0:05

This is the sound of Worlds Beyond Number.

0:17

Chaos

0:19

reigns in Port Talon. Flowing

0:26

thunder from distant storm clouds

0:29

paints the sky a deep,

0:32

bleak gray as Port

0:34

Talon wails and screams

0:37

in the coming of Chaos. The

0:40

glow of the Witchfires is gone

0:43

and vines stretch

0:47

over the ramparts as the Azure Battalion

0:49

opens fire on the screeching

0:52

Undre. Stranglers of the Spirit

0:54

World plant creatures

0:55

intent on the destruction

0:58

of Port Talon, the reaching

1:01

arms of Oima beyond the

1:03

veil of the Spirit World, reaching

1:05

for her husband. In

1:09

the harbor, ships begin to sink,

1:12

their masts at strange,

1:15

upsetting diagonals as they

1:17

begin to disappear under the waves and

1:20

we see a massive whirlpool

1:23

suddenly slam shut, walls

1:26

of water tearing the bodies apart

1:28

of wizards suddenly caught in

1:30

the closing mouth of the sea.

1:33

Ursulon, you plunge

1:35

with Morrow

1:38

into the water.

1:45

We pick up right where we left off

1:47

last episode. In initiative.

1:50

Zuvie, that is your turn. You

1:54

see an

1:57

equation laid out in front of you.

2:01

Orema is not

2:03

in this world, and it's a good thing. Who

2:06

knows what fate would befall Port Talon if she were

2:08

here in person? But she

2:11

is blindly reaching

2:13

from across worlds with the arm

2:15

of magic that she can, sending the vast

2:18

and roiling green here to

2:21

destroy whatever is in its path

2:23

until it finds her husband. Some

2:26

part of the magic here leaves

2:29

you to be that.

2:31

The spell of protection

2:33

cast up standing in this way,

2:36

in this moment here. There

2:38

is a momentary ability for you

2:40

to push this energy

2:43

in one way or another. And the equation

2:45

you see in front of you is this force

2:47

is profound, and as it meets

2:50

resistance, it will break

2:52

it. The Empire

2:54

does not have the ability with the resources

2:57

available in this moment to resist this. So,

3:01

you see,

3:04

for lack of a better metaphor, the Empire's

3:07

arm is going up to

3:09

resist this blow and the bone

3:12

of the Empire's arm will break.

3:16

Where does it break to do the

3:18

least harm? And you

3:20

see the walls, the

3:23

Azure Battalion, the Oundre streaming

3:25

in and far away

3:27

from you, the Harper and all of the chaos

3:29

reigning there. In this moment,

3:31

what do you do? I'm

3:33

going to start by yelling a

3:35

halt order

3:40

to the Battalion and

3:42

to the Oundre that's got

3:44

its arm tendrils

3:47

wrapped around my neck. I want to speak

3:49

through it to Orima to give

3:51

her something to follow.

3:54

She will strike blindly, but if I can give

3:56

her a better cut, I

3:58

just want to lean in and say, and only

4:01

me, and then make my way back

4:03

to the harbor if I can to put

4:05

her in the path of the wizards that

4:08

did this. You give your command to

4:10

the Azure battalion, and you give your

4:12

statement

4:12

to Orima to follow you.

4:17

Let's settle this piece by

4:19

piece. Number one,

4:21

you're telling the Azure battalion to stand down or

4:24

shouting that command. They

4:26

follow you here, you're gonna roll this with

4:28

advantage, but I'm gonna

4:30

say that in the midst of pitched

4:32

chaos and combat while they're actively fighting,

4:36

this is going to be a higher

4:38

DC. So we're gonna say this is a DC 20, but

4:40

you're rolling with advantage.

4:42

Okay, now Brandon, have you met my dice? Okay.

4:50

One of them was a natural one. Oof.

4:53

You call out asking

4:56

for them to lay down their weapons, and

4:58

over the noise and screaming, your voice just doesn't

5:00

care. You're not on the command's desk

5:03

anymore, just here on the wall. In

5:05

your speech to Orima,

5:08

saying basically follow me, give

5:11

me another persuasion check,

5:13

but also give me an insight check. Persuasion

5:17

is 18 and insight 11. On 18

5:23

persuasion, the Andrei relaxes

5:26

its grip on an 11 insight.

5:31

You know that you want Orima to follow

5:33

you, and I don't think you can tell

5:36

exactly how that's

5:38

going to happen, but the grip is

5:40

released in this moment. What do you

5:42

do as the grip

5:43

releases? I think I'm gonna reach out

5:46

for it because to me, especially

5:48

because she wasn't listening to

5:52

me when we were all together in her shrine, I

5:54

need to keep a speaker closed,

5:56

so I'll reach back out to it by

5:59

whatever.

5:59

looks the most like a hand and

6:02

pull it behind me onto the horse, I

6:04

will sacrifice a finger to spare

6:06

the rest of

6:07

the arm. As you pull this Andre,

6:09

it screams out and

6:12

you see other Andre along the wall

6:14

turn and begin to converge,

6:17

rushing towards you. As

6:19

they do so, you hear

6:22

the whining of the stone grow

6:25

more pronounced right near

6:27

you.

6:30

The Andre go next, I'm

6:33

gonna roll a saving throw for the

6:35

wall. Yeah. That's what we're at. Ha

6:38

ha. With a six on the die, you

6:40

get to your horse and begin to flee and

6:43

you hear. Aah!

6:45

And the wall behind you

6:49

splits and cracks. A

6:53

fissure, no wider

6:56

than like your smallest finger on

6:58

your hand, cracks open

7:00

in the wall and that's all the good soon needs.

7:04

And the roots and leaves

7:07

and vines come through and through that one crack

7:09

in the wall, enter the city. And you can

7:11

see in the cracks of the cobblestones

7:13

behind you, the green racing,

7:16

shattering the geometric

7:19

angles of the cobblestones and rendering

7:21

them fractured, broken earth as it chases

7:25

on your horse with the Andre and you're dragging

7:27

behind you. Aah!

7:37

Last one I'm gonna

7:37

ask for on your turn because you

7:40

can see that the green has, is

7:42

like growing Andre behind

7:44

you as it chases you.

7:48

What path do you attempt to take

7:50

through the city to the harbor? If

7:53

there is a main like

7:56

thoroughfare, I would assume like the biggest,

7:58

widest

7:59

road in the city. wouldn't be

8:01

residential. It would be like a big thoroughfare

8:03

for people moving through the city that

8:06

have to like make their way to like

8:08

take things to the harbor. So we

8:10

are sparing civilians and

8:12

ripping up the center thoroughfare. Give

8:15

me, I'll

8:17

say go ahead and give me one last

8:19

investigation check. Okay, 24.

8:24

24, hell yes. With a 24, you steered your horse going

8:30

in the direction where you know most people have already

8:32

evacuated. You see the map of

8:35

the city in your mind and go to

8:37

the places that you know people would not be in an

8:39

emergency like this. And as we

8:41

do, green

8:43

grows behind you reaching frantically

8:47

for someone wearing the shape of its husband.

8:52

In the water having lost concentration, Mark,

8:55

the breath leaving his body looks at you, Ursulon,

8:58

wearing your

9:00

true form and not the form of bear of

9:03

the strongest man in Silbury. But

9:06

you see a look of recognition on his face. He

9:09

sees that he had a spirit.

9:13

He sees that he had

9:15

a spirit. He sees

9:18

that he had a spirit right

9:21

under his nose this entire time. He

9:26

reaches a hand, grappled though he

9:28

is, and is

9:30

going to cast disintegrate. It

9:34

is countered with a ninth level spell slot by Naram.

9:37

Oh!

9:42

Yeah, you watch, there's no, there

9:47

was a path that Ame could have

9:49

chosen where Naram paid

9:52

the ultimate price to save you and you were facing

9:54

Maro by yourself. That's not

9:56

the path that was chosen. The path

9:58

that was chosen is Naram. breaks

10:00

the tower, breaks the wizards and saves you.

10:03

And he sees a spell that can only,

10:06

is just a pure act of magical

10:08

destruction and unmaking where your name would

10:10

be rent from your memory and you

10:12

would be sent back through time, through the realms

10:15

until there was nothing left of you. And

10:19

there is a, you

10:21

can feel, it's a type of casting

10:23

the spirit, Naram basically,

10:25

there is a

10:28

movement as of current, in

10:30

the sea where Naram

10:33

revokes permission for a spell

10:35

to even be cast. And the spell

10:37

is gone, that's

10:40

Maro's turn. And

10:46

yeah, tough break buddy. Dumped

10:49

up. Ells

10:50

on, Ells on, Ells for the wizard. He's

10:52

in our house now, all right? We're

10:55

beneath the waves.

10:58

And I'm the damn sea bear. Let's go, sea

11:00

bear! Oh! I

11:03

hear being a whole ass tardigrade. I love

11:06

it. As

11:13

you are racing through the streets, Suvi,

11:16

Galani flies overhead and

11:19

looks up after you. And you see,

11:21

as she's flying, is like looking at the walls

11:24

kind of being overtaken. Calls

11:27

down to you and says, Suvi,

11:29

what's the plan? Where are you headed?

11:31

Get out of the way. I'm

11:34

here to help God! Okay,

11:37

well, I'm taking a bad thing to

11:39

her baby daddy.

11:41

You gotta just move. Go

11:44

ahead and give me persuasion. National 20,

11:47

woo! She's

11:49

taking a bad thing to her baby

11:51

daddy. Yeah, I'm not my guy. Get out the damn

11:53

way, my guy. I just know I'm a bad, I'm

11:56

not cool. You see

11:58

that

11:59

Galani hears you

12:02

say that. She rises

12:04

up overhead, looks

12:08

at the wall, looks at the chaos

12:11

at the wall, lowers

12:13

her staff, fires a blast

12:16

of blue rippling light that

12:18

hits the crack in the wall and

12:21

further widens it. And

12:24

as it does, a bigger mass of plants

12:26

breaks through and

12:31

you watch the chaos along other

12:34

parts of the parapet lessen. As,

12:37

in other words, it's like as you choose

12:39

your break point, she goes, great. And

12:42

the plants race through coming just

12:45

after you.

12:45

Ame,

12:49

that is your turn again. You

12:52

are building your shrine here on the docks. People

12:54

are terrified and nervous. You

12:57

smell the incense burning, but you also can feel

12:59

the jostle of people trying to get to

13:01

you to understand what is happening.

13:03

I climb up to the highest point that

13:06

I can see in that town square and

13:11

facing towards the harbor,

13:15

I place my hand to my

13:17

brow and I shout, Drom!

13:23

You called Drom's name.

13:26

I'll ask for one last survival check

13:28

as you attempt to basically

13:31

like invoke his name early

13:33

for this offering.

13:35

So give me one last

13:37

survival check. The fox is going

13:40

to give you the help action on this roll.

13:44

That one's advantage. You

13:50

need a 14 or higher on the die. And

13:53

that's a 19 on the die. Woo! You

13:58

call out to. The

14:01

voices of the people here

14:03

fade away. Do

14:05

you hear their fear, their

14:07

emotions, their concern, their frustration?

14:12

It's okay.

14:14

They can be afraid right now.

14:17

You find something in yourself

14:20

that needs the people

14:22

around you to not be afraid, and

14:26

suddenly accept that

14:28

you're afraid of them

14:31

being afraid. And that's the one

14:33

thing you do have control over. It's

14:36

okay for people to be afraid. Their

14:39

life has been disrupted and they don't understand

14:41

what's happening. You

14:44

need to be strong for them.

14:57

As you say his name, under

15:00

the sea, Ursulan, you

15:03

hear Ame's voice as clear as

15:05

day, but moving through

15:08

the water like a whale's song. Naram,

15:11

Naram, Naram. The

15:22

Which, which

15:24

of the world's heart?

15:27

You sound so very young. I

15:32

am. Grandma

15:35

Renaz, I

15:39

am the witch of Tomino. Thank

15:43

you for saving my friend. Your

15:46

wife is seeking you.

