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Give the gift of a great story to

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any fantasy lover this holiday season. Y'all,

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after years of just doing

0:47

flaming hot Cheetos, regular

0:49

Cheetos do nothing for me. Oh no. They

0:53

do nothing for me. You've become too

0:55

powerful. The

0:59

subtle Cheeto flavor is not

1:01

pleasing to your bouquet. Cheese,

1:05

yeah, cheese, cheese talcum

1:08

powder. No, not doing it anymore.

1:12

Okay. Um, so? James,

1:14

we're talking about Cheetos, please. Please.

1:17

Please. Please, my guy. Let's,

1:26

let's anger a

1:28

shopkeep. Let's

1:50

do it. I see. We're gonna be nice. Let's

1:54

stall out this campaign. I'm

1:59

gonna pick a fight. with everybody that I see. I

2:03

think it takes a little bit

2:05

to get your bearings. This

2:08

is not a place

2:10

that labels many of

2:12

the businesses. You

2:15

can see there are signposts out

2:17

front of most of the buildings,

2:19

but very few of them actually

2:22

have the signs hanging right now.

2:26

There's, I think, a tavern is marked. The

2:32

church, obviously, is marking all

2:34

of its buildings. Certain red feather

2:36

offices are marked, but there are

2:38

a lot of blank spaces. And

2:40

I think it does not take

2:43

too much. Based on

2:45

just the presence numbers

2:47

that we have for our whole group

2:49

here, you kind of know

2:51

that people are looking at you. There's

2:55

kind of a quizzical questioning

2:57

look as they look at you. They

3:00

don't appear alarmed. They do appear

3:02

a little confused. And

3:05

eventually, somebody in

3:07

a mask wearing a red

3:09

coat goes, well, hello

3:11

there. Oh, yes. Good

3:14

afternoon. The

3:17

captain pushes John out the way. I don't

3:19

like engage. Sorry. Sorry if I stepped

3:21

in your place. You

3:25

snapped to attention. Let's go. Ah, it's

3:27

a pleasure. It's a fine, slightly

3:30

chilly weather we're having. There

3:32

is an elegant white gloved

3:34

hand that Julian

3:36

offers the person. OK,

3:39

you have gloves on.

3:41

Yeah, I mean, it's cold. So we

3:43

have gloves on, not knowing the custom, but hey,

3:46

it's cold. You wear gloves when it's cold. Yeah.

3:49

Also, we were already

3:51

here for the tattoo. But

3:54

the tattoo happened at night. That

3:58

was in the evening, I believe. Which,

4:01

you know, even if we didn't establish that in

4:03

the past, I think it is

4:05

to your benefit a little bit to our

4:07

narrative benefit so we can explain

4:09

everything. Fair. Well,

4:13

I'm... Apologies, it's just

4:15

not the season for privateers. And

4:19

I did not receive any information

4:22

in the ports of visitors coming.

4:25

No, no. I'm sorry.

4:28

This is probably going to be the end time

4:30

today I've had to explain this to locals. We

4:32

were on a bit of a... How should we put

4:34

this? An extended family

4:37

tour and we seem to have got

4:39

some visitors off track. Where are the

4:41

bathrooms? I'm hungry. Where are the bathrooms?

4:43

I'm hungry. It's

4:45

so hungry. There are very

4:48

few public privies available if

4:50

that's what you're looking for.

4:53

Oh gosh, I'm gonna throw a fit if I

4:55

can't use a bathroom right now. You

4:59

may wish to try the

5:03

tavern establishments, I believe, for

5:06

paying customers, of course, but they

5:08

might be able to get you

5:10

what you need. I'm afraid the

5:12

inns are closed at the moment.

5:15

I hope you won't be too put out

5:17

by staying on your ships. That

5:20

would be fine. That would be

5:22

fine. In fact, why don't we... Would

5:26

you mind, Thomas, taking

5:28

charge, wrangling my child

5:31

for the time being and making sure

5:33

that he's seen to... I

5:35

talked to the nice gentleman here about maybe...

5:37

Oh, forgive me. And some

5:39

stone. Stone, you

5:41

said. Pleasure stone. I'm Lava-less,

5:43

it's a pleasure. Of

5:47

course, I would recognize a

5:50

northern name. You must

5:52

be from the Azure region. I

5:54

would like to doing this in advance because I

5:56

think it's definitely gonna color how the conversation is

5:58

going to go. get

8:00

below the hemisphere, we're half the direction of

8:02

the whole over the shop. But

8:04

I figured, since we are taking a bit of

8:06

a detour, it'd be nice to do a little

8:08

bit of sightseeing. Uh, instill in

8:11

my child here some local cultures. And

8:13

that's right, would you like to learn

8:15

about the local culture? I'm

8:18

hungry! Janet stops. Well, it certainly is.

8:22

Anyways, teach the young

8:24

one about the values of hard work. Let

8:26

this whole area be a lesson to you,

8:28

my dear boy. What

8:32

is this whole area's deal? Why

8:38

this is a place that young people end

8:40

up if they aren't diligent and careful in

8:42

their work and study. Oh,

8:45

does Janet, in kind

8:47

of walking to where we are now,

8:49

did Janet see any kids or people

8:53

around his age or lower? You

8:55

have not seen any children.

9:00

Yeah. This

9:04

place, as it were, Sorrow's

9:06

End is a

9:09

reformatory colony. We

9:12

have established this as the

9:15

syndicate, and he indicates

9:17

to some syndicate

9:20

pips and stripes that, like, you

9:22

are clearly talking to a

9:25

red feather-like mid-level

9:27

manager. This is somebody who

9:29

handles paperwork and accounting and

9:31

whatnot for the red feather

9:33

syndicate. We have established

9:35

this place to allow unfortunate

9:37

and uncareful

9:40

souls an opportunity to free

9:42

themselves from their

9:44

debts and the onerous

9:49

pail that they have put upon society by, of

9:52

course, working it off. And

9:54

it produces useful goods available to the

9:57

whole sphere. There's

10:02

a level of like gridded

10:04

teeth that Johnnett has to like

10:07

work against, but then it's like you

10:10

don't say and what kind

10:13

of goods are made here. Anything

10:18

that's- Well, you are looking at them, my dear boy,

10:20

and he stands

10:23

back and you can see like

10:25

his outfit. One

10:27

of the things that is really striking about

10:30

a lot of the decorations here is

10:32

the colors are so

10:34

very vibrant. Everything

10:37

looks new. You

10:40

know, Oramar has a red

10:43

feather jacket that is

10:45

his like primary coat that he

10:48

wears in many places, but

10:50

the reds on that look so much duller

10:53

than the reds that you are looking

10:55

at here. We

10:57

produce red, the

11:00

red, now on

11:02

every flag, every jacket, every

11:05

insignia around the whole of

11:07

the rediscovered world. There

11:09

are of course a few lesser pigments also

11:11

produced here, but red feather

11:14

crimson, that only comes from one

11:16

place in the world. These factories that

11:18

you see here, these factories

11:20

which allow people the opportunity to

11:22

no longer become

11:25

a drain on society and instead

11:28

become one of its great assets.

