Season Thirteen: Endings

Uh, hi there, listener. It's your Game Master Sean O'Hara here, joined by Abdulaziz. Hey, listener. Great to see you. And we are here to tell you about Speltlore's Summer of YouTube. Did you know that the episode that you're listening to right now has a video episode as well? Yeah, that's right. That video episode is live right now on YouTube. And if you go and watch that episode over on YouTube instead of over here, then it actually helps us con YouTube.

Yeah, we're trying to trick the algorithm into showing Speltlore to as many people as possible, just like we tricked Apple Podcasts when we launched Mall Brats, and you helped us get to number one in comedy podcasts in Canada. I guess in a lot of ways, it's not really a trick. It's just our amazing community coming together to support us, which we so appreciate. So if you go to our YouTube page right now and subscribe, like, comment, share, and do the surveys at the end.

That will help Speltlore grow. Yeah. And if you're going to listen to the episode anyway, might as well just click the link, go to this exact same episode over on YouTube, take a gander at our faces every once in a while while you're listening to it, and help us find new audiences, new cool people like you who like TTRPGs, who like comedy. And if we get 1,500 YouTube subscribers, we're going to release for free the video episodes of our first Up All Night playtest in which we play…

Kids on Bikes and a Special Christmassy Adventure. Do you want to hear fictionalized versions of us murder Santa Claus? Don't spoil it. And if we get to 3,000 new subscribers, we're going to release episode two of our Up All Night playtest in which we play Bump in the Dark by Last Pine Press, but set in the 1970s. Yeah. Do you want to hear fictionalized versions of us kill the Easter Bunny? Don't spoil it. So if that sounds like something you want, head over to our YouTube page and enjoy.

Five whole bonus episodes of us murdering beloved holiday mascots. So if that sounds like the kind of thing that interests you, check out the link in the show notes, head over to YouTube, like, subscribe, share, comment, watch, enjoy, and we'll see you next time. Get out of here, St. Peter. Or I'll fucking… Shoot you in the brain. Bang, bang, bang. Ha, ha, ha. 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. 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. Ah. Hello, everybody, and welcome to Spout Lore. I'm your game master, Sean O'Hara. Joining me as always, playing Tacoma Dome, the barbarian, Abdul Aziz. Hello, everybody. Playing Ving, the half-elf druid, Paul Oppers. Hi. And playing Fat Billy, the halfling thief, Jessica Tai. Hello. When last we left our heroes, battle was joined.

Colm Blackhammer, one half of the Blackhammer twins, possessor of the icon of slaughter, had arrived, sword in hand, armor shattered, and Tuck got in the mix immediately. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And almost instantly was mortally wounded. I immediately took 11 points of damage. Yeah. Which was one point more than I had to take. And one more point than Colm was capable of dealing to you. I self-owned. You did kind of self-own.

Trying to overcome the armor bypassing, super demonic sharpness of the blade. Yeah. Billy, meanwhile, inside, transplanted the mechanical heart of M4. Into Project Anvil, the towering war machine. While Ving joined the battle, defending Tuck as best he can. Some failures caused the demon of servitude contained within the coins in Tuck's chest to take full control of Tuck's body. Pretty scary. Pretty fucked up. Yeah. Wielding Colm's own sword against his best friend and lover? Co-parent? Yeah.

Lover? Lover? I love that tone. Husband? Yeah. Billy attacked Colm using Larry, Terry, and Chad after leaving the heart to do its thing. Yeah. Did way more damage than Tuck. Oh, yeah. So much more. Fucking. Literally, immediately dead. Yeah. Kicked the shit out of Colm. Yeah. Oh, sorry. I meant I became dead. And then after that was left with literally one hit point. Yeah. It was very close. It was a close fight. Yeah. I mean, I'm fine.

Bing very smartly used his combat prowess to draw the rampaging Tuck demon away. Staying out of the fight and keeping Billy out of harm's way. Well, out of harm from being killed by Tuck, but still deeply in harm's way. You can tell by how much he was harmed. It was a lot. It was. What did we learn from the fight? Because the fight happened. The listeners, you've heard the fight. We don't have to go blow by blow. Yeah. So, Tuck pushed out of his own body into the void. In his mind.

By like, I guess, like the influences of the sword. Yeah. And the demon in the coins in his chest. Yeah. Fully just transplanted him into this void in his mind. Yeah. And heard the voices of the children of McCall singing the tolling. The old dirge for those lost on the streets. Yeah. Immediately freaked about it because he was just like, oh no, I'm dying. I'm going to die. Oh. Seeing these children on the periphery of his vision, but then seeing a door, the door that he had seen. Yeah.

Once long ago. The door to the iconographer's lab. Yeah. Remembering in this void that that doorway and that iconographer are his first known memories. Yeah. His known memories before that point. Mm-hmm. And I gave up also that all of the Bruce Bruce stuff was a lie. Yeah. Yeah. Everything that came before that doorway and those wrist straps. Yeah. Oof. Is a lie. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. His full adult countenance in his mind took the ax in his mind from the icon of servitude in its true form and found himself momentarily well and truly in the outer dark. Yeah. Cool. Yeah. A sea of stars. Yeah. Smashing through that door, Tuck returned to his body and slowly gained recontrol over his form, saving himself from taking the head right off of Ving. Well, maybe not. Probably not. Probably not. Probably not. Probably not. I was about to do something.

I was about to do something for sure. I was going to get my finger in there. Blink it aside. Yeah. Just as the party reconvened and was just, again, getting the shit kicked out of them by Colm Blackhammer. Yeah. Billy was really fighting a little monster, basically. Yeah. Yeah. M4 now, A4, finally woke, slamming a giant mechanical hand down on Colm and receiving a benediction. A benediction. A very Eucharist-like offering from Ving. Saffron. Saffron. Freeing him from his iconic influence.

You received images and visions of the life of Colm and Callum Blackhammer as young men and the twisting of them through manipulation by the Gibbous Man into taking the icons of slaughter and for Callum, the icon of tyranny. Mm. And as a last wish, he begged you to save his brother, Callum. Yeah. Uh, and died. And that is where we find our heroes now, or we find them a bit past this, I think we discussed. Yeah. Yeah. I think that this situation was well and truly under control. Yeah.

What's anyone going to do against the gigantic 120-foot A4? Uh, so where do we find our heroes now? Immediately after Colm died, we heard a bunch of doors slamming as people ran out of there. Yeah. Yeah. Weapons scattering. Ignition starting cars driving away. Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go. Fucking move. Run, run. Do I get the doors not open? New resumes being printed off somewhere else. Yeah. What happened to Mears? I don't know. That's- Oh, yeah. We don't know. That's the thing.

You guys go back or- Yeah. We would go back immediately. I think so. Yeah. You know what? That is what happens. I think we went back. We followed all these people who were working in here- Yeah. And ran back to the room where that closet was. Yeah. So what do you tell A4 before you leave? Wait. Okay. All right. We'll wait. And it's so- Whoa. Dude. Fuck. Wow. Yeah. The end of that is quieter than the beginning as he realizes how loud he is now.

And yeah, you run back to the office of Colin Blackhammer and his war council room as there's like people scattering all over the place. Yeah. They don't care about us anymore. They're looting. Oh, yeah. Nice. Shuffling a bunch of like pencils and staplers. There's a lot of people who are forced to work here for sure. Yeah. Oh, man. The lunchroom is empty now. Yeah. Totally. A guy's running with a giant bucket of coleslaw. I got the coleslaw. Yeah.

You guys are running down the hallway and a guy skids in front of you holding a giant bucket of coleslaw and he just stares at you. You can have it. And he keeps running. Don't forget that we spared you today. There's a trail of coleslaw leading away from him. And there's that. It's that vibe where like there's papers and shit scattered all over the ground and just like a whoa, whoa. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Like that. And every once in a while you see someone run down a hallway. Yeah. Effie is.

Effie is following you. Okay. Yeah. She's got a couple bruises. She's got like, you know, a busted lip and she looks like she's not having a very good time. She really fucked up Colin Blackhammer. That's kind of a big deal. Oh, she gives a thumbs up. Great. I'm going to go back to that hotel that you all live in. That's okay. Yeah. You should come with us. Okay. You did a great job. Thanks. You're on a vacation. And you get back to the hotel.

You get back to the door and it's kind of like hanging off of. Oh, he like ripped it out of the wall. He like knocked it. Like one of the hinges is busted and it's just kind of hanging there. What? The door is open. You don't see anybody. Oh, my God. And you walk in. It's quiet. There's like shit kind of messed around. And then a figure dives at you from behind like the alcove, like around the wall where the like the sitting room is. I kick it in the chest. Oh, my God.

You don't have to roll for the wall. You don't have to roll for the wall. You don't have to roll for the wall. You don't have to roll for the wall. You don't have to roll for this. You hear. Ah! Fulk! It slammed into a bookshelf. Mirrors? And it's mirrors. Oh, my God. Are you okay? I thought he died. Oh, no. I just. He. Wait, what happened to Colm? Where's that guy? Where's that guy? And he gets up. He's got his sword. It's okay. Flash forward. He's pouring some soup. Wow.

I can't believe you defeated Colm Blackhammer in that fashion. We shouldn't stay here, though. No. His brother's still alive. And he's going to hear about this. Yeah. How did you get away from him? I gave him the sword. What? He asked for it. And I felt myself give it to him. Like you were compelled to? I didn't want to. I knew I wasn't supposed to. But he just walked in. And he knocked the door off its hinges. He couldn't come in. And he, like, pats the bar.

Hither and Yon knows how to protect people from those with I'll intent. But he just looked at me. And he said, that doesn't belong to you. And then I just went. And I got it. And I gave it back to him. Whoa. Sword is so powerful. Yeah. What did we do? The camera cuts to it under a pile of papers on the catwalk where it skittered out of Colm's hand. Oh, fuck. Why do we always forget to take stuff with us? I want to commune with A4 and tell him to pick up that sword. He picks up a little.

He's trying to. Like trying to pick up a toothpick. His fingers are stuck. His fingers are stuck. His fingers are stuck. His fingers are stuck. His fingers are stuck. So big. He's honestly like, yeah, like, okay. Can do. He's doing this. He licks his finger. No, he's like, he can't seem to pick it up. And he's just like, he's trying to get a fingernail underneath it. Fuck. Fuck. It's so small. The blade is flat against the ground. I can't get purchase. I just cut my nails. Yeah.

And then we hear him get frustrated and hear a giant honking. I'm so big now. I'm too big. So if you guys want the sword, it is something that you could secure if you want that around. But Mears is like, I don't want that thing in hither and yon. I don't think it doesn't feel good to just leave it lying around for somebody else to pick it up. But we should destroy it. But I think Billy's right. We got to get out of here fast. Well, someone's going to have to put like here.

And Mears like walks over to the door. And he's just going to like slap it back on basically. And that should be hopefully enough to get the place moving. Yeah. Should we tell A4 to meet us somewhere? Yeah. That's a good idea. Yeah. We're I mean, if you guys wanted something because I mean, A4 is not going to be able to hide. Well, he's definitely not going to be able to hide. And he is ascension thing. So he might have his own goals.

But I mean, like if you just wanted him to go to like High Spear. Yeah, I think that's a good idea. Yeah. It's kind of like an Iron Giant scenario where if you're like, go end the war. He might be like, I don't want to do that. Like, I don't want to just go crush a bunch of people. Yeah. I think we might just be like, A4, can you please go and find Perel and Morris and explain to them what you are? Okay. That's something Tuck would ask him. It feels like.

I will go to this giant city and walk inside of it and explain. Explain myself to the people. Try and look friendly. Paint a happy face on your giant helm. Remember inside voice around people. Very well. When you show up, keep doing two thumbs up to indicate that you're good. Great. I understand diplomacy now. Two thumbs up. Smiley face. Two thumbs up. Smiley face. Nice as fuck. Yeah. I am nice as fuck. Yeah.

And then Tuck goes, if you find a thing to paint on yourself with, try and paint the words gift from Tuck, Ving, and Billy. It's not a bad idea. Should we just put that on there right now? Gift for High Spear from Tuck, Ving, and Billy. We see he starts to climb out of the silo and we see you guys moving away with a bucket of barbecue sauce. And we see gift from Tuck, Ving, and Billy painted on his. Just. In barbecue sauce. In barbecue sauce. And a smiley face on his giant metal head. All right.

Cool. And this enormous machine like smashes through a silo cover basically. I paint flames on his back because I think it looks cool. Yeah. Totally. Angel wings that are made out of fire. Wow. Yeah. That's super cool. Yeah. You can tell that you see that and you go, people are going to all think that's cool. Forever. Forever. Not just for 1998. The 2004. The 2004. That's always going to be sick. And he leaves. He is on his way to High Spear. What do we do with the sword? We went back in there.

We painted him with barbecue sauce. I think we grabbed the sword at least. The sword is there. Yeah. In Hither and Yon? No, no, no. In the chamber he was in. So we're all standing around the sword right now. Yes. Is there any way to encapsulate it so its influence doesn't affect us? Good Spout Lore maybe? I'm going to roll Spout Lore. It's a six. Oh, could we aid? How's Billy aiding? Billy is, you know, just, he's like, he's just reaching out to it and going, oh. I could try to touch it.

I mean, it touched me already. I have all these wounds. I was fine then. Plus bond. Eight. Okay. So that makes it a seven, which means something interesting, but not necessarily useful. So you think that this sword is clearly in some way containing a demon? Like there's a demonic influence. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Colm was not just a possessor of the icon of slaughter, but also the icon of honor.

And that that might have been what he utilized to get Mears to return the sword to him. That does not belong to you. Yeah. You have taken what is mine. Return it to me. Right. So he made Mears want to act honorably. Yeah. By giving a murderer a sword to kill us with. Hey, demons are demons, you know? It's an impulsion. They got the power. Didn't you grab some rope that is imbued in saffron? No, you have rope that's imbued in saffron. I just have these saffron candles. The candles.

That's what it was. Yeah. We could wrap it in like a- Saffron the handle. Yeah. That's what I was thinking. Oh, yeah. Saffron rope. Rope and some wax. Yeah. And then if we wanted to take it into Hither and Yon, we could wrap it in like cloth with saffron. Yeah. That's making a sheath that's soaked in saffron. Yeah. Burn the candles around it. Create like a kind of little containment shrine. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Okay. I think we should- We should take it. Okay.

I'll take the candles that I have and I'll like just goop them and then just goop them around the handle. So we can take your hands and mold and wax it. Yeah. And then grab it. So I imagine you guys like wrap the saffron rope around the handle, like drag it back to Hither and Yon. Yeah. At the end of the rope, like to tink, tink, to tink, tink, tink, tink. And then you are doing this containment ritual kind of to make the sword safe.

And Mears the whole time is like, pretty sure I said I didn't want it in here. I know. Pretty sure. Pretty sure I said. We can't leave it out there, man. Oh, sorry. I thought it was moving. Okay. So- Because I'm pulling on the rope going, hee hee. Billy's like under a table far away. Evil sword. But yeah, I think there's probably enough wax here that we could just melt it all over it and then surround it in it. Cool. Okay. And wrap it in the cloth that was dipped in saffron, like Billy said.

Yep. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Go to wherever it wants to go. Oh, wherever it wants to go. Yeah. It'll take us probably somewhere far away from here. Yeah. That's interesting. Where do we think it goes? Maybe, uh… Oh, what? We open up on a beach. Yeah. Oh, yeah. I was thinking it would be somewhere peaceful. Yeah. That Hither and Yon is, like, enough of that. Yeah. All right.

So, the shutters slam shut. Yeah. Uh, Mears has, like, repaired the door enough that it is back on its hinges. Mm-hmm. And they open on a beautiful, sunny beach. It's a little overcast because the firefields is that kind of place where it's, like, not always bright blue skies. There's the black sands of this part of the continent. Mm-hmm. The waves rushing. You see in the distance the pillars of the Sea of Graves. And there's just a beautiful, peaceful beach here. What do you guys do?

Billy, he takes an umbrella out with him, and he lies out on the sand, and he's like, uh… Right. Billy has one hit point. Yeah. Oh, yeah. We're doing a rest, so there's no need for poultices, right? Yeah. Are you guys, you're spending a day resting? Yeah. Yes. Yes, 100%. So it is one day of rest doing nothing else to heal yourself back up to full. It's two days, or three days to heal a debility.

Yeah, Billy just, when he was at Crystal Bay, he heard a hippie talk about, like, the healing powers of the sand. So he's like, he's like, okay, if I just lay out here, everything will be okay. Yeah, and he's grabbing little fistfuls and going, ah. Billy, stop eating the sand. Don't eat the sand. I'm not. Billy. Billy. Billy, Billy, Billy. It's gonna give you a tummy ache. It tastes good. No. I mean. Are you turning it into food? It tastes good. I mean, I'm not. I mean, I'm not.

Are you turning it into food, or is it going in as sand? Because it's gonna come out as sand, bud. No. Yeah. And Mears comes out of, okay, Mears stands in front of the doorway of Hither and Yon and looks outside at all of you, like, Billy's like, Billy's laying on the beach and the sun is, like, kind of casting a nice diffused light through the gray clouds and he takes a deep breath and he steps through the door. Nope. And he turns around and goes back inside. But I'll make lunch.

And Tugley's in a vague, he's like, that kid has agoraphobia. No. He's definitely been in there way too long. He's been in there way, it's been in there, like, five years, I think. Can a room give somebody nightingale syndrome? And I think, yeah, I think what we're doing, what we've got here is, like, a resting for the day, thinking, planning, whatever you want to do until an actionable thing that you've decided comes along. Tug goes into the ocean and cleans his wounds.

Oh, salt water in the wounds. It's good for cleaning. It's gotta hurt so bad. Yeah, Billy sees Tug do that so he copies and it hurts so bad. He's crying, screaming and crying. He's just rubbing his forehead like, there's so much bacteria in the water, I'm gonna have to put poultices in their wounds when they go to sleep. Yeah, we're doing the wrong thing. Tug rubs a bunch of sand and dirt. Oh, God. I was gonna say, the hippies said this would do it faster. Oh, good.

It really hurts, but I think it's because it's like, you know, if it hurts, it's working. Yeah, if it hurts, it's working. Definitely opening the wounds further than they are. Sitting back and writing down things that, okay, sand in wounds. Okay, ocean water in wounds. It's exfoliating your skin, too. Yeah, so that you get new skin, which will heal up. Heal faster, yeah. The new skin underneath the wound is not injured. Oh, my God. Yeah, yeah. That's so smart, Tug. I know.

Why did I ever think of that? It's like peeling the black spot off a potato. Yeah. Like, you gotta go deep enough. Yeah. This is a hippie that's wandered off. Yeah, it's like healing a black, you know, potatoes? Yeah. When you're trying to, like, fucking peel potato and it's got a black spot on it, you gotta peel down to where it's not gross anymore. Excuse me, sir, please stop talking to my son. I'm not talking to your son, I'm talking to the Earth's son, bro. Yeah.

We're all the Earth's children, all right? Ving, Wind River says he's a druid. I am. I'm connected to the ways of the waters and the ways of the sands. Wind River. So, you guys said you were coming from where? Oh, um, we're, uh, on a study abroad trip. Oh, man. That sounds great. Where are you studying broads? Uh, from Macau. Whoa, you're all from Macau, like, across the Sea of Graves. Yeah. I don't even think you could do that. I had a buddy, his name was, uh, Tiber.

He, uh, was trying to do, like, a wakeboarding trip across the Sea of Graves. Totally got fucking eaten by a whale, man. Oh, that sucks. Oh. It's life, you know? I hope I get eaten by a whale. Fingers crossed, bro. Return to Mother Nature as she intended. It's the circle of life, man. I eat the seagrass, the whale eats me, the whale poops me out, and then I nourish the seagrass, man. Well, there's the sea. I see that. I hate this cave. Fucking hate this cave.

Whoa, what are you guys staying in that cave for? And you see, like, uh, Hither and Yon has, like, taken itself to a jumble of rocks that had, like, a rough wooden door, and you see etched into the stone above it, like, haphazardly, Hither and Yon. Uh, that's where we're staying. Oh. Gap year only, though. Yeah. Walk, come on, man. You can make some room for your old buddy Wind River, right? I don't know. We're pretty full up.

You guys cool if I take, like, a hot leak or something real quick, though? You got a bathroom in there probably, right? I feel like our GM can't really handle another NPC. I completely disagree. The world can bear the burdens that it creates, so. And then Billy's like, I don't know if I like this guy anymore. All right. Let's take a hot, let's take a hot leak in our bathroom. Yeah, I don't like that. Yeah, I don't like that. I don't like that. I don't like the hot leak.

What if I need to take a cold shit? Yeah. Anyways, I just kind of came up because someone mentioned there is a hippie here, so, like, whatever you guys want to do is cool with me. I need a couple bucks, by the way, if you guys got anything on you. Oh, shit. Do you have shit that you want to sell? Oh, brother, I am glad you asked. What are you looking for? We're wondering, do you, do you, do you know, like, the winewood vintage of wine?

Oh, oh, I see what you're trying to, no, absolutely, it's not something I would, what kind of stuff do you have? Like, what's in that cart you're dragging? What are you holding? In my cart? Yeah. Fucking great question, guys. What is in my cart? So, you're looking for some winewood? Don't got that. Okay. I actually, I abstain from the spirits crafted by man. I only partake of the herbs created by the Mother Earth.

So, I got some of that if you want, which he's got halfling pipe leaf and I got some healing tinctures of my own creation. Okay. Oh, those might not work. Yeah. Can I see those? What's in them? That was such a quick, I have some healing tinctures? Oh, of my own creation? Oh, those don't work. That is definitely Yeah, you want to take a look? Yeah, I would love to. Check it out, bro. I am a bit of a tincturist myself. I tinker and tinctures.

He takes the, oh, a feller tincture tincture and he takes the tarp off his cart and there's just a pile of shit. It's just a jumble. He's like, just sick. And he starts pulling stuff out of this pile. There's like boots and like sleeping bags and a pillow and swim trunks. So he lives in this cart. Okay. So this is just his house. Yeah. The world is my house. You know? Okay. I kind of like him again. And he pulls out like a handful of like little glass vials of various sizes. Here you go.

Check them out. Okay. Pop the lid. Yeah. Give him a little whiff. Yeah. Smells herbal. Yeah. Yeah. What's in these? Roll. Discern realities. No. Okay. 26 plus wisdom. 12. You get three questions off that list. What here is useful or valuable to me? Not these. That's for sure. This dude does not know what he is doing. He has clearly just like been taking herbs. Like you're sniffing and you're like, okay, smarty root. Familiar with that. Echinacea. Oh, interesting. Where'd he get that? Pine.

Like pine. This smells like dirt to me. This one smells like there's just dirt in it. Hmm. What should I be on the lookout for? He's got a bunch of stuff in this cart that if he doesn't know that these don't work, he might not understand something valuable he has here. So what is something that you find that you're like, oh. Oh, I mean, we're in the principalities. Yeah. You are on the, I would say you're south of Black Glass on the western coast of the firefields facing the Sea of Graves.

Maybe we roll a D6 and a six is Hibernia water, like a vial of Hibernia water. Hibernia water? Whoa. You got to roll a six on a flat check, one die. Okay, okay. Five to four is saffron, which is seeming, seems pretty common in the principalities. I like it. And one to three is some brochure for a liquor store. Totally. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Could just be mysterious teas that look fun. Mysterious teas. Yeah, mysterious herbs. There's probably towns nearby you'd have to do some walking around.

Here we go. Here we go. One. Fuck. We just got fucking tea from this guy. Well, you know, it looks like you're looking at Tuck and Billy who are absolutely fucked up. Yeah. You're like, you know what? They could use some soothing teas. Okay. That might be nice. Okay. I'll make them of my own. I will not serve them this. Oh, I see you're perusing my teas, bro. Yeah. One coin and they're yours. What? Oh, shit. Do we even have coins? Sorry, we don't have cash on us. The world is our coin.

Oh, I see. It's one of those situations and he puts the tart back over his cart. What, man? I thought the world was your oyster just like how it's our oyster. Yeah, but like the world is my home but not my fridge, you know? Like I got a bro's got to eat. And I'm willing to allow you to partake of these teas if you allow me to partake of your fine establishment. Yeah. One bowl of soup. You have to eat it. Bowl of soup? Done, bro. You have to eat it outside. You're not allowed in the building.

What? I had a guy come in my hut years ago. I couldn't get him out for months. Man, I just want to like sit down like in a plush chair, bro. You know, like I want to sit down in a plush chair. I want to like be in front of a fireplace and like, look, I'm going to be honest with you guys. I already kind of poked my head in, so I know what's going on in there. Fuck. And I just want to take a load off. Okay. Okay. Fine. We huddle first, though. Yeah. Okay, fine. So we huddle. Okay.

Well, I'm going to be totally honest with you guys. I've met a thousand of this guy at a music festival. His vibes are good for five minutes, and then the vibes turn sour. Yes. It's like centaur milk. It's only good for five minutes, and then it's rotten. The vibes turn rotten. As soon as the pipeweed starts wearing off, he's going to turn into the meanest person we've ever met. No. We let him in, or? Well, I don't think we could, like, hither and yon came here. It might have come for him.

I'm just saying it could get ugly. We might have to remove him forcibly, which I'm willing to do. I'm willing to do. I don't know, guys. I think we could trust him, really, if we really kind of… Yeah, why are you in the hot tub? Sorry, sorry. Give me some pipeweed. All right. That was already one point against you. Oh, fuck. No. How many points do I have? Two. Do they go up or down? They go down. Oh, no. All right. I think we do have to let him in. Fine.

Also, he has a little bit of harbunia water on him. Right. Okay, man. You can come in for lunch only. Hell yeah, brother. And then you have to leave. All right. And he drags his cart over to Hither and Yon and starts trying to put it through the door. You can't bring it in. What? But all my stuff. You don't need your stuff inside. This place will provide the universe. The universe. I see. All right. Cool. And he walks in and he… He sits in my favorite chair.

Yeah, he sits right in Billy's chair and he starts snapping. Garcon. Garcon, over here, please. Jesus Christ. Wow. Yeah, you can come up to the… You can come up to the bar in order, bro. This guy has trust fund kid vibes. Yeah. For sure. Oh, that's probably what's hiding under all the garbage in that cart. His trust fund. Yeah. So he did leave his cart outside. Yeah. Oh, yeah. We want to… Yeah. Try and find his trust fund. He does have one more question. I have one more. Oh, shit.

What about… Oh, what here's… No, what it appears to be. Oh. Yeah. Like he has a trust fund kid and there's a bunch of sunstone in his fucking cart. There's a bunch of bags of coins taped under the cart. Yeah. I mean, I bet he does have a coin purse in here, probably. Yeah. I mean, I don't want to rob him, I guess. Feels bad to… You guys straight up find a coin purse and it's like jangling with coins. Season one us would have taken this. We're heroes now. I did a lot of bad stuff earlier.

I don't want his stupid coins. Yeah. I don't feel like taking them. He's… What else here is not what it appears to be? Oh, you know what? You are digging around in… His… Like, herbal zone where it's just like a pile of like weird herbs. And Billy, you notice an herb that is blight leaf. Blight leaf? And it is a potent poison. I'm glad we didn't buy tea from him then. Mm-hmm. I like that it was in amongst the teas. Mm-hmm. We should get rid of this for his own safety. Yeah. For sure.

You should take that, Billy. Probably doesn't know what it is. Oh, Billy's taking the blight leaf? Yeah. I mean, yeah. He's gonna fucking die. He'll kill somebody. He started writing it down in her inventory. I like that. Wow. We should take that for his own good. For his own good. For his own good. In the middle of writing down blight leaf. Yeah. No, I was just gonna steal the hibernia water, which doesn't feel good, but I need it when he does. You know what?

I think you should take that for his own good. I also don't think he knows what he's dealing with with this. What if he drinks it? I don't know what happens. Might be poisonous to a guy that crusty. So here, you put that in one of your vials and I'll run down to the ocean and put just regular ocean water in it. Great. Yeah. Yeah, he won't know the difference. Yeah, he won't know the difference. One. Yeah. Great. Yeah, it's one tiny little vial of it.

And you can tell just by the glimmering crystal clarity of the water. Slightly blue hue even in the vial. Ooh, beautiful. Icy. And Tuck goes down to the ocean and fills the vial that it was in with just regular ocean water. Right. And then he drinks some ocean water because a hippie told him that was good for you. Do you like look around first? Big's writing it down in his notes of us. Okay, you're gonna have to desalinate Tuck.

Gonna have to put him under a tarp in the sun and let all the salt come out of him. He comes back, his lips are so cracked. Already. What's up, guys? The salt graves is extremely salty in this set. It's so salty. And this is the end of the episode. This is the end of the episode. This is the end of the episode. This is a day of rest. Do we cut? Do you want to cut for the day? Yeah, I'm gonna take his coins for his own good. Oh, man. You know what's easy to all of us? He would also take this.

This guy's getting robbed now. This guy's on his fourth bowl of lobster chowder. Yeah. And I'm like getting a little pissed. Oh, because he's going through the chowder pretty fast. Going through the chowder really fast. I'm trying to eat as fast as him, but you know, I don't feel that good with all my stab wounds I have. You have one hit point. I have one hit point. Billy, rub more sand in it. I'm trying, but… I'll rub sand in it. Puts the poultice on there. Roll. Are you robbing this guy?

Yeah. I like it. Roll. You know what? No, I did say it was a coin purse. Let me roll a d20. Absolutely not. How many coins? Please. So I don't really use the, or haven't for a long time used the Dungeon World loot table, but the first option is a few coins 2d8 or so. Okay. I feel like this guy's not carrying around a ton of coins. I don't have money, but you know, 2d8 worth of coins. 2d8. Okay, here we go. Six. Six coins. No kidding. Yep.

And are they, are they, do you think they're principalities coins or were they minted? Yeah, they're principalities. Yeah. They're Kenosian coins. Cool. Fresh from the mint. Oh, maybe the Kenosian coins have an image of the hand. The hand? Oh. Now as a symbol of like this fallen kingdom. Yeah. Great. So you rip this dude off. Yeah. And another thing we find that is not what it appears is we find his ID with his real name on it. He has a driver's license in the cart. Yeah. Yeah. It's his.

It's the little painted like a scroll full of down with his info. Uh-huh. It says, Jared Martin Ferryweather Masterly the Fourth. Oh. You think he's a masterly? Yes. He's the one that left. You didn't even roll for this, man. You just decided. It's world building, Sean. It's fucking taking my autonomy. It makes sense. He was snapping at the waiter. It was good. It was good. Because he was acting like a trustful. It's true. It's absolutely true. It's really fun.

He's like the youngest one that has no responsibility. And you guys know that you just absolutely obliterated a facility that his dad was at. And you've fought with one of presumably his older brother. Yeah. And you walk in and see him in a totally different light. Like, you know that this is a scion of a wealthy black glass family. So we could take it for all he's worth. Finally. Oh my God. The tables have turned. I must say this lobster chowder is quite delectable, bro. Oh, hello, my friends.

What's going on? I'm just kicking it back in this chair. You see his like gross, dirty bare feet are up on like the ottoman. Get your feet off there. Off the ottoman? Why? Because you are gross and this ottoman is not gross. Oh, okay. Look. All right. That's the kind of situation we're in. Fair enough. You have pretty clean cuticles for somebody who's been wandering. They're at the whole life. Yeah. And? And you sure know a lot about lobster chowder and how it's supposed to be prepared.

I feel like you might have discovered something about my backstory and are now questioning me in a new light. I don't know. I don't know. I thought you were like a son of the earth, but it seems like you might be the son of something else. Looks like your stories are going back and forth. And then Tuck and Billy. Wait, do you get that? I get it. Because masterly the fourth. Oh. It took Billy a second and he goes, no. And Ving's standing there with his hands on his hips like, look at the guys.

Like he's the fourth. Oh, he's the fourth. Oh, he's Lee Masterly. The guy that the the refinery guy. He's his son. Yeah. Yeah. I see. He's the he's like this. He's the fourth Lee Masterly. He's the fourth. Yeah. Yeah. Ivy. Yeah. Wow. So he takes a fat rip off his joint. You've discovered my backstory. It's true. I'm a son of the masterly family. Here you are. Taking from the poor. Oh, I have taken a voluntary vow of poverty. I will have, you know. OK. And I have wandered the world. Sure.

Maybe I have various accounts in various Byerfield's towns and can draw on an account given to me in trust. Yeah. When required. Sure. But besides that, I have taken a vow of poverty. So where did you take that vow? Just out of curiosity. Three or four days ago. Yeah. Why? Why? Maybe because my dad kicked me out. Maybe because I wanted to see the world. Maybe because I realized that the world is my trust. Is my. Is my dad. I guess. What did you do to get kicked out?

Oh, you know, I fucking I gripped and ripped it too hard and I was too gnarly and my dad couldn't get down with my steez. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I also crashed a motor carriage through his dining room during a key business meeting. But in his defense, in my defense, he left those keys unattended. Well, I can tell maybe it's time for me to hit the old dusty road.

So if you don't mind and he like picks up the bowl of chowder and chugs from it for a long time. So much. Yeah. It was full. Yeah. Sorry. But you're just watching him do it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He did not clock how full it was. He wanted to make a swift and cool exit. Halfway through. Take a big breath. Well, big burp. Wipes his mouth with one of his dreadlocks.

And then wipes it on onto my chair. Kill this guy. Jessica is referencing a thing that someone did at our house one time that she still thinks about. The world is my napkin. Okay. The world, the mother nature is my napkin. Gaia is my, my butler. Okay. And he wipes all the chowder off his face and goes to the door. I guess if I'm not wanted, he looks at Bing and Billy. Everybody's, Jessica's kind of nodding. Yeah. No, you're not. Bing's playing with something on the table. Yeah.

We're all kind of like, bye. Okay. There's nothing we want to leverage out of this guy, right? I don't know. Yeah. What could we leverage? We could get some information. Obviously he doesn't like his dad. Yeah. We could use him to like get access to Gallum because we do have to. Oh. Yeah. We do have to save his life. Yeah. So he's like, well, I guess if I, yeah, I guess if you don't need me. Wait a second. Wait a second.

And he puts a hand up on the door jam and slowly turns around with the joint in his mouth. He's, he's also smoking it in the way that a dirt bag smokes, which is like this. Uh-huh. No, he's doing like this and then he like flips it around. You know, they're like, guys, that, and then changes the grip on them. Oh, dirt bags. Sometimes he's doing this. You seen these guys? No. What? What the fuck? There's all different ways to smoke these guys. I'm such a square. I don't know anything.

No, people just do it weird ways. The only, there's the normal ways to do it, but he is not doing it. Like this? Whoa. Cool. And yeah, he slowly turns around. Okay. Wait there for a second. One more bowl of bisque for the boy. Don't mind if I do. Mears is like, oh my God, he is not going to stay here. Is he? We don't know. I'll kill him. Okay. Just kill him. And then you know what? I might try to kill the three of you for doing it to me. Okay. Right.

Mears has a sword he doesn't want in here already. It's affecting you. It's influences upon you. Oh no, this is our influence. You're influencing me. This sword has nothing to do with this. Okay. Maybe we have been behaving badly. I'm sorry, Mears. It's okay. I am. I'm the innkeeper. Everything's fine. You're such a gracious host. All right. No, you know, yeah. Hither and yon is for everybody. Except this guy. Except for this motherfucker.

But if he will be useful, to the three of you in your quest to, let's be frank, save the world. I can't believe we've gotten here. Can't believe this is where the stakes are at now. You might have to save the world. And if this guy is going to help you with that, then I will kill him after. Okay. Listen to his stories. Give him entertainment. I'm running out of bisque. Just make more fucking bisque. I'm running out of, oh, just make more bisque, Mears. Make more bisque, Mears.

Find more lobsters, Mears. I'll just go outside. There's lobsters in the fucking sand, Mears. Sorry. You know how hard it is to juice a bisque? Juice? Yeah. Bisque. Bisque fruit. What do you guys think bisque is? I never thought about it. Of course you didn't think. I'm sorry. I think we're- Really, you're a child. I should not yell at you. I'm sorry. No. I'm sorry. You're right. I should have known. And you hear a, So, what are we doing here? What's the deal? Okay.

Go hang out at the bar with Mears. Ready? Oh. And he holds his breath the whole way to the bar and then just right in Mears' face. He does, he does, like one of those vape cloud things. Yeah, he's like doing the like, the circle and he's like pushing him forward. Okay. Okay. So, this is maybe a time to talk about the stuff that Colm told us and what we want to do about all of it. I don't want him to know anything. Yeah. So he's far away.

Yeah, you guys can like fully go, the common room's not massive, but you can go to like the fireplace, which I've always imagined as being like fairly far away from the bar. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So, Colm asked us to save Callum for him. So that means, I mean, the Gibbous Man's got Callum too. Yeah. And he showed us that the only thing that might be able to hurt the Gibbous Man is the waning knife, right? That's what his mother was saying. Yeah.

The only thing that has ever hurt a god that we know about, yeah. That we know about was a piece of that god. Yeah. And the waning knife has some of him, the Gibbous Man, because it contains the body of the Gibbous Man. Yeah. So that it could mean that it might hurt him. Yeah. So, we need to get the waning knife back. Do we want to honor the, not going to say promise, but sort of like tacit suggestion of a promise that we made to a dying man to save his brother?

I think that it's not just his brother we'd be saving in doing so, though. If he is the icon for tyranny, we'd be saving a lot of people's lives if we were able to save him. Mm-hmm. Okay. All right. So we do have to do this. I think so. Plus we have points to the horizon where there's a giant robot standing on the other side. Like, A4 is just like… Yeah, you see him like walking in the distance. Over a hill range like towards Highspear. Be nice as fuck. Nice as fuck. Everybody be cool.

All these birds on his shoulders like tiny little birds. The Vankaboss is coming. Vankaboss is coming. Vankaboss is coming. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. I want you in my room so we can be nice together from now until forever. So, I mean, so you guys are thinking that you should attempt to free Callum from the influence of tyranny? Yeah. Okay, so what is the move from here? Where is Callum? And where's the fucking waning knife? I mean, we gave it to Callum.

We gave it to the bird. I can try and reach out and find out where it is. Okay. Oh my God, I hope he hasn't dropped into the ocean or something. We cut to Cloudpiercer. Oh no, fuck! No! Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. This thing is tiny. Shit, this thing is so small. Gale, have you seen my knife? What's in my nest? I like to hold on to it. It's cold against my skin. It reminds me of Tuck who I have a complicated relationship. Well, I've been telling everybody about it.

I know everybody's wondering when are they just going to get it over with already. Come on, it's been will they, won't they for five seasons now. It's the mystery of the podcast. The story at the core of the narrative. When will Gale just get torn up by that? So you're going to try and connect with Cloudpiercer? Yes. Is this a communion?

Because I think the information is going to be the influence of the storm would make it harder than just like a straight up like jump into his mind like you have in the past. I'll use communion of whispers. Yeah. Should we go outside to do it? Yeah. Like stand in the doorway? Yeah. Good call. I like being outside. So you're sitting on the beach? On the grassy knoll at the front. Above. Above the blue sands above the beach. And Billy and Tuck are sitting on either side of you.

We're looking at the storms and the pillars. Yeah. See them far, far off. 36 plus wisdom. I believe for communion. I got 13. Whoa. So communion of whispers. I believe it just means that you get a vision or a boon related to your current situation. It's clear and helpful. You close your eyes. You try and make that connection as you have. You know, you're reaching out through the spiritual energies of the world and you are no longer in your body.

You are seeing through the eyes of a mighty creature soaring through dappled mountains of cloud. My stomach drops. Yes. As you die down, pull back up the face of one of these towering edifices of cloud. On either side to you, dozens of thunderbirds flying in formation. Whoa. And the presence is felt. Ving. Is that you? Cloudbeater. Ah, it has been so long, Ving. How are you going? The war against Thronebreaker and his flock has been fraught in the storm. Vicious.

We are on an offensive right now. Oh, sorry. It's hard to keep up the general talk when I'm thinking mentally. I'm also thinking worms, worms, I'm so hungry, worms. Yes. Uh, sorry, one second. You have not had time to recuperate. It has been a tough campaign, Ving. I won't lie. But the knife has been a great boon. And he looks down and you see like the harness that you kind of put on him with the knife sheathed on the front of his chest. Mm-hmm.

We are currently moving, seeking the piece of the moon, the piece of Lillian, which we believe powers the storm. Oh. Ugh. Have they gotten some pieces? We have found one other piece. Oh. And the battle is over. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. The battle to reclaim it was costly. What is that? And then Tug pokes Ving. Yeah, we're all like tugging on him. He's like, hey, ask him what the piece is, too. I'm going to ask him what the piece is, too.

We're pressed up against his ears like he's wearing headphones. You have a tumbler, like a cup up against either side of his head. We have a cup against your head. Ask him where did he find it? Are there more? What do you do with the piece of the moon? And where are you going? Do you believe there to be more pieces? Guys, does this have like cups against Ving's head? I'm saying stop breathing so loudly, Tug. What the? I have five hit points, dude. I have one. You're littler.

One is bigger for you than it is for me. Okay, so the preview that we've seen two other pieces of the moon before. One was carved into an altar on Four Frost, which was the piece that represented grief. Oh. No, anger, rage. It was rage because Billy felt like these people don't care about me and like was overcome with the emotion from that piece. It was underneath the fort, right? Underneath the fort. The temple was built on top of it. Yes.

And then underneath Adonack All Water's Tower was another piece. And that piece made Billy want to sacrifice himself to save Ving. Shit. Wait. Were we supposed to be fucking collecting these? Yeah, should we have grabbed those? Fuck, why do we keep forgetting to pick stuff up? So stupid. Ask him. Should we have grabbed those? Yeah. Tell him where they were. We should have grabbed those. It's clear. The vision is not murky. So this piece, this piece that they reclaimed, what do we think it was?

Because I think at this point you would realize you've encountered them enough and you're getting like flashes of Cloudpiercer's experiences in this battle. I like that it is, has been worn down by the sea so it's like a smooth piece. Oh, yes. Yeah, it was enough that Cloudpiercer could like pick it up in his talon. Wow. Maybe it was from, it had come of like the bondage it was at the bottom of a river that had come of a cave.

Oh, that's cool that it was like not like in some incredible temple or beneath a wizard's tower. It was just in a riverbank. That's really cool. You would know or pause it through this clear image. We believe not only was the moon part of Lillian's material form in this place, but the pieces of the moon represent pieces of Lillian herself, parts of her psyche. This piece drew those towards it with feelings of great, what do we think here? Longing. Oh, long.

I kind of like longing that it's like her yearning. Oh, because of the direction. Yeah. Oh, no, I didn't even think of that. But yeah, also that. We've described yearning as a metaphysical direction. So longing, yearning, because I think during the battle, like when she was the blood moon, she wanted to be with Chimes, but like couldn't be. Right. She was overcome by this need to get revenge. Right.

So it, yeah, the power, the power of the longing that this stone emanated drew many to it who sought to claim it in a covetous nature. And we had to fight beak and talon. This piece at the center of the storm, we believe represents her railing against the injustice of her imprisonment, causing the storm to, you know, help me out. You know, the storm is trying to escape much like Lillian wants to escape. You know what I mean? What's the word for that? I'm a bird.

I don't actually speak your language. Worms, worms. I'm so hungry to sleep. That thing where I put my head under my wing when I'm sleepy. So comfortable. Worms, worms. Is it like freedom or dissipation? Yeah, something like that. Emancipation? Emancipation. Yeah. You know, that kind of vibe in general. So the one that they're going for now is this?

Yes, because they believe Thronebreaker is trying to use this piece of the moon and the storm in service to the Gibbous man to aid in this sort of flattening of the realms and in the consolidation of some sort of form that he might be able to take. Oh, okay. So they think that if they're going to really stop this, they need to get to that piece, but it's tough because Thronebreaker is a force of nature. Right. So he doesn't currently have the piece. He has another piece though, you said.

Yes, which has been squirreled away, I think, in the airy that like they've been kind of camping in. Yeah. I think they have like a fort. Nests. Yeah, nests. Like mountains. Like mountain peaks that are guarded by other Thunderbirds. I tug on Ving again. I say, tell Cloudpiercer we found another way, but we need the knife. He can hear you. Oh. Yes. Hello, Billy. Hi. Sorry. I didn't mean to argue in your ear. I didn't know you could hear me. It's okay. It's a confusing process.

It's kind of like he's on speakerphone. Ving is saying this in his voice. It's sort of like he's on speakerphone. I can hear some guy yelling about Lobster Biscuit in the background. And you're right. Tuck is breathing really loud. Oh, he can hear you. I think he has sleep apnea, but he is awake. It is confusing. He has waking apnea. Why are people fucking roasting me right now? I don't understand. So you need, the knife is required in your quest. We may need the knife at some point.

We think that it might be the only thing that can hurt the Gibbous Man. Are you using it right now? It is the only thing drawing us towards the piece of the moon that we require to end this battle. I think that we are not in need of it right now, but we will be soon. Yeah, hold it close to you and keep it safe. I will defend it with my life, as will those of my flock. And he like turns his head to the side. He says, right. And they go, in unison. The cries piercing the heavens.

The bolt of lightning. Oh, in the distance. Yeah. Yes, you hear a storm, the thunder rumbling. We can see it in our aspect and hear it in our real ears. There you are, Cloudpiercer. You're out there somewhere with the thunder. We cut to A4 for a second. He's like, whoa, that was sick. Wow. Metal storm, hopefully stay away. I gotta go now. Because high metal as fuck starts running faster. Oh shit. Oh shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit. Turning.

I thought it'd be funny if he was watching it and thought it'd sound cool. So he tried to make the sound. Oh yeah. Cool. Cool, cool, cool. And the thunder rolls. And the lightning strikes. Great. So, okay. So I think that makes sense. The knife is important to this. Cloudpiercer does need it. Yes. So you're kind of too, it sounds like, your option is, we'll get you later when you do your thing. The other option, just to lay them out on the table, is you could help. Yeah.

If you could end the battle quickly and more decisively, you could get the knife, but that would draw you away from helping Callum. Yeah. I personally feel like we need to follow the Callum thread. Totally. I'm just letting you know what the potential paths are. Yeah. Appreciate that. I think the bird fight is for the birds. Yeah. That makes sense. All right. Well, I should probably get going now. Thank you. Can I somehow give him a boon towards foraging?

Have you known about gooseneck barnacles? No. What is a gooseneck barnacle? It's like a sea worm. A what? The whole formation dips, They all dip through the clouds. Thank you, Ving. You have given us a great boon this day. Great. Great. Come on, folks. Let's eat. Worms are back on the menu, boys. They all fucking, they all fucking hit the water like those diving birds. All these worms hanging out their beaks. Sorry. Wow, they do not eat well. We should have tuned back in for that.

We should not have seen that. You didn't tune out fast enough. And you're back here on the beach. Great. All right. And we hear mirrors yelling at Wind River. All right. No more bisque. Bisque is done. Go outside. That's not a bread bowl. You can't eat that. You can't eat that. It's a regular bowl. Stop licking my bowls. Get out of here. All right. All right, man. And he gets like pushed, stumbles out the door. Wow. That dude is ornery. That narc makes a good bisque. All right.

Well, and he's packing up his cart. Are you sure you don't want me to hang out? No. Mears is like, absolutely not. You're done. Sorry, man. You behaved really badly in there. Yeah. He makes the rules. Yeah. Appreciate you stopping by, though. All right. Well, if you guys ever find yourself in black glass, look me up. That's where I'm going to probably end up again. Masterly manner in the slate district. Look me up. Unless you want me to go with you. Mears slams the door. So you close the door.

Mears turn. He wheels on all of you. He has a finger out. No more hippies. Whoa. Holy shit. No more. All right. Somebody hurt you. Yeah. That guy. That guy mentally hurt me. He talked. He talked at me for 45 minutes about all of the different music festivals he's been to. And he listed all the drugs he did at them and all the bands he saw. That's all he did. Whenever he talked about a thing that he did, he just talked about the amounts of each thing that he took or drank.

That's all he seemed to care about. Yes. And you could tell that he was, you could tell he's rich. You can just tell. His personality was consumption. Yeah. His, and his hair was so carefully messy, you know? And I swear, I look, I like you guys. Ving, you could be called hippie adjacent, but it's authentic. Okay. It's authentic. You know, you're, you are a creature of the natural world. That guy is cruising for a perusing. I'm sorry, Mears. We'll make it up to you. Okay. All right.

I just want it. I wanted it on the table. You hear, I hear Wind River slamming on the window. He's like, Hey guys, I'm missing some items from like my car. And then all the windows slam shut. We're just like shifty eyed. Guilty faced. And it just moves a few miles down the beach. All right. Anything else that we want to handle before we move on to wherever we want to move on? No, I do want to heal up. Yeah, totally. That's it. Yeah. Take this day. Great. Yeah. Take the day to heal up.

Billy made green curry. Oh, we're getting back up to 26. Nice. Right. Everybody's healed. Wow. I think it is like, it's not like, uh, hit points are funny. It kind of tricks you into thinking like, oh, it's either you're dead or you're healthy. You guys are like bandaged up. Yeah. And like, you've been through it. Yeah. Yeah. Billy looks like a little mummy fully wrapped. He's spilling leftover green curry. Curry all over his bandages. So they're like kind of stained green.

He's using his bandages to wipe his face. Yeah. The bandages around his bandages. Like, yeah, those aren't serviettes, Billy. And you hear, uh, they are serviettes for a different purpose. And you hear the back door open. And you hear, I think we've made some real strides. If we just, if we alter that conduit in the way that I was saying, no, we can't alter the conduit that way. I told you, if we take that plating off, it's, it's going to burst.

They, they come in and they see Billy, but as a mummy. They see Tuck as a mummy. Oh, no, mummies. We're going to hug them. No, it's happening. It's just like the premonitions I had. And they stop and Mears is like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, it's them, it's them. Oh, wow. You guys look bad. We really, we really took a beating. Smash cut to, uh, Mears ladling out a bunch of leftover green curry. Wow. That's quite a sequence of events. Yeah. So you're saying you killed Colm Blackhammer.

Yeah. So now your plan is go and save the other twin. Yeah. That's what he asked us to do. And Perel, uh, is, uh, is slowly like looking at the curry and kind of like dropping it back into the bowl. Are you guys sure that's wise? Probably not, but if he is the icon for tyranny and if it brings us another step closer to the Gibbous Man, the Gibbous Man was using them for some purpose. Yeah. To try and destroy the high spear. Yeah. And also to, uh, to, they wanted to reform Kynos. That's wild.

I don't know how that would help the Gibbous Man unless they didn't know what he wanted after that. Mm-hmm. What do you guys think he wants after that? The Gibbous Man? Yeah. I don't know. Is this like Spout Lore territory? Uh, yeah, this could be a Spout Lore or discern realities. It is kind of putting together information that you guys have. Okay. Tuck's gonna try and Spout Lore. Uh-huh. What was the Gibbous Man trying to get out of the twins? Mm-hmm.

Because he might still be able to get it out of just Callum. Yeah. Nice. Wow, 10! Okay. Again! 10! Uh, yeah, so Tuck, you think that like the, what Colm told you about their goal, which was refounding the kingdom of Kynos, even then you were like, well, that can't be the whole puzzle. Yeah. Because, what does the Gibbous Man get out of that? Mm-hmm.

And you think about like your encounters with him and the absolute disdain that he has for mortal beings and Colm's like images of him through these, uh, like the visions that he gave you and the stuff you know about his interactions with Lillian and the stuff Chimes has told you and the things you know from the old stories, uh, you think that he was probably just, you knew a lot of people like this in McCall, people like Fatim, who would sometimes like, give, someone something seemingly out of kindness, but only because they knew they were going to take it from them.

Oh. That his plan could be that it doesn't matter who rules Kynos because there might not be a Kynos if the Gibbous Man achieves what he wants to achieve. Right. All he wants is what you think is his godhood back and potentially to bring everything back down to the foundations, wipe it clean. And you think that the Gibbous Man's ultimate goal might be let's just start again. Right. Bring the night sky to the earth. Yep. Back to the drawing board. Some pretty chill steaks, I guess. Huh.

So you're, the thing that Tuck is left with is how does he do that? The smog is part of it. You think that like, maybe he wants Lillian out so she can do it. I mean, it would make sense with the crumbling of the graves right now. Yeah. I mean, if we think about it, like if it's holding up or as legends say, it's holding up the night sky. Right. Mm-hmm. Uh-huh. Bringing the towers down could bring, yeah, like metaphysically, in a sense, bring the sky closer, allow him to take his form. Right.

Not only physically bringing the night sky to the earth, but putting a darkness, a shroud over the eyes of mortals. Yeah. Leaving them in the dark. And if his goal was to bring the realms like the spheres close, which is causing the towers to crack, Uh-huh. The towers cracking could very, yeah, it could be part of his plan. He could want to bring that whole thing down. He could want to open Lillian's tomb.

But he wouldn't want Lillian to be free, so he would have to, if he let her out, it's because he knows that he can control her? Yeah. Yeah, you would think that like, especially if he's afraid of her and if he wants to let her out, there might be a piece that you don't know yet. Oh, shit. No, we do know it because the birds just fucking told us. What? The pieces of Lillian. The pieces of Lillian. That's why he's collecting them so he can control her when she gets out. He has different aspects.

He has different aspects of her. That's a very interesting idea. I fucking figure it out. Just me. Chuck. Alone. The figure-er. Out-er. He got so excited when he put it together, he got up and kicked a chair. He's like, fuck yeah. Me. So the pieces that we, the pieces that we've encountered that we're familiar with, the piece in the storm, which is her, her desire to escape, to be free, and to like, like live the way that she wants to live. And if he had control over that.

It's what, that piece is controlled by the storm. And Thronebreaker, who is a servant of the Gibbous Man. The other was beneath the temple in Fort Forfrost, which was controlled by the Medjai, who are servants of the Gibbous Man. The other part underneath Adderneck Allwater's tower. Question mark, question mark. No, he could get in there. He tried to get in there. But he can't get in. But he can't get in. So maybe Allwater like set up, I mean, maybe that's what it was.

Maybe she set up some sort of protection there. Yeah. Because she knew he would try. We do think, we do, we had that vision of Ileana as well, working to connect different pieces of the sky, like with the Gibbous Man, the spider reaching as she was searching for things to try and protect. She was reading the points of light in the dark. She was trying to find the pieces of the moon to take them away from him. And that's why he came down on her. Yeah, I think so. Yeah.

Everything he's doing, it all makes sense. Like that's why, that's why he corrupted the trees of knowledge. That's why he wants the High Spirit Tower down. He was trying to get into the forest because there's probably a lot probably one there too. Definitely. There must be. Yeah. And there's probably one under the tower or somewhere in High Spirit. Kind of feels like the towers would be. Kind of makes sense now, hey? Because it's like, it's the moon.

Oh my God, what if there's one under the tower? That's what I just said. I think you guys might be talking about different towers. There's one under the tower there too. Oh my God, under the High Spirit? Ving, that's genius. Don't give big credit for this. Ving, that's so smart. It makes so much sense. Oh my God. There's gotta be one. You guys are gaslighting me and I'm gonna go crazy. It's pronounced gaslamping. Doug gets up and kicks another chair but this time because he's angry.

This one is a wooden chair and goes straight into the fireplace. You guys make me so mad sometimes. Okay, so do we think that there is a piece of the moon under the High Spirit or that that part is just in the destruction of the tower like separating the people of the more the mortal peoples? Is there any time I could, what about spending in my time here talking to the moon using night moves to see if we can figure out where these chunks of the moon are?

If we understand where the pieces of Lillian are scattered, we'd have a jump on the big gibbous man. Yeah. The big gibbous man. The big old gibbous man. And we could tell Cloudpiercer too. Yeah. And we can confirm this theory. Yes, which is true that you came up with all by yourself. Thank you. He takes the bird chair out of the fire. Yeah. He blows it out. It's on us. It's so hot. You say that you came up with all by yourself and Morris goes, thank you. No. Chair back in the fire.

Morris' chair in the fire. Doug gets so mad. He like takes the big leather comfy couch in front of the Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. That's Corinthian. He's trying to It's so heavy. It's because Francis is I'll make excuse me. It's a coma. I can't help but notice you're trying to throw me in the fire. That's his apnea. His apnea is getting him. I don't have sleep apnea. Perhaps you should put me down, dear boy. Okay. Okay, great. So it is the morning now.

So you might have to wait until the evening to use night moves. That's fine. Billy's rolling. Oh, it's a morning. Billy's rolling around in the sand doing his fairy child. Yeah, there you go. And I'm going to roll what the bones gnar. And the bones gnar. What the bones gnar. Five. Oh, great. Well, five's great for that. Nine. Nice. Beautiful. So you get what? Three or four? I get Yeah, three hold. Nice. You also have the opportunity to change your season. You are currently winter. Oh, yeah.

I think I'll try. I always feel a little bummed out this way. Yeah. You're also like way less likable. So you roll a d4 and it's just whatever comes up. So prickly. Oh, spring. One. Oh, nice. Back to the springtime. Finally. Little guy. Oh, gee, Billy. Tuck gives you a big hug. Oh, gee, Billy. And then Billy starts crying. I killed that guy. I know, buddy. I'm sorry. You kind of had to do it. And honestly, it was mostly a four, so. I'm really sorry. And kind of thing. You're okay.

It hit him like a monster. Keep it. You first. He bit me right here. Yeah. I just do the thing that you do with a kid where they need to have a cry and you let them do it. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, that's he bit me right here. Oh, I'm sorry, buddy. He did bite you right there. Yeah. Yeah. That must have hurt really bad. It did, but I was brave about it. You were so brave. You were so brave. Thanks, guys.

And as we're kind of like and like patting on his back, I turn to Vick and I'm like, it's pretty crazy that he's like a thousand-year-old killing machine. You can really easily forget it in these moments. It's really weird. He's basically a little atomic bomb. A little grenade. Yes, and a little baby grenade. Yeah. The crying, oh, the crying's outside, correct? Yes, the crying's outside. And you hear a bunch of cries and you're like, what's going on? And you're like, what's going on?

And you're like, what's going on? And you're like, what's going on? And you're like, what's going on? And you're like, what's going on?

Crashing from inside hither and yon who is endangering the boy victor it bursts out of the out of the doorway he jumps on tack get away from him your monster is beast yeah he's holding billy uh by the scrub starts running down the beach you're just like jiggling at the end of your shirt yeah and I'm telling victor it bit me what beat you the bad guy what bad guy he's dead now oh you killed him yeah he puts you down and he like uh goes uh he stands his full height above you stand up okay you are a warrior billy stands up taller like you are like me yeah he entered into this conflict knowing that you are a warrior you are a warrior you are a warrior you are a warrior you are a warrior you are a warrior you are a warrior you are a warrior you are a warrior yes yes as did you I suppose so and you overcame him in the field of martial battle I did then you have not killed a man you have defeated a foe wow john's eyes are going fucking crazy this is the best and I'm spitting a lot victor licks his lips to stop himself from spitting there's nothing for you to feel bad about about you're right I I did it to protect everyone and when time comes if we meet in the field of battle I hope that you will kill me oh my god victor I could never you are right you could never but I just want you to know that I hope you try if it makes you feel better I'll try but I could never you are correct now climb astride my back okay start charging away from hither and yon like running so far away go for a run on the beach tuck your finger like oh god wow he's really fucking moving he's on the back of that wild wolf he really got through to billy though and you've now like left uh the field of things like world's echo effect yeah so he's like this is how you run but you just fully can't understand him anymore he's just making he's doing the dog thing where he fight he like runs past a piece of driftwood and then he like goes back for it and grabs it and throws it in the air yeah and then does that thing I feel like he's getting so motion sick back here he's like oh my gosh it's so much green curry this morning curry uh and I mean you can come back later you know he'll run back later unless there's something maybe you see some maybe see you know what I think as you're running you do see further down the beach there is a town maybe about you know a couple hours walk there's a town down the beach for sure victor yeah I mean there's a town over there they probably wouldn't want me to go alone though is that no oh wait is that yes uh tell me boy which way should we go and he looks at you and he points his nose towards the town no victor that's we're being bad boys unless I mean we could try to get to the town probably get there back before they even notice us okay and he takes off oh he grabs he stops and he picks up a stick and then he starts running and then you cut back to being a duck after he says before they even notice and we're like uh they're going to that town oh man they're going to that town oh man they're gone yeah well he's probably gonna be fine it's probably not a big deal did you hear that wolf say he was gonna kill our son I'm pretty sure he said he's gonna kill our son I feel like there was a we're walking back inside there was a conditional in there it's if they met on the field of battle okay well let's try to avoid that I guess uh and we go back and talk to morris and perrell yeah and they're they're they're just sitting chatting they're like looking over a bunch of notes we sit down with them and we're like okay so uh then you're gonna do your night moves thing try and figure out where all the pieces of the moon are yeah we told you guys about the knife like it could potentially hurt the gibbous man because it killed rian right right and he was he's kind of the grandson of the gibbous man because he's lillian and chimes's son yes he's kind of a demigod in his time so it's like sure the image we saw from colm's mother said that he was hurt because it was anointed with his blood.

Yeah, that makes sense says Perel. That does make sense. This is a tough area of study. I remember there are wizards who kind of focused on quote-unquote divinity as their area of study. And it's tough because Rian, as far as history is aware, was one of a kind. He was the offspring of a mortal and a god that has never happened before or since. So anything that you are planning, working with that information, you're in new waters. I want to use druidic lore. Yeah.

Because there's no other situation like it. It's historical. It has to do with the moon, the stars. It is a druid. They have stories and knowledge about this. Yeah. And it also kind of makes sense just based on what we know. The pieces that we know are that the knife is also made of Lillian herself. It's made of lunar steel. And we also know from the song The Thief and the Maid, Lillian is the reason why the Gibbous Man is tied to this realm. She did that to him.

She caused the reign of night to happen where the sky shattered. That was all this stuff in The Thief and the Maid. So we know from all of that that she's dangerous. She's powerful. Something about her can hurt him. So there's that piece of it too that we have. Yeah, there's a lot there. Go ahead and consult that trove of ancient knowledge. Within the seed contained in your chest. Roll plus wisdom. Nice. Twelve. Fuck. Yeah, dude.

So on a twelve, I ask you a question about the situation and you just tell me the answer and it's true. Yep. So we've established that this has never happened with the exception of Rian. I think the stories of the God of the Flame that we've talked about are that he's a similar thing, but he was born of like two mortal parents. Yeah. God of the Flame was like the first thing I came up with in the podcast, which is why it's so fucking dumb.

No, but it's like it was two people who like their coupling was blessed by the heavens. Yeah, they were having sex on a mountaintop. They got struck by lightning. The thing that I said, I tried to make it more fantasy. That was the first day, wasn't it? Yeah, that was the first day and then they gave birth to a kid who eventually became the God of the Flame when his like his powers activated. Yeah. And Rian is a different story because one of his parents is mortal. One of his parents was a god.

Yes. But that also means that the God of the Flame and Lillian are brother sister. Oh, yeah. Yeah, because it's this guy. It was the light bolt was that I said the lighting bolt is like the dick of the God of the Sky. Yes, I remember that. I also remember you saying the God of the Sky. That's why the Gibbous Man is the God of the Sky because we introduced him in the very first episode. So yeah, the God of the Flame is the son of the Gibbous Man. Wow.

Well, not the son of the Gibbous Man because the Gibbous Man we know is like the night aspect. Yes. The day aspect having been cut off from him. Yes. In some fashion. And it's out there somewhere. Oh, by the reign of night. It's like he has been cut off from his day aspect. Yeah, that was more the father of the God of the Flame. Right. It was both of them. Yeah, man. He's one being.

It's not quite like there are two sides of him, but you know, I can't believe I put this all together seven years ago all alone. Just me, Abdulaziz. Orchestrating this whole podcast. Greatest story of all time. Just waiting. Just waiting for us to all finally get it. Welcome to my story. Now I'm being gaslamped. Like I haven't been picking up the fucking shit. Shattered Easter eggs that you've been dropping for seven fucking years. Okay, so lightning is a dick. Okay. That's the Abdul story.

It all makes sense to me. It's fitting together. Abdul wrote a new song with six stanzas in it that all apparently mean something. And he didn't think about it at all. Thank you. Okay, so what is the question that you're being asked here? Oh man, I don't know what exactly are you looking for? What are we looking for? We might be looking. We might be looking for moon vibes right now. I think it's just moon vibes. We could also do this instead of the night moves later. Yeah, that makes sense.

Yeah, that totally makes sense. Yeah, like looking for stories the druids have about the falling of the moon. Yeah, and you're moon boy right now. Yeah, I'm in moon mode and all my runes are glowing. Oh, yes. Like the moonlight is illuminating the runes carved into your body. As you draw on the knowledge from the seed in your chest. What is a story that the druids have about the when the moon fell? That is when the night sky pulled Lillian down destroyed her sort of. Nope.

That is what the moon fell when Rian was murdered and Lillian's grief shattered the moon. The grieving there is a piece of moon that is the well in Hibernia is it struck the ground and drove down and the water that gathered in that hole that great hole is is one of the biggest chunks of of moonstone. Whoa, it's a big chunky hole. It's a big chunky hole. It's soaking wet. It's flooding out everywhere. Is that where the like the magical water comes from? Yeah. Yeah.

So it must be leaking or there must be a way to it from Aternac All Waters Tower because underneath there wasn't there that like reservoir of. Oh, so those are different. I might have different places. No, you are thinking of different places. So Hibernia is like the island and then Aternac All Waters Tower was like in the frozen north. But we have talked about how there are tunnels all through like these might be reservoirs that are connected via tunnels all through the planet.

There's all through like the underneath the earth. There's no way to know. Yeah, I think that that is also magical water, but because we've established that water has a lot of different properties in our world. Yeah. But the one in Hibernia held special and that's why Vingod is a strange moon thing while on Hibernia. It's very moon based. Yeah. Interesting. Yeah, that is very interesting. All right. That's true. That's how the moon. That's how the move works.

There's a story of a piece of the moon that fell that the Hibernians tell that fell and drove itself through the island and filled with these waters that they then used to anoint druids for centuries after that. What piece of the moon is I mean, it would have something to do with what the water's done. Yeah, like nurturing. Oh, yeah. Because maybe that's also where they drink water from. Right. Yeah. Oh, it's where they also where they the growth of the first of the knowledge trees. Yeah. Right.

So it's the nurturing aspect of growth and nurturing. Yeah. It's like also where you kind of transformed into like the moon thing that you are now. And what that's part of the origin. I think it's the water and the Hibernian well is some of the core ingredients of what Ileana used to make Ving. Oh, yeah. Some of that nurturing. Oh, cool. That's very cool. Because she's a Hibernian. That's when she was in that hut by that well. Yeah. What? Some of his proto. It's all coming together.

Proto fluids. That's why Ving is always like, yeah, I'm going to take this. I'm taking this. It's bad. And also why Ving is always like, oh, Billy, let me do this for you. Oh, Tucker, you. Yeah, that's part of his nurture. He's with the nurture. That's cool. That's why Ving is so nurturing. I like that. Great. All right. That's all true. That's real. His nurture exists from his mom to keep the seed of knowledge safe. Oh, yeah. You have to be wandering. You have to be stupid.

You have to be hard to find. You have to nurture. Yeah. Beautiful. Back to Billy and Victor. Yeah. We've made it. Yeah. A hundred percent. You're in this town. I mean, we're not in the town, but we're on the outside and I'm feeling thrilled. Yeah. Can I use my Billnoculars to have a look around? Absolutely. Discern realities. Five. Oh, whoa. Okay. So a failure. A straight up failure with no one to help you, except you do have fairy child hold. I'd like to change it to a seven to nine.

You were so fucking tight fisted with your fairy child before. We were absolutely going to die. Did you end up spending that last one? Yeah. Okay, great. Yeah. Okay. So you've got a seven to nine there, which means one question from discern realities. I guess what here is useful or valuable to me? Yeah. What would it be? Maybe a new, maybe a crier talking about the news from Black Glass.

Oh, like here you hear you hot, hot new edition could be news that like Colm is dead, has reached the Capitol and then like what Callum has done. Marshall. Declared. Yeah. Yeah. That could be pretty scary. Yeah. So you so you are riding up to town on your giant wolf. It's like kind of hard to see for a lot of people, but like still mostly right. I'm totally like pretty much still bandaged. Yeah. You're completely covered in bandages that are themselves covered in green curry. Yeah.

Kind of like you're in a ghillie suit. Yeah. A little bit. Princepcom Black Hammer killed by three outsiders in devastating. Alliance ride. I whisper to Victor. We did that. Yes. Because he was my foe. Yes. You defeated a foe on the field of battle. Crush beneath giant machinery in terrible, terrible move. That's a four that I was telling you about. That's amazing. Giant killing machine. He sounds like he would be difficult, but not impossible for me to defeat. Victor, you would love him.

He's so hardcore. But. I don't know. I think you guys are equally matched. He has angel wings. Barbecue sauce. Ten thousand coin reward for capture of three outsiders. Description and this edition one coin each. Victor, that's that's a lot of money. What do you think? I almost want to give ourselves like that. Turn ourselves in. Ten thousand coins? We've considered this exact thing so many times. And your bill your bill noculars cast down to like sort of the parking lot outside town.

I'm like, wow, a lot of people are going to get those pamphlets. And you see a very familiar cart. I that cart wind river. He's lying up to get pamphlet. And you see him flipping through the edition. Well, you see him going up to buy an edition, walking back to his cart, looking for his coin purse and going, I go. I go. Good luck turning us in. You see him and he walks over and kind of looks over someone's shoulder. Oh, no. And you see his eyes widen. Oh, not.

And you see you see him voice the words of and that's where we're going to end it for this week. I'm your game master, Sean. Oh, here I join me as always to come and do him the barbarian Abdul Aziz. So long being the half elf druid Paul offers. Take care. In fact, Billy, the halfling thief, Jessica tie. Thank you to all of our supporters from around the world.

If you'd like to support the show, getting access to a bunch of stuff like the up to date Mall Brats feed with like basically two additional seasons worth of content. Yes, not more merchandise, quarterly postcards, gift boxes curated by the cast and games run by myself and or Abdul. Does that sound cool to you? Listener, then you can support the show at patreon.com slash Spout Lore or Spout Lore.com slash money, please. Thank you to Aaron Reed for our intro and outro music.

You can listen to Aaron's original music at Aaron Reed dot band camp.com and all of the music produced for the show on Spotify. 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 times abreast in revelry. And though our journey may be like 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.

Halt, listener! Abdulaziz here, with my trusty sidekick, Sean O'Hara. I'm the sidekick? That's right, boy wonder. Okay, hold on a second. We're here to stop you from listening to- Wait, is this the messaging I'm trying to get across? Wait- That seems to be what you're suggesting. No, don't stop listening to the episode. Please continue to the episode.

But, I'm here to tell you that there is also a video version of the episode that you're about to listen to that is available right now, over on our YouTube page. And, if you are the Spout Lore patriot that we believe you are, we ask that you go and listen to it there, instead of here. Boy wonder, why don't you explain to them why it's so important that they listen to it on YouTube. Gee willikers, Abdul. Why it's so important is because this is Spout Lore's summer of YouTube.

A very YouTube summer by Spout Lore. For the month of June, from June 1st to June 30th, all of our video episodes are available for free. That means anything past and including episode 10 of season 12 has a video component that you can go watch right now. You can go see all of our beautiful faces playing Dungeon World for your enjoyment.

The reason why we're asking you to do that is because we- We, as the Spout Lore nation, are trying to trick YouTube into promoting our podcast to more amazing people like you. Just like when we launched Mall Brats and all of your activity helped launch us to number one in comedy podcasts in Canada, we're trying to do that again, but with YouTube. So go over there.

You can find a link to our YouTube page in the show notes of this very episode, including the video episode that you are listening to right now. And you can like, subscribe. And just generally engage with the video and tell YouTube, hey, this is something that people like. You should show this to other people. Other people like me, a Spout Lore patriot. I don't know why this is the character I made. Hey, whatever works, man.

And if we get 1,500 YouTube subscribers during this push, we are going to release for free our first volume of our Up All Night playtest, in which we play some brand new characters in 1990s, British Columbia investigating the supernatural. That's right. Child versions of the cast that you love just murdering Christmas mascots. Yeah, that's not what it's strictly about, but it's fun. Santa Claus. Bang, bang, bang. You'll like it. Check it out.

And if we get to 3000 subscribers, we're going to release volume two in which we play Last Pine Presses, Bump in the Dark, a Blades in the Dark monster hunting game set in the 1970s. That's right. And in this one, Snoopy's gone bad. Okay. Again, not what it's about, but you'll love it. So check that out. If that sounds like something you're interested in and you want more people to listen to Spout Lore and enjoy the show that you have enjoyed as well, you can get that engagement rolling.

Go to YouTube, subscribe, comment, like, share, do the surveys, the whole deal. For Glorious, the podcast is from… C to Shining Sea. Yeah. I feel like we might have muddied the message. We? Enjoy the episode. Enjoy the episode. 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. Thing is half-elf. He shifts his shape and wields a spear with great might. Billy's a thief. His tiny size does max 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. Wow. To Spell Lord.

Really cut that music off. I sure did. We just got stuff to do, baby. It's your game master, Sean O'Hara. Joining me as always, playing Tacoma Dome, the barbarian Abdulaziz. Oh, my ears. Shit. For me getting too quiet. I got quiet too fast. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

Ving the Half-Elf Druid Paul Oppers Hi Oh no I didn't want to detract from this Shit I actually don't know Things got too quiet too fast for a tool And playing Fabulous the Halfling Thief Jessica Tai Hello it's me and my three drinks Oh yeah we're back to three drinks Tea Ginger ale Lemonade baby Are you going to be okay Fuck I wish it was louder for longer Shit I wasn't ready The fade was Too Extreme Alright Alright we're moving That's the guy who grew up in the 80s for sure Yeah Wait Well all the songs faded in the 80s Yeah Cause you were all dead by then Yeah we just weren't alive yet Yeah we were dead in our dad's balls Yeah When I was in my dad's balls I was never more alive I was dead Never more alive I truly believe that Think of all the adventures you went on in your dad's balls Shut up What about when you're a little egg in your grandmother In my grandmother?

Oh grandmother's eggs Yeah That's my The name of my one man show Grandmother's eggs Cause you're in your mom's eggs When she was still in her mom Yeah That is crazy That those eggs are There's some solid eggs They last a long time Been sitting on that shelf for quite some time Yeah Good job ladies Way to go Way to go everybody Bye Shout out to All those folks with eggs out there As a woman I will take that praise Yeah Rightfully so You deserve it Thanks When last we left our heroes They had God what a great guy I am That's what's important That's what's important is for you to say that as often as you can Ladies People really start doubting it if I don't say it a lot Yeah Why do they start doubting it?

I don't know I feel like Gaslighting the fuck out of me When last we left our heroes They had defeated Colm Blackhammer The very Temporarily And sort of Not even all the way Redeemed In a sense Princep Co-princep Of the Firefields Principality Yeah not redeemed at all Not redeemed Just willing to give up a little bit of information He had been defeated And A4 Was painted With a barbecue smiley face And some angel wings And sent on his merry way And the flames Yeah!

And the flames I'm so sorry It said Gift for Highspear From Tuck, Billy, and Vic Yeah Yeah And Ving put a cool S on him Oh Cool S Where is There was one on the table Where did it fucking go? There's a cool S Oh there it is Holy shit Look how cool that S is You know how sick it was To have your name start with an S In the early 2000s? Imagine having two S's in your name Yeah Oh man You got two cool S's right in the middle That's so awesome Yeah And you could probably do a cool J too, right?

Oh Well I'll do that We'll do that We'll figure it out About things A4 headed off to Highspear To go defend the city And I think primarily Like kind of defend the Highspear That was what he was asked to do Make sure that Highspear doesn't get destroyed Yeah The party headed back into Hither and Yon Discovering Mears Who jumped out at them from an ambush point Having, according to him Given the sword back to Colm Blackhammer Being compelled by the icon of honor That Colm housed within his tattoo The inn at that point decided What you guys needed Was a little time at the beach And moved you to a black sand coastline Far to the west Summer vacation Summer vacation time Probably not too far away from Crystal Bay In all honesty Yeah No, not that far Beach party summer Beach party summer Did it Is it cool, Jack?

Whoa, it is cool It honestly is not that impressive Let me see It's pretty cool Oh, holy fuck Ah!

Two cool S's And what we did was mostly recuperate After a fucking molly whopping From Colm Blackhammer You guys needed to heal It was a brutal foreshadowing Of how intense the final conflict is gonna be Yeah I feel so vindicated In telling you guys After you fought Colm Blackhammer That facing him again in battle Would be a mistake And then he almost kills two of you Yeah Again Yeah But that is far behind us We're healing We're chilling on the beach We're meeting a new friend Wind River Friend?

In quotation marks We're meeting a new best friend Wind River Asterisk Betrayed Immediately betrayed by this new friend Well, you know A wandering hippie Who likes to ingratiate himself to people That do not know him And who is not a friend to him And who does not feel gracious towards him To get what he wants And that's some soup A place to chill Some vibe out time We discovered that He is just as robbable As any of the other NPCs You've ever met and interacted with We really had a moment Where we were like I guess we've moved past this And then immediately robbed him Towards larceny Wow I can't believe we're not gonna We're not gonna totally fleece this guy It shows growth Anyways, I'm gonna rob him You saw a couple things you wanted Including a little Vial of hibernia water How'd he get that?

Something called blight leaf That Billy took A potent poison And his driver's license Which referred to him As a member of the Masterly family Yeah Son of Lee Masterly III Yeah Wind River Explained to you that he had taken What he called a voluntary vow of poverty Which just means he's got a trust fund That he draws on when he needs it Which isn't all the time Yeah And has been kicked out of his house By his father After he was killed After crashing a car Through the dining room Victor arrived To take care of Billy Who had returned to his spring form And was overcome with grief At his slaying His part in the slaying Of Colm Blackhammer Who Victor deemed a foe Faced in battle And therefore Billy just defeated A combatant And there's nothing to be upset about And they rode off into the distance To maybe go kill some more people Maybe, who knows Yeah, danger without a plan Yeah We also learned that Billy's father Was a soldier Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah We also learned that Cloudpiercer and the Thunderbirds Are attempting now To strike against the storm Ugh And track down the piece of the moon That seems to be powering it And we connected a bunch of dots Mm-hmm All at once As Ving looked into the trove Of druidic knowledge within his chest That the pieces of the moon May be key to the Gibbous Man's plan Mm-hmm He seems to, Tuck believes Mm-hmm Using his font of knowledge Making wild guesses about stuff Nobody else knows about Mm-hmm Thinks the Gibbous Man's plan Due to his disdain to Or mortality and mortals And his wish to be a god Might just wanna wipe the whole thing clean Yeah And Lillian might be key to that plan But Lillian does not have a great relationship With her father, the god of the sky Uh-huh So he might require some method of controlling her Which the party posits I think probably rightly Mm-hmm Because of Ving's thing Which means that whatever Paul says was true Yeah That he requires the pieces of the fallen moon To control her Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah!

And get her on his side Let's not forget Who put that together? Paul Oppers Star of Spelord Oh, shut up, bitch!

I honestly genuinely got gaslit so hard then That I forgot that that was your idea Uh, that was Abdul's idea I forgot I can't believe you're gaslighting me right now Paul, you fucking dickhead Uh, so maybe we have a new, uh, wide-ranging quest One, go to Blackpool Back glass and attempt to free Callum Blackhammer Uh-huh If you wish to fulfill the dying wish of Colm Yes And track down the pieces of the moon To sort of head the gibbous man off Yep To stop that aspect of his plan And kind of the utilitarian aspect of the Callum thing Is that it takes him off the board for the gibbous man Yeah, totally That is what we learned in terms of directions we might want to go Yeah, Cloud Pierce also has the wading knife Yeah Which we know is the only thing that has ever harmed a god And might be the only thing capable of killing the gibbous man Mm-hmm but that's not important.

What's most important is that Billy is on a dog and riding down the beach. Faster! Faster, Victor! Yeah! We got to a town at the end of the beach and Billy, with his binoculars, looked towards the entrance of the city and saw a newspaper boy, a newsie, calling out that there was a 10,000 coin bounty for information leading to the capture of the three outsiders responsible for killing Colm Blackhammer. This town is not doing good. There's a lot of people who could use that money for good things.

There's a lot of guys with eye scars and eye patches and, like, hook hands. And hungry kids. Yeah, they're like, we're all mercenaries and our kids are all starving. Yeah, and one of those people looking for that money, Wind River, who, after getting kicked out of Hither and Yon, made his way down the road to the beach town and Billy saw him recognize the three outsiders by their description in the newspaper. What do you do now? We should have never, we should have never kicked him out, Victor.

Are you riding towards the town or towards Hither and Yon? Back to Hither and Yon. Okay, great. Let's just cut back into the bar. Tuck and Ving are in the bar with Perel, Morris, and Mears. Francis is also here. He is asleep. He is a pig. He has nothing to contribute to the scene. Okay. Everybody, the listeners, Francis is in the room. It is now your responsibility to remember that. Is there anything that you four or five are discussing in here?

The last things that we kind of put all that shit together about the pieces of the moon. Pieces of the moon. That kind of like brings Morris and Perel up to speed on everything that we've done. Yep. Were there any open questions that we were trying to figure out from them that we were still, like we got the pieces of the moon, we know what they do, we know what Cloudpiercer's doing, we know the knife thing. Was there… Figured out the smog, that's a while ago. Yeah. Yeah.

Do they have any news about the tower? Yeah, that's what I was wondering. I think it would be like the progress of their project. Yeah. Which is currently understanding the High Spear. Like they can't really bend it to their goals until they understand the mechanisms. Yeah. So… But what have you figured out about it? Well, as two of the finest minds of the currently living, yeah, okay, you know the whole thing. We're geniuses, et cetera, blah, blah, blah.

We've been working on the tower along with Aquaria. She's been helping us out. So what we've learned is… What have we learned? So the High Spear is a wizard tower. So it was constructed by a wizard whose specific area of expertise was language and the power of the spoken word. They basically tell you that they have figured out mostly, they think, how the tower actually works, which is… It's basically a radio tower. That uses thalmic energy to connect people's minds.

So it diffuses a field across the planet, which connects people and allows them to just communicate almost without words, just getting ideas and language across perfectly. Oh, that's cool. It feels like if it fucked up, then everyone would not be able to hold thoughts in. You know what I mean? Yeah. Or maybe not speak at all. Because no one really… That's maybe Perel saying.

He's like, yeah, one of the things we're wondering is if this means that no one actually really learns how to speak physically. And if this tower goes down, it's not just that people that speak other languages won't be able to communicate. It's that people won't be able to communicate at all. So we think that the way that the field works, it translates through the thalmic realm is how it connects people. That's how it connects over space.

So if we're able to use that to contact the wizards that are trapped in their own thalmic bodies, like bubble universes, we might be able to use that to communicate with them. But we just need a lot more power. Cool. And at this moment, Victor comes power sliding into the door with Billy on his back. And I tumble off, roll into almost the fire. I go, he betrayed us. Windweaver, he's going to betray us. He's going to let everyone know where we are. They know we killed Colm. What?

They're going to give everyone 10,000 coins. They're going to give everybody 10,000 coins? There's no way. There's no way. We have that kind of money. He's going to get 10,000 coins. For what? For telling on us. For telling us about what? That we killed Colm. Oh, shit. They're going to get out of here. They're going to come for us. You should have seen these guys. You should have seen this town. Describe one. His hands were pitchforks. Their eyes covered in bandages.

A person, scraggly hair coming at me. Teeth long and sharp. I'm so scared. You awake right now? We cut back and it was a scarecrow. He passed through the window. They're coming for us. We got you now, Mears. Do it now. Okay. All right. Well, close the door next time. And he walks around the bar and closes the door and all the shutters close. God, were you born in a barn? You're letting all the heat out. Where does it go now? What do you think the general consensus thought in this room is?

Highspear. Into what you need. Yeah. I think Highspear. Because M4 got there two hours ago and Morris and Pearl are not there to receive it. Oh my gosh. And everyone is freaking out. They're like, who the fuck are Tuck, Billy, and V? A4 is just waiting outside the tower like, guys. Like looking in all the windows like, hello. Smiling with a smile and a thumbs up. Thumbs up. And they shot a harpoon at him and he's like, no, don't do that. Please. Please. So you guys are going to High Spirit. Yes.

