Perpetua 43: Escape the Rumbling Castle! 03
Transcriber: robotchangeling
Marielda 10th Anniversary Vinyl        1
Recap        4
East [0:08:24]        7
Fortunate Isle Tropical Bar        7
Exploring [0:14:53]        14
Analyzing: Asta [0:27:42]        24
Analyzing: Cerulea [0:38:04]        33
Analyzing: Dragon Scale [1:00:40]        52
Analyzing: Game Piece [1:03:51]        55
West [1:08:36]        59
Next Room        59
Soldier [1:29:57]        79
Marielda 10th Anniversary Vinyl
Austin: Hello, everybody! It’s Austin here, before we start today’s episode, and I have a guest.
Jack: It’s me.
Austin: Jack de Quidt.
Jack: That’s me.
Austin: We have a quick message for you.
Jack: Yeah, ahead of today’s episode of Perpetua.
Austin: We're doing the— I guess we're not doing the timer, like a countdown to a countdown, but we are doing a countdown to more information that we want you to know about.
Jack: Yeah. We are—after years and years of wanting to and years and years of being asked about it—releasing the Marielda soundtrack on vinyl.
Austin: Woo!
Jack: As part of an extra special 10th anniversary edition. It has been 10 years—or it’s very nearly been 10 years—since the release of Marielda.
Austin: Yeah.
Jack: I went back, and I was like, “Did we ever mention Marielda before Marielda or gesture at it?” Nope. It shows up for the first time in July 2016.
Austin: That’s not true.
Jack: It is.
Austin: What do you mean we never…? Oh. Well, I mean, but the island exists, Jack.
Jack: Oh, the island exists, yes.
Austin: Yeah.
Jack: We know that there's something there, but we never name it. We never talk about really what’s going on there, other than god.
Austin: [chuckles] I'm sorry. You never name it. It’s not called Marielda yet, but it’s called the City of First Light in my notes, right?
Jack: Is it really?
Austin: I know it’s— we don't have to go into spoilers for what’s down there, but I know what’s down there. 
Jack: [laughs] Yeah, that’s true. We are so excited about this.
Austin: Yeah, City of First Light. Here it is. I've found it. Thank you to our great transcription team in “Autumn in Hieron 24: A Paladin—sorry, a Pala-din—is a tool”, I say, as probably Tabard, right? “I do need to know…I do need to know what Samot calls the city. [Jack chuckles] I think he’s respectful, in a really weird way, and it’s called the City of First Light.” And Art says, “Oh man. Forget all this. Let’s just go there. How long is that? That’s probably a long way,” and I go, “It’s a long way.”
Jack: We did go there.
Austin: And we sure did, 10 years ago.
Jack: 10 years ago. We are making this vinyl edition in collaboration with the British publisher and designworks Lost in Cult, who do extremely good work, and it is being illustrated by the incomparable Elemei, who, wow. If you go to lostincult.co.uk/marielda right now, you can sign up for more information and see some of Elemei’s art, and let me tell you, if you like what is on that screen, [Austin: Phew!] you haven't seen anything yet.
Austin: Can you read that URL one more time for the people? 
Jack: Yes. This is lostincult.co.uk/marielda, and on the page, it says, “An island shored by liquid fire. A city divided by wall and wealth. A war between divine lovers. An outcast crew of thieves caught up in it all. This was Marielda in the year a god died.” Which is especially fun, because, Austin, you and I have been going back and writing [Austin: Mm-hmm.] in the voice of Marielda for the first time in years and years and years. That was you writing that prose.
Austin: Yeah. That was fun to hear you read that just now, yeah. 
Jack: It has been so much fun to go back to Marielda. We cannot wait to show you what we have made.
Austin: Yeah. I'll note you said this was a 10th anniversary edition, which is a really fun way of saying it’s a very special edition. Like you said, you haven't seen anything yet, in terms of the art, and I will just tease that it is… This is not just a vinyl record in a sleeve. 
Jack: Yes.
Austin: There's some other special stuff going on, as you might imagine.
Jack: In fact, I will— I mean, it’s on Lost in Cult’s Bluesky, so I would just… I’ll read out what Lost in Cult say. They say, “An obsessive academic sends an unusual artifact to a friend: an unfolding carousel containing a collection of objects and ephemera from the City of First Light.”
Austin: Phew! Objects and ephemera?
Jack: Obsessive academic? Who could that be?
Austin: An unfolding carousel? [Jack chuckles] Sounds pretty cool to me. Sounds pretty cool to me.
Jack: Once again, that is lostincult.co.uk/marielda, where you can sign up for more information. Preorders will begin on June 25 at 6:00 p.m., British Standard Time. That is 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time and 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time.
Austin: If you don't remember, Marielda is spelled M-A-R-I-E-L-D-A, and Lost in Cult, L-O-S-T-I-N-C-U-L-T. You can also just go to lostincult.co.uk and look at the music dropdown. We are the top thing currently on the music dropdown. Presumably we will not be that eventually, but pretty exciting.
Jack: [sarcastic] And we've only been working on this for a few weeks, right, Austin? [chuckles]
Austin: Jack has been working on this so hard for so long. Jack has put so many hours and so many meetings, and that’s just Jack. That’s not counting all of the creative work that’s gone into it by Elemei or other people, mysterious people in the background or the people at Lost in Cult. So. And I've put a little bit of time in it, but Jack has— Jack might be the obsessive academic who is creating an unusual artifact. [laughs quietly] 
Jack: God. You ever feel like the obsessive academic? 
Austin: Many such cases. Many such cases. All right.
Jack: Well, thank you for this little interruption before Perpetua. Have a great episode of Perpetua. I'm saying that like I'm waving someone off on a trip. Have a great time.
Austin: Bye! We'll see you soon!
Jack: Bye! [laughs quietly] 
Austin: Bye!
Recap
[“The Castle Eschatonica” by Jack de Quidt begins playing]
Austin (as Wan): Don't you have agonies sometimes?
Keith (as Antistrophe): Sure, but I never am an agony.
Austin (as Wan): Well, that’s us.
Keith (as Antistrophe): You're the agony I am?
Austin (as Wan): Well, I'm the agony you get.
Janine: So, this is another, you know, it’s another pointed beautiful eye contact with Caoimhe, especially as Elena goes…
Sylvia: She gets blasted? [laughs quietly] 
Janine: Goes down, we're a little concerned. It’s getting a little bit bad. It’s, yeah, a little bit stressed.
