Episode Transcript
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0:06
This is the sound of world's beyond number.
0:19
Well, last we left off, we met our wonderful
0:22
three heroes or protagonists
0:25
of this story. We met
0:27
Eursilon working five
0:30
years prior in a tavern having
0:33
almost been napped by a hedge mate.
0:36
And his goon squad,
0:38
I suppose, in a stable with
0:41
a special sword. Pattern
0:44
of waves along the cross guard and
0:46
a fist of many fingers curled
0:48
into a ball sprinting into
0:51
the woods after being injured by strange
0:53
magic. We met
0:55
Sylvain Kedbiddicate, or Sylvie,
0:58
as she is called, the
1:00
apprentice to the archmage silence
1:02
and friend
1:04
and ward of
1:07
steel first sort of the Citadel. In
1:09
the heart of the empire, who
1:12
was sent to visit an ailing
1:14
grandmother Ren, and we met
1:17
omey, the apprentice grandmother
1:19
Ren in a witch's cottage outside
1:21
the village of Tooma. The
1:26
passing of grandmother Ren was something
1:28
that had been anticipated for some
1:30
time. What was not anticipated
1:34
was a strange curse
1:37
that had fallen over grandmother
1:40
Ren. Many
1:42
secrets she had kept for a long
1:44
time from
1:47
a man from the children that she had looked
1:49
after in a golden
1:51
summer many years before. But
1:55
those secrets she remembered
1:58
having told The army
2:00
bore no memory of it. Smoke
2:02
curled from her mouth, and
2:04
some strange curse had been placed upon
2:06
her. In her last moments,
2:08
she bid Suvy and Ami farewell,
2:11
and her familiar, the rooster Taro
2:13
said that the sword wave breaker
2:15
was the key to
2:18
finding a way to
2:20
unleash those secrets from where the curse had
2:22
bound them, wherever that was. Sore,
2:25
of course, had been given in childhood to their
2:27
friend, Ursula, long lost these
2:30
many, many years. No one had seen him.
2:32
And so Find Earth's land
2:35
they must and Taro's last piece of advice
2:38
was that Ami would need a Taro
2:40
of her own. We
2:43
ended last episode with the
2:45
sun having set in record speed
2:47
as time itself was slowed by the presence
2:50
of great workings of the world of spirits. To
2:53
figure approaching on
2:55
the road and to that moment
2:57
and that exact moment. We
3:00
will return. Crescent
3:13
moon, like a wide smile,
3:16
and glittering stars Though
3:20
a long and lonely cloud
3:22
begins to stretch like a
3:24
pointed hand and
3:26
crosses at the mid section of the
3:28
crescent moon. A
3:32
figure walks down
3:34
the country road dressed
3:37
in black. The
3:39
manner of their clothes
3:44
like a merchant or a lord in
3:46
the cut, but in style
3:49
somehow strange and undressed.
3:52
No shine of silver, no gold
3:54
brocade. Simple,
3:58
clean. Tall boots
4:01
and long breeches and
4:04
a wide
4:05
brim. With long
4:08
trail of a cap behind and a thick black
4:10
cloak. Figure
4:15
Stepping out of the shadow of a lean
4:17
tree, stepping
4:19
along the road, and passes.
4:22
Beyond the edge of the
4:24
window through which Suvi is looking.
4:27
You
4:31
come to your senses still here in this moment
4:34
where grandmother Ren has just passed and
4:37
it is now magic
4:41
and cerreally and
4:44
with a sense of almost something
4:46
like nausea, It
4:50
has become night. The
4:53
cottage that you
4:55
stand in And specifically,
4:59
the bed chamber of grandmother Ren
5:01
whose body still rests in
5:03
the bed next to you, though
5:06
she is now gone, you
5:10
become aware that the shifting of the house is
5:12
stopped. You don't hear the creaking of wood anymore.
5:14
And you look at it and see the moon and starlight
5:17
on the cottage, but you don't hear the buzzing
5:19
of bees. It's very still. The only
5:21
thing you hear is the lone babbling of the
5:23
stream. And even that babbling
5:26
feels somehow distant, echoing.
5:30
Cottage is very silent. These
5:33
are the first moments that either of you,
5:36
Suvi and Ami, have
5:38
stood in this place knowing
5:40
that In a very real sense,
5:42
this is no longer grandmother Rand's
5:45
cottage. Three
5:52
loud knocks upon
5:55
the workshop door closest
5:57
to the road. Wait.
6:01
What do you wanna do?
6:05
I have
6:05
to go head to the dark.
6:07
Give me one moment. And
6:09
very quickly, I
6:11
cast the ritual that I have
6:14
prepared of the ceremony. A
6:17
brief funeral. Right?
6:20
Even though I don't have time to mourn, I have
6:22
to make sure that she's properly prepared.
6:25
Placed my hand on grandmother's eyelids.
6:30
I hold them. I
6:34
whisper, quiet words, be
6:36
a piece. The
6:42
bed clothes, the sleeves
6:44
that you can see peeping over the covers,
6:47
all turn white,
6:49
as if the spreading of an ink or
6:51
a die, only it's an absence of color.
7:00
She should be safe here for
7:02
now. I hurry downstairs.
7:05
What do you want me to
7:06
do? Stay
7:08
hidden. So
7:11
I
7:19
compose myself and walk to the
7:21
front door. Who is
7:23
it?
7:28
Normally, there is a small candle
7:33
underneath a tin hood
7:35
on the outside of the workshop door
7:39
that as long as someone is
7:41
downstairs, a
7:43
sputtering little blue candle will
7:46
hop to life. Careful attention
7:49
of anyone being outside of
7:51
their bed chamber. Candeluk
7:54
doesn't light when you reach the bottom of errors.
7:58
It is pitch
8:01
black looking through the workshop window.
8:12
Who is at the door
8:15
of grandmother Ren's cottage? You
8:18
hear the
8:21
scratch of gravel
8:23
and dust as a pair
8:25
of boots. Takes
8:28
three steps
8:30
back from the door as
8:33
though giving space
8:36
for the door to be opened and the
8:38
person outside to be regarded. This
8:46
is the final time that I will ask, who
8:49
is at our door? The
8:53
voice that
8:56
comes from outside,
8:59
from a face you cannot see,
9:03
is cold beyond
9:05
imagining. It
9:08
seems to hit your skin almost more
9:11
than it hits your
9:11
ears. Suvy,
9:15
you
9:16
can feel
9:18
someone talking even though you're all the way upstairs.
9:22
Outside the door, are you here?
9:30
I am an older friend of
9:33
grandmother friends. Come
9:36
to pay my respects.
9:41
May I come in? You
9:43
may not enter. What is your name's
9:46
Stranger?
9:55
You ask a
9:57
traveler their name through
10:00
a shut door. My
10:08
name, I won't give you one.
10:13
I can tell you this. I
10:18
am a wanderer. They
10:22
have called me a
10:24
bedroom under the stars, the
10:28
man in black. The king
10:30
of the night. I
10:32
waited the crossroads and I'd bied
10:34
my time. I
10:37
have never ready and always
10:39
near and I have
10:41
held my breath since the
10:43
dawning of the world. Won't
10:50
you let me pay my
10:52
respects?
11:04
Forgive the inhospitable nature
11:07
of my demands, but
11:11
as you seem to have
11:13
intuited. Grandma
11:18
is unable
11:23
to be here herself to greet you.
11:26
May I May I
11:31
ask you to come back again? Here.
11:34
Scrap batch of a
11:36
boot in the dust. Name
11:42
the day. Give
11:51
me one year from now. You
11:57
got one year. It
11:59
is day. I
12:07
come down the stairs and
12:09
immediately 2 grab you
12:11
and hold
12:12
you. You did very
12:14
well. She would
12:16
be very proud.
12:18
III don't Who was that?
12:20
Give me
12:21
a religion check. Oh.
12:24
Can
12:24
I make a history check to see if I've ever read anything?
12:26
Yeah. Yeah. Give me history or Arkana. Fifteen
12:29
for Arkana. Seven.
12:32
I think that of those
12:34
many titles, You
12:37
have never heard any of them, but
12:40
I think you know all of the connotations of
12:42
them. That being didn't
12:44
give a single name. Yeah.
12:47
As it becomes day,
12:50
you see all of that time in which you lost
12:52
grandmother Ren. Comes back.
12:54
In other words, like, that time slowing
12:57
down was him approaching.
12:59
Yeah. Almost like
13:01
he brought the night with him as he got
13:04
closer and then took it when he left. And
13:06
then took it when he left. You
13:08
do know you remember an old
13:10
lecture in an early class
13:13
a warning about spirits.
13:16
That most spirits would not give you a name.
13:18
If you did they did give you a name, it would mean you had power
13:21
over them. Mhmm. Often, they
13:23
would go by a title. You know, there's
13:25
the great there, for example, that has like
13:27
a great title that doesn't give its name out.
13:31
You you were told
13:33
about some spirits that had multiple titles.
13:35
Multiple titles indicated immensity
13:39
of power and the
13:42
ability for that creature to hide
13:44
its names amongst multiple
13:47
appellation -- Yes. -- that it's
13:49
true form would be sort of hidden
13:52
or obscured.
13:54
And the scariest spirit you studied had
13:56
three. Oh,
13:59
no. Okay.
14:04
I know the only things I've studied.
14:08
You can't hold a candle to what you must know,
14:10
Ami. But whatever
14:13
that was.
14:16
A strong. As you were standing there,
14:18
you smell a stink.
14:21
All of the milk in the kitchen like
14:24
in the icebox has gone bad and stinks
14:26
like crazy. There
14:30
you look out and There's
14:32
a couple of fruit trees that border the
14:34
road. All of the fruit hanging over the
14:36
road has withered. No. And you
14:40
still you you hear the bees start buzzing
14:42
again. So there's stuff going
14:44
on, but
14:47
you see that there is a
14:50
lovely little bead kind
14:53
of It's
14:56
almost like a patch that is like framed
14:58
up above the doorway from the workshop into
15:01
the rest of the house, and it's framed up to
15:03
face and line up with the outer
15:05
door. And it's just a little beadwork in
15:07
like red and lapis and
15:10
black and white of an eye.
15:12
It's smoking. And
15:17
Suvy, you feel dangling
15:19
in one of your pockets of your robe.
15:23
Immediately go and reach
15:25
in. You cut your finger
15:27
on the shattered speaking
15:29
mirror.
15:30
No. Okay?
15:32
You're bleeding. I'm fine. She
15:34
pulls away from you. I'm fine.
15:38
I run over to the icebox, And
15:41
I take a look at the milk.
15:44
Can I divine whether this
15:46
is part of the curse
15:49
from a stranger or just
15:50
time? Give me give
15:52
me a nature I'll give me like a survival trick.
15:55
Sixteen.
15:56
You believe
15:58
this was the appearance of
16:00
this being at the door, that
16:03
even though it could not gain entry
16:05
to the house, that just its
16:07
presence here
16:09
was shaking the foundations
16:12
of this cottage.
16:15
On a time was slipping before
16:17
grandmother and died. I
16:20
panicked. I panicked. I didn't I
16:22
didn't know what to do. I didn't I've never
16:25
had to This can't be my
16:28
cottage.
16:31
I'm not I don't I'm
16:33
not ready for it yet. Well,
16:37
but I'm gonna do the best that I can. You
16:44
I mean, I don't even know where to start. I
16:46
haven't seen you in so long, and I know that
16:48
you must surely have
16:51
places to be. And I
16:53
I look up and down
16:56
at your finely tailored wardrobe
16:58
and your hair
17:01
and but
17:06
I I would She asked
17:08
us both to find Eursilon, and I
17:10
would greatly appreciate your help in
17:12
that. Of
17:15
course, I
17:18
thought think
17:21
everyone at home thought
17:23
that there
17:25
would be more time. So
17:27
there's time enough for this. Thank
17:30
you. Of course. I
17:32
did bring steel.
