Episode 2 – She’s Just Not That Into You

Gather round friends, let me tell you a tale of three heroes noble and bold A brute, a druid, and a thief who is but nine years old You know them by name, you know them by deed, their quests are famously daring 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 Peely'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 Hello everybody and welcome to Spout Lore!

I'm your Gamemaster Sean O'Hara. Joining me as always playing Tacoma Dome the Barbarian, Abdulaziz.

No no no no no none of that no you keep that thing closed join patreon to find out what's happening behind the pixelated no you can also watch it on youtube remember no no the unpixelated versions on patreon for free if you just know abdul and are subjected to his idiocy be friends with abdul for 13 years oh my gosh what could it be what could he be doing playing big the half-elf druid Paul Oppers. And playing Fat Billy the Halfling Thief, Jessica Tai. I'm not doing any of that.

Jessica has class. Yeah. She picked up a wand. No, Jessica, no. No, Jessica. Get him, get him, get him. Get him out of frame. This is so stupid. And you can find out what we just did on Patreon where the unpixelated version will be released. Chaz, your face when you're doing that is so funny. You seem like you would come back up and be like, ooh, like scandalized by yourself. Myself. Like a mime? Yeah. Kind of like a mime? Yeah, a little bit of this mime-y.

And it's a little 1950s TV house wifey. Betty Boop stuff. When last we left our heroes, they were wandering through the aftermath of the… The climactic confrontation at Blackglass Palace. Piles of exhausted and terrified congregants now freed from the tyranny of Callum Blackhammer littered the hallways and ballroom.

The party wandered, attempting to gather the remnants of their own cohort as well as newly recovered allies such as Black Spire the Dragon and a trust-up and unconscious Victoria LeBlanc, Mm-hmm. Who is about to die. About to be delivered for a bounty with the Brass Castle gang. Mm-hmm. On arriving to the ballroom, the party discovered that the influence that was creating the binding energies in the trees and the torches and the ballroom dancing had dulled.

Meanwhile, Billy emerged from a toilet far, far away and did a little bit of wandering and looting of his own. Mm-hmm. Heading to Callum's office and giving a bit of a presentation to a variety of stuffed animals that he'd recovered. Mm-hmm. Kind of weird that Callum had stuffed animals. Yeah, I didn't want to say anything at the time, but you found those there, I guess. Yes, so. I feel like they were probably just somewhere in the castle. They were somewhere. Or mementos of a childhood lost.

Oh, so. Oh. Don't humanize him. We still probably have to kill him. And in his destructive playtime, Billy discovered a hidden compartment in Callum's desk containing a number of correspondences Mm-hmm. From a variety of people of which Billy could not read. Mm-hmm. Reuniting the party used Mears' barman's keys to enter into Hither and Yon, which appeared off the courtyard of Blackglass Palace. Mm-hmm. So, everybody piled up.

Blackspire entering into stables, which apparently exist in Hither and Yon. Yeah. Heretofore unknown to the three of you. Mm-hmm. So now he's got his cozy little den. Just off of the main room. The party chained up Victoria LeBlanc in a corner booth because Mears refused to allow her to just lay on the floor without a bit of hospitality and went about gleaning information from these letters coded in a secret cipher. Mm-hmm. Examining each in turn, Ving looked at a letter from Solara Van Curen.

Cool. Queen of the Sun Peaks Mm-hmm. Region of the Great Forest and discovered through the code that Solara, a warlock of some fashion, Mm-hmm. Has turned much of the Great Forest to her cause Mm-hmm. And is putting together an army which is going to march on the mortal world, quote unquote. Mm-hmm. Which you all believe to be Highspear. Mm-hmm. Billy and Mears decoded a message from Lee Masterly. Mm-hmm.

A senior industrialist and a coal baron who determined that while Solara is a member of the Eye, a secret member of the cult that is serving the Gibbous Man, Mm-hmm. Masterly is just a rich rube Mm-hmm. That is being used. Through his transport networks, he is delivering a weapon of some kind Mm-hmm. Into Highspear City now that the invasion has failed. A bomb. A bomb of some sort. Ooh. And has placed spies within the mayor's office. Mm-hmm.

And is also relocating to Highspear to oversee this operation himself. Mm-hmm. He gave the name of the place he's staying, Rosewood Estate. Mm-hmm. And seems very pleased with this plan, the way that it's unfolding. Yeah, he alluded to maybe getting some sort of position in office or something, didn't he? Something like that. Yeah. He's upping his station. Yes. Or trying to, for sure. Mm-hmm.

And Tuck looked at a letter from the Regent of the Shah of McCall who has said that things are not going so well on his end of things, manipulating the city of McCall and its culture into the Gibbous Man's ways. The gangs of McCall have united, one would assume, under Shia the Garden Snake. Forbidden fruit. You gotta stop saying that about my sister. This is such a point of contention. And not only that, but third, the Djinn has joined forces with the gangs. So cool.

Against the Light Guard and the martial law that has been in place for probably over a year at this point. Mm-hmm. And in doing so, has dashed the Regent's plans, of finding out how to bind the God of the Flame. Woof. So he's putting together an expedition to strike out into the Salt Flats to hunt the God of the Flame down and hopefully bind or kill him.

There is like a thing that is happening within the higher echelon of the Eye where they are trying, it seems like they're trying to like lock down all the strongest entities in the world. Which is their sense of power. And their sense of self is so inflated. Mm-hmm. Yeah. You know what? It's time. After that, the party attempted to interrogate Victoria LeBlanc, who had woken up from her spot chained in a corner booth. Mm-hmm. And didn't do so well.

She is shockingly resilient to interrogation because she is a psychopath. She's, oh man, maybe I still have a chance. She's so interesting. And as a way to attempt- Are you guys open? Yeah. Are you looking for a third? This is- Regardez-toi. Don't you fucking dare. Forbidden fruit. Oh, three of us all at once. If only there was some sort of phrase for this. There is a name for what we are doing. I think if Tuck actually ever got into a relationship with someone, it would be like toxic.

Oh, brother. Are you kidding me? So upsetting. Of course it would be. I've seen him in the mirror. It's not good. Good. And, uh, Ving, in an attempt to, um, get under her skin, pulled out a ring that he had collected from the palace where Callum's dismembered arm once lay and placed it on his finger. A signet ring. A signet ring. And as he did so, a knock at the door. And at that door, the gibbous man. When the shutters were closed.

The shutters were closed behind the gibbous man standing at the door, total inky blackness, but seen in your mind's eye almost. The aspect of the spider. Can you describe it one more time? What was it? When I say the aspect of the spider, I think it is like you see the gibbous man in the way that you've seen him. The traveling clothes, the kindly old man. And then there is just, because it's not something that you're seeing, seeing, but more perceiving, but it's like sharp arcing legs. Oh.

Up over, like into infinity, basically. Attempting to enclose whatever you can see. Right. Yeah. Legs wrapped, jumping around. It could even be like that feeling where like you only see it when you're not looking at it. Oh, yeah. Try to look at it. Legs in the periphery. Yeah. That is where we find our heroes now. What is Victoria's reaction to this? Silence. Okay. She seems afraid. Come in, won't you? Or can't you? I think you know. He looks at the ring, he nods at it. Is he dead? I don't know.

To tell you the truth. Not when we last saw him. Good. Well, if that's it, you just came here to mock me. I just wanted to be sure of something. I show him the ring. Uh, hmm. Okay. Let's lay this out. He was called here because it was Callum's ring. Yeah. Okay. And it dinged. He thought that Callum put it on. Okay. Interesting. And knowing what you know about the icon of revenge, you can guess why he's trying to find Callum. To kill him. Oh. And that's why he was glad that he's not dead.