15:50

It's time to go. Thank

15:53

you for your guidance

15:57

in a moment of fear.

16:01

And thank you for your gentleness. Yes.

16:06

It will never be enough. But

16:08

I hope that

16:11

those I was able to spare live

16:13

long and well. And

16:17

you see the current shift

16:20

you just watch in the harbor as

16:22

Naram hears you and prepares.

16:25

As he does so, Ursula, that's going to

16:28

be your turn. We're going 30 feet

16:30

to the bottom of the ocean. My

16:34

goal, my hope is to pin this motherfucker.

16:37

But I'm going to go 30 feet down

16:40

and I'll swipe at him with Wave Breaker. Hell

16:44

yes. Go ahead and give

16:46

me

16:46

an attack roll. Ooh,

16:50

baby. And with this

16:53

attack, are you seeking to? I

16:55

think I just want to pin him to the bottom. So

17:00

you swim down to the bottom. You raise

17:03

Wave Breaker overhead. You

17:05

see, he throws his hands up

17:08

to throw his hands up. He

17:10

casts a shield spell that protects

17:12

his vital organs, his throat, runes

17:15

glitter over him. And Wave Breaker strikes

17:17

true, driving straight

17:20

through the belt of his robe, through his cloak,

17:22

through all of that fabric. And as you

17:25

avoid his body entirely, you

17:28

slam Wave Breaker into the

17:31

stone. And as you draw

17:33

it out, a plume of

17:35

coral follows behind it. Growing

17:40

through the tears of his clothing,

17:43

through his robes, around his belt,

17:46

and is

17:46

left in a shape like a bear's claw

17:49

of coral holding him down

17:51

to the bottom of the sea. Now

17:54

you know how it will feel.

17:59

He

18:02

goes through and you can see, like

18:06

you see his mind being racked

18:09

with what he can possibly

18:12

cast in this moment. No

18:14

harm has been done to him. He

18:17

is simply trapped at the bottom of the sea, exactly

18:20

as Naram

18:21

was.

18:26

You watch his face as he looks for

18:30

the spell somewhere. What spell could he have prepared

18:32

thinking that he would be trapped by coral

18:35

at the bottom of his own bay in

18:37

the rubble and boulders surrounded

18:39

by the limp bodies of the wizards

18:42

he had tasked with keeping Naram

18:44

captured here. There is no spell

18:46

he has to break free from this

18:48

moment. Fly though he might, he is restrained,

18:51

and you can see the fear as

18:54

the water starts to. Naram,

18:56

his tendrils

19:00

touch back.

19:03

He looks at Maro, and

19:10

you feel Naram decide. Knowing

19:15

that there is some part of him even looking

19:17

at someone that wanted to enslave

19:21

and torture him for his eternal life to

19:24

the whims of empire. There

19:27

is still some part of him that does not wish to see

19:30

a man drown. Does

19:34

he, in this moment,

19:40

what does he feel empathically,

19:43

sharing with him, what

19:47

does he feel empathically,

19:50

sharing this telepathy with

19:54

Ursuline in this moment. You can feel his

19:56

rage. You can feel his sense of

19:58

poetic justice to leave.

19:59

He's not killing him. He's just believing

20:02

him exactly where he was. But you also feel already from Naram

20:05

this sense of sorrow

20:07

at having hurt people. This

20:10

sense of sorrow at like the decision to save you

20:14

and the decision to destroy this apparatus

20:16

that shouldn't exist and was gonna kill you. What

20:20

is he feeling emotionally

20:22

for Marcellan in this moment? Marcellan

20:26

knows and thinks back to and

20:28

thinks back to the

20:30

moments that brought him here. And

20:33

he knows that this sword is not, is

20:36

not what it means to

20:39

be a knight, to be honorable, to fight

20:42

for a quest. It is

20:44

the violent action of killing

20:46

Marrow is not what

20:49

he desires.

20:51

I think the anger and rage

20:54

is the desire for Marrow to know what

20:56

it feels like to be trapped and

20:59

to understand that.

21:01

And I think there's a part of Ursilon that

21:04

wants Marrow to

21:07

die. Feeling

21:11

like the world would be,

21:14

the world being rid of a man with

21:16

the intentions of Marrow would

21:19

likely be a good thing. But

21:21

I think even in this moment, Naram

21:24

would

21:25

sense conflicted feelings of

21:29

how does one, would

21:32

sense conflicted feelings in Ursilon of how

21:34

does one rid the world of

21:36

evil and deal with evil without

21:39

becoming it themselves.

21:43

Feeling like

21:44

I've done what I wanted, but

21:46

now it is, like,

21:49

Ursilon even now is watching

21:51

this guy die like standing

21:54

over him being like, do I just watch? Do

21:56

I just stare? Do I just stand

21:58

here until he's dead?

21:59

I think it

22:02

is that conflict

22:04

of how we can't talk our way

22:06

through everything. At

22:11

some point, things will require action.

22:14

You feel Naram's

22:18

ageless and eternal heart feel

22:21

the same conflict as you. And

22:25

you hear his voice, I cannot

22:29

promise you brother that it ever becomes

22:32

easier. You

22:36

look at Naram, who

22:39

hovers over Moro,

22:41

exactly placed

22:43

by you in the exact position he

22:45

first showed you Naram.

22:50

You feel Naram's conflict comes

22:52

from the 100 dead soldiers in

22:54

the plane of Witchfire and all

22:59

of the Septor's chorus mages falling

23:01

to their death, nameless and anonymous

23:03

and far more innocent than this man,

23:05

who after all commanded them here. There's

23:12

a part of Naram that says, if I made those mages

23:15

pay with their lives, pay with their lives,

23:17

what justice could it be to let

23:20

you still live? But

23:22

then there's another part of Naram that knows that

23:26

those mages didn't pay with their life for

23:28

some abstract point of justice. They pay

23:30

with their life because he had to get the fucking derrick

23:32

off of you.

23:34

And that urgency is gone in this moment. And

23:36

what does that mean to take Moro's life

23:38

when there is no urgency left? Not

23:41

exactly justice.

23:42

Not

23:45

exactly the same. Not

23:51

yet a true mirror.

23:53

And

23:55

a tendril extends down. And...

24:00

Moro sees this massive

24:03

spear, and you recognize the spear, and for

24:05

a second, the glamor glimmers over it, and it is

24:08

sea calmer, and then it once again

24:10

is a tendril of this mighty

24:13

ocean god.

24:16

Scratches along

24:18

Moro's forehead, the blood

24:21

intermingling with light.

24:24

And you see a set

24:27

of gills opens on

24:29

Moro's neck.

24:32

There you are, Moro, a gift from

24:35

me to you, a better mirror, and

24:37

more kindness

24:39

than you showed me. I

24:43

do not know how long you

24:45

will stay here at the bottom of this bay.

24:50

Ships and

24:53

treasures litter the

24:55

sea floor here, many

24:58

never found again, but

25:01

your cleverness brought you here.

25:06

One gift is enough. Let your cleverness

25:08

do the rest. And

25:11

Narang gives

25:13

him the ability to breathe underwater and

25:16

leaves him pinned to the sea floor where

25:18

he was and seems to say that

25:21

for this moment, that is justice

25:24

to him. He

25:26

swims to you, and you feel his heart

25:29

beat.

25:33

Your friend is calling us back to shore.

25:37

And I'm going to start to swim

25:40

to shore. And I'm going

25:42

to start to swim to shore.

25:53

Suvi, that is you

25:56

once again, as the plants are

25:58

coming after you.

27:59

up entangling around

28:02

you and you are pulled off

28:04

your horse into the greenery with the

28:06

Andre on top of you as your speed

28:08

is suddenly stopped here

28:10

in this moment. And you

28:12

see the kudzu beginning

28:15

to expand outwards. You've sort

28:17

of created this like node and you can see it's about

28:19

to break in multiple directions.

28:23

What you do in this moment as your horse like gallops

28:25

away without you and this strangler

28:28

is standing here, holding

28:29

you and kind of believing in a way that

28:32

you are in a rom. And so it's like, you can feel

28:34

the plants are like, have him, but

28:36

we don't have him. Like your distraction,

28:38

your disguise is working, but it's also confusing

28:41

them because you're not coming home.

28:44

The first thought is up

28:47

to Kalani. Keep

28:49

pointing them forward. And then

28:52

to these vines to

28:54

the closest I can get to Arima. We're

28:57

so close. Give

29:01

me a perception check

29:03

and a persuasion check. A terrible

29:06

perception is an eight, which makes sense.

29:10

Persuasion is an eight. We're doing that. You

29:15

say we're so close. Kalani

29:17

leads them forward. And

29:22

you see multiple Andre

29:25

begin to move. Crawl

29:28

from the grass and stand

29:32

around you. You

29:34

hear finally, Arima's

29:37

voice.

29:38

Why

29:41

are you telling me you're

29:43

there when I can't hear

29:45

your voice speak

29:48

to me? Why can't I not hear

29:50

you?

29:53

He's close. He

29:55

kept our promise. Okay?

30:02

Grabby! And you feel the

30:04

Andres begin to grab you around everywhere.

30:08

Suvi, what are you doing this morning? It's the shrine

30:11

again. And you realize it's not her.

30:13

She didn't mute you. She

30:16

can't hear you. I

30:18

have to figure out why. What's

30:20

going on, what is different. I think in

30:23

that sort of

30:25

fallen from the horse, choked and

30:27

bloodied, like I just look down at

30:29

myself. Like, why am I not enough? What

30:32

am I not seeing? What don't I understand in this

30:35

moment?

30:35

Give me whatever skill check would be associated with that to you, whether

30:38

it's investigation, arcana, insight.

30:40

It's gotta be investigation. Okay, 17.

30:44

You look down, it's discoloration

30:47

on the front of your blue robes. It's

30:49

like a darker patch. What? I

30:51

dig under them. You

30:53

see your sapphire pendant

30:56

drinking in light.

31:00

What? She's

31:02

never told me. Fuck

31:04

it. And I am just going to pull it off

31:06

and snap it.

31:08

You pull it off. Yeah.

31:11

Yeah! And you hear Orima's

31:13

voice scream, liar. She's

31:16

going to, yeah, she, she

31:19

effortlessly dispels your illusion and you are

31:22

right in front of her and the Andre all step

31:24

back.

31:31

Aime, that is you. You

31:33

hear Orima's screams

31:35

in your mind. You can see the crest

31:38

of a wave building as it heads

31:40

to shore. You can

31:42

tell that Naram is coming. He has heard

31:44

your words and now it's

31:46

Orima and you hear Orima's

31:50

rage. You can feel it. It smells

31:53

like the thickness, the kind of green

31:55

where the forest is almost choking

31:58

you with its oppressiveness.

31:59

And you can tell that she is about to

32:02

kill Soo-Be. From

32:04

high atop my perch, I raise

32:06

a hand. And I say,

32:10

Stop. There is

32:13

magic behind my command.

32:16

Not the kind of magic that

32:20

worldly spellcasters would

32:22

be using. It is

32:24

a word that has behind

32:27

it a promise. My

32:30

promise to do right by

32:32

the spirits. The promise that was renewed when

32:35

I mended the temple. It's

32:37

less of a command and more of an entreaty.

32:42

As the magic flows from you, imploring

32:45

this spirit to stop, she's

32:47

going to use one of her legendary resistances

32:50

to avoid the spell. You

32:53

call stop

32:57

and feel all

33:00

of Orema's wrath turn to you.

33:07

Soo-Be, in the calm before

33:09

destruction, the Oendre

33:12

snap their attention away from you and

33:16

sprint past you towards

33:18

the harbor.

33:21

Faster than at any point you have seen it growing, to the point where

33:23

you cannot even with your eye sort

33:27

of follow the speed of growth

33:29

of vines and plants that race through the cobblestones. You

33:34

hear, now not even in your mind,

33:36

just out loud, the distinct

33:38

shriek of a spirit whose voice covers

33:41

the entire landscape. Some wail as though

33:43

of a ghost. This

33:47

voice shrieks. At

33:49

the top of its length, the

33:52

vines move.

