SPRING IN HIERON 30: A SAFER SECOND
Transcriber: Cole
Austin: As you look east and start heading back towards the direction you’re- you are staying, you can look in the sky, and see that a second sun has risen. There are two suns in the sky.
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Austin (as Rosana): I cannot believe this. Is this… the university? Is everyone ok?
Art (as Hadrian): Oh, um. Probably not. This is really bad news, and I’m- I’m really sorry. But we have to focus on just like, living through the next thirty-six hours right now.
Austin (as Rosana): We should finish what we need to finish here as soon as possible and begin heading back.
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[Jack de Quidt’s “Something” begins playing in the background]
Keith: Coming here gave me the idea of what if we had an animal that tended to the plants in the same way that the pala-din tend to them?
Austin: Mm.
Keith: And I think that what happens is that it’s ju- it’s too- it’s not um- It’s too friendly with the plants. [Sylvia laughs lightly] Like, it’s- it went too far in the other direction [Austin and Sylvia laugh] where it’s like, I think I over um- overcompensated my fear of just making a thing that would destroy all the plants and be done with it.
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Dre: Ok. What do we want our number one priority here to be? Cause originally we came here to I guess get some pala-din to either come over or figure out how to make our own and also to try and get some kind of knowledge that would let us break Arrell’s conduit over Benjamin.
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Sylvia: I was wondering if there was a way to look into um, not even canceling it out, but helping- but some way to suppress magical energy at all.
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Austin: You find it in a text on weapons. And you find a note about a type of alchemical solution.. Effectively a poison that Samot used to use. And Hadrian might remember this well which is they used to carry a type of weapon- or they used to kind of dose their weapons in a formula that would slowly turn someone into a pala-din.
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Austin (as Highwater): I do have- I- I do- I did keep my- my dart gun. Just in case. I know that like, a sword is more heroic, but-
Sylvia (as Ephrim):: No, this is- this is what we need.
Sylvia: Um-
Austin: I’m cool with Highwater having been set up somewhere.
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Keith: Is there a plan for Benjamin?
Austin: I haven’t heard one.
Keith: Like- what’s the- what-
Sylvia: Yeah, it’s the only question mark.
Keith: I guess, you know, Hadrian has been talking to Benjamin. I’m- I’m worried about like, not knowing how that’s going to play out. Art?
Art: Yeah?
Keith: Do you know how that’s gonna play out? Do you know what your plan is for Benjamin?
Art: Uh, I mean, yeah. We’re- we’re in different spaces, so- so you’re not hearing this like, officially, but I’m gonna kill Arrell before anything bad happens to Benjamin.
Austin: [quietly] Great. And that’s the plan.
Keith: Ok, that’s… Alright.
Sylvia: Yeah, we have such similar plans. [Sylvia and Austin laugh]
[Jack de Quidt’s “Something” finishes playing]
Dre: It’s really just good group synergy.
Austin: Love it. So, what’s up, everybody? Where you doin’ it? What’s going on? Do you want to find a little island or a little part of the peninsula where there’s like, not a lot of people and just all join up? Are you doin’ it in the- in the library? Are you settin’ up in this fountain? Like, what’s the- what’s the play?
Keith: [overlapping] Well, Arrell said that- that he would meet us somewhere.
Austin: In the library, yes.
Keith: In the- So, I think we’ve gotta start in the library.
Sylvia: Yeah, I think despite my worries about other people getting hurt cause of this, it’s also the most controlled environment we’ve got for it. So-
Austin: Uh hm.
Dre: Does- Are there like any windows or anything in the library?
Austin: Yeah, probably. It’s a second floor or third floor library, if I’m remembering from last time. Um, on- in the governor’s house. So, there are windows, but I don’t think that they are necessarily- Yeah, they’re windows. But they’re not like, huge spacious windows that are, you know, blah-blah-blah.
Dre: Yeah.
Austin: They’re just some windows in that room.
Dre: Um, I’m- Would it be more useful to have Throndir with the group or like, in a weird sniper nest?
Keith: I- Last thing, we don’t know that this is a fight, right?
Art: Do you plan to give him the plans?
Keith: No.
Art: Probably gonna be a fight.
Sylvia: Probably.
Keith: Ok.
Sylvia: I think what we’ve got is like- There’s gotta be like, a signal we have for when to fire for both like, Highwater and Throndir, right? Do we have like, a hand signal or something?
Dre: I mean-
Sylvia: I’m just gonna say- let’s just say we had a hand signal.
Austin: You have a hand signal. There you go.
Dre: Yeah, we do.
Sylvia: Let’s just say we have a hand signal. [light laughing]
Austin: Uh huh.
Sylvia: And that way we can sort of like- We don’t have to lock into doing it straight away. [light laugh] It’s not just he shows up, and we’re bo- we’re popping off. So, yeah.
Austin: Ok. So, everyone’s just waiting in the library patiently? Who all is here? [Sylvia makes inaudible start] Ephrim, are both of your retainers here?
Sylvia: Yeah, I think um- I’m wondering if Highwater should be hiding somewhere in the library. I think probably.
Austin: I will say it is not a huge library. This is not like-
Sylvia: Yeah.
Austin: This is like, a large study more than it is a- a small library.
Sylvia: Ok, then maybe it’s just they-
Austin: It’s like a school library-
Sylvia: Yeah.
Austin: -is kind of what I’m imagining. You know what I mean?
Sylvia: Ok. Maybe she’s just behind Marigold’s shield then?
Austin: Ok.
Sylvia: So, it’s like, if she needs to pop out and fire the dart, she can get behind the big shield. [light laugh]
Austin: Sure.
Sylvia: Ok. But yeah, they’re both there.
Austin: They’re both there. Uh, Benjamin here?
Art: Yep.
Austin: Rosana here?
Art: Uh huh.
Austin: Ok. Uh, obviously Ephrim- er not Ephrim. Sorry. Uh, Fero and Throndir, you’re both here.
Keith: Uh hm.
Dre: Uh… no, I think- I think it might be better for Throndir to be outside.
Austin: Like?
Dre: Like, looking through the windows with his-
Austin: Ok, it’s on-
Dre: -with his rifle.
Austin: Higher floor. So, where are- So you like, on a lower floor looking in?
Dre: Mm. Got any cool trees?
Austin: You know, I could say there’s some- there’s a- there’s a set of trees outside, for sure. Um, or like, a rooftop kind of far away, looking at this map. But like, yeah, I could say you could- you could perch up in some trees.
Dre: Ok. I’ll take trees.
Austin: Get yourself a fuckin’ sniper rifle setup. Yeah. Ok.
Dre: It’s got long range on it.
Austin: It does ha- It does literally have long range, so I will give it to you that within the range of long range, you can get a setup on an- on a, you know, in the trees at some distance. And your bullets are coated and everything else, right?
Dre: Uh hm.
Austin: Alright. So, everyone’s just in this library and waitin’. And waiting. And waiting. [light laugh and exhale]
Austin (as Benjamin): Dad, is every- What if he doesn’t show up?
Art (as Hadrian): Um, that’s- that’s probably bad news. It probably means he- he has some other plan and- and did it somewhere else.
Keith (as Fero): Or he found the plans that we think that he needs from us.
Austin: Highwater says um,
Austin (as Highwater): What if-
Art: [interrupting] Fero is eavesdropping on a whisper between me and my son. [Austin and Dre laugh] It’s rude as hell.
Austin: That’s fair. I think-
Keith: Well, I’ll mark one for unkind. [Austin laughs]
Austin: Highwater says out loud.
Austin (as Highwater): What if this is a trick to get us all together, and then he can like, blast us? [explosion foley]
Austin: And she makes like- like a [explosion foley] like, hand gesture.
Austin (as Highwater): I’m gonna stand a little further away from everybody, if that’s ok.
Austin: And like, backs up a little bit, but then realizes that she’s left the shield. And then she like-
Austin (as Highwater): I’m gonna stay behind the shield.
Austin: [light laugh] And like, takes a few more steps forward to go behind the shield.
Art: Benjamin is my ward. I just want to make sure that I’ve-
Austin: Yep. totally.
Art: -declared that recently.
Sylvia (as Ephrim): I feel like if you wanted to do this- do that- he’d have done it already.
Austin: And he says,
Austin (as Arrell): Exactly.
Austin: And appears in the middle of everybody, having been invisible in this room the whole time.
Keith (as Fero): Were you fuckin’ wa- Yeah, waiting for a dumb like, dramatic entrance?
Austin (as Arrell): I simply was curious how long you would wait for me here, and if you would give me the information I need without a confrontation. If one of you would have said where you placed the plates, for instance. There are quite a few of you. I take it this means you will not agree to my offer.
Art (as Hadrian): Unfortunately we talked it over, and it seems like it’s a- it’s a no. [Keith laughs]
Austin (as Arrell): Perhaps if I had more leverage, you would consider it.
Sylvia: Oh that’s- [light laugh] Uh [exhales] oh man, that’s already- I’m already wanting to jump this guy. Um, [exhales]
Keith: Yeah, fuck it. Let’s do it. [Austin laughs softly] Let’s just get- let’s just go. Like, right? This- That was a threat. This guy sucks. Let’s do it.
Sylvia: Yeah? Yeah-
Keith: He’s threatening to get more leverage on us which means-
Art: I think-
Keith: -that he’s threatening to put us in a more difficult position.
Art: I think he’s telling us he had more leverage on us.
Keith: I don’t know. I think that he’s- I think that he’s threatening to-
Sylvia: I’m gonna-
Art: Technically about to find out. We should-
Sylvia: Yeah.
Art: -we should- we should get to the next five seconds where we find out.
Sylvia: I think in character, I’m gonna ask,
Sylvia (as Ephrim): And what does that look like?
Sylvia: And also I’m going to- Ephrim’s gonna like, step forward a little so he’s more clearly in Throndir’s view to give him the signal.
Austin: Sure. Uh huh.
Sylvia: Yeah.
Austin: Uh, and I think he says,
Austin (as Arrell): There are a number of things. Leverage can take many forms. I could offer you more, and I will. A firm alliance against the Ordennans. And perhaps a- some supplies you may need in your [light laugh] quite frankly overstuffed home. You have so many. So many hungry mouths to feed. But there is also the hammer. It would take but a moment to fill these streets with dark mirrors of the pala-din who live here. Creatures without souls, but with hunger. And certainly they could fight them off, but a scar like that is not something a community like this would forget easily. Carrots. Sticks. I have both and many more beyond. I have not deceived you, in terms of my intent. I have been as clear as I can be. But I will not leave here without what I came for. [Sylvia sighs]
Keith: I roll Shapeshifter.
Austin: Alright. Go ahead and roll it. 2d6 plus uh, wisdom, right?
Keith: Yeah.
Austin: You just did it. So, nine. So, you get two hold. What do you turn into?
Keith: Um, last time I fought Arrell-
Austin: Yes.
Keith: -I was a bear.
Austin: You were a bear.
Keith: Which now that I think of it was the first time that I turned into an animal that I could have accidentally wiped off the map-
Austin: Uh huh.