So he can kill him. Yep. Interesting. Standing in front of him, Ving, you see he has a hand to his side. Oh. And you can see, even from here, blood on the edges of his hand. And, uh, yeah, he says, well, if there's nothing else, I'm going to go kill Callum Blackhammer. Where's my spear? You're never getting that back. Please. Where would it be? Do you think he would have just tossed it? Or do you think he's holding it somewhere? Maybe it's in the back of the void.

Oh, like you can see it sort of in, in the aspect, in the, in this in-between place. Oh, it became, an aspect of his like, extra dimensional form. This spider has nine legs. Yeah. Oh, that's so cool. Oh, nine legs on the spider. Yeah, he knows what you did to him. Yeah. He knows that you infected him with this revenge. When was the last time you saw Solera? He's still, he's holding his hand, his side, and he kind of grimaces, presses his hand against the wound harder. Yeah.

Do you think this is an interrogation? I'm just having a casual conversation. I'll answer any question you want. Give me the ring. Why do you want it? It's mine. It was a gift given. By who? By me, to Callum. Why? I want my servants ready to serve. Now give me the ring. I'll answer any question you want. Better yet, and he kind of like, looks off to the side. Give me LeBlanc. He can't see her. She's around the corner. Oh, yeah. Of the door, but he can tell she's there. Oh.

We don't have to be enemies. He looks at the three of you. I've offered you this before, and I'm offering it you again. Help me. Think of the, the power I can give you. Think of the power I've given others. That could be yours. Serve me. We have the same goal. We both want a free Lillian. Tuck looks at, at Victoria. She shakes her. She's trembling. And then, Tuck, uh, he steps to the door next to Ving, and he goes, sorry, we're dealing with a domestic problem right now. And closes the door.

Yeah. Uh, he pulls the ashtray that he stole from the castle, whips it into the void. Whips it at him? I guess so, yeah, throw it at him. Cause he looks bloodied. So I guess I kind of want to hit, hit him with the ashtray. Two to six plus dexterity, I guess. Okay, here we go. Uh, yeah, eight plus dex is seven. Okay. Oh, man. So, on a volley, which is what this is, uh, I believe you either have to put yourself in a position of danger, lose your ashtray.

That's not a, that's not an option you can choose. I choose the, that one. Or you can do less damage. I guess I'll do less damage. Okay. So you roll your damage, and then I believe you roll a d6, and then you subtract that. My damage is a d10, six. Okay, roll a d6, six. Oh, no. So, oh. I guess we're in his, like, domain. It's just like, you throw it, and it passes right through him. Okay, good to know. You're a ghost. You're a fucking fool. Oh, my God. Language. This is unbelievable.

What do you think is going to happen? You think you're going to oppose, we're going to have some grand duel on a hill? You're going to strike me down? And then Tuck leans in, and he holds, he grabs the doorknob, and he goes, yeah, buddy, it will end for both of us, beneath a burning tree. And he slams the door. All right. And where next were you going to go? I guess Sam Deering. Yeah. Okay, so the door, the shutters, the door slams, and the shutters pop open.

And on the other side of the windows, you see dark brick. And then I turn to Victoria, I go, give me a reason why we shouldn't give you up. If I leave this place, the gibbous man will kill me. Why do we care? I'll, I'll, I'll, I'll help you. I'll help you. No, you won't. Yes, no, I will. You're a liar. I, I, I am a liar. That is true. I love to lie. I'm very good at it. But I, I, if, if I leave this place, and the gibbous man hunts me down, and I die, who does that help? Us.

There are things I know. Things I know about Callum's plans, about the gibbous man's plans, and if you let me leave, I can tell you these things. And I swear on my life, I will not betray you, for now. What the fuck? For now. I, look, I just know. Okay. So, and you can see, and she, she tugs up at the chain, which is like taut, because the bar is trying to eject her. Oh. I understand. Dink, dink. Now, what is happening? And watch, watch, watch, watch. Watch me. Oh, everything is fine.

And the chain slowly slackens. Billy. Oh. I was thinking that. Excuse me a second. I could do it, but she's totally going to betray us. But if she betrays us, then she'll die. That's how oath works, right? Yes, but I kind of don't want her to betray us at all. Let me, let me, let me step in for just one second. Yeah, go ahead, Sean. Mirror, mirror. Let me sit. Just hold on one second, one second.

Billy, I'm pretty sure that you can make an oath that does not result in the death of the swearing participant. Yeah, I'll know immediately. And then something bad will happen, which doesn't have to be death. I don't know. I think you should make it death. I think I should make it death. Yeah. You said you didn't want, why didn't you want to give her the gibbous, man? I would have done it. Sliding, Billy, slowly sliding. I grabbed Billy. What is that? No, she's a bad guy. She's a bad guy.

Oh, that's a very good point. It doesn't matter who the I'll intent is towards. No. Billy starts sliding towards the door. Billy, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. I'm so mad at her. She was hurting everyone around us. And I yelled to the bar. I'm like, it's conditional I'll intent. It's conditional. Billy, she didn't hurt anybody. She hasn't yet. She hasn't right now. No. I think we should give her over. No, don't Billy. Why? Because that's not us.

Well, we were planning on doing it for a thousand dollars. We'll give it to them. No, but if we give her to Deering, the gibbous man will get her. The gibbous man is going to get her anyway. What are we going to do? Just carry her around forever. We know that she's safe in here. We could keep her in here. Nah. And she can't. So she can kill Mears. She's okay. Tuck goes, okay, I'm still crazy horny for her. So I might be fucked. I'm, I'm biased for sure.

But we can construct an oath that keeps her from ever betraying us. Lest she die. Cause she wants to keep herself alive. Us or Mears or are in like our like plans. And we, then we can use her for her. You know, information about Callum about the gibbous man about all this shit. We don't know. And she's a pretty fucking good warrior. It's true. God, she's got good hearing. I don't like her. I know she's mean. She is scary. I know. Uh, eh, if she tries to betray any of us, the bar will eject her.

The bar does not allow any violence on its grounds. So we're safe in here. She's safe in here. But it is a risk. She is one of the most dangerous people in the world. So if we're not feeling it, we can kick her out. The Gibbous Man will almost certainly track her down. Ving, what do you think? I just think we have so much history with her and she will serve her own purposes to save her life. Knowing that hot is not vain. She's so into living.

And she will at least try to save her own skin and do what she can to do that. And if her skin is in our hands, Tuck. Tuck's pupils dial it. Her in it hands. Skin. Then I think we can at least trust her to serve herself. Billy, I think, okay. I'm not going to force you to use Oath. But I. Do think that if we do this, we gain information and a powerful asset. And I kneel down in front of Billy and I go, the clock's winding down now, buddy. We have to make some hard deals.

Things are going to get uncomfortable and it's okay. Yeah, you're right. Billy pulls out a knife. And he storms over to Victoria. And she sees this happening and she starts pulling on the chains like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. And Billy drives the knife out. At her throat. Whoa. Now you say you want to give us info? We? I mean, yes. And that you're going to tell us everything? I will tell you what I can. And what else did you say you do? I said I would give you information. And you would help us?