33:54

I would like a constitution

33:57

saving throw from Ame. Mm-mm-mm.

34:02

It's a 19. Hell

34:05

yeah. You

34:15

see the green racing towards

34:17

you as fast as possible. You see the intent

34:19

of this thing is to destroy you. And

34:22

with a burst of

34:24

water.

34:31

A shape is standing in front

34:33

of you.

34:41

And you see a thorn

34:44

of poison Holly, a

34:46

sprig of some plant meant to

34:49

touch you. And in

34:51

a moment, stop the beating

34:53

of your heart with deadly venom.

34:59

Strikes Naram in the chest.

35:07

You see him standing there. The

35:10

height of a man, long

35:12

green hair, blue

35:15

long pointed ears standing

35:17

with his spear and robe. Ursulon,

35:19

you erupt out of the water with him as

35:22

he helps you aloft land on

35:24

the harbor.

35:28

You watch the poison spread across his chest.

35:31

No!

35:35

He turns to you and smiles. My

35:39

wife has poisoned me many times, my darling. And

35:43

you see he plucks it from

35:46

his chest. And you see that the wave comes and

35:48

crashes into the offering just

35:54

as the green vines reach it, wrap

35:56

around, and you are...

35:59

Frozen in

36:02

this moment, you watch the droplets of the wave

36:04

are moving slowly through the air. As

36:08

Naram smiles and you see

36:10

the vines growing up and touching

36:13

his face so softly.

36:16

The vines reach and touch the wound

36:19

and you see him begin to drink the poison back

36:21

up out of it. My

36:25

wife can become very cross. No

36:28

judgment. She

36:31

is the most beautiful of all spirits.

36:35

I know that she would never harm me in a way

36:37

that she would not take back. Almost

36:39

always right away. And you see he

36:42

smiles. He smiles

36:44

at the green.

36:46

He looks to

36:49

Ursuline

36:49

and Ame here in this moment.

36:53

He holds his

36:56

hand out and

36:59

puts it on your shoulder, Ursuline.

37:02

You are a brave

37:04

and noble

37:06

spirit. You will forever

37:08

be welcome in any hall

37:10

I call my home.

37:13

I hope we meet again one day.

37:16

I'm sure we will, brother. There

37:19

is an ocean faster

37:21

than this one.

37:23

Upon whose waves the sun is

37:26

ever shining, it

37:28

calls you home. And

37:32

I know one day

37:34

a great feast

37:37

will be laid for you in that place

37:40

to call him Ursuline

37:44

back to the realm of his

37:46

birth. And

37:48

he touches your head with his and

37:51

turns to you, Ame. This

37:54

task was too great

37:56

to call kind

37:59

to set before.

37:59

are a witch as young as you. We

38:03

all have to learn sometime. It's

38:07

true. Learn you

38:09

have and far more than learn. These

38:13

people are safe and

38:16

I am free. I

38:19

know the world's heart is

38:21

in good hands. I still don't know

38:23

what that means. You don't know? We

38:26

got Wave Breaker to break the curse

38:28

on me. So

38:31

that I could remember, so that I could inherit

38:33

my duties. I

38:35

am woefully underprepared. There

38:40

is a curse placed on you. Wave

38:43

Breaker can break it. There is a... And you

38:45

see that as he says that, you

38:47

see that the green touches

38:50

him and Galani

38:52

overhead, you see the wizard sort of appears, lowering

38:56

her staff. Naram looks up

38:58

to see her in this moment of like slowed

39:01

time. The green grows

39:04

all around him and it's almost now totally

39:07

encompassing him. He sees the wizard

39:09

overhead. He makes a decision about

39:11

how much time is left here in this moment.

39:13

He turns to Ursulon and says, the

39:16

sword, the sword can break the curse. You

39:18

have precious little time, brother. He

39:21

looks to you and says, Ren

39:24

knew much. She

39:27

would not have kept secrets from you. You

39:30

must trust in what you see. The

39:32

green mask covers this base. As

39:36

a bolt of abjuration is just

39:38

about to strike, he vanishes.

39:51

Wave crashes, scatters

39:53

the offering, puts out the incense. Naram

39:57

is gone. Return.

39:59

and you see all of the Andrei

40:02

collapse. Bundles

40:05

of rotting moss and wood on the ground

40:08

and a long path

40:10

of kudzu leading

40:13

back up to the broken wall, swaying

40:17

lightly in the breeze.

40:22

Suvi, you turn around

40:24

the corner to see Ame

40:27

and Ursulon standing there.

40:31

You see the scattered offerings. You

40:33

see the plants and

40:35

the very edge of the kudzu hanging through

40:38

the planks of the dock, lightly

40:41

touching the crests of waves lapping

40:44

against the shore.

40:50

Hey.

40:53

Are you okay? I

40:57

am fine. Are you

40:59

okay? I'm going to come seeing

41:03

the injuries around your neck and cast

41:07

lay-on hands and give you

41:09

five HP back. Put

41:12

my hand on your shoulder and

41:15

I think where I touch you, you feel the

41:17

warmth of a great hearth kind

41:20

of course through your body, that comfort

41:23

and ease and

41:25

the creak of wooden floorboards.

41:28

And walls as the warmth from a fire kind

41:31

of causes that kind of temperature

41:33

change that

41:36

makes a house, make all

41:39

of those rich and comforting

41:41

sounds

41:41

that we know

41:44

from the dead of winter. I think

41:47

you kind of hear those lightly on the wind as

41:51

the injuries around your neck heal

41:54

a bit. Suvi

41:56

instinctively,

41:56

especially, feeling all

41:59

of that. throws her arms around

42:01

you and just sort of sags

42:04

into you. I honored

42:06

friend. I am so

42:08

sorry. It

42:13

has been a day. And

42:16

I think looking around at the crowd

42:18

that is here. Yeah. It's

42:22

going to go. I think we should

42:24

go somewhere more private.

42:28

I'll make a leap

42:30

sober. It takes a running leap and

42:33

tosses herself around their middle.

42:35

You touch yourself.

42:38

You see, by the way, without you even having

42:40

to have done it, as you emerged from the water, you

42:43

see that one of the last things in Iran did was he wrapped

42:45

you in your own glamor. Oh, okay.

42:47

So as you, as you came out of the water, you

42:50

look, you, I think even find yourself surprised and

42:52

didn't know that like great spirits could like do that

42:54

of like sort of like putting on your

42:56

kids shoes before leaving the house. You know, you're like,

42:59

Oh yeah. Like he did a like, I got you bud. Like,

43:01

yeah.

43:03

So, uh,

43:06

yeah, I'll make comes and flings her arms around

43:08

you. Um, the people look

43:10

and see the storm clouds, oh,

43:12

sort of on the horizon that were sort of menacing

43:14

begin to sort of disperse

43:18

and the Derek is gone. Um, you

43:20

see that as people look, you know, the, the racing

43:23

green and the monster out in the waves,

43:25

they see

43:27

all of this sort of fade

43:30

and, uh, look around and all

43:32

of them saw this like meeting of the vine

43:34

and this and look to Amé as

43:37

kind of the one leading this shrine

43:40

building or offering and look to you for any

43:42

possible like answers

43:44

or they just look like, um,

43:47

I extract

43:49

myself from the hug. The

43:55

ocean spirit and a ram taught all

43:58

of you your and. ancestors

44:00

to fish. Orima

44:03

has protected these

44:06

walls for generations,

44:10

and we have forgotten the ways. We

44:14

have not tended to their

44:16

shrines and given

44:19

them the praise

44:23

and respect that they deserve. It

44:26

is a dangerous thing to think that

44:28

we can control the spirits. We

44:31

can only ever try and work with them.

44:34

Give me a persuasion check as

44:37

you speak to the crowd here. Can I give her

44:39

advantage by kind of moving to

44:41

her side in full

44:44

Citadel Regalia, just to give like the

44:46

arm of the Empire a little more weight to it?

44:49

Oh, that's an 18 on

44:51

the die, which makes for a 24.

44:56

You

44:58

see Galani

45:02

landing and you see she

45:04

looks as though she's about to interrupt Ame

45:08

and sees you Suvi kind

45:10

of standing there and

45:12

keeps silent for a moment. And

45:16

you see Ame, the people

45:18

of Port Talon gathered here at the harbor,

45:20

remove their hats and

45:25

hold them to their chests and bow

45:27

their heads

45:28

in respect.

45:31

As they do so, you see a

45:34

very old woman steps

45:37

out from the crowd. She's got a wide

45:39

dress that has very small

45:42

little sort of shells woven

45:44

into the fabric of this white dress. And

45:46

she's got a warm shawl, warm wool

45:48

shawl over her shoulders, steps

45:52

out of the crowd,

45:54

puts a last little like offering

45:56

on the scattered offerings that were knocked over by

45:58

the wave. touches

46:02

your hand and

46:05

begins to sing. And

46:09

as she does, you see a few of the older

46:12

folks in the crowd look

46:15

and start to sing as well. I

46:18

don't know the song or the lyrics,

46:21

but I can pick out

46:24

a harmony to join

46:26

in on the chorus.

46:31

Where the wave has

46:34

grazed the breach

46:37

of cream and the

46:39

wood by gentle

46:42

sea, we

46:47

come to the coming

46:51

of the tide by

46:54

your love as

46:56

bold as time.

47:00

Lay down

47:03

your blanket on

47:05

the forest floor

47:07

in the piece

47:10

of waste that crashed

47:13

no more than

47:15

a praise for

47:20

the day. You

47:36

look and see Gewani looking at this

47:38

song that people sing as they look and

47:41

you see that it's gotten late enough in the day

47:43

that even with the storm clouds, the sun

47:46

gets low enough that it comes in under

47:48

the storm clouds and there's

47:51

a deep golden light filling the

47:53

harbor. People sing this song

47:55

and you see Gewani stroking her chin.

47:57

It's a very beautiful song.

47:59

Danger is gone. She can appreciate

48:02

that it's a beautiful song. But you

48:04

just see a look,

48:06

I think, that Suvi, you understand the most.

48:10

Because it's just the look of...

48:12

Well, this song is totally out of

48:15

our control. I

48:17

am the blanket

48:21

of the forest

48:23

floor. I am

48:26

the piece

48:30

of waste that crashed no more. Heaven

48:38

praise me, loved all, though

48:40

it be raised. By

48:43

the road the rain

48:46

brings to the

48:48

sea.

49:10

Galani walks over to you as the song ends

49:12

and you see people... Galani goes

49:15

over to the Azure Battalion, shows up, other people.

49:17

Morrow is... She's talking to me, I have no idea

49:19

where the Gilmesh Morrow is. He disobeyed

49:22

a direct order from the Citadel

49:24

to venture out and try to

49:26

kill a

49:28

honored friend, tried to kill a wild one. And

49:32

she turns over and says, Suvi, are you all right?

49:36

Yes, I'm okay. Are you? As

49:39

all right as can be, I thought that a great

49:42

spirit was going to kill me in

49:44

the middle of

49:46

the harbor. Honestly, same. Yes,

49:48

absolutely. And instead, that

49:50

didn't happen. But many

49:53

are dead and that wild one

49:55

could be anywhere. My best understanding is...

49:57

is

50:00

that he is gone. That

50:03

Arima of the Reaching Green reclaimed him

50:05

and took him hence, which

50:08

is good for us.

50:10

All

50:14

right.

50:16

Where's Maro? Maro

50:19

is presumed dead. Oh, okay.

50:24

He opened that whirlpool and the whirlpool

50:26

shut, which is what would have happened if he had been immediately

50:28

killed by the Great One that he was flying

50:31

after. Weird. Okay,

50:34

okay. Galani turns to both

50:36

of you,

50:39

and she looks at you, Ame, and says, thank

50:42

you very much for attending to the

50:45

citizenry of Port Talon. I

50:48

understand that you were able to calm

50:50

them with some ritual as they were panicking.