Austin: Pointed eye contact, just to be— just for the listener. You're like, “Oh no.” Like, you make the sort of eye contact that’s like, you're both locked in on needing to solve this.
Janine: Yeah.
Sylvia: Yeah.
Keith (as Antistrophe): Wan says we gotta get all of your friends on board.
Austin (as Melo): Uh…yeah, sure.
Keith (as Antistrophe): Do you know how to, like, do that? With the others?
Austin (as Melo): Well, we used to…we used to hang out, like, all through this castle, so we kind of know this place inside and out, you know?
Keith (as Antistrophe): Yeah. Uh huh.
Dre (as Jonathan): Yeah, Wan was telling us about the soldiers that you all need help with?
Austin (as Connie): It’s so weird. You know. I never thought they were, like, cool, you know? But they never gave us shit. We've been all up and down this castle for years. Years and years and years.
Dre (as Jonathan): So when’d they start?
Austin (as Connie): You know, I'd say just a couple weeks ago. It’s like, you know, there's these two different armies, right?
Dre (as Jonathan): Mm-hmm.
Austin (as Connie): You got the, what are they called? [louder] Hey, Wan, what are they called, again?
Austin (as Wan): I don't know.
Austin (as Connie): Yes, you do. We've gone over this. What are they called, again? I can't remember right now.
Austin (as Wan): [quietly] Creed of Oracles.
Austin (as Connie): Right, the Creed of Oracles. It’s the Creed of Oracles and the Windborne Church,
Austin: She says.
Dre (as Jonathan): Oh.
Austin (as Connie): And, you know, they've never liked each other or nothing, and they'd take pot shots at each other, but they kind of stick to their corners, you know? And they don't get us involved. And then all of a sudden, the Creed—that’s the one that’s kind of close to here—they, like, decided they wanted to take over this whole part of the castle, so they pushed us back here. They brought in exorcists. They did a whole… It was…
Austin: Shakes her head on the TV.
(as Connie): Unbelievable.
Dre (as Jonathan): That sounds rude.
Austin (as Connie): Extremely rude.
Keith (as Antistrophe): Call him a loser. Call him a stupid fucking loser, little loser, little vase loser boy. [Austin laughs]
Art (as Nicky): I don't think that that’s showing— that’s just being mean. That’s not like… [Jack laughs quietly]
Keith (as Antistrophe): Show him who’s boss.
Jack: Go on, try it, though. Go on. Do it, though.
Keith (as Antistrophe): Pathetic, stupid, waste of space.
Art (as Nicky): All right. You working through something here?
Keith (as Antistrophe): I'm just trying to get this devil to talk to us.
Art (as Nicky): Come on, you devil. Talk to me.
East [0:08:24]
Fortunate Isle Tropical Bar
Austin: How’s everybody doing over in the Fortunate Isle Tropical Bar?
Sylvia: Conscious. Normal. [Keith laughs]
Austin: Oh, that’s good.
Jack: Just not good. Slumped against the bar.
Austin: Yeah, Elena, how do you feel?
Jack: I wasn't having a good time really, prior to this, and now the thing that happens to Elena happened again. Especially because it’s been a while since that happened.
Austin: Yeah.
Jack: And so I think there was a bit of Elena that was like, you know, have I moved out of the season of failure and into the season of success?
Austin: Yeah.
Jack: But I think, you know, just dust and wood chips in her hair, kind of begrudgingly but sort of graciously accepting the help of Efta and Zolfta.
Austin: Yeah.
Jack: Looking around blearily. I don't think that there is much sort of chipper Elena.
Austin (as Waylon): You know,
Austin: Says young Waylon, says cool Waylon,
(as Waylon): You shouldn't be so down on yourself.
Jack (as Elena): Huh?
Austin (as Waylon): I think you looked pretty cool! 
Jack (as Elena): I didn't do shit, Waylon.
Austin (as Waylon): That’s not true.
Jack (as Elena): I just summoned that orb, and I broke the orb on the floor.
Austin (as Waylon): Well, that’s not true at all. I saw you. You gave you and your friend Veile a little extra help, a little barrier.
Jack (as Elena): [sighs] That was the broken… [sighs] I mean, yeah, okay.
Austin (as Waylon): It helped. You want a beer? Let me get you a beer.
Jack (as Elena): Yeah, all right.
Austin: Walk. Walk. Walk.
Keith: Young Waylon’s so helpful and nice.
Austin: Hasn't been beaten down by, whatever, 130 years of life, 400 years of life, however old he is. Walk. I keep stretching him by a little bit, and it’s very funny on my screen. [laughter] 
Sylvia: Ohh. They're calling him Wide Waylon.
Austin: Wide Waylon. Double wide.
Jack: He’s getting wider and wider.
Austin: Yeah. Comes back over, gives you a beer.
(as Waylon): It’s cool and everything.
Jack (as Elena): Yeah. 
Jack: What’s the label? What is this beer called?
Austin: What is this beer called? It’s called… You know when you get gang pressed into doing something?
Jack: Press ganged?
Austin: Press ganged. Thank you. Press ganged. Gang press is nothing, right?
Jack: [laughs quietly] I don't think so.
Austin: It’s called Press Gang Beer.
Jack: Whoa.
Austin: It’s the brand.
Jack: What’s the art?
Austin: I think a boat, like a sailboat.
Jack: And a sad sailor in a jolly boat being brought up to it.
Austin: Yeah. Yeah. It’s an IPA.
Jack: Sure.
Austin: Press Gang IPA.
Jack: That’s gotta exist, right?
Austin: Almost certainly, right?
Jack: It absolutely exists. I think Elena sips the beer sort of sadly, looks up at Caoimhe and Brontë and is like—
Austin: [laughing] We got it so close to right. We got it so close to right. I'm losing my mind.
Jack: Did we really?
Austin: I'm losing my mind. I'm losing my mind. I'm posting it in Perpetua right now. Here it is. It’s called Press Gang’s Arrival. [Jack laughs] It is a pale ale.
Janine: Oh.
Keith: It’s a pale ale. Robin Hood’s Bay.
Austin: Yeah.
Jack: It’s a guy getting press ganged.
Austin: It’s a guy getting press ganged.
Keith: Wow.
Jack: Wow.
Janine: This makes me think this place would have those steins that have a glass bottom.
