Episode 19 – The Immolation Game

Spout Lore is made possible by contributions from our listeners. If you would like to support us, go to patreon.com slash Spout Lore, where you can get extra bonus special content. So here I sit, singing to you an adventure that is worth sharing. Tuck is the brute, he knows not his home, he loves to sing and fight. Fingers have health, he shifts his shape and wields a spear with great might. Billy's a thief, his tiny size does mask the largest heart.

Best and brightest they may not be, but their friendship outweighs their smarts. So gather round, friends, and listen close. For the tale's about to start. It was a hectic episode. Flaming barrels arcing over the city, Ving calling upon the water of the oasis to put the barrels out, turning them into harmless 50-pound barrels of fuel. Oh yeah, we didn't really hear about them landing on anyone, those poor bastards.

Yeah, well, because I mean, people were mostly crushed by an enormous wall of water as the underwater river that feeds the spring was redirected and began flooding the town. So, you know, out of the frying pan, into the flood, I guess. And with that, the battle began. Ving fighting the Torch of McCall, Billy being carried away on a river. Yeah, fighting water, I guess. Just chilling, yeah. Yeah, he was just tubing. He was kind of… He was just tubing. Yeah, he was just tubing.

Tubing through the town, and Tuck fighting his erstwhile rival, Fatim of the Lightguard. Drowning each other, and ourselves. Yeah. Billy, ran into a group of Lightguard while vibing out, and was carried on the current back into the square, while also creating an illusion that turned every member of that group into a copy of Ving, as well as Billy into a copy of Ving himself. Yeah, whoops, but not bad, because in doing so, I was able to fight the Torch and see the demon for what it was. Nice.

While also having a flashback to the War of Winter. Yeah, realizing I've fought basically this before. Mm-hmm. Pretty cool. Yeah. Tuck and Fatim struggled in the water for quite a long while. Mm-hmm. Ving did some Jackie Chan drunken master wine drinking to make sure that he wasn't killed outright. Mm-hmm.

And everything ended when Tacoma Dome used the power of Terry, Larry, and Chad to see through his spirit, very vibrational sense like he did on the Purifier all those months ago, to see the true form of Ama Margani within, the truth demon, sacrificing his locket, his most prized possession. Yeah. The only thing he's had for his whole life, kind of. Mm-hmm. Man. But also letting go of a lie, too. Yeah. The lie that he tells himself about who he is.

This identity that he's clung to all these years? Yeah. Yeah. Separating the iconic form of zealotry from the body of the Torch of McCall, whoever he was before, Mm-hmm. And allowing Ving the opportunity to bind him in a saffron-smudged rope, utilizing the power of Cloudpiercer's spiritual form to do so. Mm-hmm. So cool. Yeah. And Billy put Fatim to sleep with his fairy dust and a few other key immolators to calm down fighting in this area, and Ving commanded the water back into the spring.

I didn't pay nature's price yet. Yes, you have not yet. Mm-hmm. And the last thing that we heard was the Torch of McCall whisper the words, Help me. And that is where we find ourselves now. The thing that we would do is take him back to the library. Yeah. But there is still a war going on, or a battle, at least, I mean. Yeah, you hear the sounds of spread-out fighting throughout the town. There are people that are fleeing, but there's the clash of blade on blade, there's shouts.

Is Farrah nearby? She's presumably somewhere. Like, you didn't see her when the fighting started. Yeah. Maybe we take him back the way we came in through the… Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Fabric shop. Yeah, that sounds good. I'll grab Fatim if you want to grab the Torch. Got the Torch, yes. And I will… I will lead the way. And I am also there.

Can we stop at the fabric shop and make some silly costumes for these guys for when they wake up? They're like, what? Why am I wearing a tutu? Like, I love what you're thinking, but I think maybe another time. Yeah. That's why you're the leader, Billy. Lead away. Does the fucking Torch have a… Oh, that was something. …sliced neck? Oh, shit, he does. That was a thing.

I think it's the sort of thing where, like, because it wasn't enough damage to, like, kill him straight up, it's like it didn't get him straight on in his esophagus, but he's still bleeding. Yeah. Maybe I just missed all the, like, vital zone. Vital zone stuff. Yeah. And, like, fucking Fatim has, like, a gash along the side of his face because Tuck punched him with the crystal spike. And Billy has a burnt hand. Oh, who cares? Crushed whip pipe. And as you're…

Yeah, you, like, you walk down that side street and drag them into the fabric shop, and you see, like, a couple streets down, a group of librarians, like, chasing some light guard down another street. Mm-hmm. You see, at the end of this street, the edge of town, a fucking huge sandworm, like, as tall as a horse with a member of the light guard on the back of it, like, rip down the street. Oh, Jesus. Crash through the side of a building and go somewhere else.

Yeah, maybe we're, like, dragging them in and we, like, clock a sandworm coming down the street, and we're like, get the fuck into the fucking store right now! Oh, my God. It's, like, everything isn't as organized as it was going to be, but still, every once in a while, a huge, like, fucking ballista bolt arcs overhead and smashes into a building and blows up. Yeah, we're still in a war zone. Yeah. So then, maybe we… Do we have to, like, do a defy danger to escape, maybe?

I think, yeah, just so you're not, like, drawing too much of a threat after you. So somebody roll a defy danger. The leader. Billy's leading the way. Billy's leading the way. That's a good point. You called it. Oh, no. Give me defy danger wisdom. Oh. Oh, shit. Well, that counts. That one counts. That one counts. That one counts, too! Ten! Oh, wait, no. Way bigger. Twelve! Wow. Beautiful. That's our leader. Wow. Okay, I do such a good job.