11:31

Oh yes, I do believe in getting the best

11:33

out of the people that like to work for

11:35

you. Oh, indeed. I

11:39

tell

11:44

you what, Mr. Stone, how

11:47

about you take me on a little

11:49

bit of a shopping tour, and

11:51

you stop for a break of cheese

11:53

and wine, and you maybe

11:56

let my child and the

11:59

head go help find

12:01

the facilities. Well,

12:04

it would be terribly rude of me

12:06

to turn away a privateer who's visiting

12:08

our humble city. Of course,

12:10

I'd be happy to. Immediately

12:12

Arma kind of like glances away

12:15

from stone at Gable

12:18

with the most like, I'm so sorry.

12:20

It's just given. It's just given. These

12:25

must be done for the circumstances ahead. Yes,

12:29

yes, please. I would very much

12:31

appreciate. Also, I

12:33

did see a lot of people in, I suppose,

12:36

the working garb. Wouldn't it

12:38

be funny? Absolutely delightful

12:41

for us to go and buy a set of

12:43

the clothes. So you know, in

12:45

the little lad here is acting out of

12:47

line. I can show the outfit, threaten,

12:49

not threaten. I could never threaten my child,

12:51

but you know, show them what could

12:53

be if they continue to act out

12:56

of line. It gives you a look and accompanies

12:58

it with a little swat that is like, oh, you're

13:00

so very bad. Of

13:04

course, my dear sir, especially you

13:07

dropping in on announced in

13:09

this way. There are many things that

13:11

you are not familiar with. You will,

13:13

of course, need a mask and so

13:15

much else. And he like starts

13:17

to go through like

13:20

the things that you will

13:22

have to get as he leads Oramar

13:24

away. I'm going to turn to Gable

13:26

and Janet for the moment. Oramar

13:29

has been led away. You

13:32

now have really wherever

13:34

you want to go, whatever you want to do. Out

13:39

of game, should we hit on like go somewhere?

13:43

Because I feel like this is probably a

13:45

good opportunity to like explain the

13:48

curse that afflicts everybody. All

13:51

you need to do is meet people. That

13:53

will come forth. Get

13:55

the lay of the land. Let your characters

13:57

gather information and in turn the audience.

14:00

do so. Words. Is

14:02

there, I think John is like,

14:04

I've turned to Gable like, I

14:06

want to see where they make this red. We

14:09

can do anything you want since I'm your

14:11

nanny apparently. I did not say that.

14:13

I did not say that. You saw

14:15

who said that. I'm gonna throw shit

14:17

fit. Alright. You take that up with

14:19

your captain. I'm gonna throw shit fit once

14:22

we get home. I'm

14:24

going, hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo. That team

14:29

said I agree with you and I'll

14:31

play the part. I'll try to do

14:33

it. But he will do

14:35

it. Alright. I want to

14:37

see the red. Take me to the red.

14:40

He stops again. Yes, young

14:42

sir. And

14:44

then John kind of keys in and is like, oh,

14:46

you know what we haven't done in, I guess,

14:49

a year's time? Then he

14:51

goes, I want to go up. I

14:53

want to be on your shoulder. You are

14:56

so much taller. I know. Yes,

14:59

young sir. And Gable

15:01

just like, not struggled,

15:03

but you are so much longer.

15:06

Yeah. This

15:09

is like nine and a half feet two

15:11

now. Like, you are, you

15:13

on Gable's shoulders is a lot. I

15:16

feel like it finally results in like,

15:18

the best effort that we can make

15:21

is like, it's a full fireman's carry.

15:24

John is just horizontal. Pretending

15:27

like this is a very

15:29

normal way to take care of children,

15:32

just shoulder over shoulder like a sex

15:34

potato. Once

15:36

around the park, it's

15:38

a new parenting technique you see in

15:41

Psalm 3. Are

15:44

you following us or are you going with? You

15:46

have split your separate ways. Yeah.

15:48

But James, are you following? I'm following you

15:50

guys for right now. So

15:54

we'll turn you towards you. We want to

15:56

see the red. The factories are quite obvious.

15:58

All of the red feather bill. I'm

18:00

begging you to take the answer.

18:02

A presence check. Whom? This

18:05

is John it. John it, this

18:07

is like your thing. Though add

18:09

your relationship die with Gable for

18:12

this. Let's see.

18:15

So you're going to be adding

18:17

another D8 to this, but

18:20

make sure it is separate from the other

18:22

D8s that you roll because that one has a

18:24

different chart to it. Okay.

18:27

So it's got to be how

18:30

many? How many D8s? So

18:32

you've got one in presence. Gotcha.

18:35

Uh-huh. And

18:41

then if you're adding anything or whatnot, but

18:43

Gable is part of this, so you'll also

18:45

be rolling a relationship die for Gable and

18:47

the results of that will add to the

18:49

results. And you can spend points from presence

18:52

to either increase the value of one of

18:54

those dies or make a new one if

18:56

you spend two. I

19:00

will spend and I

19:02

think that actually takes me going

19:05

off of my system that I have. I

19:07

think I'm out of presence if I spend

19:10

on this. Did you refresh everything before we

19:12

started? No. Yeah.

19:14

All right. Well then I'm back. And

19:16

fresh baby. Cool. Well

19:18

then I'm spending one presence. Okay.

