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have kids. Falcon

0:36

is at a stage with talking.

0:40

Where when they say the

0:42

words book and

0:45

fox and sock

0:48

and like a couple other in that

0:50

range, it all sounds like fuck. Yes. It

0:53

all sounds like fuck. Yes. And

0:55

it's one of those things where they'll just

0:57

run around the house shouting fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

1:01

And I have to go. Yes.

1:04

Hey, what are what are we saying?

1:06

What are we saying? Can you point

1:08

to what you're saying right now? Fuck.

1:10

And then we have to like slowly

1:12

like, oh, book. Yeah, that's

1:14

a cool book. Now

1:16

it's a fuck. James, that's a fuck.

1:19

That's a fuck. Mm

1:29

hmm. Okay. All right. Let's

1:33

start making some big time plays

1:35

for some big time players. Actually,

1:58

can we group workshop this because I think that would

2:00

probably be better. Absolutely.

2:03

So you have this

2:05

goal, your ultimate goal, you

2:07

want to infiltrate this important

2:09

power brokering meeting where essentially

2:12

the syndicate shuffles around figures

2:14

who are on the board

2:17

and create big plans like the next

2:19

like five-year plan or whatever for the

2:21

Red Feather Syndicate. You want to stir

2:23

that pot a little bit. Yes,

2:25

I would love it if we

2:27

could come up with a person

2:30

who would be in

2:32

the space of being a regular in

2:35

terms of these big time plays. They're

2:37

not necessarily super strong, but they're always

2:39

there and

2:42

you know who's hungry for it and

2:45

maybe suggest that this

2:47

is they're going to

2:49

be giving up the game that they've realized that

2:51

they've lost the edge and they're going to start

2:54

bowing out. This might be their last year of

2:56

making big moves, but who

2:58

is that? Who is going to let's

3:00

make up a guy? I

3:03

might have an answer here and I

3:06

am just looking for I'm trying

3:09

to remember the name of the

3:12

head of acquisition

3:14

like this is okay oh

3:16

wait here we go Argus

3:19

Westfield. Argus Westfield was

3:23

somebody that you met with

3:26

in Boujaneith. He was the Red

3:29

Feather operative who was negotiating for

3:31

the return of the feather weave.

3:35

I think not getting

3:37

that weave back and the Uhuru

3:39

getting away at that port is

3:42

seen as a huge loss for

3:44

the syndicate because it's not even

3:46

just that like he

3:49

led this contingent of people who

3:53

the whole thing was hey the civility

3:55

got hit which is bad news And

3:57

they stole feather weave which is worse news.

4:00

They're trying to sell it. We

4:02

need somebody to flex the muscles

4:05

of the syndicate and show that

4:07

we are not to be messed

4:09

with and under him a you

4:12

you had a Tiberius young blood

4:14

come in and make a play

4:16

to have the red feathers take

4:19

over boucher nice and instead ten

4:21

percent of the soldiers that were

4:24

dispatched their lost their lives due

4:26

to the brokers agents and the

4:28

feather we've got away. I

4:31

think our westfield used to be

4:33

like. The.

4:35

Is was in the position of

4:37

essentially the top pirate hunter within

4:39

the Red Feather Syndicate, and over

4:42

the course of that year the

4:44

had this major blunder and a

4:46

lot of political allies have distanced

4:48

himself from him, but I think

4:51

he currently sits on the board

4:53

so he has to be there

4:55

no matter what. but he's expected

4:57

to take the big big losses.

5:00

Yeah, okay. The.

5:05

So I will not go dredge

5:07

up some old news, but it

5:09

did leave a bit of an

5:11

impression on me. He remembers as

5:13

a. Tragic

5:15

to do invasioni. The

5:18

loss of that large amounts of

5:20

feather we have I think that

5:23

was once August Westfield who is

5:25

the responsible for that little failure

5:27

of Italian. I think at this

5:29

he this raises an eyebrow i

5:32

you. You can tell that there

5:34

is a bit of a misstep

5:36

that you made their but ah

5:38

I like the way in which

5:41

he made it. Yes

5:44

Miss to West Field has had.

5:47

a terrible time as of

5:49

late you know i think

5:52

it is so difficult for

5:54

some people to realize when

5:57

they have outlived their usefulness

6:00

It is, there is no shame in

6:03

retiring, and Westfield

6:06

is one of those old

6:08

sorts who, in the

6:11

admiral game for so long, it's

6:13

just time to step down. Indeed,

6:16

you might be ahead of me at the gossip

6:18

that I was going to be talking about. I

6:21

hear that he's

6:24

giving up the big

6:27

life, you know, maybe

6:29

thinking of a protege to pass

6:31

on his burdens

6:34

onto you. Now that

6:36

is news, though I

6:39

can't imagine who it would be, or

6:42

even that a vote of confidence from

6:44

Westfield would be weight

6:47

in anyone's corner. He

6:49

was very attached to

6:51

that young blood child

6:53

who was training under him, who

6:55

he unfortunately led to a grisly

6:58

end in Boujaneet. Not

7:00

that the Red Feathers should be superstitious

7:02

about anything. It has meant

7:05

that that territory was a little dangerous

7:07

for any new upstarts

7:09

within the company to try and fill

7:11

in that spot, but it seems like

7:13

he might have actually found somebody who's

7:16

willing to step up to the plate.

7:18

Intriguing, isn't it? Could

7:21

I, Mr. LaBoleste, trouble

7:23

you for a name?

7:25

I am indeed very

7:27

curious. Oh my,

7:30

mistrust. That sounds like

7:32

that would be gossip leaving the table,

7:34

wouldn't it? Lean back in

7:36

the chair, the biggest smile. Well,

7:40

I can assure you that I would

7:42

not do anything to damage your reputation,

7:44

but perhaps private conversations

7:46

are better for that sort

7:49

of news. It's

8:02

a shame, it's awful he should

8:04

have hung his tail and walked

8:06

right into the sunset. Oh

8:08

yes, that half-plucked little skeleton they

8:11

have running their city. You

8:13

know, he's not even an elected

8:15

official. He has no

8:18

civic power within that city,

8:20

but they walk

8:22

around like they own the place,

8:24

so they dictate all of who

8:26

should park where. My

8:31

unregistered manipulation of the

8:33

community, unheard of and

8:36

civilized. Well, that's what

8:38

you get when you don't port

8:40

yourself within a red-feather city. I

8:43

say these independent cities, they

8:45

think so highly of themselves,

8:48

but there's no organization, no

8:50

separation of the classes. Absolutely

8:52

dreadful. I

8:55

wouldn't vacation in Boujaneith if

8:57

you offered me a

9:01

fully-paid holiday. I wouldn't.

9:04

Indeed, indeed. And so close

9:06

to the ocean. Just

9:10

disgusting, that's what the sort of environment

9:12

is so dangerous. Not

9:15

that you're in need of a fully-paid

9:17

holiday any time soon, eh, Stone? Well,

9:20

we are past

9:22

the busy season. There

9:24

are things to see at the port.

9:27

We are helping to ship out a

9:29

great deal more. Miss Truss has

9:32

done wonderful work increasing production, you

9:34

know. So there

9:36

are arrangements that need to be made, but

9:39

I do have hopes for a holiday in

9:41

the near future. Am

9:44

I? Well, is that

9:46

traveling anywhere anytime soon? Am

9:49

I? Do you intend to

9:51

put down roots here? Me?