I'm like, I remember where everything is because I took the river, like, you know, water slide. Right. Don't worry. I know where we're going. I know a shortcut. Move out of the way. There's a sandworm coming. So casual. So casual. Yeah. We are freaking out. Yeah. Billy's just walking and he holds up his hand. Hold on. And then a sandworm crashes through the building next to you and dives underground. I'm like, it's chill. We're here now. Now we can go. Yeah.

So you run into the fabric shop to the secret entrance that's behind, like, one of those folding screens where people get changed behind and something right away that you're like, oh, is there's a lot of residual water like running down the staircase. Oh. Is that the way we came in? Yeah. This is the way that you got up. So like, there's still water kind of pooled on the ground. Like, Ving didn't pull up every like drip drop, but it suggests to you that maybe some water got into the library.

Oh, fuck. Should I like, look ahead or whatever? Oh, yeah, totally. Okay. Trap expert. The stairs. It's a six because it's plus dexterity. Okay. Ving wants to aid. Sure. And I, you know, talk to water and say, what's up? What's going on down there? Nine. Great. So that makes it a seven, which means you get one hold from a trap expert. Is there a trap here? And if so, what activates it? Yes, there is a trap here. And the trap is you get a few more meters down this staircase.

It's like a winding stone staircase and you hit water. Oh, yeah. Like this section of this staircase has been flooded. Can I flush it more? Yeah. Totally. Mental master. Oh, God, I'm open myself up to, I still haven't paid nature's price from last time, but here we go. This is nature's price. This is nature's price. Oh, the flooding? Yeah, the flooding of this part of the library is nature's price. Okay. Okay. Yeah, I need to, we need to get down here.

So I'll just, I'll try and create, um, uh, nope, that's too dangerous. Just trying to get it out. Water go away. Oh, there you go. Shit. All right. So that's, you pick two. The effect I want comes to pass, which is creating a vortex that goes out to the side of the stairwell so we can go down the middle. So there's like, yeah, moving water on all sides of us and I will retain control. All right. Pay nature's price. So I start doing this like Qigong, uh, whirling. Whoa, whoa.

Oh, and you're doing it like as you go down the stairs, like whipping it around. Holding one hand and going down and the other hand is floating across the top of it in a circle pushing down. The water is like pushing out and up. Yeah, it's kind of filling in above us. There's like this, like this suspended vortex. In the water as we're going down. Cool. So sick. So that's, yeah, this could fall on us in a minute.

So no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, don't give it any ideas. Water's like, I could fall on you right now. Are you very careful? I'm going to get you. I'm always careful with you. Water. You're good. Cause I'm saying everybody's like fires the most dangerous, but look out for me. That's right. This water's lame. He seems drunk He's got wet brain. Yeah. Great. So you get down the staircase into the library. Okay.

So Ving is very carefully trying to keep this water from pounding down on you, but you find the end of the water. Thankfully, unthankfully, it ends at an almost solid wall of what looks to be like spongy waterlogged cork. Oh no. Oh no. I mean, can we just smash through it? I mean, you can't cause you have a vortex of water over your head. Is it, is the whole wall cork or is any of it stone?

It's like the staircase is like a, like carved out of the stone of the ground and then it ends at a doorway barely big enough for Chuck to get through. Like you kind of have to duck to get through it, but it's full of cork right now. Basically, this whole, whole doorway is cork. Yeah. And the rest of it is stone. Yeah. Can I smash through the stone with the ax? You could. We're talking about cork here. Is cork really soft? Yeah. I like to call it out of a wine, bottle. Okay.

You know, like cork, like floors. All right. I'll smash the cork door with that. A Birkenstock? Birkenstocks are made of cork? Yeah. Okay. A little bit. It's very form fitting. Chuck's like, oh no, cork. Yeah. I got to smash through this rock or we're going to be stuck forever. Chuck has never drank wine. Okay. You have magic wine in your bag. He didn't drink any of it. It's a screw top. Yeah. Leave it to Dan to make it a fucking screw top. That's a great point. Yeah. Okay.

So let me, let me just like throw my weight against it then to try and like push it through so we can, we can seal it back up behind us. All right. Defy danger strength. Seven. Chuck was almost thwarted by a door made of cork. I slip a disc. I got really fucked up in the fight with Phantom. Yeah, that's true.

I am actually comfortable making, like giving you a debility and strength because, it's that kind of thing where Chuck's like, I got to smash down a wooden door and then he just plows through it and lands on the ground fucking up his spine. All right, guys, I took care of the door so we're all good to go. Why are you talking like that? It hurt my knee. And you come out into one of the side passages that's still considered a part of like the stacks of the library.

So there's shut shut, shutters on all the ironwood shelves in this section. The lights are still on, but less lights than normal, sort of like an emergency lights kind of situation. And as you crash through, you hear a bunch of footsteps like pounding across the walkways. It's just librarians. Oh, okay. They're like, who the fuck is that? And they all like skid to a halt. Fists held high, martial arts ready to go. Whoa, it's just us. They all relax. Okay. Have you seen Perel or Farrah? Who?

Oh, no, Farrah, we know Farrah. Oh. Who is the first voice? Perel, the bald wizard man with the like, the cargo shorts. Oh. And he loves his, he has a collection of mustaches. Yeah, he has, what else? Oh, a lot of hats. He's got Crocs. He's wearing Crocs most of the time. You don't know him, but he's annoyed you. Yes, he has. You must come quickly. There has been a breach. They got in? A few, yes. Fuck. We have the heads of the army. We've cut off the head of the snake.

