0:06

This is the sound of world's beyond number.

0:19

Well, last we left off, we met our wonderful

0:22

three heroes or protagonists

0:25

of this story. We met

0:27

Eursilon working five

0:30

years prior in a tavern having

0:33

almost been napped by a hedge mate.

0:36

And his goon squad,

0:38

I suppose, in a stable with

0:41

a special sword. Pattern

0:44

of waves along the cross guard and

0:46

a fist of many fingers curled

0:48

into a ball sprinting into

0:51

the woods after being injured by strange

0:53

magic. We met

0:55

Sylvain Kedbiddicate, or Sylvie,

0:58

as she is called, the

1:00

apprentice to the archmage silence

1:02

and friend

1:04

and ward of

1:07

steel first sort of the Citadel. In

1:09

the heart of the empire, who

1:12

was sent to visit an ailing

1:14

grandmother Ren, and we met

1:17

omey, the apprentice grandmother

1:19

Ren in a witch's cottage outside

1:21

the village of Tooma. The

1:26

passing of grandmother Ren was something

1:28

that had been anticipated for some

1:30

time. What was not anticipated

1:34

was a strange curse

1:37

that had fallen over grandmother

1:40

Ren. Many

1:42

secrets she had kept for a long

1:44

time from

1:47

a man from the children that she had looked

1:49

after in a golden

1:51

summer many years before. But

1:55

those secrets she remembered

1:58

having told The army

2:00

bore no memory of it. Smoke

2:02

curled from her mouth, and

2:04

some strange curse had been placed upon

2:06

her. In her last moments,

2:08

she bid Suvy and Ami farewell,

2:11

and her familiar, the rooster Taro

2:13

said that the sword wave breaker

2:15

was the key to

2:18

finding a way to

2:20

unleash those secrets from where the curse had

2:22

bound them, wherever that was. Sore,

2:25

of course, had been given in childhood to their

2:27

friend, Ursula, long lost these

2:30

many, many years. No one had seen him.

2:32

And so Find Earth's land

2:35

they must and Taro's last piece of advice

2:38

was that Ami would need a Taro

2:40

of her own. We

2:43

ended last episode with the

2:45

sun having set in record speed

2:47

as time itself was slowed by the presence

2:50

of great workings of the world of spirits. To

2:53

figure approaching on

2:55

the road and to that moment

2:57

and that exact moment. We

3:00

will return. Crescent

3:13

moon, like a wide smile,

3:16

and glittering stars Though

3:20

a long and lonely cloud

3:22

begins to stretch like a

3:24

pointed hand and

3:26

crosses at the mid section of the

3:28

crescent moon. A

3:32

figure walks down

3:34

the country road dressed

3:37

in black. The

3:39

manner of their clothes

3:44

like a merchant or a lord in

3:46

the cut, but in style

3:49

somehow strange and undressed.

3:52

No shine of silver, no gold

3:54

brocade. Simple,

3:58

clean. Tall boots

4:01

and long breeches and

4:04

a wide

4:05

brim. With long

4:08

trail of a cap behind and a thick black

4:10

cloak. Figure

4:15

Stepping out of the shadow of a lean

4:17

tree, stepping

4:19

along the road, and passes.

4:22

Beyond the edge of the

4:24

window through which Suvi is looking.

4:27

You

4:31

come to your senses still here in this moment

4:34

where grandmother Ren has just passed and

4:37

it is now magic

4:41

and cerreally and

4:44

with a sense of almost something

4:46

like nausea, It

4:50

has become night. The

4:53

cottage that you

4:55

stand in And specifically,

4:59

the bed chamber of grandmother Ren

5:01

whose body still rests in

5:03

the bed next to you, though

5:06

she is now gone, you

5:10

become aware that the shifting of the house is

5:12

stopped. You don't hear the creaking of wood anymore.

5:14

And you look at it and see the moon and starlight

5:17

on the cottage, but you don't hear the buzzing

5:19

of bees. It's very still. The only

5:21

thing you hear is the lone babbling of the

5:23

stream. And even that babbling

5:26

feels somehow distant, echoing.

5:30

Cottage is very silent. These

5:33

are the first moments that either of you,

5:36

Suvi and Ami, have

5:38

stood in this place knowing

5:40

that In a very real sense,

5:42

this is no longer grandmother Rand's

5:45

cottage. Three

5:52

loud knocks upon

5:55

the workshop door closest

5:57

to the road. Wait.

6:01

What do you wanna do?

6:05

I have

6:05

to go head to the dark.

6:07

Give me one moment. And

6:09

very quickly, I

6:11

cast the ritual that I have

6:14

prepared of the ceremony. A

6:17

brief funeral. Right?

6:20

Even though I don't have time to mourn, I have

6:22

to make sure that she's properly prepared.

6:25

Placed my hand on grandmother's eyelids.

6:30

I hold them. I

6:34

whisper, quiet words, be

6:36

a piece. The

6:42

bed clothes, the sleeves

6:44

that you can see peeping over the covers,

6:47

all turn white,

6:49

as if the spreading of an ink or

6:51

a die, only it's an absence of color.

7:00

She should be safe here for

7:02

now. I hurry downstairs.

7:05

What do you want me to

7:06

do? Stay

7:08

hidden. So

7:11

I

7:19

compose myself and walk to the

7:21

front door. Who is

7:23

it?

7:28

Normally, there is a small candle

7:33

underneath a tin hood

7:35

on the outside of the workshop door

7:39

that as long as someone is

7:41

downstairs, a

7:43

sputtering little blue candle will

7:46

hop to life. Careful attention

7:49

of anyone being outside of

7:51

their bed chamber. Candeluk

7:54

doesn't light when you reach the bottom of errors.

7:58

It is pitch

8:01

black looking through the workshop window.

8:12

Who is at the door

8:15

of grandmother Ren's cottage? You

8:18

hear the

8:21

scratch of gravel

8:23

and dust as a pair

8:25

of boots. Takes

8:28

three steps

8:30

back from the door as

8:33

though giving space

8:36

for the door to be opened and the

8:38

person outside to be regarded. This

8:46

is the final time that I will ask, who

8:49

is at our door? The

8:53

voice that

8:56

comes from outside,

8:59

from a face you cannot see,

9:03

is cold beyond

9:05

imagining. It

9:08

seems to hit your skin almost more

9:11

than it hits your

9:11

ears. Suvy,

9:15

you

9:16

can feel

9:18

someone talking even though you're all the way upstairs.

9:22

Outside the door, are you here?

9:30

I am an older friend of

9:33

grandmother friends. Come

9:36

to pay my respects.

9:41

May I come in? You

9:43

may not enter. What is your name's

9:46

Stranger?

9:55

You ask a

9:57

traveler their name through

10:00

a shut door. My

10:08

name, I won't give you one.

10:13

I can tell you this. I

10:18

am a wanderer. They

10:22

have called me a

10:24

bedroom under the stars, the

10:28

man in black. The king

10:30

of the night. I

10:32

waited the crossroads and I'd bied

10:34

my time. I

10:37

have never ready and always

10:39

near and I have

10:41

held my breath since the

10:43

dawning of the world. Won't

10:50

you let me pay my

10:52

respects?

11:04

Forgive the inhospitable nature

11:07

of my demands, but

11:11

as you seem to have

11:13

intuited. Grandma

11:18

is unable

11:23

to be here herself to greet you.

11:26

May I May I

11:31

ask you to come back again? Here.

11:34

Scrap batch of a

11:36

boot in the dust. Name

11:42

the day. Give

11:51

me one year from now. You

11:57

got one year. It

11:59

is day. I

12:07

come down the stairs and

12:09

immediately 2 grab you

12:11

and hold

12:12

you. You did very

12:14

well. She would

12:16

be very proud.

12:18

III don't Who was that?

12:20

Give me

12:21

a religion check. Oh.

12:24

Can

12:24

I make a history check to see if I've ever read anything?

12:26

Yeah. Yeah. Give me history or Arkana. Fifteen

12:29

for Arkana. Seven.

12:32

I think that of those

12:34

many titles, You

12:37

have never heard any of them, but

12:40

I think you know all of the connotations of

12:42

them. That being didn't

12:44

give a single name. Yeah.

12:47

As it becomes day,

12:50

you see all of that time in which you lost

12:52

grandmother Ren. Comes back.

12:54

In other words, like, that time slowing

12:57

down was him approaching.

12:59

Yeah. Almost like

13:01

he brought the night with him as he got

13:04

closer and then took it when he left. And

13:06

then took it when he left. You

13:08

do know you remember an old

13:10

lecture in an early class

13:13

a warning about spirits.

13:16

That most spirits would not give you a name.

13:18

If you did they did give you a name, it would mean you had power

13:21

over them. Mhmm. Often, they

13:23

would go by a title. You know, there's

13:25

the great there, for example, that has like

13:27

a great title that doesn't give its name out.

13:31

You you were told

13:33

about some spirits that had multiple titles.

13:35

Multiple titles indicated immensity

13:39

of power and the

13:42

ability for that creature to hide

13:44

its names amongst multiple

13:47

appellation -- Yes. -- that it's

13:49

true form would be sort of hidden

13:52

or obscured.

13:54

And the scariest spirit you studied had

13:56

three. Oh,

13:59

no. Okay.

14:04

I know the only things I've studied.

14:08

You can't hold a candle to what you must know,

14:10

Ami. But whatever

14:13

that was.

14:16

A strong. As you were standing there,

14:18

you smell a stink.

14:21

All of the milk in the kitchen like

14:24

in the icebox has gone bad and stinks

14:26

like crazy. There

14:30

you look out and There's

14:32

a couple of fruit trees that border the

14:34

road. All of the fruit hanging over the

14:36

road has withered. No. And you

14:40

still you you hear the bees start buzzing

14:42

again. So there's stuff going

14:44

on, but

14:47

you see that there is a

14:50

lovely little bead kind

14:53

of It's

14:56

almost like a patch that is like framed

14:58

up above the doorway from the workshop into

15:01

the rest of the house, and it's framed up to

15:03

face and line up with the outer

15:05

door. And it's just a little beadwork in

15:07

like red and lapis and

15:10

black and white of an eye.

15:12

It's smoking. And

15:17

Suvy, you feel dangling

15:19

in one of your pockets of your robe.

15:23

Immediately go and reach

15:25

in. You cut your finger

15:27

on the shattered speaking

15:29

mirror.

15:30

No. Okay?

15:32

You're bleeding. I'm fine. She

15:34

pulls away from you. I'm fine.

15:38

I run over to the icebox, And

15:41

I take a look at the milk.

15:44

Can I divine whether this

15:46

is part of the curse

15:49

from a stranger or just

15:50

time? Give me give

15:52

me a nature I'll give me like a survival trick.

15:55

Sixteen.

15:56

You believe

15:58

this was the appearance of

16:00

this being at the door, that

16:03

even though it could not gain entry

16:05

to the house, that just its

16:07

presence here

16:09

was shaking the foundations

16:12

of this cottage.

16:15

On a time was slipping before

16:17

grandmother and died. I

16:20

panicked. I panicked. I didn't I

16:22

didn't know what to do. I didn't I've never

16:25

had to This can't be my

16:28

cottage.

16:31

I'm not I don't I'm

16:33

not ready for it yet. Well,

16:37

but I'm gonna do the best that I can. You

16:44

I mean, I don't even know where to start. I

16:46

haven't seen you in so long, and I know that

16:48

you must surely have

16:51

places to be. And I

16:53

I look up and down

16:56

at your finely tailored wardrobe

16:58

and your hair

17:01

and but

17:06

I I would She asked

17:08

us both to find Eursilon, and I

17:10

would greatly appreciate your help in

17:12

that. Of

17:15

course, I

17:18

thought think

17:21

everyone at home thought

17:23

that there

17:25

would be more time. So

17:27

there's time enough for this. Thank

17:30

you. Of course. I

17:32

did bring steel.