9:54

No, no, no, it's not. Oh, so this is the dressing I have. Yeah, yeah,

9:56

yeah. Isn't Stone

9:59

like... stuck there? Stonework's

10:01

a very important... Stonework's

10:03

a port master here. Okay, then never mind. I thought

10:06

I was talking to... I don't think he's necessarily a

10:08

debtor. Tyler's character. Okay, never

10:10

mind. Never mind. Megan

10:12

out. Well,

10:15

if you are looking for a

10:17

bit of a globe trotting, Mr.

10:19

Stonework, maybe I can show you

10:21

some of the charts that we

10:24

purchased for our jaunt.

10:26

Although I suppose after a certain point

10:28

they are clearly a little

10:31

misleading. But what a

10:33

fortuitous result of us getting a

10:35

little lost, Cheers! That

10:37

is awfully generous of you,

10:40

Mr. Labelest. I

10:42

don't know many sailing men who

10:45

would share their maps. Oh

10:49

my! You've mis... you've mis...

10:52

You've misconstrued my enjoyment of

10:55

the winds for an enjoyment

10:57

of piracy. Do I look

10:59

like somebody who would be stooping to that kind

11:01

of behavior for my daily activities? I

11:04

would never dream of disparaging your

11:06

reputation in such a way. I

11:10

forgive me. I am not

11:12

used to mixing with the

11:14

sailing classes. I

11:18

was not aware that customs

11:21

differed. Most

11:23

sailing folk that I've spoken to

11:25

clutched their maps as tightly as

11:28

another might clutch his purse. And

11:31

they do indeed. But

11:33

I find that as

11:36

somebody who is, I suppose, relatively

11:38

new to the space within the

11:40

air, that it's so full of

11:42

gatekeeping. People ought to keep

11:45

all kinds of secrets, and they're not even

11:47

interesting and juicy ones. Now

11:49

that is an interesting statement,

11:52

Mr. Labelest. Am I

11:54

to understand that your

11:56

ship is a recent

11:58

acquisition? Even though it

12:00

shows a little bit of wear and tear, we

12:03

did do our best to

12:05

get it in the air

12:07

so we could do a jaunt. As

12:09

I say, I'm very used to yachting,

12:11

and the process of going for a

12:13

larger vessel is something that was a

12:15

bit of a project I

12:17

am getting on in the years. And

12:19

I find that when you get to

12:21

be my age, you

12:23

start to think about the future and what kind

12:26

of things you have and haven't done with your

12:28

lives. You know what I mean? Well,

12:30

allow me to offer my deepest

12:34

and most sincere

12:36

congratulations to obtain a

12:38

bill of sale for weave. That

12:42

must have taken some diligence,

12:46

several lifetimes of diligence by

12:48

most accounts. Some

12:51

diligence and a lot of happy

12:53

customers and a handful of unhappy

12:55

people, but they were not employing

12:58

me. Smile. Do

13:00

you know, when I

13:02

was in the city months

13:05

ago, there were people who

13:07

were claiming that they've seen

13:10

more ships floating about without

13:12

red feather insignia. It's

13:15

impossible. Absolutely

13:17

ridiculous. I've never heard

13:20

of any

13:22

sort of privateer activity in this

13:24

region when it is not pig

13:26

mint season. But

13:29

nonetheless, there were many

13:31

folk about saying that they've seen

13:33

all manner of strange ships zipping

13:36

about the skies. My

13:39

dangerous times indeed. I

13:42

suppose my jaunt for a holiday has been

13:44

ill time. But

13:46

as I say, I don't necessarily want to

13:48

be in the neck of the woods when

13:50

people are starting to get a

13:53

little bit hungry. I figured taking a

13:55

bit of a step away from a

13:57

new perspective was a good time. Well,

14:00

as I said, if you were a safety-conscious

14:02

individual, you couldn't have picked

14:05

a better time. There

14:07

has been a record

14:09

low in piratical

14:11

events, that is, in

14:14

part due to the fact that

14:17

I assume of Westfield stepping down

14:19

and relieving himself of some of

14:22

his responsibilities as keener in meaner

14:24

minds have taken over. Quite

14:28

so, quite so. Now, thinking

14:30

about it, I

14:32

would like to

14:35

use one of my abilities that we've

14:37

not used on the show yet. I

14:40

have an intellect ability called surveying tactics,

14:43

point spend, describing one new object

14:45

in the scene that Oramar has

14:47

noticed, using it

14:49

in a role will upgrade one

14:51

die. I want to introduce to

14:53

the scene, so this, the

14:56

place that we're having our dinner in is

14:59

Mr. Stone's, right? Uh, it is,

15:02

if it's anyone, it's mistrusts.

15:04

Mr. Stone does reside here.

15:06

This is a red feather

15:08

owned and operated facility, and

15:10

the highest ranking red feathers

15:13

reside here while they are working

15:15

in Sorrow's End. I want

15:17

there to be like

15:20

a plaque, an award, a

15:22

trophy of some kind on

15:24

a mental piece that

15:26

was awarded to mistrust.

15:30

Absolutely, absolutely.

15:33

This is full-on,

15:36

like, corporate

15:38

achievement bullshit. Uh,

15:40

what, like, we got, what are internal

15:43

awards for the red feathers? This is

15:45

like, for, like,

15:47

economic achievements, she is, like,

15:50

consistently beating her, like, quarterly

15:52

projections, and it's like some

15:54

glass little thing that they

15:57

send out. What could that

16:00

be what is it called? This

16:04

is the the soaring

16:06

Robin awards for-

16:10

The soaring Cardinal. The

16:12

soaring Cardinal. Yeah,

16:14

yeah, yeah, yeah. The soaring

16:16

Cardinal awards for ever

16:19

increasing prosperity. And,

16:22

you know, when you when you

16:24

when you when line goes up enough where

16:26

people are giving you an award for it,

16:28

there's clearly something desperate there for you to

16:31

want to keep maintaining that. Yeah,

16:33

I think this is like

16:35

this is the Michelin star

16:37

equivalent for like a corporate

16:39

office. This place

16:41

has a rating of a single Cardinal

16:44

for a place this remote to earn

16:46

a Cardinal like that is

16:48

on the books, at least from

16:50

what you know, a big deal,

16:52

whether it is sheerly through

16:54

what they have accomplished in

16:56

terms of financials or

16:59

even the political game that trust

17:01

is playing. Julian

17:04

Lobelast nudges Tom

17:06

in the ribs. Am I?

17:09

Who's there? An award? Oh, it's the

17:11

Cardinal award, even. Goodness, we are among

17:14

people who are far more prosperous than

17:16

my Adeliances. I may have done my

17:18

bit, but we are definitely in the

17:21

home of somebody who has reached prosperity

17:23

I couldn't even dream the rage. Indeed

17:27

as an outside observer,

17:29

I have to say, mistrust

17:32

has transformed this region

17:35

and the lives

17:37

of many of the people who have

17:39

passed through here and exemplary

17:42

red feather executive.

17:46

And if I say so myself, trust

17:49

nods acknowledging the compliment.

17:52

I do work quite hard here

17:55

and there is still more work to be

17:57

done, of course, but I

17:59

have great designs for this

18:01

region. My, my, of course you

18:03

do! After all, I did notice

18:06

the bards that were part of

18:08

Sorrow's End. It's so

18:12

rare for this kind of particular piece

18:14

of public work. It must have been

18:16

a part of genius in

18:18

your behalf, looking at

18:20

mistrust, for you to install such

18:23

a thing here. Yes,

18:25

well, I'm afraid I

18:28

cannot take credit for that. That

18:30

is where I must turn my

18:33

compliments towards Mr. Aravitti.