What should we do with them? We will take them. We will ensure they remain secure. Go. Okay. Should we have wine on the way there? Yeah. We pop a cork of wine and start drinking. We're like, take us to where you need us. Yeah. Oh, that was great. That was really good. One of the, there's like five of them. Two of them grab the torch and fat him and then the other three run with you. And we're chugging bottles of wine. One of the other guys unscrews the bottom of his sword. Like, what?

It is five o'clock. Somewhere. We're drinking, baby. We're in Rome. No, no, no, no. His is not a potion. No, no. It's tequila. So he's just getting fucked up. That guy. That guy. Yeah. He's under a lot of stress. Like, he's got a mortgage and stuff. Yeah. The mortgage is what's stressing him out in this situation for sure. That's the main stress. The war has just put him over the edge. He got his mortgage from his wife who they're getting divorced. Oh, man. Great.

So how much wine do you all drink? Um, I drink half. Okay, so ten. To go back to 21. Cool. I drink one full one to get back to 22. Roll a defied injured constitution, please. I was at 12. Yeah. Damn, dude. Uh, ten. Okay. You're not drunk. I am nicely buzzed. Yeah. Bing is also nicely buzzed because he just drank half a bottle of wine earlier. Earlier, right. Yeah. I'm good. And Billy's I feel like Billy's size suggests he might need to roll a defied injured constitution.

Oh, hey, even half a bottle is way too much. Oh, it's so much. Fuck, Billy's so drunk. Yeah, I got five. So I like, I put the wine away and then I immediately run into a bookshelf. Oh, no, Billy. Billy starts trying to fight the books on the lowest shelf. Come here. I'm like, whoa, came out of nowhere. Just stabbing a book. Yeah.

I like, I like the idea that Billy drinks this bottle runs into a bookshelf as he's putting the wine in his back in his bag and just drops it on the ground and it shatters. So unfortunately, Billy loses the remaining health potion that he had. Oh, that's so funny. And you are fucking blitzed. I'm going to get that bookcase later, though. You memorize the section. I'm coming for you. As we're Gruber aisle five, 200 feet from the course. Work door left hand side of the tunnel adventure fiction.

M as we're dragging him away. He's doing the like pointing at his eyes, pointing at the bookshelf like the bookshelf is looking at him. Oh my God. So funny. And they lead you through the stacks through a couple of the anthill like tunnels and sections to the atrium, like the bottom floor with all the desks that you were studying at before the battle.

I think I remember describing it as like kind of a beehive shape, where it's like really wide at the bottom, but then it goes to kind of a point at the top. Totally. And there, there's a quite a lot of fighting happening in here. There's enough that you see a bunch of librarians, people that would be high enough to be speakers of the silent word tussling with some light guard. And then you see the immolator that you saw upstairs with the two swords fucking mixing it up down here. Whoa.

So there's an immolator. There's a bunch of light guard and librarians fighting and you see Perel in the atrium. Just fucking dodging out of the way, like trying to like put, he's like, he's being chased by a member of the light guard and he gets like behind a table and just pushes the table at the guy. He's trying to keep him away. Perel has found his equal in the light guard and they're just like around the table, around the table.

And the light guard member keeps like swinging their sword like over the table, just hacking into the wood, trying to get him. And there's so much shouting. What do you do? And Tuck, as soon as we get in there and I see the light guard, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, dibs. And he pushes Bing and Billy out of the way. Such a glory hug. And then I turn back. I'm like, you got to fight the fucking torch of McCall. What are you talking about? And so did Billy. What the fuck?

I had to fight stupid phantom. Billy gets catapulted towards Perel. So I guess I'm going to join in. Yeah. When Tuck goes dibs, he accidentally just punts Billy. And he goes, you better take a picture of me Tuck, Billy. What a bad dad I am sometimes. Oh man. Billy's drunk enough to be like, whoa. Who can say that? Just Billy, arms and legs slayed. And then in the middle, the arc top. Little Billy hiccup. Oh man. Billy is so funny as a prop. Oh yeah. Yeah. That's just a living prop. Yeah.

Uh yeah so Ving what's Ving doing there's a bunch of um speakers of the silent word being cornered by like a larger group of soldiers and Ving's going to protect this or help them they're pretty awesome I think there are two or three speakers like between these two stacks of shelves with the light guard coming at them from either side and the one that you see ahead of you between this group of light guard it's just a blur of fists and three of them drop holy shoot and they step back and center themselves I'm gonna fight with honor to grab some hold for this fight coming up yeah oh yeah plus my con I think sweet ten fuck yeah we can cut to uh I guess Billy getting soccer balled towards Perel can I roll to like knock over the light guard that Perel's fighting yeah totally defy danger strength I guess sure I'll aim myself wow not good so drunk so drunk so fucking drunk um also this is my fault no it's fine I yeah you see you're arcing through the air Billy who can say what the moon goes where the wind blows there we go who can say where the wind blows but not at the light guard yeah you're you see yourself going towards the light guard and you're like oh yeah here I come bitch and then they run out of the way to try and get to Perel and you slam full on into a bookshelf can you roll a d6 for me to two damage I'm like a new I see you game bookshelf we meet again my old adversary uh tuck very good you you run forward through the crowd and you see this emulator as you run towards them they're not as heavily armored as a lot of the other light guard they're wearing like dark dark brown leather that's very form-fitting no helmet just a very lean Macallan man with like a sharp nose and really shortcut thick dark hair and a scar across the bridge of the of his nose wow like a really fat scar like it looks like it's either new or was almost fatal yeah he's blocking blows stepping out of the way maneuvering like pirouetting around each other this person is very graceful and very fast and then just before you get there their spin comes to a stop they swipe out both swords and cut down two people whoa you just killed two fucking people yeah oh my god all right I'm gonna run up to him uh and like again it's kind of like the hulk run all of tux runs are hulk yeah it's like slow but then it's like gaining a lot of speed and momentum and he angles the run so there's a table between him and the immolator as he's running he like knees up the table like he hits the table with his knee so it like flies forward at the immolator and then he like jumps and punches through the table to hit the immolator how and can I do a war cry as I'm doing this when you enter a battle with a show of force yeah it's just not going to do like direct damage right away totally yeah war cry war cry that's nine okay seven to nine on war cry what is that on a seven to nine one or the other your allies are rallied and take plus one forward or your enemies feel fear and act accordingly avoiding you hiding attacking with fear driven abandon um I think I was a bit like my allies to take a plus one forward yeah because a bunch of the light guards see tuck do this and go oh fuck yeah uh-oh and I think it makes sense that they get freaked out but the immolator doesn't because he's like a hardened like yeah yeah yeah the chunks of the table that you punch like you shatter this table sending it at the immolator and he turns aside a bunch of the chunks with his swords like it's just like clang clang clang clang clang and he's standing there swords out of the side whoa Ready for you.

