00:35:45,120
As you walk towards Kóngssteinn proper from the wharf, snow crunches underfoot,

415
00:35:45,120 --> 00:35:51,360
and the feeling of bleak, unrelenting solitude permeates the air.

416
00:35:51,360 --> 00:35:52,080
Lovely.

417
00:35:53,200 --> 00:35:58,640
Ljomi turns to CJ and asks, have you finished making fertilizer?

418
00:35:59,520 --> 00:36:00,400
I hope so.

419
00:36:00,400 --> 00:36:01,680
He has, but I can smell it.

420
00:36:03,200 --> 00:36:04,720
Try and save some for later.

421
00:36:04,720 --> 00:36:07,200
Lead on, Dverger.

422
00:36:07,200 --> 00:36:08,240
Lead on, Robot.

423
00:36:09,440 --> 00:36:10,000
Yes.

424
00:36:10,000 --> 00:36:13,520
I thought you were going to go Shakespearean there and just go with Lead on, Macduff in an

425
00:36:13,520 --> 00:36:18,160
attempt to impress Annina.

426
00:36:18,160 --> 00:36:20,080
Is this a bot I see before me?

427
00:36:24,240 --> 00:36:27,680
I did a lot of Shakespeare and in Canada we do Shakespeare correctly, of course.

428
00:36:29,840 --> 00:36:31,040
You Brits wouldn't understand.

429
00:36:31,040 --> 00:36:33,520
You always act like you invented the language or something.

430
00:36:35,040 --> 00:36:40,480
Well, I only treated the boards doing Romeo and Juliet, but what would I do?

431
00:36:40,480 --> 00:36:41,840
You played both parts.

432
00:36:41,840 --> 00:36:42,240
Interesting.

433
00:36:42,240 --> 00:36:43,040
At the same time.

434
00:36:43,040 --> 00:36:45,280
No, I played the nurse and the prince.

435
00:36:46,880 --> 00:36:48,160
I was hilarious.

436
00:36:48,160 --> 00:36:49,280
Very good.

437
00:36:49,280 --> 00:36:54,240
Well, let's not make worms meat of anyone just yet.

438
00:36:54,240 --> 00:37:02,080
Near the water's edge, a polar bear and isbjorn sits comfortably, his white coat blending

439
00:37:02,080 --> 00:37:08,800
seamlessly with the icy snowy surroundings, his devouring a carcass, presumably its own kill,

440
00:37:08,800 --> 00:37:12,000
oblivious to you and the rest of the world.

441
00:37:12,640 --> 00:37:17,760
Typically, we would have a man available to throw at the polar bear.

442
00:37:17,760 --> 00:37:19,040
We have a man.

443
00:37:19,040 --> 00:37:22,080
Gigi, boldly lead the way.

444
00:37:23,200 --> 00:37:24,640
Can we go around?

445
00:37:25,280 --> 00:37:27,840
Which way is the wind blowing?

446
00:37:30,640 --> 00:37:33,760
Well, that's really a question for yourself, certainly.

447
00:37:34,960 --> 00:37:37,280
Because it's going to smell us.

448
00:37:37,280 --> 00:37:39,360
Let's do this.

449
00:37:39,360 --> 00:37:50,880
Let's make a slight roll, the first roll of 2025 to see whether your rather exotic odors

450
00:37:50,880 --> 00:37:54,960
are detected and whether you manage to creep past.

451
00:37:54,960 --> 00:38:02,000
And I know you've got plenty of bonuses to your sleight because you are a stealthy and

452
00:38:02,000 --> 00:38:04,080
Arctic wise Wolverine.

453
00:38:04,080 --> 00:38:10,480
Yes, how many D6s would you like me to roll?

454
00:38:10,480 --> 00:38:13,040
I'm going to allow you to roll an extra one.

455
00:38:13,040 --> 00:38:18,320
So you roll your dice 20 and roll a couple of D6 and try and impress us with that first

456
00:38:18,320 --> 00:38:18,820
roll.

457
00:38:19,760 --> 00:38:22,320
And her roll will count for the rest of us.

458
00:38:22,320 --> 00:38:23,920
Am I understanding correctly?

459
00:38:23,920 --> 00:38:24,640
If it's good, yeah.

460
00:38:25,600 --> 00:38:27,920
1D20 all together.

461
00:38:29,280 --> 00:38:29,780
13?

462
00:38:30,560 --> 00:38:31,760
That's super.

463
00:38:31,760 --> 00:38:38,960
In the spirit of the new year, I'm not going to make CJ roll with six woes for his undulating

464
00:38:38,960 --> 00:38:41,440
tum-tum and will assume...

465
00:38:41,440 --> 00:38:43,440
Undulating tum-tum?

466
00:38:45,440 --> 00:38:47,440
He has a way with words.

467
00:38:47,440 --> 00:38:56,320
Will allow you to glide on by and not be prey for yet another ísbjörn.

468
00:38:56,320 --> 00:38:59,440
Which building would you like to head towards, Steve?

469
00:38:59,440 --> 00:39:02,000
I assume you are being pathfinder.

470
00:39:02,000 --> 00:39:07,520
Yeah, Eir is providing useful guidance and advice for moving ahead.

471
00:39:07,520 --> 00:39:10,960
But I think Eir would encourage everyone else to keep an eye out.

472
00:39:10,960 --> 00:39:15,280
We should be wary of others we see on the surface because they will be wary of us.

473
00:39:16,720 --> 00:39:18,080
But we've just made it.

474
00:39:18,080 --> 00:39:21,360
We've just walked past an ice beyond with no casualties.

475
00:39:21,360 --> 00:39:23,600
And that's certainly a good omen for us.

476
00:39:24,560 --> 00:39:26,240
It's probably our moment of good luck.

477
00:39:26,240 --> 00:39:28,240
That was it right there.

478
00:39:28,240 --> 00:39:30,240
Yeah.

479
00:39:30,240 --> 00:39:34,640
The first thing we're going to come across would probably be the farms on the outskirts.

480
00:39:34,640 --> 00:39:35,120
Correct.

481
00:39:35,120 --> 00:39:38,320
Which are a few dilapidated barns.

482
00:39:38,880 --> 00:39:41,280
There's some rusted wire and some animal pens.

483
00:39:41,280 --> 00:39:49,920
Perhaps once it held cattle, pigs, horses, but it is very empty now and just blanketed in snow.

484
00:39:50,880 --> 00:39:56,080
How close to sunset is it and how important is it that we not be outside?

485
00:39:56,080 --> 00:39:58,240
We could find somewhere to shelter here or press on.

486
00:39:58,800 --> 00:40:00,640
You left in the early morning.

487
00:40:01,920 --> 00:40:09,200
This will be approaching midday because of the time of year, as I described, the sun,

488
00:40:10,560 --> 00:40:16,720
really surfaces briefly in just a few more weeks.

489
00:40:16,720 --> 00:40:24,240
The sun will descend below the horizon for the last time and you will be in 24 hours of darkness.

490
00:40:24,240 --> 00:40:28,320
But now it has a brief flirtation with the horizon.

491
00:40:28,320 --> 00:40:33,760
If you wanted to stay in sunlight, then you really do only have a few hours of daylight

492
00:40:33,760 --> 00:40:38,480
to play with because the days are so truncated.

493
00:40:39,280 --> 00:40:45,200
And certainly, in case you didn't understand his rather heavy dialect,

494
00:40:45,200 --> 00:40:51,440
Harbard the ferryman is keen to be moving on sometime in the afternoon

495
00:40:51,440 --> 00:40:53,840
and be chugging away to safety.

496
00:40:53,840 --> 00:40:59,040
So you've probably got four hours before he departs.

497
00:40:59,040 --> 00:41:05,680
And add a touch of urgency to your predicament here, marooned in this ghost town.

498
00:41:06,240 --> 00:41:13,920
I'm going to keep a timer, a clock going in the background and occasionally just start to chime

499
00:41:13,920 --> 00:41:19,600
to warn you that time has passed and Harbard will be off again.

500
00:41:19,600 --> 00:41:24,480
You could make your way back through the mountains across the glacier

501
00:41:24,480 --> 00:41:27,600
and find a path back to Hjalpmakaar on foot.

502
00:41:27,600 --> 00:41:35,760
Certainly, if you were as adept as Alma, but the rest of you might struggle.

503
00:41:37,600 --> 00:41:38,480
Oh, we'll struggle.

504
00:41:40,960 --> 00:41:44,880
Where are the entrances to the underworld?

505
00:41:44,880 --> 00:41:52,000
Your people traditionally just live within the diamond mines.

506
00:41:54,000 --> 00:41:56,000
Oh, OK.

507
00:41:57,040 --> 00:42:04,320
So from your memory, the diamond mines are on the far side of the town.

508
00:42:04,320 --> 00:42:05,840
It's to the north, right?

509
00:42:05,840 --> 00:42:06,800
Exactly.

510
00:42:06,800 --> 00:42:10,160
Dug into the steep hillsides.

511
00:42:10,160 --> 00:42:14,720
The town itself as a whole nestles under these kind of bleak outcrops

512
00:42:14,720 --> 00:42:17,440
that rise from the beaches on the fjord.

513
00:42:17,440 --> 00:42:21,040
All of the streets around you are littered with mining detritus.

514
00:42:21,040 --> 00:42:26,640
There's still girders, there's rusted ironworks that lurch at odd angles.

515
00:42:27,520 --> 00:42:34,400
Far as you can tell, the only other inhabitants are a few hungry Guillemots

516
00:42:34,400 --> 00:42:37,360
who are hustling, tussling for food.

517
00:42:37,360 --> 00:42:44,320
So it's possible, however laughably unlikely, that we could get to the palace,

518
00:42:44,320 --> 00:42:49,760
rummage around in the basement and get out without any of my people, the mines, noticing.

519
00:42:50,960 --> 00:42:53,680
Sure, hypothetically that is possible.

520
00:42:53,680 --> 00:42:54,480
OK, yeah.

521
00:42:54,480 --> 00:42:55,280
There's a goal.

522
00:42:55,280 --> 00:42:58,000
You've been going excellently the entire session.

523
00:42:58,000 --> 00:43:00,800
Yeah, none of this will happen, but I mean, we have...

524
00:43:00,800 --> 00:43:05,280
It gives a basis for a plan that will go around the entire town.

525
00:43:05,280 --> 00:43:09,040
For a plan that will go awry pretty much immediately.

526
00:43:09,040 --> 00:43:10,800
Maybe this time no one will die.

527
00:43:11,840 --> 00:43:14,160
Maybe this is, yeah, maybe this is our chance.

528
00:43:14,160 --> 00:43:15,200
This is our time to shine.

529
00:43:16,400 --> 00:43:20,720
So amidst those kind of high-pitched whistles of the Guillemots in this abandoned town,

530
00:43:20,720 --> 00:43:27,680
the next thing that you would come across would be one of those apartment blocks

531
00:43:27,680 --> 00:43:30,720
where the miners presumably were housed.

532
00:43:30,720 --> 00:43:35,760
I was sniffing the air.

533
00:43:35,760 --> 00:43:39,440
There is nothing that you can smell, armor in particular.

534
00:43:40,320 --> 00:43:42,080
Again, this place is desolate.

535
00:43:42,720 --> 00:43:44,800
You can smell the animals.

536
00:43:46,000 --> 00:43:49,360
You can smell the odd rotting carcass,

537
00:43:49,360 --> 00:43:53,200
which does have a unique aroma that makes you salivate.

538
00:43:53,200 --> 00:43:57,120
Yeah, I go, oh no, I've got stuff to do.

539
00:43:57,120 --> 00:44:01,520
I can't smell them.

540
00:44:03,760 --> 00:44:08,240
One of the things about dökkálfar is in their caged forms,

541
00:44:08,240 --> 00:44:14,640
they tend to inhabit stone or metal bodies, which is not very odiferous.

542
00:44:16,320 --> 00:44:20,640
Naomi's going to use tree sight just to see if there's any sense of

543
00:44:20,640 --> 00:44:23,120
hidden or invisible creatures around at all.