19:21

Okay. So

19:24

you're going to be rolling a D12 and a D8. Okay.

19:28

So that is a seven

19:30

and an eight. That's a 15. Okay.

19:33

Wait a minute. Seven. Yeah. And

19:35

yeah, we don't need to add

19:37

them together. Gotcha. Seven's

19:41

on the D12, right? The

19:43

D12 was a seven. The D8 was an eight. An

19:45

eight. Oh, okay. Great.

19:49

So this is going to add to

19:52

your check so that is yet another success.

19:55

So three successes on this.

19:58

You also get a bit... of

20:00

transform, which is really

20:03

cool. This is our first time encountering

20:05

one of these results on our relationship

20:07

die. So what

20:10

transform is going to do for you is

20:12

this role, you

20:16

are leveraging your

20:18

relationship with Gable and the way that

20:20

you work together to make

20:23

this role. And I think

20:25

as time is passing and the way

20:27

that you have leveraged relationship in this

20:29

way, things have changed a little bit.

20:31

So yes, you've checked off one box

20:33

of transform. What you

20:35

are kind of realizing is this

20:38

dynamic, this young

20:41

kid and caretaker dynamic that you

20:43

have established with Gable is

20:46

serving you less fluidly than

20:48

it used to. Way

20:51

back in Nordia, this was

20:53

the play. John, it was

20:55

a smaller kid, but you've

20:57

taken on some inches and pounds.

20:59

You have the faint whisperings of

21:02

a mustache now. It

21:05

used to feel really natural to do

21:07

this with Gable. This was a great

21:09

grift for you. It

21:11

feels more awkward this time and it may

21:13

give you pause as you do it next

21:15

time. So yeah, that

21:18

is, you've got one tick of

21:20

transform the,

21:23

let's see, captain's

21:25

council. And so that

21:27

is also sort of standing in for

21:29

how Gable relates to the core

21:32

captain's council too. But

21:35

regardless, the gambit pays off in

21:38

this circumstance. There are

21:40

these two hapless

21:43

guards watching clearly

21:45

a very entitled

21:48

child, which can only

21:50

be the result of a very rich parent

21:53

pushing around a caretaker.

21:57

They have their orders, but they

21:59

also know. That they can't allow

22:01

this continue because it's gonna

22:03

get somebody in trouble. Will

22:06

Although strangers strangers strangers I could go

22:08

to. The. Reason

22:10

that we wait for a as you

22:13

know the season for privateers to come

22:15

through. The factories are normally safe to

22:17

look through. We oughta shut down operations

22:19

for for for a day or so

22:21

at least to make the harrys and

22:23

reasonable for folks wound up fitted. But

22:26

if you want to see the read,

22:28

that is something that we can probably

22:30

do for your. Arms Love

22:32

To Series and. There

22:35

there isn't a a i'm a mask

22:37

that is. Is. Sick enough

22:39

for me to to put on that would

22:41

protect me from there. The air. Ah

22:44

vey, the guards can assure a

22:47

work of those sweaty. Oleg.

22:50

We can't be responsible

22:52

sutton happens to you.

22:54

So what happens to

22:56

what happens? You

23:00

know ah we're going affect somebody.

23:02

were going fed somebody that could

23:05

be able to answer all your

23:07

questions. Do to come this way

23:09

and they lead you over to

23:11

one as the unmarked like store

23:13

fronts the doesn't have a sign

23:15

hang out in front of it.

23:17

the other guard returns and time

23:19

with like a set of keys

23:21

and another person who. Looks

23:23

to be like they have just

23:25

changed out of work clothes or

23:28

like the outer layers of work

23:30

clothes and thrown a red feather

23:32

jacket that like kind of sits

23:34

on top of it's they're still

23:36

wearing a mask but like this

23:39

is. From. What you can

23:41

tell because a lot is covered like

23:43

their hair is tied up. they've got a

23:45

mask on. This is a young woman

23:47

who looks to be like in and a

23:50

her late twenties. Greets

23:52

you to. Hi. There! Hello.

23:56

welcome to sorrows and i'm so sorry that

23:58

we weren't ready to agree you today, I

24:00

thought I had a different duty. The

24:04

door pushes open and

24:06

like light from the outside

24:09

streams into the room. She begins to

24:11

light the lanterns around as like one

24:13

guard now stands outside of the shop,

24:15

the other goes to the entrance to

24:17

the factory. So

24:21

normally we don't have

24:23

a lot of our displays up because

24:25

again, we weren't expecting a customer. Out

24:27

of season, out of season. But we

24:30

can take orders and whatnot and I would

24:32

be happy to walk you

24:35

through our processes here at Sorrows

24:37

and where... First

24:39

of all, my name is

24:41

Ariel. Where can

24:43

I ask? Do you all hail from? Tell

24:50

her where we hail from. This

24:53

is not part of our exercises. Well,

24:56

this is the young sir. Young

25:01

sir. This is the

25:04

young sir. Oh

25:07

wait, oh wait. I'm the

25:09

captain's son, Labalesque. Yes,

25:13

the young sir Labalesque. The

25:15

Thiago Lancaster Labalesque. Yes,

25:18

the name gets ever longer with

25:21

time. And I

25:23

am... Gable

25:25

is doing a bunch of math in their head of

25:27

like, I can't be Thomas because

25:29

Thomas was supposed to be a name

25:33

that people don't know yet and then they

25:35

know that I'm Thomas. So there's a lot of like

25:38

algebra growing across their face. And so

25:42

Gable says, and I'm... Tom.

25:51

Tom? I'm

25:53

Tom. Oh. Of

25:56

course. I'm Tom. Tom.

25:59

Well, yeah. You're

26:01

Tom, it's okay, you're Tom. It's

26:04

happened, we're in it now, you're Tom. Young

26:08

Sir LaBoleste and Tom,

26:11

welcome to Sorrows End.

26:16

This is one of the

26:18

most productive and

26:21

unique pigment production operations in

26:23

the whole of Sphear. Our

26:26

pigments cannot be found anywhere

26:28

else and many of

26:31

them are highly in demand. So

26:33

if you are here to pick up

26:35

new cargo or indeed new

26:39

pigments for garments or pre-dyed

26:41

garments, you have found one

26:44

of the most special places in all of

26:46

Sphear. And

26:50

why and before this,

26:52

Tom, you can put me down. It's

26:56

just like a real slumping

26:59

zap potatoes. Hit the ground, pop

27:01

back up. Why

27:06

is it so rare

27:09

to find this particular dye?