I said I could help you. Do you think information helps people like us? We need action. What I'm saying is we're too stupid for information to have an effect on us. You have to also give smarter people information. It better be good information. Okay, all right. It better be helpful information. Okay. All right. Okay. And Mears places his metal hand on the table with a clunk. He's like, brass tacks, Victoria. The way this place works, if you try anything, you will be ejected immediately.

Any plans you have, if you think you're fast enough or tricky enough or dangerous enough to get one over on Hither and Yon and the barman, you're wrong. Yeah. And then Victoria goes, take me right now, you metal-handed freak. And he looks her in the face and goes, you're not my type. I'm not good. That makes me want to need some more. Wash. You heard what he said, Victoria. If you go back on your word, you're out of here. On the street. For the gibbous man.

That's good to know because by way of a peace offering, I will tell you now, I was going to find a way to betray you. And if you do, I'm going to know right away something really bad is going to happen to you. And you're going to wish. You're going to wish the gibbous man got you instead. Okay. I agree to your terms. But you got to do the oath. But Mears does say, Billy. And he leans down. I know you're going to hate this. Yeah.

But because of the rules of Hither and Yon, you can't make the condition of the oath death, I don't think. It has to be something else. And then Tuck goes, it's conditional violence. And then he rips the sconce off the wall and throws it through one of the windows. What? It just like loops around and attaches itself. What does she value most? Her life. 1,000% her life. I will trap you in a place that you'll never get out of. And you'll wish you've died. What does that mean?

This boy was born in the dark. I don't know the rest of the quote. He's molded by it. He's molded by it. Yeah. You thought I saw the light? I was already a man. His daddy is the dark. Oh, God. That meant nothing to me. Sorry. I've been doing that voice a lot lately. It's really funny. It's a fun voice to do. My friends and I were sending voicemails to each other in Discord. As Bane? Batman! It's Bane! Legion of Doom karaoke! Tonight! Bane, have you seen Gilmore Girls?

It's going to come off Netflix soon. Anyway, call me back. I love the Luke and Lorelei, will they, won't they? This is Bane. Batman, drive safe. So you had a couple too many cran vodkas, Batman. Okay. They got together! Okay, so yes. What were we saying? Yes, okay. You can see saying this, I'll trap you somewhere you can never get out. She believes you. All right. And she puts out a pinky. Shake on it. The lights in the bar like dim while that happens. Yeah.

Yeah, all the candles and torches or candles and lantern dim for a moment. There's a weight that falls over hither and yon as the oath is sworn. And then whoop. I think you'll see this trust will do you good. Oh, shit. Billy. What? Can you add stuff to the oath after? No, that's not how it works. What the fuck? What were you getting? What, what, what? I'm going to make her promise not to fuck me. I'm going to ask her to do that. That's weird. I promise. What are you? I'll see you soon.

Is anyone going to, uh, and she kind of jingles her manacles and not manacles, eight pairs of handcuffs. Can I, I just want to give her more links. Like we don't fully trust her. Like we'll give her. Oh, so you want to keep her chained to the table? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So she's like got one cuff on. Yeah. And then the chains attach her to the table, but she can like get to the bar.

Yeah. Yeah. She can walk around, but I'm not giving you full access yet. You have to earn our trust. I'll set up a bathroom situation for you though. Cause that's, I don't want to have to deal with that. I'm not entering, emptying chamber pots. There's a stable right here. There's a stable right there. For animals only. We make the chain long enough that she can go shit in the bar. Yeah. And Black Sparrow's like, I'm out of here. Oh, gross. No way. Oh, my manger. Fucking gross, bro. Gross.

I don't even poop. I'm a dragon. We don't poop, I guess. I don't know. Zoom, zoom. Everybody poops. Not me. Never seen it. I texted this to Sean the other day. I think Black Sparrow is like an owl where they expel waste through their mouths. I like that. And that is the, that is the function of the breath weapon. Yeah. Partially. And I bet, I bet a lot of his smoke is also destroying waste. Do you know what I mean? Where it's, he's just burning garbage. There's garbage inside his body. Yeah.

And then he like, they just puke it out basically. Yeah. So, uh, Mears is, you know, this is a while later. Victoria's kind of sleeping. She's curled up in the booth. She's asleep. Well, she's lounging very erotically, Tuck. I got her one of Perel's. I got her a bunch of Perel clothes to try and turn off. Oh, sure. Oh, yeah. But it's kind of not working. She's wearing baggy cargo shorts. And she's like wearing like a Hawaiian shirt, but she doesn't button them up all the way. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. There's a girl thing where she ties it into a belly shirt. Tuck's getting confusing, conflicting ideas about Perel. Like, no, I don't like what this is unlocking. Oh, my God. Gender swap Perel. So, she's wearing a baggy cargo shorts, a Hawaiian shirt tied up around. Oh, my God. Her midriff. Ellie Sadler from Jurassic Park 1. Oh, yeah. Yeah. She absolutely looks like Ellie Sadler. Now Paul is warning. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh.

Long chain that she's sort of like draped around her shoulder artfully and is eating the cold omelette that Mears put out for her. We get in the booth with her. Yeah. She kind of like shifts awkwardly as you all press into the booth. Put the signet ring in the middle. Tell us what the fuck this is. This is a symbol of Canem's servitude to the gibbous man. But what does it do? It contains the icon of tyranny. The icon of tyranny is in this. His brother, Colm.

And she kind of looks wistfully into the sky. God, she's so toxic. I love it! It's intoxicating! As the warrior, he received their symbol of war, the sword. His brother, a symbol of authority. She like gestures to the sword where it's like leaning up against the bar. Yes. I like that she doesn't, it's not exposed but she gestures to where it's hidden. Oh, she kind of, yeah, gestures to the storage room. She knows. How'd she know, how'd she know where it is? Ah, to be honest I'm not sure.

I can just tell. If I had to guess, it has something to do with, uh, and she gestures to Mirza's put a bandage over the wound. Your tattoos. My tattoos. I was connected to the iconic realm and I believe that, uh, there is some sort of lingering presence or perception or other magic bullshit, who knows. I'm doing the, her sarcasm is just turning. I'm doing the cigarette thing cause I'm eating a, cause I'm doing a French accent but she's got a fork in there with omelet on it.

So you can guess that what she's saying is what she knows. Her connection, her being chained to that icon has given her some, at least temporarily, some sort of ability to perceive iconic influence. Ving says, do you have any other tattoos? Not putting into this conversation, no. And then Tuck goes, what about ones that, might have you? To the conversation. I am a worldly woman with many experiences. You know this. He aspirates. He breathes in the meat that he was drinking.

I'm gonna try to pat you on the back. Thank you. All I know is, uh, I look at this ring. I know that there's something in there and it tells me that it is tyrannical. And then Tuck like taps me. He rips his chest and he's like, do you know what's in here? It's different now. I remember it from our whirlwind night together. We never, uh, turned the page on that chapter, did we? No, I ate too much cheese that night. I remember.

And I slide a little bowl of parmesan cheese across the table and Billy in his head is like, does that stop you from reading? I'm like, oh, cheese reading. Oh. No one in this conversation is on the same page. It's so funny. If he grabs a handful of parmesan, thank you. Go on, Victoria. It's like dripping in his beard. It's shaved parmesan. Before it was, uh, I can't quite remember. But now, before of course I could not see, but now it is a symbol of, um, your loyalty to your friends. Oui? Yeah.

So, that's all I know. I can see. Maybe for good, maybe for now. So, without the ring then, is Callum just walking around like… Oh, without any power? Without anything? He is still chained to the icons of cunning and tyranny, but I believe the ring amplified these powers. What else is he chained to? Those are the two. What was his original tattoo again? Cunning. Oh, it was cunning. Oh, cunning. Right. When did the gibbous man give him this ring? How long has he had it?

