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I now need to do some maths. I'm

0:33

sorry, you can just edit all of

0:35

this out. I'm so bad at doing

0:37

maths under pressure. We will remove math

0:39

from the podcast. This is a math-free

0:41

zone. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don't

0:44

worry. Don't you worry. Two to add a

0:46

new dime. Proofs! Fuck off. Okay.

0:49

So currently I would need to spend,

0:51

I think, four to get that to

0:53

3D8. So,

1:00

alright. So

1:30

the whole day are

1:32

around. Does

1:35

Bayless seem like, I feel

1:37

it, because I think I put on

1:39

the leon for the character that kind

1:41

of baby-faced. Bayless probably wouldn't be able

1:43

to hold his own. He

1:45

doesn't seem like he'd be good in a fight. That's

1:48

the impression. This strikes you as

1:51

somebody who's got a lot of heart, but,

1:54

you know, inside kind

1:56

of doughy and soft. Maybe

1:59

outside. a little bit of

2:01

doughy and soft too. You also

2:03

know that there's

2:05

a lot of concern, especially

2:10

doing the math. He is out here

2:12

because somebody that he cares about, he

2:14

thinks is in danger. And

2:17

now there are people who

2:19

are like considered outsiders and

2:22

strangers to the community who

2:25

are surrounding. This is a bad situation and

2:28

he could easily tip it into a worse

2:30

situation with the wrong reaction. Yeah,

2:34

I think John is going to turn to Bayless

2:37

and it's probably going to be some

2:39

form of jarring but with the information

2:41

John has just picked up, John is going to

2:43

turn to Bayless and is like, well, I think

2:46

we've done everything that we can do here and

2:48

I think it's time that we go back

2:51

to camp. I want to point

2:53

out you are being surrounded. I don't think you're

2:55

going to be able to just leave

2:57

this situation. All right. So

3:00

you might want to shift. Yeah. Yeah,

3:03

he's just going to turn around and say, whatever

3:06

happens in the next couple of

3:08

seconds, you are not a threat.

3:10

Do not come off as a threat. And

3:16

I think from that point on, like John

3:18

is going to put his hands out at

3:21

his side and open them up wide. And

3:25

I think he's going to start

3:28

to walk towards Bayless and then

3:30

kind of like turn as if he's

3:32

going to put his back towards Bayless'

3:35

back. I like that. I

3:37

like that. You

3:39

turn and you

3:41

can see creeping through the

3:43

grasses, there is a younger

3:46

man who has his like a blowgun near his

3:48

mouth, but not on his mouth, who is

3:56

looking at you, Looking at the situation

3:58

that you are in. With

4:00

some intensity and there is

4:02

like that kind of killing

4:05

intent that is to sort

4:07

of radiating around the whole

4:09

area and I think that

4:12

is a good moment to

4:14

cut away and. I

4:18

would like to cut toward

4:20

or mutton or Mars was

4:22

just in a very intense

4:25

situation com or a situation

4:27

that is left him with

4:29

intense. Feeling I want to

4:31

know where or amar is to

4:34

process this. Yes,

4:40

Because the way that this this is

4:42

a town that functionally never sleeps with

4:44

the way that the Rate operates. But

4:47

we are out season. Meaning

4:51

z like dockyard.

4:54

Ah, for whatever that means,

4:56

scholarships is less busy, And.

4:58

We do also know that. Some

5:01

of the supplies of that he has

5:04

agreed with Edith Press. Consists.

5:07

Of being delivered their. Messiah to

5:09

go into some it's location and

5:12

go somewhere that may be slightly

5:14

quieter. He had their. As.

5:17

And then the support of cool. He does want to

5:19

speak his career, but speaking to his crew will and

5:21

grace? Not going to be productive. Yeah.

5:24

You are. Around the

5:27

docks. And. I

5:29

think it dockyard is a

5:31

familiar place to former. I

5:34

think a lot of things

5:36

change through time. Are there

5:39

certain technologies that are different

5:41

but the kind of people

5:44

that load and unload ships?

5:46

Ah, there's a constant about

5:49

that. It was something that

5:51

was present in Ban Dari

5:54

even before sky ships rolled

5:56

then and descended on your

5:59

homeland. It is

6:01

people who work, who

6:03

who travel, who move

6:05

and move things on

6:07

and off shifts. There

6:09

is a quality to

6:11

that labour that is

6:13

so familiar. And

6:17

around this familiarity you

6:19

have this simmering ah,

6:21

these feelings about what

6:23

was said, the ways

6:25

in which the red

6:27

feathers have already transformed

6:29

the world. How they

6:31

have already scarred so many

6:33

places with the are mere

6:35

presence and how they want

6:38

to take. It's not just

6:40

the places that they have

6:42

poisoned with their touch but.

6:45

Some. Some parts of

6:48

the core of their

6:50

homes and somehow make

6:52

that worse than literally

6:55

pleasing poisoning new places

6:57

A. While or a mod

6:59

does not know the find the details

7:01

of how. The

7:03

like, Botany or of the the material

7:05

that they use and to make the die they

7:08

dinner held talks with it is and trying to

7:10

bring that to any other coming see if the

7:12

well. As the

7:14

dead as a bid to make

7:16

new die making factories would be

7:18

catastrophic adams the any community that

7:21

they displace that way. And

7:24

the a part of a

7:26

top all of that top

7:28

of the literal toxicity. there

7:30

is also the plan to.

7:33

Institute and manage a system of

7:35

get them. Would a city that

7:37

would allow them to quote unquote

7:39

legally kidnap any one they wanted

7:41

at almost any time. Ah Sir

7:43

A long the rid of Them

7:45

into the service of this machine.