Keith: -since the like- like las- the beginning of the last act of the last season.
Austin: Yeah. Is there just something about Arrell that makes Fero go, ‘fuck it’?
Keith: I just- Yeah, didn’t even- Like, I didn’t even consider-
Austin: Yeah.
Keith: -the consequence.
Austin: How bad that could have gone. Yeah.
Keith: Right. And so I think I’ve had time to consider it a little bit more. And I really like the- I really like the- the um- I think that a bear is like, just like, symbolically a strong- a like, a strong thing that you’d want to turn into to fight Arrell.
Austin: Yeah.
Keith: But instead, I’m actually going to be using chimera.
Austin: Ok.
Keith: And so, I’m going to turn into a bear that- [light laugh] that has the exoskeleton and- and stinger of a scorpion.
Sylvia: Oo.
Austin: Ooo, ok. That’s terrifying.
Keith: Yeah.
Austin: Fero’s terrifying.
Sylvia: I think I gotta give the signal at that point.
Austin: Yeah, I guess so, right? Let’s- let’s- Fero, you’re doing the thing where you’re like, turning into this thing mid-strike?
Keith: Yeah, yeah.
Austin: Alright. So, give me- give me the Hack and Slash that goes with this or whatever other move you’re trying to do here.
Keith: This is definitely Hack and Slash.
Austin: Uh hm.
Keith: Um, let’s see. Eleven.
Austin: Alright, so that means you can do your damage, and then if you want to, you can do a plus 1d6, but to- but also get hit back.
Keith: So, I- This is- this is something that I don’t ask you to give me very often, but it is something that I can do.
Austin: Uh huh.
Keith: Which is what does it look like to use this poisonous stinger? Like, what is that attack?
Austin: Yeah, like I think that it’s um- it’s- What type of- It’s a big scorpion thing, right?
Keith: It’s a big scorpion thing, yeah.
Austin: So, it’s probably some sort of damage over time effect on your- on your hit. Right?
Keith: Ok.
Austin: If you pierce- if you pierce his armor, I think it will do like, 1d4 for 1d4 turns.
Keith: Ok.
Austin: Extra damage. How’s that sound?
Keith: So, it’s my- is it- It’s my dangerous animal attack roll-
Austin: Yes.
Keith: -plus- or damage roll, and then if it pierces the armor, plus 1d4 per turn?
Austin: Yep. You got it.
Keith: Ignoring armor?
Austin: Ignoring armor, cause it’ll be inside his armor. Yeah.
Keith: Great. Eight.
Austin: [excitedly] Ooooo 1d8! That’s an eight! That goes-
Keith: That’s eight on a 1d8.
Austin: So, I think what you see- This is really great because it’s high enough to pierce his like, incredible magic shield. Um, so yeah. Like, we get Fero turns into a chimera that is a combination of a bear and a giant scorpion. It’s a- Is it in like, scorpion armor effectively?
Keith: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Austin: That’s sick.
Keith: Basically, like on top of the fur is what I’m-
Austin: Yeah, and-
Sylvia: Ooo.
Keith: Cause it’s only- And like, also the top half of the body. Like, the rest of the body is like, fur. So, it’s covering like, the back and like, maybe part of the face, too.
Austin: Totally. And you- the- the stinger- Like, you pounce on him, and the stinger just pushes through. And you can layer after layer of this like, physical force that’s like, invisible get broken. It’s like, [magical puncture foley] fwo-puck, fwo-puck, fwo-puck, fwo-puck. And it happens five times. [someone whistles] And you get the stab in, and then you do an- you do damage. So that is um- that is three- You’ve done three damage. You’ve pierced his five armor to do three damage so far. And as you pull the stinger out, you hear the armor rebuild itself, basically. It’s like-
Keith: I’m gonna actually do another four.
Austin: From?
Keith: I’m gonna take that 1d6.
Austin: Oh, uh, you have to decide that before you roll that dice.
Keith: Oh, I do?
Austin: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Keith: Ok. That’s fine.
Austin: Unless you- unless you’re choosing to get- You’re also- you’re saying I’ll also get hit here?
Keith: Yeah, right. Right. That’s the-that’s the trade, isn’t it?
Austin: That’s the- that’s the trade. You’re supposed to decide that before you roll it, but-
Keith: That’s ok. No, we’ll save it.
Austin: I will take- I’ll take this option to hurt you.
Keith: Yeah, ok. Let’s- Great. Let’s do it. [Sylvia and Dre laugh]
Austin: Um, do your- do your-
Sylvia: [sighs] Oh.
Austin: Alright, so that means- that’s actually a good hit cause that brings him down to nine from where he was before which is very good.
Keith: So, plus another 1d4, right?
Austin: Now a 1d4. Or 1d4, and then give me a second 1d4 because that’ll be how many rounds you get.
Keith: Um, so- roll- Ok, so this first-
Austin: So, roll 2d4.
Keith: Ok. 2d4.
[crosstalking]
Austin: Yeah, and we’ll just- The first one-
Keith: Are we doing the first one is the damage?
Austin: Yes. The first one is the damage.
Keith: And the second one is-
Austin: The second is how many rounds.
Keith: Ok. So, roll 2d4. So four-
Austin: [overlapping] So, four, but only one more round. So, four this round. Four next round. That’s a good hit.
Keith: So that’s a total of three, seven, eleven damage.
Austin: Totally.
Keith: Plus another 1d4 ignoring armor next round.
Austin: Next round, yeah. So, he does-
Keith: Plus I take my damage this turn.
Austin: Right, he does uh, eleven to you.
Keith: Ok, I have my interrupt move, Shed, which means-
Austin: Shed. You do not take that damage.
Keith: -I revert back to my normal form.
Austin: Yep. It’s like a fuckin’ magic deck.
Keith: Um, and take no damage.
Austin: Every time. Every time I’m like, this- I can’t believe Fero built a blue deck. [Dre and Keith laugh hard] It’s like a blue-red. It’s a blue-red.
Sylvia: So good.
Austin: You do a lots of direct damage, and then you counterspell. It sucks.
Sylvia: Uh, it’s the best.
Austin: But yeah, so then like, pushes- like, slings you away-
Keith: Yeah.
Austin: With this like, huge blast. And he stands up and Throndir, that could be a moment, if you want to take that shot.
Dre: Yeah, a hundred percent.
Austin: Give me- give me a Volley.
Dre: Well, actually-
Austin: Yes. You’re doing a special move.
Dre: I’m con- I’m considering using Trick Shot here.
Austin: Hell yeah. What’s that do?
Dre: When you go for an improbable shot with an unusual effect, describe what you want to happen, and roll plus your AIM.
Austin: Uh hm. Uh hm.
Dre: I want to shoot the hand that his staff is in to try and knock the staff out of his hand.
Austin: Yes. Ok.
Dre: Um, I’ve got two aim.
Austin: So, reduce your- So, two aim, so 2d6 plus two.
Dre: Yeah. Ok. Seven.
Austin: Uh, so seven. On a seven to nine, you choose one and then I choose one. Reduce your aim by one, you may not choose this option if you have zero aim. Spend some time lining up the shot, which means I think he will get to go before you can fire. Uh, get into a vulnerable position, which means you reveal yourself to him in this case. Or sacrifice or endanger something important.
Dre: [groans] All of these suck.
Austin: Uh hm. Especially cause we get two of ‘em.
Dre: Yeah, I’m gonna reduce my aim, and I’ll let you have fun with the other one. [laughs]
Austin: Um, I think you are going to get into a vulnerable position.
Dre: Sure.
Austin: I think the shot comes through the window and give me your damage.
Dre: Uh- [thinking noises]
Austin: Which is- it’s d8, but does the gun do anything special here?
Dre: I don’t think so. Um, it is forceful. It has that tag on it.
Austin: It’s forceful, so yeah- So, that means it’ll like-
Keith: What does forceful mean?
Austin: It’ll knock him back. It’ll do like- it’ll do kind of physics-y stuff, you know? It’s like-
Keith: Ok. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Austin: -it turns on havoc physics. [Sylvia and Dre laugh]
Keith: Got it. He ragdolls for like, twenty frames.
Austin: Yeah. Exactly. Yeah.
Dre: Ugh, woof.
Sylvia: Gah, I can’t believe Arrell glitched through the floor.
Austin: Uh, yeah.
Dre: That’s a one.
Austin: So, in this case- [light laugh] uh, that bullet comes in, and the magic shield- it like pings off of it. And then he turns and faces you, Throndir. And you can just see it. Is Kodiak inside or outside, by the way? That was the body I was missing before.
Dre: Uh, he is outside with me.
Austin: Ok, so Kodiak goes,
Austin (as Kodiak): Grrr Roof!
Austin: And begins to like, bark at you up there because Kodiak can sense that- that Arrell knows where you are.
Dre: Do I do the thing though? Do I knock his staff away?
Austin: Yeah, you suc- You succeeded, right?
Dre: Ok. Yeah.
Austin: Um, so- So, yeah. You do it. The staff goes flying away, and he like, turns and faces you and like- and then begins to like, try to back up to try to get to the staff again. Who’s next? What’s going on? As he’s trying to- He’s like, trying to go get- pick up the staff that got knocked away.
Art: Uh, yeah, I would also like to Hack and Slash.
Austin: Alright, what’s this look like? And give me the roll. Your strength is what? Seventeen? So, two. Plus two.
Art: Um, I have my- I have my sword- the star sword.
Austin: Yes, you do.
Art: Um, which I am going to try to just- to just- just stab the crap out of him with. I would just really love-
Austin: Yeah.
Art: -to kill this guy with a sword.
Austin: It ignores armor, so that’s really useful.
Art: Yeah.
Keith: Yeah, that’s great here. I forgot about that.
Austin: Uh huh. You also still have that suspicious torch. [Sylvia laughs] Which we found out about. We figured out where it was from. It’s from when you were in um- now I’ve forgotten where it’s from. But someone found it in the transcripts. Oh, here it is.
Art: I thought it was you. I thought you found it in the transcripts.
Austin: No, someone else found it and linked it to me. Um, it’s- you go, ‘alright, what here is useful or valuable to me?’ And I go ‘Um, there are torches here which are- which are communicating light, but are not only communicating light, but are providing warmth. Um, maybe even more warmth than they should be producing. It was getting cold out there, and here it is- it’s comfortable. And if you’re going below, you should probably bring a couple of torches.’ And you go, ‘alright, let’s grab some torches.’ Um, and then you say, ‘also, I want to know who’s in control here.’ And I go, ‘Oh, they’re each- they’re each one load. Um, they’re heavier than they should be. They’re like- they look like they’re made of wood, but they feel like they’re made of metal.’ And I guess you wrote that down as ‘suspicious torches.’ [Austin, Sylvia, and Keith laugh] So, uh, you rolled a twelve on Hack and Slash, my guy.
Keith: Nice.
Austin: That ain’t bad. Do you want to do your damage or do you want to do your damage plus 1d6, but also get hit back?
Art: Um… he’s al- he’s not doing great, right?
Austin: No.