Jack: Oh yeah, for making sure that no one’s creeping up on you while you're…
Janine: Well, no, it’s to make sure, like… because there was a thing, there's a…
Jack: Oh, the coin!
Janine: Yeah, there's a thing where if someone put a coin in your drink and you’d drink it, and then you would get the coin at the end, it’s like, “Oh no, they paid you off to do the…”
Keith: Mm-hmm.
Janine: Yeah, it’s like a…
Jack: You took the king’s shilling.
Austin: Right.
Janine: So then there's like a sailor’s tradition of glass bottomed pewter steins.
Keith: Make a sea salt sour ale sister beer to this called Peer Pressure but P-I-E-R. 
Austin: Yeah, okay. [Keith and Jack laugh] I bet that exists too.
Janine: Yeah.
Jack: Because of course we're in the Castle Eschatonica, IPA in this context stands for Inter-Perpetuan Ale. [someone sputters]
Austin: Ahh. Great.
Sylvia: And it still tastes like shit.
Jack: I think Elena raises the beer and is like,
(as Elena): Well done, everybody.
Austin: So there's the hallway to the north, the door to the north, and the door here looks like the door to like a back hallway or a back kitchen or something. That’s right.
Jack: And that’s where we saw Maebela run [Austin: You did.] and we heard the horrible crash corresponding with Elena’s…
Austin: Yeah. Yeah.
Jack: I mean, we gotta go that way, right?
Janine: Do they have maraschino cherries here?
Austin: They do. This is, you know, the beer’s kind of an outlier. This is primarily a cocktail bar.
Ali: Yeah. I was going to be fussing around, like, looking for juice.
Austin: Oh, there's juice.
Jack: Oh, there's juice. There's juice from fruits we can't name.
Austin: That’s true! That’s literally true.
Jack: Wow.
Janine: At least one of us should probably be worried about Maebela, but it can't be me. [Ali and Art laugh]
Ali: Sure. Okay.
Keith: So Janine is introducing that a non-Brontë person needs to be concerned.
Ali: Uh huh.
Janine: No, I'm pointing out that, like, we heard a fight in the next room. It would be a little weird if we were all like, “Juice break!” [laughter] But Brontë has to be like, “Juice break.” Brontë’s whole character is about juice break. [Austin and Jack laugh]
Keith: Well, does her reputation precede her so much that there's not even a worry?
Jack: No.
Austin: Oh, Maebela as hero, I see.
Keith: Right.
Austin: But also your friend’s…
Jack: Elena is worried.
Austin: Yeah, okay.
Ali: Yeah, I mean, I'm willing to sacrifice the juice idea to have. I think Veile would stand in the doorway to kind of peer out, but I don't think that [Austin: Yeah.] she would, like, leave while we're still in…
Janine: Well, I can make— Brontë could make everyone a drink, and then everyone else could go look in the room and, you know. Two birds, one stone.
Austin: Two birds, one stone.
Janine: Everyone just give Brontë your drink order. [chuckles] 
Austin: Well. What’s your drink order, everybody?
Janine: I mean, he’s probably going to ask, actually. As people start to leave the room, where he’s like, he kind of wants an excuse to stay back and have a treat, so he’s going to be like, 
(as Brontë): No sense in wasting all this. If anyone wants a drink, I'll bring it over when we're…
Jack (as Elena): [sighs] Just a pineapple juice, please.
Janine (as Brontë): Pineapple juice. Okay. 
Austin: Mm-hmm.
Sylvia (as Caoimhe): I'll just have a beer. That beer looked all right.
Janine (as Brontë): [lightly mocking] “A beer”? Okay. [Ali laughs quietly]
Ali (as Veile): Um, I guess something refreshing, I suppose.
Janine (as Brontë): Nothing— okay. Yeah. I'll mix you up something refreshing.
Ali (as Veile): I'm sure you could figure something out.
Janine (as Brontë): I absolutely can.
Exploring [0:14:53]
Austin: All right. As you head down, you peek into the hallway here, you see that there is, in fact, a dead end now. Something has collapsed the northern end of this map.
Jack: Oh, fuck.
Sylvia: Motherfucker.
Austin: Maebela is not here, but there is another door to the east in this hallway.
Sylvia: Yeah.
Ali (as Veile): She’s gone.
Jack (as Elena): Do you think she’s on the other side of that?
Ali (as Veile): Well, there was that loud noise before.
Sylvia (as Caoimhe): Seems likely.
Jack (as Elena): I can't imagine she’s in too much trouble, but I'd hate to go back to Jonathan and tell him that, you know, something bad had happened to his sister, strong as she is.
Sylvia: What’s collapsed here? Is it, like, stone? What’s…?
Austin: It’s mostly stone, right?
Sylvia: Okay.
Austin: It’s like, there's some ceiling beams that have fallen in, but it’s the stones of the Castle Eschatonica walls that have fallen in.
Sylvia: Would I be able to try—? I remember we did this in Cenn, I believe, where I tried to make a tunnel using Ritual Elementalism.
Austin: Yeah. Totally. You could give it a shot.
Sylvia: Would I be able to try that here to clear the path?
Austin: Yeah, give it a shot.
Sylvia: Cool. All right, this is an Insight + Willpower Check. Insight + Willpower Ritual. Oh, and wait, actually, hold on. I think I need to… Is there a…? Where’s this? Oh, I don't have the— I need to look at the handout for this. I thought I had it written down on my sheet. What’s this going to cost me, basically?
Austin: Yeah. So, the way Rituals work. I'll pull this up. This is on page 118. I don't remember what— you use Elementalism Rituals, right?
Sylvia: Yeah.
Austin: Yeah. So I think this is… Let’s see. This is… I think we did minor, because if blocking a passage is minor, I think we said that, you know, unblocking it is probably minor, so that’s 20. And then it’s a door, right?
Sylvia: Yeah.
Austin: Mm, maybe this hallway’s more than that, actually. This is not— I guess you could create a door-sized tunnel, actually, so yes, let’s say individual. It’s like just enough space to sneak through.
Sylvia: Okay.
Austin: For it to be enough to comfortably walk through, it would be 40, so instead, it is 20. 20, difficulty level 7.
Sylvia: Okay. I'm just going to roll that. 
Austin: That’s a 5.
Sylvia: I rolled a 5. I don't have anymore Fabula Points.
Austin: Does anybody have any Fabula? Does anybody?