I came in later in the game, but I believe it was, uh, less than a year. That makes sense. Yeah. Tell us what was the game. It was quite a cunning plan. I must give him that. Tell us about it. Oh, sorry. You were about to. You were about to tell us about it, and I interrupted you. I'm so sorry. Billy also has a handful of parmesan. Billy? What? Billy. What? There's so much dairy in that. That's basically cocaine for you. For everyone. It's for all of us. Can Billy not eat cheese?

No, it's so dairy. It's so dairy. This is fermented dairy. Parmesan? Less dairy. Oh, that's true. Parmesan's probably one of the few cheeses he can safely have. It's still dairy. It's just flat toast. Way to no-but that, John. Yeah, come on. It is kind of like he's, instead of taking meth, he's on methadone. Yeah, his eyes are just really focused. Yeah. It's like instead of smoking meth, he's eating meth. Yeah. Yeah. It's kind of like he's on Zinz right now. It's fine. It's the same.

You guys have never eaten meth, have you? Of course not. We don't know anything about drugs. Yeah, man. You have done more drugs than all of us put together. Oh, fuck. Of course. Like this week. And I haven't had any drugs. Just whatever's left in my system and my fat cells. I shit more drugs than you've ever done in your life. I hear ya. Oh, those days. Paul used to be a really cool audience. Used to be so cool. I still think you're cool, Paul. Thank you. Me too. Um, what was the question?

Oh, sorry. Oh, what was the plan? It was just please keep talking. Yeah. If I may ask, what did he tell you the plan was? He told us. He never told us anything. I don't like this. Yeah. No, we asked the questions here. I very well. I just know that, uh, Callum rarely has the same conversation twice. What does that mean? He's always, he's always working an angle. He's always lying. Yeah. He's Janice faced. So you think he lied to you? No, I think I was instrumental to the plan.

So I figure that perhaps mine was the right one. Perhaps it was not, but he had quite an elaborate setup and he played each of you perfectly. Okay. Give us the play by play. From start to end. And then tell us where it was supposed to go. So he sent out his invitation. Of course you could not resist an invitation to a masked ballroom gala by your, one of your primary foes. What could possibly be hiding behind the door?

Vink audibly rolls his eyes and he knew, and he reached, she reaches out and, uh, he, she puts a hand on your shoulder. Oh, it says, Tuck has an aneurysm. Oh, I'm sorry. There's a woman. There's a woman. There's a woman. There's a woman. There's a woman. There's a woman. There's a woman. There's a woman. There's a woman. There's a woman. There's a woman. There's a woman. There's a woman. There's a woman. There's a woman. There's a woman. There's a woman. There's a woman. There's a woman.

There's a woman. There's a woman. There's a woman. There's a woman. There's a woman. There's a woman. There's a woman. There's a woman. There's a woman. There's a woman. There's a woman. And so you walked right in the front door. Is that why you guys were getting married or did you actually love each other? I loved him. Do you love him still? You must. Yes, and I'm sure that I will for a certain amount of time until some other beautiful thing wanders into my view. He looks at Mirrors.

And Mirrors is like, no. No. Absolutely not. One way mirror, sister. A mouth to a flame, I am to his indifference. His plan was to use each three of you and my desperate need for vengeance and his own cunning and tyranny to bind the Gibbous Man. And once he was bound and under Callum's control, he was going to be destroyed. Why would he destroy him? To free himself. Callum is a man that luxuriates in power. And to have power, one must have those to have power over.

If the Gibbous Man's plan was to wipe the world clean. Who then would Callum rule? I imagine he's also the kind of guy that languishes under a leash. Oh. It chaffed him to no degree to be put under the beck and call of one such as the Gibbous Man. Why do you think he took the ring off? And she nods. He would rather trade the portion of his power than risk being found by the Gibbous Man. But he called the Gibbous Man to the wedding. He did. To bind him. But now he is alone.

He could only do it if it was all of us. And without one of the eight. He's in his hole. So to speak. Weird way to say that. Cards up his sleeve. Whatever. And she kind of nods towards the stables. One of his primary weapons in his plan is out of his control as well. Black glass. Black spire? Black spire. One more time? The dog. What was… How did black spire factor into the plan? I'm sure you can guess if you think hard. He's imbued with sunstone. And black obsidian.

And one of the prominent powers of sunstone is… You're asking us a lot of questions here, lady. Doesn't it expel the darkness? It fights the outer dark. Yes. Which means? It's a power against the Gibbous Man. Against the Gibbous Man? And? Demons. Nope. The three of you are the greatest threat to the Gibbous Man's plans. Yeah, did you see the thing they did with the ashtray? Pretty cool. Saffron. Saffron. Saffron. It's the saffron inside. Oh, is he eating saffron? This is unbelievable.

I cannot believe you sunk my ship. You sunk my battleship. It was mostly Perelva. That was mostly our uncle. And she just watched the three of you give the weakest high five possible. Well, we could do the three-way… Oh, yeah. Like the wrist. Yeah, that'd be like… It was wrists that you guys grabbed. No, hold on. Wait. Wait. No. We did this once. No. Hold on. There was a thumb to thumb. We had to do a four. No, no, no. Here we go. There we go. Yeah, three-way fist grab thing.

But not the thumb. She cuts another piece off the omelet and eats it so disappointingly. We nailed it. We nailed that. We nailed that. Disappointed the shit out of her. So, okay. Do I need to step-by-step it for you? Yes. You do. Thank you. Oh, my God. I mean, we got most of the way there. Okay. I'm okay with that. I'm okay with that. I kind of followed. So, black stuff. Spire. Black Spire. That's a name. The gibbous man's semi-mortal form can be harmed. Harmed. I was going to say harmed.

Oh, yeah. You are. That's not the plan. That's just the word that I used in describing it. It's really useful to just keep reminding ourselves that he can be… We could tell he was bleeding. Yeah. The tip of my spear has found his form. Damn it, Paul. I've done so many drugs. The tip of my spear. Victoria, we're really dumb. Okay. Sean, we're really dumb. Okay. So, the three of you are also in opposition of the gibbous man. Okay. Yes. As is Callum. Yes. But for different reasons.

For different reasons. Yeah. For different reasons. He invited you hoping that… Either you would agree to help him bind the gibbous man. Long shot, of course. But an option if you fear him, which at this point you do. As do I. You bind him. He is within the control of the five of us. He is unable to leave. He is vulnerable.

Or the boy uses his power to trap the gibbous man, which is what he thought foolishly the three of you would have been cunning enough to figure out that you could use it to trap the gibbous man. Oh. We did think about it. We chose not to because we thought it would be dangerous to do it. More dangerous than leaving the gibbous man free to enact his will as he so chose. I didn't think about that. Cut, cut, cut, cut. Right. Omelet.

The choice that we made was that we would let the gibbous man roam free. Yeah. And then also expose ourselves to the dangers of Callum and Victoria. Do we knowingly make that choice? Yeah, 100%. I think we make a thought and then we stop when it sounds like it. Yeah. Yeah. That's good enough. You guys' plan was in fact to put on a costume that looked kind of like the gibbous man. I remember that. To be like, I'm here, Callum. It seemed like a cool idea. The thing that, it's me. The gibbous man.