544
00:44:23,120 --> 00:44:32,720
So using your arboreal senses, you can reach out across wavelengths and spectrums that are

545
00:44:33,680 --> 00:44:44,000
beyond the norm for mammals, and you do get a sense that there are hollow eyes watching from the shadows.

546
00:44:44,720 --> 00:44:45,920
Well, that's good news.

547
00:44:45,920 --> 00:44:47,440
Good, hollow eyes.

548
00:44:47,440 --> 00:44:51,440
Can I sense which direction those eyes are, or just that one?

549
00:44:51,440 --> 00:44:56,160
From in and around all of the abandoned decrepit buildings,

550
00:44:56,160 --> 00:45:02,000
you can get the sense of stairs boring into you,

551
00:45:02,000 --> 00:45:05,840
and you should bear in mind that as an álfar, as a Ljósálfar,

552
00:45:06,720 --> 00:45:12,240
the dökkálfar in general, not just Steve's version of them,

553
00:45:13,200 --> 00:45:14,800
probably don't like you very much.

554
00:45:14,800 --> 00:45:15,300
Oh.

555
00:45:15,300 --> 00:45:18,420
Sensible creatures.

556
00:45:18,420 --> 00:45:18,820
I knew this.

557
00:45:18,820 --> 00:45:25,620
Alma would have been sort of inanely chattering, and she'll turn to Ljomi, the alfar

558
00:45:25,620 --> 00:45:27,620
Ljomi, yep.

559
00:45:27,620 --> 00:45:29,620
Are you going to end up in a can as well?

560
00:45:31,620 --> 00:45:35,620
No, no, I am protected, special even.

561
00:45:35,620 --> 00:45:39,620
I've been preserved, preserved again and again.

562
00:45:39,620 --> 00:45:45,060
It's, it's a very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very,

563
00:45:45,060 --> 00:45:45,860
it's a blessing.

564
00:45:47,060 --> 00:45:49,140
Unlike my poor companion who fell.

565
00:45:49,140 --> 00:45:50,980
Yes, yes, everyone does.

566
00:45:50,980 --> 00:45:53,140
Everyone is much nicer than statues.

567
00:45:53,140 --> 00:45:55,700
You'll end up in a furniture, I expect.

568
00:45:55,700 --> 00:45:58,180
Does CJ wince every time someone keeps saying can?

569
00:46:06,340 --> 00:46:07,140
Not today.

570
00:46:08,420 --> 00:46:10,100
I've got some licorice root.

571
00:46:10,100 --> 00:46:11,060
You should chew on it.

572
00:46:11,700 --> 00:46:13,220
Helps with the nausea.

573
00:46:13,220 --> 00:46:15,140
Would it help?

574
00:46:15,140 --> 00:46:15,620
There you go.

575
00:46:18,420 --> 00:46:19,700
I'll give it a try.

576
00:46:19,700 --> 00:46:20,180
All right.

577
00:46:21,620 --> 00:46:27,300
I do like the fact that our resident physician, the Alfar with all of his healing herbs,

578
00:46:28,020 --> 00:46:30,340
hasn't so much as ventured into his medicine bank.

579
00:46:30,340 --> 00:46:30,580
No.

580
00:46:32,100 --> 00:46:32,420
I have this.

581
00:46:32,420 --> 00:46:34,660
I roll for something as I eat the licorice root.

582
00:46:34,660 --> 00:46:36,260
Roll for constitution.

583
00:46:36,260 --> 00:46:38,020
Oh, sorry, this is not, we don't have that.

584
00:46:38,020 --> 00:46:45,140
Don't mention that D&D malarkey on this podcast.

585
00:46:46,020 --> 00:46:46,980
Oh, habit.

586
00:46:48,100 --> 00:46:52,180
Did you want to wander into the apartment block?

587
00:46:52,180 --> 00:46:57,300
Or Steve, will you be choosing another one of the many buildings that are arrayed across your map?

588
00:46:58,260 --> 00:46:59,380
We are on a schedule.

589
00:46:59,940 --> 00:47:06,020
So unless someone has a compelling reason to go and rummage around in the apartment block,

590
00:47:06,020 --> 00:47:07,860
I suggest we keep going.

591
00:47:07,860 --> 00:47:14,580
Has he mentioned that we're being stared at because of our machinism or anything?

592
00:47:14,580 --> 00:47:15,140
Yeah.

593
00:47:15,140 --> 00:47:18,900
Ljomi turns to the group and says, we are being watched.

594
00:47:18,900 --> 00:47:20,740
Oh, where is it?

595
00:47:20,740 --> 00:47:21,300
By?

596
00:47:22,020 --> 00:47:25,220
Creatures, unliving creatures, maybe.

597
00:47:25,220 --> 00:47:26,980
I love an audience.

598
00:47:26,980 --> 00:47:29,940
Should I sing for them?

599
00:47:29,940 --> 00:47:30,820
Sure.

600
00:47:30,820 --> 00:47:31,220
Sing?

601
00:47:31,220 --> 00:47:38,980
He is a skald. He is prone to outbursts of bad poetry, a little like a Vogon.

602
00:47:41,780 --> 00:47:43,300
Smells about the same as well.

603
00:47:46,340 --> 00:47:50,820
Does anyone wish to take themselves on a tour of the apartment block?

604
00:47:51,540 --> 00:47:55,220
Well, I can't smell any other others like me.

605
00:47:56,420 --> 00:47:59,860
I'll give you a bit of a lie of the land so that you can all sense.

606
00:47:59,860 --> 00:48:03,780
So the apartment block is the nearest building.

607
00:48:03,780 --> 00:48:07,140
Similar in most of these northern towns, there is a sick house,

608
00:48:07,860 --> 00:48:11,220
a hospital building that is fairly well preserved.

609
00:48:11,220 --> 00:48:14,020
You can see that on the other side of the town square.

610
00:48:14,020 --> 00:48:20,180
The town square itself has a bust, a statue of the previous emperor, Dietbald,

611
00:48:20,180 --> 00:48:26,260
who watches over what looks like a parade ground that is now overgrown with weeds.

612
00:48:26,260 --> 00:48:30,100
And behind that statue of Dietbald is the Urðr palace

613
00:48:30,100 --> 00:48:37,780
You can see just like a dark, Odinic mill looming against the mountains.

614
00:48:37,780 --> 00:48:42,580
If there were a place where there would be a records library,

615
00:48:42,580 --> 00:48:51,380
there would be details or an archive that prove the ownership of the land attached to the deed,

616
00:48:51,380 --> 00:48:53,300
then that would be perhaps the place to go.

617
00:48:53,300 --> 00:48:59,220
On the other side of town square is an empty gymnasium with a swimming pool.

618
00:48:59,940 --> 00:49:04,020
There's also near the center of town a canteen and a dining hall,

619
00:49:04,020 --> 00:49:06,820
similar to the cooking kettle that you know from Hjálpmakaar,

620
00:49:06,820 --> 00:49:10,820
where the miners presumably once flocked.

621
00:49:10,820 --> 00:49:12,740
Those are the main buildings.

622
00:49:12,740 --> 00:49:17,540
And then as we said to the north is that mine entrance,

623
00:49:17,540 --> 00:49:23,540
where some derelict mine railways scar the steep hillside up to the north

624
00:49:23,540 --> 00:49:26,660
and disappear into the darkness beyond.

625
00:49:26,660 --> 00:49:29,540
My aim is the palace.

626
00:49:29,540 --> 00:49:31,540
How about everyone else?

627
00:49:31,540 --> 00:49:33,860
Alma, you were looking for someone?

628
00:49:33,860 --> 00:49:35,460
Yes, my brothers and sisters.

629
00:49:35,460 --> 00:49:36,980
I can't smell them, but...

630
00:49:36,980 --> 00:49:38,980
Okay.

631
00:49:38,980 --> 00:49:43,140
Just give me a second and she'll bolt inside the apartment building.

632
00:49:43,140 --> 00:49:44,340
Okay.

633
00:49:44,340 --> 00:49:47,860
Then you'll you'll you're very much here like...

634
00:49:47,860 --> 00:49:53,060
Before she rushes back out and doesn't see anything.

635
00:49:54,900 --> 00:49:59,380
So Annina has conducted a brief impromptu search there.

636
00:49:59,380 --> 00:49:59,780
Yeah.

637
00:49:59,780 --> 00:50:06,340
Let me tell you what Alma sees in the building, a kind of whistle stop tour.

638
00:50:06,340 --> 00:50:11,140
So it is clearly places where families were accommodated.

639
00:50:11,140 --> 00:50:18,420
The floorboards within are saggy and creak as you run along the corridors.

640
00:50:18,420 --> 00:50:23,620
They're full of sad monochrome rooms with worn brown carpet.

641
00:50:24,500 --> 00:50:31,460
Occasionally you see some of the bedroom walls covered in maps with travel magazine clippings,

642
00:50:32,660 --> 00:50:38,500
with pinups of a trigger, with posters of verulki games.

643
00:50:38,500 --> 00:50:42,580
And I love Nyja York stickers.

644
00:50:44,100 --> 00:50:50,820
And so you also were able to look out and see that next to that abandoned apartment block

645
00:50:50,820 --> 00:50:55,540
was a playground which looked rather incongruous on the desolate landscape.

646
00:50:57,540 --> 00:51:05,140
She's very solo focused so unless she can see anything that might hint to her siblings,

647
00:51:05,140 --> 00:51:06,340
she'll just kind of rush through.

648
00:51:06,340 --> 00:51:17,140
There's plenty of pictures of other families, but none of them are ironwood children.

649
00:51:17,140 --> 00:51:19,460
They are all menfolk.

650
00:51:19,460 --> 00:51:22,580
Ljomi says, beast, what did you see inside?

651
00:51:24,020 --> 00:51:26,180
Just notes of fan objects.

652
00:51:26,820 --> 00:51:28,820
It looked really old, really old.

653
00:51:30,500 --> 00:51:31,140
I didn't see it.

654
00:51:32,180 --> 00:51:35,300
You do notice something, Alma, though, as you come out.

655
00:51:35,300 --> 00:51:46,260
There's on one of the doors you see a scratched cross as if it's been used as a warning sign

656
00:51:46,260 --> 00:51:50,180
with the words AOSSI underneath.

657
00:51:53,300 --> 00:52:02,580
And in the Jotnar Brogue which you speak, you realize that that is the word for elf.

658
00:52:02,580 --> 00:52:05,140
Or elf, the elf.

659
00:52:05,140 --> 00:52:11,860
So clearly someone has someone speaking your tongue has written the word elf as a warning sign.

660
00:52:12,820 --> 00:52:14,340
Look, look, look, look, look.

661
00:52:15,380 --> 00:52:16,820
Sensible, whoever they are.

662
00:52:16,820 --> 00:52:18,580
He says elf, elf, elf.

663
00:52:19,460 --> 00:52:20,420
They seem scared of it.

664
00:52:21,860 --> 00:52:23,060
Eir points at Ljomi.

665
00:52:23,060 --> 00:52:24,340
Elf, elf, elf.

666
00:52:26,820 --> 00:52:27,460
They are wise to be...

667
00:52:27,460 --> 00:52:28,660
Yeah, that's what I said.

668
00:52:28,660 --> 00:52:29,940
They are wise to be wary.

669
00:52:30,500 --> 00:52:31,220
What would they do?

670
00:52:31,220 --> 00:52:32,260
What indeed.

671
00:52:33,300 --> 00:52:37,140
Dvergr Ljomi says lead on to the place.

672
00:52:37,860 --> 00:52:41,300
I was about to say, could we speed this along?

673
00:52:41,300 --> 00:52:46,340
Because I would like to get home in order to rest.

674
00:52:46,340 --> 00:52:48,340
We'll call it that and take a bath.

675
00:52:48,340 --> 00:52:52,500
That's that's tall words for someone who's the slowest in the group.

676
00:52:52,500 --> 00:52:53,700
But carry on.

677
00:52:53,700 --> 00:52:54,500
Yeah.

678
00:52:54,500 --> 00:52:55,700
Keep moving.

679
00:52:56,820 --> 00:52:58,100
To the palace?