17:36

The woman that came

17:38

from me at the end of the summer, asked

17:41

me to bring some things for a grandmother

17:44

in. Oh, What

17:46

were they? They're yours now.

17:49

And I pull out the book.

17:52

And a sealed group

17:56

of scrolls. I don't know what scrolls are.

17:59

This is a book about stars of the Southern

18:02

Sky. Mhmm.

18:04

Thank you. I

18:06

suppose I can

18:08

take a look and I

18:12

thumb through the book.

18:13

Okay. Yeah. You go ahead and you thumb through

18:15

the book. Let me know

18:18

what kind of check you think you're making

18:20

there. I think investigation probably makes the most

18:22

sense if you're yeah. So go ahead and give me investigation

18:24

check. Fifteen.

18:31

On a fifteen, you

18:33

know that this references a lot

18:36

of constellations that would be of

18:38

interest to grandmother Ren. The

18:40

book is book

18:42

of wizardry. So there's a lot of

18:44

it talking about the

18:46

movements of celestial bodies and

18:49

the nature of the stars. Grandmother Ren

18:51

often talked about the stars, but probably in ways

18:54

that were not as stemic

18:59

as this. She used to

19:01

talk about some stars as being

19:03

nosy and other stars as being

19:05

bad or good luck. And some stars

19:08

as being playful and seemed

19:10

to have a relationship to them mostly due

19:12

to her ability to fly.

19:14

So she sort of had a relationship with them

19:17

like someone who spent time in

19:19

their company.

19:20

I'm going to poke

19:24

a little further into

19:27

the book to see if perhaps

19:29

it's not the words of the

19:31

book. But something hidden in

19:33

the book itself. Sure.

19:35

Do you giving

19:36

me another investigation check? Yes. Go for

19:38

it. I only got a seven.

19:41

You begin to look deeper into the book for

19:43

something hidden, and I think

19:46

hit a wall of

19:49

because I think you were looking for something

19:51

hidden in the way of, like, what's

19:53

something that would almost be, like, intuitive

19:56

or second nature, like, you

19:58

hide things in places where you can still

20:00

get them. And you're looking at all this stuff

20:02

and being like, this

20:05

is so complicated.

20:07

That wizard could hide something

20:09

in here without even

20:11

having to hide it. It could just be here and I'm looking

20:13

at

20:13

it and

20:14

I don't know what I'm

20:16

supposed to be looking for. Not a eight bucks.

20:19

Okay. What? III

20:21

said,

20:23

thanks for the bucks. While

20:26

she's doing this, I just wanted to kind of

20:28

give her a task so I could circle the

20:30

cottage and try to kind

20:32

of assess the situation and see if I noticed

20:34

anything else

20:36

weird on account of the strangers

20:38

visit.

20:40

Yeah, absolutely. Go ahead and you give

20:43

me investigation check. Twelve, but

20:45

my passive investigation is a twenty

20:47

one. Incredible. WBN

20:52

a passage twenty one investigation, I

20:55

think that much has

20:57

changed in the house since you were here.

21:00

Yeah. Grandmother

21:02

WBN became more tired

21:05

with time and became

21:07

more capable with time. So

21:09

a lot of the the little

21:11

tiny details you notice are

21:14

ways of organizing dishes

21:17

and cutlery, the grandmother Ren deferred

21:19

had given way to them being organized in the way that

21:21

Omni preferred. And little I

21:23

think Omni's room is probably much changed.

21:27

How is it how does Hamid's room looked there? Did you go

21:29

into the room? Oh, you know what I do?

21:31

So as he step into the room, whereas

21:34

before you remember, nest

21:37

of pillows and blankets and

21:39

soft bits next

21:41

to curled

21:43

up in the corner. With your bunk,

21:46

all nice and tidy and orderly. And

21:50

the window is so large enough

21:52

for perhaps visiting

21:56

spirit friend. Now

21:58

you see that the

22:01

bunk has been disassembled.

22:04

It is just one bed

22:06

now, but There

22:10

is a bed

22:12

roll on the ground in place of the

22:14

nest, a sort

22:16

of soft round

22:19

cushiony mat.

22:22

So it's not quite as chaotic

22:24

but is is still a floor

22:27

sleeping situation. And

22:30

you see the old familiar

22:33

scroll on the wall above a

22:36

fist size, tiny fist sized

22:38

hole that says, be kind.

22:42

But your bunk, which

22:45

is clearly been moved down to be

22:47

this single bed, is just

22:50

the way you left it. Disordered.

22:55

It is just the way that you left it

22:57

with the slats of

22:59

wood where you pulled them up out

23:02

of -- Bordeaux. --

23:04

restlessness. And

23:07

the window sill is not

23:09

covered in dust. But

23:12

there's still sheets

23:16

of flowers and

23:19

herbs tied up in crystals

23:22

hanging, catching the sunlight, It

23:25

seems a lot more purposeful now though.

23:28

And you see on the desk instead

23:30

of the untidy clutter

23:32

of beakers

23:36

and plants and

23:38

powders, it's

23:40

a somewhat more orderly alchemy

23:42

set.

23:44

2 Suvy see any

23:48

hint of a blue cloak anywhere in the

23:50

room? Bola

23:56

perception tracker.

23:59

Okay. Well, I feel like I have to remind you my passive

24:01

perception is eighteen. Do I really have to roll?

24:05

Actually,

24:05

I 2. He just gave me a slide a hand to see

24:07

you. Yeah.

24:08

No. Yeah. That's true.

24:10

So I rolled the natural wood.

24:14

Yeah. Light of hand is thirteen. On

24:17

the passive perception No. Passive

24:19

perception. I will

24:21

say, you see.

24:24

I'm a little sleeping mat. Although

24:27

there's a big fluffy comforter over

24:30

it, you see a tiny corner

24:33

of blue peeking out

24:35

from under the tucked cover. I

24:39

think that's the

24:40

thing. I was trying

24:43

to put together the ways in which

24:46

your true friend has

24:48

stayed the same and grown

24:50

up away from you. And

24:53

then seeing that little corner of the cloak

24:55

that I gave you years ago.

24:58

I'll walk over and

25:00

just kind of touch the edge

25:03

and for whatever it's worth, push

25:06

a little bit of mending into it.

25:09

To seal the fibers and let it last a little

25:11

longer?

25:15

With that incredible passive investigation

25:18

WBN the way, you look out the window

25:20

at the mid afternoon Sunlight that is suddenly

25:22

back on the cottage and

25:26

see very

25:28

eventful time here at grandmother

25:31

Rand's cottage. You

25:33

see a site that it wants your

25:35

wizard brain goes, I

25:37

have to put this together with all this, my grandmother's

25:39

rent. Just I just watched grandmother's rent pass

25:41

away. And it's the foundations

25:44

of the earth shook as she passed and

25:46

I've seen a magic here more powerful than anything

25:48

and then a sight comes into your eyes that the moment

25:50

you see it know has to be totally

25:53

unrelated to everything else you have

25:55

seen here, which is that a very

25:57

confused looking fox comes

26:00

out of the henhouse with a dead

26:02

chicken in its mouth because when it

26:04

went into the henhouse, it was night in its day

26:06

now. And

26:08

it's got a dead chicken. And there's a couple

26:11

little feathers that fall around and you see a confused

26:14

fox who's got you

26:16

know, red, the little brown socks,

26:19

and the little white tuff, and the white under

26:21

the chin with, like, just a

26:23

little bit of of the of the hair

26:25

getting darker and almost black on the little ridge

26:27

in between the shoulders. Looking

26:29

around, dead chicken, blood soaked fangs,

26:32

and just a state of utter perplexity.

26:35

You hear a mad woman cackle

26:38

from upstairs in your room.

26:40

The cackle goes off and the fox Sprint

26:42

hits a fence, changes direction, and sprints

26:44

off into the woods with the chicken and is

26:46

gone. You

26:52

That's holy

26:54

god. The last hour is crazy

26:56

thing I've ever

26:57

experienced. Oh, that's not a that's not a completely

27:00

be laugh. Okay. Oh, that's true.

27:04

I saw I the squirrels under

27:07

my arm. III taught

27:09

upstairs. I

27:12

couldn't arm on I'm good. You

27:14

might say? Yeah.

27:16

Have you ever just felt like a fox a little bit?

27:22

You know, that's a crazy thing to say, but

27:24

yes. Yes. Yes, I

27:26

am.

27:29

This is wild. Is

27:32

this every day for you? No.

27:35

Jesus. Know most days, it's just

27:37

a village in need of help and

27:40

just me and grandma run.

27:45

Alright.

27:49

I know that there is quite a

27:52

lot that's just gotten dropped on your plate, but

27:54

I think it would be good for us

27:56

to move

27:56

expeditiously. That's

27:58

big word. Yes. I

28:01

I read --

28:02

Yeah. -- for someone who hates books. That's a big

28:04

word. I don't know what you're talking about. I heard

28:07

what I heard.

28:07

Okay. Alright. Well Mhmm.

28:11

That's how I know you're a witch and prepared.

28:13

You've got the mumbling under your breath down

28:15

to a science. Oh,

28:18

it's true.

28:23

You so you

28:25

stated that you have you obviously have having undone

28:27

the school case, you've taken some scrolls out

28:29

that to you looked like

28:33

a cult anatomical drawings

28:36

of different strange beasts.

28:38

And I mean, you've only known the wildlife

28:41

of a calm and perhaps a little

28:43

bit of a different place before than

28:45

But for the most part, you you

28:47

know, you only know the wildlife around here, which

28:50

there are some larger animals around.

28:52

Like, there's still you know, there are some

28:54

bears in the woods or a

28:57

deer or a panther maybe up where gets a little

28:59

bit more mountainous up

29:00

north. But these

29:02

are some strange beasts

29:04

in these sort of anatomical drawings

29:06

that you see. I

29:09

don't think I've seen any like

29:11

this around here. I'm

29:17

not going to cry. Well,

29:21

it seems that we're working on this together. So Yeah.

29:23

Let me see him. Okay. Thank you.

29:27

With that high passive investigation

29:29

score, you thumb through them and

29:31

you find one. With

29:34

a beast on it you recognize. The

29:37

last time you saw this beast, was

29:41

in the town of Silbury when

29:43

you were a child and the town

29:45

was in fire. And

29:48

you realized that these are not beasts

29:51

these are the forms

29:55

that certain magicians can

29:57

wear if they so choose. Oh,

30:03

please keep these safe.

30:07

Keep them secret. Of

30:10

course, that was the plan.

30:13

Was it of some significance? Is

30:15

2 specifically. I

30:18

didn't tell you much about the

30:21

night I came. No.

30:23

You we were kids

30:26

and you were really scared and I never wanted

30:29

to

30:29

cry. You're

30:31

very kind. Oh,

30:34

one of my parents' friends,

30:37

and I pull forward specifically

30:39

the scroll. May you

30:41

see a tasked

30:47

canine yet semi in

30:49

form power full

30:52

shoulders and hunch is an arreached

30:54

back. The physical

30:57

that sort of musculature and skil

31:00

little structure of almost like a hyena. Right?

31:02

Those powerful longer front

31:04

legs sloping down

31:06

to rear legs and a tough to tail.

31:08

With this massive lower

31:10

tucked jaw. The

31:13

form is frightening

31:15

with wide snout

31:18

and these glaring sort

31:20

of eyes and some ridges up along

31:22

the brows, 2 long tapered pointed

31:24

ears. And you can even see in

31:27

the rendering of the wizard's diagram

31:30

that the front pause

31:35

still end in these long saber

31:37

like

31:37

claws, almost like a bear, these long

31:39

hooks that come out with

31:42

digits on either side that

31:44

kind of hint that they might still

31:46

be opposable. My

31:50

eyes friend, Yoren.