50:53

Um,

50:56

yes and no. It's

50:59

a little...

51:04

You're welcome. I'm glad I could do what

51:06

I could. It

51:09

is something that we too often forget about in

51:11

moments of crisis, and it's wonderful to have

51:13

a witch to attend to those interpersonal

51:16

leads during a catastrophic

51:19

event such as this, uh,

51:22

that, that spirit,

51:24

um, was,

51:26

I've rarely seen a destructive force

51:28

like that.

51:29

That was horrifying to behold. I'm

51:32

gonna just shoot Ame a little look. That

51:34

is just, you gotta let it go. I

51:37

open up my mouth. Nope.

51:40

Just a little head shake. Well,

51:42

it just goes to show that forces

51:45

like that should be respected. I

51:48

think you're exactly right. We need to have more respect

51:51

for these sorts of forces that we're dealing with, and

51:53

there needs to be more oversight on

51:56

idiots like Moro who tangle

51:58

with things they don't understand.

51:59

and you see,

52:02

she says, let's

52:09

get your things moved to the governor's mansion. I don't think

52:11

that the Calabell Chantry is going to be a wise

52:14

place for you to remain.

52:18

When Steel arrives,

52:21

do you want to take point explaining

52:24

a wonderful,

52:26

wonderful, thank you. You

52:29

see, Gullhany gets your, gets

52:32

your. So he tried to be

52:34

as cool about the, yeah, I get it. She's

52:37

so fucking scared. So should you talk to your mom or should I talk

52:39

to her? Yeah, look,

52:41

she made you cry last time, so I got it. I didn't say

52:45

that, that's so mean.

52:49

Your things are moved over to the governor's mansion.

52:52

Again, much more ostentatious, lots

52:54

of like lapis lazuli and gilded

52:57

plant. Like everything

52:59

is framed in big gilded leaves

53:02

wrapping around murals of

53:04

imperial victories.

53:08

And you see that there's already folks getting

53:10

to work, like pulling

53:13

up kunzu out of this

53:15

city.

53:16

As we go make our way there, I speak

53:18

with especially the elders in the city and

53:23

you can overhear snatches of ame.

53:26

I was saying, oh, well, I mean,

53:28

anything really, just animal feed

53:31

and, oh, there's a great tea

53:33

you can use and the

53:36

flowers can have this nature

53:39

to the most, almost grape-like. And

53:43

I have a lot of, we had a

53:45

hanging back at the cottage that I

53:47

think was made from the fibers.

53:51

Incredibly useful stuff. Yeah,

53:54

the elders of Port Talon, and

53:56

it's hard because you can see that like a lot of the, Port

53:59

Talon's gotten really big.

53:59

It's a big city. So there's sort

54:03

of this thing, I think you're spending your first

54:05

time in a city like this and seeing that

54:08

the communities here are

54:11

partially estranged from one another. There's just so

54:13

many people. And because the systems

54:15

of government within the city are

54:18

themselves so imperial and bureaucratic

54:20

and kind of opaque to a lot of the people that live

54:22

here,

54:23

it's not like Toma, where you go and find

54:25

the elders and it's like, oh yeah, it's these

54:28

group of families know each other and

54:30

like, of course, we're gonna respect

54:32

our elders because that's literally like my

54:34

grandma and your grandma. You

54:37

know, it's like, oh, there are communities

54:39

here, but the communities feel

54:43

that they've had like walls built up around them.

54:47

But the people that you do talk to are very grateful

54:49

for your insight and very grateful for your help. The

54:53

more that it sort of happens and the more

54:55

that I encounter that, I just end

54:58

up going over to some of the sailors

55:00

and saying, you can make rope with it. You can make

55:03

rope with it. It's cheap. Free

55:06

rope. And they say,

55:08

ah, free rope, all right, free rope. Yeah, free

55:10

rope. Free rope.

55:13

As the sun finishes setting,

55:17

Ursuline, you

55:19

are protected

55:22

by your glamour, but feel

55:26

yourself connected to the spirit.

55:31

You are here in the mortal world. That

55:34

is your curse. That

55:36

is, you know, but the first

55:38

time that joy that was

55:40

in your fingers, that feeling of being alive,

55:44

feel alive and

55:46

you feel a source of, like

55:50

you would never have called it this in the spirit world, but

55:52

here it is magic. It's a magic

55:54

that is, it's

55:56

not right to say it's yours. It's you,

55:59

the magic.

55:59

The magic that is you is here

56:02

with you.

56:05

How are you feeling in this moment? What are you doing? As

56:08

Ame's tending to the citizenry and you're

56:10

having your stuff moved over to this new

56:12

place. I think Ursuline is quiet. I

56:14

think Ursuline is sitting with

56:16

this feeling he knew for so long

56:19

that he then lost and is reconnected

56:22

with. I think Ursuline, especially

56:25

as Ame and Suvi kind of busy

56:27

themselves, find

56:30

somewhere to just sit and I

56:32

think, listen to,

56:35

like, to really just sit with

56:38

this feeling. I

56:40

think there's almost a part of him that is

56:42

looking down at his now human hands

56:45

and human form

56:48

and

56:48

trying to remind himself that this is not,

56:51

that this is just for protection,

56:54

that this is the thing he wears, that the

56:56

thing he is is the quiet

56:59

thing inside

56:59

himself. Oh,

57:02

oh. That

57:05

was really good.

57:07

As Ame is running

57:10

around the city, I think back at the, you know,

57:14

doing your thing, where is the fox? Is

57:17

the fox with you as you're going and traveling around?

57:19

Yeah, there's so many fish just

57:21

flopping around in the streets. Yeah, and

57:23

fox is like, I

57:26

know that everyone was really scared. This

57:29

was a great day. This

57:31

was a great day. Look at all these fish. Yes.

57:34

You know how hard it is to catch these? Because

57:37

they were in the water and they go faster,

57:39

you know, but up here.

57:40

This is your house now, huh? Well,

57:44

this is the city. Yes, it's it. I

57:47

don't have a house. Home,

57:52

your home, this is where you're most comfortable. With

57:55

fish flopping around right in front of you. Yeah,

57:58

yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I hear it. It'd be great if the... There

58:00

was more grass, because these

58:02

rocks hurt my feet. It's

58:05

okay.

58:07

Don't eat, okay, I know I'm gonna introduce

58:10

you to a word that's gonna be very useful

58:12

for you in this situation. Moderation.

58:16

Moderation, it means not too

58:18

much or something.

58:19

Okay,

58:23

and when does that happen? That

58:25

happens when... Huh.

58:31

When

58:35

you choose for it to

58:37

happen, I can see I've lost

58:40

you there. Yeah, I'm gonna eat as much fish as I can. Yeah, yeah,

58:42

okay.

58:47

Suvi. You

58:50

arrive back at the Governor's Mansion

58:52

as well and

58:56

see that your belongings have

58:58

been brought over here to this

59:00

new place. And

59:02

you see the book that you were reading

59:05

before is sitting on your bedside table now.

59:09

I... Yeah,

59:12

make my way over and sit

59:14

down. Before I open

59:16

it, I'm gonna pull the necklace

59:20

from my mother out, cast

59:22

a quick mending on it to

59:24

repair the chain. And I think

59:26

she realizes that after

59:29

casting mending a hundred times to

59:31

fix that bed, that she finally

59:33

figured out the exact version

59:36

of mending that her mother used

59:38

on her glasses the last time she saw her.

59:41

It's just a little, it's not quite a shortcut.

59:44

There's a contraction in the words that makes

59:46

it a little faster. And

59:49

she does that and smiles and opens

59:51

the book. Give

59:54

me an investigation check and give me an arcana

59:56

check. Investigation

59:59

check. is a 12 natural one for

1:00:02

the arcana, because I can't roll

1:00:04

well. Oh, no. Womp womp. Womp

1:00:07

womp. You spend your evening

1:00:09

reading this book and seeing

1:00:12

just words that you know were scribed by the

1:00:14

hands of your mother and father. What's

1:00:18

the difference in your mother and your father's handwriting?

1:00:20

My

1:00:23

mother's handwriting, I think because

1:00:26

she, she

1:00:28

has slightly higher status, so she writes

1:00:30

in a way that is

1:00:33

more legible. It feels like

1:00:35

my dad is writing notes to himself and

1:00:38

my mother is writing towards

1:00:40

posterity. I love

1:00:42

that. You

1:00:45

take a long time going over the notes. You've

1:00:48

been looking at your, at

1:00:50

the book for a while

1:00:52

and there's something in your,

1:00:55

the notes are incomplete or this is really scavenged

1:00:57

writings of your, it's sort of like how artists

1:00:59

work and scattering all over the world

1:01:02

after their passing. Your mother

1:01:04

and father, their work is sort of whoever got their

1:01:07

hands on any of it, like held on to it, it's

1:01:09

so significant and important. So

1:01:12

you're looking at it and you're thinking about the

1:01:14

mending cantrip

1:01:16

and how you finally feel like something locked

1:01:19

into place about how your mom used to cast it. And

1:01:21

as you're sort of thinking about that, Ursuline,

1:01:24

you arrive with

1:01:28

this sort of brand new feeling of

1:01:31

yours, but you are led up

1:01:33

as the archmage apprentice's protector.

1:01:39

Suvi. Oh, hi. Hi.

1:01:44

You're looking in good sorts? Good,

1:01:48

yes. I,

1:01:51

um, it has

1:01:53

been a good day. Is

1:01:57

it too soon for me to ask what happened? No,

1:02:04

I, there

1:02:07

was a moment when

1:02:09

I returned to my room that

1:02:14

I wanted to destroy

1:02:16

the ring of coral made

1:02:20

from Naram's blood. And

1:02:24

I, when I struck it, it

1:02:28

turned back into a more viscous form and

1:02:32

I destroyed the bed, which

1:02:35

I saw somebody put back together. And

1:02:39

the blood entered

1:02:42

me in some way. And

1:02:45

I was reminded me of a time

1:02:48

when I was very young that

1:02:51

Naram

1:02:52

actually saved me. And

1:02:57

I was taken

1:02:59

over by a feeling

1:03:02

that I could not wait for steel and

1:03:04

that something had to be done. I

1:03:09

understand. And

1:03:11

there's definitely a moment where Suvi

1:03:13

wants to explain herself or the

1:03:16

way she feels or the way she

1:03:18

thinks the world works. And

1:03:20

then that new paradigm locks into place again,

1:03:22

that

1:03:23

a wild one will do what they will. So

1:03:27

you like watch her put it away and

1:03:29

just kind of nod and smile. Okay.

1:03:33

But you did it. I

1:03:36

did do it. How? It was

1:03:38

a very well built, like it was

1:03:40

bad. The Derek was bad. We can all agree, like

1:03:42

not defending

1:03:43

it. Yes, Derek, not great. Right.

1:03:46

But how did you get? Well, I actually,

1:03:48

it's funny. I thought of you because

1:03:50

they had a, some sort of a sense of

1:03:52

some kind. And I was,

1:03:55

I was trying to figure out what to do with it. And

1:03:57

I was like, well, what would Suvi do?

1:03:59

At that point I decided that it was actually,

1:04:02

if it couldn't see me, then I could get

1:04:04

through, so I turned invisible and got

1:04:06

in, and then

1:04:10

they had him held by his spear, and

1:04:12

I took Wavebreaker to it.

1:04:14

You, that's incredibly

1:04:16

cool. It was quite

1:04:21

cool. Ami, you enter

1:04:23

it this time. I

1:04:27

am all muddy. Did

1:04:30

you just hear, why? Press

1:04:33

the dissertation. What are you, why, how

1:04:36

long have you, hm? I

1:04:38

was helping with the town. There's

1:04:40

a lot still

1:04:43

to do with the cleanup, but I think,

1:04:46

I think that the townsfolk are really

1:04:48

up to the challenge.