680
00:52:58,100 --> 00:52:59,140
It was your main direction?

681
00:52:59,140 --> 00:53:08,180
To the palace, perhaps not up the middle of the square, perhaps along the dark, shadowy edge of the square.

682
00:53:08,180 --> 00:53:13,380
No sense in fighting attention, you know, any more than we have to.

683
00:53:13,380 --> 00:53:14,660
Very good.

684
00:53:14,660 --> 00:53:19,780
Normally, I would expect Gigi to march heroically up the middle of the square, but it doesn't seem to be...

685
00:53:19,780 --> 00:53:21,780
It doesn't seem to be in the cards.

686
00:53:21,780 --> 00:53:23,780
I don't think he's in the marching mood.

687
00:53:23,780 --> 00:53:24,580
No.

688
00:53:24,580 --> 00:53:27,780
He's probably doing a delicate little dance.

689
00:53:27,780 --> 00:53:31,940
Slow, shivering, tired.

690
00:53:31,940 --> 00:53:34,900
Slightly clutched with an unusual posture.

691
00:53:34,900 --> 00:53:36,900
Yes.

692
00:53:36,900 --> 00:53:40,020
And no short amount of moans.

693
00:53:40,020 --> 00:53:42,020
Ah.

694
00:53:42,020 --> 00:53:44,020
Oh.

695
00:53:44,020 --> 00:53:56,820
In one of the windows of the apartment building, Alma, give me an awareness roll because you have the key to the door.

696
00:53:56,820 --> 00:54:00,820
And the keen senses of the Wolverine.

697
00:54:00,820 --> 00:54:04,820
I have a plus two, so...

698
00:54:04,820 --> 00:54:06,820
And then you have a wheel on this as well.

699
00:54:06,820 --> 00:54:12,820
Ooh, that was not good. I'm not paying attention. That's a four.

700
00:54:12,820 --> 00:54:14,820
Yes, I did roll both dice.

701
00:54:14,820 --> 00:54:18,820
I did roll both.

702
00:54:18,820 --> 00:54:22,820
Welcome, welcome, welcome to the team. That's the kind of, you know, general incompetence that...

703
00:54:22,820 --> 00:54:26,820
You roll like stupid. I don't mean insulting, but...

704
00:54:26,820 --> 00:54:28,820
Yeah, you do.

705
00:54:28,820 --> 00:54:36,820
You notice nothing, but you do hear the echoes of whispers carried on the wind.

706
00:54:36,820 --> 00:54:38,820
Oh.

707
00:54:38,820 --> 00:54:40,820
Do we all hear whispers?

708
00:54:40,820 --> 00:54:44,820
Yes, do that type thing.

709
00:54:44,820 --> 00:55:02,820
Only the Wolverine Alma hears these with keen senses. Steve, your mechanical contraption doesn't have the latest patch to make it for its audio files.

710
00:55:02,820 --> 00:55:06,820
Would Gigi notice your ears turning?

711
00:55:06,820 --> 00:55:14,820
You notice the feral form of this creature, tense, and perhaps the hairs prick up.

712
00:55:14,820 --> 00:55:18,820
Do you hear something? Smell something?

713
00:55:18,820 --> 00:55:20,820
I can hear whispering.

714
00:55:20,820 --> 00:55:30,820
If I concentrate on it more, do I make out anything more of the whispers? Even if I can't make out words, do I make out, like...

715
00:55:30,820 --> 00:55:46,820
Well, you know, it could have just been the wind blowing. It could have been the cries of a guillemot. It could have been the bluffs of a reindeer.

716
00:55:46,820 --> 00:55:52,820
Well, shall we go in?

717
00:55:52,820 --> 00:55:54,820
Yeah, it'll be fine.

718
00:55:54,820 --> 00:56:02,820
If these are dökkálfar and Eir is any indication of their prowess, we'll be fine.

719
00:56:02,820 --> 00:56:04,820
Eir is dead, alas.

720
00:56:04,820 --> 00:56:06,820
Yeah, I'm right here.

721
00:56:06,820 --> 00:56:16,820
All right, let us head out across the edge of the square and make our way towards the palace.

722
00:56:16,820 --> 00:56:26,820
I guess we'll move at a reduced rate because we're all rapidly alert and aware and sensitive to any danger.

723
00:56:26,820 --> 00:56:34,820
OK, you can take a cautious approach, moving at half speed, and add wheels to your awareness rolls.

724
00:56:34,820 --> 00:56:36,820
So let's do this.

725
00:56:36,820 --> 00:56:44,820
Steve, why don't you give me one of those awareness rolls since you are now stepping forward with trepidation.

726
00:56:44,820 --> 00:56:49,820
OK, awareness roll with... I'm just going to roll physical dice because it's faster.

727
00:56:49,820 --> 00:56:51,820
And I'm going to give you a weal.

728
00:56:51,820 --> 00:56:55,820
Awareness roll with one weal. OK.

729
00:56:55,820 --> 00:56:58,820
25.

730
00:56:58,820 --> 00:57:00,820
Ooh, look at you with the...

731
00:57:00,820 --> 00:57:03,820
OK, we're going to keep using physical dice for a little while.

732
00:57:03,820 --> 00:57:21,820
You hear a glung, which is my attempt at a distant discordant piano noise that echoes out of the palace as if something had just literally dropped on a piano keyboard.

733
00:57:21,820 --> 00:57:27,820
I assumed it was another accent, but OK.

734
00:57:27,820 --> 00:57:31,820
Did anyone hear that? A piano was trying to speak.

735
00:57:31,820 --> 00:57:33,820
No. Yes.

736
00:57:33,820 --> 00:57:35,820
Was that just me?

737
00:57:35,820 --> 00:57:36,820
No, I heard it.

738
00:57:36,820 --> 00:57:38,820
Gigi, was that you?

739
00:57:38,820 --> 00:57:41,820
Did you make that noise, man? No?

740
00:57:41,820 --> 00:57:50,820
No, it was very definitely discordant, but it wasn't biological.

741
00:57:50,820 --> 00:58:01,820
At that moment, Gigi has a very large gurgle in his stomach and says, I need to find another latrine urgently.

742
00:58:01,820 --> 00:58:06,820
And he looks at the palace and says, there must be one in there.

743
00:58:06,820 --> 00:58:08,820
I'm sure royalty go to the bathroom.

744
00:58:08,820 --> 00:58:13,820
And so he just guards it for the palace, just for it to go find a bathroom.

745
00:58:13,820 --> 00:58:20,820
OK, you're a burly strapping chap who's the size of the doorway.

746
00:58:20,820 --> 00:58:28,820
And in your urgency, you take the rusted door off its raiment clatter all the way through.

747
00:58:28,820 --> 00:58:34,820
I won't make you roll your shoulder barges powerful enough to take it off its hinges.

748
00:58:34,820 --> 00:58:40,820
Within, it is completely dark and eerie.

749
00:58:40,820 --> 00:58:43,820
There is no power to light these interior rooms.

750
00:58:43,820 --> 00:58:48,820
And so you can't see your way to a bathroom, to a restroom.

751
00:58:48,820 --> 00:58:55,820
And there are no kind of electric signs that would signal the direction in which to go.

752
00:58:55,820 --> 00:58:58,820
That's a good thing I have a flashlight then.

753
00:58:58,820 --> 00:59:01,820
Oh, good.

754
00:59:01,820 --> 00:59:05,820
Feel free to flick that on.

755
00:59:05,820 --> 00:59:08,820
We learned last session that we all have one.

756
00:59:08,820 --> 00:59:12,820
That's true. It's like the Boy Scouts.

757
00:59:12,820 --> 00:59:15,820
All right, you flick on your flashlight.

758
00:59:15,820 --> 00:59:25,820
And as you do so, lurking out of the gloom is a silent mute observer.

759
00:59:25,820 --> 00:59:27,820
Stony-faced.

760
00:59:27,820 --> 00:59:30,820
Hello. Is there a bathroom nearby?

761
00:59:30,820 --> 00:59:34,820
Left or right? Or is it in the back?

762
00:59:34,820 --> 00:59:39,820
It basically dissolves into the ether, evaporating into the darkness.

763
00:59:39,820 --> 00:59:44,820
Spectral Vigil ended.

764
00:59:44,820 --> 00:59:46,820
That's fine, I suppose.

765
00:59:46,820 --> 00:59:51,820
You were the only person to see him since you were the only one who burst through the door.

766
00:59:51,820 --> 00:59:53,820
Did he see someone?

767
00:59:53,820 --> 00:59:56,820
I'm...Ljomi's following him into the building.

768
00:59:56,820 --> 00:59:57,820
Yeah.

769
00:59:57,820 --> 01:00:00,820
Is there a room to my right or left?

770
01:00:00,820 --> 01:00:06,820
There is a large auditorium that you can see immediately to your right.

771
01:00:06,820 --> 01:00:11,820
There's no little broom closet or anything on the left?

772
01:00:11,820 --> 01:00:13,820
There is not.

773
01:00:13,820 --> 01:00:14,820
There is not.

774
01:00:14,820 --> 01:00:17,820
A broom, potted plants.

775
01:00:17,820 --> 01:00:19,820
Any bathroom signs?

776
01:00:19,820 --> 01:00:22,820
Okay, well he goes darting into the auditorium looking for a bathroom sign.

777
01:00:22,820 --> 01:00:24,820
That must be something.

778
01:00:24,820 --> 01:00:26,820
That's acoustics.

779
01:00:26,820 --> 01:00:31,820
He's a jofurr. He will not disgrace himself by defecating in public.

780
01:00:31,820 --> 01:00:33,820
He's got to find something.

781
01:00:33,820 --> 01:00:42,820
Your best bet is probably in the middle of the large auditorium there is this grand piano on a stage

782
01:00:42,820 --> 01:00:51,820
that would provide you with some kind of cover where you could leap to the other side and void your bowels.

783
01:00:51,820 --> 01:00:59,820
Alternatively, there is above some kind of projector room that looks like old style cinema.

784
01:00:59,820 --> 01:01:01,820
You can see the projector room.

785
01:01:01,820 --> 01:01:08,820
You can see the small window above and you might be able to find your way up there.

786
01:01:08,820 --> 01:01:10,820
He chooses the piano.

787
01:01:10,820 --> 01:01:13,820
Okay. The other side of the piano.

788
01:01:13,820 --> 01:01:15,820
The other side of the piano.

789
01:01:15,820 --> 01:01:21,820
I'm so sorry for inviting you to this. Basically, it's a series of scatological gags.

790
01:01:21,820 --> 01:01:24,820
But this is where we find ourselves.

791
01:01:24,820 --> 01:01:36,820
You leap to the other side of the piano and find yourself an advantage point to perform your business.

792
01:01:36,820 --> 01:01:43,820
I presume in the editing afterwards you will find a suitable soundtrack.

793
01:01:43,820 --> 01:01:45,820
Good Lord.

794
01:01:45,820 --> 01:01:47,820
That's a shitty idea.

795
01:01:47,820 --> 01:02:01,820
To your horror, you find that one of the things that have been left behind in the panicked evacuation of Kóngssteinn

796
01:02:01,820 --> 01:02:08,820
is monitoring your own panicked evacuation is an antique Urðr surveillance drone.

797
01:02:08,820 --> 01:02:17,820
Perhaps that was what had caused the clamor by it powering down intermittently and landing heavily on the piano.

798
01:02:17,820 --> 01:02:23,820
But this surveillance drone, again looking like it's antiquated technology,

799
01:02:23,820 --> 01:02:30,820
but its imager is beaming right at you and recording every moment.

800
01:02:30,820 --> 01:02:35,820
Is it being broadcast on two screens in the town square?

801
01:02:35,820 --> 01:02:43,820
It's not, but it is safe to say that in the past the Urðr would have used such a drone

802
01:02:43,820 --> 01:02:50,820
for the purposes of monitoring malcontents and dangers to the state.

803
01:02:50,820 --> 01:02:53,820
I'm going to take a quick action and shoot at it with my pistol.

804
01:02:53,820 --> 01:02:55,820
I had it for you.

805
01:02:55,820 --> 01:02:58,820
Okay. Give me a roll.