7:48

Yeah. Yes,

7:51

And. It's. It's

7:55

such a big idea made by such

7:57

small people. and

7:59

it may makes it hard to kind of process

8:02

the scale of

8:04

that feeling, right? Like, hey,

8:06

a single person can be

8:08

removed, but an idea like

8:10

that, Edith is keeping it kind of

8:12

close to her chest because she wants to be the person

8:14

that quote unquote invented this, right? Yeah.

8:17

Because if this idea even

8:19

graces the ear of another person, if

8:22

the red feather is this idea,

8:25

can't leave it, and there's a very

8:27

easy way to make that happen. Yeah. I

8:30

mean, there is, I think I

8:33

want you to make a

8:36

intellect roll. Absolutely, darling. It's my

8:38

best set. We're going

8:41

to be rolling 3d8. We'll

8:43

keep that. This 3d8, I think I won't upgrade it.

8:46

Three successes. I

8:49

got four failures and

8:51

a complication. Punished. Which

8:55

I think this

8:57

is a good result in

9:00

my eyes, narratively at least. It

9:03

is hard to say where the thought

9:05

comes from. And perhaps

9:07

if Oramar was in a

9:11

less intense position,

9:13

if he wasn't maybe

9:16

grappling with the trauma of

9:18

colonization and what it has

9:21

done to him, if

9:23

he was not sorting through the

9:26

faces of all of the orphans he

9:28

had welcomed onto a ship who have

9:30

been made that way by conditions

9:33

that the red feathers

9:35

created intentionally, if he

9:37

was not thinking of the face

9:39

of the person who promised

9:41

him that she intended to

9:43

introduce one of the deepest

9:45

and most unspeakable evils to

9:47

the world in a way

9:49

that was so casual that she

9:51

was so proud of that

9:54

he might have had

9:56

the presence of mine to

9:58

question the origin. origin of

10:00

this thought as it would not occur

10:03

to him, mostly. There

10:07

is a flash, a flash

10:09

that feels too perfect. There

10:13

are traces of what he imagined when

10:15

Gable described it to him, mixed

10:18

with probably some measure

10:20

of the vision itself, of

10:23

everyone here, dead,

10:26

all of it, of a

10:29

faint red haze that

10:32

plays out over the community. Just

10:37

this small strand of rage that

10:39

was inside Oramar that for a

10:41

second, whether he is

10:43

left with it or not, for

10:45

a second he desires the

10:48

death of the whole place, burying

10:51

the good with the bad,

10:54

a raspful judgment upon

10:56

all of the land for

10:58

the blight that it would

11:00

purport to introduce to fear.

11:04

Oramar is not locked into that line

11:07

of thinking. The thought just

11:09

occurs to him and

11:12

he cannot sense the edge of

11:14

the butcher's knife on it. We

11:18

all have intrusive thoughts,

11:21

but we as humans know that it's

11:23

possible to throw them away. But

11:25

you never hear about anybody else's intrusive

11:28

thoughts, so it feels like it's just

11:30

you. And

11:36

yeah, because it's just the edge

11:38

of town, Oramar looks too, like

11:40

turns on his heel and looks

11:42

to town, and the camera kind

11:45

of follows so it's at his

11:47

back, and for like

11:49

a couple frames, we just

11:51

see the entirety of Sorrow's

11:53

End just covered in red

11:55

haze, and it's gone. I

12:01

want to know, Oramar

12:04

is somebody who has been in hundreds

12:07

of battles, hundreds of fights where

12:09

technically his life would be at

12:12

stake. And we

12:14

described that, John, there

12:16

is a sense, there is a taste, there

12:18

is something in the air when somebody has

12:20

a weapon drawn and has

12:24

a weapon drawn on you, that

12:26

people who have lived that kind of

12:28

life can simply sense. How

12:31

does Oramar sense

12:34

violence is about to happen before it does? Oh

12:37

my gosh. I think now, there

12:41

was almost a probability

12:43

check when he was

12:45

alive the first time. Sure. There

12:47

is something about the odds of the

12:49

situation that just kind of escalate in

12:52

a way passively. Oramar has a little

12:54

bit of genre sense, I guess. It

12:58

comes with the territory of

13:00

being this piratical

13:02

hero. But

13:04

I think now it works differently.

13:08

It is the

13:10

mansion made of

13:12

spider thread. He is

13:14

used to an extended period

13:16

where outside stimuli is just

13:19

kind of data that you

13:21

interpret. And that hasn't gone away.

13:24

And I think the metaphysics of killing intent

13:26

is actually something that could make the

13:29

spider's things vibrate like a

13:31

breeze. I

13:33

think that's it. This

13:36

is something that technically all

13:39

humans can be privy to

13:41

on one level or

13:43

another. It

13:45

is just something they sense in the

13:47

air. And folks who have

13:50

lived a life such as yours can be more

13:52

sensitive to it. But

13:54

now you have the mind

13:57

palace being someone who was

13:59

separated. separated from his body at

14:01

a certain point and can look

14:04

in many ways at the

14:06

entire working of his being, everything that

14:08

he senses all at once, it's

14:10

so much easier to intentionally pick

14:13

out. You realize,

14:16

maybe not exactly how, but

14:19

you realize that someone

14:21

right now intends to

14:23

attack you. How

14:27

do you ready yourself? Oh.

14:33

Errrrrr. Funnily

14:35

enough, the

14:38

body posture... Because it's because

14:40

Oramar is dressed as Julian

14:42

Marbelleste currently, but

14:44

walked as Oramar Vale being

14:47

unobserved. Errrr. The

14:50

first instinct is

14:52

to straighten... pull his

14:54

shit together. He pulls himself straight,

14:57

upright, the posture of Julian Marbelleste

14:59

is there, but

15:02

one hand is inside the coat.