Sylvia: Oh! But I do have [Austin: Mm-hmm?] a Subversion Point.
Austin: Ooh. What’s a Subversion Point? It’s been so long.
Sylvia: So, this is what I get from my Quirk, Repentant Enforcer.
Austin: Yes.
Sylvia: They're earned every time I hinder the Hexcloaks or remedy some of the harm they have done, I gain one Subversion Point, and they can be used like Fabula Points. So, I have one of those. I'm going to burn it now and reroll this 1 that I rolled.
Austin: All right.
Sylvia: So… There's no, like, button to press, so I'm just going to write…
Austin: No, just reroll the…
Sylvia: Well, I'm just going to write that’s it’s a Subversion Point.
Austin: Oh, I see what you're saying. Yes. Yes.
Sylvia: Roll 1d8.
Austin: And you're rerolling your Willpower, right?
Sylvia: Yeah, I'm rerolling the Willpower, yeah, which I got an 8 on.
Austin: There you go. That is a 10, so that is enough. That brings you up to a 10. Yeah, you're able to make a small enough, like a little hole that goes through the wreckage.
Sylvia: Hell yeah. And that brings us up to 8 Fabula Points now, I believe?
Austin: I don't— does it count? Does a Subversion Point? 
Sylvia: I don't know if— so, they…
Austin: You would have to get to 14 for it to get you another point.
Sylvia: For it to matter, I guess, yeah.
Austin: So my guess is we won't get there tonight anyway.
Sylvia: Okay. We'll let it slide. This can be a conversation for another time.
Austin: But, yeah, you want to write it— Yeah, let’s wrap back around. Let’s say no precedent set at this moment.
Sylvia: Yeah.
Austin: So yeah, I'm going to draw a little arrow saying that there is, as if we're playing Etrian Odyssey, you know? [Janine and Jack chuckle] I'm going to draw a little up-down arrow to indicate yeah, yeah, you can go between these two.
Sylvia: Hell yeah.
Austin: Boom.
Sylvia: All right, and that was 20 MP?
Austin: 20 MP.
Sylvia: Cool. All right.
Austin: So yeah, you don't see any immediate evidence of anyone that way. There is an empty hallway there, but it is a different style of empty hallway. Right now you're in the kind of Genesika style kind of near future stylings, you know?
Sylvia: Mm-hmm.
Austin: Sci-fi near future. Not near future of Perpetua; our human near future sci-fi type setting. But on the other side here, you see what I would describe as— I guess you were on the other side already, right? So this is the sort of, like, KosmoKairosis super sci-fi stuff. Chrome, you know, sheeny hallways.
Sylvia: Oh. Okay. That is very unexpected.
Austin: So this seems to be a point where it has changed, yeah.
Sylvia: All right, well.
Austin: And you can see there is a long hallway there, and yeah, so you could go up that way.
Jack: Or we double back and stick our heads into that other door that we…
Sylvia: Yeah. I just want us to have the option, you know?
Austin: Oh, yeah. Actually, I'm wrong, sorry. That actually is going to happen— I guess you'll see it. You can see that— The thing I just described is on this right door. Right, that’s like a slidey fancy sci-fi door on the right side. The actual hallway is not.
Jack: Oh, the sci-fi stuff is here.
Austin: No, the sci-fi stuff is up here. It’s this specific door.
Jack: Oh, it’s up here.
Austin: It’s just that door, not the whole hallway.
Jack: Oh, right, right, right. Yeah.
Austin: The hallway continues to be the sort of style that you're in right now.
Jack: And how does this door look?
Austin: Like the style of what you're in now, which is like— and in fact, what I would say is, so, what you're in is like a weird back hallway behind this bar that… You get the impression that this is a… You get the impression that this back door that you're looking at now is, and maybe it even is, maybe you've even identified that this is like a hidden doorway that has been revealed, right? Like, maybe you can see that a shelf has been slid aside to reveal this secret doorway that’s right here.
Jack (as Elena): Huh. Well, I don't hear any signs of distress or clattering or something.
Austin: You do not.
Jack (as Elena): Maybe we can just look inside here.
Sylvia (as Caoimhe): I'm fine with that. Do you want me to take the lead on it?
Sylvia: There's, like, obviously concern after what Elena just went through.
Jack (as Elena): [reluctantly] Yeah.
Sylvia (as Caoimhe): Okay.
Jack: Although I am just going to use an IP point, an elixir.
Austin: Sure.
Sylvia: Yeah. You should also do that, yeah.
Austin: Big idea. Good idea. Big idea, good idea.
Jack: Big idea, good idea.
Sylvia: Big idea, good idea. Put that on a T-shirt.
Austin: Put that on a T-shirt.
Sylvia: All right. If nobody has any objections, I'm going to peek my head through this door. On the right, yeah, is the one you were talking about?
Austin: On the right. Yeah, the room on the right.
Sylvia: Yeah.
Austin: Give me a Travel roll.
Sylvia: Oh boy. What am I rolling, Austin?
Austin: You're rolling a simple…simple d6.
Sylvia: Okay.
Austin: You just don't want a 6.
Jack: You want low.
Sylvia: I rolled a 1.
Austin: You want low. Look at that. That’s a major discovery. That’s a major discovery.
Sylvia: Now we get our piña coladas.
Austin: Now you get your piña coladas. You step into this room. Let me reveal the room’s shape, because it’s kind of funny looking.
Jack: Whoa.
Austin: All right. [chuckles] It kind of looks like a stick figure with pom poms on its side or something, maybe? Like, I don't…
Sylvia: Oh, a little bit.
Austin: It’s kind of three little…
Jack: It’s like a chef’s hat sideways.
Sylvia: Ohhh.
Austin: Or a crown sideways, kind of, but round style.
Sylvia: Same thing.
Austin: It does, yeah, you're right. I do see the chef hat. I do see it. I see it.
Keith: I see a three-cheeked butt from the top down.
Sylvia: You pervert.
Austin: Okay. Yeah, okay. So. You walk in, and what you see is, on the kind of— You're walking in. So, the north side, your left hand side and your right hand side, there are these two little alcoves on the far sides of this room, right? The kind of northeast and southeast of this square rectangle room have these little alcoves with, you know, little gray discs that have lights shining down on them. You know, I would say that they kind of look like, to you, they look kind of like… This is a thing I'm going to just compare them to, because why not, is a Star Wars bacta tank but without the glass there yet, you know? Like, the glass has not dropped down or the glass has not been put in place, but just, like, the disc at the top and the bottom are there basically, right? And then in the middle is like a big console like the computer that Brontë saw. I guess, Caoimhe, you saw this thing also in Cenn.