1:04:51

My stomach. Oh,

1:04:53

what was that word I taught you again? Fish.

1:04:57

No, no, no. It started with an M,

1:04:59

mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm.

1:05:01

No, no, that was, well, masticate.

1:05:03

You did, you taught me mitigate.

1:05:06

I did, I did, I did. Why didn't you mitigate me eating

1:05:08

too much fish? I did, I tried to teach

1:05:10

you moderation. Those

1:05:12

words

1:05:12

are too close. Oh,

1:05:15

buddy. You see the fox's

1:05:17

stomach is so full, and he sort of flops

1:05:20

over on his side, and just is, I need

1:05:22

to focus on breathing.

1:05:23

Oh! Little

1:05:25

boost. Look over and pick up the fox. He's

1:05:28

got you, buddy. You see, he's completely

1:05:31

slack in your hands. Yeah. I'm

1:05:34

dying. Yeah. Aww. I

1:05:36

am

1:05:36

dead. You're not dying. I died. So

1:05:39

he's dead. You are dead? Yeah.

1:05:42

It's not funny. It

1:05:45

is quite funny, fox. Yeah. Okay,

1:05:51

breathe. Ursuline.

1:05:56

You smell

1:05:59

different. What? Do

1:06:04

you smell different? Do

1:06:06

I smell different? You can still

1:06:08

smell the rosemary, but

1:06:11

there's also just a faintest scent

1:06:13

of honey. Why? Okay,

1:06:16

it's weird, because I do feel like I can't

1:06:18

tell if I'm making it up. Like I

1:06:20

smell, you kind of smell sweet, right? That's

1:06:23

not, I'm not making, oh.

1:06:25

I do believe,

1:06:28

well, with

1:06:32

Naram, I do believe while

1:06:34

with Naram, I was

1:06:38

able to reconnect with my

1:06:40

breath. I am still way shadowed,

1:06:43

but. Oh.

1:06:45

Oh. Oh my god. Congratulations.

1:06:48

Congratulations. Yeah, it

1:06:50

does feel good, yes. Yeah. Anyway,

1:06:54

I, what are

1:06:56

we going to do about the curse? I

1:06:59

mean, we have to break it. Did

1:07:02

Naram teach you how

1:07:05

to break it, perhaps? Oh,

1:07:07

yeah, you were talking to him under

1:07:10

the water, and he explained it. No,

1:07:12

no, that he did not do. He

1:07:15

just, he said the sword

1:07:17

could break the curse. I'm

1:07:20

gonna, let's,

1:07:23

but let's see, I'm gonna wave the

1:07:25

sword around Ame, just

1:07:27

kind of catching a sense if

1:07:29

it does. I close my

1:07:31

eyes and I outstretch my

1:07:33

hands. I will be kind of keeping

1:07:35

the tip from cutting Ame's face open

1:07:37

as it's wackled. I know

1:07:40

how to use this. Okay, okay. Okay,

1:07:43

as you do this, I

1:07:46

love it, I love it. And I'll say this

1:07:48

too in this moment. Ame's

1:07:51

conversation with Steel had to do

1:07:54

with Steel basically mentioning the

1:07:56

possibility of like, studying

1:07:59

the curse.

1:07:59

before it was broken. That

1:08:02

was not a conversation that I believe occurred between anyone else,

1:08:04

but it certainly

1:08:07

seems like Amé is not bringing that up

1:08:09

in this moment. Mm-hmm.

1:08:13

Weird. Incredible.

1:08:15

Arms outstretched in sort of

1:08:17

a T pose.

1:08:19

Mm. Amazing.

1:08:21

So Ursuline, as you are

1:08:23

waving it, is there any kind of intention that

1:08:25

you are bringing to that? I

1:08:27

don't think there's much intention. I think I am,

1:08:30

if anything, it would be more perception trying

1:08:32

to sense if the sword just

1:08:35

glows, or if it-

1:08:38

I mean, if it lights up or something. If it's eye-braid,

1:08:40

so like, you know, I think there's, I'm much

1:08:42

more sensory than like me going,

1:08:44

I want to break the curse. I think it's me, this

1:08:47

is testing the water. Give

1:08:50

me a, well, in that case, if you're rolling

1:08:52

perception, just give me a perception check. Woo!

1:08:57

Um, you are waving the

1:08:59

sword. The sword

1:09:02

feels very,

1:09:04

you know, as you're waving it, you know,

1:09:06

feels good in your hand.

1:09:08

You feel a connection to the sword.

1:09:11

I think that

1:09:13

there is some

1:09:16

connection to that feeling you had in your fingers,

1:09:19

and you called, and you felt the

1:09:22

note of song and honey in

1:09:24

your strike. So I

1:09:26

think the hard thing for you here is a little bit, you're

1:09:29

trying to perceive, like,

1:09:31

is the sword lighting up? Is the sword doing anything?

1:09:34

And I think there's a little bit of awareness on a 19 that

1:09:38

your expectant

1:09:41

attitude is very different from

1:09:43

the state of mind you were in when you cast Divine

1:09:45

Smite. So you become, the sword doesn't

1:09:48

glow, it's not like, vroom, vroom,

1:09:50

or like hotter and warmer. You're just like,

1:09:53

oh, nothing's happening.

1:09:54

And I'm not aware that the sword's doing anything wrong.

1:09:57

But on a 19, it's a high enough roll that you're like, oh.

1:09:59

Oh, my state of mind is totally different

1:10:02

than the one I was in when I did magic

1:10:04

with the sword earlier, you

1:10:06

know? Anything?

1:10:11

No. I

1:10:16

believe maybe I need to touch

1:10:21

that same spiritness in

1:10:24

order to activate it, but I also

1:10:26

don't want to just- Is that Turn Around? No, Turn-

1:10:28

Oh, no, no, it's not. No,

1:10:30

it's not a performance thing. I can do this.

1:10:33

I can do this. I just don't

1:10:35

want to swing the sword

1:10:37

at Amé. It's

1:10:38

okay, don't feel bad. I'm

1:10:40

sure a lot of spirits have issues with

1:10:42

the use in the sword. It's too- It's too- It's too tough to touch

1:10:44

the spiritness. Stop, stop, stop, stop.

1:10:47

I know what you're doing. I know what you're doing. Do

1:10:49

you? Yes, I know what you're- You're comparing this. You're

1:10:51

talking about the sword like it's my penis.

1:10:53

Oh, why? Hold on, now we have to talk

1:10:55

about it. Wait. What's your penis since you've

1:10:57

been- Oh! I

1:10:59

am a- Of course I used

1:11:01

to. I mean, I don't, we don't have-

1:11:04

I shouldn't be talking about this with you, but- Wait,

1:11:06

why not with you? Well, I don't

1:11:08

know.

1:11:08

Yeah, why not with you? All

1:11:10

right, I don't like that face. Ooh,

1:11:14

spirits do just be walking around and banging

1:11:16

it out. Stop, stop. What? We

1:11:19

don't just be walking around and banging

1:11:21

it out, all right? I've heard stories about your

1:11:23

dad.

1:11:24

I think maybe it's- He

1:11:26

was special. You got it honest?

1:11:28

What? What?

1:11:30

What'd you say? That you got it honest, like it's the

1:11:32

thing you got from your dad. Okay.

1:11:37

You don't need to turn around. Watching

1:11:40

this part of it. Stop,

1:11:44

stop.

1:11:47

Ursula is going to- Do

1:11:50

his best and not well to

1:11:52

put the thoughts and the fact that he,

1:11:55

you know,

1:11:57

it's just that weird moment of like talking.

1:12:00

about how and who you

1:12:02

have sex with. Yeah. So

1:12:05

you're coming into this first act

1:12:07

of sword magic with thoughts

1:12:09

about you, your penis, your dad, your

1:12:12

dad's penis. It's bad. Hold

1:12:14

on.

1:12:16

I would like to make a case that

1:12:18

that is extremely cogent because vagina

1:12:20

just means sheath. So it's always

1:12:22

penis stuff. I'm helping. Wow. That

1:12:24

was the nerdiest thing. I'm

1:12:27

a wizard. Wow. Wow.

1:12:30

Yeah, for sure. I can make anything. I love

1:12:32

you exactly. I'm sexy. Exactly how I want

1:12:34

to talk about the etymology. Yeah.

1:12:39

Go ahead and give me a, you're

1:12:41

going to add just your charisma

1:12:43

modifier to this, but

1:12:46

you are going to roll with disadvantage. Got

1:12:48

it. Because of all the penis stuff? Because of all the penis stuff.

1:12:50

Oh no. Really? Yeah.

1:12:53

Oh, consequences. All right.

1:12:57

Even with the penis stuff. Even

1:12:59

with the penis stuff, we get a 15. I think

1:13:02

it helps. I also really liked it was like penis and

1:13:04

not like it's, we're using, we're calling it. Yeah,

1:13:06

very medical. Very medical. Yeah, for

1:13:08

sure. Absolutely. Go

1:13:11

ahead on a 15.

1:13:16

Do you think,

1:13:18

what do you think Ursuline starts to connect with in

1:13:20

the sword? It feels like it's working.

1:13:22

It feels like there's something going on here that is working. Putting

1:13:26

the conversations aside,

1:13:29

I think Ursuline looks at Ame

1:13:32

and knows that there is, and

1:13:36

it is connected back to the thing that

1:13:39

brought his friends together

1:13:41

in the first place. And

1:13:43

that moment in

1:13:47

the tent, several

1:13:50

weeks ago, when

1:13:52

Ame told him that he had

1:13:54

a quest and he, Ursuline

1:13:57

reconnects with those feelings. in

1:14:00

that sense of honor as

1:14:02

he brings the sword toward

1:14:05

Ame slowly, but

1:14:07

seeks to write that.

1:14:11

There's a moment of connection here. There

1:14:14

was a deep

1:14:17

moment

1:14:17

of joy when

1:14:19

you were with Naram, freeing him in

1:14:22

the sea.

1:14:24

There was constant joy amongst

1:14:27

the steps of your father when

1:14:30

you were a cub in the world of spirits. And

1:14:33

in that summer you shared with Suvi

1:14:35

and Ame, even in the wake of

1:14:37

your life's greatest sorrow

1:14:40

that you had ever known, there was

1:14:42

so much joy. And

1:14:45

the weight of

1:14:47

honor, and the

1:14:49

weight of a quest, and

1:14:52

the ever present

1:14:54

specter of shame and of

1:14:57

failure,

1:14:58

these curses that have haunted

1:15:00

you since your first day in the realm of

1:15:02

mortals. You

1:15:04

realize that one of the greatest

1:15:06

powers of shame and failure is

1:15:09

that they insist that

1:15:12

they are constant companions

1:15:14

of honor.

1:15:17

But the first time you met honor, there was no

1:15:19

shame. The first time you met honor,

1:15:21

it was as joyful as any other

1:15:23

moment of playing amongst the steps of your father.

1:15:27

When you first met Sir Curran in the nights on the

1:15:29

road, all there was was joy and

1:15:31

kindness and love in that moment.

1:15:34

There is no contradiction here.

1:15:37

And when you suddenly

1:15:39

start to put the silly conversation,

1:15:42

the laughter of Ame

1:15:44

and Suvi for all

1:15:46

of its glibness,

1:15:48

and maybe there's something that it's not weighty

1:15:51

enough,

1:15:51

it's not solemn enough.

1:15:54

And I think there's a moment where you connect

1:15:56

because you are a wild one, and there

1:15:58

is something that can only ever be

1:16:01

joy and being fully alive

1:16:04

in you.

1:16:06

Maybe your honor doesn't have to be solemn. And

1:16:10

the laughter ringing off the walls

1:16:12

of your friends, alights on the sword.

