WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.940 So when we think of a typical hero's origin story, 00:00:04.139 --> 00:00:07.099 you know, there is usually this expectation of 00:00:07.099 --> 00:00:10.279 like pristine clarity. Right. Yeah. It's very 00:00:10.279 --> 00:00:12.679 clean. It's binary. Exactly. A shimmering sword 00:00:12.679 --> 00:00:16.460 gets pulled from a stone or some wise old mentor 00:00:16.460 --> 00:00:19.199 hands down a sacred text. And the universe just 00:00:19.199 --> 00:00:21.500 neatly points and says, you know, there is your 00:00:21.500 --> 00:00:23.899 destiny. You are the chosen one or you just aren't. 00:00:24.219 --> 00:00:26.300 And that is comforting. I mean, we like our origin 00:00:26.300 --> 00:00:28.940 stories to feel ordained by something pure. But 00:00:28.940 --> 00:00:31.100 if you step into the world of neogentrics, that 00:00:31.100 --> 00:00:34.869 pristine origin story is just... Totally incinerated. 00:00:34.869 --> 00:00:36.649 Literally incinerated, yeah. Yeah, literally. 00:00:37.070 --> 00:00:39.409 So welcome back to the Neogentrics Multiverse 00:00:39.409 --> 00:00:41.310 Podcast, everyone. We are officially kicking 00:00:41.310 --> 00:00:44.229 off Season 2. Season 2, here we go. We are so 00:00:44.229 --> 00:00:46.590 excited to have you back with us. Today we are 00:00:46.590 --> 00:00:50.049 starting an exploratory deep dive into The Elementalist, 00:00:50.070 --> 00:00:52.770 which is Book 1 of the Voidmaster series. And 00:00:52.770 --> 00:00:56.149 this is going to be wild. It really is. Our mission 00:00:56.149 --> 00:00:58.350 for this deep dive is to get our first real look 00:00:58.350 --> 00:01:00.609 at the text itself. We are strictly covering 00:01:00.609 --> 00:01:04.189 part one today. So that is the prelude, the introduction 00:01:04.189 --> 00:01:06.989 to the planet Elibra, the nine elemental weapons, 00:01:07.150 --> 00:01:09.310 and then our first steps into Asnium. Right. 00:01:09.430 --> 00:01:11.489 We are just looking at the board as it's set 00:01:11.489 --> 00:01:14.549 before the major pieces really start moving around. 00:01:14.769 --> 00:01:17.150 Exactly. And I think the tonal shift we are about 00:01:17.150 --> 00:01:19.569 to experience, if you're just jumping into this 00:01:19.569 --> 00:01:22.439 universe. is staggering oh absolutely i mean 00:01:22.439 --> 00:01:25.659 it drops you in so fast we are thrust right into 00:01:25.659 --> 00:01:28.500 a universe operating on this grand deeply mythological 00:01:28.500 --> 00:01:31.879 scale we're talking galaxies and cosmic planetary 00:01:31.879 --> 00:01:35.359 defense systems but it is also um incredibly 00:01:35.359 --> 00:01:38.219 grounded yeah grounded in this suffocating intense 00:01:38.219 --> 00:01:41.420 personal tragedy the macro and the micro they 00:01:41.420 --> 00:01:43.340 just bleed into each other right from the very 00:01:43.340 --> 00:01:45.920 first page they really do And that bleed starts 00:01:45.920 --> 00:01:48.859 immediately in the prelude, right? With our introduction 00:01:48.859 --> 00:01:51.859 to the protagonist, Zerul Hamrusul. Right. We 00:01:51.859 --> 00:01:54.060 find him living way up in the Terral Mountain 00:01:54.060 --> 00:01:57.299 Range, looking down over this massive, sprawling 00:01:57.299 --> 00:02:01.510 city called Tresca. Before we even hear him speak, 00:02:01.629 --> 00:02:04.090 the physical description we get just tells this 00:02:04.090 --> 00:02:06.370 entire devastating story on its own. It really 00:02:06.370 --> 00:02:09.210 paints a picture. It does. The text tells us 00:02:09.210 --> 00:02:12.509 he's a young man, early 20s, right? But he has 00:02:12.509 --> 00:02:15.270 the hardened, weathered physique of a forester. 00:02:16.090 --> 00:02:19.270 And then there's this, like, insanely specific 00:02:19.270 --> 00:02:23.430 detail. The goatee? Yes. The goatee. The text 00:02:23.430 --> 00:02:25.469 says he has a legendary goatee that makes him 00:02:25.469 --> 00:02:27.990 look like a man in his 40s. I mean, he is 20. 00:02:28.620 --> 00:02:31.180 But he literally wears the face of a man twice 00:02:31.180 --> 00:02:33.900 his age. Which is such a classic literary device, 00:02:34.099 --> 00:02:36.439 right? Because premature aging in literature 00:02:36.439 --> 00:02:39.280 is, well, it's almost always a physical manifestation 00:02:39.280 --> 00:02:41.919 of psychological trauma. Oh, totally. Zerl hasn't 00:02:41.919 --> 00:02:44.020 just lived 20 years. He's carried 20 years of 00:02:44.020 --> 00:02:46.120 unrelenting grief. I mean, the physical labor 00:02:46.120 --> 00:02:47.759 up in the mountains, sure, that hardened his 00:02:47.759 --> 00:02:50.960 body. But the trauma has literally aged his face. 00:02:51.180 --> 00:02:53.159 He is wearing his tragedy for the world to see, 00:02:53.180 --> 00:02:55.139 basically. Exactly. Every time someone looks 00:02:55.139 --> 00:02:57.560 at him, they see that trauma. And we trace that 00:02:57.560 --> 00:03:02.280 trauma back 17 years to this horrific event known 00:03:02.280 --> 00:03:05.240 as the Cala Blaze, which killed both of his parents 00:03:05.240 --> 00:03:08.020 when he was just a little kid. Yeah. And, you 00:03:08.020 --> 00:03:10.199 know, when we hear the term forest fire, you 00:03:10.199 --> 00:03:13.960 and I, we naturally picture dry brush, high winds, 00:03:14.180 --> 00:03:16.159 maybe a bad lightning strike. Normal natural 00:03:16.159 --> 00:03:19.199 disaster stuff. Right. But the Cala Blaze was 00:03:19.199 --> 00:03:21.219 something entirely different. Yeah, the text 00:03:21.219 --> 00:03:23.680 is very deliberate in how it separates this from 00:03:23.680 --> 00:03:26.580 a natural disaster. It was not just burning timber. 