Sylvia: Yeah.
Austin: And it’s a computer, right? It’s a computer console. I think some of you also saw it in the Genesika cage room in the previous half of the dungeon. In that console, underneath it, there's like a little hole. There's like a little…what is the word I'm looking for? For when you reach into a vending machine and get something. What is that area called in a vending machine? Like a slot?
Jack: A slot? Yeah.
Austin: Yeah, there's a slot with a spell orb in it. So, first and foremost, you get this spell orb. It is the spell orb for Flare, which is Insight + Willpower, target suffers HR + 25 fire damage; it ignores resistances, right? Sells for 100 asta. Pretty good.
Ali: I have a question.
Austin: Yes.
Ali: Do we have to spend MP to use the orbs, or…?
Austin: You do not. You do not.
Ali: It was spent when the, okay, during the creation.
Austin: It was spent when it was made, right, correct.
Ali: Okay.
Austin: So that’s the, like, discovery. That’s the cool— that’s the loot you get here, right? But the three of you kind of piece together what this is, because you've got the major discovery. You're learning about what this is, right? [sighs] This seems to be a place that makes and also analyzes spell orbs but also just kind of, like, magic items basically. You know this because someone was in here working on— has Elemental Shards like you know them from your world. There's one of those that's been broken in half, but you can recognize the residue of it. There's like a broken flute in here. You have to imagine it used to be a magic flute. But it’s like, there's a slot to put stuff into to analyze, and there's also some way of standing in the alcoves and generating spell orbs or something. This is a spell orb research room, and so that’s like the gist of what it is, but you got the major discovery, so I need to, like, not just give you the spell orb but actually explain. And maybe, Veile, this is a thing you've been interested in. You think— and maybe there's even like a resonance here. This thing could analyze your gems.
Ali: Oh.
Austin: In fact, maybe it does. As you approach it, it responds to the type of— to your weird gems. And on its screen, it says, “Awaiting input.” You know, “New object identified.” You know, “Do you wish to begin scan?” question mark. “Awaiting input, y/n.”
Ali: Whoa.
Austin: And this is a black screen with just green text on it, green monochromatic text. But it’s text that you can read.
Ali: I think I hit Y.
Austin: All right. Where do you keep your gem?
Ali: In my bag?
Austin: Okay. You can feel your bag beginning to, like, get pulled towards the research console, like it’s hovering towards it, like with enough force that it’s lifting the bag.
Ali: Is it like, can I see the protrusion of the shape of the gem and I can, like, open my bag and kind of tumble through it and then the—
Austin: Exactly, yeah. Yeah. Do you place it in the thing, in the entry slot? Maybe it’s not even a slot, it’s like a holder. You know what I mean? It’s like an object holder that you can resize for different types of objects.
Ali: And I can't communicate with Cerulea at all, correct? Not in this moment, right?
Austin: Not as far as you can tell, no. No. Someone made a roll earlier, so I'm not saying you couldn't try to, but I don't remember who it was. It was in a previous session, so.
Jack: No, it was— We discussed doing it, but you said it will actively distress the gems.
Austin: It will distress them. That’s right, yeah. You're not necessarily getting that energy here. There's no fear coming from Cerulea here.
Ali: Okay, yeah. I think my concern there is that, like, this is a strange machine. I don't want it to, like, hurt or destroy it.
Austin: That is extremely fair. You could do a Study Check beforehand to try to piece together what’s happened here.
Analyzing: Asta [0:27:42]
Ali: Yeah. Maybe this is foolish of me if this fails, but I think maybe Veile deciding to put, like, a single asta in the slot. I was going to say an Elemental Shard, [Austin: Oh.] but then that was more dangerous than a coin would be. [laughs] 
Austin: Oh, that's really funny. Yeah.
Ali: So I'm just going to roll my Insight + Insight. 
Austin: Yeah.
Ali: Or no, Study is a capital…
Austin: Insight + Insight is right. You got it. Insight + Insight is right.
Ali: Okay.
Jack: If you put the coin in, you might make a spell orb that makes coins.
Ali: Ooh. [chuckles] 
Sylvia: Oh. Wait, we should… We should be seeing what we can put in the spell machine.
Austin: You got an 8. It does not—
Ali: I can change that 1 to a 7.
Austin: You could. That’s true. You could. Yeah. And I'd give you something. This is an open-ended Study Check, so I would give you something different for a 7, a 10, and a 13. And a 7 would bring it up to a 14, so if you'd like to.
Ali: I would like to do that.
Austin: All right. This is analyzing. It’s not, the act that you're doing is about analysis, not about creating a spell orb, so it’s not turning it into a money orb. Though maybe with a 13, maybe with a 13, you could turn it into, ha. [Ali laughs] You could turn it into an orb that makes one money, that makes one asta. So, one. One of the things it can do here is it can pull magic from an item and produce a number of spell orbs. That seems to be what’s happened with the— Actually, first of all, first of all, first of all. What are you doing? Tell me what studying looks like here.
Ali: The amount that she’s able to study is the amount that the screen gives her, right? Or is that like…
Austin: Right, so you've put the asta in, though. That’s the thing that you're doing.
Ali: Yes. Yes, yes, yes.
Austin: You're putting in the asta. Okay. [cross] So you're using the machine.
Ali: [cross] Yeah, I'm doing like a test run. Yeah.
Austin: Yes. I need you to take some damage. [Ali laughs] I need you to take, uh… [typing] 
Ali: Okay.
Austin: I need to remember the rules here. Sorry about this, but these are the rules. The rules are The Dead Remember. All of the technology of this world relies on necromantic magic. To use any piece of technology, you have to pay the life price, spending HP as required. And this piece of technology costs… Ok, well, you didn't fail, which is great. It costs 5 HP.
Ali: Okay.
Austin: So. To, like, interface. Just, it saps life from you as you touch the keyboard. [chuckles] Just like in real life when you log on.
Ali: So true.
Austin: You put the asta in. So, one, it tells you: do you want to turn this into a spell orb? It will do one damage and create one asta when used. [Ali laughs] Two: it says this material has been found historically in large numbers to the east, and it points at a spot on the map to the east, and I'll just ping it. It’s over here. This like, down the eastern hallway. And, you know, it says the amount. It says, like, this material or, you know, some variation thereof has been found in the millions in that direction historically.