The gibbous man. I'm here to get you. Mama mia. Pick a darker. Pick a darker. Knowing of, and already, it's already knowing that the gibbous man can see so much. Yeah. So much. It's just like a mime. Yeah. Yeah. I'm the gibbous man. I'm trapped in a box. Uh oh. The boy made a trap for me. Oh man. And then, okay. So, incredible. We thought it was a cool idea until we got here and then realized. We didn't have the fabric for the costume. Oh, that's what it was.

So, your plan came down to whether or not you had something in your tickle trunk is what you're telling me. Yeah. Yeah. How did you know about it? I didn't know about our trunk. I wouldn't have said it. You're fucking right. Did you guys just watch Batman? That's just a fun voice to do. It is a fun voice. And then, once his mortal form was captured, the thing that gives him his power is his connection to the outer dark. Because he has been separated from his aspect of the sky.

This is all stuff that Calamus told me. And your friend over there, the big one, compelled on threat of your deaths, and he's now in a state of shock. And he's now in a state of shock. And he's now in a state of shock. And he's now in a state of shock. And he's now in a state of shock. And he's now in a state of shock. And he's now in a state of shock. Oh, he was going to fucking kill the Gibbous. Oh, he was going to burn out his connection to the outer dark. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh.

Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh.

Compelled on threat of your deaths to blast the gibbous man oh he was gonna fucking kill the gibbous he was gonna burn out his connection to the outer dark yes with his breath weapon oh my gosh with the light why don't we think of that very useful to know that's a good point I mean we thought knew he was going to be useful yeah yeah but that's direct yeah and now once he gets a hold of callum he will know this he will get this information out of him and he will know this plan for himself he's gonna that makes black spire a target all I'm saying is once he finds out that this was the plan and this is a vulnerability of his yeah he will avoid contact or proximity to this dragon at all possibilities so that is unfortunately perhaps not a tool that you can use in the future unless we strike now and strike hard oh god we could have fucking done it when he was here standing right there yeah we why!!

Why! Why! He seemed to think that you were important in that way. Because we represent… Because Billy's fairy and Ving is spirit. He said you specifically. What about me? Well, the fairy, the spirit. What do you know about me? I only know what Callum told me. Is that you were instrumental to the plan. And that the gibbous man was very interested in you as well. Why? Something about the three of you and your alignment as a sort of triad of forces that he finds very disconcerting.

But, my love, and don't take this the wrong way, you seem wholly unremarkable. Tuck. His feelings are hurt by that. And he goes, okay. I mean, in a metaphysical sense, of course, physically you are a specimen. Thank you. I'm just gonna go play with my dog for a second. And then Tuck gets up and does that fast walk that happens when you're trying to not cry as you walk out of a room. And Victoria looks to Billy and Ving. I think I've given you plenty of information for now.

I've earned myself a little shut-eye. Yeah, you can have a nap. Very well. Wake me when it's dinner time. And she kind of like slumps back in the booth and closes her eyes. And we can cut to the stable if that is where Tuck wants to go. Yeah. So the stable door bangs open. There's a little corridor that you've never seen like kind of behind the stairs that leads to the door to the stables. Is Black Spire here? Yeah, where else would he be? Okay. I go over to Black Spire.

He lifts his huge head and he's like, Tuck, this is fucking crazy. I can just open my eyes and you're there. That's fucked. And he gets up and he kind of starts nudging you with his head. And then Tuck… You're here. Look. Bonk, bonk. Look at this. And then Tuck gets bonked backwards and he's like, yeah, I'm here, buddy. And he like, he hugs Black Spire. Yeah. Around his big old head. Yeah. What's going on, bro? He seemed kind of like wet. Yeah. Sorry, man.

A girl just had something truly heart-shattering to me. No way. That's crazy. What's a girl? What's a girl? Wait. How do black… How do… Dragons make more dragons? I don't know. Never came up. So you've never seen like a girl dragon? I've never seen any other dragons, bro. Bro, I just became. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I just, you know, I woke up. I cracked myself out of my old eggy and I was just a tiny little guy and I was carried around by a cool guy for a while.

And then remember, I was left in a cave for a long time. Oh, right. Oh, you mean the… Fucked up stuff those worms do. Yeah. When they squiggle around on each other. And then make more of each other. And then there's more worms. That's his only reference. Oh, my God. Do I have to do that? I got to squiggle around on a worm? No, dude. It's… A girl is like a dragon that looks like you, but you'll like her for like mysterious reasons. It's kind of… Huh. Nah. Or a guy.

You can have it with a guy. I don't know how dragons work, man. Dragon's a dragon. A dragon is a dragon. Same, bro. No idea. Anyway, doesn't sound interesting. I just want to chill with my bro. Yeah, man. And then I give him another big hug and I squeeze him like around the kind of like chest neck area really hard. I'm like, I'm so glad we have you now. I'm so glad that I am here as well, that we have each other, all of us. Yeah.

He starts kind of like spinning around and doing like this weird little hop dance. Do you want to play fetch? Yeah, I do. He was going to grab like a giant bag of like grain that is in the thing and then just like do a big like kind of like spin around tetherball toss. Yeah, totally. And just go… Yeah. And hook it as far as he can in the barn. Yeah, totally. And Black Spire runs and as he's running, it smacks him in the back of the head. Oh, shit. And then he goes, whoa.

He jumps around and then he grabs it off the ground and goes, I got it. Fuck yeah, dude. Bring it back. Yeah, brother. And he boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. And I do it again. Yeah. And we see this scene. Maybe you guys playing fetch, which is very sweet. Cute. And we cut back into the bar. Billy and Ving, what are you up to? I don't know. Victoria's sleeping. She's like napping. Yeah. Although after a while of her laying there with her eyes closed, you hear like…

Oh, so she was listening just in case. Yeah, it seems like she was wary, but she has given up some sort of vigilance to get a nap. And it's just like… Jesus Christ. Oh my God. Oh my gosh. Literally everyone in our show has sleep apnea. And if there's nothing that you need to do right now, we can always jump forward. But if there is something that you would like to achieve or even just like a conversation that you want to have. Ving's just sitting on a table in the corner like…

Spinning the ring. Oh, yeah. So now that you're like looking at the ring, Ving, you're spinning it around. When you put it on, you were overcome with this like, I can get what I want out of this. This woman. And then I'll toss her into the dogs. Oh, whoa. And you only wore it for… You wore it for such a brief period of time that you didn't even realize such was the influence that it was like wheedling its way into you. Yeah. And then you popped it off.

And now that you're sitting here, you feel that sort of ache of the absence. Oh, and it feels like almost like a pain of like feeling like you are subject to someone else instead of feeling like you have diminished. Dominion over your own life. The glut of tyranny out of a person's body. Yeah. After being overloaded by it. And like, there's like, with that certainty like that, there's a clarity of action that comes where it's like your mind was like an arrow. Yeah. Yeah. A spear. Oh, yeah.

But yeah, if we just want to hop forward, we can absolutely just cut to… Unless you want to… No. No, no, no. I'm just contemplating that. Yeah. We cut forward. The party is gathered in, in front of the door. Yeah. Or, you know, doing their thing, but like getting ready to go to move the bar. And who is transporting Hither and Yon? I could try it. You, if you want, if you feel like you're up for it, Billy, it's good for you to get practice too. Yeah. Billy's like opening, closing the door.

Okay. 2d6 plus charisma. Ooh. Nine. Nine. Very good. Okay. So seven to nine. Oh, wait. Yes. Yeah. How are you aiding? I just… Turn them around and put them on the real door. Oh, there you go. Billy doesn't notice. Nice. Nine. Okay. Which makes it a 10, which means you get where you want to go. I want to see Perel and Morris. Okay. Wait, what time of day is it? I don't know because it opens into a toilet. To a men's stall. Did I do it? Perel is on the toilet. What the fuck? Whoa. Whoa.

