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0:35

GM is being just so annoying about that

0:37

one. You're being really annoying about it. Hey,

0:41

that's how RPGs work. If you're

0:43

not looking at it, something bad

0:46

happens. You just need to know that. You're

1:27

not going to be able to get a reference desk representative whose

1:29

voice has fluctuated. Voice

1:32

demeanor and appearance, I think, has fluctuated many times throughout

1:34

this arc. But

1:37

we're finally probably at a wrap

1:39

on that character, which is great.

1:41

You've got a lot of cool

1:43

information. Where

1:46

are you going next? I

1:49

love to, real quick, just like, after

1:53

this conversation, how is this

1:55

person feeling and

1:58

looking? I think... this

2:00

person appears very pale. They

2:04

have a mask of professionalism.

2:06

That is something that the

2:08

reference desk absolutely needs. They

2:11

hear information of all

2:13

types, you know, every

2:15

day throughout their

2:18

lives. Some of it is extremely

2:20

sensitive information about terrible crimes that

2:22

have taken place, about things that

2:24

could provoke, like, a lot of

2:27

violence and chaos for the world.

2:30

Sometimes they are things that people are

2:32

simply trying to milk their

2:34

organization for more information, for

2:37

more favors, trying to get

2:39

money as payment for their secrets. And

2:42

it is simply a good negotiating

2:44

tactic to be able to retain

2:47

one's composure, even when hearing difficult

2:50

or monumental news.

2:53

There's also an element. When

2:56

someone confronts the

2:58

divine, when someone confronts

3:01

a truth behind the

3:04

universe that reveals the

3:06

swirling chaos and gnarled

3:08

teeth of a

3:10

larger world than oneself

3:13

that seems disconnected from

3:15

the human experience, there's

3:17

something that rushes in to protect

3:19

you during these encounters, and that

3:22

is doubt. And you

3:24

can see that in this

3:26

person's heart, not

3:28

being considered as a possibility

3:30

so much as clutched to

3:33

like a shield. They've

3:35

written down everything that you've said. It

3:37

is information that is going to be

3:40

entering the database

3:42

of the reference desk, and,

3:45

you know, carefully evaluated and

3:47

considered, but this

3:49

person is defensively trying

3:52

to doubt what they

3:54

have heard, simply because no

3:57

one can imagine that they would hear

3:59

it from. a reliable source like

4:01

you. You've perhaps

4:04

done nothing physically to show your

4:06

authority, to show the fact that

4:08

you are who you assert who

4:11

you are, that the story that

4:13

you have told is your experience

4:15

and completely true. But

4:18

there is the uncomfortable thing

4:20

that sits with their doubt

4:23

in that a larger part of

4:25

them, a deeper part of them that they

4:28

cannot silence, knows that

4:30

it is true, knows that every word

4:32

of what you have spoken here was

4:34

witnessed and lived and part of the

4:37

history of sphere. They are pale.

4:39

They are sweating. But their face

4:42

again is impassive.

4:44

Their voice does not waver as

4:47

they thank you for your

4:50

contribution and assert

4:52

that this would settle your debt. I would

4:54

like to just wrap up all of the

4:57

Ps and Qs, like how would

4:59

I get the tickets to the

5:01

masquerade, all the delivering information

5:03

appropriately at the right times

5:05

for where to put

5:07

a ship if we were coming

5:10

into port, that kind of thing. And

5:13

I guess I would just receive that via

5:15

bird? Yes,

5:17

I think he goes, all

5:19

of the further details

5:22

will be delivered to you by

5:24

courier. For

5:28

discretion, we will use

5:30

an in-house courier or a Swiftwell

5:32

courier, whichever is most convenient, but

5:34

it will take some time to

5:36

assemble the dossier. Thank you

5:39

so much. One last thing.

5:42

I don't know exactly what value you're going

5:44

to place upon my tails that I've woven

5:46

for you today. And

5:48

your price is your price. I would

5:51

just love, as a matter of

5:53

professional courtesy, if someone is able

5:55

to meet that price I don't

5:58

anticipate anyone. mortal

6:01

might, is

6:04

there a way it could be informed if someone meets your price?

6:07

Ah, yes. I

6:10

suppose the value of your

6:12

tail would entitle

6:14

you to be informed when

6:17

it is sold, unless, of course,

6:19

that is outbid by a potential

6:22

buyer. Jeez. Jeez. Jeez,

6:24

Opie, I hope not. I can't imagine.

6:27

The price of that would be

6:29

considerable. I will tell you that

6:31

tales of the nature that

6:34

you have spoken here, there

6:37

are people who look

6:39

for those tales, who will be very

6:42

interested in the information that we have

6:45

gathered here, and I am,

6:49

which is to say, I am certain

6:51

that there was value to your tail,

6:53

value enough to protect

6:57

what needs to be protecting for most

6:59

reasonable prices. Anyone who would

7:02

want to conceal themselves from

7:04

you, why

7:06

I imagine they would be so powerful that

7:08

they wouldn't bother with it. It's

7:12

great. A

7:15

small comfort. Eh, not at

7:17

all, but these are the bargains

7:19

that we've made to do the things

7:21

we need to do. All right, thank

7:23

you so much. Do you take tips?

7:26

This has been wonderful. I

7:29

need to, I really need to

7:31

consider whether it is a tipping

7:34

culture for the reference desk. It

7:37

seems insane. It seems like such a dangerous

7:40

line of work that

7:42

you gotta be displayed. Probably not. Probably

7:44

not ethically. I

7:46

actually, I can't accept them. It is

7:49

against policy. All right, but a

7:51

little bit off the record, little bits, little

7:53

bits, a little muffin basket. allowed

8:00

to accept food items

8:04

were you to buy lunch or

8:06

a drink with

8:08

the assumption of our meeting going

8:10

excessively long. That would

8:12

be acceptable, but again,

8:15

cash tips. I'll send you a

8:18

little muffin basket just as

8:20

a thank you and so lucky you

8:25

were here. I really appreciate

8:27

it. And okay,

8:31

bye. Indeed.