31:53

Looked like this that night

31:55

and he smelled of blood. What? Can

32:00

you can a lot of you do

32:03

this? No.

32:05

Alright.

32:08

This doesn't feel like

32:10

any sort of spirit that

32:13

I've encountered or

32:14

studied, does it?

32:17

No. I think you'd look at this.

32:20

I think both

32:22

of you would share a moment probably of

32:25

connecting over the fact that this is

32:27

well outside of either of your traditions.

32:31

It feels like even though we

32:33

have seen spirit and things

32:35

that are natural, that

32:38

are mixed, different

32:40

parts, a different piece. This doesn't

32:42

feel

32:43

right. To me. The

32:45

majors of Gautamay are

32:47

different.

32:51

I don't quite know what

32:54

that means? Galsma

32:56

is

32:58

somebody that we're supposedly

33:01

at war with. Correct? There's

33:04

always exceptions, you

33:06

know, which his advisors aren't supposed to really

33:12

Get along, and

33:15

we're both here, tracking

33:17

down. Our brother

33:20

Who's a big bear? Speaking

33:22

of which, we need we gotta go find

33:24

him. Oh, yes. And I

33:26

have to I have to is

33:29

it the shrine? There's just

33:31

so many things to do. I'm

33:32

again, I I'm sorry to drop this on your

33:34

lap

33:35

and go ahead.

33:35

We're making a list. Oh, this is where I shine.

33:37

Oh,

33:38

alright. Well

33:39

Where is the paper that isn't wrinkly? No.

33:41

I got it. I got it. Okay.

33:45

I'm going to go up to the shrine and

33:48

Would you care 2 accompany

33:49

me? Oh my god. Yes. Alright. Cool. I wasn't

33:52

sure if I was

33:53

gonna be allowed to go. Yeah.

33:55

I actually don't know if there's any rules about that or not,

33:57

but, you know, I mean, it's my cottage

33:59

now. So Yeah.

34:01

Do you feel different? No.

34:04

I mean, except a

34:07

sense of existential dread about

34:09

being maybe cursed and having a year

34:11

before what might be a powerful

34:14

spirit returns to

34:16

the cottage Oh,

34:19

no. Not really.

34:30

Ami marches up the hill

34:32

and you see a climb that

34:35

used to tire you out is now done

34:37

in about twenty steps. And just

34:39

up the hill where we

34:42

see a beautiful, small

34:44

stone shrine. The

34:47

shrine has a beautiful

34:51

eight sided bell

34:53

shaped roof with scales

34:56

and ridges of the stone that come down to

34:58

the eight corners, there are

35:00

thin stone columns 2

35:03

down but leave the shrine

35:05

open while still being under a roof

35:08

and a flat always cool

35:11

marble base. At

35:15

the back of the shrine is

35:18

a old

35:21

weathered kind of it's the type type of stone

35:23

that as it whethers, whethers with pockmarks, and

35:25

the marble has been a lot more durable than the

35:27

stone the statue was made out of. And in

35:29

the little pockmarks, you know, water and

35:31

rain and state. So there's kind of a sheen

35:34

of lichen or moss that grows within

35:36

the little pockmarks on the otherwise creamy

35:38

gray stone of the statue,

35:41

which is of a welcomingly

35:48

a welcomingly misshapen nature

35:51

spirit with a

35:53

big old potato looking head

35:56

a wide grinning mouth

35:59

with poor sign tusks

36:02

and a cute

36:04

little button nose and

36:06

eyes that are set far wider on

36:08

the head and ears

36:11

that are both pointed and have like

36:13

long dangling lobes you

36:16

see that the spirit is

36:20

sitting cross legged and

36:22

holding a stone bowl that

36:24

it is part of the same piece of stone that it itself

36:27

is carved out of, but is

36:29

holding the bowl with both its legs

36:31

and arms at the same time seated

36:33

with its arms kind of wrapped around and

36:35

its elbows resting on its knees. And

36:38

this statue has been here for as long as you can

36:40

remember. And it is very

36:43

clear that the statue of the spirit of the shrine

36:46

kind of has the most This is the place

36:48

from which the natural beauty

36:50

of grandmother Rand's cottage in the surrounding

36:52

forest is like at its best.

36:55

You see like the sloping hill to the cottage,

36:57

all of the garden laid out perfectly the stream

36:59

that wraps away. You can see every

37:01

single wild flower bush and

37:03

to grove at the edge of the forest

37:05

from right here and it's high

37:08

enough up on the hill that you get to

37:10

see all the tops of the trees that stretch away

37:12

over the woods up towards the far ridge.

37:15

So you just see a beautiful blanket

37:17

of treetops throughout this little valley

37:20

where grandmother, a man has lived for

37:22

so long. Coming

37:25

up to the

37:25

shrine, late afternoon, what

37:30

do you do upon arriving at the shrine?

37:34

When I reached this shrine, I

37:36

stopped at the little stone basin just

37:39

before

37:40

and I washed my hands. And

37:43

I splashed some water on my face. Oh,

37:47

I smoothed my skirt and I walk

37:49

up to the shrine

37:53

and the statue. I

37:55

clap my hands twice.

38:00

Nip out to it. And

38:04

I say, Dear

38:10

spirit and honored friend,

38:15

we are in need of your assistance.

38:18

Grandma Rand

38:21

and Taro have

38:24

are no longer with us here in our realm.

38:28

I was told to come, to pay

38:31

my respects to you, 2

38:33

ask your guidance, because

38:36

it might be time for me to have a

38:41

sorrow of my

38:42

own. But hopefully

38:44

a nice little one. Sevi's

38:53

at the very edge of

38:56

the marble platform. And

38:59

in just a little moment

39:01

of remembering herself as a small child.

39:04

She goes to push up the glasses that aren't

39:06

there. And

39:08

kind of snort a little bit

39:10

to herself, crosses

39:13

one ankle behind the other to give a small

39:15

curtsy that Imperial

39:18

children are taught to do

39:20

and just gives little balances, mister

39:22

soup. And this weights quietly.

39:28

It's too quick. Mister Soup

39:30

is referring to

39:32

Yeah. It looks like he's eating a big bowl of

39:34

soup. The moment you say

39:36

mister soup, you hear a voice

39:38

down by your knees, say afternoon.

39:42

And you looked out and see the

39:44

spirit looking at its own

39:46

statue. You see

39:49

He is a vibrant vine

39:51

green with a little loing cloth

39:54

of leaves. It's only about two feet

39:56

tall. And you see

39:58

that he looks down and his

40:01

feet always are muddy because

40:03

water sort of produces out of the bottom

40:05

of his feet. So whenever he stands in a piece of dirt,

40:08

it looks like just water begins to trickle down.

40:11

But stands there and has his arms

40:13

crossed and is looking at

40:15

the statue of himself

40:18

and just his

40:21

little lump in head and

40:22

goes, look at me. They got

40:25

it exactly right. They didn't have

40:27

a remarkable likeness. Hello,

40:31

mister Soup. Oh, wait. You

40:33

call them that Mhmm.

40:36

I think mister suit was.

40:37

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You see you see

40:39

he he looks at 2, he looks at augmented

40:42

smiles, a big, tusky smile

40:44

and

40:44

says, I've

40:46

always wanted to say this. I

40:48

am known by many names. Wow.

40:52

And one of them is mister

40:54

suit. Thing.

40:58

He goes and sort

41:00

of happily waddles

41:02

up into the shrine and

41:05

leans his head into the stone ball

41:08

and sniffs and sort

41:10

of pushes his nose

41:12

up and frowns a little bit and he's like, stoop

41:14

looking pretty thin, all things considered.

41:17

Not a very move

41:20

his finger around in the empty bowl. Not

41:22

a oh, not a great we're gonna

41:24

it's gonna be slim pickings for everyone

41:27

that wants some soup.

41:28

Oh, I'm so sorry It was a it was

41:30

a Oh, well, well, we

41:31

got a

41:32

lot of so if we had offering freely

41:34

given, of course, you don't have to But

41:37

Oh, no. I I have to

41:39

Did anyone

41:39

I I reached into my some

41:42

of my pouches in my belt. And

41:44

I produce two handfuls of

41:47

rice

41:47

crackers. Oh, that I toss

41:49

into the bowl.

41:53

That's good. The moment it hits

41:55

the bowl, first, not

41:58

even having to consume, it just hits the bowl.

42:01

And he he,

42:03

you know, they feel mister

42:05

suit feels fully full and he goes, ugh,

42:08

that's wonderful. Very, very good.

42:11

Well, no.

42:22

I'm so sorry, little ones.

42:24

It's a 2 foot guy calling you about the little

42:26

ones. It's I'm taking that

42:28

personally. That's fine. Yeah. So

42:31

big no. Ren knew

42:34

me as down my

42:36

and I've been guarding this stream

42:40

since before she built this cottage

42:43

here. And it

42:45

was such an honor

42:48

to have a witch like her come

42:51

and make a little garden

42:53

that my stream could water.

42:58

I always felt

43:02

so great and she built the shrine

43:04

2. Can you believe it? Oh, WBN believe

43:06

it? See

43:09

if he races her hands. You see

43:12

he raises a hand up too and says, oh,

43:16

no rain.

43:17

Oh, if you like it. Amay also

43:19

raises off the hand. What sort of wiggles

43:22

her fingers. Okay. I could just I get

43:24

I get it. I, of

43:26

course, have promised Grammarum

43:28

that I will continue to keep the invitation

43:31

of her cottage. My

43:34

cottage open. Do

43:37

you need help looking after the cottage? Oh,

43:42

well,

43:43

yes, please definitely. But

43:45

but Of course, I've done

43:47

that for so long and I'd be happy to do

43:49

it for you. These rice crackers

43:51

probably probably could use a little

43:55

Is this gonna add

43:56

I got you. I got you. I got you.

43:58

I got you. I'd see we steps forward and produces

44:00

like a very fine silvery flask

44:04

and just pours out a bunch of brown

44:07

alcohol.

44:10

That's some good soup.

44:14

Alright. Well, what do you fry in

44:16

friends' meat?

44:19

III

44:22

endeavor to quickly explain the situation.

44:26

Explain it. You see that mister

44:29

sup aka Dow Mike is

44:31

wobbling on very short legs. His

44:33

leg his head is about four

44:36

times as big as one of his legs. And

44:38

she's just wobbling on little stumpy

44:40

legs. He goes, uh-huh. Uh-huh.

44:43

And I'm sorry. I I need something about

44:45

a

44:45

heart of the world, and III

44:50

have to go find the well, yeah.

44:52

I mean, it's scored many vlogged. Sorry

44:55

about that. We'll still be quiet again. I think it's up

44:57

for me 2 have a familiar.

45:00

Okay. Okay. I don't know about

45:02

any of the other stuff. Oh.

45:05

But I could I'll tell you if

45:07

you

45:08

need an animal. There's a lot of

45:10

animals around

45:10

here, and it wouldn't be much

45:12

of a stream spirit. If I

45:14

can't Okay.

45:17

Hold on. Time to get to work.

45:19

And you see that he sort

45:21

of bubbles all

45:23

over to his his statue. says,

45:27

in a minute. Let's see if it

45:29

still got it. Hip and he jumps

45:31

into his statue and all

45:33

of the alcohol and rice crackers in

45:35

the bowl swirl up.