1:16:15

You feel a connection to joy and life

1:16:18

and honor and a quest. There

1:16:23

becomes two sort of instincts

1:16:25

within you. There's a

1:16:28

shorter breath here. There's something

1:16:30

that's almost like a relieved

1:16:32

exhale. There's a deeper

1:16:35

magic within the sword as well. That is more

1:16:37

like a prolonged exhalation

1:16:42

like over the teeth, almost of

1:16:44

like a controlled, longer,

1:16:47

deeper breath out. As

1:16:50

you bring the sword to trace

1:16:52

a path across Amé, one of them feels

1:16:54

like a lighter form of magic, one feels like

1:16:56

a deeper, more profound form of magic.

1:17:01

What instinct do you think you would follow in that moment? We go

1:17:03

deeper,

1:17:03

breath. Yeah. We

1:17:06

go deeper. I am

1:17:08

going to need a constitution

1:17:12

and a wisdom saving throw from Amé. That

1:17:16

is

1:17:16

a 20 on the dice. Nat 20.

1:17:22

Is that for wisdom or constitution? Constitution. Okay,

1:17:24

and I'll let, I actually roll both of these for me and I'll

1:17:26

let you assign them where you want them. Nine.

1:17:28

Gotcha. The

1:17:32

sword passes over you. You

1:17:35

feel it, Ursula, Wave Breaker. Like

1:17:37

you realize the name Wave Breaker comes from

1:17:40

waves being like spells

1:17:43

and this idea of a sword that could cut

1:17:45

a path through a wave, break

1:17:47

it and leave something open

1:17:50

and calm for like a young Naram to

1:17:52

pass

1:17:52

through in the early days of the world of spirits. You

1:17:56

have that long exhale and

1:17:58

cut.

1:17:59

Give me perception

1:18:02

Ursula and give me Arcana Suvi. You

1:18:06

gotta not roll dice. So sorry, Scooby.

1:18:08

It's a natural one. Okay. Yikes,

1:18:10

dude. What the fuck?

1:18:14

Yikes. What did I tell you? We're

1:18:16

out here breaking curses before your mom can

1:18:18

get here and you're rolling that once.

1:18:21

Come on. It's a total of seven.

1:18:23

I had six. Here

1:18:26

we go. We've got perception over here. Dirty 20. Dirty 20.

1:18:31

You immediately can tell the

1:18:34

spell has worked. You have successfully removed

1:18:36

this curse. Ame is no longer cursed. However,

1:18:40

what happens next, you will also be able to perceive.

1:18:42

There is something here. This is, like

1:18:45

you've said, spirit and body

1:18:48

are one for you. You are a creature of both

1:18:50

combined. So your, for lack

1:18:54

of a better word, like your knowledge of

1:18:56

these things is so deeply internal.

1:18:58

When you know magical things, you

1:19:01

know it like it's been in your body your whole life.

1:19:04

Ame, as the curse comes

1:19:07

undone.

1:19:14

You feel something

1:19:18

sliding and clicking,

1:19:22

something like a

1:19:25

liquid poison filled

1:19:28

with a puzzle turning from the inside,

1:19:30

made of shadow, something that

1:19:33

twists and rotates and expands

1:19:36

and pierces. I'm

1:19:38

gonna let you assign those saves

1:19:42

where you want them. They're,

1:19:45

and based on hitting a nat 20,

1:19:48

I'll even tell

1:19:48

you what's at stake. Failing

1:19:52

the wisdom saving throw

1:19:55

means that the curse is being

1:19:57

cut out, but it's gonna take

1:19:59

some. something with it on its way out. If

1:20:02

you put your 20 into wisdom,

1:20:04

it means you keep everything and lose

1:20:07

nothing. However,

1:20:10

you'll fail the Constitution

1:20:12

save, which means that something will happen to your body.

1:20:15

Essentially it's, do you wanna pay

1:20:17

this toll with your mind or with

1:20:19

your body?

1:20:22

Can I ask, are we, whatever

1:20:25

choice Ave makes, we

1:20:27

are seeing the results of it. Yeah,

1:20:30

there's no intercession. So, Ave

1:20:32

is responding to a magical effect and

1:20:34

essentially what's happening here is you have

1:20:37

perfectly guided through and

1:20:39

removed that first effect. Whatever

1:20:42

entity placed this curse on

1:20:44

grandmother Ren and on Ave put

1:20:47

a spell so nasty that

1:20:50

it was standing in

1:20:52

front of successive

1:20:55

contingent effects. That

1:20:57

there's like a nested series

1:20:59

of spells within Ave and you're

1:21:02

excising all of them, but the

1:21:04

big one that Ave was aware of was

1:21:06

hiding some others.

1:21:14

I grew up on a farm, slinging

1:21:17

bales of hay, wrestling with goats.

1:21:21

I'm fairly strong.

1:21:25

But all of that is nothing

1:21:27

compared

1:21:28

to

1:21:30

how I have been honing my mind and

1:21:34

the way that I connect

1:21:36

with people, the way that I understand

1:21:38

the world of spirits and of humans. That,

1:21:42

that knowledge is

1:21:44

what makes me a witch.

1:21:53

It only makes sense that

1:21:55

that would remain untouched. That

1:21:58

is strong. strong

1:22:01

through the generations

1:22:03

of witches that came before me. But

1:22:05

my body, though

1:22:07

newly muscled with my

1:22:08

steward's ring, is

1:22:12

not as protected. You

1:22:16

watch, Ame, and the way this feels in

1:22:18

your mind is you feel the

1:22:20

curse leaving. And it's almost

1:22:22

like Ursuline has come and taken an unwanted

1:22:25

guest within the house of

1:22:27

your spirit and has told it that the time

1:22:30

has come for it to leave. And you can

1:22:32

feel the curse leaving, but

1:22:34

as it does, you see it holding something.

1:22:38

And the curse is very, it's

1:22:40

a feeling of some malevolent thing that nevertheless

1:22:43

is sort of saying, I will

1:22:45

see myself out. But

1:22:48

as it's doing so, it's taking something of yours.

1:22:51

And you realize you

1:22:53

have the power to just grab

1:22:56

it and rest it out of that curse's hands

1:22:58

as it sees itself on the way out the door.

1:23:04

You reach,

1:23:05

take hold of that knowledge that it is attempting

1:23:08

to steal from you.

1:23:10

And as you tear it from its grasp, the tearing

1:23:12

between the curse and what it had grabbed

1:23:16

shudders your body with physical pain.

1:23:19

This is what you become aware of. Ame

1:23:22

collapses to the ground and

1:23:25

begins like expectorating black

1:23:27

bile. You see

1:23:30

the fox screams out

1:23:32

loud and

1:23:35

leaps to Ame's side as it's paused

1:23:37

shudder and it slips on the ground, writhing

1:23:40

in seizure on the floor. Each

1:23:43

of you, Suvi and Ursuline,

1:23:46

as Ame is convulsing, may

1:23:49

take an action in this moment. Ame,

1:23:51

you feel yourself. It's

1:23:54

one of these things where it's like, you

1:23:56

have to choose, are you guarding your face or your stomach,

1:23:59

you chose fate. and now you're paying the price

1:24:01

of your stomach. You just feel yourself totally

1:24:04

having lost control of your physical body while

1:24:06

putting all of your wishes training into protecting

1:24:09

your mind.

1:24:09

Duh.

1:24:11

Ah! I'd

1:24:16

like to run over, and if

1:24:18

you'll allow it, cast

1:24:21

a paladin spell, that

1:24:23

of protection from evil

1:24:26

and good. Ha ha ha! Hell

1:24:28

yes. Incredible.

1:24:31

You remember to cast that Suvi, what are you doing?

1:24:33

You know what, it's funny,

1:24:35

because I think Suvi's instincts were the same,

1:24:38

but if she sees you act first

1:24:40

because you're a little quicker on the draw, then

1:24:42

she'll turn her attention from protecting

1:24:45

Amé to understanding

1:24:47

what it is, and I'm gonna cast Identify

1:24:50

on the bile and figure out what's happening.

1:24:52

You begin to cast Identify, the casting

1:24:55

time on that is one minute. All right, you begin to cast

1:24:57

Identify on the bile. You

1:25:01

cast Protection from Evil

1:25:04

and Good. What does it look

1:25:06

like as Ursulan casts that spell?

1:25:08

I think similarly to Define's Might,

1:25:10

it is not a visual, there's

1:25:14

not like an intense visual

1:25:17

golden aura. I think there is a

1:25:20

moment of putting his hands on Amé. Amé! Amé!

1:25:24

And the kind

1:25:26

of the deep and ferocious grrrr

1:25:30

of the Great Bear that he would,

1:25:33

when those other

1:25:37

wild ones were

1:25:39

kind of moving toward his host, the sounds

1:25:42

that he would emit to

1:25:45

let them know that they were not welcome

1:25:48

and should take no step further to

1:25:51

interrupt his great parade. Those

1:25:55

kind of sounds are carried, kind of

1:25:58

very crystalline and clear for me.

1:25:59

perhaps more effervescent

1:26:02

for others. The spell

1:26:04

protects you. Ah, Amme,

1:26:06

give me another Constitution saving throw. The

1:26:09

difficulty is 20, but you are rolling with

1:26:11

advantage. That's 19,

1:26:14

17 on the die. Amme,

1:26:19

convulsing. You

1:26:21

feel the power of the spell protecting you. You shudder and

1:26:23

fall deep into

1:26:26

unconsciousness.

1:26:26

You

1:26:30

see that the fox next to

1:26:32

you similarly goes slack. Fox's

1:26:36

eyes stare straight ahead. Black

1:26:39

bile emerging from the fox's mouth

1:26:42

as well. Amme

1:26:44

goes slack.

1:26:45

Amme

1:26:48

goes slack. In

1:26:53

your mind, you begin to dream

1:26:57

of Grandmother Ren, and

1:27:00

of the first time she spoke to you of the world's heart. I'm

1:27:02

not sure what you're going to see.

1:27:12

Ursuline and Suvi, you

1:27:15

look down at this place and

1:27:18

see that Amme

1:27:22

has fallen into some

1:27:24

kind of rictus. She is alive,

1:27:27

but she is in the depths

1:27:30

of unconsciousness. As

1:27:33

you see that she's breathing,

1:27:36

she steadies, but she

1:27:39

is sweating a deep cold sweat.

1:27:41

Her familiar has also passed into unconsciousness.

1:27:45

You see that her fingers

1:27:47

and limbs twitch. There is some sort of spasm

1:27:50

in her foot as her toes overextend

1:27:53

and sort of like you

1:27:55

hear the tendons of her feet hurting. She

1:27:58

has lost control.

1:27:59

roll over her own body.

1:28:04

However, the breathing

1:28:06

remains strong. It

1:28:09

does not feel ragged. Her heartbeat

1:28:11

feels like it actually moves towards

1:28:13

resting, like someone powering

1:28:16

through a fever.

1:28:19

A minute passes very quickly. Ursuline,

1:28:22

you stay sort of

1:28:24

embracing her and holding her.

1:28:28

After

1:28:30

a minute, you cast Identify on the

1:28:32

bile here. What sort of information

1:28:35

are you looking for? So as in

1:28:38

this spell effect

1:28:41

is unfortunately not an enchanted object,

1:28:44

but it is a spell effect.

1:28:47

Is there, what would you be looking

1:28:50

for in this moment? Most of all? I

1:28:54

suppose her instinct is just towards

1:28:56

the last time I saw a

1:28:58

curse being lifted.

1:29:01

It always has some manner of like it

1:29:03

being expect, like there's expectorant

1:29:06

to it. So it was breath before. If

1:29:08

it's bile now, I think she is just

1:29:11

running through everything

1:29:13

in the lingua arcana to

1:29:15

codify and like categorize

1:29:17

whatever this is. Something's coming

1:29:20

out and it needs to be explained. If this

1:29:22

isn't the curse itself, then

1:29:24

it is a symptom of it. You can

1:29:27

understand a disease by what

1:29:29

it

1:29:30

brings up in people. So she's just trying

1:29:33

to get closer to the truth of it without

1:29:36

pressing into whatever Ame's

1:29:39

going through right now. What

1:29:41

you see is the bile, in

1:29:43

the past you've seen that

1:29:46

sort of like wisp of smoke coming out of the

1:29:48

mouth.