8:34

And you can see this person

8:37

like trace their eyes up

8:39

your form as you stand up,

8:41

as they quietly take note of

8:44

the fact that you stand at

8:46

seven feet tall, your hulking muscular

8:48

form before them, really

8:52

corroborating the idea

8:54

of someone being the fallen

8:56

angel of judgment. You step

8:58

out of the office as

9:00

your footsteps don't thunder across

9:03

the well-made wooden planks that

9:05

make up the construction of

9:07

this place. They have

9:09

to decide whether that

9:11

is more credence to

9:13

your story or less that someone of

9:16

your size simply moves through

9:18

the world quietly and silently

9:20

that wouldn't be noticed in

9:22

many other circumstances. Gable

9:25

trips. Yep, yep.

9:27

Trips. And I think like knocks

9:29

over like a

9:31

metal tea set. It's empty of

9:33

course, but like clang,

9:36

clang, bang, and then like putting it

9:38

back in its place makes a lot

9:40

of noise on top of that. I'm

9:42

just gonna leave it. I'm just

9:44

gonna, I'm making worse. I'm gonna leave it. That

9:47

should be fine. Okay, I'm gonna leave it. All

9:49

right, have a good day. Thank you so much.

9:51

Bye. I

9:53

don't know what's next. Yeah, you've got

9:56

a lot. I mean, there could be

9:58

just heading back to the ship. You

10:00

do know the Cleaver is out there

10:03

somewhere. Technically, I think you might

10:05

have been around for John to say that he was

10:07

like hunting down that lead, or you

10:09

assume that Oromar is doing it. But

10:12

I'm curious as to where Gable goes

10:14

next, because I think I know what

10:17

you need to be confronted with, but

10:20

I am curious what setting that will

10:22

happen. I am interested. What

10:24

time of day is it? I

10:26

am going to say this is like still fairly

10:28

early. Probably around 11

10:30

or approaching 11. Hmm.

10:34

Gable, I think, is in a little bit

10:37

of a zealous mood.

10:39

Just sort of like talking about

10:41

divine stuff gets them kind of

10:43

like pissy again about what the

10:45

Church of the Slang God is

10:47

all about and how we got

10:49

to this point. And

10:51

we haven't really examined. I

10:53

would love to see like, if possible,

10:56

either what a service is

10:58

like or what the bath

11:00

is like. That

11:03

is perfect. That is so perfect.

11:05

So I think, yeah, it

11:08

is not a terribly long

11:10

walk from the residential areas

11:13

surrounding the mansion

11:15

and whatnot to the more

11:17

public square where the Church

11:20

Cathedral and bathhouse is.

11:23

If it works like a regular cathedral, Gable just

11:25

wants to like sit in the back and observe.

11:27

I assume it is like halfway through your service

11:29

or something. Yeah.

11:32

Well, especially because this is once

11:34

again like a

11:37

technocratic setup

11:40

here where technically

11:42

there are schedules where everybody is

11:44

working, like a different shift

11:47

of days and whatnot. And so

11:49

a day of religious observance wouldn't be able

11:52

to fall on the same day or at

11:54

the same time. So you

11:56

go in and there is a... a

12:00

corno, which is like a

12:02

local priest or preacher, basically.

12:05

And it is not the Okyo who

12:09

sits above that, but like this

12:11

is essentially what, goodness,

12:14

what's her name from Nordia

12:16

would have been? Adrian. It's

12:19

what Adrian would have been. So it

12:21

is a lower rank within the church,

12:23

but like still has the authority needed

12:26

to preach to people is

12:28

running a service. This is

12:30

happening again in the

12:32

kind of bastardized language

12:35

that the church took based on the

12:38

language of angels. It's

12:40

gotta be like an unnerving

12:43

feeling. Like the, I

12:45

think it is, you

12:48

know, the difference between like

12:50

Scottish Gallic and Irish Gaelic

12:52

or Cantonese and Mandarin, or

12:54

yeah, I feel like it's

12:56

that extreme where these

12:59

are essentially completely different languages

13:01

that have like a

13:04

few things in order. It

13:07

is not so similar as like

13:09

Italian and Spanish or Spanish and

13:11

Portuguese, where like they're different languages,

13:13

but they're like, oh, this is

13:15

just being spoken slightly differently. It's like,

13:18

I can tell the DNA framework is here,

13:20

but it is hard

13:22

to understand what they're saying, mainly

13:25

because they're saying it in such

13:27

a blunt and clumsy way, like

13:29

so much of the language of

13:31

the angels was musical. And

13:34

now having recovered so many

13:36

of your memories, like the

13:38

echoes of those choirs live

13:40

somewhere in your mind. You

13:42

can remember what it was

13:45

like to communicate with people

13:47

with divine voices. And

13:49

here you just see a

13:52

service that has this clumsy imitation

13:54

of that. And

13:57

in so many ways. reflects

14:00

the clumsy imitation of what the

14:02

church tries to do for what

14:05

you felt, at least at one

14:07

point, the mission of heaven truly

14:09

was. Gable is just sitting in

14:11

the back, thumbing through the hymnals

14:13

and just sort of staring around,

14:16

not really taking anything

14:18

in, but this is kind of the

14:20

first engagement they've had with the

14:24

layman's version of the church

14:26

and how it interacts with the populace. Like,

14:29

what's the vibe of the attendees

14:31

there? Are they like really

14:33

into it or is it kind of bored? There

14:36

is a mixture here. And

14:39

I actually, I'm going

14:42

to pull a luminary to see what the

14:45

sermon is like, because I think as with

14:47

all churches, there

14:50

is a real divide

14:53

in the crowd because this is a

14:55

labor camp. We're missing probably some of

14:58

the older people who

15:00

would be in a church. But like,

15:02

I think there are several devout

15:04

people, like you probably see some

15:07

of the people who

15:09

have undergone this like

15:12

process to become a Serenos.