00:03:26.740 --> 00:03:29.120 Not at all. It acted like rolling lava. It was 00:03:29.120 --> 00:03:32.520 raising the land with this dense, inescapable 00:03:32.520 --> 00:03:35.719 heat. It decimated hundreds of ancient trees 00:03:35.719 --> 00:03:38.939 and buildings. It claimed over 2 ,000 lives in 00:03:38.939 --> 00:03:40.879 the original city, which was called Kalamaktar. 00:03:41.080 --> 00:03:45.349 2 ,000 lives. Just... Awful. But the most horrifying 00:03:45.349 --> 00:03:48.750 detail to me is the duration. This fire, it persisted 00:03:48.750 --> 00:03:51.150 for months. Right. Just try to visualize that 00:03:51.150 --> 00:03:53.449 reality for a second. Waking up every single 00:03:53.449 --> 00:03:56.270 day for months on end to a sky that is just choked 00:03:56.270 --> 00:03:58.729 with ash. And that apocalyptic crimson glow. 00:03:59.030 --> 00:04:01.009 Yeah. The air would be completely unbreathable. 00:04:01.050 --> 00:04:02.830 The heat would just be this constant oppressive 00:04:02.830 --> 00:04:05.349 weight on you. And it didn't stop until this 00:04:05.349 --> 00:04:08.430 massive rainstorm came through. The text actually 00:04:08.430 --> 00:04:10.849 describes it as a godsend that finally extinguished 00:04:10.849 --> 00:04:13.349 it. But by then, the damage is done. Oh, yeah. 00:04:13.639 --> 00:04:16.980 For Zeryl, that psychological scar was permanently 00:04:16.980 --> 00:04:20.500 set because he knew even as a kid that a fire 00:04:20.500 --> 00:04:23.779 behaving like sentient lava for months on end 00:04:23.779 --> 00:04:26.500 is not nature. No, you don't just get lava fire 00:04:26.500 --> 00:04:28.680 naturally. Right. It was a targeted malicious 00:04:28.680 --> 00:04:32.529 attack. Which brings us, inevitably, to the architect 00:04:32.529 --> 00:04:35.310 of that attack, the villain who actually orchestrated 00:04:35.310 --> 00:04:38.649 the Calabrese. His name is King Pocha Q. Varnese. 00:04:38.970 --> 00:04:42.629 Such a great name. It is. And his physical description, 00:04:42.850 --> 00:04:46.009 it is one of the most wildly specific, vividly 00:04:46.009 --> 00:04:48.250 bizarre introductions I think I've ever encountered 00:04:48.250 --> 00:04:50.470 in fantasy literature. Oh, I completely agree. 00:04:50.589 --> 00:04:52.850 It's wild. So the text states that his height 00:04:52.850 --> 00:04:54.930 is no taller than that of a, and I am quoting 00:04:54.930 --> 00:04:57.370 here, a bear in its teenage years. Teenage bear. 00:04:57.629 --> 00:05:00.699 Right. And his body is the size of a saber wolf. 00:05:00.920 --> 00:05:02.939 Just mad. Yeah. And he has this vehement red 00:05:02.939 --> 00:05:05.800 hair resembling a raven's feather. A laugh that 00:05:05.800 --> 00:05:08.220 sounds like a raven's caw. And these azure green 00:05:08.220 --> 00:05:10.339 eyes that are visible from completely across 00:05:10.339 --> 00:05:13.279 a field. It is intense. And on top of this, like 00:05:13.279 --> 00:05:16.680 animalistic mass, he drapes himself in these 00:05:16.680 --> 00:05:19.360 foreign robes that are just covered in gold and 00:05:19.360 --> 00:05:21.980 silver jewelry, stuff he's stolen from all his 00:05:21.980 --> 00:05:25.360 conquests. The sheer chaotic amalgamation of 00:05:25.360 --> 00:05:28.620 all those animalistic traits mixed with absolute 00:05:28.620 --> 00:05:32.379 gaudy opulence is just arresting. It really is. 00:05:32.500 --> 00:05:36.360 He is described as this dense, hulking, predatory 00:05:36.360 --> 00:05:39.399 mass. Like he isn't graceful. He's not a traditionally 00:05:39.399 --> 00:05:43.079 regal villain. No. Sounds like a terrifying misshapen 00:05:43.079 --> 00:05:45.620 brute who just decided to cover himself in stolen 00:05:45.620 --> 00:05:48.439 velvet and shiny objects. I mean, I have to wonder 00:05:48.439 --> 00:05:50.920 how a guy did it like a teenage bear and a saber 00:05:50.920 --> 00:05:53.399 wolf actually effectively governs a population. 00:05:53.399 --> 00:05:55.459 Right. You would think his appearance alone would 00:05:55.459 --> 00:05:58.220 make him like a total outcast, but he is out 00:05:58.220 --> 00:06:01.279 here running an entire empire. Well, he governs 00:06:01.279 --> 00:06:03.879 entirely through intimidation. You know, it's 00:06:03.879 --> 00:06:07.500 just the raw projection of power. His monstrous 00:06:07.500 --> 00:06:10.100 nature isn't just a physical attribute for flavor. 00:06:10.259 --> 00:06:13.680 It reflects his actual cosmic threat level. Yeah, 00:06:13.800 --> 00:06:15.540 the background lore there. Right, because the 00:06:15.540 --> 00:06:18.480 text just casually drops that this king was previously 00:06:18.480 --> 00:06:20.720 captured by the Planetary Defense Squad. The 00:06:20.720 --> 00:06:23.000 Planetary Defense Squad. Yeah, and he was imprisoned 00:06:23.000 --> 00:06:25.800 for ages before he ever even arrived on this 00:06:25.800 --> 00:06:28.579 planet. So we immediately understand that his 00:06:28.579 --> 00:06:31.459 ambition is not just local politics. He is a 00:06:31.459 --> 00:06:34.680 galactic -level threat. Exactly, a galactic -level 00:06:34.680 --> 00:06:37.300 despot who just treats planets like stepping 00:06:37.300 --> 00:06:40.300 stones. He uses that terrifying fundicle presence 00:06:40.300 --> 00:06:43.000 to subjugate absolutely anyone in his path. And 00:06:43.000 --> 00:06:45.879 he is also like unimaginably petty. Oh, the pettyest. 