Close the door. Close the door. If I close the door, then you'll leave. If I close the door, then you'll leave. Just close it. I'll just turn around. Oh, my… I'll plug my ears. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. And my nose. Tuck from Perel's perspective, like leans over. He's like, ha! Close the door. No. I go, Victoria, check it out. Perel's taking a shit. Who? And he stumbles in. There's toilet paper everywhere. He's got a magazine. Wash your hands. Ew. I can't. You stole the rest of the bathroom.

You stole the rest of the bathroom. You literally… He literally opened into where the toilet is. Yeah. So he's like running around like, mirrors, where is… He's like, right over here. Ew, don't touch me. And he washes up, and he's in a bathrobe. He looks over to Victoria. She's wearing the exact same outfit. Good morning. And he… Bon matin. He turns around, and he sees her, and he drops the magazine and kind of stumbles against the bar. That's Victoria LaBlanche.

I know, but she can't hurt us. She's sworn off. Yeah. Well, well, well. And he starts sliding sideways towards the bathroom door. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Oh, right, okay. I know, it's really tempting. It is, isn't it? But she has told us a lot. You got her under oath? Yeah, I did. Nice. No perjury in this place. Yeah. Well, what's up, everybody? Why did you come in on me trying to take a dump? How have you been? What have you learned? Oh, okay. Yeah, okay. What issue of Mud Affairs is that? Oh, yeah.

It's not Mud Affairs. It's Golf Digest. And he shoves it in his… They're both pornographic magazines. Yeah, but one is worse. Ooh, which one? Billy, you'll know when you're older. This is why I can't read. No one will let me. Nobody lets me read porn or whatever that is. This is why I can't… It's so fucking… No one ever lets me look at porn, so I'm illiterate. If I knew how to read, I'd know what porn was. Yeah. And we smash cut forward.

We filled him in on everything that happened in black class. Wow. That's rough. Mm-hmm. Things have been way more chill. Way more chill in the tower, for sure. Where's Morris? He's back in the tower working. You guys popped in in the bathroom stall. I thought I did a good job getting to you. Oh, you got to me. Yeah, I don't think we've ever actually gotten that close to someone we were targeting. I was thinking about him really hard. On the toilet. It's impressive. Good job, buddy.

I really wanted to know if he went to the bathroom. I've never seen him go. It's true. Yeah, I do. I unfortunately do. Some… You know what? This is an opportunity to learn. Some wizards don't poop. What? Some of them just poop. Like Aquarius, she's fully formed as a magical being. No waste at all. Huh. I was turned into a wizard. Oh. So you have to poop. So I have to poop because I spent a long time as a mortal pooping. How many poops have you turned into frogs? Accidentally? 25.

You know the exact number. Anyways. Magic is bullshit. I'm not talking to you. And I'm not going to talk to you because you're gross. Frankly, you're tacky. Victoria, I'm not interested. Okay, so what were we talking about? Because it couldn't have just been me pooping frogs. No. So he stirs his tea. What have you learned from the tower? Oh, the tower. Yes. So it's not been going great. Okay. Um, we did initially get a response from Waleed the speaker. Oh shit. Really? Sorry.

I should have led with that. Holy shit. Yes. We received a correspondence from him. So it worked. What do we scream into that void? Unfortunately, yes. Nice. High five. High five. What's the notes say? So Perel pulls out a crumpled note that it seems like he's had for a long time. Said, this is all we got after all that information that you yelled into the thing. This is the response and he unfolds it and it says in a very beautiful, like almost calligraphy style, handwritten script. Hello.

Fuck. I thought there was going to be useful information. No, that's what it is. That's what it is. Okay. However, when we received his note, the resulting feedback from the Thalmic discharge locked us out of the room. What? What do you mean? The amount of, so this is just before I explain this and everybody gets mad at me, I want you to understand this is unprecedented. This has never happened. When the power required to send the message back through the wifi hotspot hit the material plane.

It overloaded the mechanisms in the base of the high spear tower. Oh no. And as a security lock down, it shut us out. Did you try and use the password? Yeah, I tried to use the password. What was it? Asked, stuck my nut 69 or something like that. It stuck my nut 69 69. Do you think it changed the password or destroyed the mechanism that required a password? I wish we'd been trying to figure it out. We can't quite. Uh, Morris has tried all his little tricky tricks to get in.

He's tried to bend his way around the door. He's tried to move the room somewhere else in the tower. Uh, and we just, we just, we just, we just, we just, we just, we just, we just, we just, we just, we just, we just, we just, we just, we just, we just, we just, we just, we just, we just, we just, we just, we just, we just, we just, we just, we just, we just, we just, room somewhere else in the tower and we just we can't get it to work. Do you shut it on and off?

If we shut it off, you would have known. You for sure would have known if we turned off the high spirit. So you're saying you didn't try it? I am saying we didn't try it. Well. What happens if the high spirit turns off for a second? Well, we don't know how long it takes to turn back on. Oh, okay. We don't know how to turn it off. Right. We probably need access to that room to turn it off. Unless there's another way. We found another way. Show us.

And we can cut through to the tower and he's standing. It is not in the base of the tower where you were. He brings you to a room way in the top of the high spirit. Whoa, cool. That is small, but a very well-appointed bedroom. It seems to be the study and quarters of Waleed the speaker. Whoa. Dusty is all fucking here, but you can see paths where Morris and Perel have walked, but they have not cleaned mostly to the bed. Well, the bed is really clean. I wouldn't worry about that so much.

These are like new sheets. Everything else is full of dust. Oh, that bed is not clean. We just haven't had time to clean the whole place says Morris. He's also in a bathrobe. It looks like they've both been wearing bath robes constant. What you get a taste for it? It's hard to give up the terrycloth. It's so absorbent. What? Not like that, but like you spill something on yourself like orange juice or cum. How's A4?

I mean, look for yourself and you peek out the window out of this bedroom and you see A4 lounging on the mountainside. There's so many birds on him. He's covered in birds, but he's got sort of a vigilant, despite the fact that he's lounging. It looks like he's rested his head on a fist like and the elbow is on an on a outcropping to sort of ensure that he can see all of Highspear.

I like that Ving walks up to the window just like as soon as he comes into the view of the window and A4 you see Jim's just kind of like tilt his head a little bit. Tilt his head. Yeah. Birds fly off in a huge flock. Yeah, he's just been there watching. You wave at him and it's you see dust like rocks and shit like crush off of his arm as he reaches up to wave and you hear a chorus of voices in the city go. Wow. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. Robot. Giant robot.

There's like people like winning bets and losing bets. If he'll move. Yeah, you hear an all you can eat ribs place absolutely freaking out, closing all the doors, boarding everything up. But this is what we found. And he like opens an armoire and inside the armoire is a big fucking switch like literally like a like a power reset like funk. I want to do it. Billy, Billy, Billy, Billy, Billy, Billy. It could blow up in your face. We have no idea what it what it could do.

If the high spear is responsible for all of mortal kind to be able to communicate and it's never been turned off. If you turn it off for the first time in centuries, maybe a millennia or more. We have no idea how long it will take to reset. And that means while it's off, no one can communicate. Also, I think it puts us at risk because this is a place of power that the gibbous man cannot enter. That's a very good point. Also to end that much power suddenly.