17:36
The woman that came
17:38
from me at the end of the summer, asked
17:41
me to bring some things for a grandmother
17:44
in. Oh, What
17:46
were they? They're yours now.
17:49
And I pull out the book.
17:52
And a sealed group
17:56
of scrolls. I don't know what scrolls are.
17:59
This is a book about stars of the Southern
18:02
Sky. Mhmm.
18:04
Thank you. I
18:06
suppose I can
18:08
take a look and I
18:12
thumb through the book.
18:13
Okay. Yeah. You go ahead and you thumb through
18:15
the book. Let me know
18:18
what kind of check you think you're making
18:20
there. I think investigation probably makes the most
18:22
sense if you're yeah. So go ahead and give me investigation
18:24
check. Fifteen.
18:31
On a fifteen, you
18:33
know that this references a lot
18:36
of constellations that would be of
18:38
interest to grandmother Ren. The
18:40
book is book
18:42
of wizardry. So there's a lot of
18:44
it talking about the
18:46
movements of celestial bodies and
18:49
the nature of the stars. Grandmother Ren
18:51
often talked about the stars, but probably in ways
18:54
that were not as stemic
18:59
as this. She used to
19:01
talk about some stars as being
19:03
nosy and other stars as being
19:05
bad or good luck. And some stars
19:08
as being playful and seemed
19:10
to have a relationship to them mostly due
19:12
to her ability to fly.
19:14
So she sort of had a relationship with them
19:17
like someone who spent time in
19:19
their company.
19:20
I'm going to poke
19:24
a little further into
19:27
the book to see if perhaps
19:29
it's not the words of the
19:31
book. But something hidden in
19:33
the book itself. Sure.
19:35
Do you giving
19:36
me another investigation check? Yes. Go for
19:38
it. I only got a seven.
19:41
You begin to look deeper into the book for
19:43
something hidden, and I think
19:46
hit a wall of
19:49
because I think you were looking for something
19:51
hidden in the way of, like, what's
19:53
something that would almost be, like, intuitive
19:56
or second nature, like, you
19:58
hide things in places where you can still
20:00
get them. And you're looking at all this stuff
20:02
and being like, this
20:05
is so complicated.
20:07
That wizard could hide something
20:09
in here without even
20:11
having to hide it. It could just be here and I'm looking
20:13
at
20:13
it and
20:14
I don't know what I'm
20:16
supposed to be looking for. Not a eight bucks.
20:19
Okay. What? III
20:21
said,
20:23
thanks for the bucks. While
20:26
she's doing this, I just wanted to kind of
20:28
give her a task so I could circle the
20:30
cottage and try to kind
20:32
of assess the situation and see if I noticed
20:34
anything else
20:36
weird on account of the strangers
20:38
visit.
20:40
Yeah, absolutely. Go ahead and you give
20:43
me investigation check. Twelve, but
20:45
my passive investigation is a twenty
20:47
one. Incredible. WBN
20:52
a passage twenty one investigation, I
20:55
think that much has
20:57
changed in the house since you were here.
21:00
Yeah. Grandmother
21:02
WBN became more tired
21:05
with time and became
21:07
more capable with time. So
21:09
a lot of the the little
21:11
tiny details you notice are
21:14
ways of organizing dishes
21:17
and cutlery, the grandmother Ren deferred
21:19
had given way to them being organized in the way that
21:21
Omni preferred. And little I
21:23
think Omni's room is probably much changed.
21:27
How is it how does Hamid's room looked there? Did you go
21:29
into the room? Oh, you know what I do?
21:31
So as he step into the room, whereas
21:34
before you remember, nest
21:37
of pillows and blankets and
21:39
soft bits next
21:41
to curled
21:43
up in the corner. With your bunk,
21:46
all nice and tidy and orderly. And
21:50
the window is so large enough
21:52
for perhaps visiting
21:56
spirit friend. Now
21:58
you see that the
22:01
bunk has been disassembled.
22:04
It is just one bed
22:06
now, but There
22:10
is a bed
22:12
roll on the ground in place of the
22:14
nest, a sort
22:16
of soft round
22:19
cushiony mat.
22:22
So it's not quite as chaotic
22:24
but is is still a floor
22:27
sleeping situation. And
22:30
you see the old familiar
22:33
scroll on the wall above a
22:36
fist size, tiny fist sized
22:38
hole that says, be kind.
22:42
But your bunk, which
22:45
is clearly been moved down to be
22:47
this single bed, is just
22:50
the way you left it. Disordered.
22:55
It is just the way that you left it
22:57
with the slats of
22:59
wood where you pulled them up out
23:02
of -- Bordeaux. --
23:04
restlessness. And
23:07
the window sill is not
23:09
covered in dust. But
23:12
there's still sheets
23:16
of flowers and
23:19
herbs tied up in crystals
23:22
hanging, catching the sunlight, It
23:25
seems a lot more purposeful now though.
23:28
And you see on the desk instead
23:30
of the untidy clutter
23:32
of beakers
23:36
and plants and
23:38
powders, it's
23:40
a somewhat more orderly alchemy
23:42
set.
23:44
2 Suvy see any
23:48
hint of a blue cloak anywhere in the
23:50
room? Bola
23:56
perception tracker.
23:59
Okay. Well, I feel like I have to remind you my passive
24:01
perception is eighteen. Do I really have to roll?
24:05
Actually,
24:05
I 2. He just gave me a slide a hand to see
24:07
you. Yeah.
24:08
No. Yeah. That's true.
24:10
So I rolled the natural wood.
24:14
Yeah. Light of hand is thirteen. On
24:17
the passive perception No. Passive
24:19
perception. I will
24:21
say, you see.
24:24
I'm a little sleeping mat. Although
24:27
there's a big fluffy comforter over
24:30
it, you see a tiny corner
24:33
of blue peeking out
24:35
from under the tucked cover. I
24:39
think that's the
24:40
thing. I was trying
24:43
to put together the ways in which
24:46
your true friend has
24:48
stayed the same and grown
24:50
up away from you. And
24:53
then seeing that little corner of the cloak
24:55
that I gave you years ago.
24:58
I'll walk over and
25:00
just kind of touch the edge
25:03
and for whatever it's worth, push
25:06
a little bit of mending into it.
25:09
To seal the fibers and let it last a little
25:11
longer?
25:15
With that incredible passive investigation
25:18
WBN the way, you look out the window
25:20
at the mid afternoon Sunlight that is suddenly
25:22
back on the cottage and
25:26
see very
25:28
eventful time here at grandmother
25:31
Rand's cottage. You
25:33
see a site that it wants your
25:35
wizard brain goes, I
25:37
have to put this together with all this, my grandmother's
25:39
rent. Just I just watched grandmother's rent pass
25:41
away. And it's the foundations
25:44
of the earth shook as she passed and
25:46
I've seen a magic here more powerful than anything
25:48
and then a sight comes into your eyes that the moment
25:50
you see it know has to be totally
25:53
unrelated to everything else you have
25:55
seen here, which is that a very
25:57
confused looking fox comes
26:00
out of the henhouse with a dead
26:02
chicken in its mouth because when it
26:04
went into the henhouse, it was night in its day
26:06
now. And
26:08
it's got a dead chicken. And there's a couple
26:11
little feathers that fall around and you see a confused
26:14
fox who's got you
26:16
know, red, the little brown socks,
26:19
and the little white tuff, and the white under
26:21
the chin with, like, just a
26:23
little bit of of the of the hair
26:25
getting darker and almost black on the little ridge
26:27
in between the shoulders. Looking
26:29
around, dead chicken, blood soaked fangs,
26:32
and just a state of utter perplexity.
26:35
You hear a mad woman cackle
26:38
from upstairs in your room.
26:40
The cackle goes off and the fox Sprint
26:42
hits a fence, changes direction, and sprints
26:44
off into the woods with the chicken and is
26:46
gone. You
26:52
That's holy
26:54
god. The last hour is crazy
26:56
thing I've ever
26:57
experienced. Oh, that's not a that's not a completely
27:00
be laugh. Okay. Oh, that's true.
27:04
I saw I the squirrels under
27:07
my arm. III taught
27:09
upstairs. I
27:12
couldn't arm on I'm good. You
27:14
might say? Yeah.
27:16
Have you ever just felt like a fox a little bit?
27:22
You know, that's a crazy thing to say, but
27:24
yes. Yes. Yes, I
27:26
am.
27:29
This is wild. Is
27:32
this every day for you? No.
27:35
Jesus. Know most days, it's just
27:37
a village in need of help and
27:40
just me and grandma run.
27:45
Alright.
27:49
I know that there is quite a
27:52
lot that's just gotten dropped on your plate, but
27:54
I think it would be good for us
27:56
to move
27:56
expeditiously. That's
27:58
big word. Yes. I
28:01
I read --
28:02
Yeah. -- for someone who hates books. That's a big
28:04
word. I don't know what you're talking about. I heard
28:07
what I heard.
28:07
Okay. Alright. Well Mhmm.
28:11
That's how I know you're a witch and prepared.
28:13
You've got the mumbling under your breath down
28:15
to a science. Oh,
28:18
it's true.
28:23
You so you
28:25
stated that you have you obviously have having undone
28:27
the school case, you've taken some scrolls out
28:29
that to you looked like
28:33
a cult anatomical drawings
28:36
of different strange beasts.
28:38
And I mean, you've only known the wildlife
28:41
of a calm and perhaps a little
28:43
bit of a different place before than
28:45
But for the most part, you you
28:47
know, you only know the wildlife around here, which
28:50
there are some larger animals around.
28:52
Like, there's still you know, there are some
28:54
bears in the woods or a
28:57
deer or a panther maybe up where gets a little
28:59
bit more mountainous up
29:00
north. But these
29:02
are some strange beasts
29:04
in these sort of anatomical drawings
29:06
that you see. I
29:09
don't think I've seen any like
29:11
this around here. I'm
29:17
not going to cry. Well,
29:21
it seems that we're working on this together. So Yeah.
29:23
Let me see him. Okay. Thank you.
29:27
With that high passive investigation
29:29
score, you thumb through them and
29:31
you find one. With
29:34
a beast on it you recognize. The
29:37
last time you saw this beast, was
29:41
in the town of Silbury when
29:43
you were a child and the town
29:45
was in fire. And
29:48
you realized that these are not beasts
29:51
these are the forms
29:55
that certain magicians can
29:57
wear if they so choose. Oh,
30:03
please keep these safe.
30:07
Keep them secret. Of
30:10
course, that was the plan.
30:13
Was it of some significance? Is
30:15
2 specifically. I
30:18
didn't tell you much about the
30:21
night I came. No.
30:23
You we were kids
30:26
and you were really scared and I never wanted
30:29
to
30:29
cry. You're
30:31
very kind. Oh,
30:34
one of my parents' friends,
30:37
and I pull forward specifically
30:39
the scroll. May you
30:41
see a tasked
30:47
canine yet semi in
30:49
form power full
30:52
shoulders and hunch is an arreached
30:54
back. The physical
30:57
that sort of musculature and skil
31:00
little structure of almost like a hyena. Right?
31:02
Those powerful longer front
31:04
legs sloping down
31:06
to rear legs and a tough to tail.
31:08
With this massive lower
31:10
tucked jaw. The
31:13
form is frightening
31:15
with wide snout
31:18
and these glaring sort
31:20
of eyes and some ridges up along
31:22
the brows, 2 long tapered pointed
31:24
ears. And you can even see in
31:27
the rendering of the wizard's diagram
31:30
that the front pause
31:35
still end in these long saber
31:37
like
31:37
claws, almost like a bear, these long
31:39
hooks that come out with
31:42
digits on either side that
31:44
kind of hint that they might still
31:46
be opposable. My
31:50
eyes friend, Yoren.