18:37

Mr. Aravitti came here shortly

18:39

after we arrived, said he

18:41

had been called to the

18:43

Sovereign's Path, and has

18:46

built up quite an

18:48

institution, and too

18:50

many around here has offered

18:53

comfort and solace, and those

18:55

public bards, well, those

18:58

bards are most

19:00

certainly a part of comfort and

19:02

solace within Sorrow's End. And

19:06

considering the prices that I saw

19:08

too, you those bards must be

19:10

making you a pretty bit or

19:12

two. And

19:15

I don't know what point I should be rolling

19:17

for this, but I would love to,

19:19

you know, all of

19:21

this to kind of get

19:23

the subtext of like, hey,

19:25

trust, this person's

19:27

earning money that you probably should be

19:30

getting. Oh, okay,

19:32

okay. Getting some

19:34

some discord in there. Yeah,

19:37

so for a role

19:40

like that, I think

19:43

that is a lot of discord that you're

19:45

trying to solve. This is

19:47

going to be bedeviling with one

19:49

upgraded dice. So you're against three

19:51

dice. You do have

19:53

your free upgrade of the

19:55

award kind of invoking trust's

19:57

own ego here. point

20:00

out that my preparation for this session,

20:02

there is all kinds of information that

20:04

these people have that you can get

20:06

from them. So like

20:09

don't be afraid to pull on threads

20:11

or make roles to try and get

20:13

information because it's there and there's a

20:15

lot of it. And

20:17

that goes for you as well. So... Thomas

20:20

is fundamentally in curious. There's

20:24

probably angles on the finer

20:26

detailings of how the church are operating here

20:28

that Oramar wouldn't know what

20:30

to ask. But

20:33

okay, so I would go... I

20:35

feel like the presence for that,

20:38

which is 2D8. I have three upgrades,

20:40

that's 1D12 and 1D8. And I'm going

20:42

to spend my three states that I

20:44

gained earlier to gain

20:47

a D6 and then upgrade that

20:49

to do a D8. So it is 2D8 and a

20:51

D12. Excellent. All right. Yeah,

20:53

even odds. So

20:56

on the D8, it is a

20:58

four and a three. Okay.

21:02

And on the D12, it's an eight. An

21:04

eight. That is

21:07

going to be... You

21:09

do get a fate and

21:11

an opportunity, but the role itself

21:13

is awash. So we turn ourselves

21:15

to the luminaries. Okay.

21:19

I'm trying to make

21:21

these big plays here. Is it even paying off

21:23

for me? I have no idea. I

21:26

mean, there's a lot that you can

21:28

do here. Again, this is the first

21:30

contact Oramar is having with

21:33

somebody who has a real grip on

21:35

the outside world, even if they are

21:37

in kind of a remote location. The

21:39

people down in Haven had no

21:42

idea what was going on. So

21:44

playing a reserve game is just

21:46

fine. And we

21:49

have the newborn. Let's

21:52

see here. Those

21:55

themes are beginnings, responsibility,

21:57

and potential. I

21:59

am going to say I don't think

22:01

this luminary plays in your favor right here.

22:05

Trust goes, the church's

22:08

operations are within the purview

22:10

of the church, and the

22:13

benefit to our community

22:15

is incalculable.

22:18

I believe that Mokyo

22:21

Arafetti would be able to speak to

22:23

this far better than I. I

22:26

trust as always, I am

22:28

so flattered by you

22:30

honoring me with such compliments. I

22:34

was called here because

22:36

the Sovereign, even

22:38

in death, can sense the

22:41

suffering that is bestowed

22:44

upon children

22:46

scattered across the sphere, and

22:49

I sensed that

22:51

suffering here, and

22:54

a way for the path of

22:56

sovereignty to ease that suffering. There

23:00

is a treatment I

23:02

perform alongside my

23:05

own officials that

23:07

allows the water here to soothe

23:11

those who are beset by

23:14

scarlet, which has

23:16

allowed mistrust's work to

23:18

continue to flourish and

23:21

helped the red feathers develop

23:23

their region greatly. I

23:27

only ask for more because

23:30

our capacities are lower, and unless

23:32

we are able to greatly expand

23:34

the operation of our facility, we

23:37

simply will not be able to meet the demand

23:39

of everyone who is seeking

23:42

treatment for their conditions, especially

23:44

as the feathers swell their

23:46

ranks in order to see

23:49

mistrust's beautiful vision come

23:52

to life. Well,

24:00

I do hope that you'd get to expand

24:02

and help more, as so is End. He

24:05

wouldn't want them to be suffering, of course. Is

24:08

that the only treatment? It

24:10

is the safest treatment.

24:14

There are folk cures

24:16

that have been bandied about.

24:21

They ask for great sacrifices

24:23

to forces that

24:26

are less pure and less trustworthy

24:29

than the sovereign

24:31

and his path, of course. And

24:34

although we do charge, there is

24:37

a way for people to access

24:39

this treatment free of charge. There

24:43

is a sacrifice and commitment they

24:46

must make to the church, of

24:48

course. But that is only to

24:50

be expected. And I

24:53

must say that I have been

24:55

deeply impressed by the people of

24:57

this region. Again, I

25:00

mentioned the sovereign and

25:02

his affection for the exceptional.

25:04

I believe the commitment that

25:07

people have here to

25:10

their own paths, to

25:13

their own walks, is

25:15

exceptional. It is

25:17

easy to be exceptional when one is

25:19

desperate. Perhaps extreme

25:22

conditions allow

25:25

us to place ourselves

25:28

on a step higher than those around

25:30

us. I cannot imagine

25:32

a man who has

25:34

lived his life in

25:36

comforts and luxuries would

25:39

be called to exceptions

25:41

easily. It is far

25:44

easier for someone to rest

25:46

upon power and sink into

25:48

it than for one to

25:50

go out, explore,

25:53

and achieve. Hey

26:12

heroes it's James, your game master, and

26:14

I've got some exciting announcements! First

26:17

up next week on Monday we are dropping

26:19

a new episode of Skyjoust and this will

26:21

be the first unaired audio in a long

26:23

time! If you listen to Skyjoust when it

26:25

first aired on the Skyjax feed, you know

26:27

we aired the audio from the full quarter

26:29

final match of The Burning Tales and the

26:31

first episode of each other team. Well, we've

26:33

finally passed The Burning Tales and this week

26:35

we aired the first episode of The Frog

26:38

Princes. But next week is going

26:40

to be episode 2 of The Frog Princes which

26:42

means it's all new stuff! The

26:44

Frog Princes of course feature our very

26:46

own Nathan Blades alongside Rachon Scott and

26:49

James Mendez-Hoads! Now is a perfect time

26:51

to jump back into Skyjoust. But I've

26:53

got news that's even better than that.

26:55

To make Skyjoust we collaborated with the

26:58

folks over at Story Brewers Games. They

27:00

designed The Good Society and Fight with

27:02

Spirit, the sports drama RPG that we

27:04

used for Skyjoust. And they made a

27:07

lot of custom material for it. And

27:09

for the last few months we've been turning

27:11

that material into an official expansion for Fight

27:13

with Spirit. On February 20th,

27:15

that expansion is going to be

27:17

available for purchase. That'll include

27:20

all of the mechanics that we

27:22

developed for Skyjoust, like new traits

27:24

and match games, along with PvP

27:26

rules for Fight with Spirit. But

27:29

it also comes with a 38 page PDF

27:31

that includes lore from the world of Skyjax

27:33

about jousting. So, if you want to play

27:35

a cool sports drama RPG set in the

27:37

world of Sphere, this is a great thing

27:40

for you to pick up. And

27:42

if you can't get enough Skyjax lore, this is also going

27:44

to be a great thing for you to pick up. Best

27:47

of all, it's fully illustrated including work

27:49

from Aaron Azar and Justin Landjill. Once

27:51

again, the Skyjoust expansion for Fight with

27:54

Spirit is going to be available on

27:56

February 20th. And we've got

27:58

a brand new episode of Skyjoust. coming out

28:00

next week over on the Skyjoust feed.