15:05

And he waits. Finesse.

15:08

Yeah, I think this is Finesse. I think this is about

15:11

the speed of your reaction. A lot of finesse roll. Beautiful.

15:15

Two points to add an additional dime, one

15:17

point to upgrade it, yeah? Correct.

15:19

Cool. We'll do that. We'll spend

15:22

three and I roll a 3d8. Ooh,

15:24

love it. Rolling. Hmm. Three

15:27

successes, one opportunity. Okay.

15:30

You have... you're

15:32

successful by two successes

15:34

and you have two

15:36

complications that come over it.

15:40

So the... I think because

15:42

there are a lot of like grasses

15:44

around the area, someone

15:47

emerges like subtly

15:49

from the grasses. And

15:52

again, if you were a different

15:54

person who had not lived the life that

15:56

you have lived, maybe even if

15:58

you were a mortal person. who

16:01

did not have the senses that you have,

16:04

you would not have noticed them. There

16:06

is something about how fear

16:08

itself is trying to make their

16:11

passing as subtle as a breath

16:13

of wit. They move across the

16:16

ground quickly and they are at

16:18

your side and a

16:20

cleaver arcs through the air.

16:23

How does Oramar Vale stop it?

16:26

Oramar Vale, as Julian Laba'lest, has

16:28

no reason to carry a gun,

16:30

has no reason to carry a

16:32

sword. Julian Laba'lest,

16:34

however, does have a letter

16:36

opener. And there is a

16:38

flash of steel and

16:43

a blade lock at melee range

16:46

as the cleaver going

16:48

straight for throat or chest here.

16:51

I think,

16:54

weirdly enough, it

16:56

was... I think you're back.

16:58

And like, in a

17:01

way that wouldn't have

17:03

been lethal. Just

17:05

to cause the damage. Death by

17:07

a thousand cuts, as they say. Yeah,

17:10

there is a whirl round, like he

17:12

pivots on a single heel and

17:15

catches the cleaver swing with his

17:17

blade. And that movement is fast

17:19

and we barely even know that

17:21

there was movement at all. If

17:23

not for the sudden movement dislodging

17:26

the head wrap and dreads following

17:28

through in the motion

17:30

of the arc that moves round as he's

17:32

turned round. And smiles at

17:34

the person who has come in

17:36

and it's like, hello there! And

17:39

his eyes are just full of

17:41

immediate killing intent. You

17:44

are face to face with

17:47

Ariel, who looks

17:51

rough. First of all,

17:53

looks like she has not slept. Secondly,

17:58

is not dressed in appropriate attire,

18:00

you can see her face. She

18:02

is pale. The parts of

18:05

her that were afflicted with scarlet

18:07

are very obvious. Like they are

18:09

these stark patches

18:11

of red on otherwise deeply

18:13

pale skin. She

18:16

looks wild, like

18:19

she has been stalking through grasses

18:21

all day. There is also blood

18:24

all over her. It

18:27

is on her hands. It clearly

18:29

has sprayed onto her

18:31

clothing. Her blade lock

18:35

against yours is weak. She

18:38

is clearly not strong, but

18:40

it is also unsteady, as

18:43

though almost that she

18:46

has to concentrate to hold her

18:48

blade there. But that

18:51

roaring, that like welling up

18:53

of killing intent from you,

18:56

there is like a smile

18:58

that crosses her face and it

19:00

is just so clear that it

19:02

is not her smile. Ah,

19:06

I thought I had lost you. I do

19:09

believe you were in my hand before.

19:13

Oh, I don't think you could ever

19:15

lose me. Actually,

19:18

I was thinking of having a chat. I'd

19:22

be more than happy to talk. I

19:25

think she like steps back in

19:27

a way that like looks very

19:29

animated and her

19:31

hand moves forward

19:34

and holds the cleaver

19:37

along her inner forearm

19:39

and points the handle towards you and

19:43

armistice between us. Figures

19:46

such as you and I. I

19:50

think everyone could benefit from that.

19:54

I am talking to all of the

19:56

hits, aren't I? You

19:59

know what? I have a feeling after

20:01

we have our little chat, what I have

20:04

in mind might satisfy you for a while,

20:07

and if it does, maybe... Oh,

20:09

there have been many, many thoughts

20:11

that could satisfy me. I

20:14

know. I'm

20:16

afraid that the prisoners

20:19

of Sorrow's End I would love to

20:21

let live their lives, but

20:24

there are some people that must not. Negotiator.

20:29

We will work out the terms if

20:33

you let me in. I

20:37

thought you'd never ask. I'm

20:40

going to grab the handle

20:43

of that cleaver, and

20:46

I... Oh, beans! Mmm.

20:49

Basically, I want to have a conversation

20:51

within the mansion of strings,

20:58

and just make my body physically

21:01

inert. Yeah, we

21:03

are making a role here. Mm-hmm. It

21:05

is either. There

21:10

are a lot of ways. You can base

21:12

this however you want. This

21:14

can be through either magic

21:19

or presence. You

21:23

are right now defending

21:25

yourself from the touch

21:28

of the butcher. The

21:30

butcher is, as

21:32

you grasp the cleaver, trying

21:34

to step in. Oramar is

21:38

alive again, but

21:41

is also in some ways

21:43

still a ghost haunting his

21:45

own body. Mm-hmm. It's a

21:47

crowded space, and it

21:49

is trying to push its way in.