31:53
Looked like this that night
31:55
and he smelled of blood. What? Can
32:00
you can a lot of you do
32:03
this? No.
32:05
Alright.
32:08
This doesn't feel like
32:10
any sort of spirit that
32:13
I've encountered or
32:14
studied, does it?
32:17
No. I think you'd look at this.
32:20
I think both
32:22
of you would share a moment probably of
32:25
connecting over the fact that this is
32:27
well outside of either of your traditions.
32:31
It feels like even though we
32:33
have seen spirit and things
32:35
that are natural, that
32:38
are mixed, different
32:40
parts, a different piece. This doesn't
32:42
feel
32:43
right. To me. The
32:45
majors of Gautamay are
32:47
different.
32:51
I don't quite know what
32:54
that means? Galsma
32:56
is
32:58
somebody that we're supposedly
33:01
at war with. Correct? There's
33:04
always exceptions, you
33:06
know, which his advisors aren't supposed to really
33:12
Get along, and
33:15
we're both here, tracking
33:17
down. Our brother
33:20
Who's a big bear? Speaking
33:22
of which, we need we gotta go find
33:24
him. Oh, yes. And I
33:26
have to I have to is
33:29
it the shrine? There's just
33:31
so many things to do. I'm
33:32
again, I I'm sorry to drop this on your
33:34
lap
33:35
and go ahead.
33:35
We're making a list. Oh, this is where I shine.
33:37
Oh,
33:38
alright. Well
33:39
Where is the paper that isn't wrinkly? No.
33:41
I got it. I got it. Okay.
33:45
I'm going to go up to the shrine and
33:48
Would you care 2 accompany
33:49
me? Oh my god. Yes. Alright. Cool. I wasn't
33:52
sure if I was
33:53
gonna be allowed to go. Yeah.
33:55
I actually don't know if there's any rules about that or not,
33:57
but, you know, I mean, it's my cottage
33:59
now. So Yeah.
34:01
Do you feel different? No.
34:04
I mean, except a
34:07
sense of existential dread about
34:09
being maybe cursed and having a year
34:11
before what might be a powerful
34:14
spirit returns to
34:16
the cottage Oh,
34:19
no. Not really.
34:30
Ami marches up the hill
34:32
and you see a climb that
34:35
used to tire you out is now done
34:37
in about twenty steps. And just
34:39
up the hill where we
34:42
see a beautiful, small
34:44
stone shrine. The
34:47
shrine has a beautiful
34:51
eight sided bell
34:53
shaped roof with scales
34:56
and ridges of the stone that come down to
34:58
the eight corners, there are
35:00
thin stone columns 2
35:03
down but leave the shrine
35:05
open while still being under a roof
35:08
and a flat always cool
35:11
marble base. At
35:15
the back of the shrine is
35:18
a old
35:21
weathered kind of it's the type type of stone
35:23
that as it whethers, whethers with pockmarks, and
35:25
the marble has been a lot more durable than the
35:27
stone the statue was made out of. And in
35:29
the little pockmarks, you know, water and
35:31
rain and state. So there's kind of a sheen
35:34
of lichen or moss that grows within
35:36
the little pockmarks on the otherwise creamy
35:38
gray stone of the statue,
35:41
which is of a welcomingly
35:48
a welcomingly misshapen nature
35:51
spirit with a
35:53
big old potato looking head
35:56
a wide grinning mouth
35:59
with poor sign tusks
36:02
and a cute
36:04
little button nose and
36:06
eyes that are set far wider on
36:08
the head and ears
36:11
that are both pointed and have like
36:13
long dangling lobes you
36:16
see that the spirit is
36:20
sitting cross legged and
36:22
holding a stone bowl that
36:24
it is part of the same piece of stone that it itself
36:27
is carved out of, but is
36:29
holding the bowl with both its legs
36:31
and arms at the same time seated
36:33
with its arms kind of wrapped around and
36:35
its elbows resting on its knees. And
36:38
this statue has been here for as long as you can
36:40
remember. And it is very
36:43
clear that the statue of the spirit of the shrine
36:46
kind of has the most This is the place
36:48
from which the natural beauty
36:50
of grandmother Rand's cottage in the surrounding
36:52
forest is like at its best.
36:55
You see like the sloping hill to the cottage,
36:57
all of the garden laid out perfectly the stream
36:59
that wraps away. You can see every
37:01
single wild flower bush and
37:03
to grove at the edge of the forest
37:05
from right here and it's high
37:08
enough up on the hill that you get to
37:10
see all the tops of the trees that stretch away
37:12
over the woods up towards the far ridge.
37:15
So you just see a beautiful blanket
37:17
of treetops throughout this little valley
37:20
where grandmother, a man has lived for
37:22
so long. Coming
37:25
up to the
37:25
shrine, late afternoon, what
37:30
do you do upon arriving at the shrine?
37:34
When I reached this shrine, I
37:36
stopped at the little stone basin just
37:39
before
37:40
and I washed my hands. And
37:43
I splashed some water on my face. Oh,
37:47
I smoothed my skirt and I walk
37:49
up to the shrine
37:53
and the statue. I
37:55
clap my hands twice.
38:00
Nip out to it. And
38:04
I say, Dear
38:10
spirit and honored friend,
38:15
we are in need of your assistance.
38:18
Grandma Rand
38:21
and Taro have
38:24
are no longer with us here in our realm.
38:28
I was told to come, to pay
38:31
my respects to you, 2
38:33
ask your guidance, because
38:36
it might be time for me to have a
38:41
sorrow of my
38:42
own. But hopefully
38:44
a nice little one. Sevi's
38:53
at the very edge of
38:56
the marble platform. And
38:59
in just a little moment
39:01
of remembering herself as a small child.
39:04
She goes to push up the glasses that aren't
39:06
there. And
39:08
kind of snort a little bit
39:10
to herself, crosses
39:13
one ankle behind the other to give a small
39:15
curtsy that Imperial
39:18
children are taught to do
39:20
and just gives little balances, mister
39:22
soup. And this weights quietly.
39:28
It's too quick. Mister Soup
39:30
is referring to
39:32
Yeah. It looks like he's eating a big bowl of
39:34
soup. The moment you say
39:36
mister soup, you hear a voice
39:38
down by your knees, say afternoon.
39:42
And you looked out and see the
39:44
spirit looking at its own
39:46
statue. You see
39:49
He is a vibrant vine
39:51
green with a little loing cloth
39:54
of leaves. It's only about two feet
39:56
tall. And you see
39:58
that he looks down and his
40:01
feet always are muddy because
40:03
water sort of produces out of the bottom
40:05
of his feet. So whenever he stands in a piece of dirt,
40:08
it looks like just water begins to trickle down.
40:11
But stands there and has his arms
40:13
crossed and is looking at
40:15
the statue of himself
40:18
and just his
40:21
little lump in head and
40:22
goes, look at me. They got
40:25
it exactly right. They didn't have
40:27
a remarkable likeness. Hello,
40:31
mister Soup. Oh, wait. You
40:33
call them that Mhmm.
40:36
I think mister suit was.
40:37
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You see you see
40:39
he he looks at 2, he looks at augmented
40:42
smiles, a big, tusky smile
40:44
and
40:44
says, I've
40:46
always wanted to say this. I
40:48
am known by many names. Wow.
40:52
And one of them is mister
40:54
suit. Thing.
40:58
He goes and sort
41:00
of happily waddles
41:02
up into the shrine and
41:05
leans his head into the stone ball
41:08
and sniffs and sort
41:10
of pushes his nose
41:12
up and frowns a little bit and he's like, stoop
41:14
looking pretty thin, all things considered.
41:17
Not a very move
41:20
his finger around in the empty bowl. Not
41:22
a oh, not a great we're gonna
41:24
it's gonna be slim pickings for everyone
41:27
that wants some soup.
41:28
Oh, I'm so sorry It was a it was
41:30
a Oh, well, well, we
41:31
got a
41:32
lot of so if we had offering freely
41:34
given, of course, you don't have to But
41:37
Oh, no. I I have to
41:39
Did anyone
41:39
I I reached into my some
41:42
of my pouches in my belt. And
41:44
I produce two handfuls of
41:47
rice
41:47
crackers. Oh, that I toss
41:49
into the bowl.
41:53
That's good. The moment it hits
41:55
the bowl, first, not
41:58
even having to consume, it just hits the bowl.
42:01
And he he,
42:03
you know, they feel mister
42:05
suit feels fully full and he goes, ugh,
42:08
that's wonderful. Very, very good.
42:11
Well, no.
42:22
I'm so sorry, little ones.
42:24
It's a 2 foot guy calling you about the little
42:26
ones. It's I'm taking that
42:28
personally. That's fine. Yeah. So
42:31
big no. Ren knew
42:34
me as down my
42:36
and I've been guarding this stream
42:40
since before she built this cottage
42:43
here. And it
42:45
was such an honor
42:48
to have a witch like her come
42:51
and make a little garden
42:53
that my stream could water.
42:58
I always felt
43:02
so great and she built the shrine
43:04
2. Can you believe it? Oh, WBN believe
43:06
it? See
43:09
if he races her hands. You see
43:12
he raises a hand up too and says, oh,
43:16
no rain.
43:17
Oh, if you like it. Amay also
43:19
raises off the hand. What sort of wiggles
43:22
her fingers. Okay. I could just I get
43:24
I get it. I, of
43:26
course, have promised Grammarum
43:28
that I will continue to keep the invitation
43:31
of her cottage. My
43:34
cottage open. Do
43:37
you need help looking after the cottage? Oh,
43:42
well,
43:43
yes, please definitely. But
43:45
but Of course, I've done
43:47
that for so long and I'd be happy to do
43:49
it for you. These rice crackers
43:51
probably probably could use a little
43:55
Is this gonna add
43:56
I got you. I got you. I got you.
43:58
I got you. I'd see we steps forward and produces
44:00
like a very fine silvery flask
44:04
and just pours out a bunch of brown
44:07
alcohol.
44:10
That's some good soup.
44:14
Alright. Well, what do you fry in
44:16
friends' meat?
44:19
III
44:22
endeavor to quickly explain the situation.
44:26
Explain it. You see that mister
44:29
sup aka Dow Mike is
44:31
wobbling on very short legs. His
44:33
leg his head is about four
44:36
times as big as one of his legs. And
44:38
she's just wobbling on little stumpy
44:40
legs. He goes, uh-huh. Uh-huh.
44:43
And I'm sorry. I I need something about
44:45
a
44:45
heart of the world, and III
44:50
have to go find the well, yeah.
44:52
I mean, it's scored many vlogged. Sorry
44:55
about that. We'll still be quiet again. I think it's up
44:57
for me 2 have a familiar.
45:00
Okay. Okay. I don't know about
45:02
any of the other stuff. Oh.
45:05
But I could I'll tell you if
45:07
you
45:08
need an animal. There's a lot of
45:10
animals around
45:10
here, and it wouldn't be much
45:12
of a stream spirit. If I
45:14
can't Okay.
45:17
Hold on. Time to get to work.
45:19
And you see that he sort
45:21
of bubbles all
45:23
over to his his statue. says,
45:27
in a minute. Let's see if it
45:29
still got it. Hip and he jumps
45:31
into his statue and all
45:33
of the alcohol and rice crackers in
45:35
the bowl swirl up.