15:16

So like it's this weird monk

15:18

class where they are extraordinarily devout

15:21

and wearing a lot of religious

15:23

accoutrements. I think there

15:25

are lots of people who have

15:29

the markings of like skyjacks, like

15:31

before they were here, before they

15:34

got into debt, they used to

15:36

be skyjacks that they'll, there

15:40

aren't many visible tattoos, but like,

15:42

I think there is

15:44

probably something about the styling of these

15:46

people that like scream skyjacks and you

15:49

would know like, oh yeah, if

15:51

they didn't have this covering

15:53

on them, I would see tattoos up

15:56

and down their arms of different sailor

15:58

tattoos. Because. We do

16:00

know the Church of the slain God

16:02

like is popular amongst sailors. Many

16:05

of preachers for the Church of the

16:07

slain God like pay for passage aboard

16:09

red feather sky ships because they are

16:11

going to different places to preach the

16:13

word of the church. And

16:16

there is a specific mission

16:18

to also pull sailors into

16:20

that. So there's that segment

16:22

of it there. There are

16:25

also like people who are

16:27

feeling scared, desperate, and vulnerable

16:29

within their lives here because

16:32

they are afflicted with the Crimson

16:34

and they are looking for a

16:37

higher power to

16:39

intervene on their behalf or

16:41

trying to make sense of

16:43

what is a senseless tragedy

16:46

and therefore, you know, seeking

16:48

meaning in the divine. I

16:51

think there are some people who are

16:53

here because, hey, I was raised in

16:55

the Church of the slain God. It's

16:58

what my father believed. It's what

17:00

my grandfather believed. So it's

17:02

the tradition I was raised in. I

17:04

am here almost out of momentum because that

17:06

is what I do every week. I

17:10

attend a church service. I

17:13

think there is a contingent

17:16

of people here because there

17:18

is some meaning that they are

17:21

truly getting from the church services

17:23

and that I am going to

17:25

pull a luminary to see how

17:27

the sermon is. I've got the

17:29

changeling here, yearning impulse

17:32

will and transformation as

17:34

those themes. I

17:37

think the

17:39

people surrounding Aravati, there

17:42

are people who have come to Sorrow's End

17:44

to serve under Ocio

17:47

Vista Aravati because the

17:49

word of his deeds

17:52

has traveled. These

17:55

are people who want to serve the

17:57

empty throne by being close to the

17:59

throne. to a vessel of the path

18:01

of sovereignty. And the

18:04

path of sovereignty asserts that

18:06

it will show itself in

18:08

signs and wonders, that those

18:10

who are truly blessed by

18:12

the sovereign's body and the

18:15

empty throne will be able

18:17

to perform miracles in

18:19

the way that this man

18:21

has at least, according to everybody that

18:24

you've spoken to about him, is

18:26

able to perform those miracles. Which

18:28

means the korono,

18:31

who is here, is

18:33

somebody who is preaching

18:35

from a place

18:38

of good faith. I

18:41

also think that this community has

18:43

proved itself despite the awful conditions

18:45

that it's in, there is a

18:47

real spirit of community here amongst

18:50

these people. These are all people

18:52

who are in a bad situation

18:54

together, who largely get by by

18:57

supporting each other as much as

18:59

they can, given their circumstances. I

19:02

think somebody who

19:04

believes the letter of

19:07

some of what is in the

19:09

path of sovereignty would

19:12

be able to connect with

19:14

people like that. So this

19:16

sermon ties a biblical story

19:19

to a story about a

19:22

local community member who

19:24

is having a difficult time and

19:26

who is being sheltered

19:28

in some way or supported

19:31

in some way by their

19:33

community. Now, this does have

19:35

the edge of Church of

19:37

the slain God preaching, which is, sin

19:39

is a poison introduced into the

19:41

world and that is what killed the

19:44

sovereign. And

19:46

so doing right

19:48

things is turning away from that sin,

19:50

is stopping the flow of that poison

19:52

into the world, which may or may

19:54

not do anything, but it's like, hey,

19:56

good on you and your

19:58

community for not being such total

20:01

shits that you've damned the world.

20:05

That's big. Everybody give themselves

20:07

a big round of applause on that.

20:09

So like it is a compelling sermon,

20:13

but I think Gable, I

20:15

have to imagine it strikes you strangely.

20:17

One of the things, Liz, that you

20:19

said you wanted to explore with this

20:21

character is the nature

20:24

of right and wrong, because you

20:26

used to be the instrument of

20:28

the sovereign's justice. You used

20:30

to smite on behalf of what was

20:32

supposed to be right as dictated by

20:35

this divine force in the universe. And

20:37

you eventually came to the decision that

20:39

actually that divine force is wrong. And

20:42

you've been wandering spear witnessing

20:44

humanity and all its behaviors

20:46

in various forms for 200

20:48

years. You've

20:50

seen some of the best that humanity

20:53

has to offer and definitely the worst

20:55

that humanity has to offer in the

20:57

form of Travis Matagot. So

20:59

you really run

21:02

the gambit on all of this. I

21:06

have to know in this church, like

21:08

actually facing a sermon for, I don't

21:11

know if it would be the first

21:13

time, but certainly the first time in

21:15

a long time. What

21:17

do you make of the message that it

21:19

is delivering to people? It's

21:22

so much like anything, it is

21:24

so much more complicated to be

21:26

mortal, to be, to be like

21:29

a thinking being in

21:31

the world. Like Gable

21:34

feels this tremendous amount of

21:36

empathy for even the person

21:38

speaking, because the thing

21:40

that they've learned the most over these

21:42

many years is that when bad things

21:45

happen, when a person does bad things,

21:47

a lot of the time it's because they're either

21:50

scared or because they just

21:52

don't know enough to do the

21:54

right thing. And those

21:56

are circumstances like there's very

21:58

little that happens. that

22:00

is caused directly because of malice. That

22:02

doesn't mean it doesn't exist, but it

22:05

means so much of

22:07

human behavior is those sort of

22:09

animalistic feelings. So even

22:12

here, it's so hard for

22:14

them to know what the right thing to

22:16

do is, because people

22:18

turning to the church in these

22:20

extreme circumstances is a

22:23

natural impulse. It is not evil. It is

22:25

the thing that they need at this moment

22:27

to get through. And yeah,

22:29

it is more

22:31

than anything. I think they're just sort of upset that

22:35

the structures need to exist to

22:37

take care of people like

22:40

this and the inherent

22:42

predatory nature of those structures.