1:29:49

You think this bile

1:29:52

is actually not the curse. If

1:29:54

anything, actually you may have even, on that identify,

1:29:57

you may have seen a little puff of that mist

1:29:59

or smoke.

1:29:59

as Ursuline removed

1:30:02

the curse. The curse went. This

1:30:04

is whatever was behind the curse. It's something that was hidden

1:30:06

there. That was effective,

1:30:09

essentially this was, if the

1:30:11

curse goes, I kill you.

1:30:14

Got it. And Ame has surpassed

1:30:16

it, but not without

1:30:20

tremendous effort. So

1:30:22

Ame's unconsciousness is her

1:30:26

witch's body doing what it's

1:30:28

supposed to do. Like she's basically shut

1:30:30

down to, in other words, if she

1:30:32

had retained consciousness, this black

1:30:35

bile would likely have killed her. And

1:30:37

instead it was just like the things bodies

1:30:39

often do in tremendous sickness of just like shut

1:30:41

it all down, put all resources into not

1:30:44

dying. Gotcha. Then if

1:30:46

I can ask for a specific kind

1:30:48

of information, it's who did this come from?

1:30:52

Give me an arcana check. Here

1:30:54

we go. There we

1:30:56

go, 22. Touch

1:30:59

a finger down to the bile. Minor

1:31:02

cantrip protects your hand as you touch

1:31:04

it. It's already evaporating. This

1:31:06

blood will be gone in a moment.

1:31:09

Smells like deep iron.

1:31:13

The man in black. You

1:31:16

go to an old fear. You

1:31:21

remember being a little girl, village

1:31:24

on fire, and

1:31:26

a man who wore the form of a beast. Oh.

1:31:32

The blood but worse. Fire,

1:31:36

blood, iron. A

1:31:39

man with sharp fangs that looked at you without

1:31:42

kindness.

1:31:42

She'll

1:31:44

be dead, slowest down. You

1:31:48

remember him, Yorin.

1:31:52

His smell is on this bile. Though.

1:32:04

The

1:32:09

eastern edge of the sky just

1:32:11

starting to turn a lighter shade of indigo.

1:32:16

A massive red

1:32:19

dirigible with gold brocade

1:32:23

flying more swiftly

1:32:25

than a falcon.

1:32:33

Descend from the clouds and

1:32:35

docks above the governor's mansion.

1:32:56

A rope

1:32:59

spiral staircase descends.

1:33:03

A

1:33:05

little cylinder of ropes with rope

1:33:07

steps in a spiral down. Descends

1:33:14

in the pre-dawn light the sword of the citadel,

1:33:16

steel, enters

1:33:19

Suvi's chambers. And

1:33:22

I assume at this point that sheep

1:33:25

sees Ame in Suvi's bed.

1:33:28

The fox tucked

1:33:30

under the blanket by her side, still

1:33:34

unconscious and still dreaming. In

1:33:37

the intervening hours as Yuba waited through

1:33:39

the night for Steel to arrive,

1:33:42

what have how have Ursulan

1:33:45

and Suvi been tending to Ame? I

1:33:52

think there was definitely a cool two minutes

1:33:54

where we just kind of stood over the body

1:33:57

and were like, do we?

1:33:59

Do we touch it? I don't know. Can you make

1:34:02

her relax? The grippy's

1:34:04

on her feet right now, we're kind of wild. Exactly,

1:34:07

just like holding onto the toes, being like, oh,

1:34:09

come on, stop it, stop it, stop

1:34:11

it. Please stop it. She

1:34:16

is all right. She's

1:34:18

all right. Her heart is resting.

1:34:20

You, I saw, you

1:34:23

got the curse, you did it. Yes, I did

1:34:25

it. Yeah, I think,

1:34:30

it was supposed to kill her. Removing

1:34:32

this was supposed to kill her. So I don't

1:34:34

know if there's anything we can do, but wait

1:34:37

and hope that she's strong enough to wake

1:34:40

up. Yes, well, it's

1:34:44

a bit draft in here. What if we

1:34:46

get a fire going? I could do a fire, I could do a fire.

1:34:48

I walk over to the hilariously

1:34:51

giant mantle, like there's

1:34:54

no wooden, where the fuck is wood? I

1:34:56

leave the room and go find wood in another

1:34:58

ornamental room. I'm gonna take Ame's body

1:35:02

and the fox as well. And I

1:35:04

think take them over to Suvi's bed. Tuck them

1:35:06

into bed.

1:35:07

I think we've got like a basin with like hot,

1:35:10

like hot water and cold water to like keep

1:35:13

her warm, like filling up bags to keep her warm

1:35:15

in the bed and like to mop

1:35:18

her brow is she sort of feverish. Breathing

1:35:21

is a little bit shallow, but the heart rate

1:35:23

is down. Fox

1:35:26

is tucked up under her arm

1:35:28

as well, also unconscious and

1:35:32

pre-dawn light, steel

1:35:35

enters the chamber.

1:35:39

How caught up are you? Pretty

1:35:44

caught up. Okay. Do

1:35:48

you want more or should we start

1:35:51

with what you've got? Let me see if I understand.

1:35:53

Okay. After

1:35:57

we spoke, you went to the

1:35:59

Chantry. I was

1:36:01

told that our honored friend escaped,

1:36:05

that more spirits

1:36:08

attacked the city, and that

1:36:10

you rode to the walls and tried

1:36:12

to draw the other spirit of

1:36:15

the forest down to meet our

1:36:18

honored friend in the harbor, and that upon

1:36:20

meeting they vanished. Yes. Oh,

1:36:24

do I throw Ursula under the bus? Ursula

1:36:28

is standing over by the fire, I think just trying,

1:36:31

being quiet. Our

1:36:34

honored, the creature, it

1:36:37

was, yes,

1:36:39

there was an assist, but he

1:36:42

was, he escaped, and

1:36:45

then... So you said there was a what? A

1:36:47

bit of an assist. There

1:36:50

was a bit of an assist? Yeah.

1:36:54

We, we don't tell

1:36:56

our honored friends what to

1:36:58

do, because they don't necessarily

1:37:00

always super listen. And

1:37:03

you're the one that told me not to underestimate

1:37:06

witches. I cannot

1:37:08

control their actions.

1:37:12

So... Steel glances at Amé

1:37:14

and Conscience in the bed, glances over to you

1:37:16

by the fire.

1:37:19

Amé to understand that your

1:37:21

friend, Ursulon,

1:37:24

released Naram. Sorry.

1:37:28

Yeah. I did. Even

1:37:33

though I told you I was coming to do exactly that.

1:37:38

Yes. Was there any reason that you saw a fit to do this on

1:37:40

your own? Did

1:37:42

not feel right. Over 150

1:37:48

soldiers of the Empire are dead. I

1:37:52

did everything I could to save as many as I

1:37:54

could. In

1:38:00

the future, Ursulan, if

1:38:04

you feel a sudden urge

1:38:07

to act, you

1:38:10

are not under my command and I cannot stop

1:38:12

you. If

1:38:15

you have the urge to act without alerting

1:38:18

me that my soldiers

1:38:20

may be in grave danger, I

1:38:23

will consider that the act of an enemy. That

1:38:28

honored friend should have been free, and

1:38:31

if we had worked together, many might still live

1:38:33

that are now dead. I

1:38:38

hold her days. This

1:38:45

is very disappointing. Where

1:38:49

is Moro? I do not know.

1:38:53

She turns to Ursulan. Taken

1:38:57

by the sea. Well,

1:39:01

I suppose we have saved the cost

1:39:03

of a trial for treason. She

1:39:07

walks over to the bed

1:39:10

with Ame. What

1:39:12

happened here? You don't

1:39:15

want like a little break before we get into

1:39:17

the new bad stuff. I

1:39:19

don't know why I would expect anything other than bad

1:39:21

stuff at this point, but please tell me. We

1:39:24

removed the curse. And

1:39:26

I see that that went extremely well with no complications.

1:39:32

It worked. I'm

1:39:35

just so glad that the endless

1:39:38

resources of the Citadel are

1:39:40

so constantly being utilized

1:39:43

by those who would benefit from its

1:39:45

aid. Yeah.

1:39:47

But it makes sense that this help

1:39:49

would be cast aside because of all of the harm

1:39:52

the Citadel has constantly done to you.

1:39:54

Why? No, I'm

1:39:57

glad that our knowledge and resources are

1:39:59

of no constant. consequence or interest, absolutely.

1:40:04

Can we do my stuff now? Yes.

1:40:07

Where the fuck is Yorin?

1:40:12

Yorin? Why?

1:40:18

What makes you bring that up? When

1:40:23

Ursuline removed the curse from

1:40:25

Ame, she spit

1:40:28

up bile that smelled exactly

1:40:30

like Yorin.

1:40:34

I will never forget that smell. I

1:40:37

am not wrong. What

1:40:42

is he? Dangerous.

1:40:49

We have a long overdue

1:40:51

conversation, you and I. She

1:40:53

looks at Ame, you see

1:40:55

she casts a divination

1:40:58

spell. A

1:41:01

set of glowing eyes appear

1:41:04

over her own for a moment.

1:41:07

This is extremely dangerous magic.

1:41:11

We should get Ame

1:41:13

to help as fast as possible. The

1:41:16

longer she remains in a state like this, the

1:41:19

more those who created

1:41:21

this spell will

1:41:23

be able to track her. Wait,

1:41:25

what? God,

1:41:27

I get it, I get it. We have to

1:41:29

wait for you. Shit. The

1:41:33

stranger that showed up at the cottage, this

1:41:36

curse, this is not accidental. None

1:41:38

of this is an accident. Okay.

1:41:46

We have the resources to heal

1:41:49

Ame and undo the tangle

1:41:51

of this spell craft at the Citadel.

1:41:54

You can keep an eye on her there, which is what

1:41:57

that is the task that you are going to be appointed

1:41:59

when we return. will be tending to Amé. Understood.

1:42:02

All right. Ursalon,

1:42:05

you are an honored friend. You

1:42:08

are granted welcome to the Citadel

1:42:10

if you would wish it, but I'm not going to command

1:42:12

you to do anything you

1:42:15

do not wish. If I

1:42:17

came with you, would I be

1:42:19

under your command?

1:42:21

No, you'd be

1:42:23

a guest of the Citadel. You would be beholden

1:42:25

to our rules, but you would not be under our command.

1:42:30

Um...

1:42:32

All right. We'll

1:42:35

make ready to leave. I have some

1:42:37

business to attend to in Port Talon, but

1:42:40

it looks like a tremendous amount of

1:42:42

people were saved. Is

1:42:44

there anything I can help with? I

1:42:47

don't know. I would tell

1:42:49

you some tasks for

1:42:52

you to carry out, but it seems almost

1:42:54

more likely that you'll do them if I don't ask for them.

1:42:58

Take care of your friend. She's fighting

1:43:00

a battle harder than I think any of us can realize.

1:43:03

Tend to her and you'll be doing what is of

1:43:05

the most significance to the Citadel.

1:43:08

Understood. Steel turns

1:43:10

around, looks at you, Suvi. But

1:43:14

look at just exhaustion. Just, she's really tired.

1:43:17

She just looks really tired. And

1:43:20

she looks over at you. You see

1:43:22

her gaze moves over to Amé in

1:43:24

the bed and she sort

1:43:26

of shakes her head a little bit, I think.

1:43:30

You can make an insight check if you want to see what she's

1:43:32

thinking in that moment. I do. Yeah, go for

1:43:34

it.

1:43:36

You

1:43:38

just see her looking at Amé and

1:43:41

just sort of like, just

1:43:44

the look of more stuff being out of her

1:43:46

grasp. And I think she looks, and you can almost

1:43:48

see a look on her face of when

1:43:51

she came to get you from grandmother Ren's a

1:43:53

long time ago. And I think you can see her

1:43:55

thinking about grandmother Ren.