45:38
And you just hear kind
45:41
of interruption of like birdsong
45:45
and crickets start going, it's getting
45:47
later. And
45:49
if you just feel little warm emanating
45:52
from the statue,
45:54
It is very clear that something
45:57
is happening and being done. Nothing happens
45:59
in the immediate aftermath of that. But
46:01
you can feel some kind of thing
46:03
at work. And you do smell
46:06
very faintly. Little bit of rosemary
46:08
and pine. Alright.
46:14
Miss Priscilla is so much. Me
46:17
too. Only
46:20
do you do anything in preparation
46:22
of the spirits work? Or if
46:24
not, what do you think of
46:26
when think of it familiar. I
46:29
close my eyes. I
46:32
take a deep breath. Pine
46:36
and the rosemary. I
46:41
listen 2
46:43
that thrumming of
46:46
of something deep, deep
46:48
in the earth. And
46:50
I think about how
46:54
I can help this
46:57
place, this village,
47:01
my community, the
47:03
people I care about, which is
47:07
kind of independent of her
47:09
shortlist. I
47:13
this is huge. I
47:15
mean, which is familiar is is her
47:18
lifelong companion and I, which,
47:20
you know, had one of those except for grammar
47:22
run. And, you know, like, all I can
47:24
manage is a whisper.
47:34
You think of how much of a
47:37
black hole, Tara the rooster
47:39
was. And then don't do
47:41
it. 2 make it familiar a butthole.
47:45
As
47:45
you think of how much of a Buckoltara was,
47:47
Suvi, You
47:49
smell blood.
47:50
And
47:53
Ami's eyes are completely closed
47:56
and I mean, what what like, are you
47:58
seated in the
47:59
shrine? Are you on your knees? What sort of position
48:01
are you in as your eyes are closed? I am
48:04
standing. But
48:07
in
48:09
events almost halfway --
48:11
Mhmm. -- and about towards the shrine
48:17
Out of one of Amé's pockets,
48:19
a little bit of those rice crackers were still hanging.
48:21
And as Amé, as her eyes closed, and
48:24
is hoping hoping
48:26
hoping so hard and thinking those thoughts we
48:28
know she's thinking, you see familiar
48:30
face. A
48:32
fox. Against 2 creep out of
48:34
the wood line looking at that,
48:36
those crackers now a little bit closer
48:38
to the ground and the fact that Armei's
48:40
eyes are closed. Means
48:44
he's got a shot.
48:46
Thrunks creeps a
48:48
little bit closer. A little bit closer.
48:51
What a good
48:51
friend?
48:52
I I want somebody who's you know,
48:54
they they don't even have to be that powerful old way.
48:56
Just somebody who will help me with the chores
48:58
and Suevi,
49:01
do you do anything in this moment as the
49:03
fox is approaching or
49:05
or Ami
49:07
and I'll actually roll a little stealth check
49:09
for our foxy. What
49:10
I want to do is give this give
49:13
the fox advantage. I wanna help.
49:15
I love this fox. The fox
49:18
makes eye contact with you, sees
49:20
that you are not going to blow up his
49:22
spot. Yeah. And shows
49:24
and gets very close. I
49:27
just step on a little twig in the
49:29
opposite direction to pull a little focus.
49:32
Comes up. Gets the rice
49:34
crackers. As he I'm
49:36
sorry. What did you celebrate him?
49:38
I got a fifteen and then a tenths
49:40
of fifteen. As
49:42
he or as the fox
49:45
scampers up and snatching in
49:47
the rice case without opening
49:50
my eyes I dipped
49:52
down and I grabbed
49:54
whatever I hear in front of me.
49:56
Oh, Risha, grab the fox. And you see
49:58
the fox
49:58
goes, let
50:01
me go. Let me go. Let me go. Let me go.
50:03
You're mine now.
50:05
What am I
50:06
doing? What am I doing? What am I doing?
50:07
Oh, you're
50:08
Caught
50:08
up. Caught up. Caught up. Caught up. Caught up. Caught up. Caught up. Caught up.
50:10
Caught up. Why web railroad. Hi. I'm Ami.
50:13
You're the best friend.
50:15
Oh. Come on
50:16
that kind of crowd. Okay. You
50:19
know, I got not I've never really
50:21
had a verbal verbal
50:22
reply. But, like, literally, you guys Hi.
50:24
Oh. Look, I didn't need
50:25
I don't even I didn't even I wasn't even around when
50:27
those chickens got eaten. Oh.
50:32
So the truth comes
50:34
out. I
50:36
pluck
50:38
a feather. From the tip of
50:40
his nose. But otherwise, I
50:42
You put that
50:43
there. You put that
50:44
Oh, I did. Yeah.
50:46
Yeah. You did. Hey. Okay. Hey.
50:48
You
50:48
can't con con. Alright. Buddy --
50:52
Okay. --
50:52
holding him by the scruff of his neck.
50:54
Paused. It's paused there. He's just hanging
50:57
from
50:57
the scruff, and he says, everybody
50:59
calmed down. Everybody calmed down.
51:02
Be cool little fox. Be cool. Now,
51:05
I know we all got questions. You're
51:07
wondering, what happened to those chickens? I can
51:10
help you find guy who did that. I'm
51:12
wondering what I'm doing with my mouth and
51:14
why it feels like it's
51:16
something that I can do that lets
51:18
you know the things that
51:20
I know, but I'm just screaming
51:24
quietly. Specifically, what sounds
51:27
I didn't used to
51:28
make. That's called the human condition,
51:30
my friend. And now that
51:31
you're familiar, get used to it.
51:34
Familiar. Familiar. Okay.
51:41
So if
51:43
you can tell me -- Mhmm. What?
51:48
Okay. You're okay. Okay. You know,
51:50
I'm sorry. Yeah. You're right. I started off
51:52
on the wrong foot. Alright? Now
51:54
I'm just gonna put you
51:55
down. And we're all gonna be
51:57
cool. You
51:59
put him down? Put
52:01
him over. Down? He
52:03
doesn't sprint away. He
52:07
means looking at the trust that he's
52:09
being given. He
52:11
looks up and goes Were those your chickens?
52:14
Or They were
52:17
the chickens that lived in
52:19
Grand Moren's farm. Okay? Just
52:23
forget the chickens for just a
52:25
moment. Look,
52:27
I've been skulking around here for a long
52:29
time. Okay? And
52:32
the second, I saw
52:34
that damn rooster
52:37
turn into whatever. He turned into
52:39
I said, Now is your shot. Okay?
52:42
You put in the work. You put in the time. Yeah.
52:44
You're gonna get these
52:45
chickens. I respect
52:47
that. Thank you.
52:50
I'm Ami. I'm a
52:52
fox. Alright. Do do you
52:54
have a name or someone who would want me
52:56
to call you? Or
52:59
Call me. Call me.
53:03
Hey. You would know more about
53:06
that than
53:06
me. Okay. Well, we'll circle back
53:08
to that later, I guess. Sure.
53:12
Sure.
53:12
That works for me. So
53:15
you've become a witch's familiar,
53:18
which means that we
53:21
are in
53:25
a I don't
53:27
wanna get too technical here, but basically
53:30
we do magic together now.
53:32
If that's something you're interested in,
53:35
there could be chickens in it for you.
53:37
I know. Do
53:39
magic together. Yes. Magic
53:43
meaning.
53:45
I still, like, stamp my
53:47
staff on the ground and the illusion
53:49
of it being just sort of a wooden
53:51
staff, like, shatters and falls away 2
53:53
reveal like a glass staff. Like,
53:57
doing stuff that doesn't make any
53:59
sense. Yeah. Oh, too
54:01
accurate.
54:03
You got a deal on me. Sounds
54:06
fine by me. I can see myself working my
54:08
way into a lot of chickens on this.
54:10
Yeah. Yeah.
54:12
You'll get your chickens. Alright.
54:16
Oh my gosh. It's not so fast. Oh
54:18
my god. This is
54:19
the weirdest hour of my life. Alright.
54:24
You see the fox looks up and you
54:26
see the last little sort of crumbs of rice
54:28
cracker blow on the wind out of mister
54:31
soup stone ball as
54:33
the fox sort of walks around and
54:35
says, okay. Yeah.
54:37
I'll admit. I've been playing
54:40
solo for a while and the pickens
54:42
get pretty slim around here. There's
54:44
not a lot of space in between house
54:46
cats. And big old bears
54:48
and panthers. These woods seem to
54:50
get smaller every day. So
54:54
I'm happy to serve You
54:56
can keep me fed? Yeah. Absolutely.
55:00
Alright. That works for
55:02
me. See sort of just little circle
55:04
jumps up on the statue. He jumps up on mister
55:06
Supes' statue's head, jumps back down
55:08
in the shrine. Oh, you're
55:11
sad. What is that? It's like
55:14
rosemary and pine. Why do I
55:16
know to make those noises for those
55:17
smells? Oh,
55:19
I love him. Well,
55:23
there's an awful lot I gotta fill you in
55:25
him. But now that we're partners, I
55:32
I got a job for you. We
55:36
have to go track down AAA brother.
55:40
A friend of ours.
55:42
He's a spirit. Spirit?
55:44
Mhmm. Alright. Well,
55:48
Wait, are you not a spirit? I gotta
55:50
stop. I I was pretty clear.
55:52
I'm a fox. Yeah. Right, but you're Hey.
55:57
Your guess is just cut his
55:58
mind. I could not do this a
56:00
second ago. I
56:01
mean, let's not get into the particulars
56:05
of how a thing works that you just die. I live
56:07
or die in the particulars, and
56:09
I know you know that. I
56:12
truly did what I have always
56:14
done. I got grabbed by a person
56:16
and I started screaming. And every other time I screamed
56:18
before, I just screamed. And this time,
56:21
feelings that I used to have that were just feelings
56:23
started to turn into sounds. So
56:25
that's that just happened. You all
56:27
well, you have all watched my entire
56:30
personal history of being able
56:32
to do this. Yeah. It's
56:35
pretty exciting. Yeah.
56:38
I guess it is kind of a trick. Right?
56:41
Yes. Yes. In some ways,
56:43
it kind of is a trick.
56:45
That's kind of the things that
56:47
we do.
56:50
I like that. Give
56:52
me an Arcona check, Suvi.
57:00
Twenty three. That's a high level.
57:03
I think you've studied everything
57:05
that Citadel knows
57:08
about which is, I think you know about
57:10
which is because, probably
57:12
some of their best stuff came from you,
57:15
just from your proximity to having
57:17
liver grandmother land. Right? Not that you would have
57:19
shared anything big. Yeah.
57:21
But think you know about which
57:23
is familiar, which are very different. When a
57:25
wizard summons a familiar, it is a spell effect
57:27
-- Yeah. -- which is bond to
57:29
real animals and strike
57:32
strike bargains with them or offer them a home
57:34
and give them, like, long life
57:37
and speech and all these other things. So they're
57:39
very different than a wizard's familiar. But
57:42
I think, you know, a little bit, you
57:44
put together something of, like, what
57:47
familial represented of
57:50
their witches because it's a very powerful soul
57:53
connection. Like
57:55
grandmother Ren was endlessly kind
57:58
And Taro was, at times, a little
58:00
bit of a butthole. Yeah. Yeah.
58:03
And Ami who, you know, was
58:05
praying with all her might
58:07
2, like, do right by her community and
58:09
friends, has attracted a fox who
58:12
seems kinda like a little schemer.
58:14
Yeah. And
58:15
I think you put some stuff together. I
58:18
just wanna make eye contact, like, hey, I don't know
58:20
how long we're gonna be able to talk. Mhmm.
58:23
If you ever ever
58:26
ever mess with me or my
58:28
stuff where I come,
58:31
we boxes.
58:32
Bad for your health, the point taken. Okay.
58:34
Well, we have to go find a friend, our
58:36
our brother, he's a spirit, and
58:39
he has a careful
58:42
item that we need to 2 a curse on me.