00:06:45.939 --> 00:06:48.579 Because after he burns the original city of Kalamaktar 00:06:48.579 --> 00:06:51.959 to the ground and murders Zerl's parents in the 00:06:51.959 --> 00:06:54.519 process, he decides to rebuild the city. And 00:06:54.519 --> 00:06:56.819 name it after himself. Right. Tresca is the surrounding 00:06:56.819 --> 00:07:00.019 area, but he builds his palace, Cuvarnese, directly 00:07:00.019 --> 00:07:02.339 on top of the ashes of the old city. It is the 00:07:02.339 --> 00:07:04.839 ultimate architectural insult. He constructs 00:07:04.839 --> 00:07:07.920 this massive structure. The text says it's 10 00:07:07.920 --> 00:07:10.459 potato fields in size featuring these crystal 00:07:10.459 --> 00:07:13.660 windows that glow blindingly in the sun. 10 potato 00:07:13.660 --> 00:07:16.040 fields. I love the measurements in this book. 00:07:16.180 --> 00:07:18.639 And it has these eight cylindrical towers piercing 00:07:18.639 --> 00:07:21.720 the heavens. It is specifically designed to be 00:07:21.720 --> 00:07:24.300 aesthetically overwhelming. You know, it makes 00:07:24.300 --> 00:07:28.360 me think of a grievous infected wound. How so? 00:07:28.579 --> 00:07:30.339 Well, instead of cleaning the wound and letting 00:07:30.339 --> 00:07:32.279 it heal properly, it's like someone just slaps 00:07:32.279 --> 00:07:35.740 this incredibly ornate, beautiful, crystal -studded 00:07:35.740 --> 00:07:38.420 band -aid right over the rotting tissue. Oh, 00:07:38.439 --> 00:07:40.779 wow. Yeah. Right. It looks spectacular on the 00:07:40.779 --> 00:07:43.740 outside, but underneath, it is literally just 00:07:43.740 --> 00:07:46.620 festering trauma. And because Zerl lives way 00:07:46.620 --> 00:07:48.839 up on the Terrell Mountain Range, he is forced 00:07:48.839 --> 00:07:51.480 to look down at this shimmering monument built 00:07:51.480 --> 00:07:55.610 on his parents' graves. Every single... It's 00:07:55.610 --> 00:07:58.470 psychological torture. It is. The king even surrounded 00:07:58.470 --> 00:08:00.750 the castle with fields of moonlight fire lilies, 00:08:00.829 --> 00:08:04.269 which turns Zeril's daily view into literal psychological 00:08:04.269 --> 00:08:07.750 warfare. It acts as an unholy cenotaph to the 00:08:07.750 --> 00:08:10.910 ego of a devilish monarch. The king isn't just 00:08:10.910 --> 00:08:14.509 taking territory here. He is erasing history 00:08:14.509 --> 00:08:17.009 and replacing it with his own glorious reflection. 00:08:17.350 --> 00:08:19.430 He wants everyone to know they lost. Yeah. He 00:08:19.430 --> 00:08:21.569 wants the survivors to look down from the mountains 00:08:21.569 --> 00:08:24.920 and feel entirely insignificant. He wants Zeryl 00:08:24.920 --> 00:08:27.360 to look at those moonlight fire lilies and remember 00:08:27.360 --> 00:08:29.779 that the king turned his family into fertilizer 00:08:29.779 --> 00:08:33.519 for his garden. Oh man, that is incredibly grim. 00:08:33.659 --> 00:08:36.360 But it perfectly establishes Zeryl's singular 00:08:36.360 --> 00:08:39.080 motivation going forward. Exactly. He is just 00:08:39.080 --> 00:08:41.700 waiting for this specific astronomical event 00:08:41.700 --> 00:08:44.740 called the Aurora Anime Rebirth to finally exact 00:08:44.740 --> 00:08:47.419 his revenge. Which is a whole other cosmic lair. 00:08:47.769 --> 00:08:50.289 It is. And to understand his strategy and why 00:08:50.289 --> 00:08:52.549 a galactic tyrant like the king is even bothering 00:08:52.549 --> 00:08:54.470 with this specific planet in the first place, 00:08:54.590 --> 00:08:57.029 we have to look at the actual planetary architecture 00:08:57.029 --> 00:08:59.389 that the king is trying to hijack. Yeah, this 00:08:59.389 --> 00:09:01.509 is where Neogentrix really expands the canvas 00:09:01.509 --> 00:09:03.769 beautifully. We move from the earthly grounded 00:09:03.769 --> 00:09:06.950 politics of this egomaniacal fortress straight 00:09:06.950 --> 00:09:09.549 into the broader cosmic ecosystem of the planet 00:09:09.549 --> 00:09:13.710 Elibria. So let's break down Elibria. It is categorized 00:09:13.710 --> 00:09:16.669 as a mystic type planet. Located in the Andros 00:09:16.669 --> 00:09:18.769 Galaxy. And it sits within another dimension, 00:09:18.970 --> 00:09:21.450 right? Right. From space, it has this distinct 00:09:21.450 --> 00:09:24.750 greenish -violet appearance, mostly due to its 00:09:24.750 --> 00:09:27.649 massive vegetation, its vast oceans, and these 00:09:27.649 --> 00:09:29.730 endless mountain ranges. And it's incredibly 00:09:29.730 --> 00:09:33.190 old, well over 700 million years old. Yeah. But 00:09:33.190 --> 00:09:36.210 its defining feature, structurally, is its division 00:09:36.210 --> 00:09:39.190 into nine specific regions. And those nine regions 00:09:39.190 --> 00:09:41.870 are not merely geographical boundaries on a map. 00:09:42.090 --> 00:09:44.730 They are fundamentally tied to the nine elemental 00:09:44.730 --> 00:09:46.909 attributes that make up the planet's surface 00:09:46.909 --> 00:09:49.110 and atmosphere. Okay, let's list them. So we 00:09:49.110 --> 00:09:52.870 are looking at light, dark, fire, water, ice. 00:09:53.679 --> 00:09:56.379 Earth, stone, wind, and void. And we need to 00:09:56.379 --> 00:09:58.700 be incredibly, absolutely precise about this 00:09:58.700 --> 00:10:01.320 mechanic right now