806
01:02:58,820 --> 01:03:00,820
All right.

807
01:03:00,820 --> 01:03:05,820
There must be some way we can be less subtle.

808
01:03:05,820 --> 01:03:07,820
Well, we don't seem to know what it is.

809
01:03:07,820 --> 01:03:11,820
We need to attend ourselves.

810
01:03:11,820 --> 01:03:15,820
You blast from the hip taking your...

811
01:03:15,820 --> 01:03:19,820
Yes, he did.

812
01:03:19,820 --> 01:03:23,820
I think that needs more attention if it's a hip.

813
01:03:23,820 --> 01:03:33,820
The drone, the bullet ricochets off the drone and it careers down onto the piano again with another

814
01:03:33,820 --> 01:03:40,820
discordant thud and the whirring within flickers and stops.

815
01:03:40,820 --> 01:03:44,820
Ljomi steps forward and peers around the piano and says,

816
01:03:44,820 --> 01:03:47,820
Is everything all right? Are you all right?

817
01:03:47,820 --> 01:03:48,820
Get out of here.

818
01:03:48,820 --> 01:03:51,820
I heard one shot. Are you making more fertilizer?

819
01:03:51,820 --> 01:03:58,820
I mean, at least you'll never lose him. He makes so much noise and the smell alone.

820
01:03:58,820 --> 01:04:02,820
It's a good point, Beast. Yes, it's a good point.

821
01:04:02,820 --> 01:04:08,820
Should someone check the drone? It's there. It might be useful.

822
01:04:08,820 --> 01:04:13,820
She'll... she'll... she'll tuttle over.

823
01:04:13,820 --> 01:04:22,820
Okay, the drone could indeed be useful if now repaired.

824
01:04:22,820 --> 01:04:27,820
Alma, you have a couple of abilities, do you not?

825
01:04:27,820 --> 01:04:28,820
Yes.

826
01:04:28,820 --> 01:04:33,820
You have your remote sensibility. You are slightly psychic.

827
01:04:33,820 --> 01:04:39,820
You are attuned to the spirits in such a way as that your huger,

828
01:04:39,820 --> 01:04:44,820
your mind powers will enable you to do an interrogation of this machine

829
01:04:44,820 --> 01:04:46,820
and work out what it's useful for.

830
01:04:46,820 --> 01:04:50,820
Yes, I would love to do that.

831
01:04:50,820 --> 01:04:53,820
You have mind powers? That's what we've been missing.

832
01:04:53,820 --> 01:04:56,820
Yeah, or minds even.

833
01:04:56,820 --> 01:04:58,820
Yeah, any mind power at all.

834
01:04:58,820 --> 01:04:59,820
Or powers.

835
01:04:59,820 --> 01:05:02,820
Or does it do 20? Just a 20?

836
01:05:02,820 --> 01:05:08,820
No, you don't even have to roll for this. You can really place your paws, your claws.

837
01:05:08,820 --> 01:05:13,820
Yes, it's in my hand and I'm doing this very professional move of shaking it

838
01:05:13,820 --> 01:05:15,820
and listening to what happens inside.

839
01:05:15,820 --> 01:05:17,820
Okay, so that's it.

840
01:05:17,820 --> 01:05:19,820
Rattle, rattle, rattle.

841
01:05:19,820 --> 01:05:21,820
Yeah, that will help things.

842
01:05:21,820 --> 01:05:22,820
Turning right in.

843
01:05:22,820 --> 01:05:25,820
Turn it off, turn it on again.

844
01:05:25,820 --> 01:05:30,820
This video drone, like I said, was used to broadcast live to the site bands,

845
01:05:30,820 --> 01:05:35,820
the sight bands being this universes version of television.

846
01:05:35,820 --> 01:05:42,820
Were you to engage it, it would not only provide you with one wheel to your awareness rolls,

847
01:05:42,820 --> 01:05:45,820
helping you to find hidden objects, traps or clues,

848
01:05:45,820 --> 01:05:50,820
but it would also as a bound object give you the dream-site gift

849
01:05:50,820 --> 01:05:53,820
that will prevent you from being surprised.

850
01:05:53,820 --> 01:05:58,820
Effectively, you've got your own little mini drone that would orbit your head

851
01:05:58,820 --> 01:06:02,820
and protect you from unforeseen consequences.

852
01:06:02,820 --> 01:06:07,820
She's gonna take it and start with a nail, like tinkering,

853
01:06:07,820 --> 01:06:11,820
see if she can put wires back into place.

854
01:06:11,820 --> 01:06:19,820
Do you have any mechanical professions or anything that would suggest that you are able to perform technical work?

855
01:06:19,820 --> 01:06:22,820
No, but I'm gonna give it a good old try.

856
01:06:22,820 --> 01:06:26,820
Would the gunsmithing skill help in terms of intricate machines?

857
01:06:26,820 --> 01:06:31,820
Possibly. I'm sure between you there's a range of abilities that you could look on your character sheets.

858
01:06:31,820 --> 01:06:33,820
As I could...

859
01:06:33,820 --> 01:06:35,820
...profess to knowing in advance.

860
01:06:35,820 --> 01:06:41,820
I could provide guest counsel, which would give a wheel, if it's sufficiently adjacent.

861
01:06:41,820 --> 01:06:44,820
I have guide and sense.

862
01:06:44,820 --> 01:06:47,820
Maybe I know a guy.

863
01:06:47,820 --> 01:06:52,820
You could sense that I know a guy somewhere.

864
01:06:52,820 --> 01:06:54,820
It's a great skill.

865
01:06:54,820 --> 01:06:58,820
It was the facial expression. I know that.

866
01:06:58,820 --> 01:07:02,820
One of the things that might have pricked up your ears, so to speak,

867
01:07:02,820 --> 01:07:06,820
is that you are in a diamond mine, or very close to a diamond mine,

868
01:07:06,820 --> 01:07:15,820
and you used to be a fence, and so you're good at passing off stolen material to people and making a profit.

869
01:07:15,820 --> 01:07:20,820
As opposed to Ljomi the Alfar, who is pretty much the other type of fence,

870
01:07:20,820 --> 01:07:25,820
and just lives as a wooden edifice at the end of the garden.

871
01:07:25,820 --> 01:07:29,820
Dividing members of the party on every adventure.

872
01:07:29,820 --> 01:07:33,820
I will let Alma make her roll.

873
01:07:33,820 --> 01:07:40,820
With the D20 I will give you two wheels, because the mechanical contraption, formerly known as Eir,

874
01:07:40,820 --> 01:07:46,820
has decided to lean in and offer his assistance and poke various things for you.

875
01:07:46,820 --> 01:07:48,820
Fantastic.

876
01:07:48,820 --> 01:07:53,820
He's as antiquated as the box, who's probably all lines it.

877
01:07:53,820 --> 01:08:01,820
Ironically, this dice I'm rolling is a dice with a one ring in it,

878
01:08:01,820 --> 01:08:06,820
and I need to retire it from today's session, because it's rolling really badly.

879
01:08:06,820 --> 01:08:08,820
Is it the one ring to rule them all?

880
01:08:08,820 --> 01:08:09,820
Yeah.

881
01:08:09,820 --> 01:08:11,820
The one ring to mess everything up.

882
01:08:11,820 --> 01:08:13,820
There it is. You can kind of see it.

883
01:08:13,820 --> 01:08:18,820
Clearly the Dark Lord is having a negative effect.

884
01:08:18,820 --> 01:08:20,820
So that would have been...

885
01:08:20,820 --> 01:08:22,820
40?

886
01:08:22,820 --> 01:08:30,820
In which case, I will allow you to spend 30 of your valuable minutes fixing this contraption,

887
01:08:30,820 --> 01:08:35,820
and then it whizzes to life and whirls around your head with wild abandon,

888
01:08:35,820 --> 01:08:42,820
chirping with the incessant noise of a 1980s modem.

889
01:08:45,820 --> 01:08:46,820
Great.

890
01:08:46,820 --> 01:08:54,820
So, Ljomi ignores the noise and bends down to Gigi and says, still making more?

891
01:08:54,820 --> 01:08:56,820
I think I've finished.

892
01:08:56,820 --> 01:08:57,820
Shame.

893
01:08:57,820 --> 01:08:59,820
Oh, is that what you eat?

894
01:08:59,820 --> 01:09:09,820
He's very happy with her new friend.

895
01:09:09,820 --> 01:09:12,820
Does Eir understand the modem noise?

896
01:09:12,820 --> 01:09:17,820
Not much, it's not going to engage with you in conversation, it will flash warning lights

897
01:09:17,820 --> 01:09:25,820
and prevent you from being surprised, and it will also zoom in and provide you with images of potential threats,

898
01:09:25,820 --> 01:09:28,820
and that is represented in the game mechanics.

899
01:09:28,820 --> 01:09:30,820
Nice.

900
01:09:30,820 --> 01:09:36,820
So far it's kind of just whizzing around her head like a fly.

901
01:09:36,820 --> 01:09:45,820
In this universe, bound objects are the equivalent of magic items, and so there are now three that the party possesses.

902
01:09:45,820 --> 01:09:55,820
There is both this drone, which informs you its name is Look After, or in Old Norse, Lidte Eftir.

903
01:09:55,820 --> 01:10:04,820
Again, there's often very... you know, kissing cousins, these languages, Lidte Eftir, almost sounds like look after.

904
01:10:04,820 --> 01:10:06,820
So it is a bound object.

905
01:10:06,820 --> 01:10:15,820
CJ, you have the heirloom sword bear paw that you can brandish, that is a bound object or magic item.

906
01:10:15,820 --> 01:10:23,820
And Steve, you have forgotten it for a little while, but you did pluck a cigarette case that came from a parallel timeline

907
01:10:23,820 --> 01:10:29,820
from the body of that fallen first world soldier, and that is also a bound object.

908
01:10:29,820 --> 01:10:30,820
Yes.

909
01:10:30,820 --> 01:10:36,820
Should you wish to deploy that at some point in the future?

910
01:10:36,820 --> 01:10:38,820
Should you need a smoke?

911
01:10:38,820 --> 01:10:40,820
Should I need a smoke, exactly.

912
01:10:40,820 --> 01:10:42,820
An otherworldly smoke.

913
01:10:42,820 --> 01:10:47,820
Bill, you have yet to claim yourself a bound object.

914
01:10:47,820 --> 01:10:49,820
His bugs don't count?

915
01:10:49,820 --> 01:10:52,820
I suggest you try harder.

916
01:10:52,820 --> 01:10:56,820
We all suggest you try harder.

917
01:10:56,820 --> 01:11:01,820
Ljomi holds up his stun gun and says, I have an electric gun now.

918
01:11:01,820 --> 01:11:03,820
Oh, that's a good...

919
01:11:03,820 --> 01:11:04,820
Yes.

920
01:11:04,820 --> 01:11:06,820
Yes, yes.

921
01:11:06,820 --> 01:11:11,820
Just never drop it, because if you drop it on yourself that really hurts.

922
01:11:11,820 --> 01:11:13,820
Try it.

923
01:11:13,820 --> 01:11:17,820
I have tried it, I didn't mean to try it, but I tried it once, I don't recommend it.

924
01:11:17,820 --> 01:11:22,820
I still have a little bit of a ball patch here, look, she kind of points to her side.

925
01:11:22,820 --> 01:11:25,820
That's where I dropped one.

926
01:11:25,820 --> 01:11:31,820
Don't say dropped one, again, we have to be very careful with our language.

927
01:11:31,820 --> 01:11:33,820
Oh crap.

928
01:11:33,820 --> 01:11:35,820
Oh no.

929
01:11:35,820 --> 01:11:37,820
These are punches, it must be...

930
01:11:37,820 --> 01:11:41,820
Are we spending the next few minutes tasering each other?

931
01:11:41,820 --> 01:11:43,820
Is that what the plan is?

932
01:11:43,820 --> 01:11:46,820
Because I mean, I did set a timer.

933
01:11:46,820 --> 01:11:50,820
It's part of the course.

934
01:11:50,820 --> 01:11:55,820
I also have these grenades that flash there.