58:45
Okay. Well,
58:47
I don't now you smell the smell already.
58:49
Yeah. Rosemary?
58:51
That's him. Yeah. And pine.
58:53
00000.
58:56
Alright. What do you wanna go? Do I wanna go now?
59:00
Well, I need to grab a couple of things from
59:02
the cottage and set it up. Okay. So
59:05
Can I go into one
59:06
more chicken? I
59:07
get one more chicken. He's Wait. No. Put it
59:09
on. Boom. Gone. What?
59:11
You're not gonna be around to feed the chicken.
59:17
As you say, you're not gonna be ready to feed the chickens, you
59:19
actually see that the the of the
59:21
crickets and the birds and everything, the dream
59:24
babbles a little bit and a
59:26
couple of little seedlings bloom
59:28
in the chicken yard. I think you're offering
59:31
to Dalmaye has kind
59:33
of created a little bit of a
59:35
bloom for
59:37
at least for the time being, for the
59:39
cottage to take care of itself. I
59:43
reach into my pocket and I
59:45
have a slightly
59:48
melty unwrapped
59:52
chocolate in there and
59:54
I toss it into the bowl. I cut
59:56
my hands and bow
59:59
and I head back down towards the cottage.
1:00:03
Don't
1:00:03
you did? Look, not Henrietta though. I
1:00:06
don't know which one Henrietta is.
1:00:09
Is it the big is it the big good looking one
1:00:11
on top? And
1:00:19
you
1:00:19
see, just as you're gonna come and get ready, comes
1:00:21
up and approaches the door and
1:00:23
looks at the open door and is
1:00:24
like, Can
1:00:26
I go inside? Can I go can I go inside?
1:00:28
You are welcome in the
1:00:30
cottage. Yes. The
1:00:33
other fox is good. See me now. It
1:00:36
takes the takes the chicken. It
1:00:39
comes inside. It's like, Oh,
1:00:41
warm and soft and goes right near
1:00:44
the fireplace on a rug. It's like,
1:00:48
don't hate it. This is a
1:00:50
this is a life I could get used 2. It just starts
1:00:52
making a huge bloody mess of this chicken in
1:00:54
front of the
1:00:55
fireplace. This fox rips, dude. Fox
1:00:57
absolutely rips. Turns
1:00:59
out, Ursula meets a familiar. We
1:01:03
all getting foxes broke. WBN all
1:01:05
getting foxes.
1:01:22
I tidy up
1:01:24
the cottage, wrap up as many loose ends as
1:01:26
I can. I take
1:01:29
a satchel and I stuff
1:01:32
in there. Anything that I think I might need,
1:01:34
my herbs and
1:01:36
and and
1:01:38
herb kit my alchemy
1:01:41
set and some
1:01:43
provisions, a a couple
1:01:45
of knives, rope,
1:01:48
just anything that I think
1:01:50
might be useful goes somewhat
1:01:52
haphazardly into the bag.
1:01:55
And as
1:01:58
I gather it, III know,
1:02:00
like, tidying everything and
1:02:03
and and I know I'm putting
1:02:05
off having to lay
1:02:08
grandma rent to rest. But
1:02:10
eventually, I do
1:02:15
realize Suvi sees
1:02:18
me go upstairs, go
1:02:20
into her room, and when I exit
1:02:23
I'm holding a small
1:02:25
earn,
1:02:28
copper. And
1:02:30
it has a little rooster
1:02:32
engraved on it.
1:02:35
I go
1:02:38
up once again 2 the
1:02:40
shrine. And
1:02:42
I placed the earn
1:02:47
Next 2 the statue. I've
1:02:53
brought up little
1:02:54
in sense of
1:02:58
some more rice cakes, whole
1:03:03
bottle of nice whiskey
1:03:07
that I place into the bowl. And
1:03:12
I leave the little offerings in front
1:03:14
of the earn. I
1:03:18
only give myself a couple of minutes. But
1:03:24
then you see me come back down.
1:03:28
Dusting my hands. And
1:03:31
I go back to busying myself,
1:03:35
grabbing tickets and
1:03:37
pieces of paper and things
1:03:39
that
1:03:40
really seem like garbage that
1:03:43
all go into the bag. Watching
1:03:48
someone who has based their in higher
1:03:50
life out of being in and
1:03:52
around a house, preparing
1:03:55
to go on a trip is earnestly stressful.
1:03:57
Yeah. I'm gonna need I'm gonna need literally everything
1:04:00
in this house because I've always had access
1:04:02
to the entire house.
1:04:06
See we will do her best to pitch in
1:04:08
when there's something obvious
1:04:11
that makes sense that she can help with so much
1:04:13
of what Ami does
1:04:15
is just esoteric
1:04:18
things that You think I need a firepoker? For
1:04:21
what? Coking fires
1:04:24
where a fire is on
1:04:26
purpose, there will be one. Please
1:04:29
don't. Okay.
1:04:30
Trust your friend, boss. Last thing you wanna do is
1:04:32
poke a fire. Alright. But
1:04:34
Sevi will take the
1:04:36
amount of time you spent up at the shrine
1:04:40
to creep up and
1:04:42
there was one sort of like shawl
1:04:45
that grandmother grandmother
1:04:47
ran would always keep over chair that Suvi
1:04:50
would sit in in the library when she had to
1:04:52
stay hidden. She'll
1:04:55
go and grab and
1:04:57
that's the one. It
1:04:59
makes her feel just so disconnected
1:05:02
because it it's
1:05:06
thread, bear, and kind of
1:05:08
lumpy, and doesn't fit the
1:05:10
aesthetic of the person she
1:05:13
is now, and she doesn't know where to put it. There
1:05:15
isn't a place for it, but there's
1:05:17
no way she could leave without it. So
1:05:19
she's kind of just holding it weirdly while
1:05:22
she follows you around and tells you that you don't need
1:05:24
to grab anything that you're grabbing. Okay.
1:05:26
But, like, what kind of cheese
1:05:29
humbling. There's a telephony everywhere.
1:05:32
You live on a little island where there's nothing.
1:05:34
Everywhere else has things.
1:05:37
Please. Well, miss big city.
1:05:39
Alright? I'm just Yeah. Of us.
1:05:42
Wait. Hold on. And I go back and
1:05:44
I grab my face. Say that again. Okay,
1:05:50
miss big city. I
1:05:52
guess you know better. I've
1:05:56
missed that. Okay.
1:05:58
We can go.
1:06:04
You both follow the fox WBN
1:06:06
begins to follow the scent of pine and
1:06:08
rosemary. You
1:06:11
journey for quite some
1:06:13
time far
1:06:15
from the village of Tolma. Making
1:06:19
your way through the woods along
1:06:21
roads and in ends. We
1:06:25
pass some many
1:06:27
days of travel. Moving
1:06:31
through this place. A
1:06:34
couple times in your travels through
1:06:36
the woods and roads pastoral
1:06:39
scenery, you pass windmills
1:06:41
and orchards, wide
1:06:44
rice fields and raised roads
1:06:46
in the lowlands, up in high
1:06:48
ridges. Moss covered
1:06:50
crags
1:06:51
with trees growing and possibly
1:06:54
out in the middle of dizzying heights. You
1:06:56
go through rich pine
1:06:58
forests and deep into
1:07:00
deciduous woods with
1:07:03
ancient piles of acorns and
1:07:05
moss and pass many
1:07:07
roadside shrines of
1:07:10
spirits and beasts in all
1:07:12
manner of things honoring them
1:07:14
in their way as you pass by.
1:07:17
You walk through some villages
1:07:20
where there are many who are pleased to see
1:07:22
which you walk through some
1:07:24
towns where a quick flash
1:07:27
of a citadel staff buys
1:07:30
you a swifter journey and
1:07:32
many times on your passage,
1:07:35
a sudden shift in direction will take
1:07:37
place. Sometimes in towns,
1:07:39
sometimes in the midst of forest
1:07:41
that the fox will take you on as
1:07:43
he will suddenly look around confused and
1:07:45
though pressure trail
1:07:47
this way. I
1:07:50
am delighted. And
1:07:53
after a couple times even will sometimes
1:07:55
go, whoever this guy was,
1:07:57
he's passed through here four or five
1:08:00
times. And
1:08:04
always choosing the fresher trail.
1:08:09
After many days, you
1:08:13
can smell salt
1:08:17
moment and
1:08:20
see far
1:08:22
reaching, see.
1:08:25
And white waves breaking on
1:08:29
the shore of a large
1:08:31
port city known
1:08:34
as Jorah. The
1:08:37
city reaches down to the
1:08:39
coast. The shore is
1:08:42
rocky and slate
1:08:45
gray and tall mossy
1:08:48
towers rise up out of the sea. So
1:08:50
there are like seek many sort of standing
1:08:52
stones rising out of the water around the port
1:08:55
that have winds swept are almost
1:08:57
like narrower at their base than they are on
1:08:59
top of old patches of grass. And
1:09:01
some of them have just sheep and how do they get
1:09:03
up on that giant rock out in the harbor? We don't
1:09:06
know. Do you see
1:09:08
tall ships in the harbor? And the
1:09:10
city is sort of split in two
1:09:12
where there's lower city down
1:09:14
by the dock closer to the shoreline and
1:09:17
then there is a small cliffside and
1:09:19
there are a couple of neighborhoods that switch
1:09:21
back up the cliff, which is not
1:09:23
a staggering cliff. It's mainly it's probably
1:09:25
only about, you know, eighty feet
1:09:27
tall or something like that, that little shelf
1:09:30
that, you know, shunts up with
1:09:32
some roads that cut up or big broad
1:09:34
stair cases, there's one staircase that comes
1:09:36
deep into the cliff and is a
1:09:39
large marketplace that just follows
1:09:41
the stairs up into the higher city.
1:09:45
And up at the top of the city where you can
1:09:47
still smell the salt on the air, but there's still
1:09:49
the sort of rich smell of
1:09:51
hay from nearby farms and a little
1:09:54
bit of that distant
1:09:56
forest. Although, the trees around here, there
1:09:58
is no true forest with insight. There's
1:10:00
little groves and cops is
1:10:02
an orchards. But a town this big
1:10:04
is surrounded mainly by farms
1:10:07
and you're around a lot of people. I
1:10:09
think Ami, it's been a long
1:10:11
time since you've been near a a population
1:10:13
center this
1:10:14
big. I don't think I've ever been near
1:10:16
population center this big. It
1:10:18
was.
1:10:20
Small and and I
1:10:22
mean, forests and and the cottage
1:10:24
for most of my life, but also this
1:10:26
is the coolest thing ever.
1:10:28
Georgia is about five times as
1:10:31
Vegas slipper. It's definitely a
1:10:33
city. You would not call this a town. From
1:10:36
from the heart of the empire, higher. You've certainly,
1:10:38
like you know, but but you can recognize
1:10:40
there are a lot people here. Yeah. And the fox
1:10:43
begins to lead
1:10:45
you towards a large farm
1:10:47
field with huge hay bales. There
1:10:50
are scare crows. There are also this part
1:10:52
of the island. There are tall sypris trees
1:10:55
and lots of yellow
1:10:56
grass, so the grass has become yellow while the
1:10:58
trees are still green. As you
1:11:00
begin to approach, a
1:11:01
fair There are
1:11:04
vendors and acrobats and performers.
1:11:07
Mhmm. And the Fox Transferring to Louisiana
1:11:09
says, We're getting close. As
1:11:11
you look up at a big broad
1:11:13
sign of
1:11:16
formas with three brightly colored
1:11:19
wagons and a large sign,
1:11:21
rows of hay bales as seeds,
1:11:23
where probably two hundred people
1:11:25
have gathered around a stage with
1:11:27
curtains and the sign over the impromptu
1:11:30
gateway brightly colored WBN blue and gold
1:11:32
reads, sir Gallant
1:11:35
and the princess Brian e.