28:03

So get ready because the show is really

28:05

taking off. As always, a huge thank you

28:07

to everyone who supports us on Patreon. We

28:10

wouldn't have been able to do any of

28:12

that exciting stuff without support from our listeners.

28:14

They take care of all of our regular

28:16

expenses and allow us to try making new

28:19

things. And I couldn't be more grateful for

28:21

it. If you like what you

28:23

hear, please head over to patreon.com/one-shot podcast

28:25

and sign up to support us. In

28:28

return, you get access to lots of cool rewards.

28:30

And now, a quick word from our sponsor. Hey

28:33

heroes, James DeMotto here to let you

28:35

know that I, along with Jeff and

28:37

John from System Mastery, will be at

28:40

Emerald City Comic Con February 29th through

28:42

March 3rd. You can catch

28:44

two shows from us. The first is Netflix

28:46

and Kill, a monstrous dating game show where

28:48

Jeff, John, and I will create potential matches

28:50

for the audience to decide whether they want

28:53

to wed, bed, or behead.

28:55

It will be Friday, March 1st in room 423. Then

28:59

we're doing the Ultimate Dungeon Meister

29:01

show, an improvised actual play using

29:03

all sorts of tools from the Ultimate

29:05

RPG and Dungeon Meister line of books

29:08

and cards. That'll be happening Saturday, March

29:10

2nd at 2pm in room 327. Jeff,

29:14

John, and I will also be hosting

29:16

a one-shot meetup for anyone in the

29:18

Seattle area. No entrance to the convention

29:20

necessary. That will be Friday, March 1st

29:22

at 7pm, meeting up in

29:24

the lobby of the Hilton Motif, Seattle,

29:26

1415 Fifth Avenue. We'll

29:29

see you heroes at the show. And

29:32

with all that out of the way, let's get back

29:34

in the sky! I

29:49

think Able just sits back like, oh this

29:51

is church bullshit, I'm not gonna engage with

29:53

this anymore. Ah, well,

29:55

I think Oramar catches your

29:57

eye, having real that you've,

30:00

you know, put

30:02

the good man on the back foot slightly

30:04

or made him more defensive about the matter

30:06

of it and looks at you and I

30:09

don't know if there's a way that we would –

30:12

how we kind of communicate with each

30:14

other in a way that's more subtle.

30:16

You might – you probably have a

30:18

hand sign that you can like do.

30:21

Yeah, in a quick sign like, sorry. No,

30:23

no. In a subtle hand

30:25

sign, Orma says to

30:27

you, like, push it. Oh,

30:30

okay. You seem to

30:33

have put in a wedge there. Well,

30:36

because like trying to get – I was

30:38

on the point of like, does

30:41

the church do the same procedure that

30:43

I saw? And I pretty sure know

30:45

because I think that's what he was

30:47

referencing. It's like, oh, these are the

30:50

old chairs that were violent

30:52

and such, but like

30:55

now I'm just curious. Like, oh, what does he

30:57

know? But I don't know exactly how

30:59

to ask that, I guess. I

31:02

mean, you can do it however you – you

31:05

can even bluntly go, how does it work? You

31:08

are in the position right now

31:10

of everybody believing you are normally

31:12

a servant to a privateer captain.

31:16

If you want to be uncouth, people kind of expect

31:18

you to be a little uncouth. So

31:20

there's no danger here. You

31:23

know, the worst case scenario is that you

31:25

offend someone to the point that you're dismissed

31:27

from the dinner. That's not

31:30

a huge tragedy. Okay,

31:32

then I'm going to tell it like a sailor's tale.

31:37

Mm-hmm. When I heard of Sorrow's

31:39

End, when I was a child, there was

31:41

an old wives' tale, I

31:43

suppose, of a treatment for the

31:45

scarlet. It

31:47

cannot possibly be true, but quite

31:50

violent, and was, I suppose,

31:52

intended to scare children from

31:55

wanting to visit or perhaps

31:57

even engage with certain plants.

32:00

Florofauna. Gable

32:02

like grabs the captain's

32:04

wine in sort of... no,

32:07

not the captain's, grabs like Megan's wine

32:09

and in sort of a letting loose

32:11

kind of way. I heard

32:14

that Sarosan used to be

32:16

the domain of the butcher.

32:18

Isn't that interesting? How very

32:21

heretic if that is to

32:23

be believed. And

32:25

the treatment, the butcher has simple

32:28

things but peeling the skin

32:30

away from the bones so as to

32:33

fully remove the very

32:35

painful nerve endings and

32:37

then place upon it

32:39

a sackcloth skin that

32:41

would move and protect as if it

32:44

were skin but you could no longer feel.

32:47

Really gruesome could be entirely

32:50

impossible. The peanut

32:52

gallery is definitely drawn in

32:54

by the picture that you

32:56

have painted here. Like Mr.

32:58

Stone is like scandalized

33:01

and also fascinated at the

33:04

same time. Their trust is

33:06

like again looking on with

33:09

her unreadable expression and

33:11

Aravitti, Aravitti looks at you,

33:15

does not show much emotion

33:17

on his face and goes,

33:19

oh yes, the desperation

33:21

that took place here was

33:25

in its own way exceptional.

33:27

And I will say for my

33:30

part, though I

33:32

am but a mere ochio

33:35

vista. I do

33:37

not believe that consorting with

33:40

lumens is on its own a heretical

33:43

act. The

33:46

church could not deny the

33:48

simple fact of the existence

33:50

of other lumens. However, I

33:53

am happy to report that

33:55

the procedures that we are

33:57

allowed to perform here thanks

34:00

to the blessing of mistrust and

34:02

our agreement with the syndicate, is

34:06

much gentler, indeed. They

34:08

merely need to bathe their flesh

34:11

within our baths, and

34:13

should they be able to keep that up

34:15

regularly, it can stave off

34:17

and slow the progression

34:20

of the scarlet. How

34:22

did you convince the locals? A

34:24

local practice such as this, and

34:27

you being interlopers,

34:30

it seems unusual that you would find

34:33

so much agreement amongst the populace. My,

34:36

my, you do have

34:38

little interaction with the

34:40

same church. There

34:43

are very few ports left on

34:45

sphere where our

34:47

church would be considered interlopers,

34:50

and to answer your question why

34:54

all people need to

34:56

observe the power of the

34:58

sovereign is sights and

35:01

wonders, and that I

35:03

have been able to perform. People

35:06

merely need to see

35:08

with their eyes their fellows

35:10

after bathing in the waters

35:12

that the church has prepared,

35:15

to know that we offer a gentler

35:18

and safer path towards

35:21

life. My, my, so noble!

35:23

Now, Thomas,

35:26

you mustn't scare people with their

35:28

tails, a herd in the

35:30

skies and in dark corridors. No,

35:33

no, your man Thomas here

35:36

is. Again, he is

35:39

asking good questions. I believe

35:41

it is important to be

35:43

curious to educate oneself.