27:12

I mean it's gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous,

27:14

but why is it so

27:17

hard to come by anywhere else in Sphear? As

27:20

you are saying this, you can walk

27:22

by displays

27:25

that are up of,

27:27

they'll have under glass

27:29

certain powders and above

27:31

it fabric swatches of

27:34

different ways things are dyed or paint

27:36

swatches of how it can be mixed

27:39

into painting mediums. And

27:41

there are also displays of ink

27:43

and whatnot just showing off red

27:45

feather crimson in all of

27:48

the ways that it can be put to use. There

27:51

are also definitely

27:53

places where you can

27:55

see Solatrista blue dye

27:58

that is paler. We

34:00

have hopes of eventually creating artificial conditions

34:03

where we'll be able to grow this

34:05

fungus, or at least moving it to

34:07

a band and

34:09

sphere closer to Aurum.

34:12

But for the time being, it only

34:14

exists here. This fungus

34:16

only grows in certain areas, though

34:19

I'm happy to report. We are

34:21

slowly figuring out ways to expand

34:24

those areas where we can harvest

34:26

from. It matures into

34:28

a stage where it produces something

34:30

like a berry, full of a

34:33

thick and viscous substance that we can

34:36

distill down through our various processes into

34:39

this powdered pigment. From

34:41

there, we can use that to make all of

34:44

our wonderful dyes, including the dye

34:46

for syndicate red.

34:49

It's a sensitive harvesting process.

34:52

Because berries can only be

34:54

harvested at an adolescent stage.

34:57

If it progresses too far,

34:59

this fungus will actually begin to

35:01

spore. At that point,

35:04

it can become quite dangerous to

35:06

be around. The raw

35:08

juice of the fruit of the

35:10

berries, as it were, is also

35:13

quite dangerous, but obviously as it

35:15

cannot be taken in through the

35:17

lungs, that danger is somewhat mitigated.

35:21

Through proper equipment

35:24

and whatnot, it can safely

35:26

be distilled. So,

35:29

we set up our operations to

35:31

harvest the berries, bring the berries.

35:34

So sorry for interrupting. You may continue.

35:36

I was, I am so

35:38

desperately searching for a bathroom, so

35:40

I apologize if I lost my

35:42

attention, but please continue. Oh,

35:45

a restroom, facilities?

35:47

Yes. I,

35:49

one of the guards

35:51

could, Angelo, could

35:54

you guide our... grateful

38:00

for the chance to finish

38:03

my term, work hard,

38:06

finish my term, and return

38:08

to where I once lived.

38:10

Well, yes, hopefully that happens.

38:14

Those two last two years fly by. You

38:17

said that the syndicate is

38:20

becoming interested in producing

38:22

other kinds of colors.

38:25

Why is that something that they would

38:28

want to get, it seems like,

38:31

if it's so beautiful and not broke,

38:33

why try to fix or expand upon

38:35

it? Why get out of red?

38:38

Well, it's not

38:40

a decision to leave red

38:43

behind. Thanks

38:45

to the esteemed Edith

38:47

Truss, who leaves this

38:49

operation here in

38:52

Sorrows End, we have increased

38:54

production by 200% in the

38:56

past five years. We

39:00

expect to produce it by

39:02

at least 200 more in

39:05

the next year if Edith's

39:08

vision is to be seen to completion.

39:11

That will obviously call for

39:13

a larger workforce and

39:16

greater investment here, but that also

39:18

means that we will have

39:20

such an excess of the pigment

39:23

needed to produce syndicate red that

39:26

we will be able to use that

39:28

pigment in the creation of other pigments,

39:31

which, again, we

39:34

are obviously, this

39:36

is something that belongs to the

39:38

minds at the top, as it were. They've

39:41

only told us of the plans and how excited

39:43

they are and how they

39:45

are sure that our customers will

39:48

also be excited of these plans,

39:50

as there will be so many

39:52

other wonderful hues available to purchase

39:54

and ship across the whole of

39:57

Sphear. carry

42:00

some penalty for her. I

42:05

feel like John is probably going to go

42:07

the way of like, hey,

42:10

there's no one else here. I've already kind of

42:12

asked you like, how do you feel about this?

42:15

Is there a world where we can see kind of eye

42:17

to eye? I'll

42:19

drop some of my mask if you drop some of your mask.

42:22

All right. What I believe, I believe

42:25

to do it that way, that

42:27

is going to be a bedeviling check.

42:30

So that'll be against three black dice.

42:33

However, if you succeed at that role,

42:35

I think you are going

42:37

to get a lot more forthcoming

42:39

and honest information out of this.

42:42

What am I, geez, what am I rolling? So

42:46

I would say this starts kind

42:48

of at presence, right? Like

42:51

you are. Well,

42:53

I'm going to spend, all right.

42:55

So we just got one D8 and then

42:57

I'm going to upgrade. Taking the

42:59

two will add a D6 to that? Yeah.

43:03

Okay. So that is 10. Again,

43:06

you don't need to add them together. I'm sorry. Tell

43:09

me. The D8 is a 4 and the 6 is a 6. Wow.

43:14

Lucky, lucky roll here. I

43:17

don't get anything to challenge you. And

43:21

let me see here. What

43:23

did you say the D6 was? The

43:26

6 is a 6. 6 is a 6. Okay.

43:29

And D8 was a 4. Okay.

43:35

This is just an

43:37

opportunity here. So

43:40

we need to turn to the luminaries as this

43:42

roll became a wash. Who?

43:47

A wash. I

43:50

pull up the union on my

43:52

roll. That is fulfillment,

43:54

harmony, wholeness, love, and community.