1:11:45
Hi. I'm producer Taylor here
1:11:47
at Fortune horse, where we help
1:11:49
the incredible cast make worlds beyond
1:11:51
number, but that's not all we do.
1:11:54
Oh, no you sweet summer
1:11:56
child. Come with me, take my hand.
1:11:58
I have so. Much more to
1:12:00
show you. For a fortune horse makes
1:12:02
many shows. And today, I wanna
1:12:04
tell you about rude tales
1:12:07
of magic. Routels of magic
1:12:09
is like the the
1:12:11
stitch to worlds beyond numbers Lilo.
1:12:15
little wilder, a little crazier, The
1:12:18
AV club said it was the best new voice
1:12:20
in actual play podcasting. I09
1:12:23
just recently published a list of our best
1:12:25
Ep002 names, which they called the best
1:12:27
quote in De Beers, end
1:12:30
quote. You know what? Why why should I
1:12:32
tell you? just here are some reviews that we've
1:12:34
gotten. On Twitter dot org.
1:12:38
This is the funniest thing I've ever heard, not just
1:12:40
podcast billing thing. My
1:12:42
parents do not allow me to listen to Hotels and
1:12:44
Magic. I sneak out of the house and listen to it with
1:12:47
teams. I
1:12:49
laughed so hard at Hotels and Magic on the floor
1:12:51
of my warehouse I actually was disciplined
1:12:53
by my boss. Now, I'm summarizing that one, but
1:12:55
that is an actual thing that occurred. So if you
1:12:57
wanna get in trouble and have a good time,
1:12:59
Root Tales of Magic available wherever. Podcasts
1:13:02
are given to you freely. The main show
1:13:04
is free. Same deal as with World Beyond number.
1:13:06
Hey, you know what? Let's just hear the trailer.
1:13:13
When the things that birthed the gods
1:13:15
were young, they tried their hands
1:13:17
at creating reality. After
1:13:19
some trial and error, they started
1:13:21
on a second draft, but their first
1:13:24
draft of the world forgotten
1:13:26
in damp corner of creation clung
1:13:28
to life like mold on bread.
1:13:33
That feral world of wild magic
1:13:35
named itself cordelia.
1:13:39
Okay. Thank you. Okay. You're welcome. My
1:13:41
dream.
1:13:42
I hope you don't. Is what you wanna do?
1:13:44
Talk about your dad
1:13:45
to kids, spiders
1:13:46
cannot die either. And the spiders
1:13:48
cannot die either. I mean,
1:13:50
Well, to be fair, I'm not still
1:13:52
sure. I'm I don't know what's that. Are you
1:13:54
a virgin? I would get the hell off
1:13:56
of this campus as soon as possible. Of
1:13:59
my bird. I taught him how to
1:14:00
speak, and now he thinks he's smart in
1:14:03
general. Like me hows. Hi.
1:14:05
Hi. I'm not taking his shit. Just Pete. Alright,
1:14:08
Ed. We're walking. Does everyone
1:14:10
in hell know who we are now?
1:14:11
Uh-oh. Never trust
1:14:13
our demon. Get
1:14:15
lost. Get lost.
1:14:20
Did you tell me to get lost? I'm running.
1:14:22
I burst out of you into play.
1:14:27
Davo, you stay on the hold.
1:14:29
Okay, sir. I love you.
1:14:32
Yeah. Let's all say we all love each other. We
1:14:34
all love each other. We all
1:14:37
love each other in the eye and
1:14:38
say, I love you. And I love you.
1:14:40
And
1:14:41
I love you. You in the eye. I
1:14:43
love
1:14:43
you. Oh, Davo, you're excused. Alright.
1:14:46
Boom. Chakalako. What? What?
1:14:49
Now now that's a trade Taylor. So listen.
1:14:51
If you're in the mood for another high
1:14:53
octane immersive audio
1:14:55
narrative play comedy adventure,
1:14:58
baby. I think we got you
1:15:01
covered. Alright. Now back to the show,
1:15:03
that little fair on the outskirts of the
1:15:05
seaside town of Georgia.
1:15:13
Early evening still And
1:15:18
Jorris faces the east on the very,
1:15:20
like, southern tip of the
1:15:22
island of a calm and faces off to the
1:15:24
east. So, you know,
1:15:26
the city towards the
1:15:28
east is just, you know, deep dark
1:15:31
of night into the west beyond these, like, grain
1:15:33
fields and Cypress trees. You see
1:15:36
a a sort of pink and rosy sunset.
1:15:38
Torches get lit and a
1:15:40
big banner on girls on one
1:15:42
of the wagons. And
1:15:45
they're wearing a top hat
1:15:47
with sort of a black
1:15:49
and silver
1:15:50
wand. You see, there is a
1:15:52
professor WBN Adelaide
1:15:55
and you see that a ring master comes out
1:15:57
under the stage, saying, ladies
1:16:00
and gentlemen, thank you, one and all
1:16:02
for coming up to this evening's festivities.
1:16:05
Here in Jorris, I think you
1:16:08
find people have worked hard enough for with
1:16:10
a summer. For a
1:16:11
show. Where do you see a frugal dog comes
1:16:13
out of his sleeves? And
1:16:26
Many find shows we have here, but you've come here
1:16:28
to see the show of shows that
1:16:31
beloved tale of a
1:16:33
love lost and loved
1:16:35
one, the story of
1:16:37
sir Gallant and the princess a
1:16:40
sobriety without further ado.
1:16:42
We wish you a way to learn the wonder.
1:16:45
And we see the curtains
1:16:48
part You
1:16:51
see a cardboard
1:16:54
backdrop painted two
1:16:56
dimensional trees and
1:16:58
a tower that's literally about
1:17:01
like four steps tall. So it's like
1:17:03
an eight foot tall sort of flat structure
1:17:06
and leaning over the edge. You
1:17:08
see that there is a
1:17:11
woman in a pink gown, an actress.
1:17:14
Very fair. lovely looking
1:17:16
woman. But you see she's wearing a blonde
1:17:19
WBN, but some of her own real blonde hair
1:17:21
is coming out from under it. Confusing.
1:17:23
And she
1:17:30
calls out and she says,
1:17:34
long has the okre kept
1:17:37
me hidden away, high
1:17:39
here, in the tower. And
1:17:42
long years have I wondered wherever
1:17:45
art for there could be,
1:17:47
brave knight, for which to
1:17:49
find that
1:17:52
he might travel with to this town
1:17:55
tower, wherein might
1:17:57
rescue make for me, his
1:18:00
lady love, and you see
1:18:03
an armored a tall
1:18:06
armored figure walks
1:18:09
out on stage. The
1:18:12
armor is gleaming
1:18:14
and shiny. More reflective.
1:18:16
So sort of like almost falsely
1:18:19
reflective. With
1:18:21
one hand holding a
1:18:23
prop sword, and
1:18:26
the other holding a cardboard cutout
1:18:28
of a horse with barding that
1:18:30
kind of wraps around the waist. And
1:18:34
this figure of sir Gallant
1:18:37
appears on stage Lou.
1:18:43
What happens next?
1:18:46
From around the other corner comes
1:18:49
in his in his
1:18:51
unglamored form, bear
1:18:54
like body, large
1:18:57
hind legs or hind feet.
1:19:00
Into clawed hands with opposable
1:19:03
thumbs. The
1:19:05
only thing is Ursula.
1:19:07
The only thing different is that, you know,
1:19:11
covering his kind of plumage is
1:19:13
a kind of cloth. A
1:19:16
cloth hood that
1:19:18
has little cloth
1:19:20
warts and things hanging off
1:19:22
of it. Though his his
1:19:25
kind of feline face and tusks
1:19:28
are still visible. Our
1:19:31
arms up outstretched walking
1:19:34
out.
1:19:40
I am the owner. I
1:19:43
am a monster. Oh.
1:19:49
No. Oh. Yes.
1:20:01
You see that you see
1:20:05
Erstomont, your Erstomont's wearing his jacket.
1:20:07
Yeah. You remember Erstomont's large.
1:20:09
He is impossibly what
1:20:12
he's seven, eleven and a half feet
1:20:14
tall. Seven and a half feet tall. Towing.
1:20:16
A lot of people is sort of lit it's lit by
1:20:18
torchlight. And the torch light and the
1:20:20
lights are reflecting out from, like, the sort
1:20:22
of scout, sconces of the stage lights,
1:20:26
it has this sort of other worldliness
1:20:28
so that you can tell both of you a wizard
1:20:30
and a witch, look and see that
1:20:32
people simultaneously
1:20:35
do and don't understand the
1:20:38
sacred thing they're seeing. They don't understand
1:20:41
that they're seeing real spirit. Because they're
1:20:43
seeing something on stage in this lighting
1:20:45
that's made them accept that
1:20:47
a cardboard cutout is a tower
1:20:50
and that
1:20:51
sort of like pressed wood, painted
1:20:54
could be trees, but you
1:20:56
hear, especially a lot of children 2
1:21:00
A lot of children scream and
1:21:03
you hear an eruption from a couple of,
1:21:05
like, plants working for the fair
1:21:07
as people like, you see that some people could grab
1:21:09
their kids and, like, run. They don't quite know what
1:21:11
to do, but you see a couple plants go
1:21:14
Boo in a way
1:21:17
to get a boo going to remind people
1:21:19
that this is like part of the show.
1:21:22
And you hear boob. Boop. Boop. Boop. Boop. Boop.
1:21:25
Boop. Boop. Boop. Boop. Boop. Boop. Boop. Boop.
1:21:27
You do you yell that?
1:21:29
Orsling it me especially with advantage. Seventeen.
1:21:33
You look out and see Are
1:21:35
you guy did you guys take a
1:21:36
seat? Are you just, like, standing really? Entrance. See
1:21:39
you standing in the back. 2
1:21:40
you know what? We're standing near the entrance because
1:21:42
we just walked in and following.
1:21:45
So standing in standing in the back. Thankfully,
1:21:47
people are seated. Otherwise, you probably couldn't see
1:21:49
Abe over other people.
1:21:53
Personal, you look out and see two
1:21:55
adult women that
1:21:58
you instantly recognize far
1:22:02
off though they are past seven
1:22:04
or eight rows of seated
1:22:06
spectators. Standing
1:22:09
and looking at you, what is the expression
1:22:11
that Ursula sees on your faces?
1:22:14
C. V. Is a rich this of,
1:22:17
like, contempt for
1:22:19
the form and confusion at
1:22:21
what you're doing.
1:22:23
Ami who had prior to this been
1:22:25
enjoying herself quite a lot is feels
1:22:31
looks as though her stomach has
1:22:33
dropped out. I
1:22:36
just just a gas at
1:22:38
the in dignity
1:22:41
of it
1:22:41
all
1:22:44
and live it at these yokels,
1:22:49
boing, her friend.
1:22:51
Ursula, what do you do?
1:22:53
You you recognize them. You see the looks on
1:22:55
their faces. And
1:22:57
you see that sir Gallant is
1:23:00
waiting there. Look,
1:23:03
because he heard there was a shout but sir Gallant's
1:23:05
looking at you as well, expectantly.
1:23:09
It's his line next, but there was like
1:23:11
a disruption, and he's just waiting for a moment.
1:23:13
Do you do anything in this
1:23:14
moment? I think Ursula's entire
1:23:16
body goes slack in of
1:23:20
first infusion, and
1:23:22
then deep shame
1:23:25
and pain
1:23:28
and forgets where he is entirely. Sir
1:23:30
Gallant looks at you and
1:23:33
goes, stamp
1:23:36
your mighty feet oager though
1:23:38
you may. Long days have
1:23:40
I traveled to rescue the princess
1:23:42
Brianny that you have captured
1:23:45
and put in your mighty
1:23:47
tower. Draw steel if
1:23:49
he dare, WBN to be.