Art: I can’t- I can’t do the- the- I guess I can do the magic don’t-get-hit thing. Yeah, I’ll do the 1d6, sure.
Austin: Alright. Give me a 2d- er give me a- a d10 plus d6. [sighs and whispers] Oh my god.
Art: God.
Austin: It all gets through, but you only rolled a three. You rolled a- you rolled 1d10 plus 1d6, and you got one more than minimum. [Sylvia laughs]
Keith: Damn.
Austin: The- the blade pierces his armor as he’s trying to get to the um- to the staff. But you manage to stab him- How- What’s this look like? What- How do you- Where do you hit him with the sword?
Art: Oh, I mean with- [softly laughing] what would I have said when I rolled a twelve or what would I have said when I rolled a three?
Austin: [laughs] The latter.
Art: I think this ends up being like, Hadrian tried to do like, a big dramatic like, ‘I’m gonna stab you right through the heart’-
Austin: Mm.
Art: -and it ends up just being like, kind of in the shoulder.
Austin: In the shoulder. Right. Yeah. Totally. Well, and I think that gives him the opportunity to like, reach out with his bare hand and do- let’s see, four damage back to you through some sort of like, necrotic touch. The- the color begins to fade from your- from your um, your body as he reaches and touches you.
Art: Does- does this pierce armor?
Austin: Yes. Yes.
Art: Ok. I could take four. Four’s not so bad.
Austin: You can take four. You can take four.
[crosstalking]
Sylvia: It’s his minimum damage.
Art: I don’t need to use any of my big shit for that.
Keith: Wait, doesn’t Hadrian have like, a pretty good chunk of health?
Art: Yeah.
Austin: Yeah. Hadrian’s fine.
Keith: Ok. Ok.
Austin: Um, that four is not-
Art: And I have- I can- I can like, turn damage into the- the minuses.
Austin: Oh, right. Yes, that’s true. You can just soak it by being worse at other stats, but you know, in this case-
Keith: [interrupting] When this comes around to me, I feel like I have a pretty good idea.
Austin: Um, let’s go to Ephrim because Ephrim hasn’t been in the fight quite yet.
Keith: Oh yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Austin: Ephrim?
Sylvia: Yeah. Um, [exhales] I think it- I think I want to go back to an old classic.
Austin: Ooo, yeah?
Sylvia: Uh, I rolled an eight on my Burning Brand.
Austin: [intake air] Yo, you did the thing. You did the Burning Brand, huh? So-
Sylvia: I did. And uh- on a seven to nine, I get a two-one tag for it.
Austin: Yes. Uh huh.
Sylvia: I’ll refresh the details. So, my burning brand is a weapon of pure flame. When I conjure it, I lose one max HP.
Austin: So, do that right away.
Sylvia: Yep.
Austin: Which brings you down to eighteen, right?
Sylvia: Yeah. Question about that. Cause I was at eighteen with my current HP, does that lower that?
Austin: Lower that also.
Sylvia: Ok.
Austin: Yeah, Uh hm.
Sylvia: I figured. [light laugh] Um, shouldn't have asked.
Austin: It’s the Heat and the Dark. The Heat and the Dark- you know how ties go to the runner?
Sylvia: Uh hm.
Austin: It- Not for the Heat and the Dark. [light laugh]
Sylvia: Yeah, figured.
Austin: But-
Keith: Or the Heat and the Dark is always the runner.
Austin: Yeah. Uh huh. Right. Yes.
Sylvia: So, the way this works is it forms a weapon out of living fire. In this case, it’s made of the Heat and the Dark.
Austin: Yo. [light laugh]
Sylvia: And it begins with the tags fiery, touch, dangerous, and three uses.
Austin: Ok.
Sylvia: Each attack with it consumes one use. But since I rolled a eight, I get to pick an extra tag for it. And I’m going to… Hm. I’m very deliberately leaving the dangerous tag on this one.
Austin: Yeah. Uh hm.
Sylvia: I think- [exhales] I think maybe- Like, what- I’m trying- I think like a sword is what I’m making here.
Austin: Yeah, sure.
Sylvia: So, I think like, maybe- what? Would near be like, a decently sized sword? Or would-
Austin: Yep. Near is a sword. Yep. Totally.
Sylvia: Ok, yeah. And I think the way this looks is that Ephrim looks like he’s reaching to pull out his other sword, and when his hand moves back, it’s this purple and black-
Austin: Yep.
Sylvia: -lIke, not quite stable sword. [Austin sighs]
Austin: Alright. I think as he sees this and rea- and like, stands back up with the- with the staff- the stave, he says,
Austin (as Arrell): Fool!
Austin: -in a voice that like, gets as close to- to Fantasmo as one you’ve heard. [Sylvia laughs lightly] Give me the- Are you swinging on him? Is that what this is?
Sylvia: I am, yeah. Absolutely.
Austin: Alright. Give- Give me the Hack and Slash.
Sylvia: Which uses my intelligence with this move. Thankfully.
Austin: Because you have what? You have- Oh, that’s just what it does? It just says that?
Sylvia: Yeah. That’s just the way it- Burning Brand works is you-
Austin: Gotcha. Oh, I see it.
Sylvia: -roll intelligence instead of strength or dex. Yeah.
Austin: Yeah, you may treat your INT- Yeah. Cool. Uh, so that is a- a-
Sylvia: Eight.
Austin: Eight, which means you both do damage.
Sylvia: Alright, and this ignores armor.
Austin: Yep.
Sylvia: It’s only 1d6, but whatever.
Austin: Yeah.
Sylvia: It’s also- it does- it- I believe the actual- Let me read the text for this cause it’s very good-
Austin: Please.
Sylvia: -what it actually does. Um, where- ‘Whenever you summon fire with any of your moves, it is replaced with the Heat and the Dark. It ignores armor.’ Oh, in the book, it says it burns directly at the soul. I think I just-
Austin: Ooo.
Sylvia: -we just cut that from chara- my character page-
Austin: Yeah.
Sylvia: -but that was the thing is that it- it did-
Austin: It doesn’t just hurt- Yeah bodies. Yeah, no. That’s good.
Sylvia: Yeah.
Austin: That’s good in this case.
Sylvia: Uh hm. That is a six.
Austin: That’s a maximum damage. Hell yeah. And then you take eight.
Sylvia: That’s fine.
Austin: So-
Art: Yikes.
Austin: Uh huh. Where are you at now, Ephrim?
Art: Eight’s a lot.
Sylvia: I’m at half HP.
Austin: Ok.
Sylvia: I’m at nine out of eighteen.
Austin: Ok. Um, the blade sinks- the- the blade of the Heat and the Dark sinks into Arrell. You know, I think it’s interesting cause there’s like, one- one wound in one shoulder is the star stuff and the other- like, it’s leaking star stuff and the other wound is now burning with the Heat and the Dark. And the life begins to leave his eyes. And he drops to the ground. And then gets back up on a knee and says,
Austin (as Arrell): Fools. I do not have the title Lich because I control the undead. Because I understand the mysteries of life. I am unkillable.
Austin: And stands back up and says,
Austin (as Arrell): As long as my phylactery yet lives.
Austin: And Benjamin puts some things together.
Sylvia: [quietly exhales speech] Oh no.
Art: Uh oh.
Austin (as Arrell): Who could be a safer second than your child, Hadrian?
Austin: And he begins to cast some spells on himself to close the wounds quicker.
Art: We gotta- we got to um- we got to Prometheus this guy. I don’t- I guess we don’t have Greek myths [light laugh] in this society.
Austin: No.
Art: Um-
Austin: I will say that I am taking- I want to be very clear that I am taking note that you killed with the star stuff and with poison and with- with the- the pala-din poison and also with- though actually that didn’t do damage, that only hit the- So, he has actually not gotten the pala-din poison yet.
Dre: Yeah.
Austin: That’s an important note because the armor blocked it. But and also the Heat and the Dark. That has not- that has not gone unnoticed, and it has been reflected in his stats.
Keith: Um, I had- I thought… How important is this staff? Like, if we broke the staff-
Austin: There are things I would no longer be able to do.
Keith: Ok.
Austin: Uh, also last time you broke the staff-
Dre: I died.
Austin: -bad things happened. Yeah. There was intense like-
Keith: Oh.
Austin: -damage in all of the area around him. There- It- The last one at least had spells cast on it that were like, the magical equivalent of the way Blade’s sword will take off anyone’s hand who doesn’t know how to activate Blade’s sword correctly. Except instead of just like, a popping out some shrapnel or whatever, it cast two very powerful spells in conjunction that did this big AoE damage thing, which is why Throndir died.
Keith: Right. Ok.
Art: The first two Blade movies were amazing.
Austin: So good.
Keith: I haven’t seen them.
Austin: Oh, you should see them.
Keith: Ok. I think I want to- I- You know, when someone says ‘I’m unkillable. Blah--blah-blah’ it sounds like they’re full of shit to me.
Austin: Yeah.
Keith: Um, so I’m going to shift my plan. I have a move that I don’t use very often. In fact, I think I only used it once, called Elemental Mastery.
Austin: Mm, yeah.
Keith: ‘When you call on the primal spirits of fire, water, earth, or air to perform a task for you’, it’s very dangerous.
Austin: Uh hm.
Keith: Which is why I don’t use it very often.
Austin: Yeah, it seems like it.
Keith: But also, a lich being alive is very dangerous.
Austin: Totally.
Keith: And so, if someone says, ‘I’m unkillable’ I think the best test of that is to see if they can withstand being burned alive.
Austin: Sure. Um-
Keith: And so, I’m gonna roll this.
Austin: Go ahead and roll it.
Keith: It’s an eleven.
Austin: So, wisdom. Alright, so that means you get to choose two. ‘The effect you desire comes to pass and you avoid paying nature’s price or you retain control.’ So, pick two of those.
Keith: God.
Art: Oh, did you read that before you decided to do this in a room full of books?
Keith: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Well, yeah. Um, I know about fire. [Keith and Dre laugh]
Sylvia: Yeah.
Keith: So, definitely the effect I desire comes to pass.
Austin: Mm, yeah that’s an important one.
Keith: And I also think I retain control.
Austin: Ok, so that means you will be paying nature’s price.
Keith: And what does that mean? Who knows?
Austin: Yeah, we’ll figure it out, right?
Keith: I don’t know. I certainly don’t know what nature’s price is.
Austin: Um, so I think it’s a simple one in this case. I think nature’s price is that you’re gonna take 1d6 damage because it is suffocating you. It’s gaining the air it needs from you.
Keith: Got it.
Austin: To- to spread on him. Do you know what I mean?
Keith: Yeah.
Austin: So you’re- you catch yourself suffocating. So, take one- I’ll roll the 1d6.
Keith: Ok. Austin really wanted that 1d6 from earlier.
Austin: I really did. Take one. [light laugh]
Keith: Take one. Got it.
Austin: So, not so bad.
Keith: No, not so bad. Low price.
Austin: Here’s the thing. The effect comes to pass.He burns alive and falls to the ground again. And his skin is- It’s bad. I’m not gonna describe it in detail. But you can imagine what happens when a lich burns alive.