Ali: Whoa.
Austin: Recent scans show anomalous data when compared to this. And then it says, and only you see this, but it says this material has been used in ritual magic here, and you get a wireframe, you know like the thing in CAD machines, like old computers, where it goes, like, tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick, tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick. As you're kind of moving through 3D space and simple polygonal graphics. 
Keith: Mm-hmm.
Austin: It does that, and it shows a space above you and to the west, a number of floors above you and to the west, and here I reveal that the eastern side of this map is much much lower, is like 10 floors lower than the western side of this map, because it marks a point that we know is over on the western side, to the west of where the party currently is now. And so some sort of coin magic has been happening. It has been being used in magical rituals to the west of where the western party is right now, the western dungeon party. 
Ali: Okay, and Veile has a sense of, like, oh, our paths split, and that…
Austin: Well, the castle’s so big that you're not 100% sure of that.
Ali: Okay.
Austin: But you know that something’s happening over there.
Ali: Can you ping the big money mound again? I just forgot to get it.
Austin: Yeah, big money over here, east. I'll write it on the map, and see if— [Ali laughs] I don't know if it’ll show through or not. Let’s find out. If I write, “Big Money.”
Sylvia: Big money.
Austin: Okay. I'm going to unhide where it says “Big Money” and see if that at least…
Sylvia: [laughs quietly] What a sentence.
Austin: I'm going to unhide where it says “Big Money.” There it is. You see it? It’s kind of to the left of where it says “Big Money” now.
Sylvia: And this is when we find out Big Money is the name of the owl dragon.
Austin: That’s the name of the owl dragon, yeah. [Austin and Ali laugh]
Jack: Where’s Big Money? I don't see it.
Austin: To the southeast.
Ali: It’s like all the way over there. You have to zoom out.
Austin: It’s all the way over there.
Jack: Oh, yeah, I see it now.
Austin: Yeah.
Jack: And where was the money magic? The sort of ritual coin magic?
Austin: I'm going to write “Money Magic” over to the west. Money! Magic!
Sylvia: We're feeling so clean, like a money machine.
Austin: Like a money machine. There it is, to the west.
Jack: Oh, wow. They're close to some money magic.
Ali: Mm-hmm.
Austin: They're very close to some money magic. They don't know that. They don't know about that. Only you know about that.
Ali (as Veile): [sighs] Elena, look! It’s some sort of magic encyclopedia. [Austin and Sylvia chuckle]
Jack (as Elena): [unenthused] Oh, cool. [Austin laughs]
Ali (as Veile): There's money in there.
Sylvia: Running forward to look at it.
Sylvia (as Caoimhe): It’s a what? Oh my god!
Ali (as Veile): Look at all this information.
Jack (as Elena): [weakly] Yeah.
Janine: I think now is when Brontë shows up with, like, a little drink tray. [Austin and Jack laugh]
Ali: Aww.
Janine: And there is on it a beer that has been poured into a nice glass. There is a thing of pineapple juice, and it has like a little…you know how they can, like, dry a very fine pineapple slice and it looks like a little flower?
Sylvia: Mm-hmm.
Jack: Wow.
Janine: There's one of those. I'm going to put a picture, because it’s really pretty. [Ali laughs quietly]
Austin: Ooh.
Janine: And then there are two things that look like champagne but there's, like, a lemon twist in them.
Ali: Ooh.
Janine: And that is like a mix of lemon simple syrup and champagne. It is like a Tom Collins but with champagne instead of soda water.
Jack: Wow.
Ali: Well, Veile’s going to be, like, big time drunk for the rest of this [laughter] if my experience with champagne is…
Janine: You can't tell someone from the wine place you want a cocktail, because he’s going to come up with a wine cocktail for you.
Ali: She wants something refreshing. That’s so funny. Okay. 
Janine: That’s refreshing to him. That’s why he made himself one too.
Ali: I believe it.
Ali (as Veile): How lovely.
Keith: Wine cocktails can be refreshing.
Janine: Yeah.
Austin: It’s true.
Ali: I think she cheerses.
Janine: It’s light. It’s sweet. It’s, you know, got the lemon.
Ali (as Veile): Thank you, Brontë.
Janine (as Brontë): My pleasure.
Ali: I think I clink my glass against yours, because they're the same drink.
Janine (as Brontë): Caoimhe, Elena.
Jack: The little—
Sylvia (as Caoimhe): Oh, oh, thank you. [quietly] I wonder if this has some sort of beer magic in it. [Austin laughs]
Jack: Whoa.
Sylvia: Talking about the computer, not the…
Austin: Oh, I thought you were talking about the glass of beer. [Janine laughs]
Sylvia: Not the glass of beer. She’s not that dumb!
Austin: Maybe in this world, beer is magic! We'll have to test it to find out. [Janine laughs]
Sylvia: Oh. I mean, listen. At this point? 
Austin: Yeah. 
Sylvia: I cast a spell, and it turned into an orb.
Austin: It did.
Sylvia: Who’s to say? [Ali laughs]
Austin: Who’s to say.
Jack: I would like to… God, I wish I could find the source for it, but there's that tweet that says “NASA just found a heaven-like planet where you can drink beer by the lake, and they are calling it Earth.” [Sylvia, Ali, Janine, and Austin laugh]
Sylvia: Ahhh.
Austin: Oh, that’s good.
Jack: I think that’s @tonyhawktruther, although that might have been a repost. The dried little flower has perked Elena up a little.
Janine: Aww.
Jack: Although still, you know, grumpy about it. Still holding the beer from earlier, the Press Gang beer in one hand [Janine chuckles] and the pineapple beer in the other.
Janine: No, it’s just pineapple. It’s just pineapple juice.
Jack: Oh, right, yes, sorry. It’s just pineapple juice.
Janine: That's what you said you wanted, and that’s what he got you.
Jack: Yeah, no, no. I just misspoke.
Austin: Elena not going to be drunk.
Jack: One beer, one pineapple juice. Hoho, what an evening. [Austin laughs]
(as Elena): Do we want to do any research or something? Do you know how these machines work, Veile?
Ali (as Veile): Well, no. I just tested this asta, and it was able to tell me where it was and where it’s being used magically, which is quite fascinating. There's this big pile of money so far away from where all the magic is happening.