1:23:54
I think Ursula, just
1:23:57
going through the motions, reaches
1:23:59
down and pulls 2 sword out,
1:24:02
but then it falls slack at his
1:24:04
side.
1:24:10
You and you're the surgical slack. You see the
1:24:13
the the guy pre the guy playing sir Gallant
1:24:16
covers his face with the front a horse and
1:24:18
goes, this is fight 2. You
1:24:20
start fight two. Ursula's gonna
1:24:22
drop his sword and walk away.
1:24:25
Walk around.
1:24:30
That's no true night.
1:24:33
And they said that I say as I
1:24:35
point my finger towards towards
1:24:38
the
1:24:39
the cardboard wearing actor, You
1:24:42
say that's no true knight. See, Ursula,
1:24:44
I'll walk off. Someone from the crowd is heckling.
1:24:47
The guy playing sir Gallant, looks up and says,
1:24:50
That's that's right. I
1:24:52
am no true knight
1:24:55
because a true knight all never
1:24:58
fleas from a battle. So
1:25:01
though the Uber has run
1:25:03
away, I shall pursue him
1:25:05
and princess Brianny, shall
1:25:08
sing a song to lull
1:25:10
the oh, I'm gonna get the ogres. She's
1:25:12
gonna sing a song for birds. Birds
1:25:15
and he rashes backstage. And
1:25:20
and the princess Brian he looks out and you see
1:25:23
what hiss at someone in the
1:25:25
wings, you can't see and says, sink.
1:25:28
Sync.
1:25:30
I have the observant feet. Could I
1:25:33
read her lips?
1:25:34
Yes. You absolutely can read her lips.
1:25:36
As I turned to leave, I
1:25:38
just yell, you can't act either. You
1:25:42
see that there is a jerk
1:25:45
in wearing, like, pitchfork
1:25:47
holding, guys. We're free for this, like, farmer's festival.
1:25:49
Who leans in to both of you and says, I'm
1:25:51
sorry, Lee. This is sort of a show for kids.
1:25:54
You you know, I I know that
1:25:56
might not be 2 your liking, but the
1:25:58
families don't get many
1:25:59
shows. They come in -- You're right.
1:26:02
-- from a long way around.
1:26:03
We'll go. Okay. That's why
1:26:05
they turn and leave. It's
1:26:06
fine if you don't like it. I don't like it either.
1:26:08
But, you know,
1:26:11
if I like this educated yolked.
1:26:13
This is in this yolked of fine taste.
1:26:18
You know what? I think it's big.
1:26:20
Deserves a better caliber of performance.
1:26:23
Alright. And then I also turn
1:26:25
around and go --
1:26:25
Yeah. -- and march away. The two of you
1:26:27
march off, Erceline, you walk backstage
1:26:30
at Professor
1:26:31
Adelaide, it goes, how are you doing
1:26:33
back here? I am sorry. There are
1:26:35
people. I'm I
1:26:37
do not want them to see me here. Hood
1:26:40
comes off walking walking
1:26:42
2 my stuff, realizing I don't really have
1:26:44
anything. Just really
1:26:46
Ursula's thinking about leaving. Just walking
1:26:48
away. Just just just tell You
1:26:50
gotta finish the show. You gotta finish
1:26:52
I can't they are. They I am
1:26:54
You 2. I'm gonna say, go
1:26:56
ahead, actually, enroll initiative. We'll
1:26:58
go with
1:26:59
the fire of
1:27:00
you role, and then you're rolling for yourself. Thirteen.
1:27:04
Twenty three on natural twenty on the diet for
1:27:06
twenty
1:27:06
five. Oh my god. Okay. Well, that beats my
1:27:09
dirty twenty one. Oh, yeah. I'm brutal.
1:27:12
So brutal. Hate to see you. Hate
1:27:14
to see it. Hate to see it. Right. So backstage,
1:27:16
so so Adelaide is following you off
1:27:18
towards there are kind of like there's
1:27:20
a small canvas tent that
1:27:22
has some easy to set up
1:27:24
sort of tables and there are sort
1:27:26
of canvas sacks of costumes.
1:27:29
Your stuff is in here. There's also,
1:27:31
like, a little private, almost like
1:27:33
one of those armor stands at a joust,
1:27:35
those, like, little skinny, striped tints,
1:27:37
and that's sort of where you go in honestly 2 kind
1:27:39
of like superman style, like change
1:27:41
your glamour if you need to. Hidalater's falling
1:27:44
behind you and goes, there, we need you back on
1:27:45
stage. We make our money from selling
1:27:47
the tomatoes that the kids throw at you at the end
1:27:49
of the show. I you kinda I cannot
1:27:52
I can't not tonight,
1:27:55
the music box. Can I have the music
1:27:58
box back for now? You wanna
1:28:00
wanna work out in the middle of this show. We're at one of our
1:28:02
biggest shows of the year. Again, this is exactly
1:28:04
why I 2 the music box because you don't understand the
1:28:06
meaning of work. You don't understand the meaning of putting
1:28:08
it in honest days labor. You don't care about
1:28:11
Oscar, Magnus, or any of the performers
1:28:13
in Adelaide's true. Alright? I'm
1:28:17
I'm I'm sorry. I did not know
1:28:19
that they would come. Alright.
1:28:21
Look. Look. Kid, are you in danger?
1:28:24
No. Then what the hell's the
1:28:26
problem?
1:28:27
These are people who know me from a
1:28:29
part of my life where I could have been
1:28:32
something else. And I
1:28:34
am not that thing. I do not want them
1:28:36
to see me now. I
1:28:38
am I'm gonna gonna glamour
1:28:41
Did you do that just right in front of Adelaide? No.
1:28:44
I wouldn't know. I know better. I am gonna
1:28:46
turn to Adelaide and say, there will be no
1:28:48
show tonight. And I'd like to
1:28:51
can I attempt 2 I'd like to intimidate
1:28:53
him? Give me an invitation wrong. That's going to be seventeen.
1:28:55
I think on a seventeen, that's loud enough.
1:28:58
For the two of you to hear.
1:29:00
And I think even some other people,
1:29:02
like, up on stage, you know,
1:29:04
Brian is going, the birds.
1:29:08
The breadths of, forever,
1:29:12
friends,
1:29:13
and and
1:29:16
you see No. Keep going. Keep going.
1:29:18
We wanna hear the song. Three person. Ever.
1:29:21
Friends. The birds have
1:29:24
three
1:29:24
birds. The spare
1:29:26
of the God.
1:29:33
Square o the penguin.
1:29:49
Name other birds. Keep
1:29:52
naming birds. I'd like to think that the yoko
1:29:54
on the back is just rattling them off.
1:29:56
Yeah. Woodpecker. Cheaper. Cheaper.
1:29:59
I mean, good morning.
1:30:01
It's not hard. Chicken y tip
1:30:03
mouse, not at Egrat Egrat
1:30:05
Haren Green's Thursday. You
1:30:09
see so
1:30:12
you yelled that. You
1:30:15
yelled at Oscar runs back
1:30:17
the the actor who plays her Gallant and
1:30:20
and sees Adelaide who has taken a step
1:30:22
back or 2 and Oscar
1:30:24
just goes, once
1:30:27
again, like, hey.
1:30:29
Hey. I
1:30:31
I think Brian is holding holding him out there. Is everything
1:30:33
gonna be
1:30:34
alright? Do you do you did you forget the the fight?
1:30:36
It's just it's the one that you start. I know it
1:30:38
is fight number two. I know fight number
1:30:40
two. I'm well aware that it is fight number
1:30:42
two. My There are people here
1:30:44
I do not want to see
1:30:46
me. Do
1:30:48
you do you need help stalling them now? Please.
1:30:51
Alright. Alright.
1:30:52
Alright. So we we I I head
1:30:54
back towards the backseat. You can relax. There's
1:30:56
a little lit area outside of the larger
1:30:58
canvas tent with all of the, like, props and
1:31:00
gear and stuff like that. As
1:31:03
you're approaching by the way, that the fox just
1:31:05
goes like,
1:31:07
everywhere. I mean, it's just the smells every I mean, he's just pumped.
1:31:09
He's been working here. Okay.
1:31:11
You Pretty tell so far. But
1:31:13
And
1:31:13
you see the actor who plays the night turn around
1:31:15
and say, Oh, sorry. This is a
1:31:17
a performer's only
1:31:19
area. My apologies. Fine. Yes. We
1:31:21
know the actor who plays the
1:31:23
Ogirl. We need to see him immediately.
1:31:25
I slammed my staff on the ground revealing
1:31:28
it to like,
1:31:30
tall jagged glass spire of the Citadel.
1:31:34
She's in her like, at her full six feet
1:31:36
tall and pulled back a sleeve enough
1:31:38
to see
1:31:39
that, like, ring. This is a big enough city
1:31:41
that they should know. How
1:31:43
to respond to this energy. Amazing
1:31:46
go ahead and get me intimidate with advantage. Martin,
1:31:50
what do you say to Oscar as he's standing in front
1:31:52
of
1:31:52
you? Move. He
1:31:54
goes, yep, and moves to the side and
1:31:59
moves and moves to the side and
1:32:02
You see professor Adelaide
1:32:05
off 2 at one of the
1:32:07
wagons that's not creating the encirclement around
1:32:09
the stage, but you see him
1:32:11
look Oscar looks
1:32:14
You can tell that Oscar doesn't clock the sigil,
1:32:16
but just clocks wizard and that's enough
1:32:18
for him. You can see Adelaide
1:32:21
clock the sigil
1:32:23
and and sort of stumble up the steps into
1:32:25
his wagon and close the door.
1:32:28
Do we see Ursula?
1:32:30
We don't see Ursula. But you see that
1:32:33
that Oscar just steps out of your way,
1:32:35
essentially. I I strive
1:32:37
forward. And I'm just looking around
1:32:39
kind of using my staff 2, like, open
1:32:42
little flaps of tents, not
1:32:44
saying anything else. Okay, first
1:32:46
of
1:32:46
all, you've changed into your glamour
1:32:48
at this point. Yes. I
1:32:52
am going to say you you so
1:32:54
are you going to stay in the tent after you change
1:32:56
the glamour? You can hear
1:32:59
Suvi and Ami searching for you out
1:33:01
amongst the performers' tents here at the fair.
1:33:03
Mhmm. I I
1:33:06
think Ursilon looks
1:33:10
out into
1:33:12
open field. And
1:33:14
considers for a moment just running.
1:33:20
And then just waits.
1:33:25
Go ahead and give me a a
1:33:28
stealth check, and I'm gonna ask actually for you
1:33:30
to do it because you're because you're staying put I'll ask for
1:33:32
for a quick disadvantage. And you're
1:33:35
trying to beat passive investigation. Only
1:33:37
a six. So you're
1:33:39
standing in the tent, your glamour up,
1:33:41
The flap of the tent is moved with the head of
1:33:44
crystal staff that is partially illuminated and
1:33:47
soft blue light fills the tent as you
1:33:49
are face to face with Suvy.
1:33:59
You would look upon the face of
1:34:03
someone who looks as
1:34:05
much like a brother
1:34:08
you never had as they could.