35:46

That is part of the path

35:49

of the sovereign to be

35:52

one of his favored children,

35:54

to chase the exceptional. One

35:57

must be curious. many

36:00

things that I desire to know,

36:03

and the path that I walk pushes

36:05

me towards knowing those things, or

36:08

at least that is what

36:10

I hope within my service to

36:12

the slain throne." Curious

36:14

about the exceptional. Such

36:17

words wisdom. Ah, actually,

36:20

to wind things

36:22

back just a little bit, we were talking

36:24

about some of the gatherings that are going

36:26

to be going on, as I am deathly

36:28

avoiding for the time being, but mistrust! Are

36:31

you going to be attending? I'm

36:33

afraid I do not know

36:36

what you mean. Oh, goodness.

36:40

There is, uh, somewhere here, a

36:43

bit of a ball going on down the

36:45

line. Not for

36:48

me. It's not something that I could

36:50

be. Ah, yes, of course. You mean later

36:52

this year, Earthie. We

36:54

need to name this event. We need to name

36:56

this event. Sure. How subtle

36:58

are they about it? Is it something that's

37:00

kind of like, swaved in

37:03

corporate terminology? Is it a...

37:06

I mean, this is a thing that

37:08

they, like, whenever this happens, they have

37:10

to, there's a lot

37:12

surrounding it, right? Because

37:15

they're pulling captains and admirals out of

37:17

the fields, and like, a

37:19

lot of things have to be rearranged. So, this

37:21

isn't a secretive thing. This is a thing that,

37:23

like, people know this happens. We

37:27

could just call it the retreat. The

37:29

retreat. The corporate retreat. I

37:33

was going to say the Crimson Gala. The

37:35

Crimson Gala is wonderful. That's great. Ah,

37:38

you mean the Crimson Gala. Yes,

37:40

later this year. I

37:43

am hoping that my efforts

37:45

are recognized to the point

37:47

of receiving an invitation, but

37:51

one can never assume such a thing,

37:53

and my

37:55

other hope then is that my

37:59

words of my deeds reach the ears of

38:01

my allies so that I

38:04

may expand what we do here.

38:06

I believe there is a tremendous

38:08

opportunity if those who

38:11

are helming the ship over at

38:13

the headquarters of the Red Feathers

38:15

see the advantage that we provide.

38:18

Of course, of course, after all, you

38:20

are providing them with their aesthetic. And

38:24

what is any company but its

38:26

aesthetic being recognized worldwide? Give

38:28

me when I say aesthetic is

38:31

only the beginning. It

38:33

is important, of course, that

38:35

ships and buildings and

38:38

uniforms and flags across the

38:40

whole of Svere reflect

38:43

the strength that

38:45

sits in the core of

38:47

Orem. But there is

38:49

much more that we can offer. We

38:51

through our efforts here are

38:53

going to be able to offer

38:56

security, strength, and protection. You're

38:58

expanding the Enterprise. No wonder you have a

39:00

card at all. Do I get a sneak

39:02

preview of the business pitch? You must have

39:05

been rehearsing. I

39:07

want you to make

39:09

a presence role here.

39:11

Yeah. How many presents

39:14

you get? I

39:16

will continue. I

39:18

will spend one fate and

39:21

one point of presence to gain another D8

39:23

to my role. No, that's two. That's two

39:25

to add D6, right? I

39:28

will spend three to upgrade it to a D8. I

39:30

will spend one fate and two presents, putting

39:33

me at two of eight to

39:35

get another D8 on the role.

39:38

I'm pretty low on presents now, but I

39:40

do not have any talents that require it

39:42

to be empty. So that's bad. We

39:46

have on these D8s a one,

39:48

a two, and a seven. That

39:52

is an overwhelming success. Well,

39:57

perhaps it is quite false. fortunate

40:00

that the winds have blown you

40:02

and your vessel my way. I

40:05

have been preparing this

40:08

port for some time

40:10

to expand operation both

40:12

in terms of scope

40:14

and diversity of what

40:16

we can make here. You

40:19

know our major exports are of

40:21

course pigments, but we

40:23

also export an important

40:25

weapon to be used

40:27

against the Mariner and

40:30

his ravages. There

40:32

are many operations that the

40:34

Red Feather Syndicate conducts that

40:37

are slowed and

40:40

impeded by the continued

40:42

presence of the Mariner

40:44

across the waters. It

40:47

is difficult to outfit all the

40:49

ships in the fleet with Leviathan

40:52

oils if we are constantly having

40:54

to send away attacks

40:56

from drowned sailors, and

40:59

although those attacks have

41:01

been down as of late, one

41:05

never knows when the

41:07

Mariner will resurge with

41:09

a strengthened fleet, and

41:12

that is where I believe

41:14

we have opportunities. And

41:18

you having a ship which right

41:20

now I have gathered

41:22

is quite large, you could

41:24

move some cargo for me. I

41:27

do have new pigments that I

41:29

would like to export, but also

41:31

a concentrated

41:34

form of one

41:36

of my proudest

41:38

achievements here, and

41:40

that of course is the

41:42

Maladiso, the poison that would

41:44

hold the sea at bay.

41:47

There is a form of it that can

41:50

be weaponized far more

41:52

easily, it's only being

41:54

tested right now, but if

41:57

it were to receive the right

41:59

advocate. hits at Redfeather Headquarters, it

42:02

would be simple enough to

42:04

increase our operations here, see

42:07

more debtors find ways to serve

42:09

their sentences, and see

42:11

more of the rediscovered world

42:14

free from fear of the

42:16

seas. Mmm,

42:19

involving the debtors in with

42:21

the plan is, well, genius.

42:23

You are an astounding worker.

42:25

I know you are definitely the kind of person

42:27

to get results. How

42:30

many who right

42:32

now rot away in

42:34

Redfeather cells that

42:36

still have the strength of their

42:39

arms and their legs could be

42:41

moving their bodies in favor of

42:43

developing the rediscovered world. It

42:46

is a waste, it is a shame, and

42:49

one that I hope is put

42:51

to an end. Mmm, there's

42:55

a smile that doesn't reach the eyes.

42:57

Too true. You've got to make

42:59

the best of what you've got. Now you

43:02

did say something a little previously about wanting to

43:04

have a bit of a tessitat, about

43:07

the gossip too spicy for even this table

43:09

it feels we have much to talk about.

43:12

Indeed, I should

43:14

like to take a meeting with you

43:16

tomorrow to discuss business

43:19

arrangements. I believe

43:21

there is a great deal that we could

43:23

do for one another. Quite indeed, indeed. I

43:26

must say, this has been a

43:29

delightful meal for both of us.

43:31

I answer in both of our behalf. But

43:36

I must go

43:38

and see the young one. Thiago

43:41

did have a matter to attend to,

43:43

but I thought it would not be

43:45

something that would do interrupting

43:47

the delightful evening you put forward for us,

43:49

but I should speak to him. And

43:54

of course, of course, it

43:56

has been delightful dining with

43:58

you all. I am sure.

44:00

At this

44:03

ocular Aravitti turns to

44:05

Gable. Thomas,

44:08

I must admit, I do

44:10

admire the path that you

44:12

walk now. I believe it

44:15

is not far from where the

44:18

Sovereign desires you to stray. And

44:21

he offers, like, what looks

44:24

like a handshake. Gable

44:27

stands, pulls

44:29

their feet out in

44:32

a very, like, clumsy manner,

44:34

sort of to cover that

44:36

they're not shaking their hand and, like,

44:39

clicks their heels together and just bows

44:41

and makes their way to the door.