22:46

How like you can never

22:48

trust an institution because an institution

22:50

is not a person and it's run by fallible people.

22:54

Yeah, I think like

22:56

as you are watching, maybe

22:58

even subconsciously,

23:01

your eyes are working. They

23:04

can, I feel like on

23:06

some level you can see prayer

23:09

from people. You can see the

23:11

people in this room who are

23:13

praying for their families back home,

23:15

that in their absence, those people

23:18

be cared for and sheltered. You

23:21

can see that earnestly being

23:23

offered to this

23:27

coroner who is in turn earnestly praying

23:31

for the people

23:34

in their congregation. Like

23:37

all of this is being offered up and

23:41

the service moves into a period

23:43

where they go and now

23:46

it is time to draw back

23:48

some of that poison from

23:51

the world. And you

23:53

see the strange communion that

23:55

John Kessler saw when he was in

23:57

Nordia of people going

23:59

up to. drink from a cup.

24:02

In that cup, whether you, you

24:05

know, it doesn't matter to investigate it because

24:07

we already know from Nordia what's in there,

24:09

that's seawater. There is seawater in there. It's

24:11

bad for you. You shouldn't drink

24:13

that. Shouldn't drink

24:15

that really, really bad for you,

24:17

even in our world. Definitely shouldn't

24:19

drink that. Makes your tongue a hoot.

24:22

Don't do that. Yeah. Hey heroes,

24:24

it's James, your game master, and

24:26

welcome to the mid-roll. We're back

24:28

with Liz

24:45

and Nathan. We're going to have the

24:47

party back together soon, though I hope

24:49

you, like me, have really enjoyed Tyler

24:51

and Drew's role-playing together. Recording-wise, we're nearing

24:54

the end of this arc, and I've

24:56

got some special exciting things coming up.

24:58

I'm not going to talk about them

25:00

until they are in the can, just

25:02

in case, but gosh, it's

25:04

tantalizingly close. I also really, really

25:07

do want to get some of

25:09

the character-building segments up on the

25:11

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25:13

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25:15

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26:06

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

26:08

in the sky. They

26:24

have their wishes that they

26:26

put before the empty throne

26:28

and to put their earnestness

26:30

their investment in being

26:33

stewards of the sovereign's

26:35

creation. They draw

26:38

back some of the poison

26:40

in the world into themselves

26:42

to sit with and live

26:44

with to put conviction behind

26:47

their faith. It is a moving

26:50

thing to witness in a way.

26:52

Of course, you are also at the same time watching

26:55

people who attend these services

26:57

purely out of momentum go

27:00

up and drink seawater. Regardless

27:02

of whether or not this

27:05

is like a

27:08

authentic religious

27:11

thing, it's like they're doing something

27:13

that could hurt them, that could

27:15

have like truly disastrous effects. You

27:17

would need to really examine the

27:19

ritual to see what it

27:22

does to the seawater. But it's like

27:24

this could make somebody get

27:27

a mariner's mark if you're not careful. That's

27:29

the least of a lot of people's concerns. You

27:33

are watching this and it is

27:35

so strange to

27:37

watch. I

27:39

have to wonder, Biz,

27:41

as you see this,

27:44

there is the knowledge

27:47

that right now

27:49

these people are trying to

27:51

make up for symbolically, ritualistically,

27:54

for a deed that

27:56

they did not commit. Collectively,

27:59

this species is trying to make up

28:01

for a deed they didn't

28:03

commit. It was one that you did, actually,

28:06

and one that, like you

28:09

said, was complicated. And

28:11

it's hard to say because

28:14

maybe your memory is spotty or maybe

28:16

there was so much going into it,

28:18

whether slaying the sovereign was something that

28:20

was done out of fear

28:22

or desperation or just lack

28:25

of knowledge of what the right thing to do

28:27

was, or if it is

28:29

something that now

28:31

you have some conviction

28:34

behind that you believe was right.

28:37

I guess I want to do a

28:39

quick gut check on how Gable thinks

28:41

of that act, regardless of the consequences

28:43

that came from it. That

28:45

empathy that I was talking about

28:47

has helped Gable over the years

28:50

to extend that empathy

28:52

to themselves. A lot of

28:55

the hiding and the running was out of

28:57

guilt. There's so

29:00

many physical reminders of the act that

29:02

it feels impossible to escape, but it's

29:04

that same sort of thing that

29:07

mortals have to deal with of

29:10

an act that caused harm,

29:13

was not done out of malice

29:15

by me. It was done because

29:18

I didn't know enough and because

29:20

I was scared. And

29:22

that doesn't mean that harm was not

29:24

done and apologies are not needed. I'm

29:27

still working constantly

29:29

towards whatever that idea

29:31

of forgiveness from

29:34

the world is, but

29:36

that empathy extends to me.

29:38

I don't feel guilty and I don't

29:40

feel guilty that these people are taking

29:42

it on because I also know enough

29:46

in general, and this is I think

29:48

Gable's perception of religion in general,

29:50

is that theological

29:53

interpretation doesn't have anything to do

29:55

with me. Whatever

29:58

this is, is the inspiration. institution,

30:00

it is not them

30:02

actually taking on the burden.

30:04

It is a man's flawed

30:07

interpretation of the

30:10

circumstances around them. Yeah,

30:12

yeah. I like that a

30:15

lot. One more

30:17

thing, because there is the question

30:21

of, there's the thing of what

30:23

you did and there is the

30:25

consequences of that thing. Like, we

30:28

know that the act that you did

30:30

really was slay the sovereign. As

30:32

a result, it appears, you know,

30:35

the angels were cast down, the

30:37

stars fell, a lot of destruction

30:40

happened across sphere. That sphere is

30:42

like still dealing with and reeling

30:45

with. I think my

30:47

question is, do

30:49

you feel on any

30:51

level that slaying the sovereign was

30:53

wrong, disconnected from what happened? Like,

30:56

obviously, you can feel complicated, like,

30:58

yeah, I wish the world wasn't

31:00

terrible, but that really has, that's,

31:02

you didn't know that was going to happen. You couldn't have

31:04

known that was going to happen. It's a question

31:07

of whether or not you should have killed the sovereign. I

31:09

don't know if Gable's there yet. I like,

31:12

that is the big question

31:14

of like, they finally process it, they

31:16

finally have let go of

31:19

the guilt and the blame. But they

31:22

have, that's the last thing that they can't

31:24

really look at just yet.