It's the tower or the city? I assume the tower. I guess whoever needs to talk to us most about this. Which is A4. Yeah, totally. I think he's on the outskirts, like just on the edge of town. You guys told him to go to the tower. He might have just gone to the tower. Yeah. Or like, you know, step around the city so he doesn't step on anybody. Yes. He like tiptoed all the way around. I like the idea of him, because there's a mountain nearby. Yeah.

Like above the tower that he's like kind of like sitting on the mountain. Oh, yeah. Down at the tower. Yeah, because I always imagined the tower as part of the mountain. Yes. It is. Yeah. Yeah. So you come out of a door out into the High Spear, I guess. Whoa. Like the first room, like one of the ground level rooms of the High Spear. It's beautiful. It's a lot of like metal, finely wrought, in a very ancient style. Like a lot of silvers and golds.

Kind of like some real Wizard of Oz looking shit in here. Like a lot of very crystalline and flowing shapes. And you see like there's like long, tall, skinny windows set into the tower at different intervals. Like it could look out over the city. Oh, cool. There's like a central. So it's like a big circular chamber. The ceilings are quite high. It's like sort of airy in this spot with like the long, tall windows having daylight filter in. But the center of the room is dominated.

Floor to ceiling with like moving, spinning gears and pieces of metal that have like a very what you would all describe as a wizardy quality. There's like pieces that are floating around it in different like opposite circles and stuff that you couldn't even begin to understand. But Morris and Perel see you staring at it and go, yes, this is the High Spear. What we're calling the High Spear. All right. Oh, this is what does the whole the whole thing with the words and the magic. This is it. Cool.

It goes all the way up and all the way down. All the way down to the base of the mountain. Yeah, there's there's several layers into the mountain below. Whoa. Did you ever get to the very bottom? There's a there's a few locked doors that we haven't been able to get through. But we're working on it. Anyway, go talk to your big robot friend. Okay. And you leave the room. Chamber. And you see sitting on an outcropping of the mountain. Not too far away is a giant robot with his head on his fist.

Just waiting. Like legs dangling. Yeah, totally. Yeah. Every time he dangles his legs like a flock of birds flies off of a nearby rock. Yeah. And arrayed below you is the city of High Spear. A beautiful city containing very many thousands of people. Yeah. Terrified. Terrified. A lot of screaming. Yeah. You can hear from below. Still? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You sit in there a few hours. Yeah. That's a big robot.

Every once in a while, it's like it starts up again. Someone like hyperventilates and starts screaming. And then all the people in the neighborhood are like, ah, what's happened? The end has come. End of the world. There's a giant banner in one section of the city that people have erected that say, we pay homage to robot. And there's other people like piling their belongings to like do a mass exodus or something like that. Yeah. Totally. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Another banner that says, we do not pay homage to Big Robot. And it's just a civil war is starting in the city. And they're all standing across from each other like, not my robot. Hashtag not my robot. Hashtag not my robot. It's so funny.

And as you're walking along this rocky mountain trail above the city, you see stamping up the mountain, marching up the path that usually leads to this and to the outcropping that A4 has settled on. A number of armed soldiers. Drums. Let's go. Intercept. Yeah. You are able to make it to the center of the column. They kind of pass you a little bit. And there's a bunch of soldiers just marching ahead. Hey, hold. Wait, stop. Tuck throws a rocket at whoever he sees on a horse. On a horse?

He throws a rocket at whoever he thinks the most important guy is. Yeah. Here we go. Ten. Okay, great. So you throw a rocket at a guy on a horse. Yeah. Stop. And it clangs off his helmet like he's got like a shining silver helmet. Oh, yeah. With the big horse hair off the back. Exactly. Yeah. And he turns and lifts a fist and boom. Everybody stops. The drums stop. They all turn to you. Hey. Hey. Did you throw that rock at me? Yeah. You guys weren't stopping. Are you Tuck, Ving, and Billy?

That's right. Yeah. Bow at your service. Heroes of legend and tale storied, told across the battlefield. We are the Wanderers Three. The generous souls who gifted this beacon of hope to this city. We brought this robot back to life after he died in a completely unavoidable self-sacrifice type scenario. Yeah. We taught him to love, to live, to laugh. We taught him how to be human. And we brought him here to protect us. He holds up a hand. Okay. I get the gist. I get the gist.

You should come with us. Okay. To where? To meet the mayor. Okay. You know our move. Yeah. And you are led along the column. Can I roll for a trap expert? Oh, you can roll trap. Yeah. You can roll trap expert. 2d6 plus dexterity. I don't trust anybody. Anyone. 12. 12. Is there a trap here? And if so, what activates it? I really think this is a situation in which no, there is not a trap here. Nice. Yeah. What else is hidden here? Yeah. As you are led along, you are led to the front of the column.

It appears that this group was escorting the mayor of Highspear. Oh. And the soldier on the horse is riding alongside you. He'll ride ahead and then he'll stop and turn around while you catch up. And then he rides ahead a little bit more. And then he stops, turns around. Please get a move on. I'm trying. Please get us a horse. Yeah. I have Billy and Bjorn on my chest. But I'm still going. And being on your shoulders. We've never done this before. Why are we doing it like this? Yeah.

I have to keep up with a horse. You're so much better at cardio than I am. My legs are so big. They're rubbing. They're rubbing. They're rubbing so much. They're rubbing together. And you eventually get to the front of the column and you hear the soldier shout out, Mayor Boggins. Quiet talk. I don't breathe that loud. I'm just panting right now. It's the mayor. Okay. The mayor. Okay. Winky face. Okay. Thanks, Billy. Did Tuck hear what he said over the chugging? Yeah, he did. Okay. Great. Great.

And ahead of you, you see in a very fine, much finer than you've ever seen him wear before. Very fine, long coat. Long hair. Hair longer and taller than it's ever been. Longer and taller than ever before. His coat is so long that the train has its own horse. Oh, it's got a separate horse? That's really fun. The horse cannot see. The horse can't see at all. Bring me your blindest horse that I may put my train on without it absolutely freaking out.

And you do see ahead of you, Mayor Etienne Boggins. I think it's off of Tuck. Goes hand reaching out. Lovely to meet you. Hello there. Nice to meet you as well. I'm Etienne Boggins. And he holds a hand down. Out to be kissed. Bing kisses it reluctantly. Yes, that is the proper respect to be shown, Mayor. You two come forward. Kiss my ring. He's on all fours. He's like, okay, cool. I'll come up. He stands up. He's like, okay. Billy, you're soaked, by the way. Yeah, yeah. With my sweat.

I'm trying to like, I'm wringing out all the bandages that I've covered in. I like that when you're on all fours, Billy's just hanging off you. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's the Bjorn. Also on all fours. I go up to Dan, right? It's Dan. It's Mayor Etienne Boggins. Thank you. Nice to meet you. Okay, here we go. And then I kiss him, but I give a little bite to his hand. Nice to meet you, barbarian. Yeah, that's me. I should get convinced of this civilized world. Better get a fucking point for that.

You always do, no matter what. I guarantee you, I don't, Mr. Boggins. Sometimes it seems like no matter what. Some people say things are considered conventions. Now, uh, Commander. Wait, we have another little boy here. Do you want to kiss Billy? I don't allow children to kiss my hands. They're filthy. Whoa. What? My hands. I've been riding all day. Commander, I believe I should have a private council with these three here. They may be very important to the situation. And the commander nods.

Yes, of course, Mr. Mayor. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Despair City, I welcome you to- And the flap goes down. What the fuck are you guys doing? You did it. What the fuck have you done? You won. Congratulations. Of course I won. I manipulated the election. We still think it's a real election. I can't believe you pulled it up. It was rigged. It was a platform. The whole thing was fucking rigged.

It was rigged. Yes, of course it was rigged. That's actually a really good platform. How'd you guys rig it? I just rig elections. That's what I do. I love rigging elections. I can't get enough. What the fuck happened with the big robot? What do you mean? We already told you. It's a gift? Yeah, it's a gift for Highspear to make things feel nice. Yeah, we give him a quick rundown of everything that happened. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We're like, we killed Cold Black Hammer. This was Project Anvil.

You probably heard about Project Anvil. It was just a huge Mac. And then we took another Mac's heart and put it in this guy and brought him to life. And now he's a robot on the Highspear side. He kind of has a mind of his own, but we think he's our friend. Yeah, but yeah, he's totally uncontrollable. He's metal as fuck. That's the one thing we instilled in him was to not respect authority.

So you, sorry, you, just to be clear, the mayor, the one thing that you taught a 120 foot tall war machine is to listen to no one. That's the way it should be. That's what being metal is all about. Holy shit. Yeah. He like sits down in the little like. Folding chair that they brought in for him. He peeks out of the curtain and M4 is like holding a bird on his finger. Yeah, totally. Just looking at it. Or like a stag. Yeah. A mountain goat. You're cool too. Rolling a mountain goat. Okay.

So you sent the robot here to protect the tower. Yeah. And the city. Yeah. Okay. That's cool. Yeah. We can't have like the black hammer twins having access to this guy. Well, technically it's just one black hammer now. Yeah. Just the one black hammer. I can't believe you guys killed calm black hammer. We had no choice. It was so easy. We barely had to, we barely even try. Uh huh. Like you're completely bandaged. Your torso is covered in bandages. I bet. I bet it was easy.

Ving and Billy look at tech like, wow, I guess he doesn't like real life. I don't remember being possessed. Yeah. It must've been super easy when you weren't there for most of the fight. Uh, wow. Okay. So great. He's cool. You told him to come here to help. Then yes, I, the mayor of high spear. Yes. We'll negotiate with this one of a kind state of the art giant robot. And we'll come and help. Okay. We know how off putting Dan. Sure. Right. Yeah. Okay. Great. Um, excellent. Excellent. Excellent.

Excellent. And he puts his wig back on and puts on this like nose that he's wearing. Wonderful. And he pushes his way through the tent. It's been decided. They will come with us to discuss terms with the robot. Everyone mount up. He hops back on his horse. His coat train is replaced on the giant horse. Can we sit on the train horse? That horse is reserved for the train of my mayoral vestments. You will walk boy. Easy. Big.

Uh, and you had further up the cliff to M four slash a four where he rests. Seriously. We need to get you a puffer. You don't get to complain. You're on my fucking shoulder. Like that. It's just talk is, uh, uh, uh, and then we pan down and he's on things. Shoulder. Now he's like, all right, whatever, buddy. Billy. Okay. Up there. I'm just, you guys are both so out of breath. I'm so tired. Running along. Billy's getting whipped back and forth on tux. He's just getting motion sick. Things.

Gams are just popping with every step. Incredible. Breaking a sweat. Uh, and you reach M four. He towers above you on his cliff face. Ah, my friends. Hello. I made it to high spear. Minimal casualties. Uh, it's a lovely. Spot. You find yourself. How is the vantage from up there? It's quite beautiful. The cities of man are so incredible from this high up. Look over there. That's where they all go and eat all. You can eat ribs. Oh shit. They can't get enough of them. God.

He found out all the important stuff. What else did you see on your way here? Yeah, you can roll. Oh yeah. Died to certain realities. Yeah. He can give you some info. Seven. Okay. So you get one question off the list. I guess what is about to happen? Here in high spear. Ah, good one. Great question. Billy. Now that Colm Blackhammer is dead, dead, dead. This massive voice. And Dan is like, well, there goes that military.

News has spread fast along the front and the armies of the firefields principalities are in disarray. This is just a newscast from beside a broadcast tower. You can't even see the fire. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Oh, yes. There's a ton of work. There's a ton of work. There's a ton of work. There's a ton of work.

There's a ton of work. There's a ton of work. There's a ton of work. There's a ton of work. There's a ton of work. There's a ton of work. There's a ton of work. There's a ton of work. There's a ton of work. There's a ton of work. There's a ton of work. There's a ton of work. There's a ton of work. There's a ton of work. There's a ton of work. There's a ton of work. There's a ton of work. There's a ton of work. There's a ton of work. There's a ton of work.

Though who knows what dangers lurk in the mind of Callum But it would appear that the restaurant in the lower district Has deemed every day all you can eat ribs For $5.99 while supplies $4.99 $3.99 While supplies last And then cuts to the guy that owns the ribs place And he's like, what?

I didn't see that A mob of people jumped on the road No, no Let's take the door back We don't have a door Hide the ribs Look at 28 days later People start bursting through windows Give me their ass We lost Cal He's gone He's gone They started all you can eating his ribs No Only some of that happens What a crazy day in High Spirit So that's what A4 tells you The war though not Over over the forces are being Called to retreat the city Okay that's good information And I have come here To High Spirit City as you Requested of me Thank you I will take the High Spear in my charge Really Yes that is why you asked me to come here correct Yeah We need you to protect us from the Firefield soldiers This I can do And they will come for you I think This seems wise and likely The city is full of like really good people And a really cool mall You can't let Anything happen to the mall The mall's got a bunch of really important Characters for a different story So the mall has to stay safe Very well I will protect this city I will become the defender of High Spear And the crowd goes Yay One guy goes not my robot He's the only one left With that banner Just one contrarian in the whole group I don't know I don't think I trust The giant robot protector Dude you sound like a Fucking spy from the firefield I don't know what you mean I'm just a normal High Spear guy Wait a second Who are you I've been had Yeah so It is unless you have any more questions for A4 Here he shall stay I do have one So we know that it takes A shit load of coal to power Even the small max Oh yeah what's he running on Yeah We're on that hibernia water That was just in the boiler Yeah We didn't establish really Taka actually had an idea about this From all of the demon stuff that we've been exposed to And my connection to Black Spire And then he goes Shout out to a real one I think that the Mechs because they are Designed to run on obsidian Kind of imbued Coal That!

They could actually also run on Sunstone You got there After me by a lot By a lot You said at the same time But I do appreciate that Tuck you have full credit Let's not forget Whose idea this was It's a great idea But yeah Could we get a bunch of sunstone I feel like you could burn it For energy Hmm Interesting Roll a spell or 2d6 plus intelligence Shit Someone else do this I'll say it's your idea No I'm not taking credit for that Son of a bitch Please work Yes Okay It's a great idea And I'm using Fount of knowledge Uh Yep Yep Okay here we go Whoa Okay So that's Eight So eight Seven to nine Interesting Not necessarily useful So I think it's an Interesting idea We just don't know that Sunstone creates heat We don't know that it can be used as fuel Because it is a rock It is a stone Mm-hmm But is it Do we think the idea is Potentially Sunstone could be used Like a smaller amount of sunstone Charged sunstone could be used to boil The steam that is required to run A4 Is that what we're thinking?

Yeah And it could Because the Like the smog is basically like Obsidian Kind of Like the obsidian coal burning And pouring into the atmosphere This would like Sort of like Put particulates of like sunstone Which are anti-demon Mm-hmm Into the air So it'd be like a counteracting To the smog as well Yeah We do know that sunstone is quite rare It is So where are we thinking We're getting a quantity Large enough to run A4 I look at Dan I go You're in charge of the city's treasury, right?

I mean as may of course I am Is there any way to get it done? Is there any sunstone in there? Um Hmm There might be I'm not at liberty to share the contents of the city treasury With three rapscallions such as yourselves Perhaps we may be able to find some sort of stone Or you can leave this to my discretion Do we trust Do we trust Dan?

No, we don't But we don't have much of a choice He is selfish enough that I think He'll make sure A4 gets what he needs At least make sure Dan's in there And is okay Okay Cover his butt, yeah Yeah Okay You take care of this Wonderful You may go now I will see to it that A4 receives All of the resources that he requires To protect this city and its people And more importantly its mayor Now be gone with you I climb back onto top Well I guess we're walking Okay Look at Ving Alright Get on Doug scrambles up Ving's shell Oh my god And you hear You need to shave your legs And you hear Mayor Boggins go Ah, my horse is tired Bring me my backup horse You had another horse?

Be gone with you You suck Bye A4 Goodbye friends Thank you for once more giving me life Thank you for saving us A4 It is the debt that I could repay You have given me life once I have repaid it once Given me life twice I have repaid it twice Goodbye friends Goodbye friends Goodbye friends Goodbye friends Goodbye friends Goodbye friends Goodbye friends For your kindness I shall repay it a third time At some future date Wow Thank you If there's anything you need of us I hope that you feel comfortable enough to ask I will I'll just say it really loud And hope you hear me Wherever you are Thanks And thanks for taking care of the city too He nods And his big head whips back and forth At 200 miles per hour Five stories up And a bunch of birds go Squawk And fly away from his giant head and yeah you leave this scene there is a bunch of soldiers in attendance now like trying to speak to a4 and figure out what he needs and you are able to return to the high spear yep what does it look like I mean from so the inside were we on the ground floor when we showed up yes pretty much yeah you were in like the entrance level I am curious about these like basement doors that they couldn't get through yes yeah there are lower levels and morrison perel you hear their voices in some room they're not here on this ground level but they are around it's the got the vibe of like you're at your uncle's place and you're just staying here for the week and they can't be hanging out with you all the time but they're around you just kind of do what you want so you're going down to the lower levels I want to do the thing where I slide down the staircase so that's what I was going to say you guys spend some time looking for a staircase oh and you can't find one you're like walking around you're checking doors you're looking in rooms no stairs to certain realities I'm looking under the rugs you I'm touching everything pulling out of the books looking for a secret staircase parts of the wall yeah nothing what pulled over a bookshelf yeah so nothing behind here either just knocked it over completely uh something was gonna roll to certain realities yeah yeah 2d6 plus wisdom 10 all right three questions what here is not what it appears to be ah you see billy uh is poking things he's like touching everything walking around and he gets to like a sort of distended section of the wall it's like a half cylinder uh that goes up and down the whole length of this chamber and he's like tap tap tap tap tap tap and he touches like a circular part and it goes ding and a door slides open revealing a chamber within oh it's a chamber big enough for maybe five to six people let's squeeze in wait what what if it's not okay okay yeah I roll I would like to roll trap x okay 2d6 and you get a plus one from acting on the answer oh okay 11 11 okay three questions off this list is there a trap here and if so it activates it there is a trap here if you you think that if you enter this chamber that door will close behind you at some point and when it opens again you might not be where you were when the door closed okay what else does it do when activated there appears to be you like kind of peek your head in a little bit and uh you hear oh What else is hidden here?

There are a number of buttons along one wall, very similar to the button, the circular impression that you press to open this door. Do we risk it? Looks fun inside. I mean, the music's kind of shit, but I'm down. Hey, I walk in and I go, play different music. I press every button. Yeah, the door closes and then the room rumbles. And then just a couple seconds later, it stops, opens up and you see Morris and Perel and they turn around. Hey, hi. You want to come in? No, no, that's okay.

Where are you guys going? We're trying to get to the basement. Yeah, which button? Press the lowest button. It's like minus four. Oh, tech presses it. They've all been pressed by Billy. Oh. You've got time. And as the door is closing, we're like, wait, what button changes the music? And then it goes down one more floor. Billy's gripping the sides of the walls. It's moving like so fast. Bing, you have further questions. Yeah, what here's useful or valuable to us?

Okay, minus two opens and there is that central pillar that you saw that goes through the main chamber with different parts spinning. It looks like there are many like thin sheets of, I mean, I want to say like it's not paper, but like there, you can see that there are different consoles like plinths laid out with things laying on top of them that are connected to the central pillar by conduits. And they're like etchings that are happening on the sheets. Oh, until like clay tablets.

Yeah, clay tablets are like our sheets of glass, you know, like things are being etched out and then like ferried away to different places. So is it actively transcribing right now? It looks like it. Yeah. Wild. A giant computer. Ding! Door closes in your face and continues down a floor. Yeah, Tuck's head is buffering. Actually, this one's not bad. And this is level minus three, which is the second to last lower level. And this level contains… What do I glimpse? Yeah, what do we think?

Oh, this might be like where things are stored. Like all that stuff, all those like little… Transcriptions are stored. Oh, yeah, that makes sense because there's so many of them. Like a big, deep, far like library almost. Yeah. And you see them like coming down through the ceiling and then being like slotted into different shelves. Yeah. And then those like will like move back. Yeah. And like slot in new things. And it's just like forever. Yeah, that's cool. Yeah, I like that a lot.

So there's just shelf upon shelf upon shelf of stored documents here. Very well organized. Very unlike any other tower you've been in like Perel's or the Fanny Pack. Like it's so orderly in here. Yeah. And then door closes and it goes down to level negative four, which opens on a corridor that ends like very similar to like the gold and silver corridors that you've seen so far. And then ends in a heavy metal door with beautiful and artistic gold and silver designs reminiscent of pen strokes. Oh.

Yeah. And there it is. There's the door. What should I be on the lookout for? You. Okay. So you're looking at the… The very like calligraphic sort of designs on the door in gold and silver. And thinking about how this is some sort of language center, you believe that it very well could just be a simple password that would open this door. Password. Texas. Password one, two, three, four. Can I suggest something? Yes, please. Yes, absolutely.

You said that it's like pen stroke, like metal flourishes. What if like where the flourishes are ending, it's almost like they're all locks into the sides of the wall. Mm-hmm. Barring the door from being opened. Yeah, no, that makes sense. Like the pins kind of in like a bank vault door where they like go into the wall and hold it in place. Thank you, that's what I mean. Oh, yeah. So it's super secure. It's extremely secure. Fuck. Admin. Fuck. Can I do tricks of the trade?

Ooh, you could try tricks of the trade for sure. Yeah. Can you read tricks of the trade? It's been a while. Yeah. When you pick locks or pockets or disable traps. Roll plus dexterity. On 10 plus, you do it. No problem. Seven to nine, you still do it. But the GM will offer you two options between suspicion, danger, or cost. Right. 2d6 plus dexterity. Whoa. 11. Yeah, do it. No problem, you guys. Yeah. Do it. No problem. So narrow. Forgot password. That's a great. So does Billy say forgot password?

Yeah. Okay, great. Uh, the gold like starts to illuminate into an interface. Yeah, totally. The command is. Yeah. You're basically telling the door. Yeah. I forgot my password. So now it wants you to reset the password to the door. Oh, no. But that means that you need some sort of confirmation to be able to reset the password. Maybe it asks three questions. Oh, yeah. Three. Like you're like the security question. Yes. Oh, that's fun. Yeah.

So it's like, what is your what was your first pet's name? Yeah. What is the name of the street you grew up on? What is your mother's maiden name? Whoa. Maybe it asks all each of us these questions. Crazy. What if it was like, Billy, what is this? And then it's like Tacoma Dome. What? Because they can read our minds. Interesting. Because all those things are our answers that we don't know. Oh, shit. That's sick. That's pretty fun. So, Billy, you say forgot password. Mm-hmm.

And the gold and silver in the door sort of illuminates and flows as the metal comes down to like eye level or, you know, slightly above eye level for Billy, like chest level for Vig and Tuck. Yeah. And begins writing. It writes, Billy, what was the name of your first pet? Tuck, what street did you grow up on? Ving, what is your mother's maiden name? Um. Uh. Wow. Well, uh. I never thought about that. Have I had a pet before? Ving looks at his leather wrist strap. Okay.

I don't see first names on this thing. Really easy question answer for me, a regular guy who remembers his whole past. Door, give me a hint. Door, hint. We should go in that archive room on minus three. Yeah. There's probably a shit ton of information in there. That's what Sean's been wanting us to do the whole time. Yeah. Hey, there's an archive room. You can go there or you don't. Go there. Yeah. You guys can figure it out. All right. Let's go there. All right.

So you head back up the elevator. And ding. It opens onto row after row after row of like thin glass, shiny sheets slotted into shelves back, back, back, back, back, row after row. Is there a way that these are organized? Like some kind of Dewey decimal system? Uh, there. You would assume that there is. There is a way that this is organized. It is currently unknown to you. Uh, okay. To certain realities. 2D6 plus wisdom.

Please, please, for the love of God, someone, Allah, God of the flame, anybody who's listening, give me some luck on these naps. Okay? Ooh. You brought a lot. Is this one jacked? You caught it on your thing seemingly deliberately. So I'm going to say no. Is that a one and a three? That's a one. That's a one. That's a one and a three. Plus wisdom though. It's a five. Damn it. Um, wow. That's a great question. What happens on a failure here?

I, I see a, like a, you know, those cards that they have in, in like libraries, like drawers and drawers of cards. I'm like, oh, I bet there's some kind of information about, and then I pull it out and then the drawer falls in a bunch of glass shadows on the ground. Totally. Yeah. A big, like, like two dozen. I pulled the drawer way too far. Yeah. Yeah. Two dozen sheets of glass. Falling. Just shatter on the ground. And then they kind of like, and zip away into a little like a grill in the wall.

I think we're fine. I don't think I saw your mom's maiden name on any of those. As they were falling, I speed read all of them and it wasn't in there. Key information to the history of the world has now been lost forever. You'll never know. I sped read. You'll never know what that says. It was a bunch of. It was a bunch of breakfast menus. It wasn't anything important. Breakfast menus. That's so important. So I think the thing that this also shows you is that, yeah, there's no discernible.

There's no organizational style that you are familiar with. That whoever built this tower definitely built it. Like, well, I know where everything is. So that's all that matters to me. So if you're going to find any information in this, it's going to be an undertaking for sure. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Maybe there's like a. Like a golem. Like a guide kind of thing. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. My name is Dewey. That's cute. Oh, glass golem. Yeah. The glass shards don't zip away.

All those cards shatter on the ground and you hear like a clinking far in the back of the archive. We steal ourselves. Are we in trouble? Clink. Clink. Clink. I draw my spear. Clink. Clink. Clink. Clink. Clink. And then holding a broom is about a five foot eight humanoid figure made out of a of the archival glass, like scribed with different symbols and written word standing in front of you. And it like clink, clink, clink, clink, walks past you and starts sweeping up the glass.

What does he look like? A humanoid body, very angular and geometric. Uh-huh. No discernible facial features, like a polygonal person basically. Okay. I got you. Made out of these sheets of glass and they start sweeping up. They push past you. I'm sorry. Clink. Clink. Clink. Choo. Choo. Choo. Choo. Excuse me. Choo. Choo. Choo. Choo. Can I try a parlay with it? Yeah, absolutely. Oh, smart. So parlay means you're offering something in exchange. You will not smash all of these pieces of glass.

How do I communicate to something? Yeah, you can just like defy danger charisma to try and like get it to pay attention to you. Okay. It seems very drawn to its work right now. Yeah. It's ignoring me. So I kind of slowly open up another one of those drawers. Excuse me. Eight. Eight. Nice. So you like, excuse me. And you are opening another thing. And as it hears the like drawer open, it stops and turns. Can you help me find information? It nods. Oh, we have questions and we need some answers.

It clink, clink, walks forward, pushes you away from the drawer, gently closes the drawer. Yeah, Billy, you have to be careful. You don't want to drop another one of those. And it looks at Tuck. It looks at Tuck. Sorry, sir. Kids. Sorry about little butterfingers over there. You know, they keep breaking stuff. And then he looks at Billy. He's like, I'm so sorry. This is a betrayal. I'm just really embarrassed. The library's alive. You need to learn how to deal with your embarrassment.

And it steps forward into like the middle of the corridor between the two. Two rows of aisle or the two rows of shelves that go back and back and back on. It's like weird. Its feet end in like points. Like it's just four panes of triangular glass going to needle points at the end. And it stands in front of you. Clacks its two hands together and waits. Help me find. How do I find personal information? Yeah, we'll call this a Spout Lore. Sure. This is our greatest challenge ever.

And you know what? It shows four. Okay. That's a failure. For sure. Yeah. Shit. Fuck. Ellis. I could. I'll use a fairy child. Oh, yeah. Nice. Yeah. Okay. So interesting, but not useful. So there's definitely like there must be a section on the fair folk. Yeah. Or no. Unlike personal information. Okay. Oh, what's the interesting but not useful here? This is tough because this is like big info, but it's all here. Well, it's communication that's here. It's not like history, right?

It's like transcriptions of conversations. It's anything that's gone back and forth between two minds. Yeah. Oh, maybe like if it's if it's communication, then it would probably be filing everything chronologically. Yeah. So all the oldest stuff would be at the back. Further back. Yeah, totally. So maybe something like Billy would be maybe too far back to be recorded. So what Billy would be looking for is like stories that have been told about him. Maybe there's like a little like airport.

What are they called? Those walkways. Walkways. Oh, like a moving walkway. Yeah. Yeah. And like it turns one on. Thinking about like this floor being like, I don't know if the floor is also glass or not, but it's like these tiles that like start moving. Oh, yeah. Totally. And you see before it starts moving, it illuminates. It goes. Oh, yeah. A little like lights guiding the way. And yeah.

So lights illuminate in the glass of the floor and little panes start gliding along surprisingly silently like they're fit together so tightly and it just starts guiding gliding away and it gestures at you and towards the walkway. It tries to sweep me onto it. Yeah. It just pushes you with its broom. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. There you go. Thank you. Where am I going? We kind of just like let that happen. Yeah. Billy? Guys? We're like, huh? You gonna come with me? A kid just got in a weird van.

Basically. Okay. You start to walk towards the walkway and it steps in front of you. Oh, hey, that's our kid over there. Is it okay for him to be alone in the library? Just stares impassively at you, but it nods. Is it okay to be alone? Nods. Okay. Nothing dangerous. Nothing dangerous in here. It holds up two hands. Now, hold on. Do you understand English? It nods. Okay. We're in the tower that understands English. This is the tower that made everyone speak English. Everyone speaks English.

And Billy, you are? You are dragged away so fast. Your hair is blowing in the stagnant air of this place. Oh, and it's like what seemed like a very narrow hallway. Initially, it starts to like open up and the ceiling raises up and you get taken. Oh, I get taken like down. Like different levels. Whoa. And you're speeding up. Like a track. Yeah. Like sharp dip. Turn to the left. There's racks. Mind card madness. Yeah, exactly. There's racks and racks everywhere. Yeah.

It seems like every communication. Every communication. Every communicated idea since the foundation of this tower is stored here. It's the whole inside of the mountain. Yeah. Is every log ever. Is the storage. Of every conversation ever had. Yeah, Billy, you realize you are inside the High Spear Mountain. Oh, my gosh. Wow. And you are. And the glass is made from the ground up granite. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. They make the glass from the mountain. Yeah. Yeah. I wonder if Farrah's been in here.

She would lose her mind. She would lose her mind. And like. Clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack. Oh! And slowly, but faster than you expect. Shook. You come to a stop. You tumble off the floor. Yeah, I tumble off the floor. Whoa. Hello. You are in a section that is as big, if not bigger than the section you were just in. The mountain has been hollowed out, it looks like. And then a structure constructed within it.

So the ceiling, quote unquote, is like a fucking kilometer above you. You have been brought down quite far. You see that these tracks, these glass tile tracks run all over the place, crisscrossing. But the thing that you are struck by as you were when you walked in is how orderly it is. Whoever built this place was obsessed with like cleanliness, neatness and order. So it's like a massive grid pattern that fills this whole mountain. The shelves themselves are like a bookshelf.

Like there's, you know, two sides to every shelf. And then each shelf is filled with these. With these like glass panes that have very little clearance between. So it's just sheet after sheet after sheet of glass, which is for Billy very boring to look at. Yeah. But also kind of beautiful in its own way because it's like so glittery. You sort of like hear the tinkling of like a million of these like panes of glass just kind of existing in a space this huge. Yeah. Oh, yeah.

Like, yeah, like there's like just like a little shift in the air pressure and there's like kind of a wind chime sound that blows through. And you hear the sounds of what you assume are new sheets being filed. Oh, yeah. Must be very distant. And you've been dropped off in this area by the walkway, which leads you to believe this is the quote unquote personal information section. So I look, I will look here, I guess. Yeah. Discern realities. Go ahead and roll 2d6 plus wisdom. Six. God. Shit.

Rolling like shit. So I think Billy is just kind of lost right now. Guys. Yeah. Bing. Bing. I can't read. He said Bing. I can't read. Not Tuck. And you hear movement. Cut back to Tuck and Bing. All right. Do you want to go next or should I? I'll go. Yeah. Hello. Glasperian. Can you take me to the section of my personal information? Go ahead and roll 2d6 plus intelligence for spell or. I'm going to use my what the bones know to replace my one with a five. Hey, fuck. Yes. We go. Holy shit. Eight.

This is an eight. You saved it. That's awesome. Nice. So it's a seven to nine. So the walkway ding, ding, ding, ding, ding starts to light up and begins moving. Whoa. And you are taken. You see what Billy saw a cavernous hollowed out mountain filled with every communicated idea. And you see the building of this tower. I'm bad enough with numbers. I can't even begin to estimate how much material is in here. What's the nature of the light in here?

It seems like it's just sort of like it's almost like the like there is light being caught by the sheets that is then being magnified by the other sheets. Like it's sort of like reflections on reflection. So there's diffused light throughout the room and you are taken. Billy, you're like walking through you here like movement in the stacks. What's there? And then. And then you see Ving past. Bye. Ving. Billy. Can't read. You can't read. And you hear Billy.

But you are carried far and away down the row. Ving starts running against the tracks too fast. And the camera is like looking at Billy who is looking away and behind we see a shadow move past the aisle. I thought it was supposed to be safe. To another aisle. And you are brought to a section. All right. All right. So you are brought to a section a long way away from where Billy is and the walkway suddenly comes to a stop. He slides off. Yeah. Very gracefully. You Tom Cruise from Risky Business.

Yeah. Yeah. Lean. You lean on a shelf and a bunch of glass falls out and chatters on the ground. Hey, whoa. Whoa. Put those back. File them wrong. Okay. I'm going to start looking at the things. Yeah. Go ahead. Two to six plus discern realities. Nice. Eleven. Holy shit. Three questions. Yeah. What here is useful or valuable to me? You are looking for your mother's maiden name. Okay. So you're pulling out sheets of this glass. What does the writing look like on them do you think?

I'm imagining very small. Like really tiny writing. And in what language? I think Elvish. Yeah. Like whatever you can read. Your original language. Uh huh. Yeah. Okay. Great. Oh, and it's high Elvish too. This script is so ornate. Oh, it's so ornate. Oh, it's so ornate. Oh, it's so ornate. I have to read it like this. I tilt my head back and put my nose up in the air. You can't read it without chatting the bottom, doing an underbite. Yes. Wow. Quite interesting.

You are reading this information, which is presented as like a transcript. It's like the name of the speaker, what they say, the name of the speaker, what they say. Am I in the right era at least? So you see a conversation. You recall having with your mother as a child. When it's not like you recall the conversation, but it's once you start reading it, you remember, oh yeah, I remember talking about this. Yeah. It's not like a memory that you hold on to. Yeah. What age was he? Eight.

Let's say eight. Yeah. So Great Forest years? Yeah. When he was still in the forest. And it is about what? What do you think? I'm just asking my mom about her mom. Oh, classic. Oh. Classic kid question. Yeah. Yeah. Mom, do you have a mom? Of course I have a mom, sweetheart. Ileana. Cool. She was. Right. Cool. Cool. She died a long time ago, long before you were born, long before I met your father. But she was an intelligent woman. She taught me everything I know. And I miss her very much.

That's sad. It is sad. What was her name? Her name was Eloise. Hmm. And what was her last name? Ving. Ving asked his mom what was her last name? I mean, if you're allowing me to dictate this conversation, I would love to ask that. Do you think an eight year old would ask what was her last name? Hmm. Is Ileana, is she born on Hibernia? I forget. Or is she born in the north? So we actually don't like. Did we say? Like Paul and I know. Oh. Oh. But we don't know.

But like we know that Ileana was a wizard. Oh. We know that Ileana was a wizard. No, wait, we do know this. We know she was a wizard. We know Ileana was a wizard. Yeah. And she hid out with the druids. Right. Yeah. And became a druid culturally using her magic to emulate their beliefs. And we very strongly suspect that it's Adonack Allwater. Mm-hmm. Just based on the fact that he, like all of the shit in her tower reacted to him. Yeah. And not to any of the rest of us.

But you're still getting, so what should I be? You are in the right section I think is what you're learning is this is like you are in like your eight year old zone, that's the information. Yeah. If you wanted more information, you might need to go back. Mm-hmm. To when you were younger, maybe to before you were born even. Okay. Yeah. I'll keep going back I guess. Yeah. You have, we'll cut back to Tuck while we go through these questions. Okay. Alone, surrounded by books. My greatest enemies.

The archivist is just standing in front of you. Okay, what do I need? What do I need? I need to know my first, my first. I know what my first pet is. Why couldn't that be the one that I got? It's a dog. It would have been the easiest fucking thing in the world. But no, it's gotta be the fucking street I grew up on. Huh? Well, you know what? These questions are fucking racist. Against people who can't remember where the most of the shit from their childhood. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

And he's screaming at the little girl. Yeah. It's like, have you ever, did you ever fucking consider that? That some people, their first memory is like when they're eight years old and in some weird, like, sorcerer's office? It shakes his head. Did you even think that there might be differently abled people trying to do this? It nods. Okay. Fuck. What do I need? I need information about me. Me. Okay. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. I need more information. I need more information about myself.

No, no, no. I need to give you more information. I need to give you more information about myself. Go ahead and roll a 2d6 plus intelligence for Spout Lore. Fount of knowledge, because nobody else knows this. Six. Six. Shit. Oh, man. Just flat six? Yeah. Oh, wait. Why flat six? Because fount of knowledge. Oh, no. That information is here. Oh, but nobody else knows it. You're where people know this. No people are here. There's just a little glass here. There's just a little glass. Fuck. Okay.

You know what? You talked me into it. You still fail. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Very thank you. I can aid from a distance. Man. I hear echoes of talk and I can tell he's mad. Fuck. Yeah. Go like, oh, fuck. This sucks. Just want to send him good vibes. Oh, my God. I know you're 12. Yeah. 13, I mean. Jesus Christ. You could fully block this. No. Hey, you know what? I think you're not. I don't think you're wrong in that it is a nobody. Yeah.

As long as we're not considering the golem a nobody, because all of the information is here. So it still counts, but no one else in the world knows this info. Yeah. Well, it doesn't really matter. You get a seven to nine from Billy giving you good vibes. Yeah. Say, I know this is your worst nightmare, but be strong. You see Tuck whipping along above you. Be strong, Tuck. I'm going the other way. Whoa. Whoa.

The thing that happened was Tuck was, when he was going to the bathroom, he was like, I'm going to the bathroom. I'm going to the bathroom. He was like, I need more. I need to give you more specific information. The walkway is not wide enough for Tuck, so only one of his feet was on it. And then it pulled and slammed him into a split and then started dragging him by one leg. And then he's screeching along the glass. Whoa.

But Billy gives you the support, the luck of the fair folk from all the way down here. Yeah. And you are able to stay attached to the walkway. Yeah. And you went past Ving. Shit. I grab, when I see Ving, I grab onto one of the shelves. Oh, you're trying to stop with Ving? Oh, Ving. And the walkway so powerfully moves underneath you that it pulls your hand free of the shelf and you are dragged along. Billy, you see- What the hell was that? Ving's basically going like, what?

He takes his headphones off. Oh, what? Was somebody there? Was that them? Yeah. Oh, I see. Oh, I see. Oh, I see. Oh, I see. Oh, I see. Oh, I see. Oh, I see. Oh, I see. Oh, I see. Oh, I see. Oh, I see. Oh, I see. Billy, we cut back to you and you're in the shelves just kind of wandering around. Can't read anything. Yeah. Yeah. Well, if it's about me, it's about like, is it about like ferry me? I'm just having a chat with myself. I say that out loud. I'm just having a chat with myself.

Like what part of me is here? Maybe if I, no one's around, I could go into the shadow world maybe. Oh shit. Oh. Sick. Ooh. Yeah. I think I'll shadow dance. Wow. Okay. Very interesting. I will use my last ferry child for this. Okay. Get an eight. So that means I can leave my body and enter the ferry as my pure essence and take one hold. Okay. So you get one hold. Okay.

You enter the ferry in this wizard tower, which we've done before and everything is like sort of luminously represented in the ferry because the power is like reflecting through. Oh, cool. Like the other magic. Yeah. Yeah. Cause that's what it was like in, in all waters tower, right? Like you saw all this stuff, like the power was what you saw. Right. And you see that power held in all of the shards that are kept in this archive. Can I say what I see? Yes, please do. Okay.

So yeah, it's very bright in here, but I see what wasn't showing up on like the glass plates before, which is like that old ferry language. Yeah. Cool. It's been transcribing that as well. Yeah. Ooh, I like that. So now I can read it. Yeah. There are plates that are now covered in, in very runic language. The ancient writing of the fairies.

Is it like there's like regular language and then over top of it is all the conversations that fairies were having at the same time in the same room as these people. Cool. This is a very powerful array. Oh yeah. Yeah. This is a central piece of the infrastructure of the entire world. Cool. Yeah. I have to take out some pains at the same time to read it all like a puzzle. Oh yeah. Like you stack them up and look down through them. I like that. That's how I do it. That's cool.

It gives you almost like a cube that you can like instinctually look through and see a picture of. Yeah. Actually, if you stand on the end of the bookshelf, you can see through and see like all of the fairy. Oh. Yeah. Cause the shelves are glass too. Yeah. So actually that's how I do it. Okay. Yeah. You rolled a failure earlier. Yep. And we've been seeing this thing for like a year. So you're seeing this thing creeping in the shadows. Yes. You are now in the fairy. Yeah.

And I think you can see it more clearly. Uh oh. What do I see? Could be, oh, maybe it's the fairy archivist. Oh. Oh, cool. Yeah. So what does a fairy archivist look like? That means, it means that they're bound to something that's here. The rock, the mountain? Could be the mountain. Yeah. Could definitely be the mountain. So it was, yeah, the shadow that we were seeing was something moving in the fairy. It wasn't that it was in the shadows, it's that it was being seen as a shadow. Cool.

And it looks, I'm imagining like, you know, little old man kind of fairy, like a cane. With a cart? Oh yeah, he's like dragging like books around or like the shards in a little hand cart. Yeah. Like the old guy from Shawshank Redemption, the old librarian. Oh, he's got the like squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak. Little book cart. Yeah. Kind of like a hunched old man that looks like the granite of the mountain. Yeah. The bend of his back echoes the shape of the mountain above. Oh, totally.

Yeah. And he's like, hi there, young fella. Hi. It's been a while since I've had another fairy in the archive. Is there anything I can help you look for? I mean, yeah, I'm trying to, I'm trying to figure out if I ever, well one, if I ever had a pet and what its name was. And the library sent me here, so it must've been a long time ago. Oh yeah. This is the section for things that were gathered from before the construction. Before the construction of the tower. Oh. Cool. Whoa, that's cool.

Yeah, it's pretty cool. Sometimes, I mean, you know, you're a fairy. The oldest stories are the ones that are told, not the ones that are written down. So all these stories were told by me. By you? That's right. Well, hey, do you remember? And he kind of like closes an eye and sticks his tongue out. I'm Billy. Fat Billy. I'm Billy. I'm Billy. I'm Billy. I'm Billy. I'm Billy. I'm Billy. I'm Billy. I'm Billy. I'm Billy. I'm Billy. I'm Billy. I'm Billy. I'm Billy. I'm Billy. I'm Billy. Billy.

Billy. Billy. Billy. Billy. Billy. Billy. Billy. Billy. Billy. Billy. Billy. Billy. Billy. Billy. Billy. Billy. Billy. Billy. Billy. Billy. Billy. Billy. Billy. Billy. Billy. Billy. Billy. Billy. Up having creeping around in the shadows that was your failure ended up being a very helpful little fairy. So you're getting off easy. You're my wife. That's not why. It's just cooler. Something bad will happen. Something bad will happen. You know what? To you.

You know the bad thing that happens is we cut back to the beach and we see coming down the water on the back of two orcas. Black Spire. A black and white obsidian dragon who lands on the beach and goes Thanks a lot ladies. Thanks for the ride. See you later. And they're like see you later Black Spire. Don't forget to call sweetheart. You're the sweetest little dragon I ever let ride on my back across an entire enchanted ocean. Oh grandma stop. Stop. It's so nice. Anyway see you later.

Gotta go meet my friends. They told me to meet them right here. And he turns around. And he like goes and he noses his head through the hole that Heather and Jan used to be in. And then we cut back to the archive. That's the failure. You missed him. You son of a bitch Sean. The camera pans up and then like aerial view zooms down on that town and Wind River is arming a militia to go back. Oh the pitchfork hands. Oh no. Everyone's got pitchfork hands. Dipping their pitchfork hands in broken glass.

Bandages over their eyes. Hey coming out of their clothes. And then Wind River's like we're gonna sneak up and pretend to be scarecrows. We're gonna kill that dragon. That dragon. That's what I said. They know about it. No they don't. I'm joking. Big eyes. Yeah so the archivist is looking at your face. What'd you get? You got a nine? Yep. Spring fairy of the endless boughs. I think this is what I looked like. It's pretty close if I remember correctly. Lot more human clothing than I remember.

You were more rooted into the ground when I met you. Oh I was. Yeah. Well what do you need to know? What was my first pet and what was their name? Okay one second. First pet. First pet. And he's kind of like walking through. No not first. Okay. First kiss. Nope. First date. Nope. I had a kiss? I had a date? We cut back to that and it's you see a pumpkin pie. And we cut back to the present. We smash cut back to the present. Every now and then I fall apart. He goes oh alright. First pet.

And he pulls out the with the fairy sigil writing on it. And he kind of shakily hands it over to you. What is it? Oh. What's the cute thought? That it was a bird that fell out of a nest too soon when he was still a trot. That's what it is. Tell me about this memory. It is a baby bird that fell out of its nest too soon. It was a hummingbird. It couldn't fly yet. Um. Stay warm. So I would curl my oak leaves around it to create like a little a little nest for it.

And its mom fed it for a while but she stopped coming by. And so um. Billy is pulling from his roots like I was saving this for later but he starts like pumping sugar water down like outside of him for the the bird to sip up. Yeah. That's so cute. Yeah. Did this bird have a name? Many wings. I don't know. I think a long name would be cool. Kind of like a dragon name if you can think of one. Oh sure. Yeah. Yeah.

It's something like many wings buffet the petals of the magnolia or something like that. What the hell? Something like this beautiful phrase. You know what I mean? Alright. Can you repeat that? Many wings buffet the petals of the magnolia. Thank you. Did that help? That was amazing. Alright. Give it back. Okay. Gotta make sure it gets where it's supposed to be. This looks fun. Look at all that. Stuff about me that I don't remember. That's all here.

Well all the stories that I told about all the fairies. I wish I could stay. Oh. We'll cut back to Ving. You're digging through the art. You found this early conversation you had with your mom. She was kind of evasive about her family history. Yeah. And that told you that if you wanted to learn some information about your mom that you might need to go to a conversation of her speaking with someone else. Potentially. But about you. Likely.

How I was imagining it and how I think Ving would if he knows that he's in his personal information section is like I need to find a conversation where my mom is talking about me to someone else so I can get the information about her. You know what I mean? Okay. I was thinking of maybe trying thing talker. I see the spirits in the sand, the sea, and the stone and I can apply the spirit tongue to inanimate natural objects or creatures. Creatures made thereof. Yep.

You could just check the records themselves. Yeah, that's what I was thinking because they're made from the stone of the mountain. Yeah. That's a cool idea. See what they have to say. Yes. Yeah, so you do have two more discern realities questions to spend and that you can definitely talk to the, you can try to talk to the archives instead of searching through yourselves. Yeah. Because that would, yeah, that would kind of narrow things down quicker potentially.

What should I be on the lookout for? That's my next question. So an earlier section, you kind of go back, you're digging through and you're reaching out to the different shards and you're hearing the voices of the people that had the conversations. You hear your own voice at seven, at six, at five, at four, at three, probably not at two, more babbling, some like high shrill crying, gentle comforting cooing, little light baby snores, you know that kind of stuff. Yeah.

One time you did say the n-word though. By accident. You cannot do that fool. It's a safe space. You don't get to dictate that. You can't do that. What I do is the GM. Yes. It happens. Oh my God. Oh, so this is the revenge for the time you smacked me on the ass really hard. You made me a racist? Because I'm a sexist? Yeah. You hear your father's voice. It's painful to hear. Yeah. It's comforting and painful to hear his voice again. Yeah.

And I think it is the conversation where he knows that your mother is pregnant. And it's funny because you're almost ready to be born, but also in a kind of like an easy bake oven sense, you're almost done. You know what I mean? You are a creation in a way. And they're having this conversation. You hear Dathaniel, the younger Dathaniel that you saw in the vision at the heart tree, the not so much gray in his hair and beard saying I'm not going to let anything happen to you or him. I swear.

And you hear your mother say if they find out who I am and what I am me and Ving we're both in danger. And you hear like the movement of someone getting close and being held. Like you can hear the sound of the situation, like the thing happening like a door smashing open far away. Yeah. Someone being held close and voices in the distance and Dathaniel saying they're here Adernac. You have to go now. Oh, yes. Oh, okay. Pulled out. Yeah. Tuck. Yeah. Full just like rug burns.

Just like wrote right on the glass squeaking along stretching it out. Yeah. It's like it's like back to your knee. It's back to the extended knee. It's been stretched that far. And then I got me needing my collagen. And then it's the walkway stops. You lift up and it goes twang back to put it back in the place. Oh my God. You slowly get to your feet. He's walking super wide legs. Oh, yeah. Getting so rubbed together when we're climbing up. Yeah. It's been pretty brutal for my boss.

He like takes a deep breath and then both of you hear from where you are. The glass shimmering shocked back into my human form right out of the shadow world. I wasn't done. And then he yells, this place is not accessible. But you're here in a section presumably containing your personal information. Okay. And you also suddenly remember you've been hiding it all this time. You can't read either. I can read. Chuck is totally illiterate.

Chuck says that he feels like the shelves of books are judging him. He's being judged by a hall of information. And then he goes, I can read books. Look at this. And then he pulls a random one out and goes, can't wait to jack off today when I get back to the dumpster I live at. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Yeah, I remember that conversation. And you pull out another one and it says, I can't wait to jack off later when I get back to the dumpster that I live in. Like, oh, this is okay. Wait, never mind.

I might not actually know where I am. I think I'm in the puberty section. And then Tuck walks. He's like, I'll walk down to the section for my twenties. And then he pulls a box off and he takes one out. I can't wait to jack off later when I get to the one bedroom apartment I live in. Huh. This is not right. He puts it back. He walks back further. He walks down further. Pulls out one. I can't wait to jack off when I get back to hither and yon tonight. Oh, that was from yesterday.

Well, this is new. This is brand new. I just said this. I just said this. I just said, what the fuck? He's like, I guess I talk to myself out loud a lot. It appears on the thing. Jesus Christ. Hatched into the glass. Okay, I don't want to read that one. I should go look for the thing I'm looking for. I should go look for the old thing. So he goes back to, I guess, where he dropped him off. Yeah, discern realities. Okay. Plus, what is that plus? Wisdom. Oh, it's a nine. Oh, I can aid. How?

I just have a nine. Luck of the fair folk. And you heard me scream about my balls earlier. I did. That's true. So that and that doesn't cost you a point or anything. Nope. God damn. What a bad idea. Cool. You gave it to me. I did. I thought it was cool at the time and it is cool. Two to six plus bond. Three. Okay, dude. I get it. Seven to nine. Still a failure. Cool, Billy. Billy, you like get back on the walkway and you're like home and it doesn't move. You're like to tuck and it doesn't move.

Okay, let me figure this out. Do I have to walk? Doesn't move. Walk, walk, walk, walk. We'll come back to talk while he completes this. Ready. Some questions. Okay. So I know I'm I can't remember. I can't remember anything. I need to know this. What here is useful or valuable to me? Yeah. So tuck goes back to like you're kind of like you're quickly glancing at the sheets and looking for conversations from when you were. What was it? Eight, seven. I'm trying to find before. No, I know.

But like when did the when was the when did the memory start again? Eight. So you just said he was a he didn't know how old he was. Okay, then. Oh, yeah. I think this archive is especially confusing to tuck because you can't place anything accurately. You can kind of remember periods in your life, but not like tuck doesn't even know how old he is now. No, he knows that he's probably somewhere in his 20s. But that has always that has been a best guess as well.

Yeah, you of course because you get the question. Do you find the answer that you're looking for? You find the name of the street that you grew up on, right? I'm asking you or is it not here? Do the do the recorded conversations start from when you remember things starting? Is it maybe that this information is in someone else's section? Yeah, that I think is the thing you are in the section for to home a dome and that section starts when you are eight years old.

Oh, so you're someone before that. Yes. Well, the thought I had yesterday when he said that somebody else wasn't implanted something tech. Yeah, he like he goes back to the first one before it like flips over to another guy and he goes to the other guy and it goes it's it's a death bed thing. It's the end of the other guy's life. I just want everybody to know that my gold is buried. Oh, I'm this guy's final words. He just whips it into the distance useless shit piece of crap.

And I think the conversation that you see the first what I pull out. Yeah is tuck in the iconographer talking. Yeah. Okay. So it will say the iconographer's name. What is the iconographer's name? I like the idea that it's like a really nice name like Habibi. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I know that's a term of endearment. Is that like a name doesn't name? Okay, Habibi. Yeah, is that his first name or last name? First name first name?

Yeah, and I think in the context of text life, he did not know his last name. Sure. So but this would record his last name which would be we also don't it could just be Habibi and it's it's like unless you got something cool and juicy for us. What could be a cool and juicy lot? Oh, man. You can. Yeah. Came. Yeah. Yeah. It says Where am I Tacoma dome. It's okay. You're safe. Dan Der glaude. That's it. I'm deleting the podcast. Margani? Oh. Oh my God. No way.

Like one other member of the Margani family? Yeah. The Bibi Margani? Yeah. I think it's cool as fuck. All right. If you're cool with it, your backstory, baby. It's a family of researchers, basically, and academics. Oh, maybe because of what he does, he's not exiled, but he's a disowned member of the family. Yeah. But he still has access to their type of knowledge gathering. Yeah. Yeah. Because iconography itself is heretical, like in McCall. So it's really dangerous to do it.

Study the icons, study the demons, because it's seen as almost like a public health danger. Sure, yeah. Because you're exposing the public to demons and shit, and then everyone sings the tolling every night and is reminded by the Ifrit that take their kids away. Yeah. So people, I fucking hate the iconography. Everybody sings it every night? No, like- The kids, people hear it often. People, you hear it every night. If you live in McCall, it's like the Muslim call to prayer.

If you live in a Muslim city, you hear it. Interesting. And it's like, it is sung at some point in the night every night. Yeah. So that is the shard that you pull. It says like, Tacoma Dome. Yeah. Where am I? Habibi Margani, you're safe. Should we do the convo? Yeah, we can do that. We're improvising it. We're improvising it. How much information is he giving away here? None, I would assume. He did all of this. Tuck doesn't know this. Tuck doesn't know. Yeah. Teeth to tail. Yeah. Teeth to tail.

Whoa, look at this. That's a great face. Whoa, whoa, whoa. How did I get here? I brought you here. What? Why am I chained up? It's okay. Sound of shackles being unlocked. You're free to go now. My wrist hurts. It's okay. I'm sorry. Why did you do this? I wanted to help you. And I wanted to be able to help the rest of them as well. And now I think I can. Thank you. Who am I? You get to decide that now. Can I leave, please? Of course. And before that, nothing. Stupid fucking shit. Stupid bullshit.

Ugh. Useless fucking thing. Cut back to Billy. You've been dragged back to your body. You were in the middle of a conversation with this fairy archivist. Where? Hey. Library guy. I'm still here if you want to talk to me. You see shadows kind of being cast on the shelves like tink, tink, tink, tink, tink as the shards move. Okay. I'm going to take that as… That's cool. That's cool. And you like that. And I'll come back later.

And as you're like turning to walk back to the walkway, you see sitting on the ground like a little thin, very, very thin granite like business card almost. For me? Tink, tink, tink, tink, tink, tink, tink, tink, tink, tink. And it has etched in a fairy sigil, the archivist. I don't know what to do with that, but I will keep that for later. We'll cut back to Ving real quick. You got one more question, I think. Mm-hmm. You have just learned a fairly big piece of information. Yeah. Yeah.

Adderneck Allwater was your mom. Yes. Also, what was? Ticano, my dog. There was a lot of information. That was really cool, by the way. That was really cool. Dang. Yeah. What here is not what it appears to be. Mm-hmm. What this part is, is kind of like control F Ving. And then it's like everything that references Ving is in this section. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Exactly.

Looking for other references to your name. And I think you find another conversation between Dathaniel and Ileana. I'm trying to remember the timeline here. You were a young kid when she had to flee, correct? Yeah. Yeah. He was a child when they fled the forest. Yes. Like he was pulled out of elementary school, basically. Mm-hmm. So you're going through all of these sections.

You found this stuff about Adternack Allwater And then you go like forwards again Into that section of your life Just kind of almost by Instinct because it was such a like Formative Traumatic period of your existence You're just kind of scanning Through that part And you find a conversation between your mom and Nathaniel I like that maybe I'm Dragging my fingers along And they're like But then there's one that's like Oh like a dead spot There's a dead spot So I pull that deafened Dissonant ring Totally And it is Nathaniel and Ileana Hushed voices Is the impression you're getting from the writing here And Nathaniel says I don't know how they found out But the council knows They're coming for you I think it was Solara She gave you up She's turned the council against the wizards The forest is going to war They found out where you're hiding They found out I didn't kill you They're sending me And I have to do it this time And Ileana says Fing's safe And if someone has to do it I want it to be you I'll be back So do what you must And that's the end of that conversation So that was He gave her a heads up That they were going to raid And that he would have to kill her That's the idea that you get from this Fing Is that Nathaniel and Ileana knew this was happening And that her death At his hand was calculated Like and it was Sort of a thing to protect Fing Or a thing to Throw them off Who knows Just to throw them off the scent maybe Which I think could be ultimately to protect Fing Yeah Yeah It recontextualizes the fight to Like Stop Don't You love me It gives it a layer of depth Cause it's just like He was having second thoughts Like the stoic elf Like he was just like No Oh like he He was like That was him in the moment Deciding I'm not gonna do this I can't do this And then that's why he tried to suicide by Elephant seal Yeah yeah yeah Why Stone I tried to kill him And he was like Okay Yeah Okay yeah Actually yeah okay He tried to pull back on it He was trying to back out And she wouldn't let him Cause she was like No we have to do this This is the hard thing that we have to do Yeah Yeah Sweet That's really cool And uh Yeah I mean you could spend An eternity going through This section to learn as much about yourself as you want But you think that you've You've definitely got the information That you need to get through that door Oof And just step backwards Back onto the Walkway Yep Phew Starts dragging you along Billy you're like standing on the walkway Going go Home And you see Ving Zip past above you What?

Help I jump off Uh Okay Alright Defy danger and dexterity Uh I got Nine Okay yeah Seven and nine Uh You take damage When you When you hit the ground I think it's like you You You like jump off And they're pretty narrow little walkways Uh huh And you see Billy's below you And you try to reach out But the way that it was moving And the orientation The glimmering of the glass You don't see the edge Where the edge actually is And you realize I'm gonna miss it What do you do?

Yeah aid I see him like step onto Off a weird I don't know I'm just like That's not the place to go Did he just respond? Ten Okay yeah And you see him like step onto And you Uh Like Somehow help Ving land properly How do you do it?

I I don't know I feel uh It almost feels like the librarian Helped me a bit Oh Yeah The archivist kinda helps And then Ving lands on your walkway And then You guys start going back to It wouldn't go for me This is stupid I hate this thing I hate it Billy not realizing that the walkway Started moving like half a second Before Ving landed And then Billy's like What the fuck? No Uh and Tuck you hear Me Me Me For what?

From Billy and Ving We go off into the distance You've Got The answer To the Situation But not to the question Yeah so Tuck Uh Stupid fucking Archive Useless piece of shit And he takes He just takes his hand And he like Walks down the aisle That is his life And he brings it to him And he pushes Every single Transcript of his entire existence Off the shelf Whoa And every Reference Every conversation Every communicated idea Related The life of Tacoma Dome Shatters To dust And you step back onto the walkway And you zip back to the entrance Okay And I think that's where we're gonna end it for this week I'm your game master Sean O'Hara Joining me Tacoma Dome the Barbarian Abdulaziz Bye Bye Bye!

Take care That Billy the Halfling Thief Just could die That's so sad Thank you to all of our supporters around the world If you want us to support the show And why wouldn't you When we're bringing you the emotional highs like this You can join us at Patreon.com Slash Spoutlore Or Spoutlore.com Slash Money Please And get access to so much So much bonus stuff You're gonna love it Thank you to Aaron Reed For our intro and outro music Listen to all of Aaron's original music At Aaron Reed Dot Bandcamp.com And all of the Original music produced for the show At Spotify 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 like 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'd gladly Spout Lore There's a ton of work to be done

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 Spelter's Outlawr I'm your game master Sean O'Hara, joining me as always, playing Tacoma Dome the Barbarian of Duel Aziz Hi Jess, that was a nice yawn It felt good It was huge You specifically requested slow and steady, and then yawned through the intro I figured the camera would be on Sean, no one's looking at me With that kind of movement, the camera's gonna be right on you Yeah the software that we use to edit whenever you yawn automatically comes on Playing Ving the Half-Elf Druid Paul Hoppers Oh my god, that got me God dammit, I'm sorry Yes, take that And playing Fat Billy the Halfling Thief Jessica Tai Yep I'm here In body When last we left our heroes, they had discovered that a massive, massive bounty was out on their heads For the murder of Colm Blackhammer, information traveling quickly in the Firefields Principality Billy returned to Hither and Yawn, describing such bounty available, and the various evil types Or you know, pragmatic types looking to collect, including One Wind River, who knew exactly where you were Treacherous boy Treacherous Treacherous as all the masterlies combined, that one And uh…

And uh… They very easily escaped the situation by hopping in their magical chain restaurant I know they're gonna come after us somehow 100,000 coins?

Oh yeah I'm looking all high and low People want that money Yeah Returning magically to Highspear City and above the Highspear To meet up with their friends Morris and Perel and get some insight into where they should be traveling next A4 arrived in the city, perched above on a cliffside With the barbecue sauce note from a gift from Tuck, Billy, and Ving And then flames and angel wings on the back Angel wings made out of flames Made out of flames A la 2002 Out of barbecue sauce that is probably rapidly flaking off at this point, so he just looks like shit Ving put a little barbecue sauce dolphin on his ankle A la 2003 I think that's actually when my dad got his dolphin tattoo on his calf, yeah Your dad has a dolphin?

Your dad has a dolphin tattoo? He does So cringe Yeah Pat, so cringe It is cringe What are you doing, man? He got it after the boat that he served on won a sailing race and was like, I'll get my first tattoo And he came back and I was like, the fuck? Why didn't you get a boat, dad? Why'd you get a dolphin on your calf? You're 45 years old Wow Dolphin's the fastest animal That's not true, dad The fastest animal The… The…

The party ran into the mayoral procession of Highspear City going to meet A4 Led by a one Etienne Boggins, aka Colonel Dan Derglot Had a quick meeting describing their goals and the goals of A4 The party left the city of Highspear under the watchful gaze of a giant colossal state-of-the-art war machine The party headed back into the Highspear, met up with Morrison Perel and did some explorin' Finding an elevator, which terrified them initially Before Billy pressed every button available to him, as all young children do Discovering the lower levels, including a small archive and a locked door that required a password that you could not figure out Billy activated the forgotten password contingency The party was asked a series of security questions Ving being asked, what is your mother's maiden name?

Billy asked, what is the… What is the name of your first pet? And Tuck asked, what street did you grow up on? Uh, so we did a little travel through the archives You realized, oh there's transcriptions of all conversations Meeting a glass golem that helped you travel around the archive Which you realized, hopping on a moving walkway, was the entirety of the mountain itself So cool Allowed out to contain hundreds of years of transcriptions of all conversations Billy went to the section of the…

Uh, archive that contained stories about him Because the fairy archives are slightly different And also Billy is so old that he predates the construction of the tower Uh, Billy met the fairy archivist An old winter form fairy Walking around with his little push cart of information And asked the old man to tell him a story about his first pet And we got a nice little tale of a hummingbird named Many wings buffet the petals of the magnolia Beautiful A hummingbird that Billy watched as a tree Uh, and the first time that he ever It feels like the first time that he kind of connected with a mortal thing In that sort of caring way that would come to later typify his life as the boy Uh, we went to Ving's place The place of Ving Uh, and Ving used communion of whispers to sort of narrow down Uh, the information to help his search And heard a variety of conversations through the glass of the archive Um, conversations with his mother Where he asked about her past And she kind of cagely avoided the questions A conversation with Dathaniel and his mother In which Dathaniel directly called his mother Adernack Ohhhhh Confirming that Ving's mother is Adernack Allwater It was a big reveal It was a big reveal Yeah Uh, then we heard another conversation between Dathaniel and Ileana Or Dathaniel and Adernack Uh-huh Where, um, Solara Van Ciren ratted out Then known as Ileana as being Adernack Allwater Or no, uh, that She was a wizard And that Adernack was hiding out on the island of Hibernia Uh-huh, under the name Yes, and that Dathaniel and Adernack had planned, uh, her death Because she had some sort of contingency in place Uh, and at the last moment Dathaniel tried to call it off And, well, we pause it that Dathaniel tried to call it off That that's what was happening in that scene?

Yes, the stop, don't you look at me Yes, the stop, don't you love me Was, uh, Dathaniel attempting to call off their plan That's Before Adernack went through with it Such a brutally sad scene Yeah The more you learn about it, the sadder it gets Sad indeed It's really great Uh, and then we went to Tuck Where Tuck found his location in the archives Uh, much smaller than the others, I believe A shorter stack of glass Even just by virtue of the fact that Tuck is a human Uh-huh And with a shorter lifespan He, however, discovered that any transcription containing Tacoma Dome Started with his first memory in the Iconographer's Lab Yeah, I think he was Ooh He was low-key hoping that it was just like an amnesia thing And that there would be more there But there's nothing So sad That is the first recorded conversation That the Tower is aware of me having In the last thousand years Yeah Or so And, uh In an act of dejection, depression, and ennui Tuck destroyed every record of his Of his existence In the Highspear Archive Uh-huh And that is where we find our heroes now I imagine you've all met up back at the The lobby Of the archive Yeah, we all had it We all had it back Are your balls okay?

They do not look okay Tuck is walking so bow-legged He's got them coiled up in his hand like an extension cord Yeah, yeah Tuck's like, yeah, Billy, they're fine You really stretched out when I saw you pass by In the overhead Yeah, he's holding onto them He's gonna put some ice on those things Yeah, Ben, can you rub some poultice on my balls?

I can give you some poultice to rub on your balls, yes Yes, you can take this somewhere else, for sure Sick I can't wait I can't wait to get back to Hither and Yon and put poultice on my balls Uh, yeah, so You're gonna have to go back to the The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The doesn't have an answer. So he's just like, oh no, you didn't know? I kind of figured we all knew. And Billy's embarrassed because he is like the only one who didn't know.

And so he's like, yeah, that's weird that you didn't know that. Thanks for pretending, both of you. I'm as shocked as you are. I don't know what to do with this information right now, but well, it kind of makes it makes sense, right? Like when we were in the tower, it reacted to you. Yeah. Yeah. Does that mean she's still around? I don't know. It feels like it does. What do you guys remember from the tower? Is there anything you're perhaps forgetting? The footprints. Oh, the footprints.

Vestibule footprints. She had some kind of clone in there. That was her. Or maybe. Or it was just her. Or maybe it was you, Ving. Maybe it was me. Like Ving went in there and didn't, and like forgot he was in there? Yeah, that's actually a good point. That's a hole in the thing that I just I mean, I had a thought earlier that she may be possessing me somehow. Oh. Whoa. Shit. Using me as a living vehicle. Or she's alive. Yeah. She might be alive. She seems like she was a chill lady.

I guess this could be a Spout Lore potentially. Mm-hmm. Good. I'm gonna Spout Lore. 2d6 plus intelligence. Oh. Ooh. Oh, nine. Nine. Oh, I help. Eight. Eight. And I mentioned the footprints. Maybe she ran away. Maybe she saw us coming or maybe she went to hide somewhere else. Mm-hmm. Why is she avoiding contact? Maybe she's protecting you. Well, what you do know is that Adonak Allwater's supposed specialty as a wizard was life magic. Oh.

Which is reinforced, you believe, by the fact that a lot of what her tower did in defense was brought things to life. It created clones in the ballroom to defend or to, uh, convince whether or not you were welcome in the tower. Remember you had your dance partners? Yeah. My dance brothers. Which it built from the ground up like out of meat. Like it made people. Yeah. Uh, and then like it brought objects to life. There were like the books, I think, that came alive. The books. Yeah. And.

Oh, there was a wizard in there. Oh, no, it was Morris. That was Morris. Yeah, Morris was just hiding out. Took his nut on the ball. Oh, my God. Morris was made by my mom. Morris, do you remember? There was a wizard in the tower. Did you see him? Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Tuck's realization that he has no history has absolutely fucked him up. Uh, and he was also almost murdered like, you know, 12 hours ago. That's true. Yeah. Plus the ball thing. Right.

It's mostly his balls. It's mostly his balls being absolutely shattered by a moving walkway. Yeah. And the life magic thing also, uh, reinforced by the fact that Ving was created. Yeah. Physically. Yes. As a living thing. So you would assume that the footsteps leading from the vestibule like ice coffin in the base of the tower and the sort of the fact that it was kind of like the power was at a focal point underneath that coffin.

That seemed to be like the focus of what the energy of the tower is being used for. Uh, suggests that she may have made a body for herself or had a contingency in place where once she died, a body would be made. Whoa. Um, and that she might that very well could have been her leaving. Holy shit. And if you almost that's so sick. And if you had to guess, if we all had to guess why she has not tried to find you or tried to reach out or whatever, you have no idea what resurrecting would do to her.

Right. Or it's because she knows that the gibbous man always has eyes on us. That's also an idea too. She might know that. Or he knows she knows that he has eyes. On her and that Ving is like a wandering like he's basically was created as a wandering sort of like idiot kind of thing. Sorry. That's the thing you said last season. Abdul, you cannot say that. Paul, you fucking smacked me on the ass so hard during a live stream. I'll do it again. I'm gonna do it every time now.

Look man, you dragging a trunk like that around. You expect to walk away from that. Brothers caked up sweet. Yeah. Ving may have well been created as sort of like you know, trying to stop someone for breaking into your house by tying your car keys to a bird. Right. And like well, no one's gonna get him now. Yeah. He's like the most kind of like yes. Maybe she's waiting until it's absolutely necessary. To return. Yeah, because she knows as soon as that happens, he'll zero in on you.

She's completely caught up in that web. Yeah. She's totally part of the story. Yeah. So she has to wait till the end to reveal her cool like something she did made her like embedded in his like web. So she he can always track her. Yeah. Sick. Yeah. I wonder what's got so many ex-wife lawyers out there. Oh God. So many women in this so many powerful women fucking hate the. Yes. Sounds like a lot of people. Good turn. Yeah.

The Gibbous man would need would need Addernack for or how she interesting. Something to think about. She's working against him. Yeah, but how you know much to think about much to think about who can say we posited that she's trying to find all the pieces of the moon. Yeah. And protect them either way. What we do know is Ving says the name all water and you hear ding and the second question. What is the name of your first pet? It's many wings. Let me. Billy pulls a piece of paper.

Yeah, looking at his hand. He's giving a lot of goes. And it's like it's like first attempt. He's like, oh, yeah, it's just going down. The quick red fox jumps over the lazy brown dog. Oh, darn. Many wings glide across a big blue sky. Billy. Billy, why didn't you write it down? Yeah, don't lock it up. Okay. He goes back to his memory palace to bowl a soup and drifts around the alphabet soup soup until the letters drift into place and he his eyes go ding.

They open up ding and he says many wings buffet the petals of the Magnolia. Ding. Yay. There was like a thing where underneath it said one attempt. Well, I don't know. I can't read it. I can't read it. I can't read it. I can't read it. I can't read it. I can't read it. I can't read it. I can't read it. Just the attempts go down like, oh, my God. I can't read. So he doesn't no more attempts. Please try again in 300 years. Oh, fuck. Contact system administrator. He said he's so dead.

If system administrator is in a pocket universe, wait for system administrator to come back online. Name of current administrator deceased. All right. And the one last question remains. Right. What street did you grow up on? Fuck. Information Tuck Shirley has readily available. I'm really glad that's the easiest question to answer. Yeah. Punch it in, buddy. Let's get in that room. We don't have all day. So Tuck, he is he goes into his memory palace. This is the sit down pizza hut. Yeah.

He's full of tucks. He's talking to himself. Yeah. He's talking to eight year old him. Oh, yes. Playing foosball. Yes. Little little eight year old Tuck standing on a stool on the other side. He's like, do you remember ball? Oh, right. I'll take a peg tetherball. It's like it's it's like one of those hockey. Yeah. Yeah. That's like hockey foosball things. Love that swing back and forth. Yeah, that's great. That's really cool. Yeah.

So we're playing and I'm like, do you remember the street that that weird iconographers like shop was on and I guess what was it? I yeah, it was a tallow road. Ew. It's a road. Ew. Okay, cool. And then I slam his guy really hard. I'm eight years old. Yeah, and you'll stay eight years old unless you get good at this. You little bitch. Go get me a fucking root beer. No, whatever. And he hops down off his stool and I come back and then I go. Give me a fucking room here. I go. Okay.

Well, I'm pretty sure it's this because the name of the streets have changed since I was a kid. So might not be right but the tallow road. Okay, two attempts left to billion. So many eat them all up. Okay, maybe I'll roll for it to see if that was can I rolls Carol spelt roller or try and remember the road. I think if you think that tuck has an idea that he is not saying which is the idea that I'm getting. Yeah, the vibe I'm getting is that tuck. Has a thought that he does not want to share.

Yes, you are empowered to just say that thing. Yeah, tuck. Tuck talks to billion Ving and he's like, yeah, it's really the cities changed so much like the only really constant about McCall is like the hearth like the kind of the Chandler's District. There's Broken Shores like I was the challenge District. That was what it was. You grew up on the Broken Shores. This is Jessica. That's so that yes. Yeah, if you guys hadn't caught it, I wouldn't have caught it. I caught it.

The yes, so Billy stupid and he's like and so then Ving caught it. Yeah. Okay, you guys as characters can catch it because it's like it we get into a weird zone of like the characters try to keep stuff from each other which fucking sucks. I think I don't think that Billy got hundred percent can catch that. Yes, it did very clearly ding after the Broken Shores and then Billy like is looking at tuck. As you walk in the doors. I'm like, is he a zombie?

Well, what it does it with this this conversation is punctuated by the writing on the doors melts away and is replaced with enter new password. Oh, oh, I thought this was the path. Yeah. No, no, no, no, no, no. We got to make it funny. Suck my suck my nuts. Billy, we got to talk about what's funny. But I'm sorry. Doug is laughing. I'm not 69. It's funny. Suck my nuts. 69 is so funny. What are you talking about? It's I feel like our sex suck my nuts.

69 is just it was funny for the first couple of years, right? I mean we named that lizard that that was hilarious. Our first boat. Yes, I suck my nuts. 69 when when we changed cashes bank account password to suck my nuts. 69. That was really funny. We broke into that orphanage. We named all those kids. That's all happened during the time. I'm going to remember it. I'm just saying okay. No, it's fine. You know what? Fine. You come up with a new one. You don't like my name so much.

I think it's fine. No, it's not funny anymore. No one laughed. I laughed. I laughed Billy. I was just wondering if like we want to like put more gravitas in this moment, but I'm I'm I'm totally down suck my nuts. Here and here's 69. Here's the bonus thing is if the wizard ever comes back and asks us for the password. We get to tell him the password suck my nuts 69 now and he won't believe us. There's no way. Yeah, all you have to do is say suck my nuts 69. We just said like 18 times.

Yeah password accepted and the door previously invisible seam in the door. Here's in the center as it slides gracefully into the walls on either side revealing a chamber within there is an immense amount of magical energy emanating from inside this chamber, which is heralded by an extremely bright light. Whoa, like we're like blinded. Yeah, you like you have to close your eyes against this massive light light side. Okay.

Yeah, so you do you have lights I let me discern realities discern realities to six plus wisdom. 13. Holy shit handy three questions off the list. What here is not what appears to be this bright bright light with your Elvin far north light site. You you filter out the highest bands of light the most damaging frequencies of the visual spectrum to see it's weird because it looks like there's a hole or a tear in the air at the center of this chamber.

You see a machine looking thing on the bottom made of the same kind of brass. And steel of the tower and the machine at the top is if it's like funneling off of this tear, but the tear itself is like almost impossible to see. Is it like a wormhole kind of thing like a singularity looks like a hole. Is that where the lights and that's the light is emitting from this hole or maybe from the machinery.

It's hard to tell exactly but like there's a machine above it and a machine below it kind of like keeping it contained of stable sort of thing. Maybe yeah, maybe it's hard. It's hard to tell exactly what the function. Is yeah, but in the center is this tiny little infinitesimally small hole who's really in control here. Oh, that's a good question. You would come up with it. So you would say that it looks like whatever this tear is would be in control.

Were it not for the the skill of the one who made this machine and as you're looking at like the plinth below and the conduit above you realize that like this whole chamber. Which is probably I'm so bad at distances fairly fairly large circular chamber. It looks like the whole bottom floor of the tower. If you were to think about like the the layout of the chamber above is one component of a machine that probably makes up the entirety of the high spear. This might be powering the whole thing.

Do you think I think probably yeah, it looks yeah, you ask us that in a very calm voice. It's like really powerful. Is it making a loud noise? It is not our eyes or our ears not like ringing or something. Oh, yeah. It's so bright that it is loud. But you tuck you like yell out and Ving you hear tux words at a perfectly serviceable level inside your head. Oh, whoa. It's the spell. Oh trap expert. Yes. I would like to call it. Oh dexterity. Okay. So nine nine.

So that makes it a 10 which gives you several points which you can use to determine if there are traps here. Yeah, is there is there a trap here? There is in a sense that there is a threat. Oh, well, what activates it simply being too close? Oh, what can I ask? What does the trap do when activated? Yeah, absolutely. If you were to get too close to this this tear.

If it were uncontained you think Billy as one that crosses barriers as a fairy that is your whole thing is getting into places and getting out of them. You would be lost forever. Oh, it's like a little black hole like it would turn a white hole into like a string of atoms and send you across everything. Oh my gosh. What here is useful or valuable to us? Yeah, what here is useful or valuable? Yeah, there's probably like levers and switches at certain.

Certain points in the room in a configuration that makes no sense to any of you. I mean we want to get in this door. We just want to get in the door because it was locked and that's the kind of shitheads. We are you guys kind of just wanted to see what was behind the door. Was there a purpose of Morrison Perel said that there was one door downstairs that we can't get into. We're like we'll get it up. I was thinking we should reach out to them and get him get them here. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, you can bring Morrison Perel down and somebody runs up and gets Morrison Perel. Yeah, and they come down and. The elevator door opens. Sorry Ving left it to get them and they didn't know. Because I'm like what's going on now? We're all around the room. Bella can you see? I can't see anything but all I know is we can't go close. Don't get too close Tuck. And you guys hear again. You hear each other's voices perfectly clearly in your own heads. Where are you? I'm right here.

It sounds like we're so close but because it's translated so clearly. So far away opposite sides of the this like Olympic. Size swimming pool. Both like facing a wall. Just am I dead? Am I if you're dead? Am I dead? Nobody's dead. Things right in front of you. The elevator doors open Morris sees the chamber beyond and Ving because of your light site like Perel puts his hands up Morris's eyes widen in terror and he yells like get them. I grab them and he like.

Like emotions for you to drag them back into the elevator. I like them. I could bring them in the elevator. Wait, what else is hidden here? As you're being dragged in the elevator. What else is hidden here? What else would be hidden here? Oh, I have an offer. Yeah, because of because we're being like exposed to the raw translation spell the a bunch of like Tuck's memories just shoot directly into like Billy's head. Oh, yeah, vice versa. Oh, that would be cool. Okay. So what do you guys see?

I think you see the the outer dark. Oh, can it be to everyone because you're wearing the rings? Oh, yeah, totally. Yeah, it doesn't just have to be belly. Yeah. Yes. So everyone is given this image of love that that it's just like a bomb goes off of like get them back go go. And also I'm like ringing in the ear like yeah, we get too close. Like we pot pass some threshold that like breaks the barrier of like containment. Yeah, that it creates between mines. Yeah, we couldn't see anything.

So we wandered into the room. Yeah. Yeah, horizon. Oh, yeah. Yeah. It's a bomb of a memory. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's like all that bright light is replaced for me with like the darkness of the horizon of the outer dark. Yeah, it's a double horizon. Yeah, like where you're mirrored mirrored and it's mirrored by design because every concept has like an opposite. So they're represented in like opposition to one another. Yeah. Oh and Billy.

Has like full body like feels his whole body freeze because he recognizes all these like very old Constellation. Yeah, these Constellation or in the runic. Yeah, and it's like he's seeing it like uncovered for the first time. Oh, it's like it is the core information that like built the unit. It's like the instructions for the universe. That also drive the druidic lore and being like maybe he comes out of this with some more runes on his body because being exposed to such ancient.

Druidic knowledge. Yeah, just ruins but Constellation Constellation. Yeah, like the icon icon. Yeah, that's cool. That's really cool. And the thing that you feel in your body is that you're not standing between the planes. You're embedded in one of them. Oof. But yeah, you kind of like put together at this point that that's why Tuck said the broken Shores because it was the only place in the real world where you can get to the outer dark or at least. Yeah, that story is sick. That's true.

Yeah, it's the place that McCall it is the transgression point to the outer dark. From McCall. For McCall. Yeah, I'm going to go back and listen to that episode. I'm so excited. Also, Abdul and I talked about this just briefly for a sec because like the broken Shore is a salt flat. Yeah, like it's perfectly flat. So it would reflect the sky. So whenever it rains, it creates that like mirrored surface that perfectly reflects the sky. That makes so much sense. Wow. That's very good. Cool dudes.

And did you say that? He receives images from Billy as well. Yeah. Yeah, I guess it makes sense. Yeah. So what image does Tuck receive from Billy's ancient past? Nothing is cool. Show me the eternal bows. Show me the endless bows. I think we get a little taste of the endless bows. Okay, fine. We get a little taste of the endless bows. Okay. So Billy, I think this feeling of like him being like embedded in the outer dark. Rooted if you will. Yeah, rooted in it. Actually, that is what it is.

It's like these roots of light that come from this like one constellation that he feels he's like bound to currently. Whoa. And that's like kind of like the first plane of like the existence in the fairy realm. Ooh. Yeah. You see like these roots almost like umbilical cords. Are they going to certain points of light? Yeah. So each point of light is like a new fairy being born. New fairy. Where are they stemming from? Like a star. A star. So there is like- There's one star. Like the proto fairy.

Yeah. So is there an icon that the fairies are like descended from basically? Like maybe there's a concept that was- That kind of not infected but affected the- Yeah. Like the spirits that became fairies? Yeah. Mischief? Yeah. Something like that. Or like freedom? Question. To question. To question? Yeah. Oh, nice. That's beautiful. I like that. Whoa. Curiosity. Yeah. Yeah. Because that is what happened. That's what happened to TLC when they kind of became fairies. Yeah.

Because they started questioning their environment and who they are. What it is. Yeah. It's almost like every question is like a little to another fairy. Oh, so the- The Endless Boughs, it's not like a forest. No. But it is that like metaphysical connection between all fairies. And in a way, it's like the root of a- The root of a tree. The beginning of a forest. Yeah. Beautiful. Oh, cool. Yeah. And that's why it's this memory because it's the only thing that's sort of shared between us? Yeah.

Cool. Whoa. That's so sick. So when Billy goes to this fairy realm, when you see like all- Like when he's like- It's light. It's not really- It's like shapes and light kind of thing. It's not like outline like material realm. This is kind of where he goes to the very developed- Version. Version of what that was. So you're seeing sort of like- The beginning of it. The beginning, like sort of the big bang of the fairy realm. Yeah. Cool.

When he's walking in the fairy realm, he's walking within the root system too. It could be like along those channels. Yeah. It's why your memories are sort of like all root shaped too. Like your brain is the same kind of shape as the Endless Boughs. Sick. Sweet. Endless Boughs. Wow. Answered well. Pretty cool. I like a lot. It's awesome. Yeah. This is so sick. Yeah. Great show everyone. Yeah. Great job. Yeah. I like- I was just trying to also think of something cool.