44:00

And at this point, Johnnett

44:02

is 17 years old. 16

44:08

mentally? Yeah, 16 mentally. Let's

44:12

say that this person

44:14

is 19, so

44:17

it's not entirely weird

44:21

if this person were to have some kind of

44:23

attraction to Johnnett. I think

44:25

based on this, especially because the

44:27

union was one of the cards

44:29

that we had determined sort

44:32

of embodies the community

44:34

of this place. I

44:36

think you have everything you need,

44:38

but this is a success. You

44:41

also got an opportunity and a fate

44:44

on top of that. So mark a fate

44:46

for yourself. I'll just

44:48

need you to tell me, how is Johnnett making

44:52

it clear that he was kind of

44:54

putting on a persona earlier? How is

44:57

he allowing this person to like lower

45:00

her defenses and be a little bit

45:02

honest about her position? I think

45:04

there's like a, there's

45:07

a vocal register like change

45:09

that I think started

45:11

to come on by accident on

45:14

the player's part when Gable left.

45:16

But I think in

45:18

asking the question of like, what

45:22

was your mistake?

45:24

The syndicate does

45:28

lay some form of claim on

45:30

people's lives, whether just

45:33

or otherwise, but when

45:37

it comes to you, do you feel as though

45:40

what you're doing here is deserved? Mr.

45:44

LaBorast, my

45:47

story is my own. I

45:50

would not feel right telling it on company

45:52

time, but if it is something that

45:54

you truly wish to know, I

45:56

believe I could make some time after

45:59

work is done if you would like

46:01

to meet up with me at one

46:04

of the establishments nearby. What

46:06

time is your shift over? Usually

46:08

things when the sun starts to set,

46:11

my shift wraps up our operations and hands

46:13

it off to the next. That

46:17

is another unique thing about our

46:19

operation here. It

46:22

never stops, never truly ceases.

46:25

We run in shifts and

46:28

our lives are divided up

46:30

only meeting at sunrise and

46:32

sunset between certain groups. Once

46:35

again, the feeling of

46:37

Truss' design. Okay,

46:40

this Truss, my

46:43

crew is ported

46:45

up for that time and

46:48

I think if there's

46:50

a time and a place I can

46:52

be there to meet. If

46:55

you would like to meet with me, then I would

46:57

be happy to spare the time to meet with you.

47:02

I think we'll cut from there

47:05

over to, I feel

47:08

like Gable's going to get themselves into trouble so I'm

47:11

going to meet up. We could

47:13

just say Gable went to the bathroom and came back.

47:15

He came back. That's true. That is

47:17

totally true. Let's cut over to Oramar. That was

47:19

a little jokey joke for me. Show,

47:21

show. You

47:24

are being walked around this

47:26

town and he's

47:28

explaining certain things. We

47:31

operate in a seasonal way, you know.

47:34

There are batches of certain

47:38

pigments that are made available

47:40

and that's when most privateers

47:43

come down to do their

47:45

bidding, as it were. So

47:48

you're coming now, you're caught between

47:51

an advantage and a disadvantage, I

47:53

think. Oh my, you mean

47:55

there was a position where I might be able

47:57

to get first pickings? That would be very good.

48:00

Very delightful. Exactly.

48:04

Interesting position. Obviously, we'd have to

48:06

talk to Miss Truss, but I

48:08

think you and her would get

48:11

along famously. We

48:14

are currently in the middle

48:16

of a bit of experimentation.

48:18

We've slowly been expanding

48:21

our operations, don't you know, for

48:23

the past several years, and we're

48:25

ready to premiere some new products.

48:28

Untested, mind you. But

48:32

a clever salesperson might be able

48:34

to make quite a bit of profit

48:36

having new pigments

48:38

unavailable anywhere else. I

48:41

see. It's always nice to be part

48:43

of the sample collection. Before

48:47

we get to all of that, we must make you

48:49

presentable. As I've said, because

48:51

we're between seasons, most of the

48:53

shopping is closed and most of

48:56

the buildings don't advertise because it's

48:58

all things that people in this

49:00

area need to buy

49:02

every day. If you live your life here,

49:04

you work your life here, you know where

49:06

to get your meats and your breads and

49:09

your beers and whatnot. So there

49:11

isn't much advertising. It all flows

49:13

back to the feathers anyway. So

49:17

we don't have front-facing operations,

49:19

but if you know the

49:21

right people, he goes

49:24

over and he knocks on a door

49:28

and you see another

49:30

laborer inside. This

49:33

person appears to have

49:36

almost dark red eye

49:39

shadow around their eyes.

49:41

They're pretty tightly bound

49:44

up, but

49:46

they have very thin leather

49:48

gloves on and are still

49:52

completely enshrouded. Hello

49:55

there. Oh! I'm

49:57

sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

52:00

Uh, be too careless

52:02

with the way you manage your

52:04

finances, don't end up as

52:06

a laborer here, and as a laborer

52:08

here who can't seem to work their

52:10

way out, uh, then you

52:13

can come down with something

52:15

quite dreadful. I don't

52:17

know all the symptoms, I'm sure one

52:20

of these rabble would be able to tell you

52:22

more about it. Ah, but

52:25

the important thing is you will

52:27

need a mask, and it is

52:29

good to expose as little skin

52:31

as possible in common places,

52:34

especially around the factories, you

52:36

know. Of course, of course,

52:38

that seems like a very sensible suggestion,

52:41

uh, hopefully my child has

52:43

been informed of such things

52:45

as taking appropriate precautions. Such

52:47

a precocious young lad, you know. Well,

52:50

he will pick up everything he

52:52

should need here. Marvelous. We'll

52:54

be making sure to have some for the three

52:56

of us, and we do have a few travelling

52:58

companions that might be running

53:00

exterior to the ship ahead. I think

53:02

they're more of the kind that like to

53:04

stay in creature comforts rather

53:07

than go exploring dull, you understand? But

53:09

they should make sure there are some

53:11

additional masks. Yes, of course,

53:14

of course. I'm sure you could

53:16

put in an order in Barnabas

53:18

and his crew will be able

53:20

to put together anything you might

53:22

need. May I ask, where are

53:24

you ported? Again, I wasn't informed.

53:26

I am acting port master of

53:28

the area, and we don't expect

53:30

any shipments to be passing through.

53:32

Obviously, you came here on a

53:34

lock for your holidays,

53:37

but, you know, I

53:39

wouldn't want you to be travelling too far. No,

53:43

no, no. We're going

53:45

a shorter distance away.

53:47

But I must thank

53:49

you for being so kind and forthright.