45:38

And you just hear kind

45:41

of interruption of like birdsong

45:45

and crickets start going, it's getting

45:47

later. And

45:49

if you just feel little warm emanating

45:52

from the statue,

45:54

It is very clear that something

45:57

is happening and being done. Nothing happens

45:59

in the immediate aftermath of that. But

46:01

you can feel some kind of thing

46:03

at work. And you do smell

46:06

very faintly. Little bit of rosemary

46:08

and pine. Alright.

46:14

Miss Priscilla is so much. Me

46:17

too. Only

46:20

do you do anything in preparation

46:22

of the spirits work? Or if

46:24

not, what do you think of

46:26

when think of it familiar. I

46:29

close my eyes. I

46:32

take a deep breath. Pine

46:36

and the rosemary. I

46:41

listen 2

46:43

that thrumming of

46:46

of something deep, deep

46:48

in the earth. And

46:50

I think about how

46:54

I can help this

46:57

place, this village,

47:01

my community, the

47:03

people I care about, which is

47:07

kind of independent of her

47:09

shortlist. I

47:13

this is huge. I

47:15

mean, which is familiar is is her

47:18

lifelong companion and I, which,

47:20

you know, had one of those except for grammar

47:22

run. And, you know, like, all I can

47:24

manage is a whisper.

47:34

You think of how much of a

47:37

black hole, Tara the rooster

47:39

was. And then don't do

47:41

it. 2 make it familiar a butthole.

47:45

As

47:45

you think of how much of a Buckoltara was,

47:47

Suvi, You

47:49

smell blood.

47:50

And

47:53

Ami's eyes are completely closed

47:56

and I mean, what what like, are you

47:58

seated in the

47:59

shrine? Are you on your knees? What sort of position

48:01

are you in as your eyes are closed? I am

48:04

standing. But

48:07

in

48:09

events almost halfway --

48:11

Mhmm. -- and about towards the shrine

48:17

Out of one of Amé's pockets,

48:19

a little bit of those rice crackers were still hanging.

48:21

And as Amé, as her eyes closed, and

48:24

is hoping hoping

48:26

hoping so hard and thinking those thoughts we

48:28

know she's thinking, you see familiar

48:30

face. A

48:32

fox. Against 2 creep out of

48:34

the wood line looking at that,

48:36

those crackers now a little bit closer

48:38

to the ground and the fact that Armei's

48:40

eyes are closed. Means

48:44

he's got a shot.

48:46

Thrunks creeps a

48:48

little bit closer. A little bit closer.

48:51

What a good

48:51

friend?

48:52

I I want somebody who's you know,

48:54

they they don't even have to be that powerful old way.

48:56

Just somebody who will help me with the chores

48:58

and Suevi,

49:01

do you do anything in this moment as the

49:03

fox is approaching or

49:05

or Ami

49:07

and I'll actually roll a little stealth check

49:09

for our foxy. What

49:10

I want to do is give this give

49:13

the fox advantage. I wanna help.

49:15

I love this fox. The fox

49:18

makes eye contact with you, sees

49:20

that you are not going to blow up his

49:22

spot. Yeah. And shows

49:24

and gets very close. I

49:27

just step on a little twig in the

49:29

opposite direction to pull a little focus.

49:32

Comes up. Gets the rice

49:34

crackers. As he I'm

49:36

sorry. What did you celebrate him?

49:38

I got a fifteen and then a tenths

49:40

of fifteen. As

49:42

he or as the fox

49:45

scampers up and snatching in

49:47

the rice case without opening

49:50

my eyes I dipped

49:52

down and I grabbed

49:54

whatever I hear in front of me.

49:56

Oh, Risha, grab the fox. And you see

49:58

the fox

49:58

goes, let

50:01

me go. Let me go. Let me go. Let me go.

50:03

You're mine now.

50:05

What am I

50:06

doing? What am I doing? What am I doing?

50:07

Oh, you're

50:08

Caught

50:08

up. Caught up. Caught up. Caught up. Caught up. Caught up. Caught up. Caught up.

50:10

Caught up. Why web railroad. Hi. I'm Ami.

50:13

You're the best friend.

50:15

Oh. Come on

50:16

that kind of crowd. Okay. You

50:19

know, I got not I've never really

50:21

had a verbal verbal

50:22

reply. But, like, literally, you guys Hi.

50:24

Oh. Look, I didn't need

50:25

I don't even I didn't even I wasn't even around when

50:27

those chickens got eaten. Oh.

50:32

So the truth comes

50:34

out. I

50:36

pluck

50:38

a feather. From the tip of

50:40

his nose. But otherwise, I

50:42

You put that

50:43

there. You put that

50:44

Oh, I did. Yeah.

50:46

Yeah. You did. Hey. Okay. Hey.

50:48

You

50:48

can't con con. Alright. Buddy --

50:52

Okay. --

50:52

holding him by the scruff of his neck.

50:54

Paused. It's paused there. He's just hanging

50:57

from

50:57

the scruff, and he says, everybody

50:59

calmed down. Everybody calmed down.

51:02

Be cool little fox. Be cool. Now,

51:05

I know we all got questions. You're

51:07

wondering, what happened to those chickens? I can

51:10

help you find guy who did that. I'm

51:12

wondering what I'm doing with my mouth and

51:14

why it feels like it's

51:16

something that I can do that lets

51:18

you know the things that

51:20

I know, but I'm just screaming

51:24

quietly. Specifically, what sounds

51:27

I didn't used to

51:28

make. That's called the human condition,

51:30

my friend. And now that

51:31

you're familiar, get used to it.

51:34

Familiar. Familiar. Okay.

51:41

So if

51:43

you can tell me -- Mhmm. What?

51:48

Okay. You're okay. Okay. You know,

51:50

I'm sorry. Yeah. You're right. I started off

51:52

on the wrong foot. Alright? Now

51:54

I'm just gonna put you

51:55

down. And we're all gonna be

51:57

cool. You

51:59

put him down? Put

52:01

him over. Down? He

52:03

doesn't sprint away. He

52:07

means looking at the trust that he's

52:09

being given. He

52:11

looks up and goes Were those your chickens?

52:14

Or They were

52:17

the chickens that lived in

52:19

Grand Moren's farm. Okay? Just

52:23

forget the chickens for just a

52:25

moment. Look,

52:27

I've been skulking around here for a long

52:29

time. Okay? And

52:32

the second, I saw

52:34

that damn rooster

52:37

turn into whatever. He turned into

52:39

I said, Now is your shot. Okay?

52:42

You put in the work. You put in the time. Yeah.

52:44

You're gonna get these

52:45

chickens. I respect

52:47

that. Thank you.

52:50

I'm Ami. I'm a

52:52

fox. Alright. Do do you

52:54

have a name or someone who would want me

52:56

to call you? Or

52:59

Call me. Call me.

53:03

Hey. You would know more about

53:06

that than

53:06

me. Okay. Well, we'll circle back

53:08

to that later, I guess. Sure.

53:12

Sure.

53:12

That works for me. So

53:15

you've become a witch's familiar,

53:18

which means that we

53:21

are in

53:25

a I don't

53:27

wanna get too technical here, but basically

53:30

we do magic together now.

53:32

If that's something you're interested in,

53:35

there could be chickens in it for you.

53:37

I know. Do

53:39

magic together. Yes. Magic

53:43

meaning.

53:45

I still, like, stamp my

53:47

staff on the ground and the illusion

53:49

of it being just sort of a wooden

53:51

staff, like, shatters and falls away 2

53:53

reveal like a glass staff. Like,

53:57

doing stuff that doesn't make any

53:59

sense. Yeah. Oh, too

54:01

accurate.

54:03

You got a deal on me. Sounds

54:06

fine by me. I can see myself working my

54:08

way into a lot of chickens on this.

54:10

Yeah. Yeah.

54:12

You'll get your chickens. Alright.

54:16

Oh my gosh. It's not so fast. Oh

54:18

my god. This is

54:19

the weirdest hour of my life. Alright.

54:24

You see the fox looks up and you

54:26

see the last little sort of crumbs of rice

54:28

cracker blow on the wind out of mister

54:31

soup stone ball as

54:33

the fox sort of walks around and

54:35

says, okay. Yeah.

54:37

I'll admit. I've been playing

54:40

solo for a while and the pickens

54:42

get pretty slim around here. There's

54:44

not a lot of space in between house

54:46

cats. And big old bears

54:48

and panthers. These woods seem to

54:50

get smaller every day. So

54:54

I'm happy to serve You

54:56

can keep me fed? Yeah. Absolutely.

55:00

Alright. That works for

55:02

me. See sort of just little circle

55:04

jumps up on the statue. He jumps up on mister

55:06

Supes' statue's head, jumps back down

55:08

in the shrine. Oh, you're

55:11

sad. What is that? It's like

55:14

rosemary and pine. Why do I

55:16

know to make those noises for those

55:17

smells? Oh,

55:19

I love him. Well,

55:23

there's an awful lot I gotta fill you in

55:25

him. But now that we're partners, I

55:32

I got a job for you. We

55:36

have to go track down AAA brother.

55:40

A friend of ours.

55:42

He's a spirit. Spirit?

55:44

Mhmm. Alright. Well,

55:48

Wait, are you not a spirit? I gotta

55:50

stop. I I was pretty clear.

55:52

I'm a fox. Yeah. Right, but you're Hey.

55:57

Your guess is just cut his

55:58

mind. I could not do this a

56:00

second ago. I

56:01

mean, let's not get into the particulars

56:05

of how a thing works that you just die. I live

56:07

or die in the particulars, and

56:09

I know you know that. I

56:12

truly did what I have always

56:14

done. I got grabbed by a person

56:16

and I started screaming. And every other time I screamed

56:18

before, I just screamed. And this time,

56:21

feelings that I used to have that were just feelings

56:23

started to turn into sounds. So

56:25

that's that just happened. You all

56:27

well, you have all watched my entire

56:30

personal history of being able

56:32

to do this. Yeah. It's

56:35

pretty exciting. Yeah.

56:38

I guess it is kind of a trick. Right?

56:41

Yes. Yes. In some ways,

56:43

it kind of is a trick.

56:45

That's kind of the things that

56:47

we do.

56:50

I like that. Give

56:52

me an Arcona check, Suvi.

57:00

Twenty three. That's a high level.

57:03

I think you've studied everything

57:05

that Citadel knows

57:08

about which is, I think you know about

57:10

which is because, probably

57:12

some of their best stuff came from you,

57:15

just from your proximity to having

57:17

liver grandmother land. Right? Not that you would have

57:19

shared anything big. Yeah.

57:21

But think you know about which

57:23

is familiar, which are very different. When a

57:25

wizard summons a familiar, it is a spell effect

57:27

-- Yeah. -- which is bond to

57:29

real animals and strike

57:32

strike bargains with them or offer them a home

57:34

and give them, like, long life

57:37

and speech and all these other things. So they're

57:39

very different than a wizard's familiar. But

57:42

I think, you know, a little bit, you

57:44

put together something of, like, what

57:47

familial represented of

57:50

their witches because it's a very powerful soul

57:53

connection. Like

57:55

grandmother Ren was endlessly kind

57:58

And Taro was, at times, a little

58:00

bit of a butthole. Yeah. Yeah.

58:03

And Ami who, you know, was

58:05

praying with all her might

58:07

2, like, do right by her community and

58:09

friends, has attracted a fox who

58:12

seems kinda like a little schemer.

58:14

Yeah. And

58:15

I think you put some stuff together. I

58:18

just wanna make eye contact, like, hey, I don't know

58:20

how long we're gonna be able to talk. Mhmm.

58:23

If you ever ever

58:26

ever mess with me or my

58:28

stuff where I come,

58:31

we boxes.

58:32

Bad for your health, the point taken. Okay.

58:34

Well, we have to go find a friend, our

58:36

our brother, he's a spirit, and

58:39

he has a careful

58:42

item that we need to 2 a curse on me.