Oh, that's shared from Ving's mind? Yeah. Yeah. In this space, just I was saying because there's the opportunity for this druidic- Right. Knowledge. You would get hit by the wave, so there might be backlash. Yeah. What if inside you feel the knowledge seed begin to sprout? Oh yeah. Yes. Oh, sick. Cool. That makes sense. Yes. I've been wanting to spread this. This is perfect timing for it. Yes. Whoa. The knowledge seed cracks and then starts to- Yeah. Constellations appear on your skin. Sick.

I'm befreckled. I have been freckled. Befractled, dude. Befractled. So sick. And you are all like the doors close and the light drains out of the chamber. Chuck pukes. And you're brought back. Yeah. And Morris is standing like in front of the door, like his hands on it. We can't go back in there. What was that? That's a hotspot. That's- That's a hotspot? That's a hotspot? That's a hotspot? That's what Wi-Fi looks like. And there's more? Oh my God. From episode one?

That's a raw- That's a raw- Wi-Fi hotspot. Oh my God. Wow. Seven years ago, we totally undercut this moment. You guys have seen a hotspot before, remember? Long time ago. Where? In the- It was in the forest with like the waterfall that ran backwards and suddenly it was a blizzard and suddenly the blizzard was gone. Oh, the pool. Yeah. The pool. Yeah. The pool, right. Where the- where the- where Pellar came to be was a hotspot deep, deep, deep in the water. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

And it was like, oh, I'm going to go to the pool. I'm going to go to the pool. I'm going to go to the pool. I'm going to go to the pool. I'm going to go to the pool. Do they all look like that? I mean, I only saw my own from the other side, but when I felt that power, I knew that's raw Thaumic energy. It must be powering the tower, which means that whoever- I need a name for this wizard. I had a name a while ago.

It was like something the Speaker was the one who constructed the Hightower was the Speaker. Mm-hmm. And my concern was language and communication on a instinctual metaphysical level. Oh, if you don't have one, I have one in mind. Okay. Yeah. What do you have? Waleed the Speaker. Oh, cool. Waleed? Yeah. Yeah. I like it. Yeah. Waleed the Speaker. So Waleed the Speaker constructed the Hightower. Where does that name come from? The Middle East. I've heard of it.

The vast tapestry of the Arabic world. Yeah. The Arabic speaking world, because Arabic's the language. Yes. Yeah. Arab is the people. Yeah. I know, man. Dude, there have been- White people get uppity about this, okay? I got to say it right. They've been mish-mashing together for years. Good thing white people don't listen to this podcast. Yeah. It's where people start growing food, so they've been there a while. Yeah. They've been there so long, fucking and sucking their way across the region.

It's the only way that the human people are here, is fucking and sucking. Well, more of the fucking than the sucking, I'll add. Well, yeah, you can't have one without the other. Oh, Sean has a thing. When the recent study came out that- Yeah. That discovered what happened to the Neanderthals, and it was literally just that we fucked them to death. Yes. We fucked them into ourselves. We integrated the population. Yeah. We just were so horny- Just so much sex.

That we fucked them, and then just the two populations merged. The idea that we have of Neanderthals in our head is kind of wrong, because they were tall and muscular and had crazy brow ridges, but besides that, they weren't like- Oh, so they were more like me. Yeah. So tall and strong. Look at these brow ridges. I mean, that's where we got into the sick-ass brow. Wait. Netherlands? Neanderthal? Oh, Neanderlands. It was staring us in the face the whole time.

This whole time we've had Neanderthal- On the podcast. A Neander-paw. It was staring us in the face the whole time. Oh my God. Neander-paw. Which actually, if you say it like that makes you sound like a Neanderthal. Neander-paw. Neander-paw. Neander-paw are going to the mall. Okay. So, raw WiFi hotspot. You asked, did they all look like this? Yeah. So, he said he didn't know. Yeah. Morris says, I only saw my own from the other side. What does that mean?

When I left this plane of existence, I created my own pocket universe, which means I left a hotspot on the other end. Does that mean that this wizard is on the other side of that singularity? It must. This would connect to Waleed the Speaker's personal universe, but if he created the tower and also went through. Yeah. And left his hotspot there to power it. Assuming he would never come back, he wanted to ensure there was a Thaumic energy source in perpetuity.

Because he didn't want to fuck everyone in the world. Oh, I wonder if he was one of the first to go through. And you know, I actually, I didn't speak to Waleed much in those days. There was a point where wizards first had to, I don't want to get into it. We were a bunch of dickheads. There's like an icy energy starts emanating off of Perel. He's just like goddess. He's crossing his arms, like looking at that. Like I can't believe you're even talking about this right now. Oh my God.

Check yourself. No, I have come to learn that we were all of us deceived. So I don't even really. Waleed though, if he did this knowingly, he must've known that perhaps something was up. What if this wifi was the FIY? Could you elaborate on what you mean by that thing that sounds like a convenient term phrase? First wizard. I mean, the wizard first hotspot was the first wizard to pass through. Oh, I see. I see. That's all. That may have been it. Maybe that's why Waleed wasn't around much.

Maybe he did leave first. Can we send him a message through the hotspot? I wouldn't risk it. We can look at the tower more and we can do some research, but that hotspot is extremely dangerous. What happens if we write a note on a piece of paper, put it up, throw it in? I don't know. I don't. It's not, it's not a mail slot. Well, what if we put it in an envelope first? And just- Yeah. Put the return address on it. Yeah. Proper postage. Stuff always comes back if we do that.

So a couple of things to consider here. One, it's not, again, not really a postage kind of situation. It's a tear in the very fabric of the material realm. And two, if anything were to go wrong with that power source, it could either destroy the city. Or at the very least, it could destroy the city. Or at the very least, bring the high spear offline, which gives the gibbous man exactly what he wants. So it's saying it's a near impossible feat that could be made possible. Oh yeah.

I have that move. Well, what if, okay, so if we can't send something material through it, what if we just yell really loud all together at once towards the rip? Yes. Sound is not material, you idiot. Wow. I can't believe I didn't think about that. Wait, there's gotta be a different way. I think we can. I like the idea of just screaming it. Yeah. What if we could communally, cut this down to make me sound smart, communally commune with the whispers.

Morris is like leaning around you guys while you're talking. And he presses that button on the elevator. So you guys wanted to know what's powering the tower, now you know. How's this gonna help you? Well, now, instead of trying to theoretically determine how we can use the hotspots to contact the people, we can't. We can't. We can't. We can't. We can't. We can't. We can't. We can't. We can't. We can't. We can't. We can't. We can't. We can't. We can't. We can't. We can't. We can't. We can't.

We can't. We can't. We can't. We can't. We can't. We can't. We can't. We can't. We can't. We can't. We can't. We can't. We can't. We can't. We can't. We can't. We can't. We can't. We can't. We can't. We can't. We can't. We can't. We can't. We can't. We can't. Next to the door. Next to the door. Yeah. Come on, get in there, figure it out. What are you trying to push him in? Do the science fast. He's telling you that he's like holding his arms up on either side of the door. Oh, God, you're strong.

We're going to do the research, but we can't do it down here. This is field work. You've got to get in there. We have the whole of the tower. We don't have to do it next to the raw thermic energy source. It's okay. Be brave. Be brave. You're not understanding what I'm saying. And then Tech goes, Waleed, help us. Help us. What are you rolling? Can I roll breaking the law to scream into it so that Waleed hears me? I guess so. I don't believe it's a rolling move, though, is it? Yes.

Oh, it's rolling. You have to spend a debility or something. The roll is to see if it's possible, and then you do something else to see if you do it. Oh, no, the debility is to determine that it is possible, and then you roll to do it. To see to do it. Take a debility. Take a debility to one stat to make the impossible thing possible. So I'll take it to intelligence. That feels right. Because it would be an extremely traumatic thing. And then I will roll, I guess, charisma to try and like.

I guess it would be charisma. Because it's my ideas are trying to get through. Yes. So the door opens. There is a blinding light. An extreme amount of power. I forgot. I forgot how bright it was. Tuck barfs again. Ving holds his beard back. You see. He's separate. There you go. That's right. Yeah, boy. So gross. All right. So you've taken a debility to intelligence. You feel the power of this thalmic field permeating and penetrating your mind. Does the barf like fly towards the tear? Sure.

It gets sucked out of Tuck's mouth. Wait a second. Is this the podcast we want to make? This is what I'm saying. Sorry. And then Tuck goes, Ving, put me at the tear. I put him at the tear. And then I want to roll to just scream, Waleed, I don't know if you can hear me, but I'm your biggest fan. Not true. And not helpful. The world's about to end. And we need you. That you're the only one who can save us. Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're our only hope, Waleed. So wait, hold up.

So what information are you actually trying to present to Waleed? Because if you are not clear about it, all that's getting through is the words that you will speak. But what do we want him to know? Yeah. What is he? What are you trying to impart to the speaker? What does I give him the goods? I tell him everything. I say Wizards first was a lie. The Gibbous Man tricked everyone. He's ending the world. We need you back. We need Wizards back. Find a way out. Okay.

And then I go, Morris and Perel are here, but they've been cool recently. They're not as lame as they used to be. Please don't hold that against us. I've taken the stunned-ability to intelligence. Amazing. Oh, but there's something about him being rooted in the outer dark that can penetrate the light. Yeah. Potentially. Yeah. Yeah. I think that's something that Tuck's voice actually does get through. Yeah. It kind of gets mediated through the iconic realm. Right. Yeah. The scream, potentially.

That's maybe what's happening. Totally. Because we talked about in and outlands that will release at some point that the Domic Realm may act as like a filtering between the realms. And I think there is a void in Tuck's head. So that maybe is like sort of acts as a transgression point. Yeah, maybe. Yeah. Could do. So yeah. Shuttle it through the void. Everything goes into the void. All right, roll it. Two to six plus charisma. Wow. 14. Oh, Jesus Christ. Hell yeah. Okay.

So you are screaming at the door of this elevator into a blinding light. Yeah. You give him all the information. The Gibbous Man, or the God of the Sky tricked wizards first. You were manipulated. The world is ending. We need the wizards back. Try and find a way to get out of there. Yeah. Yeah. There's a wizard. There's a wizard. There's a wizard. There's a wizard. There's a wizard. There's a wizard. There's a wizard. There's a wizard. There's a wizard. There's a wizard. There's a wizard.

There's a wizard. There's a wizard. There's a wizard. There's a wizard. There's a wizard. There's a wizard. There's a wizard. There's a wizard. There's a wizard. There's a wizard. There's a wizard. There's a wizard. There's a wizard. There's a wizard. There's a wizard. There's a wizard.

Books yeah uh he's smoking a pipe he's just having a good time yeah very wizardly uh he's just like a portly man nice gray beard nice uh bald hardened face hardened face because he's reading a scary book it says goosebumps yeah let's choose your own adventure he's like what which which one do I want to choose he's sweating taking a drink okay I mean if I choose this one I mean it's only gonna go this way I kind of want to know what the other way is like why did I decide to choose my own scare they tried to warn me yeah so that's uh what he's doing he's in sweatpants and sweatshirt um and then through his window or just echoing in the room he hears talks voice yeah he hears about wizards first and that and that the gibbous man blah blah blah spills tea all over himself yeah he fully jumps and the tea goes everywhere and uh as tuck screams or like as his screams kind of finish he kind of signs off by being like love tuck billy and ving p.s we changed the passwords to your wi-fi hotspot to sick nuts wait suck my nuts suck my nuts 69 69 oh wait we're arguing back on our life oh yeah is it nuts or balls it's nuts it's always nuts it's all and all that comes all that comes through and we swore it was balls we see in this library the endless library of waleed the speaker uh like it I imagine that it's like impossibly tall and like there's arcing passages covered in books racks and racks of bottles that will be music bottles and bottles containing language because he's the speaker held by the the cap yeah like a kind of sunlight and sunlight coming through it's like a glass ceiling of glass bottles of information and he's got kind of like a collector his favorite languages sort of like arrayed on a shelf kind of thing but we see next to him a small small like finely wrought wooden table that was next to his chair an open journal with a quill above it rapidly writing oh cool and we're saying and it says suck my nuts 69 and then I thought it was balls and I say no balls doesn't have the same ring to it and tuck says 69 69 and I'm like no it's only 169 waleed it's it's just 169 the journals the pages are flipping and writing the journal the quill is also making mistakes because when you say 169 it writes 169 and then crosses it crosses it out it's like freaking out and then it makes it makes a tear in the page and out of the tear pops that little battery gemstone that tuck shoved through the walls the world yes it's just like on his table yeah and he just with the last image we see of waleed the speaker is looking down and he's like oh my god I'm so sorry I'm so sorry I'm so sorry I'm so sorry I'm so sorry I'm so sorry I'm so sorry I'm so sorry I'm so sorry I'm so sorry I'm so sorry picking it up yeah picking up the crystal and then we're back in the elevator did it work elevator doors closed morrison perel are uh crushed under the weight of tacoma dome as he falls backwards collapses yeah it totally collapses I puke on morrison bro and we we cut to hither and yawn so tuck is laid out in front of the fireplace they tried to put him they tried to put you in an armchair but you were too big so they just dragged you and laid you out in front of the fire I put him in the recovery position with a bucket beside him yeah we're all sponge bathing him yeah I'm so covered in my own oh god yeah and for the listeners convenience all of our favorite npcs are in the room fun nears is behind the bar uh francis and victor are curled up near the fire but on the other side of tuck morrison perello crocheting a napkin in the corner of the room she can't see me like this I can't see how I am about to kill her you're seeing her I've lost so much electrolytes yeah I love that every time we bring this as a joke I'm like oh my god I'm joking she's actually there for tuck yeah okay you can't let her see me like this you called me it's okay ving please I'll take care of it please you're hallucinating a a woman in a beautiful red dress uh long hair dark skin and I grab ving and I pull him so close to me it's close to my mouth it smells so much like barf please don't let ving fuck her don't let ving fuck her whatever you do I would never let ving hits him in the head with a frying pan and you do that because he starts crawling towards the fire with a huge erection is like as he rolls over it is like not it's breaking it takes him out of recovery position he can't lay flat all the way like he starts rolling over and then he raises whoa whoa he just puts him into a headlock okay we're going to sleep here and then he's knocked out unconscious and morris is sitting in one of the armchairs staring into the fire with his fingers steepled looking pensive there's no way to know if that worked yeah well I guess I mean like billy's sitting by the fire and he's like I'm gonna take care of you the mailbox now and he's like well we'll hear back if it worked oh you're sitting near the mailbox yeah bill you see a envelope that was not there before please I grab it I run over to ving is this it what does it say what does it say read it now read it now please please please read it I'll read it hand me the letter oh sorry thank you is a uh it is a one of those you know how you know like old-timey letters where it's like there isn't an envelope but like the letter is folded up and the wax is sealed it's that it is a very fine even just holding it the quality of the parchment is very fine it's linen paper linen paper with a black wax seal pressed with the sigil of a hammer oh whoa shit um okay they found us I cracked the seal yeah and you unfold it and very beautiful handwriting sort of an illuminated script it says you are cordially invited to a masquerade ball held at the black hammer palace in the city of black glass oh I mean it's obviously a trap obviously a trap I know but tuck is passed out but he hears us talking and he's like yes but then he hears that allison might be there also masquerade yeah and then now he's imagining allison in a gown he's going oh my sweatshirt uh and is there anything else I'd like to discern realities about the masquerade ball held at the black hammer palace in the city of black glass oh yeah 2d6 plus wisdom uh 10 what here is not what it appears to be what here is not what it appears to be you are looking at this and you're like this has got to be a fucking trap we're being welcomed to this masquerade ball but at the bottom of the invitation which looks like this must have been machine written it's like so nicely printed is what is very clearly handwriting at the very bottom in a flowing casual script that says safety guaranteed who's really in control here this was sent by callum blackhammer in fact the invitation names only princep callum blackhammer as the host of the masquerade ball oh not the princeps of the firefields okay okay but I'm feeling suspicious about the safety guaranteed oh yeah definitely that means that means for sure a trap what's about to happen what would be about to happen because you are currently still on the oh no you're in high spear city oh what if it's like the door opens and you hear basically like the door opens and you hear like not actually but this the equivalent of like spurs oh as someone walks into the bar so a figure walks in the door wrapped in bandages a strange mechanical device slung over his shoulder and sits at the bar it's the gun guy from port four frost moves a set of very complicated looking goggles onto his forehead covered in blue lenses we're both like gun guys do you remember the assassin who was like shooting us with a gun and he was like oh my god I'm so sorry I'm so sorry I'm the gun that like was powered by magic he was this is him but I thought heather nyan keeps out bad intent but maybe he has no I'll intent he's just here for a soup he's here he's here for a conversation and we're all like huddled around the fire like and he sits at the bar can I get a drink and mirrors turns around grabs a bottle pours a shot glass slides it across the bar what brings me to the bar and he's like oh my god I'm so sorry I'm so sorry I'm so sorry I'm so sorry I'm so sorry take the shot pops it back on the bar what do we see of his mouth how full are his lips uh you don't see anything because you're he's facing away from you I guess um and he's facing away so billy is like trying to creep to hide behind a chair 2d6 plus dexterity for defy danger yeah like billy at first is like who's this but then he sees those blue glasses he's like oh I better hide with what sorry uh dexterity okay eight eight seven to nine so that's a partial success bill you notice like um you don't know why you notice it it doesn't seem like the kind of thing that you would be worried about but slung at his belt on like his right side is a small wineskin with like a cork in it like you know a kind of teardrop shaped bag of leather with a cork in the top tied to his belt and as you're looking at it it moves a little bit and uh so yeah he he puts his puts the glass down on the table and kind of turns around gestures to the invitation I'm here to collect your rsvp tech has he he did when the guy walked in he did like come back into consciousness and uh I'm looking at you from like around francis and we're trying to like come up with a plan oh yeah yeah just pretend you're dead you!

Yeah yeah like like someone already killed you so he he like why would he kill you you're already dead yes yeah yeah and tuck lets out a huge fart that's what dead people do it's just gas escaping yeah that's your soul and billy tries not to laugh and then I go billy pretend to be sad that your dad just died say that we can't go to the thing because we're too sad yes but billy starts crying like clutching onto francis like I can't believe he's gone I I know I could never do anything fun again like go to a ball or dance around he wouldn't want that for me the only mask I can wear is a mask of sadness this is your plan is to try and act like tuck is dead so we can't go to the ball because we think it's a trap yeah totally yeah wow I can't believe that he was killed so shortly after killing colin blackhammer I can't believe it either BILLY!

WHAT?! DON'T FUCKING CONFESS TO KILLING A GANG CHILD! I can't I can't believe that rumor he would never have done such a thing we were we were here the whole time and it was just an accident it was just a sad accident that he he tripped really hard over a horse and he bonked his head and it never got up again tell him that a bunch of used carts fell on him that's the best lie for why someone died it works every time!

And I I thought maybe he's alive but then a cart drove by a bunch of carts that it was carrying fell onto him and it bonked his head even more I thought oh for sure he's gone now no one could survive that HE UH THE BOUNTY HUNTER IS JUST JUST KIND OF LIKE RESTING HIS HIS BANDAGED FACE ON A BANDAGED HAND And he reaches up and he pulls his goggles down over his eyes and he flips a lens down. Goes, his heart's beating pretty fast for a dead man. Bing stands up. Nudges Tuck.

Fuck, fine, fine, fuck, fine. I'm not dead. Yeah. What a surprise. I stand up. There's so much puke all over me. I come out from behind Francis. I go, what are you doing here? I've come to collect you. You've been cordially invited. It'd be rude of you to turn down a direct invitation from the princeps. It would be insane of us to go. You know that they're just going to kill us, right? There's zero assurances you can give us that we'll be safe.

If Callum Blackhammer promised your safety, your safety is guaranteed. If I came here to take you to your death, I wouldn't have been able to walk through those doors. And mirrors like his eyes kind of widen. He knows the rules of the bar. What? Who told him? That's true. With his glasses, he can see. That's true. He wouldn't have been able to come in here if he wanted to hurt you. Okay. Ving sits at the bar with him and takes a drink.

Uh, so do we go through the whole hullabaloo of walking or can we, uh, and he knocks on the bar. Cut the trip a little short. What's your name, friend? We're not going anywhere until you give us at least that. We don't travel with. And then Tuck gets a little melodramatic and he like looks into the fire. Strangers. But then he looks into the fire again. He gets even more melodramatic. And he goes, smart person once said, stranger, it's just a friend you haven't met yet.

Uh, time makes fools of us all and makes friends of strangers. Uh, someone's gonna have to roll a charisma to try and get him to reveal anything. It's clearly not going to be Tuck. I'll roll it. T-D-6 plus charisma. Tuck just throws his dice into the fire. Okay. Yeah. I got 10. 10? Yeah. I'm drinking with the guy. I'm on his level at least. Tuck's just whispering under his breath. Did you say that Tuck threw his die in the fire? I missed it. And he is like leaning against the bar, arms crossed.

He goes, you don't remember me. Port four for us. Yeah, we do. Yeah. No. You almost killed us. Yeah. I might've almost killed you in port four frost, but before that you almost killed me. Oh God. You might not remember me, but I remember you. Cause Lionel McKenzie King never forgets. Overseas? Oh my God. And he pulls his bandage down off his face and you see a man who many years ago, you almost had trampled to death in Crystal Bay calling a fire sale on pomegranates. I'll buy him a drink.

Can we end it there? Do we have enough time to end it? I have a feeling we do. I think we do. I think we do. 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 Barber Shop. I'm Sean O'Hara. The Barber of Abdulaziz. So long everybody. Ving the Half-Elf, Drew and Paul Oppers. Take care. Fat Billy, the Halfling Thief, Jessica Tai. Bye everyone. Thank you so much to all of our supporters around the world.

If you would like to support the show and gain access to bonus content, the up-to-date Mall Brats feed, and a whole bunch of other stuff, you can check us out at patreon.com slash speltlore or speltlore.com slash money please. Thank you so much to Aaron Reed for our intro and outro music. Check out all the original music produced for the show on Spotify. And Aaron's original music at aaronreed.bandcamp.com. Thank you finally and most of all to all of you for listening. We'll see you next time.

Wow. That was great. That was funny. Holy shit. That was such a fucking satisfying reveal. Did we like, when he got trampled, is it like, did we call a sale? Yeah. Because we wanted a diversion? Yeah. Yes. Okay. And as part of a seven to nine, a guy got knocked over and went, I'll never forget this. I'm like, yo, you'll see me again. You'll see me again. Lionel McKenzie King, never forget. So is he like wearing bandages because he needs to or because he wants to?

Because he wanted to hide his identity. Oh, that's so funny. Oh, nobody knows who a money is. So discreet. The easiest way to hide one's identity is pretend to be a mummy. Well, actually the car next door had a fire sale on bandages. The man was absolutely trampled. I can't believe it. I can't believe it. I can't believe it. I cannot fucking wait to get his fucking dumb as shit Batman 60s villain origin story. This absolute dog shit Dick Tracy bad guy. Wait, that's what happened?

Yeah, you pushed me over and I never forgot. I never forgot. Nobody pushes me over anymore. Amazing. I trained for years to never get pushed over. That's so funny. That's so good. And so ends the tale of adventures three who tried the best they can though dumb and scared and lost they be for times of rest in revelry. And though our journey may be like a conclusion.

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'd gladly spout more

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 host, Spout, and I'm your host, Spout. I'm your game master, Sean O'Hara. Joining me as always, Tacoma Dome the Barbarian, Abdul Aziz. Hello everybody, welcome to Spout Lore! Abdul's drinking a massive Red Bull right now, as you might be able to hear. Abdul is sucking on the biggest can of Red Bull I've ever seen. Yeah, I didn't know they made them that big. Oh no no no no no, don't. Don't. Oh my gosh, you're gonna have a heart attack. Nah, nah, I'll never have a heart attack.

Okay, I kinda believe you. I… Don't. What are you, a dactyl? I'm willing to accept that you think that. Ving the half-elf druid, Paul Oppers. I think that if Abdul was having a heart attack, you would jump out in front of a truck to make sure that nobody knew that you died of a heart attack. I think that's what would happen. I was right! I told him I would… Fabula the halfling thief, Jessica Tai. Yeah, I think you're right, he… Yeah, you would jump in front of a truck.

I would never give… Or a train, something crazy. I would never give anyone the satisfaction of being right. I would plunge his fingers into his own chest to tear his heart out and be like, This is what killed me! It was me! It was the… I did the Kali Ma thing. Kali Mamas, I told you I'd die by Kali Ma. I told you it would happen this way. When last we left our heroes, they had finally gathered the security answers to their password reset in the High Spear, the secret chamber at the top.

The secret chamber at the base of the tower. Thus, gaining the password to the Wi-Fi. Yeah. Oh, that is what we did! Oh my god, that is what we did! We had to reset the Wi-Fi password. Yeah, dude. Oh, man. No. It's on its face, it seems like we have a very boring show. Please go back and listen to the episode. Returning to the door, they entered the questions. Billy's first pet. Many wings buffet the petals of the Magnolia. Ving's mother's maiden name. All water.

And Tuck shared the name of the street that he grew up on. Trying first the Tallow Road. Or not the right answer to the question before giving the true answer. Trying to give it casually so that the other two didn't hear. The Broken Shore. Tuck grew up in some fashion on the Broken Shore. Oh. Broken Shores. Shores? I thought it was Shore. No, Broken Shores. Broken Shores, plural. Yeah. And the door itself opened, revealing an absolute torrent of bright white light and a massive source of light.

A massive source of thalmic energy. What are you guys talking about? A little slit in the middle of the room there, guys. It was like we were looking into an unshielded nuclear reactor. Yeah, basically. A full-on hotspot. A Wi-Fi hotspot created by a wizard many years ago. And created by us many years ago. Many years ago. Waleed the Speaker created a Wi-Fi hotspot as he left this realm. Morris terrified at seeing an unshielded hotspot. Dragged everybody back into the elevator.

But Tuck, Billy, and Vang, being the problem solvers they are, decided that- I thought you were just gonna say problem. Yeah. The problems, comma, solvers that they are, decided the best way to contact Waleed the Speaker, constructor of the High Spear, and creator of this wizard hotspot, was to simply yell really loud into the hole. Oh yeah. And against all odds, it worked.

And it was mainly because of the- And it was mainly because we weren't allowed to write a note and throw it into a barely stable wormhole, essentially. Now when you say not allowed- What do you mean by that? I mean, Sean threw Morris, said it was too dangerous that we might detonate some kind of atomic bomb thing that would destroy the High Spear. There's no way to know. So you just yelled super loud, getting a message through to Waleed and his endless list.

There's a ton of widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz physical pathways which connect all fairies and create the fairy realm itself originating from the icon of questioning so sick very cool so fucking cool great great great the endless and seeing all of the like uh purest representations of the constellations the seed within ving's chest began to sprout so cool oh as he learns things that's how it grows oh cool what's your intelligence minus two minus one how stupid am I uh tuck then passed out and the party took him back to hither and yawn uh to rest up in front of the fireplace like a big sick dog it was that yeah and uh while everyone was recuperating uh billy hanging out near the mail slot found an invitation from prince and queen and he said I'm going to go to the fireplace and I'm going to go to the princep callum blackhammer to a masquerade ball in the city of black glass at the blackhammer palace um assuming that it had to be a trap the party was prepared to crumple it up and throw it in the garbage before a bounty hunter entered through the doors oh yeah jingle jangle went his spurs as he took a drink uh mentioned that he was here to escort the party to the masquerade at the offer of callum blackhammer and that their safety would be guaranteed uh evidenced by the fact that the party was prepared to crumple it up and throw it in the that he walked through the doors of hither and yawn it was a bounty hunter we'd seen before yes at port for frost the bandaged uh bespeckled bespectacled gun wielding bounty hunter with his magical weapon and his magical accoutrement tuck and ving said that they do not travel with strangers and they asked his name before he revealed that he was the long lost villain the greatest threat you'd ever faced lionel mckenzie king the pomegranate the pomegranate guy this that was I think maybe the biggest reaction I've ever given it was up there for sure I'm gonna win the red bull I fucking loved it so much it was great and that is where we find our heroes now staring into the face of lionel mckenzie king a man whose face you may have never even seen before billy doesn't really react he's like yeah can you remind us again your deal remind you of my deal yeah yeah you say we almost killed you when where you're kidding me was it did we meet you in mccall mccall or was it mudlark crystal bay crystal bay oh you were in the back library you've got to be joking we burned down a library and then we also did we burn down the heart we can't remember what we did I mean I mostly remember like the big cow in the library we did a lot of damage to the library something from the store it was outside the memorial library you needed I don't know what to do with it I don't know what to do with it I don't know what to do with it you just started saying that my pomegranates were were so cheap oh and they knocked over my cart and I almost got trampled to death oh wait that car was my livelihood I put all my money into that ship shipment of pomegranates I am so sorry you put all your money into one cart full of pomegranates yeah money's tight pomegranates are expensive oh okay what do you mean oh okay how's the pomegranate business been going bad really bad yeah they are really annoying I am really sorry I don't hear that yeah they are they aren't the greatest fruit yeah do you ever think about having an apple cart oh that would do well they're so cheap you just pick it up it's handheld you can eat the skin he so convenient pomegranate skin not very good he takes a deep breath he releases it he pulls his bandages back up over his face I'm here to escort you to the city of black glass well do you okay we understand that do you want to tell us the rest of your origin story though because it couldn't have just been that right you know what no I don't what what that's a long time ago and you followed us for that long and you didn't even remember so it wouldn't matter if I told you because you'd forget anyways no we will forget and the more I the more I explain I can't promise anything the angrier I become and the closer I am to breaking the rules of this place so I am simply going to take a deep steadying breath just like my therapist suggested and then we are going to go to black glass and then I'm going to leave this place and then we'll see what happens from there okay what if like do you guys want to go to this ball I guess I guess like this is now interesting because we know we're not going to get killed there yeah sort of yeah I mean I'm in to go investigate I guess lionel If that is your real name.

It is. The only words I shared with you contained my full government name. What's in it for us if we go to this thing? Yeah. You don't have to go. But from what I've been told, the safety guaranteed offer is contingent upon your attendance at the ball. Oh, is it like a thing where if we go, then there's maybe a deal to be made? And if we don't go, then he's going to hunt us? I just got paid to come and get you. How did you find us? That's for me to know and for you to shut up about.

I don't like that he knew how to find us and that he could see your heartbeat and that he can see that he knew about the hither and yon. Yeah. Morris, Perel, what's going on with these goggles? Perel and Morris have been like kind of cagey on the outside of the room, not being part of this conversation. Just like. Just like whispering to each other like, what's going on over there? You see fingers come up over the bar. There's a little schnoz on the bar top. And Perel kind of sticks his nose.

Yeah, his nose. Bloink. On top of the wood of the bar. And he looks at him and then he goes, he like tips his lips over the bar. They're magical. And then he hides behind the bar again. Where'd you get them? These? Yeah. And he kind of, you know, breathes. He breathes on his fingernails and rubs them on his shirt. I made them. How did you make them? I have my ways. You're saying someone who decided to spend their life savings on a pile of pomegranates was smart enough to make magical sunglasses.

That's the kind of investment move that my real life dad would make. Abdul says. Losing an entire house on Nortel Networks. Yeah. When you're. Entire life is dashed to the ground before you. You make some questionable decisions in an attempt to find a new way forward. And then I lean over to Vig and I'm like, here it comes. It's his origin story. He wants to say it so bad. Eating popcorn. Yeah, I do. But I won't. You're not getting out of me that easily. I don't know.

I think you really want to tell us. Mother never was. You think I would make a deal with mother never was? I think that is possible. I mean, you did buy a bunch of pomegranates. I may have considered it. Excellent point. Actually, yes, I may have considered it at some point in my life. You see, when I was at my lowest, I considered all possibilities of event. Hold on a second. You're trying to get me to divulge my secrets and it's not going to happen. What if we do it?

They were like, come on, guys. This guy doesn't have any. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. There's not a cool back story at all.

And everyone's put him back down so what's going on here so I guess when he what's the last thing that happened he started talking then he went wait a second yeah and then I I look I'm like look lionel we understand not everyone has a cool origin story and then I look at these two guys and I go come on let's go find an assassin with a cool origin story to talk to and we start slowly putting on our coats over our glasses that we don't have walking towards the door I'm sure there's someone out there that wants to kill us that has a really cool origin yeah pull on my boots and I'm like I know he's got nothing to tell us your boots were off billy's just walking around in socks he's walking around in socks as much as he can I guess it's true yeah he's an indoor boy yeah I'm not an american walking around with shoes on good point good point tuck takes there's a!

There's a giant leather duster and a big cowboy hat on an off coat rack by the door that's just been there that's from our costumes from our reenactments I was like the idea that he takes a coat that he just found on a rack let's get out of here rip one arm comes off rip the other arm comes off so it's sleeveless come on guys as he's put no he's still got the sleeves on they just tore when he put it on rips down the middle throw the cowboy hat and guess we'll hit the old dusted train unless you want to come with us and tell your tale well actually I'm supposed to escort you take a ball we only get escorted by people with cool backstories yeah so that's a one and a three great plus charisma that's not gonna do it no it's seven he's got three charisma this is all right so do you want to tell us why you hate it so much I don't hate it I just don't the character just doesn't I just don't understand because he's so charismatic yeah that's why no I understand that he's charismatic and then bad at other stuff yeah yeah just feels like there's like a lot of plate spinning right now and this is the least important one I'm sorry but welcome to spell lord this is what the show's about he goes you think that's gonna get me and he kind of turns around and cups a drink that amir's put on the table for him what's that what do you want to hear you want to hear that after you destroyed my life I saw I I I vowed revenge at all costs is that what you want to hear I'm not going to tell you that how does a man so low and trampled rise to such heights of goggles and gun after I vowed my revenge and after the burning of the memorial library and the destruction of my precious pomegranates I was I was ready to kill you and I still am I will kill you all three of you one day he starts sliding out the door squeak but not yet but not yet I swear I vow that until my time comes your time has not come and maybe I consider several options for revenge no but not yet but we see a series of flashbacks of him in the background of a bunch of shots yeah you guys are in mccall eating falafels at the cafe outside abu d bro and he's like crouched on a rooftop you guys are in the middle of a room the chandler's district at uh wickport and he's crouched in an alleyway dressed like a candle maker and he looks over I always knew where you were going and I was one step behind prepared a humble break and in crystal bay when I vowed my revenge and all of my options had gone out and I'd been evicted from my apartment like and my boyfriend said that he didn't want to see me anymore because I became so angry and I was like I'm obsessed with revenge which at first I thought maybe he would think is hot but he didn't because of all the pictures that I drew of the three of you pictures like this one he holds up a very crude stick drawing of the three of you I looked at this picture every night wow and I swore that I would find you and kill you most of you are just like shapes like billy's a little circle things a long rectangle and tucks an upside down triangle these images burned into my mind and into my flesh and he opens his shirt and there's a little circle and a long triangle and an upside down triangle or a long rectangle and an upside down triangle tattooed on his chest I look at this tattoo in the mirror every night swearing that I would kill you and my at that time when I was at my lowest a teacher appeared taught me long lost skills takes his goggles off kind of spins them around to the strap on his finger who was this teacher?

That information I shan't share with you until the time is right because you got a seven to nine dang it but trust this teacher wishes your demise just as much as I do whoa what? Why do we do this teacher?

That information I can't share slide him another drink all right no no no no I can't no just it'll make me too angry and then I'll be forced to kill you and I'll be ejected from this place that's all you're gonna know about lionel king for now you have to progress further in the story before you can unlock this conversation thanks for sharing why hey I didn't you got me talking god damn it lionel get it together you're so close to your revenge the time is almost gone he's sliding backwards no wait but not yet but not yet he's like holding it his butt's being pushed out of the bar the chair's leaning no no no no no but I swear I won't do it yet but don't worry you'll die by my hand you'll die he's holding the door open come on please wait wait wait wait wait wait I need you guys to come with me I need you guys to come to this bar I am under contract okay fine fine he will come with you okay so what are we gonna are we gonna walk or are we gonna where is hither and yon right now it's above high spear it's above high spear wait the ball is in the fire fields black glass city of black glass yeah yeah yeah let's just take the hither and yon there oh thank god yeah I walked quite a way to get here I'm not going to you walked here from the fire fields there was you know I walked I took a horse I hid underneath a cart for a few days you stole a horse no I just rode one I didn't say that I bought it or who owned it I just was there and I hopped on you said you took a horse I said sorry yeah we see a horse run by us don't that's an unrelated horse propertively masterly they all wear like a little blanket with brand yeah his blankets yeah and so uh lionel clanks back into the bar his spurs jangling I've decided he does have spurs on I love it and uh he sits by the bar all right let's get this bar on the road okay since you know where we're going exactly you conjure up the intention to take us there is that how this works no tricks there's nothing there's nothing we can do yeah if you're straight with us we'll be straight with you this is a place of safety all right now let's go to the one place I want to go in all the world I want to go to the one place I want to go in all the world the pomegranate store 1999 the year before he was trampled would this pub were a time pub I could go back and right all the wrongs I've made in my life oh mackenzie how I loved you so and all the shutters close and they slam back open and you're immediately struck by the smell of smoke and smog it's got a like a pungent acrid kind of industrial smell smell outside and it is just cacophonous there's music lots of music like hooting pipes and the the rattles of carriages and the clomping footsteps of what you can only assume or you see like mechanical legs walk by outside whoa you are in the city of black glass does black glass kind of have like a victorian steampunk vibe everything is wrought iron though so it's like not brass gears but it's all black kind of I think that's exactly what it is it's like if during the victorian industrial revolution there were actual like robots walking around oh cool and lots of stained glass yep right we said it's a city of uh artisans right various stripes so there is uh there is beautiful architecture the mechanization of the city allowed them the time to dive into art yeah totally as uh they became more mechanized art also kind of was pushed to the side for like mass-produced stuff so there's like newer parts of the city that are uh kind of without that soul right that black glass was founded on so it's like a city of art right that makes sense discern uh we oh yeah no you can roll uh with wisdom yeah uh 10 uh yeah so you get three questions off the discern realities list what here is useful or valuable to me you know what's useful to billy is uh the door opens and uh lionel walks out and he goes ah the place that I want to go more than any and all the world and right across the street is a store called like doug subs and he walks right through the door ah here we go the greatest subs in the world the best subs in the world the best sandwiches and all the princeps yeah I mean I'm gonna I look look both ways of course before crossing a street yep um I follow him into doug subs yeah you go through the door doug subs we follow billy because he's following an assassin that wants to kill him I see a photo of a sandwich I'm like yeah nothing can hurt me in there billy you have no idea what a sub is but the sandwich above the door the sun that there's this there's a long sandwich nailed to the wall above the door of the shop don't know what a sub is but it's a long sandwich but we that's all we ever talk about is party subs party subs yeah oh my god I forgot I don't know what a short sub is a normal we only have ever seen a party sub billy calls sandwiches short subs yeah sub stubs where's the rest of y'all we all think that sandwiches are made initially in party sub form and then they're sliced and given to us when they're smaller yep so there's a giant sandwich on the door above the shop and you all go right in it's a beautiful sight and you hear oh my god if it isn't lionel mckenzie king my best customer this is where all the artists ends up working yeah sandwich artist yeah he's a sandwich artist yeah come on over lionel I'll get your order started he goes ah douglas it's been a long time and he just starts ordering a sandwich I'm looking out the window of the sub place I'm thinking uh what here is not what it appears to be ah what here is not what it appears to be uh okay so you're not going to be able to order a sandwich you arrived uh you assumed that it must have been a distance thing in um black glass where like the all the street lamps are on like there's lots of gas lamps throughout the city and uh it's quite dark and you're like oh I guess like the distance we had to travel means that like the light just changed because like the time is different here but it is as billy can feel through his very connection to the sun it is daytime but it is pitch black here whoa it's absolutely covered in the sun smog yeah the smog okay oh no do we feel that agitation that we felt before oh probably yeah even just like at the edge like chewing away at the edge of your perception you can hear tux has a nose whistle and he's like can you breathe out of your mouth why has everybody been talking about how loud I breathe the last few days um you guys are already snapping at each other yeah what should I be on the lookout for then you would assume billy's going to be on the lookout for you billy uh knowing that it is daytime and that the smog is like completely blanketing the city anyone could be a demon you think oh whoa oh shit demon city anyone in this city could be fully possessed or everyone what did we walk into are these subs cursed as well and you look up and you see italian herbs and cheese mayonnaise mustard salami pancetta provolone green peppers more provolone spinach motadella toasted in the oven motadella but and then toast it again once the motadella is added and then ranch holy shit this is a lionel sandwich lionel sandwich two please right away anybody can get this sandwich at doug subs because I don't actually know how to make a different one and he gets started on another sub so those are your questions and you know we cut forward a little bit lionel's sitting at a table eating a giant sandwich we're all eating a sandwich he's kind of like working it through his bandages why did you just take it off I like the way they feel against my skin makes me feel contained and they're getting real ranchy around the mouth actually that's not a bad idea I feel like we should wear something around our faces here yeah I was thinking of getting saffron from the pub and then wearing a mask like making a saffron concoction dipping some like rags in it wearing it as a mask do I have any on me uh maybe not on you but back in the bar for sure maybe for the ball we can keep the mask on I mean it's masquerade right yeah and I'm already dressed like a cowboy kind of a cowboy stripper actually it's a good outfit it's really formal thanks and tuck starts like swishing back and forth and he's like I like the duster too I feel like it's cool it's pretty good everybody that wears a duster thinks a duster's cool that's what lionel says and I was like your phrasing was really specific also fucking you you're wearing spurs yeah but my spurs are cool because I'm playing against type the rest of me is mummy mummy wearing spurs so the masquerade ball is not tonight but the next night all of the well-to-do people of the firefields will be in attendance all of the most influential families and then also you and then I'll be there as well as a bodyguard to california calum blackhammer as is my current profession you're currently calum blackhammer's bodyguard that's right I'm one of the deadliest men in the firefields this is kind of a cool I kind of like this move that calum did where he's just like I know that they killed my brother so I'm gonna approach them first sort of diplomatically and have my bodyguard escort them here it's kind of cool it's very cunning yeah it's quite a shrewd and cunning move some might say yeah for a tyrant so I trust that I can leave you to your own devices in the city and that you will be in attendance on morrow's night you have our word very well the black glass palace sunset you'll know it by the chimes of the bells all right and he shoves this rest of the sandwich through the bandages right into his mouth he's doing that thing where like he's doing like multiple pushes into his mouth because there's so much sandwich oh my god gomar jingle jangle jingle of his spurs as he goes as he leaves the sandwich place okay all right well we walked straight into the belly of the beast let's go back to the pub let's go back to the bar sure you don't want to explore I would rather debrief with you guys in a safe place before we make next moves I'll have my sandwich to go please you get it wrapped up everyone can get a to-go sandwich at doug's I already ate mine but I'd like one for the road please and one for the bar one road pub sandwich no two two yeah one for the road pub one for the road one for when I get to the pub one for crossing the street and then one for when I'm home yeah okay we don't have any money oh uh let me run across the street and see if mirrors has money you two stay okay and he puts his sword on the on the sandwich bar sword oh my god I thought we stole some money we oh shit I did oh you stole money I stole money from from that masterly guy tux says out loud I have six coins how much is it six coins six coins six coins six coins oh that's not how you do it convenient hey god damn it you should have said you had four six coins please okay doug six coins for two three how many sandwiches he just ordered two he ate one that's five sandwiches and I'm pretty sure lino didn't pay that's six he did not coin each what do you want this is the capital city yeah it's reasonable we live in a city where you could get a burrito for 30 dollars yeah yeah I can't wait to see it I have a 30 burrito people are financing smoothies oh you can buy it on clarna yeah on clarna that's really funny what's clarna it's like a buy now pay later yeah basically or paid installments and they charge you interest yeah probably I don't know well the company's basically swiftly going bankrupt because everyone's defaulting on their burrito loans yeah yeah I can say like I think they partnered with like doordash and stuff and so it gives you the option to like pay that's so funny yeah so you can buy it on clarna yeah yeah you pay your six coins you go back to the door where hither and yon once was oh no oh no and the sign above the door is gone no the shutters look in on uh what would it be uh oh a pig pen a pig pen there's two windows in the door no I like it francis is that you no my name's carol come on in thank you carol nice to meet you our friends we're working for a while for our friend lots of room in here why don't you just open that door real quick and tuck starts patting his pockets and he realizes that his key and ving's key to the back door were in the loincloth and he's wearing the duster now oh he's like yeah if only somebody let me hold on to my own key your key would be underneath a toilet at a best western is where it would be you hear the pig from inside go were you looking for your wallet I think there's a wallet in here just open the door no just open that door real quick I think your wallet's in here with me I open the door the pig comes running out she bowls billy over and takes off into the city where's the wallet I'm free squeal I can't believe he left us we're gonna die over here wait is there a market stands around I want to discern realities and grab some I do have some saffron uses on me so if we want I have three uses oh shit yeah let's make those rags you could probably find a market if you walked around for a bit okay there's a very nighttime victorian england vibe there's like people walking you know like a guy in a top hat walks by arm and arm with another guy in a top hat and a long twisty mustache and they're like tapping their canes as they walk look out everybody there's a bunch of jack the rippers around yeah they could be murdering us at any moment there's a figure in the alleyway with a long cape flipping a knife I guff now why don't you come in here oh my god I've got some real money I want a day there's a lady making pies not not normal meat pies she's rolling out pies come over here pies for sale there's a barbershop above it and I'm doing shivings up here come up here you look like you got a lot of meat on your bones are you the bulk race big fella there's a wee watchers the ripper over there you guys you look up and you see a sign on the you look up and you see a sign on the side of the road you look up and you see a sign on the side of the road a guy runs a alleyway that says ripper lane And we run out.

We don't see this, but it's very much everyone's an actor. So then a shift bell. It's a colonial Williamsburg thing where they just can't replace. Everybody's on the next shift. Wait a sec. This is what they want. They want us running and breathing really deep. Breathe in all the smoke. We're going to have to do. I don't know. I just grabbed some flags from a store, a cart. You just ripping them off a cart? Yeah. All right. So you're making masks. Is that your plan here? Yeah. Yeah.

I wrap them around my face like a mummy. So you all wrap these rags around your faces full of saffron. That saffron's gone. You now each have like a degree of protection. Something's being filtered through the saffron. I look even more like a cowboy. Check it out. Yeah. Cool. So what do we think we need to do in preparation? Well, I guess one, you're lost in the city. It's a pretty fancy event. It's fancy. Costumes? Oh, yeah. There's probably a cart actually. Yeah. Right.

We're in sort of a fake historical section. Is that what we're saying? Yeah. Of an older age of black glass city. It's like a gas town. Yeah. They're trying to revitalize the tourism industry. Totally. Yeah. An immersive city experience. Yeah. There's clothing stores around if you want to wander and find some stuff. You don't have any money to consider. You just spent your six coins on sandwiches. Why did Hither and Yon abandon us here? It was needed somewhere.

I guess it was someone that needed it more than us. I guess that means we'll be okay. That's what that tells me. That's probably true. Should we head towards the palace at least out of this weird district? Yeah. We should probably get clothes. We should probably kind of suss the city. Clothes would help us blend in probably. Discern realities? Yeah. Yeah. Discern realities. 2D6 plus wisdom. Looking for some sort of clothing shop. 12. Okay. Yep. 12. Three questions. What here's valuable to me?

Yeah. You wander these streets for a while just trying to get a vibe for where you are and eventually do find yourself in sort of a like a tailor's district. There's lots of clothing shops of various stripe, but mostly like as you would expect in a place this fancy feeling a lot of like tailored suits and finely made dresses and clothing of all kinds. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Hatters. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Finery that we cannot afford. And it seems like there's a lot of people kind of milling about in and out of these stores coming out with bags and there's a lot of tittering about oh, the masquerade is tomorrow evening and we must prepare for the masquerade. I have two ideas. I could either like nick one of these bags or I could do an alms for the poor kind of performance. Okay, here's let me give you a little something to build on that idea.

Because Tuck is saying this to Billy. He's like, Billy, I don't think what most of he's, we go into a wide where you can see his size difference between him and everyone else. I don't think most of these people's hats and clothes will fit me. The clothes you're currently wearing don't fit you. He's wearing the shreds of a leather duster. Your clothes don't fit you. This duster looks great on me. But could you maybe steal like money so we can buy our own clothes that are tailored to us?

Yeah, for sure I could. Okay, so I'll go into thief mode. Oh. Nice. Billy's a straight up pickpocket again. I haven't seen this in a while. Can I support Billy by doing riffraff street rat to see if there's any threats in the crowd that he should be aware of? Yeah, totally. So riffraff street rat, you just get to ask what's the biggest threat here? Yeah, what is the biggest threat?

There are, this is a crowd of high-end shoppers and of, you know, people, there's like a cart selling hand pies or whatever to people shopping around. Eyebrows up. That's the biggest threat right now. Distraction. Pie distraction.

Yeah, he's looking at all the money, but then he's like, but then the smell wafts him and he goes He's like lifted up off the ground like and, uh, but you do see like you hear like a clank clank and on the far end of the lane, uh, walking into view is, uh, a smaller looking version of a warmack. Whoa. That kind of has like a British Bobby style hat. Oh, cool. A cop bot. There's a robot cop. My enemy. And, uh, they're kind of escorted by two other uniformed guards.

There are these mechanical machine officers. We're not at threat here as known commodities for the war. You know what I mean? There's wanted posters elsewhere. Oh, I see what you mean. Like, are you wanted in this place? Yeah, it would seem like as you were walking around, you didn't see a lot of wanted posters. And I think we were given specific leave to be in the city by Callum in whatever like machinations he's got. Yeah.

So actually, I think you see the guards notice you and tuck because you're towering above everybody else and they make eye contact with you and they kind of say some words to each other and then they just keep about their patrol. Okay. Billy, watch out for those cops. One of them's like a robot. I know watch out for that robo car. Yeah, it's about probably seven, seven and a half feet. It looks like it's got really long legs on like the other max, which had shorter legs for running. Mm.

He looks down at his own leg. I'd never make it. You are looking around at the crowd and you see a couple figures in the crowd like maybe two that are like making eyes at each other and spreading throughout the crowd and you see you think the flash of a knife at a waist and a snatched purse. Oh, it looks like there is a gang or at least a couple of pickpockets somewhat finely dressed, somewhat older like maybe late teens, early maybe a little bit older and they are currently working the street.

Okay. All right. I have competition. I would like to try tricks of the trade. Yes, absolutely. Yeah. Okay. So that yeah, that's specifically for picking pockets or locks. Yep. Eight. Okay. Okay. So on a seven to nine, I still succeed, but the GM will offer two options between suspicion, danger or cost. So your ankle level with everyone in this crowd, all you see as far as the eye can see is coin pouches. Yeah. Just hanging off belts. People with like little wallets, purses hanging low.

I get in the line to the pie cart behind a couple ladies and one of them has a coin pouch dangling. Yeah. And I look around and I quietly take it. Oh, and tuck in Ving during this are kind of like leaning like next to like an apple cart, kind of like trying to like survey the crowd, see if there's any threats moving towards you. Yeah. And Billy hides this by like tugging on the lady's skirt and he's like, Mom, Mom. Oh, hello, little boy. You're not my mom. Did you lose your mother? Yeah.

Oh, sorry. Oh, come here, little dear. Oh, no, it's okay. I think she went into the other store over there and you like dash away through the legs. And then a few moments later you hear my purse. It's gone. And you guys see the two thieves that you spotted look at each other when they hear that and start looking through the crowd. Oh, shit. Someone's gonna have to give me an escape role of some kind. Okay, so tuck from where he's standing.

He sees that like the pattern of movement for like the little thieves starts to change and they're like zeroing in on where Billy is like escaping. So he's just like, uh, uh, and he like looks at the apple cart. He's like, Hey, this guy's selling apples so cheap. How much for your apples? It's a fire sale. I want apples. Not again. No, no. I have to set up another multi-year villain review. Maybe, maybe not. This will be a 2d6 plus charisma. Okay, so that's five, six plus three is nine. Okay.

I'll aid. Help me. I think it's aiding. And they're the most delicious apple. He just takes an apple and eats it. I got six plus my blonde is seven. People hear cheap apple. Well, apples are the sway sing available to a person like me. You can eat the wrong. You can the palmer. Yeah, way better than a pulver granite granite.

You see the two thieves in their fine suits get like pushed forward by the crowd and start fighting the wave and Billy, you are given basically clear passage to make it back to tuck and Ving. Yeah, I hide. I climb up your leg like to hide behind your coat. Yeah, okay, and there's a that this makes it look like I have a huge ass and the Apple salesman's like, no, no, not me. Apples, not me. Apples.

They'll make you the price a sea of rich people take over and you hear like tweet tweet as the Bobby's start like rushing forward. The giant robot starts moving people aside and there's chaos on the streets and it took us. I'm sorry. I had to do it and you see the Apple salesman make eye contact and start mouthing words through the din. The only ones you make out are never forget and you've escaped with Billy's I'll gotten gains into a shadowy alley. How much did you get? I don't know.

Do I roll? So I look in the pouch. So you're going to roll 4d 10. Holy shit. Yes. Yes. Yes. Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. This is so fun. Oh my God. 22 22 coins in a in a very beautiful kind of velvet coin purse. Nice weighty as if she had just arrived for an evening shopping. Yeah, I hand just the coins to you guys and I toss the bag. Okay, smart. Right into a gutter splashes into a puddle. A rat grabs it runs away. It's a nice bag. The rat.

Yeah, we see we follow this rat through a wet alley and it goes to his rat wife where it's making the clothes for the masquerade. We can't wait to go to the masquerade. So excited to go to the rat squiree. The rat squiree. Honey, this is the finest dress I'm ever going to own. I'm so happy. Oh, darling, nothing but the finest for you at the rat squiree. We are going to curry much favor with the rat dowager tonight. And you see all of their children see their parents so in love.

All 90 children watch their parents kiss lovingly as if it was the day they started courting. The king is going to ask us to join him tonight. I just know it. I just know it. And then knock, knock. What's that at the window? A little rat window opens and it's Peter Rat. Come on. Fuck this. I was in. It's a lot going on in this city. You guys got 22 coins. Yeah. Burning a hole in your. Well, there's no bag anymore. So just in your hands. Tuck puts it in the pocket of the duster. Great. Yeah.

So now you've got 22 coins. What are you going to do with them? Let's go to a clothing store. Go to a tailor. Yeah. Go to a tailor. So you guys unfortunately caused a bunch of trouble on the nice Taylor Street. So you got to go to the outlets. You're going to have to go to the outlet stores. No. No. I wanted something nice. No, you're going to blue notes. You're going to Randy River. They're going to have Bobby Jill figure. Bobby Jill figure. I can't even get Tommy Hill figure at the outlet.

So you leave this like ancient beautiful black glass. G and street and you're walking through town. You're like, man, we really fucked it up. And we end up on an alley where it's like thrift stores and like consignment shops and then outlet shop. Yeah, there's some outlet stores much more low class casual shopping. What would a food? What would the food place on this corner be? Meat ends meat and it's just sell the ends of sandwiches subs, but just the butts of everything. Yeah, Doug Stubbs.

Oh, nice. It's just the ends of the sandwiches. People didn't need it. Doug. So there's also an apple cart, but it's like all the bruised apples all the cores. It's called just course apple course. Apple course reaching arsenic rich and apple cores are rather expensive. If you want a cheap apple, you're gonna have to go three streets over, but I heard it's not going so good for him anymore. And yeah, you have a variety of shopping experiences here. Mm-hmm. Available to you. All right, shop.

Do you guys did you believe feels like you wanted to go to the thrift store specifically? If we go to the thrift store, we might be able to make a treasure roll. Oh, yes. Let's do that. Yeah. Okay, cool. Let's do that. Okay. Yeah. So the first thrift store you find the guy really tries to sell you sell you some apple cores really hard. Three chords for three cores. I know. Sounds terrible. You know what? I'll throw in a fourth call for an additional coin. Hey, hang on to your cores.

You have a good day. Ah, you piece of shit. What the fuck? Give me fucking sight. You just watch your mouth, young man. My cores aren't good enough for you, eh? Jesus, it's rough in here. You think you're better than me? My God, I'm just gonna walk away. You'd like it if I ate all these cores myself when you were in fucking dark. Whoa, holy shit. Who hurt you? God, the way there's a and then tuck kills back as we're walking away. I was like, we're with our son, okay?

Yeah, your son looks like he needs some cores to grow big and strong. Is he, are you crying? Might be. Are you okay? It's none of your fucking business. Your son's crying. I don't know why I'm crying. Stop swearing around our kid. He can't fucking hear me, son. I'm making myself cry. I don't know how I'm doing it. I don't know how it's happening. You're making me cry. He can't fucking hear me. I don't even. I don't want to show you me cores anymore.

I think you might have had a mean dad, you guys. He picks up his cart, the handles, and he starts walking away. Cores are falling all over the place. And he walks around the corners to cast you one more spiteful glance as a tear rolls down his face. And you're able to go to this thrift store unacosted. I will not forget his face. You find a thrift store called Leavings. And there's bins of old clothes out front. This is velvet. Kind of. What are you picking up?

It's a huge shawl, but it's like it is velvet, but it's also been worn through in some spots. Looks moth-eaten. Yeah, there's some moths flying out of it. There's a moth family trying to get ready. Trying to get ready for the masquerade. I'm so sorry, guys. It's a moth-scarade. Oh my god. We keep picking the right animals. Stupid episode. Welcome to Spout Lore. There's lots of clothes out here. There's some stuff inside. What's the shopkeeper at Leavings like? Not like that last piece of shit.

I think it's a purple lady. Oh, yeah. She thinks everything's funky. Yeah. She wears a lot of moo-moos. Has big glasses. Is it clover ivy fur? Purple hair? That'd be so good. Possibly. Maybe she's undercover. They're pulling another job. Yeah, it's clover ivy fern. It's clover. She's got lavender hair. It's long kind of frizzy. Yeah, she's in her 40s or whatever. Some grays in there. Big glasses. Purple cloak. Wait, how old is she? In her 60s or 40s?

It's 40 years ago, so she should be in her 50s. 50s. She's in her 50s. She's got kind of graying, kind of purpley hair. Like wearing moo-moos. But she's fully undercover. Big glasses. Come on in. Welcome. Welcome to Leavings. Oh, thanks. Please, what is it that your heart desires? We need fancy wear for a ball. Oh. Well, you've come to no finer place than Leavings. These clothes have been sourced from the trashes of all the most wealthy families in Blackglass. Did you hear that?

The trash, you say? Of the richest families? Of the richest families. Let's have a look then, shall we? He's got a monocle on me. And the tech goes, that's interesting. My first apartment was the trash. My middle name is Leavings. Great, so what do you guys, how are we doing this? You just gonna describe your outfits that you find and then you're gonna have to pay for them? Yeah, or should there be, because we have to hunt, so should there be some kind of a roll to find the thing that we want?

I do like the rolls. It's fun to do the roll. We're doing treasure rolls? Is that what we're saying here? Yeah, sure. Okay, so I think for outfits I think what we're gonna do is ooh, we'll do it like this. You'll describe your ideal outfit, then you'll roll flat. Oh. And then depending on what happens, you'll either get your ideal one or it'll be fucked up in some way. Hilarious. Okay, so who's looking first? Well, I know exactly what Tuck is looking for. Alright, then lay it on us. Cowboy.

So you want like a cowboy hat? I, Abdul, will tell you exactly what I want Tuck to be dressed as. I want to be dressed like Wax from the Wax and Wayne series from the Brandon Sanderson, Cause of Mary universe. Pull it up, Sean. Alright. Which is like, kind of like fancy, like sort of Victorian 1800s era like suits. So like cravats, like those kinds of like when men would wear those kinds of suits but then a duster over top and a cowboy hat. Is Wax the Batman or the Robin? He's the Batman.

Okay, yeah. So yeah, it's like a guy that wears fancy suits. Yeah. And then has like an old west cowboy coat over top. And if I can find some cool steampunk goggles, I thought I thought the Gen Z could look cool. Yeah, you saw a guy with goggles recently, so that's all that's in your head. Goggles on a cowboy hat. Goggles on a cowboy hat. I'm gonna go kind of steampunk. I mean, you're in steampunk town. Very fitting. Try and get a cane. I can lend you my bandolier. Oh yeah, that would be cool.

That'd look good. That would finish it off. It is a masquerade. So what mask are you wearing over top? Oh, mask. So what is a masquerade? It is a masked party. Usually they wear it over their eyes or sometimes some of them do like whole one. Whole faces? Do they have to be animals? No. Okay. It's just whatever mask. The idea is that it is an anonymous party. What do you guys think I should do for mask? Talk ass. Well, you've already got goggles. Well, they're for your hat. Ideally.

Goggles are for the hat. The goggles are for the hat. You could do on the nose. You could make it a little on the nose and have like a cow mask. So you're a cowboy. Oh, that's a good idea. He says and then he's like, okay, I'm just gonna do the cowboy mask. Just do it right. A cow mask? No, no, I'm doing cowboy. Like a bandana thing. A bandana. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's cool. So roll flat to see if this actually happens. Okay, here we go. Please let me look cool tonight. Allison might be there.

Nine. Someone help me. No, this is a flat roll. It's a random roll. That was the part. I wanted to look cool for Allison. You have to accept it. Okay, fine. Tell me. Who are you? Still pretty close. It is very close. So there's one thing that is not exactly what you wanted it to be and undercuts it a little bit. What is it? Goggles? Could be the goggles. Could be that all she has is a cow mask. Now you just look like a cow. Now you look like a cow in a hat.

I like the idea that she's just like, okay, I'm going to live with you. I only have a cow mask. I don't have a bandana large enough for your head. In your size, which I have never seen before. And I mean never seen before. I was once married to a boy who had a huge head and he always wore vampire teeth. And his head is tiny compared to yours. I'm going to be honest. I just don't have it, but I do have. And she holds up a mask shaped like cow's face. Fine. And it'll fit your beard.

Keep you anonymous. That's true. You know what? That is true. Lady, what is your name? My name? Why? No one's asked me my name quite some time. She's a terrible crook. My name is She's looking around. Kesserin Rose. Nice. Okay. Well, she's sweating a lot now. Okay. Thanks for the mask. That was a fake name. I would have it. Do you mean in real life has that name? What? What's your name? I don't tell strangers my name. Smart. Smart. I'm Ving. All right, Ving.

Then what outfit can we help you put together? Here at Lee Vings. I just I think I would like to have a. Are you okay? It's just the voice is a lot to do. You don't have to do the voice. It's fine. We don't know who you are. You can be anonymous and not do a weird voice. She looks around and goes, I don't know what you're talking about. Goes over to the door and locks it and flips the close sign. All right. I'm going to stop doing the voice. My throat hurts a lot. What are you looking for?

I just need some some sort of tuxedo-esque thing. All right. So you're just going for a tuxedo, straight tuxedo. I'm looking for the longest tails tuxedo. Maybe. Maybe a frilly undershirt. Something kind of liberage. It'd be pretty hot if you dressed as tuxedo mask. I think I've already done that too. What are we? I'm picturing a fan drawing of us in these costumes that we're trying to make. There's a fan drawing of Ving as Sailor Jupiter. Yes. Okay. But yeah, do whatever you want.

Ving has the kind of figure that looks good in a tuxedo. Big tux, sis. Tall, slender. Yeah. Just give me a regular old tux. White tie. I got seven. Okay. So it is a tux black suit with the white shirt and the white tie. Yeah. White bow tie. It has no back at all. No back. Just fully backless. Somebody used it to cut a pattern out. Totally. Missing from the front. Looks good. Place is called leavings for a reason. We got this out of the garbage. Okay. So, yep. Sorry. No back on this thing.

No hat? No, you can get a top hat. But it has, it's a spring-loaded top hat and there's a little bird on an arm. That comes out. This is hilarious. I'll take that. Thank you. Yeah, you know what? You look great. Wait, I forgot a mask. Oh, what kind of mask do you want? I don't know. I forgot a mask. Domino mask is a great one. What were you thinking? I was just thinking like one of those like veils that those like lady, the dancer lady. Oh, yeah. Very elegant.

Alright, I'll get a belly dancer's veil. Thank you. Thanks, Billy. Great. Good boy. So, a belly dancer's veil, a tuxedo with no back, and a top hat that a bird comes out of. Yeah. This is ridiculous. Great. What about you, little boy? Billy, he's thinking about Victor because he misses him. I'd like to be a wolf. I think they're the fanciest animal that exists. Okay. Yeah, you know, you're not completely wrong. Wolves are very fancy. So, 2D6 flat. Eight. Eight. She finds you a wolf pelt.

A wolf pelt. You know, the head goes over the head. It's really big. I think that's the problem here. It's really big and long. It's enormous. A wolf, a raccoon, a boy. You're like a turducken. You're like a matryoshka doll. A vanimal pelt. I am like one of those dolls. Yeah, so I think the problem that she sees is like, alright, I've just got this big wolf pelt. It's not really an outfit. Perfect. I don't need anything else. Okay. So, there's just a wolf pelt that drags far behind you.

Yeah, I take my t-shirt off and I… T-shirt? We're across the store watching you do this. What kind of t-shirt is he wearing? It's just his regular shirt. He takes it off and he ties it around his face to be the mask so that his bottom half is covered. The top half's covered. The wolf head. And also, it makes him look more like wolf because no clothes. Right, yeah. Like a wolf. Wild wolf.

So, he's dragging around a big, long, wolf cape with no shirt on, little pants, and a t-shirt tied around his face. And Billy starts, like, walking around on his all-fours. Making wolf suits. You are inferior! He thinks those kind of… And Tuck turns to Ving where we are because we're looking at earrings. What about these? Those are nice. We gotta start setting some firmer boundaries with this kid. He's so little. Yeah. Kesserin Ropes is just standing watching Billy concernedly. Huh.

Hey, uh, your kid's done. And Billy's, um, he's face-to-face with, like, a turtle shell that's leaning up against the wall and he's, like, barking at it. Alright, okay, alright, okay. Oh, no, he's in a dog phase now. He's not gonna pee in here, is he? And Billy's lifting up his leg. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. You kid, ugh. Alright, well, you know what? Let's call this, uh, ugh, man, it's a lot of clothes. I mean, these are all garbage. So. Wow. Wow.

Just because I told you that I got them out of the garbage, they're garbage all of a sudden, huh? Yeah, so price it accordingly. Wow, interesting. By the way, your entire outfit is tearaway. Uh, I'm gonna call that two coins? Five coins. Five coins? Five coins? Three outfits, three full outfits, five coins. Is it because this is an actual wolf pelt? That's a wolf pelt. Well, I don't actually think it's an actual wolf pelt. Look, the eyes kind of bug out like a cartoon.

It's a golden retriever pelt. It's spray-painted gray. I'll give you, I'll give you five coins if you're throwing a leash for our dog. Wanna walk your kid on a leash? Uh-huh. He's gonna, like, I lean into her and I'm like, look, he's gonna insist on it. If we don't just get it here, it's gonna be a problem that we don't have it. Okay, I don't have a dog leash, but I have one of those kid harness leashes. That's better, honestly. Thank you. Yeah, I think so, too. She throws it in, five coins.

Okay, cool. We have 17 coins left over. Nice. Pleasure doing business with you. Good doing business with you. She walks over, she unlocks the door. Good luck on your espionage. Shh. Huh? You're doing a good job being a spy. Pleasure. Good luck. You should get out of my store. Okay. And we leave. And you leave. Ding, ding. Door closes. Wow, we look great. You guys leave in these outfits? Yeah. Uh-huh. Alright. And you, so what now, I guess, is the next step? Let's head to the castle.

What time is it? Oh, it's not until tomorrow. It's not until tomorrow. We could camp out outside. Yes. We kind of have enough money that we could get, like, a hotel room for the night. Oh, yeah. Yes. There's an inn that overlooks the castle we could spy from. Oh, yeah. That's a great idea. Good call. Okay. Go to the inns around the castle. Okay. It's the, it's the king's, it's the, god, I should not talk until I have an idea. Welcome to my world. King's is a great start.

The king's, is this the name of the inn? Yeah. The king's carriage. Yeah, that's it. King's carriage. The king's carriage house. Oh, king's carriage house. The sign above the door is a full carriage. Holy shit. A full-sized carriage straining two chains. Jesus. You can hear it as you walk underneath. It kind of goes like, We kind of hustle it away. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Be careful. They have an employee, like, they have employees take shifts, like, holding a third chain just to reinforce it.

It's a guy upstairs right now. His arms are shaking. Hurry up. And, uh, you walk into the king's carriage house. It is, uh, finely wooded place. Uh, there's a bar along one side. Well, a counter, I guess, is what they're called when people aren't getting drunk. With many cubbies for keys and… It's kind of, it almost reminds you of Hither and Yon. But nicer. And all the furniture is uniform in here. It's all made by the same person, which is crazy.

And you're able to, you can get a room quite easily. Hey, yeah, walk up to the counter. Hello. Hello? Welcome to the king's carriage house. We're, uh, we're staying in town for the night because we're going to the, uh, masquerade tomorrow. Oh, going to the masquerade, eh? Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's quite a hot ticket event. I know. Would be pretty nice to go to, I think, myself. We'll bring you if you give us a room for free. Huh? Oh, God. Huh? Yo, what? Yeah, why not?

Yeah, we got a plus one, I'm sure. Roll a parlay. I'm sure somewhere on there it said plus one. Flat four. Okay. Oh, shit. I'll take that. Whoa, what a wild failure. No way. So you're saying you can get me into the masquerade ball? I'm saying we could try. I now fully believe that I am going to the masquerade ball and the three of you are getting me in. Okay. That's my reality now. Okay. And you know what? And he clomp, clomp over the wall, pulls the key off, slams it on the counter.

This room for free. Oh, wow. Because you three are getting me into the masquerade ball. Okay. Oh, my God. Me mother's never gonna believe this. Okay. She can come too. Oh, Rodney coming in. My mommy can come to the masquerade ball as well. Oh, my God. Me and mommy going to the masquerade ball. Rodney and his mommy going to the masquerade ball. His name is Rodney. We just learned. And he turns around. He runs back. He opens the door and there's an old lady sitting in a rocking chair. Mommy.

We're going to the masquerade ball. And she goes, Oh, my God. She clutches her pearls. Oh, me pearls. I've never clutched them, Sal. Oh, my God. She comes tottering out. Because of these three, you three are taking me and me old boy Rodney to the masquerade ball. Yes. She comes around. She scoops you up in a hug. Thank you so much for giving an old island woman a reason to live. Oh, Jesus. You'll be okay. Oh, no. Rodney makes sure they get the finest room free of charge. Way ahead of you, mumsy.

And she wanders back, door slams. I have to go get ready for the masquerade ball. Okay. Enjoy your room. And I look so angrily at Vic. And he just picks up the keys. Wow. I wouldn't have even done that. They're going to be heartbroken or furious. What if his mumsy dies? I feel like we could figure it out. First, we piss off the Apple guy. Then we piss off the Apple Corps guy. Then we piss off mom and Rodney. Everyone in this town is kind of like razor's edge so close to breaking down.

It's all that goddamn smog in the air. I know. Speaking of which, let's put our fucking masks on and go upstairs. You haven't been wearing your masks? You guys are being such dicks. And you go over to, uh, there's an elevator. You walk into the elevator and there's like a mechanical torso, head and arms like stuck to the side. Oh shit. Weird. Hello? Hello. Going up? Yes. Room key, please. Put it right here. And he like, a little thing opens in his chest and there's a key slot. Put it in there.

Do I turn it? And it turns. He goes, top floor. Ding. And the door closes. And it goes starts rattling slowly up. Hi. Hi. So you folks, what are you folks in town for? We're here for the masquerade ball. You're going to the masquerade ball? Yeah. What do you know about the masquerade ball? Everyone seems to be preparing for it. It's like everyone in town is obsessed with it. What do you, you don't know, but you're going and you don't know about the masquerade ball? We were invited.

We were invited. Yeah. It's only the hottest ticket event in black glass. Why is it? Happens once a year. It's held by the princeps. Why do people love it so much? Well, lavish food. I understand that people that can eat love that stuff. Music. Apparently great. Gifts? Yes. Everybody receives like lavish gifts. It's actually been a bit of a controversy before. I don't know. I guess before the smog rolled in, people had a real problem with the masquerade ball.

A lot of the city's coffers go to funding these kinds of parties. Huh. But now they're everybody wants it to happen. Everybody wants it to happen and people want to go so bad. It's crazy. Yeah. Ever since the smoke rolled in, hey? Ever since the smoke rolled in, probably fine. Yeah. Probably just a coincidence. How long has the smoke been here? Uh, that's a great question. I guess it'll have been, what, probably uh, when did like the Victoria LaBlanche stuff happen? Oh, shit.

That was months ago. A couple months ago. So maybe like close to a year. Holy fuck. I don't know. I can only see about eight feet in front of me whenever the door opens. And just kind of in this direction and he turns his head like two inches to each side. But from what I hear from people complaining about the weather, probably about nine, ten months ago. Okay. Sounds good. Thank you. And uh, you get to the top floor. Ding! Penthouse suite!

And a little, uh, thing opens in his stomach and there's a little bowl of mints inside. Help yourself to a mint. Thank you. Have a great night. Thank you too. And the door closes and there is just a single door in front of you. Go through it. Yep. Open it up. Beautiful. Fine woodwork. Plush furniture. You've got like a living room with like a kitchen area. Beautiful brand new appliances. Sunk in living room. Ooh, conversation pit kind of style. Sunk in living room. Yeah.

The kitchen is like a multi kind of like oven situation. Whoa. With like little attached pots. Like in the hither and yon? Yeah. Nice. Nice. Beautiful. That's cool. One more thing about the kitchen? Hot water on demand. Hot water on demand? On demand? Yeah. From the constant roaring fire. Whoa. Yeah. There's like a, like huge French doors that open on to like a kind of like Jasmine from Aladdin style like balcony that like overlooks the palace grounds. I always wanted that balcony. Yeah.

It's huge. I always wanted Jasmine's room. Yeah. And it's got like, it's got trellised. It's got trellises on either side with like plants growing up it. Flowers and like a pergola over top with more like vined plants over top, which are seem to be having a tough time in the lack of light. Yeah, it's not blooming. No, it's definitely not blooming. And then, you know, off to the right side, a couple other beautiful stained glass French doors that open into a massive master bedroom.

And here you are. You're home for the night. And as you're walking around, Billy, you spot just like off the sunken living room, a small, beautiful little ice chest. I go up to it? You open it up. Inside there's many small bottles of delicious drinks and little chocolates and candies, little bags of nuts. Billy, don't touch. Don't touch those. Sorry. I'm sorry for yelling at you. I just, let me, and Ving goes up and I want to discern realities on how fucking expensive these things are.

Yeah, you can see pretty clearly. There's a menu on top. These things are unbelievably expensive. Look at this. Bag of nuts for coins. Whoa! For coins for a bag of nuts? Do you think there's a way I could eat this stuff and they wouldn't know? Like I could put other stuff in there and they wouldn't charge us? I mean, normally other boys? No. You? Maybe. You can switcheroo, yeah. Billy? Billy, what we've always told you is if you can get away with it, you should do it. But now I'm suspicious.

I'm like, why is there a bunch of stuff in the middle of the room just for me? That is quite a thing to take from this situation for Billy. I would like to do trap expert, please. Okay. 2d6 plus dexterity. I mean, it's absolutely, okay, so 7. Not bad. Alright. Is there a trap here? And if so, what activates it? Is there a trap here? You have to assume your thief instincts taking anything from this little ice chest would cause unimaginable financial hardship upon your family.

They did this to us on purpose. They knew if I took it that they this is how they rob us. It's like a robber, but in box form. Don't touch it, you guys. That's a great idea, Billy. Billy's just like arms spread in front of it. Don't come over here. Don't worry. I'll lock it up. Okay. Thank you, Billy. Yeah, so Billy starts getting like more and more hungry. Yeah, more and more hungry. And then he like pulls some strings off the curtains and he's like locking up.

He's like, I'm not falling for this. There's no way. Rich people are so stupid. So what's your plan for the night? I want to camp by the window to watch the guards. Yeah. The city has a weird vibe, right? Yeah. It's a fucking crazy place. The smoke is really messing with people. Like it's making them crazy and compliant, it seems, and also sort of angry and sort of crazy. Yeah. Maybe tonight I can commune with the whispers and just get an idea of what's going on. That's smart. Yeah.

So I'm going to go out on the balcony and do a communion. Yeah. With my saffron mask. Yeah. Yeah, that sounds good. All right. Sitting out on the balcony, you go and you set yourself up a little meditative place. Yeah, get a little cup of mint tea. Yeah. Is that a rub with me? 2d6 plus wisdom, I believe. Yeah. It is. Ooh, nice. 12. 12. So this is a vision with a clear meaning. What are you trying to gain here? Clear and helpful. How can we best ensure our safety?

And I guess maybe like what's Callum's game here? Intention as best as we can gather. It's kind of tough because you are surrounded, absolutely surrounded by demonic influence right now. The smog in the city, even from your meditative place, you're like looking up, seeing this dense layer of deep, dark coal smoke hanging over this place, lit from below by the kind of ever burning gas lamps, creating this image of like a sky on fire. Oh, yeah. The orange clouds. Yeah.

Birds coming in and out of it. Yeah. Dipping down and like back up the plants around you, like gripping to the pergola and the trellises are like sickly without the sunlight. I think that's part of the spirits. The resident spirits are very, very unhappy. Yeah, totally. The nature here is as you saw in the coal mines, like the very, like the natural world, the spiritual realm is in this place corrupted by the scale of the demonic influence. Like the breeze is not refreshing in any way.

The wind barely blows. Keeping the blanket of smog above like still everyone like it's all so crowded. When you look down like tuck is looking over the balcony and it's like everyone is jostling and shoving and everyone doesn't look great. Yeah, people are pushing past each other and like masses of movement and there is a real feeling of a populace about to snap. Yeah, there's a lot of shoving like get out of my face. Like people are like very aggressive. Yeah.

In what in what way you think they're going to break? You're not sure but you do feel like, that it is it is soon, but the caging of the spirits by the demonic influence. You feel like this won't be as simple as like an elemental mastery to clear this place. You do know that if you wanted to help trying to find a way to reinvigorate the spiritual aspects of this land would be a huge step forward in terms of visions that are helpful to your current situation.

I mean, it might be that it might be that like any spirit, any help that you can get from the spiritual realm or any, any way that you can help the spirits here would be greatly appreciated. Maybe as we get closer to the palace, there's less of a spiritual presence. Oh, yeah. The plants, they've really stripped it back. It's very, yeah.

You think back on like your walk to this district and the intensity of the natural erosion that's happening in the plant life is greater the closer you get to the palace. Interesting. It's like false flowers and false trees and vines and stuff on the way there. Yeah, there's more like as you get closer to the palace, it's more like a metal rose. Yeah. Rot iron waterfall. Yeah. They're sort of the natural is giving way to the man made. What does the palace look like?

I'm imagining like you know, an old palace when buildings in old cities for rich people like because it's still in a city, it kind of has to fit the structure of the city. I was imagining like big rectangular building. That's really nice. This is what I'm saying. I can't. I'm imagining like Buckingham Palace, which looks like shit on the outside because it's just a big cube. I bet like the original palace has been added on to. So maybe the like original one was built from like stone and iron.

That's the big box part. Yeah. And the like and stained glass and stuff. But then they've added on like black glass. Yeah. Gothic. I was picturing quite goth. Yeah. Yeah. Totally. Like lots of spires. Yeah, me too. Yeah. Totally. Spires made of black glass. And so they're like, yeah, they're like jutting out of different parts of the of the original building. Yeah. Is it huge? How big is it? I think it's quite big. It's like Buckingham Palace. It is.

It is a royal family's palace like Coleman Callum when they were both alive, like lived here and probably grew up here. Yeah. Massive indoor court like a giant parks. Yeah. Within the walled city. It's almost like the Vatican. Like it's a city in among itself. Totally. And I bet there are more recent additions that look quite vicious in comparison to the old construction, like sharp and angry. Yeah. Sharp angular glass construction of like the black glass of the city that you have to assume.

Coleman Callum commissioned it once they took power. It's so fucked in. Tuck is like he's been looking over the balcony while Ving is meditating. Well, first he made a dog bed for Billy. He's loving it. Still going around in circles trying to find the perfect spot. This is really tiring. I don't know why they do that. Yeah, I put a bone in the bed. Can't be a chicken bone though. He'll choke on it. Yeah, don't chew this too hard, Billy, because you don't have actual dog teeth.

That's a really mean thing to say. Holy. What the fuck? I have no idea which way Billy was going to take that. That's so rude. How could you say that to me? How could you say that to me? That's a really mean thing to say. Oh my god. Raising an eternal fairy is so hard. You have no idea. You have no idea. You don't know what you're talking about. But yeah, I gave, I apologized to him after I said the teeth thing. I was like, alright, go to town. That's a really mean thing to say.

Billy's chewing it down to a small point. Like a weapon. Oh, nice. Bone knife. For tomorrow, just in case. I also do have a bone-handled knife if you want it, Billy. Why didn't you tell me that before I did this? Starts chewing on it. Thank you. And then Tuck is like, you are not allowed to talk to me like that, okay? Fine. I speak to you with respect all the time. Not the last episode. Ving says from his meditative state. Thank you, Ving. See? That's a whole lot. Why would you lie to me?

Tuck walks over to Ving and he's like, I expect you to fucking back me up when I'm trying to deal with this. When you're off fucking doing your stupid meditation shit and I have to deal with this alone. Put your mask on, Tuck. Yeah, Tuck, you're like fuming at Ving and you look up at the smog in the sky and you go, right, right. I see what's happening. Billy, listen to your father. I angrily just break some of the trellis.

I just throw it on the ground and I go and Tuck is like, he's used to cities. He's like, he's seen cities. This city is fucking weird. He's like staring at it and he's like, what the fuck? Why does this city make me feel so uncomfortable? And he notices, the thing he notices is that there's, in addition to the jostling and the anger and the sort of manic energy everyone has, there's no fucking way to deal with this. Funeral banners. They know their king died.

There's nothing, there's no funeral rites, there's no proclamations, there's no announcements, they're throwing a fucking party. I was like, the city makes no sense right now. That's a great point. So yeah, he's just like something is really fucking wrong with this place and he wants to use demon eyes to inspect the castle. Yeah. He's a trap expert, but just with demon stuff. Yeah, totally. Here we go. Five. Fuck, what's my wisdom? Six. Somebody help me. I can help you.

Billy, stop chewing on Okay, so ten. Billy, stop chewing on the bone. He's doing his like little binoculars at the city. Okay. Looking around. Do you want these? I do. Thank you, Billy. You just hold Billy up like binoculars? Yes. I love when you do that. That's what Ving says. I love when you guys, do that. It's so cute. I'm holding him in the crook of my arm. It's like he's like putting his things and it does let me see into the castle. What do you notice? So what are the questions?

Is there a demonic influence here? And if so, what is it? But we know that already. It's tyranny. What does the demon do when activated? We sort of know that. And then what else is hidden here? So what else is hidden here? What else is hidden here? So you're looking around and you're realizing, like you're looking at all the people in this kind of perpetual night brought on by the blanket of smog and the way that it's just affecting them in their day to day.

You're like, oh God, gotta do something about this. Like we have to help these people. Yeah. And we also sort of low-key. We didn't promise Colm to save his brother, but he did ask us to save his brother. So there's like a thing there too. And I think you're looking through the windows of the palace basically with the binoculars trying to get a layout. You see guards moving around not in any way that would allow you. You know, map their movements or something, but also ducks an idiot.

He wouldn't be able to. You see them moving furniture around inside like they're preparing for the masquerade. They're in some kind of furniture moving detail right now. He says to Billy and you see at the very like top of the palace in a window. What must be Callum Blackhammer a lean man, you know, shoulder length ish, but finally swept back red hair like his brother not nearly as powerfully muscled.

As you at first assumed Colm to be wearing very finely tailored like black silk, like a casual suit. This is at home. Does he have a midway down his long hair is kind of kept with a black velvet bow, you know? Oh, yeah. Beauty and the Beast times. He's got his hair tied with a black velvet ribbon. Super angular features. Yeah. Oh, yeah. He's looking at the window at the streets below the people milling around the palace outside the gates.