Keith: Yeah.
Austin: And I’m again gonna make a note that you’ve killed him twice.
Art: I bet it smells terrible.
Austin: It smells terrible.
Art: Oh! No!
Austin: What’s up?
Art: Hey, what kind of notes are you making?
Austin: What do- Why? What’s up? What’s your question? [Sylvia exhales a laugh]
Art: Um-
Austin: Just figuring out ways he dies and stuff. Mm. [Dre laughs]
Dre: Just and things.
Art: Um-
Austin: And he stands back up.
Austin (as Arrell): I told you I am not here to deceive you, Fero. Give me what is mine. Give me what I need to save this world.
Austin: I think Benjamin casts Magic Missile at him.
Art: Cool. What’s that look like?
Austin: Remember the last time? I don’t think it’s as bad as last time. It’s not like that hyper spell that did all sorts of damage. Do you remember how-
Keith: [interrupting] The Gohan attack?
Austin: The Gohan attack. Yeah. I think this is just a traditional magic missile, which is roll 2d4 damage. Which is five damage, so nothing. [light laugh] Uh, so yeah. Each- each of the- In this case, each of the five bolts- I’m gonna imagine this as five magical missiles- um, we just get Arrell kind of swatting them away. And he says,
Austin (as Arrell): Boy, everything you know about magic was taught to you by a shadow of myself. You have no chance. Your greatest strength is that I want you alive.
Art (as Hadrian): Don’t talk to him like that.
Austin (as Arrell): If you give me the plates, we will have no need to talk at all anymore, Hadrian.
Art (as Hadrian): I don’t- Obviously I don’t have the plates. Look at what’s going- No one’s- I- No one gave me the plates.
Austin (as Arrell): And the rest of you?
Keith (as Fero): Yeah, we all- None of have the plates.
Austin: And he turns and looks around and says,
Austin (as Arrell): I know they were moved. Someone here knows where.
Sylvia (as Ephrim): Ah, that must really frustrating not having the whole picture and being kept in the dark by people.
Sylvia: And now I’m gonna try- Does he have his staff in his hand?
Austin: Yes, he does have his staff in his hand.
Sylvia: Can I try and cut that hand off? [light laugh]
Austin: You can give it a shot. Um, I think that that-
Sylvia: I- If I- I have two more uses of this hell sword.
Austin: Yeah, so what I’m gonna say is to get that lined up right-
Sylvia: Uh hm.
Austin: -you’re going to need to Defy Danger somehow to get in close enough-
Sylvia: Alright.
Austin: -before he can counterattack you. So, it’ll be Defy Danger and- Defy Danger and then a- and like, to line up that particular shot.
Sylvia: Alright.
Keith: Make sure you don’t hit the staff. [light laugh]
Austin: The staff, uh hm.
Sylvia: Yep. Um, alright. [exhales] How would I Defy Danger here? Ephrim’s not like-
Austin: You tell me, yeah.
Sylvia: -super graceful or anything.
Austin: Uh hm.
Sylvia: His- his main strength has always been sort of his sheer will power, which I think definitely reflects in both the constitution or-
Austin: Yeah.
Sylvia: -that, so I could do that. Or he could do something with the sword, and we could have it maybe cost an extra use of the brand to sort of like, deflect an attack.
Austin: [interrupting] Yeah, I’d be happy with that, too.
Sylvia: Ok.
Austin: I would be- I’d be totally down for you using both of those to get that attack and a regular Hack and Slash.
Sylvia: Ok. So, should I roll intelligence then for that?
Austin: Roll- Yeah, roll your Hack and Slash is what I’ll say.
Sylvia: Ok.
Austin: I’ll just say you can do it. If you’re gonna burn both of them, you don’t even need to- Hey, Throndir?
Dre: Yeah, I clicked that by accident. Sorry.
Austin: Ok, I was like, why are you talking about being a vampire right now. [Sylvia laughs lightly]
Sylvia: Um, yeah. Oh, wait. I can just- Ooo!
Austin: That’s a thirteen. Hell yeah.
Keith: Nice. Yeah it is.
Sylvia: That’s a thirteen, yeah.
Austin: You don’t get any like, super bonuses for this, right?
Sylvia: Uh… I don’t think so.
Austin: I know like, Hella has a move that’s like, twelve or above, but-
Sylvia: Yeah. No.
Austin: Um, alright. Give me your damage. Plus- er and you’re not gonna do the other d6, right?
Sylvia: No, I’m not. I can’t risk that.
Austin: Yeah, fair. Yeah.
Sylvia: And so that’s five damage.
Austin: Um, cool. And uh, his hand falls off. Welcome to Friends at the Table, an actual play podcast.
Sylvia: Uh huh.
Austin: And the staff falls to the ground.
Sylvia: Can I- can I try and catch it?
Austin: That you will need a Defy Danger for, for sure.
Sylvia: I know I will.
Austin: And that’s pro- That’s a Defy Danger dexterity, for sure.
Sylvia: I’ll- I mean I’m going for it.
Austin: Alright. Give me the roll.
Sylvia: That’s a six. That’s not successful.
Austin: That’s a six. Yo. Uh oh. [light laugh]
Dre: Oh god. I wish-
Sylvia: That’s fine.
Dre: I wish I could aid you on this, my guy.
Austin: No, yeah. Not- That’s not gonna be the prob, you know? Um, give me a second here.
Sylvia: It’s ok. Don’t pull any punches, alright?
Austin: Yeah, no. I- Trust me. Trust me, I am not. [Sylvia laughs]
Dre: I mean, can anyone roll to aid on a Defy Danger?
Austin: Not after a roll like this. Not a- not post-roll, right?
Dre: Yeah.
Sylvia: Yeah.
Austin: Got to declare earlier.
Keith: I thought we had-
Austin: We did that-
Keith: -explicitly decided the opposite.
Austin: We did that for a previous- for Scum and Villainy and for Blades. But I- I really-
Keith: I thought we did it for all- for season two also. I mean, for season- season three.
Austin: Did we- The thing is like- Ah, the thing that I want there is- is that like, I need people to be bought in on the danger-
Keith: Attaching to the- Yeah.
Dre: Yeah.
Sylvia: Yeah.
Austin: -you know, ahead of time. Otherwise that doesn’t really make sense to me. Um-
Sylvia: I did this knowing there could be major consequences.
Austin: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Totally.
Sylvia: So like, I’m fine with whatever happens here. Don’t worry.
Austin: Uh hm.
Keith: So you cut off the hand- and the- the Defy Danger came afterwards.
Austin: So- Yes.
Sylvia: Uh hm.
Keith: Ok.
Austin: So the hand fell. You catch the staff, and uh, Arrell touches you. ‘Your touch pushes your mind into someone else’s. You gain 1d4 hold. Spend one hold to make the target take one of these actions. Speak a few words of your choice. Give you something they hold. Make a concerted attack on a target of your choice. Or truthfully answer one question.’ And so, he does- he spends all three of those hold. He says,
Austin (as Arrell): My staff.
Austin: And takes it from you. He says,
Austin (as Arrell): Where are the plates?
Austin: And you tell him.
Keith: Wait, was- I didn’t know Ephrim was in the boat.
Sylvia: Uh, yeah. I was-
Austin: That’s what it- Yeah. Absolutely.
Sylvia: It was me and Throndir. Yeah.
Keith: Damn.
Sylvia (as Ephrim): It’s off the coast.
Austin: And he makes you attack… uh, who’s the most- Oh. Yourself. He makes you draw Burning Brand and put it in your chest. Subtract one of your health permanently for recalling Burning Brand-
Sylvia: Uh hm.
Austin: -and then do damage against yourself.
Sylvia: That’s a five.
Austin: That’s a five.
Sylvia: So, I’m-
Austin: I think Benjamin goes like,
Austin (as Benjamin): Ephrim!
Austin: And like-
Sylvia: I think I’m down to three HP now.
Austin: Uh hm.
Sylvia: Yeah.
Austin: Um, Ephrim charges in- er not Ephrim. Benjamin charges in as you hurt yourself here. And is like- there’s like magical energy pouring around from his hands as he’s trying to like, find some sort of counterspell. But he isn’t finding anything.
Dre: Um-
Austin: And Rosana is like,
Austin (as Rosana): Benjamin, back!
Dre: Quick question, Austin.
Austin: Yeah.
Dre: Does Arrell count as a living person?
Austin: Yes. Uh, because we believe that the undead people are alive. I think we’ve- I think we’ve gone over this before, right? What’s the context?
Keith: Yeah.
Austin: Or what’s the- There was a specific similar question earlier this season, and I want to make sure we’re consistent with it.
Dre: Yeah.
Austin: What is the context of your ask?
Dre: Uh, there’s two things I want to do here.
Austin: Yeah.
Dre: Um, one of my racial abilities is that-
Austin: Uh hm.
Dre: -I can call upon the elder vampire who sired me for assistance.
Austin: Oo. Yeah.
Dre: For a price.
Austin: Uh hm.
Dre: Um, and the other thing I want to do here is as Benjamin is running towards Arrell, Throndir bust in through the window. [Austin and Sylvia laugh quietly] And I’m- I’m gonna- I’m gonna- I’m gonna try and drain Arrell of all his living energy.
Austin: Ok. Um, so I think Arrell is al- is alive in this way. Again I remember the- You know what the previous thing was? The previous thing was uh, in the university game around whether or not that bone dragon was a living thing. And it wasn’t cause it was just animated, but Corsica Neue is a living person, right? Even though she is undead, we believe that those are people, right? So, yeah. You can- you can do those. Which are you doing, and what’s it cost?
Dre: So, it just says for summoning the vampire who sired me, it just says-
Austin: Yeah.
Dre: ‘She’ll help you for a price.’ And it doesn’t say what that price is.
Austin: Yeah.
Dre: Um, and then the other one is just my- my vampire roll. The Apex Predator.
Austin: Ok, which-
Dre: Basically the same thing that happened to uh, Ephrim.
Austin: Which are you doing first is my question.
Dre: Oh… Probably the calling for assistance. Like, I imagine-
Austin: Ok.
Dre: -like that’s going on while- like, these past couple rolls have also been happening.
Austin: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Totally. Um, what’s that look like? [Dre sighs] I’m asking you cause you’re the vampire-
Dre: Yeah.
Austin: -and I want this to be partially under your control here, you know?
Dre: Mm. I’m wondering how conscious it is.
Austin: But like, what’s the effect?
Dre: Yeah.
Austin: Like, does she show up? Or does she give you a buff? Like, what’s the- you know what I mean?
Dre: Hm. I think the thing that Throndir most wants is like- cause this is basically what I have also been doing is sitting here and being like, ‘ok what’s the way out of this?’
Austin: Right.
Dre: Like, what’s the way to like, break this-
Austin: Yeah.
Dre: -connection that he has with Benjamin. Like, I’m even sitting here being like, you know, ‘is there a place you could shoot somebody so that they like, die for a second, but then you could like, bring them back to life? Or like-’
Austin: Uh hm. I mean- So, I think that is- I think you are able to share like, a telepathic connection to her.