21:52

However you envision Oramar resisting that and

21:54

whatever spends you want to make,

21:56

I'm going to roll this with you. I'm

21:58

going to write down my results. I'm going to

22:00

write down your results and

22:02

we'll reveal those results

22:05

after the conversation. That

22:07

sounds good. Oh no. Some

22:10

mechanics questions now because we're going to be able to

22:12

get all the tools available to us. Please

22:15

do. Spending one games a new basic

22:17

die, spending, sorry, spending one

22:19

upgrades a die, spending two generates a

22:21

new die, spending like a full bar,

22:23

like four, does that do anything specifically

22:25

or? I don't think I

22:28

have come up with anything specific for spending

22:30

a full bar. There is also the

22:33

option that you have of throwing your ochus down

22:35

on a scene. We haven't done that

22:37

a lot because we've still been working

22:40

out the base mechanics, but throwing an

22:42

ochus down technically puts death on the

22:44

table. But it does

22:46

also upgrade all of your dice

22:49

for the scene. Okay, sick. There's

22:51

going to be a bunch of complicated. I need

22:53

to double check exactly how many things I'm spending

22:56

to do this. I only

22:58

have six in magic, but I also have

23:00

one of my abilities is soul transfer. I

23:02

can spend vitality to recover my magic. So

23:05

I want to end specifically that way

23:07

rather than my presence. It's

23:10

currently a D six and a D eight.

23:12

And I want to get that to like three D eight and

23:14

then throw my ochus down to make it three D 12. I

23:17

love it. I love it. Okay.

23:51

I can do that actually without having to use soul transfer

23:53

yet. So I'm just going to do that and then throw

23:55

my ochus down. So I go to two magic. It

23:58

was less complicated than necessary. good. Hey,

24:01

I was expecting to go to 4D12 nightmare. Okay, let's roll 3D12. Wow.

24:11

And I have to write this. How would you like me

24:13

to deliver this information to you? Just hold on to it

24:15

for now. No, tell me your results. Because...

24:20

Cool. I got two successes and

24:22

two opportunities. Okay.

24:27

We are gonna have to pull

24:30

this. I

24:34

mean, hopefully it's something you have made friends with

24:36

already and not just the butcher because I think

24:38

that would mean I would just leave, huh? I

24:41

think it's actually a deck of just the butcher now.

24:44

Yeah, I'm only seeing Cleavers. Okay,

24:48

I have my luminary. Cleavers

24:50

rule everything around me indeed.

24:53

Shut up. Shut up. And

24:58

what? Cleave! Get

25:00

the money! You,

25:08

I think, are

25:11

at the threshold of the

25:13

door of your mind

25:15

palace. Hmm. You

25:17

see a wretched

25:21

thing on your doorstep.

25:24

This is an ancient looking

25:26

man who is

25:29

thin and wild.

25:31

His hair is long

25:33

and scraggly. His

25:35

face is like wizened and

25:38

wrinkled. Everything about

25:40

him looks pointed and

25:42

sharp. His nails

25:44

are too long. His teeth

25:46

feel like they are sharp.

25:50

He holds a

25:52

cleaver in his hand. Despite

25:55

looking aged, he

25:57

has like wiry muscles. Everything

26:01

about him like feels coiled up

26:05

and he

26:07

despite all that looks almost

26:10

relaxed at the

26:13

doorstep to your mind

26:15

palace. He says, oh

26:19

in so many ways you remind

26:21

me of myself

26:23

when I was younger. In

26:29

a very maybe perverse

26:31

way, I'm

26:33

glad to hear it. Youth

26:36

always imagines that it will never

26:38

die. More

26:43

so, I have

26:46

realized across my years that

26:49

there is no such thing as a bloodless

26:51

revolution. But

26:55

I suppose a judicial

26:57

use, glorious

27:00

violence. Nothing

27:02

changes, nothing grows without

27:04

the spilling of blood.

27:10

Which is the offer I want to make. We

27:13

can make an astounding change here. I

27:18

already have that

27:21

change. It is

27:23

written. It could be

27:25

wiped away. I'm sure

27:28

you could intervene if

27:30

you desired. That

27:33

change is grand. It

27:37

is dramatic. But

27:39

it is stagnant. If

27:41

everybody here is to lose their lives, then

27:45

the tale of this circumstance stops

27:47

here. There is no

27:49

echo of this story. You

27:52

have in your eagerness

27:54

to cause a large change, realize

27:56

that as luminaries you want your

27:58

story to pull. So

28:02

you promise me a tale

28:05

written in blood that

28:07

will spill across sphere.

28:11

Oh yeah. You'll make it loud

28:13

and so horrifying.

28:16

That oh there's maybe

28:19

value in that but

28:21

I don't think that's what you really

28:24

want from me. That's

28:27

not that's not the path you're

28:29

walking. It just happens to be

28:31

something that you're passing by. The

28:33

road to being legendary has many

28:35

encounters. Oh I can

28:37

feel it. It's in your pocket. I

28:41

felt it when you first picked

28:43

me up. I

28:45

apologize for not announcing my

28:47

presence earlier. I wasn't feeling

28:49

quite myself. Am

28:53

I one of the lucky few to see you as you

28:55

truly are? No. I

28:58

don't have a true face. This

29:01

is something that I borrowed from someone

29:04

who used to be very close to

29:06

me. A remembrance

29:08

that he left me with. He

29:12

expired as we all

29:14

eventually do. But

29:16

I do have this left behind. A

29:19

fragment that I can do

29:22

my great works through. When

29:27

I've built up enough blood

29:29

to move it. But

29:32

what you seek would have a true face

29:34

wouldn't it? Or am I

29:36

fail? Your

29:38

face. There is

29:41

an indulgent smile. Now I

29:43

don't know whether you've heard of me. Because

29:46

you're in my space and you need to know where

29:48

you are. Or because I

29:50

have a reputation. But

29:52

I am flattered out of the way. So

29:55

in your life you have

29:58

felt enough of me. the

30:00

call to me that I

30:03

heard your name. I

30:05

heard your name the first

30:07

time you whispered vengeance into

30:09

the night. Then you know.