31:26

Like, I truly don't know if this

31:28

was the right thing to

31:30

do given the circumstances because I'm still,

31:33

it's so associated with the relationship and

31:35

with the trauma. I

31:38

love it. I love it. Then

31:40

I think the stained glass work

31:42

that is behind this corno is

31:45

a depiction

31:48

of the empty throne. There

31:50

are eyes and there

31:53

are markings of the morning

31:55

star. It is kind of

31:57

like a stick figure

31:59

point. portrait of the

32:01

Morning Star. It is a glorious

32:04

and beautiful and

32:07

metaphorical representation

32:10

of the Sovereign's throne and

32:13

the divine form of the Morning

32:15

Star. The

32:18

artistry here is absolute

32:20

and irrefutable, but it is

32:22

also like this pale thing

32:24

that is grasping at the

32:26

true form that you have

32:28

stood in front of many

32:30

times, that you have embraced. Still,

32:34

there's something about those eyes

32:36

that appear to peer into

32:38

you right now. And

32:43

with that, I think you

32:45

can feel the

32:48

presence of someone standing behind

32:50

you, saying, under his breath

32:56

as to not disrupt the

32:58

ceremony. Ah, Thomas, I

33:01

am so glad that you came to

33:03

visit our congregation. Mr.

33:06

Arvieri. And

33:08

I do call him Mr. Mm-hmm. Yeah,

33:10

sure. I

33:13

see that you don't intend

33:15

to partake in the

33:17

communion. Not

33:20

for me, not this moment. Such

33:23

a fascinating choice for someone

33:25

who is so devout in

33:28

so many other ways. I

33:31

have already had my

33:37

dose today, as it were. I

33:40

have a private ceremony in mornings. One

33:44

of the wonderful things about traveling

33:47

to the outer edges of the

33:49

rediscovered world is getting

33:52

to see the marvelous folk

33:54

practice that many come up

33:56

with. You must

33:59

know in the core of

34:01

the church, they have

34:03

very strict written

34:06

strictures about what

34:09

is to be done to

34:12

complete the ceremony of how

34:14

one must perform the word of

34:16

the sovereign and walk the path

34:18

of sovereignty. But I

34:22

must admit, most of that

34:24

practice is barely

34:26

Massimo. I

34:29

would not expect it to reach Maggiore

34:32

within the next several decades,

34:34

at least. I understand.

34:37

I've been around

34:40

my share of the

34:42

upper echelon of the clergy. I

34:44

have found that the practicalities of

34:48

my work and

34:51

my desire to stay connected, outweighs

34:56

perhaps the bells and whistles

34:58

of our zealotry. That,

35:02

I do

35:04

not believe that anything characterizes

35:07

the proper etiquette of

35:09

the church of the slain God more

35:11

than that perspective. We

35:14

are a traveling church, as

35:17

it were, something that seeks

35:19

to spread. When one goes

35:21

to a new place, one

35:23

must change and adjust. You

35:27

cannot create a religion

35:29

around eating a rose and then hold

35:31

that with you if you travel

35:34

to a land that has no roses. Careful,

35:37

keep your voice low. We

35:39

wouldn't want any of your

35:41

compatriots to find that you

35:43

are diverting from edicts. Again,

35:46

the edicts only come

35:48

from the core. There

35:51

are many branches of the churches.

35:53

I imagine you must know, saying

35:55

you have had the good pleasure

35:57

of being in the

35:59

presence of the Lord. those of the upper

36:01

echelons. This

36:04

Vox does not agree with this Vox

36:06

who both don't agree with a third.

36:09

There is no truth

36:12

to the church, and that is

36:14

part of its strength. Lapera

36:16

I completely agree. It is

36:19

still a beautiful service

36:21

and a beautiful, yet

36:23

appropriately humble cathedral

36:26

for your worship. I'm

36:29

sorry, I must be getting in your way. I

36:31

can make my way to my ship.

36:33

Dr. O'Hara Not at all. Not

36:36

at all. Most of what you

36:38

see here before you runs itself.

36:41

My work is not so

36:43

much within the cathedral as

36:46

it is in maintaining the

36:48

other services that our church

36:50

provides. And I

36:52

do hope that one day that she'll be

36:54

able to run without me as well. Lapera

36:57

It's almost as if you read my

36:59

mind. What you were discussing the other

37:01

day, I am so very curious about

37:03

perhaps, I don't know what you call it,

37:05

the treatment you provide to your flock here.

37:09

Dr. O'Hara Oh, of course.

37:11

Yes, Thomas. One

37:14

such as yourself so devoted,

37:17

so devout, should not be

37:19

deprived of witnessing a wonder

37:21

in action. Would you like

37:23

to tour the baths? Lapera

37:25

I would love to. Just

37:28

in case, I feel

37:30

quite safe here, but

37:32

if there was ever a

37:34

situation where my two charges

37:37

got any of this illness, I would love

37:39

to be familiar so as to help them.

37:42

Dr. O'Hara Of course, yes. The cleansing that

37:44

takes place in our springs here is

37:47

engineered to combat the

37:49

ravaging progression of the

37:52

Crimson. I shouldn't expect

37:54

that any from your party will be

37:56

staying here long enough to contract such

37:58

a curse, but rest assured. I

38:01

hope not. Unless

38:05

the young Serb gets into death

38:07

over buying various candies. I

38:11

believe there are very few sweets

38:13

manufactured here, so he will be

38:15

fortunate in that. But

38:17

there is prophylactic quality to the

38:19

baths as well, and I think

38:23

it does every soul good

38:25

to see the good walking

38:27

the path of sovereignty does for so many.