Dre: Yeah.
Austin: Um, and she says,
Austin (as Victoria Solomon): The boy must die. For however brief a moment.
Dre (as Throndir): Can I save him in the way that-
Dre: -she saved me- or I guess in the way that-
Dre (as Throndir): -you saved me?
Austin: I will say that I see- There are pieces on this board that you could have this conv- that you can line this up um, that don’t require that. Um, but I think that- Sorry, she isn’t- Um, she actually does have the knowledge at this point probably because of who she is. She says um- she says,
Austin (as Victoria Solomon): No need. Simply have his father intercede with the Queen.
Dre (as Throndir): Oh. Ok.
Dre: So, then what I think this actually looks like-
Austin: Uh hm.
Dre: -before I bust in through this window-
Austin: Uh hm.
Dre: -is I probably shoot Benjamin.
Art: Woooowww. Um-
Austin: Hadrian?
Art: I don’t have a defense up. I- I would like to note that I- that I am burning with a righteous anger.
Austin: Uh hm. Wait, you don’t need a defense up for this.
Art: Oh, not for- not for uh- for that, no.
Austin: Yeah.
Art: But for um- but to- to not have it happen, I would.
Austin: Oh, right. Yeah, no. Totally. It happens. And he begins to fade.
Art: Uh huh. Um-
Austin: So let’s- let’s- I think-
Keith: Wait, you shoot him with the poison?
Dre: No.
Keith: Ok.
Austin: Yeah, I’m gonna say that doesn’t have to be ready. Let’s- Benjamin falls. Outside, as you pull the trigger, the blood egg shatters, and there is, as you pull the trigger, sound vanishes from everything.
Keith: Like the bone dragon?
Austin: Some- somethin’ like that. Um, in the same way that that was happening in those episodes. Um, and- and then you’re in there, Throndir, and Arrell is fucking stunned. Hadrian, before you do the thing that I know you are going to do, I just want to know what anybody else in this room does in this moment- in this brief window you have. Because remember Arrell can vanish if he wants to still.
Keith: So, I- I feel like if I see like- I don’t know what’s going- Fero doesn’t know what’s going on. I don’t know what’s going on.
Austin: No.
Keith: If I see Throndir shoot Benjamin- in the split second I’ve seen Throndir attacking Benjamin, even though I know, and Fero would know consciously that that’s bad for Arrell, it still seems like this crazy thing’s happening cause Arrell is doing something.
Austin: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right. Right.
Keith: And then I-
Austin: Especially after Ephrim- after he controlled Ephrim to do that.
Keith: Right. Right.
Austin: Totally.
Keith: So, I was going to go for Arrell to try and stop- to try and like, stop what’s happening.
Austin: Alright, are you shapeshifting again or you just- What are you doin’?
Keith: I think I’ve gotta shapeshift. I’m try- This is like- I- Like, I want to like, barrel into him.
Austin: Alright.
Keith: Like, stun him. Um, so I guess I’m gonna roll… um-
Austin: Give me that Shapeshift.
Keith: Oh, I know what it is. I’m gonna do a real animal. I’m gonna do a- I’m gonna do like, a um- God, what’s a name for a mountain goat that isn’t an ibex?
Austin: An ibex. [Keith laughs]
Dre: Uh…
Keith: Like a thing- Something with big- Like, a ram. Like a- like a-
Dre: Oh yeah.
Austin: Like a- like a ram.
Keith: Yeah, like a mountain goat. Yeah. With big-
Austin: Like a mountain ram.
Keith: Yeah.
Austin: Yeah. Alright.
Keith: Big horns. I’m just gonna barrel into-- real animal.
Austin: Give me the Shapeshifter.
Keith: Nine.
Austin: Alright. That’s a nine, so it doesn’t disappear. Good job. Uh, and then give me the- the-
Keith: It’s super hard for me to do that at this point.
Austin: I know. It super is. It totally is. Now give me the um, the Hack and Slash.
Keith: Nine.
Austin: Alright, so that’s a hit. You both take damage. Give me your damage. I’d say this is a dangerous animal.
Keith: Yeah, I think so.
Austin: Those horns don’t fuck around.
Keith: Yeah, no. Six.
Austin: That’s six. Um, he does eleven to you. Uh, that six um, I guess he just burned to death, too, right?
Keith: Yeah.
Austin: He is pinned to the ground. You have him under your- your feet.
Keith: Yeah.
Austin: And he is pinned.
Keith: I take the damage, too because I don’t- I want to keep the pin.
Austin: Yeah. Totally. Totally. Totally. So, what’s your HP at?
Keith: Uh, it’s now at- I have two armor, so it’s at eleven.
Austin: Ok. Um, so Arrell is pinned to the ground. Hadrian, what do you do?
Keith: Ten. Sorry, it’s at ten.
Austin: Ok.
Art: Um, I am going to use my- my newest move.
Austin: Mm.
Art: When your ward would take their last breath in your presence, you may intercede with Death on their behalf. They live for now, but Death will demand a favor or a bargain from you in exchange.
Austin: Uh, Hella, can you describe for Hadrian what Adularia looks like? [Ali laughs quietly] And why you’re- and I guess maybe not why you’re there. But you can- you can tell him that you are there.
Ali: Um, yeah. You’re in like, a throne room, I guess. It’s like black opal.
Austin: God, are you like standing next to Adelaide? Is Adelaide in the throne, and you’re like, right there?
Ali: I think so. I think it’s one of those things where like, they were hanging out, and then they get the like, [laughs] ‘Hey, special favor alarm’.
Austin: Uh hm.
Ali: And she gets to like, stand next to the throne, like a guard.
Austin: Well, in comes Hadrian and Benjamin.
Ali: Oh.
Art: Um, I mean, obviously Hadrian’s never done this before.
Austin: No.
Art: Um, Samot taught him how.
Austin: Right. Yes.
Art: And I’m trying to think of [light laugh] what tip Samot would have given.
Ali: Well, I think-
Austin: To negotiate with Death, yeah.
Ali: Hella just says,
Ali (as Hella): Hadrian?
Art (as Hadrian): Hella?
Ali (as Hella): What are do-? Be- What are you doing here?
Austin (as Adelaide): His son.
Austin: Says Adelaide.
Art (as Hadrian): Uh hm.
Ali (as Hella): What happened?
Austin (as Adelaide): The lich.
Art (as Hadrian): And- and- and Throndir.
Ali (as Hella): [laughs lightly] What?
Art (as Hadrian): Um, Arrell was using Benjamin to prolong his life. [Hella sighs] And Throndir’s solution to this problem was, without saying anything to anyone, to shoot and kill my son.
Ali (as Hella): Mm.
Art (as Hadrian): I’m sure in time we’ll all appreciate his quick action.
Ali (as Hella): That’s- that’s awful. Adelaide, we can do something.
Austin (as Adelaide): Of course. Of course. But there will be a cost.
Art (as Hadrian): Anything.
Austin (as Adelaide): Anything is big, Hadrian.
Austin: And she grins.
Art (as Hadrian): Well-
Ali (as Hella): Woah, he gets like, a family discount or whatever.
Austin (as Adelaide): Of course. [Art/Hadrian laughs lightly] Of course. But-
Keith: Ali can see I was literally typing that into Roll20. [Austin and Ali laugh]
Austin: Um, I think she says like,
Austin (as Adelaide): But there are costs. Not in a monetary sense, of course. But… the void will want its eventually. And I suspect you want your boy alive and not simply here in Adularia.
Art (as Hadrian): That’s correct.
Austin (as Adelaide): Well, then-
Austin: God, what does she want? Hm. It’s not even what she wants. What is the thing- what is the equal exchange here? The thing that’s on her mind- Ali, what’s the release order of these? You know what? I don’t care. The thing that’s on her mind is you, Hella.
Ali: Uh huh.
Austin: And whether or not Hadrian can help you here somewhere, somehow.
Ali: Yeah, same kinda. But- [laughs]
Austin: Does she make the request?
Ali: Um, she would have to make it cause Hella wouldn’t. And also be like, ‘don’t do that.’ Um, but I am in a situation. [light laugh]
Austin: She says,
Austin (as Adelaide): I’m in need of-
Austin: Oo, it’s too dark. Oh man, would she do it with Hadrian? I don’t think she has it in her. God, it’s so weird thinking about her not being like, a jerk. [Ali laughs] It’s so weird thinking about her like, genuinely caring about people’s feelings.
Austin (as Adelaide): Hella-
Ali: Is this like- we talk- Yeah, ok.
Austin: Yeah.
Ali: Go ahead.
Austin (as Adelaide): Can you explain to your friend our predicament?
Ali (as Hella): Hadrian, I… I’m here cause I didn’t make it. Um, things at the university have gone, all things considered, pretty good. But um… I didn’t make it. And I don’t even get to stay here. So, that’s [laughs] where I’m at. Um, I don’t know that there’s a fix for that.
Austin (as Adelaide): There has to be. A life given willingly or a… the creation of a new body. Something that will trick the Heat and the Dark. [exhales] Something.
Art (as Hadrian): I need you to be a little more explicit. I need to- I need to- I need you to- [Austin and Art laugh lightly]
Austin: Could you write it down for me? [Ali laughs]
Art: Yeah.
Keith: Oh, that’s been helping recently.
Ali (as Hella): Ok, fine. So, me and Samot fought a dragon and a cult leader. And it seemed to be going fine, and then it didn't. And then he changed it so it was fine, but I was expendable. [light laugh] Um, so some of that fucking- that weird fire shit that’s everywhere is inside of me now. And when I die, that’s it. But-
Art (as Hadrian): Ok, No, I- I got that. I- I- [Austin laughs] Sorry, Hella. [Keith laughs] I- [Ali laughs] I love you. I’m so sorry, but I- I understood your part of it. [everyone laughs hard in the background] [Art laughs while talking] I understood that something bad had happened to you. What I’m-
Keith: [imitating Hadrian] I don’t know if there’s a time limit on this thing. [Austin groans]
Art (as Hadrian): I’m unclear of what I can do to fix it.
Austin (as Adelaide): We either need someone willing to take the mark of the Heat and the Dark which will end her eventually or a new body. Something that we can move her into. Or something I haven’t thought of yet. I’m Queen of Death. I’m not a genius. I’m very smart though.
Art (as Hadrian): Ok. I’ll figure out, and if I can’t, I’ll take it.
Austin (as Adelaide): There’s a window here. It’s- it’s months, not years. Maybe weeks.
Art (as Hadrian): Ok. Can you bring me back to… Where am I- where am- where are we gonna be when this ends?
Austin (as Adelaide): When everything ends or-?
Art (as Hadrian): No, no. Like in- in like, whatever- five, ten minutes when- when this conversation is over.
Austin (as Adelaide): It could be twenty seconds. It could be right now. When would you like to go back, Hadrian?
Art (as Hadrian): I’m not asking when. I’m asking where.
Austin (as Adelaide): To where you were.
Art (as Hadrian): Ok. So, you're not- you’re not puttin’ me over there?
Austin (as Adelaide): No. That would be rude.