because it is the engine of 00:10:01.320 --> 00:10:03.519 the entire series. Oh, absolutely. When we talk 00:10:03.519 --> 00:10:05.100 about these elements, we're not talking about 00:10:05.100 --> 00:10:07.379 magic. No. There is no magic involved here. We're 00:10:07.379 --> 00:10:09.919 talking about the elemental arts. These are tangible, 00:10:10.139 --> 00:10:13.429 highly volatile environmental forces. That distinction 00:10:13.429 --> 00:10:16.549 is critical. The nine elemental weapons associated 00:10:16.549 --> 00:10:19.070 with these regions are not like magic wands that 00:10:19.070 --> 00:10:21.850 grant you wishes. No. And they don't simply contain 00:10:21.850 --> 00:10:25.049 a neat little pocket of fire or water. They are 00:10:25.049 --> 00:10:27.769 engineered to control and regulate the elemental 00:10:27.769 --> 00:10:30.929 powers. They keep the planet's atmospheric and 00:10:30.929 --> 00:10:34.000 geological volatility in check. It reminds me 00:10:34.000 --> 00:10:37.840 of the control rods in a nuclear reactor. That 00:10:37.840 --> 00:10:40.679 is a great analogy. Yeah, because the rod itself 00:10:40.679 --> 00:10:42.860 doesn't generate the nuclear heat, right? It 00:10:42.860 --> 00:10:45.360 absorbs the excess neutrons to stop the reactor 00:10:45.360 --> 00:10:48.360 from melting down. The text explicitly states 00:10:48.360 --> 00:10:50.299 that if one of these weapons were ever destroyed, 00:10:50.580 --> 00:10:53.120 the element it corresponds to would just run 00:10:53.120 --> 00:10:55.340 amok and ravage the surface of the planet. It 00:10:55.340 --> 00:10:57.500 would be catastrophic. Right. A destroyed stone 00:10:57.500 --> 00:10:59.320 relic wouldn't just mean you have a broken axe. 00:10:59.419 --> 00:11:01.500 It would mean civilization -ending earthquakes 00:11:01.500 --> 00:11:04.149 tearing continents apart. Yeah, it is basically 00:11:04.149 --> 00:11:07.070 an ecological regulation system disguised as 00:11:07.070 --> 00:11:10.429 mythology. Alebria is essentially this highly 00:11:10.429 --> 00:11:13.509 volatile living organism, and these nine weapons 00:11:13.509 --> 00:11:16.210 are the localized fail -safes. That completely 00:11:16.210 --> 00:11:19.210 reframes King Pasha Q. Varnus' ambition, doesn't 00:11:19.210 --> 00:11:22.330 it? Completely. He isn't collecting shiny swords 00:11:22.330 --> 00:11:24.870 so he can win duels in the courtyard. No. He 00:11:24.870 --> 00:11:27.590 is literally seizing control of the planet's 00:11:27.590 --> 00:11:30.580 atmospheric and geological control panel. If 00:11:30.580 --> 00:11:32.940 he holds the weapons, he holds the entire ecosystem 00:11:32.940 --> 00:11:35.740 hostage. And he is already making terrifying 00:11:35.740 --> 00:11:37.720 progress on that front when the book starts. 00:11:37.919 --> 00:11:40.379 The king currently controls two regions. Right. 00:11:40.460 --> 00:11:43.100 He has the stone region, which includes the mountains, 00:11:43.220 --> 00:11:45.720 and the water region, which includes the Mureth 00:11:45.720 --> 00:11:49.659 -Sarik ocean down on the Isle of Fenmar. Honestly, 00:11:49.779 --> 00:11:51.940 the way he acquired them tells us everything 00:11:51.940 --> 00:11:54.899 we need to know about his strategic brilliance. 00:11:55.059 --> 00:11:57.399 Because he didn't just march an army in and conquer 00:11:57.399 --> 00:11:59.879 them through brute force alone. Right. He is 00:11:59.879 --> 00:12:02.860 a saber wolf bear man. But he didn't just smash 00:12:02.860 --> 00:12:06.440 things. No, he utilized profound deceit. He manipulated 00:12:06.440 --> 00:12:08.940 the Water Tribe, who, the text notes, were already 00:12:08.940 --> 00:12:11.179 quite selfish to begin with, and they coveted 00:12:11.179 --> 00:12:13.480 the mountain lands into a false alliance. He 00:12:13.480 --> 00:12:15.360 promised them the Stone Tribe's territory in 00:12:15.360 --> 00:12:17.279 exchange for their help, right? Exactly. So the 00:12:17.279 --> 00:12:19.200 Water Tribe helped him wipe - wipe out the stone 00:12:19.200 --> 00:12:22.580 tribe in Kalamaktar, which is actually what caused 00:12:22.580 --> 00:12:25.940 the horrific Kalablaze. And the moment the stone 00:12:25.940 --> 00:12:27.879 tribe was annihilated, the king just immediately 00:12:27.879 --> 00:12:30.799 turns on his allies. Just instantly. He betrays 00:12:30.799 --> 00:12:33.659 the water tribe, wipes them out too, and claims 00:12:33.659 --> 00:12:35.980 both the oceanic and mountainous territories 00:12:35.980 --> 00:12:39.320 for himself. He weaponized their own greed against 00:12:39.320 --> 00:12:41.240 them. It just demonstrates that his true weapon 00:12:41.240 --> 00:12:45.139 is division. He exploits the existing prejudices 00:12:45.139 --> 00:12:47.340 and the selfishness within the elemental tribes 00:12:47.340 --> 00:12:50.259 to fracture the planet's defenses from the inside 00:12:50.259 --> 00:12:52.960 out. And because of that manipulation, the king 00:12:52.960 --> 00:12:56.399 now holds two of the physical relics. Yes. He 00:12:56.399 --> 00:12:58.460 possesses the water shield, which is known as 00:12:58.460 --> 00:13:01.299 the Oracle of Blessings, and the stone axe called 00:13:01.299 --> 00:13:03.879 the Defiler of Secrets. So that leaves seven 00:13:03.879 --> 00:13:06.779 elemental fail -safes scattered across the planet. 