58:45

Okay. Well,

58:47

I don't now you smell the smell already.

58:49

Yeah. Rosemary?

58:51

That's him. Yeah. And pine.

58:53

00000.

58:56

Alright. What do you wanna go? Do I wanna go now?

59:00

Well, I need to grab a couple of things from

59:02

the cottage and set it up. Okay. So

59:05

Can I go into one

59:06

more chicken? I

59:07

get one more chicken. He's Wait. No. Put it

59:09

on. Boom. Gone. What?

59:11

You're not gonna be around to feed the chicken.

59:17

As you say, you're not gonna be ready to feed the chickens, you

59:19

actually see that the the of the

59:21

crickets and the birds and everything, the dream

59:24

babbles a little bit and a

59:26

couple of little seedlings bloom

59:28

in the chicken yard. I think you're offering

59:31

to Dalmaye has kind

59:33

of created a little bit of a

59:35

bloom for

59:37

at least for the time being, for the

59:39

cottage to take care of itself. I

59:43

reach into my pocket and I

59:45

have a slightly

59:48

melty unwrapped

59:52

chocolate in there and

59:54

I toss it into the bowl. I cut

59:56

my hands and bow

59:59

and I head back down towards the cottage.

1:00:03

Don't

1:00:03

you did? Look, not Henrietta though. I

1:00:06

don't know which one Henrietta is.

1:00:09

Is it the big is it the big good looking one

1:00:11

on top? And

1:00:19

you

1:00:19

see, just as you're gonna come and get ready, comes

1:00:21

up and approaches the door and

1:00:23

looks at the open door and is

1:00:24

like, Can

1:00:26

I go inside? Can I go can I go inside?

1:00:28

You are welcome in the

1:00:30

cottage. Yes. The

1:00:33

other fox is good. See me now. It

1:00:36

takes the takes the chicken. It

1:00:39

comes inside. It's like, Oh,

1:00:41

warm and soft and goes right near

1:00:44

the fireplace on a rug. It's like,

1:00:48

don't hate it. This is a

1:00:50

this is a life I could get used 2. It just starts

1:00:52

making a huge bloody mess of this chicken in

1:00:54

front of the

1:00:55

fireplace. This fox rips, dude. Fox

1:00:57

absolutely rips. Turns

1:00:59

out, Ursula meets a familiar. We

1:01:03

all getting foxes broke. WBN all

1:01:05

getting foxes.

1:01:22

I tidy up

1:01:24

the cottage, wrap up as many loose ends as

1:01:26

I can. I take

1:01:29

a satchel and I stuff

1:01:32

in there. Anything that I think I might need,

1:01:34

my herbs and

1:01:36

and and

1:01:38

herb kit my alchemy

1:01:41

set and some

1:01:43

provisions, a a couple

1:01:45

of knives, rope,

1:01:48

just anything that I think

1:01:50

might be useful goes somewhat

1:01:52

haphazardly into the bag.

1:01:55

And as

1:01:58

I gather it, III know,

1:02:00

like, tidying everything and

1:02:03

and and I know I'm putting

1:02:05

off having to lay

1:02:08

grandma rent to rest. But

1:02:10

eventually, I do

1:02:15

realize Suvi sees

1:02:18

me go upstairs, go

1:02:20

into her room, and when I exit

1:02:23

I'm holding a small

1:02:25

earn,

1:02:28

copper. And

1:02:30

it has a little rooster

1:02:32

engraved on it.

1:02:35

I go

1:02:38

up once again 2 the

1:02:40

shrine. And

1:02:42

I placed the earn

1:02:47

Next 2 the statue. I've

1:02:53

brought up little

1:02:54

in sense of

1:02:58

some more rice cakes, whole

1:03:03

bottle of nice whiskey

1:03:07

that I place into the bowl. And

1:03:12

I leave the little offerings in front

1:03:14

of the earn. I

1:03:18

only give myself a couple of minutes. But

1:03:24

then you see me come back down.

1:03:28

Dusting my hands. And

1:03:31

I go back to busying myself,

1:03:35

grabbing tickets and

1:03:37

pieces of paper and things

1:03:39

that

1:03:40

really seem like garbage that

1:03:43

all go into the bag. Watching

1:03:48

someone who has based their in higher

1:03:50

life out of being in and

1:03:52

around a house, preparing

1:03:55

to go on a trip is earnestly stressful.

1:03:57

Yeah. I'm gonna need I'm gonna need literally everything

1:04:00

in this house because I've always had access

1:04:02

to the entire house.

1:04:06

See we will do her best to pitch in

1:04:08

when there's something obvious

1:04:11

that makes sense that she can help with so much

1:04:13

of what Ami does

1:04:15

is just esoteric

1:04:18

things that You think I need a firepoker? For

1:04:21

what? Coking fires

1:04:24

where a fire is on

1:04:26

purpose, there will be one. Please

1:04:29

don't. Okay.

1:04:30

Trust your friend, boss. Last thing you wanna do is

1:04:32

poke a fire. Alright. But

1:04:34

Sevi will take the

1:04:36

amount of time you spent up at the shrine

1:04:40

to creep up and

1:04:42

there was one sort of like shawl

1:04:45

that grandmother grandmother

1:04:47

ran would always keep over chair that Suvi

1:04:50

would sit in in the library when she had to

1:04:52

stay hidden. She'll

1:04:55

go and grab and

1:04:57

that's the one. It

1:04:59

makes her feel just so disconnected

1:05:02

because it it's

1:05:06

thread, bear, and kind of

1:05:08

lumpy, and doesn't fit the

1:05:10

aesthetic of the person she

1:05:13

is now, and she doesn't know where to put it. There

1:05:15

isn't a place for it, but there's

1:05:17

no way she could leave without it. So

1:05:19

she's kind of just holding it weirdly while

1:05:22

she follows you around and tells you that you don't need

1:05:24

to grab anything that you're grabbing. Okay.

1:05:26

But, like, what kind of cheese

1:05:29

humbling. There's a telephony everywhere.

1:05:32

You live on a little island where there's nothing.

1:05:34

Everywhere else has things.

1:05:37

Please. Well, miss big city.

1:05:39

Alright? I'm just Yeah. Of us.

1:05:42

Wait. Hold on. And I go back and

1:05:44

I grab my face. Say that again. Okay,

1:05:50

miss big city. I

1:05:52

guess you know better. I've

1:05:56

missed that. Okay.

1:05:58

We can go.

1:06:04

You both follow the fox WBN

1:06:06

begins to follow the scent of pine and

1:06:08

rosemary. You

1:06:11

journey for quite some

1:06:13

time far

1:06:15

from the village of Tolma. Making

1:06:19

your way through the woods along

1:06:21

roads and in ends. We

1:06:25

pass some many

1:06:27

days of travel. Moving

1:06:31

through this place. A

1:06:34

couple times in your travels through

1:06:36

the woods and roads pastoral

1:06:39

scenery, you pass windmills

1:06:41

and orchards, wide

1:06:44

rice fields and raised roads

1:06:46

in the lowlands, up in high

1:06:48

ridges. Moss covered

1:06:50

crags

1:06:51

with trees growing and possibly

1:06:54

out in the middle of dizzying heights. You

1:06:56

go through rich pine

1:06:58

forests and deep into

1:07:00

deciduous woods with

1:07:03

ancient piles of acorns and

1:07:05

moss and pass many

1:07:07

roadside shrines of

1:07:10

spirits and beasts in all

1:07:12

manner of things honoring them

1:07:14

in their way as you pass by.

1:07:17

You walk through some villages

1:07:20

where there are many who are pleased to see

1:07:22

which you walk through some

1:07:24

towns where a quick flash

1:07:27

of a citadel staff buys

1:07:30

you a swifter journey and

1:07:32

many times on your passage,

1:07:35

a sudden shift in direction will take

1:07:37

place. Sometimes in towns,

1:07:39

sometimes in the midst of forest

1:07:41

that the fox will take you on as

1:07:43

he will suddenly look around confused and

1:07:45

though pressure trail

1:07:47

this way. I

1:07:50

am delighted. And

1:07:53

after a couple times even will sometimes

1:07:55

go, whoever this guy was,

1:07:57

he's passed through here four or five

1:08:00

times. And

1:08:04

always choosing the fresher trail.

1:08:09

After many days, you

1:08:13

can smell salt

1:08:17

moment and

1:08:20

see far

1:08:22

reaching, see.

1:08:25

And white waves breaking on

1:08:29

the shore of a large

1:08:31

port city known

1:08:34

as Jorah. The

1:08:37

city reaches down to the

1:08:39

coast. The shore is

1:08:42

rocky and slate

1:08:45

gray and tall mossy

1:08:48

towers rise up out of the sea. So

1:08:50

there are like seek many sort of standing

1:08:52

stones rising out of the water around the port

1:08:55

that have winds swept are almost

1:08:57

like narrower at their base than they are on

1:08:59

top of old patches of grass. And

1:09:01

some of them have just sheep and how do they get

1:09:03

up on that giant rock out in the harbor? We don't

1:09:06

know. Do you see

1:09:08

tall ships in the harbor? And the

1:09:10

city is sort of split in two

1:09:12

where there's lower city down

1:09:14

by the dock closer to the shoreline and

1:09:17

then there is a small cliffside and

1:09:19

there are a couple of neighborhoods that switch

1:09:21

back up the cliff, which is not

1:09:23

a staggering cliff. It's mainly it's probably

1:09:25

only about, you know, eighty feet

1:09:27

tall or something like that, that little shelf

1:09:30

that, you know, shunts up with

1:09:32

some roads that cut up or big broad

1:09:34

stair cases, there's one staircase that comes

1:09:36

deep into the cliff and is a

1:09:39

large marketplace that just follows

1:09:41

the stairs up into the higher city.

1:09:45

And up at the top of the city where you can

1:09:47

still smell the salt on the air, but there's still

1:09:49

the sort of rich smell of

1:09:51

hay from nearby farms and a little

1:09:54

bit of that distant

1:09:56

forest. Although, the trees around here, there

1:09:58

is no true forest with insight. There's

1:10:00

little groves and cops is

1:10:02

an orchards. But a town this big

1:10:04

is surrounded mainly by farms

1:10:07

and you're around a lot of people. I

1:10:09

think Ami, it's been a long

1:10:11

time since you've been near a a population

1:10:13

center this

1:10:14

big. I don't think I've ever been near

1:10:16

population center this big. It

1:10:18

was.

1:10:20

Small and and I

1:10:22

mean, forests and and the cottage

1:10:24

for most of my life, but also this

1:10:26

is the coolest thing ever.

1:10:28

Georgia is about five times as

1:10:31

Vegas slipper. It's definitely a

1:10:33

city. You would not call this a town. From

1:10:36

from the heart of the empire, higher. You've certainly,

1:10:38

like you know, but but you can recognize

1:10:40

there are a lot people here. Yeah. And the fox

1:10:43

begins to lead

1:10:45

you towards a large farm

1:10:47

field with huge hay bales. There

1:10:50

are scare crows. There are also this part

1:10:52

of the island. There are tall sypris trees

1:10:55

and lots of yellow

1:10:56

grass, so the grass has become yellow while the

1:10:58

trees are still green. As you

1:11:00

begin to approach, a

1:11:01

fair There are

1:11:04

vendors and acrobats and performers.

1:11:07

Mhmm. And the Fox Transferring to Louisiana

1:11:09

says, We're getting close. As

1:11:11

you look up at a big broad

1:11:13

sign of

1:11:16

formas with three brightly colored

1:11:19

wagons and a large sign,

1:11:21

rows of hay bales as seeds,

1:11:23

where probably two hundred people

1:11:25

have gathered around a stage with

1:11:27

curtains and the sign over the impromptu

1:11:30

gateway brightly colored WBN blue and gold

1:11:32

reads, sir Gallant

1:11:35

and the princess Brian e.