53:51

And in fact, I

53:53

was going to in our initial

53:56

meeting make sure

53:58

that things were settled. up front

54:01

I want you to know that

54:03

I am a direct speaking businessman

54:05

but now seems a reasonable time.

54:07

And Oramar pulls

54:09

out a sack of coin like

54:12

it was air, you

54:14

know, and immediately

54:17

gives a,

54:21

like, you wouldn't expect to be paid

54:23

anything to be shown around the place,

54:26

but gives Mr. Stone

54:28

cash immediately and then also gives

54:30

Barnabas cash

54:33

immediately in two

54:35

fell sweeps like it was, you know, paying

54:37

for a cup of coffee. Are we talking

54:39

bits or bars here? Are we talking gold

54:41

or silver? What are you flashing around? Oh,

54:43

God. I will

54:46

tell you for a

54:48

low-level entry-level sailor, we

54:51

call that a two-bit sailor, that

54:53

you're expected to be able to

54:55

get two copper bits per

54:57

week, which should

55:00

be enough to sustain you

55:02

through that process. So that

55:04

is the level of wealth you're

55:07

looking at. Yeah, yeah,

55:09

yeah. I think Barnabas

55:12

gets like maybe a single silver

55:14

bit, like it's upgraded. Yeah, that's

55:16

huge. That's huge. Great. And

55:20

I think Mr. Stone gets two.

55:24

Oh, my, I could never.

55:26

And he immediately takes the

55:30

bits offered. Very

55:32

generous, indeed. Yes, let's

55:35

just, I think I would

55:37

make sure to pay for your time now. And

55:40

then, you know, let me on my merry way

55:42

and go and handle the family. I'm sure there's

55:44

a lot of explaining to do, you know, when

55:46

there are some people that just can't be told

55:48

what to do, you tell them to wear a

55:51

mask and they tell you something very,

55:53

very difficult in exchange. So I figure

55:55

I should handle that directly, don't you?

55:58

No, of course. Of

56:00

course, of course, of course. Well, Barnabas,

56:03

we shall have you put in

56:05

order with Barnabas for you and any

56:07

of your various servants that might

56:10

need to be outfitted to travel about

56:12

the area. And

56:14

I really feel that I must set

56:16

up a meeting between you and mistrust.

56:19

That must happen. That would be

56:21

absolutely delightful. It's always a pleasure to

56:24

meet new people. And do make

56:26

sure to get one of the laborer outfits as

56:28

well. I do want to have a souvenir for

56:30

my loving child. Let them know what they should

56:32

be. Of

56:34

course. I

56:36

wouldn't dream of disrupting

56:40

a father laying a firm hand. I

56:43

think it's very important. It helps children

56:45

become tough and inflexible,

56:48

which the world requires at many

56:50

different points. They

56:53

both simultaneously laugh exactly like

56:55

that. Oh, child abuse. Tell

57:04

me, Mr. LaBoleste, are you a

57:06

religious man? I know that a

57:08

few people in the azure region

57:10

are in the religious way. Only

57:13

on Sundays, you know how it is. Sundays

57:16

and weddings. Well, it

57:18

may be important for you to attend

57:20

services here. I am happy

57:22

to say our little

57:24

colony is home

57:26

to an ocio vista, a very,

57:28

very high ranking member of the

57:31

church. You know, it is quite

57:33

the feather on our cap as

57:35

we grow our population and operations

57:37

here. I expect

57:39

that will attract many more

57:41

interested parties to invest in

57:43

the area. It

57:45

strikes me that it might be important to make

57:48

sure that you get some time to

57:51

meet our bishop after all. Oh, that

57:53

would be delightful, actually. Always nice to

57:55

be able to bring a story and

57:57

a holy word back to. by

58:00

neck of the woods. You

58:03

never know whether you're necessarily on trend

58:05

with the Scripture when you are so

58:07

disconnected from the holy word. Dr. Richard

58:09

C. B. Withers Well then, I will

58:11

say I must

58:13

begin flitting my little birds about.

58:16

I know you have much

58:19

ordering to do here. Make sure

58:21

everything is sized up appropriately to

58:23

your satisfaction. As I've

58:26

said, we are not open to

58:28

the public in

58:32

these times. You'll find fewer

58:34

amenities for a man of your

58:36

station here. That is not to

58:38

say that the area does not

58:40

have riches to provide, but they

58:42

mostly live in private estates. If

58:45

you enjoy any of the publicly

58:47

available amenities, do be aware that

58:49

you will be mixing with the

58:52

labourers. Dr. Richard C. B. Withers Oh, that's

58:54

a worry. In my

58:57

youth, in my daring trips

58:59

around in my feather weave

59:01

yacht, we have always done what the

59:03

kids call slumming it from time to

59:06

time. Dr. Richard C. B. Withers I

59:08

have your braver man than I. Dr.

59:10

Richard C. B. Withers An adventurer. We

59:12

did manage to make our way down

59:14

here, after all. Dr. Richard C. B.

59:16

Withers Well, I only

59:19

say it would

59:21

be wise to know that to

59:25

keep yourself closer to yourself. The

59:27

labourers here, as far as

59:29

I know, the Crimson

59:32

Touch isn't contagious, but they

59:35

are quite friendly with one another.

59:39

It doesn't surprise me that many of them have

59:41

ended up in the states they've ended up in.

59:43

Dr. Richard C. B. Withers Oh, I

59:45

see. Well, I shall keep my

59:49

kinder words of advice

59:51

to myself. I know when I

59:54

overstep, occasionally, I've been told by

59:56

my family many times that I

59:58

am a bomb. barbed word

1:00:00

individual sometimes, so I'll be

1:00:02

sure to keep myself in

1:00:04

line. Now, if you're

1:00:07

not hurried on this conversation, a

1:00:09

man's waist size is only known

1:00:12

between himself and his tailor, so

1:00:15

let me have a private word

1:00:17

while I get measured up, if

1:00:19

that's okay. Oh, but of course!

1:00:21

I shall see you this evening.