00:13:06.639 --> 00:13:08.799 planet. And the roster of those remaining relics 00:13:08.799 --> 00:13:11.379 is fascinating. It really is. Walk us through 00:13:11.379 --> 00:13:14.179 it. So aside from the Kings 2, we know of the 00:13:14.179 --> 00:13:16.659 wind elements Malevolent Shuriken, the earth 00:13:16.659 --> 00:13:19.440 elements Lasso called Warden's Judgment, the 00:13:19.440 --> 00:13:21.820 ice elements Fist of Reckoning, and the fire 00:13:21.820 --> 00:13:24.000 elements Twin Blades of Desolation. Okay, so 00:13:24.000 --> 00:13:25.980 those are the terrestrial relics you can physically 00:13:25.980 --> 00:13:28.759 travel to and interact with on the ground. Right. 00:13:28.879 --> 00:13:31.139 But then there are the holy weapons, light and 00:13:31.139 --> 00:13:33.679 dark. Oh, these are so cool. They present a completely 00:13:33.679 --> 00:13:35.500 different puzzle. They aren't just sitting in 00:13:35.500 --> 00:13:37.860 a cave somewhere being guarded by a local tribe. 00:13:38.340 --> 00:13:41.000 The light weapon is hidden somewhere high above 00:13:41.000 --> 00:13:43.080 the surface of the planet, up in the atmosphere. 00:13:43.360 --> 00:13:45.519 And the dark weapon is hidden deep below the 00:13:45.519 --> 00:13:49.370 surface, in... The planet's crust. Exactly. And 00:13:49.370 --> 00:13:52.250 they operate on a strict sequential lock system. 00:13:52.330 --> 00:13:54.990 You cannot even access their locations unless 00:13:54.990 --> 00:13:57.350 you possess the other six terrestrial weapons 00:13:57.350 --> 00:13:59.190 first. Which is an amazing security measure. 00:13:59.470 --> 00:14:02.450 But wait, that leaves one final attribute unaccounted 00:14:02.450 --> 00:14:04.809 for in that list, right? It does. The void. Right. 00:14:04.950 --> 00:14:08.169 The void. And this is the massive dramatic irony 00:14:08.169 --> 00:14:10.929 that Neogentrix drops on us right in part one. 00:14:11.070 --> 00:14:14.820 It's so good. Zeryl. Our grieving, traumatized 00:14:14.820 --> 00:14:17.399 protagonist unknowingly already possesses the 00:14:17.399 --> 00:14:20.019 Void Weapon. He has had it the whole time. It 00:14:20.019 --> 00:14:21.899 was left to him by his parents after the fire. 00:14:22.080 --> 00:14:24.659 It covers his entire arm, but because it doesn't 00:14:24.659 --> 00:14:26.700 actually understand what it is, it just manifests 00:14:26.700 --> 00:14:29.480 as this shifting, dark energy wrapping around 00:14:29.480 --> 00:14:32.740 him. And the symbiotic relationship between the 00:14:32.740 --> 00:14:36.539 relic and its host here is deeply, deeply unsettling. 00:14:36.659 --> 00:14:39.240 Yeah, talk about that. The text notes that as 00:14:39.240 --> 00:14:41.700 Zeryl stands up on his mountain, ruminating on 00:14:41.700 --> 00:14:44.080 everything the king has done to his life, his 00:14:44.080 --> 00:14:47.080 heart fills with rage. And as his anger peaks, 00:14:47.279 --> 00:14:49.440 the weapon physically responds to it. It feeds 00:14:49.440 --> 00:14:52.620 on it. Yes, it grows darker and darker, shrouded 00:14:52.620 --> 00:14:55.779 in the dark energy emitted by his, and this is 00:14:55.779 --> 00:14:59.019 a quote, consuming anguish. Okay, so I have to 00:14:59.019 --> 00:15:00.379 ask a question. crucial question here based on 00:15:00.379 --> 00:15:02.740 the mechanics we just established it may we agreed 00:15:02.740 --> 00:15:05.720 these relics are like nuclear control rods right 00:15:05.720 --> 00:15:08.580 they're designed to regulate volatile elements 00:15:08.580 --> 00:15:10.639 so the planet doesn't tear itself apart right 00:15:10.639 --> 00:15:14.200 but zero's void weapon is visually feeding on 00:15:14.200 --> 00:15:18.299 his raw unbridled rage If a weapon's sole purpose 00:15:18.299 --> 00:15:21.259 is to regulate and calm an element, but it is 00:15:21.259 --> 00:15:23.480 physically grafted to a host who is vibrating 00:15:23.480 --> 00:15:26.299 with violent, destructive grief, is Zerl actually 00:15:26.299 --> 00:15:28.480 corrupting the failsafe? Oh, that observation 00:15:28.480 --> 00:15:30.519 strikes at the central psychological tension 00:15:30.519 --> 00:15:32.559 of the entire narrative. Because it seems so 00:15:32.559 --> 00:15:36.340 dangerous. It is incredibly dangerous. If an 00:15:36.340 --> 00:15:38.919 ancient instrument of harmony is fueled by intense 00:15:38.919 --> 00:15:42.309 human hatred, The outcome cannot be stable. Right. 00:15:42.409 --> 00:15:45.049 The text explicitly says the weapon is covered 00:15:45.049 --> 00:15:48.250 by the dark energy emitted by his consuming anguish. 00:15:48.830 --> 00:15:52.590 Zerril thinks he's simply holding a tool to assassinate 00:15:52.590 --> 00:15:56.350 the king. A weapon for revenge. Yeah. But he 00:15:56.350 --> 00:15:59.049 might actively be destabilizing the void element 00:15:59.049 --> 00:16:01.710 on a planetary scale without realizing it. His 00:16:01.710 --> 00:16:04.429 inability to process his trauma is poisoning 00:16:04.429 --> 00:16:06.789 the very mechanism designed to keep the world 00:16:06.789 --> 00:16:09.340 safe. He is walking around with a planetary control 00:16:09.340 --> 00:16:11.879 rod, but his internal temperature is running 00:16:11.879 --> 00:16:14.799 at like a thousand degrees of pure spite. It 00:16:14.799 --> 00:16:17.100 is a catastrophic recipe. It really is. Yeah. 00:16:17.259 --> 00:16:19.940 But Zeril is completely unaware of this cosmic 00:16:19.940 --> 00:16:21.960 responsibility right now. All he knows is that 00:16:21.960 --> 00:16:24.539 he needs the other relics to stand a chance against 00:16:24.539 --> 00:16:26.799 a bear -sized king. And since the light and