935
01:11:55,820 --> 01:12:00,820
I picked a few things up in town, so I'm ready for a lot of things.

936
01:12:00,820 --> 01:12:06,820
Bill was emailing me yesterday, they found 50 crowns in the back of the Draugr's ice cave.

937
01:12:06,820 --> 01:12:13,820
Bill went shopping on behalf of everyone to buy various stun grenades.

938
01:12:13,820 --> 01:12:17,820
I bought small... because essentially I'm not a violent creature.

939
01:12:17,820 --> 01:12:27,820
I have the electric gun, I have the grenades that flash, I have a shotgun, a knife and a bow.

940
01:12:27,820 --> 01:12:30,820
So, you know, not terribly violent.

941
01:12:30,820 --> 01:12:37,820
And Annina, in case you didn't realize, his character is several hundred years old,

942
01:12:37,820 --> 01:12:40,820
several centuries old, even a thousand years old.

943
01:12:40,820 --> 01:12:42,820
1200 I think.

944
01:12:42,820 --> 01:12:48,820
And you get that air of... the air of wisdom.

945
01:12:48,820 --> 01:12:54,820
The wisdom of nature and deep time.

946
01:12:54,820 --> 01:12:56,820
And there's a lot of moss on you.

947
01:12:56,820 --> 01:13:00,820
Yes, also that and a lot of lovely bugs.

948
01:13:00,820 --> 01:13:02,820
Is it gravitas or senility?

949
01:13:02,820 --> 01:13:06,820
Senility. Yes.

950
01:13:06,820 --> 01:13:12,820
Alma was... you said it was about half an hour of tinkering with the device?

951
01:13:12,820 --> 01:13:14,820
With your help?

952
01:13:14,820 --> 01:13:15,820
Oh, with my help, yeah.

953
01:13:15,820 --> 01:13:19,820
I would like to propose that someone keep an eye out and maybe someone...

954
01:13:19,820 --> 01:13:21,820
you know, just throwing it out there.

955
01:13:21,820 --> 01:13:24,820
And maybe someone taking a look around for signs that say,

956
01:13:24,820 --> 01:13:28,820
archives with useful information this way.

957
01:13:28,820 --> 01:13:30,820
I've been watching Gigi,

958
01:13:30,820 --> 01:13:35,820
Ljomi has been watching Gigi, fascinated by the natural processes.

959
01:13:35,820 --> 01:13:37,820
Well, he just keeps going.

960
01:13:37,820 --> 01:13:40,820
It's rather remarkable.

961
01:13:40,820 --> 01:13:43,820
We should find a salt rock for him.

962
01:13:43,820 --> 01:13:45,820
He must be dehydrated.

963
01:13:45,820 --> 01:13:48,820
And do what with it?

964
01:13:48,820 --> 01:13:50,820
A salt rock and he still like it.

965
01:13:50,820 --> 01:13:52,820
I'm not hungry.

966
01:13:52,820 --> 01:13:55,820
I'm going to... I'm going to do two things.

967
01:13:55,820 --> 01:14:03,820
The first is I'm also going to let Alma and Eir discover

968
01:14:03,820 --> 01:14:07,820
as they tinker with the surveillance footage on the drone,

969
01:14:07,820 --> 01:14:09,820
you find recordings.

970
01:14:09,820 --> 01:14:15,820
It's a bit like R2-D2's jumping to life and showing you Ben Kenobi.

971
01:14:15,820 --> 01:14:22,820
You see a recording of a heavy set Orcneas walking through the auditorium.

972
01:14:22,820 --> 01:14:27,820
He walks through, the timestamp suggests it was recorded 20 days ago,

973
01:14:27,820 --> 01:14:32,820
and the Orcneas, which is one of those devil corpses we talked about in the beginning,

974
01:14:32,820 --> 01:14:38,820
is effectively an Orc zombie kind of creature in traditional fantasy parlance,

975
01:14:38,820 --> 01:14:41,820
but again drawn from Norse myth.

976
01:14:41,820 --> 01:14:46,820
They are cage spirits in ruined bodies,

977
01:14:46,820 --> 01:14:52,820
and it walks, strides through this auditorium 20 days ago,

978
01:14:52,820 --> 01:14:56,820
and that is recorded on this device.

979
01:14:56,820 --> 01:15:08,820
I'm also going to allow Ljomi to, as well as just keep an eye, a medicinal eye on CJ,

980
01:15:08,820 --> 01:15:11,820
I'm going to suggest that you do look around the records library

981
01:15:11,820 --> 01:15:15,820
and you can make a Wits challenge roll because you do have,

982
01:15:15,820 --> 01:15:21,820
contrary to popular belief, the wisdom of the ages as a gift.

983
01:15:21,820 --> 01:15:22,820
Really?

984
01:15:22,820 --> 01:15:25,820
One has to be selective how often you use it, I find.

985
01:15:25,820 --> 01:15:29,820
I'm also using a real dice.

986
01:15:29,820 --> 01:15:30,820
Okay.

987
01:15:30,820 --> 01:15:34,820
With one of the elven rings inside, so it should be better.

988
01:15:34,820 --> 01:15:38,820
I haven't heard any Finnish or Quenya.

989
01:15:38,820 --> 01:15:40,820
None whatsoever.

990
01:15:40,820 --> 01:15:44,820
18 plus 3, so 21.

991
01:15:44,820 --> 01:15:46,820
Very good.

992
01:15:46,820 --> 01:15:50,820
So the palace does indeed include a records library,

993
01:15:50,820 --> 01:15:53,820
which is full of card catalogs beyond the auditorium.

994
01:15:53,820 --> 01:15:57,820
There's also a Glima court which is wrestling.

995
01:15:57,820 --> 01:16:04,820
Eric Redshirt would have quite liked this had he not been eaten by a sea serpent in episode 3.

996
01:16:04,820 --> 01:16:09,820
But it's full of antiques posters calling on athletes to run faster and jump higher,

997
01:16:09,820 --> 01:16:13,820
extolling the youth of yesteryear to perform.

998
01:16:13,820 --> 01:16:16,820
Anyway, beyond that is this records library,

999
01:16:16,820 --> 01:16:23,820
and you discover quite quickly using your archival and librarian prowess,

1000
01:16:23,820 --> 01:16:31,820
marriage records that show that Bjarne's wife Fenja was originally from Kóngssteinn

1001
01:16:31,820 --> 01:16:35,820
There's no corresponding birth record for Daniel,

1002
01:16:35,820 --> 01:16:40,820
even when you search his real name as opposed to his nom de guerre, Biarki,

1003
01:16:40,820 --> 01:16:46,820
but Bjarne Bjarnesson and his wife Fenja were definitely from Kóngssteinn.

1004
01:16:51,820 --> 01:16:53,820
Oh, we're ending the episode there then.

1005
01:16:53,820 --> 01:16:55,820
The best of you.

1006
01:16:55,820 --> 01:17:00,820
Does Ljomi tell anyone this?

1007
01:17:00,820 --> 01:17:03,820
Yes, I tell everyone everything.

1008
01:17:03,820 --> 01:17:09,820
I found small pieces of wood with information, cards,

1009
01:17:09,820 --> 01:17:14,820
men talk, and there are records of the family,

1010
01:17:14,820 --> 01:17:19,820
of the other sick man, there's a lot of sick men,

1011
01:17:19,820 --> 01:17:26,820
the other sick man who unfortunately was ill through a bear, ultimately.

1012
01:17:26,820 --> 01:17:31,820
Yes, so there you go.

1013
01:17:31,820 --> 01:17:34,820
He passed through a bear's bowels.

1014
01:17:34,820 --> 01:17:41,820
Alright, you may decide where to proceed to, whether you want to hightail it out of town,

1015
01:17:41,820 --> 01:17:45,820
whether you're interested in pursuing the diamond mines.

1016
01:17:45,820 --> 01:17:51,820
There's also places like the spoon pool and the mess hall that you have yet to visit.

1017
01:17:51,820 --> 01:17:59,820
Does the information satisfy what we need to prove our case for the deed?

1018
01:17:59,820 --> 01:18:03,820
I mean, is it mission accomplished or do we need more?

1019
01:18:03,820 --> 01:18:08,820
So, if you're wondering where Bjarnies' wife was from, what does that give us?

1020
01:18:08,820 --> 01:18:11,820
It doesn't give you anything legal.

1021
01:18:11,820 --> 01:18:15,820
You can use your legal expertise to work out.

1022
01:18:15,820 --> 01:18:19,820
It's a kind of clue, it's a trace.

1023
01:18:19,820 --> 01:18:26,820
Perhaps Bjarnesson wasn't always the ornery old trapper without any possible charisma.

1024
01:18:26,820 --> 01:18:28,820
He was once married.

1025
01:18:28,820 --> 01:18:34,820
It could well be that he did have a child and that Daniel is his legitimate offspring.

1026
01:18:34,820 --> 01:18:37,820
So it's one piece of the puzzle perhaps.

1027
01:18:37,820 --> 01:18:46,820
Leone was a reeve, so does that give me insight in how to make use of that level of information, like legally?

1028
01:18:46,820 --> 01:18:51,820
If Eir understands custom and law, he could help, relatively.

1029
01:18:51,820 --> 01:18:53,820
Unfortunately, he's dead.

1030
01:18:53,820 --> 01:18:56,820
I'm right, no, never mind.

1031
01:18:56,820 --> 01:18:58,820
I've summarized it already.

1032
01:18:58,820 --> 01:19:01,820
It gives you enough to know the guy was married.

1033
01:19:01,820 --> 01:19:04,820
And as a reeve, you could officiate a new ceremony.

1034
01:19:04,820 --> 01:19:08,820
Ah, perhaps Gigi would like to marry the beast.

1035
01:19:08,820 --> 01:19:10,820
What?

1036
01:19:10,820 --> 01:19:12,820
Just a passing thought, not to worry.

1037
01:19:12,820 --> 01:19:15,820
Oh, he doesn't have enough hair for me.

1038
01:19:15,820 --> 01:19:19,820
And she has too much for me.

1039
01:19:19,820 --> 01:19:21,820
It wouldn't ever work.

1040
01:19:21,820 --> 01:19:24,820
I think we should go and look at the diamond mines.

1041
01:19:24,820 --> 01:19:26,820
I think that would be interesting.

1042
01:19:26,820 --> 01:19:32,820
Interesting as in it will satisfy the goal of this mission, or just interesting because I do have a bowel issue.

1043
01:19:32,820 --> 01:19:35,820
I should probably go home.

1044
01:19:35,820 --> 01:19:38,820
We might find something there that'll help.

1045
01:19:38,820 --> 01:19:43,820
Perhaps something to provide some sort of blockage, perhaps.

1046
01:19:43,820 --> 01:19:45,820
A dam, if you will.

1047
01:19:45,820 --> 01:19:47,820
A diamond plug.

1048
01:19:47,820 --> 01:19:49,820
Wow.

1049
01:19:49,820 --> 01:19:54,820
I can send this in, at least to the next room.

1050
01:19:54,820 --> 01:19:58,820
Can I send my little flying friend?

1051
01:19:58,820 --> 01:20:03,820
It kind of has to orbit you a little bit, so it can't go off too far.

1052
01:20:03,820 --> 01:20:07,820
But it is constantly in close quarters.

1053
01:20:07,820 --> 01:20:14,820
It does immediately, though, start to beep, whine and hiss frantically.

1054
01:20:14,820 --> 01:20:26,820
And were it able to gesture with its various lenses and appendages, it would be pointing towards one of the nearby walls.

1055
01:20:26,820 --> 01:20:31,820
You did not see anything beyond just the...

1056
01:20:31,820 --> 01:20:43,820
Almost as if something briefly protruded through the wall itself, as if the wall contorted to reveal a face.

1057
01:20:43,820 --> 01:20:49,820
Then just bubbled back beyond the wallpaper.

1058
01:20:49,820 --> 01:20:51,820
Perhaps not bubbled.

1059
01:20:51,820 --> 01:20:55,820
Does remote sense help figure out what it was?