Ving. There's three guys. Yeah. I'm going to run up the bookshelf and throw clay from my bandolier in all three of these guys' faces. And then I want to use elemental mastery to bake that clay onto their face. They can't take it off. All right. 2d6 plus constitution. I got 10 plus my one from Tuck is 11. Beautiful. So you've paid nature's price twice since you paid it the first time. A lot of you're pretty in debt to nature at this point. Nature is expensive.

I mean, maybe the price that Ving has paid himself is kind of guilt. Because when you bake clay onto the faces of these people, you can hear them screaming underneath the clay. And it like immortalizes their distorted screaming face into these awful death masks. Yeah. And I say, whoops. Yeah. Like the three people that you put the clay. Masks on and burned like they stumble back and land on the ground with these like rictus grins baked into the clay terror. God. Terror. Yeah. Pretty good.

So yeah, that's the prices. You did this and you're feeling maybe a little unsure about that action. And the speaker behind you start saying thank you. And then seize the faces of the men that you took down and you can see fear in her eyes. And then seize the faces of the men that you took down and you can see fear in her eyes. And then seize the faces of the men that you took down and you can see fear in her eyes.

And then seize the faces of the men that you took down and you can see fear in her eyes. Billy, you slammed into a bookshelf again. Perel still being chased around a table. You're fucking fighting a bookshelf. Perel's now gotten to the point where he's like got chairs. He's holding chairs and he's like kind of throwing them a little bit. Just trying to keep space between him and the light guard. What do you do? Well, I got bored with the bookshelf because it wasn't fighting back.

And I've just made a bit of a mess. Anyway, I turn around because like Perel's doing this thing with chairs. I'm like, oh man. He. He looks stressed. And I'm like, oh no, that's not good. Who's this guy bullying Perel? He looks like one of those jerks upstairs. And so I'm going to use backstab to knife him in the leg. I'm like, how dare you bully my friend? That's perfect. So 2d6 plus dexterity. Yeah. Oh, fuck. Nine. All right. Oh, plus one from ally. So that's a 10. Hell yeah. Yes. Yeah. Woo.

So what's a 10 plus on backstab? Oh, I get it right in the calf and it's he totally falls over. He cannot fight anymore. And then once once he hits the ground, I berate him. The dude drops his sword or whatever. I'm like, why pick on someone your own size? Okay. Okay. Jessica. Yeah. The reason I'm asking is because now you have to choose things from the list. What things? Oh, sorry. You deal your damage. So all your damage. Yeah. Which is a D eight. Four.

And then you get to choose two from the list. All right. So I don't get into a fight with them. And also I'm going to create an advantage for an ally. Yeah. So I give the advantage to Perel. Okay. So Billy runs up, stabs this light guard member in the leg. While they're trying to catch Perel and they scream because they just got stabbed in the calf by this little kid. And Perel runs around because he sees you for the first time. He's like, Billy. Yeah.

And he runs around to that side and the light guard member sees parole running at them and shouts out and swings the sword at Perel. And you know, the like punch moves that you saw Perel doing during his practice. Yeah. And his like they were doing this little like jazz hands in an arc. This like kind of sunshine thing. They swing the sword at Perel.

Perel steps forward, starts doing that little hand twiggle, grabs the wrist, grabs them under the armpit and throws the light guard member over his shoulder. Oh, wow. Sick. And they slam onto the ground and they're knocked out cold. Wow. So sick. And Perel's standing there for a second. And then he turns to you, Billy. He goes, did you see what I did? I did. I'm really impressed. Ving would be so proud of you. I feel so powerful. All right, man. Go use that in another fight.

Perel puts on a pretty thick mustache when he says he feels so powerful. A handlebar goes all the way down to his chin. Billy, what do we do? Let's go help Tuck over there. Are you OK? Fine. What? Nothing. Maybe we should hang back a little bit. You can hang back. Bye. Bye. Billy. Wait. And you're gone. Tuck. Yeah. So I'm fighting the immolator, right? Yeah. I want to just like hack it slash attack. Great. With the axe. Nine. Cool. Roll your damage. Nine. Oh, God. Tuck is so strong.