38:30

He gestures for you to follow him. It

38:33

is, I think, actually like you would

38:36

exit the front of the cathedral and

38:38

then walk over to this like connected

38:40

building. Whatever passageways connects them, like those

38:42

are not for the public to see.

38:46

Amazing! The

38:48

table is so uncomfortable, but

38:50

is trying their very, very

38:52

best to just,

38:54

I'm so curious about like where

38:56

his power is actually coming from,

38:59

whether it is from the Morningstar

39:01

or whatever. I'm kind

39:03

of like constantly pinging like where

39:05

I feel the magic coming from. That's

39:08

yeah, that is great. You

39:10

are like your eyes open or are

39:12

you like kind of chill on that

39:15

right now and just sort of waiting

39:17

to see where this goes. I'll

39:19

chill on that for now. Like maybe

39:21

I'll look into it when he actually

39:23

performs the miracle or whatever.

39:25

Yeah, so you walk the short

39:28

distance over to one of the

39:30

entrances to the bath house. He

39:32

grabs a key from his belt

39:34

and begins to unlock the door.

39:37

And as this is happening, like you're

39:39

sort of looking at the door, because

39:42

you are feeling a little uncomfortable, like

39:44

you take a moment to look around

39:47

and then suddenly standing very close to

39:49

you is the ghostly form of Oramar

39:51

Vale. Oh, okay.

39:54

Right. Interesting. Oh

39:56

no. Uh, when

39:59

you say the ghostly form of Oromar Veil, you

40:01

may need to be more specific. I

40:03

mean the spirit of Oromar Veil,

40:05

not the body of Oromar Veil.

40:07

Cause like, oh no. Mm.

40:11

Mm. Gable

40:13

is stone-faced. Like,

40:17

beautiful door. Gable, there's been an

40:19

incident. As

40:28

Thomas is about to open their mouth,

40:31

Oromar puts up a hand

40:33

being like, it's fine, I can come in if

40:35

you'll let me. Ooh.

40:37

This has happened a

40:39

few times now, so you know. But

40:42

never with a fallen. Mm.

40:45

Gable, in a panic mode, just

40:48

opens their mouth to

40:50

swallow. Like, uh,

40:53

do you need to, how, uh,

40:55

uh. The figure

40:57

of Oromar just kind of

40:59

like, eases into you

41:02

like an overlaying. Oh. Oh.

41:06

All right, this, this brings up

41:08

the question of what Gable's mind

41:10

palace looks like. Mm-hmm.

41:15

Empty desert. Blowing

41:17

winds. Okay,

41:19

what color is the sand? A dried up

41:22

sea. Uh, it's cool sand.

41:25

Mm. What Gable's mind

41:27

palace is, is probably the, the

41:31

training ground from back

41:33

when I was in heaven. Oh, yeah, the

41:36

pearlescent sand, yeah. Pearlescent sand,

41:38

but also like, the sea is legitimately

41:40

gone. It's just very dry, very crunchy. Mm.

41:43

Yeah, the, the, the, the

41:45

sound of like crumbling salt

41:47

and shifting sand, uh, beneath,

41:50

uh, at least here,

41:52

more visibly corporeal Oromar boot.

41:55

And I think looks like Oromar

41:57

and not like Julian Larbalest. I

42:02

like the idea of the physical

42:04

form that somebody

42:07

takes within spaces like this, is their

42:09

sense of self and not necessarily what

42:11

they externally are

42:14

looking like. CHUCK L There

42:27

is not a spider web of connections here,

42:30

it is all very like, welcome!

42:33

Very plain. Oramar looks

42:36

down at the ground and

42:39

almost like Shylie trails

42:41

a small line with

42:43

the toe of his boot into the

42:46

sand. Things have gotten

42:49

complicated, I'm afraid. Okay,

42:51

you're my captain so I'm going to respect

42:53

you, but I need you to behave

42:56

so good right now. I'm gonna

42:58

treat you like a toddler. You sit, you

43:00

think about what you did, and I'm

43:03

gonna go deal with this little problem

43:05

I'm doing right now and you don't

43:07

touch anything, okay? I

43:09

pause, yes, Gable. I

43:13

will try to not intrude. You

43:15

can watch, you can learn, and

43:18

think about what you did. Don't. Getting out of

43:20

your body. There's a mouth

43:22

open, the mouth closed, a slight shake

43:24

of head. Oramar really wants to argue,

43:26

I will sit right here. Think about

43:28

what you did! Cross legged sits on

43:30

the sand. A

43:34

slightly pale and

43:37

nauseous Gable just comes

43:39

back to themselves like, let's go. Yeah,

43:44

he has gotten the door open

43:47

and you can see like it

43:49

is somewhat dimly lit but

43:51

like lit inside by lanterns,

43:54

this bathhouse. You walk in

43:56

and there, I think...

44:00

This is like they've let you into

44:02

an entryway where there are baths

44:06

that kind of separate based on

44:09

sex, but there are also co-ed baths as

44:12

well. You can

44:14

see in this place,

44:16

there are so many like people

44:19

who are working just with

44:24

the church and dressed in

44:26

kind of like the plain black

44:28

clothes as somebody who

44:31

might be with the

44:33

church. There are people here

44:35

who are clearly just kind

44:37

of civilians from the like

44:39

sorrows and area who are

44:42

just paying for treatment at

44:44

these baths. And

44:47

there are Serenno as well, who

44:49

are dressed in like they're much

44:51

more severe monk garb.

44:54

The air, I think smells

44:57

faintly of spices. They

45:01

like, it's more

45:03

like herby. I think there

45:05

is just like an herb mixture that is

45:07

mixed into the water from the hot spring

45:09

that prevents it from

45:12

like, you know, growing mold

45:14

and algaes and things like

45:16

that. So it has

45:18

like kind of a clean smell. I

45:21

think it is a step to the

45:23

left of like the chemical smell that

45:25

you get in most pools and whatnot.