30:11

Felt all the things that you would do

30:14

if you had the power. And I felt

30:16

many of the things that you

30:19

did after you claimed some power.

30:21

A very impressive life. Of

30:24

course, you were never the type

30:26

to lean all the way into

30:28

the knife. You pulled

30:30

back. Pulled back just far enough.

30:34

Life is full of control. I know. So you understand.

30:37

I don't take it as an

30:40

insult. Very few have the stomach

30:42

to jump into it right away.

30:44

And those that do very, very

30:46

rarely develop

30:48

skill. Skill

30:50

like yours. I could

30:52

make a great use of skill

30:55

like yours. No.

30:58

There's a carrot in the stick here. He's

31:01

on the hook. But we need to keep

31:03

some clouds close to our chest. Oh,

31:05

I don't doubt. But unfortunately,

31:08

that will have to be a dealing for a separate

31:10

time. Oh, of

31:14

course, of course. I

31:17

imagine that you are

31:20

more interested in how, even

31:23

for a brief period, I

31:27

came to have this face.

31:30

Closer than anyone in

31:32

history, this face

31:34

came to becoming my

31:37

face. He worked so

31:39

hard carving away at the flesh

31:42

of heaven and earth to weave

31:44

himself a vessel. But

31:46

he couldn't stick the landing. He

31:50

imagines with just a little

31:52

bit more blood. If just

31:54

a little bit more spilled in his name,

31:57

he could seize it up and knit himself

31:59

something new. And

32:01

perhaps, perhaps he will. I

32:04

can't behold that future.

32:07

Beholding futures has never really

32:09

been mine. Not

32:12

unless I was working through him. There's

32:15

a, I think, Arma's eyebrows raised

32:18

in genuine surprise. He

32:20

tried to become illuminary and didn't. In

32:25

some ways he's still trying, but

32:27

death is a great impediment to

32:29

that quest for him. I'm

32:32

built different. Not

32:37

many folk who pursue the

32:40

path of light. Not

32:42

many of them stop at death. He

32:46

hasn't. He's just been less

32:48

graceful at it than you. But

32:52

there are answers. There are

32:54

answers in that story. You

32:58

have so many questions.

33:02

They weigh on you. They

33:04

tug at you. You

33:07

know, if you did it wrong, you

33:09

could end up a thing like this,

33:12

just leaving some offering

33:15

of yourself instead of

33:17

actually ascending. And

33:21

what would that offering be to

33:23

a blank space, something that was

33:25

carved away? Who

33:28

knows, so many risks.

33:31

Indeed. And

33:35

I suppose it's a large amount of finding

33:40

people who are willing to tell

33:42

not just an incredible story, but

33:45

an accurate one. Forgive me,

33:47

Butcher, but your enthusiasm

33:50

for your art does mean

33:52

that I believe

33:54

you are willing to stretch the truth in

33:57

order to get what you want. I have

33:59

many questions. but are you

34:01

even interested in giving accurate

34:03

answers, the truths that might

34:05

not necessarily suit you? You'll

34:08

have answers, truth

34:12

from fiction. I

34:14

think I can leave you to

34:16

sort that out, but I do

34:18

know, I do know that

34:21

I have information that you would

34:23

want. Hmm,

34:26

let us begin with a genre of

34:29

information then. People,

34:32

places, history, there

34:34

are many subjects of which we can discuss, but

34:37

what are you most interested in sharing? You

34:40

need to dangle a carrot on the hook after all.

34:46

I can tell you the

34:48

shape of the plan,

34:52

how he built himself

34:54

from a person

34:57

into an aspect. I can

34:59

tell you the moment that

35:01

we touched. I

35:04

could describe all these things to you.

35:09

I am almost more curious in

35:12

what question you would genuinely want

35:14

to know the answer to. You

35:17

are after all a man of action.

35:20

You've had that

35:22

crown on you for some

35:25

time now, and

35:28

you haven't used

35:30

it, you've held it, you

35:32

haven't wielded it, you haven't tried

35:35

it yet. That

35:37

means you're holding yourself back from something,

35:39

there's an answer that you feel that

35:42

you need in order to take that

35:44

step, and I just want to help

35:46

you on your way. Aren't

35:50

you kind? So generous.

35:54

No generosity here, I think we

35:56

both know a world that has.

36:00

has another luminary in it,

36:02

provides ample opportunities

36:04

for someone of my

36:07

enthusiasms. A. Very

36:10

well. When you came

36:13

to be a luminary for, I

36:16

assume neither of us is so arrogant to say

36:18

that you are the first of

36:20

your nature. When did you realize

36:22

that you could answer the call? When did

36:24

you hear somebody who was outside of your

36:27

space call for you so you could arrive?

36:29

A. Oh, that is

36:32

a fascinating question

36:36

and difficult to answer and

36:38

I do not mean

36:40

to cheat you only because

36:42

I did not have a

36:44

mind when I first

36:47

answered a call. There

36:49

are those that have

36:52

minds and now

36:54

with the shape that I

36:56

am, I have access to

37:00

something that approximates it. After

37:02

all, that is how we are able to speak

37:06

such as the way we are. But

37:08

the butcher was born without

37:10

a body, without a tongue,

37:12

without a mind, without something

37:15

that thoughts could stick to.