1060
01:20:55,820 --> 01:21:02,820
No, your remote sense gave you the ability to notice it out of the corner of your eye.

1061
01:21:02,820 --> 01:21:06,820
Tree sight? Does that add anything?

1062
01:21:06,820 --> 01:21:15,820
No, there's nothing hidden or invisible, but there was something that appeared to protrude momentarily through the wall,

1063
01:21:15,820 --> 01:21:22,820
as if they were able to manipulate matter and step through solid objects.

1064
01:21:22,820 --> 01:21:29,820
This will sound insane, but Eir would like to... Assuming this is pointed out, Aer would like to approach that section of wall,

1065
01:21:29,820 --> 01:21:33,820
press his nose against it, and then look through the wall.

1066
01:21:33,820 --> 01:21:34,820
Using your black sight?

1067
01:21:34,820 --> 01:21:36,820
Using the black sight, yes.

1068
01:21:36,820 --> 01:21:38,820
Okay.

1069
01:21:38,820 --> 01:21:41,820
Which we determined has a range of nasal.

1070
01:21:41,820 --> 01:21:46,820
Well, certainly...

1071
01:21:46,820 --> 01:21:53,820
Certainly, you know, it's the equivalent of X-ray vision, so you need to be somewhat closer to the wall.

1072
01:21:53,820 --> 01:22:08,820
And you do see, again, as you gaze through, looking back at you with exactly the same X-ray vision, are some glowing red eyes and a stony face.

1073
01:22:08,820 --> 01:22:17,820
You clearly recognize one of your fellow dökkálfar, who has been tailing you, drifting between the walls.

1074
01:22:17,820 --> 01:22:27,820
And now, it disappears into the floor itself, stepping below the soil and out of view.

1075
01:22:27,820 --> 01:22:28,820
Do I know them?

1076
01:22:28,820 --> 01:22:29,820
You don't.

1077
01:22:29,820 --> 01:22:32,820
Long shot, I know, but still.

1078
01:22:32,820 --> 01:22:35,820
I was tempted to say it was your Auntie Ethel, but no.

1079
01:22:35,820 --> 01:22:37,820
Her again.

1080
01:22:37,820 --> 01:22:38,820
No again.

1081
01:22:38,820 --> 01:22:39,820
I will return...

1082
01:22:39,820 --> 01:22:43,820
I was hoping to hear her voice.

1083
01:22:43,820 --> 01:22:55,820
Aer will return to the group and advise them that we're being tailed by one of the dökkálfar, one of my people, who has been watching us probably for a while and who just went through the floor downstairs.

1084
01:22:55,820 --> 01:22:59,820
So would they be friendly, since they saw you?

1085
01:22:59,820 --> 01:23:04,820
Or is it more of a hates can situation?

1086
01:23:04,820 --> 01:23:07,820
If we're lucky, they'll be tolerant.

1087
01:23:07,820 --> 01:23:12,820
Yeah, I think friendly might be pushing it.

1088
01:23:12,820 --> 01:23:14,820
Is there anything back to the archives?

1089
01:23:14,820 --> 01:23:20,820
Is there anything in here about birth records where we could find out about Daniel's birth, if indeed he was ever born?

1090
01:23:20,820 --> 01:23:26,820
So there's no corresponding birth record for Daniel, even under his real name, Bjarki.

1091
01:23:26,820 --> 01:23:27,820
Right.

1092
01:23:27,820 --> 01:23:28,820
Right, you did say.

1093
01:23:28,820 --> 01:23:29,820
Oh, you did mention that.

1094
01:23:29,820 --> 01:23:30,820
Okay.

1095
01:23:30,820 --> 01:23:32,820
So he was never born.

1096
01:23:32,820 --> 01:23:33,820
Won't he be surprised?

1097
01:23:33,820 --> 01:23:34,820
Who's Daniel?

1098
01:23:34,820 --> 01:23:36,820
Who's Daniel?

1099
01:23:36,820 --> 01:23:37,820
So there is this...

1100
01:23:37,820 --> 01:23:39,820
Are you just ignoring Annina?

1101
01:23:39,820 --> 01:23:40,820
No, no, no.

1102
01:23:40,820 --> 01:23:43,820
We're thinking how to begin to answer that.

1103
01:23:43,820 --> 01:23:46,820
I don't remember who Daniel is.

1104
01:23:46,820 --> 01:23:48,820
No, no, no, we remember.

1105
01:23:48,820 --> 01:23:51,820
She used silence.

1106
01:23:51,820 --> 01:24:05,820
So there is this lunatic name, well, there was this lunatic named Bjarne, who claims ownership of the entire north, like a ridiculous amount of landscape.

1107
01:24:05,820 --> 01:24:07,820
Oh, so a warlord.

1108
01:24:07,820 --> 01:24:08,820
I've met many of those.

1109
01:24:08,820 --> 01:24:09,820
Sure.

1110
01:24:09,820 --> 01:24:16,820
We escorted him to the Troll's Tongue and helped ease his transition into the afterlife.

1111
01:24:16,820 --> 01:24:18,820
That's a short version.

1112
01:24:18,820 --> 01:24:32,820
There is another man named Daniel who purports to be his son, who claims to inherit ownership of pretty much everywhere.

1113
01:24:32,820 --> 01:24:40,820
And we're trying to determine if this is true, and actually, I think we're hoping to prove it isn't true.

1114
01:24:40,820 --> 01:24:46,820
So we went back and found Bjarnie and found the...

1115
01:24:46,820 --> 01:24:53,820
He had the will on her, pardon me, the deed on him, and the deed is being verified by the law speaker.

1116
01:24:53,820 --> 01:24:56,820
And we're trying to find out if any of this is true.

1117
01:24:56,820 --> 01:24:58,820
Gotcha.

1118
01:24:58,820 --> 01:25:00,820
Well, disprove it's true.

1119
01:25:00,820 --> 01:25:03,820
OK, so Daniel was never born.

1120
01:25:03,820 --> 01:25:09,820
He's clearly some sort of abomination.

1121
01:25:09,820 --> 01:25:12,820
He's probably just operated with a false name.

1122
01:25:12,820 --> 01:25:14,820
Oh, OK, or that.

1123
01:25:14,820 --> 01:25:18,820
Or born somewhere else.

1124
01:25:18,820 --> 01:25:31,820
What you know of the Jotnar is that they were all genetically manipulated, birthed on Jotunheim for the purposes of waging war against the Empire.

1125
01:25:31,820 --> 01:25:38,820
Alma, the beast, is herself a product of the same experimentation.

1126
01:25:38,820 --> 01:25:41,820
Well, I'm not sure where to go from here.

1127
01:25:41,820 --> 01:25:44,820
I think we should go to the Diamond Mines. I believe they'll be interesting.

1128
01:25:44,820 --> 01:25:46,820
Let's go to the Diamond Mines.

1129
01:25:46,820 --> 01:25:49,820
Let's listen to the wise one. Let's go there.

1130
01:25:49,820 --> 01:25:52,820
There should be lots of dark private corners for Gigi.

1131
01:25:52,820 --> 01:26:02,820
If it's an area... the areas owned by the Dark Elf are by my people, you will find a complete lack of privies, I think.

1132
01:26:02,820 --> 01:26:04,820
We don't eat.

1133
01:26:04,820 --> 01:26:07,820
Or the other thing. Gigi, you OK?

1134
01:26:07,820 --> 01:26:11,820
Well, he's not OK, but...

1135
01:26:11,820 --> 01:26:13,820
But then none of us are.

1136
01:26:13,820 --> 01:26:26,820
Somewhat the point. You will have to at least leave this building, the Urðr Palace, and find your way back out into the snowbound paths of Kóngssteinn proper.

1137
01:26:26,820 --> 01:26:39,820
If you are now headed north, immediately between you and the mines is the old abandoned swimming pool that will provide you with some kind of cover

1138
01:26:39,820 --> 01:26:47,820
as you advance up the railway tracks that lead up the mountain to the mine proper.

1139
01:26:47,820 --> 01:26:58,820
Does this Dverg body have an internal clock? And if so, how long do we have to finish up and get back to the wharf?

1140
01:26:58,820 --> 01:27:04,820
You have a good two hours. About half your time has been used.

1141
01:27:04,820 --> 01:27:13,820
It's not like you had to walk far, it's about half a mile, three-quarters of a mile, and you could have covered that in 10-15 minutes.

1142
01:27:13,820 --> 01:27:20,820
OK, so we have time. So to the gymnasium and swimming pool then, on the way to the starting point?

1143
01:27:20,820 --> 01:27:29,820
Very good. So the door will need to be forced open if you want to go in there, because again, it's snowdrifts have piled up.

1144
01:27:29,820 --> 01:27:36,820
Anyone want to put their shoulder to it? Or anyone want to clock in the window as someone a bit more nimble and stealthy?

1145
01:27:36,820 --> 01:27:39,820
Alma will definitely shoulder check it.

1146
01:27:39,820 --> 01:27:45,820
OK, give me a roll. A Might roll.

1147
01:27:45,820 --> 01:27:47,820
Might, fantastic.

1148
01:27:47,820 --> 01:27:52,820
You can use your Outlander ability to add one weal to the roll as well.

1149
01:27:52,820 --> 01:27:54,820
Seven.

1150
01:27:54,820 --> 01:28:02,820
You jam your shoulder against it, but the door is unrelenting and nothing happens.

1151
01:28:02,820 --> 01:28:17,820
Although, as a result, a flock of white rock yuppa, the type of local bird, they fly out of a broken window nearby, excreting on you all as they make their escape.

1152
01:28:17,820 --> 01:28:20,820
Oh, she'll definitely try and catch one.

1153
01:28:20,820 --> 01:28:31,820
By all means, give me a sleight roll and I tell you what, I would just let you pluck one from the air and gourd yourself on the succulent.

1154
01:28:31,820 --> 01:28:36,820
I'm not sure what Gigi will say about just eating random birds, but...

1155
01:28:36,820 --> 01:28:38,820
Ignoring, ignoring.

1156
01:28:38,820 --> 01:28:40,820
It bites the head off.

1157
01:28:40,820 --> 01:28:46,820
Well, Gigi's going to try and hit the door after Alma.

1158
01:28:46,820 --> 01:28:59,820
I'm not even going to let you do a roll because, like I said, you are a sturdy gentleman and you will send it clattering to the floor with one swift kick.

1159
01:28:59,820 --> 01:29:08,820
The room beyond the swimming pool echoes like an empty swimming pool without any water in it.

1160
01:29:08,820 --> 01:29:12,820
The pool was probably quite impressive in its day there.

1161
01:29:12,820 --> 01:29:19,820
Here's a mosaic floor that details the nine daughters of Aegir and Ran.

1162
01:29:19,820 --> 01:29:33,820
One of the things that you notice is lurching up, staggering to its feet, is what appears to be a half-eaten reindeer, a carcass, little more than a bag of skin and bones.

1163
01:29:33,820 --> 01:29:45,820
It begins to lurch and amble towards you, again animated by the ferocity that perhaps comes down from that scar in the sky.

1164
01:29:45,820 --> 01:29:53,820
Something is bringing the dead back to life and even though this thing has been half-eaten, it flickers back into life.

1165
01:29:53,820 --> 01:30:07,820
You also notice, Alma, that as you toss the remnants of the bird you've just eaten, bits of its wings twitch and flutter as if it too is possessed and trying to walk again.

1166
01:30:07,820 --> 01:30:12,820
It's far too desiccated and devoured to do that.

1167
01:30:12,820 --> 01:30:17,820
All you see is this puddle of a bird trying to stand back up.

1168
01:30:17,820 --> 01:30:28,820
But the reindeer is lurching towards you. It's more substantial despite the fact that something has eaten from the contents of its stomach.

1169
01:30:28,820 --> 01:30:31,820
Ah, now we're done.

1170
01:30:31,820 --> 01:30:34,820
Okay, Annina, you can roll a dice.

1171
01:30:34,820 --> 01:30:45,820
In your war years you were something of a sniper. You are potentially lethal with your battle rifles, so feel free to blast away.

1172
01:30:45,820 --> 01:30:49,820
Lovely. Lovely, lovely.