45:28

That smell pervades the area. There

45:31

is some grim heaviness to

45:33

the Serenno who are here,

45:36

but like everyone else is

45:38

a lot more casual. People

45:41

going in might look a little

45:43

bit more anxious, but coming out,

45:46

there is a palpable relief

45:48

about them. I'm

45:50

not in like a medicine check

45:52

sort of way, but

45:56

I would love to try and

45:58

see what's in the wall. Yeah, yeah,

46:01

I think as he leads you

46:04

through to, we'll just say like

46:06

the co-ed bath area, you can

46:09

see there is a large central

46:11

pool and then a dozen or

46:13

so tubs off to either side.

46:18

Are you, is this going to be intellect

46:20

based or magic based? I think this is,

46:22

I'm not going to spend my magic

46:25

yet, so I'll be on intellect. You

46:28

don't have to spend to make a role. You can

46:30

merely... Oh no, I'm not going to spend that. Is

46:32

there a way I can assist? Also

46:35

help to extend my senses and maybe

46:37

make it with where teamwork makes the

46:39

teamwork. Nathan, I'm going to say absolutely.

46:42

So let's first

46:45

of all... Can you send a dive

46:47

roller please? Yeah, I'm going to get

46:49

the dice link to you. In fact,

46:52

I would be down to spend my

46:54

intellect to upgrade your role if that's

46:56

one way the teamwork can occur. That

47:00

is interesting. I think like I

47:02

would mostly put a relationship die

47:04

in this. I

47:06

would say a positive

47:09

stable relationship die according

47:12

to our little chart here. So

47:15

my intellect is 1d8 and

47:17

1d6 I believe. 1d8.

47:23

Pretty good. 1d6. And

47:26

then if Ormar wants to

47:29

add a die, you can. This is

47:31

not a very high stakes role

47:33

for Gable. I'm not super... Then

47:36

I guess it's resolved that we're adding

47:38

in a stable positive

47:40

die. That's like a d8? Yeah.

47:43

Cool. All right, so I've got three

47:45

die. I'll roll it. Roll dice. One success,

47:47

one diminish. Okay. Oh,

47:50

interesting. So the diminish is

47:52

going to be the relationship

47:54

between Ormar and Gable as

47:56

it stands now, this current

47:59

status quo. and the

48:01

reliability of it diminishes

48:03

somewhat. Oh, I think

48:05

I know what that is. I asked

48:07

you to not do anything, and you're already

48:09

playing around in there. And he does something.

48:11

Yeah, I think what it is, Oramar, we've

48:14

mentioned that there are no spiderwebs

48:16

here, because I don't

48:18

know if anybody remembers, but

48:21

those spiderwebs, originally what they

48:23

represent is the necromantic magic

48:25

that held Oramar together. Those

48:28

threads are what he pulled on to

48:30

control his body as a ghost. They

48:33

are the programs and processes

48:35

that Dreff put in place to

48:37

be able

48:39

to run this masquerade of the

48:41

captain still being alive. Obviously,

48:44

Gable has none of that. There

48:47

is no mechanism for

48:50

controlling Gable's body. However,

48:53

you can explore the

48:55

senses in the way

48:57

that you were able to explore senses within

49:00

your own body. And

49:03

Gable has different

49:05

senses, because there is whatever

49:07

is in Gable's mortal form,

49:09

and the tenuous connection

49:11

that Gable has to the

49:13

feathers of the wings that

49:15

they have rebuilt for themselves,

49:17

collecting after all of this

49:20

time. It is

49:22

not hard from this beach to

49:24

find those branching paths, and Oramar

49:27

being a man of science,

49:29

a man of curiosity, a man

49:31

of practicality, who could resist?

49:34

Yeah, yeah.

49:38

I think it's rather than strings

49:41

manifesting in this space, it's almost

49:44

kind of like a radiating

49:47

of the senses, or he, I

49:50

guess, closes his metaphysical

49:52

eyes and starts

49:55

to try and feel what Gable is

49:57

feeling. And some of that makes sense.

50:00

There are sights, you have eyes that are

50:02

open. We can smell some

50:04

herbs, I can feel the clothes on

50:06

your body and the fact that you're

50:08

standing here. And I

50:10

have no idea what that sense is and that

50:12

makes no sense. That kind of hurts to think

50:14

about actually, stop. Stop. Stop.

50:19

I think Gable's inner ear goes like, boom. Yeah,

50:24

as like the captain like peaks

50:26

through some of the eyes on

50:28

your wings. And

50:31

I think with these results, as the

50:33

die you're rolling against didn't turn up

50:35

anything, you're successful. You're

50:37

very successful. You can

50:39

see that the water itself

50:42

is definitely blessed with like

50:45

divine and healing magics.

50:49

Scotty Jax. Jax. It's

51:23

now like night, so we see like lanterns

51:25

and lantern light and stuff like that. And

51:27

there's definitely like Silas is like sitting back

51:29

to pillar like next to John. He's got

51:31

his coat off his like his

51:33

sleeves are like rolled up. You, a

51:35

few people get to see Silas's tattoos that

51:38

he has on his arms because they're not

51:40

like polite tattoos. But

51:43

he works with children. So like he has his

51:45

sleeves down all the time. There's like he's got

51:47

like a black cat that's like resting in his

51:49

lap that he's petting. And I think the camera

51:51

pans and we see all

51:53

of the gondolas like done

51:56

and that kind of animating

51:58

sparkly clean type thing. As

52:00

you guys are sitting there kind of resting, Denison

52:02

looks over and goes, well, it's a job well

52:05

done. I think

52:07

there's a smile on his face, like

52:10

a tired smile on his face.

52:12

He's still rubbing his eye in

52:14

a way that probably you shouldn't

52:17

from an infection. He was like, not

52:19

a bad job. Not a bad job.

52:21

Don't rub it. I cannot.

52:25

I understand. He has like a

52:27

handkerchief or something like that. He

52:30

hands it to you. He's like, at least dab

52:33

it with that. Okay.