Of course, he's got in classic kind of insidious guy fashion, a glass of what appears to be wine. He's sipping and you see him turn over his shoulder as as if someone calls to him and he nods, laughs, says something back, and then he's joined at the window by a tall, lean, blonde haired woman. Victoria LaBlanche. Oh, fuck. And that's where we're going to end it for this week. Fuck. Game Master Sean O'Hara. Fuck! My wife's here. Tacoma Dome, the Barbarian, Abdulaziz. Oh, no! She's my wife!

She's still my wife! I forgot that! Ding the half-elf druid, Paul Oppers. Take care, everyone. And Fat Billy, the Halfling Thief, Jessica Tai. Goodbye. Thank you to all of our susporters around the world. If you're listening to the show and you susport us, thank you so much. We wouldn't be able to do the show without your support.

If you would like to susport the show and get access to bonus content like the up-to-date Mall Brats feed, merchandise, games run by Abdul and myself, and more, find us at patreon.com slash speltlore or speltlore.com slash money, please. Thank you to Aaron Reid for our intro and outro music. If you would like to hear all the music produced for the show, you can find that at Spotify. And if you want to hear Aaron's original music, aaronreid.bandcamp.com.

Thank you finally, and most of all, to all of you for listening. We'll see you next time. Fuck. Tuck is like, I'm going to get fucking stabbed again. I know it. I know it. She's stabbing me again for sure. Man, we should have bought healing potions. That's what we're doing tomorrow. That's what we're doing tomorrow. There's a liquor store down at the Corpian Wine Store in the lobby. Fuck. No. Shit. Something about this family and this clan, they keep stabbing me through the chest.

They can't get enough of stabbing me. Yeah. And so ends the tale of Adventures 3 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 like 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'd gladly spell Dawn

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 game master, Sean O'Hara Joining me as always, playing Tacoma Dome, the barbarian Abdul Aziz Hello everybody! Playing Ving, the half-elf druid, Paul Oppers Hello! And playing Fat Billy, the halfling thief, Jessica Tai Hello!

When last we left our heroes They had been reintroduced, reacquainted with a long lost quote unquote foe That they had completely forgotten The assassin, ex-pomegranate vendor, Lionel Mackenzie King Greatest reveal thus far in the show Oh thank you, that's the greatest one?

Oh man, I've been doing a terrible job They spent some time trying and failing and then succeeding In getting Lionel to reveal his tragic backstory Which primarily centers on vowing vengeance on the Wandering Three For their destruction of his pomegranate business But he has said that he is here to escort the party to the city of Blackglass for a masquerade ball Which he then did By sitting in the magical bar and transporting to his favorite place in all the world Doug Subbs Doug Subbs Here in the city He left you to your own devices Saying that your safety was contingent on your attendance at the masquerade ball So you had to go Yes, you had to go Preparing to return to Hither and Yon to prepare themselves for the masquerade ball The party found that the wandering bar had disappeared For what reason?

We are unsure Their keys left within the bar itself Oops And forced to spend their last six coins on subs that Lionel did not pay for The party hit the streets old school style To get some money in the form of Billy picking some pockets With their I'll gotten gains they went to Leavings A thrift shop in a downtrodden street of Blackglass City Such a horrible name Thank you I love it, I'd shop there Leavings? It means shit!

I don't care, I want it It means lots of stuff Then found themselves some outfits Quote unquote, unquote, unquote, unquote No, we're outfitted Tuck is wearing a cowboy outfit With a mask that looks like a cow Yeah He got off easy Yeah, I look like Wax from the Wax and Wayne series A reference that will surely mean the world to our listeners I think Brandon Sanderson has a bigger listener base than we do Yeah, maybe it's just me You know what?

Fair, fair point Just cause I haven't read the book I'm like no one's read that book Right? The Bible? No one's read that book Sean's definitely read the Bible Not familiar, not familiar Well yeah, every time I flagellate I have to read the Bible I can only get through the first few pages before I'm done though I'm flagellating right now, under the table Yeah, I have to do my flagellation exercises every day P.U. Uh, V.U. V.U.

Uh, Ving found a tuxedo, top hat, and shoes Most of one Billy decided he wanted to dress like the fanciest animal he can imagine, the wolf And is just wearing a wolf pelt that's very long And it's extremely formal It's extremely a golden retriever I have my tail one That's all you need It's beautiful And he has since forced us to treat him like a dog Yeah, he's been sleeping in a… Where's my fly undone? Mine was earlier too What's happening in here?

Wait a second, everyone check your fly, this is bonkers Guys, I don't have a fly All of our flies are done What's going on? Who's under the table? Show yourself Everything's over there Is that you, Ranran? What are you doing with our flies? I can't get it out now Duel's actual hand is in his actual pants hole Fuck Video episode Can't touch any of the dice Yeah, don't touch anything Oh man, that…

I saw the resistance with which you removed your hand Guys, I saw everything Oh man, we do see it all over there See it all It was a terribly good angle The party went to a upscale hotel to try and spy on the Blackhammer Palace And promised the front desk guy Rodney and his mother who lives in the back room That they would get them into the mansion And take a masquerade ball in exchange for their finest room for free They spied from their palatial suite Ving communing with the whispers Finding that the smog blanketing the city Has brought the spirits of this place to the absolute brink And that they are desperate for aid And will do anything in their power to help you If they are able to be placated or rejuvenated in some way We also discovered Callum Blackhammer Lounging As only evil villains do At the window of his palace With a glass of wine Before being joined By a one Victoria LeBlanc Pirate captain Of the sea of graves Pirate queen Pirate queen And My wife Tuck's wife And my wife Slightly estranged perhaps Perhaps a little estranged Immediately estranged Some would say Yeah Last time you guys Saw one another You sunk her boat And left her for dead On our wedding day Yeah After she tried To fuck me Failed because I passed out Because I ate too much juice Yep And then And then stabbed me Through the gut Yeah A pirate's wedding Yeah As we've been determining Every woman Who has either Almost had sex Or said they had sex with Might have just been Being nice to Tuck There's no There's no way to know Virgin confirmed Yeah I might still be a virgin There's no way There's no way to know I think we might need That pure pure blood For the final scene Perfect Virgin sacrifice Virgin sacrifice We're gonna My only job From this point on Where are we gonna get A virgin's blood Fuck Tuck Yeah And it seems to be Tuck's greatest fear Is that you'll Fuck Allison Again?

Again On Duel's actual face You didn't Fuck Allison Did you?

No But she maybe Fucked me I will I'll kill I will kill you Throw it back Uh I don't know I don't know That is where we find Our heroes now I'll kill you I'll kill you Which is why This secret may or may not Go to my grave with me I'll kill you If you If you do in the future Or have in the past Yeah I'll do it I'm laughing Nervously right now Oh well Uh that is where we find Our heroes now Having spied Victoria LeBlanc Through the windows Yeah We what Are we doing Jumping forward Is everybody seeing This at the same time Well Billy knows Cause he's my binoculars While I see it Cause I was like What do you see And then he's like Oh no It's my ex-wife Oh my god Victoria LeBlanc Victoria LeBlanc The Victoria LeBlanc And Billy has his His hands on my eyes So I take my hands And put them on his eyes Oh my god I can see it all You're right Excellent And we hear The bonging of bells Signaling that it is It's only been a few hours Since you got here It was the day So let's say it's 7pm I mean It's a night before Going in to see A major Foe Yeah We're all full Hit points right Yes Bing asks everybody Could do night time activities Yeah we could do some spying Some stealing Mmhmm Mmhmm Yeah I'm still looking at Victoria Through the Through the binoculars Yeah she's kinda got You know her arms Draped over the Around the neck of Callum Blackhammer Whoa In a very casual way She gives him like a Salacious kiss on the cheek Ugh No she like grabs He's looking out the window And she grabs him by the chin And turns his face Towards her and kisses him You hear like a A beer can Open And Tuck has Opened the mini fridge And grabbed a beer And he's drinking it No No It's $12 He fell for the trap Can't believe it Can't believe she's Cheating on me My wife is Cheating on me You tried to Cheat on her like Eight times Just because she's succeeding Doesn't make her a bad person I don't even think you've really Like called her anything either So Yeah With what Phone?

I don't know Like A bird Oman This is the first time I've heard you say her name Since she stabbed you I hear him say it a lot When he's sleeping Oh yeah Yeah Her name too Victoria LeBlanc Yeah Yeah when I'm sleeping alone In the bathroom I'll be like You say it really loud Tuck Yeah You know My bathroom naps Usually takes two or three Hours Minutes Minutes Uh I'm gonna kill Callum Black For his drugs so fast One Tuck doesn't drink very much One half of a beer He weighs 500 pounds This beer is 98% Down to one Bill Nautilus He's just got his own hand out there Yeah And he's just Watching what they're doing He can't even see them Because he's looking Through his own regular Human hands He's got double vision And Billy's getting bored Because he's like Just kissing There's nothing going on What are they doing now They left Oh They don't stand in front Of the window And keep kissing He kisses more That's what it means Uh huh Guys I gotta get in there You gotta see where What are you talking about I gotta see what they're doing You mean the palace right Yeah What do you mean Like I just gotta Find out what's happening You can't You can't be serious You need to let this go She's clearly let you go This is not gonna do Any of us any good I can't believe Just because I sunk her ship I think she really liked The ship though Did we definitely sink it Yep Yeah we sunk it Fuck 100% It was definitely our fault Yeah Okay You flew away As it was sinking And she was like Looking at you As it was sinking Into the ocean Well listen Tuck I'll follow you anywhere Okay well let's go Into this palace If we wanna do scouting Right now tonight Sneaky sneaky Yeah Sneaky sneak We could climb out The balcony Yep I start tearing up The bed sheet I'm gonna make us a ladder Don't worry Tuck We're gonna get To the bottom of this We can We're allowed to leave At the front door It's not We're not in prison Billy doesn't know that Yeah Cause he's like We fell for that fridge trap We gotta go out the window We're prisoners Yeah The fridge is holding Us prisoners If we go down there again They're gonna start Charging us for this room I know it We got it for free once We're not gonna get it again No Billy tore Yeah so Billy's Torn up the bed sheets They've extended 20 feet Down a several stories Tall hotel High count McCall and Cotton Okay Tuck has already Started shivving Not checking I'm not done yet What he's tied to I start tearing up The curtains too Yeah He Climbs over the edge With the With the curtain Realizes That Billy has not Tied it to anything And then grabs it And she's just like Around his waist You know With one hand Trying to belay him down Or whatever Whoa whoa whoa Billy does the kid thing Where he's like Laying stuff out He's like I'll put you here And then I'll go Over here And then it's gone To the very last Where this goes Billy grabs it And he's Now it's just like Stretching it He's like Captain America Trying to hold The helicopter down I'm Peter Parker With the train Yeah Yeah Yeah What's that face?

It's Chris Potomac McGuire being so ugly So are you guys You're sneaking out Of the hotel That you Legally are inside of? I guess so Alright Let's say Defy danger Dexterity I guess To get down To the ground level Climb down I do think this place Is like four or five Stories tall For everyone? Yeah I guess for everyone Yeah If everyone's sneaking Sneaking down Tech's pretty drunk Twelve I'm so good at this No problem Yeah So that's Six Three Three?

Okay I'll aid you Yeah Ten Okay Okay Thank you So that's a ten and a ten Seven Or ten and a seven So success Billy of course No problem Yes Popping down Windowsills I don't even need the rope Yeah I don't know I'm just That's great I'm just very fast And incredible That's so great The dog is really Rubbing off on you In a positive way And Ving you have a bit of trouble I was trying to dive to Cause the sheet ran out I was trying to Oh yeah Jump down there And catch Tuck Yeah Instead he just I missed him And he landed on the ground Before I could get down there I think the sheet thing Did happen where I just You think you fell five stories?

Yes Okay how much damage is that? I don't know How tall of a building is this? It's five stories You said five stars? What if you landed in something soft Like mud Maybe Yeah or like a Like a carriage A cart full of rags We might have got a couple stories out Worth all those sheets and curtains Oh yeah Sure yeah I used the top sheet And the fitted sheet You did?

Yeah And the curtains The fitted sheet is springy too Yeah totally And most of the toilet paper No So the fitted sheet is springy That's a good point So Tuck grabs onto it It does not hold him up at all He falls straight down It's not tight He slams into He slams into a cart full of hay And then the fitted sheet springs back He shoots up into the air And he slams into the cart full of hay And he slams back into the cart I don't think I'm not going to make you take damage necessarily But something bad happens Okay If you want it to be damage It can be damage I'm totally fine with it being damage The hay purveyor Roll a detail My dreams Can we make another enemy?

Two enemies so far I'll never forget this Three You take three damage And I have three armor Nice God so stupid No damage No damage You destroy a cart full of hay Yeah An old man standing next to it Goes Stephen McKenzie Harper Never forgets They're all Canadian Prime Ministers With the middle name McKenzie Another Canadian Prime Minister There's also a large group Kind of gathering around Because a gigantic man Just plummeted from the top of a hotel And slammed into a cart Kind of in the main square Across the street From the Princep Palace There's a bunch of people like Oh!

Oh! Tuck is still holding the beer And he's like Man If you'd seen what I just saw You wouldn't blame me For what I just did I can't believe what I just saw And you hear clank Tss Clank Tss What's all this then? The bobby bot The roe bobby Walks up and sees you Just laying on the ground And I go Hey officer Sorry This is a low point for me I've had a pretty hard night He's resisting He's resisting He's resisting Bam! Oh! It's a person of color He's in some kind of Mexican gang or something Stop!

Stop right there! Bang! Bang! Bang! I'm sorry officer I've had a terrible night Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Oh! A white man! Officer! Officer! There's been a huge misunderstanding Sir! Get out of the way! He's trying to attack you He's coming straight for you Look out! A dog? A dog of color! Get behind me! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! It's a dog A nearby adjacent dog Seemingly unrelated to the situation Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Rest easy citizens You're safe now Thank God he doesn't have a gun Rest easy citizens Bang! Bang! Bang! For the gun Disperse!

You have been protected They learned years ago They had to take weapons away from these guys But yeah you do see the robot officer See you On the ground Yes Standing above the crowd On its long mechanical legs And as it's like It seems like it's preparing to react And then There's like a whirring in the head And it lowers its arms Go about your business Just through the crowd That never happens Disperse people!

You've seen enough And uh The crowd begins to disperse But the camera sees Two figures in fine Tape Tailored suits Kind of Watching for a few seconds longer Before they disappear into the crowd The pickpocketers? To certain realities Where are they going? I want to follow them Let's follow them Duty 6 plus wisdom? Uh 6 plus 9 9 Oh I aid! Yes!

Yeah I lead the way I don't know I can see their ankles 10 Yeah you're a ragamuffin like them A thief I don't know I can see their ankles And also I am a dog now So I can smell where they're going I have I have acquired the sense of smell Of the dog whose skin I'm wearing Don't worry I'm a dog No There they are Puts the nose over his nose Three questions off the list Uh What should we be on the lookout for?

Uh It looked like these Folks were maybe just watching you Not necessarily trying to get your attention So you would be Yeah Trying to track them through the crowd Uh Billy yeah Your ankle height You see the The scuffed leather Kind of dress shoes Brogues The brogues of the Of these Pickpockets that you spotted As you were escaping from them Earlier in the evening This way everybody Yeah Gotta follow them If uh Who's really in control here Of this gang Hmm Uh You see As they are walking down the road There's two of them Like I said They're in their late teens Early twenties Like they're adults Is it the same ones we saw It appears to be Okay And they're wearing like Grey tweed suits With like Hats Uh Peaky blinders Uh Kind of peaky blinder Yeah I guess Uh Not flat caps But more like brimmed Like gentleman's hats Okay And they are Uh They get the attention Of one other Who kind of melts Into the crowd And you get the idea That there are There could be several more They're on the hunt Tuck is Is pretty drugged It looks like the hunt Have become the hunted Tuck's looking at a horse What the fuck Are you looking at Got you right where I want you You piece of shit God you're beautiful You wouldn't Fuck my wife Would you Would you Dude Dude Dude just a few seconds more than they should be.

And then they disappear again, almost like they are leading you away. They know we're trailing them. I'll do trap expert. Trap expert. Yeah. 26 plus dexterity. Ooh, six. Ooh, thank you. How are you? Ving is holding a belly up on my shoulders. Okay. I get a peek at the crowd. Seven. Excellent. So that's a, you get one question off the trap expert list. So what does the trap do when activated?

Ah, so, uh, you are, um, following through like ankle height or like Ving is like picking you up once in a while, you know, like a lantern to sort of see where they're going. You see like at the, a T intersection on the road that you are down, like another side road, you see one of them in their sort of like three piece, uh, tweed suit looking at a pocket watch and they see you, you make like direct eye contact with this young man.

He closed, closes his pocket watch and then very deliberately walks into a pub. Uh, it seems like they want to talk. Oh, Sean says they just want to talk. Okay. Okay. It's public space. And we have, do we have stuff on us? Yeah. Yeah. We need holy water, steaks. We need to meet them on consecrated ground. Are they vampires? Oh my God. They're vampires. I do have my own knife that I chewed. So you also have the one I gave you. Did you take that one? Yes. Okay. I'll erase it from my inventory.

Okay. So we're in agreeance to follow them in the pub. Yes. I'm interested in what's going on here. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, yeah. So you've been led like a few streets away from the palace, uh, into a smoky side street. Everything's smoky. Uh, the gas lamps lighting the way. Yeah. Um, the crowd is starting to thin out as even if you can't tell that it's night, people's natural, you know, circadian rhythms are starting to take over and they're heading home. Oh, a lot of yawn. We can see a lot of yawning.

Yeah. And then everybody starts yawning. When I said that, I looked over at Justin. Was yawning too. Yeah. We're all yawning. The tavern's called the yawning goat. Oh yes. Great. And it's got the, it's got a wood cutout sign of a goat with its mouth wide open and its head back. There's like a little thingy, a pulley system. So it's like yawning. Yeah. It's head tips back. Every time the door opens. It dumps a barrel of beer into it. Totally nice.

Just like a clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, like ropes and pulleys. I like that a lot. And you head in and it is a pretty cramped squat, like low roof. The bar is like immediately when you walk in, like the, the short side of the bar and then long all the way down, there's booths on the far left side in the back.

The lights are pretty dim in here and it's just a bunch of people having beers, stew, stew, hearty foods, easy drinks, drinks, drinks, drinks, drinks, drinks, drinks, drinks, drinks, drinks, Some sort of music happening here? There's a, there's a couple people playing a mandolin and a concertina. Tuck walks up to the bar. He's like, give me a beer. No outside food or drink. You have to leave your beer outside. He drinks it all in one go. He skulls it. And then eats the bottle.

All right, give me a beer now. All right, one beer. I just saw my wife cheating on me. Oh, that's rough. That's the story of roughly 40% of the people in here. And I go around and look around. I've got a ton of drinks for everyone. Who's wives have cheated on me. I wanted a free drink, but not like this. Not like this. There's one guy in the corner. It's like, fuck, I'm an alcoholic with a faithful wife. My wife would never fuck anybody else. And I fucking hate it. I'm so thirsty. Right now.

I hate it more than anything. Belinda, you gotta fuck church. I hate it. I hate it. I hate it. I hate it. I hate it. I hate it. I hate it. I hate it. I hate it. I hate it. I hate it. I hate it. I hate it. I hate it. It's coming to me. It's coming to me. It's coming to me. It's coming to me. It's coming to me. It's coming to me. It's coming to me. It's coming to me. It's coming to me. It's coming to me. It's coming to me. It's coming to me. It's coming to me. It's coming to me. It's coming to me.

It's coming to me. It's coming to me. It's coming to me. It's coming to me. It's coming to me. It's coming to me. It's coming to me. It's coming to me. It's coming to me. It's coming to me. It's coming to me. It's coming to me. For a couple for a beer. Oh, jeez. Pints. Why are we doing this? Why did you give me the money? I offered it to you. I take his coin purse. You have 11 coins left. And at the back of the bar, you see two people.

The third has apparently disappeared, but you see two people in tweed suits. Refresher, what's my greatest threat? Your greatest threat, you get the vibe. You're like looking at the people in the back and you see that they are probably armed, like knives, brass knuckles, the like, but you don't get the vibe that they are a threat. And you hear the like clank hiss, clank hiss of the Roe Bobby outside. And you figure that's probably your biggest threat.

These people don't seem to want anything malicious from you. Okay, cool. We go up to them. Yeah. All right, they're sitting there. I walk up pretty cool like a cowboy. With the energy of a wolf. Wow. This is the coolest two things in the world. All right. That really bit into me. I walk up to them real cool, like a cowboy with the energy of a wolf. How are you doing? Howdy, boys. Thank you. I literally do that. Yeah. And one of them has, you know, a pock. Howdy. Yeah. Yes. Jess, you're loose.

Gotcha. This is the hardest thing I've ever seen you laugh. She's not going to stop. Oh my God. She loves it. She won't stop until you subscribe to Patreon and check out her laughing. Wow. Whoa, this one's getting her good. There was one other time that we got her going this good. Yeah. Was it directly after half of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? Because it could be that. It was one of the classic ones. One of the classic ones. Yeah. It was in Mark's basement.

I remember you laughing so hard. It's probably some dumb butt joke. Maybe some dumb butt joke. Yeah. She's got a cooler joke. Her cheek's down. She's laughing so hard. She's laughing so hard. It's a good thing we opened up the AC vents. She's in pain. Okay. All right. Don't you dare take a drink of that. You're going to spritz it all over us. Be cool. Be cool. Be cool. This is how hard Billy's actually laughing. Because he's so impressed with his own coolness.

We've stood there for like a minute while Billy laughs to himself. It's just good to see him happy like that, you know? He's having such a good time. I feel like we're doing our job. We've had a really hard few weeks. Yeah. Okay. He's really working through some stuff right now. Be serious, Billy. Yeah. Howdy. Hello there. You've been following us. Have we now? How would you know that if you weren't following us? We know that because you wanted us to follow you.

How do you know we wanted you to follow us if you ain't been following what we've been following? Because before we started following you, you were following us. Ah, right you are. Right you are. Why don't you join us at our table, gentlemen? Tuck takes a chair, flips it backwards, sits on it backwards. Oh my God. Tucks sits, turns around. So now he's facing away with the chair. He's like, climb, climb, climb, climb.

Pulls the chair up, puts it backwards, sits on it the right way, slowly turns back around. He does. Here's what happens. He pulls the chair out and he does the right. He tries to do the Riker where he puts his leg over it. Over the chair? But he accidentally does a spin and sits on it backwards so he's facing away. And then he jimmies it around. Howdy, cowboy. Howdy, cowboy.

You know, the one you've been talking to, this hungry, lean looking man, high cheekbones, gaunt cheeks, lights a hand-rolled cigarette. So I understand that you've come to attend the masquerade bowl. Word travels quickly around these parts. Ting. Where the fuck did you get to dip? Ting. It's at the bar. It's just a big bowl of tobacco that people are taking stuff out of. I don't know why people are eating this. It's disgusting. It's ting. Ting. It just keeps coming. I don't know what's coming.

Ting. It's never ending. Ting. Well, that's quite a high ticket event as I'm sure you've heard people around town saying. People are desperate to get into it. Aren't they just? Are you? We could probably get you in there. Fuck. Well, well, well. I find that hard to believe. But I might just take you up on that. No guarantees. Why don't you tell us what you're up to? I'll represent an organization looking to find entry into the masquerade bowl. Relieve the princeps of some of his finer goods.

Like what? Oh, you know. Various sundries. Perhaps a crown or two. What for? What else? Money. Money. Money for what? Who do you represent? Roll something. Charisma, I think. 26 plus charisma. Ooh, zero charisma. I got a six. Oh, help. He's still spinning his chair around so loud. Do the thing. Seven. Seven? Yeah. So that makes that a seven? Yeah. Great. There it goes. Yeah. Answer the question or I'll fucking kill you. I lean in and I say he's not gonna kill anybody.

Is that my wife fucking another guy today? He might kill that guy. He might kill that guy. That guy he's talking about right now, that's the guy he might kill. You're new to town, so you don't know anything about the Brass Castle gang. Tell us. We're just an organization of, let's say, less than legal mercantile types. I know those types. I respect that. Rob the rich and sell to the poor. Yeah. And he kind of points his cigarette at you. Right you are. Huh. Yeah.

This city is in a bit of turmoil lately and my higher ups are looking to expand our operations a little bit. Who are your higher ups? Oh, I can't tell you the name of my employers. I'm sure you can do that. Is it Guy Ritchie? There's a real gentleman vibe to this whole thing now. Ding, ding, da-ding. Yeah, it's got a real plucky string. That's the music that the guy at the… Oh, yeah. He's playing a hammered dulcimer. Yeah. Ding, ding, da-ding, da-ding, da-ding, da-ding.

Yeah, so I pull out a pewter cup with blue stones in it. Whoa. Yeah. And I want to do wealth and taste. I grab a jug of water. I pour water into that cup and I'm swishing it around like wine and I'm sniffing it like, you know. Like you saw Callum do. Like I saw Callum do to his wine. Yeah. So you don't have to roll wealth and taste. Does he want it? He wants the… He sees his eyes start to glitter when he looks at the cup. Now, see, that's the kind of finery that we're looking for. Oh, this?

This whole thing? You have more of that? I don't know. You have an ability to get more of that? I don't know. Do you have an ability to tell me the names of the people you represent? I can tell you the name of a man that you've never met, if that's what you want. Can you take us to meet him? If you think you can get more of that, he points at the cup. Sure, I can. I push it over to him. You can have this one for one name. Does the name… Does the name Sam Deering mean anything to you?

Not at all. Not at all. Dang it. I thought it… I thought it… No. I thought it would know. He moves the cup to the other side of the table. What was your plan in this situation? I thought he would tell us cool stuff and end up being the name of someone I don't care about. Sometimes names revealed have a big effect on us, and sometimes they don't. Sometimes they don't. And you know what? I picked wrong this time. That's gone. Fuck. That guy is worth a try. What? You can spend all our money.

I can't spend all my… The cup? I thought it was fine. You're like, I am not faulting you for doing this. I thought it was a great swing. You whiffed it, but it was a great swing. Yeah, so we don't really need to hear… I mean, it doesn't really matter. You've shown us that. They represent… I mean, we don't know what they're doing with this money. Yeah, what are they funding? Are they funding anything? The community stuff. Do you guys have like a manifesto or a pamphlet we can read?

What's your deal? Our manifesto is quite simple. Make money. For who? Is it the community? Yeah. I mean, I suppose in a sense. We provide services to the community. Like what? Oh, you know, gambling. Smuggling. Pipe weed and the like. Okay, yeah. Vice. Mostly vice. Mostly vice. Is there any kind of community organizations? Like a community center?

Yeah, there's a community organization that comes together and lets their dogs run on a track and then they all bet on which dog's going to get to the end first. Fun for the dogs. Fun for the dogs. Yeah. I would like that. It actually is fun for the dogs. The dogs love it. I almost like this guy now. I don't not like this guy. It's just a little, um, just a little opportunity, I suppose.

If you want to, you know, complete your goals, whatever they are at the masquerade ball, and also maybe make a bit of coin on the side. Well, I mean, if we're laying you in, you're going to have to do something for us. How's that? Watch our back. Yeah, exactly. They've invited us. We've invited us here for a reason. We're not quite sure what that reason is. We could use some extra eyes and ears in there. Oh, you're going into this situation with a knife at your back. Is that what you're saying?

We have a knife in our balls. Placed there by my wife. I smashed the bottle. What he means to say is his wife might be in on it, too. Have you heard of a lady named Victoria LeBlanc? He kind of spits up his drink a little bit. Victoria LeBlanc. Spits into the computer cup. He's drinking one drink. He spits into the cup that Billy gave him. Victoria LeBlanc is your ex-wife? She's my current wife. Current wife. Sorry, he puts a hand over his mouth. You're married to Victoria LeBlanc?

This meeting's over. Sort of separate. No, no, no. This meeting's over. No, no, no. Stop. And I grab his wrist desperately. You grab his wrist and there's a knife at the base of your chin. Hey, hey, hey. Easy little fella. Easy. And I take a drink while he's threatening me. Easy. That is a power move. And he kind of looks down at your hand like, huh? They were married for a moment. One night. Yeah. Technically, they're still married. We haven't seen her for many, many months.

We sunk her ship the last time we saw her. She's not too happy with us. Yes. The marriage was legal by maritime law and we have not had an annulment. But it is possible because we never consummated. All right. I've been there before myself. A time or two. Yeah. Those maritime marriages. And he puts his knife back under his coat and like his little holster. How do you know her? Victoria LeBlanc. She's one of the most feared pirate captains of the Sea of Crows. Yeah.

I just thought if you knew her personally. Oh, I've tangled with her. Like an adult way. What the fuck is that? Yeah. The Turk's eyes mirror. No, no, no. Hold on. What the fuck does that mean? He feels his bones creak under your grip. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. What I mean is. What is Turk's eyes mirror? I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I think being this close to a demonic force is actually fucking with Turk.

It must be. What I mean is that she has a criminal network in the city that we have tangled with a time or two before. I see. She is a serious source of illegal goods into the city. And the Brass Castle gang takes umbrage with that because that is what we would like to do. Okay. So she's kind of like an enemy of yours too then. She's cutting your grass. Agreed. I actually did not know she was back in the city. That makes things quite a bit more dangerous. She's in the palace with Callum. Ah.

Fucking his brains out right now. I'm starting to understand the shape of the situation. She's probably reversing Callum girl all over him. She's sucking and fucking her way through. She's probably up there pegging the shit out of Callum Blackhammer right now. What a fucking piece of shit that guy is. I'm not even sorry I killed his brother. You. Killed. Colm Blackhammer. Hey. Keep it on the down low. Okay? That's you three. You're the three. Any points. Tuck. Billy. Invict. That's right.

Well I'll be. What's your name? I'm Arthur Tremaine. Arthur Tremaine. Call me Artie. Artie. Artie. I like your vibe Artie. Thank you. I am quite frightened by yours. Thanks. Mind taking your hand off my wrist? Alright. My fingers are getting numb. I let go. I let go. He kind of flexes his hand. I like that Tuck was doing this. He's like so little. Tiniest little wrist. Artie is quite a skinny guy. Alright. Alright. Well. Here's my proposition. You help me. Maybe a couple of my boys.

Get into the palace for the masquerade. We. Maybe relieve the princeps of a few choice items. And we also watch your back in case Victoria LeBlanc has anything planned for you. Or Callum. Or Callum. Blackhammer I suppose. I am. I'm gonna be honest with you. This guarantee of safety seems suspect. So I do believe that if we walk in there they're not letting us walk out. Not without a fight at least. So then it's agreed. Agreed. We're in partnership. He puts a hand out. Ting. You spit on it?

I also spit on it. Oh. He kind of looks expectingly at Tuck. I spit in his hand. And then I shake it. Oh. Oh. That's so much saliva. You need to drink more water, big guy. I am drinking right now. This is mostly water. All right then. You just need to draw a little bit of attention away from me and my boys on the way in. I think we have that covered. I feel like you know the city better than we do. So you just tell us when and where and leave the rest to us. Certainly.

I'll meet you at the front gate. Upon the sixth ring. Tomorrow? Tomorrow. For the ball. When the ball was happening. For the ball. 8 O' PM. Oh, thank God. Sorry. The 18th ring. We can arrange a distraction. Can you please arrange an apple cart to be nearby? Any fruit will do really. Any fruit really. He looks at you kind of puzzled. What about pears? Pears will do. Pears I can do. Pears I can do. Great. All right. Have a great night. Artie. You too. Fling. I fling him a coin.

He snatches it out of the air and holds it up to the barman, puts it on the table, and then kicks back and enjoys the rest of his night. So you've made a tentative deal with the Brass Castle gang. Wow. That was really easy. That was super nice. I feel like I should be drunk more. I do like this vibe. It really helps. Yeah. You were way more chill than you've ever been with somebody that we needed to. RLA with. This is only, this is not related at all.

I remember we were, you and I were driving around after a show one time and we were just riffing and you were like, what's going on, man? This is great. And I was like, oh, I had a couple of drinks. You were like, you should have a couple of drinks more often. You're awesome when you're drunk. It was like we had a good show and we were driving around. Yeah. You should try being drunk more. It does lubricate situations. Oh yeah. Sometimes just a little bit. You get out of your own way. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Get out of your own way. Just a tiny touch. Don't drink. Stay in school. Yeah. Yeah. We're all teetotalers by the way. None of us drink except for Paul who's now drinking. Except Paul just opened a- Oh, it's too good. A warm- A margarita. A margarita. Oh, jealous. 11%. There's another one. Do you want one? Is it also mango? No, this one's mango. The other one's pineapple. I haven't sipped it yet. Line please. Oh.

Oh my God. Bad? No, it's so stiff. Are you going to be okay? Okay. That is so good. That is so good. That's very good. Good taste. Okay. So do you just, you leave the yawning goat? Yeah. Yeah. Right. Where else do we go? Yeah. I love it so much. I love drunk duck. This is the thing. Can I just turn realities again and figure out why my tolerance to alcohol just wouldn't plummet? I don't think you necessarily need to roll for that.

I think it might be like proximity to whatever the smoke is doing. Yeah. Do you want me to grab you a road beer? Yes. I'd take one from a table. While a guy's turned around and just- Drive a road beer? Here's one. Yeah. There's a couple of tables outside. Yeah. Just snatch one off. And yeah, you head off into the city. Do I need to roll? I think it's the smoke. I mean, what would you even roll? Why would you roll? You're guessing. This is a good guess. Yeah. There's something demonic in the air.

You could try and dissociate. Yeah. Oh yeah. If I wanted to, if I need to get it together, I'll weaponize dissociation. Yeah. It's a good idea. Yeah. It's a good idea. Yeah. I think it's a good idea. Yeah. So, Tuck is, yeah, absurdly susceptible to alcohol right now for some reason. I think it's kind of like when we were in the mine and Tuck got really sick really fast going down. It's sort of the same thing. What? Can I have your eraser, please, Tuck? Thanks, sweetheart. It's okay. What?

So, you've got like roughly 24 hours before the masquerade. So, what's your plan for the rest of the night? Let's go to find some slots. Oh, I want to go to the masquerade. I want to go to an herb shop. Oh, herb shop. Tinctures and poisons. Oh, yeah. You can do some shopping for sure. Yeah. Yeah. You can do some shopping for sure. They have a night market. Oh, I'm going to go- Ah, night market. Liquor store. I'm going to get some wine wood. Oh, yeah. I'll come with you.

You guys are leaving Billy alone in the city by himself? I'm brave. I'm drunk. They're beside each other. No one's going to touch me. He's on a leash. He's on a long leash. Yeah. The leash is going out of one's door. I forgot to wear a leash. Yeah. Yeah. I'm brave. Walks away with the leash on. We just retract him. Okay. Let him go. Come here. Yeah. So you find an herb shop. What's the herb shop called?

There's like a big, you know, like one of those like open market courts, like the squares like they have in European cities. There's a bunch of stalls and shits. Pants and stalls. Yeah. Oh, and it's got like a glass roof. Like it's one of those like kind of arcades. Sort of covered. Yes. Yeah. Totally. Yeah. So there's a booth. Who does, what does the herbalist look like? Wearing a lot of robes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You know, some of their stuff. Oh, very robed. Very enrobed.

Ah, welcome young master to my booth. View my wares. Poisons and tinctures. Herbs of all kinds. I will view them. Thank you very much. Do you have, do you have any sneaky poisons like any that can be applied by touch? Ah, poisons applied by touch. Or in drinks. The thief's tool. The assassin's friend. Exactly. In drinks. Disgusting. But just the way it is. You know. You know. I like it. Come over here, young sir. I like that there's a boof, boof, boof in the background.

He's like, get out of here, you wretch. I mean, I don't sail to underage, boys. My liquids are purely medicinal in nature. Come over here if you want the ingestible poisons. I do want it. Ah, wonderful. And he crouches down and he opens a cabinet. And then he opens a secret drawer which inside has a smaller cabinet that he opens. And inside that is one smaller drawer. I love it. And inside is a small vial which he opens and there's another drawer. No, there's a small vial.

Is this perhaps what you seek? What's it called? The dreamless sleep. Ah, the dreamless sleep. A single draft is enough to kill a family of elk. That's so specific. They have to be related. To one another. Elk move in giant herds. The genetic component is key. Will that work on regular humans? A regular human is quite a lot smaller than an elk. I assume it would kill two families worth of people. That's perfect. I'll take it. Really? Yes. Oh, I should have… What do you need this for? Yes.

This little kid's like, I'll take it. Wait a second. Actually, now that I think about it, tell me a little bit more about your goals. Is that part of it? Do you have to? I thought that part was secret. I feel morally responsible. Oh, no. How old are you? Oh, you wouldn't believe how old I am. That usually means not old enough to buy poison. I've touched many poisons. I've never heard of this one. It sounded cool. Oh, yeah? Tell me a… You never roll a charisma.

This is an extremely potent poison he's about to sell you. Eleven. Yeah. Okay. I suppose we've already established that I shouldn't ask you what you're going to do with this poison. No. The dreamless sleep. One of the most potent poisons to exist. Distilled from the tears of a hanged man. Whoa. He cried a lot. He had a hard time with the being hanged part. But don't worry. He himself was a racist. He was a racist. And he bred racist elks, which is the only way I know this poison works.

I tested it on exterminating all the most racist I brought into a racist elk wedding. Cleared the whole scene. Okay, I feel a little bit better about buying that then. Stupid. I'm also going to need some tinctures. Tinctures? Tinctures, you say. As well. Such as? The stuff that heals you if you get stabbed a lot. Ah. Heals you if you get stabbed a lot. Well, as we've established, there's only one truly potent healing substance in the world. And it is wine.

But I can sell you several medicinal herbs that would make the act of being stabbed slightly less impactful, shall we say. I'll take it. Ah, very well. This is known as the sleepless dream. Wait a second. What? Does he only have one thing? No, he has two. Look at Sean's fingers. I'm holding two bottles. Hold on a second. But if that's going to kill two families worth, what's that going to do to just me if I get stabbed a ton?

Well, if you get stabbed a ton after taking the sleepless dream, you won't care so much about being stabbed. You're a fraud. I am not. How dare you? How could you? I didn't go to nine years. I didn't go to nine years of Alchemist's College to be called a fraud by some boy. I only asked for a healing tincture. You're going to sell me poison to off myself. No, no, no, no, no. I'm a child. Pretty sure Alchemist's College is only two years. Yes? Well, it took me nine. Someone says that walking by.

From an adjacent booth. It took me nine, Gregory. He's making ropes. Okay. Okay. So what will it be? The dreamless sleep or the sleepless dream? Wait. This one's the sleepless. No, wait. Fuck. No, it's this one. This one's the poison for sure. One is poison and the other one is healing? One is poison. The other is kind of anesthetic of sorts. It's pain reliever. It's like a pain reliever. There's only one way to tell for sure. I can't read. I have to tell you both of them.

There's only one way to know which one is which. He puts them both on the table. He unscrews the cap on one. No, don't do it. Unscrews the cap on the other. I didn't mean it. Don't worry. You're not a fraud. You're not a fraud. Don't do this to yourself. So, the dreamless sleep and the sleepless dream. You know what? I'll take the poison because then that way I'm probably not going to get stabbed. Ah, you are a true poisoner. The best defense is a good poison. I agree.

Now, I believe I can let go of this small vial containing but three doses for, oh, I say, 60 coin? Oh, whoa. My word. That is a wild amount. I could pay you five. Five? Use all the taste. Five? Use all the taste. This is to steal from the tears of a hanged man. Yeah. Locally foraged. I mean, you said he's a racist. I had to frame a racist man. Oh, my God. I had to frame a racist for the death penalty. And then I had to kill several elk. I just don't know if it's worth it. This is unbelievable.

He starts putting it, he puts it back in a little drawer that slides into a small thing. I take out Amma's teapot and I just start looking at it. Whoa, you're going to give away Amma's teapot? Oh, maybe I shouldn't. I don't have anything that I can. I mean, what else are you going to do? I can't, I don't have. No. Those are good jesters. I have my fun blade. Your jelly knife? Oh, the jelly knife? Yeah. That is your most prized possession? That is my prized possession. I don't know, yeah.

I hold it up to him and I'm, or I hold it up to him. He throws his hands up. Five coins. Five coins is crazy. Five coins is crazy. I'm losing my mind. I'm losing my shirt. Five coins. Better your shirt than your life. Holy shit. He pulls out a knife and he points it at you. Whoa, I'm a child. 40 coins. 40 coins? I want the knife with my… Fuck! Eight coins. 20 coins. I disarm him. Oh, okay. That's a move. Throw a 2d6 plus dexterity. Uh, 12. Unbelievable. Wow.

This person's very bad with a knife. They are. They're a poisoner. The knife flies out of their hands. I hold… I grab it and I hold it both. 10 coins. Okay. Well, I'm gonna have a real fuck of a time finding more hanged man's tears. But I suppose I can let it go for 10 coins. You know what? Eight coins. Wait, no, hold on a second. You can have your knife back. Ah, I see. Eight coins and my knife. My parents' knife. Their wedding knife. I suppose eight coins and my knife back.

But if you kill anyone with that poison, you have to let… Let them know that I sold it to you. That's no problem. Great. So… What's your name? My name is… I need a stupid name. Cref Smushlet. Cref Smushlet. My name is Tom Smushlet. I have a brother who is more famous than I. Tom Talong. Tom Talong. Tom Talong. Dom Talong. Dom. My name is Dom Talong. Dom Talong. Dom Talong. Master Poisoner. Send them here to the third tent of the… What's this place called? The Night District. With a K.

Sure. The Night Market. That's cool. Send them to the… The Night's Market. Dom Talong, Master Alchemist and Poisoner in the Night Market Night Market. I will do so. Good day to you, young boy. May your murders be swift, and your victims be many. And you see him start… Poisons! Poisons! One's called Sleepless Dream. Dreamless Sleep? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Did you have eight chords? Oh, wait a second. Yeah. I assume… Wait. You didn't have… You can spend the coin. Yes, yes. Okay.

So Billy comes running in. Thank you. I'll be right back. You feel the chord in the lead start going… As Billy runs back into the room. And then all of a sudden, I'm like, Wait, Billy? Oh, wait. Where's my coin purse? I need a coin. Stop by. I'll be right back. He's going to be pickpocketed. And eight. Eight. So we have two. Yeah. And the camera stays inside the liquor store, which is an actual liquor store that's near the Night Market. Yes. What's this liquor store like?

It looks like every liquor store in Canada. So there's just like fridges with like glass fronts. It's like a 23-year-old working. Yeah. Small barrels. Small barrels. Small casks. You bring your own… That's a bring-your-own-bottle wine store. Oh, that's cool. I like that. Oh, cool. Bring your own… Mason jars. They sell it by weight. Yeah. Yeah. It's like a bring-your-own-cup slurpee day, but for alcohol. There are people walking out with like garbage bags full of alcohol. Whoa. All right.

So you wanted what again? Winewood. Winewood. Do you care about winewood? Yeah. Let me check. He goes through the back door. The door just takes a long time closing, and you see he's reading a book. Fuck. What's he reading? What's he reading? Yeah. Yeah. Go ahead. Roll to certain realities. 2D6 was wisdom. Nice. I got 12. Great. Three questions off the list. What book is he reading? You see the name of the author of Love and Lust. Do we have a name for this author? No, I don't think so.

Oh, my God. It's called Lust Infinite. Yeah. Because the first one was Love and Lust. The second one was Lust Unbound. Then the third one is Infinite Lust. Yeah. So you see Infinite Lust, and you see, again, two shirtless knights who are wearing like arm armor, but no chest armor, and then helmets, and they're locked in an embrace. Yeah. I think it might be like a time loop book. Because then there's two younger versions of them underneath also embracing. Yeah. Something's going on over there.

Ooh. But the door closes, and then a few minutes later, it's a long time you're standing out here. Well, while I'm waiting, because I'm back in the wine store with you guys. Oh, okay. Yeah. Okay. You came to give us the two coins back? Yeah. I gave you the two coins. I say, sorry, but I think you'll be happy with what you have. What I bought. Wink. What did you buy? Poison. What kind? Like the kind that makes people like you? No. Like, it'll kill elks. That's how much poison is in there.

Tug leg looks like, what the fuck? And he looks at Vic, and he's like, this is not a thing that we have allowed in the past. One of my best friends is an elk. I don't know. I tug in on you. I'm like, can I have a jar? What? What do you want? What's a jar for? I just want it. For juice. For juice? Yeah. Yeah. Here's a jar. Okay. I would like to steal some wine wood. Oh, okay. Can I try? Yeah, totally. You'd have to sneak into the back. I'll sneak. All right. 2d6 plus dexterity. 10. Nice.

Son of a bitch. Sick. So the door, you slowly creak the door open, moving it in just such a thiefy way that the hinges don't squeak. The 23 year olds reading the book and you see them like looking at their book, but kind of reaching up and like pushing, like clanking stuff around. Just like, wow, it's really hidden back here. Can't find it. Page turn. Clank, clank, clank, clank. Yeah. And I recognize like the label I've seen on wine wood bottles. So it's a picture of Merbo.

I was going to say, yeah, that's exactly what I saw. He looks like Harry and the Hendersons when he smiles. The cheesiest thing in the world. Because they suck at branding. Faulty. Yeah. So he fills the jar while just quietly. Oh, this will be tricks of the trade. You're stealing. Yeah, I'll do it. Nine. Okay. So what is a seven to nine on this? I'll aid. Yes. How so? Well, I'm just like, have you found it yet, boy? Young man. Garcon. All right. Yeah. Go ahead. Distracting him.

Well, he's back there. Is there a little bell you can ring? Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. Nine. Nine. Nine. Okay. So that makes it a 10. Yes. Okay. I get three hold. Tricks of the trade. Oh, sorry. I do it. No problem. Sorry. I always read the wrong one. So you fill a mason jar. This is because you're drunk, Jess. I'm not. You should two sips of the trade. You're drunk on nothing. I'm drunk on coffee. You're drunk on pretending to be drunk. I know.

It's pretty great. Like that time in your backyard. Yeah. I still remember that. What? With the joke. Remember we were up late and then you got drunk on pizza. Oh. Keto ice cream. Sitting outside. Yeah. It was so fun. It was great. Yeah. Oh, right. When I made that Robert De Niro joke. Sometimes. No, this one. This one time. This one time Robert De Niro got my mom pregnant with me. This one time. That's a great joke. That's a great joke. Oh, yeah. And you find like, yeah, you find it.

It's like a big, it's a big box, like a cardboard box with Merbo on it. Mm-hmm. You assume the words above must say wine would. It's gotta be him. Yeah. It's a big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, And you grab the little tab, press the little rubber button down and fill a mason jar with wine. Mm-hmm. Doesn't even notice me.

Makes him dress like a dog. And he's just like stopped pretending and he looks enraptured by this book. He's breathing so fast. Uh-oh. And he's flipping the page as quickly as he can. Ugh. He's like tripping over trying to flip the page. Oh, I know that means I have to go. No way. No way. Oh my God, no way. It's so hot. I bring you the jar. How many servings do we think this is? I don't know. Two. Two. Okay. Which is enough to heal 20 hit points. Okay, yeah. Great.

And I think we have- Thanks, Billy. You're welcome. Good boy. Who's that good boy? Scratch your teeth. That's me. I think we have been crafty about it in the past where we know that a bottle is 20 total healing points, letting you guys kind of like sip off of them. Oh, okay. Sip. Oh, okay. To use up 20 worth of healing points. I see. So we don't have to use all of it at once. But if you wanted debility, you got to drink one full serving. Okay. Okay.

Okay, so you've got a mason jar full of stolen wine and one of the more potent poisons that supposedly has ever been made. Never mind. Thanks anyways. Yeah. Oh my God, no way. All right. Tech grabs another beer on the way out and steals it. So- Just imagine you're like under one. We're just, it's like, I just had the image of you guys wandering through a market with Tuck with like a paper bag wrapped around your finger. Oh my God. Totally. We're in Vegas with Tuck. He's drinking a beer.

He's got a really, it's so tall. He grabbed the tallest one he could find. It's shaped like this. Yeah. Like an hourglass. Like an hourglass. Yeah, it's got a really long stride of it. And a really long paper bag. Yes. It was for a baguette. It was for a baguette. It was for a baguette. It was for a baguette. It was for a baguette. It was for a baguette. It was for a baguette. It was a baguette from a bakery. That's great. Yeah.

So if there's anything else you guys are looking for at the market, this is a night market. Pretty bustling. Is there an herb? Oh, the herb guy. Yeah. Is there like a food, a cookery stand? Oh, sure. There's lots of food here. Yeah. Okay, great. I want to go to a dry goods cookery ingredient stand. Oh, like a place for people who cook. Yeah. Does he sell ingredients and cookware and stuff? Yeah. You find somebody that sells like cookware and spices. Spices and herbs. Hey, Saffron. Hello.

Wrapped in robes. Dom Talong, master cooker. Oh, God. It's the other side of the booth. Please spy upon spices galore. Wait, what? Sauces from lands unknown. There's a bunch of geofiero donkey sauce that he puts to- The donkiest of sauces. Then there's also, we see on the back of him, he's put a mask and like has- Oh my gosh, yes. The back of his clothes. That are like fake. Yeah. To scare away people that are trying to steal from the other booth. Like a tiger's false eyes or whatever.

So what draws your eye? Could it be the tastiest marjorams from the southern wilds or Panusian peppers? The spice of which is enough to kill a family of health. Or some health jerky. Unrelated sauces and spices. Poison content. Not guaranteed. Not guaranteed. Some elk which feasted upon the spiciest peppers. Or some elks which feasted on the deadliest poisons. And then he looks at it and he's like, wait a minute. No, wait. This is the pepper one. There's only one way to know for sure.

No, no, no, no, no. My good man, are you selling any saffron? Saffron, you say? Please. Now, why would I sell such a thing as saffron? Clank, hiss. Clank, kiss. As a robot walks by. Saffron, as we all know, is a controlled substance in the boundaries of black glass. I may have some saffron right over here. Perfect. He opens a little cabinet and a secret drawer opens up. And inside an even smaller cabinet, he has a tiny little vial of saffron. How much?

I think I could let this go for 60 coins, perhaps. Pull out a knife. He pulls out a knife. I disarm him. Oh, no. No. 12. No. Damn it. The knife flies out of his hand. I catch his knife. I point it back at him. Ah, drat. You wouldn't happen to know a small boy in a dog skin, would you? I hide under the table. You've met my son. Ah, I can see the lineage is strong. Perhaps I could interest you in tasting a little poison. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. They're made from the tins.

The tears of a hanged man. From a hung elk. An elk with a huge cock. Only the elks with the fattest hogs. How much saffron can I get for two coins? This is all the saffron I have. Saffron within the boundaries of black glass has been seized and destroyed. I mean, could I… Is there anything that you need done in this market? Perhaps a favor? I scratch your back. You saffron mine. I mean, as a poisoner, I mean a cooker. Of a chef, I suppose. I have no shortage of enemies. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.

I won't kill for saffron, but I… You won't kill, you say? I won't kill. What will you do? Mame? Mame. Ah, their eyes light up. Mame, you say? There's got to be somebody who's outselling you. What about that weird herbalist over on the other side? There's just another herbalist. Another herbalist. Like, I'll go fuck that guy up. Hmm. Hmm. Well, I suppose… Yeah, go ahead and roll a 2d6 plus parlay. Three. Yeah, that ain't gonna do it. No, that… That herbalist over there? I could never.

And their eyes start to water. Oh. He and I share a bond that you wouldn't understand. That's my husband. Sort of. He points at Tuck, who's in a fight with a guy at a meat pie cart. Tuck takes a drink. He takes a sip of beer and then spits it in his face. Man, I just said one per customer. It's free samples. Calm down. Fuck you, man. If they're free, it doesn't matter. If you live in a free world, give it to me. Fine. Take them. Fuck. Fuck you. And then he spits more beer in his face.

Love could be complicated. It's just unrequited love even more so. Do you want me to go say something? No. I couldn't possibly. I could. Come on. There's no harm in just saying hi. Okay. Well, if you really think you could. I definitely could. For some saffron. This is all the saffron I have. A single dose. Okay. Okay. One moment. And they go over to the middle of their two tents and they start writing something in a card. They're like behind. You can see them writing something. They fold it up.

They put it in an envelope. They hand it to you. One is like, just a little, like he's trying to, some cologne. He's like, oh no. Oh no. That was cologne. That was me. Sleep elixir. Or hair growth or something. They hand you a card. Yeah. Give this to them. Okay. Is there anything you want me to say? No. The card will say it all. Okay. And once the card has been delivered, the saffron is yours. Okay. I think that's going to make you feel a little bit better. At least you'll know. I hope so.

I'll be right back. I go over. I read it on the way over. You open the card. Well, I sneakily. You open the card. There's a huge puff of, uh, of scented powder into your face and your vision starts to swim. Roll 2d6 plus charisma. I just wanted to know. I want to see if you drew a dick in there. All right. Five. Plus charisma. Plus constitution. Plus con. Uh, eight. Okay. Okay. Nice. You, you are rapidly falling asleep. You have stayed awake for this long.

And as you're looking at the card, all you see is take this. You dirty fuck. I'm like kneeling and like going down, like slowly. And I get to the other side. I'm like, I think this is for you. And you, you two see Dom on the other side. Go. No, he opened the card. No, no, I'll get you Barry. And then as soon as he says that you see tuck linebacker tackle. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, it's a long run from out, out of frame.

And, uh, the take, you go ahead and roll two to six plus strength. See what happens next. Okay. Yells, take the saffron as he passes out. Uh, yeah, 11. Okay. You, you hit this tent like a truck. Uh, Dom goes down under the massive bulk of a drunken belligerent tuck Tacoma dome. Uh, and Billy, you hear grab the saffron. Yeah, but I'm on the leash. So you're just, who's leash? You're tethered to the thing. And I'm like, it's the, all the slack has been used. I'm just like, just try to reach it.

It's right there. It's like two inches away from your fingertips. And you hear clank, hiss, clank, hiss. What's all this then? Clank, hiss, clank, hiss. I fell down. Oh, you again. This is the last time I can only be pushed so far. You're coming with me. I fell down on accident. Oh, and tuck is actively wrestling with a guy. He's got a weapon. And he's, he's been, he's been punching what he thought was his face, but it was the mask on the back of his head.

He rips the face off and he's like, Dom slipped through the rope. It just has underwear. And then I see, I see the cop trying, grab Billy. And he's like, get away from my kid. And does what? He starts running at the robot. Oh, Jesus Christ. We really can't do any wrong. Plus strength. Okay, here we go. 14, 14. Okay. Yeah. You, uh, you knock this thing over for sure. Yeah. If that's your goal, I'm still holding my beer.

So it does like tip over and boom into a, um, a tent full of glass elephants, man. And they all smash. And you hear a guy go, no, I put all of my money in those glass. Elephant. I will not forget. Oh, my name isn't Sir. Wilfred. Laurie. Kim McKenzie. Right. Wilfred. Laurie. It wasn't a prime minister. Was he? Yeah, he was. Was he Sir. Wilford. Laurie. Great. He's on the $5 bill. And I grab Billy and, and then I start running with him knowing that he's attached to Vig through the leash.

Dragging him through the dusty night market. The saffron. Did you not grab it? No, it was too far. Roll 2d6 plus dexterity to grab it on the way out. Grab it, Billy. Eight. Eight. Oh, do I grab it? Yes. You do grab it. And as you, you like are facing backwards as Tuck is running away, you see Ving kind of like being dragged on the leash. Shit. You grab the saffron and you see like, uh, nothing. Then you see like poking up out of the crowd knees. Yeah.

And then you see the robot like up onto its super long legs and start walking very quickly. Talk run faster. Okay. Yeah. Can I run as hard as I can? Yeah. 2d6 plus dexterity. Then you're not, you're not going to get strength out of this. I said hard. I know you said hard. That doesn't make fucking sense. Hit the retractor button. Please. He's like, please retract me. Please. You can do strength for that. Okay. To get Ving away from this thing first. Okay. Here we go. Oh no. That's seven. Okay.

So Ving, you're going to lose something. I think on the way you're getting dragged along. Oh, the razor tusk helmet. Oh no. A magic helmet. Yeah. Yeah. You feel clank, clank, clank as the, I was going to put that on my hood. The cord on the leash starts retracting, and you're thumping along. Something in your bag rips, and the razor tusk helmet is left behind. And the Robabi sees the helmet on the ground, is distracted momentarily by the glint, bends down and picks it up. Tuck. Yes.

You're trying to get away. Yes. You're rolling plus dexterity. I'm going to fail. Not necessarily. What's your dexterity? Negative one. Nah. You got this. You're drunk. You guys got to start fewer chases. Six. Somebody help. I can't aid. I'll aid. I realize I can't. Yeah, you could just be calling out directions. Yeah. Seven. Seven. That makes it a seven. I'm on the ground, basically, so I can see where to go. Oh, and you're going like, go this way, go that way. Take a left. Okay.

I'm following the instructions. Do you want to control me from my head like Ratatouille? Yeah, I climb up. You're like leaning to one side and leaning to the other. Grabbing his mustache. Yeah. Okay, so seven to nine. You end up somewhere you don't necessarily want to be. Oh, a fucking library. Burn it to the ground. Surrounded by my mortal enemies. Reading materials. Oh, nerds. Nerds. Ed Bucks. Mocking me with their backwards letters. Tuck their forwards. They're normal. That's how they are.

Put that beard down. You have dyslexia. You are illiterate. It's okay. Um, I mean, we can run into a library. So you run through the front doors and there is a person at the front that goes, shh. Okay. There's rows upon rows of books. Uh, this looks like a local library. Let's hide in the books. Let's go. Okay. Yeah, that's a good idea. All right. Somebody's gonna have to roll something to hide effectively in these books.

Cause you can hear the clanking footsteps and the sort of like a steam pipes on the back going. Cool. What can I do? I guess you could try and you're rapidly falling asleep. You could try and shake this poison somehow. Yeah. How do I shake this poison? Uh, how do you want to try and shake the poison? I don't want to use the one wood that we just got. Yep. Fair enough. Hmm. You can try and muscle through. Try a constitution again. Con. Yeah. I'm going to try another con roll.

I mean, I got eight last time. That was just to stay awake. Yeah. That you're still barely awake. Yeah. Oof. Oh no. I got seven. Okay. Okay. Uh, you are like able to kind of shakily get to your feet, but you're pretty tired. You're actively fighting off a sleep agent. It's so fucking boring in here. I don't know. I'm falling asleep. Uh, so what do you guys do? You hear the approaching sounds. Ooh, can I roll a who goes there? Which one's that?

It's like below the wisps, but it's like, it's a add on to it. I would roll plus wisdom. I'd use a below the wisp to lure, tricked, or distract. Yeah, that could work. Okay. Nine. Nice. Can I help? Yes. Okay. How are you helping? I give him belly rubs. All right. I finally let out the fart. I've been unable to get out on my own. Spiritual indigestion. Yeah. Oh, fuck. Uh, yeah, I failed. Oh, no. It's a six. I can aid his. Oh, yeah. You can aid the eight. How are you aiding his aid?

I am scratching his belly. Okay. Oh, nice. I got 10. Okay. 10 makes that a seven. Makes that a 10. Okay. So it works. So yeah, I'm going to send, uh, like us basically running the opposite way. Nice. Gotcha. Yeah. So it's the, it looks around its head spinning. Yeah. Uh, all the lenses trying to find you. It like almost kind of catches you through the window of the library, but it assumes that we're just some kind of puppy class or something. The dog skin. He goes, well, that's gotta be a dog.

And then it sees you running down the street and goes, ah, stop. Halt. Uh, come here. Stop resisting. Shots ring out. Uh, and it chases you down. It chases you down off the street. Um, and you are for the moment hiding in this library. Okay. Yeah. I think I'm pretending to read cause I'm trying to like over, overhear a conversation. Overhear a conversation. There's a quiet whisper conversation going on. Okay. Yes. Yeah.

So then I went back and the box was still there and there were like four left. So like I ate another one and I figured I know they're for everybody, but it's like, it's like three 30. We're going to be out of here in 30 minutes. Yeah. Like fucking hurry up. Eat them. This is a boring conversation. I'm going to find a different one. I show up to the wedding. All the elk are dead. Every single one. And I just, and I noticed they were all drinking out of the same big Baja blast. Baja blast.

Kills elk. Note to self. Note to self. Baja blast. Fatal to elk. Yeah. I draw it in my diary. But you know, the reception was beautiful. This is boring. I'm going to another one. Another conversation. So I checked my pockets and I realized they were her cakes. I don't know. What are you looking for in here? I don't know. I guess I was hoping so. Yeah. Juicy gossip. Library is mostly full of boring people. I see how disappointed you are. Juicy gossip. I come back to you guys.

It's mostly boring people that read. Where should we go to hear juicy gossip? I'm going to go get some newspapers. See if there's like a celebrity gossip column. About what's going on with Victoria and Callum. That actually might help. Yeah. That actually might help. And you find like, you know, where they have newspapers and magazines in the library where it's that like kind of slanted shelf with the little cubbies in it. Yeah. They all stick up. There's some newspapers. Sweet.

I grab all of them. Great. All of them. Try to find anything about Victoria. About Victoria? My wife. Trying to find stuff about Victoria LaBlanche in the newspaper. Yes. That's actually a great idea. Yeah. Victoria and Callum. Yeah. Trying to find out. Well, so what's going on? The fucking last few days. So if you are trying to gain insight into the last few days, that would be to certain realities. If you're trying to uncover some sort of secret information, that would be Spout Lore. Okay.

So to certain realities. So yeah, that's a failure. So Tuck is flipping through the newspapers of the last few days and you see Colm Blackhammer murdered. Suspects at large. Three drawings. Three drawings of the three of you. Tuck rips that out. Eats it. He tries to mask this out of him ripping the paper with him coughing. He was like, oh man. Just rip. He does that thing that I did that time. I have to cover the noise. So yeah, you destroy that. And what else do you see? You see.

Apple cart turned over. Suspects. Hundreds dead. Apple cart turned over. Chaos in the streets. Suspects at large. Three drawings of the three of you. Murder, suicide at Hay Cart's family home. Okay. Start ripping this stuff out. And then you see a paper. You see the issue from two days ago. It says, Colm Blackhammer set to wed Victoria LaBlanche at Masquerade Ball. What? What? And Tuck. Tuck looks at that and he reads it. And he rolls the. What? Oh.

I thought you were going to use the blacked out move. The which one? The redacted move on your sheet. This is just a reveal. It just goes nuclear option right away. You just saw your hand like hover over his. Do it, do it, do it. Oh my God. I was not expecting that. Okay. Okay. That's really funny. No, but I don't do that. He stands up and then he does a weaponized dissociation. So you take two hit points. You take two damage. Immediately sobered. Immediately sober.

And I look at the newspaper article and I go, I object. And that's where we're going to end it. That's where we're going to end it for this week. I'm your game master, Sean O'Hara, playing Tacoma Dome, the Barbarian of Dual Aziz. The one that Priest said asks. I'll say this. I'll say that. Playing Ving, the half-elf Jew and Paul Hoppers. I'm with him. Playing Fabulously, the halfling thief, Jessica Tai. I don't know what to say. How do you do that? How do you do that?

Thank you to all of our supporters around the world. If you support the show, know that it simply would not be possible without you. If you would like to support the show, join us at patreon.com slash Spout Lore or Spout Lore.com slash money, please. For bonus content. Like an up-to-date mall Bratz feed games run by Abdul and myself curated gift boxes and more. Thank you to Aaron Reed for our intro and outro music.

If you want to listen to the truly incredible music produced for the show, you can find it all at Spotify. And if you would like to hear Aaron's original music, you can go to Aaron Reed dot band camp dot com. 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 their best? They can't. They can't. Though dumb and scared and lost they be. For time's abreast in revelry.

And though our journey may be like a conclusion. We will not leave you without a resolution. Return next week to hear some more. Wow. You commute or do your chores. And for you, I gladly spout no.

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 Billy's a thief, his tiny size does mask the Larch's 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 and welcome to Spout Lore!

And I'm a! I'm your game master, Sean O'Hara, coming to you live from beautiful Tofino, British Columbia, with my closest and most wonderful friends in the whole wide world, playing Tacoma Dome, the Barbarian, Abdul Aziz. God, I saw it coming. I should have known, and I didn't. And right off the bat, my authority is usurped. Say hello. Now don't talk anymore, or make any noise. Doesn't feel good, does it? What do you have to say? I said don't talk.

I'm trying to keep the reins tight, so I have control over my own emotions. Maybe you shouldn't have fucking worn sweatpants to a recording. We're all wearing sweatpants, except you, and you look the least comfortable. Go get some sweatpants on. No, I don't have any. Pause it. All right, we're back. It's been about 45 minutes. We made Abdul. Go. Go to town in Tofino and buy his own pair of sweatpants. I didn't do that. He didn't, and now he's just nude from the waist down in penance.

Wait, not penance. The one that you do to make us upset. Why are you guys bullying me? This isn't bullying. Sean, you start bullying, and then Abdul started bullying us for our sweatpants. Playing Fat Billy, the Halfling Thief, Jessica Tai. Hello. Also wearing sweatpants, and playing Ving, the Half-Elf Druid. Paul. Hello. Hello. When last we left our heroes, they had been stuck in a tent in the DeSomme Creek Theater Society's camp, finding Perel, the itinerant wizard, hiding in a supply shed.

And after being pointed through a hole in the side of the tent, Perel had found Jaunter, leader of the DeSomme Creek Theater Society, having a tea date with the Torch of McCall, during which it was revealed that… Perel was Jaunter a mender, but the menders had been working in some capacity with the light guard of McCall. And that is where we find our heroes now. What do you guys do? Where the fuck is Allison? Perel looks around and is like, I thought she was with you.

What the fuck are you talking… We told you to find her. And I tried my absolute best to find her. I asked around a little bit. The bars, I thought, were a good place to start. No one had seen her. And they had pointed me in the direction… Of this camp. So I came here. I thought maybe she would be here. But I saw the Torch of McCall with some other members of the light guard. I thought if they saw me, they would, you know, execute me. Well, yeah, that's probably what they would have done.

So I came in here. And they're just, there's light guard members kind of just around. So I've been in here. You've got to find Allison. Yeah. So they, someone you talked to said that she was here? Yeah. Somebody in the square said, like, I think it was, they were a member of the society. Uh-huh. That they saw her in this area. Okay. Makes sense. Actors are desperate. Yeah. Is there, like, can we discern realities to try and figure out where she is?

Yeah, we need to get wide berth and get, we need to find her. Discern realities would be, like, if you wanted to see what was going on with Jaunter and the Torch. As opposed to… I feel like we know what's going on. Well, yeah, we found out that Jaunter and the Torch are working together. Uh-huh. But we need, so we know that Allison is in the camp somewhere, probably. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Because the guy in the square said she was.

And also, someone told Perel that. Uh-huh. So, we need to find her because she's here somewhere. Um, Billy has connections, which I haven't used in a long time. What is it? It's when I put a word to the criminal underbelly about something you want or need, um, roll a thing. And someone has it just for you. Oh. Uh-huh. And if you roll a seven to nine, uh, you have to set a set. Oh. Oh.

For something close or it comes with strings attached yeah call cool so in the past billy's used like uh thief signs or whatever carved into the post to attract people that's actually how you guys met mirrors right yeah yeah all those many sessions ago uh yeah okay so how's billy doing this how's billy getting word out um well the tent we're in does it have costumes it does yes it has crates of old costumes uh billy is going to use some of these costumes um so that I can disguise myself as like another um there's those theater kids right so I'm gonna try to look like them so what does that look like what does billy's disguise look like okay um I'm just oh they wear a lot they wear leotards okay so leotards and jazz shoes okay tap shoes yeah yeah cool um so looking around should I discern realities or something like no it's not hard to find it's a tent full of stuff all right I open a wooden crate and in there are a ton of leotards uh kind of like when you're in gym class and there's all those pennies so billy pulls out a pink leotard and there's um another there's some bags next to the crate and some and I pull out some tap shoes from there and they're definitely too big for me but they're the smallest ones of the group and so billy puts those on puts on the leotard um and he's like don't look you guys this is really form-fitting okay billy we've seen you naked not like this I've never felt so exposed in my life it's the pink isn't it yeah I don't know why I picked this color but it's too late I'm in it now wait what are you doing should we get in costume too no I must go alone okay um this is a task I must do alone wait but you have to tell us what you're doing oh I have to tell me what you're doing I'm so sorry okay so wow you were just like I have a plan and you put a leotard billy oh sorry hold up yeah where are you going what are you doing okay I am going to I saw a signpost out there and they have all those poles for the stages and I'm gonna take this pin out of my hair and I'm gonna go carve some symbols out there and and see if anyone has seen Allison.

And I got blend in, so I put on this outfit. Okay, yeah, that makes sense. Looking great, bud. Yeah, you look good. Thanks. And good plan. Thank you. It's a great plan. Meanwhile, Perel still has his eye glued to that hole. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Okay, so Billy's trying to blend in. Oh, no, he just has disguise, so he doesn't have to roll for disguise. But you do have to roll for connections. I do. So what is it, 2d6 plus? Charisma. Charisma. Oh, I don't remember which ones I rolled.

It was that one and that one. What's an eight? Yeah, nine. I got nine. Okay. So. Way to go, Tucker. Just rolled two dice into a pile of dice. I know. You got a five and a 20. So that means I have to settle for something close, or it comes with strings attached, and I can choose. Okay. Maybe you have literally a bunch of strings attached. I was thinking it's a thong. Oh, no, I have one string attached. Like, I'm drawing more. I'm drawing more attention to myself.

The string attached is attached to the tent, and it unravels, exposing his bum as he leaves, leading whoever would want to follow the string back to an adult full tent of weirdos. That's way good. Yeah. Wait, sorry. One more time? Okay. When I left the tent, it got caught on a little nail, and so there's a thread wrapped around the nail attached to the tent, and I'm walking all over the place, and it's slowly unraveling my leotard, showing more buttocks than before.

And leading whoever would want to follow the trail back to us weirdos. Yeah, literally creating a… String attached scenario. Yeah. Okay. Like that Weezer song. Yeah. Do you want to destroy my sweater? Uh-huh. So you go out, and you're carving symbols in a pole to say, like, I'm looking for… Yeah, and I'm walking so, like, making such big rounds. Zigzag? Yeah. Dancing around the poles like the Mayflower? Yeah, exactly. I have to do a few loops to look…

Like, I'm looking at what other people are doing. I'm like, oh, that's a good move. And I start, like, swaying my hips, too. We're like, work those times, Billy. Work them. Yeah. Anyway, I carve a bunch of symbols in, and I see another pole. I'm like, oh, that's a good pole. And I go over there. You're going to all the poles? Yeah. He's dancing from pole to pole. I say hi again to the donkeys. Hi. And I scratch some stuff on their pole.

Yeah, and they're just, like, they get their noses down there, and their ears are flapping around, and they're nosing at you. And I… I pick up… I pick up some grass. Yeah, they eat it desperately. Cool. Yeah. See you guys. Bye, Greg. Bye, Wilbur. I'm walking. Carving more poles? I'm so cold. And I look around behind me, and I'm like, oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, just going in circles and winding yourself up with string. Oh, my ding-ling. It's going to show soon.

And so I cover it up, and I'm, like, trying to run back, but I forgot. I don't know where I was. Yeah. And so I make an even bigger, like, wider circle, and it's, like, by the time I get back to the tent, it's only, like, I am covering my nipples and my ding-ling. And you run back into the tent nude? Yeah. Pretty much. It's, like, just the collar left. Yeah. Like a dickie.

Yeah, so Billy's gone for, like, five to ten minutes, and he comes back, and he's basically nude with a pink collar around his neck. Well, when he's been gone, we've been… We've been watching what's going on with the Torch of McCall. Oh, have you? Yeah. And also, we were like, bro, why the fuck are you still in a diaper? Like, there's so many stores in this town. You could have bought pants. Why am I supposed to have time doing that trying to find Allison? Conducting reconnaissance for you.

Dude, we went and stole a ship, but we also, like, got pizza cones and watched part of a play. You don't just have to do one thing at a time. Wait, was that… Was that ship thing… You guys? Oh, did you hear about it? Fifteen ships were blown out of the harbor by a rogue wind. Tens of thousands of coins worth of damage was done. Right, yeah, that was… No one's allowed in or out. Of the city? The customs have locked down the docks until they find out who was responsible.

That's gonna complicate things for us. That was… Oh, my God. And we're trying to smoke a lot. You idiots. And he's like, but… This diaper is really cold. Just see what they're doing. And he starts digging around in the costumes. And so you're watching the torch and jaunter? Mm-hmm, yeah. So they're just talking about business. The torch is drinking this tea very slowly.

And he says, I understand that there have been some developments in the principalities at large that have proven quite dangerous. I've heard there's mass flooding in the halfling lands that have caused evacuations. Evacuations? And exodus? I've heard that there have been reports of ghostly militias traveling throughout the land. Monsters. So these are the problems that you would like me and my people to take care of for you? Bolster your operations in the principalities?

And jaunter puts down his tea and says, no, no, no. A lot of those reports have been grossly exaggerated. I don't know who sent the letter to you in McCall. It was a mender by the name of Maggie Cole, I believe. He says, oh, Maggie, she doesn't really know what's going on. She's not really as informed as she'd like to be. There's no flooding. There's no monsters. The problems have been a lot more exaggerated than unfortunately, I think, you've been led to believe.

There is one thing, though, that I think is of the highest importance is there was a complication of sorts with an item from one of our vaults. It's currently in the wind. No one's really sure where it is, but we have tracked three individuals to this town. There's a large man with an axe and a beard. He's pretty easy to point out. He actually looks a lot like the guy that you have towed around. What was his name? Ah, you mean Fatim. Yes, he is one of our more powerful warriors.

One of the more dangerous members of our guards troop. Cut the tuck. Cut the tuck. Cut the tuck. Cut the tuck. Oh, no. He got more dangerous. And then I turned to face like, what time he did my ding-a-ling and honey and he left me in the desert. Oh, my God. What happened? It got so sticky. I had to walk all the way home with a sticky ding-a-ling. So much sand. And they're traveling in the desert. The company of a halfling child and a very strange looking man with, I think, elf blood.

I'll fucking dare him. And the one that we are most concerned with capturing, if possible, they're traveling in the company of a sort of middle-aged, scrawny, bald man. He's got a pretty terrible mustache and spectacles, but he's able to change his appearance if he needs to. His disguise skills are, exemplary. So those three and the old man, if you're able to bring them to us, to me personally, if possible, then we can settle a lot of this right away and you can be back on your way to McCall.

And the torch nods and continues drinking his tea. I understand I'm a little troubled. We brought many on the trip. We assumed that the problems here were a lot more wide-ranging than it would appear they are. And the jaunter nods. And says, yeah, we're sorry about that. We just, we're trying to keep information more succinct in the future. The torch nods and says, I understand. Trying to work anonymously and surreptitiously as we do.

I, this, it can be difficult to get people to know the things they need to know. So I'll let my people know we'll form a plan and we'll get to work as quickly as possible. And I rip Perel out of the, cause we've been like poking our heads through and watching. I rip Perel out of. The hole in the tent. And I was like, what the fuck is that? I thought you said the Chamberlain would cover everything up for us. Do they know about us? And Perel's like, I don't know. They shouldn't.

The work that I did with, with Chamberlain was flawless. Flawless. Has any of your work ever been flawless? Maybe you remember a little thing called a giant frog. Yeah. Those frogs are terrorizing a small town right now because I wasn't. There to reign them in. So they're intelligent. They're intelligent, huh? Well, at least they are. You fucking moron. Click, clack, click, clack. Oh, Billy's back. And here's tap shoes. He's just wearing tap shoes. Now, what the hell happened to you? Bill?

The fuck happened? Billy? I don't know. So I, so I grabbed, must've taken my swimsuit. I think a lot of people saw me. My disguise didn't work, but I did right all over the poles. Bing sticks his head out and sees the string running everywhere and leading him back to here. And you see, you see at the far end of the camp, you hear somebody go, what the fuck is all this? Who's that? Is that fat?

And on the other side of the camp, far away, like pretty, pretty good distance, maybe 40, 50 feet is a ripped dark skinned man with a long braid on the top of his head going down to a ponytail. And he picks up the thread. And he starts following it hand over hand. Oh. Following the pink thread that you see connected to Billy's collar. Oh shit. Jesus fucking Christ. It's my swimsuit. Guys, I'll be right back. Wait, where are you going? Billy's gonna try to lead him somewhere else. Oh yeah.

So I grab, I grab whatever string I left on the ground. I run the opposite direction. And like, you've got a long way. It was sort of like a cat's cradle design that Billy created. So he can run back and grab some. And run somewhere else. Okay. It's a good idea. Okay. So what would that be? Do we think like defy danger dexterity? Sure. To do it quickly and surreptitiously? I. Very bad. That is a two and a one. Plus two is five. Okay. So Billy fails. Do you have an idea for how Billy fails? Yes.

Okay. Billy fails. He's collecting all the threads and it's getting, because he was running around in like weird circles. It's just kind of balling up around him. And he's starting to spin himself into essentially like a huge ball of yarn. And he's just like, Oh my God. And then he crashes right into the dude. Oh, right into fat. That's a fat. He's exactly how I described him the last time. I know. But Billy screams it. Oh, and fat.

I'm is like holding the string that you're at the end of in this huge ball. And he's like, okay. You know what I mean? You know what I mean? You know what I mean? You know what I mean? You know what I mean? Who are you? You some little kid or something? And he reaches down and grabs a bundle of the threads and he picks you up. Hey! Bing steps out. Tuck, you gotta stay here. Okay, yeah. Because he knows you're… I'm going out. Oh, sorry. Hey, good sir. That's my young actor there.

What have you done to your costume, young master? I just thought I would make it look better. Well, you ruined it and I'll be coming out of your shares. I'll be taking that kid. Come on with me. Sorry about that, mister. Cool hairdo. Man, you're big. You look very nice. So just… Okay, you gotta roll something. Defy Danger Charisma, I guess? Yeah, no problem. Oh, wow. Holy fuck. Is that Boxcars, Two Sixes? Yeah, 13. Holy shit. Good goddamn. Two Sixes is called Boxcars? Boxcars, yeah.

I didn't know that. I thought it was called Spider Ice. Crab face. Because it's like all the mouths on a crab. Great. So Fatim's like, okay, I'll just be taking that young feller. Sure. Scoop him up. Whatever. And he holds him out. Take him. And you get away. Thank you. Backing away. Yeah. And he's like, weirdos. Thank you. I think something that you pick up when you get close to Fatim is sort of acrid smell. There's this like oily, acrid smell.

So that's something that you just pick up around Fatim. Yeah. He doesn't smell good. But he smells like pungent. And you're not sure why. Yeah. Billy starts coughing and sneezing. Yeah. And Billy stuffs his face in things for jacket thingy that he's got on. Oh, yeah. That's cute. He cuddles it. Yeah. This barely smells better. Yeah. Smell. Patchouli. But he has. But with that, I guess the string attached for connection. Connections is that Fatim has gotten a good look at both of you.

Looked you right in the face. He knows exactly what both of you look like. And so do you just head back to the tent? No, I've come out. Oh, you've come out of the tent. But I am dressed as a belly dancer. Wow. Like Will Smith from Wild Wild West. Uh-huh. So what is that? What does this look like? Like a drops Billy. I've got a veil on and I'm wearing like big fake tits. And there's like a lot of the coin belt. Yeah. Like there's so much of it on me.

And I'm just pretending to be a big, beautiful lady. Oh, my God. Billy, do you see that woman? Who is that? She's beautiful. Whoops. No, Billy. No, he cannot. Oh, isn't that tuck? Oh, what's that in your loincloth? That is a story for another day to our friends. He would recognize you easily, probably. Are you fucking kidding me? I got the veil on my face. What I'm saying is Billy doesn't have to roll for disguises, but tuck does. Okay. What is it plus? Charisma?

I did it because I didn't want to feel pinned down. Yeah, totally. You pierce your belly button, there's blood running down. And I got dressed really quick and I turned to Perel and I was like, do I look anything like me? Oh. And I was getting dressed. You're seven feet tall. Yeah, but do I look like a hot lady? Oh, holy shit. Two sixes? Those are my old dice there. Perfect. Great. Do I look like a hot lady? I was like, you're seven feet tall. Okay. No, but kind of. Okay. No one will know.

And I'm like, can you turn these melons into like the jiggly thing? So it'll look like tits. Why would I do that? Come on for me. Dude, magic is hard to come up. I can't just turn things into. Give me the melons. He's like, I don't know if I can. And he's like flexing all his muscles. He starts sweating and you see the melons slowly just getting softer and softer and softer. This is the best I can do. Okay. And they're just they're exactly like two cantaloupes, but really soft.

I put them in my bra. Go warm. Warm. And Tuck comes out of the tent like that. Yeah. Yeah. I think it'd be really funny because like there's like all that fresh paint everywhere. If there was just like a paint bucket open that's red and he like grabs the paint brush and it's like. Yeah, I do that. Tuck gives himself lipstick. But like way too much. I imagine you killing a fly and then spearing it on your eyes. Like just to like. Eye makeup. Yeah. Yeah. Like and I. Yeah. I put on like mascara.

And like. Fly. Like blue. I shed. Like is that eye shadow up here? It's also paint. Okay. Yeah. He's wondering if this is what. Oh, yeah. That's that eye shadow. So I put blue eye shadow. And yeah, like, like, like, like fucking make my eyes look longer with like charcoal pencil. And then you describe it as make my eyes look longer. I don't know what any makeup. And neither does. I also love. But he put red paint on his lips for lip color and then immediately put a veil over. Yeah.

But then he's like, but if this comes off, then this will disguise. And then I also am like, I'm worried about the scar on my face showing. So I take a bunch of white paint and I get myself. Oh, no. Like, he'll never assume that I would be white. So do you do that to your arms? I'm making eye contact with Perel. I'm like. I'm white like you. I also assumed the veil was to hide the beard. Yeah, that's what I assume. So the veil comes off. I did not think of that at all.

So he's like, okay, if the veil comes off, the lipstick's definitely going to distract away from my huge beard. Right? He just dips his whole beard in lipstick. I didn't think of the beard at all. No, wait. So you understand that by painting his him painting his face, I assume bone white. Yes. He's also got to paint his arms and torso and legs. Yeah. The legs have billowy pants. Anything that's showing. Wow. I mean, I already got two sixes. We're calling that just pulling a reverse Trudeau.

The thing is, is that you got what? 14. Yeah. Which means that it works. Yeah. Which is just un-fucking-believable. And so you come out of the tent. You're wearing a white shirt, bone white, dressed like a belly dancer, lips, lip stuff, eye shadow. Veil. Veil. And honestly, you blend in with a lot of the other costumes in the camp. So it's easy for you to get through. And Perel comes out a moment later, like bursts out, and he's got a huge blonde beehive wig on and a big puffy Regency era gown.

And he flicks open a fan and goes, let's get out of here. Yeah. He looks like Catherine the Great. Let's fucking do this. Yeah. So he's got the fan in front of his face, and he's like, let's get out of here. And we go over to Vingability. Tuck, you look beautiful. Thank you. How did you? This is amazing. We can't get out of here, but oh my God. Yeah. Perel made these. And I point at my breasts. Can I? Yeah, you can touch them. I don't care. Can we get out of here? Can we get out of here? Please.

And Perel's waving the fan in his face. No, no, no. Wait, wait, wait. Someone's going to meet me here. So we got to stay. When? For how long? Could take hours or days. Sometimes it's weeks or months. It could take even years. Well, if it's going to be that long, Bill, you better put on some pants, pal. The leotard has turned into a deep V. Oh, yeah. It just goes straight. You look like Borat, buddy. Who's Borat? You look like a chubby little. Oh, he's just. He's international. He's a bard.

He wears this ridiculous pink onesie that barely doesn't cover up his thing. Oh, boy. I'll be right back, you guys. And Billy runs away and comes back with some clothes. He's dressed now. What's he wearing? He's wearing his raccoon stuff. Okay. He just went and got his stuff. Yeah. Nice. So as you're all standing around, you hear. Hey. What? Hey, over here. Who? Where? Over here. I look over. And behind the tent. You see a little flat cap and a smudged face peeking out from behind.

Come over here. Me? Yo, come over here. We grab Billy. We're like, don't go over there. Guys. You come over here. I don't trust this ragamuffin. This is what we're waiting for. Come on. The big guys. They with you. Oh, yeah. Okay. You come over here, too. Okay. We go over. Okay. We go over. What's your name? My name's. Fuck. I literally thought of any name. Fuck. Nimble. Nimble. My name's Nimble. Come on over here. I am over here. No, keep coming over here.