44:43

Actually, on the way out is a bit of fact

44:46

checking that we didn't pursue, I don't think, on

44:48

camera because it's not in my notes. As we

44:50

kind of, like, walk along the, what I think

44:52

is probably quite a long table with everybody at

44:54

it to make their way out. We pass

45:00

by the man in

45:02

velvet who has the

45:04

pin that suggests that he's the

45:07

representative of the reference desk. Oh

45:09

yeah! I didn't

45:11

get the opportunity to go and say hello to

45:13

you when we were doing our welcomeings

45:15

and everybody was sitting down.

45:18

But, yes, sorry, I

45:20

wouldn't want to go and have a private

45:22

conversation when I'm up in the middle of

45:24

leaving you now, these situations are, but I

45:26

just wanted to introduce myself, Julian Lobelast. Oh

45:29

goodness, it is wonderful to meet you. I

45:32

can see by your attire, or at

45:34

least by your choice of pins that

45:36

you are. Part of the reference desk

45:38

here? Ah, well, not here

45:41

exactly, though. I do tend

45:43

to travel. I am based in

45:46

the closest city to here.

45:50

There is not much call for me to

45:52

operate here, though I do like

45:54

to touch base with Ms.

45:56

Truss and Mr. Arvetti and

45:58

know some of the... basic comings

46:00

and goings, there are always

46:03

people who are tallying their numbers

46:05

far off from a place like

46:07

this who need accurate information and

46:09

of course the reference desk

46:11

is always happy to provide that. Marvelous!

46:15

The diligence, everybody here is so on

46:18

top of their game, I'm among

46:21

titans. We may pass

46:23

by if you are still

46:26

in the space tomorrow and in the position

46:28

to do a little bit of your duty

46:30

and we would love to have a speak

46:32

to them. Oh yes, yes of

46:34

course, of course if you have business with

46:36

the reference desk I would be happy

46:39

to represent. Obviously

46:42

I only carry with me

46:44

the knowledge that is expected

46:46

for me to know but if

46:48

you have any specific requests we

46:50

can always dispatch a

46:53

messenger to give you

46:55

the rest of the information that you are looking

46:57

for, of course should

46:59

you have the coin? Oh

47:03

you are a card, does not

47:05

answer that question. But

47:07

it is pleasure and offers

47:10

an elegant hand. I

47:12

think palm down in a very kiss the

47:14

ring kind of way. He

47:18

takes it, he is

47:21

clearly not familiar with

47:23

the customs

47:25

of the Azure

47:27

region. He takes it and

47:31

shakes it and

47:34

nods and bows a little bit.

47:36

What wonderful to meet you as well,

47:39

I look forward to making time for

47:41

us to meet. Fabulous,

47:43

fabulous. And Mr. Stone thank you

47:46

once again for introducing me to

47:48

your wonderful inviteees to

47:50

invite me this part of

47:52

this event. Think

47:55

nothing of it, I am so glad I

47:57

was able to find you and bring you.

48:00

you here? Can you imagine if

48:02

you had strode through our little

48:04

region without getting the chance to

48:06

meet everyone? Indeed, indeed.

48:10

There is like one of the wait staff

48:12

who has like an unopened bottle of red,

48:17

and Julian LaBoleste picks it up by

48:19

the neck. I shall think nothing of

48:22

it indeed. Wow, what

48:24

a play. Thank

48:28

you for the evening. Good night, everybody. Um,

48:31

yeah, you say your good nights,

48:34

and most people begin their good nights as

48:37

well and start to leave

48:40

the estate. At

48:42

the moment, we are like

48:45

a good distance away from

48:47

the operations and we can

48:49

have a private conversation. Oromar

48:51

turns to Gable, fucking hell.

48:53

Give me that. Hey,

48:56

this is mine. No, no, no,

48:58

this is going to be something that we

49:00

can give to a red feather later. We

49:02

need to keep it intact. You

49:06

owe me. I've said you owe me, you

49:09

and Jonet owe me, but you owe me even

49:11

more now. So, so much. You owe me

49:13

so much. I

49:15

shall owe you a banquet

49:18

when we can find somewhere less. We're

49:20

never gonna get a banquet. We're never

49:23

gonna get a banquet. We never get

49:25

good things. We only get big bad

49:27

knives and dinner parties

49:29

full of red feathers and drunks

49:32

and the church and.

49:38

Don't worry, Gable. The

49:40

chicken was dry with

49:42

the wriest smile, Oromar

49:45

can muster. Very cruel,

49:47

man. Very cruel. Let's go

49:49

back to the ship, all right? Yes,

49:52

yes. We'll return. We'll return. We need to.

49:54

I'm not going to be established. If

49:57

nothing else, I would like to walk past the ship.

50:00

take our routes so we walk past the baths

50:02

on the way back. If you

50:04

want to explore that, again, there is

50:06

a lot of information out there. You

50:10

have the opportunity to get it, for sure.

50:12

It's like past the bathing out at this

50:14

point, and it's probably not even open. Yeah,

50:16

exactly. It's like

50:18

the churches mostly close up a

50:21

lot of the priests

50:23

and monks and other people who are

50:25

operating the church and the baths have

50:28

retreated to their residential

50:30

areas, whether they be with the church

50:32

in a rectory, or

50:34

if they are to go

50:37

back and mix with the general debtors

50:39

who live here. Okay. A

50:44

genuine emotive conversation for him. As

50:47

we stand outside the

50:49

baths, I wonder

50:51

if they still seem, even at this hour,

50:53

if it stops when it's not being used. I

50:56

think it does still steam, yeah. We

50:59

look at the cloud of steam rising up into the

51:01

night air, and Oramar

51:03

says, well, I

51:06

can only assume that our Avete is

51:08

full of shit. You

51:10

would know better than me. Unfortunately,

51:13

we are encountering what

51:16

I believe to be a true believer. And

51:20

in some ways, that's probably more dangerous. I've

51:24

never met a zealot that I enjoyed. No,

51:27

of course not. But

51:29

still, you got him

51:31

to talk and he gave us some valuable information.

51:34

So I appreciate your candor.

51:38

I don't believe him that this

51:40

has been an easy transition. I

51:43

feel that something has happened in

51:47

the past previous years that created a vacuum.

51:49

And the desperation was

51:53

even more stark than I anticipated.

51:57

The violence of what I saw.

52:00

But when the butcher asks for

52:02

too much would drive anyone to any other

52:04

arms, no matter how impotent they may be.

52:07

ALICE One wonders what that, erm,

52:10

the treatment that you don't have to pay

52:12

for and what they are giving up that

52:14

way, and how the people

52:16

who have made that sacrifice feel about it.

52:19

JANET We saw them. I

52:21

imagine it's monk ship.

52:25

Infinite labour for the church. ALICE

52:28

Labour and coin all earned

52:30

from one location. JANET

52:35

Truly miserable. ALICE

52:38

In a different position I would say we

52:40

would dismantle it from the inside out, tear

52:43

it all down, let the people work together

52:45

to build something new, but I don't think

52:47

we have the time or the

52:49

resources to make that happen safely. JANET

52:51

Ha ha. ALICE Erm,

52:53

he, the laugh isn't character, there

52:55

is no revolution that's bloodless, that's

52:57

an idle dream. JANET I know

52:59

that. That goes against

53:01

a lot of your leanings, a lot of your

53:03

desires. ALICE It's historically proven.