1:00:24

I'll have someone summoned for

1:00:26

you later. Be in

1:00:28

the square around sundown with whatever

1:00:30

party you would like to dine

1:00:32

with, and we shall make

1:00:35

sure that you meet all the people that one

1:00:37

such as yourself must meet. Marvellous! Oh, one

1:00:39

last question before you leave. You mentioned people

1:00:41

being able to find their meats and their

1:00:43

beers. Is beer the alcoholic choice

1:00:45

in this specific region? Oh,

1:00:48

there are some brews. I

1:00:50

personally have travelled with a fine

1:00:53

collection of wines that I would

1:00:55

be happy to donate to a

1:00:59

dinner between important parties such as

1:01:01

yourself and Miss Truss. Why,

1:01:03

you say? Okay. Noted. Thank

1:01:06

you very much. I look forward to it. It's going to be a

1:01:08

pleasure to meet her. Thank

1:01:42

you.

1:01:47

We see ourselves in a

1:01:51

post-apocalyptic, desolate landscape

1:01:53

of one of the many cities

1:01:56

that we have visited before. A

1:01:59

bougainese, maybe. where we

1:02:01

see ships and buildings sticking

1:02:03

out at odd angles. This

1:02:06

place did not have skyscrapers before, but

1:02:08

the way that we have reconstructed the

1:02:11

scenery suggests that great

1:02:13

empires have been torn down around here.

1:02:16

Outfit-wise, we're in kind

1:02:18

of tattered, punk, leather-strapped

1:02:20

versions of the outfits that

1:02:22

we normally have. You know,

1:02:25

Arana meets BDSM leather club

1:02:27

vibes. You fully know the

1:02:29

genre. Now,

1:02:33

I know why I'm dressed like

1:02:35

this, but I am curious why

1:02:37

everybody else is dressed like this

1:02:39

right now. Well, I,

1:02:41

on my bunk, I had these

1:02:43

clothes very neatly laid out for

1:02:46

me, and you know I

1:02:48

never questioned an outfit change. Okay,

1:02:50

okay. Fair enough. That's

1:02:53

my rationale. In this age, you need to

1:02:55

do what you need to do to survive.

1:02:59

These appeared upon my body in

1:03:01

a manner most violent and

1:03:03

foul. I forgot that

1:03:05

I dressed you, yeah. Okay, now

1:03:07

some things are coming back to me

1:03:09

a little bit. Finding

1:03:12

scraps amongst the sky,

1:03:14

finding the appropriate leather straps to

1:03:16

supply my crew so they can

1:03:18

continue another day. Thank you. Why?

1:03:22

You're welcome, by the way. Why is the captain the only one

1:03:24

with wind? There's

1:03:26

only wind on the captain. Just, I

1:03:29

tried to monologue, but the

1:03:31

environment wouldn't let me. It's only

1:03:34

letting the captain monologue. Which isn't

1:03:36

fair, I don't think. I've come

1:03:38

to accept that I'm just not the

1:03:40

monologue in sort, you know? Even in

1:03:42

this age, monologuing is a scarce resource,

1:03:44

scavenged by the few. It

1:03:46

does take up a lot of the captain's time, though.

1:03:51

Wait, who is this? You there, child!

1:03:53

Come here! Me? Absolutely.

1:03:56

You are the person that I wanted to

1:03:58

talk to. Alright,

1:04:00

I'm over here now and it's

1:04:02

about me! Absolutely.

1:04:06

What can you tell us about this

1:04:08

land of ours? And wait a

1:04:10

second, you look familiar. Who star

1:04:12

you? Well, you might

1:04:15

recognize me. I'm a

1:04:17

combination of two people

1:04:19

you know. Oh, interesting.

1:04:23

Because you find yourself in

1:04:25

the bloody future. Indeed.

1:04:29

Amongst the wreckage we find whoever we

1:04:32

can to join our crew, including this

1:04:35

strange individual familiar. Pale.

1:04:38

Yes, a cruel future indeed, where

1:04:40

society as we know it is

1:04:42

fallen. And people have to cobble

1:04:45

together different pieces of different accents

1:04:47

and jam them together. And that's

1:04:49

how they say their words it

1:04:51

is. It's a common problem in

1:04:53

the future from what I can tell you. A

1:04:55

huge problem in the future! You'd

1:04:58

be like, I think you were talking

1:05:00

one kind of way, but then you

1:05:03

just make a sort of vocal inflection

1:05:05

that sounds completely different, mate. Yeah,

1:05:07

absolutely. We're all a little bit

1:05:09

Australian at the end of the day,

1:05:11

in the post-apocalyptic future. What's

1:05:15

your name? Who are you? I'm

1:05:18

Jif. I'm a combination

1:05:20

of Jane and Pliff I am.

1:05:23

Everyone thought those two were

1:05:25

gonna get together at some

1:05:27

point, and they did. And

1:05:29

always a result. Oh

1:05:31

no. Unfortunately

1:05:33

Pliff died in childbirth.

1:05:39

Jane was still the one giving

1:05:41

birth, but Pliff slit him fell

1:05:43

because he was so startled by

1:05:45

the whole event. And

1:05:47

he passed away, he did. Oh,

1:05:53

what an angel. The biggest fan

1:05:55

events happened off camera, and horses

1:05:57

in this age are so cute.

1:06:00

What did you tell me? Was

1:06:03

that set as Jif? Did I

1:06:05

get that correctly? Yup, yup,

1:06:07

Jif. Not the peanut butter.

1:06:11

Well would you say that

1:06:13

you're from the future, what

1:06:15

events preceded this immense destruction

1:06:17

and also presumed

1:06:19

coitus between two people? Well

1:06:22

are you familiar with Rube

1:06:25

Goldberg device? I know

1:06:27

my friend Rube Goldberg, yes. Well

1:06:29

eventually he gets into building

1:06:32

elaborate machines where you knock

1:06:34

something down and it

1:06:36

keeps knocking other things down and things

1:06:38

that are rolling and plates are moving

1:06:41

and all that. Yes. You

1:06:43

do something very simple at the end of the

1:06:45

day but add a lot of complex machinery on

1:06:47

the way. So when

1:06:50

Cliff fell, it sort

1:06:53

of toppled and continued and

1:06:55

snowballed until there wasn't much

1:06:57

of a sessoa anymore. Wait,

1:07:00

so Cliff slipping and

1:07:02

falling in the delivery room caused

1:07:05

this tragedy? Yes. Oh

1:07:08

yes. Me. That

1:07:11

dude, that dude, that guy.