Such a strong guy. You just swing your axe wildly at this guy. Yeah. And you slice him across like his stomach. He thought that he was able to dodge away from that. And then you catch him. And he doesn't make any sound. But you see him grit his teeth. And then he flicks a couple switches on his swords. And they. Oh, fuck. Fire licks along the length of them. And he does a couple spins to try and disorient you and brings both swords at you. Cutting you across like the arm and the chest.

With his burning blades. Fuck. And you take seven points of damage. Can I? I'm going to use one of my chi to block a blow. Moment for someone. Can I do that? Yeah. And take half the damage. Whoa. I think you might need to do at least one more to cross a distance to an enemy or whatever. Because they're kind of far away from you. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. I unused two chi. That's awesome. Sweet. So he's like, tuck. Because he heard that woof. And he's all freaked out about fire.

He's got a little fire thing. Yeah. I'm going to cross the distance and then take tuck's hit for half the damage. So 3.5. So how do you block it? I'm going to just kneel. Like a kneeling. And then Ving in front of him kind of slide in with the spear above his head. Hell yeah. Yeah. Tuck was kind of throwing up balance. So he couldn't like defend himself against the attack. Yeah. I guess you went in so hack and slashing. Yeah.

The immolator jumps away now that Ving has entered this fight and sees Billy running at him, I guess. Is Billy trying to join Tuck and Ving? Yeah, definitely. So he steps back, sees the two of you and is like, whoa, this is a problem. And then sees Billy. And smiles a little bit. Points his sword at Billy. Presses another button. And a gout of burning liquid fires out of the tip of his sword. Billy! And yeah, Billy, you have a torrent of flame careening towards you. What do you do?

I do a sick roll. Hold on. I do it. I see the fire coming because I'm like kind of still drunk. It's like slow-mo. I'm like, I got this. Because he's also so confident. This is what drunk does to Jessica. Yeah. Yeah. So Billy does a front roll. So that basically the butter moth silk cloak will take the brunt of the fire. Sick. Sick. I'm going to dodge that flame throw. Defy danger dexterity. Please. Seven. Roll a D8 twice. Sure. Six. Six. Eight. Eight. Eight.

Because of your butter moth silk cape, you're taking the six. Not the eight. Oh, thank you. Merciful Lord. So Billy runs forward, sees the fire coming at him in slow motion and goes, does a really slow kid somersault in his head. But I mean, to any outside observer, he's moving quick as like an animal, right? Like it's like, but in this set, he's like, here we go. And the fire passes over you, but it singes you a little bit. Yeah. You don't take the full brunt, but still six damage.

Like that's a lot. Bad luck rolling that high on both of them. Like it hits my face, which is already very rosacea. You know, I'm like, oh, but you come out of it and you're safe. He's running, but his hair is on fire a little bit. You can't tell though, because it's red enough. But you're like, is that a fire? He's the torch. He's the Olympic torch. He's the torch. Cut back to Ving Tuck and the immolator.

When he puts his arm out to shoot fire at Bilbo, I want to take my spear and try and go into that armpit area. Oh, fuck. That nerve flex is in there. You use that opening? Yeah. Good idea. I have one more chi. Deal my damage. Oh. Great. Oh, hell yeah. So. Four. All right. He points that arm out to fire that stream of fire at Billy. It's definitely that opening where you're like, oh, bad move. Dude.

And you just dart forward, jab the spear up under his arm, and he grimaces again, makes no noise, but he's starting to get desperate. Uh-huh. So the spear went into the one arm nerve plexus. It's still in there. Yeah. And so what Tuck does is he takes his butter moth silk cloak and wraps it around the other sword. Oh. That's so cool. Yeah, and to put it out. And then he wants to punch him in the stomach after that. That's awesome. Defy danger, dexterity. Like a matador. Four. Seven. And then.

Yeah, then you do the hack and slash. Nine. Okay. So the seven to nine on the defy danger dexterity is you, yeah, you run forward with the cloak in your hand, wrap it around the sword. A little bit of smoke puffs out as you put the flames on the blade out, and the tip of the sword pokes through the cape and just tears it. So this is not wearable anymore. Oh, no. Oh. And you punch him in the gut. Deal your damage. You never take care of the things I get you. Two. Okay. Two.

Not the best, but enough that he lifts up a little bit off the ground and he threw the butter moth silk, just swipes at you with the regular blade. Roll a D8. Twice. Six. And what was that? Two. So the six, unfortunately. Yeah. And he's able to swipe you up the thigh with his sword stabbing through the butter moth silk. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He like shakes off after he gets a little bit clear. Billy, you see your dad's full on melee.

You just did a sick somersault. You're feeling more powerful than you've ever felt in your life. Yes. What do you do? So I'm going to, yeah, I'll do backstab using the poison knife to paralyze him at the very least. I'm going to climb up him though. Oh, no. That's so scary. Up his back. Yes. Yeah. Defy danger dexterity. Ten. Okay. Oof. Oof. So again, you deal your damage. You get all those choices. One. One? Are you kidding me? He's actually healed for 12 damage. Wow. No. Bullshit.

Pick your other two options from backstab. Okay. So backstab. I'm going to deal my damage. Wait. I already did that, right? Yep. But you also get to, one of the options is deal another D6 damage. Okay. I'm going to pick that and then I'm going to also create an inventory. Okay. Okay. So I'm going to take advantage towards an ally. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Fuck. Oh my God. Another one. Wow. A grand total of two. Fucking sick. But at least he's paralyzed. Yeah.