53:06

JANET It's historically proven. That

53:08

doesn't mean that we can't set

53:11

a few dynamite wicks ablaze before

53:13

we go. ALICE Do you have a plan

53:15

in mind? JANET Oh

53:17

no. But

53:20

something's gonna happen. It always

53:22

does. ALICE Something has to happen. A

53:25

good story isn't told of people just

53:27

letting the world idly pass them by,

53:29

not when there's this much hardship. And

53:32

I'm sure your sense of judgement

53:35

wouldn't let you lie idle. JANET

53:37

Very starkly. Gable is staring at

53:39

the baths trying to smell like what

53:41

the herbs and spices are in the

53:45

concoction. She makes a big sniff

53:48

on this day. I cannot promise much,

53:50

but what I will promise is, one

53:53

man will see his children again. While

53:57

they're still at that great age. It's

54:00

a great age. Really is a great age. The

54:03

captain smiles. Let's get you

54:05

a sandwich, Gable. I

54:39

don't exactly know what you might say

54:41

my life was before I wound up

54:43

here. I didn't define myself by profession.

54:46

I was a wanderer mostly, moving between

54:48

communities, finding work where I could get

54:50

it. But most of what I did

54:52

to keep meals on the table was

54:54

turning the ill of man. The

54:57

thing I always loved about the Lumens game

54:59

is it rewarded attention. As long as you

55:01

were diligent about tracking who played what and

55:03

learned to play the board in front of

55:06

you instead of the one you were hoping

55:08

for, I found that fortune has a way of finding

55:10

its way to you. But even

55:12

a highly skilled player such as

55:14

myself occasionally finds themselves dealt a

55:16

bad hand. There is no profit

55:18

without risk, and in order to

55:20

take certain risks one must borrow,

55:22

I will consider myself a careful

55:24

man. There

55:26

are only two types of folks I

55:28

would ever dream of borrowing from. The

55:30

first is the sort of person who

55:33

has a greater affection for you than

55:35

your money, which is a rare soul

55:37

to find indeed, but not impossible, especially

55:40

when you're one who possesses charms such

55:42

as mine. The second is the

55:44

type of person you'll never see in your life

55:46

again. Again, not an impossible

55:48

person to find, but it certainly makes

55:51

moving around more difficult. And I'll admit

55:53

taking that sort of loan is a

55:55

dangerous thing to involve oneself in, which

55:57

is a very difficult thing

56:00

to do. is why I was so

56:02

surprised that my troubles are owed to

56:04

the first type of person, to someone

56:06

who I felt had a greater affection

56:08

for me than they did for money.

56:12

My problems start up north.

56:14

There's a little red-feather refueling

56:16

station called Fortune's Turn. On

56:18

a slow ship, it's about

56:20

a week out of Orem,

56:22

but a bird or a fast ship will get you

56:24

there in just a few nights. Turn

56:27

is a community that I endeavored

56:29

to keep myself ingratiated to. Being

56:31

a refueling station, there were plenty of

56:33

sailors who would pass through who were

56:36

sitting with idle hours looking for something

56:38

to do with their hard-won currency. The

56:41

Illimat Table is exactly what a sailor

56:43

might be looking for, and I am

56:45

as always extremely pleased to be one

56:47

seat at that table. Now Fortune's

56:50

Turn had a few establishments that would

56:52

both serve liquor and host games. Many

56:55

low-class establishments where people were

56:57

mostly playing for copper bits,

56:59

but there was an officer's

57:01

bar, the Beached Siren, a

57:04

lovely little place that always

57:07

served sweet ice-wines. To

57:09

play Illimat there, they had one rule.

57:12

If you weren't a red-feather officer,

57:14

you had to have a drink

57:16

on your table, and there was

57:18

no nurse in a single drink

57:20

for more than an hour. Not

57:22

exactly a favorable environment for a

57:24

professional gambler like myself, especially as

57:26

iced wines come on the expensive

57:28

side, but the potential coin to

57:30

be won there was silver bits.

57:33

Maybe if someone was extraordinarily

57:35

careless a few bars. The

57:38

kind of money that could keep a

57:40

fellow such as myself housed and fed

57:42

with plenty of options for travel. But

57:45

of course, if you're going to frequent

57:47

this type of establishment and frequently be

57:49

the center of disputes, one must take

57:51

great care to see that the staff

57:53

is always on your side. Now I

57:56

won't claim that I was never a

57:58

cheat in my life. I'm

58:00

certain there's no lumen in all of Sphere that

58:02

would allow me to sit long with that

58:04

claim on my tongue, as even the rake has

58:06

a sense of propriety from time to time. But

58:09

I do swear, when I

58:11

am in an establishment such

58:14

as the Beached Siren, I'm

58:16

always on my best behavior.

58:18

It is no matter that most red-feather officers

58:21

have eyes and wits slower than home honey

58:23

on an autumn day. All it

58:25

takes is being caught once not to be welcomed

58:27

back. And if you play

58:30

your cards right, the Beached Siren can keep

58:32

you going for a good long time. So

58:35

I took pains to befriend the man

58:37

behind the bar, a

58:39

Mr. Lucius Cadwell, who

58:41

used to be an erriner himself of

58:43

some repute, before meeting an unfortunate accident

58:46

in the skies that took both his

58:48

hand and his left leg. He decided,

58:50

rather than trouble himself trying to return

58:52

to the air, that he would take

58:55

the settlement bestowed upon him by the

58:57

red-feather syndicate and find a different

58:59

line of work. And thanks

59:01

to having many friends in high places,

59:04

the Beached Siren was able to build itself

59:06

up into being the sort of establishment frequented

59:08

by those who didn't have to worry about

59:11

where their next meal was coming from. It

59:13

left Lucius the kind of man who was always

59:16

willing to work hard, but never had to worry

59:18

about the doors staying open. It

59:20

doesn't take long to establish a rapport with

59:22

that sort of bartender. When

59:24

someone isn't scrambling to survive, they'll

59:27

slow down to talk much more

59:29

easily. And it was only

59:31

the third night of talking to

59:33

Lucius that I discovered his bachelorhood

59:35

was quite confirmed. And

59:37

for at least a handful of years

59:39

I counted him as quite a dependable

59:41

friend. And once our

59:44

relationship was established, Lucius came

59:46

to understand my patterns. Which

59:49

is that most of the time I am

59:51

very good for my money when it comes

59:53

to ordering drinks to stay in the game.

59:56

But not always. Sometimes

59:58

I need a- little bit of ledge,

1:00:01

a little bit of an

1:00:03

extension to make my final moves.

1:00:06

A rough hand or two can make you stumble before

1:00:08

you reach the mountain top, you see. Lucius

1:00:11

would always make a note if I

1:00:13

needed to be forwarded a drink, but

1:00:15

at the end of each evening I

1:00:17

was always sure to tip handsomely. And

1:00:20

it was an arrangement that worked for all

1:00:22

parties involved for quite some time. That

1:00:25

is until about two years

1:00:27

ago now. It

1:00:30

was a fine summer night when

1:00:32

the doors of the beach siren

1:00:34

were darkened by a different sort

1:00:36

of beast altogether. When

1:00:38

you make a living by taking money

1:00:40

from rich men, you have to be

1:00:42

discerned and careful about who you share

1:00:44

a table with. There are

1:00:47

the easygoing, unworried sorts like Lucius

1:00:49

who are willing to take

1:00:51

losses alongside their long victories. There

1:00:54

are those that feel entitled to

1:00:56

victory at every turn, but are

1:00:58

restrained by the very society that

1:01:00

benefits them so much that they'd

1:01:02

never dream of lifting a finger

1:01:05

under watchful eyes. There

1:01:07

are those who are quiet, who

1:01:09

walk through life as though everything

1:01:11

is within a soft cloud, who

1:01:13

would happily spend an entire evening

1:01:15

losing a fortune's worth of money

1:01:17

simply because it's something to do. But

1:01:20

there are also those who

1:01:22

sit with a quiet intelligence behind

1:01:25

their eyes, a spark

1:01:27

of wit that a lifetime

1:01:29

of luxury has fanned into

1:01:32

malice. They are clever

1:01:34

enough to know when they are being

1:01:36

challenged, and quite used to overcoming every

1:01:38

challenge they are met with because

1:01:40

they are supported by advantages they

1:01:43

neither see nor recognize. It is

1:01:45

these folks who require the most

1:01:47

careful discernment. You see, they don't

1:01:49

recognize winning and losing in the

1:01:51

same way that other people do.