1:11:45

Hi. I'm producer Taylor here

1:11:47

at Fortune horse, where we help

1:11:49

the incredible cast make worlds beyond

1:11:51

number, but that's not all we do.

1:11:54

Oh, no you sweet summer

1:11:56

child. Come with me, take my hand.

1:11:58

I have so. Much more to

1:12:00

show you. For a fortune horse makes

1:12:02

many shows. And today, I wanna

1:12:04

tell you about rude tales

1:12:07

of magic. Routels of magic

1:12:09

is like the the

1:12:11

stitch to worlds beyond numbers Lilo.

1:12:15

little wilder, a little crazier, The

1:12:18

AV club said it was the best new voice

1:12:20

in actual play podcasting. I09

1:12:23

just recently published a list of our best

1:12:25

Ep002 names, which they called the best

1:12:27

quote in De Beers, end

1:12:30

quote. You know what? Why why should I

1:12:32

tell you? just here are some reviews that we've

1:12:34

gotten. On Twitter dot org.

1:12:38

This is the funniest thing I've ever heard, not just

1:12:40

podcast billing thing. My

1:12:42

parents do not allow me to listen to Hotels and

1:12:44

Magic. I sneak out of the house and listen to it with

1:12:47

teams. I

1:12:49

laughed so hard at Hotels and Magic on the floor

1:12:51

of my warehouse I actually was disciplined

1:12:53

by my boss. Now, I'm summarizing that one, but

1:12:55

that is an actual thing that occurred. So if you

1:12:57

wanna get in trouble and have a good time,

1:12:59

Root Tales of Magic available wherever. Podcasts

1:13:02

are given to you freely. The main show

1:13:04

is free. Same deal as with World Beyond number.

1:13:06

Hey, you know what? Let's just hear the trailer.

1:13:13

When the things that birthed the gods

1:13:15

were young, they tried their hands

1:13:17

at creating reality. After

1:13:19

some trial and error, they started

1:13:21

on a second draft, but their first

1:13:24

draft of the world forgotten

1:13:26

in damp corner of creation clung

1:13:28

to life like mold on bread.

1:13:33

That feral world of wild magic

1:13:35

named itself cordelia.

1:13:39

Okay. Thank you. Okay. You're welcome. My

1:13:41

dream.

1:13:42

I hope you don't. Is what you wanna do?

1:13:44

Talk about your dad

1:13:45

to kids, spiders

1:13:46

cannot die either. And the spiders

1:13:48

cannot die either. I mean,

1:13:50

Well, to be fair, I'm not still

1:13:52

sure. I'm I don't know what's that. Are you

1:13:54

a virgin? I would get the hell off

1:13:56

of this campus as soon as possible. Of

1:13:59

my bird. I taught him how to

1:14:00

speak, and now he thinks he's smart in

1:14:03

general. Like me hows. Hi.

1:14:05

Hi. I'm not taking his shit. Just Pete. Alright,

1:14:08

Ed. We're walking. Does everyone

1:14:10

in hell know who we are now?

1:14:11

Uh-oh. Never trust

1:14:13

our demon. Get

1:14:15

lost. Get lost.

1:14:20

Did you tell me to get lost? I'm running.

1:14:22

I burst out of you into play.

1:14:27

Davo, you stay on the hold.

1:14:29

Okay, sir. I love you.

1:14:32

Yeah. Let's all say we all love each other. We

1:14:34

all love each other. We all

1:14:37

love each other in the eye and

1:14:38

say, I love you. And I love you.

1:14:40

And

1:14:41

I love you. You in the eye. I

1:14:43

love

1:14:43

you. Oh, Davo, you're excused. Alright.

1:14:46

Boom. Chakalako. What? What?

1:14:49

Now now that's a trade Taylor. So listen.

1:14:51

If you're in the mood for another high

1:14:53

octane immersive audio

1:14:55

narrative play comedy adventure,

1:14:58

baby. I think we got you

1:15:01

covered. Alright. Now back to the show,

1:15:03

that little fair on the outskirts of the

1:15:05

seaside town of Georgia.

1:15:13

Early evening still And

1:15:18

Jorris faces the east on the very,

1:15:20

like, southern tip of the

1:15:22

island of a calm and faces off to the

1:15:24

east. So, you know,

1:15:26

the city towards the

1:15:28

east is just, you know, deep dark

1:15:31

of night into the west beyond these, like, grain

1:15:33

fields and Cypress trees. You see

1:15:36

a a sort of pink and rosy sunset.

1:15:38

Torches get lit and a

1:15:40

big banner on girls on one

1:15:42

of the wagons. And

1:15:45

they're wearing a top hat

1:15:47

with sort of a black

1:15:49

and silver

1:15:50

wand. You see, there is a

1:15:52

professor WBN Adelaide

1:15:55

and you see that a ring master comes out

1:15:57

under the stage, saying, ladies

1:16:00

and gentlemen, thank you, one and all

1:16:02

for coming up to this evening's festivities.

1:16:05

Here in Jorris, I think you

1:16:08

find people have worked hard enough for with

1:16:10

a summer. For a

1:16:11

show. Where do you see a frugal dog comes

1:16:13

out of his sleeves? And

1:16:26

Many find shows we have here, but you've come here

1:16:28

to see the show of shows that

1:16:31

beloved tale of a

1:16:33

love lost and loved

1:16:35

one, the story of

1:16:37

sir Gallant and the princess a

1:16:40

sobriety without further ado.

1:16:42

We wish you a way to learn the wonder.

1:16:45

And we see the curtains

1:16:48

part You

1:16:51

see a cardboard

1:16:54

backdrop painted two

1:16:56

dimensional trees and

1:16:58

a tower that's literally about

1:17:01

like four steps tall. So it's like

1:17:03

an eight foot tall sort of flat structure

1:17:06

and leaning over the edge. You

1:17:08

see that there is a

1:17:11

woman in a pink gown, an actress.

1:17:14

Very fair. lovely looking

1:17:16

woman. But you see she's wearing a blonde

1:17:19

WBN, but some of her own real blonde hair

1:17:21

is coming out from under it. Confusing.

1:17:23

And she

1:17:30

calls out and she says,

1:17:34

long has the okre kept

1:17:37

me hidden away, high

1:17:39

here, in the tower. And

1:17:42

long years have I wondered wherever

1:17:45

art for there could be,

1:17:47

brave knight, for which to

1:17:49

find that

1:17:52

he might travel with to this town

1:17:55

tower, wherein might

1:17:57

rescue make for me, his

1:18:00

lady love, and you see

1:18:03

an armored a tall

1:18:06

armored figure walks

1:18:09

out on stage. The

1:18:12

armor is gleaming

1:18:14

and shiny. More reflective.

1:18:16

So sort of like almost falsely

1:18:19

reflective. With

1:18:21

one hand holding a

1:18:23

prop sword, and

1:18:26

the other holding a cardboard cutout

1:18:28

of a horse with barding that

1:18:30

kind of wraps around the waist. And

1:18:34

this figure of sir Gallant

1:18:37

appears on stage Lou.

1:18:43

What happens next?

1:18:46

From around the other corner comes

1:18:49

in his in his

1:18:51

unglamored form, bear

1:18:54

like body, large

1:18:57

hind legs or hind feet.

1:19:00

Into clawed hands with opposable

1:19:03

thumbs. The

1:19:05

only thing is Ursula.

1:19:07

The only thing different is that, you know,

1:19:11

covering his kind of plumage is

1:19:13

a kind of cloth. A

1:19:16

cloth hood that

1:19:18

has little cloth

1:19:20

warts and things hanging off

1:19:22

of it. Though his his

1:19:25

kind of feline face and tusks

1:19:28

are still visible. Our

1:19:31

arms up outstretched walking

1:19:34

out.

1:19:40

I am the owner. I

1:19:43

am a monster. Oh.

1:19:49

No. Oh. Yes.

1:20:01

You see that you see

1:20:05

Erstomont, your Erstomont's wearing his jacket.

1:20:07

Yeah. You remember Erstomont's large.

1:20:09

He is impossibly what

1:20:12

he's seven, eleven and a half feet

1:20:14

tall. Seven and a half feet tall. Towing.

1:20:16

A lot of people is sort of lit it's lit by

1:20:18

torchlight. And the torch light and the

1:20:20

lights are reflecting out from, like, the sort

1:20:22

of scout, sconces of the stage lights,

1:20:26

it has this sort of other worldliness

1:20:28

so that you can tell both of you a wizard

1:20:30

and a witch, look and see that

1:20:32

people simultaneously

1:20:35

do and don't understand the

1:20:38

sacred thing they're seeing. They don't understand

1:20:41

that they're seeing real spirit. Because they're

1:20:43

seeing something on stage in this lighting

1:20:45

that's made them accept that

1:20:47

a cardboard cutout is a tower

1:20:50

and that

1:20:51

sort of like pressed wood, painted

1:20:54

could be trees, but you

1:20:56

hear, especially a lot of children 2

1:21:00

A lot of children scream and

1:21:03

you hear an eruption from a couple of,

1:21:05

like, plants working for the fair

1:21:07

as people like, you see that some people could grab

1:21:09

their kids and, like, run. They don't quite know what

1:21:11

to do, but you see a couple plants go

1:21:14

Boo in a way

1:21:17

to get a boo going to remind people

1:21:19

that this is like part of the show.

1:21:22

And you hear boob. Boop. Boop. Boop. Boop. Boop.

1:21:25

Boop. Boop. Boop. Boop. Boop. Boop. Boop. Boop.

1:21:27

You do you yell that?

1:21:29

Orsling it me especially with advantage. Seventeen.

1:21:33

You look out and see Are

1:21:35

you guy did you guys take a

1:21:36

seat? Are you just, like, standing really? Entrance. See

1:21:39

you standing in the back. 2

1:21:40

you know what? We're standing near the entrance because

1:21:42

we just walked in and following.

1:21:45

So standing in standing in the back. Thankfully,

1:21:47

people are seated. Otherwise, you probably couldn't see

1:21:49

Abe over other people.

1:21:53

Personal, you look out and see two

1:21:55

adult women that

1:21:58

you instantly recognize far

1:22:02

off though they are past seven

1:22:04

or eight rows of seated

1:22:06

spectators. Standing

1:22:09

and looking at you, what is the expression

1:22:11

that Ursula sees on your faces?

1:22:14

C. V. Is a rich this of,

1:22:17

like, contempt for

1:22:19

the form and confusion at

1:22:21

what you're doing.

1:22:23

Ami who had prior to this been

1:22:25

enjoying herself quite a lot is feels

1:22:31

looks as though her stomach has

1:22:33

dropped out. I

1:22:36

just just a gas at

1:22:38

the in dignity

1:22:41

of it

1:22:41

all

1:22:44

and live it at these yokels,

1:22:49

boing, her friend.

1:22:51

Ursula, what do you do?

1:22:53

You you recognize them. You see the looks on

1:22:55

their faces. And

1:22:57

you see that sir Gallant is

1:23:00

waiting there. Look,

1:23:03

because he heard there was a shout but sir Gallant's

1:23:05

looking at you as well, expectantly.

1:23:09

It's his line next, but there was like

1:23:11

a disruption, and he's just waiting for a moment.

1:23:13

Do you do anything in this

1:23:14

moment? I think Ursula's entire

1:23:16

body goes slack in of

1:23:20

first infusion, and

1:23:22

then deep shame

1:23:25

and pain

1:23:28

and forgets where he is entirely. Sir

1:23:30

Gallant looks at you and

1:23:33

goes, stamp

1:23:36

your mighty feet oager though

1:23:38

you may. Long days have

1:23:40

I traveled to rescue the princess

1:23:42

Brianny that you have captured

1:23:45

and put in your mighty

1:23:47

tower. Draw steel if

1:23:49

he dare, WBN to be.