We don't know what kind of danger we're putting ourselves in the world in. But if we do need Waleed to help us figure out how to bring the wizards back and we can't get back into the Wi-Fi hotspot room, this might be our only opportunity. But we have to carefully measure if it's worth it. Yes. And if we were to turn it off, then Billy gets to get a point for jumping into danger without a plan. That's true.

If Billy grabs this switch and flips it right now, no one can stop him and he gets a point later. But everyone would be mad at me. And Perel steps forward and puts the clothes back in front of the switch. We're not flipping this. But you just said it's the only way. Yeah, it's… No, sorry. If we can't get back into the room, which we haven't done the password reset, I'm sure there's something we could do. And Morris looks at Perel. I mean, there is someone we could talk to.

And Perel goes, I don't know if it's ready. What? Aquaria? I don't know. I don't know. And we can cut back down to their lab and you see a brass framework of a human body. And inside in the center of the chest, a cavity seemingly designed after Ving's own chest cavity that looks like it is built to hold the little moss terrarium that you were gifted by Aquaria years ago. Cool. And it is a full framework.

It's standing in the middle of the lab and it's got a bunch of little magic-y doodads and stuff on it and it's inscribed with like Thaumic runes in different spots. I picture it as like kind of lattice work. Yes. It is like muscle. It follows the work of muscle, but there's a lot of spacing and air in it, right? Totally. It's very light in its build. It is. It almost looks like the frames that they used to… You know those like big kind of Regency French gowns?

Not Regency, but like they puff out and they have like the bone kind of like hoops and frames and stuff? Yeah. It kind of looks like something like that. Cool. What does the face look like? No features. Totally featureless. Okay. Yeah. Have you tried it yet? No. To be honest, I'm too scared. I don't know what effect it's going to have on her. That's a lot of… It's a lot of power to transfer and she's already in such a state. Well, let me talk to her. Let's ask her.

Yeah, you can totally reach out. And the three of you with your little rings and with your… The Chamberlain rings, you can absolutely reach out. He hands you the moss terrarium. Ving takes the moss and holds it up to his lips in his closed hand and then puts it in his chest cavity. Whoa, cool. Okay. That's sick. Yeah. That's so fucking… Cool. Oh, because you're connected to all knowledge kind of too. Right. Yeah. That's so sick. So does this mean… Do you think that you are in her chamber?

Even if you're not physically there? Yeah. And she is in Ving's chamber. Because he is now the armature for her as well. Okay. Yeah. So it's like an interchange. Cool. I don't know if that makes any sense. It makes sense. You're like a hologram in her chamber. And she is now present for you. She's in front of you. So that… Maybe Morris and Perel can ask her themselves. Yeah. Yeah. I want to bring her in the room.

So yeah, you connect to her through this moss which fills the chamber in the center of your chest. And… Oh. It grows really fast. Yeah. And it is like coding in around the seed of knowledge. Oh, yes. And I think that it might incur… Like there could be a pop of growth happening from this. Oh, cool. The seed. Oh, yeah. That's sick. Yeah. Do you want to sprout a little bit in there? Yeah. And appearing before you like in a wink is a woman. Okay.

Last time we saw Aquaria, she was laid up in her bed. She was like under blankets of moss, basically, which were helping her breathe. But that's not how you see her now. You see her as she was before she was wounded. Oh. She is tall. She's taller than Morris and Perel. Whoa. She's very lean. She has long kind of brassy blonde hair. Very like severe features. And she's got quite a thin face. And she's wearing long layered green robes that call to mind the moss that she was blanketed under.

And she looks at everyone in the room. And I think her response is, oh, how strange. Aquaria? Bing. Hello. It's been quite some time. It's been an age. And she looks over at Morris and Perel who are like watery. I like Perel is like watery eyed. I put out a hand. It's okay. Come here to Perel. He puts a hand in yours and you can see like the hologram of her is reaching out and that connects over Perel's hand. And as you're doing that, I whisper in your ear real quick.

I go, don't tell her I stole her loot, okay? You're just whispering in her ear. That's his ancient history. Tacoma, the moss is told. Me long ago. Fuck. And she reaches out a hand like a fucking a hand and she kind of brushes Perel's cheek. It's good to see you three together.

I say, and I can feel there like you can feel the love that they have for each other and you can feel the connection as Morris comes before like kind of nervous and they hug and you can see her lean in to Morris into his ear and she whispers something and he kind of sinks into her embrace. They take a breath and they separate. When like Ving channeling her was touching Perel's face, Tuck was like ugh. It's been a confusing day. What does this mean? Real nuts and bolts of emotions.

I can only assume if you have called me here that there is something you wish to discuss. This is quite taxing. So I would request that we get on with it. We're wondering if there's any way Perel has made this body for you and wondering how we can make it less taxing for you. What can, how can I help you to embody this form? And I gesture at the brass armature. Okay, that's a great question. I think that she walks up to it and she kind of leans in and through Ving's eyes is looking closely.

This is quite impressive, but also disappointingly rudimentary, boys. And they go wow. Okay, what would you, what would you recommend? And yeah, let's, let's roll something because I think that there is something missing from this form. I like that her with Ving and elemental mastery. She threw him. She's like, let me give on to her my power to make this format. She needs it. That's great. That makes sense. And also because you're like you are born of a wizard.

Her like you're a natural kind of like extension. Yeah, I have my mom's power to yeah, she can use that. That's yes, that's great. Okay, so elemental mastery, elemental master 26 plus constitution. Okay, plus con whole nice 13. That was cool because the die was on a one and then rolled off the court. That was sick. 12. Sorry 12. Okay, so on 12 with elemental mastery, you choose to, uh, the effect I desire comes to pass and I always just do the same retain control. Yeah, I guess so. Yeah.

What is the other option? Avoid paying nature's price. Such a self sacrifice. You think I always do, but well, I think that there is a price that we could probably work in. Yeah, the effect I desire to pass and I retain control. Okay, Ving, you feel yourself kind of like moving in response to the movements of Aquaria. Um, you're like, you know, you're she reaches out for something in your hands, kind of like connect at the same point. I was thinking that this felt like ghost before this moment.

Yeah, this is so ghost. Yeah, yeah, and she reaches out and she kind of like blows on the tips of her fingers and rubs her hands together. Shameless Wister or whatever and then she starts on chain melody. Oh, it is. Yeah, it's a chain melody and she starts running her hand down like the arm of the of the brass armature as your fingers trace behind and the moss grows up your arm. Yeah, it drapes down the side. Cool. And then she drapes it down the other arm painting it from the chest out.

Yeah, and she's forming this kind of very much like the robes that she's wearing, but completely out of moss. Uh-huh. She's draping this robed form over the brass armatures and as the moss is coming out of my chest cavity so that the seed is sprouting and growing and busting. Whoa! Cool. You can feel like little roots starting to take hold inside setting into my chest. The magic that's being channeled through it is accelerating its growth. Yeah. Like fertilizer. Yeah. Yeah. It's manure.

Thalmic fertilizer. Manure. And you see as she forms for herself a face of moss, like a nose and a mouth and eyes and then her long hair. Layers of moss upon the layers of the moss of her robes. Uh-huh. And then she's like, oh, this is a chia pet. She does kind of look like a chia pet. I mean, I didn't know what else would happen, but yeah, I'm like, this is a chia pet. Yeah, this is a fucking chia pet. Oh, man.