Billy climbs up his back like a fucking chipmunk, jabs him with a knife. And while it's not instant instant, it's very fast acting. So he's slowing down. His actions aren't as precise as they were. And Ving, you see him. He's slowing down. Can I just take him to the ground? I'm going to clock him as hard as I can. I walk up to him very slowly and then just open fists, slap him. How dare fucking you? How dare you? You're hacking slashing? Yeah. Okay. Eight. Deal your damage. Five. Fuck. Yeah.

Clang. But with the seven to nine, roll a D8 twice. Five. Five. Okay. Nice. Five damage. As. As you walk up, as you said, very slowly, he takes one last swipe at you and nicks you pretty bad in the forearm. Hopefully not enough to kill you, but still hurt. And yeah, you walk up and just slap. You said slap him? Open hand slap him. Yeah. Yeah. You catch him on the hinge of his jaw. Like carry it down to the ground. Like trying to just clang. Smash into the ground. Out cold. Out cold.

Billy's on his back. Crushed underneath. I crawl out from under him. I'm like, that was a nice hip bang. Billy. Yeah. Didn't see you there. Sorry, pal. Don't worry, bud. I feel good. Except my face is burned. Oh, man. And I'm wasted. Tuck takes a roll out of his backpack and gives it to Billy because he's like, we gotta get some fucking food in you, guy. Just to like absorb some of that wine. Wow. I start weeping. Are you? What? Because I haven't seen food in hours. I haven't seen food in hours.

I haven't seen food in hours. I haven't seen food in hours. I was like, what did I say to make you sad? It's the sight of food. It's just relief. And you see the speakers in this room take care of the last couple light guard. You see a couple on their knees holding their swords above their heads, just totally surrendering. And you hear a sound from above, like the walkway that rings the second level of the atrium. You hear a whack. And then. Wah!

As a body comes like back spinning off of the walkway and slams into a table. Jesus! Oh, God. And at the edge of the walkway, you see Farah. And she says, I believe the battle is finished. The library is secure. Come with me. Like us? Yes. You three and him. Billy's like, all six of us? There's like a few people on the atrium. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

She's like, Billy points himself like Farah is talking to me. Yes. I'm talking to you. Us too. And I point at me. Yes. You as well. And him. Which one? This guy? You look behind you and Pharrell is there in his low stance going like doing the punches forward. And. Wait. Did you get the torch and phantom secured? Yes. They are secure.

Your prisoners are secured okay do you know where shia has been this whole time I've I've kind of had that in the back of my head I was wondering as like a loose narrative thread it uh well you know it's funny that you say that considering that you just brought it up um after probably five hours of recording now that I think about it I have no idea cut to the sandworms getting taken out by a giant fucking snake oh yeah a huge snake like jump like arcing over sandworms taking riders out of their saddles uh constricting them cutting them in half like this insane other part of the battle that we're like where's where's shia and billy's just drunk and she's like what the fuck where is everybody else she's basically taking out the sandworms alone yeah that's so cool okay so far I takes you to the sandworms to the gallery above what appears to be the library's infirmary in here there are strips of sunstone along the ceiling and it's nourishing a bunch of medicinal plants that grow in huge bushels cool all over the room and then on the level below you there's a bunch of workspace there's desks and tables rows with vials and jars weird little contraptions that have like mechanical parts and tubes that come out of them what looks like thin little like messes metal pieces that you have no idea what they would be for but we would recognize as syringes obviously okay and on two tables are laid out the torch of mccall unconscious and fathom unconscious oh they've got braziers of saffron like burning in the corners of the room that would make sense they would grow saffron there too yes yeah the sunstone uh-huh totally maybe there's a like a bag of like orange liquid that's like feeding directly into the torch yeah like through his nose like a drip yeah yeah going right into it like his belly because billy discovered that that's a method for suppressing demonic influence totally is feeding them saffron cool so there are people like there are librarians working over the two of them uh-huh and you actually you see shia down there too and she's getting patched up oh like she's alive she's awake thank fuck but she's getting patched up like bandages on her arms like she's just got crazy cuts all over the place and she looks up and sees you it is like hey where the fuck were you where the fuck were you I was fighting the battle so were we which battle the outskirts oh that was you yeah oh did you oh so you guys were okay you didn't get like blown up or anything and then we point at the torch and we're like ving did that tuck did that and billy did both we kind of all did that everything that's a good point actually yeah you two like had your adversaries and billy was like these guys are pussies I'm gonna kick the shit out of both of them yeah uh and she looks at them and looks up at you like nice job well done thank you and then tuck starts doing a slow clap because he he feels like this is the end of the episode talk to us no one else does that no one else does that no one else does that does abdul feel like this is the end of the episode no not even close and then tuck looks down at the fucking nerd doctors and he's like fucking clap shia starts clapping like nice work everyone nice job perel steps forward and is clapping yes I did a great job thank you everyone did a great job everybody did a good job and all the doctors start clapping too yay doctors medicine I love medicine saffron forever hooray hooray the library and this goes on for like 25 minutes oh now we're at the end of the episode every time it slows down tuck's like not enough keep clapping everybody tuck needs like this recognition that he uh bested his bully and he everyone's been saying things like hooray doctors and stuff and he's like been waiting for someone to be like and also tuck stood up to his bully it's not coming out of his mouth it's not coming out of his mouth it's not coming uh great so that goes on for way too long and farah just lets it happen she's you know in her head she's like everybody needs this right now this was a tough day but she gives you sort of a rundown on the situation she tells you that the light guard at least the forces that arrived are in disarray many have fled into the desert we have taken prisoners we've taken we've taken prisoners we've taken prisoners we've taken prisoners we've taken prisoners unfortunately no members of the emulators beside of course their leader and uh the unfortunate fellow in the atrium I confess I am not certain what the next steps are outside of rebuilding without the torches leadership there will be a power vacuum within the light guard and the church itself very likely and if the influence of the presence within him is not going to be a power vacuum him has had the effect that you say it has on the city there is no telling what the lack of that influence will do it'd be a revolution or rebellion yeah oh yeah maybe his zealotry has been keeping sort of the masses like down yeah classified yeah pacified placid yeah you're both right most of the people in mccall are flaccid classified it's called the flaccid jewel of the west the you we look back at the silhouette of the lighthouse and it's drooping oh shit we're fucked now oh no he was the only thing keeping that thing hard um farah does say that she says the library has rebuilt before but there has not been an attack oh god I can't remember how long ago she said it happened but they I don't think they've attacked I think they maybe attacked the library once when she was young, but this is the first time it's happened in a long time.