1173
01:30:49,820 --> 01:30:53,820
I'm not having a good day.

1174
01:30:53,820 --> 01:30:54,820
Oh dear.

1175
01:30:54,820 --> 01:30:57,820
I'm not having a good day.

1176
01:30:57,820 --> 01:31:04,820
I mean, I rolled a six on the weals, but it doesn't help when you roll a two.

1177
01:31:04,820 --> 01:31:18,820
And I'm somewhat surprised by the lurching reindeer you instead blast into the mosaic, shattering the ornate painting and ruining it for generations to come.

1178
01:31:18,820 --> 01:31:25,820
I think she was distracted by the now somehow delicious looking again bird.

1179
01:31:25,820 --> 01:31:27,820
This is now a lion again.

1180
01:31:27,820 --> 01:31:29,820
This is my fright monger, this.

1181
01:31:29,820 --> 01:31:50,820
Fortunately for you, the decomposing reindeer isn't the most nimble of combatants and it lurches its way into the empty pool and falls with a thud to the bottom of the swimming pool, unable to climb up or use the ladder.

1182
01:31:50,820 --> 01:31:59,820
It continues to butt against the side of the drained pool and will not cause you any threat.

1183
01:31:59,820 --> 01:32:04,820
However, the sound clearly did echo loudly.

1184
01:32:04,820 --> 01:32:26,820
And in rejoinder, you hear across the breeze a long harmonious sound, a song, a siren song, a sultry beckoning song that speaks to your very soul and entices you towards the diamond mines.

1185
01:32:26,820 --> 01:32:29,820
Can you all give me a will roll, please?

1186
01:32:29,820 --> 01:32:31,820
Sure.

1187
01:32:31,820 --> 01:32:34,820
Love to.

1188
01:32:34,820 --> 01:32:36,820
Atta boy.

1189
01:32:36,820 --> 01:32:37,820
Also 17.

1190
01:32:37,820 --> 01:32:40,820
You are the shit.

1191
01:32:40,820 --> 01:32:42,820
Don't say it.

1192
01:32:42,820 --> 01:32:47,820
I rolled a 2 minus 1, so I rolled a 1.

1193
01:32:47,820 --> 01:33:07,820
There is this kind of telepathic signal that is emanating from the mines, the siren-like call, hypersonic frequencies that stimulate in biological brains your hedonistic hotspots.

1194
01:33:07,820 --> 01:33:18,820
Gigi is able to shrug this off while there is this insistent urge in your mind to wander into the depths.

1195
01:33:18,820 --> 01:33:29,820
Perhaps it's because you're struggling inside and have got other things to think about, but you don't find the call appealing or alluring.

1196
01:33:29,820 --> 01:33:33,820
Steve Eyre is very familiar with this.

1197
01:33:33,820 --> 01:33:50,820
You are familiar with the call of the fangstones, a form of sentient quartz that dwell in the depths of Nidavellir molten silicate that creates the chemistry of consciousness and their enticades await prisoners.

1198
01:33:50,820 --> 01:33:56,820
They are used by the dökkálfar as their versions of guard dogs.

1199
01:33:56,820 --> 01:34:01,820
They create these frequencies to lure in the unwary.

1200
01:34:01,820 --> 01:34:06,820
You know that that is what the sound is, and you are able to resist it.

1201
01:34:06,820 --> 01:34:21,820
Unfortunately, Alma and Ljomi, you are happy to hear the siren song and walk in trance at some speed towards the tracks,

1202
01:34:21,820 --> 01:34:31,820
walking towards the glittering diamonds that have clearly been laid out on the tracks to tempt people, to pick them up, to bring people within range.

1203
01:34:31,820 --> 01:34:41,820
You have heard these psychic emissions, these telepathic signals, and you can do nothing but advance towards the dark entrance to the mine.

1204
01:34:41,820 --> 01:34:44,820
Gigi, we should stop them if we can.

1205
01:34:44,820 --> 01:34:49,820
Then again, they were keen on going to the diamond mine. This may just expedite the whole thing.

1206
01:34:49,820 --> 01:34:54,820
Yes, that is where they wanted to go, unfortunately.

1207
01:34:54,820 --> 01:34:58,820
They may come to peril if they go up to the diamond mine. Shall we follow?

1208
01:34:58,820 --> 01:35:05,820
Yes, let's go kill whatever it is we need to kill, and then let's go back home so I can use them. Proper toilet.

1209
01:35:05,820 --> 01:35:07,820
Quite a lot to kill.

1210
01:35:07,820 --> 01:35:20,820
Annina, I'm going to give you one trauma for failing that role. You are also charmed and must rush towards you, begin to run as fast as your powerful warbling legs can plough you through the snow.

1211
01:35:20,820 --> 01:35:33,820
Bill, exactly the same for you, but in your case you take two trauma because whilst you are absent-minded and suffer from memory loss, when you do gain trauma, you gain twice the amount.

1212
01:35:33,820 --> 01:35:43,820
That is good news. The two of you bound towards the dark mine entrance, the others hot on your heels.

1213
01:35:43,820 --> 01:35:53,820
Just remind me what you're doing, Steve. You were kind of just following them. They are running pell-mell helter-skelter, drawn in by the Siren's call.

1214
01:35:53,820 --> 01:36:00,820
What is likely to happen when they get there? Does Eir have any recollection of what awaits them?

1215
01:36:00,820 --> 01:36:14,820
Oh yes, you do. The very nature of this sentient quartz, the Fangstone, should give you a little bit of an idea as to what might happen.

1216
01:36:14,820 --> 01:36:17,820
So they're going to get sliced to bits by quartz?

1217
01:36:17,820 --> 01:36:35,820
Yes, this hypersonic song that they are emitting. Again, the dökkálf use them as guard dogs and when intruders into their area wander in unwittingly and are lured by the Siren song,

1218
01:36:35,820 --> 01:36:48,820
the stone itself will arise to reveal these colossal fangs and lunge at the unwary, keen to consume their bones and organs and to ensnare their consciousness.

1219
01:36:48,820 --> 01:36:57,820
Yeah, I always thought it seemed a little bit like entrapment to have guard dogs ready to kill any intruders and then draw the intruders in on purpose.

1220
01:36:57,820 --> 01:37:06,820
Well, stony purgatory is perhaps a suitable form of punishment in the eyes of your people.

1221
01:37:06,820 --> 01:37:08,820
Yeah, think about that, Steve.

1222
01:37:08,820 --> 01:37:09,820
I am, it hurts.

1223
01:37:09,820 --> 01:37:13,820
Won't you think about that, Steve?

1224
01:37:13,820 --> 01:37:20,820
Gigi, we should follow them and we should stop them if we can. How should we stop them?

1225
01:37:20,820 --> 01:37:27,820
Stop them? Gigi is going to pull out his storm shooter and cast Sharp Runes on it.

1226
01:37:27,820 --> 01:37:28,820
OK.

1227
01:37:28,820 --> 01:37:32,820
Say, well, whatever's in there, I'll start shooting and cover the retreat.

1228
01:37:32,820 --> 01:37:38,820
That's the most complex plan we've ever had.

1229
01:37:38,820 --> 01:37:43,820
So, OK, we will follow and wait for the mountain to attack them.

1230
01:37:43,820 --> 01:37:45,820
Wouldn't it be the whole mountain?

1231
01:37:45,820 --> 01:37:51,820
I mean, enough, enough of it, yeah, mostly the bits that they're running towards.

1232
01:37:51,820 --> 01:37:59,820
I think she'd be running on all fours if this thing is going to be able to run as fast as she can.

1233
01:37:59,820 --> 01:38:04,820
And it's like watching an unavoidable train wreck approaching.

1234
01:38:04,820 --> 01:38:15,820
Alma, your drone buzzing around your head is bleeping frantically issuing all kinds of howling modem retorts.

1235
01:38:15,820 --> 01:38:24,820
You plow into the darkness of the mines. CJ, are you turning on your torch?

1236
01:38:24,820 --> 01:38:26,820
I suppose so.

1237
01:38:26,820 --> 01:38:29,820
Yes, yes, yes, you are.

1238
01:38:29,820 --> 01:38:39,820
I just want to describe this, I just want to describe this from your point of view as you see the alfar, the tree, plunge into the darkness.

1239
01:38:39,820 --> 01:38:45,820
Just at the penumbra of your beam, the light dissipates into the darkness and you see him.

1240
01:38:45,820 --> 01:38:54,820
You just go beyond the edge of your lamplight and the same for the Wolverine, Alma, the beast.

1241
01:38:54,820 --> 01:39:05,820
And then they drop 20 yards from the mine entrance, a false floor that has been laid to waylay any intruders.

1242
01:39:05,820 --> 01:39:09,820
Please give me both a sleight roll, the two of you.

1243
01:39:09,820 --> 01:39:17,820
It somewhat snaps your senses by the peril in front of you.

1244
01:39:17,820 --> 01:39:21,820
Twenty seven.

1245
01:39:21,820 --> 01:39:22,820
Bill?

1246
01:39:22,820 --> 01:39:25,820
All right, does this count as a challenge roll?

1247
01:39:25,820 --> 01:39:27,820
It does.

1248
01:39:27,820 --> 01:39:31,820
Can I use wits then instead of slight?

1249
01:39:31,820 --> 01:39:42,820
You can, using your newfound ability to bring out the wiles and the skills of yesteryear, because you spotted it in advance just at the last minute.

1250
01:39:42,820 --> 01:39:47,820
Okay, I get to use my wits and I have a weal as well, right?

1251
01:39:47,820 --> 01:39:53,820
You've suddenly transformed from bumbling oaf to wily and wise.

1252
01:39:53,820 --> 01:39:56,820
It was bound to happen.

1253
01:39:56,820 --> 01:40:02,820
Fourteen plus three and then plus six for the wheel.

1254
01:40:02,820 --> 01:40:04,820
So, twenty three.

1255
01:40:04,820 --> 01:40:23,820
Two of you perform almost super heroic stunts as you hurdle a pit, Alma, you vault across to safety, landing elegantly on two feet, avoiding the trap at the last minute.

1256
01:40:23,820 --> 01:40:34,820
And, Ljomi, you do exactly the same, less elegantly, but using your smarts to avoid the doom.

1257
01:40:34,820 --> 01:40:58,820
However, on the far side, five granite faces with bloodshot eyes leering out of the wall, huge fangs dripping with some kind of molten ichor, all stare in your direction, ready to consume you,

1258
01:40:58,820 --> 01:41:09,820
eagerly descending from the top of the mind-warp or from out of the pit, the pick of their prey.

1259
01:41:09,820 --> 01:41:11,820
I would like to cast Dream Monster.

1260
01:41:11,820 --> 01:41:38,820
Dream Monster allows you to use your Fygja, your spirit, to render yourself invisible and disappear from view so you are protected by your ancestral guardian spirits for a brief moment, leaving poor Alma to face the five fangstones directly.

1261
01:41:38,820 --> 01:41:41,820
You'll be fine.

1262
01:41:41,820 --> 01:41:43,820
Oh, god.

1263
01:41:43,820 --> 01:41:49,820
I'm guessing, does, I can't use headshot, can I?

1264
01:41:49,820 --> 01:41:52,820
This is not exactly a surprise.

1265
01:41:52,820 --> 01:41:58,820
No, it's kind of the other way around, were it not for your drone, you would have been the one I'm surprised.

1266
01:41:58,820 --> 01:42:00,820
But they're all head.

1267
01:42:00,820 --> 01:42:04,820
Surely a headshot is the only shot that's available.

1268
01:42:04,820 --> 01:42:07,820
Okay, noxious smell.

1269
01:42:07,820 --> 01:42:09,820
That is my ability.

1270
01:42:09,820 --> 01:42:10,820
Has Gigi run up?

1271
01:42:10,820 --> 01:42:12,820
Oh, I see.

1272
01:42:12,820 --> 01:42:24,820
As a, as a Wolverine, Alma has a distinct musky aroma that she is able to emit in times of crisis to distract her foe.

1273
01:42:24,820 --> 01:42:32,820
And it would be a grand idea were these not creatures of sentient quarks without olfactory capabilities.