Art (as Hadrian): There might be more options there. [Keith laughs]
Austin (as Adelaide): That is beyond my power.
Art (as Hadrian): I don’t know.
Austin (as Adelaide): If you’d like to stay and have a meal and everything else, that would be fine, but I suspect those- I suspect others would come to miss you in the time you were gone.
Art (as Hadrian): Yeah, uh huh. How long did- Uh, it’s not important.
Austin (as Adelaide): It’s weird. Don’t worry about it.
Art: Um, no. I was gonna ask how- how- I was gonna ask someone who doesn’t need to be answering these questions how long it took us to get here. [laughs]
Austin: God. Fuck. I need to know what’s happening in this room right now.
Dre: Oh, I’m-
Sylvia: I’m- I’m bleeding.
Dre: Yeah.
Sylvia: A lot.
Dre: No, I’m attempting to drain every-
Austin: Give me the roll.
Dre: Yeah.
Keith: Well, I’m-
Austin: You’re pinning him, I know.
Keith: I’m pinning him.
Austin: Give me the roll. Because if you don’t, something else is gonna happen that I hadn’t thought about until this moment.
Dre: Uh, this isn’t working, so I’m just gonna hit my DEX button.
Austin: Yeah, so what is the- what is the roll you’re doing?
Dre: When you drain- [thinking noises] uh-da-da-da-da- ‘When you hunt for a victim in a steading-’
Austin: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Dre: ‘-roll plus DEX if you use stealth or aggression.’
Austin: So, aggre- yeah. So, stealth, yeah. Uh hm. Alright, so that’s a hit which does what?
Dre: On an eight, ‘you still find a victim. Choose one. You only hold one vigor. Someone catches you in the act. You leave behind incriminating evidence.’
Austin: Who cares, right?
Keith: Yeah, right?
Austin: Yeah. Uh hm.
Keith: Yeah, that’s all fine.
Dre: Yep. Tabard just pops in, [imitating Tabard] ‘What’s goin’ on in here, guys?’ [Sylvia and Dre laugh]
Austin: Uh, but actually I think this still works in a fun way which is you drain his life force. What’s it look like? Take- take your vigor, by the way. Take three vigor, right?
Dre: Uh, no I only get to hold one. Oh, no I choose one.
Austin: Why? No. You choose one. You get to pick which one of these you want.
Dre: Uh- [laughs]
Austin: Uh huh?
Dre: I’m gonna leave behind incriminating evidence.
Austin: Ok. Which- which means, in this case- What’s this mean? Um, the incriminating evidence is that you’re a vampire, right?
Dre: Mm. Yeah.
Austin: And like, there will be no doubt to anyone in your party about this part of you. Oh, the incriminating evidence here is that Ephrim will understand what happened-
Sylvia: Yeah.
Dre: Yeah.
Austin: -to him.
Dre: Hundred percent.
Austin: But you yank the life from him. And you see that he’s trying to teleport away before this can happen. But he doesn’t do it in time because you succeeded. But he does show up in Adularia, nonetheless, arriving at the throne- the throne room. [Ali laughs]
Ali (as Hella): Who’s he?
Austin: Arrell is- is here. You’ve never met Arrell have you?
Ali: No.
Austin: Do you just know about Arrell?
Ali: Yeah, I just know about him. I think- I don’t think we ever crossed paths.
Austin: Yeah.
Ali: I know Fantasmo. [laughs]
Austin: Yeah. This is not him.
Ali: Oh.
Keith: This is Fan- this is Fantasmo’s books. [Austin, Ali, and Dre laugh] [jokingly imitating Arrell] ‘Hi. I’m Fantasmo’s books.’
Austin: [jokingly imitating Arrell] ‘Hi there. Hey, yeah, you remember when they were being carried- that was me.’
Ali: [playing along] ‘Oh, wow.’
Austin: Yeah.
Dre: [overlapped] You should call him Fantasmo though.
Keith: It seems like such a- like a quaint waste of his time, at this point. He’s come so far.
Austin: I know. Um, [exhales] he walks into the throne room as you know, Hadrian is- is finishing this promise and all that and says,
Austin (as Arrell): Ah. I see. Clever. Hadrian, you outmaneuvered me.
Art (as Hadrian): Outsmarted you. [Sylvia laughs]
Austin (as Arrell): Outmaneuvered.
Art (as Hadrian): Mm… I’m gonna tell people I outsmarted you.
Austin (as Arrell): Queen of Death.
Austin: And Adelaide says,
Austin (as Adelaide): Lich.
Austin (as Arrell): Might there be an arrangement? There are so many still who do not know your worth. The faith. Perhaps I- I could-
Ali (as Hella): Woah. Woah, woah, woah, woah. We’ve got that covered.
Austin: And Adelaide says,
Austin (as Adelaide): We absolutely do.
Austin: And like, plays with one of the pearls hanging from her neck, and the sound of a gate opening is heard, creaking open. Does anyone have final words for Arrell?
Art: No, I’m- I think the outmaneuvered, outsmarted was my- [Ali laughs]
Austin: Yeah.
Dre: Yeah.
Art: Cause Hadrian’s- Hadrian’s a dummy.
Dre: I think Throndir’s just very ugly crying right now.
Austin: Yeah, sure.
Sylvia: Yeah, I think Ephrim’s just like, just staring at what’s left there before probably passing out.
Austin: Benjamin looks to him as he begins to fade away. Like, it’s just like, his whole self is becoming wispy and being kind of like, slowly blown away by a breeze. And he says,
Austin (as Benjamin): I know you wanted to help people, but you did it way wrong.
Austin: And Arrell says,
Austin (as Arrell): That is an easy decision to make from your position.
Austin: And Benjamin says,
Austin (as Benjamin): That’s why I like my position.
Austin: And he like, wraps his arm around you, Hadrian.
Art: I think Hadrian like, kind of like, tussles his hair a little bit.
Austin: Yeah. And Arrell is swallowed into the Heat and the Dark. And there is no coming back from that. [Ali laughs]
Ali: We- we couldn't use him to solve my problem? [laughs]
Austin: No. You don’t want him. He’s undead. He’s- he’s-
Ali: Ok, yeah.
Austin: You don’t want his lich soul. His lich body.
Ali: Well-
Keith: You also don’t want his like, poisoned, burned, beaten-
Austin: Oh, yeah. You missed the bit where- yeah, uh, he was going to slowly die after this no matter what, basically, because of the weapon that Ephrim used. Ephrim, stabbed him a bunch with the Heat and the Dark.
Ali: I can’t just like, put my fucking Heat and the Dark heart gem into him? [Austin, Sylvia, and Ali laugh]
Dre: Hold this. Hold this. [laughs]
Art: He hid- he did have like, a putting people into different bodies plan.
Austin: He did. He absolutely did.
Sylvia: Yeah.
Austin: Yeah.
Art: Um, if you want to go to Velas and see if he has some sort of like, body factory, we could- we could try that, but it sounds-
Austin: I mean, we have- I mean, Adelaide is saying if you can provide a body, she can do the transfer.
Art: I mean, I don’t- He never got the plans.
Austin: No.
Keith: Well, but we are planning on getting the plans.
Sylvia: Yeah. Out of character, we like- we can talk to Tabard about this.
Dre: Yeah.
Keith: Yeah.
Art: Isn’t that like, kind of like ethically dubious or no? Did we- did we figure out a non-ethically dubious way to do this?
Sylvia: I think we have to hammer that out still.
Austin: Yeah.
Art: I mean that’s- that is my plan ‘A’ cause-
Keith: Tabard-
Art: -cause the other plan is-
Austin: Is turning Hella into a pala-din or an anchor?
Art: Uh huh.
Keith: I- I guess that's the- Yeah, cause Tabard did imply that time that every uh, pala-din and anchor is already a person, and they just don’t know it yet.
Austin: It’s not- No. It’s not that it’s- So, he was always a pala-din. He’s a special type of pala-din who was made to be a commander and to be a public figure. And so, he immediately has personhood. Um, he’s like, a rare type.
Keith: Got it.
Austin: Other pala-din gain- and anchor gain personhood through experience over time. Again, like in Kingdom Hearts, a heart can grow- [light laughing]
Dre: Yeah.
Art: Uh huh.
Austin: -in anything-
Sylvia: Hell Yeah.
Austin: -over time. Um, I still think Lingering Will should have grown a heart. I understand that that’s not what happens. But- uh, but yeah. That would be the equivalent. Is like, ‘hey, if a pala-din lives long enough and has enough experiences, they slowly become a person. They slowly gain sent- uh, sapience and sentience and like, become a knowing being and a thinking being.’ But yeah, so I think that is still the- the ask is to find a body or find a replacement soul effectively. Or like, to take- Sorry, to take the mark from her. But that has to be done willingly. That can’t be- You can’t just like, put the mark on somebody else. You can’t just like, give up part of your soul in exchange. And she was not gonna let Ephrim- er not Eprhim, sorry, Arrell get to live, even in exchange for Hella. [Ali laughs] Sorry Hella.
Ali: Yeah, no.
Austin: There are lines.
Ali: No, no. Ok.
Sylvia: [extremely quietly] God.
Austin: [laughs] Fuck off. [Dre laughs] Fuck off, Dre. [Dre laughs harder] Dre in the chat, ‘can’t believe we’re talking about nobodies in duplicate bodies, especially since we just killed the Vexen of Hieron.’ God.
Dre: Where’s the lie?
Austin: Yeah. Uh huh. Yeah. You know.
Sylvia: I-
Keith: Who Vexen?
Dre: He’s- he’s probably more of a Xemnas than a Vexen.
Sylvia: He’s a chilly acade- Oh no. Wait. That’s- no. The chilly academic is Zexion. I really exposed myself there.
Austin: Wow, true.
Sylvia: Um, yeah.
Austin: Damn.
Keith: No, wait. I just- I just googled kingdom hearts.fandom.com/wiki/vexen title ‘the chilly academic.’ It’s right there.
Sylvia: Yes!
Dre: Nailed it.
Austin: True. True.
Sylvia: Alright.
Austin: Aka the freezing scholar.
Sylvia: Alright.
Keith: Original name, Even [ee-vin]. That’s funny.
Austin: That’s- Yeah, uh huh. Uh, actually-
Dre: Even. [eh-vin]
Austin: -it’s pronounced Even. [eh-vin]
Sylvia: Yeah, it’s Even. [eh-vin]
Keith: Oh, got it.
Austin: [laughing] I fucking swear to god, I hate this series so much.
Keith: Even. [eh-vin] Great. [laughs] [Austin groans]
Sylvia: To that pinnacle of video games as a medium. But it’s fine-
Austin: But also-
Sylvia: But yeah. No.
Austin: Uh hm.
Keith: Attribute, ice.
Austin: Uh huh. So-
Keith: Makes his chilly academic.
Austin: Hella, any final words here before Hadrian and Benjamin return?
Ali (as Hella): I’ll see you back at the university. And we can work this out.
Art (as Hadrian): Yeah, we’ll see it-
Austin (as Benjamin): Is everyone else ok?