Jack (as Elena): There's a big pile of money?
Ali (as Veile): Yeah, see, look, to the east.
Ali: Tapping the screen.
Austin: Okay, I'm going to repeat what I did say. I'm happy it’s Veile saying it this way. What it says on the screen is historically there’s been a large number—
Jack: Yes, historically millions.
Austin: Historically millions of money to the east, recent anomalous readings.
Ali: Okay. Well, she can misunderstand. [laughs] 
Austin: That’s all. No, no, no, I get it. I think that’s great. I just want to make sure that you don't tell me I'm lying to you in two weeks or whatever.
Jack (as Elena): There's two platforms. Can we combine things on the platforms?
Jack: Says Elena.
Sylvia (as Caoimhe): [fascinated] Ohh.
Ali (as Veile): Well, my gem was kind of floating towards it. I just didn't want it to be hurt. So if you’ll excuse me, if nobody objects…
Sylvia (as Caoimhe): No, go right ahead. 
Sylvia: Pulling out my notebook to… [Ali and Jack laugh] Sorry, Caoimhe’s going from digging through her bag to be like, “What can I put in this thing?” to immediately pulling out a notebook and being like, “No, yeah, I'm observing. I'm here for this.” [Ali laughs]
Austin: [chuckles] Taking notes.
Ali: Yeah, I was—
Austin: You put the— yep.
Ali: I was initially going to have Veile be like, “Oh, this thing, it hurt me. I lost 5 HP. I can't put my gem in here.” But I think after it giving very, like, dense information about that coin, [Austin: Mm-hmm.] she’s like, “Well, 5 HP.” Little static shock.
Austin: Yeah. Are you doing it again with…?
Ali: Yes, indeed.
Analyzing: Cerulea [0:38:04]
Austin: All right, give me another—
Ali: Is that another 5? 
Austin: It’s another 5. It’s another Study, because you're using it again.
Ali: Damn. Oh shit. Oh, fuck me.
Austin: Yeah. Uh, no, wait, wait, wait. It shouldn't be another Study, because the Study was do you know how to use the machine good, not… You know, it would be very weird if you were like, “I understand how to hit yes and no when it’s asking me about the coin, but I don't understand it when it’s about the gem.” You know what I mean?
Ali: Yeah.
Austin: The interface hasn't changed magically. You still understand how to navigate the computer, you know? It was six minutes ago or whatever. But it does still cost you 5 to use it.
Ali: Okay, yeah. Yeah, yeah.
Austin: [sighs] Okay. It was a 13 before, so I'm going to keep that as true, which is higher than normal. It’s more than normal. It’s not 16, but it’s still higher than normal, so I think you're getting a good amount of information about this. Let’s go through the same list of basic things, right? Like before, it says this is a— it calls this a Soul Gem. Whether that’s actually what it’s called or not, who knows? That's what this machine is calling it. Two, it says there are seven of these in the castle, and it, like before, adds them to a big complex digital map, and you can see all of the ones in the party, which are—let’s make sure I have my own head on straight on this. Brontë has a blue one, and that’s where my knowledge ends. That’s not true. I just have to look at my notes. [Jack chuckles] I thought I could just do it by memory, and I cannot just do it by memory. Brontë has a blue one, which I remember because I got it wrong and had to correct myself.
Keith: I thought there was a no takesies backsies swap that happened.
Ali: No, because Caoimhe has the one that Brontë got and so—
Austin: That’s right. Yeah. 
Janine: Yeah.
Austin: Brontë has the blue one. Keith, you have a dark red one.
Keith: I agree. [Sylvia laughs] 
Austin: Do you have that written down somewhere?
Keith: I do have it written down in my Backpack.
Austin: I love it. There is a pale amethyst one. That is the one that Elena has. That is Violet Caliban.
Jack: Yes.
Austin: There is a light green one, and that is the one that, uh… I got this. I got this. I got this. 
Ali: Caoimhe.
Austin: This is the one that Caoimhe has. That’s right. I had the character name, but Caoimhe hasn't learned yet.
Sylvia: Oh!
Austin: There is the teal one that you have, Veile.
Ali: Mm-hmm.
Austin: And then Nicky, did you get—? You got a different one, right? You got the orange one. And so the yellow one is missing, and you don't—
Ali: Mm-hmm.
Austin: No one has the green one either, right? Okay, so. Yellow one is not here, but all of the other ones I just said are. Blue is here. That is Brontë. Dark red is here. I should just stay on this one. The ones that are in this room, which are Brontë’s blue one, Veile’s teal one, Caoimhe’s light green one, and Elena’s violet one or amethyst one. Those all show up on the map. Then on the other side of the castle—above you by, again, 10 floors or whatever—you have the one that Nicky has, which is orange, and you have the dark red one that is Keith’s. And then there is a dark green one that you've never seen before. There's a dark green light on this map that is moving—I’m going to mark it on the map—northeast of you? Or it’s like, it is northeast of you, up in this general region up here somewhere. You probably have to zoom out quite a bit. I'll add it. I'll add Dark Green Gem to the map.
Sylvia: Oh, I see.
Austin: Dark green gem. I'll add it. I'll add it. I'll add it. One second.
Jack: Sorry, I might have missed something, but…
Sylvia: Like over here.
Austin: Yes.
Sylvia: I'll ping where Austin pinged, Jack, if you zoom out.
Jack: No, no, no, sorry. I thought Austin said Nicky’s gem.
Austin: Well, didn't Nicky recover the gem from…
Ali: Nicky got one.
Austin: Yeah.
Ali: Nicky found one.
Sylvia: An orange one, right?
Jack: Oh, okay. Right.
Dre: Yeah, not the pawned gem but the gem from climbing around on the castle.
Sylvia: The skeleton.
Jack: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Austin: Climbing, exactly. Yeah.
Art: And we're going to go back and get the other one.
Jack: But Jonathan can't come.
Austin: God, Jonathan can't come. That’s true.
Art: Oh.
Ali: Whoa.
Keith: Why?
Art: Well, that's going to be tricky.
Austin: Jonathan can't go home.
Keith: Oh, right, yeah.
Austin: Yeah. Yeah. So that’s—
Jack: I realized this in the middle of the night last night. I was like, “Oh, fuck. [chuckles] All those quests in the town.”