1274
01:42:32,820 --> 01:42:38,820
But it's kind of like a, like a reflex so it happens.

1275
01:42:38,820 --> 01:42:43,820
I think you ought to, you know, show, show CJ how it's done and just squirt anyway.

1276
01:42:43,820 --> 01:42:45,820
Yeah.

1277
01:42:45,820 --> 01:42:48,820
Yes.

1278
01:42:48,820 --> 01:42:52,820
Where is Gigi in relation to this hole that they've found?

1279
01:42:52,820 --> 01:43:03,820
They have left this pit, that's a pit dug into the mineshaft, a kind of trapping pit. You are on one side, they are on the other.

1280
01:43:03,820 --> 01:43:06,820
Can I see, can I see these things?

1281
01:43:06,820 --> 01:43:22,820
With your torch beam, you can see frenetic and frantic activity as on the other side of the pit, the edge of the beam, the periphery and the darkness, you can see all kinds of commotion.

1282
01:43:22,820 --> 01:43:27,820
Does Eir know if these guardians would respond to him?

1283
01:43:27,820 --> 01:43:30,820
To the, to the presence of a dark elf?

1284
01:43:30,820 --> 01:43:47,820
In actual fact, they are responding to you already. The very nature arm of these creatures is that you act as a transducer, and it's you who's actually helping convert to the hypersonic frequency.

1285
01:43:47,820 --> 01:43:53,820
The dark elf, I have a kind of symbiotic relationship with these creatures.

1286
01:43:53,820 --> 01:44:01,820
And I can't, can I, can Eir influence them in any way? Like get them to knock it off and not murder these people?

1287
01:44:01,820 --> 01:44:07,820
If you want to yell out in true Norse, knock it off, you can see.

1288
01:44:07,820 --> 01:44:12,820
Your best teacher voice.

1289
01:44:12,820 --> 01:44:20,820
Best teacher voice through the, the speaker of a, of a, of a 20 year old computer, yeah.

1290
01:44:20,820 --> 01:44:23,820
Yeah.

1291
01:44:23,820 --> 01:44:28,820
Will yell out, we come in peace, we are not threats.

1292
01:44:28,820 --> 01:44:30,820
Okay.

1293
01:44:30,820 --> 01:44:36,820
Not much use. These creatures are also horrifying, so I need some more roles from you.

1294
01:44:36,820 --> 01:44:51,820
Amina, please make a Will roll, and this one is going to be with a woe. So you're gonna roll dice 20, you're gonna roll dice 6, you're gonna take it away. She's shaking her head, ladies and gentlemen.

1295
01:44:51,820 --> 01:44:52,820
Yes.

1296
01:44:52,820 --> 01:44:54,820
Bill, same to you, CJ, same to you.

1297
01:44:54,820 --> 01:44:56,820
Yeah, yeah.

1298
01:44:56,820 --> 01:44:58,820
30.

1299
01:44:58,820 --> 01:45:00,820
Oh, that's a good roll.

1300
01:45:00,820 --> 01:45:07,820
I can't really see these things yet. I just see a commotion. Should I be rolling?

1301
01:45:07,820 --> 01:45:09,820
Lawyer up, CJ, lawyer up.

1302
01:45:09,820 --> 01:45:14,820
You can see, you can see enough, you tend on your tools.

1303
01:45:14,820 --> 01:45:18,820
I can see there's, or, but do I get a woe, how about that?

1304
01:45:18,820 --> 01:45:19,820
Yeah, you're gonna have to.

1305
01:45:19,820 --> 01:45:22,820
Or can I just be woefully.

1306
01:45:22,820 --> 01:45:26,820
You've already got one. These are horrifying creatures.

1307
01:45:26,820 --> 01:45:31,820
Alright, that's a good roll.

1308
01:45:31,820 --> 01:45:34,820
15 in all, you got 17 minus 2.

1309
01:45:34,820 --> 01:45:35,820
Yeah.

1310
01:45:35,820 --> 01:45:40,820
Alright, well I'm gonna, can I do the Wit substitution again? Is that an infinite thing? The wisdom of ages.

1311
01:45:40,820 --> 01:45:43,820
It's not infinite, but you have to use it.

1312
01:45:43,820 --> 01:45:44,820
It's infinite?

1313
01:45:44,820 --> 01:45:48,820
This will be your second. This will be your second, Jesus.

1314
01:45:48,820 --> 01:45:52,820
I have a Will plus 1, so actually that would put me at 16 overall.

1315
01:45:52,820 --> 01:45:59,820
Shine your torch on that. So I could use it a second time, Ian, but then it's done until we do the rest.

1316
01:45:59,820 --> 01:46:05,820
Okay, so I rolled a 7 plus 3 plus 5, so 15 altogether.

1317
01:46:05,820 --> 01:46:07,820
So Steve, just you.

1318
01:46:07,820 --> 01:46:11,820
A Will roll with how many, how many Woes?

1319
01:46:11,820 --> 01:46:12,820
Just one.

1320
01:46:12,820 --> 01:46:17,820
Oh, well just one. That would be, oh yeah, so.

1321
01:46:17,820 --> 01:46:18,820
Oh yeah.

1322
01:46:18,820 --> 01:46:23,820
Yeah, see that's a very small number. So that's 2.

1323
01:46:23,820 --> 01:46:27,820
Because you gain a Trauma from this, Steve, so he's had a Trauma for the horrifying roll.

1324
01:46:27,820 --> 01:46:31,820
You instantly, with your narcolepsy, shut down.

1325
01:46:31,820 --> 01:46:34,820
You know what, that's probably the best response.

1326
01:46:34,820 --> 01:46:47,820
As usual, your, your, your resident sorcerer, your scratcher in the face of horrifying adversity has just powered down.

1327
01:46:47,820 --> 01:46:54,820
Really the most sensible response, I think, is just have a nap until it's all over.

1328
01:46:54,820 --> 01:47:00,820
All right, so summary of the situation as combat begins.

1329
01:47:00,820 --> 01:47:08,820
Your dverg sorcerer has powered down and will need to be woken up before you can do anything.

1330
01:47:08,820 --> 01:47:22,820
Your Alfar healer has gone invisible in order to avoid, avoid repercussions of standing in front of five Fangstones.

1331
01:47:22,820 --> 01:47:44,820
Gigi, Gigi is on the other side of the pit, is immune to the fear, but is separated by a gulf from Alma, who is immediately in front of five off-world creatures made of Quartz that threatened to rip her limb from limb.

1332
01:47:44,820 --> 01:47:45,820
All right.

1333
01:47:45,820 --> 01:47:48,820
Are we actually getting the gun out?

1334
01:47:48,820 --> 01:47:49,820
It's not great.

1335
01:47:49,820 --> 01:47:55,820
This reminds me of, it's just I have that strained, that, that nervous tick.

1336
01:47:55,820 --> 01:47:56,820
What was it?

1337
01:47:56,820 --> 01:47:58,820
Uncontrollable laughter.

1338
01:47:58,820 --> 01:48:03,820
Disorders and afflictions, yes, unusual behavior, uncontrollable laughter at an appropriate moment.

1339
01:48:03,820 --> 01:48:16,820
So seeing, seeing, Eir fall asleep and, and our other two friends about to be torn to tilly tilly bits, then on the other, from the other side of the chasm you hear.

1340
01:48:16,820 --> 01:48:24,820
It does echo eerily down the mineshaft.

1341
01:48:24,820 --> 01:48:33,820
And unfortunately for you alerts yet more dokkalfar who begin to swarm up from the depths.

1342
01:48:33,820 --> 01:48:35,820
Right, I remember.

1343
01:48:35,820 --> 01:48:36,820
Sure, they said.

1344
01:48:36,820 --> 01:48:39,820
Let's go to the diamond mine.

1345
01:48:39,820 --> 01:48:46,820
It will be a holiday, they said.

1346
01:48:46,820 --> 01:48:47,820
We'll get rich.

1347
01:48:47,820 --> 01:48:53,820
I mean, a fast turn, short turn, fast turn or slow turn.

1348
01:48:53,820 --> 01:48:55,820
Fast turn for Gigi.

1349
01:48:55,820 --> 01:49:01,820
And is there anything above that a rope could catch on to?

1350
01:49:01,820 --> 01:49:10,820
No, you've got to think of it as, you know, as a mineshaft, as wooden supports, you can't loop anything over the top.

1351
01:49:10,820 --> 01:49:15,820
And then I'm on the other side of a chasm and there's no way to cross it?

1352
01:49:15,820 --> 01:49:28,820
Yeah, not a chasm in the sense that that would be bottomless, but a trapping pit that was designed with a false floor to cave in when people lured by the siren song rushed in.

1353
01:49:28,820 --> 01:49:36,820
It was tripped and triggered by our two hapless heroes, but they did not plummet to the bottom.

1354
01:49:36,820 --> 01:49:42,820
Alma, well, since she's done her, she's all puffed out.

1355
01:49:42,820 --> 01:49:45,820
As in, hair, all puffed out.

1356
01:49:45,820 --> 01:49:47,820
She's done her, done her stink.

1357
01:49:47,820 --> 01:49:48,820
That doesn't work.

1358
01:49:48,820 --> 01:49:54,820
She is going to feel outnumbered.

1359
01:49:54,820 --> 01:49:57,820
And it's very rare for her to feel outnumbered.

1360
01:49:57,820 --> 01:50:09,820
She's going to, still on all fours, make a leap across the chasm.

1361
01:50:09,820 --> 01:50:13,820
OK, give me a sleight roll.

1362
01:50:13,820 --> 01:50:18,820
You may do so with a wheel using your Outlander ability.

1363
01:50:18,820 --> 01:50:25,820
And CJ, do take notice, you know, about how someone creates a stink to escape and then vaults to safety.

1364
01:50:25,820 --> 01:50:28,820
This is how you do it. I haven't seen you on all fours enough.

1365
01:50:28,820 --> 01:50:33,820
I'm glad to see CJ nodding his head.

1366
01:50:33,820 --> 01:50:35,820
I was about to insist on a wellness check.

1367
01:50:35,820 --> 01:50:39,820
He hadn't moved in a while and I was afraid he'd pass on.

1368
01:50:39,820 --> 01:50:45,820
But actually just a character died, but a participant died.

1369
01:50:45,820 --> 01:50:49,820
It would be a remarkable high point for the series.

1370
01:50:49,820 --> 01:50:55,820
But anyway, give me the critical roll.

1371
01:50:55,820 --> 01:50:58,820
So one, one, one. Do I get one weal?

1372
01:50:58,820 --> 01:51:03,820
You get one wheel and you get to add four because you are a nimble Wolverine.

1373
01:51:03,820 --> 01:51:06,820
Yeah. Good luck.

1374
01:51:06,820 --> 01:51:08,820
Oh no.

1375
01:51:08,820 --> 01:51:21,820
What a way to go. I rolled a one and my weal is a one.

1376
01:51:21,820 --> 01:51:23,820
So that is six altogether.

1377
01:51:23,820 --> 01:51:30,820
I'm going to say this, that you launch yourself into the darkness,

1378
01:51:30,820 --> 01:51:35,820
your claws scrabbling at the side of the pitch, trying to gain purchase.

1379
01:51:35,820 --> 01:51:41,820
And then into the darkness, below into the depths out of sight.

1380
01:51:41,820 --> 01:51:46,820
The fang stones gnashing at your retreating feet.

1381
01:51:46,820 --> 01:51:53,820
The last your comrade see of you is as you disappear into the darkness,

1382
01:51:53,820 --> 01:51:58,820
snapping and snarling and cursing as you do so.

1383
01:51:58,820 --> 01:52:01,820
Can we have a fly you fool's moment?

1384
01:52:01,820 --> 01:52:05,820
Yes.

1385
01:52:05,820 --> 01:52:15,820
Before the claws give out.

1386
01:52:15,820 --> 01:52:22,820
The Vikings and Valkyries podcast is hammered together by a dedicated team of skalds and smiths.

1387
01:52:22,820 --> 01:52:40,820
Please don't forget to like, share and sacrifice to the old gods.