37:18

And yet, questions,

37:20

requests, calls came

37:23

and answers were given and

37:26

granted. I

37:29

first understood the

37:32

shape of a mind when

37:36

a mind was introduced to me, offered

37:39

to me by a

37:43

very enthusiastic

37:45

disciple. The

37:49

form you are taking now, I assume. He

37:52

made this. He

37:54

Saw an opportunity to make

37:56

a change and he became

37:58

a man. That change there

38:01

was a shame that he

38:03

desired in so he built that

38:05

safe out of blood and of

38:08

the server and send you

38:10

an bound. He

38:12

carved into spear a

38:14

mind for the butcher.

38:18

Was he wasn't able to hold

38:20

on to it because his body

38:22

withered away. But.

38:26

Now. I am as us. There

38:28

is a will to the butcher's

38:31

design, even if it is faint,

38:33

even if it only echoes in

38:35

a memory of that mind I

38:37

use to touch. Who.

38:40

Knows Who's to say if the

38:42

Forest Queen always had a mind.

38:46

I. Don't even know if the

38:49

sovereign. Had. A Mind to

38:51

begin with. Us

38:56

A coalescing as a. Feeling.

38:59

In to person. That's.

39:02

Yes Yes yes, What is

39:05

what is far. And.

39:10

There's a. The herbs a

39:12

mild like sadness enormous face but

39:15

he has to ask. In

39:18

his work. To coalesce you.

39:22

Was. He indiscriminate. Oh,

39:24

what's your concern? I'm only

39:27

asking. I

39:29

only ask because. I

39:32

genuinely curious what would upset you

39:35

more. I cannot make

39:37

a good decisions without the reality of the

39:39

situation. There. Are many true possess

39:41

a seat and some of them are. Capable

39:44

of tearing a heart and to and

39:46

we need to be able to put

39:48

the those tragedies. Was.

39:51

It indiscriminate. It

39:53

was discriminate. In. That

39:56

what was done. To.

39:58

Create what stands. before you

40:00

now was

40:03

done in the spirit of experimentation.

40:06

He tried things. He worked

40:11

out Riddle's answered questions

40:13

for himself, and he

40:16

did that by cutting

40:18

everything he could find. I

40:22

don't know if that provides you a

40:24

comfort. He was a bad person. Yeah,

40:27

your estimations. Yeah, thank

40:29

you for being so open. I

40:32

suppose my final question before we get down

40:34

to parastax on being able to make an

40:36

accord. Ignoring the intensity

40:39

of the feeling and going

40:42

purely my number, who is

40:44

the most hated person in Sora's End? I

40:46

have a feeling you would know. Wow!

40:50

Oh, that's a cool question to

40:52

ask! Man, oh

40:54

man, oh man. I mean, I have a

40:56

cold shot, but it might not be that.

41:00

Yeah, I mean, there

41:02

are reasonably two

41:04

candidates that we have.

41:07

And I mean, the butcher

41:10

would assess this through measuring

41:12

killing intent. That's kind of the only

41:14

tool that it has. Yeah, and which

41:16

I'm trying to kind of measure on

41:19

because obviously, if one person hates a

41:21

person, a really big deal, I'm trying

41:23

to whittle that out against the number

41:25

of people targeted that one person, careful

41:27

asking the question. But yeah. I think

41:30

it is like the

41:32

result of how many people

41:35

actually harbor feelings of wanting to kill each

41:37

of them and how intense those feelings are.

41:39

Sure, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Because I

41:41

guess hate is not the same thing as

41:44

killing intent, and that's what he specifically operates

41:46

on, I get you. Yeah,

41:48

I think I'm going to draw two luminaries,

41:52

one for Edith

41:55

and Arvetti, and we're

41:58

going to flip them and... and

42:00

make the judgments. So the first,

42:02

Edith gets the changeling. Wow,

42:05

these are weird polls for these. Edith

42:07

gets the changeling and Arvetti gets

42:10

the newborn. And I

42:13

think part of this bumps

42:15

up against the

42:18

way that you all built

42:21

these characters, which is these

42:23

are not stupid

42:25

people, the way that many of

42:27

the villains that you have faced

42:30

have been callous

42:32

and impulsive. Edith

42:35

is more practical than she is

42:37

cruel. And

42:41

Arvetti has

42:43

the ability to see reason.

42:47

I think both of those qualities

42:50

means despite the cruelties that they

42:52

inflict on the place, people

42:55

are not blaming them as

42:58

individuals. They are still the

43:00

most hated people in these

43:02

places, simply because

43:04

there are times where

43:08

people need treatment from

43:10

the church because of the scarlet,

43:14

and they can't afford it.

43:16

And so they resent that

43:19

Arvetti technically controls that. And

43:23

I think for Edith, it

43:26

is she runs this

43:29

place, I think folks who worked

43:31

for the Red Feathers before they were

43:33

sent to this debtors prison, scarlet

43:37

aside, probably had worse working

43:39

conditions than their previous jobs.

43:42

And it's just because this

43:45

place is designed in a

43:47

calculated way to

43:50

be counter revolutionary.

43:54

People are divided into these

43:56

pods and groups, their conditions

43:58

are just living. enough.