dark 00:16:26.799 --> 00:16:28.919 weapons are locked and the king holds water and 00:16:28.919 --> 00:16:31.440 stone, Zeril is forced to hunt down the remaining 00:16:31.440 --> 00:16:33.899 four. Which means geography dictates his next 00:16:33.899 --> 00:16:36.289 move. He heads north from the Terrell Mountains, 00:16:36.509 --> 00:16:39.669 and that physically moves our narrative into 00:16:39.669 --> 00:16:43.009 the brutal, absolute, unforgiving landscape of 00:16:43.009 --> 00:16:46.129 Esne, the volcanic province. If you thought the 00:16:46.129 --> 00:16:49.289 world building was intense before, Esne takes 00:16:49.289 --> 00:16:52.169 hostility to an entirely new level. Oh, it is 00:16:52.169 --> 00:16:54.889 insane. Daryl is walking into a literal trial 00:16:54.889 --> 00:16:59.529 by fire. This province is massive, 45 million 00:16:59.529 --> 00:17:03.059 square miles in size. That is... incomprehensibly 00:17:03.059 --> 00:17:05.819 huge. It is. And it is surrounded by nine major 00:17:05.819 --> 00:17:08.500 volcanoes, constantly venting heat and ash into 00:17:08.500 --> 00:17:11.140 the atmosphere. The environment is so extreme 00:17:11.140 --> 00:17:13.059 that the earth itself is rigged against you. 00:17:13.200 --> 00:17:15.359 I remember reading that even treading on the 00:17:15.359 --> 00:17:18.099 ground incorrectly can trigger a localized explosion. 00:17:18.380 --> 00:17:20.819 Yes. The geological pressure is that sensitive. 00:17:21.039 --> 00:17:23.759 You are basically navigating a 45 million square 00:17:23.759 --> 00:17:26.480 mile minefield where the mines are just natural 00:17:26.480 --> 00:17:28.900 geology. Exactly. And the biology of the region. 00:17:29.259 --> 00:17:31.500 It is a parade of nightmares. We are introduced 00:17:31.500 --> 00:17:33.920 to lava mammoths. Lava mammoths. We see poison 00:17:33.920 --> 00:17:36.380 worms. There are acid fish swimming in the thermal 00:17:36.380 --> 00:17:38.880 pools and turtles so toxic they are simply called 00:17:38.880 --> 00:17:40.960 fumed turtles. Everything wants to kill you. 00:17:41.099 --> 00:17:44.319 Even the vegetation is weaponized. You have obsidian 00:17:44.319 --> 00:17:48.480 palm trees and smoky gray grass. Yet, bizarrely, 00:17:48.519 --> 00:17:51.980 there are also cobalt apple trees. and alabaster 00:17:51.980 --> 00:17:54.720 melon bushes which sound incredibly alien against 00:17:54.720 --> 00:17:57.339 a backdrop of gray ash and red lava they really 00:17:57.339 --> 00:18:00.099 do but consider the evolutionary pressure required 00:18:00.099 --> 00:18:02.799 to sustain life there you know anything that 00:18:02.799 --> 00:18:05.839 survives in asneum must be completely adapted 00:18:05.839 --> 00:18:09.599 to extreme heat heavy toxicity and sudden violence 00:18:09.599 --> 00:18:11.839 it's survival of the fittest on steroids right 00:18:11.839 --> 00:18:14.839 biology in this province does not nurture it 00:18:14.839 --> 00:18:18.230 endures And that environmental harshness translates 00:18:18.230 --> 00:18:20.750 directly into the culture of the people who live 00:18:20.750 --> 00:18:23.529 at its core in the city of Soswe. Ah, Koswe. 00:18:23.849 --> 00:18:26.230 The text rightfully calls it the burning city. 00:18:26.410 --> 00:18:28.230 Because it is always on fire. Literally always 00:18:28.230 --> 00:18:31.029 on fire. It is home to the local lava tribe who 00:18:31.029 --> 00:18:33.730 call themselves the Scorpione Ardente, which 00:18:33.730 --> 00:18:36.130 translates to the burning scorpion. A very fitting 00:18:36.130 --> 00:18:38.309 name. Definitely. They are the fiercely proud 00:18:38.309 --> 00:18:40.589 guardians of the fire relic, the twin blades 00:18:40.589 --> 00:18:43.069 of desolation. But to really understand the Scorpione 00:18:43.069 --> 00:18:45.589 Ardente, we have to examine their founder, right? 00:18:45.869 --> 00:18:48.210 A figure named Eurypoma. The lore surrounding 00:18:48.210 --> 00:18:51.150 Eurypoma is exceptional because he was not born 00:18:51.150 --> 00:18:54.950 human. No, he was not. He was originally an eight 00:18:54.950 --> 00:18:57.910 -story tall red dragon with impossibly thick 00:18:57.910 --> 00:19:01.130 heat -resistant scales. Eight -story tall. Massive. 00:19:01.230 --> 00:19:03.789 But through his mastery of the elemental arts, 00:19:03.890 --> 00:19:06.210 he actually managed to transform himself into 00:19:06.210 --> 00:19:09.480 a human man. which is wild right and that allowed 00:19:09.480 --> 00:19:12.619 him to found and guide this tribe he lived for 00:19:12.619 --> 00:19:14.960 hundreds of years as their patriarch but like 00:19:14.960 --> 00:19:17.039 why would an eight -story dragon voluntarily 00:19:17.039 --> 00:19:20.380 downgrade its physical form to become human you 00:19:20.380 --> 00:19:22.720 give up flight you give up impenetrable scales 00:19:22.720 --> 00:19:25.359 and immense physical power just to walk around 00:19:25.359 --> 00:19:28.039 on two legs it seems crazy It does, but I think 00:19:28.039 --> 00:19:31.200 it speaks to a desire for legacy over mere apex 00:19:31.200 --> 00:19:33.759 predation. Oh, I like that. As a dragon, he is 00:19:33.759 --> 00:19:36.380 just a force of nature, right? But as a human, 00:19:36.440 --> 00:19:38.859 he can build a society, he can communicate complex 00:19:38.859 --> 00:19:42.480 laws, and foster a civilization. He traded invulnerability 00:19:42.480 --> 00:19:44.759 for dexterity and human connection. Makes a lot 00:19:44.759 --> 00:19:47.420 of sense. But