As we're walking, we're walking side by side next to Billy because this is a weird situation. We're like, Nimble, you got to dial back your excitement because you sound like you're trying to get us into a trap. I would never do that to you. Just look, guys. It's a fellow ragamuffin. Okay. You guys, you don't know anything about this. This is the code. All right. The ragamuffin code. Billy picks up dirt and runs it on his face. I should describe Nimble.

Nimble's like small, maybe like 11, has tiny points at the end of his ears. He might have some elf blood. He's really smudged up. He's got little short pants. He's got a little vest and he's got a tiny shirt with the sleeves rolled up in a flat cap. What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What?!

L I really like you nimble I like you What's your name little kid My name's Fat Billy Fat Billy Sure is Put it there And he spits in his hand Shakes Billy spits in his hand This is also part of The Ragamuffin's code And we're like Okay And I take a A medicated wipe And I just wipe Billy's hands I'm like I just like Clean it And while you're cleaning My hand I'm like So what dirt you got for me Oh I got I got the goods for you I found it I found it Dame you're looking for She's She's She's meeting somebody out back Of the fish gutters The fish gutters Yeah if you head down Closer to the water You take a right at the shoe boy He's shining up the shoes He's also a Ragamuffin Blink That was him winking The shoe boys Alright The shoe boys Head down the alley Turn right at the other alley Behind the big pile of fish guts The fish guts She's She seems to be meeting somebody out there But if you wanna catch her You're gonna have to move quick Oh Catch I flick Nimble a rock My favorite one And he catches He snatches it out of the air Rubs it on his shirt Looks at it and goes Pleasure doing business with your brother It was great to meet you Nimble Brothers for life Brothers for life Spit again Shake I clean his hand again I clean Nimble's hand And as you wipe the spit off of his hand It's the cleanest part on his entire body Yeah Yeah!

He's like Alright pleasure doing business And he tips his flat cap And he disappears into the shadows He just run into the woods? Yes And you hear him go As he runs away Nimble Gonna live forever What? What the fuck was that? That guy has a ton of chutzpah Yeah I know He keeps spitting it into his hand And Perel's sitting there like fanning himself With his big fat hand And he's like He's like That was Mystifying But should we go? Yeah we gotta go Did you not hear him?

We don't have much time Let's go Let's find Allison Flap flap flap flap flap flap flap flap flap Wait does anybody have anything they wanna do on the way?

Maybe just wink at the shoe boy Oh yeah Yeah there's a little boy Also little points on his ears Shining a dude's shoes at the end of that alley I flip him my other rock He catches it He tips his cap Says pleasure doing business with ya Pleasure to meet ya That guy looked exactly like Nimble We were just talking about that guy That guy looked exactly like Nimble He did look a little like Nimble didn't he?

You take Nimble's directions Turn the alley Turn the alley You see a big pile of fish guts Well you smell it before you see it And then it's just this big glistening pile of fish guts It's covered in seagulls And raccoons They're just going fucking crazy back here And you see Allison Far behind the fish guts Further down the alley And she looks kind of nervous She's like looking around But she hasn't seen you guys yet Oh okay Should we reveal ourselves to her?

Should we wait and see who she's waiting for? She looks really nervous right now Doesn't she? I've never seen her look like that Yeah I have actually In my entire life Knowing Allison I've never seen her look nervous It's scaring me a lot Yeah I want to ask the raccoons If they've seen anything weird Like what's going on?

I keep forgetting that you can talk to animals Sorry I keep forgetting that Ving can talk to animals Every time I introduce an animal into the scenery And Ving starts to talk to animals To talk to it I go fuck Right This animal would know everything It's the only thing I remember about Ving Alright What do raccoons sound like?

I'm just thinking like Hey Yeah do whatever you want Welcome to my fish pile That's pretty good Because they have thumbs to do this with That's true They can do the hand thing So there's a raccoon sitting on a pile of fish Like hey welcome Hey bienvenido Oh you want to buy the fish? The fishes are so good this time of year Ah me scusi me scusi I'm here looking for my friend You seen anything weird with this lady over there?

Oh she'll be meeting with a lot of people today A lot of people coming back and forth A lot of people in nice white clothes Fafangula tell me more my brandy I mean they all All of you look like Like big tall people Like you have nice hands good for creeping Yes?

Like me We are friends We the same Oh yeah and then they do a cool handshake Like a very elaborate handshake The camera goes so close to it It's like flip-flop-flip-flap-flip Flappy-flish And your crystals come away covered in fish guts Anything else that you want to know? How long you been here?

Oh I've been here for generations My grandfather he found these fish-a-pile These fish-a-file These fish-a-pile These fish-a-pile My family have been sustained for centuries Your family should be very proud of you You do a great pile of garby fish Molto bello Grazie mille Does a quick cross and goes Mi madre Are these raccoons Catholic?

All raccoons are Catholic That's why they have so much guilt Okay Okay Okay Okay Okay Okay Okay Okay Okay Okay Okay Okay Okay Okay Okay Okay Okay Okay Okay Okay Okay Okay Okay Yeah Yeah What are you trying to get out of this raccoon? That she's been meeting with a bunch of guys dressed in white Yep What? Why would Like the light guard?

Seems like Okay let's Maybe let's hang back and watch and see who she meets Alright let's hide behind this bush Behind the fish guts Yeah cause she's Like you can see her You guys gotta be careful If you're just talking to a raccoon on the fish pile She just hears a couple raccoons going at it I guess that's true It's so slimy in here. Is Billy in the pile? Yeah. Billy, you went into the fishbowl. I don't know how else to be secret. Just smushed right in there.

So you do see Allison, like, her attention is piqued, and she walks a little bit further down to a junction between two buildings, and you see her talking to somebody. Who is it? The discerned reality? Yeah, give me the… Somebody's got to roll fucking something. Use these ones. Because right now they're out of sight. Oh, yeah. So 2d6 plus wisdom. Fuck. I said these ones. Fuck. Are those two ones? Yeah. Okay. Okay, so you don't get any questions, and you mark a point of experience. Hell yeah.

There are two ways that this failure can pan out. One is you don't learn anything about who she's meeting, and the second is that you do, but then it gets worse. I like that. Worse. Okay, so you see Allison talking to somebody, very earnestly, very intently, and then they move. She goes, come here, and she gestures them further into the alley, and a white-robed light guard scholar walks into the alleyway, and they're talking very… The scholar is pretty young, pretty lean.

It's like a young woman. She's very kind of scrawny. It looks like she's maybe not even out of her teens. She's new to the light guard, and they're talking very intently. The scholar's writing things down, and they're talking very intently, and they're talking very intently, and they're talking very intently, and they're talking very intently, and they're just exchanging information, and, Tuck, you see this happening, and you go, what the fuck? She's talking to the light guard?

And you are like, what the fuck? And you lean forward, and you put your hand right on a seagull, and it goes, fuck! And then all the seagulls go, and start flying away, and the scholar and Allison whip around, and they see all of you staring at them, and Allison's paused for a second. Because the pile was actually 95% seagulls. They fly away off the floor, and we're all just standing there. There's like three dead fish. And Vince just sinks into the ground as the seagulls fly away.

Vince just raises his hand and waves. And they all look at you, and Allison starts running away. What about the scholar? They both run in the same direction. They start bolting. Do we chase? Yes! Chase! Chase! Chase! Chase! Chase! Chase! Chase! Chase! Chase! We start chanting as we're running after. Because Tuck's like, do we chase? Chase! Okay. So how's a chase going to work? I think it's just going to be a roll. I think someone's going to lead the chase.

I think if you get unmitigated success, I think you can get both of them. Okay. I think if it's only partial success, you only get one of them. You know what I mean? You can only get answers out of one of the people. Okay. So yeah, one person's going to roll. One person can aid if you want, but somebody's got to lead it. Yeah.

And it's plus so it with tuck I imagine that it would be strength okay it's like the strength of his muscles does that make sense yeah so you're gonna try and use your muscles to catch them and scoop them I guess so yeah to like get my legs to move hard and strong enough to catch up with them my legs are gonna beat up the ground yeah and then it doesn't have to be strength I'm getting a tone out of this no I want it to be straight and the tone is directed at paul who asked me to describe running yep his feet will pound the ground like fists yeah I'm gonna go sideways okay 2d6 plus strike six seven eight yeah so you get a partial success who you catch in allison or the scholar allison okay so allison and the scholar start hauling ass down this alley you're sort of in between two clusters of buildings you start pounding down the alley behind them just be like chase chase chase chase chase chase chase faster and perl we're all running right oh yeah but I'm way further back yeah and perl's like holding one part of his dress up with one hand in his fan and the other like I can't catch up all right I'm in the belly dance it's so loud you can hear me go oh yeah so allison might not even have realized it was you specifically oh yeah but she's not even aware of it she's like oh my god I'm not even aware of it she's like oh my god she realizes that she's been busted by a belly dancer a white belly dancer with crazy eyes oh she recognized ving never mind but I have like such sweet boobs like she wouldn't know is she put to it she's good allison it's me so you get to uh the end of this alley and the scholar and allison like split the scholar runs to the right allison and the scholar runs to the left and the scholar runs to the right and the scholar runs to the left and the scholar runs to the left and the scholar runs to the left and tuck goes to the left yeah I turn to the left but I turn so hard that my bra whips around the back so now the boobs are on the back and how does how does tuck catch allison um so it's like classic like small sit like narrow alley chase scene and allison is fucking fast yeah like she's like doing parkour yeah her dress rips up one side so her legs are free to move and there's like two small balls come out and she's like running up on the like the sides of buildings and I'm like throwing them out of the way you're just barreling through yeah or like yeah running through them and it's like chase chase she kicks slides under a cow oh yeah and tuck throws the cow out of the way yeah and yeah but he like lifts the cow and throws it in front of her oh my god can I do that is that insane I mean I kind of want you to roll for it but hell yeah all right two two two six plus strength watch out she's part of the army I'm not kidding I'm not kidding I'm not kidding I'm not parkouring oh my god six five six I'll aid okay I'll give it a little gust okay of wind so roll 2d6 plus your bond with tuck oh big enough yeah okay wow I can't believe you pulled off this fucking cow move so you throw the cow you grip this cow under the middle and it goes and you whip it over your head it starts sailing through the air and falling just behind allison it's not gonna make it and what does ving do he says that and then uh beats his big imaginary wings and gives a big gust oh so cool so dope the wind blows past you tuck you feel like a and as ving does that I see like the shadow of the outline of thunderbird wings and there's a fire just off to the side that roars up with the blast of air cool and there's like cracklies yeah in the air you hear in the what!!

L.A. L.A.

Billy put fish guts in his pockets and now he's like throwing them like flower girl make way make way holding the train he's just throwing it out of the the most edible bachelorette in all of Oxfordshire we suck at acting casual yeah you're the worst you guys are definitely the epitome of that like act casual and everybody comes in and there's someone like fake nailing a board to a wall and you're like hi yeah that move and yeah you make your way to the hotel you see on the way someone handing out pieces of paper with a drawing of the three of you on it like you're saying these people wanted for questioning by the crystal by customs has sorry I can't read I think we would remember seeing these weirdos and I have face blindness wow very very well with any I information for the customs house will be greatly rewarded I want to take the rest of those posters out of them well he's he'll give you a couple give me all of them he looks around I'll post I'll post them around town we're going to the we're going to the emerald yeah you're gonna try and convince him to give you so I could go you know lot of trouble I give you two bucks for all these two coins yeah that's more I'm making a week here you go problem solved make sure to post some just back to the I put them in the fire don't worry about that when posted yeah so you get back to the hotel mirrors is there having his he's sleeping he's passed out in the other room and Allison just sits on the bed oh no we put her in the chair oh and we tie her up oh okay she doesn't resist sorry to do this Allison I understand how are you feeling not great Billy okay I tied this knot you guys can you get the one at the back I'll do it yeah you see her shapely legs all the way up to her her fit firm waist tying beautiful milky skin yeah and her legs are showing because of the parkour that she did yeah and she got her dress yeah she's got ripped legs because of all the free running and flips that she does in her free time because I'm sorry I haven't been completely honest well you better start I'm how much do you want to know everything yeah and then so tell us some stuff you don't think is relevant let's start there did you know that the Emerald Hotel and Spa was constructed 250 years 250 years that's unreal they've had emeralds that long wow on top of being anti-inflammatory spice turmeric can also be used to make delicious baked goods no she's just telling you facts that she knows now this bitch is trying to tell me about turmeric and like Vig pulls out like a little mason jar that has turmeric in it and it says for inflammation okay so the reality is I initially came to Crystal Bay in the employ of the light guard I don't make any noise because my feelings are hurt he says I didn't gasp because my feelings are hurt and well they should be I've never intended to hurt you the reality is that I was banished by the light guard and I was recently able to claw my way back to the material plane but they found me very quickly and they forced me to work for them as an advanced scout we came here because the light guard had received a letter from an organization of some kind that exists in the principalities what are they called I wasn't privy to that information supposedly they are a subgroup they were founded by the light guard or something like that I have heard them say that name and they sent me here ahead of them to sort of gauge the situation to meet up with some members of the menders and sort of see what the situation was the letter made it sound like there's a lot of awful things happening here then once I was here once I'd you know figured out the situation you came to town Tug and I thought finally I had an opportunity to get my revenge on the light guard and be free of them I knew that you would help me if I asked you to we have a history look you're so strong you've overcome so many enemies so many opponents and I know that the light guard would be no problem for you I could be free we could be free together and I can't let them know that this is my plan I can't let them know that I'm planning on trying to kill the torch of McCall trying to escape so I've still been working with them I've been feeding them information false information about who?

Just about whatever's going on in this town I told them that there might be other succubi in Crystal Bay I told them that there's some sort of force keeping creatures of the outer dark in Crystal Bay that the coronet might be involved the truth is I have no idea why the sun's not moving I couldn't care less but they think it's a problem and that problem will keep them distracted for my true goal which is what? Putting them six feet in the ground if that's true how do they know about us?

We heard them talking we heard J'Zom from the who's J'Zom? The guy from the the J'Zom Creek Theater Society oh, Jaunter yeah, J'Zom he was telling he always does that he was talking to the torch of McCall and they knew everything about us already and they've been fucking they sent out posters about us did they say they knew yeah us like Jaunter described the three of you and Perel yeah how would they know? How would they know? How would they know that?

I don't know I didn't tell them anything about you how do we know that's true? I have no reason anymore to lie to you all my cards are on the table that's it I want them dead then who's telling them about us?

It's almost like if someone had rolled a discern realities earlier in the session we'll do it now hmm I wonder if rolling a discern realities can allow you to glean information from a previous thing that you witnessed I think that I think that that's totally fair also because I kind of want you guys to get some more more breadcrumbs some tasty tasty breadcrumbs who wants to roll?

Do it Bilbo yeah you should talk to the amnesiac fairy let me just rack my tiny little brain hey man he gets results whoa eleven somehow he racked his amnesiac brain oh does he do like a magic thing?

Yeah he closes his eyes and he's like oh I'm gonna go to bed and he starts feeling through his thoughts and he's like oh that was a really good cookie I had and I had a really good sleep last night and the blanket was so soft and Billy's just remembering his like past adventures to like wow that meeting that dragon was crazy yeah but no too far too far too far yeah and he like you see it like move down the timeline and flip forward and it's like Billy's like the king of a of of of of of of of of of of of of of of a small country he's the king of a little like squirrel village yeah in the woods and no no that wasn't it and then it's Billy eating a roll yeah and I replay that memory a few times I'm like I don't remember where I got it okay that doesn't matter right now and then I think back to when we checked in at the hotel and I think back to when we went to get that dinner and those bullies came up and tried to fight us well they did fight us the idea that Billy thinks of other gang members as bullies yeah that was really good am I coming up with this thing or are you coming up with this thing no you're asking the questions from the list oh yeah sorry you get three I forgot jeez Louise guys I'm sorry you're right so there's three questions from the discern realities list okay I forgot that's okay so Billy Billy's memory is back in the DeSong Creek Theater Society where we were just and and Tuck and Ving and Pearl are in the tent and Billy's weaving his way around past the donkeys and he passes by a tall man and jaunter and he's like ugh jaunter yeah you hear them talking about the how everything has been greatly exaggerated by Maggie Cole she doesn't know what's going on there's no flooding there's no monsters there's no weird soldiers so what are the questions that Billy's asking so in that memory Billy's like what happened then so what happened then what happened here recently is jaunter as a traveling bard goes town to town in the principalities investigating things for the menders he gathers information and then he meets up with other members that's sort of how they pass their information they speak face to face they never write anything down because if somebody steals all that information there's a lot of terrible information they could know so as the leader of the group that the menders were founded by jaunter met with the torch to sort of pass that information on it sounded like things were so bad in the principalities that the torch of mccall decided to come personally okay yeah and I guess something that I would actually be cleared up by that too is that jaunter because you heard jaunter saying well that's this is all fake this isn't real there's no flooding there's no monsters there's no whatever that's not true you know that personally yeah like you've seen the fallout from the flooding there's halflings on the road the panusians were like yeah there's flooding in the halfling lands what's he talking about and then so what here is useful or valuable to me well what here is useful or valuable to me is so billy you remember seeing this and realizing that you didn't say anything about it because you didn't think it was weird but um the torch pours more tea from the teapot while he's talking to jaunter and he takes a sip and he goes oh it's a little cold do you mind if I do you mind he goes no no please I'd actually I'd love to see it I've heard many stories and the torch goes very well and he goes and he presses his hands together and kind of spins his palms and when he pulls his hands apart there's a little lick of flame hanging in the air between them and he uh kind of gets it close to the teapot and you see him put the teapot on his hand and bits of flame are curling around the bottom of the teapot like it's on a stove element like it's on a gas range and he's just heating up the tea with this fire that he's able to just call from his body it boils yeah and then he pours some more steaming hot tea so what billy saw the tea it must be the tea where does tea there be cookies nearby the shot of this like massive revelation pans slightly down into the left to the cookie tray and billy's like and then it zooms in it does it does and then billy is like it's not important right now and then he has to zoom back out back to the torch of mccall and the tea and the flame thing and he's like why didn't I see that yeah and he holds his hand up and you can see the flame is like on his skin like his hand is burning and then he just goes he closes his fist and it snuffs out and jaunter's like amazing just incredible gives him a round of applause yeah it's a little clap and he goes oh no please the god of the flame provides oh okay so the other question what here is not what it appears to be I think this is a thing where it's like this isn't a thing that jaunter would tip this is billy putting together information so he's lying about what's happening in the principalities he says that maggie cole is bad at her job which I mean at least even according to billy that doesn't seem likely maggie was so good at her job yeah and she's annoyingly so yeah and you know that the way that like sweet caroline is so loyal and mears is like falling over himself around maggie like she's at the very least renowned amongst the menders because you know the the pinewood kids doing the recreation of the lone tree hill were bad the disarm creek theater society here was bad they should be good you know what I mean like the writing was bad the acting was okay but they were working with a bad script it seems like so what here is not what it appears to be is jaunter jaunter and billy opens his eyes and all of you open your eyes as well because while billy was scrubbing through his memories you were all seeing the exact same thing that he was seeing what somehow billy was sharing his memories with you these like old weird half remembered memories and you billy you look down at your hand and you realize you were gripping the glass ring from chamberlain in your hand oh my god holy shit uh so I mean yeah that's the situation something of some so let's recap what we learned from that discern realities perhaps the densest and most delectable discern realities gross to date we've ever done so what we learned was wow uh okay what was the first thing we learned uh the first thing we learned was the most the pile was seagulls I think it was the tea thing like I walked by and yeah and uh they and uh the torch of mccall and jaunter met up and I was like oh jaunter oh and he was like pouring the tea and it was cold and so the torch did the flame thing with his hands was that the second thing the first thing was what here is what here happened recently what we learned is that the menders were founded by the yeah the light guard there is and jaunter as a traveling musician or a traveling performer probably traveled town to town and maybe that's what all bard groups are who can say that it sets a precedent for traveling performers being mending groups and also the menders and the light guard only transmit information verbally yes it's the safest way to do so yeah that's the other thing because it can't be hacked they never write anything down yeah um and then the second thing you learned is that the torch of mccall is able to summon fire from his body so lame he but he did you see how smug he was about it yeah I did so like so show oh he was like no no no it was the it's the god of the flame so you get the idea that this is legit like a divine power that he was given by tuck's god and then the third thing you learned is that something is up with jaunter you've heard that the psalm creek theater society is good the plays were bad he's lying about maggie cole he's lying about what's happening in the principalities and he has all this fucking information about the fire and he's like oh my god I'm gonna go to jail I'm gonna go to prison and I'm gonna go to prison and I'm gonna go to prison and I'm gonna go to prison and I'm gonna go to prison and I'm gonna go to prison and I'm gonna go to prison and I'm gonna go to prison and I'm gonna go to prison and I'm gonna go to prison and I'm gonna go to prison and slash Spout Lore or Spout Lore.com slash money, please.

Billy, you were a king? What? You were a king? I guess so. I haven't thought about that in a really long time. I won't think about that in a really long time. Join us at patreon.com for our upcoming Blades in the Dark campaign featuring the Cool Treat Kids and set in the High Spear Mall. Instead of recording that today, can we figure out what's happening next? Yeah. We can say, maybe I'll make you wait. Oh, thanks to Adam Coble and Sage LaTorre for inventing Dungeon World.

We really appreciate that. And thanks to Vincent Baker and Meggie Baker for inventing Apocalypse World, which is the game that Dungeon World is based on. All incredible games you can find on the internet. If that's not how you pronounce Meggie, I'm sorry. Thank you to you for listening. See you next time.

And so ends the tale of Adventures 3 Who tried the best they could Though dumb and scared and lost they'd be For times abreast in revelry And though our journey may be like 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 the rest of your life You are gladly spelled wrong And for the rest of your life You are gladly spelled wrong And for the rest of your life You are gladly spelled wrong And for the rest of your life

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 half-elf, 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. Hello everybody and welcome to Spout Lore. I'm your Game Master, Sean O'Hara. Joining me as always, playing Tacoma Dome the Barbarian. Abdul Aziz. Hello. Playing Ving the Half-Elf Druid, Paul Oppers. Hi. And playing Fat Billy, the Halfling Thief, Jessica Tai. Hello. When last we left our heroes, they were doing a little spying. Mm-hmm.

In preparation for the wedding between Callum Blackhammer and Victoria LeBlanc, so-called, quote, quote-unquote. Someone farted really loud outside. Someone farted. It wasn't me this time. It was really loud. Do you think it's that same person who farts in our hallway? No, that's Paul. That's me. No, no. There was… It's Paul, but also, we've heard it before from someone. We have heard it before. There's all those moms and dads in there. Somebody's got to come over here to fart.

Someone's coming over here to fart. Yeah. Walking around the corner thinking there's nobody here, ripping a fart. Maybe they know we're recording and they're like, this is great. I'm going to get on that podcast. I just love that Paul saw the room full of people and was like, I'll wait until I'm in the hallway before I fart. And then farted so loud. I came in and you were all looking at me. You had headphones on. Yeah, we heard it. Through the mic. We just heard that. That's what we heard.

Through the mic. Oh, my tummy. Sorry, I ate so much pizza really fast. Okay. What if you get pizzeria? I probably will. Do you need Tums? No, never. As part of those preparations, Tacoma Dome, the barbarian, decided to spy upon the chambers of Victoria LaBlanche simply in an attempt for her to see him. Looking cool, I guess. Yes. I was trying to wrong foot her. Yeah, because Tuck's plan was if she sees me and I look hot enough, I'll ruin their wedding. Yeah.

She won't be able to hold it together, I think. Yeah, totally. Because everybody gets cold feet on their wedding day. Everyone's looking to bolt. He keeps saying that. Everyone's looking to bolt and then they just don't because someone blocked their truck in. They got double parked so they couldn't do it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Everyone's looking to do it. And then they got double parked that one time. Black Tacoma got double parked.

They got double parked by Aaron's shitty cousin. You had three weddings. Yeah. That happened to you three times? I got double parked every time. Every time. He's going to run. He's got a runner written all over his face. Yeah. Oh, cool. Leave that in. I dare you. I will. Double parked. I will. I will. This had questionable effect, but what we did learn. Is that Victoria LaBlanche was getting changed in front of the window. Yeah. Deliberately. Yeah.

But also kind of showing it, but kind of not showing it because we're a family podcast. Totally. Sort of. Doink. Oh, Ving saw that Callum Blackhammer's demonic presence is sort of orchestrating slash puppet mastering the weird tension that lies over Black Glass. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Carrying a container with inks and also a very ancient tooth and bone knife. From there, we jumped to the party itself where the crew immediately began causing trouble in their attempt to create a distraction as part of their deal with the Brass Castle gang. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And then Billy slipped off into the darkness, doing a little bit of sneaking and spying himself.

Billy ran into a member of the Brass Castle gang who directed him to Callum's office on the second floor. Tuck and Vang headed themselves to the ballroom and spied the grand, grand decorations of the place. Yeah. Tuck became overwhelmed by the presence of Callum Blackhammer, who appeared to zero in on Tuck. Sexually overwhelmed. Sexually pretty overwhelmed. Yeah, Tuck was sexually overwhelmed by Callum Blackhammer.

And Vang realized that the ceremony that had been set up uses an altar that the Medjay used in the ritual in which they stole his shapeshifting away. And that the decorations themselves were arranged in a reflection of the constellations of the Outer Dark and also of the Spirit Realm. Billy overheard a conversation between Callum. And Victoria LaBlanche in which they described something that would be taking place very soon. A ceremony after the wedding. Yeah.

And that after that, they would be like gods. Yeah. Tuck took a peek around and realized that if they were to attempt to bind something both iconic and spiritual of significant power, the only thing Tuck could think of that made sense was the Gibbous Man himself. And that is where we find our heroes now. So bad. This is really bad. This is really bad. Tuck is saying it to Vang. He's like grabbing him. Do you know what they're doing? Vang, this is really bad.

I think they're trying to bind the Gibbous Man. What can we do? What do we… We have to stop this. We can't let this happen. If he gets hold of this power, this party, this union, we're screwed. There's no stopping him. Can we hypothetically destroy the altar or the ink or the knives that they use? Yes. I don't think there's anything in this world that we can't destroy. Okay. That's a very good point. Fucking love you so much. You look really good tonight. Thanks. You look beautiful. Thank you.

All right. Let's go fuck up some stuff. We just run over and we smash the altar. Is that your plan? I think we probably want to get to it kind of slowly. Sure, yeah. Creep slowly towards it. Oh, yeah. We don't have anything that we can smash that with. Yes. Yeah, that's true. Yeah. Yeah, so we'll cut back to Billy. What is Billy doing? Can you remind me what they were talking about in there? So they're like, Victoria's got beef with Tuck still. Yep.

Seems like she's interested in settling a score. They're going to do their wedding first and then this ceremony. Yes. And then he said, and then we will be like gods. Yes. And then you notice because Billy peeked through the keyhole slash under the door and noticed that Victoria had fresh tattoos. Right. Her back of tattoos. Yeah. Okay. So Billy is like, wow, I've heard enough. I know exactly what's going on here. Goodbye. I don't know if I still have these on me, but I had to blow darts.

So your plan here was to try and paralyze Victoria and. I just thought I was like, they're right there. Yeah. They're still making out. They're vulnerable. Yeah. They're not expecting this. Because they're making out. Kind of makes you sick. Yeah. It's gross to look at. For sure. They're bumping around in there now. They're clanging into some stuff. Yeah. They're like, oh, I'm going to do this. I'm going to do this. I'm going to do this.

They're like slamming into the desk and like moving across the room, slamming into a bookshelf, rubbing up against, rubbing butts against different stuff. Are they coming near the door? I could try and get their heels. Oh, you're good. So you're going to try and poison these guys. Yeah. So you'd have to, you'd have to roll some sort of defy danger to get close enough that you could do this. With death poison? No. The, the, the blow darts were the, the snake one. Harp snake venom. Yeah.

Ah, yes, yes, yes. Which I think you might've said you gave back to Ving. I think you did. I did. I just have a dart. I just have a dart. That's okay. So Billy's been pacing back and forth. Pacing is not what I'm doing. Billy's been rolling back and forth, watching this happening, going back and forth in his thoughts. Like I could kill him right now, but I can't really kill them. This is Callum Blackhammer. Billy, come on.

And then I remember I, I gave my dreamless sleep to Tuck and I gave my harp snake venom to Ving and I am unarmed except for this big bag of coins I stole. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. Danger. Dexterity for you to get back to the party. Yes. Yeah. For sneaking. Five. Oh no. Oh no. So you are creeping back down the hallway. Sneak. Sneak. Sneak. The darkness. The dimness. The black flames glittering off the walls casting long spooky shadows.

And you basically bump right into a dark robed figure. Oh shit. Who turns around. Who. And looks down. Shadowed face. Under the hood, but just like a chin peeking out of the hood and you see tattoos along the chin. A magi. They reach down. They're trying to grab you. Oh, I try to back away. And on a failure, unfortunately, they get you by the cloak. What are you wearing underneath your dog costume? Oh, I'm not wearing my dog costume. I'm just wearing my regular clothes. Just regular clothes.

A raccoon costume. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So they grab you, lift you up off the ground, I'm like kicking and shouting, let me go, let me go. You're a weird, you're a gross zombie. Get your zombie hands off of me. What are you doing sneaking around here, little rat? I was going to the bathroom. And if you don't let me go, I'm gonna go to the bathroom all over you. You know the guest bathrooms are in the front lobby. I don't know that. There was a big lineup.

If you were looking for secrets, little boy, you found them. What secrets? And he runs. He whisks you down the hallway. Like he's carrying me? He's carrying you. Oh my god. I'm yelling for you guys. Oh yeah. I don't know if you can hear me. Yeah, you are, Tuck and Ving, you're in the ballroom as you're connecting these dots and you hear kind of on the wind. Tuck! Ving! Happy Kidney! And there's these kids, this kid's screaming. I'm being dognapped! A zombie! Aspie's gonna eat me!

And with these screams, you notice that the guests around you are not reacting at all. So we can hear Billy screaming from like whatever room he's in? Yeah, from like a corridor off the side of the courtyard and there is no reaction from the crowd. They're like looking at each other, kind of murmuring to one another. Yeah, Tuck and Vig are immediately on high alert. Yeah. Can you start sprinting? Towards the voices? Do we need to roll discern reality to see where it is?

No, you can hear where it's coming from. Okay, let's go. Say dexterity to get like there fast enough. Imagine you guys like doing the thing with curtains where you're like, where's the opening? What the hell? I had my finger in it, I had my finger in it like a second ago. Right, because is it curtains that are covering the walkways? It's curtains like a ton of areas. There's so many velvet curtains here. It's the horniest room I've ever been in.

One of those things where they just, you know, they don't want you to see the door out of the room because you're supposed to hang out in here. Okay, here we go. I am going to find my son because I am the superior father. Uh, yeah, so I got an eight. Alright, so it's a dexterity? It's a dexterity. I'm not running super hard. No. Okay, so I got five. Oh, no. It's because I pushed Bing to the ground when I ran. Because you said I'm the superior father. So you got a five and you got a what?

I got eight. Eight, okay. So I think that you, uh. I have a discern realities. Oh. Okay, so you get a plus one. So I get a plus one. That makes it a six. I can aid. Yeah, I aid him. Push him down and then pick me up again. You son of a bitch. Uh, that's six. Shit. So I try to aid him, but I push him. Can we aid from a distance? By saying I'm a distance. He actually can aid from a distance. I can. I can. I'm here. But he only has one. Oh, no. You can just aid.

You don't have to spend a fairy point on it. Okay. You do have to roll. You don't have to spend a fairy child. Yes. Come on. Please, please. Oh, God. No. I got four. Holy shit. Oh, my God. You know what's happening is like I'm yelling. I'm saying like I'm trying to give directions, but it's echoing off. Everything is bouncing off. Yeah. Totally. Yeah. So you get a sweet. Yeah, you get a point as well. Oh, shit. Do I also get a point? Yeah, I get a point of experience. We all do for that.

Yeah, you all do. Wow. Look at us. Holy shit. We're gonna level up four times next. And I'm gonna have to make a all the fucking move. Yes, you are. I promise I'll think about it. John, this is your job. I know it is. But anyway, yes, I start running and I try to grab Ving and I think I have you, but I only have your cape and I'm dragging you behind me and the cape has caught on a ice sculpture. That's why it feels like you're with me. Dragging an ice sculpture across the floor.

It's like close up shot of just tuck and he's like, Ving, I'll take you with me. And I grab him and I pull. It knocks him to the… Don't worry, Ving. We're gonna find Billy. And I look back and it's a swan. Yeah, it's a mostly shattered ice swan. Ving's on the ground picking himself up. And you get through the door, but all you're hearing is like the echoings of Billy's voice. Billy, you're kind of being like jostled around like a bag of apples. And you have no idea what direction you're going.

I am biting the hand of the Medjay. All right. Defy Danger's strength. I can do this. I got heavy chompers. Holy shit. Eleven. Just naturally. Just a natural eleven. Natural teeth. Look at these. I'm a dog. Like Victor showed me. Oh, yeah. You bite him hard. He drops you. I run. I run back. I'm running. Dexterity. Nine. Nine. Okay, so you start.

Yeah, you hear Ving and Tuck yelling down the corridor and you start booking it and you hear like as the Medjay's hand is chomped hard and you hear you're like you little creature and you turn and you see like darkness enveloping the Medjay. I try to run harder, but I'm already running as fast as I can. But you like with the seven to nine. Yes. He is in pursuit. Darkness is enveloping him like shifting his form. The shadows are gathering into the man. I'm like throwing illusions behind me. Yeah.

What kind of illusions are you throwing at him? Just light and whatever comes to his mind. So like light balls, a cat. So like you're throwing these illusions back, but you just know that he is pursuing you. Yeah. And Tuck and Ving you emerge into the corridor. You hear Billy shouting, crashing, and then you see him like skidding around the corner. Keep running. Follow me. Don't run that way. There's a Medjay. I'm trying. Fuck!

And you guys look down the corridor and you see like the shadows like pulling into place around a figure. Do I recognize this? Yeah. Okay. That's an Efreet. It's an Efreet. Billy, run! It's an Efreet! I'm running as fast as I can! Okay. So what are the rules of an Efreet? What are the rules? It can't run on stone. It's saffron. It's weak to saffron. I have one saffron. Okay. You should use that. Don't you have saffron around your neck and the thousand cloths?

No, I gave it to that guy and his mom. Oh my god. To the mom! Rodney and Mumsy are just like at the buffet table like, oh, this is quite lovely! We run by, grab their masks. No. They immediately just… Billy runs down the corridor. I skid in between the Efreet and Billy. And I… You don't have anything on you. I'm holding an ice swan, so I throw it at the Efreet. Alright, fair enough. Here we go. 2d6 plus dexterity I get? No, this is strength. Like, heave it. Yeah.

And Tuck goes, sorry, I'm putting you on ice. Oh my god. Okay, so that's a four. You deserve that. Wait, no. What is it plus? Strength. Strength. Seven? Seven. Seven. Okay. You deserve that. What a prick. I'm putting you on ice. So seven to nine here, because it was a defy danger, not a hack and slash. Oh, was it a fight? Yeah, because hack and slash is like up close. It's kind of a volley. It is kind of a volley. Oh, so then it's dexterity. Then I got three. What? Thanks, Paul.

I was gonna say strength or dexterity, but then I said strength because he's like heaving it. You're not trying to hit him. You're trying to like disrupt. Yeah. I'm trying to put him on ice. Come on. That time was a little bit better. That was much better. You heave this giant ice swan at this ifreet or whatever it is. Shadow cloaked man. I'm not a freet of you. They like lash out at the ice and just shatter it.

But the way that it shatters creates kind of like a field of chips of ice that disorients the ifreet long enough that you have a moment to act. I chase after Billy. Okay. I want to bring the ice down onto him in a rain of sharp shards now that we have ice elementals in the room. Oh, sick. I'm going to use elemental form to create a solid wall around me. 2d6 plus constitution. Oh, yeah. Oh, wow. What? 13. I believe you get three hold. Yes, I have three hold. Cool.

So what do you so you're I guess spending one hold to like create this wall that's holding it back. Great. So it's slant. It's throwing itself against this ice wall. Shadowy claws tearing, but you're holding it back momentarily. Billy is booking it down the corridor. I run after him. I go Billy. I'm right behind you and I go to scoop you up, I guess. Yeah, where's Ving? He's turned back and Ving's like part of a giant ice wall like boom, boom. Let me know when you guys are here.

We're going to go help him. Okay, fuck. No, wait, I can do this. I've got this. You could spend a hold, try and freeze them in place while you run away. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm going to try and what are the rules of the Freed? I forget. It's they're weak to saffron. They're weak to the light of sunstone and they're they can't run on stones. Oh, wait, no, they can only run on stone. Oh, only run stone. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Like they can't take the wooden roads. You have to take the wooden road.

Sorry. So that is part of, you know, if they weren't able to run on stone like they wouldn't be able to be in this or it wouldn't be able to be in this castle because it's all made of stone. Yeah. Okay, so I'm going to start back. Picking up with keeping the way all ice. Yeah, totally. Yep. You can spend a whole spend a hold there to get back off and keeping it ice to put some distance between us. Yeah, totally.

So are you making a thicker and thicker ice wall between my walls getting thinner, but it's going down on the ground and making it so he can't step on the ground because it's not stone. Oh, I see. Yeah. So then it's it kind of starts like pacing back and forth in the hallway in front of the ice after it tests the floor.

Yeah, but you're all standing on the other side of this ice corridor being you've got like one hold left whenever if you want to use that, but you do have some safety and it sounds like there's a bit of commotion on the other end of the castle like down past this Medjay in the hallway this, you know, there's a it they heard a fight taking place. It sounds like so people are starting to become aware that something's going on really. What did you see?

I mean, I saw I saw them kissing who Victoria and Callum. I'm sorry. I probably didn't know it. It probably didn't mean anything. I mean, to be fair, you've been cheating on her with me this whole time. I can't believe it. I'm sorry. I probably should have left that one for last. My wedding day. This is the worst thing that's happened to me today. That might be true. I did see. Okay, so they are talking. So hard to remember.

They are talking about like there's going to be the wedding and then there's going to be a ceremony and after the ceremony they're going to be powerful like gods. That's what Callum said. And then I saw on Victoria's back. She's got all the weird Medjay tattoos tattoos. Okay. Well, you know what? She's pretty toxic. I feel like me trying to disrupt the wedding is maybe let us down a blind alley. Or you can be like this is the ultimate Yeah, you're right, Billy. This is the ultimate betrayal.

This is the ultimate betrayal. Yeah, because I would never ever get involved with someone who is, you know, so tainted by the iconic realm except for Alice. Yeah, you've only got room for one iconic girlfriend. I know. Staring off the distance thinking about Allison's taint. Tuck's girlfriends are iconic. Hashtag 2020. 25 summer. They're also very toxic. Okay, so we should should we try and get out of here then? Yes.

No, I know, but I just what if the ceremony is focused on them and they become like you said, gods. We can't let that happen. Right, because we do know one thing that we saw in the ballroom was that just based on how the ballroom was laid out it felt like they were trying to get out of the ballroom. They were trying to summon and bind the gibbous man. What if we go and replace the ink and create a fairy circle around the ceremony stone? He can't break through the circle. Right.

You wouldn't be able to get in a fairy circle. Do you still have a fairy hold? I have one left. Okay. Shit. That's a good call. So we would put the fairy circle around the altar that they would be doing and the ink and the ink which is what they need. Right. They can't bind without the ink or the knife. That's true. Let's just take the ink. So we're assuming that the ink is with the altar I think is something that we're that we are making an assumption about.

Maybe the magi would never leave the ink. They would never leave the ink. So if you want that ink you gotta find the magi. And you see the you look back down the corridor at the efreet. We all three of us like look back and he's like oh he sees you looking and he stops pacing and kind of beckons you towards him. How strong are they? I've never fought an efreet. I've never known anyone who survived a conflict with an efreet. Efreet.

So something to consider is that this appears to be a person who has bound the icon of malice to themselves. Right. Not necessarily a pure efreet. Whether that makes them weaker or stronger you don't know. Okay I'm gonna use my last hold to try and bind them against the wall in a cage of ice. Sure yeah. That's great. So you spend your hold and you like scoop the ice up off the ground and slam them against the wall.

It was when like if we're gonna find we need to find the magi and then we look down and then he motions us and then we're like okay. And then he's like he's just stuck and you all trot past him as he's struggling against the ice. I'm gonna mark him. Oh. Put the eye of the beast on him. Eye of the tiger. Yeah. That's sick. And it's the shadowy heads like two pinpricks of light for eyes struggling in the ice as you mark him. Yeah. And then take off into the castle. Yeah. Okay.

So you make it down several corridors. This place isn't as labyrinthine as you would expect. It's laid out fairly logically. Like it's just a big cube basically with corridors and then there's the new construction glass that comes off of it. That's where it gets kind of hard to navigate because there's like weird greenhouses basically sticking out of different parts of the building. The only other room that you know for sure where it is is Callum's office. We could face Callum. Yeah.

If they're there. Yeah. Let's go. You get there and the door is closed. You see the light flickering from underneath the door jam like you did before. There's a sock on the door. Yeah. There's painting shaking on the wall. Is there actually? No. Can I check under the door? Yeah, absolutely. Okay. Maybe trap expert? Sure. Nine plus two, eleven. So I get three questions. Okay. Is there a trap here? There is a trap here. What activates it? Going into this room. What does the trap do?

You are realizing that if Callum is a vessel for the icon of cunning, you could be playing into his hand right now. Gosh. This might be where he wants you to be. What else is hidden here? So you see a closet door and you see like a cane, like a finely wrought cane, metal and wood like brass head leaning against the door and on the cane head you see etched with your binocular vision hither and yon. Hither and yon. And are they in the office? There's nobody in there. It's a trap though.

We know it's a trap. Okay. I would like to do tricks of the trade to try to disable the trap. Okay. So disabling the trap in this sense would be because what you consider the trap is is Callum's ability to make plans for eventualities would be doing something in a way unexpected enough that he wouldn't have planned for that. So this is, I like this a lot. This is very interesting but I'm just curious how Billy is doing this. He would expect us to do something to rush after mirrors.

What if we don't run in there? What if we open the door and we don't step in? Ooh. What? Well, I mean, that Freit fellow. Yes. Is going to be following us. That's true. What if we open the door and make it look like we went in? When he comes up I'll eye the tiger room and see what's going on in the hither and yon. Maybe they'll set the trap off. Smart. Send him in there. Yeah. Yeah. Sweet. Okay. And we'll hide in the linen closet next door. Yeah. Which one? Oh, that one.

There's a million thread count blanket in there that you found earlier. Gotta feel this fabric, Billy. I love the idea of a magic item being a one million thread count blanket. You touch it and it's so soft you cum. Okay. So this is I'm happy this being tricks of the trade. Okay. Trying to outthink the icon for the vessel of cunning. Yeah. Plus 630. Seven. So I believe that with that you get a choice between suspicion, danger, or cost. Okay. So danger. Okay.

So the danger, of course, being found and attacked by the Afrit and the cost being leaving hither and yon there without being able to get in. I think danger. What do you think? Yeah. Okay. So you are hiding in the linen closet. Yeah. Everybody's crowded around the keyhole. Yeah. You open the door. Yeah. Oh, you open the door to the office. Make it see like, you know, leave it open a crack so they're not sure. Yeah.

Tuck throws a plate of spaghetti that he was holding in there so that it looks like he was in. Yeah. They're like, oh, we all know he's had spaghetti this whole time. Yeah. Tuck looks at you guys. He says, everybody knows I love spaghetti, right? Everyone saw you take the spaghetti. We all saw it. We cut back to the scenes previously and Tuck is running down the hallway with a plate of spaghetti. I did not notice. He's fighting Afrit. He's got a plate of spaghetti in his hand.

He's feeding a stuffed ocelot yogurt, but he's got a plate of spaghetti in the hand. That's why when he threw the swan, he said, that's a cold meatball. Yeah. All those hilarious spaghetti puns that he made. Oh, that makes way more sense. Okay, I could take off Allison's scarf and then leave it across the door sill and would never leave this behind. It's a huge sacrifice. But it is in Hither and Yon.

Well, no, Hither and Yon is on the other side of the door, so I leave it across the sill of Callum's office. Okay. And then Tuck to comfort himself because he's so sad about losing the scarf, he eats the plate of spaghetti that he has. That he's had. So we flash back and we see we're back in the finest hotel in town. Tuck's on the penthouse looking through a telescope eating a plate of spaghetti. So we're pushing a cart to a hot dog festival. There is spaghetti in Tuck's hand.

There's a plate of spaghetti in my hand. There's always spaghetti everywhere. I can't. So you're hiding in the linen closet. The spaghetti is being eaten. And you hear like a cracking crash as you assume the ifrit breaks out of the ice. And, um. Bing, look into his eyes. He's there in a flash. Yeah, he's woof. And you see him standing in front of the doorway and as he steps into the door I'm sharing with them. Yeah.

You feel like the rage, the rage from malice that exists within the mind of someone who is connected to. Yeah. Bing's hand is on like your wrist and you feel him like. And I feel your fingernails getting longer and digging into my. Oh. So, actually, looking through his eyes, having marked him with the eye of the tiger, um, something that you do feel is that rageful malice but the strain that the Medjay is under maintaining it. Oh.

And as they step through the door and see that you aren't there the shadows kind of melt off of them back into the corners of the room, back into the corridor revealing, you know, the dark robed figure exhausted, like hunched over kind of hand on the door jam. Can we push him in the closet? Oh. With Hither and Yonder? I don't know. I don't know. I just don't. So we know that he can't get into Hither and Yonder at least. But he is in Callum's office. He's in Callum's office.

And what has he triggered in terms of the trap? I think the other Medjay show up. Oh, that's what it is. So like kind of gliding into view out of the darkness two further robed figures step out of the darkness in Callum's office. Oh, shit! And then they confer quietly and then, Bing, you see, through the eyes of this Medjay, the eyes turn towards the linen closet. They know we're here. I'm going to roll a fight with honor. Fuck. Plus? Constitution, I think, for fight with honor? Eight. Plus con.

Great. Okay, so you get what? One chi, two chi? I think two. Two. And you, what, you kick open the door and you get ready for this fight? I kick the doorframe out of the wall and I try and hit one of them. That's cool. Two D6 plus strike. Thanks. Thanks for saying it was cool, Sean. I feel like you've been really not on board with most of the things that I've thought of. Well, only the dumb stuff. Okay. I'm joking. I'm joking. I'm joking. Okay, so that's plus strength? Yeah. Eight.

Yeah, so I think you're able to, like, the door kicks off the hinges and flies across the room as one of the Medjay is stepping out and they stumble back as the door hits them. But even as you're watching, you can see them, like, throw their hands up and catch it. Uh-huh. And they are smashing through it. Okay. But you have a moment to act. Billy, do you want to do something or I'm going to fight with honor if you do? I was going to do I'm a bad guy now. Yeah. Oh, fuck yeah, do it.

Okay, I will call upon my winter form. Holy shit. Very nice. Eleven. Oh, shit. Yeah, so I get three hold. My thing didn't work very well, so I feel like I did. Could it possibly be that you wolfed a play of spaghetti in there? Chuck's so cool. Is that what gave us away? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Oregano. He's in there. There's a noodle rolling out from under the door. A meatball. A meatball rolls into the room.

A noodle's slowly sticking back into the linen closet. They can hear me going, yum yum yum. Stop twirling it around the fork. I love spaghetti. It's so good. It's literally just Doug being like, yum yum yum yum. And he's like kind of nestling into the million thread count linen. He's getting spaghetti sauce all over him. Just pour linen. Callum's majordomo is gonna kill you. His butler is gonna cut your head off.

Okay, so Billy's got three hold for I'm a bad guy now, which he can spend on a variety of cool moves. Ving has two hold for his fight with honor, which he can spend on a variety of cool moves. Tuck, has a half-eaten plate of spaghetti. No, I finished it. Okay, so he's getting sleepy. I take a debility to his dexterity. Take a debility. Okay, Ving, what's your plan with your hold? I'm gonna deal a damage to a foe within reach. Okay, great, yeah.

The three magi are literally five feet from you, so you can definitely deal your damage to one of them. And what state are they in? Are they like all efreet? Is only one of them an efreet? So, the one that had summoned malice is there, but is not in his malice form and looks very haggard. The other two have different tattoos. Okay. But they're still in human form? They're still in human form, but it looks like they're kind of gearing up for a fight.

But it almost looks like, if you had to guess, they're like hesitant to do it almost. Because, well, that was a thing we saw with the magi. It was like every time Roth summoned a spirit, it tore his body apart. Yeah. It's not good for you. You don't have to do this. It doesn't have to end this way. Oh, that's a good question. I think the one in the front, there's one that's like older, maybe 50s, 60s, but still ropey muscle under their McCollin robes and then the hood.

Like Ralph Fiennes in the new movie? Yeah. Exactly like Ralph Fiennes in that movie where he plays Odysseus. He looks sick in that movie. He does. What does he say? There's only pain. There is only pain. But we will do this. And we need you. Whoa. Confirmed. They need the spirit walker to do this fucking thing. Mm-hmm. Puts his hands up and emotions come towards him. Tuck gets a little bit hard when he sees me. Whoa. Whoa. Vink's so fucking cool.

Glad Jessica looked away for all the crassest hand gestures. Yeah, that was like a thought for me. I see what's going on here. You guys' privacy. Something that you notice as they point at you, Vink, is you're not sure that they're just pointing at you. Ugh. But they rush forward. What do you do? Deal your damage to a foe within sight? I'm gonna try and take one of these guys out. Yeah. With a leg sweep. Four. Four. Pretty good. You clock the old man in the front who stumbles back.

So he kind of goes down on one knee. Slams his knee into the ground. And then one of the other guys goes, whoa, you hit an old man. My boom knee. Whoa, dude. What the fuck? What the fuck, man? Yeah, what's wrong with you? Gramps, are you okay? He goes, oh, my fucking knee. I was in the war. But he is, you know, swiftly regaining his composure. The two younger Medjay are like spreading out on either side, trying to move in on Tuck and Billy. Can I freeze someone, one of them in place?

Oh, yeah, totally. Like, oh, because you're tapping into your winter form. Yep. Yes. Oh, sick. So the frost is like climbing across the floor, like up Billy. Up the powerful one. Yeah. Fuck yes. Oh, up the Afrit one? Well, up both of us at the same time. Oh, yeah. Nice. Cool, yes. I'm like, I keep pushing the frost back down way, like, and it goes in like waves and up the Medjay. Cool, yeah. And as he's like taking steps, like the ice is climbing up his legs.

He's shattering it as he's moving towards you. But then he is eventually unable to continue forward. Wow. Tuck. There's another guy coming for me, right? Yes. Okay. So, Tuck, he's in his duster. Right. Dressed like a cowboy. Anime. Yeah. Covered in spaghetti sauce. Yes. Fuck! Noodles in his beard. I want it to look cool. What? He rubbed his face all over the linens, remember? Oh, right. Yeah, the million. Yeah. Yeah. Million thread count blanket. Yeah. Spaghetti all over. Sure. Yeah.

He walks up to the one of them that's squaring up with him. What does he look like? This one is lean, younger, hair, shaved, like in the way that Fatim shaved his hair, like shaved on the sides, kind of like the braid on the top. Right. Dark hair covered in tattoos. You know, the eye in the middle for the iconic Medjay. Yeah. The demonic Medjay. And then a constellation across his upper chest down his arms. Do I recognize what the constellation? Is? You would have to guess. Yeah.

You'd have to read it for a second. Spout Lore, I guess. Yeah. So that's I rolled six and I have negative two. So it's how do you man? I know how you have a negative two. It's insane. You have a negative two to intelligence. So I think what it is, is you all this is going to if we're talking anime. Yeah. You've got you know, your coat is flapping. Yeah. The spaghetti sauce is flapping off the blanket you have wrapped around your shoulders. Yeah. And I took he doesn't have any weapons.

So he just like raises his fist. Yeah. And there's a leather sound. Yeah. The leather's creaking on the coat that he's wearing. Yeah. And then he squeezes his fist really tight and all of his knuckles pop. Pretty sick. And then he has a little like X-Vane popping. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. X-Vane's on the back. Talks fucking straight edge, bro. What's an X-Vane? You know in anime when they're like really furious and then this little vein popping shows up. Oh, yeah. The like the forehead one. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. And the Medjay across from you kind of bounces on his heels a little bit. Yeah. And then gone. What? He like his like his image almost flickers and then he's gone. And then with a failure rocketing in from the side. Boom. Punch to the jaw. Oh, shit. Shit. Spaghetti splattered against the wall. Give me the ball. For a second, you guys think Tuck got his brain punched out. Oh, my God. His tiny little brain. Tuck had a mouth full of spaghetti. Spaghetti. That's a spicy brain.

He was saving for later. He was in your beard. He was saving for later. You've got deadly poison in one cheek and a meatball in the other. Thank God he punched the meatball and not the vial. This is why you get COVID. Get your hands out of your fucking mouth. I haven't left the office in 18 hours. It wouldn't survive that long. That's true. That's probably true. Yeah, it's all in there. It's all in there. Yeah, it looks like my teeth got shot out of my face.

I really like that it's a slow motion, like hard punch. And then just a normal motion meatball against a wall. Oh, wow. D8? D8, yeah. Here we go. Six. Oh, man. Inhale. You're not sure that there wasn't an actual tooth in that. I think that might have actually been his brain. I mean, Vincent, a tooth in there. I smile. I smile. I smile at Billy and I give him a thumbs up and there's like a missing tooth. Oh, no. A bird flying around your head. Your cap. Teamwork. Caving. I love spaghetti.

Spaghetti. Did you see that? Oh, man. Okay, so he's down on the knee. I'm in a sweet position. I'm just going to lunge forward off of my back arm and headbutt him in the head. Great. Are you spending a hold to deal your damage? Yeah. Hell yeah. Three. Yeah, you crack. Yeah, and you crack him and he reels back and you give him a good smack right in the jaw and he stumbles back onto his feet, like uses that momentum to stand back up, but like slumps against the wall and kind of shakes himself off.

It'll be easier for everyone if the three of you just submit. Okay. I'll never submit. And then I want to deal damage to him. Oh, hell yeah. Oh, fuck yeah. I think you just spend a hold. I do spend a hold, but my damage when I'm in my winter form, I use 2d6. Oh, yes. Okay, yeah. Holy shit. Ten! Holy fuck. Okay, how does Billy deal this damage in his winter form? Oh, I, because I packed those kitchen knives from the hotel. Oh, nice.

So I take a big one and I spin it around and straight into his chest. Yeah, totally. Whip it into his chest. Yeah, you whip this kitchen knife into this old man's chest. Oh, it's the old guy? Yeah. Yeah, that was the one that, yeah, that Ving was talking to. And he takes the knife right in the chest. Blood coughs up through his mouth and he steps back and looks at the other two and shakes his head, says, not yet, and books down the corridor. What? He runs? Yeah.

Okay, what's going on with the other two guys? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They're trying to disengage. They're trying to listen to their leader. Oh. Uh. Oh, I don't want them to go. Yeah. Tuck tries to sucker punch the one that hit him in the face. Okay, yeah. Okay. Hack and slash. He's not paying attention to it for a second. Here we go. Uh, fuck. What is going on with my rolls? I got an eight. Okay. Yeah. Not bad.

That's a seven to nine. Okay. Four. I do four damage. Okay, yeah. Uh, roll a d8. Two. Okay, great. Yeah. Which, uh, is negated by your armor. Yes. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So you swing at him. Yes. And it's almost like you're swinging where he was. Oh, fuck. But you feel your hand, like, clip something to the point where it throws him off just a little bit, and he catches you with, like, a tiny little uppercut under the chin. Yeah. And you feel yourself, like, bite your lip. Fuck.

But it's not enough of a punch to really, like, rattle you. Yeah. But yeah, you spit out a little blood. And a little spaghetti, too. There's still some in there. Still some spaghetti in there. And it looks like he is trying to back off. A bunch of ravioli's falling. It's all the ravioli that was in my beard. Where are you getting all this, man? All dude. Passes from around the world. But he's that, like, as you're looking at him, he's, like, flickering out of sight.

And it looks like he's moving away from you. The third one is also, uh, is also there. The mallet. It's frozen, right? Oh, he's, yeah, he's trying to break out of the ice that has frozen him in place. And, uh, seemingly get away. But he's wrapped up in this sheet that Billy has around his legs. So you can see him reach out. Like, pause for a second. Think. And then reach out and start drawing shadows towards him. What do you do? You can either. So here's what I think the. Oh, here.

There are three choices, I think. Let him do this. And then have to face, uh, malice-infused magi. Let him go. And let him do whatever it is his plan is to do. Run to Hither and Yon. I have a fourth option. Okay. That I want to do. As he gathers. Shadows around him. Tuck pushes his hands into the shade that is gathering around the guy. And he wants to grab him and rip him into Hither and Yon. Because I want to keep him as a hostage.

I don't know that Tuck would be able to drag a hostage into Hither and Yon. I couldn't. I don't think Hither and Yon would allow it. So Tuck goes to grab him. And then goes to be like, you're coming with us, buddy. And he kicks Hither and Yon open behind him. And he steps into it. And his hands let go of the guy. Fuck. He just feels his hands release. And then the guy's just standing there. Kind of like, what was that supposed to do? Fuck.

So Tuck runs into the office and drags the guy into Hither and Yon. But it does not work. But Tuck goes through the door. And Mears is behind the bar. What's happening? Mears, what the fuck? Where did you go? What do you mean? Where did you go? We were in the street. We went to a sub shop. And we came back and you were gone. He's standing there with like a frown. He's got a frying pan over his head. I don't know what's going on. I've been stuck here for two days. Where are the others?

They're outside. Yeah. I have one hold. Can I deal damage to him then? Yeah, totally. He's facing away from me. Yep. Six. So six is pretty serious. That's pretty solid damage. How are you dealing damage to him? I am going to run into Hither and Yon. But I throw another kitchen knife. Yeah, totally. So as you're like running past, you whip a knife into his arm. Sure. And it cuts right into the meat of his shoulder.

And he kind of like falls back against Callum's desk with a like, and you through the door. I'm going to use the knife, the element of steel. Ooh. That's the knife in his arm to launch him across the room. Oh, cool. And try and stick him in the wall to make room for me. 2d6 plus dexterity. Okay. Great. Yeah. 12. Oh, yeah. Totally. Yeah. You yank this dude across the room with the knife in his arm. Mm-hmm. And it's like kind of comes out of his shoulder. A little bit and pins him into the wall.

Yeah. And that's that amount of damage is more than enough that he's like hanging there. Oh, kind of. Does he have anything on him? He's got clothes and, you know, pockets and pouches. Pouch. Knife. Ink. Knife in his arm. He doesn't have the stuff on him. In fact, if any of them did, you would guess it was probably the older one. Dang it. But he took off. Mm-hmm. Remember what happened here. I take the. Knife out and get back in there. And he flumps to the ground. Yeah.

And you're in hither and yon. Close the door. Yep. Is it. Does it leave? Do the shutters close? No. Fuck. Absolutely not. What? The shutters are closed, but the bar is not moving. Okay. Like you can tell. They don't reopen. And Mears is just like sitting at the bar. Mears, how can he do this? I don't know. Think. I don't know. This shouldn't be possible. Ask the bar to move. Don't you think I tried? I mean, yeah, I guess. But I thought if we were at back. In here, it would go. No, you.

You all left with that mummy guy. Right. And then the shutters closed. And then I was here. And you couldn't get. What could you get out? Or did you open the. I opened the door and I saw I was in an office. And I. And I saw who I assume was Callum Blackhammer. Did he see you? Yeah, he saw me. He talked to me. What did he say? He said, get comfortable. You're going to be here for a while. And now I'm stuck. I'm stuck. I'm stuck.

Do we have enough time to do a communion whispers with Hither and Yon to try and find out the hold that he has on it? I mean, the only deadline that we have is the ritual. Yeah. So you got all the time you need. But they've definitely suggested that they need one or all of you to complete it. Right. So we might be able to disrupt their plan by just getting Hither and Yon unstuck. Okay. I'd like to spend time here and commune with the whispers of Hither and Yon. That makes sense. Yeah.

To figure out what the fuck's going on. Yeah. Roll plus wisdom. Nine. Oh. Oh. Eight. Do it. Six plus seven. Seven. Seven. Makes it a 10. So a clear vision related to your current situation. That's helpful. How the fuck did Callum do this? Yeah. And how do we undo this? So how Callum did this? And how do you receive this image, I guess, this information? It's the spirits of the land. So maybe it's the collective voice of everyone who's ever used this. Oh, sure. Yeah.

It's manifesting as all of the guests. Yeah. That have taken refuge here. I like that a lot. Yeah. That's cool. That it's like a chorus of all the people who have been in the pub. Oh, like old pub songs. Yeah. Almost. Oh, yeah. It's like, it tells the tale of it. Yeah. You see like an old man, like with a pipe sitting, like in your mind's eye, you see an old man with a pipe sitting in one of the booths, like, whoa, hither and yon's a place that's always been there for them. What needed it?

And it comes to those who need it most when they need it most. And then like a mom with her kids. That are like running around or like coloring on the table. But you know, there are some forces that even hither and yon. Put that down. Put that down, please. Put that down. Put that down. Take it out of your nose. Get that out of there. That's not for, that's not for in your mouth. That's for on the table.

Some forces that even hither and yon couldn't predict, like the icon of tyranny, for example. And then, you know, one of the barkeepers from long ago, a dwarf standing at like a dwarf steps up on a box. Behind the bar and starts like wiping it down. One would assume that in a place like a black glass city where the smog gives power to the icon of tyranny, that the want of hither and yon's guests is secondary to the power of the outer dark. Oh, shit. Then we see chimes coming down the stairs.

A memory of chimes in a younger time. With a towel around his waist. Yes. I was going to say. In a towel. In a towel. And we go, ooh. In a towel. His beard's a little shorter. His hair's a little darker. Tattoos? Yeah, tattoos. Oh, he's always had his tattoos as long as he's, you know, ever since he was a young, young man, he's had these tattoos. And he's kind of folding the towel in that way, you know, where you wrap it around and then you fold it down so it doesn't come off.

And he kind of jumps up and down a couple times to make sure it's not going to come loose. And then, but you see his cum gutters when he rolls it down. Cum gutters? What are those? Is that what you guys are calling it now? Balls? It's the muscles? Oh, jeez. We used to call those sex muscles. Cum gutters. Filthy. Filthy boys. Did you know this? Did you know this? I didn't know this. It's fine. Wow. I take it upon myself to not say cum gutters very often to my lovely wife.

So there's a reason you don't. I gotta get on these brazers. I'm sorry. Brazers on my free site. Gotta get on your free brazer site. No, no, no. Ryan and I have a password to my free pay site.com. So one would assume if Callum was the one that brought it here, holding Tyranny as he does over this place, that he's the only one that could release it. As long as you're here, you're safe. But for how long?

And then all those guests, the din of voices like rises is rising as these hallucinations take flight. They transform and then back to silence as they disappear. And we, I feel like we would have all seen like these total visions, these spectral visions in the bar. Uh, so Tuck has a few moves that actually might be able to disrupt Callum's hold over the bar. Yeah. So I have the lie, which is when you leverage your fundamental lack of truth to overcome a magical or metaphysical danger.

Roll plus con on a 10 plus you ignore the effect completely on a seven to nine. You ignore the immediate danger. But choose one from below minus one ongoing until the threat is dealt with, suffer a D10 damage or threaten or endanger an ally. Yeah. Yeah. So that, I mean, as I wrote that move, that should work. Okay. Yeah. So I want to use the lie.

I, and I'm lying to the bar that Callum does not possess the icon of tyranny and he has no purchase over the bar's ability to respond to the wants of others. Okay. Yeah. Excellent. So I'm going to roll plus con on a 10 plus you ignore the effect completely on a seven going. I'll take D10 damage. That's crazy. Do you even have enough? Yeah. I have 18 left. And he has three armor. Oh, it ignores armor. Oh yeah. It ignores armor for sure. Did it? Yeah. Yeah. Here we go.

Two, two, two, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, eight. Eight. Holy shit. So this is like, I, so I imagine that the metaphysical focal point of Hither and Yon is the bar itself. Uh huh. Whoever laid this bar. However, many years ago. Yeah. This is where it all. Started. Started. This is where all of the power like emanates from is this bar.

All the people that have sat at it, that have taken refuge, that have made friends, that have met loved ones, that have forged relationships, their life infuses the bar in this way. And you kind of like place your hand on the ancient scuffed wood and you tell this lie. Callum Blackhammer does not possess the icon of tyranny and holds no power over you. Yeah. And you feel. You feel the power of the weight of trying to deny the existence of the icon of tyranny in Blackglass City. Yeah.

Tear through you. Oh yeah. Something inside is just ripped apart. I can feel like the coins in my chest. Oh like. Like rejecting the lie. Oh yeah. And kind of getting ripped like. Oh maybe they start like tink, tink, tink like out of your chest. I was thinking ripped backwards into my body. So they start. You start bleeding. Yeah. Yes. As they tear into your flesh. Cause the, it's almost like the icon of tyranny is holding them in place. Yeah. As I command the bar to move. Away from it. Yeah.

And it's the bar starts shifting, but the coins stay in place. Oh yeah. Yeah. Until you break that metaphysical seal. Yes. And then the shutters open. You see the gas lamp streets of the night market district and somebody like the door bangs open. And a guy. Immediately. A guy in like a patch. Tweed suits. Like are you open? And then tuck turns around. He goes. Yup. And then immediately pukes a bunch of blood. And he goes, don't worry. It's just spaghetti. And then he passes out.

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 playing Tacoma dome. The barbarian Abdul Aziz. Playing Ving the half elf druid Paul Oppers. Take care. And playing fat. Billy the halfling thief. Jessica tie. Goodbye. Thank you to all of our supporters from around the world for supporting the show. If you would like to support Spout Lore, you can join us on patreon at patreon.com slash Spout Lore or Spout Lore.com slash money, please.

We'll get access to a bunch of cool stuff like bonus content outtakes the up-to-date mall Bratz feed our up all night play tests in which we play a variety of games in preparation for our post Spout Lore campaign up all night and even more stuff. There's even more stuff than I just said. There's even more stuff than I just said. There's even more stuff than I just said.

If you would like to listen to all of Aaron's original music, you can find that at aaronreid.bandcamp.com and all of the music produced for the show and written by the cast at Spotify. 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 like 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'd gladly spout more şu şu şu

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 Outlawr I'm your game master Sean O'Hara And joining me as always playing Tacoma Dome the Barbarian Abdulaziz Hello everybody Can you see better now?

Nah they're pretty foggy I really greased them up last night What? How?

Don't ask him No it's too late Sean we have to know I greased them up so hard last night I was rough and ready tonight Rough and ready So you needed your glasses to be greasy Yeah You never know when you need to sneak them in Yeah we were flippin' and flappin' all over the place it was rough and ready there was grease all over Alright Yeah Playing Ving the Half Elf Druid Paul Oppers Hi And playing Fat Billy the Halfling Thief Jessica Tai Hi we're so ready These are also quite greasy actually Rough and ready Yeah mine are greasy too I do want to talk about it on mic Do you want a microfiber cloth?

No I wipe mine pretty good I think on my shirt I honestly think I just scratched it so much it's permanently like ooooh Yeah you need different lenses for that Yeah you need different lenses for sure I do Do you want to try? Finally people see me without my glasses Yeah Look at the bags that I've developed There's no zero bags on your eyes I know What?

I don't see bags Oh my god Oh my god Before this we couldn't tell Oh my god Oh my god I'm telling you Oh my god you were holy shit you were a nerd before but now you're caught Now you're beautiful Oh my god Oh my god Oh my god Oh my god Oh no Oh Oh Oh my god Oh my god Oh my god Oh my god Oh my god They're literally the same amount of greasy. Nerds! He's fucking nerd! Surfboard in the shot! What? Yeah.

A big thing that happens at our house is Jessica's not wearing her glasses, so she can't find her glasses. Oh, I love this. Like Velma. Yeah. From Scooby-Doo. They're shaped like this, Sean. Help! Or if Sean brings… Like, you do this all the time. You want to show me something on your phone, and you hold it so far away. I'm like, well, I'm not wearing my glasses. I do that a lot. It's a real power move. That's why I do it, is to manipulate her. Yeah. Oh, babe. Your eyes are getting worse.

Better stick with me. That's crazy. You can't see them there. That's crazy. I'll just rip up these divorce papers. Man, if you ever divorced me, you wouldn't be able to find anything. You wouldn't be able to find the papers. They're all in your safety deposit box. Sean, you monster. I've been slowly scratching Jess's glass. Sean on a live stream is like, all right, step three for us. Happy marriage.

Just you take 200 grit sandpaper, and when she's asleep, rub them on her glasses, so she thinks she's going blind. She stays with you. At least you don't need rubbing on her glasses. It's like those people that poison their spouses, so they have to take care of them. Yeah. Wow. It's a great idea. Honestly, I've never thought about it until now. When last we left our heroes, they were deep in the belly of the beast.

The beast being a wedding reception for Callum Blackhammer, Princep, surviving Princep of the Firefields Principality, and his soon-to-be wife, Pirate Queen Victoria LaBlanche. Tuck had just put together that Callum and Victoria's plan could very well involve the binding of the Gibbous Man using magi tattoo techniques, just as Billy was sneaking back from his spy session on the two… Co-lovers? Co-lovers? What? Co-lovers? They're just called lovers, Sean.

Billy was escaping from his spying session and ran right into one such magi, who snatched him up and dashed away. Sensing trouble, Tuck and Ving headed to the corridor to save Billy, who released the grip of the magi by chomping down hard, doing what he does best, and biting something. And then a battle was waged against the magi, who was incapacitated. With some use of ice powers, the party went right to the office of Callum Blackhammer, where Billy had spied the two.

But sensing a trap, they hid in a linen closet across the hall. And trap there was, as the magi, which we believe possessed in his tattoos a binding for the icon of malice, due to his resemblance to an efreet from the streets of McCall, something Tuck has a lot of experience with. Mm-hmm. As a boy from such streets. Yeah. The other magi emerged from the shadows and found the party eating spaghetti in the closet. Ha ha ha!

They fought, seeing through the door, in one of the closets, a hither and yon, captured by Callum Blackhammer and held in the office of his palace. Evil. Evil, evil boy. They waged battle against these magi, who then retreated, and into hither and yon they went. Tuck then used his ability to get to the lie at the heart of his being, his essence, to convince hither and yon that Callum Blackhammer was not possessed of the icon of tyranny. Mm-hmm.

Allowing him to temporarily loosen Callum's hold on hither and yon and take the bar to a safer place, still within Blackglass City, unable to leave the confines, but feeling a great amount of damage in his chest as the coins, for a moment, were locked. Locked in place. Ugh. Uh, tearing through his chest. Yeah. Hither and yon traveled to the Steamhaven District, and we found safety, heralded by a very drunken man walking through the door, asking if you were open.

And that is where we find our heroes now. Tuck has just, uh, released a bunch of blood from his body. Yeah. In various forms. Ugh! Quick, heal me with your new move! Oh my god. Quick, Tuck! Oh my god. Tuck, please! There's blood all over the place. You're spitting blood! Spitting blood! Spitting blood! Spitting blood! What in my face? Quick, heal me! He is really, really hurting. Is Steamhaven basically where we were?

It is a sizable district that I think is a bit away from the palace, but not super far away. Okay. It's probably more of a working class neighborhood, like there's a lot of, uh, Steam rights. Mm-hmm. Uh, but it has become, you know, in the way that working class neighborhoods often do, has become trendy. Yeah. Okay. That's the Haven part. And is Tuck, like, zero points or something? I'm at ten hit points. Oh, okay. He good? So, I've lost… I've lost sixteen. Quartz of blood? Yeah.

Stop touching me with your bloody hands. Tell me! So Tuck doesn't know. Please. I just dry cleaned my merino. Give me a voltage. Okay. Uh, I'm gonna, I guess I'm gonna try… Tuck puts his hand on the bar and slips on his own blood. Bam! His teeth, his nose, spangs right off the bar. More blood out of the nose. As your head ricochets off, Nier starts wiping the bar where you're breathing. Your bloody face print is. But then he steps in his pile of blood. I slip. And smack your head on the…

It's like a one-man band of blood. I smash a table. Take a big bite. Yeah. You guys, I roll over and you guys see a bunch of splinters are embedded in my back. More blood. This is horrible. Tuck, help me. Yeah. So you can just give him seven points or whatever. With, uh, whatever it is with the poultice. I'll slap a poultice on him. All right. So that's seven hit points. Assuming that we're going to spend some time with tucking bandages resting. I don't think any of us want to leave. Yeah. Yeah.

I keep cracking open the door, like going. Yeah. So you, so you're cracking open the door and you see, like, I think Steamhaven is a lot of winding cobbled roads, narrow streets with like tall brick buildings. And they're all kind of laced through. Most of Blackglass has like, you know, like a lot of, you know, like a lot of, you know, Blackglass has like steam pipes running along buildings and like overhead.

But Steamhaven is, uh, is like crisscrossed all like, there's basically a ceiling that is a canopy of steam pipes that are all kind of winding together. It's a foggy place. It's very foggy. There's fog. There's like raining in here because it's all condensing. Yeah. There's a lot of, a lot of people here have like umbrellas and like a waxed canvas raincoats. Oh, cool. And you were saying it's quite working class. It's weird. You see a lot of people with like.

Like tool bags kind of going to and from there are people up on scaffolding, like working on pipes. But then you also see some younger guys who are wearing the work wear, but like it's pristine and they're holding little lattes in their hands. You got soft hands, brother. They got tags on them still to show that it's new. There's, they'll, they'll walk up with a cup of just like regular milk and there'll be like a steam wand that they just put the milk in and then it makes a latte automatically.

There's totally, there's like a little booth. Yeah. There's like a cart. There's a cart where someone is making lattes with a pipe that's just coming down from a conduit somewhere. Yeah. And there's, I feel like there's just a lot of guys like looking at cages and being like, it's good. Just turning around and going, steam's good over here. We're not going to explode today. Some pipe fitters like, get the fuck out of here. Get the fuck away from the conduit. Oh my God.

Where'd you get those shoes? He's just covered in burns from all the hot pipes that he accidentally bumps into. But yeah. Yeah. So Billy, you're like. Peeking out. And it seems safe. You don't see anybody that seems to be looking for you. A couple of Jack the Rippers in that fog though. Yeah. There's a couple. People keep shooing them away. Oh, they be ripping. Get out of here, Ripper. So like basically like we've run away from the wedding.

We know that there's like shit going on with Callum who wants to. Find the Gibbous man. Find the Gibbous man. Yeah. So, and then you also learned from the, um, the, the, the like. Patron memories of hither and yon that if Callum kept hither and yon here, he's probably the only one that can release it. Right. So hither and yon is still stuck in the, in the fire fields. Specifically in Blacklass. Blacklass. You don't, it's not able to leave the boundaries of the city.

So like we have to make it so that Callum releases it. Yeah. Somehow. So we kind of have to go back. Yeah. Or confront him. Somehow. Yeah. Or come up with a plan of some sort. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like we do. We can take, we have a minute. We can take a minute to like come up with a plan and chill out for a second. Yeah. I mean, you can also leave hither and yon. Like you can leave the city full on. It's just, you wouldn't be able to bring the bar with you. I want to leave it here though. Yeah.

Feels fucked up. Yeah. We're not going to do that. Yeah. Hither and yon's looked up for us. We're going to look out for it this time. That's right. Yeah. And Mears, uh, puts his both hands on the bar when you say that and leans forward and is like, I really appreciate it. I really appreciate that. I really appreciate that. I want to help. If you need me to leave the bar to help you with this, I will. Ooh. Mears. I'm ready. Are you sure? We have the sword. Maybe the sword can help.

We do have the sword. Mears, you could, you could use the sword. Right. Cause it wouldn't touch your skin. Cause you have a metal hand. I do. Do we know if that has, is enough distance? What we, yeah. So that's why we think that what he was able to give Colm the sword, without it influencing him was his metal hand allowed him to touch it. Oh. Um. And also the hand is made out of magic, which is like. Yeah. It's magically animated. It doesn't really. Magic sort of like is a lube basically. Yeah.

It's like a, it separates the different demonic or spiritual demonic. Yeah. Iconic energies. Yeah. Like lube. Yeah. Like lube does. You know when you're greasing up your glasses and you need to. Yeah. For a rough and ready night. Yeah. For a rough and double night. It was a nitro cold brew kind of night. Yeah. It was just a nitro cold brew kind of night. Man, we have different nights.

Uh, Mears does say, okay, the one downside with that is my mechanical hand is my left hand and I am right handed. Mm-hmm. All right. Time for a montage. Are we doing like a Mulan training thing? Yes. Totally. Yeah. I was thinking an 80s kind of montage, but. 80s Mulan. Okay. So we're going to see Mears. Okay. Mears is going to get some. Fight training from tuck. Is that what we're thinking about here? I think it could be from all of us. All of us. Okay. Yeah. We're all pretty. Okay. War heavy.

So tables get pushed out of the middle. Yeah. Space is cleared. Screw. The drunk guy is still there, but he's just hanging out in the back. Yeah. Yeah. Way to go. He's got a big like wooden tankard of ale. You have a genius sitting with him. She hasn't left. They're betting. Yeah. Who's going to win. That's fun. They're betting. They're betting. The rules are so simple. Yeah. Just passing little coins back and forth. Okay. Mears drags the giant sword out from the back room. Yeah.

And it's encased in wax and then wrapped in saffron rope. So are we cracking it open? Not yet. Just the handle. Okay. Great. Oh, smart. Yeah. Very smart. Yes. Okay. Because also if we take it somewhere, we don't want anyone to see it. That's true. Oh, that's a good point. Yeah. Like don't reveal it until it's ready to be used. Yeah. Yeah. Very smart. That's a training sword. That's perfect. What does it look like? The sword? Does it look like a big old buster sword from Final Fantasy?

Is it one of those double blades that's got the gap inside? Oh, shit. That's cool. Double blade sword. It's kind of like a spawn style jagged edge on one side. Oh, sure. Yeah. Just because I pictured it so gross. Yeah. We've only described it as being a long two-handed sword. It is a long sword that you use with two hands. It's got cum gutters down the middle. Yeah, totally. Or whatever you call them on a sword.

It's got a double blade, and then it's got another blade that's serrated that goes out the other way. Oh, fuck. What? Where's that other blade go? It goes out. It goes out. Turkey blade. Yeah. I like the idea that it's got the separation between the two blades. I like that they're joined at the top. Yeah. Joined at the top for sure. For strength. Touching tips. Yeah. Yeah. So is it two of them? This? Like it's sharp? And then there's like the channel is missing. Yes. Totally.

The channel is negative. Yeah. The part where the blood- Come up with a sentence to describe this. Yeah. The part where it's designed for blood to run off of it is missing. Yeah. Yeah. And then it is an obsidian blade, so the edge is like snapped. So it's like razor sharp. It's like flinted. Oh, so it looks kind of pre-Stone Age kind of fucked up. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And the thing with obsidian- I've said this before. The thing with obsidian blades- Is they chip.

They're not as long-term strong, but they always keep an edge, because when they break, there's just another molecular edge on the other end. And when Colm would fight with it, the gap would make like- Oh, like a- Yeah. It's kind of- It's almost like a tuning fork. Yes. Like when he would hit something with it, it would be like- Yeah. So you could always tell where he was. What's the guard look like? Yeah. Good question. What- A wrought iron. Like rough- Sure, yeah. Rough old iron. Like pocked.

Yeah. Yeah. So maybe it's like a- You know when they just take iron and they twist it, so it has that kind of like- Ooh, yeah. Almost like a horn? Oh, yeah. So it's like two kind of horns. Yeah. I like that. Yeah. I pictured it with like a not straight top. Yeah, same. Oh, like an angled tip at the blade? Yeah. A hundred percent. That's cool. And you could always kind of tell where Colm was, because it was like- Yeah. You could hear the very unique sound of him fighting. Fighting.

Swinging it around. Yeah. And then a long handle with a big like iron weight. Oh, yeah. Maybe, and it's wrapped with something. Yeah, like a dark old worn leather wrapped around the handle, the hilt. Like black. Runes. Black leather. Runes in the leather. Sure. Worn. Worn. I think the pommel, I like that it's an iron weight, and I think there is an eye etched into it. Oh, so sick. So sick. But this, of course, is all concealed under- Yeah, exactly. Like the eye.

Or like bone inlay to make the whites of the eye. Oh, a bone inlay. Bone inlay in the engraving, so it's a white eye. White eye. That's really cool. White eye. Beautiful. Oh, yeah. Look how cool you look. This, of course, you cannot see because the sword is encased in a bed sheet. But we know it's there. Yeah. And then it's covered in like dripped wax, like orange tinted dripped wax. It looks like a big creamsicle.

Yeah, we're looking at it, and we're like, fuck, that thing looks so cool under all that cream. We're trying to tell Mirrors about how cool it looks underneath, and you wouldn't believe it. Just wait until we take it out of its wrappings. I'm going to- I'll trust you, I guess. I did hold it when it was a sword, but I didn't look at it, though. What did it feel like? Oh, really heavy. Cool. But you didn't feel an immense feeling of rage within you? No, no, no, no. Like a little bit of rage?

Well, actually, at the time, when Colm told me that it wasn't my sword and that I had to return it to him, I felt a sense of rage at myself. Whoa. Hmm. For having dishonored myself by stealing the sword. That was the honor. Yeah. It didn't feel good. I'm an honorable guy, I think. Yeah, look at this place. Yeah. I take honor in the quality of my bar, the comfortableness, the satisfying nature of my drinks. Francis is like, certainly good more.

Francis shoves himself out of the door in the back, squeezing through. Never. Never. Never. Never. Never. Never. Never. Never. Never. Never. Never. Never. There's a more honorable barkeep in all of the lands. He's wearing a bucket as a helmet. Ha ha ha ha. He's red. Are we going to battle? I would follow you to war at any day, provided it's not too far. Ha ha ha ha. He loses steam halfway to the fire. Yeah. He sits down. Yeah. It's quite warm here, I think. We'll all agree.

Victor comes and waits. Yeah. I would follow you to war. Yeah. Victor's looking outside the door. It's raining. He's going. Hmm.