1:23:54

I think Ursula, just

1:23:57

going through the motions, reaches

1:23:59

down and pulls 2 sword out,

1:24:02

but then it falls slack at his

1:24:04

side.

1:24:10

You and you're the surgical slack. You see the

1:24:13

the the guy pre the guy playing sir Gallant

1:24:16

covers his face with the front a horse and

1:24:18

goes, this is fight 2. You

1:24:20

start fight two. Ursula's gonna

1:24:22

drop his sword and walk away.

1:24:25

Walk around.

1:24:30

That's no true night.

1:24:33

And they said that I say as I

1:24:35

point my finger towards towards

1:24:38

the

1:24:39

the cardboard wearing actor, You

1:24:42

say that's no true knight. See, Ursula,

1:24:44

I'll walk off. Someone from the crowd is heckling.

1:24:47

The guy playing sir Gallant, looks up and says,

1:24:50

That's that's right. I

1:24:52

am no true knight

1:24:55

because a true knight all never

1:24:58

fleas from a battle. So

1:25:01

though the Uber has run

1:25:03

away, I shall pursue him

1:25:05

and princess Brianny, shall

1:25:08

sing a song to lull

1:25:10

the oh, I'm gonna get the ogres. She's

1:25:12

gonna sing a song for birds. Birds

1:25:15

and he rashes backstage. And

1:25:20

and the princess Brian he looks out and you see

1:25:23

what hiss at someone in the

1:25:25

wings, you can't see and says, sink.

1:25:28

Sync.

1:25:30

I have the observant feet. Could I

1:25:33

read her lips?

1:25:34

Yes. You absolutely can read her lips.

1:25:36

As I turned to leave, I

1:25:38

just yell, you can't act either. You

1:25:42

see that there is a jerk

1:25:45

in wearing, like, pitchfork

1:25:47

holding, guys. We're free for this, like, farmer's festival.

1:25:49

Who leans in to both of you and says, I'm

1:25:51

sorry, Lee. This is sort of a show for kids.

1:25:54

You you know, I I know that

1:25:56

might not be 2 your liking, but the

1:25:58

families don't get many

1:25:59

shows. They come in -- You're right.

1:26:02

-- from a long way around.

1:26:03

We'll go. Okay. That's why

1:26:05

they turn and leave. It's

1:26:06

fine if you don't like it. I don't like it either.

1:26:08

But, you know,

1:26:11

if I like this educated yolked.

1:26:13

This is in this yolked of fine taste.

1:26:18

You know what? I think it's big.

1:26:20

Deserves a better caliber of performance.

1:26:23

Alright. And then I also turn

1:26:25

around and go --

1:26:25

Yeah. -- and march away. The two of you

1:26:27

march off, Erceline, you walk backstage

1:26:30

at Professor

1:26:31

Adelaide, it goes, how are you doing

1:26:33

back here? I am sorry. There are

1:26:35

people. I'm I

1:26:37

do not want them to see me here. Hood

1:26:40

comes off walking walking

1:26:42

2 my stuff, realizing I don't really have

1:26:44

anything. Just really

1:26:46

Ursula's thinking about leaving. Just walking

1:26:48

away. Just just just tell You

1:26:50

gotta finish the show. You gotta finish

1:26:52

I can't they are. They I am

1:26:54

You 2. I'm gonna say, go

1:26:56

ahead, actually, enroll initiative. We'll

1:26:58

go with

1:26:59

the fire of

1:27:00

you role, and then you're rolling for yourself. Thirteen.

1:27:04

Twenty three on natural twenty on the diet for

1:27:06

twenty

1:27:06

five. Oh my god. Okay. Well, that beats my

1:27:09

dirty twenty one. Oh, yeah. I'm brutal.

1:27:12

So brutal. Hate to see you. Hate

1:27:14

to see it. Hate to see it. Right. So backstage,

1:27:16

so so Adelaide is following you off

1:27:18

towards there are kind of like there's

1:27:20

a small canvas tent that

1:27:22

has some easy to set up

1:27:24

sort of tables and there are sort

1:27:26

of canvas sacks of costumes.

1:27:29

Your stuff is in here. There's also,

1:27:31

like, a little private, almost like

1:27:33

one of those armor stands at a joust,

1:27:35

those, like, little skinny, striped tints,

1:27:37

and that's sort of where you go in honestly 2 kind

1:27:39

of like superman style, like change

1:27:41

your glamour if you need to. Hidalater's falling

1:27:44

behind you and goes, there, we need you back on

1:27:45

stage. We make our money from selling

1:27:47

the tomatoes that the kids throw at you at the end

1:27:49

of the show. I you kinda I cannot

1:27:52

I can't not tonight,

1:27:55

the music box. Can I have the music

1:27:58

box back for now? You wanna

1:28:00

wanna work out in the middle of this show. We're at one of our

1:28:02

biggest shows of the year. Again, this is exactly

1:28:04

why I 2 the music box because you don't understand the

1:28:06

meaning of work. You don't understand the meaning of putting

1:28:08

it in honest days labor. You don't care about

1:28:11

Oscar, Magnus, or any of the performers

1:28:13

in Adelaide's true. Alright? I'm

1:28:17

I'm I'm sorry. I did not know

1:28:19

that they would come. Alright.

1:28:21

Look. Look. Kid, are you in danger?

1:28:24

No. Then what the hell's the

1:28:26

problem?

1:28:27

These are people who know me from a

1:28:29

part of my life where I could have been

1:28:32

something else. And I

1:28:34

am not that thing. I do not want them

1:28:36

to see me now. I

1:28:38

am I'm gonna gonna glamour

1:28:41

Did you do that just right in front of Adelaide? No.

1:28:44

I wouldn't know. I know better. I am gonna

1:28:46

turn to Adelaide and say, there will be no

1:28:48

show tonight. And I'd like to

1:28:51

can I attempt 2 I'd like to intimidate

1:28:53

him? Give me an invitation wrong. That's going to be seventeen.

1:28:55

I think on a seventeen, that's loud enough.

1:28:58

For the two of you to hear.

1:29:00

And I think even some other people,

1:29:02

like, up on stage, you know,

1:29:04

Brian is going, the birds.

1:29:08

The breadths of, forever,

1:29:12

friends,

1:29:13

and and

1:29:16

you see No. Keep going. Keep going.

1:29:18

We wanna hear the song. Three person. Ever.

1:29:21

Friends. The birds have

1:29:24

three

1:29:24

birds. The spare

1:29:26

of the God.

1:29:33

Square o the penguin.

1:29:49

Name other birds. Keep

1:29:52

naming birds. I'd like to think that the yoko

1:29:54

on the back is just rattling them off.

1:29:56

Yeah. Woodpecker. Cheaper. Cheaper.

1:29:59

I mean, good morning.

1:30:01

It's not hard. Chicken y tip

1:30:03

mouse, not at Egrat Egrat

1:30:05

Haren Green's Thursday. You

1:30:09

see so

1:30:12

you yelled that. You

1:30:15

yelled at Oscar runs back

1:30:17

the the actor who plays her Gallant and

1:30:20

and sees Adelaide who has taken a step

1:30:22

back or 2 and Oscar

1:30:24

just goes, once

1:30:27

again, like, hey.

1:30:29

Hey. I

1:30:31

I think Brian is holding holding him out there. Is everything

1:30:33

gonna be

1:30:34

alright? Do you do you did you forget the the fight?

1:30:36

It's just it's the one that you start. I know it

1:30:38

is fight number two. I know fight number

1:30:40

two. I'm well aware that it is fight number

1:30:42

two. My There are people here

1:30:44

I do not want to see

1:30:46

me. Do

1:30:48

you do you need help stalling them now? Please.

1:30:51

Alright. Alright.

1:30:52

Alright. So we we I I head

1:30:54

back towards the backseat. You can relax. There's

1:30:56

a little lit area outside of the larger

1:30:58

canvas tent with all of the, like, props and

1:31:00

gear and stuff like that. As

1:31:03

you're approaching by the way, that the fox just

1:31:05

goes like,

1:31:07

everywhere. I mean, it's just the smells every I mean, he's just pumped.

1:31:09

He's been working here. Okay.

1:31:11

You Pretty tell so far. But

1:31:13

And

1:31:13

you see the actor who plays the night turn around

1:31:15

and say, Oh, sorry. This is a

1:31:17

a performer's only

1:31:19

area. My apologies. Fine. Yes. We

1:31:21

know the actor who plays the

1:31:23

Ogirl. We need to see him immediately.

1:31:25

I slammed my staff on the ground revealing

1:31:28

it to like,

1:31:30

tall jagged glass spire of the Citadel.

1:31:34

She's in her like, at her full six feet

1:31:36

tall and pulled back a sleeve enough

1:31:38

to see

1:31:39

that, like, ring. This is a big enough city

1:31:41

that they should know. How

1:31:43

to respond to this energy. Amazing

1:31:46

go ahead and get me intimidate with advantage. Martin,

1:31:50

what do you say to Oscar as he's standing in front

1:31:52

of

1:31:52

you? Move. He

1:31:54

goes, yep, and moves to the side and

1:31:59

moves and moves to the side and

1:32:02

You see professor Adelaide

1:32:05

off 2 at one of the

1:32:07

wagons that's not creating the encirclement around

1:32:09

the stage, but you see him

1:32:11

look Oscar looks

1:32:14

You can tell that Oscar doesn't clock the sigil,

1:32:16

but just clocks wizard and that's enough

1:32:18

for him. You can see Adelaide

1:32:21

clock the sigil

1:32:23

and and sort of stumble up the steps into

1:32:25

his wagon and close the door.

1:32:28

Do we see Ursula?

1:32:30

We don't see Ursula. But you see that

1:32:33

that Oscar just steps out of your way,

1:32:35

essentially. I I strive

1:32:37

forward. And I'm just looking around

1:32:39

kind of using my staff 2, like, open

1:32:42

little flaps of tents, not

1:32:44

saying anything else. Okay, first

1:32:46

of

1:32:46

all, you've changed into your glamour

1:32:48

at this point. Yes. I

1:32:52

am going to say you you so

1:32:54

are you going to stay in the tent after you change

1:32:56

the glamour? You can hear

1:32:59

Suvi and Ami searching for you out

1:33:01

amongst the performers' tents here at the fair.

1:33:03

Mhmm. I I

1:33:06

think Ursilon looks

1:33:10

out into

1:33:12

open field. And

1:33:14

considers for a moment just running.

1:33:20

And then just waits.

1:33:25

Go ahead and give me a a

1:33:28

stealth check, and I'm gonna ask actually for you

1:33:30

to do it because you're because you're staying put I'll ask for

1:33:32

for a quick disadvantage. And you're

1:33:35

trying to beat passive investigation. Only

1:33:37

a six. So you're

1:33:39

standing in the tent, your glamour up,

1:33:41

The flap of the tent is moved with the head of

1:33:44

crystal staff that is partially illuminated and

1:33:47

soft blue light fills the tent as you

1:33:49

are face to face with Suvy.

1:33:59

You would look upon the face of

1:34:03

someone who looks as

1:34:05

much like a brother

1:34:08

you never had as they could.