1:07:14

It's always something with him, right?

1:07:17

Yes. It's always something. Well it

1:07:19

used to be, yeah. What I'm

1:07:21

getting out of this is that

1:07:23

the lesson to be learned here

1:07:25

is that Cliff must live forever.

1:07:27

We must go back to the

1:07:29

past and place a

1:07:32

curse upon him so as

1:07:34

to chain his mortal being

1:07:36

to this earth in perfect

1:07:38

shape. And you, Jeff, with expert

1:07:41

knowledge of your two fate bound

1:07:44

parents, must be the person who

1:07:46

will steer us upon this goal clearly.

1:07:49

Wait, so you have a time travel

1:07:51

device and it will allow me to

1:07:53

go back in time and meet my

1:07:55

paps and my mum? No! You

1:07:58

stay here. What oh,

1:08:01

okay. What what we're trying to

1:08:03

prevent this and it seems like

1:08:05

you going backwards Would

1:08:07

would and we want to

1:08:09

go back to our original feels What

1:08:11

are you just going to take care of it?

1:08:13

Then we still have a couple of we still

1:08:15

have a couple of favors left to call it

1:08:18

Even in this distant future. We haven't actually

1:08:20

used all 100 of them. I've been very

1:08:24

So you have fun with

1:08:26

scavenging for I guess

1:08:28

rats and stuff Stay alive. Hope

1:08:31

it goes great. Uh, and hopefully in

1:08:33

a couple of minutes you won't exist

1:08:35

anymore Okay,

1:08:37

bye We

1:08:44

can see him look down in his

1:08:47

hand which is fading goes Oh bloody

1:08:49

hell Ruined

1:08:52

it again. Jeff you ruined it again

1:08:55

And eventually it's just a bunch of

1:08:57

leather scraps that fall to the ground

1:09:01

and going through the air we

1:09:04

hear the group of us saying as

1:09:07

we fade into the correct time zone

1:09:09

and never Think

1:09:17

up on that. That was great Thank

1:09:20

You Nathan, thank you. I would have let

1:09:22

that scene in I would have forgotten

1:09:25

I did forget Campaign

1:09:33

Skyjax is a one-shot network production for more

1:09:35

information Be sure to follow us on Twitter

1:09:37

over at campaign pod for updates about live

1:09:39

shows and other events. We might be doing

1:09:41

in In the

1:09:43

universe of Starwall Odyssey space is made

1:09:46

out of the collective imaginations of all

1:09:48

the thinking beings who live on

1:09:50

various planets these worlds are connected to

1:09:52

each other through imagination Common

1:09:55

themes and ideas are strings between

1:09:57

universes and to get between And

1:10:00

then people fly wooden ships that

1:10:02

look like animals, which are powered

1:10:04

by emotions. Also people communicate

1:10:06

with each other by contemplating orbs. The only

1:10:08

way you can take pictures is getting stared

1:10:10

at by a big psychic bug. And people

1:10:12

have already declared victory in a war over

1:10:14

the very concept of evil. But

1:10:16

I'm getting ahead of myself. Starwall Odyssey

1:10:18

follows the adventures of the hapless

1:10:20

inhabitants of the Lucky Finn Tenement

1:10:23

Building, who suddenly find that their

1:10:25

apartment is actually a spaceship, and

1:10:27

that they're lost in a sea

1:10:29

of boundless imaginations. It's an

1:10:31

actual play starring me, James DeMato,

1:10:33

Mel DeMato, Ally Growler, and Drew

1:10:36

Merzieski as we playtest the No

1:10:38

King System, which will hopefully one

1:10:40

day be the Skyjacks roleplaying systems.

1:10:42

It toes the line between weird

1:10:45

and wonderful slice of life and

1:10:47

high-flying space fantasy. You can sample

1:10:49

the first five episodes by searching

1:10:51

for Starwall Odyssey on your favorite

1:10:53

podcast app, or get the whole

1:10:55

thing by heading to patreon.com/one-shotpodcast and

1:10:57

signing up for five dollars a

1:10:59

month or more. You

1:11:03

can find more great gaming shows

1:11:06

over at one-shotpodcast.com. Janet

1:11:08

Kessler was played by Tyler Davis, who

1:11:10

can be found on Twitter and Instagram

1:11:12

at Tyler A. Dave. Tyler

1:11:14

is on strike alongside his fellow

1:11:16

members of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA.

1:11:19

You can support Tyler and other

1:11:21

striking artists by contributing to the

1:11:23

Entertainment Community Fund, linked in our

1:11:25

show notes. Gable was played

1:11:27

by Liz Anderson, who can

1:11:29

be found on Twitter at Liz

1:11:32

Anderson underscore underscore underscore, or

1:11:34

on her podcast Paired. Captain

1:11:36

Oromar Vale was played by Nathan

1:11:38

Blaise, who can be

1:11:40

found on Twitter at PhantomArtsENT, or

1:11:43

streaming at Twitch.tv slash

1:11:46

TheNeonCaster. I am

1:11:48

James Damato, your host and game

1:11:50

master. You can find me on

1:11:52

Twitter at oneshotrpg or

1:11:54

on my podcast, OneShot. The original

1:11:57

music featured in this podcast was

1:11:59

written composed and performed by

1:12:01

Arnie Parrott. You can find him

1:12:04

over on Twitter at Arnie Parrott,

1:12:06

or on his website, ATPtoons. This

1:12:09

episode was edited by Ali Grouwer, who

1:12:11

can be found on Twitter at Dreams

1:12:13

to Become, or on her

1:12:15

podcast, Sky Jack's Currier's Call. Our

1:12:18

logo was designed by Fiona Shea, who

1:12:20

can be found on Twitter at Lunarum.

1:12:23

The World of Sphere was inspired in

1:12:25

part by the music of The Decemberists

1:12:27

and Illimat, produced by Together Studios. This

1:12:30

show was made in part by using

1:12:32

a modified version of the Genesis role-playing

1:12:34

system, designed by Sam Stewart and a

1:12:37

team of talented professionals. There are no

1:12:39

kings. Take flight. The

1:12:51

dearest we're leaving behind,

1:12:53

who know we can

1:12:55

never deny the

1:12:58

call of the sky.