I'm not going out there but not because I don't like it but because I choose not to if I were to go out which I could I would be fine it's just you're all in here and what if someone comes to kill you I'm going to uh sleep now and he lays his head on francis and starts snoozing away does the thing that dogs do where they put their chin up on something high yeah so cute his little tongue starts lolling out the side of his mouth oh yeah it's the size of a paperback book uh all right so a little montage for mirrors yes mirrors has barely left hither and yon in the time that he has been the barkeep yes um so mirrors and I are warming up by doing push-ups okay great jumping jacks and other activities billy sucks yeah I don't know why I did this to myself I think that billy's doing like his belly's always on the ground but he's doing doing this like out the ground up yeah like my smears yeah do a side plank and then he's like his belly's on the ground he's like it's just like a little it's like just a squish billy's just tilting back and forth do it like this yeah do a chin up and mirrors is like uh he mirrors is doing pretty good with the push-ups he's like ah but you hear like the all right and he like lifts his meat hand up and he's like check it out like jack palance and then he tries it with his other arm and he immediately face plants okay all right no that's fine that's good we're watching uh billy kind of like roll around and ving and I are like we gotta get his his sugar consumption under control I'm just like worried about his kidneys I feel like he's fatter than he's ever been do fairies have kidneys I don't know I don't know I don't know I don't know if billy's keeping that the body from getting diabetes or what I don't know I've never considered his organs before oh my god I'm terrified a parrot first I love the idea that throughout the show billy's just been like getting getting rounder and rounder I like to think he kind of goes yeah oh yeah yeah depending on his season and his mood yeah summer billy is like the call the skinniest he's ever been because he was sweating it all off yeah he's like the moon you know he goes through phases okay so push-ups complete he's warmed up what next do we see sword training okay so he's got the wax sword the waxed sword that's what we're using for mirrors is training yeah it's a two-handed sword you gotta grab it one-handed though you cannot put your meat hand on the sword oh I think you know what I think we might have said it's a bastard sword so it is like the hand and a half okay so he can use it one-handed but it is heavier than a normal sword uh so he's got it gripped in his metal fingers you hear the like clinking and creaking as they tighten around the hilt do you feel anything I feel powerful okay no no no just like normal sword power do you guys not feel this when you hold a sword oh oh yeah yeah yeah I just feel fucking ready to go okay good not slaughter power no just regular like and he starts like having around yeah yeah he smashes a sconce I'm gonna have to fix that later billy has laid up a few like empty barrels with little pumpkin heads oh yeah okay so okay what we're gonna do is some rolls that are your guys's tutelage you're gonna roll for the tutelage and that's gonna determine how well mirrors does in his training is it gonna make stats for him that's pretty fun I kind of want to make mirrors is in my head has always been the fighter so I kind of want to make him the fighter I think that would involve me having a character which is insane I I think it's fine yeah if we use it in a way that makes sense what hirelings there are there have always been things in this game called hirelings which are like people that you can have with you that have stats that can do stuff yeah man uh okay so how hirelings work is they have they have a loyalty stat and then they have a main skill and like secondary skills you start with a number which is like the spend between these things that is determined based on where you found them hirelings and villages start with two to five points that can be used for skills all the way up to city hirelings which are six to ten what do we think mirrors would be I think at this point six to ten six to ten okay and then so you separate those points between their skills and loyalty loyalty usually starts at around two I feel like mirrors is very loyal very loyal so maybe what do you want of those is it six or ten what do we think what's the what's the range for points and then you have maybe depending on our roles in this training that determines whether it's six seven eight nine or ten okay great oh yeah maybe it can go up or down yeah depending on how how well we trade okay so we're starting at six yes okay minimum minimum six yes okay so we have done the push-ups that was just a warm-up that was a warm did not count no did not count okay so mirrors is standing before three barrels with pumpkin heads on them have the pumpkin heads been made to look like yeah the black hammer twins callum yeah black hammer yep black hammer black hammer I I think one of the pumpkin heads I make into the gibbous man so I put like a little hat on him a little hat and a cape okay beautiful what's the tuck dressed one up yeah it's it's got lipstick yeah red long red hair yeah a red dress two smaller pumpkins below mirrors has to be ready to kill allison at a moment's notice yeah and then tuck goes if she ever tries to fuck ving you have to kill whoa what's the big thing turns around like what and whose pumpkin looks exactly like ving oh well now I regret making this there's just like a mop leaning up that's supposed to be vague and the third one looks like yeah okay great okay ving is leading mirrors through the this combat portion I feel like it would be because you're better at like weaponry yeah yeah so mirrors is swinging the sword experimentally in like a figure eight arc trying to you see him like kind of rolling his shoulders out and it's you're looking at mirrors who's like now 17 18 years old and you're like he's grown up into a fine young man you can see he's like getting kind of muscled he's got a little bit of weight on him because he spends most of his time in a pub eating chowder eating chowder but he's got some biceps on him yeah yeah and he's seen he looks like he's getting more comfortable so ving what are you how are you directing mirrors um I'm trying to tell him to be like water oh cool sword forms yeah going through his sword forms be like water and be like wood wood and water oh um the two things that we have most of in this bar yeah be flowy but strong and bend but not break beautiful so cool yeah that sounds like a wisdom roll yeah defy danger wisdom okay here we go I got five plus my wisdom is eight okay so that's a partial success which I think means one point increased is this a new day yeah I'd say yeah oh yeah you guys like rested up and now you're you're you've woken you can just roll your bones now it's a four oh nice beautiful so you got a four in reserve and for the next one you're going to be like a listener ving now has a move called throw me a bone which allows him to give someone else his what the bones know it's a good name yeah I like it that's a great name throw me a bone uh okay so mirrors listens to the yeah give me give me a bit of the speech here that be like water be like wood speech yes uh it's soft flowing turbulent calm deep when as you're doing that we're trying to make water noises so we're going I flush a toilet splashing water on him and we've got the the barrels on wheels so like we're kind of pushing them around like like waves a bit and he's like the water forms to the environment but also creates its environment spend too long in an environment and you will make it deeper worn to your experiences and mirrors is going through different movie he's swinging the sword preparing himself stealing himself for the strike and he lunges forward just a little off target but he like clips the side of the pumpkin like cleaves off kind of an angled piece of the first one of the gibbous man the hat goes flying across the room and be rigid like the woods and he uh stabs again he kind of turns and thrusts once more gets a little more in the center kind of stabs the allison pumpkin through the eye how dare you but as he as he pulls it back no allison you had so little time he's trying to put the seeds back in and you can see like the the obsidian of the blade is like starting to cut through the waxed canvas as he swings it around and he spins to the last pumpkin the ving one hold and he stops waiting be like the woods he breathes in he breathes out let the water the movement nourish your moves the woods cannot be separated you see him start to tense up his legs his a And he stands there.

Pretty good. That was great. We all clap. Remember. Thank you. Remember my words. Oh, I will. And he kind of slumps onto a stool at the bar and leans back. Yeah, I grab a rag and I'm wiping his forehead. You're standing on the bar next to him wiping his forehead. That's great. Great. So now because of Ving's tutelage, Mears now has seven points to distribute as a hireling. So what's the next step in Mears' training? How does Tuck try and get Mears? So we single spotlight. The bar's in blackout.

Yeah, yeah. There's steam on the ground. Okay, yeah. The door's cracked open, so there's steam from outside pouring in. Steam from outside getting inside. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Outside steam is now inside. Outside steam is inside now. Wow. Wow. Yeah. You're letting all the steam in. There's a guy outside like, you gotta pay for that steam. Shut up. What are you, born in a spa? What were you, born in a spa? Close that door. I'm not trying to steam the inside. I slam the door.

I gotta wear clothes right now. The only light is single spotlight. Yeah. We establish the spotlight. On who? On Mears. Okay. Okay. Yeah. Tuck's like, it's mine. No, it's not your head. Sword nearby? Is it like sword gripped in two hands in front of him? I smack his hands. One hand. Okay. All right. All right. Right, right, right. Never hold the sword with the second hand. Okay. And I disappear into the darkness. Now I'm over here. That's what I do. I come up behind him. Now I'm over here.

I love now I'm over here so much. You can just hear Tuck like. Table creaks like a vase falls. Bunch of stools. Fucking move. Watch it, my boy. You stepped in my tail. Now here. Yeah, you're over there. And I go, one hand. Hold it out. And I make him hold it out straight. Oh, I like this. Yeah. Horizontal. And I go, that sword is a bastard sword. And I disappear into the darkness again. And then from echoing you here, like you. What? What? You met my dad. But not your mom. Yeah, they were.

All right. Now your mom's over here. Marriage is a more malleable thing in the in the in Mudlark. It's not. All right. A bastard wields a sword two handed because it's his arm is not strong enough to hold it one handed. You do not have the benefit of the two handed grip. You have to be strong. Strong enough to hold it with one hand. His eyes narrow. Yeah. With effort. You see his hand kind of shaking a little bit. It's quivering. A bead of sweat starts to fall down from his hairline.

And then I go, Mirs, what is the secret to my strength? Your strength? You're huge. And then I pop out from underneath him and I go, nah. And I sleep back into the darkness. And the tip of the sword falls for a moment. He lifts it back up. I go, tell me, what is the secret to my strength? Yeah. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. Your fearlessness? Closer. You don't care what anybody says or thinks about you? Closer. Your arm.

And I go, okay, I'm going to stop making you guess. I would appreciate that. I go, the secret to strength, all strength, is not letting the world tell you what you can and cannot do. Strength of arm and strength of mind are the same thing. Cool. That sword won't drop because you will not let it drop. And his arm is like. Still shaking. Yeah. It shakes less. It shakes a little bit less. Yeah. This feels like charisma. Yeah. This feels like a rousing speech. Yeah.

And Tuck is basically telling him, you choose how strong you are. Yeah. When a battle gets hard, you get harder. When evil comes, you come harder. When the enemy is huge, you get bigger. You don't need two hands. You get hard with one hand. You get hard with one hand. And you'll get it done with just one hand. Mirrors is nodding, sweat pouring down his face. Please let this work. Is nine. Nine. Ooh. Ooh. I'll help you. Yes. Um. Oops. How are you helping? Okay, seven. Ooh. Okay, great.

Mirrors, your mind must bend like wood, but your will must be strong like iron. He sees like a little. Billy in his head. Say that. Yeah. Billy appears. Yeah. In the spotlight. And then I drift away. It's just being holding. It's pretty amazing. I'm holding. Be strong like iron. Vig is in the rigging at the. Yeah. Is dangerous. And you see slowly. The shaking hand ceases shaking the blade straight and strong. How heavy is the sword? The sword is as heavy as I decide it is.

The tip rests on the horizon. Oh, that's so cool. That's so fucking cool. Vig. That was really cool. Guys, all three of the stuff that you, the stuff that all three of you said was really cool. It's really fucking cool. It's really cool. Can I, can I put this down now? Oh, I don't know. Fuck. I was going to say that. He comes in with a flying elbow. And slams his hard as he can on his wrist. Oh yeah. Oh, and what happens? The arm is unmoved. Whoa. Now you can put it down. Oh, thank God.

He slumps on the stool again. Oh, thank you. Yeah. Uh, Effie and the drunk guy start clapping. Yeah. Way to go. My boy. You're looking fine. Now I'll have another one. The drunk guy is clapping for service. He's crying. Yeah. Oh. What's going on? I'm thirsty over here. You're about done with your little thing. But he's also crying. Yeah. He's crying. He's just like me dad. He's like watching me dad train. When I was just a boy. Which is like me dad.

He was the finest bad-knuckle boxer in all of black class. He was the strongest man I ever seen. He was killed in one punch. In his first fight. The strongest man I've ever known. Killed in a single punch. He was a good guy. He was a good guy. He was a good guy. He was a good guy. He was a good guy. He was a good guy. He was a good guy. He was a good guy. He was a good guy. He was the strongest man I've ever known. Killed in a single punch. That was my dad.

Never did anything by half measures, including dying. Okay. So we're going to sit with a 10 plus. That's two points. Two points. Fuck yeah. Rudy, cool. So the thing is that Mears is now at nine points to be distributed. Nine points. Wow. Nine good points. Shit. Fuck yeah. That was really sick. That was super sick. Thank you guys for your help. Yeah. Well done everybody. That was gorgeous. It's dark. Only spots lit by a few candles. Ooh. The spot goes out. Flames flicker around.

Yeah, the spotlight goes out and all the candles woof. This time, Mears, you must learn when to move, when to run. I drift in and out of the candles. Cool. Is that a song? Did you just blow that out? You just hear me try to light a match? Okay. It is cool to be like, when to fight and when to run.

Disappears yeah and so this this training session is to get mirrors to learn how like dodge in the dark oh cool oh sick you must mirrors you must always be one step ahead of your enemy okay and then I I bring down a big broom oh and he like tries to jump to the side but he gets he's clipped on the shoulder yeah one step ahead mirrors and he's you can see billy can see him in the in the kind of half darkness of the the candles he's like stepping slowly but clumsily it's been a while so you're like still your breath still it okay do you need a break my cardio's not so good billy's also breathing everyone's breathing like tuck around the fuck dude is everybody in this room asleep wait does everyone have apnea except for me it's all the steam in the room yeah close your eyes mirrors and trust your ears and I bring the broom down again where's it coming we got horizontal vertical from below below so he he hears like the shuff of the the bristles on the the bottom of the broom that you're swinging touch the ground and leaps up but it kind of clips his right ankle oh okay I can do this and that yeah so we're gonna do I think this sounds like dexterity to me I think so 2d6 plus dexterity seven plus two is nine all eight yes okay so what's this last one he's starting you can see him like he's got the sword up it's in like a fighting stance kind of horizontally across his body and he is closed his eyes yeah and now he's relying purely on on hearing oh maybe that's what you do you blow the rest of the candles oh it causes a little gust around the room this circles the room puts all the candles out I got nine okay that makes sense makes this a 10 this makes this a 10 makes it a 10 so what's this last total darkness yeah billy's well used to moving in pitch black it is silent remember before there was like the bristle oh the bristles on the ground yeah now it's totally quiet and I as quiet as I can try to like hit mirrors in the back with like the non-brush and yeah totally oh and billy feels the sword like the blunt end of the sword touch his face oh as billy's going in for the stab yeah you hear like a the the rustle of fabric and you feel the this flat of the blade touch your cheek he flows like water yeah arms strung his eye yeah bending like wood there you are and you just hear you've done it mirrors you've done it my boy oh my god I did it and he reaches down he picks billy up and all the candles candles light back up and the the bar is illuminated it's so bright but mirrors has uh mirrors has billy under one arm and then has the sword in the other hand you're the best okay you know what I said that a 10 plus is two points that means mirrors has 11 points 11 points to distribute we put in a lot of work into this npc you did absolutely it's been seven years this is payoff this is 100 payoff man mirrors was introduced seven years ago wow yeah it's just a ragamuffin on the streets of mudlark he was like third episode yeah I picked him up as soon as we got into town and screamed in his face you sure did you sure did I was trying to think it was like when it was the first scene yeah that's the scream in the face kid yeah so now mirrors is officially a hireling your first ever hireling wow which means you have points to distribute as we discussed yes the first thing you got to consider is loyalty loyalty it goes from zero to around four probably anything higher than that and then you have to distribute it to the next person that is probably quite rare well five loyalty would mean we would never fail yeah because we could always get it yeah that's not allowed yeah I think four is the max uh and his loyalty will go up and down depending on events okay yeah four is really high I shouldn't be allowing this but I'm going to we have seven points you can take stuff back if you want no four four because it's still possible to fail yeah and it's possible to get a seven to nine but it also makes sense because mirrors would never abandon no he would never abandon it if he didn't he would never abandon it just turn tail and run from you guys yeah uh so with that that means that you have seven more points to distribute amongst the various skills four more in loyalty the remaining three in loyalty in warrior and we could do like three in protector or something is it what's up what are the stars are there skills within warrior some of them do have multiple things they're used for but it's just the stat so it's like you're putting it in warrior or tracker or priest oh like for tracker for example there's track and guide which are both things they can do I think it's warrior and protector would make would be the two that makes sense to me yeah so you have you have seven points so it's what four in warrior and three in protector yeah okay what is priest can you just read that yeah totally um like would it work for a patron what would a priest a good barkeep is kind of like a priest yeah yeah so priests are the the skills they have are ministry when you make camp with a priest if you heal you heal plus that skill so like hither and yanni you have a higher amount of sense yeah you get a higher amount of hp and then first aid when a priest staunches your wounds heal two times that skill oh you know what I do like priest better than protector yeah it does make more sense warrior priest too that's cool all right so mirrors now is a hireling with loyalty four what he which he rolls whenever he's like asked to go help in a dangerous situation to see if he does warrior four which means when he is helping you fight you deal additional four or he deals at four damage while he's helping you and priest which means that he can heal an additional amount based on his skill cool so mirrors is there we see him he's now got like I've seen maybe I've seen art of this or maybe it's just what I'm thinking but I like the idea that his metal hand like he's got armor plates that go up the rest of his arm so he's got one arm that's like covered in armor and that's the arm that he uses the sword in are we cracking it open no we're leaving it covered so we can get out I think we're leaving it covered so we can get out of it covered for now because also like uh it's probably basically like a beacon of demonic energy right and might help callum track you down right yeah okay cool yeah how does mirrors carry it I think it's over his back yeah it's over his back so mirrors has like the sword is leaning up against the bar he's pouring drinks for everybody and and ladling out some food all right all right he holds up his hands thank you everybody thank you okay what's the plan then so the plan now is to go find callum and make him either release the bar or remove whatever iconic influence he has so that he does not have like remove the icon of tyranny yeah he cannot keep the bar here that's priority number one right yeah that sounds sounds about right okay should we reach out to the gang to the gang the brass castle oh right good yeah what's going on with them what if they're still trapped in the hospital I mean trapped in the castle yeah we could go by uh the what is it the yawning goat the yawning goat yeah the yawning goat hub we could go by there great so mirrors puts on a cloak he's got a his old traveling cloak that it looks like he's um altered quite a bit as he's gotten taller and bigger so there's like there's a whole panel that's added along the bottom um he straps that on he's got his armor down one arm he puts his hair down and he's like oh my god I'm gonna be like oh my god I'm gonna be like a little like kind of small ponytail because it's quite long now so he's got the little like bob of uh the little ball of curly hair tied up at the back and he takes a deep breath shoes that drunk guy out and remember the hither and yon is here and he taps on his chest okay you are the hither and yon it goes where you go mirrors you're right you're right you're right and he takes a deep breath and he steps through the door you you can hear him on the other side you have passed the test the fourth test amazing reflexes amazing reflexes mirrors you've passed jesus christ I was waiting outside for like 40 minutes it took you guys so long to leave fuck what I'm missing totally soaked it's so steamy out here my duster is soaked your beard is like frizzed up from the steam and it's so full of drips yeah and it's like the water's gotten underneath the leather duster so it's all and I walk you here creak creak so chafey under there okay and he opens the door slowly peeking out all right he's looking at tuck expectantly time to get going okay and he steps out onto the street closes the door locks and you feel like you're in a room where there's no one in the room you feel like you're in a room where there's no one in the room for like your proximity to the door you feel like a like a thunk kind of through the air yeah as the door locks and it's it all of a sudden becomes hard to focus on hither and yon yeah like that yeah our attention like slips off of it tuck tries to read the sign and it's just like it's like the second you read it you just forget what it said yeah yeah yeah beautiful and he puts his hood up and kind of closed like closes his cloak around the front you can see the sword sticking out of like the folded back he's trying to keep it out of sight a little bit yeah we put um cloth around the handle because it's a very distinct it is yeah the eye pommel yeah oh you gotta cover that thing yeah yeah uh and he puts a little pumpkin on it nothing draws attention away from a sword like a little pumpkin sitting on it you know what makes sense here it's kind of spooky yeah uh and you you head out into the eerily quiet streets of black glass city it's gentrified so all the like pubs and stuff that used to be here closed down they're closing down and even then like the day that you have spent in hither and yon off the streets you you are walking through the uh the narrow cobbled roads of steam haven and your footsteps are like echoing more kind of like click click and there's not that very many people on the street is it quieter than it was earlier absolutely but to certain realities yeah go ahead 2d6 plus wisdom uh yeah 11 11 three questions off the list uh which would be on the lookout for you are walking around like the mist and the steam from the conduits is like filling the streets everything's still lit by gas lamps the smog over the city blocks out the sun um but you see like a a figure at the intersection of the road up ahead one of the main thoroughfares cutting off the street that hither and yon has layered within and they're kind of shuffling a little bit hunched over you hear the sound of fine heeled shoes clattering on the cobbles and as you get closer you see very fine party wear and a black leather masquerade mask oh and they're just kind of lurching down the street oh fuck looking around it's the zombies from the wedding it's the weird effect it's still it's still persisting yeah what's about to happen uh you hear like from an alley ahead you kind of like duck behind a pile of crates you hear from an alley ahead like a struggle you hear like shouting screaming and then you see someone you see a group of figures dragging another out of an alleyway all of the people doing the dragging fine dark party wear leather masquerade masks and they take them down the street and they're struggling and shouting like help no help me what's useful or valuable here above on a like the street is a little bit and a gas lamp illuminates written on a brick wall in a mixture of like dark red almost like wine and a sort of sweet smelling paste almost like a wedding cake you see written on the walls you are cordially invited oh fuck dragging everyone to the wedding oh fuck is that you think they're going they're taking them to the wedding they must be can we quietly follow down that alleyway like out of sight oh yeah you can follow this happening yeah totally health yeah yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes We can all sneak.

We've got the element of distance. There's something really wrong with this town. Usually I'd let you go, but I am really scared of this town. But what if I'm really chill about it? Really? What if I promise I won't follow more than the end of the alley? I'll just take a look at what's going on. Buddy, this isn't about you. This is about us. We're too afraid to let you go alone. Fine. Is this a situation in which we might be rolling Mirrors' loyalty? Yes.

Asking him to follow these terrifying masquerade zombies. Screaming person being dragged away. Do I roll it? Yeah, you do it. You roll. Sean, roll. Your dice. My dice. I never get to use my dice. Here we go. These are mine, baby. Okay, 2d6 plus 4. So on a 7 to 9, they do it for now, but come back with serious demands later. And I think we'll figure out what that means. Because it says meet them or the hireling quits. On the worst terms, which I don't think.

Mirrors isn't going to walk out on you guys. First time out of the box. No. Unless he's like, I'm staying here until you come back. Yeah, it could just be he's unwilling to do it. Yeah, he just like turns and picks a random door and opens it and hither and yon is there. See ya. And he slams the door. Yeah, exactly. All right. I'm rolling dice. Yay. This feels weird. I don't like it. Ooh, 7. Or 8. So that is an 8. Good. So Mirrors, this makes sense. His first time out of the box.

He takes a deep breath. Are we? We're going to roll. We're going to follow whatever this is. This is outside the box, man. Okay. Remember, the world doesn't tell you how scared you are. You decide how scared you are. I'm so fucking scared. I'm so fucking scared right now. You made that decision. That's okay, though. Okay. All right. We're all scared. We're all a little bit scared. Except for me. Except for Tarkin. Except for Tarkin. I'm going to do this. I'm just going to hang back a little bit.

That's what I'm going to do. I'm going to hang back. Good. You watch our butts. I'll watch the butt. I'll watch your butts. Okay. Okay. And he starts creeping along. All right. So we're rolling 2D6 plus dexterity because everybody's going together. I got nine. Oh, I got also nine because I have a negative one. Excellent. I'm going to switch out my two with a four. So I got 10. Okay. Great. So I think the 10. Okay. So what do we think the nines here are? Because they are partial successes.

Unless you guys are aiding each other to try and. Oh, yes. Let's aid each other. Oh, yeah. You guys can aid each other. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Let's aid each other. We've never done it like this. Please. Eight. Seven. Okay. We're pep talking ourselves. It's okay if you're a little scared, Tuck. You can just admit it. You know what, Pilly? If that's what you need to hear for you to feel okay, that's fine. I admit I'm scared all the time. It's time for you to be brave and admit you're scared.

You're a little scared. You're on my shoulder and then quietly in the fog I go, I'm a little bit scared. Good job. Good job. I'm proud of you. Thank you. And you steal each other's nerves in this horrifying moment. So you follow. You're just straight up following this like struggling and which is honestly probably a smart move. You realize as you creep down these cobbled streets and as we walk, we hear echoing through the steam pipes. The like. Yeah. The. The like orchestra. Oh, creepy.

The clockwork orchestra. Oh, okay. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. There's a steam. There's a scream, but it's also covered by a howling steam and you can't tell if it's steam or scream. This city is an organism. Yeah. This is. I like this. So as you're following, you see more people coming out of alleys and homes and shops, all masked and in fine clothes, dragging people with them. Some of them unconscious.

Some of them a little worse for wear and all moving towards the palace at the center of the city. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

And as you're creeping along you hear that like near near like beautiful string orchestra music but then you hear it like getting louder and you hear a clattering like wood and brass on stone and you glance up for just a moment and you see like a flurry of limbs and music creep across skitter across the rooftops what the mechanical dais it's moving it's like turned into a full like mechanical spider piping everyone home it's just like the the strings will gather like the bone white violins we see like flashes of them oh yeah yeah and you glance up as there is a crescendo of strings above you and between the gaps in the buildings clattering across the rooftop you see a tangle of wooden and brass limbs and bone white instruments and the clockwork orchestra crawls from roof to roof and you see like a clattering of strings and music creep across the roof like some sort of horrid spider oh that's so creepy like that it passes over like steam vents and they they like oh yeah it captures the music and sends it through the streets oh yeah but you see these masked people the the member the uh participants in the masquerade ball are taking people to the palace you know that's the direction they're going before you even have the palace in sight what do you do what do we do stay out of sight do we join the party and we're going to the palace and we're going to the palace and we're going to the in the floor do we break off from it we should put our masks on we yeah we should do that should put something on yeah yeah so you're putting the masks that you wore uh to the ball back on and trying to just do the like walking dead like yeah we drag part of this okay oh pretend like you're scared okay no problem act scared uh okay this might also be a role to not uh get the attention of the masquerade participants yeah I think so yeah it's like a play you're performing yeah uh-oh uh-oh 11 8 5 so how does this look you're like putting all your masks on and going like yeah and then mirrors is like getting on the ground like getting dragged oh no you gotta stop please actually I think maybe we should stop maybe we should maybe stop maybe stop and you turn back and mirrors is looking at a with the figure that you saw in the movie and you're like oh my god I'm so scared I'm so scared I'm so scared I'm so scared I'm so scared I'm so scared I'm so scared I'm so scared I'm so scared I'm so scared at the intersection who's like emerged from an alley nearby because you see it's the same like it's like a horse like a black leather horse mask and he's looking at us he's looking right at you from the side yeah yeah totally you see like the head tilted yeah like some sort of horrible animal and you see this like bulging eye you peeking out from the mask and they start lurching towards you what do you do we should try to get into one of these doors tuck kicks a door behind him and then like wraps the duster around everyone and then like shuffles the ball yeah totally uh 2d6 plus strength to kick this door open uh yeah so it's 15 so you can kick this door off the hinges if you want uh I don't want to draw attention to us I want to kicking the door open so you're drawing attention I want to silently and strongly okay so what we're seeing is tuck like he you move up against the door yeah and like just shove it really quick you know like kind of a one inch punch kind of thing yes and you feel the lock shatter on the inside yes and the door opens up uh into what what do we think this is bakery a bakery it's like a big mill inside yeah like the old style bakeries yeah yeah you grind your own flour yeah there's like wheels that are just still moving yeah yeah so there and there's a smell of like fresh milled flour in the air footprints and drag marks and flour on the floor oh yeah yeah that's great and the like cake is smeared on the walls in here and it it still says you are cordially invited and there's an rsvp check yes or no yeah we should move these like I start trying to move the flour sacks up against the door I help billy push them push them up against the door yeah grinder up against a big stone grinder yeah and as you kind of pile all this stuff against the door you hear like rattling on the other side and then like slamming into the door and through the window like you know the it's got the old-timey victorian style glass with like the bull's eyes so it's not super clear yeah but you see this distorted horse face poke out of the glass the eye bulging through up up up on the roof okay uh you move up the staircase this like rickety wooden staircase there's a baker would have lived yes the loft oh yeah and this door is like off the hinges and you see like a tossed room inside yeah signs of a clear struggle yeah the mattress has been pulled off the bed yeah you can see like nail gouges in the ground oh you know what and I think just to add a little bit of urgency to the scene there's like flickering flames from a lantern that was knocked over there is a fire in this room you start feeling the smoke in your eyes and your lungs can we put it out you can try for sure I want to try and put the fire out uh this would be what do we think dexterity yeah sure I got three oh god holy shit so you are putting you're trying to put out this fire you're like summoning moisture which is really tough from this area because there's already a fire oh it's the flower the flower dried out the flower when you know when air aerate flower and then it engulfs yeah totally oh so the shit you hear like a downstairs is like there's a shattering window um and it opens up a gust of wind a flower on the floor and you hear like a wolf from downstairs and you see like the light grow in flames is the fire coming is it like an explosion where the fire's coming up I think it's starting to climb up the staircase for sure this building's now on fire flower is explosive can we get up under the roof let's try it okay okay yeah you see so yeah roll dexterity for speed because you see at the base of the stairs a figure engulfed in flame black leather horse mask burning holy shit it's like a horse of the apocalypse yeah holy crap this is this is like death billy throws a chair through a window we're going up there you threw it through this window there's like a little balcony and billy's already climbing onto it like let's go all right 2d6 plus dexterity for everyone I rolled a 10 great yeah that chair's through a window billy summons an ungodly strength it was a it was like a full-size chair it was huge yeah how the fuck did he do that uh seven okay I got six oh shit nine okay thank you beautiful I think like things like I can fix it I can put the fire out yeah and I just like grab your hem I'm like no we gotta go yeah yeah and you just you you climb through the window that billy smashed with the chair onto like a balcony you know those like enclosed balconies where it's like a balcony but then like brick walls that go like up to the roof yeah it's like a little uh courtyard kind of thing but you cut your hand on the on the glass of the window I rolled a d4 two two damages you you cut your hand on the glass and tuck you are like coming back down the stairs as you realize that's just not the way up mirrors kind of gets tangled in you as because he was falling you pretty close yeah he was in my dust and he turns and the uh flaming burning masquerade dancer grabs mirrors at the top of the stairs back is on fire and yeah and mirrors is like ah I grab mirrors all right 2d6 plus strength yeah nine okay yeah so I aid okay yeah how do you aid I'll throw uh the chair back in at the horse hell yeah the chair back in eight okay great so that makes that a 10 you're like struggling with this burning man strangely strong and uh you're pulling mirrors away you get mirrors out of the guy's grip and he's like kind of pulling you back into the fire like he's trying to drag you outside I like the thing says mirrors you are water yeah he like just drops and drifts out of this guy's grip and he's yeah but it feels like this guy's trying to drag you outside not realizing that the lower level is engulfed in flames right and you see more figures coming through the fire and then a chair out of left frame just smashes into the guy and sends him down the stairs yeah and then tuck goes chairs to meet you friend and billy ving and mirrors are all on the balcony outside the window like come on yeah he he does he does a cool barrel roll over the window still cuts up his shoulder and you you know boost you know getting up to the roof is not a challenge yeah you boost yourselves up I push everyone up and then just pull myself up smoke is starting to pour out of the broken window but you're now on the rooftops of black glass yeah should we should we run yeah try and get to the next building parkour you guys are jumping across I think we have to all right you said they're all very cool I think we have to all right I think we have to all right I think we have to all right they're very close they're quite close yeah who knows what can happen for sure yeah totally you said that that you said that an orchestra you said that a mechanical orchestra could get across yeah giant mechanical spider so it's kind of pretty much like that we have the same jumping ability as a giant mechanical orchestra yeah made of metal and wood we could do all right we could do this how are you guys doing this you're just running and jumping parkouring yeah yeah parkour billy do you want me to throw you yeah probably okay uh okay so strength yes I'm gonna run and jump so strength strength and billy's getting thrown so maybe dexterity to like land here we go 12 9 7 I footballed yeah okay so yeah billy sails across perfect spiral yeah hits like a like a clay um chimney pipe and just like slams right onto it like one of those garfields in the back window of a car in the 90s yeah hell yeah buddy so what are your partial successes here as you leap through the window of a car in the 90s yeah I'm gonna run and jump I'm like fearful of that like the fire is licking at my back yeah and I like I'm a little too quick so maybe I don't land right or something sure yeah yeah do you and do you hurt yourself or do you think you lose something yeah I'll take some pain all right uh d4 it's a partial success two again two yeah you roll your ankle pretty bad dang uh tuck what about you uh I don't know what do you think I think either the fire continues to spread or the orchestra knows you're up here yeah I will let it be dealer's choice okay so I jump do you land cool I don't know do I land cool I think you do I try to I I jump and I fan the fucking yeah the the duster out and you land in like a cool like batman pose and I have tlc on my back yeah and I'm like terry let it ride and then it and then the crystal on the back just goes like so bright purple light wow stealth pierces the night absolutely I am the night spider absolute perfect stealth he's never called himself the night spider once I don't know why he's doing it now doesn't even really I mean that other thing is the night spider clearly you got that idea from that other thing he saw the other thing and then he had spider in his head and you land on the other side in a perfect stance somebody draw this and you start as you're standing there everybody sees things or tuck start sliding back as the shingles that he landed on come loose I grab them just strings I try and hold on yeah 2d6 plus strength oh no no totally miss five okay oh can I use my plus one from acting on my discerning realities from a thousand moves okay yeah but let's try and keep them in life and I can aid okay yeah yeah 2d6 plus bond let's try and keep these timely next time seven okay seven so seven to nine okay so as tuck is falling I go thing get tough hold on and then hold on to billy yeah I'm already wrapped around the chimney yeah yeah and mirrors his metal hand like locks around billy's belt and grabs onto ving and you like like all of you like funk funk funk your arms are outstretched and you grab the the back of the duster so I'm hanging like a cat yeah and as you're all hanging here narrowly escaping the flames are beginning to fully engulf the bakery across the across the alley I look into the windows of the bakery as I hang here and you see figures in masks and finery burning looking around finding no one and then heading back downstairs and as you're hanging here you hear the noise of the bakery and you hear the strings the orchestra has arrived text rights try to scrabble and that's where we're gonna end it that's where we're gonna end it for this episode I'm your game master Sean O'Hara joining me as always tacoma dome the barbarian abdulaziz pull me up being the half-elf druid Paul Oppers you're so heavy and fat billy the halfling thief just could die right now everyone knows we're here thank you so much to all of our supporters around the world uh if you want us to support the show and get access to bonus audio content like outtakes and level ups and all of the end of session questions uh we're releasing those in a deluge now so you're gonna love them uh or the up-to-date mall breaths feed with everything that we've recorded and released thus far you can find us at patreon.com slash Spout Lore or speller.com slash money please and thank you to aaron reed for our intro and outro music aaron for my money is one of my favorite people in the world and I'm my favorite performers just in general including music and if you want to listen to his original music you can find that at aaronreed.bandcamp.com and the music produced for the show composed by aaron written by the cast in general you can just find that you know what google spout lord soundtrack it's available everywhere available everywhere everywhere yeah we just released the little baby song yes yeah as a single yep beautiful music which you can find online 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 times of rest in revelry and though our journey may be like 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 spelt

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 Spoutlord!

I'm your Game Master Sean O'Hara, joining me as always Tacoma Dome the Barbarian, Abdul Aziz Hello everybody Ving the Half-Elf Druid, Paul Oppers Hi, how you doing?

And Fat Billy the Halfling Thief, Jessica Tai Hi everyone When last we left our heroes, they were taking refuge in Hither and Yon Hidden away on a street in Black Glass's Steamhaven district To prepare themselves for the next step of their plan In releasing Hither and Yon from the influence Of Callum Blackhammer And the icon of tyranny Miers, humble barkeep, good friend Offered his services in the fight to release his beloved bar And we did a little training montage bringing Miers well and truly into the game As the party's first, seven years in, official hireling Wow Miers now has mechanics, he's a fighter He's got some skills, he's a warrior He's loyal That's what we know about Miers Oh and he is also good at helping you heal When you make camp This does seem like a thing that Miers would do Yeah, this is all Miers Yeah, Miers Following the Mulan-style Be a Man montage We headed out onto the streets of Black Glass And found a city Silent, foggy, terrifying Figures clad in finery From some sort of wedding celebration in Black Glass Leather masquerade masks Shuffled among the streets Dragging people out of their homes Taking them, against their will To the Black Glass Palace Really creepy It had Nope vibes Yeah, totally Nope vibes?

Yeah, it's a horror movie Oh Are you thinking Us?

Nope is the alien one Oh, it had Jordan Peterson Ditch Jordan Peel Jordan Peel vibes Yeah, and Jordan Peterson Also Jordan Peterson Jordan Peterson was there He had his throat slit We walked by him, he had his throat slit Yeah, they were like, we don't want the throat slit Yeah, they were like, we don't want this one I don't know why somebody cut that guy's dick off Yeah Whoa, he looks so sick from just eating meat I think you will find That it is actually a sign of weakness To attack me, a much more alpha male Oh, he's trying to sound smart Kill him Kill Nah, he'll die Kill him Being dragged towards Blackhammer Hall The party followed quietly, watching Trying to join the flow towards the palace Before being spotted by a black-haired man The black-haired man was a little bit scared He was a little bit scared He was a little bit scared He was a little bit scared He was a little bit scared He was a little bit scared He was a little bit scared He was a little bit scared He was a little bit scared He was a little bit scared Started by one of the masked masquerade zombies Mmm And attempting to flee into a nearby bakery Things got bad from there Yeah A fire started A bit of a tussle began The party escaped onto the rooftops Attempting to parkour across an alleyway Kind of succeeding, mostly failing A human chain connecting Tacoma Dome the Barbarian To the rooftop Saving him from the three-story drop below Yeah, but the jump is cool though, right guys?

Yeah, the jump looked cool. At first. Midway through. Yeah. Yeah. Maybe the landing. Honestly, it could have been cool, but. It was cool though, right? And while hanging from the roof, the party drew the attention of clattering legs of brass and wood, bone white stringed instruments playing terrifying staccato tunes, the mechanical clockwork orchestra crawling along the rooftops. That is where we find our heroes now. You can just hear the strings. You can't see it so far.

All you see is rooftops around you, steam pouring up out of chimneys, smoke from the burning building across the way. You're slowly, you know, winching Tuck up. Arm over arm, the music getting louder and louder. Tuck, you flop over onto the rooftop. They look cool, right guys? They look really cool. Okay, cool. What do you do? You just hear music. I want to discern realities. All right. 2d6 plus wisdom. I got a 13. Good Lord. What here is useful or valuable to us?

You can hear the music's kind of echoing all over strings reverberating through pipes and off buildings. It's hard to figure out where it's coming from. Exactly. It does not know where we are still, right? It, the sound of you clattering a bunch of roof shingles onto the street and also the bright beacon of purple light that you decided surrounded you has alerted it to your general direction. Okay. The light made you look really cool. Yeah. Yeah. I forgot about the light. That does look good.

It's very bright. Yeah. Beacon. If you will. Everyone else in town thought you looked cool. A bunch of, it's a thing where it's like everyone on the streets looked up. Wow. We hear from Victoria La Blanche. Oh wow. Wow. Actually. Pretty, pretty key. Everybody saw it. Yeah. Yeah. Because you decided to surround it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You decided to surround yourself with a bright purple beam of light. Okay. So what would your plan be here? Are you fleeing?

Are you laying in wait, attempting to ambush it? Are you just hiding and waiting for it to go by? It is coming here though, right? It is coming. Okay. I would, I want to move fast and try to, yeah, get out of it's like line of sight. Yeah. If we book it and try and find somewhere to hide, because it knows where we are right now because this building is on fire, Texas and points behind. There's a ton of smoke. There's a ton of smoke. There's a ton of smoke. There's a ton of smoke.

There's a ton of smoke.

It is quite large in the streets especially in steve have steam haven are quite narrow yeah so it might be difficult for it to maneuver on the street level what should I be on the lookout for you see you're like looking over the side of the building and it's everything is pretty dark although brighter now because there's a building on fire right next to you and you see like um a little bit further down the road at street level you see a bridge like over um like a canal kind of a small canal and you see like a barred portal which you would assume is into some sort of sewer system like old london yeah all right let's head for that okay so we're going down the street level all right uh then you're is this with speed are you going are you just finding a door to another building and going down or how would you get down speedily speedily shimmy down the outside yeah yeah the fastest way would be go down the side fire ladder or one of the pipes oh yeah okay yeah I'll shimmy down a pipe this sounds like whatever we're doing so all right mirrors is right behind you come on seven seven seven oh okay three sevens whoa number of the angel okay beautiful number of the angel beautiful chris angel the mind the most beautiful of all the number of the mind freak and so you uh hustle down to a different building a little bit further away from the conflagration across the way and uh find you know you either find a pipe or a fire escape whatever you need to find and with a seven to nine as you are uh easing yourself over the edges of these quite high narrow buildings you hear um a crescendo building on the other side of the uh of the street and crawling up over the side wooden brass legs yuck instruments pulling themselves over the edge uh you see the dais that it was connected to in the concert hall and the the courtyard has been like broken and snapped in places creating this sort of angular jagged wooden thorax and it seems like the music kind of as it sees you like that maybe all the horn the horn section is like and it pulls it so it starts clattering across the rooftops in your direction shit what here's not what it appears to be the buildings that you're climbing down in this area of town this one seems old and almost abandoned it looks like a building that would potentially collapse you!

Under a significant amount of weight like a giant mechanical orchestra so if you wanted to slow this thing down you could potentially lure it to a rickety building oh I could use what are you waiting for yeah okay and collapse it into this building and then it won't see where we go yeah as long as you survive we'll be okay yeah yeah you guys get going I'll try and what are you waiting for perfect when you grind a challenge to your enemies roll plus con on a 10 plus they treat you like the most obvious threat to be dealt with here we go plus constitution uh 11 okay so on the 10 plus they treat you as the most obvious threat yes and you get a plus two to the damage on yes okay yeah billy ving and mirrors are like climbing over the edge lowering yourselves down yes and tuck stays up at the top and to call it in your direction yes how do you get its attention I wait until these guys get down to the to street level and then I take the axe off my back and I go I am the night spider and I I activate the the crystal on the back of the axe yeah yeah so how do you get its attention with the crystal yes okay I make it so bright you cry out a threat by whispering to yourself you call it by its name yeah uh I am the night you take its power yeah so it sees the crystal light up well it doesn't really have eyes but it's like it's like it's like but you notice it kind of like everything that could be perceptive tilts in your direction as the crystal activates probably senses by vibration yeah oh it feels the vibration of the crystal in the air oh yeah strings yes yeah and it starts uh charging across this thing is 20 feet wide like it's very large yeah and it is uh dragging itself across the rooftops knocking clay chimneys over in the process as soon as tuck sees it go for him he turns and starts running uh so that he can jump to the top of the roof and he can jump to the top of the roof and he can jump to the top of the roof to the other roof as it lands on this one cool yeah yeah great 2d6 plus strength it's 10 okay awesome your mighty shanks bulge yeah as the muscles carry you across the way it looks so sick and just at that exact moment the the orchestra's limbs tense and release as it shoots itself over to the building yeah and its massive weight like punches through the old uh rooftop wood splintering and crashing yeah as its legs like flail looking for purchase but it disappears in a cloud of dust and plaster sorry I'm not a fan of classical music great and then he goes to the door on the roof and he tries to get it it's locked okay back down on the street level guys uh billy and ving mirrors touches down on the cobbles behind you you hear a huge crash window shattering on the top level orchestra falling down the stairs exactly oh yeah that's fucking loud as hell yeah it's every instrument oh my god you you climb down into the canal there's like muddy banks of river that your feet are splashing around in and there's a locked gate into the sewer system I would like to pick it sounds great huge oh 12 holy shit yeah you pick this lock no problem sick this lock is is as like as old as the city is it basically crumbles as you're trying to yeah I I am holding it and it breaks nice perfect I did it another perfectly picked lock before we go in can I use trap expert absolutely right 2d6 plus dexterity uh 13 cheese louise yeah yeah okay um is there a trap here uh there is a trap here what activates it so you hear um splashing like deep in the the tunnel kind of echoing through the the tunnels and you hear someone humming like a orchestral orchestral waltz okay what what does the trap do you would assume that members of the masquerade have made their way into the sewers but probably not as many this is a harder place most of them even in their tyranny adult state wouldn't think to come down here but there's probably a few stragglers okay uh what else is hidden in here oh what else is hidden in here um you see a uh thief's mark carved into the stones just inside the tunnel and you see a thief's mark carved into the stones just inside the tunnel and you see a entrance and the thief's mark denotes like a safe house so you would think that somewhere in this tunnel system fairly nearby if you were to follow these marks you would find like some sort of hide out tuck yes uh that you've smashed through the door at the top of this building he's going down the stairs he has the door in his hand he's running with a full-size door under his arm I smashed the door out of the building and I grabbed that one too and as you're running down the street with the door under your arm the camera above sees through the second level wooden brass arms smashing through the exterior of the building pulling itself onto the street the legs clattering after you can I run even harder you can certainly try it's right behind you okay okay okay I don't want to drive them towards you I'm going to try to drive them towards you I'm going to try to drive them towards my friends okay so what was I really close uh so yeah I guess strength okay that's eight okay so that's an eight that's pretty good uh does it see me yeah 100 you're making so much noise your axe is literally a beacon of light shit I forgot to turn it off you're smashing everything that you touch okay so billy and you're carrying two doors with you billy and ving you're like looking in the tunnel like okay I think this might go and you hear me mirrors go uh guys and he directs your attention to tuck sprinting down the street with two arms the orchestra clattering after him smashing like grabbing the sides of buildings pulling itself along it looks like it's getting kind of caught because it's not wide enough here for it to sort of maneuver fully but tuck is on his way uh I've if I notice that it's behind me I probably won't run straight for these guys sure just a heads up yeah yeah I see the doors to block its way oh yeah I hide behind it and then I shimmy over and it goes it goes like a looney tuna little spider arms like knock knock knock yeah yeah and then waits it's like tapping its foot I'm doing it yeah checking the watch okay fingernails on the desk totally but they're all violin bows uh you would get you would think that the narrowness of the chamber as well though big enough to admit all of you if you were to like getting in this door the orchestra would not be able to follow you but tuck it is behind you what do you do or billy and ving if you can think of a way to aid tuck in his escape I mean I was thinking of using call of nature it's been a long time to gather stones and send a rock horse its way hell yeah that's cool middle of the orchestra that's really cool okay roll plus con get to seven okay great so you have two requests which means whatever roll you do is plus seven and you're in the middle of the orchestra that's really cool okay roll plus two so what is the what is the spiritual body that you summon I want to gather up stones from the bridge you kind of like sends the bridge forward and it falls into like a giant clydesdale cool oh sick trample forward tuck coming at you yeah and right heads up horse up as tucks running he does a thing where he like he runs at the horse and then slides underneath between it's legs yeah sick and you see him like from tucks perspective that's like yeah yeah and then tuck goes why do you give it all a dick all right 2d6 plus two for the favor I got nine okay so it is a partial success and you I believe lose one favor yes I lose one favor one request yeah uh so this yeah this horse forms out of the cobbles and stones of the bridge incredibly heavy hooves slamming into the street pounding down the road leaping over the bridge and then he's like oh my god I'm gonna die I'm gonna die I'm gonna die stuck stuck stuck stuck stuck stuck stuck stuck stuck stuck stuck stuck stuck stuck stuck stuck stuck!

Stuck stuck tunnels right yeah splash splash clang door behind yeah door sealed and now we're in the darkness yes oh quiet splash splash I guess I guess something to for us to talk about what was why did we come to the sewers this gives us a way to kind of move around the city yeah and potentially get to the palace yeah without going through the very dangerous streets great or the incredibly dangerous rooftops yes because it's where our goal is still to sever callum from tyranny yeah so that we can release hither and yon that's what we need and also doing that takes him off the board for the gibbous man totally which is what and we keep our promise to colm and also he doesn't marry my wife yeah that is a that is another thing that happens if he's dead it's a fourfold bolt yeah yeah okay I guess what I want to do is vibe with the shadows of the night sense out I mean this is just um um!!

Um! Stepping through like ankle deep water. Yeah. Which is a little bit, it's more like knee or thigh deep for Billy. It's pretty deep, but I'm matching the pace of like the, the creepy people coming to us. Can I aid and just pull thing? Just wants to pull back the water a little bit. Oh, cool. Nope. I failed. I got five. That's okay. The water rises. Oh yeah. Billy's bobbing around. Yeah. Swimming. It's okay. I'm, I'm still very capable even when bobbing around. Yeah. Yeah.

So that is the, yeah. Ving tries to pull the water back, but you feel water from the river side, like come down the pipe and the water level starts to rise a little bit. And we're like being pulled away. He has to reach out and grab you so you don't float away. I don't think I understand fluid dynamics as much as I thought I did. But in the darkness ahead of you, you hear splashing and humming.

They haven't spotted you yet, but mirrors has gotten you close enough that you could potentially do something about this. All right. Strike. Well, the iron's hot. It's hot or whatever they say. Whatever you say in the kitchen. That's what they say. That's all right. Yeah. You said it. Nice. High five. Clang. And then I lean over to Ving. I'm like, everyone's saying such cool stuff this episode. Hey, you know some cool stuff last episode. I said, everybody's been saying such cool stuff.

You know some really good one about an orchestra or something? Yeah. It was really cool. It was pretty good. I said I didn't like classical music. Yeah, that's what it was. I like that. It's pretty good. It's pretty good. We're just. We're all just like, it was pretty good. It was pretty good. It was pretty good. I have some alts. I have some alts. We can punch it up a little. No. I mean, no, you can't. No. I think we can. I think that was really the best it could have been.

I think you're right. It was good. It was good. I think it was good. Okay, Billy, you are, what is the striking you choose to do while the iron is hot? I'm at like knee level, so get them in the knees. Okay. Yeah. I'm going to do the knees. Mears is going to do the face. Okay. So Mears is like, so are these like, evil people or just people? They're just, I don't know. I mean, they're people, but. All right. But they are kind of evil. Okay. I'm going to leave the sword on my back for this one.

Sure, sure. We'll just knock them out. Give them a good sleep. They might sleep it off, actually. Great. Yeah. Okay, cool. All right, Billy, roll your hack and slash. Sure. And this will, Mears' warrior man-at-arms thing will increase the damage you do. Whoa, that's sick. That's intense. Man, by how much? By four. That's his, that's his warrior. Holy. Holy shit. Amount. Three. Plus strength. Is three. You know what? I'm going to use my last fairy child. I'm going to turn that to a seven to nine.

Okay, great. Yeah. So that means you're going to take some damage as well. That's fine. I think we're looking at a D6 here. Okay. But then you roll your damage. Two. So you're taking two damage here and now roll yours. Six. Okay. Much higher. So that's a plus four. So that's a 10. Okay. Two damage. Holy shit. So yeah, you don't have to worry too much. Like they're just kind of scattered throughout the sewers. My knees. My knees. My face. That's absolutely devastating. Yeah.

You, uh, so you sneak up and like hit this person in the knees. Yeah. I just, I just use the blunt part of the knife to tap his knees or whatever. Wait, is that bad? No, you cap his knees. Yeah, you're hitting his knees. You're not like shattering his kneecaps or anything. You're shattering them? No. No, he's just getting knocked down. I bop him in the knees pretty hard. There you go.

He gets bopped in the knees and there's like a, and he turns and just like claws at you and kind of, scratches your face a little bit and you lose two, damn it. Or you lose two health. And then mirrors comes in with his metal fist and just clang and splash into the water. Knocked out. That was awesome. Oh, that was so cool. That was so cool. All right, let's keep it up. Let's go. Yeah. We should be. All right. And he just reaches down and flips the person over.

So their face is facing out of the water. All right. And he pats them on the cheek. You'll be okay. They start drifting down. I'm straight floating down into the sewers. He's facing up. He'll be okay. He's being in touch. Okay. So you, the way forward is clear for now. Are we trying to orient ourselves towards the palace? Are we looking for the safe house? What do we think? Safe house. Oh, for the castle, the brass castle. Yeah. The thieves mark that was leading to a safe house. Yes. Yeah.

I think that is a good idea. It was a good, just to like explore. Yes. And also to get information on what the fuck happened after we left the wedding. Okay. Yeah. So I'm going to set, I'm going to make a little, uh, below the whisk. Oh, perfect. Yeah. Yeah.

So, uh, the little, the way the little jingling bell sound, uh, rings is the, the cat pops into view, padding along the surface of the water, little light ripples forming as it walks, uh, illuminating the slick walls of this like ancient sewer system. And you can, as long as you take your time, you can probably very quietly walk your way, following the marks to the safe house. You find a, an old, wooden door set into the side of this sewer chamber.

There's a little lock on it, but there's a thief's mark next to it. Billy. I will use tricks of the trade to try to open the lock. 2d6 plus dexterity. Nine. Okay. Yes. Perfect. The door is kind of high up. I like thinking it's like above. Oh yeah. On ground level. Totally. Yeah. Lift them up on the platform. Yep. Great. Okay. That makes it a 10 plus. Yeah. There's like that sort of Mason outline of like where there used to be a staircase that has since been like smashed away.

And Ving lifts you up onto that thing so you can actually pick the lock. Yeah. And click. The door creeps open and there is darkness beyond in a pretty smallish chain or like a medium sized like storeroom. It seems like. Yeah. And drink. Bill of the wisp jumps up into the storehouse with you, illuminating crates, barrels, sacks in various stacks and piles along with tables, chairs, that kind of thing. Yeah. I pushed the two doors. I've been carrying it to the room.

And everyone hops up into the chamber. Now there's three doors here. I know. Super secure. One's getting through. In case we lose this door. I know. Yeah. Yeah. There's this is a, it looks like this might be a place where a gang, you would presume the brass castle gang. This is where they have stored some of their illicit materials, smuggled goods and whatnot. And then there's a door that opens up and there's a door that opens up and there's a can we have a look around? Oh, absolutely.

Discern realities. Okay. 2d six plus wisdom six. Uh, okay. A lantern in the back of the chamber between some rows of barrels flares to life. And you hear like, well, well, well, and there is a squat older man, maybe in his fifties or sixties, uh, dressed in a mode, very similar to the brass castle gang members that you've already dealt with. He's got like gray stubble and a bowler hat standing in the back, smoking a cigarette. Oh, a finery beast. His hideous mask. Get him. Now hold on.

Holds up a hand. Oh, oh wait, he's talking like a normal person. You're all talking like normal people as well. Well, there's a lot of not normal people wandering around out there. Oh, oh no. How'd you find your way in my old hidey hole here? Whoa. He's really talking so normally. Well, you left, you left a bunch of notes all over the way here. You know how to read the signs. I do. Yeah. I mean, I know how to spot a fellow thief. You'd think you'd be able to spot one as well.

Mears is like, yeah, why don't you close that door back there and we can have ourselves a little meeting to close the door and then puts two other doors on top of it. And he walks over with his lantern, plops it on the table, pulls up a chair, and he's like, I'm going to go and get my own lantern. And he's like, why don't you? I joined him. All right. So use the ones that I had me boys hired. Not really. Sorry. Use the ones that were hired by me boys. That's right.

They sort of informed me before they ran off to the palace. What have you heard from me boys? That's just the trouble. Young man. I ain't heard nothing from me boys. Oh, shit. Oh, yeah. I don't say. Oh, yeah. I don't say. You haven't heard anything. I fucking lost it. He's like, shit, I fucking lost it. He lost it. I think I might have done Chinese by accident. I accidentally did. Don't do Chinese. I know. I know. You're fitting, skating on very thin fucking ice. I know. Don't do Chinese.

I fucking, I know, dude. I know. Yeah. We, it's really hard to not do Chinese though. Billy says, it's so hard. It's so hard. Sometimes Canada day. You buy one of those hats from China. I can't say a word. He takes another drag off his cigarette ashes. It just on the ground. You hear anything from Artie or Rookin? No, that's just the trouble. They said they was breaking into the black hammer hole with a few freelancers. Yeah, we got them in. We didn't see them on our way out.

They came in, but they didn't leave. So you're telling me my boys is missing, presumed dead. And you three was supposed to have their backs. Whoa, no, that's not how it worked out, man. We were doing them a favor by getting them in. Yeah, we promised them that we would get them in. And if we needed them, they would have our backs. Yeah, plus it was all we could do to get out ourselves.

Billy, because of your shoot first in your danger sense, there are several more individuals in the shadows in this room hidden away. Why don't you tell your boys to come out? I ain't scared. And he takes a long drag off. You can't do Chinese, Billy. What? I thought it was too British accent. And he takes a long drag off his cigarette as Billy says that. And he goes, very good, my boy. All right, boys, you can come out now.

And a bunch of suited three piece tweed suit individuals emerge cartwheeling. Oh, wow. Oh, wow. Swinging golf clubs. Yeah. So you was in the parasite and you escaped just barely. So maybe you can tell me what the fuck is going on up there to something in the air. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. It's got a hold on people's minds. I don't know if you've noticed. Have you been up to the street level? Oh, yeah. Barely escaped. Yeah. Made our way down here.

It's even worse than the palace. He takes a nervous drag off the cigarette, which is now down to the stub, flicks it over his shoulder. Can we get to the palace from here? Yeah. Underground? Oh, yeah. Can you take us? No. Huh? What one might say sort of a management type. So a coward? I know, boy.

You don't know what I'm saying I spit on the ground I was part of the Cog street walls I'll have you know That means nothing to me He pulls open his shirt he's covered in scars underneath I rip open my shirt And I've got the big wounds fresh From Callum's knife Oh shit we were supposed to be changing those dresses Oh my god There's so much sand in his wounds Oh shit Oh my god Why it is happening to me I'm sitting there like Come on you think I'm not a hard ass too Roll I'm not allowed to say that 2d6 plus charisma 8 8 yeah pretty good Alright you've seen a tussle or two I've seen a tussle or two Smells like almonds It's so bad And Billy starts going Sorry I just Oh I think I had a fever or something I wouldn't worry about it Good god Fuck Ving you were supposed to change his fucking dress I know I'm so stupid Alright well if You are the three He points at Tuck, Ving and Muse Or half as tough as this one I think we might be able to help you And Tuck goes tough And then he picks up one of the doors he tries to break Okay You don't have to roll the break in an inanimate door That's not attached to anything Is it an ironwood door?

The door splinters easily under your hands You're a very strong man So yeah Ving puts the door back together Using his Elemental They meld back into one piece Oh that impresses him And Mears rolls up a sleeve And flexes his bicep Is that a bicep? Is that a bicep? Is that a bicep? Is that a bicep? Is that a bicep? Is that a bicep? Is that a bicep? Is that a bicep? Is that a bicep? Is that a bicep? Is that a bicep? Is that a bicep? Is that a bicep? Is that a bicep?

There's so much stuff in his cuts We gotta clean out those wounds Mears using his new Mechanical ability to perform first aid Begins changing Billy's bandages While I'm talking You cut my crass man You're welcome to do this These are just gross I can smell them from here There's gummy worms in them Those are for later You can't eat those Billy we've told you so many times Wounds aren't pockets You can't eat those The old man pulls out another cigarette Puts it in his mouth One of the boys leans in with a lighter Lights it for him Before he lights it I grab the guy's wrist And I go What are you smoking?

Cigarette How are you resisting the effects of the smog? What do you mean? The air out there is full of some bad shit That's making everyone These weirdo fucking zombies That just fucking follow Callum's instructions And you guys are somehow resistant to it Yeah Discern realities Seven Alright Great One question What here is useful or valuable to me?

I grab the cigarette And I smell it So And then I take the lighter And smell the fire Alright So all these people watch you do this ridiculous shit That's so rude And unnecessary You just start taking stuff out of people's hands And you smell the unmistakable scent of saffron Mixed with tobacco Oh It's these cigarettes He gestures to Tuck to give his fucking cigarette back There you go He takes it Lights it So you would assume That smoking these cigarettes has inoculated him in some way To the smog I guess they're all smoking it Him and his guys Or they're at least like getting second hand smoke from this dude Hot boxing this man Yeah totally And yeah whatever he has It's kind of like a Seems like a Macallan tobacco mixture Do you know?

Do I know what? Do you know about the smog? Is that why you're smoking that? No I smoked these because I started smoking when I was nine years old Oh The smog Has made this city nigh unbearable Got people on edge But you're a little bit less on edge I'd say I'm making heaps of cash friend People stressed out They look for places to relax Have a drink Play a game or two And I've been making good money What's your name? Me?

Mm-hmm Samuel Deering Maybe you've heard of me And if I remember correctly Deering I believe is the last name of the man already said is the leader of the Brass Castle Oh okay Call me Deering Yes dear He kind of laughs He laughs loudly at that actually Ha!

Haven't heard that in quite some time Ever since me missus walked out on me For the sixteenth time But she's gonna see She's gonna see reason She'll be back And one of the guys goes She'll be back boss Don't you worry You'll be off me couch in no time sir Looks like we have something in common friend Oh yeah what's that? My old lady stepped out on me too Oh yeah? Yeah You ever heard of a lady named Victoria LeBlanc? Knives Come out You married a Victoria LeBlanc?

Yeah And she's absolutely cucking the shit out of me right now Oh I see Knives back under coats That's right Oh that's a shame Victoria LeBlanc you know I've had somewhat of an antagonistic relationship for the last several years In fact and he points to one of the scars On his still red shirt Ripped open shirt You see kind of like Chubby old man Man boobs With some like grey chest hair And he points to a scar Under his collarbone She gave me this And then Tuck Uh Opens his duster And he points at the The stab wound that she gave him on their wedding day Yeah It's like A wedding gift Huh Were you married to her as well?

No And then Tuck You hear all of his knuckles crack No Only one woman's got my eye Me too Mildred Dearing Lover my life She gave me my first cigarette Sounds like a beautiful lady Oh she is Calves as thick as the day is long Built like a motor carriage Built like a motor carriage She is She carried me across the threshold On our wedding day And she made me see stars my boy I watched her Punch a police horse Straight in the face Killed it on the spot And then he goes It was a racist horse She roasted that horse for our wedding And ate the whole fucking thing Just roast Rotating it on a spit I can still see her there You boys like a strong woman eh?

Or man Or person whatever Yeah Oh yeah Yeah Oh yeah He's now looking kinda into the darkness Dude Do you still hold her in high regard in your heart, my boy? No. I just got a weird possessive thing about her. Okay. It's truly maybe the most toxic part of my personality. All right. Very well. Then allow me to make you a bit of a proposition, eh? What do you say? We'll hear it. You're trying to get into the palace, I understand. Yeah. You save me boys. Make it worth your while. Okay.

I'll make it even more worth your while if you kill Victoria LeBlanc for me. That's not the sort of guarantee that we make. But we can save the boys. We might be able to get you an audience with LeBlanc. Yeah. An audience? What if we deliver LeBlanc to you? So you're saying you won't kill her, but you'll deliver her to me to be killed? I feel like yes. I'm checking my internal morality. I feel like that. That is actually kind of okay. I mean, that's kind of between you and her at that point.

Yeah. Right? Yeah. I agree. So you save me boys. 200 coin. Oh. That's the most coins we've ever had. That's not true. We've had way more than that. You bring Victoria LeBlanc to me. Her grip on this city's illicit goods falls to me. 1,000 coins. That would be the most. That's the most coins. That would be the most we've ever had. What do you say? Puts his hand out. Spits in it. We all spit on his hand. Yes, I spit. You're not from around here, are you? Wipes his hand on his jacket. All right.

Very well. Do you need any support in terms of manpower? We need everyone you can give us. All right. And a few of the smokes. Mm-hmm. All right. He pulls out a hat of three. I'm not giving a boy a cigarette. Mears? He's 18. He can smoke. The little one. Oh. I smoke all the time. Yeah. I smoked when I was your age, and let me tell you. You don't want these, boy? Yeah, I do. All right. Fine. Billy, this is the only time we will ever let you smoke. Don't smoke. It's bad.

But what if it's really fun? Well, it's not. Is it really fun? It's really fun. No. And also, all right, it's not fun, but it makes you look really cool. He's not kidding about that. He's not. He takes a drag, and he looks so cool. Billy's just contemplating what it'd be like to be cool. Billy, this is the only time you can ever smoke. Uh-huh. Fine. Billy. Stop projecting into the future, you smoking. You can't tell me what to do. How about future, Billy? In the future, I'll be grown. All right.

All right. So he is willing to give you… So there were four other Brass Castle boys hiding in the shadows. Yeah. You can take three. He wants one to stay behind with him. Okay. Yeah. Do you need to know our names, or are we going to be kind of like window dressing for you? We'll just call you one, two, three. Yeah. One, two, three is perfect. Those are our names. I'm one. That's two. And the third one is going to blow your mind. That's three. Hello. Boy. Boy. I'm number three.

And you're welcome to stay here and rest up if you choose, Sir Samuel. Oh, should we try and heal up for a minute? We should try to heal up. Yeah. It is. Yeah. You can definitely… You can heal up to half your hit points if you choose to chill here and have a bite to eat, rest up for several hours. Yeah. I think we need to. Oh, actually, you know what? Let me just make sure that we understand the stakes here. You can absolutely make camp and rest.

While that happens, what is going on up top will continue. Yeah. That's fine. Okay. Cool. So there are people being dragged to the palace and who knows what's happening. Yeah. We don't care. That's going to take a while. Great. There's a lot of people in the city. Yeah. What's he going to do? The whole city in a couple hours? Nah. Yeah. Can't save everybody. Yeah. You don't even… You shouldn't even try, honestly. Most of these people are racist. Yeah. It's true. And that party can't…

It's mostly masterlies. In all honesty, I feel like the city is mostly masterlies. Yeah. I feel like things are just evening out up there. Yeah. Yeah. Capitalism is just being dismantled. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I feel like the party can't kick off without us. No. So… These are just appetizers. Yeah. The mousse bouche, if you will. Yeah. Great. And you are… You wake up a few hours later, groggy in the dark. Samuel is leaned back in the chair.

He's got his booted feet up on the table and he is snoring like a sawhorse. Oh my God. Just… He's clearly got some sort of apnea situation. You guys should be familiar with this sound. Yeah. You're all familiar with everyone's snoring patterns. Because of Francis. Yeah. Not anyone else. No. Yeah. There's a point where Tuck and Samuel's snoring harmonizes. And it starts… He shakes the tunnel. Dust starts falling from the ceiling. Oh my God. Rats are scuttling.

When you wake up, one of the Brass Castle boys, dead. Oh my God. No. Just give him a stroke. Just killed from the sound waves alone. His eyes are bleeding. He's been liquefied. But you are awake and the boy… One, two, and three are ready to go. Oh. Should we just… Debrief on the plan? Mm-hmm. Because we are making the final approach now. Yeah. So the cigarettes, Tuck says, and he tucks it behind his ear. Because he thinks it looks cool. Billy's already lighting it up. No, Billy.

Billy didn't put that out. Put that out. Not yet. Not inside. Not yet. I feel like let's light up when we get into the castle. Because then they'll last longer. It'll be weird for him. It'll be intimidating and strange. Right. We'll look so casual. Right. Because we'll look really cool. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. How are you guys going to hold your cigarettes? I'll probably… Like… Like… The normal way. The classic way like this? I don't know. Unless maybe I do it a different way like this.

Tuck's going to do it… Tuck's like, I'm going to do it like this. I feel like I've seen a lot of cool guys. Cool. So… Real hard boys. I do whatever you do. I'm going to smoke mine out of this. So we're talking like kind of pinched finger. Yeah. But like inside the hand. Yeah. Like a World War I vet. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Things gutted between his pinky and his ring finger. I like it. I'm going to smoke it like the Penusians do. Yeah. Cool. Cool. Yeah.

One, two, and three are standing around watching you do this and they're just kind of nodding to themselves. What do you guys think? Is this cool? Yeah. Yeah. It's really cool. Is this the most intimidating way we can smoke this? We're all pretending to smoke a cigarette. Can you drop it so I can see it? This is the most intimidating way to have a cigarette. Okay. And he pulls a cigarette out and he eats it right in front of you. Whoa. Yeah. Pretty scary, right? Does it work still? No.

It's really bad. It tastes so bad. It's in his teeth. Yeah. It's all over his face. It's like brown saliva dripping down his mouth. Don't do it like that. Don't do it like that. Okay. Yucky. Donald Puff. Can we have a different tune? Mom, number two. I'm ready to go. Just close your mouth. So we got the approach. We're going to smoke these cigarettes. They're going to try and grab Ving or us to do whatever the fuck they need to do to chain the Gibbous Man to Callum and Victoria. Yeah.

What do we do? Two. Two. Other than just flat out fighting them. Do we have a plan? You don't have any more fairy child? No. But we slept. Is it the next day? Yeah. When is morning? Um, it might be day. I'm going to roll what the bones know. Oh, I got a five. Holy shit. Yes. Nice. Plus charisma. Oh, a 12. Oh, shit. So I get five hold. God damn. I'm ready. Ready to go. Loaded up. Loaded. So we might. What about a convincing Ving illusion? Oh, yeah, we could do that. Right. Send fake Ving in.

But if they grab your illusions, do they feel real? No. No. No. They are convincing to see and hear. But if they were to touch them, they would be illusory. Okay. That still might work. It might. It buys time. Yes. Time. To sneak around and sneak up on them, maybe. Wait, what about your new fairy child move? Can that sever connections too? Could that sever his connection to the icon? I can't. Trap him in a ring? My fairy trap? Your fairy trap. Maybe. Maybe.

I feel like we got to use your fairy trap. Yeah. So fairy trap is basically the same as fairy ring, except it's only passable to those I choose. So it would hold an enemy within the trap overnight. Could you potentially trap the Gibbous Man? Because he can't get into your fairy rings. Potentially. Stands to reason. Okay. This might be a wild swing. But do we let them summon the Gibbous Man and then trap him in your ring? Could. I'd have to make a ring before. Yeah. They can't see me do it. Yeah.

We could use the distraction while I'm giving myself over. Oh, yeah. You can make the ring. I'd make the ring. While I'm readying myself. That could work. What would, they wouldn't believe that I would just give myself up. No. What if we give Tuckover as a, like, he allows himself to get caught. Hmm. And then I step in there and like, no, no, no, wait. Don't hurt him. Oh, yeah. That's a good idea. Yeah. So we're thinking that. I get caught. You come in to, quote unquote, save me.

And then you sneak in with the Brass Castle gang and Mears set up that fairy circle. Okay. I have a thing also that I can add to this. Oh. So ever since the fight at the Anvil, I think I can actually control the Demon of Servitude. What? Yeah. Whoa. The demon that's in the corner of my chest, I think I can actually control it. And I have a new move for it. I say. I have a new move. Yeah. The Demon of Servitude. It's basically TLC, but with the Demon.

Roll plus charisma to gain a boon from your Demon. On a seven to nine, the Demon offers the boon, but causes mental anguish. On a fail, you lose control. So it risks the Demon taking control of me, but I might be able to, like, you remember how, like, I looked fucked up and crazy when it had taken over me before? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. To make me look like it again. Mm-hmm. So it's like, oh, the influence of Callum activated the Demon in me.

Like, potentially convince Servitude to make it seem like, in the metaphysical perception of Callum, that you have been possessed? Yeah. Interesting. So then my eyes would go white, and then the coins in my chest would all turn into eyes. Yeah. And I would look really fucked up and crazy, like you guys said. I looked at that place. Bing shudders. To do that though, would you be unable to smoke the cigarette? Oh yeah. Yeah, if you smoke the cigarette, it might not let servitude through. Yeah.

So you'd have to go smokeless. I'd have to go without the cigarette. Mears says, wait, so if you are using servitude to make it look like you're possessed by servitude, how do we know if it works or not? You don't. That's the thing. Okay. If I get possessed by servitude, it will look exactly the same. Except he'll come at us with his axe. Yeah. So you'll try to kill us if it doesn't work. Yeah, we'll know then. Okay. Okay, great.

Or you guys, I'll just, there's an, I don't think servitude hears everything that I know. So I'll just say something that only I know. Like, oh, like that cool line that I said on top of the building. Kiss me quick? No. What? From several episodes ago? No. The thing I said about how I prefer, I don't like classical music. Oh yeah. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Yeah. All right. Guys, remember that really cool line? We all remember. What the fuck? What? You said it, you thought it was cool.

You said you thought it was cool. And then we all went, oh yeah. Yeah. I did think it was cool. I just have some alts. We were also all on the ground. You were on the top of the building. We actually had nothing to do with that. Yeah. I told you about it afterwards though. I won't take your word for it. But this is also the thing that I am wondering. Because we have an opportunity to fuck up Callum. And Victoria's plan. Yes. But is that what we should go for?

Or should we try to let them win and capture the Gibbous Man so that we can trap him? I can't imagine that he is such a passive part of this plan. You think he's in on it? Or something. I feel like it's them operating independently. They want, they're trying to fuck him over. He feels like a… He feels like a little finger. Yeah, maybe. Yeah, I think if this is your plan, you're going in without all the pieces. Okay. For sure. My instinct is to not allow the God of the Sky into the room. Yeah.

Because then we go, our enemies go from two to three. Yeah. So we got to just stop it. Whatever it is, whatever opportunity we're giving up here to like trap or influence the Gibbous Man. It's worth it to not be in their thrall. I think that makes sense. Okay. So stop. Stop the plan. However you can. What if you, as the agent of servitude, hand me over to them? Oh, that's smart. Fucking smart. No. I thought we were in love. Yeah. We made a vow. We made a vow.

And then Tuck goes, no, I only love Victoria LeBlanc. She's my wife. Wink. Wink, blink. But I did the dishes, Vink will say. Yeah. Both nights in a row. In sickness and in health. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Tuck goes, have you seen her tits? They're amazing. What about my tits? So is it going to be you or is it going to be the illusion that Billy makes? Yeah, I think it's the illusion. I think it's the illusion. Okay. So I'll go in with the illusion.

Pretend I've captured him. So it doesn't matter that I'm the one holding him. And then you guys- I will life symphony as they approach to stall and woo them when they're about to destroy the illusion. Yes. And then that'll give you time. That'll give me time to make the ring. The fairy ring. Yeah. And trap them in it. Okay. And cut them off from like whatever the fuck they're doing. Yeah. And then, yeah. Life symphony and your fairy ring work in tandem. Yeah. I think so. Interesting. Okay.

All right. So step one is get through the sewers. I think with the Brass Castle Gang and four skilled, experienced adventurers, creeping through the sewers is not a problem. And you make your way to a section of the sewers that is filled with sewer water and I think just goes straight up and then manhole cover. And one, two, and three stand around it in a triangle shape and point up and in unison say, it's up there. The castle? That close? Yeah. This is the palace. All right.

We've been walking for quite a while. Sorry. I think I just blacked out a little bit. Just thinking about smoking that cigarette. Yeah. That cigarette. It's just. It's like. It's like a siren whispering in my ear. You're going to be so cool, Billy. You're going to be so cool when you smoke me. You're going to be a real boy now. We zoom into Billy's brain and there's like an image of him smoking like with a cowboy hat and spurs. Yeah. Pretty cool. Arabian music for some reason.

Can't imagine the things I'd be seeing. All the places I'm going. All the places I've been. Wow. This character is wild. I've been traveling. Fortnite. Fortnite in a day. Watching the sunset every night. A lone wolf. Me and my lone wolf. Two lone wolves. Two lone wolves. How do you party? Billy comes to in a sewer. And one, two, and three have formed a sort of human ladder. Mm-hmm. Up to the sewer entrance above you. All right. This is the way. Now it's time for stealth. Shh. Okay.

Should you guys light up so that Callum can't find you? It's time. Yeah. Okay. Mears pops a cigarette in his mouth as well. I don't know if I'm ready to do this. Mears is freaking out. It'll be okay. Okay. Don't inhale. Wait, no. Do inhale. Do not inhale. Yeah. Inhale. Inhale. He puts it in his mouth. Woof. You gotta hold it in, Mears. Yeah. It's so loud. There's so much coughing and we're in such a smile. Guys. Guys. Be. That's fucking dank. It tastes like a petting zoo. Oh, my God.

Everybody smoke more. Smoke more. Okay. Sorry. Sorry. Don't waste the smoke. Oh, my God. Blow it in my face. I know. Blow it in my face. Blow it in your face. Oh, God. Oh, my God. It smells like spaghetti. Keep smoking. Okay. Okay. It smells like the taste of last night's spaghetti. Oh, God. Oh, my God. I feel like I'll never get an erection again. Oh, my God. It smells like spaghetti, but if the spaghetti was just herbs. Okay. All right. Okay. I'm just not gonna. I'm gonna put it in.

I'm gonna hold it in my mouth, but I'm not gonna smoke it. It's like a whole mouth. It's like my whole mouth is a chimney. It's like a chimney. It's just like a bunch of ovens in my mouth. Are my teeth orange? I feel like my teeth are orange. I think they might be orange. I feel shorter. Does that make sense? It's getting you guys a little bit high. I feel taller. How tall am I? Did I grow? Oh, my God. Bill, you're huge now. He's standing on Mears' shoulders. Oh, my God. You're taller than me.

Oh, my God. Several minutes later. Yeah. Everyone's calmed down a little bit, and camera cuts to a lower, lower level room. Manhole cover pops up, squeak, turns, slides over to the side, quietly grinding on the stone floor. Billow is of smoke. Yes. Saffron scented smoke curls up from the manhole cover. And who goes first? I will do a trap expert. Ah, very smart. Yes. 2d6 plus dexterity. I suck in a bit of that air, the smoky air. Plus dexterity. Eight. Great. One question. Okay.

Well, is there a trap here? There is. Okay. What? I mean, what activates it? You hear a bunch of shuffling and scrabbling in the room above you. You haven't completely peeked your head out, but you look up and filling this chamber, like the floor is just covered in fat, dark gray rats. Oh, gross. How big are these rats? Like, uh, like the size of… Like, half the size of a cat. A muskrat. Holy shit. But there's like dozens of them. What the fuck? Yeah. Are we in like a cellar?

You're in a cellar. Absolutely. You see like there's maybe like, like burlap sacks and stuff that have been long since chewed through. But there are just rats wall to wall in this room. Friends! Rodents! Countrymen! Whoa, yeah, do it! Lend me your ears! All the rats start poking their heads up. Hark! What voice calls from the darkness? It's a rat. It is I, the Rat King from below. All right, roll a TD6 plus charisma, I guess. Hell yeah! Oh no! Seven… Eight? Eight? Oh! No, I said six!

No, no, you gotta say it. I was like, what the… This is gonna be awesome. I'm using this five to talk to the rats. It's a four to a five. Worth it. Again. Show yourself, so-called king. I come up. I bring the, um, my, um, gray furs up. I'm like, what the fuck? I'm like, what the fuck? I'm like, what the fuck? I'm like, what the fuck?

There's a widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz Will you rise to his call? Lend me your tales tonight. We call no man king, but any that speaks the rattish tongue may be our ally. I parlay with thee. Parlay. He speaks parlay. Parlay. Parlay. He speaks of parlay. And all the rats separate and one aged rat walks forward. Whoa. Wow. What parlay offer you, man? He's old.

He's grizzled around his muzzle is light gray fur. Finn takes a knee, bows his head. I am the patriarch of this rat horde. And I take you on parlay. Yes. What offer you the rattish hordes? Shit. I offer thee a bounty outside even your wildest wants. Ask of it and it shall be thine. There's only one thing we seek. Yes. The return of our kingdom. This palace has been the home of rats for generations. Generation after generation. Easily 12, 13 years. Have we slept in these halls?

Eating of these grains? The darkness that infects these halls has forced us into the lowest levels. We've seen the light. And we will not be forced back into the sewers. Help us spread amongst these halls. Reclaim our grains. Reclaim our holds. You shall feast on cheese. Yes. You speak of cheese. You speak of cheeses, eh? I am no spring rat. I have known a parlay or two. How can we take your assurances? Mmm. Perhaps a taste of cheese? Perhaps a taste of cheese? Oh, Billy. Switcheroo.

Oh, I can switcheroo. Yeah, I'll crawl out. I have my raccoon thing over my head. And I bow to the paper. Raccoon! They all scatter. Wait. No, no, no. He is a friend. Wait, wait. Competitors. That's no raccoon. That's a boy. Show yourself, boycoon. He merely smells and looks like a raccoon. He takes his hood down. Boy raccoon. Boy raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon.

The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon.

The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon.

The grain sack the rats uh give way creating a a path to the sack and billy shields the view until he steps back and it appears like crumbles of cheese coming out of the bag ving wafts the cheese smell forward like vape from a smoker's mouth circles of cheese fill the room guys I can smell cheese is there cheese up there tug is still in the sewer ving gives a thumb up down the sewer that is a smell that my nose hath not lain on in many moons ving hands him a large chunk he reaches forward with his little ratty paws picks it up my assurance is your liege wrath kind feast upon the cheeses that wait us in the future and they all descend on this bag and they eat all this grain that looks like crumbles of cheese it goes down their gullets so smooth you there's a bunch of squeaking and then soon the whole sack is gone they ate the cloth and everything oh my god and they all uh are kissing their little paws very well you have given us assurances that the cheeses will be ours you can ask one favor of the rats and we shall deliver oh when we make the call you run rat havoc this we can do on your signal we shall unleash the rats of war now be gone from my chambers be gone yeah we're going we just gotta go be gone yeah be gone as everyone comes out of the one by one that he goes doing through we're going we're going okay close the door and I turned to ving and I'm like should we have maybe asked them to like steal the ink or the knife or anything I probably should have done a lot more than just just yeah I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm okay and you closed the door on that storeroom the sort of like offshoot a little closet that clearly was just kind of like a garbage room and you are now in what you would assume are the lower levels of blackhammer hall okay should we discern realities oh yeah yes okay 12 okay three questions what here's useful or valuable yeah you you brought along the brass castle boys specifically because they're like guiding and helping Okay.

Yeah. So the brat two leads you down the hallway. He's like, be quiet now. Be very quiet. Yes. And he's creeping through the halls and he leads you to a section that he leads you to a staircase, like a door beyond here. Awesome stairs that leads you to the main level of the hall. If you're trying to get to the courtyard, this is the way to go. So that's how I'm going. That's where you go. I have to go the obvious way. And then three leads you a little bit further down. And he goes, all right.

So this behind this part of the wall, this part, we never really, we didn't finish in time. But if you go through here, you get to the old castle and there's a big room underneath the courtyard. But apparently, according to one of the servants, they said that they've been messing around under there. Callum's been messing around? Or his people, you know, building stuff down there. Oh, yeah. Yeah. We should be looking at that first, maybe. Yeah. Before I go. Okay. Who's really in control here?

You think that whatever is going on in the palace at large, what you saw in the courtyard, that is the focal point. The glass orchard that they made, the glass trees and the tapestries and the lanterns that made that reflection. That is the focal point. So down here, you think that unless you were to really fuck something up, you are probably safe to operate quietly down here. Cool. Yeah. Well, here's not what it appears to be. Um. Yeah. Well. What would be not what it appears to be here?

Oh, maybe in the big where the big old ballroom used to be. Maybe the floor above, like the new floor. Like maybe that's glass, too. Hmm. Oh, so like you can move about quietly underneath, but you can still see what's going on above. Yeah. Maybe. Unless there's something cooler. Yeah. That's pretty cool. Or like there's like the like Rian's castle was built like on the lake or whatever. Mm hmm. Like maybe there are underground tunnels. There's an aquifer underneath the castle. Oh, yeah.

Oh, and maybe there's a piece of the moon down there. Sure. There's a piece of the moon down there. Oh, my God. Please, Sean. Yeah, Sean, please. There can't be a piece of the moon everywhere. Sean, there's a. Sean, this is Rian's house. This isn't Rian's house. This is not Rian's house. Oh, never mind. This is the Blackhammer. This is the Blackhammer Hall. This is the Blackhammer. You didn't think this was Rian's house, did you? I did. Okay. Okay. But I still think it's cool.

I think it is cool. I also think. This is Rian's house. I also think. I think that it's cool that Ving puts his hand up on a wall and is like, wait. And he hears water running under the castle, through the walls, to the point where there has to be some sort of old aquifer that connects right through a section of the castle. Yeah. Okay, cool. But it would be like, based on what you've seen of the city, it's long since blocked off.

It's running through sealed off chambers, which might mean, especially the nature of water, that using that water might be a good way to get water. It's a good way to propagate Billy's fairy circle. Like, maybe it kind of runs in a way that you can use that to create the circuit. You turn the waterways into a fairy circle. Oh, yeah. And then the water, like the current of the water will keep it going. That would be sick. That would be sick. Yeah. So that's what you know.

There is a chamber that is like bricked over, but you can hear water on the other side of it somewhere. And you think that you can operate down here pretty well, but there is a staircase nearby that will lead you up. To the main courtyard. Okay. Sounds good. Okay. So I think one, two, and three, they got you here. Yeah. They're like, we got to go look for our boys. Yeah. Go look for them. Okay. You go find Artie and Rookin. All right. We're going to split. We're going to split up.

And if they seem like they're like weird pod people, just get them to smoke a bunch. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Sounds good. And if they were not going to smoke, then you smoke and blow it in their mouth. Okay. Sounds weird, but it works. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Yeah. All right, boys. Let's practice. And they just start blowing into each other's mouths. We watch it. And then they start having a bunch of sexual tension between each other. Their eyes are like meeting really hard. All right.

We got to go. Get out of here. We got to go. And they're just blowing into each other's faces. Ving's lingering. All right. So remind me of your plan. Tuck is going up with an illusion of Ving. Yes. Pretending to be Ving. Pretending to be possessed by servitude. Yes. The next step of the plan is Tuck tries to make a deal with servitude. That would be the next thing. Do we do it in like, do we do this in the big ballroom underground? Yeah. Oh, sure. Yeah. Okay.

So that would mean we're breaking through first through this like fake wall because you need to break through the wall to get to the fake, the old ballroom. Sure. Yeah. Let's do it. Okay. Okay. So who's, how are we breaking this wall down? Do you want me to do it? I have TLC. Oh yeah. That's true. I can just push them against it. Here we go. Uh, nine. Oh, eight. All right. I'm catching bricks as they fall out. Beautiful. Yep. Seven. Seven. So that makes that a 10.