44:00

They have all of these

44:03

things that appear to be

44:05

considerations made to accommodate the

44:07

scarlet. But it's

44:10

really down the line all

44:12

served in practical efficiency. We

44:14

all have the trouble

44:16

of living in a society where people

44:19

who run it typically aren't

44:21

concerned with how bad they

44:23

look or are willing

44:26

to do cruel things in

44:29

the name of profit. This is

44:31

how much profit can I make

44:33

without tipping my cruelty to a

44:36

point that might incite retaliation. There's

44:39

a little bit more careful movement

44:42

in Edith. So

44:45

I'm going to say out of the

44:47

two, probably Edith. But

44:50

it's one of those things that's kind of up in

44:52

the air. And hey, we can do some drum

44:54

work with this. All right then, my

44:58

offer to you. Time

45:00

has passed since the theme of

45:03

the factory infiltration was probably

45:05

X time ago. So let's go

45:07

and put some time on this. In

45:09

eight hours, the circumstances

45:11

of sorrow's angle change, I

45:14

would like you to stay with

45:16

me and continue in assessing the

45:19

intent of the most hated

45:21

person in sorrow then. And when

45:24

that time comes, let me know

45:27

and you will see a beautiful spectacle

45:30

done with the tools you have given me. Interesting

45:35

proposition. May

45:38

I make a counter offer.

45:41

I will hear a counter offer from you. I

45:45

will grant you

45:48

the knowledge that

45:52

I think you need to

45:54

assess your next steps. And

45:57

it will be clearer then.

46:00

you'd get from any

46:02

other luminary. There are

46:05

very, very few of us who have

46:07

actually become

46:10

self-made as it were. You've

46:12

talked to most of them and

46:18

I'll promise you this. I

46:22

will give everything back and

46:25

I won't touch. I

46:28

won't touch anything that you're concerned about

46:31

but I will handle that

46:34

grim business myself and

46:36

spare you the

46:39

trouble. Are you saying that

46:42

when the time comes and we

46:44

have selected the person that needs to be

46:46

removed from this story, you want

46:48

to do it yourself and use me as the tool?

46:51

You're so

46:54

clever, Oramar. You really

46:56

are. Thank you. The

46:58

problem is you're not

47:01

used to losing and

47:03

that means you don't recognize it when

47:05

it happens. And

47:08

I can now reveal the results of the

47:10

role. Oh no! I had to

47:12

see a man who loved it. Okay.

47:15

Oramar, you are successful. But

47:20

it's complicated. What I pulled,

47:22

two complications. Okay.

47:26

And there

47:28

was a tie on success

47:30

failure and I pulled this

47:33

luminary, The Maiden, which falls

47:35

in your favor pretty squarely.

47:38

However, I also rolled

47:40

a disaster. Oh no! What

47:47

I think happens, because what

47:49

the butcher was trying to do was

47:51

infect you. Like

47:55

use your killing intent as a means

47:57

of controlling you, body and soul. soul.

48:01

And wanted initially

48:03

to do things extremely subtly,

48:06

like just insinuate themselves into

48:08

your person and push you

48:11

towards more violent acts in

48:13

this place. Instead,

48:16

what I think happens,

48:18

your soul is

48:21

booted from your body.

48:23

You have enough presence

48:25

to maintain control of

48:27

your soul. But

48:30

the butcher is going to take that

48:32

body for a joyride unless

48:35

you stop him. And

48:37

he is going to

48:39

head off towards Truss, basically

48:42

grabbing the cleaver from

48:44

Ariel, who collapses

48:47

on the ground from the

48:50

exertion of being the butcher's

48:52

vessel for any stretch

48:54

of time. There

49:30

was so much touching in that place,

49:33

even if it had never been at

49:35

our table. I wonder if you had arranged

49:37

that to placate my comfort. Or if that's

49:39

just how things happened to be. Our

49:42

little group was in an

49:44

excited conversation, something alight with

49:47

joviality. There was a pause,

49:50

and what happened to feel that gap was

49:52

kissing. So strange to

49:55

be so close to two

49:57

people in something so intimate.

50:00

It was strange for me when it was at

50:02

other tables, but far stranger at

50:04

my own. I know

50:06

I was staring. I must

50:08

have been, because I so

50:11

vividly recall how they held

50:13

one another, how their fingers

50:15

moved, how their lips

50:17

met. Hugh squeezed

50:19

my hand. I

50:21

turned to see you holding laughter

50:24

in your smile. I

50:26

flushed so deeply, I will remember the

50:28

feeling to my final day. In

50:31

that moment, you read me

50:33

past my deepest understandings of

50:35

myself. I almost

50:38

pulled back my hand, but you

50:41

held me, not to force me

50:43

to stay, but to invite

50:45

me to remain. Once

50:47

again, just what I

50:49

needed. It allowed me

50:51

to stay held in your gaze,

50:54

to let myself understand

50:57

want. I

50:59

watched you carefully withdraw your

51:01

hand to remove your glove.

51:04

Even in the dim glow of

51:06

the lanterns, I could see the

51:09

rosy touch of crimson at your

51:11

fingertips. They looked so

51:14

soft. Like

51:16

the most inviting thing I could

51:18

ever touch. Shakily,

51:21

clumsily, I removed

51:23

my own glove, and

51:26

pressed my fingers to yours. It

51:29

was as though it were the first

51:31

time I had felt anything at all.

51:35

There was so much that could

51:37

be known in the ridges of your

51:39

palm. In your hand, I

51:42

felt the sun. Now

51:44

with your skin against mine, it

51:46

was warmer than basking in the

51:48

height of summer. In

51:51

the grayest, coldest place in

51:53

all the world, the

51:55

sun lived in the joining of

51:57

our hands. I

52:00

was so timid even as I let

52:02

my fingers twirl with yours. I

52:05

am sure you have known many lovers

52:07

before me. Here in this

52:09

dreadful place, you did

52:11

not press me. You allowed

52:13

our hands to part that night

52:15

in a way that let me

52:18

carry the thought of your hands

52:20

into my dreams and back

52:22

into waking the next day.