Austin: Says Benjamin, interrupting. [light laugh]
Ali (as Hella): Yeah. Yeah, it’s um- I spoke to Blue J recently. They’re- they’re-
Austin (as Benjamin): How are they doing?
Ali (as Hella): Great.
Austin (as Benjamin): I miss them a lot.
Ali (as Hella): Yeah, I’ll tell them you said hi. Well, no… [everyone laughs hard] [Austin sighs]
Keith: It’s hard to get used to being dead.
Austin: Um, he- I think he says like,
Austin (as Benjamin): We should probably get back, but can I come visit some other time? This place seems really cool.
Ali (as Hella): Yeah, whenever.
Art (as Hadrian): There are ways to come here without dying, right?
Ali (as Hella): [light laugh] Yeah, we’ll- we’ll figure it out.
Austin (as Adelaide): Sort of.
Austin: Says Adelaide. [Dre laughs]
Austin (as Adelaide): Um, alright. We’ll speak soon, yes Hadrian?
Art (as Hadrian): Yeah. Uh huh.
Austin (as Adelaide): Good.
Austin: And I think she actually underscores this and says,
Austin (as Adelaide): I can only delay this so long. There is a time limit here.
Art (as Hadrian): Understood.
Austin: Alright. And the two of you open your eyes, and you’re back in the library.
Art: Oh.
Austin: And Rosana is like, cl- like, holding Benjamin close. And Benjamin like, [gasping air foley] and opens his eyes back up, and the wound seems to have healed. And she’s in tears. She’s sobbing.
Art: Uh hm. I mean I’m sure this is also like, a rough transition for Hadrian. Hadrian’s like- like crawling up.
Austin: Yeah.
Art: He’s trying to like, soothe her like,
Art (as Hadrian): It’s ok. It’s gonna be ok.
Austin: And yeah. He’s like,
Austin (as Benjamin): I’m ok. I’m alright. [exhales] I’m ok.
Austin: Uh, what’s left of Arrell, Throndir? Is it like bones? Like, what is it? Is it just like, a cloak?
Dre: I mean, yeah. Probably a cloak and a staff and-
Austin: Also, he’s clearly the Xehanort of Hieron. [laughing]
[crosstalking]
Dre: Yeah, no. You’re right.
Keith: Yeah.
Austin: You fucking kidding me?
Dre: You’re right.
Sylvia: Like, a hundred percent.
Dre: Yeah.
Austin: Ok.
Dre: Vexen just sucks the most.
Austin: Yeah.
Dre: Eh.
Sylvia: Yeah.
Art: I’m just not hundred percent sure this is the best use of our time right now. [laughs]
Austin: Uh hm. [Sylvia laughs]
Art: We have a post-mortem coming and everything.
Dre: Yeah.
Austin: We do. That’s a great place for this conversation.
Dre: Um-
Keith: Bones, teeth, any- claws?
Austin: No, I don’t think there’s a great reveal. Um, his stuff is here, right? And so-
Keith: I don’t think that he has bones would be a great reveal, for what it’s worth. [laughs]
Austin: He has bones is one thing that’s surprising. Cause he has bones. Uh, no. I do think… let me- Yeah, so I think there are- He has his things here, right? In some com- you know, some pocket or pouch or- or something that’s like, underneath the robe. There’s like an interior pocket which some things. And there is um, a- you know, there’s some keys. There is a- some sort of notebook or journal. There is an unsent letter, and that letter has a name on it. Or like, the envelope has a name on it. And it’s Alyosha. Um, and-
Art: He brought his mail with him to-?
Austin: You know, sometimes you have a thing you haven’t sent yet.
Keith: Oh, this is to, not from?
Austin: This is to. To Alyosha. And then there’s this. There’s this other big important thing here that we have not done on your side of the game. I think maybe none of you have ever had money before.
Keith: I’ve had some money before.
Sylvia: Excuse me.
Keith: I haven’t ever spent it on anything.
Dre: I’ve never had money.
Austin: Alright, so Throndir and- and Hadrian, you two should get very excited for a second here. Alright, let’s look at- let’s look at what treasure is on this quote-unquote monster.
Dre: Um, I think I should say-
Austin: Yeah.
Dre: Like, I- I don’t think Throndir sticks around for this. I think-
Austin: Throndir’s bouncin’?
Dre: Yeah, he- No, I- I can’t look at Ephrim or Hadrian or Benjamin or Rosana.
Austin: I mean, before you go, does Hadrian say anything to you? Does anyone say anything to you?
Keith: Yeah,
Keith (as Fero): Damn. Like, what ha- Like, what was that? The last whole five minutes or however long.
Dre (as Throndir): Solomon told me he’d be ok. It’s the only way I would have done it.
Art (as Hadrian): Well, we’ll see how ok it all ends up being.
Keith (as Fero): And then the um, I mean the second part.
Dre (as Throndir): I mean, he killed me once, and I came back different. I can- I can give you as many answers as you want later.
Keith (as Fero): Ok.
Austin: Those two really good fuckin’ rolls I just did. The way mag- er the way treasure works is- not to take away from this terrible moment- is that you roll the damage dice of the monster, and then ad- you change it based on what some other tags are. In this case, uh Arrell was a hoarder, was far from home, was magical, and was a lord over others. So, I changed it to do- and uh, having hoarder, means you roll twice and take the higher result. In this case, a ten plus a three is a thirteen. And then, also another two. So, fifteen, and on this list of cool things, wow! That’s interesting. That’s literally perfect. All of the information needed to learn a new spell and roll again. So, you get at least some of Arrell’s magic book. Like, spellbook that Benjamin will certainly have lots of fun with.
Art: Other people are gonna- Sunder is gonna read it before Benjamin reads it. [Austin and Dre laugh]
Austin: Fair, fair, fair. And then the other roll is gonna be nine plus three which is- what is that? Twelve which is a sign of office. A crown or a banner worth at least 3d4 times one hundred coins. [someone whistles] That’s a thousand coins.
Keith: Holy moly. Guess we could buy some medicine, right? [light laugh]
Austin: Yeah, what do find that’s a- what is- what do you find- Yeah, right? What do you find that is worth a thousand coins on his corpse? [light laugh] In his stuff.
Art: A really nice crown? [light laugh]
Austin: Did he like- Yeah, but what- Ohhhh. It’s a crown for Samot-
Dre: Oh.
Austin: -that he had made.
Art: What? Just gonna steal that?
Austin: [quietly] I mean, you know, you do what you wanna do. You tell me.
Keith: Samot, fuckin’ knows.
Austin: Samot doesn’t know.
Keith: Samot doesn’t know?
Austin: Samot-
Keith: Samot knew about the money from uh, from Adaire almost took.
Ali: That was his money, not gift money.
Austin: That was his- Yeah, that was his money.
Keith: Right, but you know. He didn’t know-
Austin: Samot is not like, an all-knowing god.
Keith: I guess.
Austin: He isn’t. Like, that’s just not one of his abilities.
Keith: But he knew- he knew that it was gone because it was his money?
Ali: Yeah.
Keith: He seemed- I thought- it seemed like he knew that someone- that specifically that Janine had like, picked it up and was maybe going to keep it.
Ali: Ok, no, no, no.
Keith: No?
Ali: That was his wallet.
Austin: Yeah.
Ali: In this situation, it’s just like, you found a gift that said ‘to Samot’-
Austin: Yeah.
Ali: -and then like, brought it to a pawn shop. [Ali and Austin laugh]
Keith: I guess, but it- if I got half-blown up and like, I wasn’t thinking, I wouldn’t have known who picked it up and that they were maybe gonna take it.
Austin: [overlapping] He is the god of books. He knows exactly where all his money is. But- but no, this is not- He’s not an all-knowing god. Sa- Samol is the only one who can do that specific thing on Hieron. Galenica can do it here because this is Galenica’s place. And theoretically, both Galenica and Severea could have done it with the moons that they made. And theoretically Samot can do it with star stuff, but that’s it.
Keith: Ok.
Austin: So, uh, more importantly, y’all have a crown for Samot worth a- a ‘G’ which is not bad. And then you also have Arrell’s spellbook.
Art: I- Does anyone have enough money to buy this from us? Like- [Austin and Ali laughs] [laughing] I sort of feel like we-
Keith: Yeah, or-
Dre: Yeah, maybe Samot. I don’t know.
Austin: [laughs] That would be very good. God. Let’s search for a hovel. A thousand coins will get you two cottages. So, yeah, I think you're good.
Ali: Wow.
Austin: Like, a house is twenty-five hundred coin.
Art: I’m wondering if this is fence-able. [Austin laughs]
Austin: Anyway, I think we’re done here. I think we made it. What’s- what’s- Are you all stickin’ around? I kind of want to montage this out so that we can get back home and figure out what’s next for y’all. What if we-
Art: I- I have to tell everyone about Hella and needing a- needing a body for Hella.
Austin: Yeah, fair.
Art: And if anyone wants to help us with that.
Keith: Yeah. I’m wil- I’m willing to listen to that story. And- [laughs] and also I want to try my roll once more this episode.
Austin: Yeah, we should do that.
Sylvia: Uh, I think I just need to- like, Ephrim’s just resting after that. I stabbed myself um-
Keith: I can- I can heal you a little bit.
Sylvia: Yeah, I think-
Keith: Just a very little bit. I don’t know how much.
Sylvia: That would be very helpful regardless.
Austin: Yeah, you have some balance saved up, right, Fero?
Keith: Yeah. Just- just one. I heal you one. Sorry.
Sylvia: I- you know what? It’s-
Keith: Oh!
Sylvia: -it’s better than nothin’.
Keith: I can heal you a little bit more, too, actually.
Austin: Yeah, you have spells, right?
Keith: I have- I have Cure Light Wounds.
Austin: Go ahead and just do Cure Light Wounds.
Keith: Ok.
Austin: I’m not even gonna make you roll for it. Just-
Dre: Woof.
Austin: -take that extra two damage- er heal. Great.
Keith: Yeah.
Sylvia: Alright, so with that one from earlier as well?
Austin: Yeah, totally.
Sylvia: Ok, so I’m up-
Austin: Yeah, up three total.
Sylvia: I’m up to si- You doubled my health. I’m up to six.
Keith: Great. Ok. Awesome.
Austin: Hadrian, do you want to explain the Hella stuff?
Art: Uh yeah.
Art (as Hadrian): Hella has contracted a little bit of uh, you know, Heat and the Dark, and we need a new body for her. And I’m hoping we can just bring one back with us.
Dre (as Throndir): Wait, like a-
Austin (as Rosana): Bring one back?
Austin: Says Rosana.
Art (as Hadrian): Um, maybe- maybe get her one from- you know, use the- I guess bring the plates back. We’re not gonna bring the- use that to-
Dre (as Throndir): Is she… ok with that? Is that the only way?
Art (as Hadrian): Um… no, but it’s- it seems to be plan ‘A’. Plan ‘B’ is somehow moving- someone has to voluntarily take that from her.
Austin (as Benjamin): Someone has to die. Has to choose to die.
Austin: Says Benjamin.