eventually, even a dragon in human 00:19:47.420 --> 00:19:50.420 form feels the weight of centuries. When Europoma 00:19:50.420 --> 00:19:52.480 realized he was nearing the end of his life, 00:19:52.660 --> 00:19:55.220 he made a staggering decision. He didn't just 00:19:55.220 --> 00:19:58.539 quietly pass away in his sleep. No. On his deathbed, 00:19:58.660 --> 00:20:01.319 he infused his entire remaining essence, his 00:20:01.319 --> 00:20:04.039 soul, his memories, and his profound elemental 00:20:04.039 --> 00:20:07.640 abilities into a weapon that was forged directly 00:20:07.640 --> 00:20:11.220 from the earth's lava. The fire relic. Yes. He 00:20:11.220 --> 00:20:14.019 literally transformed his consciousness into 00:20:14.019 --> 00:20:17.380 the twin blades of desolation. And he left them 00:20:17.380 --> 00:20:20.119 for his son to guard, establishing a rule that 00:20:20.119 --> 00:20:22.220 the blades would wait until someone worthy arrived 00:20:22.220 --> 00:20:25.359 to claim them. which creates a terrifying trial 00:20:25.359 --> 00:20:28.819 built directly into the relic itself. The twin 00:20:28.819 --> 00:20:31.059 blades are not just an inanimate object you can 00:20:31.059 --> 00:20:34.039 simply steal or win in a duel. Not at all. They 00:20:34.039 --> 00:20:36.519 are sentient. They carry the judgment and the 00:20:36.519 --> 00:20:39.099 discerning intellect of an ancient dragon. The 00:20:39.099 --> 00:20:41.400 text explains that if the wielder is found worthy, 00:20:41.640 --> 00:20:44.359 the blades will heat up to unimaginable temperatures. 00:20:44.759 --> 00:20:46.779 They become capable of cutting through nearly 00:20:46.779 --> 00:20:49.349 any metal and turning enemies to ash. But if 00:20:49.349 --> 00:20:51.470 the user picks them up and the dragon's soul 00:20:51.470 --> 00:20:54.329 finds them unworthy. Oh boy. The blades don't 00:20:54.329 --> 00:20:57.170 just like deactivate or go heavy. No, you don't 00:20:57.170 --> 00:20:59.849 just get an error message. They instantly incinerate 00:20:59.849 --> 00:21:02.789 the user on the spot. They melt your body into 00:21:02.789 --> 00:21:05.349 nothingness before the swords themselves melt 00:21:05.349 --> 00:21:07.690 back into the earth's lava where they were forged. 00:21:07.990 --> 00:21:11.150 It is an extreme pass fail test. Yeah. Where 00:21:11.150 --> 00:21:15.130 failure guarantees immediate fiery death. It 00:21:15.130 --> 00:21:17.410 reinforces the core theme of the universe, right? 00:21:17.880 --> 00:21:21.079 The elemental arts demand absolute respect. You 00:21:21.079 --> 00:21:23.380 cannot dominate them through sheer willpower. 00:21:23.480 --> 00:21:25.480 You must harmonize with them or they will consume 00:21:25.480 --> 00:21:29.299 you. Absolutely. And the Scorpion Ardente absorbed 00:21:29.299 --> 00:21:32.640 this philosophy of fiery judgment, and they baked 00:21:32.640 --> 00:21:35.019 it right into their own legal system. Yeah, we 00:21:35.019 --> 00:21:37.259 have to talk about Europon III. He was a former 00:21:37.259 --> 00:21:39.640 leader of the city, and he took this culture 00:21:39.640 --> 00:21:42.920 of purification by fire to an absolute extreme. 00:21:43.119 --> 00:21:45.720 He was brutal. If anyone in Soswe disobeyed the 00:21:45.720 --> 00:21:48.299 laws of the tribe, They weren't merely fined. 00:21:48.299 --> 00:21:50.940 They weren't just imprisoned. Europoma III would 00:21:50.940 --> 00:21:53.240 order all their possessions burned. Right. He 00:21:53.240 --> 00:21:54.940 would burn their house to the ground. And then 00:21:54.940 --> 00:21:57.220 he would drag the lawbreaker to the center of 00:21:57.220 --> 00:21:59.420 the city and have them crucified in fire. It's 00:21:59.420 --> 00:22:02.119 so dark. The text points out that there was never 00:22:02.119 --> 00:22:05.079 a day in Miswe where a fire wasn't blazing. It 00:22:05.079 --> 00:22:08.640 is a profoundly punishing, brutal society to 00:22:08.640 --> 00:22:11.230 live in. Well, culture forged by an environment 00:22:11.230 --> 00:22:13.849 that tries to kill them daily naturally develops 00:22:13.849 --> 00:22:16.769 laws that mimic that environment. They believe 00:22:16.769 --> 00:22:19.869 fire purifies corruption through absolute destruction. 00:22:20.049 --> 00:22:23.200 Yeah. That makes sense. Yet amidst all this brutality, 00:22:23.440 --> 00:22:26.039 the explosive ground, the acid fish, the fiery 00:22:26.039 --> 00:22:28.940 crucifixions, the architecture of the world itself 00:22:28.940 --> 00:22:31.400 offers a really striking counter -narrative. 00:22:31.619 --> 00:22:33.920 Yes. I noticed this incredible contradiction 00:22:33.920 --> 00:22:36.819 in the text. Cutting straight through this 45 00:22:36.819 --> 00:22:40.799 million square mile volcanic nightmare is a narrow 00:22:40.799 --> 00:22:43.980 azure -colored river. It is such a vivid image. 00:22:44.180 --> 00:22:45.859 It stretches all the way from the distant ocean, 00:22:45.980 --> 00:22:48.640 just carving a path right through the ash and 00:22:48.640 --> 00:22:51.519 the lava. And the water in this azure river is 00:22:51.519 --> 00:22:54.019 explicitly described as being incredibly sweet 00:22:54.019 --> 00:22:56.079 tasting and nourishing. Right. It's the sole 00:22:56.079 --> 00:22:58.660 reason those strange cobalt apples and alabaster 00:22:58.660 --> 00:23:01.759 melons can even grow. It sustains the tribesmen 00:23:01.759 --> 00:23:03.640 in a place that should otherwise be completely 00:23:03.640 --> 00:23:07.400 uninhabitable. It is a profound piece of world 00:23:07.400 --> 00:23:09.440 building. I mean, why do you think an author 00:23:09.440 --> 00:23:12.039 places a perfectly sweet, life -sustaining river 00:23:12.039 --> 00:23:15.460 in the middle of literal hell? I think it proves 00:23:15.460 --> 00:23:18.079 that even in the absolute harshest environments, 00:23:19.130 --> 00:23:22.769 On Elibria, the elemental forces are never purely 00:23:22.769 --> 00:23:24.990 destructive. They want equilibrium. Exactly. 