1:34:13

Of of around your same age, if not

1:34:15

maybe a few years older. Yeah. But

1:34:18

I do think I'm I'm not looking

1:34:20

at you. I think my face is down. I

1:34:25

I don't meet your

1:34:26

gaze, but I

1:34:28

know you're there. Stevie

1:34:30

will snap in

1:34:32

Amaze direction to get

1:34:34

her attention, to pull her

1:34:36

focus, to follow her into the tent. The

1:34:39

tent that you now stand in is very

1:34:41

small. Something about like five feet wide, so you'll

1:34:44

be elbow to elbow, but

1:34:46

you step inside. You

1:34:50

you see the fox

1:34:53

follows you in. You see strange

1:34:55

fox. Wow.

1:35:00

I hate to break it to

1:35:01

you, boss. We've been following the

1:35:03

wrong scent since the start. This

1:35:05

is just a guy. Oh,

1:35:06

god. Can you give us a moment,

1:35:08

please? Yeah. He

1:35:11

just stays in the tent yet. Hello?

1:35:15

Give you a moment alone. How would

1:35:18

I do

1:35:18

you would go outside of the tent Oh,

1:35:20

you're asking me to leave? Yes. Oh, yeah.

1:35:22

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You see the fox tams and

1:35:24

whips out through the tent flap. And

1:35:28

I flip around and

1:35:30

I launched

1:35:33

myself

1:35:34

at Ursilon's middle.

1:35:37

I take a step back and away from you.

1:35:40

I in turn pull back my arms.

1:35:44

Alarm'd? I'm

1:35:46

sorry, if

1:35:49

we disrupted.

1:35:52

You're my best friend. And

1:35:54

it's very good to see

1:35:55

you. You're more of a knight and

1:35:59

that guys wouldn't perform. I have

1:36:01

not. I

1:36:03

am not.

1:36:05

How did you end up here like

1:36:07

this? I think at this point,

1:36:10

Eursaulton turns to

1:36:12

take you both in and

1:36:15

seize you in your

1:36:18

in your incredible clothing

1:36:21

in your gorgeous staff

1:36:24

and you and you were put together

1:36:26

which is outfit. With

1:36:30

your perfect tap and your full

1:36:33

pouches which he can smell

1:36:35

are filled with delicious treats.

1:36:38

Natural things. The

1:36:41

years have

1:36:43

not been as kind 2

1:36:46

me. As they

1:36:49

seem to have been to

1:36:51

you both. I

1:36:55

let me see something.

1:37:00

Grandma Ren isn't with us anymore,

1:37:03

and we need your help. But

1:37:05

before, She left. She

1:37:09

sent her love to you

1:37:12

and remembered you fondly. And

1:37:14

said she was so grateful for the time that you spent

1:37:16

with us. As

1:37:18

a Mai, I

1:37:21

have not known kindness. Like

1:37:23

those days in

1:37:25

quite some time. I'm

1:37:30

so sorry, Yersalán. I wish you'd

1:37:32

come back. Could

1:37:35

not bear to face you. You

1:37:39

are magnificent.

1:37:42

You don't ever have to feel ashamed of

1:37:45

anything. I

1:37:47

know that you went off

1:37:50

searching for honor and I

1:37:54

can't imagine that you didn't find

1:37:58

some along the way. Doesn't

1:38:01

matter what you're doing now

1:38:03

or what would you look

1:38:04

like, but I'm

1:38:06

certain that you have acted honorably.

1:38:11

I have I have tried, but

1:38:15

this world. It is not

1:38:17

the one I first encountered.

1:38:21

It is not the one that I came

1:38:23

to this to your

1:38:26

world seeking. It

1:38:28

is and I have I

1:38:30

have given up much to 2

1:38:34

remain

1:38:36

your music box. Gone.

1:38:40

What do what do you mean it's gone? I

1:38:44

2 remain here with these people who

1:38:46

are some of the kindest that I have met.

1:38:49

These people Took your music

1:38:51

box. I gave it to them.

1:38:54

I was at the beginning,

1:38:56

I was not consistent

1:38:58

type missed

1:38:59

shows. No. And

1:39:02

see if he puts her hand up and

1:39:04

turns and marches in the direction of

1:39:08

the man that shut himself into

1:39:10

his wagon. You

1:39:14

walk towards the wagon? You

1:39:16

approach the door,

1:39:19

there are, you know, four short steps up

1:39:21

and then the door in front of you. She

1:39:23

reaches out with her staff

1:39:26

and uses press digitation to

1:39:29

knock faster than at, like,

1:39:31

a hand could that wrap that almost

1:39:33

feels like one sustained long knock.

1:39:36

Uhira. Occupied.

1:39:40

Sorry.

1:39:43

This will be quick. The

1:39:46

door opens. Professor

1:39:50

Adelaide, offstage, is

1:39:54

a little bit of a satter site, a

1:39:57

shorter fellow who you

1:39:59

see the thick makeup that

1:40:01

looks better on stage

1:40:04

than it does in person that

1:40:06

sort of disguised as a kind of watery,

1:40:10

sad eyed grimace as

1:40:12

he holds his hat in his hands opening the

1:40:14

door. Hi. Hello?

1:40:16

Hello? I

1:40:19

need the music box.

1:40:25

She begins to walk up and into the wagon.

1:40:27

Oh, well,

1:40:30

as as actually as a as a hedge

1:40:32

mate 2 the enter to my sanctum and

1:40:34

a bunch of cards fall out of his sleeves. Disrespectful.

1:40:38

I thought, you know, I'm not a wizard. I'm not and

1:40:40

he steps

1:40:41

off. He he leaves the wagon and says, help

1:40:43

help yourself. Anything you

1:40:44

want? Well,

1:40:46

I'm gonna do that. I don't know how to solve

1:40:49

an emotional problem.

1:40:54

Give me an unconscious. Nine.

1:40:58

Everything in here is absolute brick

1:41:00

a rack garbage. Bucking,

1:41:03

two bit, quickly scrawled, things

1:41:06

that thieves and cutthroats wrote

1:41:09

on scraps of parchment seeing

1:41:11

a wizard open book peeking over

1:41:14

their shoulder compiled into

1:41:17

penny dreadful things sold in

1:41:19

Harbourtowns across the edge of the empire.

1:41:24

And my my crawls that contain

1:41:26

several in canned

1:41:28

items up,

1:41:30

speaking. Right now.

1:41:34

Where is it? If I search,

1:41:37

I will destroy. What

1:41:39

little garbage you hold dear.

1:41:44

There's a magical chest in

1:41:46

the back that

1:41:50

The the ancient word of the lingua

1:41:52

Arcona Casa should open.

1:41:55

And if that doesn't

1:41:56

work, you would what's that? You

1:41:58

would

1:41:58

dare. Referenced the lingua.

1:42:00

My god and shit. It's front of me. III

1:42:04

can run. He sprints.

1:42:07

You see, he even throws his top hat off into

1:42:10

the field. Takes his white gloves off,

1:42:12

just sprints, Pal Mel. He

1:42:14

kinda goes I think that's halfway into

1:42:16

the field. He decides to start going serpentine.

1:42:19

He doesn't know. He's

1:42:23

dodging off into

1:42:25

the night. And

1:42:27

that's the last we'll ever sue your father.

1:42:31

JB Adelaide. In the wind.

1:42:33

In the wind. You

1:42:35

find that there is a completely non

1:42:38

magical chest in the back that

1:42:40

is it has a lock

1:42:42

that is designed to look magical,

1:42:45

but is just glued shut. And

1:42:47

you can see that the bottom slides out.

1:42:49

Oh, takes her

1:42:51

time. It considers

1:42:54

breaking it to make a

1:42:55

point. And then in a moment of

1:42:58

weird mercy, just slides it out.

1:43:02

You see there's a couple little sort of, like,

1:43:04

private ledgers that look like maybe,

1:43:06

like, bookkeeping of of the the

1:43:08

caravales. So these guys also like the business

1:43:10

person at the head of this little troop of

1:43:12

performers, and there is

1:43:14

a beautiful little music box.

1:43:20

I'm sorry that you didn't feel that you could

1:43:23

come back to the cottage. It

1:43:25

was always your home. I

1:43:27

know. And

1:43:31

it was clear even when

1:43:34

you were very young. Your

1:43:36

kindness and lovedliness would

1:43:38

extend

1:43:39

forever to me. But

1:43:43

I had

1:43:46

already given up

1:43:48

so much that was important

1:43:51

to me from that time when we were

1:43:53

young. And I feared

1:43:55

that you would look upon me the same way

1:43:57

you did tonight. With

1:44:01

pain and

1:44:03

confusion. I could

1:44:05

not bear.

1:44:07

To see that from to have

1:44:09

my true friends see me so

1:44:12

low.

1:44:13

If you'd want to be an actor. I would even

1:44:16

supported that lady.

1:44:17

I didn't want to be I didn't I don't want to

1:44:19

be an actor. It was

1:44:21

thank God, this.

1:44:23

Suvy, you reappear and

1:44:26

you see that Suvy has come back with the music

1:44:28

box. I

1:44:30

think

1:44:32

Oersilon melts. Oersilon melts

1:44:34

just a little bit. They

1:44:36

call you beer.

1:44:39

No one says Ocelon. Right? That's

1:44:43

it's not that hard.

1:44:46

They can put in a little

1:44:47

effort. I mean, there are some

1:44:49

yokels here who are more

1:44:52

cultured 2 have more an

1:44:54

elusive tongue, but they are few

1:44:56

and far between. There's

1:45:00

one particular one that has

1:45:04

been coming to the show kind of every night.

1:45:07

Stands in the back and comes up to me

1:45:09

afterwards and has notes on

1:45:11

my performance. Everyone's

1:45:15

Everyone is a critic. Ugh.

1:45:19

But that is a truly

1:45:21

kind of You Supi.

1:45:24

We we need your help. You

1:45:27

and the sword

1:45:29

that CV

1:45:31

bestowed upon you that

1:45:33

we have found out is called WBN I

1:45:38

think in this moment, as

1:45:41

you say that, like,

1:45:48

I think there is such another wave

1:45:50

of shame that crashes over

1:45:52

Epsilon. And you his

1:45:55

his his human is like his

1:45:59

glamour form is a, like, is a full foot

1:46:01

shorter than he than

1:46:03

he is in his true form. And I think you

1:46:05

see that even that person kind of

1:46:09

their shoulders slouch or my

1:46:11

my shoulder slouch, my head goes

1:46:13

down. And I would say even I

1:46:15

would say I partially begin to

1:46:17

disappear. I think there is As

1:46:20

as as I and

1:46:22

again, I turned my head away from you

1:46:24

unable to

1:46:26

look at either one of you. Please

1:46:28

don't call.

1:46:31

The sword is gone. I

1:46:38

during one terrible winter when

1:46:42

I need it. A

1:46:44

place to to take shelter. I

1:46:49

I gave it away. That shelter

1:46:51

had should have been offered to you freely.

1:46:54

That's not your fault. Whether

1:46:56

they knew you were an odd friend or not,

1:46:59

hospitality to strangers

1:47:01

is is

1:47:03

required. It's it

1:47:07

it's sacred.

1:47:09

I just wanna go over and try to hug you.

1:47:13

I think now Ursilon takes

1:47:16

it. It's okay.

1:47:19

Not your fault. It's okay.

1:47:23

Well, at least know

1:47:26

that the sword is gone.

1:47:28

Now we know we have

1:47:30

a quest for you.

1:47:45

That was Lou Wilson as Eursilon,

1:47:48

Erika Ishige as Aimee,

1:47:50

Abria Iengar, as Suvi, and

1:47:52

Brennan Lee Mulligan, as everyone

1:47:55

and everything else. World's

1:47:57

Beyond number is edited designed and

1:48:00

scored by Taylor Moore at

1:48:02

fortunate horse with additional sound

1:48:04

designed from Michael Guelsey 2. For

1:48:07

even more like this, join us

1:48:09

on our Patreon. We'll see

1:48:11

you there.