I was thinking about this for so long and I was like, it's kind of elegant and like interesting. It is. It is. It's a fucking chia pet. There's nothing more elegant than a chia pet. It's a fucking chia pet. John, be proud of the thing you made. Also, I know now what's going in next month's box for me. Chia pets. She finishes creating a pretty impressive makes two of us.

She finishes a pretty impressive replica of herself, but now made completely of moss covering the brass armature and you think back to her chamber in the green tower and how the mosses were the only thing keeping her alive, sort of continuing her life force, using it to diffuse the magical energy that she needed to keep breathing. And you realize that that's what she's doing here.

She's creating sort of a diffuse surface through which the magical energies will be able to reverberate in a way that keeps the moss alive and also allows her to continue a safe transfer of energy between here and her form, her mortal body. You know, living physical body. Right. And she turns to all of you and looks happy. She's got a pleased smile. She's like, I'm glad I was here to correct some of the stakes in your initial prototypes. And you go, yes, we are also glad you're here, Aquaria.

I don't want to diminish that. I'm very happy that you're here. And she says, I believe with time I will be able to even perhaps fully transfer my essence from the tower to this body. But for now it will be simply a extension of myself, a prosthesis that I can temporarily and habit when needed. Oh, cool. That's awesome. This process, though, even the initial usage of the moss body will take time. So if you have anything to ask me, do it now. Do you know of any other wizards?

My flight from Torvor to the tower was swift and I was wounded. I made no contact with any others before I left. Do we have anything we want to know? Yeah, I don't know anything that I would ask Billy. Billy? Billy's not there. He snuck away before you guys got down to the room. Fuck! Oh, no. Where are you? I'm looking up at the switch. Oh. In the ongoing. No, Billy! No! No! I turned around and realized that Billy has not been in the room for some time.

Yeah, I turned around well before you guys got in the elevator. Yes. Fuck! Yes. Someone has to. This is the juiciest switch in all of Spout Lore. This is why you put a big switch in your game, folks. For your wife. That's such an aggressive read on the word wife. And Morrison Perel, I actually do like that everybody's realized that Billy's gone and what he's about to do. Morrison Perel, look at you and look around. And start like looking behind desks and go, Billy, Billy, are you in here, Billy?

Yeah. Oh, my God. He's going to flip the switch because they are so cautious when it comes to magical stuff that they start hauling ass back to the elevator. No one wanted to pull it. Are you kidding me? The answer is so simple. I'll do it if no one wants to do it. You do hear from the base of the tower. And you hear ding outside the room as someone calls the elevator. OK, so we're going to roll. Well, it wouldn't be. I mean, dexterity. I kind of want it to be a flat roll. Oh, cool.

Like a luck roll. Yeah, I can do it. No, yeah. Six. Shit. Can I fucking give you an eight? Why would you make it a flat roll, Sean? Why was everyone so on board with that flat roll? You guys said yes to this. We did. We did. We did. You absolutely did. So, Billy, you flip the switch. I flip it. I pull on it. Great. I hang off of it. And you hear. You jump up. You fall down. I did it. And all around you. It's fixed. So you wait. You only turn it off. You do not turn it back on. I did. It's fixed.

And you hear. All around you, you hear. The elevator that we're on trying to get to him stops. Yes. So there. You hear Billy from the armoire. Silence for a good 15, 20 seconds. I wonder when it turns back on. And then outside you hear. Boom. And the camera cuts outside to the high spear as the floating pieces that have surrounded this shattered ancient tower for centuries begin to fall. Oh, I run back. I'm trying to push it up. And you hear voices calling to you from the elevator.

But the words. You don't understand. I fucked up, you guys. And that's where we're going to end it for this week. I'm your game master, Sean O'Hara. Joining me as always, Tacoma Dome, the barbarian, Abdul Aziz. Ma'a salama. Azdakai. Hazal podcast. Ahsan podcast. Being the half-elf druid, Paul Oppers. Thank you, Elmind. Her. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Fat Billy the Halfling Thief Jessica Tai La Poutine La Poutine Leotard Comment ça va? Ça va bien?

Sacrebleu I don't know Ghetto Ghetto Chocolat Je ne comprends pas Thank you to all of our supporters around the world If you would like to support the show Please join us at patreon.com Or spellore.com Thank you to Aaron Reed For all of our intro and outro music Aaron is an incredible musician And he has helped us produce many wonderful songs For the show And you can find those anywhere And Aaron's original music At aaronreed.bandcamp.com And you know what?

We're coming back We're coming up on the end of the show here people And for years and years you've supported us And it really means a lot to us And we just want to tell Pull the bandaid off there Sean Hey look you know We got plans after this But it cannot be overstated That this beautiful beautiful thing will come to an end Sooner than later At least this part At least this part of it This chapter And so many of you have supported us for so long Like James Thank you You know you're out there I can't tell you I can't say your last name Because I'm not going to dox you bro But you know you're out there You've been helping us out for You've been supporting the show for a long time And it really means a lot to us Thanks James Yogi?

Oh my gosh Yogi Thank you so much So many postcards I've written to all these people Yeah We're seeing on Discord Annie H Annie H Annie H You've been around forever My dad's ex-girlfriend is a Patreon supporter Yeah That's not the one There's no way Oh you never know Chris Chrissy Thank you so much for all of your support Yeah Ashok Ashok Ashok Ashok Ashok You are my favorite guy Wait wait Because you're brown Were we doing it like that? Are we separating everybody by race now?

That's what I'm doing Oh I thought that's what we were doing We've just seen Ashok so we know Yeah Yeah You're excited because you met the person One time I sent Ashok a cake for his birthday And then a few months later I saw him get absolutely trashed Which was one of the funniest things ever I do remember No yeah that's Ashok's a great Ashok Thanks a lot buddy You're a good dude Ashok was genuinely one of our first patrons Yeah I remember I remember seeing the notification of his patronage Yeah And then being like Oh cool I think this guy's like in university in Chicago or something Nice Yeah I remember someone coughed on my face And Ashok assured me I would be okay Yeah Yes yes Ashok one of our One of I've been playing games with Ashok for years now And yeah good dude He's awesome Everyone in that group is awesome Jesse and Sawyer Yes Jesse and Sawyer So wonderful I think we Another I think I've met Jesse Yes you've met Jesse Made some incredible soap maker Oh man I long for more soap I haven't used soap since Jesse If you got soap Please Get on at HMU We would all benefit From Paul using soap Yeah Lilith Yeah Yeah Thank you so much Lilith Yo Lilith has been there For a long time For forever Yeah Yeah Lilith is incredible Ricky M Shout out to Ricky M Ricky Ricky And a big shout out And this will be the last one for this one To Brandon R Brandon R I think we can say this one From Fantasy by Numbers One of the best One of the best One of the best Yes And also sorry Wizard in his own right That we still get your name wrong It is Paul's False Whoa Bold but true Hey That's ancient history Yeah dude You said his name was Brandon In 2022 Yeah And it stuck Whose fault is that?

Yours No it wasn't It was 2020 you did that You did it Cause it was It was one of the first recordings We did in that barn If you need an escape goat I could do that for you An escape goat?

He said what he said If you want us to support the show Like many of our supporters Patreon.com Slash Spout Lore Or Spout Lore.com Slash money please And thank you finally And most of all To all of you for listening We'll see you next time And so ends the tale of adventures three Who tried the best they can Though dumb and scared and lost they be For time's abreast in revelry And though our journey may be long A conclusion We will not leave you without a resolution Return next week to hear some more Whilst you commute or do your chores And for you I gladly Spout Lore