1:01:54

Every victory you receive over a man

1:01:56

like that, they consider an allowance.

1:02:00

given to you either by themselves

1:02:02

or the Lumens, that

1:02:04

all your petty victories are nothing

1:02:07

but borrowed, and eventually

1:02:09

fate will blow winds to allow

1:02:11

them to collect. I

1:02:13

am forced to admit that I am a

1:02:16

man of many vices, and

1:02:18

a great deal of those vices

1:02:20

are indulgence-based, but I also

1:02:23

succumb to temptations that are

1:02:25

purely intellectual. I

1:02:28

search for victories that will not just

1:02:30

line my pocket, but memories that will

1:02:32

keep me warm on deeply cold nights,

1:02:34

and the face of such a man

1:02:37

who is used to not only being

1:02:39

supported by his great wealth and privilege,

1:02:41

but also a spark of genuine wit,

1:02:43

well, remembering what they

1:02:45

look like when they understand that

1:02:47

they have truly lost something. That

1:02:49

is a sweet memory. He

1:02:52

was in town for a few nights, leading

1:02:55

a large complement of

1:02:57

red-feather soldiers. Clearly

1:02:59

he had received the best education that

1:03:01

the Red Feather Academy was capable of

1:03:03

producing. Everyone in uniform

1:03:05

was excited to fawn over him

1:03:07

and his many successes, and I

1:03:09

did recognize the name, Youngblood,

1:03:14

the sort of name that would

1:03:16

appear on many crated seals passed

1:03:18

around the continent, the sort of

1:03:20

name that carried a great deal

1:03:22

of coin behind it. It

1:03:24

piqued my curiosity, and I engineered

1:03:27

my way into a game with him.

1:03:30

I easily won that night and

1:03:32

walked away with two silver bits,

1:03:34

but I could see that spark

1:03:36

behind his eyes. There

1:03:39

was emotion there, perhaps anger,

1:03:41

perhaps frustration, but there

1:03:43

was something deeper as well. But

1:03:45

I thought I had identified as

1:03:47

a hungry curiosity. When

1:03:49

I was collecting my winnings, he

1:03:51

mentioned that he would be in town for a

1:03:54

bit longer and that he would like to see

1:03:56

me at his table again. At

1:03:58

that moment I had to make an evaluation. Playing

1:04:01

against a man like that who

1:04:03

believes that he has just loaned

1:04:06

you your victory and that you

1:04:08

indeed owe him your defeat, you

1:04:11

have to decide. Is

1:04:13

this someone who has enough affection for

1:04:15

you that they care for your company

1:04:17

more than your money, or is

1:04:20

this the type of man that you are

1:04:22

likely never to see again? I

1:04:24

did what I thought was reasonable research. We

1:04:27

are too close to Orem for there

1:04:30

to be much military action. There

1:04:32

are very few pyratical vessels that

1:04:34

fly around these skies, and

1:04:36

Fortune's twist is a bit too small

1:04:39

to be service in most military vessels,

1:04:41

as they tend to carry more crew

1:04:43

than most. I had

1:04:45

my suspicions that it

1:04:47

would be all right to defeat

1:04:50

this man night after night at

1:04:52

the Illimat table, simply because he

1:04:54

had quite a bit of money and

1:04:57

we were not likely to see each other again.

1:05:08

Campaign Skyjax is a one-shot network production. For

1:05:10

more information be sure to follow us on

1:05:12

Twitter over at campaignpod for updates about live

1:05:14

shows and other events we might be doing.

1:05:18

Hey heroes it's James here. It's time for

1:05:20

you to grab a bird, a saddle, and

1:05:22

a lamp, because we've got new episodes of

1:05:24

Skyjoust coming at you next week. Skyjoust

1:05:27

is the one-shot network's competitive sports

1:05:29

drama actual play, inspired by your

1:05:31

favorite sports animes and set in

1:05:33

Skyjax's world of sphere. Follow

1:05:36

four different adolescent jousting teams as

1:05:38

they battle their way through the quarterfinals,

1:05:40

eventually to face each other in head-to-head

1:05:42

PvP matches. It's competitive because we have

1:05:45

four different teams of protagonists, and everybody's

1:05:47

got a reason to win. But there's

1:05:49

only one championship spot and the game

1:05:52

decides who takes the crown. Watch your

1:05:54

favorite performers from around the one-shot network

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and world of actual play in some

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intense and hilarious. hilarious moments. You can

1:06:01

listen to Skyjoust right now by heading

1:06:03

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search for Skyjoust, S-K-Y-J-O-U-S-T, with two exclamation

1:06:08

points. If you first checked out Skyjoust

1:06:10

when it was on the Skyjax feed,

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we are finally airing brand new episodes,

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so it's the perfect time to jump

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in. We'll catch you in the list,

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heroes. You

1:06:23

can find more great gaming

1:06:25

shows over at oneshotpodcast.com. Johnett

1:06:28

Kessler was played by Tyler Davis,

1:06:30

who can be found on Twitter

1:06:32

and Instagram at Tyler A. Dave.

1:06:34

Tyler is on strike alongside his

1:06:36

fellow members of the WGA and

1:06:38

SAG-AFTRA. You can support Tyler and

1:06:40

other striking artists by contributing to

1:06:42

the Entertainment Community Fund, linked

1:06:44

in our show notes. Gable was

1:06:46

played by Liz Anderson, who

1:06:48

can be found on Twitter

1:06:50

at Liz Anderson underscore underscore

1:06:52

underscore, or on her podcast,

1:06:54

Paired. Captain Oramar Vale

1:06:57

was played by Nathan Blades,

1:06:59

who can be found on

1:07:01

Twitter at PhantomArtsENT, or streaming

1:07:04

at twitch.tv slash The Neon

1:07:06

Caster. I am James

1:07:08

Damato, your host and game master.

1:07:10

You can find me on Twitter

1:07:12

at oneshotrpg, or on my

1:07:15

podcast, One Shot. The original

1:07:17

music featured in this podcast was

1:07:19

written, composed, and performed by Arnie

1:07:21

Parrott. You can find him over

1:07:24

on Twitter at Arnie Parrott, or

1:07:26

on his website, ATPtoons. This

1:07:28

episode was edited by Allie Grauer, who

1:07:30

can be found on Twitter at Dreams

1:07:32

to Become, or on her

1:07:35

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

1:07:37

logo was designed by Fiona Shaffey, who

1:07:40

can be found on Twitter at Lunarum.

1:07:42

The World of Sphere was inspired in

1:07:44

part by the music of The Decemberists

1:07:47

and Illimat, produced by Together Studios. This

1:07:49

show was made in part by using

1:07:51

a modified version of the Genesis role-playing

1:07:53

system, designed by Sam Stewart and a

1:07:56

team of talented professionals. There

1:07:58

are no kings. We're

1:08:11

leaving behind, who know

1:08:13

we can never deny

1:08:17

the call of the sky.