Sylvia (as Ephrim): Before we go, we’ll talk to Tabard about what we could do with the plates. But I don’t think we can just take them. We can- we can ask to see if they could manufacture something here for Hella. But with what we- what- what we’ve put them through the past couple days, I don’t know if we can ask to take their, what is essentially a sacred text back with us.
Art (as Hadrian): Sure, yeah. Um, I did tell Hella that if I couldn’t figure this out, that I would take- I would take it for her.
Austin (as Rosana): [distressed] You didn’t.
Austin: [quietly] Says Rosana.
Austin (as Rosana): Hadrian.
Art (as Hadrian): It was that or- it was for Benjamin.
Dre (as Throndir): Yeah, and you won’t. I will.
Austin (as Rosana): Throndir.
Art (as Hadrian): Well, that would- that would fulfill that vow. We can talk about that later. I mean, there could be any number of people who could do that.
Austin (as Kodiak): Roof.
Austin: Says Kodiak.
Art (as Hadrian): No, not Kodiak.
Dre (as Throndir): Yeah, you’re not even-
Sylvia (as Ephrim): Not Kodiak. You’re-
Austin (as Kodiak): Rrr. [Sylvia laughs]
[crosstalking]
Austin: And goes over and-
Art: I don’t even know-
Keith: What’s- what’s Kodiak saying?
Austin: -licks- licks Benjamin. And says, you know,
Austin (as Kodiak): Rrr.
Austin: I know you understand animals, but what Kodiak says is
Austin (as Kodiak): Roof.
Keith: Got it. [laughs]
Austin: And Benjamin pets Kodiak. And again, I think we can montage this a little bit. I don’t- Like, we get you talking to Tabard. We get everyone outside um, now under the moonlight of one moon. Um, but no- no more red blood egg. That’s hatched at this point, unfortunately. And-
Keith: Well, Hella said things were mostly good, right? The hatching egg is probably good. [Austin laughs]
Dre: Uh hm.
Austin: Uh, love to see an egg hatch. [laughs] I love it when an egg comes together. [everyone laughs]
Art: Hatching is really the opposite of the egg coming together.
Austin: [laughing] Yeah, it’s kind of the opposite. First it comes together. Then it comes apart, you know? Um, like most good plans also. I think- I think Tabard is willing to- God, it’s tough, right? Because Tabard is like- I think Tabard explains to you that like, there is- Here is what Tabard says to you. I think Tabard says that he can give you the like, one pal- unanimated pala-din model that then there needs to be work done to turn it from that into what he was. Um, and he can’t give you the plates, but he can tell you that there are- there is a place that has- there’s another place that has plates, and there’s another place that has specifically the thing that made him.
There’s another two places, actually. And he can’t give it to you cause they don’t- they straight up can’t make things like Tabard. They can’t make bodies like Tabard here. Samot could do it in the City of First Light, which is now Malle’s Fist. And theoretically, it’s something you could do in what was once Samot’s tower, and then was where Samol called home in the center of the Mark of Erasure. Either of those are places where you could turn a pala-din into what Tabard was. You could also just put Hella inside of this pala-din body, but that seems like something she might not be all the way there for. Um, but in fact, maybe I- maybe we should just take that off the table altogether.
Like, maybe the type of being that a pal-din body- a natural pala-din body can hold is just a different type of consciousness. But transferring a human consciousness into a pa- a robotic body or an autonomous body requires that body to be that special type of thing that Tabard is. That has been like, carved such and magically enchanted such that it can, instead of it being a consciousness that grows inside of it and has this kind of unique quality, has- is just kind of a copy of a human consciousness to begin with. Um, some other stuff in this montage. Like, I think the Fel anchor are welcomed in. Grel is- is exiled from the community, given his relationship with Arrell.
People are torn about you. I think some people are happy that you were able to get Grel out here, basically. While others only see the kind of threat and damage you put them through. You find that um… there were a number of like, people made of mud that were moving towards the city that Arrell must have summoned at some point. But they didn’t do any damage. It wasn’t his focus, and so that particular type of leverage he was trying to put over you does not come to- not come to pass. Um, they are basically like mud pala-din that were not fully formed and were not able to harm anybody. Anything else? You want to roll that move again.
Keith: Yeah, I think I go back, and I sit. Um-
Austin: Give me the same roll that you did before.
Keith: I- Ok.
Austin: I’m not gonna make Highwater reroll to- er I’m not gonna make Ephrim reroll Highwater’s loyalty here. So, it’s 2d6 plus-
Keith: Um, I actually- Can- I actually have plus three cause I have the hold.
Austin: What’s the hold? No, that hold is- that hold is fo- is adding up towards the three you need. That’s like the- You need three hold-
Keith: Oh, I need to hit three.
Austin: Yes. Yes. So that way if you get three partial successes- I guess you could spend it. I guess that’s a thing we could do. Like, we could say you could spend it to add to this roll or you could hold it to slowly build up.
Keith: Ok.
Austin: But it’s up to you.
Keith: I- I guess I re-
Austin: I like that.
Keith: reread- Um-
Austin: Uh, yeah. It’s not- it’s not- I mean it’s a move I invented.
Keith: No, no. Cause I- So, it says here- cause I need to roll a twelve, right? To get the thing.
Austin: You need- So, you need- you need to spend three hold to finalize your design. ‘Retain any leftover hold for future designs.’
Keith: Right.
Austin: There is no such thing as wasted work.’ So, if you roll a ten plus right now- Oh, you need- You’re right.
Keith: Yeah.
Austin: You need to put it into the world. Origin of the Species just gives you um- let’s you make a new thing, right? Or is it- Yes. Yes.
Keith: Oh, and then Shapeshifter is what lets me- So I have to succeed on Origin of the Species.
Austin: Yes.
Keith: Get a ten plus on Origin of the Species.
Austin: Yes. And-
Keith: And then successfully get a twelve plus as Shapeshifter. Got- got it.
Austin: A twelve plus- so maybe you do want-
Keith: Two hold.
Austin: In fact, actually, you know what? This actually works together really well. I think you need to get a twelve plus, but also if you would- you could also be saving up that hold to give a boost on Origin of the Species instead of cashing it in. Do you know what I mean?
Keith: Yeah. Yeah.
Austin: So, let’s- Give me the roll. Tell me if you want to spend that three hold or not. Or that one hold to get a plus three.
Keith: I’m gonna hang on to it. Um-
Austin: So then give me a 2d6 plus two.
Keith: Two.
Austin: Ugh.
Keith: Yikes.
Austin: That’s a six. Um-
Keith: So, the frog is a- is a dead idea now.
Austin: The frog is a dead idea. You can’t tame it like that. Um, but I- I want to give you something very peculiar which is this strange feeling that reveals something a little bit to you. There's a- there’s a moment here where the frog- You make another frog, and you make another small batch of them. And you feel yourself, as you can tell you didn’t do it right- you feel yourself welling up with a sort of frustration or some- I guess actually, let me ask you. What does that make you feel when you know you’ve fucked up again? Or you didn’t succeed rather. Fuck up is strong.
Keith: I guess it’s um… it’s different than frustration. Maybe if I fuck up again, it would be frustration.
Austin: Yeah.
Keith: But I think that it’s like- God, what’s the word? It begins with a ‘d’. It’s like, sad, frustrated.
Art: Dejected?
Keith: Yeah, dejected.
Austin: Alright, so you feel that dejection move through you, and there is a degree to which you almost- The frogs begin to seem dejected. Um, and that sense of dejection is so overwhelming for this moment that it almost shapes the thing you’re making. And there is a degree to which you begin to- I don’t know if maybe- I don’t know if Fero puts this together or not, but you know how the- the way a god makes something new is that they have a lack or they have an intense emotional feeling, and it informs the thing they’re making.
I’ve said it before, but like, you know- you know, Maelgwyn and Samothes- er Maelgwyn comes from Samothes and Samot’s love, but also their desire for confidence, which they were losing. Samothes comes from Samol’s deep sudden belief that- that the world needed someone to help build things for people. Galenica comes from the uh, the will of the people- the collective will of the people to pr- to find a protector. And I think maybe one of two things happens here. And it’s- this is a soft move. I’m not- I’m not hurting you actually here. But it is- you’re not getting what you want.
What- what you’re getting is actually something- maybe it is something that Fero doesn’t want which is the line between what you can do and the line between what Severea and Galenica do has never been clearer. And to some degree, you sense that there is a divine spark in you. And that maybe one, maybe your choice, your like- sorry, your abilities come from a sam- a similar spark in Severea and Galenica that brought Maelgwyn into the world. If not, you know- if not a lack of confidence, it is- or a desire for confidence, maybe it was a desire for the sort of intense and radical devotion to change that you carry that they cannot, you know?
They are the most like, ‘we just have to keep things together.’ Galenica and- and Severea for years were just like- just gonna keep on stitching this same plain shut over and over and over again. And then someone like you was born, and you were given these powers from them. And I think you sense a little echo of that here as you see that you- you almost do that to these frogs, making- making them carry your dejection as they hop through the vineyard. So, that’s- that’s a thing. But also you wonder like, ‘is that something you can tap into?’. Can you-
Keith: Yeah.
Austin: -more- more actively pursue that feeling? And everyone sets back with a cart and horse carrying a pala-din body back towards the university.
Art: Yeah, sounds like fun.
Austin: I think there is a night on the way back, Throndir, where Benjamin finds you. And like, quietly sneaks away from bed and says,
Austin (as Benjamin): You knew I’d be ok, right? Like, for real-real.
Dre (as Throndir): Yeah.
Austin (as Benjamin): Promise.
Dre (as Throndir): Promise.
Austin (as Benjamin): It wasn’t a long shot? It wasn’t a- a roll of the dice? How’d you know? For real.
Dre (as Throndir): The first time that we like, really fought Arrell, he killed me. And I imagine that I- you probably met the same person that I did. And as she was about to offer me whatever bargain, that’s when the Lance saved me. And they’re the ones who told me you’d be ok.
Austin (as Benjamin): And you trust them?
Dre (as Throndir): Yeah. I don’t always agree, but I trust them.
Austin (as Benjamin): Ok. I’ll- I’ll talk to my dad some. I know you guys fight a lot, but- I- You-
Dre (as Throndir): That’s a-
Austin (as Benjamin): He just cares-
Dre (as Throndir): Oh, I know. Hey.
Austin (as Benjamin): -and he loves me a lot. And he’s just-
Dre (as Throndir): You don’t- Yeah. No, I- I don’t want to fight with him anymore. But I- I think part of that is I have to- I’m… He might want to fight me forever, and I just have to live with that.
Austin: I think he sighs and says,
Austin (as Benjamin): I’ll talk to him. [Jack de Quidt’s “Something” begins playing in the background] Have a good night, Throndir. I hope you get some- well, have a good night.
Dre (as Throndir): You, too.
Austin: And Kodiak goes like, [‘rrr’ dog foley] and like, wakes up for a second and kind of like, nuzzles against Benjamin, and then Benjamin heads back and lays back down. I don’t know that anyone sleeps particularly well on this trip back.
[Music plays out to end]