1:43:57

She turns back to you, Ursuline.

1:44:01

I cannot blame you for seeking

1:44:04

to free our honored friend. What

1:44:09

happened to him was a travesty and atrocity

1:44:12

in the truest sense of the word.

1:44:16

I just hope

1:44:18

for the sake of those

1:44:20

that are lost, that

1:44:24

the weight of

1:44:26

these actions, that

1:44:28

the burden of great magic is not

1:44:31

lost

1:44:31

on you. Every

1:44:34

one of the wizards who

1:44:36

died had a name,

1:44:40

a story, a life. Perhaps

1:44:45

their service to the empire renders that

1:44:49

immaterial. Perhaps

1:44:51

the story of what happened yesterday

1:44:54

is simply that the guild mage Moro

1:44:56

was mad with power

1:44:59

and ambition and he meddled with the forces of the

1:45:02

spirit

1:45:05

world and those that died were the price

1:45:07

that he forced them to pay. Or

1:45:09

maybe it is the fault of or Rima

1:45:12

or Naram or Port Talon or myself.

1:45:15

I don't know.

1:45:17

I just, and you see her voice

1:45:20

for the first time that you've heard in years, Suvi

1:45:22

just goes soft.

1:45:25

I just hope everybody's thinking carefully

1:45:27

and she massages the bridge of her

1:45:32

nose where it meets her brow and the tear

1:45:34

comes at the corner of her eye and falls down her cheek.

1:45:43

What, or

1:45:45

whatever it's worth, Galani

1:45:48

was exemplary throughout

1:45:51

the crisis. More

1:45:53

or less would be lost without her. My

1:45:57

life would be lost without her. Steel

1:46:01

looks at you, and

1:46:05

you just watch her reappraise you with her eyes.

1:46:09

Speaking with praise about

1:46:11

someone within the Citadel,

1:46:15

give me one more insight check actually as you say that.

1:46:19

Say 17. You

1:46:21

watch her look at you,

1:46:24

and she

1:46:26

nods, and there's a type of pride

1:46:29

here in this moment. It's not like

1:46:32

a smiling worm like, wow, good job.

1:46:34

But you see that

1:46:35

you're telling her that

1:46:38

part of this thing

1:46:41

that she's devoted her life to building is

1:46:43

working.

1:46:44

You're giving her the knowledge that there's someone she can

1:46:47

trust.

1:46:48

You're doing it in a way, there's nothing that you

1:46:51

gain from it. And I think you think back to the

1:46:53

first conversation when you were about to leave the Citadel

1:46:55

of saying, I need to get out of here. I'm

1:46:58

trapped, da da da da da da.

1:47:01

And you realize that telling her about

1:47:03

Galani's exemplary service is not only

1:47:05

a kindness to someone that did save your life, but actually

1:47:07

it's how any of this has

1:47:10

to work,

1:47:11

to know when something is working, to know

1:47:13

that there's someone she can trust.

1:47:15

And

1:47:16

on your part, because

1:47:19

this is so selfless,

1:47:21

and it's you just making sure that someone

1:47:24

gets their credit, you realize

1:47:26

that the look Steel is giving you is one

1:47:28

of acknowledging that you saying

1:47:31

this is leadership.

1:47:33

Cebie doesn't react outwardly,

1:47:37

but has learned

1:47:39

another thing about herself and

1:47:42

what she's capable of in this moment.

1:47:58

Later that day.

1:48:00

You board Steel's

1:48:05

dirigible. Headed

1:48:08

east. You

1:48:12

get a stateroom for Ame

1:48:14

and the fox. Or

1:48:16

Salon, you board this flying

1:48:20

ship, this massive wooden gondola

1:48:22

of almost like a tall ship with a

1:48:25

giant dirigible that gets like a bright

1:48:27

red oblong balloon

1:48:30

with gold brocade

1:48:33

and big diamond shapes

1:48:35

all over it. Little fins coming

1:48:37

off the side and a massive spell engine

1:48:40

on the back. The sort of purple hue

1:48:42

of like the four shield protecting

1:48:44

the uppermost deck. And

1:48:48

you

1:48:48

begin to fly east

1:48:51

from this place.

1:48:55

In this room, you

1:48:58

fly so quickly,

1:49:01

the sea whipping away underneath

1:49:03

you as you leave Port Talon. There's

1:49:06

always one of you by Ame's side

1:49:08

as she rests to receive the care

1:49:10

and attention that she needs at the Citadel.

1:49:14

And as you were traveling, give me one last Arcana

1:49:16

check with advantage. Let's

1:49:17

go. Come on. 22. Hell yeah. After about

1:49:25

like three days of travel

1:49:28

over the wide sea, one

1:49:32

morning you awaken Ursalon.

1:49:36

Ame is still

1:49:38

breathing, has started to deteriorate

1:49:41

a little bit. She can't really

1:49:43

eat in this form and is just sort of struggling

1:49:46

with this unconsciousness,

1:49:48

which is why she's getting moved to the Citadel as quickly

1:49:51

as possible. You see the fox is breathing, is a little ragged

1:49:54

underneath. You know, you're

1:49:57

sleeping off in a corner somewhere. You can't

1:49:59

sleep in a bed.

1:50:00

And you

1:50:02

look up and see Suvi and

1:50:04

in this

1:50:05

first morning light you look at and don't see

1:50:07

ocean. You see endless

1:50:10

white sand. Suvi,

1:50:19

it's the morning that you know you

1:50:21

will reach the citadel again, your home.

1:50:25

And you are able to witness your

1:50:28

long lost brother or someone

1:50:31

beholding from the window a

1:50:35

tower of glass in an

1:50:38

endless desert. Blue

1:50:41

sky and white sand and

1:50:46

a monument to

1:50:48

the force of magic and the ability

1:50:51

to create impossible

1:50:53

and wondrous things.

1:51:12

You're reading the notes Suvi

1:51:14

of Soft and Stone and

1:51:22

you come across a

1:51:25

little interesting

1:51:27

margin thing. It's a small sort

1:51:30

of like spell. It's

1:51:32

like a little bit of just like housekeeping in an early

1:51:34

spell book journal. And

1:51:38

it's a note in your mother's

1:51:42

handwriting. You

1:51:44

said your mother had like always for posterity

1:51:46

and your dads were a little bit more informal. So this is actually

1:51:49

in Soft's handwriting. It's chicken scratch.

1:51:54

In the somatic

1:51:56

component of a spell, the body

1:51:59

of which you can't find. sure which spell it was, but you know

1:52:01

it's a very low level spell. It's not

1:52:03

a powerful, you know, dweomer. There's

1:52:07

just a corner something, because this is just scraps.

1:52:11

And you notice a

1:52:14

strange bit of

1:52:17

note keeping in your father's

1:52:19

handwriting. In

1:52:22

the spell, in the transcription

1:52:25

of the somatic components of

1:52:27

the basically the hand gestures, individual

1:52:31

units of somatic spell components,

1:52:34

the hand gestures you make to cast a spell are

1:52:36

referred to in the Citadel as notes. So

1:52:39

a note is a single discrete hand

1:52:41

movement in the casting of a spell.

1:52:44

And there's a note that appears in almost,

1:52:47

you say almost, and then you're like, no, it appears

1:52:49

in like every single spell. You can't

1:52:51

cast a spell without it. It's

1:52:54

the reflexive indicative, which is the

1:52:56

name of this note that is cast

1:52:58

in almost every single spell.

1:53:00

And you see that

1:53:02

your father's handwriting on this spell,

1:53:05

and this is like very, it looks like really like the

1:53:07

parchment this is on is like the kind of spell

1:53:10

you recognize it like this is like a

1:53:12

black and white like journal notebook you'd have in

1:53:14

school. It's like a composition notebook.

1:53:18

Your father has put a null

1:53:21

clef, which is this

1:53:23

is like the most jargony wizard stuff

1:53:25

ever, but this is this how technical it is

1:53:28

for Suvi to a

1:53:31

null clef is a symbol that you

1:53:33

basically put on a piece of spell

1:53:35

casting when you're working out something from

1:53:37

scratch. And you put a null clef on it

1:53:39

to say, Oh, this is done. Or like, this

1:53:41

is not necessary. You basically

1:53:44

put it on like a dead end where you're where

1:53:47

the null clef cancels it out and

1:53:49

makes it so you don't like accidentally

1:53:51

make a scroll of a bad spell. So

1:53:54

when you can't delete something because it's written in

1:53:56

magical ink, you just put a null clef

1:53:59

over it and it goes

1:53:59

was like, this is not part of the spell I'm working

1:54:02

on. I've canceled out this chunk of the shit I

1:54:04

was writing in this magical spell book. And

1:54:07

he's put a null clef over

1:54:10

the reflexive indicative.

1:54:11

What?

1:54:16

Okay.

1:54:18

And I think it's absolutely

1:54:20

that moment of when you

1:54:22

read something that's so sort of

1:54:24

outrageous that you like respond out loud

1:54:27

to it, and it feels like

1:54:29

she's trying to have a conversation with her dad

1:54:31

and like, that doesn't make any sense. No,

1:54:34

you

1:54:34

need that. You have to... What

1:54:39

dumb little cantrip do

1:54:41

I have ready that

1:54:44

requires the reflexive indicative that

1:54:46

I can just... I mean...

1:54:49

You realize you already cast

1:54:51

it. You just cast it.

1:54:54

Mending.

1:54:55

The contraction your mother put in the

1:54:58

mending cantrip. Oh.

1:55:02

Oh. You're

1:55:05

right. That

1:55:07

makes... Sufi,

1:55:11

who are you talking to? My dad.

1:55:14

Oh. The

1:55:22

glass tower approaches as

1:55:25

you look and wonder how

1:55:30

it could be or come to pass

1:55:32

that this all

1:55:36

suddenly comes to make a

1:55:38

sort of perfect sense to you. And

1:55:41

as it does, there is a gentle

1:55:43

knock at the door and you

1:55:45

hear Steel's voice. Sufi,

1:55:49

you awake? Yeah,

1:55:53

yes, I'm sorry. And

1:55:57

instead

1:55:57

of putting the book down, she just pushes

1:55:59

it into your head. to her chest, so it's open and

1:56:02

flat on her body as she goes to open the door.

1:56:06

You open the door, Steel greets you. We

1:56:10

arrive at the Citadel within the hour.

1:56:12

We

1:56:18

should talk. Oh,

1:56:21

oh, yeah. It

1:56:26

has been a long time coming, and

1:56:29

there has never been what felt like the right moment,

1:56:31

but the time has

1:56:33

come to speak of soft and

1:56:36

stone of

1:56:39

the last night that you

1:56:41

saw them.

1:56:44

And I need to tell you about Jorunn.

1:56:59

And that's where we're

1:57:02

gonna conclude arc one

1:57:04

of the Wizards of the Witch and the Wild one. No,

1:57:06

nasty little man. You're a bad

1:57:09

man. And we'll pick back up in the Citadel.

1:57:13

That was Lou Wilson as Ursulon, Erika Ishii as Ame,

1:57:17

Abriya Iyengar as Suvi, and

1:57:20

Brennan Lee Mulligan as

1:57:22

Eriya Iyengar as Eriya Iyengar as Eriya Iyengar

1:57:25

as Eriya Iyengar and

1:57:27

Brennan Lee Mulligan as Eriya Iyengar

1:57:29

as Eriya Iyengar as Eriya Iyengar. Worlds

1:57:32

Beyond Number is edited, designed, and

1:57:34

scored by Taylor Moore at

1:57:36

Fortunate Horse with additional sound

1:57:38

design from Michael Gelfie Studios.

1:57:41

For even more like this, join us on

1:57:44

our Patreon.

1:57:45

We'll see you there. Thanks

1:57:57

for watching!

1:58:02

Just your charisma modifier to this, but

1:58:06

you are going to roll with disadvantage. Got

1:58:09

it, because of all the penis stuff? Because of all the penis stuff.

1:58:11

Oh

1:58:11

no!