52:25

You allowed me the space

52:27

I needed to invent invitations

52:30

of my own. It

52:33

is not that I came to you a

52:35

stranger to touch, though I would

52:37

forgive you for thinking such a thing. I

52:40

just never imagined being touched in

52:43

a place like this, where words

52:45

are only sounds, the

52:47

sun shines cool, and

52:49

death lurks on my lips. I

52:52

felt so close to

52:54

death I did not expect I

52:57

would ever feel so closely drawn

52:59

to life. In the

53:01

months that have followed, I have

53:03

experienced joy unlike anything I have

53:06

experienced when I could call myself

53:08

free and healthy. I

53:10

know a warmth of light deeper than

53:13

any cold or dark. It

53:15

can only be found through kissing, through

53:18

fingers, through the invitation of

53:21

an outstretched hand. No

53:23

word could pass between us that will

53:26

hold half the meaning of your fingers

53:28

curled with mine. And so

53:30

I have made an effort to tell

53:32

you so many things with my

53:34

touch and my body. There

53:37

is pain. There

53:39

is suffering. There is

53:41

even lamentation in this place.

53:45

They are nothing against the miracle

53:47

that is what our bodies can

53:49

share. And I want

53:51

for so much more. I

53:53

know that my sentence is lighter than

53:55

yours. I have made sense enough

53:58

of their sums. How I live when

54:00

I first arrived has moved me close

54:02

to departing. I

54:05

could not face leaving you behind without

54:07

hope of seeing you again. I

54:10

am putting my earnings aside until

54:12

I can leave with you, even

54:15

if that means I will not leave

54:17

at all. One

54:19

day I hope to tell you

54:21

this with words. I hope

54:23

to live long enough to feel

54:25

them pass my lips. It

54:28

is a grim thought, but to

54:30

die here would be to

54:33

die in the pursuit of those words.

54:36

That feels more right to me. I

54:39

am fine to die if I do

54:41

so knowing you rather than

54:43

missing you. You

54:47

are the sun, warmer

54:49

than brighter. You

54:52

are life, and I

54:55

will not leave you. Own

54:58

your love at sorrow's end.

55:07

Campaign Skyjax is a one-shot network production. For

55:09

more information be sure to follow us on

55:11

Twitter over at campaignpod for updates about live

55:13

shows and other events we might be doing.

55:17

In the universe of Starwall Odyssey,

55:19

space is made out of the

55:21

collective imaginations of all the thinking

55:23

beings who live on various planets.

55:26

These worlds are connected to each

55:28

other through imagination. Common themes

55:30

and ideas are strings between

55:32

universes. And to get between them, people

55:34

fly wooden ships that look like animals,

55:37

which are powered by emotions. Also,

55:40

people communicate with each other by contemplating orbs.

55:42

The only way you can take pictures is

55:44

by getting stared at by a big psychic

55:46

bug. And people have already declared victory in

55:48

a war over the very concept of evil.

55:50

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Starwall Odyssey

55:53

follows the adventures of the hapless inhabitants

55:55

of the Lucky Finn Tenement Building, who

55:57

suddenly find that their apartment is actually

55:59

a actually a spaceship, and that

56:01

they're lost in a sea of

56:03

boundless imagination. It's an actual

56:06

play starring me, James DeMato, Mel

56:08

DeMato, Ally Growler, and Drew Merzieski

56:11

as we playtest the No King

56:13

System, which will hopefully one day

56:15

be the Skyjacks role-playing systems. It

56:18

toes the line between weird and wonderful slice

56:20

of life and high-flying space

56:22

fantasy. You can sample the first

56:24

five episodes by searching for Starwall

56:26

Odyssey on your favorite podcast app,

56:28

or get the whole thing by

56:30

heading to patreon.com/one-shotpodcast and signing up

56:32

for five dollars a month or

56:35

more. You

56:38

can find more great gaming shows

56:40

over at one-shotpodcast.com. Janet

56:43

Kessler was played by Tyler Davis,

56:45

who can be found on Twitter

56:47

and Instagram at TylerADave. Gable was

56:49

played by Liz Anderson, who can

56:51

be found on Twitter at Liz

56:54

Anderson underscore underscore underscore. Or

56:56

on her podcast, Paired. Captain

56:59

Oromar Vale was played by Nathan

57:01

Blaise, who can be found on

57:03

Twitter at PhantomArtsENT. Or

57:06

streaming at twitch.tv slash

57:08

TheNeonCaster. I am

57:11

James DeMato, your host and game

57:13

master. You can find me on

57:15

Twitter at oneshotrpg, or on

57:17

my podcast, OneShot. The original music

57:19

featured in this podcast was written,

57:22

composed, and performed by Arnie Parrot.

57:25

You can find him over on

57:27

Twitter at ArnieParrot, or on his

57:29

website, ATPtoons. This episode

57:31

was edited by Allie Grauer, who can

57:33

be found on Twitter at Dreams to

57:35

Become, or on

57:38

her podcast, SkyjaxCouriersCall. Our

57:40

logo was designed by Fiona Shea, who

57:42

can be found on Twitter at Lunarum.

57:45

The World of Sphere was inspired in

57:47

part by the music of the Decemberists

57:49

and Illimat, produced by Together Studios. This

57:51

show was made in part by using

57:54

a modified version of the Genesis role-playing

57:56

system, designed by Sam Stewart and a

57:58

team of talented professionals. There

58:00

are no take. Years

58:13

to leave. He

58:15

he's You know we can never. Call

58:21

the Sky is. He.