So Tuck's just kind of like building a wall beside it, like popping sections out. He's just like putting the blade against it and because they can smash any stone, he just like pushes them into the wall. Yeah. Cool. Like Jenga. Yeah. He's Jenga-ing the wall.

And as you're like pushing into these old stone, you're looking at these solidly looking, these, these, these, these, these, these, these, these, these, these, these, these, these, these, these, these, these, these, these, these, these, these, these, these, these, these, these, these, these, solid looking walls all around you. Yeah. This section of wall comes down piece by piece revealing like a darkened corridor on the other side of much older stone worn dusty.

There's like a layer of dust on the ground. And we can smell like musty water running. Yeah. You can hear it rushing. Yeah. It's rushing like right through here. Yeah. Totally. Yeah. Just, just on the other side of this passage is where the waterways begin. The sound of water. Yeah. So you see light filtering above from the courtyard. Yeah. Like the, the myriad. The myriad lanterns that they'd lit for the wedding illuminating old archways and like buttressed channels.

And you see the water running through. It looks like maybe this was part of the castle's waste system once upon a time used to just like shuttle shit from like privies and bath chambers to just like out into the ocean. Well, yeah, we're in the steam district. We're near it. Yeah. Oh yeah. So there's probably like steam, old steam pipes that are connected to this that have been used to like cool stuff or suck water up to different boilers. Yeah.

And the water's filtering down and you see like the shadows, the moving shadows of like feet on the glass shuffling and then like kicking, pounding heels as someone's dragged into the, into the courtyard. Oh, and then they always like still. Yeah. And then they join the kind of like shuffling. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, can we hear any music from. Yeah. You hear music moving around the corridor and you hear like clattering above on the tiles. You assume the orchestra must be up there. Okay.

But this does seem to be the section that you would need to be under to perform your fairy trap move. And you see kind of further in like near where the center of the courtyard would be what you assume the brass castle boys were talking about. There's new mechanical construction directly under the center, like gears and cogs and pistons that you assume that was where the orchestra rested. So they built it there. Yeah. And then through whatever means it kind of became something else.

Like a giant, like kind of like the inside of a music box. Yeah. Sort of. Exactly. But like giant and built underground. Yeah. So that's further in. But, but regardless, it seems like now that it is whatever it is now, it has not been maintained since. Okay. So you're still kind of alone down here. Okay. What that does suggest is that there are entrances and exits to this area you are unaware of. Okay. Can we see the altar? You can see what you assume are that ring of chairs. Right.

And then like a larger shadow. That must be the altar. All right. So you definitely didn't want to catch the fairy ring around that. Okay. I can't put this off any longer. Okay. Okay. It's time to go. Good luck. Inside. If I come out and I don't say that thing about how I don't like classical music. Okay. Then you guys have to fight me and put me down. Mears reaches up and puts his hand on the hilt of the sword. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Knock me out with that thing. Yeah.

I'll knock you out. Okay. Yeah. All right. Here we go. Here we go. Good luck, Tuck. Thank you. You can do this. And Tuck closes his eyes and then opens him and he's in the pizza hut in his mind. So you close your eyes. You prepare for the void. Yeah. The void that you have spent every night in since. Yeah. And you hear ding, ding. You're in the doorway of a pizza hut. Yeah. Full of Tucks. Yeah. Just for one. Yeah. And there's a new server at the front. What? What? Does not look like Tuck. Whoa.

What does he look like? It's the old man. Yeah. The old man. The old man. Oh. Habibi. Yeah. Habibi Maraghani. Yeah. And Tuck, he has like full body goosebumps because he's only seen this guy twice. Yeah. Once it was like its first memory. Yeah. And the other time was he killed him. Yeah. In his mind. In his mind. Yeah. Yeah. Just for one? For two, please. And he turns around and he goes, hey, boss. I'm taking my 15. And then the Tuck behind the counter goes. Good thing.

And he comes and he sits at a booth with you. There is a long, long table full of pizzas. Oh, sick. All you can eat. Oh, it's an all you can eat lunch buffet? Yeah, man. And there are several versions of you going to town. Okay. He goes, wait here. I'll be right back. And he goes quick because he knows everyone's waiting. Outside of his brain. It's your brain. Take your time. Here we go. And then I call from the buffet. Do you want anything? No, I'm, you know, I'm okay. Okay.

I bring back a little pasta salad for him. Here you go. Thank you. I actually do like this. I like the, it's got bits of ham in it. Yeah, it's great. What can I do for you? Let's let's drop the pretext. Very well. How may I serve? Um, I need your help. He nods. I need you to make it look like I'm possessed. Oh, I actually know a way. I can do it. I can do it. I can do it. I can do that quite easily. Oh, really fucking funny. Really fucking funny. Oh, I didn't see that coming. Can't blame.

Really fucking funny. Can't blame a demon for trying. Look, man, you're stuck in here with me and I got your fucking number now. So you either play a ball or you never get let out of the box. He shivers a little bit. Fuck you. So what do you need? I need you to make it look like I am possessed. You know, to make this happen, you gotta let me through just a little. A little bit. I know. Just a little tiny touch. I know. You're okay with that? Yeah. Okay. Okay. All right.

So you're rolling 2d6 plus charisma here. Yeah. Oh, your charisma is quite high. I'll keep it secret. Okay. So here's what we're going to do. What? Okay. Don't, you're not going to tell me. Okay. We cut back to the chamber underneath the courtyard. Hmm. Tuck's eyes open. All the eyes on his chest open. He looks at the three of you. He looks at the three of you. Tuck. Tuck. Tuck. 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, Abdulaziz. So long. Ving, the Half-Elf Druid, Paul Oppers. Goosebumps. And Fat Billy, the Halfling Thief, Jessica Tai. What's going to happen? Thank you to all of our supporters around the world. If you want us to support the show and get access to bonus content, like the up-to-date Mall Brats feed, gift boxes, merchandise, and a whole lot of other stuff, you can check us out at patreon.com slash speltlore or speltlore.com slash money, please.

Thank you also to Aaron Reed for our intro and outro music, which you can find anywhere online, including all of the music produced for the show and Aaron's original music, which is incredible, at aaronreed.bandcamp.com. 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 3.

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 like 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'd gladly Spout Lore

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 Spoutlord!

I'm your game master Sean O'Hara, joining me as always playing Tacoma Dome the Barbarian, Abdul Aziz Hello! Where were you?

All I saw was Abdul move the curtain aside and then Jessica on the TV And then Abdul sheepishly whipped around when I said his name Nothing Playing Ving the half-elf druid, Paul Oppers Hello Sean And playing Fat Billy the halfling thief, Jessica Tai Hello Paul When last we left our heroes, they were being pursued by the orchestra A terrifying mechanical construct made up of any number of self-playing instruments Patrolling the streets of Blackglass and coordinating the capture of the various wedding attendees in the city They, through a cunning series of maneuvers, tricked the orchestra into falling into a disused building and escaped Down onto the street level Where the orchestra continued its mag- uh, its magical, terrible pursuit Ving the half-elf druid summoning a horse out of I believe it was a- I believe it was a Clydesdale?

It was a powerful Clydesdale made out of building rubble and cobblestones to fight off the orchestra You also made the horse cock That does not sound like me I said it, I said it Thank you, thank you very much There we go!

It all becomes clear Uh, and escaped into the tunnels, the sewers beneath Blackglass with the help of Billy's lockpicking skill Once in the tunnels, Billy found a number of thief signs leading you to a safe house controlled by the Brass Castle Gang Containing, uh, crates and crates of I'll-gotten goods And within, Brass Castle Gang leader, the aforementioned Samuel Deering A squat Imagine Bob Hoskins Looking guy Who, along with his crew, sat kind of hiding out, waiting out the entire affair Smoking tobacco laced with saffron That was the vibe, was he was just down there waiting for the world to finish ending Yeah, and then he was gonna come out and start selling stuff to people that needed it That was his plan Uh, but a deal was struck between our crew and the Brass Castle Gang in which Deering would offer Uh, three of his Uh, three of his Uh, three of his boys To help you infiltrate Blackhammer Palace To find his already lost crew The party agreed And took some of Deering's saffron-laced tobacco into the palace Emerging from a hidden grate in the floor of the palace that the Brass Castle Boys led you to Ving then negotiated with so many rats You mock my rat negotiations They will help I assume At some point I'll bet you one thousand dollars that it won't come back up Watch your man, I have the biggest shoehorn in my mind right now Just gonna make a note real quick To lose Abdul a thousand dollars Sean?

To lose Abdul A thousand dollars Uh, Billy That's a clock Billy Switcherood a bad day Billy Switcherood a bag of grain into delicious cheeses Helping with the negotiations In which the rats then agreed to allow you passage into their chamber of the palace And also to help With pandemonium Unbridled chaos at the giving of a signal Which also was not Decided on, I don't believe You said when we say the word Unleash chaos The good word, the good word I meant I think all rats are born knowing the word The word, yeah I think if I scream now rats now Go get it He looks like a man but he screams He speaks the rat tongues Screams like a rat Uh, in the lower levels of the palace They found a disused Bricked up chamber Leading to aquifers and Channels beneath The courtyard One, two and three headed off into the palace on their own To try and track down their lost members While Mears, Ving, Billy and Tuck Coalesced their plan Using the waters beneath Billy and Ving are going to create a fairy ring To trap Callum and Victoria Before they summon the Gibbous Man to keep him out of the picture While Tuck will use the icon of servitude in his chest To make the appearance of being possessed And bring up an illusory version of Ving Pretending to be betraying the party And delivering Ving to Callum and Victoria Yeah And then the rats swoop in and save the day Sounds like a plan boys Let's go And…

Rats Uh, everybody took a drag off a saffron cigarette Billy being made to smoke for the first time Being made to And immediately taking a shine to it Cause I mean It's so cool It's simply too cool That's right And to begin the plan Tuck took a trip within To the sit down pizza hut in his heart Yes To speak with the demon of servitude In the form of Habibi Margani They made their deal Habibi letting Tuck know that for this to work He had to be let through just a little bit Uh huh Tuck agreed Before he went in letting the party know that he would Return to his one liner about classical music If it was him Uh huh He closed his eyes Opened them Eyes white Chest eyes open And said I said I don't like classical music Yes Oh my gosh Do I look fucked up?

Do I look super weird and fucked up? Yeah, a little bit Mears is just kind of staring at you wide-eyed Mears, here, check it out Oh no no no no no no I'm okay I make the eyes like look in different directions Like flexing your pecs? Yeah, I think I'm doing it by flexing my abs Can you get them to do cross-eyes? Yeah, here, check it out Oh Oh Stop looking at your dick Gross So gross Yeah yeah You look great You look horrible Thanks Can you see with those? I can't Can I?

Uh, that's a good question Cause aren't my eyes also white?

Yeah, I think that's We've talked about how they're um They roll back Yeah, I feel like it's like How Daredevil sees Right, it's like a perception Yeah, of like Rather than sight It's sort of like the shadow realm But the opposite Like where Billy can see the Fae And it kind of looks like a shadow It's sort of the opposite of that Yeah Where everything's like Maybe everything's super bright Yeah, like Yeah, it's like the world on fire thing Or whatever they describe it as Yes Where it's like outlines of light On everything Yeah Instead of the actual things Totally So Mears is uh Looking kind of jumpy And he's kind of like Looking at you with his eyes squinting Yeah And he's like He's like He's like He's like He's like He's looking at you with his eyes squinting It's like We're really taking this Classical music thing At face value, huh I mean, yeah Okay Alright Well he said he has control So he has at least enough control Yeah To remember that Okay Alright Very Sure Yeah Okay So Anything else we need to figure out Before we engage With the plan Yeah I don't think so No Well I think we're running out of time soon The shuffling is quieting Yeah We can see that they're gathering a circle Mm-hmm So, Billie, I think you have to make the illusion, right?

Yes. And then I can take it up top and you can start working on the fairy circle. Okay. So I will use fairy child then. What season are you in right now? I'm in a spring. Oh. So with my spring season, I can create a convincing illusion without spending a hold. I guess I just don't have to use a fairy child for this. Yep. The spring form is very tricky. So they are able to make their illusions just at will. Yeah. Great.

I would like to do a sort of like a bit of like a Cinderella fairy godmother thing. I'm like walking around Vang and I'm doing the like. But more like Gus doing it. Yeah. Like Gus doing it. Gus, Gus. Yeah. I fall over a few times because I'm not looking. This dress is a lot of corn. It's mostly corn. Giant corn kernels. But I got to get him just right. Sometimes I don't get your proportions right. That's true. His ass is huge. His ass. Huge. Legs really skinny. It's like when a kid draws it.

Yeah. Arms like no joints. Stick arms. Fingers straight out. Eyelashes like this. I look like a house. Yeah. There's always like a little corner sun following me around. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. That's very funny. Yeah. It looks like a drawing all the time. Yeah. So I'm like, I got to erase it. I'm like, no, no, no. I got to make this real life. Oh, God. That feels weird. That feels weird. Be careful. Those little like V birds are just floating around his head. A flower with a smiley face. Yeah. Okay.

So does the, well, it says convincing illusion. So it does the illusion after some editing. Yeah. Looks like Ving. Yeah. Yeah. And then I teach the illusion. Like I mimic a lot of Ving's moves and I'll watch you. Yeah. Yeah. So actually I want to try and clear this up. The illusion will be away from Billy. Yeah. Out of sight. Mm-hmm. How does it act when it is not within view? Because he's creating a convincing illusion. He's not necessarily creating a set, like a living thing.

You know what I mean? Yeah. What if I like do like a communion of whispers down here with Billy? Oh. I have to tap him in to what's going on up there. Yeah. Yeah. Does that make sense? That does make sense. Yeah. Yeah. Billy can make illusions, but basically like once they get too far away from him or if he can't like perceive them, they're not in his control anymore. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

That makes sense and then a community of whispers could also be a way to make that happen yeah yeah I would think the ring I think the chamberlain ring because I feel like you and I could like watch each other really closely for this okay so we're connecting through the rings to be able to like use tuck as a way to keep the illusion going I like that staying connected with the illusion through tuck so how are we establishing that now like what does that look like like tapping in through the rings to make sure that it works waiting until tuck is up there and then like trying to keep it going yeah I think it's a community of whispers role on using the rings in this space okay great yeah go ahead and 2d6 plus wisdom for communion of whispers I got 10 okay so you all you get a boon or a vision that is pertinent to your current situation clear clear clear clear Communion of whispers.

I got 10. Okay, so you all, you get a boon or a vision that is pertinent to your current situation. Clear and helpful. Clear and helpful. So we're all looking inside each other's minds using the Chamberlain rings for a moment. Yeah. What do they see? You guys see Tuck trapped in the pizza hut in his head, fists bloody, trying to punch his way out the front door. Whoa. So what is the reaction once the Demon of Servitude realizes that Billy and Ving have seen this?

The Demon of Servitude would try to break through the floor above them using TLC to expose Billy and Ving. This was a trap? The Demon hates classical music too? I turn on Tuck and I'm going to make… I'm going to do a ring around the Rosie. Oh, shit. So what we're going to do is a defy danger. Okay. Because I think the second you make this connection, the Demon starts moving. Okay. Okay. Like you see Tuck draw TLC and start swinging, like start trying to swing at the ceiling.

Sorry I had to lie to you. No, it's very cool. I noticed you didn't apologize to me. Because we're not friends, Paul. Jesus Christ. Oh. Take that back. I like to assume only friends can make that kind of joke. That's true. That's true. That's true. But it did hurt. I'm sorry. It stings just like when you lie to us. So many betrayals. I am so glad. Because the… Oh, man. All right. We'll talk about it after. Okay.

So Billy is doing a defy danger to act quick enough to do this before the Demon can do what it's trying to do. Right. Because you have shoot first. Right. I do. I do. Billy, Billy. If the question is ever who acts first, the answer is Billy. Yeah. So what I was going to say was that the defy danger was to see if you can act first. Oh, okay. But shoot first says that you act first. Yes. Yeah. So you can just try and make your ring around him.

Maybe instead of the ring, I will do I'm a bad guy now. Oh. Oh. And just fucking gloves off. Yeah. Because I'm pissed. I'm pissed. Like how did this Demon know? And your dad lied to you. And he lied to me. All right. I'm sorry. He said he never lied to me. I know. I'm sorry. Can you read out how I'm a bad guy now works? Okay. So I call upon my winter form to fight in a flurry. I'll roll plus wisdom. Okay. Great. So 2d6 plus wisdom. Please. Nine plus one is 10. Okay. Okay.

So on a 10 plus, I get three holds. I can terrify an enemy, deal damage to an enemy within reach and freeze someone or something in place. Oh, God. This move is so powerful. I really. I really fucked up with this one. To be totally honest, the freezing thing's insane. So yeah. What do you do? I'm going to freeze him in place. Okay. Yeah. Tuck draws TLC. As you're coming out of the connection into the pizza hut, he's drawing the axe. He's going to throw it at the ceiling.

I spring on to talk and I clamp down on his hand, like wrapping it tight around the blade. Oh, yeah. Oh, and then it just like ice surrounds the hand and the blade. And I'm angry. So it's like the ice shoots down. It pierces like into the floor. Oh, yeah. It's like sharp. Oh, yeah. Yeah. And what is the reaction from the demon? Shit. Okay. What is this guy like? So all it wants to be right now is the perfect servant. Right? Yeah. So he, as in Habibi, it, as in the demon. Yes.

Is probably recognizing Callum as the most powerful person here and is like, I am going to serve that Callum Blackhammer. And the reason that it wanted to take control because it wasn't trying to serve you. It wanted control. It wanted control of your body so it could engage in its programming. Right. So there's like icicles going through my legs into the ground. Not through your legs, but like it's like anchoring your upper body to the ground. Okay.

So when, when you do that, the eyes look at you, but Tuck's head doesn't move and Tuck doesn't speak, but you hear in your mind, my master is not ready to see you yet, little boy. Yeah. Creepy. Very creepy. Hmm. Great. Can I try and break out of this? Absolutely. Yeah. Okay. So this would be 2d6 plus strength. Okay. Uh, so that's, yeah. 10. Sorry. So, um. Do I have a debility? You're trying to act against the wishes of the dice. Fuck.

Uh, so you, yeah, Billy, you'd launch onto Tuck who you now know is not Tuck. This ice encases him. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Massive body. Mm-hmm. Just strain against the ice and shatter it. And it bends the axe Because he was holding the axe That handle's made of stone Is it?

Yeah, it's always been made of stone Oh Yeah, the demon doesn't care about TLC Would it be able to break TLC?

I don't know You tell me Okay, I don't think so Okay Because the reason that Tuck has been able to break stuff in the past Is because of his inherent nature Okay This is not his nature acting It is a demon Okay So it can't tap into that part of him Okay Yet Okay But it's still figuring out Tuck's situation Okay So it tries to snap TLC Okay But fails Yes But the ice is broken And that gives Ving You have a moment to act here I want to go within the Mind Pizza Palace Yeah And charge at the door Yeah, so you're in the parking lot Outside the Mind Pizza Palace Just so many, many minutes Like a 1965 Bluebird bus pulls up And Ving gets off and is like Tuck!

And you just see like Boom, boom, boom, boom There's a sign on the front that says Closed, we'll be back in five minutes And behind that Call tomorrow And behind that Tuck is just pounding this door Bloody fists Ving, the door is fucking jammed or something He shoved a bunch of gum into the lock, I think It's just locked We need to find the right key I want to manifest a key to the door Oh, interesting You try to break it down maybe And you can see that this is just not happening Yeah, you can see that this is just not happening So, 2d6 plus wisdom to summon this key Okay Ooh Plus wisdom?

Yeah Ooh, 12 12 Oh, sick So you find You pull a zip You have a big like ring of keys on your belt Yes You look down, you're actually dressed like a janitor Yeah And you're going through this ring of keys The other tucks in the place are like freaking out They're like The fryer's is broken Is that the maintenance guy?

There's a fire in the kitchen There's one of the tucks has a big dishcloth And he's waving at a fire The soft serve is too soft It's just cream Cushing out of the nozzle Slipping and falling all over, covered in cream And you find the key And click into the door Open the door Fly it open Back to the real world, Billy You're hanging on to Tuck, the demon shatters this ice Mirrors is kind of moving around the outside Trying to get an answer to that question He's here to help If you attack, he can help you with that But what do you do?

I'd like to try to terrify an enemy I want to try to terrify the demon of servitude Oh, sick That's so cool Hell yeah, what does this look like?

Billy's in like full winter rage mode And he's screaming at the demon like You're obeying the wrong master Whoa Sick, that's so fucking cool I am the strongest one here Okay, you will terrify it By spending a hold Sure I want you to roll this though Because if Billy presents himself As significantly powerful The demon's allegiance might change Yeah Right That's wild Sick 2d6 plus charisma, I guess To like force of personality Nine Can I aid?

You have been released from the pizza palace So you're trying to get out Yeah What does this look like?

I think it's sort of like what happened At the battle for Lance Springs When The icon of Zealotry Zealotry Like showed everyone what they believed in the most Like what Oh yeah Yeah It kind of showed everybody Like their Yeah, what they're devoted to Yeah Yeah Tux was just memories of Billy and Bing Because there's like nothing else in there So I'm trying to like line up the thing that Billy is doing Where he's trying to like tap into the servitude thing And then line it up with what my personal allegiance is Yeah So Ving gets the door open And all of the Tux come running out They're like Oh They're freaking out That's like That is an expression of Tux internal repressed anxiety Yes Yes He's Released from a pizza hut And One of them is like a dark wet stain on his pants Front and back Front and back Front and back And Tux prime Yeah You come out with Ving And as you're like Hands bloody and torn Yeah Outside the pizza palace It starts to snow Whoa Billy Yeah You can feel the winter fairy Being impressed upon this place Is Billy here or no?

No, not right now No, not in the mind palace Okay But his presence is known Okay So Tux He wants to take the memory From when we went to the To the pool And we had to like Fight through that snow storm Cause we were going to the pool To like dunk Billy, right?

Oh yeah Yeah To T-Bag him Yeah You always laugh when you say that Yeah I don't get it There So there is this memory that Tux has Of him holding on to The polar bear version of Ving And like holding Billy In the crook of his arm And fighting through The winter storm That he's just gonna like Bring him back Yeah To this place And like feed it into This like It's almost like A framework for devotion Is being created inside of the mind Of the icon Yeah So he's like He's trying to nest These like feelings of like Familial devotion Inside of it Interesting Yeah This, oh okay This is cool Cause like metaphysically In our world What does that do to an icon?

Does it shift the icon? Does it become a different icon?

I don't Oh maybe yeah Cause it's Could do Well cause I think the way I've always thought about it Is like certain icons Are like mixtures of other Baser icons Right That create like more complex ideas Yeah So I can see the Servitude and Devotion Devotion So what happens when you combine Servitude with like Devotion I mean that's very Very powerful Loyalty Because it gives purpose to Loyalty Like the Like maybe Okay let's just Let's roll in See what happens That's cool Wait is this not your aid?

This is my aid Yeah Right This was Just an aid I haven't rolled anything No This is just the aid This was just a description of an aid It's very cool Okay I wanted to highlight that Wow We're good at telling stories Someone's really fucking Chewing up the landscape in here Or whatever Scenery or whatever Yeah it's 14 tux Yeah so that says Seven Plus one Eight Oh thank god Yeah That would have been So embarrassing Oh god The memory gets deleted From tux head Okay so Tux Thinks about All of the times that He has lived his life In service Of Ving and Billy Uh huh Familial bond Familial bond The strength of that bond The strength of your devotion And how that informs your service Mmhmm Then we'll jump back out Billy you're like On tux head But you're like Holding his face And screaming at him Tux body is like Starting to kneel Oh Almost like against his will Oh Six Fucking awesome That's so crazy Yeah Oh that's And Billy's just screaming Obey me Yeah Yeah It's kind of like Do you think I am a conjurer Of cheap tricks Where like Yeah Oh I think so The perspective changes And Billy seems huge Yeah Yeah Though it could be also ice Yeah Physically is like All like lifting Billy Off the ground Yeah Like sheathed in ice Yeah And with a heavy Thud Yeah!

Tux body Kneels On the stones In this ancient Castle complex Mmhmm And you can feel Whatever iconic power Is Inhabiting Tux body Shifts its allegiance From whatever is going on Above Mmhmm To you And I'm very curious If we think This has changed it From the icon of servitude To the icon of loyalty Yeah Cause you When we Shifted the bar Like the Coins Kind of came loose Mmhmm And the coins In his chest Are always Have always been like The constellation Oh Of servitude So they're shifting Yeah I think so So it's like fresh Fresh cuts Scars Yeah So the Yeah the power The power of Billy's Personality In this Moment Is shifting the coin chunks In Tux chest As they form a new Constellation Representing The icon of loyalty Do I take any damage For any of this?

I guess You're asking No! What do you think You're rolling? I'm so sorry Is it my damage? Or Billy's?

I guess it might be mine D6 I guess it would be a D6 Because this is something That Billy's Fairy power Is doing to you But you get extra damage When you get 2 D6 When you're in winter I do That means it could be 2 Or it could be 12 Maybe it's Maybe it's snake eyes No it could be So we're rolling 2 D6 here No And this makes sense As a price to pay For changing the icon In Tux chest Yeah I'm gonna roll Shittier dice Not your magic lucky dice Find the virginity dice Where are they?

This is Sean's Why are we still Calling him that? Virginity dice Let's go 6 Okay Sounds like bad Yeah 6 damage Ooh all the eyes Look at me now Oh yeah That's so fucking gross Yeah So nasty So the demon And I can just Feed this to you Because now This is a different Situation entirely Yeah It looks at It looks at Billy And it asks What would you have of me?

Let him out And then tuck his back So every Mears is now looking Mears has got his sword out Still in the wax case Still in the wax case Yeah But he's still He's holding it I like that he's like Ah And he's kind of like He swings it at Ving a little bit Like ah Whoa whoa whoa No no no He swings it at Billy Put it down Put it down Okay It's fine Boo He drops the sword What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What?

Okay Everything's okay It's fine Right Tuck? Yes I'm okay I'm better now How do we know?

Mears point the sword at him He picks up the sword He points it in your direction Okay okay okay Ask me a thing That you That you think I would only know How cool was that jump You did off the roof The other day Dude I was a fucking Night spider He's back It's him It's him He's back And Tuck is bleeding heavily out of his chest Yeah But the eyes are still there Oh yeah The demon of loyalty fulfilled the deal that I tried to make Which was to make me look possessed Right yes he honored the deal Yeah I'm really sorry It's okay buddy it's not your fault Tempers happen Yeah Sometimes people get mad and that's okay And sometimes your dad gets possessed by the demon of servitude By accident right And it's an accident And when stuff is an accident it's nobody's fault That's right Right Sometimes your other dad just stands there and does nothing And things work out You did nothing You did stuff You just didn't You didn't do the last thing I didn't do the last thing And it kills me We can wreck on everything you do the last thing Let's do it Let's do it So perfect Let's do it We'll do a What are they called when we have to do a pickup We'll do a pickup where Ving actually solves Yeah Yeah!

What happens is like Ving comes in and he does like the thing that like a boyfriend does Where he like drapes over my arms Yeah As I'm holding Billy and asking if he's okay He's like yeah Yeah Are you though big guy?

I do like that he just kind of comes behind Billy like Shh Mm-hmm Like wipes the Yeah Like tries to brush the icicles off of him Get a little schmutz there Yeah Yeah Crackle crackle as the ice hits the ground Yeah Okay Says Mears So plan is then the plan is the plan again I think so I think I have control of this thing now And can I check in with it?

Yeah you guys can all pop into the memory palace now Oh sure yeah Yeah Let's see how he's doing Yeah Ding ding We're in the pizza hut It's kind of smoldering inside a little bit Oh Help wanted signs everywhere It's a big help wanted sign It's just like the manager left like mopping everything up Yeah Yeah It's just a tuck in one of those Still the loincloth is in there It's a loincloth but tucked into the loincloth is like a button down short sleeve shirt With a clip on tie Yeah Yeah I feel like I might have lost a lot of my subcruise Just leave your resume on the counter Just take a seat wherever you want We sit in a booth And uh Habibi comes out From the back All sooty Whoa Hello Hi Hey How's it going?

Much better I'm good I'm good Um I just want to say And he like slides into the booth across from you I imagine you're all crammed into the Yeah we One side of the booth Yes Yeah We have three giant cokes in red In the red plastic cups Plastic cups Yeah He's eating a sundae Like a Like an old school In the glass bowl Yeah I just want to say I'm so sorry For the deception My loyalty Now Lies with you Wait is it just Billy or is it Ving and Billy?

I guess it would be Billy and Ving You are my priority now I will do anything that I can do To protect you How do we maintain your loyalty? Who's to say it won't just Go to the next person? That's a great question What makes you feel loyal to us?

Specifically He There's like a TV in the corner Oh It's like playing family video Yes Style memories Yeah With like the VHS like scan lines Yeah yeah yeah And stuff like that On the wrong date You know how there's lots of Oh yeah The wrong date It's all 1990 Well it's like whatever It's like September 1st 1991 Like whatever it all is All resets too Yeah All the pictures on the wall Have been replaced with family photos Oh yeah The menu Is like little That's all your favorite items It's like all Tuck's favorite I mean Ving's favorite items And all Billy's favorite items Yeah Do not accept checks From these people It's all pictures of Ving And Billy What?

What? Wall Dine and Dash Wall of Fame It's all Billy It's all Billy It's all Billy It's all Billy It's all Billy It's all Billy It's all Billy It's all Billy It's all Billy It's all Billy It's all Billy It's all him running away With different foods Blurry Is it running?

Those blurry photos Where he's moving too fast They're kind of in order He's like he's got a cookie And he's got a cookie And a banana He's got a cookie And a banana And a pizza He's got a cookie And a banana And a pizza And a sundae It feels like he just Kept coming back And stealing I kind of like This is maybe too big a change But it's thematically I think makes sense That it's no longer Like a sit down pizza hut But it's like a family style restaurant Oh yeah Where it's like now Like a family style buffet Yeah Really nice The jello The jello buffet Yeah The jello's in the buffet It's the all you can eat Husky breakfast place Oh it's changed To the husky diner That's different It's still winter outside Yeah Cause like the Like the winter aspect Maintained And it's the It is the all you can eat diner The truck stop On Christmas Eve Yeah Family dinner And you can see that Oleg in the back Oh yeah He's like Cooking It's now just fully a memory That Tuck has Of a really wonderful time At a diner Yeah While you were A fugitive on the run I tried to fuck that cop Tried to blow a cop At a truck stop Didn't you try something With like a cucumber I did I did a thing where I I think I sucked on Yeah You did You sucked on a cucumber Yeah The cucumber Yeah I'm still unclear Where the line was In terms of A trick And a genuine Attempt At seduction But yeah On the TV It's like Billy in the ocean At Crystal Bay Yeah What else What are other memories That we've had together Oh uh All of us in our like Dress up costumes Oh yeah Undercover Right You on my shoulder For chickens Yeah Oh yeah You guys in the pool At the Crystal Bay Hotel Right A lot of Crystal Bay stuff It's a lot of Crystal Bay That was honestly One of the times That you guys Got to like Kind of relax for a while Right Instead of being like Constantly on the job There's probably a lot of memories From like the time You all lived together In McCall In the library too For like a year In the library Yeah There's a huge oil painting Of Ving Writing the Thunderbirds The Thunderbirds Yeah That's great That's so good A metal style Oil portrait of Ving On the wall I like that Letters from Gale Put up on the fridge In the back Yep Explicit bird drawings Explicit Oh my god She included them Full cloaca Oh my god Holy shit Holy shit Shit Um So yeah Habibi The name now makes Much more sense Right For this situation Yeah I would not do anything To betray you And I'm so sorry That I was forced to It was just my nature I understand Okay buddy We all have I pat him on the On the shoulder Kind of like In a way that Sexually repressed Stepdads Pat each other Sure yeah Like You just had an off day But I am Prepared To aid you In your current plan Okay I think the plan Is the same then If you can make it look Like I'm possessed And stop Callum From detecting That I'm not Then I think I can go up And be the distraction And you guys can do The fairy ring thing Do you mind if we Just stay here For a little bit longer I like it here It's nice in here It's cozy Yeah time Passes very very slowly In the pizza palace So you guys You know you guys Spend like a nice meal Getting some Imaginary pizzas And imaginary fried chicken We're all sitting around Going like My eyes got Yeah Yours is not in here Yours is just out there like Oh my god Are they having canapes now Yours is like Pulling and sorting Slowly pulling and sorting Just kind of Drawing back A rat A rat skitter Spying He goes Oh Drops his sword again King king Bling bling bling Looks up at the glass roof To make sure no one heard And after a nice Calming meal Does this count as a make camp Can we recover some Hit points from this You said time moves differently I like that a lot So Yes I'd say This time And this time only Yes Okay Yeah So you can all heal Up to half your hit points Yeah it's fine I'm at full hit points That brings me back up to full Yes Great Uh Which is perfect For what's coming Well that doesn't sound ominous I think you said it by accident At the restaurant Billy was eating all the The little jam The individual jam things Peeling them open Did you have the Also the individual creamers as well Um I tried And you guys were like No no no no Right He's getting you drunk No no Yeah Creaming your mouth Creaming your mouth Your mind is worse Yes I love that the individual creamers Are just like shooters For half way Exactly God damn Keep them coming Keep them coming Uh what in What is your complimentary sir?

What did Ming have in the In the mind husky?

Um He ate a A full Salad Nice Yeah with a With a grilled Arctic char Oh nice On it A nice A nice meal And uh A poutine Oh Oh Nice For dessert And he had a Cutlet A pork cutlet He kept ordering Where Every time the server Would try and give us The bill He would just be like I'll ask him If you don't mind I guess he realizes It's a million moments On my lips Zero on my hips This is amazing I'm gonna stuff my Face in this place Sorry for not cursing You guys spent Eight years In the mind husky Meanwhile 30 seconds Passes in real life Yeah Uh what did Tuck have?

A bowl of malteasers Oh cool Mmm How big are we talking? Oh like a Like a salad bowl Like a wooden 70's salad bowl Yeah Specifically full of malteasers Got a big ladle He was eating He keeps mixing them up Like it's a salad Mmm Uh and you Your eyes Flutter back open You feel rejuvenated Okay What Are you Are we good now?

No Oh my god He jumps when you jump I just haven't seen you In a long time years I forgot what you look like Oh you've aged So horribly He bats your hand away From his Shitty mustache Time is rabbit You young Once beautiful And yet he's still here He waited for us He waited for us Your loyalty Will not go unnoticed This is We're all gonna die here Might be true We're all gonna die Right there's like an Eldritch ceremony Yeah Do you think we could Get back on track perhaps?

Yeah Okay Can we roll for something To kind of like get a A sense of what What stage they're at up there? Oh Discern realities 2d6 plus whiz Uh 12 Okay Three questions off Discern realities Okay What happened here recently?

Uh yeah totally So There is a Aren't so many people You're like watching The feet Uh the shadows up above And um You're not really seeing So many people being Dragged in anymore Okay It seems like Whoever is here Are the ones that are Gonna be here for this You do notice that the Feet have multiplied Quite significantly It's hard to get a close Like an actual accurate count Without taking the time to count You would say there's Upwards of a hundred people Upstairs And they seem to have Stopped their shuffling Like their walk Or waiting for something And I imagine I can see Like a spot Where they're surrounding An altar Yeah so you can see From before Where the circle of chairs is With a heavy Shadow in the center That you would assume Is the altar Around the edges of the shadow Is flickering of light Filtering through Like candles have been lit Oh Oh sweet Yeah Very cool Oh can we hear Chanting at all?

You can hear string music Oh the string music Is the music The orchestra Haunted Melodies Like droning Yeah It's almost got a beautiful Yeah Quality to it But not quite What is about to happen?

Now that you've watched it For a bit And you've seen Sort of the people Up above Like in the streets You've got a good idea Of what the Afflicted Congregants Look like When they move And you see Two pairs of feet That are not moving In the same way So it would appear That two people That are not afflicted In the same way Have arrived I gotta try and see What I can see Whatever they're wearing Stand right below Not helpful Can I see anything? Can I see anything? Can we have flashlights?

We're still doing That would be A discern reality Which we are in the middle of It's okay You can do it after Yeah Okay Can I see beef? Oh my god You can barely see feet We talked about this You can barely see the shoes Okay but if they were Sitting on the floor Yeah Horrible people Oh so what can I see? What kind of feet Are we talking here? No Is she wearing shoes?

Found the line Found the line Don't wanna do that So the vibe That you're getting Based off those Last two questions The fact that all the Afflicted congregants Are kind of standing around And that Callum and Victoria Have arrived What is about to happen Is They hope The ceremony Okay But it is clear That they are waiting Okay Okay Okay What here Is the ceremony Is not what it appears To be So you're standing down here You're looking up You're trying to just kind of Glean any information About what is going on There's the music There's music There's the droning Of the strings And you feel A reverberation Through the stone Whoa Like a Whoa And it like Rumbles through The palace And then you hear like Like a thrashing Almost somewhere Like Boom boom boom boom Boom boom boom Upstairs or Up somewhere That's the only thing That you're not really Getting is exactly Where this is But it is somewhere And you would assume Somewhere within the palace Can I Connect with Black Spire?

Uh sure yeah Do I have to roll to do it? Uh I can't remember It should be on your sheet I don't think I do actually It's not a move It's the You just tap in now? Cause I have the Pick The pick still Right yeah Did we just do this as like a It's basically Eye of the Tiger It's Eye of the Tiger Yeah Yeah you tap in To Black Spire And You see darkness Like you can't You can't You can't see But you do feel That Black Spire Is thrashing around And slamming against Restraints Buddy is that you?

Oh my god Fucking dog Oh my god Oh my god Oh my god But you hear it In your mind Okay You don't hear him Speaking these words Okay Do we hear anything In the Space of the palace? You just hear thrashing And slamming Buddy can you Make a big roar For me? I can't They got a fucking Muzzle on me dude Oh no They got a fucking Muzzle on me man Are you in a place That's all black Black glass? They got a Big thing on my head I can't see Where did they get you bud?

I was on the beach And And I was Scared Oh no And then a bunch Of whales Came and helped me And then I was on the beach And then I just Started wandering around And then I was trying to Find you guys And then And then I found I was so hungry And I found a bunch of Shiny crunch in the woods And I ate it And then I fell asleep And then when I woke up I had a big thing on my head And I was like Oh my god I'm so sorry I'm so sorry I'm so sorry I'm so sorry I'm so sorry I'm so sorry I'm so sorry I'm so sorry I'm so sorry I'm so sorry I'm so sorry Oh my god Okay Okay We're gonna get you Out of this buddy Okay Can you do like a big whip With your tail for me?

Okay Here we go Oh I got my tail too And he just Just a second And he You hear him thinking The sound of exertion The sound of exertion And then you hear like a big Boom And do we hear it in the Palace where we are? It is in the palace Okay Oh my god I see her Okay I come We're gonna get you bud Okay Okay What should I do?

Just hang tight We'll find you Okay I love you I hung up before Say it back Say it back Say it back Oh fuck Talk I said I like you And the thrashing stops Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck They have Black Spire Fuck He must be Part of the ceremony Yeah it makes It kind of makes sense I was thinking about this A few months ago And then I texted Sean But Black Spire You texted me? About this?

A few months ago Wait let me check I think you actually did I did I Cause it was I was listening to the episodes Where We were talking about How he was turning into Um Oh the like a Like patchy white And stuff like that Yeah Yeah Yeah! The converted Obsidian And he had Like there's like An element now Of Black Spire Where he's like Part of both worlds Oh yep Where he Kind of represents Sort of both sides Of the Gibbous Man Cause the shiny crunch Is the sun Distilled Sort of right?

Yeah that's kind of What it's become Obsidian is the dark Outer dark Representative Yeah cause yeah Obsidian we've discovered Is If the stories are to be Believed Which many stories That we've told Are true in this world Is the night sky That fell to earth Yeah Um Sunstone But Sunstone's the stuff That he eats It's not what he's Turning into No he was He used to eat Obsidian when he was In the cave And then he found Shiny crunch Where we gave him Shiny crunch Yeah He ate Giant bones Yes Which has Obsidian Which are made of Obsidian They're made of obsidian But they also have The capacity to connect With Oh yeah The iconic realm Yeah And Blackspire's kind of Becoming like a Metaphysical analog For a coin Cause he's like Part Like he's both Types of coin He's the white coin That contains a demon And then Both sides He's both sides And he has like An intrinsic connection To the iconic realm So the only thing Is He is in fact Turning white Because of the Sunstone Uh huh He is Because dragons Metabolize whatever Minerals they primarily Consume And that just gets Like worked Into their body He's He's an obsidian dragon Who is kind of Morphing into a Sunstone dragon Okay Which is why His breath weapon Has changed From the like Molten obsidian That it used to be To beams of light Because he is He is becoming More sunstone Than he is obsidian Have we really Established the Makeup of The Coins when they Turn white It's just white It's a white obsidian That's all we know Do you think What changes Is that Cause obsidian Is a Conduit to The outer dark Uh huh That allows Icons to Basically hone in On them and come through Uh huh White obsidian Traps them Yeah It'd be like Close It's what happens When you close the door That obsidian Creates It loses that darkness Either way You would assume That Black spire Being in the palace Means Callum has Some sort of Designs Yeah What those are You don't know But you do know That he is here Yeah I think That the That black spire The fact that black spire Was being studied By the library Is like an indication That he is kind of Important to whatever The end game is here And I think The fact that he is Sort of both kinds Of obsidian Is important Very much so So that's what I'm saying Is he's not both kinds Of obsidian He's not He's obsidian and sunstone Right Oh I didn't know that But the fact that he's Obsidian and sunstone Is important Yeah It is Cause they are like Almost like Uh conflicting Yeah Materials Obsidian and white obsidian Are functionally The same substance Right Obsidian and sunstone Are antithesis to each other Right And there is some I feel like there is some Connection to the gibbous man Maybe Cause the gibbous man We We only see the one aspect Of him Right Like we only see The dark version of him Yeah He's been cut off from The what His day The day sky Yeah Right So it makes sense That he would be Interested And maybe we don't know why In something that is Combining The day and the dark Because he is trying To re-assimilate himself Right He might need to use Whatever that weirdness is That is in dragons Yeah When we first met Black Spire In the cave Didn't he tell us That like he once Had a human Yeah He said he was Carried around by a guy And we saw We found him in A church of the Black flame Right And we saw One of the coins There This is true Do you think he might Have been left there Intentionally To like Turn him into Maybe Maybe And maybe it was like The gibbous man Who carried him Yeah Or a servant of The gibbous man Oh yep And left with a store Of obsidian to feed on And turn into This obsidian thing Uh huh That's a great Those are lots of good thoughts Well whatever we gotta do It feels like Black Spire Is an important part of this plan We gotta get him out of here Yeah And even if he wasn't He's just our boy He's our boy We can't let him Yeah Be part of this In this way Sean finally let him Get onto this side of the world I'll be damned If we let Sean Take him away from us now So does that change The plan at all The other Ving Comes up and says You bet it does Holy shit He's been down here The whole time Look how you were here You're so convincing Billy that's a really good I've been talking to this one I thought this was The real Ving I guess it's working I'm getting really good at it The Ving says Now I'm over here I guess The only difference is His ass does look A little fatter What My ass My ass or his Hey what's He's wearing Little lemon pants So what's it like Do the little Contour They go into the butt Into the crack Those have gotta be Uncomfortable right No They don't have to be I'll dare say I'll dare say I'm gonna be the one To say it I don't think so I don't think they have To be uncomfortable I'll dare say Okay but real Real talk Says Mears Does that change the plan Yeah No It I don't Does it Do you guys think It changes the plan I'm trying to think Of how it would I mean Then this is gonna be my Mears is my window Into discussing the plan I mean if the plan Is to trap Callum and Victoria And also Rescue Blackspire One could be achieved By the other Cause then I mean I mean there's I guess there's the Magi And then whoever Whatever else But like If they're trapped In the circle They can't stop us From freeing Blackspire Okay Then we'll do that We can do this We can save you We can save our boy We can save him So What is the first step I go up with the Illusion The illusion version of it No I'm the real one That's the illusion He starts grabbing No no no no I'm gonna take this one up Look at my ass Look at my ass Look at my ass Look at this ass It's so flat Where's the other one No mine's the big one It's big right That's the fake thing Yeah And then I go I go over to the fake thing And I'm like Come on Bring your junk over here Buddy Come on Back it up Beep beep Let me check out That wagon you're dragging Let's go And then I have a hard sex scene But only with the all Yeah yeah yeah Amazing It's so But it's a lot of like Just looking at each other And the moment The moment you're about to It disappears Oh man Oof Just colored smoke And reveals Tuck's penis And jizz He's just It's true He jizzes He jizzes Damn So dumb How horrible It's such a close up It's just the head of his dick Paul's crying No I'll grow up I'll grow up That's fine That's fine I'll grow up Okay Okay So you Get close enough To the illusion Without touching it Yeah That it looks like You're leading it Without touching it Well because if he touches it It'll be If he can't touch it He'll be clear He'll come He'll finally get to Enterving in some way He'll come immediately Yeah And you Take the path That the You go back out Through the The broken Doorway Yeah And you take the path That the brass castle's Laid out to you Yeah And you're going up Tuck Take this I want to give him The saffron cigarette Just in case Yeah Something weird happens With the demon He's loyal now I don't trust a demon I tuck it into the Band of my cowboy hat Right Because I'm still Dressing You're wearing a cowboy hat Okay cowboy I forgot Yeah And you head up Into the ballroom Yep And You open the door And it creaks In that way That doors Creak in a big Open area Ooh Like so loudly Echoey As the droning Of the orchestra Continues You see its long Spidery arms Playing Instrument after Instrument There's a crescendo As he enters the room Every once in a while A little like Snag someone From the crowd Oh Yeah If they get If they wander too close It just drags The end of the orchestra Yeah To eat?

Yeah Question mark Question mark I think they are They are out of sight And because they're so Take Like they're The people are afflicted It's just silent And there are a number of Very ragged looking people In finery And masquerade masks Identities Disguised from you Torn Suits And gowns Covered in blood And dirt Yeah Milling about And they're kind of like Some of them are still Slowly dancing With one another They're sort of like A spinning waltz That's happening Around The orchestra And that's what it is When a dancing partner Gets too close To the orchestra It snatches them out Drags them into the machinery You can see some of them Have like Their nails Are like bleeding Yeah And like broken And like the bottoms Of their feet Because they've been Dancing so long Arcing like designs Of blood on the floor Oh That are mirroring Like the constellations Above Oh They're drawing a pattern With the way that they walk And dance And you see On the far side of the room Because if we remember It's like If this is If we're looking sideways At the room From here It's like the entrance hall And the food And then like a dance floor Uh huh And then on the far end The congregation And as soon as the door opens The orchestra changes it To like The marriage waltz Oh yeah And The illusory vang And like tuck Mmhmm Are like walking Down the aisle Yeah To like the tune of the waltz Perfect And at the Altar On the other end In their wedding finery Are Callum Blackhammer And Victoria LeBlanc Callum This is the first time You're seeing him I think Face to face Yeah He is Shorter Than Colm He's a little bit leaner Still very handsome Still the same like Dark Skin of someone Of like Macaulayne descent But a bit of a Oh a bit of like A curled mustache Not too much Just a little bit Yeah just a touch of it Mmhmm And then the goatee underneath He's wearing like a black suit In sort of I can't I don't know how to describe Like Victoria Like old Timey clothes But it's not a suit Like we would imagine Of course It's one of those like Full breasted Doublet things With like the vest And like the shirt underneath Yeah He's got a cravat And like some ruffles Yes Yes Mmhmm And Victoria Is next to him Taller than She's quite tall Mmhmm Whip lean Like razor sharp In like a wet A red Wedding gown Wet Red In a Wet Wet from what?

Yeah Sorry In a red Baseball Baseball Baseball Think about baseball Baseball If you get a boner now They'll know you're not possessed Come on Tetherball Tetherball Tetherball Think about tetherball Tetherball Come on I try not to look at Ving's illusory ass Yeah Oh no the ass Oh no Victoria Just ping ponging Between the two Demon Why do you tempt me?

This is what you want Master Loyalty to that ass Oh my god Um Yeah Victoria's wearing A red wedding gown She's got long Straight blonde hair Very straightened Uh she's wearing Her saber on her side In sort of a ceremonial capacity And you can see Even like Cause her It goes up to The you know Shoulders And then the shoulders Are bare and you can see Marks from fresh tattoos Mmhmm Yeah And Callum has his hands Kind of clasped Behind his back Yeah And he sees you approaching And I I think that like The ass is The action of this Ceremony Is very much like I'm giving away Thing Yeah In the way that a father Of a bride Would give away a bride And I Uh I go Your quarry is waiting For you master And I I have like My eyes are like White Yeah And the coin Bits in my chest All look like Gross disgusting eyes Yeah Um And I don't have a boner The demon of loyalty Straight Reigning to suppress The boner Using all of his Iconic All the strength Of the outer dark Bent towards This task And Callum's eyes Or his eyebrows Raise Well This is quite a surprise He gestures you forward What is the Illusion doing?

I think the illusion Is acting Because of the Like Billy's kind of Watching through The chamberlain rings It is acting It's like It's like Exactly as it needs to So what does it sound like It's saying Because this is your voice I mean I think I think that we Roughed We roughed him up a lot To make it look like He's weakened And bloodied Oh right Yeah Quite significantly Yeah So he's got like A swollen Eye And blood Leaking from his mouth He's limping Yeah His My uh Rope is like Tying his hands together Maybe something is torn We made him crying So it's like He's true defeated That dark is turning Him in It may We made it look like The uh The seed within your chest Is gone And there's just a hollow there Oh Yeah Oh yeah I like that a lot Truly defeated Yeah And Yeah He looks At you And sort of You feel Through the demon of loyalty Like uh Harmonizing Almost as if he's Like connecting With the demon Uh huh Who puts up the Display of Servitude Servitude Yeah And then he looks At you and says Where's the boy It won't work Without all three of you And we'll cut back Downstairs So Billy and Ving And Mears Are down here And the The ring making Is beginning So what does this look like We need the water first I imagine Yeah Ving is Bringing in The water from the aquifer Okay Uh which is condensed In drips And atmospheric Drips in In this old Uh underground Area Pulling water From the ceiling And Seeping it up Through the ground So it's like Foaming almost Like coming through The rock in the ground Cool And Dripping from the ceiling In a ring All around us The drips are Coming Almost like a cage Of drips from the ceiling As it comes Seeps up From the ground That's so sick To bring to Billy Creating like a shower Like a ring of Showering water Around you That's so fucking cool So you're gonna have to Roll elemental mastery For this 2d6 plus con Institution Oh A one and a Three Oh no What's your con My cons plus two So that's six I'd like to use Throw me a bone To use my Five that I had rolled From the previous day And replace the one With a five Excellent Saving This current situation Quite handily Thank god So That it happens As you described Water wells up From this ancient aquifer These old old canals Drips down from the ceiling Creating this Large ring That encompasses What are we trying to do The whole of the ballroom Just the Altar area The altar area And I want to contain Where Tuck is standing If it's possible If he's standing close enough He's very close To the altar Yeah He's not like Right up on it But he's within the ring Of chairs Right So just that area Yeah So Billy This power Yes Contained within this water You can feel As a fairy You can feel the power Moving through this water And this is Prime Circle making I will say That I have to I have to pick two Remember Correct So What two are you choosing I will choose the effect I desire comes to pass And I will retain control Okay So you are paying Nature's price What do we think Nature's price is In this situation You're summoning Ancient water What part of Lillian Is it connected to Yeah part of the moon Oh right The moon chunk Down here Yeah We have talked about Other moon chunks That we know The one Under Adonach's tower Was sacrifice Mmhmm The one In port For frost Was Betrayal Like the sense of betrayal Yeah Those are the only ones That we've discussed so far Cause there's one In Hibernia That we talked about Yeah And There's one down here So what do we think this is It's all aspects Of Lillian's Basically I mean I don't know if we Explicitly described it Like this They are all aspects Of what Lillian was feeling Mmhmm When Rian was killed Her shattered psyche Yeah And what I guess Is a part of The clue to what it is The type of City City That built on top of it I guess so Ooh It's a steamy city It is a steamy city You know what I mean There's a lot of pressure Yeah So there's a lot of activity Cause what happened when it When he died One of the things that Of course Came from that Was the grieving Mmhmm Where she decided Alright I'm wiping this place clean Yeah They killed my son This world doesn't deserve To live anymore Great I like anger and rage Yeah it could be rage Yeah Ving you tap into this water And you start pulling it up And it's you know And it's It comes up Like it's easy Once I let it Oh yeah Oh yeah You're pulling water up From these ancient hot springs Like from these ancient Thermal vents beneath The firefield's principality The vents that give it its name Mmhmm Old volcanic activity Mmhmm And so the room is like Filling with this Pungent steam As you're pulling this water out And you feel the steam Entering your lungs And filling you with this like Hot Burning energy Mmhmm And then you're thinking about The people above you Mmhmm And you're like Mmhmm Mmhmm Mmhmm Callum Blackhammer And Victoria LaBlanche All of these people That have threatened your family Mmhmm Threatened the people That you care most about And I'm imagining the bad things That they're about to do to Tuck Yeah Possibly to us Mmhmm And the best way That you could stop that Is if you beat them bloody And they don't get back up I like thinking about the steam Condensing above the glass ceiling Yeah And then that's where The water's coming down Oh yeah It's dripping off of the glass Like and collecting maybe Some of that energy That's up there Yeah Yeah That's great And as you're trying to like Control this rage That's building inside you Billy You are Doing some fairy stuff Yeah Billy is Kind of doing his little like Dance Like Making the ring But it's in like a So his fairy ring Like the first kind Where it just protects us Is like a fun easy thing And this one Because I'm trapping people Mmhmm Is he has to like Pull from like this like Rageful Like winter energy for it Oh cool So he's like Almost like hunched over And like Angry as he does it Uh huh And he almost looks like In pain too Ooh Yeah Like it's really uncomfortable For him to tap into this And build these things Yeah Is it still a dance But you're kind of in pain Yeah like maybe he It was like Easy at first And now he's on like His however many Rounds of it And he's like crawling And it's painful Oh yeah Yeah Okay That sucks It does suck Fuck Yeah So uh I believe it is 2d6 plus dexterity Yeah To build a ring Yes And then you And then I do pay A fairy child for this And you have enough To pay for it Yes I do I still I have three left now Okay So I had five to start Excellent Wow It's also like so hot in here too It's so hot Yeah Oh I'm so sweaty Oh yeah An eight Okay Yeah So this is why Billy's doing it like Repeatedly Cause it It requires my Constant attention To maintain this You can't stop I can't stop And he's also repeating Is it Is it allowed If he says The ring around the rosy Pumper Oh yeah Oh yeah Okay yeah But I'm like Trying to think If I can make it cool Yeah you can Yeah I would love if you wrote Like a kind of spooky Spout Lore one Ring around the rosy House is warm And cozy Eyes closed Eyes closed We'll all sleep now And so he just repeats it Cause that's the song They used to sing In the halfling Lands When they would have Their autumn festival Yep I like it I picture him sleeping Under a A pile of leaves Outside of a Window of A child's room Where the mother Is singing that to them Just basically Yeah Yeah Yeah So fucking sad But the As Billy is crawling And weaving And Repeating this poem Over and over The water does Start to swirl In a circle And the dripping Starts to like Wave Whoa Kind of in this Circular motion I think like As Parts of it Are completing You can see Parts of the mist Kind of Get trapped Within the boundary Of the ring Like It becomes Instead of just like Mist moving It freezes Yeah And so mirrors Is just kind of Like a bystander In a magical Situation In all of them He's kind of Looking around At everything That's happening But silently observing Yeah he's got This sword out Yeah it's just In front of him Like he's kind of Got it rested The tip resting On the ground And you can hear His metal hand Kind of like Creaking On the handle Is it still in the He's still got it Wrapped in the wax Yeah okay But he's just You can hear it creaking On the leather wrap Cool On the handle And we cut back upstairs To the ballroom What was the last thing I was asked?

Where's the boy It doesn't work Without all three Oh Shit Okay I'm gonna try something Okay He's dead 2d6 plus charisma 11 Callum Closes his eyes Damn I'm sorry I had him cornered But he looks like He looks like He looks like He left And the boy's body died He grunts And you see him like Clench his fist And look up And his eyes Kind of like how tux are His eyes roll back A second And then he comes back We'll proceed Bring him forward And uh Victoria like Looks over And she's kind of Got herself like Draped On Callum's shoulder My love is this Wise He is very powerful And even with one such With one sir Patent Estacomadon Doug is trying sir Not to get a bar Oh my god I still have a chance Still Technically Married I fear that even Your great mind Will not be able to Outfox A god And he like Reaches over And kind of Like brushes Her cheek He's like Don't worry my love All will be well soon Now go And she kind of Just like Walks around The altar She's slinking Around the altar Long legs Clacking Boots Tapping on the stone floor Tetherball Tetherball Tetherball Tetherball Tetherball Tetherball And she's approaching Tacoma Dome Oh my god Oh my god Oh my god Oh my god And The illusory Ving And she says Standing in front of The Ving illusion She stays far enough And she kind of Leans back Against the altar Hands on the altar Oh my god And she's looking Up and down I suppose If we add a couple tattoos To this one We'll make things A bit faster Him first And she gets up And Moves to the side And gets you to Or gestures for you To put Ving on the altar And Tuck Goes Oh man I hope Billy's paying attention Oh man He goes He goes to like Pick up Like the illusory Ving Oh Oh Okay Billy has to Uh huh Pay constant attention To the ring now Right So now you're gonna have to roll To make sure That the illusion Is doing what you want What do I roll with?

Charisma Do do do do do Twelve Yes So you freak out For a second Realizing what you're Gonna have to do Uh huh But the Illusion Moves to the altar And lays down And uh See this is gonna get Really tough Because Callum Like turns to like a A side table That is kind of Arrayed next to the chair That has a box on it And he lifts the lid Of the box And he removes Ink And a needle He's Unquestionably About to touch This illusion Okay I have a plan Is it rats?

Cause I have a plan too We can put our rats together Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah I'm so close To screaming rats Yeah The rats are just Waiting in the wings Going They're in They're in those little Like cartoon Like holes Yeah On the wall But they're like Hold Hold I was wondering If I could create An elemental form In place of my Fake Ving Cause you and I Are very much in tune Right now Like we're like Really in each other's minds I feel like you could do this Yeah man Do it Okay I'm gonna use elemental form To create a form For myself Oh Sorry So this elemental form Is the one that creates A suit around you Yeah You're thinking So the one that you're Actually wanting to use Is call of nature Cause you're creating An elemental body That is not yours Oh sorry sorry Yes Sorry I just wanted to Just so we weren't Looking at the wrong move Great Yes That's exactly what I want Okay So you're like Watching through the ring And at the like Trying to At the last moment Make like a physical Thing underneath The illusion So it feels tangible Yes Yeah Okay This is interesting I like this I wanna use Call of nature And call upon the aid Of a spirit In place of where The fake Ving is Yeah To um Prolong the illusion Great And I'll use Rats Well well!

Well well Unleash the rats Let loose the rats of all You will never take Our not rats Okay I'm gonna use Call of nature To call upon the aid Of a spirit And I'm gonna put it In place Where Ving's Illusion is So I'm gonna use The water that I'm uh Gathered for Billy In the ring And uh Ving casts his hand up As the water That's in the ceiling Seeps up through the floor Up through the glass And runs through All the cracks in the floor We see it Coiling up through The cracks in the altar And filling in place Around the illusionary Ving Great So now it's a Hopefully It's a spiritual body Made of water That is wreathed in an illusion So it looks like the real Ving Interesting Cool It's made it somewhat corporeal So you're rolling 2d6 plus Con Con Nine So on a seven to nine Can I aid?

Uh ooh I don't know You're pretty well I can roll two aid He's up there Though Tuck can aid too Oh true I can also aid Oh yeah Cause I'm I've been trying to like Facilitate the illusion Yeah so you see Tuck You see the water start creeping up The edges of the altar Yeah Like running Flowing to the top And I I go Stop And then I Smash Like Ving's hand Oh Like the illusion's hand And I go He was getting ready To make a move Okay Oh to distract them Yeah Yeah To like give Ving Enough time to like Fill the body with water Alright Yeah 2d6 plus bond Yeah Oh shit Six Oh no Billy Plus a bond Plus a bond Can I aid?

Can I aid?

Okay I do think Billy can aid He's under a lot of pressure right now I am but I'm also like Really tuned in I can see everything You can kind of do two things at once Oh you can aid from any distance Right Cause they're just lucky Okay yeah So 2d6 plus bond Okay Help me help me Come on Seven Okay So that seven Just Makes that a six Seven Seven Makes that a ten Yes So that's two partial successes Yep Which do complicate things in some way Yeah And then a success The body gets made So there is a seven to nine here In play And I think what happens So the body fills in Tuck you see the water filling up Like coming up the altar Yeah Through the glass Running to the edge And you can kind of tell What's happening You can see the water forming This solid-ish body underneath Yeah And you punch this hand Yeah Boom Yeah!

And then your fist creates Like a massive Thud Yeah Through the strength of the punch A bunch of the rock of the altar Shatters off Yeah And like This was how Billy helped me He made like It looked like I basically broke Ving's Forearms Yeah Screamed and pained And writhing and grabbing Totally Yeah It's like broken backwards And like bleeding And you can see the bones Billy did that like By like Yeah freezing his fist up And then like Breaking through the ice Oh yeah Smart That's sick And as he As Callum Is about to He like reaches down And he Opens The illusory Ving's chest Uh huh Not chest But like the shirt On his chest To expose the flesh Uh huh The flesh Quote unquote Yeah And you can see that his hands connect And he does not seem Any the wiser Uh huh With his illusory body And as the needle is about to connect Just as it's about to be Touch The illusory Ving's skin Uh huh You hear from the crowd Callum!

Onky white no longer! Oh! Oh! Mumsy!

And with her saffron face mask Mumsy Who's been sitting in the congregation This whole time Stands up Dressed Showing everything Cause it goes out It goes out Barely Barely a dress And she says Callum Blackhammer I love you And that's where we're gonna end it For this week Oh my god Oh god I mean You're a game master Sean O'Hara Joining me as always Tacoma Dome The Barbarian Abdul Aziz Ving the Half-Elf Druid Paul Oppers Take care And Fat Billy The Halfling Thief Jessica Tai Bye everyone Thank you to all of our Patreon supporters Around the world If you would like to Support the show And get access to The up-to-date Mall Brats feed Merchandise Gift boxes I just started doing A choose your own adventure Novel I guess Uh And A whole bunch of other shit You can find us at Patreon.com Slash Spoutlore Or Spoutlore.com Slash Money please Thank you to Aaron Reed For our intro and outro music If you would like Aaron's original music You can check that out At AaronReed.Bandcamp.com And all of the music Produced for the show Is on Spotify And other places 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 could Though don't you know That some are scared And lost they be For time's abreast In revelry And though our journey May be like A conclusion We will not leave you Without a resolution Return next week To hear some more Whilst you commute Or do something To your chores And for you I gladly Spoutlore

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 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 Hello everybody and welcome to Spoutlord!

I'm your game master, Sean O'Hara, and my hair looks fine Joining me as always playing Tacoma Dome, the barbarian Abdul Aziz Stop looking at Jessica on the TV I look at both of you Oh yeah yeah, take it in, take it in I look fine Oh, got a big forehead No, you have a normal sized forehead See this is why I don't let you guys look What do I look like? You look great I have terrible hair You all look great You have great hair, what are you talking about? Do you want to wear a hat?

No, I look worse My face is too round I know, your head's huge It's massive, it also doesn't fit When I wear a hat it makes me look like I have a unibrow Yeah, from the shadows Right, what if you tilt it back a little bit? What if you turn it backwards?

Oh, cool Defends the purpose Try it, try it, try it Come on, try backwards hat Not yellow Not that color on my skin In all honesty, the days that you wore a hat while we were recording, I thought you just looked cool Yeah, you look cool I was editing the video and I never thought, Jessica looks like she has a unibrow I only thought, Jessica looks like she's too cool to hang out with You look good in ball caps, you do So, if you did have a unibrow, we must have looked like such huge losers Exactly Hanging out with a girl with a unibrow We look lame against a unibrow Those are the guys that hang out with the girl with the unibrow Playing Ving the half-elf druid, Paul Oppers Hello everyone And playing Fat Billy the halfling thief, Jessica Tai Hello When last we left our heroes, they lurked within the bowels of Black Glass Palace Waiting on tenterhooks to see if their friend and companion, Tacoma Dome the Barbarian, had been possessed by the demon of servitude And the answer was, he was After a brief attempt at deception from the demon, who of course, within Tuck, knew the trigger phrase that he was going to use It was so stupid, it was such a stupid plan Just used the trigger phrase But then the plan went on as normal Okay, we're going to take the illusory Ving up to the top And how are we going to make sure that the illusion knows what to do?

Oh, we'll use the Chamberlain rings Which connect all of our minds Let's do a quick connection to make sure that it's going to work Uh oh Yeah Tuck's possessed by a demon And then a fight broke out Both physically and spiritually Yeah In which Ving found Tuck locked up in a room And Ving found Tuck locked within his sit-down pizza palace Good thing the bus was late I would never have gotten there on time And Billy tried to stop the demon in Tuck's body from shattering the glass ceiling Tuck is against breaking the glass ceiling He believes in it fully I hate women Oh, I didn't know you were talking about that Billy stopped the demon by freezing it solid for a moment And then by tapping into his winter form Ving was able to release Tuck using his mental abilities to put himself in the pizza palace And get the right key to unlock the door Billy attempted to terrify the demon of servitude into following him as the most powerful person in the room And Tuck adulterated the icon of servitude with thoughts of devotion And memories of commitment Losing his şu ni It's such a stupid scribble.

I do. I also love that Tuck absolutely says everything that's happening when he's in emergency. Like, I'm trapped. I'm fucking trapped. It's not cool at all. Don't get on that bus. No, get back here. He was on the bus just before. And the demon of loyalty asked its new focus, not master, because loyalty doesn't have masters. It just has people that it cares about. Yeah. Ask Billy what Billy would have of it. And Billy said, let him out. Tuck taking control of his body again.

Everybody back on the same page. Tuck, for now, or perhaps going forward, the threat of the demon of servitude eliminated. Now just the advantage of the demon of loyalty being at your disposal. So the plan from there went on as planned. Created an illusory Ving, which was then controlled by Billy through the chamber. Chamberlain rings once it got out of his field. And Tuck, assuming the form of someone possessed by the demon of servitude, emerged into the ballroom to a fucking horror show.

The afflicted congregants, as we've been describing them. Really cool. In their tattered and bloody clothing and their masquerade masks. Waltzing a bloody waltz around the clockwork orchestra, which is snatching people off the dance floor and dragging them into the machinery. Silently. Almost completely silently. And at the altar. Callum Blackhammer and Victoria LeBlanc.

The group, while observing, trying to gain some more information from the dance floor beneath in the catacombs, heard a great thrashing and crashing. Oh, right. In the palace. And Tuck immediately surmised that it must be our good friend Black Spire. And through his mental connection, discovered that Black Spire was basically lured into the woods, hungry and lost, and then trapped. So. And Tuck's like, you know, he's such a fool. Such a foolish boy.

And then he's like, and then I call this the fall of greed. And then, and then. But he has been assured that you are coming for him. Upon arriving at the altar, Tuck was able to use his deceptive ability to convince Callum Blackhammer that he had brought Ving beaten and bloodied under possession. Yeah. And that Billy was dead. Oh yeah. After Callum said that whatever they had planned will not work. Said that whatever they had planned will not work without all three of you.

After that, he did a little calculation using the Demon of Cunning. Oh, right. And has determined that they're going to proceed either way. Oh, yeah. Beneath, Billy and Ving went about creating a fairy circle.

Ving tapping into the ancient volcanic waters underneath Blackglass and the Blackhammer Palace, bringing up these waters, empowered as they are by a piece of the moon buried deep, deep beneath the city of Blackglass, containing the rage Lillian felt at the death of her son, and thus filling himself with a rage at the danger that his family is in. Right. Billy, meanwhile, tapped into a darker, angrier part of himself to create the fairy fort.

I think we were talking about how in the creation of the forts versus the rings, it's a much more hostile action. So it's more winter aligned. A grueling. Act. Yes. So Billy is required to constantly, painfully crawl on the ground to maintain this ring, repeating over and over an old halfling rhyme.

And up above, Victoria and Callum decided to proceed with their plan, bringing forward the illusory Ving with some cunning moves from the team to make it seem like this was the real Ving, including the creation of a elemental body within the illusion to allow it to be manipulated by Callum Blackhammer. Mm-hmm. And just as he was about to, it would seem, begin tattooing Ving's body, who arrives?

But the inevitable conclusion of the black glass story, Mumsy, the hotelier's mother, aged mother, who was convinced by Tacoma Dome a couple days ago to disrupt the proceedings by proclaiming her love for Callum Blackhammer. Oh, no. I did this. Mumsy. And that is where we find our heroes now. Tuck, what are you doing? Mumsy has stood up from the crowd. She's in a dress that goes out. It goes out. It goes out. Starts here and goes out. The slit goes all the way up. All the way up.

And you can see everything. You can see everything. Across her mouth, she has a face mask that I believe you gave her with saffron in it. Yes. So she is yet to be infected. By the tyrannical, iconic influence. Yeah. And she's stepping forward with her arms wide, making the dress go even more out. Oh, my God. Oh, no. Barely even in now. And as she walks forward, she's going, Callum Blackhammer, I love you. I've always loved you ever since. Unappropriate age. Let's say 30. Yeah. Okay. That's fair.

Yeah. Ever since he was 30 and I was. 33. She's not that much older. She's not taking care of herself. Oh, man. She's not doing good. She's exposed her body to the elements too often. Yeah. In that dress. Yeah. And now I can't see you marry a woman you don't love. This horrible pirate woman. And Callum looks up and you can just see defuddlement. Not anger. Not anger. Not rage. Just confusion. Yeah. And he puts the needle back in the box.

And Tuck, unless you do something, he looks to Victoria who shakes her head and shrugs. Yeah. And he just goes, for fuck's sake, seize her. And other congregants get up and begin moving towards Mumsy. Okay. Well, I'll let that happen. I don't give a fuck about it. All right. I don't think I can do anything. I don't think I can do anything about that. Right? She'll be fine for now. Right? Yeah. Right? She'll be fine. Uh-huh. Right. I don't care about. So they start surrounding Mumsy. Okay.

And she is being dragged away. That's. Jess, is this okay? I feel like I don't. I was not invested in this character. I mean, Billy can't do anything. But I'm asking you. I don't know. Obviously, I don't want Mumsy to come to any harm. No. She's just being herself. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Fuck. What do I have? Anything? You don't have to do anything. Is now. Oh, is now the time? Is that? Oh. I don't want to keep bringing up Joe game. I mean, seriously. I think. Oh, yeah. Now is kind of the time.

I feel like. Oh, my God. And I guess I say to my brother. I'm like, okay, you fucking win. I'll give you a thousand dollars. Call the fucking rat. And the copy of Ving. He jumps up on that. No, that doesn't make sense. I think it all makes sense. It's an elemental body that you have created. Yeah. You can do whatever you want to it. You can roll your. It's not like. Whoa. Holy shit. I didn't mean like that. Guys, you're saying that because he has such a thick booty. He's got a fucking thick ass.

You're all projected. I just need five minutes alone with myself. It's just water in there. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Life Symphony. Yes. Connect to these people through the power of the spirit realm to free them from their iconic influence. Okay. Roll plus con on a hit. It's calm. Seven to nine. Only when I'm touching. Yeah. So I have to be within the area. In contact with them somehow. Yeah. With the floor. Yeah. Oh, maybe the water lifts you up to the glass. Oh, cool.

Okay. Well, we'll see what happens. Okay. Roll plus con. Two to six plus con. Ooh. Uh. Six plus. Do. Uh. Do. Do. Eight. Okay. So as long as you're in contact. Okay. I will do the water lift. I borrow some of the water. Yeah. And it like spirals up around your legs, creating like a pillar. It grows up like a tree made out of water. Oh, cool. Yeah. And you touch your hands to the glass and you feel the like spiritual power emanating through the floor.

And the drone of the orchestra changes into a light, you know, beautiful violin music, cello, calming. Uh-huh. It goes from a drone into a calm. Yeah. Melodic song. Beautiful air. Yeah. Uh, as the, as Mumsy is being like taken away, like, no, no, I love you, Callum. No, please love me. Uh, then the people that are dragging her away, stop and release and look like, and everyone around the room, they stopped dancing that like horrible bloody waltz that's happening around the orchestra ceases.

A lot of them start, I think dropping cause they're like, uh, exhausted. Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But everyone is kind of, you can hear there's like, like people are crying, you can hear crying, but everyone is calm. This malevolent feeling lifts off the dance floor. The orchestra slows and calms to a beautiful, like lilting performance.

And Callum is looking around and he probably feels in his, like through his connection to the icons that there is spiritual power at work here. And there's only one source of spiritual power in the room. He's familiar with. Right. And he's lying on the altar. And he's lying right on the altar in front of him. So he storms up to Ving and he goes, what are you doing? And he reaches to grab Ving by the throat and water starts pouring down his arm.

And Tuck takes the opportunity because he's, remember he was close to the altar. Yeah. To grab as quickly as he can the ax off of his back and slice through. I guess I'm going to try and cut Callum's arm off. Whoa. Okay. Yeah. This is a surprise to him, I think. Yeah. So you don't have to like, you're just going to roll your attack. Okay. Yeah. 2d6 plus. 2d6 plus strength. Okay. 12. Oh, goodbye. 12. Roll your damage. Okay. Oh, d10. Oh. Oh, nine. Yeah.

Wait, do I have the thing where if I roll a 10 plus on a hack and slash, I get to put myself in harm's way to deal extra damage? I believe that is always a choice with hack and slash. You're going to kill him? I'm going to try. I'm going to try and deal as much damage as possible. Let me. Hold on. Is it an extra d6? Pull him up. Pull him up. Pull him up. I think it is an extra d6. I just need a second. This is. Oh no. Progressing in a way I did not expect. Okay.

So yes, you can at your option choose to do 1d6 additional damage to expose yourself to the enemy's attack. Oh yeah. I'll do that. I don't give a shit. Three. So I did 12 damage. 12 damage. Yeah. This is not enough to kill him. I cut his arm off. Yeah. So he, so he, when he grabbed for Ving, he like his arm was like out. So I took TLC, sliced it through his arm and then the extra damage I did, I jumped the altar and just punch him in the face. Yeah. Yeah. Where did you slice his arm? Mid bicep.

Bicep. Yeah. His arm just, it like the blade passes through his arm. Like it's nothing. Yeah. It lands in Ving and Ving becomes a blood red water. Oh yeah. Gross. Oh wait. But it pierces the illusion. It pierces the illusion. And the illusion like poof. The water spills out. The water starts to spill out, but it's now like blood red running down the altar. The arm is laying on the altar. Yeah. And as you launch yourself over the altar and punch him in the face. Arms to meet you, my friend.

He hits the ground. Like you, you punch him and you lay him out. Like he tumbles into some of the chairs. And as you're like stepping towards him, you hear, and then you feel a sharp pain in your back. Oh fuck. Roll a D10. Oh. Seven. Seven. So you take seven damage. Is this Lion Mackenzie King? Yeah. And you look up. No way. Like you hear, you feel it dig into your shoulder. You take seven damage and you turn and you see like up on one of the high walls above the courtyard. You see like a glint.

Fuck. And I roll into like the cover that the altar provides. Yeah. Yeah. And you hear bang as one like shatters off the top of the altar and you hear a bang. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

And his dick can fall Flop onto the glass It ripped when I vaulted It just started flapping as he jumped So keep in mind, before you do anything If you release contact with the glass floor The tyranny field Is going to take control of the congregants again I know, but I want to use call of nature I have requests from my water form Yes, you still have requests from the water form I want to create a wall To protect Tuck Oh, like create some cover Some swirling Blood water Out the back of a ship Turbulent, but in a wall Blood red water Frothy So that the water can't penetrate Because it's moving so much So this is going to be 2d6 plus your current request Which is 3 12 And you hear another And as he gets these shots off The water Pounds up in this wall This blood red wall And you see them hit the water And still, just with the power of the shot It makes it through the wall But they clatter to the ground And they come out in like A V of water So they Out the end of the water Like a horizontal vortex The bullet spits out And you have More significant cover from Lionel's Line of sight And I scoop the Two bullets that came through And then I sprint out of the circle To go and find Black Spire Oh, cool So you scoop up these two things that hit the ground And even just like Picking them up, you almost cut yourself They're not bullets Like we would imagine them They are short, flat, triangular arrowheads But of a strange Like make And you just like shove them in a pouch Yeah, I put them in the pocket of my duster Yeah Yeah And you take off the bullets And you take them off into the castle Yeah And Callum is laying there fucking bleeding Yeah A lot Is he screaming or anything?

He is screaming I think he is yelling to Victoria Who was on the other side of the circle Like, get him!

And she starts to run after you And then she slams into Billy's wall Nice Good job And she just looks up You cannot run from me to Camadam We are meant to be together And then you hear Tuck in the distance Go No, I can't No thanks Thank you And then you hear him accidentally Like slam his boner into a door That he passes through Oh, wow He goes to close the door to the hall And then he slams his boner in it by accident He has like two big double doors And he's like No thanks, Victoria Things are over between us Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom!

Boom Boom Ving is up being held up by water, hands on the glass. Billy, you're like desperately trying to keep this ring. Actually, Billy, you feel Victoria. You feel when she slams into the ring. Yeah, Billy's kind of knocked off. He's like, but he has to keep going. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah, is I mean, I guess how we design the move is they are trapped until Billy releases the ring. It's not something you have to constantly make rolls for. Unless you want me to. No, no, no. It is.

It is dramatically more interesting. I mean, if you're saying it's causing him great pain, either it starts to give him damage or smash into the side, then and if that jostles him, then if they smash enough, then, you know. Yeah. Yeah. Because when it was like a safety thing, it was more like Billy would have to stay outside and like not get to go in and rest. But now it's like he's actively trying to keep people inside the ring.

It makes sense that you would have to like roll some kind of like constitution. Constitution. Yeah. To keep it up. To keep it up and to like withstand attacks. Yeah. I guess. Yeah. Yeah. I think that that does feel better than Billy just traps whoever he wants forever. So, yeah, go ahead and roll 2d6 plus constitution. It does make sense. Yeah. Nine. Oh, shit. Aid. Okay. How? Aiding aids by the water monster like wrapping around where she is.

And then I use that to like help freeze myself in place. Oh, I think he means because she. Oh, sorry. She's in Victoria. Oh, sorry. The water body goes like around. She's like slamming up against the thing and it's cause I see it's causing you distress. So I, I, I request the, yeah, the, the water wall to kind of create a buffer buffer between her and the wall. Try and like push her back. Yeah, that's cool. So 2d6 plus bond. Ooh, seven. Okay. So that makes it a 10.

So Billy retains perfect control. She is stuck in place, but it feels like this is, yeah, this is going to be a problem. And mirrors is, yeah. Mirrors is like, what's going on? What do I do? What do I do? I mean, you could go, you and mirrors could go after talk because they're trapped in there anyways. Yeah. Yeah. But you're going to have to keep keeping roles. Maybe potentially. Yeah. But I'm still like at least separated from them.

So mirrors and I are going to, yeah, go and try and get to tuck side. Okay. Hmm. What can I give Billy something? I mean, I have the ring. I know it's that I could give you like some wine wood or something to hang on to. Oh, I'll give you a wine wood to hang on to. Okay. Billy, this is for an emergency. Not for fun drinking though. No. For an emergency. Is it an emergency if I get thirsty? That is not an emergency. What if I'm hungry? Not an emergency. Okay.

Here, I'll give you regular water, regular M&Ms, and then this. That's the order. I got it. Yeah. Thirsty, hungry emergency. We give him smokes and booze today. Yeah. Okay. We're fucking. Terrible parents. Not going good. So if you release your contact with the glass floor, Tyranny is going to attempt to take control of the congregants once again. Mumsy, I think, has been spirited away by Rodney, or is at least like on her way out after the release. She's like, don't worry, Callum.

I'll never forget you. I bet Rodney's saying, Mumsy, that's why I knew it was a bad idea. Mumsy, we never should have come here, even if the buffet was delicious. Quit shoving in your dress. They're filling their pockets with canapes. It's falling out. Because it goes out. Because it goes out. One big pocket. And it goes out. It goes out. So yeah, if you are releasing your hold on the dance floor. I am. Okay. And as you drop back down, like thunk, onto the ground.

The screeching of string instruments. Orchestral nails on the chalkboard. Yeah, totally. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You see the gears below here that are housing the orchestra? Like, begin to like, chug, chug, chug, chug. Stop. And you hear like, clattering and strings and plucking as it pulls itself out of its nest. Okay. Let's get up there, I guess. Mears. Okay. Yeah. All right. I'm right behind you. Mears, this way. Okay.

And he turns around and he dashes off with Ving. Tuck. Yes. You are booking it through a hallway. Yeah. You're in Blackglass Palace. You got the run of the place. He takes out the saffron cigarette and he like, puts it in his mouth and he lights it. Uh-huh. Because he's like, this probably looks so fucking cool. You do feel loyalty within you. Go, all right, I'll be here when you need me. And recede from your perception. Right. Because I don't need him anymore, right? Right? Not right now.

You can tap into it, apparently. Okay. But we don't know what that looks like. All right. And then I try and connect with Black Spire again. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Back in the darkness. And I go, buddy, can you hear me? Yeah, I can hear you. Oh, man. This fucking sucks, man. I know, bud. I'm going to get you out of there. I missed my big hole in the ground. Remember all those holes I used to live in, man? Those were fucking sweet. I know, dude.

We're going to get you back there one day. I promise. Okay. Okay. Oh, no. We dragged his ass over here. I know. It's okay. After all of this is done, I'm going to get him back to the hole in the ground. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. But I need your help to find you, okay? Okay. Can you listen to or try and figure out where you are? And I want to do a discern realities. Okay. 2D6 plus wisdom. So that's 6 plus 1, 7. Great. One question. What here is useful or valuable to me?

Bud, I need you to make some big boom booms. Some big boom booms so I can find you. So I can find your room. You got a boom boom boom. So I can be in your room. Yeah. Okay. And then we can spend the night together. Together in your room. I can try to boom boom, but I have not had that much to eat in the last couple of days. But I'm going to try to get it out. Wait, what? He starts stomping around and kind of throwing his body back and forth.

And you hear it is off the corridor that you are running down. Yeah. You're not totally sure, but you know that you're going in the right direction. Okay. But what you do notice is that as he's thrashing around, you feel him. Be. Struck. Son of a bitch. My dog. No, it's okay. I'm up. Hey, no, it's okay, man. I'm a dragon. I'm bigger, but I really just don't like when they do that. Yeah, but I'm going to make sure they don't do that again. Okay. Okay. I run to where I hear the sound. Yeah.

So you start pounding down the corridor. Very fine palace. And as you're running, you're seeing because the palace, the Blackhammer Palace is an old, old castle, basically, that over time, especially within the last, I don't know, 20 years was rapidly developed with these strange glass constructions. Okay.

So as you're running through, you're finding places that are like out of place, like almost like you're in a different building because you suddenly leave like fine old worn stone to like very angular geometric glass. And you get to like a old spiral staircase that goes down. I hop on the railing. I slide down the whole thing. Yeah. You got a cigarette in your mouth. Your ass is getting absolutely chapped by this banister. My dick and balls are hanging out. Yeah.

Every time it passes like a grommet in the wall, it's like, and you head down into the darkness. I run. Billy. Yeah. You are in the chambers, the catacombs now by yourself. You feel above prodding almost at your barrier. Like no one is currently attacking it, but like they are trying to find a way to get through it. In or out? Out. Out. Okay. Yeah. And also, you know what? In too, because we know that like the influence has been released. Yeah. Ving's calming influence.

Oh, and the orchestra got up. Maybe it's trying to get in. The orchestra. So you feel like in and out of this, there are people and things pressing against your barrier. Okay. So you're down here in the dark and the quiet by yourself. Yeah. Whispering my little tune. Whispering your little tune. And you're kind of surrounded by this sheet of water, right? It's like kind of spiraling around you. Ring around the rosy. Homes are warm and cozy. Eyes closed. Eyes closed. We'll all sleep now.