00:23:25.069 --> 00:23:27.809 They always provide a sliver of nurturing balance. 00:23:28.190 --> 00:23:31.049 Fire requires water to keep from consuming absolutely 00:23:31.049 --> 00:23:33.829 everything. Even a society built by a dragon 00:23:33.829 --> 00:23:36.950 and ruled by fiery crucifixions needs a sweet 00:23:36.950 --> 00:23:40.089 river just to survive. Yeah. The planet itself 00:23:40.089 --> 00:23:42.730 is forcing an equilibrium, constantly fighting 00:23:42.730 --> 00:23:45.009 to maintain balance, even when the people themselves 00:23:45.009 --> 00:23:47.769 forget how to. The Azure River is basically the 00:23:47.769 --> 00:23:50.720 geographical equation. Oh, I love that connection. 00:23:52.359 --> 00:23:57.059 It ties perfectly back to our understanding of 00:23:57.059 --> 00:23:59.519 the relics as ecological regulators. Which, you 00:23:59.519 --> 00:24:01.400 know, brings us to the end of our deep dive into 00:24:01.400 --> 00:24:04.779 the text of part one. It flew by. It did. And 00:24:04.779 --> 00:24:06.839 we have established some incredible stakes in 00:24:06.839 --> 00:24:09.519 just these opening chapters alone. We're looking 00:24:09.519 --> 00:24:13.509 at a grand... cosmic planet held together by 00:24:13.509 --> 00:24:16.190 a delicate web of elemental fail -safes. Right. 00:24:16.430 --> 00:24:19.769 We have a despotic, bear -sized king conquering 00:24:19.769 --> 00:24:23.309 tribes through manipulation to hijack the planet's 00:24:23.309 --> 00:24:26.349 entire ecosystem. And in the middle of it all, 00:24:26.410 --> 00:24:29.529 we have Zerol. Our grieving protagonist. A young 00:24:29.529 --> 00:24:32.410 man consumed by grief, walking into a literal 00:24:32.410 --> 00:24:36.390 trial by fire in Azeniam, carrying a void weapon 00:24:36.390 --> 00:24:39.230 that is actively feeding on his dark anguish. 00:24:39.609 --> 00:24:41.730 The tension is coiled incredibly tight right 00:24:41.730 --> 00:24:44.329 now. Every single step Zerl takes forward is 00:24:44.329 --> 00:24:46.450 fraught with physical danger from the hostile 00:24:46.450 --> 00:24:48.829 environment of Asnium. And psychological danger, 00:24:49.009 --> 00:24:51.190 too. Absolutely. The psychological danger from 00:24:51.190 --> 00:24:53.549 his own unresolved trauma corrupting his relic 00:24:53.549 --> 00:24:55.609 is arguably even worse. Well, before we wrap 00:24:55.609 --> 00:24:57.670 up, we always like to leave you with a provocative 00:24:57.670 --> 00:24:59.930 thought to mull over until next time. Something 00:24:59.930 --> 00:25:02.829 to chew on. Exactly. We spent a lot of time today 00:25:02.829 --> 00:25:04.970 talking about the terrestrial survival in this 00:25:04.970 --> 00:25:07.250 book, how to survive lava, how to survive a tyrant, 00:25:07.309 --> 00:25:10.289 how to survive your own grief. Right. But think 00:25:10.289 --> 00:25:13.009 back to the trial of the Twin Blades of Desolation. 00:25:13.170 --> 00:25:16.130 The pass -fail test. Yes. The text explicitly 00:25:16.130 --> 00:25:19.769 says they incinerate anyone deemed unworthy by 00:25:19.769 --> 00:25:23.049 the spirit of the ancient dragon Uropoma. Okay, 00:25:23.190 --> 00:25:25.910 yeah. But what does a sentient weapon forged 00:25:25.910 --> 00:25:28.710 by an ancient dragon actually consider worthy? 00:25:28.950 --> 00:25:31.829 Oh, that is a great question. Is it moral goodness? 00:25:32.390 --> 00:25:36.180 Is it physical strength? Or is it simply the 00:25:36.180 --> 00:25:39.599 sheer burning willpower to survive? Wow. And 00:25:39.599 --> 00:25:42.000 if it is just about willpower, Zerol is currently 00:25:42.000 --> 00:25:44.539 drawing all of his willpower from a well of dark 00:25:44.539 --> 00:25:47.079 vengeance. So does the dragon respect vengeance? 00:25:47.839 --> 00:25:51.180 Precisely. Will Euripoma's soul recognize Zeryl's 00:25:51.180 --> 00:25:54.059 rage as a worthy fire, or will it see the corruption 00:25:54.059 --> 00:25:56.619 of the void and burn him to ash? That is terrifying 00:25:56.619 --> 00:25:59.039 to think about, a dragon passing judgment on 00:25:59.039 --> 00:26:01.140 your trauma. Let that thought simmer in your 00:26:01.140 --> 00:26:03.359 mind, everyone, because you are not going to 00:26:03.359 --> 00:26:05.059 want to miss what happens next. Definitely not. 00:26:05.279 --> 00:26:08.000 In our next deep dive, we are crossing the threshold 00:26:08.000 --> 00:26:11.039 into part two of The Elementalist. We're going 00:26:11.039 --> 00:26:14.759 to see exactly how Zerul Homrusul handles the 00:26:14.759 --> 00:26:17.619 trials of fire and whether that sweet azure river 00:26:17.619 --> 00:26:19.900 is enough to keep him from burning up completely. 00:26:20.200 --> 00:26:22.359 It only gets more intense from here. It really 00:26:22.359 --> 00:26:24.900 does. Keep reading, keep questioning, and we 00:26:24.900 --> 00:26:26.900 will see you back here next time as we plunge 00:26:26.900 --> 00:26:29.339 even further into the Neogentrix multiverse.