1:34:13
Of of around your same age, if not
1:34:15
maybe a few years older. Yeah. But
1:34:18
I do think I'm I'm not looking
1:34:20
at you. I think my face is down. I
1:34:25
I don't meet your
1:34:26
gaze, but I
1:34:28
know you're there. Stevie
1:34:30
will snap in
1:34:32
Amaze direction to get
1:34:34
her attention, to pull her
1:34:36
focus, to follow her into the tent. The
1:34:39
tent that you now stand in is very
1:34:41
small. Something about like five feet wide, so you'll
1:34:44
be elbow to elbow, but
1:34:46
you step inside. You
1:34:50
you see the fox
1:34:53
follows you in. You see strange
1:34:55
fox. Wow.
1:35:00
I hate to break it to
1:35:01
you, boss. We've been following the
1:35:03
wrong scent since the start. This
1:35:05
is just a guy. Oh,
1:35:06
god. Can you give us a moment,
1:35:08
please? Yeah. He
1:35:11
just stays in the tent yet. Hello?
1:35:15
Give you a moment alone. How would
1:35:18
I do
1:35:18
you would go outside of the tent Oh,
1:35:20
you're asking me to leave? Yes. Oh, yeah.
1:35:22
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You see the fox tams and
1:35:24
whips out through the tent flap. And
1:35:28
I flip around and
1:35:30
I launched
1:35:33
myself
1:35:34
at Ursilon's middle.
1:35:37
I take a step back and away from you.
1:35:40
I in turn pull back my arms.
1:35:44
Alarm'd? I'm
1:35:46
sorry, if
1:35:49
we disrupted.
1:35:52
You're my best friend. And
1:35:54
it's very good to see
1:35:55
you. You're more of a knight and
1:35:59
that guys wouldn't perform. I have
1:36:01
not. I
1:36:03
am not.
1:36:05
How did you end up here like
1:36:07
this? I think at this point,
1:36:10
Eursaulton turns to
1:36:12
take you both in and
1:36:15
seize you in your
1:36:18
in your incredible clothing
1:36:21
in your gorgeous staff
1:36:24
and you and you were put together
1:36:26
which is outfit. With
1:36:30
your perfect tap and your full
1:36:33
pouches which he can smell
1:36:35
are filled with delicious treats.
1:36:38
Natural things. The
1:36:41
years have
1:36:43
not been as kind 2
1:36:46
me. As they
1:36:49
seem to have been to
1:36:51
you both. I
1:36:55
let me see something.
1:37:00
Grandma Ren isn't with us anymore,
1:37:03
and we need your help. But
1:37:05
before, She left. She
1:37:09
sent her love to you
1:37:12
and remembered you fondly. And
1:37:14
said she was so grateful for the time that you spent
1:37:16
with us. As
1:37:18
a Mai, I
1:37:21
have not known kindness. Like
1:37:23
those days in
1:37:25
quite some time. I'm
1:37:30
so sorry, Yersalán. I wish you'd
1:37:32
come back. Could
1:37:35
not bear to face you. You
1:37:39
are magnificent.
1:37:42
You don't ever have to feel ashamed of
1:37:45
anything. I
1:37:47
know that you went off
1:37:50
searching for honor and I
1:37:54
can't imagine that you didn't find
1:37:58
some along the way. Doesn't
1:38:01
matter what you're doing now
1:38:03
or what would you look
1:38:04
like, but I'm
1:38:06
certain that you have acted honorably.
1:38:11
I have I have tried, but
1:38:15
this world. It is not
1:38:17
the one I first encountered.
1:38:21
It is not the one that I came
1:38:23
to this to your
1:38:26
world seeking. It
1:38:28
is and I have I
1:38:30
have given up much to 2
1:38:34
remain
1:38:36
your music box. Gone.
1:38:40
What do what do you mean it's gone? I
1:38:44
2 remain here with these people who
1:38:46
are some of the kindest that I have met.
1:38:49
These people Took your music
1:38:51
box. I gave it to them.
1:38:54
I was at the beginning,
1:38:56
I was not consistent
1:38:58
type missed
1:38:59
shows. No. And
1:39:02
see if he puts her hand up and
1:39:04
turns and marches in the direction of
1:39:08
the man that shut himself into
1:39:10
his wagon. You
1:39:14
walk towards the wagon? You
1:39:16
approach the door,
1:39:19
there are, you know, four short steps up
1:39:21
and then the door in front of you. She
1:39:23
reaches out with her staff
1:39:26
and uses press digitation to
1:39:29
knock faster than at, like,
1:39:31
a hand could that wrap that almost
1:39:33
feels like one sustained long knock.
1:39:36
Uhira. Occupied.
1:39:40
Sorry.
1:39:43
This will be quick. The
1:39:46
door opens. Professor
1:39:50
Adelaide, offstage, is
1:39:54
a little bit of a satter site, a
1:39:57
shorter fellow who you
1:39:59
see the thick makeup that
1:40:01
looks better on stage
1:40:04
than it does in person that
1:40:06
sort of disguised as a kind of watery,
1:40:10
sad eyed grimace as
1:40:12
he holds his hat in his hands opening the
1:40:14
door. Hi. Hello?
1:40:16
Hello? I
1:40:19
need the music box.
1:40:25
She begins to walk up and into the wagon.
1:40:27
Oh, well,
1:40:30
as as actually as a as a hedge
1:40:32
mate 2 the enter to my sanctum and
1:40:34
a bunch of cards fall out of his sleeves. Disrespectful.
1:40:38
I thought, you know, I'm not a wizard. I'm not and
1:40:40
he steps
1:40:41
off. He he leaves the wagon and says, help
1:40:43
help yourself. Anything you
1:40:44
want? Well,
1:40:46
I'm gonna do that. I don't know how to solve
1:40:49
an emotional problem.
1:40:54
Give me an unconscious. Nine.
1:40:58
Everything in here is absolute brick
1:41:00
a rack garbage. Bucking,
1:41:03
two bit, quickly scrawled, things
1:41:06
that thieves and cutthroats wrote
1:41:09
on scraps of parchment seeing
1:41:11
a wizard open book peeking over
1:41:14
their shoulder compiled into
1:41:17
penny dreadful things sold in
1:41:19
Harbourtowns across the edge of the empire.
1:41:24
And my my crawls that contain
1:41:26
several in canned
1:41:28
items up,
1:41:30
speaking. Right now.
1:41:34
Where is it? If I search,
1:41:37
I will destroy. What
1:41:39
little garbage you hold dear.
1:41:44
There's a magical chest in
1:41:46
the back that
1:41:50
The the ancient word of the lingua
1:41:52
Arcona Casa should open.
1:41:55
And if that doesn't
1:41:56
work, you would what's that? You
1:41:58
would
1:41:58
dare. Referenced the lingua.
1:42:00
My god and shit. It's front of me. III
1:42:04
can run. He sprints.
1:42:07
You see, he even throws his top hat off into
1:42:10
the field. Takes his white gloves off,
1:42:12
just sprints, Pal Mel. He
1:42:14
kinda goes I think that's halfway into
1:42:16
the field. He decides to start going serpentine.
1:42:19
He doesn't know. He's
1:42:23
dodging off into
1:42:25
the night. And
1:42:27
that's the last we'll ever sue your father.
1:42:31
JB Adelaide. In the wind.
1:42:33
In the wind. You
1:42:35
find that there is a completely non
1:42:38
magical chest in the back that
1:42:40
is it has a lock
1:42:42
that is designed to look magical,
1:42:45
but is just glued shut. And
1:42:47
you can see that the bottom slides out.
1:42:49
Oh, takes her
1:42:51
time. It considers
1:42:54
breaking it to make a
1:42:55
point. And then in a moment of
1:42:58
weird mercy, just slides it out.
1:43:02
You see there's a couple little sort of, like,
1:43:04
private ledgers that look like maybe,
1:43:06
like, bookkeeping of of the the
1:43:08
caravales. So these guys also like the business
1:43:10
person at the head of this little troop of
1:43:12
performers, and there is
1:43:14
a beautiful little music box.
1:43:20
I'm sorry that you didn't feel that you could
1:43:23
come back to the cottage. It
1:43:25
was always your home. I
1:43:27
know. And
1:43:31
it was clear even when
1:43:34
you were very young. Your
1:43:36
kindness and lovedliness would
1:43:38
extend
1:43:39
forever to me. But
1:43:43
I had
1:43:46
already given up
1:43:48
so much that was important
1:43:51
to me from that time when we were
1:43:53
young. And I feared
1:43:55
that you would look upon me the same way
1:43:57
you did tonight. With
1:44:01
pain and
1:44:03
confusion. I could
1:44:05
not bear.
1:44:07
To see that from to have
1:44:09
my true friends see me so
1:44:12
low.
1:44:13
If you'd want to be an actor. I would even
1:44:16
supported that lady.
1:44:17
I didn't want to be I didn't I don't want to
1:44:19
be an actor. It was
1:44:21
thank God, this.
1:44:23
Suvy, you reappear and
1:44:26
you see that Suvy has come back with the music
1:44:28
box. I
1:44:30
think
1:44:32
Oersilon melts. Oersilon melts
1:44:34
just a little bit. They
1:44:36
call you beer.
1:44:39
No one says Ocelon. Right? That's
1:44:43
it's not that hard.
1:44:46
They can put in a little
1:44:47
effort. I mean, there are some
1:44:49
yokels here who are more
1:44:52
cultured 2 have more an
1:44:54
elusive tongue, but they are few
1:44:56
and far between. There's
1:45:00
one particular one that has
1:45:04
been coming to the show kind of every night.
1:45:07
Stands in the back and comes up to me
1:45:09
afterwards and has notes on
1:45:11
my performance. Everyone's
1:45:15
Everyone is a critic. Ugh.
1:45:19
But that is a truly
1:45:21
kind of You Supi.
1:45:24
We we need your help. You
1:45:27
and the sword
1:45:29
that CV
1:45:31
bestowed upon you that
1:45:33
we have found out is called WBN I
1:45:38
think in this moment, as
1:45:41
you say that, like,
1:45:48
I think there is such another wave
1:45:50
of shame that crashes over
1:45:52
Epsilon. And you his
1:45:55
his his human is like his
1:45:59
glamour form is a, like, is a full foot
1:46:01
shorter than he than
1:46:03
he is in his true form. And I think you
1:46:05
see that even that person kind of
1:46:09
their shoulders slouch or my
1:46:11
my shoulder slouch, my head goes
1:46:13
down. And I would say even I
1:46:15
would say I partially begin to
1:46:17
disappear. I think there is As
1:46:20
as as I and
1:46:22
again, I turned my head away from you
1:46:24
unable to
1:46:26
look at either one of you. Please
1:46:28
don't call.
1:46:31
The sword is gone. I
1:46:38
during one terrible winter when
1:46:42
I need it. A
1:46:44
place to to take shelter. I
1:46:49
I gave it away. That shelter
1:46:51
had should have been offered to you freely.
1:46:54
That's not your fault. Whether
1:46:56
they knew you were an odd friend or not,
1:46:59
hospitality to strangers
1:47:01
is is
1:47:03
required. It's it
1:47:07
it's sacred.
1:47:09
I just wanna go over and try to hug you.
1:47:13
I think now Ursilon takes
1:47:16
it. It's okay.
1:47:19
Not your fault. It's okay.
1:47:23
Well, at least know
1:47:26
that the sword is gone.
1:47:28
Now we know we have
1:47:30
a quest for you.
1:47:45
That was Lou Wilson as Eursilon,
1:47:48
Erika Ishige as Aimee,
1:47:50
Abria Iengar, as Suvi, and
1:47:52
Brennan Lee Mulligan, as everyone
1:47:55
and everything else. World's
1:47:57
Beyond number is edited designed and
1:48:00
scored by Taylor Moore at
1:48:02
fortunate horse with additional sound
1:48:04
designed from Michael Guelsey 2. For
1:48:07
even more like this, join us
1:48:09
on our Patreon. We'll see
1:48:11
you there.
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