And on the other side of the sheet of water, you see a silhouette. I'm safe. It's okay. And they get closer. And then they kind of are like walking alongside you as you're crawling. And you're like, oh, my God, this is a jib man. And you're like, oh, my God, this is a jib man. And you're like, oh, my God, this is a jib man. And you're like, oh, my God, this is a jib man. What do you do? What do I do? Maybe I ask, what do you want? I just wanted to check in. Oh, my God, it's a jib man.

It's a voice that you are very familiar with at this point. It's the gibbous man. It's the gibbous man. Can I? I mean, I guess I want to find out stuff. Yeah. Yeah. To certain realities. Yep. Two to six plus wisdom. Four. Shit. Shit. Oh, no. A failure. Shit. Why? What's the failure here? Shit, dude. Fuck. What is the failure in this scenario? No. Oh, what if it's really bad? Oh, no. You're like crawling and you're trying to, you're repeating your poem. And the sheet of water breaks for a second.

And he sees that happen. And you make, you see the blue eye and the black eye. And his white face and his white beard and his dark clothes. And then the water. And then the shower continues. But you feel above. Yeah. A momentary break as someone darts through your wall. Oh, no. Yeah. So I keep going. Like, there's nothing I can do. I don't know who got out. I ignore him. But he's going to keep talking to you because he's trying to psych you out, I think. Why don't you just come out here?

I can't really hear you through this water, you know? Well, then go away then. I will. I just wanted to see if you felt like giving me a hand. With what? Did you see what they were trying to do to me up there? No. I saw what they were trying to do to my friends. It's disappointing. I'm giving you an opportunity right now. We don't have to be enemies. We have enemies in common. Like who? Who do you think? I don't know. Don't be a child. We both know you're not one. Of course I am. All right.

If you don't want to play alone, that's fine. I'll see you later, kid. And the silhouette recedes and you're alone. What the fuck? Ving. Cool. Yeah? You and Mirrors are running up into the ballroom, I guess, right? Yes. Okay. So. You get to the ballroom. It's not far. It's not far. It's not a far run. You burst through the door and, you know, skid to a halt. I imagine you're kind of hauling ass a little bit. Uh-huh.

And you see on the far side of the room, the congregation has surrounded the altar. And they are like mobbing it. Oh, just like World War Z. Just like World War Z with Brad Pitt. World War Z. And they're mobbing this thing. And you can see they're like pounding against Billy's barrier. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. And the orchestra is like crawling over top of them. Uh-huh. And slamming on top of it.

And you see that Billy's created this like, oh, I wonder because it's below and above. I wonder if it's like a straight up column. That's what I was imagining. So it's like, you can see it's being buffeted around this column. It can't get above it. It's like trying to crawl over and it's like slamming people down into the ground trying to climb over them. Whoa. What do you do? I want to use the request from my call of nature. Oh, yeah. My thing to go and douse the orchestra.

Oh, to try and like get it. I want to fill it with water. To try and slow it down or temporarily disable it. Yes. Okay, great. 2d6 plus request. Okay. Fucking do it, dude. Oh, 12. Jesus Christ. That's sick. So with a 12, you still retain your request. This water elemental spirit form is happy to continue aiding you in your task. It flows like up and over. Yeah, up and over and like up its legs. It's got all the legs and fills it all over.

Pouring into the machinery, trying to disrupt whatever's going on in there. And then I want to freeze it. Okay. Like solid. Yeah. Expand all the water and try and blow it apart. That's very cool. That would be two requests for sure. So you're doing this again. It might be like the freezing and then the blowing apart are two different things. Yeah, okay. So this would be a request and then the blowing apart might be an elemental mastery. Okay. So yeah, go ahead and roll 2d6 plus request.

Come on, request. Oh. Oh boy. Oh boy. Oh, that's naked. Oh, holy shit, dude. No. So I lose a request. Oh. Okay. So you're down to two requests. And this just doesn't work. The water is flowing up into the machinery. Machinery is a broad, vague description because it is very unclear to all of you how this thing actually works. Yeah. It honestly doesn't look like it should be able to move, but it is moving. And the water flows up and starts like trying to get inside the gears.

And it looks like the orchestra is fighting it off. Like strings are playing, like drums are pounding. It's moving its legs in a very… Jittery spider-like fashion. And it starts like kind of tumbling around the room, fighting this water off. So it is not… Climbing at itself with its legs. Exactly. So it is not incapacitated, but it is temporarily distracted at least. Well, at least in a way. It's off of the pile of people.

But it is like crashing into furniture, trying to get this water out of it. And as the water moves out of Billy's fairy fort, you see at the other end of the hall, a flash of a red gown go around a corner. Mears! LaBanche! Oh, God. Okay. Books. He starts sprinting across the room. Oh, shit. That's sick. Remember all you were taught. Okay. Don't you forget about me. I want Ving to see what Billy saw, that the Gibbous Man was here. Oh. That he's here right now. So you get a flash in your mind.

Like when Billy looks up at the Gibbous Man's face. Yeah. The eyes through the water. Yeah. Oh, sick. I must go. Oh, shit. You say that to a waiter that's like bleeding from the eyes. He's got, yeah, he's just got like an empty tray in his hand that he's handing out to you. No, thank you. I'm full. I have to go. My son's in danger. Backflip, backflip, backflip, backflip. Backflips. You see Mears like do a sick joke.

Like he runs up the pile of people, jumps through the fairy ring and then to the other side. Soaking wet hair, slick back. Yeah. That's so cool. You see Cal. He goes, draw this. Draw this. Draw this. I get to say it now because I'm a hireling. And you, oh, wait, maybe Mears has to roll for this. Oh, yeah. Yeah, he does. You roll his loyalty. Okay. So Mears' loyalty is four. And remember, his loyalty is both his hit points and his ability to do things. Okay.

So to get him through the ballroom safely, it's going to be a 2d6 plus four. Okay. Yeah. You commanded him. So you're making the roll. Ooh, nine. Oh. Is that good or? Being aid? You don't have a bond with Mears. So you can't aid him. What do you mean? Oh, I don't know. Yeah, it's a mechanical bond. Yeah. Okay. You could later on build a bond with him. So I think it just… Lowers his loyalty to three. Okay. I want to say, I kind of hurt when you told me I don't have a bond with Mears.

You guys would feel the same way. You are deeply bonded with Mears. Mechanically, you have no bond points. Wow, I didn't know that we could. I've told you guys that you can build bonds. You can increase your bonds. You can build whatever. Who cares? You know what? I gave up probably two years ago is what it was. Two. But you see Mears. So Mears, it's not quite as clean as we described it. He like runs. He sprints around and a couple of the congregants like see him coming.

And he has to like, he slams into one, shoulders them to the ground, does like a cool spin and like pushes another one into the crowd. So cool. Sick. And then runs up the pile, jumps over the fairy fort. As he goes through the fairy ring, comes through the water. Oh, yeah. He goes to the other side. Callum sees his sword ensconced in wax and feels the pull beneath the saffron wax. Yes. He has his brother's sword. Yeah. So he gets up like you see him get up and his arm is fucking gone. Yeah.

And he is no longer bleeding. Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Because of the fucking demon. But the arm, but his arm is gone. And he looks the worst for wear. Absolutely. And he sees the sword and he turns and he sees you, Ving. And he gestures for you to come to him. Uh, tuck. Flap, flap, flap, flap, flap, flap, flap, flap, flap. Oh, fuck. My second ball. And you hit the ground. Oh. Oh. Okay. A floor below. I tuck my dick back into the split pants. I'm wearing. You hit the ground. Yeah.

You see an even like an old stone corridor. This is the old palace for sure. Uh-huh. There are torches on the walls guttering. And this looks like it is a level below where the nobility would live. It's like servants quarters and passageways and storage rooms, that kind of stuff. You even hear further down another slam reverberates through the walls and you assume must be Black Spire. But I don't know exactly where it is. You don't know exactly where. All right. I do. What are you waiting for?

Oh. Yeah. To draw out like whoever the fuck is, is hurting my dog. Yeah. Piece of shit. What the fuck? Uh, when you cry at a challenge roll plus con at a 10 plus your enemies. Treat you like the most obvious threat to be dealt with. Okay. So that's three. So six. Yeah. So six. A total failure, huh? Can anyone, can I aid? You can aid from any distance with Luck of the Fair Folk. Yes. Please help me. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay.

I think we've described Luck of the Fair Folk as being basically like they are luckier for knowing you. That's good enough for me. I got an eight. Okay. Okay. So that makes it. A seven. Yes. Which means only the weakest and most foolhardy. Yeah. You're standing in this torch lit corridor. Yes. Shadows moving on the walls as the flames gutter. Who are you? I punch a torch and burn my hand. It's clearly a shadow of yourself.

You hear at the end of the hallway a door creak open and you hear like inside like something with its jaws restricted. It is trying to make a lot of noise. Oh. And you see a figure enter the corridor. You hear the door close and the shadows in the room start to pool towards the figure. Oh, fuck. Oh, no. It's in a free. Oh, no. Fuck. Oh, no. And you hear from the end of the corridor directed at you. I see you, little one. And, uh, Tucker's. He.

Cause he's, he's got the, the saffron cigarette in his mouth. He does like a dirt bag thing where he takes like a huge huff on it. Uh-huh. And then he like, I don't like choose it. Awesome. Yeah. And, uh, and spits it out. He's extinguishing it because he needs the demon of loyalty back. Okay. Roll plus charisma to gain a boon from your demon on a seven to nine. The demon offers the boon, but causes mental damage on a failure. You lose control. Okay. So yeah, this.

This move is very different now that the demon is not so hostile towards you. Yes. But I think that we can still make it work. Yes. Um, so what boon are you hoping for? Like, Tuck is intrinsically quite terrified of Ifrit. Of course. Yeah. Because he grew up on the streets of McCall. Yeah. All McCall and Zerfrid. And he also just wants, he wants light. Yeah. That's the thing that he. Oh, shit. Okay. He wants. So the, he. So you know how, uh, like Black Spire has sunstone. Sun breath. Yeah.

And I was trying to do that chest beam thing that was not working. Yeah, totally. So I want to try and do it. Oh. Cause that's the thing is the, the Ifrit are weak to the light of. I know they're weak to light. Okay. The chest beam thing makes no sense. But now it makes a little more sense. It's not sunstone. It's white obsidian. Oh, shit. It's also unprecedented in any. But Black Spire is just right there. All right. So, okay. So what we're trying to do here is you're rolling.

Demon of servitude. Yeah. Which is now demon of loyalty. Yes. Two to six plus charisma. Yeah. Uh, to gain a boon. To gain a boon. And in Tuck's head, I guess he's like, all right. And he does all the Naruto like. Yeah. Like, like. Tai Chi moves. Tai Chi moves is from Naruto. Yeah. What you're thinking is like the hand signals or whatever. Whatever. They do like that. I've never watched Naruto. Yeah. Cool. Yeah. This thing. Yeah. Sure. He does a bunch of these hands. These Tai Chi hand signals.

And then he does a bunch of Dr. Strange things. I think this is all part of his. Then he does Inky Binky Spider. Crawl up this boat again. This is all part of what are you waiting for? Inky Binky Spider. And then he does that. Yeah. And then he does the Napoleon Dynamite Butterfly. Yeah. The ones where he's really like. Yeah. Absolutely. All right. Yeah. All of the millennial references. He does the. The thumb and half magic trick. Yeah. Spout Lore.

Your destination for millennial Canadian podcast humor. But yeah. In his mind, he's like, please, demon of loyalty. Help me channel my dog's breath weapon through my chest. I cannot fight it. Yeah. All right. Two D six plus charisma. Okay. Charisma. Right. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. So I rolled a five. That's charisma. That's eight. Yeah. Okay. So it happens. Yes. But not Sean. So something happens. You get to decide. You are trying. You're standing there. You're doing all of these hand signals.

The Afrit is standing at the other side of the corridor outside the door. He just said, I see you, little one. I see you, little one. And as you're standing there doing, come on, loyalty. Help me do my dog's breath weapon. Here we go. You hear like slamming as you're like connecting. You feel this like great reverberation. Through the floor. And then a beam of powerful light comes out of the door. He's standing next to and slams the Afrit into the opposite wall. And you hear fuck. Yeah.

And like clattering into the hallway is like a huge metal cap with chains on it. And it's broken. And it comes like slamming into the hallway. Oh shit. The Afrit starts picking itself up. And you hear from the other side of the corridor. Tuck, I cannot do that again. Please hurry. Okay. I want to run to try and like free. I want to try and get past. Can I try? Yeah, you can run. Defy danger dexterity to try and get past the Afrit. But what if I run as hard as I can? Strength wise. Come on, man.

Be real. What if he really flexes all of his core muscles? I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. He flexes all of his quads and hamstrings at the same time. I mean, if your goal. Okay. So if we're describing you trying to run quickly past the Afrit. Yes. That's dexterity. If we describe you trying to like bowl past the Afrit, opening yourself up to potentially being attacked. That's strength. I know I'm trying to get through quick. All right.

Dexterity. Okay. Here we go. Fuck. Yeah. So three. I'm coming, buddy. So, I'm coming, buddy. I'm coming, buddy. I'm coming, buddy. I'm coming, buddy. I'm coming, buddy. Are you ready to all your failures? Oh, right. I forgot. You two. Two at least. Did I fail twice? Isn't it? Okay. So as you're running in this very darkened corridor, like the shadows hide many things in this place, you are running full tilt down the corridor. The Afrit is picking itself up.

The shadows are pooling back around its human form and the Medjay containing the icon of patience finally takes his opportunity to step out of a door. To step out of a doorway and trip you. Fuck! And you slam face first into the ground so hard your vision goes black. Oh, no! And Billy, we're going to cut back to you. Fuck, okay. You're also watching through the glass above you. You see pools of blood in the room above. You see that it's just Callum up there now. Victoria's gone.

And you see that the orchestra is slamming around the room. But Callum is no longer railing against the barriers and neither are the congregants. They've all kind of stopped fighting it. Okay. And you see, I mean, depending. Well, I guess before that you see, and then you see, Mears! And he runs off. I'm like, yay! Hooray, Mears! And you see, depending on what Ving's reaction was to being beckoned forward. Yeah. What do you do? I think we need to keep him trapped.

Yeah, this is what I'm wondering, is if Billy needs to continue to maintain the ring. It feels like it would be a bad idea to have Callum out, especially with the Gibbous Man around. Like, he feels like he needs to keep him separate. Okay, maybe we pop back up to the ballroom right now to figure out. Because Billy, you are just, like currently, your plan is continue to maintain the ring. The Gibbous Man is out there. You're safe down here. Yeah. Yeah, okay.

So I think Callum in the ballroom stands up in the ring. Okay. Okay. He gestures you forward, and he kind of looks around at the congregants and waves his remaining hand very dismissively, and they back off. And they go and they sit in the chairs surrounding him. I slowly walk up to the water circle. And he kind of, he looks at his arm on the altar. And I think the face, if this was a man who wasn't attempting to obliterate some aspect of the civilized world, you'd feel kind of bad for this.

He, like, brushes his arm. Off the altar. And it just, like, thuds onto the ground. And he sits. On it. He sits on the altar. He sits on the altar. Kind of, like, casually. On it, one leg still on the ground. What's the orchestra doing? You can see that it's still struggling against the water. So Callum says, if you're worried about that, you can call it off if you want to talk. I think you have me at a disadvantage. Okay, stand down.

And he nods to the orchestra, which shakes the water elemental off it like a dog coming out of a lake. I gather it like a dog at my side. Oh, and then it's like a little water dog. And the orchestra goes back to its carriage and settles in and then like pulls all its legs in like a spider receding into its den. Gross. Ving says. It's one of my more impressive inventions, I'd say. Cunning. He laughs, nods. So I see you answered my invitation. We're here, aren't we? You are.

Though I wish you'd come as guests instead of foes. I was going to make you an offer. All three of you. I assume the rest of you are here. I assume the boy is still alive. I was going to, I crossed my arms. I realized he can't do that. But he tries to cross his arms and is unable to. And he, you see, I'm sure what we were attempting here. Any gestures to the ballroom, to the glass trees and the lanterns hung in the constellations. You think you could control the gibbous man? Yes. Me? No.

All of us? Maybe. Us? You three? Myself? Victoria? She has her uses. The spiritual? The fairy? The iconic? My cunning? Her wish for revenge? That power split between five people. We would have had a chance. We still can. It's not too late. Okay, say we were going to help you. Say I believed you that you wanted to bring down the gibbous man. What would you have us do? How would you use us together? You're familiar with the rituals.

The old magi ways of taking power from one and giving it to another. Ving shudders with traumas of the past. I know you're familiar. The ways of my people, the ways of binding the icons, those are ways that I've been well-schooled in. And I've developed, I believe, a method by which the power of one figure, one being, can be spread amongst many. To increase both their ability to control it and their ability to survive that inhabitation.

Between the five of us, me, a son of the magi, Victoria, one of the most blood thirsty people I've ever met, and you three, I think we could bind him. You know his plans. He wants to be whole again. And in becoming whole, he reduces the world to dust. You foolish, proud man. How do you not see that you're playing into his hand? Everything you're enacting is only serving to make him stronger.

The black sky that you are raining down on the people, giving influence, his influence, to everyone in the land. Not his. His influence. My influence. He may have been a god once, but he is not anymore. He is mortal. He is chained to the material realm. Everywhere my smog reaches, every lung that it fills, is another soldier in the fight against the gibbous man. I am not playing into his hand, he is playing into mine. I see everything. I am cunning incarnate. I am tyranny incarnate.

I will not be overthrown by an old wretch like the gibbous man. You are acquired cunning. You are acquired tyranny. These ideas, and as Ving is talking about the capital T tyranny, I want him to kind of like, as he's talking about his runes are dancing and constellations, and he's kind of displaying some of this ancient, ancient druidic, like I want to use druidic lore to consult the trove of ancient knowledge within me to examine the events of the world. That's cool. That's cool.

It's a way for you to validate whether he's right. Yeah. Like if what he thinks is true is true. If he truly has like the upper hand and he, or if he has, like you said, been played. Because we still don't know. Yeah. He's, he's. Convinced. He's convinced because he is tyranny and cunning. He thinks he's the smartest, most powerful guy in the world. And he's also a little fucking prince. I was going to say, bet many men have thought this in the past. Yeah.

And I want to use my ancient knowledge of all of the tyrannical geniuses that have come before him. Okay. Roll plus wisdom on a hit. The GM will ask you a question about the subject. Whatever you say is true. Wisdom. Ooh. Oh boy. Whoa. 13. Okay. Holy shit. So you are, I am asking you a question about this. Who, what is a time in history where a quote unquote tyrannical genius has thought I will be the one to unify and save the world? And how have they been torn down? The Gibbous man. Well, yeah.

The Gibbous man, Rhian and his friend. Yep. Yep. Oh, Rhian's friend. Yeah. I mean, this is like a descendant of Rhian. Yes. Is, wait. Isn't he? They are kind of because the, the princeps are adopted children of Rhian's line. Right. So like they're not blood related, but they are by tradition descended from Rhian. Cool. Good enough for me. Yeah. That's sick. Well, that's a good thing. We're not, this, this game is not a game of blood lines.

Who you are blood related to is not as important as who you are tied to. Yeah. Cut to, cut to Tuck. He's like pissing blood right now. Literal blood lines. He's just laid out on the floor just. Oh no. He, no one can own Tuck as hard as he can own himself. Yeah. From being tripped. Pussy. What a pussy. His own dead weight onto his own face. Yeah. Tuck's downstairs getting bullied. It's a high school cafeteria. They're drawing dicks on his forehead for sure. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Um, so Rhian's friend. Aemon the betrayer. And what was his story? He was the one who betrayed. Yeah. He was Rhian's. I mean, I don't know if we've told this story like on Mike. No. Go for it. But he was Rhian's closest friend and confidant. Stories suggest that they may have been more, but the details have been lost to time. Um, and Aemon was from what the tales suggest, tied in some way to the I and was compelled or convinced to betray Rhian. The I being the organization that.

That the secret, uh, order that has all that for all these years has worshiped the spider. Okay. Um, has held the spider as the highest deity and the one that will both make and unmake the world and blah, blah, blah. So it was the exact situation. Well, not quite. It's quite close though. Yeah. Um. A lot of the other black churches evolved from the I. Yeah. Like including Callum's family, Coleman Callum's family, their tradition.

Like, and, and through that tradition as the I and like this dark church and the, and the Medj I, I realize Coleman Callum are both descended by tradition from Rhian as well as Aemon. Mm-hmm. Because he was, he was a member of the I and he, uh, killed Rhian, struck off his hand as proof and was then betrayed for his betrayal. Um, yeah. So how do we, um, relay that? It's, uh, the visions that Colm gave us. Mm-hmm. The last one was the, the hand. Remember? Yeah.

The hand in the castle that he saw as a kid. Yeah. Oh, and it moved. Yeah. Yeah. I'm supposed to tell him the tale of Aemon, right? Or a tale of a, of, of a, a G, like a someone, a capital G great person who thought that they were the one that was going to unify everything and then was brought low. Well, isn't that also the story of the Gibbous? It is. And he doesn't know the story of the spider and the hummingbird. No. Mm-hmm. So that is also a good one to tell.

And he's also a capital G, you know. Yeah. God. Because that was, that's not the version, that's not the version of the Gibbous man he is now. That is like, that's the version of him that created the universe and the spirit realm and all that stuff. Mm-hmm. Yeah. This Gibbous man is technically a different person. Yeah. It's a different being. Mm-hmm. And the Gibbous man remind me was destroyed and, uh, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.

I don't know. It's a different kind of a woman. It's a different kind of a woman. It's a different kind of a woman. It's a different kind of a woman. It's a different kind of a woman. It's a different kind of a woman. It's a different kind of a woman. It's a different kind of a woman. It's a different kind of a woman. It's a different kind of a woman. It's a different kind of a woman. It's a different kind of a woman. It's a different kind of a woman. It's a different kind of a woman.

It's a different kind of a woman. It's a different kind of a woman. It's a different kind of a woman. It's a different kind of a woman. It's a different kind of a woman. It's a different kind of a woman.

Kind of created the garden that is the spirit realm then one day hummingbird kind of came back and she said she was sick because she ate seeds that were bad and then they but they weren't they were spider's eyes that he like put around the garden to make sure that they were safe so like it is very much a thing of like his cunning his cunning like led to his own demise because it killed the thing that he loved the most and then gave birth to something that then the eyes that walked like men destroyed the world that he then created and like chained him to it and callum's machinations uh and his like working on that with his brother led to the death of his brother yeah so he has yeah he has in many ways like enacted the retold the story of the spider and his main weapon is a giant spider yeah yeah that's true yeah make a big spider orchestra so for the druidic lore I think ving displays for him in his rune like a very rudimentary constellation like a simple play sort of thing in his runes they play out and they They dance across his skin and show him the story of the spider and the hummingbird.

The story in which, yeah, spider attempts to protect the entire garden by placing his eyes around. And hummingbird, his best friend, eats those eyes thinking they're seeds and is killed. Despite his cunning, the spider's, you know, machinations came back to haunt him and destroy those who he loved. And it goes on to show the gibbous men being brought down by Lillian being chained to the earth and the hubris that he had.

I do imagine that you show him images of Colm at the end of the battle, like being brought low by the three of you because of his involvement in Callum's plans. And I think there is something quite powerful in like bringing him back to that, like that speech that his mom gave. Yeah, I like the idea of also the correlation between. The severed hand of Rhian and his severed arm. Yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah. That Luke Vader moment.

He sees the hand, like the image of the hand in the runes and like looks down at his own hand lying on the ground. His hand on the ground twitches. Yeah. Just like Rhian's did in the memory of his brother. And I tell him that your brother told us to come here and save you. And he wasn't talking about from us and he wasn't talking about from the gibbous men. It was from yourself. 2d6 plus. Chris. Charisma. I got a five. Oh no. Fuck. No. That's such a good line. Oh, come on.

It's a great line and it makes perfect sense that it does not work. He's a tyrant. He's a tyrant. No one knows better than he does. Right. Yeah. You can't tell a tyrant. So he looks down at his hand, which twitches on the ground and you can see he's like clouding over. Like it almost looks like a, for a second, like there's some sort of empathy breaking through. So we're not. Not empathy, but some sort of feeling breaking through a sadness. And then he clenches his remaining hand.

My brother was a fool. Thought with his sword, never with his head. And if you aren't willing to join me in this, you're a fool too. This is your last chance. I don't believe that you ever had a chance and I want to wrap them in the water. Okay. Remaining request. I think another part of this horrible failure because you, because it was a straight up, it didn't work. And also as, oh, as. As he's looking down at his hand, he looks down through the glass that Ving cleared. Oh no.

And he sees Billy building the fairy circle. Oh no. Yep. And he, you just feel the boom, like the emanation of his power and the congregants start sprinting out of the room. And Billy from beneath, you hear hundreds of footsteps slamming on the glass in all directions and you know, they're coming for you. And that's where we're going to end up. 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, Abdulaziz. So long.

Ving the half elf druid, Paul Oppers. Take care. Fat Billy, the halfling thief, Jessica Tai. Goodbye everyone. Thank you so much to all of our Patreon supporters around the world. If you would like to support the show and get access to a whole bunch of cool bonus stuff, like the up-to-date Mall Brats feed, art, merchandise, writing, curated gift boxes, even games run by Abdul and myself. You can find me on Twitter. I'm Sean O'Hara.

You can find us at patreon.com slash Spout Lore or Spout Lore.com slash money, please. Thank you so much to Aaron Charles Reed for our intro and outro music. What a joy and a gift it is. I'm sure you'll agree. If you want to hear more of Aaron's original music, which I love, you can check him out at aaronreid.bandcamp.com and you can hear all of the music thus far produced for the show on Spotify. Thank you finally. And most of all to all of you for listening. We'll be back.

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 spell dawn.

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 Game Master Sean O'Hara, joining me as always playing Tacoma Dome the Barbarian Abdul Aziz Hello everybody! Playing Ving the Half-Elf Druid, Paul Oppers Hello everyone! And playing Fat Billy the Halfling Thief, Jessica Tai I have a tummy ache now Oh, did you drink too much milk too? It's full! You had one sip! It's full because it was empty Oh my god It used to be up here and then it went all the way down You're gonna get it all the way back up All the way back up Oh no!

Oh Jessica You made a mistake No, you're gonna be just fine I think the mistake is gonna be when you finish that The whole bottle I can't believe it's only five dollars It's a great deal So you can ruin your week for so cheap That's the slogan Ruin your week for cheap When last we left our heroes, their plans, well not even their plans, but the situation was interrupted by a one mumsy, the lovesick, lovesstarved mother of Rodan The hotelier Yeah, she's got borderline personality disorder For sure Drawing an incredible amount of attention to herself in an extremely tense and haunting situation Completely oblivious she was Declaring her love for Princep Callum Blackhammer On his wedding day, Tuck was primed and ready to just let her get taken away because he had a job to do Yeah Billy and Ving were able to convince him that she needed to be taken away from him Yeah And that she needed some saving Yes It was actually more Jessica and Paul being horrified That you were about to let this old woman get torn apart by a mob Like somebody with a mental illness dragged away by zombies Yeah So Ving decided to lend a helping hand by using his move Life Symphony to free those on the dance floor from the influence of the icon of tyranny while he was in contact with said floor from beneath Tuck used the opportunity The distraction that Callum felt at this to spring his own trap Drawing Terry, Larry, and Chad and striking the arm off Callum Blackhammer in one blow Yeah Tuck cut off the arm then was shot in the back Oh yeah By Lionel Mackenzie King That was so funny Performing a sort of sniper overwatch from a balcony high up the walls of the courtyard Yeah, I like to think that The reason why I was able to get the arm cut off was because he was sort of not paying attention just like eating an apple And then I cut through Callum's arm off and he was like, oh fuck Yeah Oh, God damn I'm gonna get fired for this for sure He pulled down his bandages and spat out a bunch of apple Oh man I'm on the job Ving used the water elemental creating the physical form of the illusory Ving to create some cover for Tuck Mm-hmm So Lionel was unable to get another shot off as Tuck took off While beneath this tense situation was happening, Billy was keeping the fairy circle engaged And was visited by none other than the Gibbous Man Mm-hmm Who attempted to get Billy's attention and reveal some information to him which he refused Mm-hmm Refused to engage But he did succeed momentarily and that's when Victoria LaBlanche was able to escape the fairy ring Yes Yeah!

And he was taking off after Tuck who was going to rescue his boy Black Spire from somewhere within the palace Yes At this point, Ving and Mears headed upstairs to try and get an eye on the situation up there Deal with Callum now that him and Victoria were separated Mm-hmm And found the congregants of the wedding mobbing Billy's fairy ring attempting to free Callum Mm-hmm And failing As well as the mechanical orchestra Mm-hmm Who skittered and climbed all over the room trying to free its master Mears took off after Tacoma Dome Mm-hmm Who darted through the corridors attempting to find Black Spire using his connection to the obsidian slash, uh, sunstone dragon To triangulate his position within the palace Mm-hmm Leading him below Yes Into the corridors beneath He found a torch lit chamber at the end of which he believed Black Spire to be and then emerging from that doorway The Medjay chained to him the icon of malice Mm-hmm Ready for round two The Medjay said, I see you little one And then Tuck attempted to summon, uh I tried to do a Naruto thing He tried to do a Naruto slash Iron Man chest beam again Slash You didn't do the Naruto thing I did, yeah He did a bunch of hand signals attempting to summon a beam of light from his chest coins which we have over and over established And been proven to be a And been proven to be a And been proven to be a And been proven is not possible It's a different substance It's a completely different substance It's not It's not a sunstone It's not a sunstone It's just obsidian That is white instead of black Yeah Uh, but what did happen was a chest- a beam of some kind appeared Yes As Black Spire was able to, from a distant unseen chamber, blast off some sort of iron muzzle that he was forced to wear Yeah, he blasted off He blasted a powerful beam of light into the corridor Yeah Temporarily knocking the, uh, Medjai of Malice to the side And that was the first time he ever did, like, a beam thing Yeah, up until then he's only been doing the flashes Oh, cool Yeah, but now he can summon beams of light, or he can breathe beams of light Tuck's best friend Tuck's best friend Yes Ouch And as Tuck, uh, sprinted down the corridor to save Black Spire The Medjai containing the icon of patience took his opportunity finally, stuck out a foot, and tripped Tuck Wow I feel like it was the icon of patience and deception just standing next to each other That's why I couldn't see him And he was like, hold, hold, hold Now And Tuck hit his head so hard he passed out He passed out All your momentum, all your mass Yeah Yeah While above, uh, Ving approached Callum Blackhammer, who- Called off his congregants and attempted to appeal to you to try and make a deal Uh, and revealed that his plan was to bind the Gibbous Man, but to each of you Ving, Billy, Tuck, Callum, and Victoria, using the connections of all five of you The spiritual, the fairy, the iconic Callum's power as being chained to the icons of tyranny and cunning As well as Victoria, who he suggested has been taken away from him And he's now in the hands of the Black Hammer, who, uh, called off his congregants and attempted to appeal to you To try and make a deal, uh, and revealed that his plan was to bind the Gibbous Man, but to each of you The spiritual, the iconic chained to the icon of revenge and using that power bind the gibbous man who is in some sense a god but in many ways diminished from his original power and vulnerable figuring out what you guys figured out over a number of seasons that by being chained to the mortal realm via the reign of night all those many millennia ago he is at risk Ving refused and tried to appeal to him using druidic knowledge saying look at how many geniuses have thought that they were the ones to unite the world and have failed including Rian whose hand was struck off by his very best friend and confidant much like your hand there lies on the ground struck off for your hubris but Callum refused he's too smart too cunning to listen to fools such as you and looking down at his dismembered hand Sean didn't have to say that looking down at his dismembered hand he saw through the glass Billy maintaining the fairy ring beneath him and he sent the congregants sprinting out of the room surely to tear Billy from limb from limb but Billy's still in the in the fairy circle yeah he's about to have a lot of competition though for keeping that circle up okay so that is where we find our heroes now Billy you see all of these feet pounding across the glass dance floor oh my god and you hear no voices but many bodies moving towards you some of them are pounding on the glass floor itself oh trying to get through the glass hairline cracks appearing in the floor oh yeah spooky so there are ones that are like running out of the room to get down to the lower level and there are others that are pounding on the glass floor trying to break smashing their faces into it and there are cracks forming cracks are forming it's hefty hefty strong strong glass but they're cracking it oh yeah Ving what would you you see this start to happen I have still have a my water dog that I summered yeah right with me and I want to at least send him after these ones and go start running downstairs what's the orchestra doing it's in fact it is accompanying musically the events yeah very like like you know like high high tension yeah yeah I would like to send the dog you use up my last request to try and stop those who are trying to smash through the floor while I take off and run downstairs and see what I can do okay yeah so yeah you're not going to know you're not going to be able to stop anywhere near all of them but you can stop some of the ones around you from breaking through the floor for sure the ones that are smashing the hardest whatever I can do to stop totally go ahead and roll two to six plus your request 12 12 is a success so your water dog like dissipate like puddles onto the floor and spreads just like the secret life of Alex Mack just like Alex Mack thank you I gotta see this Alex Mack and spreads a lot of water along the floor and starts to freeze in place so like it's it's freezing around their legs and like as their heads and hands are hitting the floor it's freezing around that oh cool so it's just keeping them in place but it is sick it will have to stay up here and do this if you want this to stop okay and I take off running downstairs yeah and you're following the horde of people and Callum behind you goes best hurry and Billy it's not very long before you start hearing like footsteps beneath like through the water yes that's true that's true I'm in danger true man terrifyingly shuffling through your papers gotta be something that is true I was thinking I could do escape route to run off but that would mean that Callum's no longer stuck yes I don't it's not serving us anything to have him stuck at this point really kind of what I'm feeling yeah totally I think something just because I don't I'm not a GM that wants to go like hey you didn't think about this he is in command of the icon of cunning he is a very smart person like he's not necessarily a very dangerous combatant but he's a very dangerous person to have in the wind but he is only as smart as Sean is right so that's the upper limit because I don't because I don't like being a tricky GM it's interesting because the best way to play cunning is to suddenly spring something that I just thought of on you and be like he's been planning this all along he's trying to say that like I should keep him no I'm just saying that like you can absolutely release him and that's probably the safest thing for you to do right now because you know based on the fact that Victoria was basically able to get out of your fairy ring with a combination of distraction and like strength yeah that it is not impossible that this horde will just stress you out so much that they will pound through the fairy fort at a certain point because you will have to roll constitution basically consistently especially with that kind of pressure happening like two feet from you yes yeah I guess I will use escape route when I'm in too deep and need a way out I name my escape and roll plus dexterity love it yeah 2d6 plus dexterity 11 plus 2 13 yeah you're escaping for sure I'm gone I actually follow like you know you're saying that like the the the!

Yes I go down one of those narrow pathways okay sweet so you just like drop into a canal and take off yeah and as you're you basically you drop the curtain of water and the ring that you've put up you see above Callum stroll away as you're like through the glass he just strolls off into the palace starts whistling yeah yeah twirling his keys basically and as you turn to drop into the canals into this like ancient part of the castle you're like oh my god a horde of costumed revelers boils through the door that tuck destroyed after you but you are too quick for them you drop into the corridor and you escape where exactly do you think Billy is aiming to go ideally I would like to go where tuck is where I think tuck might be okay I've been hearing the rumblings yeah so I'm trying to skirt around this large area towards where he might be okay we cut to tuck okay!

You kind of blearily come to huh Allison is that you?

Please let it be you it's never you it's never you I haven't seen you in like in like eight seasons you know what you open your eyes and on the other side of this small chamber that you're you're tied to a chair strong iron chains Allison of course and you see on the other side of the room classic Allison in chains Allison in chains you see on the other side of the room a dark-skinned woman in a long red dress long red hair Allison hi tuck what are you doing here what are you doing here what are we doing oh come on you know okay we came here cause Colm asked us to try and save his brother right yes so the smog is destroying the world yes right yes and we got invited we all right we were invited you were invited by Calum Calum to help with dinner okay you were here to help with dinner and it's got a concussion and instead you've come here to help come on tuck you know why you're here you can tell me I'm here I'm here to stop Calum Blackhammer yes from right summoning the gibbous manor right and you're he's up now he's like shit good good no don't try and don't try and break the chains you're not gonna be able to break the chains what he tries anyway okay 2d6 plus strength uh seven fuck uh so you strain and strain and strain and you feel them give a little bit but they don't break what no no no no hey hey hey hey and she steps forward and she comes up to him and she kind of like puts a hand on your arm don't fight it okay just tell me what you're doing here what do you what do you mean I just told you so you're here to stop Calum yes and you were gonna do that by uh wait and the others yeah the elf and the boy where are they they're can you get them to come here the yeah the you should call them then we can all escape together shut up you can wait for me there's nothing we can do just clued into what the fuck is going on so he's like okay Allison can you please go get Billy and Ving they're they can help me they can help me get out of here yeah yeah yeah you should call them here yeah you all seem to be able to call each other they can't no it doesn't work like walkie talkies what doesn't work like walkie talkies the thing doesn't work like walkie talkies what thing oh my god he dude they're gonna try and break out of the front gate of the palace okay 2d6 plus charisma I'm trying to get him I realize that it's the guy with the icon of deception there you go you figured it out yeah yeah okay and I'm trying to get him to like go somewhere where they're not totally yeah he's just like the brass castle gang is gonna help us get out of here they're already probably there if you go and you get them let them know that I'm down here they'll come and save me okay uh yeah so that's like a 10 a 10 okay nice yeah interesting okay so you say this like oh they're gonna try and break out and you so Allison her face like her expression changes and kind of goes flat what and she sighs what and she stands up babe what and in a wink Allison is gone replaced by a man of average height what did you do with her and uh he just leaves the room fuck and uh you Tuck are experienced enough at this point you would guess that the icon of deception would allow this would not allow this man to be deceived right himself so it did he he's you're not gonna get any he's not gonna get any information out of you but he knows that now shit so he just leaves the room okay uh but you are now alone in this chamber okay uh and it is a small uh old stone room there's like a light source like a candle on a table okay but besides that there's no windows it's a wooden steel banded door where's TLC not here shit okay and it's not the same room that Black Spire is in no absolutely not but you would guess based on the construction that it could be nearby okay can I discern realities uh absolutely 2d6 plus wisdom yep so uh yep that's a four okay five okay okay five a that's no good that's a failure for sure yeah it's a failure um so you strain and you're looking around you're straining you can't really turn all the way around I'm straining I'm making my eyes as wide as I can go come on eyes collect all the information you can be smarter maybe before light gets in I can be smarter ah ah ah and you hear behind you I don't think you're gonna be able to break the wall who is it walks around you pale skin white beard black traveling clothes oh what uh oh oh shit he kind of makes a face at you like ooh wait have I ever actually seen the gibbous man yes under the heart tree in the great forest oh right yeah fuck looks like they got you uh what does Tuck do in this situation uh and he he he almost it's like almost fourth wall breaking in that he almost hears you say what does Tuck do in this situation and he holds up a hand uh huh let's be smart about this okay you're stuck I can help you yeah we have a common foe you can't break those chains I was made to break chains as far as I know though you fucked that up pretty bad hmm funny thanks um gonna enjoy wiping this place clean people like you I'm gonna enjoy you oh I'm so sick of human humor I'm so tired of it look I'm gonna lay my cards on the table I want Callum and Victoria dead uh wow that's funny because I happen to know those two people uh he kinda does like a literally this face where he just goes oh like he closes his eyes and he raises his eyebrows and shakes his head okay alright I'm already certain that this is going to be a good time to go nowhere so I'm gonna go now oh whoa no no no no no wait wait wait wait oh what wait are you gonna play ball I'll talk to you and then we decide if we want to play ball after that what is it with you people and trying to make deals with me when I'm already trying to make deals with you you haven't stated terms you haven't set anything on the table tell me what your deal is buddy we could end this right now we're gonna cut to Ving uh Ving you are uh can we go back to Tuck I was really enjoying that you are running through the corridors uh and you are following the congregants like the party goers yeah you already said it doesn't take that long I feel like I came down I came down the chamber there's a horde of writhing people in the spot where Billy was yeah trying to get through the door and basically like I think you see Billy like whoop like drop into darkness and disappear I would like to tap into the ring and see where Tuck is okay yeah uh discern realities ooh snake eyes ooh snake eyes that's five uh I don't know maybe like the with the gibbous man it's like obscured oh back back in the room it's like oh friend's trying to call well line's busy now you're getting it yeah we cut back to Ving Ving as you're like trying to call you're like come on Tuck pick up yeah all the hairs on the back of your neck go up and you hear back from down the hallway ah black spider no unfortunately not what uh the gun that was so close to the sound you did for his I turn and as you turn like you just get nicked on the cheek by uh an arrowhead and you see at the far end of the corridor Lionel McKenzie King has taken a knee and is pointing his weapon at you I'm gonna run and try and spiral the walls as I run at him oh 2d6 plus dexterity oh sick 6 plus 0 I fail oh no Billy I'm gonna aid from a distance yeah how remember with it the aiding from a distance thing is just that Tuck and Ving are luckier for knowing you they're lucky he's lucky for knowing me yep 9 9 okay so that makes it a 7 which um means that like you get like halfway down the corridor you're kind of like dodging shots as you're running down the hallway and you leap up onto like just like and you're like a piece of wooden furniture that's in the hallway and as you jump one of Lionel's shots goes through your boot and nails you to the table and you just whoop and boom hit the ground but you roll up but he's trying to get another shot on you I guess I'll roll fight with honor there we are 10 okay so that's 3 chi uh and uh he you hear as you get close you like hit the ground after falling roll up to your feet and take like a fighting stance as you move closer to Lionel and you hear him under his voice going fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck you rang and we'll cut back to Billy that's so fucking cool that's so sick fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck uh and we'll cut to Billy Billy you are in darkness you're like pattering through ankle high water uh feeling connections to this uh real ancient like water system that was built for the original palace ooh um and you're trying to find where Tuck might be okay discernment realities I failed 5 holy shit we are rolling not great today not great at all actually can I use a fairy child to turn that to 7 to 9 oh yes absolutely smart yeah very smart alright okay so on a 7 to 9 discern realities you get one question okay I guess what here is useful or valuable to me okay yeah you're in the plumbing for the building basically for the whole palace ew it is gross it smells like poo poo and pee pee down here oh no am I in the poo poo pee pee spot yeah you can tell and this is ancient poo poo pee pee yeah oh no the poo poo pee pee man came for you and you are uh dealing with this pungent pungent smell the disgusting feeling of these pipes and places and you hear Tuck's voice going like I'm having a business I'm on a I'm having a conversation and then you hear uh another man's voice oh yeah the hairs on my neck go up yeah and you are able to like creep around and uh you are directly you find like a little grate yeah in the top of the pipe that you're in like metal bars blocking the hole and you can just see like the flicker of candlelight maybe from some part of the room and you realize you see the outline of Tuck's legs oh and the legs of a chair so I'm like behind him you are directly underneath Tuck Tuck didn't see the drain that was in the room because his chair was placed over it so cool yeah I wonder would I be able to fit through this absolutely not you would have to be able you would have to find some way okay of utilizing this information but like it's a pretty small drain and you would have you're a pretty round boy dang it the one time my size has negatively affected me you have shadow dance I know oh shit I've been thinking about that yeah yeah so I feel like I'm in a safe spot no one can really squeeze in through these areas I would say that you having seen what you've seen you wouldn't be surprised if one of the congregants tried to get in the pipe but it would be slow going can I do something weird where yeah cause like I think Billy in a way sort of I mean less so than Vang can sense the piece of the moon in this area oh cool can I ask the mother to watch over me oh very interesting hmm so like connect to the the part of Lillian that is in the moon yeah a bit yeah that's very how would we be doing that cause you would feel it in these in this like the waters in this pipe even if they are mostly pee pee and poo poo something we've only kind of talked about is that Lillian is technically a fairy yeah she is the personification of a spiritual idea can I roll connections cause when I put out word to the ragamuffins or local fairies about something you want or need roll plus charisma I like that a lot yeah cause there could be fairies in this area that are like or to Lillian like to this fragment of Lillian yeah very cool yeah go ahead and roll connections okay 2d6 plus charisma I think uh 6 I'm gonna I I will turn to a 7 to 9 I'm gonna use a fairy shell oh my god I only have one more we're burning through this wow okay so on a 7 to 9 I'll have to settle for something close or it comes with strings attached something close or strings attached so you're at you're reaching out to this like feeling you can feel this fragment of the moon you know it's down here somewhere and the water rushing around my legs like I know she's in there what string would come attached to this protection we said this piece is rage rage yeah ooh maybe it shifts you into your winter like the rage is soaking into you her rage this betrayal that mankind leveled on her son she wants me to take it with me yeah take this rage with you I can't bear this myself cause it's also like maybe it's mixed with the rage from like the reign of night like the rage against Gibbous yeah for trapping her and he's here in her home this piece of the moon is infuriating it's quivering yeah cause it can feel that he is here oh yeah you can feel you've been feeling the water getting warmer and warmer and it's a reaction to his presence yeah that's very cool at first you thought it was the pee pee poo poo I thought it was the pee pee poo poo but actually when I look down it's just water right now I don't see any pee poo poo I'm pee peeing oh that's I'm so so okay so we do know that winter is not the so winter's not the rageful season summer's the rageful season isn't it no winter is rage summer's passionate summer's passionate which could be rage which could be anger right winter is cold fury yeah yeah like some fairies can go into just like a reverie yeah and that's like you know the still coldness of winter oh okay but then you have like the flurries and the storms of winter and that's kind of what more what Billy was in that form cool yeah that's awesome yeah that's very cool so you feel the rage soaking up through this water as you reach out to the fragment of Lillian buried somewhere beneath this castle and you feel the spring ebbing away and uh I grow cold and I tell her I will I'll hold this for you I'll bring you with me and you are shifted into your winter form yeah which means that your charisma is now a plus zero mm-hmm uh I think you're but I do roll double the damage yes you roll an additional d6 when you roll damage but I do have to roll to get into shadow dance yes you do yeah yep so I roll plus wisdom and this is my last fairy child hold holy shit okay eee seven plus wisdom eight okay okay so on a seven to nine you leave your body and enter the fairy as your pure essence and take one hold yep yep great so you have one hold and you roll and as long as you retain this hold you can make rolls remember in your fairy form okay but if you spend the hold you can automatically succeed at something but it will send you back to your body okay yeah yep um and you are released from your material chains and what like float up through the grate I guess so yeah what does winter billy look like oh in the fairy I mean uh yeah flurry oh cool oh he's just like yeah just like hairs moving around yeah tossing and turning cool cool and you enter so this is let's figure this out you enter the fairy in front of the gibbous man does he is he able to see into the fairy I mean we just talked he is chained yeah he is chained to his mortal form so he kind of can't yeah he might be like he might feel it but like he might feel the cold oh yeah I think the cold comes out from under your ankles like you feel it too oh you feel yeah you feel like a cold breeze blow up from beneath your chair mm and the gibbous man kind of shifts in his robe like kind of tightens his robe around him a little bit but he doesn't have a direct perception of Billy right no cause he is chained to his mortal form I thought this was gonna be a much bigger issue yeah but it's not thank god does that mean you can see what gibbous looks like in the in the fairy realm yeah oh that's cool yeah he is a spider yeah yeah I think he's got like he's got a vaguely humanoid like I imagine kind of like draped knight yeah but the legs come out sharply from him like at different angles yeah and like like up over his back like or are we talking like spider legs like on the ground I kind of imagine him like wreathed by spider legs I think it's more like wreathed but or like spider leg chained to the oh I see spidery chain legs yeah cool very cool if that makes sense it does like he's got like you can see the chains that bind him to the earth yeah and they look like spider legs it's spider like to me and webs oh I see chain webs as well yeah yeah!

I like that and then throughout his body it's um like not like like eyes like in your chest but they're empty oh yeah are they the parts that are connected to the coins that he's put around the world oh cause he's been removing his eyes yeah maybe you see little clips of the world of what they're seeing oh maybe oh that'd be cool that is cool where the coins are you see very like you see kind of flashes of different faces in different places around the world none of them make any sense to you at this time no but like it's clear that he has agents and he has eyes all over the planet cool but that also means he can't see me yeah yeah he's been blinded um sick we will then cut into the room tuck you feel this cold breeze blow up from the grate beneath you and the gibbous man shifts it's really fucking drafty in here there's a dungeon my dick and balls are usually yeah they're bigger than this they're barely in my pants they're exposed yeah yeah!

I split my pants when I slid down the stairs you humans are disgusting some more than others I'm aware so we don't have to be enemies we don't have to be at odds I'm sure you're sick of looking over your shoulder wondering when I'm gonna pop up again oh yeah I'm sick having the three of you crop up everywhere some thorn digs into my side I'm sick of that I'm sick of that I'm sick of that I'm sick of that I'm sick of that so why don't we work together you gotta understand that there's no way that your end game fits with ours right?

Oh come on what makes you think that? You're trying to destroy everything I'm not trying to destroy everything I'm trying to start again who survives what you're planning? Does anyone? Strong I suppose tell me what your end looks like the end to this game that you're playing what does it look like?

Uh you're gonna have to say you're gonna have to roll a defi- you're gonna have to roll something here to get him to give you any information yeah but it might be it might have to be a straight charisma to even get him to continue talking yeah to lead to something like it to certain realities you know what this is?

This is the first time that he's ever had reason to tell us what his plan is yeah what the end game for him looks like mhm like what cause we are like oh yeah he's crashing spheres together he's trying to re-assimilate mhm these are all theories that we've had yeah this is the first chance we have to get confirmation mhm and we're in a negotiation right now and he's trying to convince me that I should help him because his ends align with mine mhm so what I want from him is tell me what your ends are right to convince me to do this mhm 2d6 plus charisma okay here we go okay yeah so that's uh 12 okay yes oh yeah wow big rolls from Tuck yeah bow time rolling powerfully yeah did you fall?

No okay sounds like a fart John I never fart in public because I'm scared I'm gonna shit myself give a smit give a smit that's one of the things I hate most about my mortal form I have to shit sometimes I have to shit all the time mhm okay so you're asking what his ends are yeah Tuck is just like you just told me that our ends don't have to not align with mine mhm I'm trying to keep people from dying tell me how your ends are not that tell me how what you have imagined for the end of the world and the beginning of your new one has any survivors in it you don't you really don't get it we're in the end of the world right now the wizards are gone the thaumic realm is in disarray the spheres are crashing together that's because of you dude you tricked the wizards you think I tricked the wizards?

Yeah man you tricked the wizards you got them out of here so the spheres would crash together who told you this?

We put it together we talked to a couple of wizards one who was in wizards first one who wasn't Aternac Allwater too we found her notes she knew what you were doing so the wizards told you that I trapped the wizards yeah the wizards told you that I am trying to destroy the world mostly yeah I think we put some stuff together from other stuff and you believed them yeah hmm do you think maybe the wizards famously duplicitous famously manipulative beings that attempted to control the entire world with their technology and their power might have a vested interest in stopping the one being attempting to stop them how blind can you be?

I want to free the world from everything that the wizards built everything everything that the corruption of mankind brought about and you can help me do that can I get him to be more specific?

Um you can certainly try yeah I need information uh oh you're trying to get information 2d6 discern realities 2d6 plus wisdom fuck okay please please make this a good roll yeah so nine nine Billy I'd Billy's in the room yeah yeah cool three questions sick what here is not what it appears to be he's lying to you fuck yeah I knew it Billy you can see it in the fairy yeah as he starts to weave this story like the wizards mhm are manipulating you just like they manipulated everybody else you can see the spider arms start to move in their chains and they're like weaving this web kind of around Tuck yeah around his mind yeah and Tuck's mind in the fairy is so small it's so small and it's trying you can see the spider's trying so hard to get him to get anything to attach to it it's like that fruit fly it's moving all over it's tiny nobody can touch it I wanna I wanna uh cut the web yeah so you move forward and you clear the webs mhm around Tuck's mind yeah I blow wait I'll let cold wind around it oh cool oh yeah they freeze and shatter fall yeah brittle fall away he's lying to you okay can the truth be seen in the fairy world not right now okay he's obscuring it quite heavily mhm I'm gonna do those too okay so knowing that he is lying to you yeah how do you try and poke him into telling you what he's really planning uh so when he says how can you be so blind mhm I want all the coins in my chest to like form eyes yeah and I wanna go how can you be and he looks into the eyes of the demon of loyalty seeing that you are not going to betray the people that you are most loyal to yeah and he looks into the eyes of the demon and he uh starts to his face starts to flush in a very human reaction mhm his face flushes with anger and he gets really close to you and you see like the mortal form taking over yeah and he just starts breathing very heavily and he says they locked my daughter in a fucking box you did that no the first time I tried to save her she didn't listen then she fell in love with a filthy fucking mortal she had a life she had a chance to save her and she did and she did and she did and she did and she did and she did and she did and she did she had a life she had a child with one then they killed him and she sought the revenge she rightfully deserved as a god and they locked her in a fucking box for it and I am going to get her out and if you are not going to help me I'm going to take your fucking axe and I'm going to do it myself oh shit mhm oh shit oh shit that was a pretty good action shot and you that was really good yeah I got super scared now I'm all stressed out I'm all stressed out not cause I this time Anytime I've ever made fun of you, I take it back.

Because of this stuff. Because of scare around mad dads. Yeah. Oh my God. Holy shit. And you hear a key rattle in the door. And the gibbous man looks to the lock and he looks at you. He says, you fucked up. And he disappears. Fuck. No. Tuck tries to break the chains again. Let's cut back to Ving real quick. Oh yeah. Ving. You are face to face with Lionel McKenzie King who's backing up and kind of like pulling a slide on the side of his weapon. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.

What's his gun made out of? Metal. I take it. Nice. With your spiritual elemental mastery. Yeah. Oh, four plus con. That is a six. Oh, okay. Oh, shit. You can help. I can help. Cause you know me. Cause you know me. I don't. Wait, hold on. It says, it says right here. You may aid your allies no matter the distance between you. But do you? Okay. Here's the question. To be fair to Sean. Do you have to know that he's in trouble or are you just always latently aided?

The thing that Sean set up was like, just by knowing Billy. Well, it's that you guys are just, you guys are lucky. It's like a thing I made for the fairy child slash changeling is that it alters aid for this character to just be a bit cooler. Yeah. Okay. Then do it. I think if it works, fucking do it. Cause this is pure fairy right now. Is that okay? Or would you rather not? No, I would rather have passed. I think he wants this thing to happen.

I mean, maybe I made you guys like little friendship bracelets ages ago. Yeah. Yeah. All right. So, uh, yeah. Yeah. Flashback to when Billy was making friendship bracelets. Uh, he was, uh, cutting threads, like little pieces from, uh, Ving's clothes, making friendship bracelets out of that, braiding them. Yeah. Your shirt's very. My pants kept falling down. Yeah. Your shirt got really short. Yeah. All of his pants are capris now. Guys, I think I'm getting taller. Do I look taller to you?

Uh, all right. Two to six plus bond. What? What? Uh, six. Oh, no. Two failures. Fuck. Fuck. Two points of experience. Shit. I guess because I'm in the fairy realm. Yeah. And I'm busy. Fuck. No, it's you try to reach out. And I think, uh, you like reach out with elemental mastery and you just yank, try to yank the gun out of his hand. And he feels that you see like, uh, the lenses on his glasses start like flipping really fast. Oh, sick. And he sees, he feels the gun pull and he goes, whoop.

And he, uh, releases. He uses a clasp on a little capsule on his, uh, bandolier, which is also made of metal. Yeah. And it flies towards you and boom, creates this like cloud of smoke between you and him on a misc. A catastrophe occurs as a result of your calling. A catastrophe for occurs, right? This is a failure, not a seven to nine. Yeah. So what? Maybe it's a explosion. Yeah. Maybe it's an explosive instead of a smoke grenade. Yeah. Gun explode. Gun explode. No. Like the thing that he gets.

The thing to pull trickily is not a smoke grenade, but a grenade grenade. He releases like a clip that is like explosive charges. Oh yeah. You grab that. Yeah. Yeah. Oh yeah. It's like ammunition and it blows up in your hand. Uh, okay. Roll a D10. Oh geez. One. That's a one. Yep. Great. Yeah. So you are able to protect yourself in some way from the worst of this. Oh yeah. Like, uh, using the deferring of energy. Yeah. In the same way, but it's an explosion. Uh huh.

So I'm able to kind of duck around. I found it. Oh cool. Yeah. Yeah. You like, see like deflect the charges and they explode behind you and you move away from the explosion. Yeah. Yeah. Cool. But you still take one damage. So I have two, uh, armors. Yeah. So you don't actually take any damage from that. It's just, it throws you like off balance and, uh, Lionel tries to run. I cross a distance between myself and an enemy.

Oh, so you're just in front of him as he tries to run away below in the chamber, Billy and, and talk. You hear an explosion. And I just have his casings. Yeah. In my hand. Ting, ting, ting, ting, ting. So what, what is your next move? I'm going to ask him to step aside or I will put him aside. Okay. I think him seeing you tank an explosion is probably a good basis for being able to roll a defy danger charisma to try and get him to back off. Nine. Seven to nine. Billy. Billy. Billy. Great.

I hear the explosion. 10. Okay. So yeah. What do you say? I'm like, these are very impressive toys you have, but they are just toys. I know we wronged you in the past, but this is about your future. Our future. Get out of my way or I will put you out of my way. And he wrapped in his bandages and his, his weird tactical clothing pouches and his gun just leans heavily against the wall and start. Okay. Okay. There. There. Yes, for now. Because you did ruin my life. And I am under contract.

So, Lionel McKenzie King never forgets. And Lionel McKenzie King never breaks a contract. I'm going to give you a 30-second head start. I kick him into the middle of the horde. Oh, okay. I deal my damage to him. Yeah, go ahead and deal your damage. Five. The horde is there. And what, you just plant a foot on him and push him into the horde? Yeah. And they grab him and they drag him inside. And you hear him going like, oh, fuck. Oh, my God. And he's like grabbing. I won't forget your face.

And I won't forget your face. I'll never forget. As you kick him, you go, hey, this guy's selling pomegranates. This guy's giving away weapons. No, not again. But he has been immobilized by the horde. This might not kill him right away. But he is taking. He's taken care of. Okay, great. Spread down the hallway towards Tuck. Great. Back to the room. Tuck. The key is rattling. Yeah. So Tuck is, his brain is on fire because he's like, the gibbous man said he was going to take my axe.

And that has my friends in it. So he tries to break out of the chains that he's in first. What was I? What did you want me to roll? You should probably wait until I say. I'll wait. I'll wait. Next. It's okay. Two to six plus strength. I got 12. Okay. So you are going to break the chains as soon as these doors open. Okay. Yeah. Can I punch through the door before it opens and grab whoever's on the other side? You can definitely try. Yeah.

You feel the chains break as the door is starting to creak open. Yeah. Go for it. 13. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Amazing. The door is opening. You are welcome to try and punch through it. I punched through it and grab whoever's on the other side by whatever. And then I pull them either through the door or the door off the hinges. Yeah. And slam whoever it is against the wall. Okay. Yeah. It is Victoria LaBlanche. Where's my fucking ass? And she has the breath pushed out of her. Yeah.

So she takes a very deep breath, right? And like. Out of command. I slam her against the wall again really hard. Yeah. Okay. Two to six plus strength. Yeah. That's 10. Uh, she drops all pretext. Give me my fucking ax back now. It's down the hallway. Okay. Can I slam her against the wall one more time before I go to try and knock her out? Oh, this is a, you're attacking her now? Yes. This is a hack and slash. Yep. Uh, yep. So 13 again. Strong boy. Yeah. Okay. So you can roll your damage. One.

Fuck. Yeah. Uh, you, you slam her into the wall. Yeah. She makes a grunting sound. It sounds like she's been hurt. I throw her down. I run to get my ax. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Uh, Billy, you see tuck in the spirit realm, yank Victoria LaBlanche. Oh, threw into the room and you see the icon that she is tethered to. Yeah. But, um, you see this icon like pulling against the tethers that are so newly tied between it and Victoria.

The structure, the physical structure of this place means nothing to you in this form. And you see across this level of the castle, uh, the. The, the fairy like glittering reflection of TLC as well as Terry, Larry and Chad, the fairies that are attached to it. I want to go after TLC. Okay. I want to get there before the gibbous man gets there. 2d6 plus dexterity. Okay. Come on, please, please. Five plus two is seven. Okay. So seven to nine. I think maybe you get there at a very similar time.

Sure. With the mixed success. Yeah. And I always imagine fairies moving. It's not like physical movement very much at all. You're like, I'd like to be there. And then like that space is kind of where you are. Is that, does that kind of track? Yeah. Like there, it is like a plane, but we cross it. Like the time just moves a little different. Yeah.

So you get to Terry, Larry and Chad passing through the old ancient stone walls of the castle and you are in another chamber that you see the shadowy reflection of in the material. The ax is leaning against a wall along with tucks. Tucks, a little backpack and his cowboy hat, which they took off of him. I wasn't even wearing a cowboy hat during that scene. I must've looked like such a fucking idiot.

And in this room you see, uh, as the gibbous man is like arriving basically, cause he is moving much like Billy is moving. He's not physically moving through the spaces. Yeah. Imagine he flits like a shadow. Oh yeah. You could see the spider legs kind of like creeping along. This like ethereal plane. Yeah. The shadow comes and then it like pulls him toward it. Oh, it's like, yeah, the legs coming out of the shadows, pulling him along. That's gross. That's cool. Yeah. It's so gross.

It's really gross. And in this room, um, you also see, um, a hulking figure like lashed and chained to one side of the room on a big metal like plate built into the ground. What does it look like to you? It's a large stone plates, black and white scales covering its massive reptile. And black Spire is in this room and you can see him like kind of kind of like chomping on big metal bands that are on his feet and on his arms and legs. Well, they're just legs cause he's an animal.

And you see that there is another Medjai in this room who has like a big metal bell shaped cap and is like moving closer to Black Spire but every time he gets too close Black Spire goes and like chomps a big chomp at him is it like kind of a bridle that's meant to go back into his mouth it looks like it covers his whole head like they wanted to block his eye they wanted to block his sight and his mouth because they know dragons breathe whatever whatever something dangerous am I able to defend Black Spire yes I think that you would be able to I think that what you are risking is the gibbous man getting TLC because we know that he is like you're kind of you can all in the like space between the material yeah you can kind of feel yeah like the flitting shadow you know what he's not quite here yet but he's on his way okay actually you know what I'm gonna do a fairy ring oh smart around the axe around the axe and Black Spire oh keep him out of this room they're in the same room right yeah you can do them in the realm that's so cool I can do it in the realm do it in the realm 2d6 plus dexterity okay so that's 6 plus 2 8 okay 8 cool yes which means I have to it requires my constant attention uh okay you kind of I imagine because you're like a flurry I imagine it's like yeah yeah and you create this like circle of winter air that is blowing around the room and you see the medjay kind of like oh what the fuck like it starts papers start blowing off tables and Black Spire goes like oh I think it's freezing some of the condensate like just like the water the moisture dampness on the walls that's cool frost is building on the on the stones from the ceiling yeah yeah and I feel like there is like more moisture in the air right now because the water in the is like sort of starting to boil the water in the tunnels oh from the rage yeah from the rage of like the gibbous man being so close is so it's like sort of getting like steamy and humid yeah okay so you create this fairy ring um which means that you get to control who comes in but not who goes out and I imagine that tuck and ving kind of like bump into each other yeah in the hallway as you're running down you both kind of hit a t intersection and slam into each other yeah yeah tuck is behind he's dragging the door so you don't see him right away you just look like a door yeah I just look like an arm you look like a dashing door totally uh great and yeah you so you run into each other in the hallway uh and I go the gibbous man is here he's trying to get TLC oh my god where is he where's TLC he's down the hall where's Billy what he was with you I know he jumped into the river what the fuck are you talking about you had Billy right I'm gonna try and reach out to him I can't do this when you're yelling at me you were supposed to keep eyes on him I can't keep eyes on him he jumped in the other realm you know what he's like jumping into realms we're gonna have a talk about this afterwards we're having a talk about it right now all right so you're trying to reach out to Billy do we know where he is we don't you have no clue where Billy is okay I'm gonna try again okay discern realities 14 Jesus nice three four questions holy shit what's about to happen you because you're trying to contact Billy you reach out with the Chamberlain ring and you see through his very still eyes that he is in a pipe of some kind just like looking up at the grave yeah I see a chair you see a chair broken chains because we have the rings on tuxes at two and knows that's his chair those are his broken chain oh yeah totally yeah yeah so you know that he is directly beneath the room that you were just in and you also like around Billy is projected this feeling of protection like there is something watching over him and he is his physical body you get the sensation that he is safe in this in this tube it's a small tube no one's getting in it's a tiny little tube he's like a fresh loaf of bread in a bread maker he hasn't come out yet he hasn't come out yet not quite done doesn't have to come out yet nice and warm in there yeah I'm gonna sit over the tube and do this yeah ah anticipation uh okay what's useful or valuable oh maybe at the at the end of the corridor you can see frost like crawling out of the room and crawling like up the walls so I point that out to Tuck that he's at the end of the hallway okay so Billy is kind of in two places I think that's what we're yeah so that's what we're talking about yeah yeah yeah the boy is in the pipe the wind is in the room yeah the fair is in the room what should I be on the lookout for uh there are two things so you can feel that strange feeling that you have gotten in your face-to-face encounters with uh a one god of the sky that there are shadows moving and shifting and uh he is like at the end of the room there's like flickers that feel like something's coming through like this is the first time you've ever seen the mechanism of the gibbous man appearing oh cool and he's like stepping through whatever it is he's stepping through the room and he's like oh I'm gonna be on the lookout for you and he's like stepping through whatever it is he's like stepping through the room and he's like oh I'm gonna be on the lookout for you oh we can see sort of like fractures in almost like like seams yeah that he that the spider legs like pull him through uh-huh yeah yeah and shattered seams yeah he's about to step into the realm and then the other thing you should be on the lookout for is you hear uh oh darling husband oh fuck like storming out of the room and as she's coming down the hallway her wedding gown is like torn oh uh well yeah we're like this uh and as she uh she's like a fucking black widow spider it's just like you know you're in so much tension she's the red spot on the spider oh yeah yeah the hourglass the red hourglass on the spider she's like man she's gonna kill me and so she comes like charging out of the room and she's like oh my god I'm gonna be on the lookout for you and so she's like oh my god I'm gonna be on the lookout for you and so she's like oh my god I'm gonna be on the lookout for you and uh as she's coming towards you skidding out of a doorway just between you and her is mirrors oh with the sword and he fucking clang like knocks her sword aside and goes go quick quick mirrors you're not susceptible to her charms cause you're gay I actually don't like to label myself in a specific way just go you're gay Oh, you're gay.

Not like that. Like how he means it. And Mears is immediately outmatched. But you can see he is going to be able to hold her off momentarily. But you got to. There's a time limit on this. Does he have to roll a loyalty for this to work? Yes, he does. 2d6 plus three. He's at three loyalty of a possible four just to keep things above board. Come on, Mears. That's a four. Okay. And that's a two, six, eight. So he does lose a loyalty. He's down to two.

But you can see he's like, it's a lot of him backing up and deflecting sword strokes. But as she kind of takes wax at him, chunks of wax and fabric are coming off of the sword. Even the first one reveals obsidian beneath. Yeah. And you see her eyes narrow. And she kind of with a renewed vigor goes at Mears. But she's temporarily held at bay. What do you do? So then we run to the room where Billy is. So you arrive at a room covered in frost.

And you feel like the winter winds as you cross the threshold of the room. Familiar in the way that fairy rings have felt. So you know that Billy's kind of got this room wrapped in a fairy ring. And Billy, you see Tuck and Ving enter. Yeah. I've been getting more. I've been getting more pissed off, though. Oh. About this dude with the mask. So it's really cold in here. Yeah. The guy holding the mask is being kind of blown back. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Very cool. That's sick.

So you walk into a winter gale, basically. I walk up to him. I take the mask from him because I'm unaffected by the gale. Oh, yeah. Walking along the top of the snow. Take the mask from him. Right. As he's fighting against this wind. His hands are slightly stuck to it. Yeah. And there's snow is building in the room around Blackstone. Spire's feet as well. He's going. Oh, my God. He's lifting a paw each back and forth. And you see Black Spire. Tacoma Dome. Buddy. Oh, my God. No way.

We're going to get you out of there, buddy. We're going to get you out of these fucking chains, man. I'm losing it. I'm going to try and elemental mastery these chains off of him. Oh, fuck yeah. 2d6 plus constitution. Seven. Okay. The effect I desire comes to pass. Okay, great. So you just reach out. And sort of melt the chains off of him. Yank him off. And Black Spire feels these chains come off of him. And he rises up like because he was kind of lashed down in almost like a frog crouch.

And he shakes his huge reptilian body. I imagine is he kind of shakes like a dog and all of his scales. Scales clack. Yeah. His little wings. And like the large like obsidian plates on his shoulders clack in unison. And then he sees. The Medjai who was trying to muzzle him. And he raises all of his scales in the huge crest that he creates. Oh, shit. And he honestly doesn't even say anything. He's got a fucking. No, he pulls a paw back. Oh, and he just fucking slams this guy against the wall.

Oh, my God. Yeah. Is he dead? He kind of like hits and then does like. Oh, like tumbles to the side. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's for sure. Lie your way out of that motherfucker. And he stomps his massive legs. All right, let's get the fuck out of this place. Where's the axe?

The axe is leaning against a wall. Basically, as you walk in, they kind of piled all your stuff up. It seems like the Medjai, at the very least, didn't understand the potency of the axe. Okay. I snagged the axe. Yeah. Yeah. And Larry, Terry, and Chad are like, oh, man, that was a lot closer than you think it was. A lot closer than you think it was. I don't know if you can see what's going on on the other side of the mortal realm, but it is not chill. Yeah.

Billy and TLC have been having big chats. I kind of imagine Billy and TLC on the other side of a fence, basically, from the gibbous man. Like, yeah, fuck you, loser. Yeah, basically. Suck on this. Suck it. Suck it. You can't come in. You can't fucking touch me. You can't touch me. Oh, no. Maybe. Maybe you can touch me. You see, every time you do that, you see the spider form of the gibbous man.

Like, I had an image in my head where it was a sphere, and he's, like, kind of crawling all the way around what is kind of like a glass sphere. Yeah. And it's like, you see it probing. Yeah. Yeah. And we're like, oh, oh, oh, get away, get away. Yeah, when he's on your side of the sphere, like, oh, oh, oh. Yeah. And I think maybe the gibbous man tries to talk to Billy from the other side of this spider fence. He's skittering around. Yeah. And I go, I don't talk to strangers.

Oh, I'm not a stranger. You know me. Yes, you are. You know me. No, I don't. I don't know you the way you think I do. Your keeper has already denied my offer, but I have a feeling that you're a little bit smarter. No, I don't think I'm smarter. That's where you're wrong, gibbous man. The gibbous man, I think, is realizing that Billy's memory is a strange thing. He's like, oh, but Billy. Billy. Billy. Billy. Billy. Billy. Billy. Billy. Billy. Billy. Billy. And why? Whoa.

So then you know why I want what I want, my child. Skitter, skitter. But you don't like when we ask questions, so that's why I need it out. That was always the problem. I let you ask questions, hoping you would make the right choice, and you disappointed me. And then you left, and you created your own realm. You and the rest of the fairies, and look what it brought you. It brought me a good family. Well, hold them close. And he disappears. He disappears. Wait. Wait, come back.

Oh, why does he want him to come back? I don't know. I actually kind of like that he leaves, and then Billy says come back, but he doesn't come back. But I have questions. Now I want to know what you're going to ask. I don't know what I'm going to ask. No, that's fine. So I think he is about to, like, he's trying to leave. That mechanism is beginning where he is taking off, and you're like, I have questions. And if you won't answer, I'll ask mother. And he comes back. Whoa, don't do that.

What do you want to know? What? Why did you lie to me, father, about Lillian when I knew you locked her up? I didn't. He's very placating right now because you threatened to call mother never was basically, and he is freaked out about that. I didn't lie. I. They locked her up. The humans locked her up. That fucking disgusting sailor locked her up. You know what I mean? Yes. I told them how to do it, but I needed more time. I hate that. They made me do that. No one made you do that.

They made me do that. No one made you do that. I couldn't control her. You couldn't control her. So I needed time. I told them how to lock her away. We sealed her up so I could get the pieces of her back and build her back the way I need her to be. I just need time. I'm almost done. That's not a lie. You're not a good father. And that's why we all left you. You can see in the ferry. This wounds him deeply. It's hard to be a good father to such ungrateful children. And he disappears.

That was sick. That was very good. That was so cool. Holy shit. And Billy, through the shadow of the ferry, you see Black Spire kind of like hopping around. Like, yeah. Oh, my God. I'm so fucking happy to see you guys. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And he kind of like piles on. Scruffle. Scruffle. Scruffle. Yeah. Oh, Tuck. Oh, my God. And you cut back to the material realm. And it's just him screaming so loud. And it's going, stop. Stop. You're huge. Easy. Easy. Easy. Easy. Heal. Heal.

He starts going, oh, my God. I'm so hungry. And he starts digging into the stone floor. He's pulling up piles of rock. Oh, my God. This is like a little buffet for him. Tuck is like frantically smashing. Through the walls with the axe. No, no, no. Fuck. Okay. All right. All right. Okay. Cool. Yum, yum, yum. Yum, yum, yum. So what's your plan now? We got to get the fuck out of here. Better grab Billy first. Oh, shit. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. B-R-B. You forgot about our boy. What about Mears?

Oh, shit. Mears. Mears like comes fucking sailing past the door. Slams into the wall outside the door and goes, ah, and swings the sword up. And Victoria LeBlanc clang sword off the stone. Shit. Can I roll for an annulment? Is that possible? You know what? You don't have to roll for an annulment. Your marriage to her. Tuck, I'm going to be honest with you. This is the GM speaking. Your marriage to her. I connect. Tuck connects with another round. I think we can all guess. Yes.

The marriage to her. So unimportant in Victoria's plans. She used. She used it as a way to manipulate you. And guess what, brother? It fucking works in the fairy realm. You could see that wound. It's so deep. But yeah, Victoria is out here. She's trying to kill Mears right now. And so what? Okay. What do we think her goal in this scene is? She wants revenge. She's got the icon of revenge. She wants revenge on the people. That sunk her fucking ship. Oh, yeah. And she is.

And she wants to kill the only husband. She never. She never fucked. The only man she ever truly loved. Me. That's what Tuck says. And she grabs Mears by the front of the shirt. And hurls him down the hallway out of sight. Let's finish this. Finally. And she kind of starts sauntering back into the hallway. Gesturing with the tip of her sword. I tuck grabs the front of the duster and rips it off. Cool. I thought you're still wearing that. He's wearing a duster and pants with the crotch gone.

Yeah. Then he grabs the pants and then rips them off and goes, if I'm going to go out of this world, I'm going to leave how I came in. In a loincloth. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah Please help me fight my wife I would love to Oh You're all a part of this You all sank my sheep Your sheep?

Hold on Hold on Let me get the voice My voice is feeling I'm a little tired No you're doing great It's very French She's kind of like One of these right She's like a really French jerk Yeah A jerk of a French person A French person listening to me Do this voice Surely filled with rage Rage And she looks at all three of you All two of you And Mirs is there as well You To come at them You Ving Get that out of my face It will be in your face All three of you And the boy And then she And she goes And also the nameless Background character You hang out with sometimes Yeah It was that red haired lady At the time She was also involved I will have my revenge But I must have my revenge On all of you Where's the boy?

He sunk my ship as well Oh Billy right now is tantruming Oh Oh What's this look like?

Cause he's so mad Yeah Like how dare His dad Show up like that Oh yeah Also I kind of And walk out of an argument And leave again And fucking gaslight him Yeah I imagine like the wind Is picking up the wind Yeah As the gale The tantrum gale Is engaging Yeah And like he promised Lily And he's funneling Her anger as well Oh So it's just both Yeah that's pouring through Billy and Ving This like Spiritual rage And anger And she feels the wind Start picking up And she kind of spreads her arms As the wind whips her hair around Can I Like damage The demon that's attached to her Can I use my hold for that?

Oh That would be sick To try and detach it Or like Unhide it Because the tattoos are very new Yeah I did say that didn't I? Yeah The tattoos are very new Um You can use your hold It will send you back into your body Yeah But you can destabilize it for sure Yeah Okay yeah So what does this look like? You see hanging Basically like in the fairy Hanging above her Yeah Is the constellation for revenge Mmhmm And I want to implore it To Seek a greater revenge Ooh Yeah Cool Yeah Revenge on who?

The gibbous man To our father Oh Because it's It's It's father too Yeah The demon's father Yeah And I tell it You heard what he said Oh So sick Yeah Cool cool cool Cool cool cool Okay alright And you just spend the hold on this Yeah Okay so you Say like you heard what he said Yeah So you feel the The demon of revenge Start like Pulling against the chains Mmhmm That are lashing it to Victoria with the tattoos Oh Not quite breaking them But like trying really hard And you can see her kind of like Twitching Yeah Yeah She's spasming with the Force of like The metaphysical strain And you hear it say The last thing he knows Will be my gratitude Oh Oh So cool And uh She is You can see her like She's Her eyes start darting All over the place With the feeling of This decoupling Oh And it will not Uh I I have a move called Fuck off demon Where I can defend Objects or people from Demonic influence Mmhmm So I can help you Somehow You could defend Victoria Yeah Yeah So Billy Cause I was This is actually works out great Cause Billy is not So sufficiently powerful That he can completely Detach the demon Yeah But you can destabilize it For sure Yeah So you're gonna roll defend To uh Try and defend against Demonic influence Oh Yeah you're like saving her From this demon Okay yeah go ahead and roll it It my The way that I do it Is like I'm gonna roll Breaking the law To try and use TLC Mmhmm To I guess Kind of compel them To be corporeal Enough within the iconic And like fairy realms Mmhmm To sever the connection Between The demon of revenge And Victoria Gotcha yeah So what you're doing Is using breaking the law To make this thing possible Yes And then you are rolling A different roll Yeah And the debility The stat Do you have a preference Where would I take the debility to No not at all Okay I'll just Take another one to intelligence No you can't No you can only take One debility per Okay Fucking I mean a few I feel like constitution Cause you're reaching Into a realm Yeah You don't know You're overreaching Yeah Okay Yeah you're using Your physical power To overcome something Yeah Spiritual So there we go Minus one Tuck takes the axe He wants to like Slash it To like get her to move away Mmhmm And then spin So that he's facing her back And then slash the axe Like across the tattoos On her back Oh yeah Like cut the skin Yeah So then roll Strength I guess Mmhmm Here we go Please Twelve Oh my god Yeah Okay You Yeah you spin around Like she Kind of lunges forward With her sword As you start moving You do a spin around her Yes And you slice down her back Cutting in a very Jaunty way Her dress down To like one shoulder Basically Keeping it on But you But the The spiritually Crafted axe That is Larry Terry And Chad Cuts through these Magi tattoos The blade like Turns night black Like the same color As the rips in the world That like the gibbous man makes When he's like Traveling between places Yeah Cool Yeah So you're like Cutting through the realms Yeah And it's just along the edge It feels like It's like something Where it's just The metal is being like Corroded almost Yeah Yeah And Billy in the ferry You see the like Disconnection of the Icon of revenge Yeah I mean I'm back in my Human form Oh right So you don't see shit I don't see shit Yeah Ving would feel it And the constellation Oh yeah And because he's Susceptible to the rage I feel like Oh right Oh And I've also I'm covered in constellations I feel like There's some Opportunity here To be affected by this Or soak it up Yeah Or bind it To the right thing Whatever you wanna do I know it's I was like Ooh if you fail I have a great Yeah It's well I mean Succeed or fail There's a fucking Demon in play right now Yeah You can feel this Icon Loose In sort of like Your extra Sensory perception And this Feeling of revenge Is looking for a place To land And you feel it Kind of center in On the feeling of rage That you've been carrying Yeah From Lillian I feel like I want to convince The icon The demon of revenge To bind itself To the gibbous man Somehow To like his mortal form To his mortal form Because I I know that This This!

Comes at the cost of Sight It is rash Oh It is a weakness Oh So then it would Blind Like not let the gibbous man See In some way Yeah It would cut off A sense Because It'll make him act And he's like Primed for it now Because of the interaction With Billy He's like Very much so So angry And his His act of revenge With chimes Yeah He's He's open to The revenge Yeah So what What is your next move?

Ving goes on his back And grabs his spear Off his back Which is Covered in runes And I Seeing Billy In the Realm with The demon of revenge I Carve The Constellation of revenge Into my spear Oh And in the folding Realms As the Gibbous man Is leaving I reach back And I throw my spear Into the realms Tethered with the Demon of revenge I I I I I I I I I!

I In hopes That it will Find He who Was seeking The biggest Revenge Oh You throw it Through like The slits In reality That he creates When he leaves I use my Night moves To track Where the Embodied sky Is traveling Through the realms Okay 2d6 plus Wisdom To attempt This like Binding of the Demon of revenge To your spear That's a very Cool idea Never been done Before so We gotta roll To make sure That it works The way you Want it to Oh I got 13. It works the way you want it to.

It makes sense that yeah, I'm embodying this revenge. It's kind of like the first time you've done something like that. Yeah. But it makes sense because you've got the tree, knowledge, it's all over you. The knowledge of what that constellation means. You can read the constellation. You got exposed to the outer dark and the entirety of the constellations when we were in the tower. Like shot into your head. Yeah. It's a printout of the entire pinpricks of the cosmos. Sorry. You go ahead.

No, I was just going to say that like you carry with you all the instructions. Yeah. And as a keeper of pieces of Lillian, as a moon boy, I know that where I throw this tip of the spear, it will find it's true. Yeah, absolutely. So you very quickly, I even think it's like with your… It's just like a thumb. Yeah, with your thumb, you carve into the wood. With your thumb. The constellation. It's next to like the carving of your mom's name. It's your dad's spear.

So there's like an intrinsic feeling of revenge you have for this object. It's like all of the families he's had that weren't you. And they are separation in revenge. Yeah. Yeah. Very cool. And I mean, do I make you roll to throw? I think you're… I think this is going to… It's going to pass into this place. Okay. What happens after that will be determined by the roll. Okay. So my night moves, we're doing 2d6 plus… Wisdom. Wisdom. 10. 10. Fuck yeah. On a 10 plus with night moves.

The GM will answer one question. Okay. Ask me a question. Paul, I don't know if you're doing a gag or you don't know what the question is because to me it seems so obvious. What? I mean, like, will it go in there? What the fuck? Wait, I don't think I know what the obvious question is. Where is the gibbous, man? Oh. Like, where do I throw this so that it hits him? Oh, I thought I already knew that, but this is what I did this move for.

Yeah, because we've determined that it did go through the crack here. Yeah. Yeah. I know that it's going to find him. I ask of the spear to show me the movement of the knight. Oh, cool. So you follow the spear between the realms to the starlit void that is the outer dark. The gibbous man passes through the night sky that holds all of the spheres in its hands as he moves between the material realm. The spear emerges in a place deep, deep underground.

Lit by crystals embedded in the walls of this ancient cavern, reflecting the light of a piece of the moon. That sits in a cradle of stone being washed by an ancient river that falls into the canals and caves that form an ancient waterway that was many centuries ago harnessed by the people that built the city of Blackglass and the castle that you stand in now. He stands before this piece of the moon, this fragment of his daughter's spiritual form.

A piece in the puzzle required to complete his ultimate plan, which is to finally release her. And as he reaches out to take this piece of the stone, the spear finds his side and pierces deep. He is in the middle of the cavern, and the! The spear is in the cavern. The spider sweeps across the glass, a sphere against the buried past. The prophecy, a broken man, a burning tree, the final stand. With the doom upon our backs, I look to you who matter most.

For if the sky unveils a new light, it will be the light of the new day. There's a woman's scent. Together we stand, ghost to ghost. We stand, ghost to ghost. Many eyes returning, the strands of midnight's open fold. Born in dawn's first burning, we walk the road to journey's end. Lost at time's last turning, the night is closing in my friends. And if we fall, together us we'll die. And if we fall, together us we'll die. And if we fall, together us we'll die.

And if we fall, together us we'll die. And if we fall, together us we'll die. And if we fall together, not one of us will die alone. © transcript Emily Beynon