What happened the last time? They were pushed back and they retained power? We lost some knowledge. We lost some librarians. They lost a number as well, and we rebuilt. That's all there is to do now. What about Third and the rest of the Djinn? Do you know where they are? Third, from what I understand, was not present at the battle, which is unusual, but what you tell me of the battle at the hearth itself suggests that there will be repercussions.

From what I understand, Eighth remains in the upper ward in the city, but that is the only other of the Djinn that we have eyes on. The rest are in the wind. Fuck. Farah, um, can we go down and talk to the torch? You can. However, time is still required to gather strength, and I think that we all need a little bit of rest right now, so give it a day or two and he will be ready to speak. Okay. So, a day and a half passes, basically.

The librarians slowly start reopening the shelves and trying to sort stuff out. Yeah, we've just been chilling at the library. Doing, like, fucking fuck all, I guess. Yeah. Getting a rubdown. Having a spa day. Yeah. Hanging out with Cheyenne Perel. Tuck has, uh, every time someone asks him to help with, like, the arduous task of, like, opening back up the Ironwood shelves, because it's fucking hard. It's just like, fuck, right, yeah, sorry, Farah, I just heard her call me, sorry, I got it.

He doesn't want to help with chores. Also, it's a bookworm, just, so yeah, I gotta go answer. What's that, Oman? Yeah, I'm coming. It's just us avoiding chores for two days. Yeah, I've been hiding under slippers, a lot. Just hang, hang. Like, slippers is, like, sleeping, and then I just, like, she's so fluffy, so, like, whenever a librarian's walking by, I just, like, swoop under a tummy, I'm like, okay, they're gone.

Yeah, and you're hiding under a slipper's tummy one time, and you look up under a table, and there's a massive cobra coiled underneath the table, like, shh. Don't tell them I'm here. And that goes on for a few days. Like, you know, a day and a bit, and the librarians are getting frustrated with you, but also, you did take down the torch of McCall. They can't really fault you too much for that. And you have a few days of rest. It's nice. Yeah.

And sorting has started up and gets moving at a pretty good clip. What are Billy, Tuck, and Ving up to right now, a day and a half after the battle? A day and a half into avoiding our chores? Yeah. We're in the cafeteria, um, in disguise. I am under the table with slippers hiding, because I don't want to be, like, asked to sweep again.

And I stole Louise's big hat, and I stole his hat, I put on his thin pencil mustache, I got a mustache from Perel, and I've been walking around with a big wooden spoon. That's the entirety of the disguise. Uh, Ving's dressed up like, uh, one of the speakers. And he's, like, been trying to hang out and, like, just learn what they know and pick up some of these adding to his cheese secret moves. He's been working out with them and getting all their martial art. Cool.

Uh, and after, like, it starts with Billy. Billy, you're approached by, um, Burke, the dwarven librarian. Uh-huh. And he just sees you, and he goes, ugh, and he walks over and grabs you by the scruff. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Come with me. And he goes and he sees Tuck and goes, finally, grabs Tuck, goes this way. Tuck goes, oh, there you are. Mamma mia. Come with me now. There's a linguine stew in the back that I have to get it. No. He's just pushing you. No, stop pushing me, please.

I have to get into the kitchen, please. He's moving implacably forward. I don't want to take the garbage out! No, don't make me! Don't make me mop again! I'm so tired. I don't want to sort any more books. This is stupid and boring. Ving! Ving, help us! Yeah, you guys have been pushed towards Ving, and Ving's like, shh. And then, yeah, we're like, that's Ving. If you're taking us, you have to take him, too. Dammit, I was in disguise. Just a library here, Mitten.

And Burke grabs you also, and he's pushing all three of you and says, we have been searching for you for days. Grandmaster Margani wishes to speak with you. Oh, okay. Oh, okay. Probably about the chores, but, you know, whatever. Send her in! Move! Stop speaking, please! Okay, fine. Cease speaking! Okay, we won't talk anymore. I am done. And you're pushed through the library to a small chamber.

For real, though, please tell Louise to take that marinara sauce off the- If you interrupt my train of thought one more time, I am turning this whole podcast around. Nobody gets any narrative gratification. And he pushes you to a small chamber off of the medical theater that you watched them tend to, the Torch and Fatim. And there's a gaggle of scholars and speakers of all levels and ages of experience outside. And Burke pushes- He uses you as a wedge to push you through them into the room.

And sitting inside, it's very nicely appointed. There's a lot of beautiful fabrics, tapestry, trees, a nice little lamp, potted plants, and a table slash inclined bed that's made for, like, convalescing patients. And laying in the bed is the Torch of McCall. And sitting in a chair next to the bed is Ama Margani. Yeah. And they're sharing a pot of tea and speaking pleasantly with each other. There's a real sense of, like, whoa. Yeah.