52:35

You keep it. He's

52:38

like, thanks. Then I think there's maybe we

52:42

jump forward in time where,

52:44

John, it just gets his

52:46

payment from the warehouse owner.

52:48

Like, thank

52:51

you, sir. I hope I never

52:53

see you again. He starts to walk back

52:55

to Silas and he looks at

52:58

it. He's like, man, this is

53:00

way more money than I thought. Not

53:02

as much as I need. It'll be enough to

53:04

get you into a metaphysician at least to clear

53:07

that up. Yeah. Well, all right. How much you

53:09

want? He looks at

53:11

it and we see Silas reach

53:13

in and take like the,

53:16

it's half of a pewter bit.

53:19

It's like one that's been cut in half. Yeah. He

53:21

takes that and he goes, that's all I need.

53:23

Why are you doing this? We see Silas

53:26

is like putting on his coat as he's ready to

53:28

go. Because long time ago, I had

53:30

someone do the same for me. So pay

53:32

it forward in a way. But also there

53:34

is no getting through this

53:37

life, young Johnette, unless we help each

53:39

other. You're going to right rungs, do

53:41

mercies. Do you have room on your ship? We

53:44

see Denison's side as he puts his

53:46

cat up on his shoulders and

53:48

he goes over and he kind of

53:50

crosses his arms and gives you an

53:52

appraising look. Like he's

53:55

seen you before, but now he's like assessing.

53:57

Yeah. I think at this jump, like

54:00

a weary John it like straightens up just

54:02

a tiny bit as he like feels like,

54:05

all right, I'm being looked at in a

54:07

way that like I haven't before and like,

54:10

don't mess this up, John it. Answer

54:13

me this question. Yes

54:15

or no. Yes.

54:19

Interesting. Fascinating. Well, John Kessler,

54:21

and he puts his hand on on your

54:23

shoulder. I would be honored to have you

54:26

aboard the Red Audra. And

54:30

what you didn't notice, couldn't

54:32

have known, John it being sopping

54:35

wet with sweat. There

54:37

are also tears flowing from the

54:39

eye getting mixed into that sweat

54:42

and rolling down his cheek, down

54:45

his neck, down his shoulder to where

54:47

your hand touches is one

54:49

of the tears from John it Kessler's eye. And

54:53

you are struck with

54:55

a vision of the future. You

54:58

see this man that has

55:00

traveled the world. He is

55:03

strong. He is confident. He

55:05

is wise. He has flown

55:07

through many skies. He

55:10

has the look that you recognize in

55:12

all of the great captains that you have

55:14

ever known. He also has scars. He

55:18

has lines. His

55:20

life that brought him here was

55:24

much more fraught than even

55:26

the most harrowing adventures

55:28

that would happen within the

55:30

Swiftwell courier service. You

55:32

see at his neck the

55:35

crown above the skull

55:37

with the sword struck through the

55:40

symbol of the Uhuru. And

55:43

you see the ghost of

55:45

a path that brought him to that

55:47

point. You

55:50

see this man standing on the deck of

55:53

a glorious ship, one that in

55:55

vague details was just

55:57

described to you early. today

56:01

and you see behind it a fleet. A

56:05

hundred ships, more than a hundred.

56:08

A sky full of flush

56:11

sails and black flags.

56:22

Campaign Skyjax is a one-shot network production.

56:24

For more information be sure to follow

56:26

us on Twitter over at campaignpod for

56:28

updates about live shows and other events

56:30

we might be doing. You can find

56:32

more great gaming shows over at oneshotpodcast.com.

56:59

People communicate with each other by contemplating

57:01

orbs. The only way you can take

57:03

pictures is getting stared at by a

57:06

big psychic bug. And people have already

57:08

declared victory in a war over the

57:10

very concept of evil. But I'm getting

57:12

ahead of myself. Starwall Odyssey follows the

57:14

adventures of the hapless inhabitants of the

57:17

Lucky Finn tenement building, who suddenly find

57:19

that their apartment is actually a spaceship

57:21

and that they're lost in a sea

57:23

of boundless imagination. It's an actual play

57:25

starring me, James Damato, Mel Damato,

57:28

Allie Grauer, and Drew Merzieski as

57:30

we playtest the No King system,

57:32

which will hopefully one day be

57:35

the Skyjax role-playing system. It toes

57:37

the line between weird and wonderful

57:39

slice of life and high-flying space

57:42

fantasy. You can sample the first

57:44

five episodes by searching for Starwall

57:46

Odyssey on your favorite podcast app,

57:48

or get the whole thing by

57:50

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

57:52

for five dollars a month or

57:54

more. Johnett

57:57

Kessler was played by Tyler Davis, who be

58:00

found on Twitter and Instagram at

58:02

Tyler A. Dave. Gable was played

58:05

by Liz Anderson, who can be

58:07

found on Twitter at Liz Anderson

58:09

underscore underscore underscore, or on her

58:12

podcast, Paired. Captain Oramar

58:14

Vale was played by Nathan Blades,

58:17

who can be found on

58:19

Twitter at PhantomArtsENT, or streaming

58:21

at Twitch.tv slash The Neon

58:24

Caster. I am James

58:26

DeMotto, your host and game master. You

58:28

can find me on Twitter at OneShotRPG,

58:31

or on my podcast, OneShot. The

58:34

original music featured in this podcast

58:36

was written, composed, and performed by

58:38

Arnie Parrott. You can find him

58:41

over on Twitter at Arnie Parrott,

58:43

or on his website, ATPtoons. This

58:46

episode was edited by Allie Grauer, who

58:48

can be found on Twitter at Dreams

58:50

to Become, or on

58:53

her podcast, SkyjaxCouriersCall. Our

58:55

logo was designed by Fiona Shea, who

58:57

can be found on Twitter at Lunarum.

59:00

The World of Sphere was inspired in

59:02

part by the music of the Decemberists

59:05

and Illimat, produced by Together Studios. This

59:07

show was made in part by using

59:09

a modified version of the Genesis role-playing

59:11

system, designed by Sam Stewart and a

59:13

team of talented professionals. There

59:15

are no kings. Take

59:18

flight.