Yeah, maybe there's, like, there's speakers who are, like, jostling at the door, like, there's people trying to, like, scholars trying to jot things down. Oh, yeah. Because they know this is a big moment. They're like, we have to recall this. Yeah. It's two ancients slash demons talking to each other about their shared history. Wow. Yeah. Like, yeah, people being like, wow, the Torch was alive 400 years ago and Ama was alive a thousand years ago. Yeah. Wow, yeah, that'd be insane.

Yeah, you get to the doorway of the room and there's a bunch of scholars all knotted outside. You're like, get the fuck out of the way, you nerds. Some guy's saying, you fucking nerds. Like, he's stenografying everything. Yeah, and actually, Tuck is probably not present enough to think about this. Billy is always over the place, but Ving, you get this sense that, like, you're walking through history right now. Cool. Like, these are events that people will read about for centuries. Mm-hmm.

And then whatever. And there's different parts. Sandwiches in here. Holy shit. Yeah, Tuck's like, they have, potato salad and party subs. There's a plate full of six-inch party subs. And, yeah, Ama and the Torch see you walk in and they smile. You, even seeing the Torch, based on the times that you've seen him before, there's a huge change in disposition. Almost to the point that this seems like a different man. Weird. Yeah. Cool. I like that. Where's Farah?

Yeah, Burke said that the master librarian wanted to talk to us. And Ama smiles and says, Grandmaster, technically, is my title. Oh. Ama. Oh, so… Whoa. I bow. I slam myself into the ground and I bow. Yeah. And Tuck takes his glasses out of his backpack and puts them on as a sign of respect to the king of all nerds. And he says this out loud. Yeah. Ama laughs. It's both… To these old dudes, it's just like, kids, right? Kids are always dumb. Uh, what…

Your Majesty, what did you want to talk to us about? Your Majesty? Your Majesty of Books. I don't know, guys. No, that's great. The king of all nerds. Sorry, king. Continue. And Ama says, please join us. Really? Like, Billy's so awkward, like, thank you. And I, like, edge around. With your knife. Knife out. Thank you for having us. Yes. There is a real flight or fight instinct in all of us. Yes. Yeah. Ving sticks his hand out to shake the hands. Wow. And they take them very lightly.

They're both very, very old men. The torch, though, because I said he was, like, in his 50s, early 60s maybe he looked like. Now that you touch him, there's this very light sort of tremor in his grip. Yeah, so Tuck's like, alright, uh, torch? Do you want garlic aioli or chipotle aioli? I brought you a small panini. Do you want pepper in your potato salad? He smiles when you say torch and closes his eyes in, like, an embarrassed way almost and says, that is not my name. Torch of McCall.

I'm fucking sorry. The gall of this guy. Please, if you, if you would call me Farhan, it would bring me a great amount of peace. Oh, uh, Farhan, do you want garlic aioli or chipotle aioli? Chipotle, please, thank you. Somebody likes it spicy. And I put a little, a small paper plate down. It's got a little triangular press panini sandwich and a little vat of chipotle aioli. A little vat. And then I scoop the garlic aioli out and I just start sucking it off my finger. Gross.

Yeah, and he takes a little bite of the sandwich and he sips some of the tea and Ama sips some of the tea and he says, I'm sorry, I must. This is important. This tea apparently will aid in the suppressing of the influence within me. I would like to offer my apologies. I have not been myself for a great deal of time. We are also sorry because we stabbed you a lot, Mr. Farhan, and I bow. He's got like a like a patch across his neck. Yeah. I can understand why you would. I I!

Hesitate to say deserved, but the harm that came to me was well earned, let's say. But I would like to thank you as well for doing what you did in freeing me, however temporarily, of that influence. How do you know what they're going to do to you? Like, um, do, can we get rid of this?

It forever the demon if sorry I'm really nervous asking you these questions you're doing great thank you and ama speaks up at this and says um it is unknown whether or not one is able to be permanently free of a demonic influence but they are trying research will continue and uh uh arhan and I will be their most prized subjects what did you want to talk to us about the torch actually speaks up and says I have much work to do in terms of convalescence and reparations but something has troubled my sleep I know what the goal of this demon that was the torch was I I thought it was zealotry I thought he just fed off of off of belief that the goal was the journey towards ultimate worship that's what he said he said it wasn't about winning or losing it was about just doing this yes that is true but the demon of zealotry was but a link in a greater chain that seeks to shackle the world how how what do you know of the dark guard in dark of night I have been lost like many who have come before for I have paid the ear chin toll my soul now on my own I have been lost like many who have come before and so I sing for all who fall on darkened streets in no recall till night abates and shadows flee these words my parting gift to thee you you not words nor coins nor sailors go by passage for the ones who bleed so darkness it has come for me for I am one who no one needs on nights that we sleep on the edge of the sea on nights that we sleep on the edge of the sea the moonlight has withdrawn these words will see you to the dawn till night abates and shadows flee these words my parting gift to thee the shadow fears the nighttime sun the child flees from broken stone the darkness shrinks from tallow's gift and yet I wander all alone this story told for all to hear that I am gone but but always near for though I'm lost I am now home with those who whisper in the gloam oh with voices of the ones who with voices of the ones who with voices of the ones who live this song's my final gift to give to night abates and shadows flee these words my final gift to thee to night abates and shadows flee these words my final gift to thee Thank you.