Austin: Just Jonathan can't come. That’s all. It won't be— it’s fine. It’ll be fine. So that means you do now know where your other party members are. In fact, you see them slowly walking down this stairwell to a slightly lower level as they approach another door. So that was the two levels of it. Three is, would you like to… I think it recognizes that there is an intelligence in here, and so it straight up says, you know, “Would you like to communicate to the soul inside the gem?” 
Ali (as Veile): Oh, yes.
Austin: And it goes, “One moment, please.” And then, like, you can hear the like, you know when you can like hear a computer doing work? Like, [imitates computer sounds].
Ali: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Austin: It makes that—
Keith: Yeah, like old hard drives?
Sylvia: Yeah.
Austin: Like old hard drives, yeah. Like old physical, you know, pre-, like HDD.
Sylvia: Sounds like a fax machine.
Austin: Yeah, yeah, yeah. It makes that sound.
Keith: Or like a Dreamcast. [Sylvia snorts]
Austin: And then in this kind of northern little alcove, a holographic projection of Cerulea forms, and she says,
Austin (as Cerulea): Oh my goodness. Veile!
Ali (as Veile): Cerulea! Are you okay?
Austin (as Cerulea): I’m… I don't like this place, but this feels okay.
Ali (as Veile): Yes. We were transported to some strange castle that uses the gem you're in as some sort of tool.
Austin (as Cerulea): A castle? Did we land on a medieval world?
Ali (as Veile): Um, no. It’s my understanding that…
Ali: Glancing to Caoimhe.
(as Veile): This is some sort of remnants of other worlds that has since moved on.
Austin (as Cerulea): A ruined planet,
Austin: She says.
Sylvia (as Caoimhe): [hushed] It’s technically multiple planets, if we're being specific. Sorry, you're the gem. I don't need to interrupt. [Ali laughs quietly]
Austin (as Cerulea): Sorry, who are your companions?
Ali (as Veile): Oh, well, this is Caoimhe. And that’s Elena, who you might know.
Jack (as Elena): Hi.
Ali (as Veile): I guess I didn't introduce you last time. And that’s Brontë and Brontë’s friends, Efta and…Zolfta? Zolfta.
Sylvia (as Caoimhe): Nailed it.
Ali (as Veile): Oh, and there's Waylon.
Austin (as Waylon): I'm Waylon. [Ali laughs quietly]
Sylvia (as Caoimhe): Sure are, man. [Austin, Ali, Keith, and Sylvia laugh]
Austin: Cerulea is a robotic?—question mark?—woman with long teal hair. You can really see the robotic features here, right? Like, she has…almost like a traditional… You can see that her skin is made of metal, you know? But she has, like, a dress on. She has a big staff that’s not that dissimilar from yours, actually, Veile.
Ali: Mm.
Austin: She says,
(as Cerulea): Well, it’s good to meet you all.
Sylvia (as Caoimhe): Yeah. I… [quietly] Wow, there really were people in the gems. [Ali and Jack laugh]
Ali (as Veile): Hm!
Sylvia (as Caoimhe): What the fuck?
Janine: Yeah, Brontë’s having similar feeling. Brontë’s actually probably pulled his gem out and is looking at it. Like, just looking.
Austin (as Cerulea): Well, please be careful. This place is frightening for some reason. It seems we approach danger. It feels wrong here. It feels… It’s hard to explain. It’s like the amount of oxygen in the air is wrong.
Ali (as Veile): Well, it seems strange. I mean, the gems connected to doors and all. It just, well, it seems unfair to you is all, and I'd like to— I'm still trying to help, it’s just, well, there's this big dungeon and all.
Austin (as Cerulea): I know what that’s like. We went through so many dungeons on the way.
Ali (as Veile): Well, what can you tell me of the place that you're in? Is it like a room, or is it just…?
Austin (as Cerulea): [disoriented] Oh, it’s… It’s restful. It’s, um… I don't…
Austin: Approaching this thought seems hard for her.
Ali: Oh.
Austin (as Cerulea): [hesitates] My quarters are… They’re comfortable. The world is, you know. 
Austin: You are getting the impression that she does not necessarily have a complete understanding of— She knows she’s in a gem. She knows she’s in a gem, but she doesn't, like, what’s that…?
Ali: Right.
Austin: There's a truth she’s not confronting, right?
Ali: Yeah.
Austin: And you know, I think that the screen here actually does straight up say, you know, originally generated KosmoKairosis, you know, 68 or something like that. Actually, no. I think it would be KosmoKairosis 99. 
Ali: Oh.
Austin: We know that it does that cycle, right? Or 90… We've gone over this. We've gone over the numbers. We've gone over the numbers. I should have gotten the number in front of me first. But it is the final KosmoKairosis world.
Ali: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, because we learned not only do the cycles stop but they get to repeat nine times.
Austin: That they get to repeat— it’s more than nine, because the gods have to get summoned first. It’s more than just nine.
Jack: It’s like the gods get built up piece by piece, and then the cycle starts, and then it’s in like—
Austin: And there's a bunch of those. Yeah.
Jack: It’s in, like, the Perpetua act for a bunch of times.
Austin: That’s right.
Jack: And then eventually that whole sort of shard is trashed.
Austin: That’s exactly right.
Ali: Oh, I had it as… Okay.
Austin: And replaced with a new type of thing, a new… Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Ali: But it’s a number with which Veile would, like, be talking to Cerulea, glance to the screen, and like, her facial expression gets visibly more sympathetic and a little upset, but she’s still trying to smile and nod to Cerulea, like, trying to answer this question. [laughs quietly] 
Austin: That’s right. Yeah. So yeah, it seems like Cerulea isn't quite giving… It’s not that she doesn't want to be honest with you. It’s that she doesn't want to be honest with herself. You know, the thing that seems to be happening here. I want to remind you of a thing that she said forever ago, which was that she asked you if you knew where Gail was, who seems to be a person.
Ali: Mm-hmm.
Austin: And so she knows she’s missing someone or something. She knows that she’s been separated by someone or something, you know?
Ali: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, I think some of what Veile was expecting from that question was like, “Oh, I'm in a strange room with a couch and,” you know. But Veile sort of understanding that was a naive question because her experience is, like, even less than that, you know? is sad, I think. [laughs] 
(as Veile): I…uh. Well, don't pay it any mind anyway. You won't be there forever. We'll…we’ll figure something out.
Austin (as Cerulea): Okay. Can I help you with anything?
Ali (as Veile): Um…
Austin (as Cerulea): Is there anything you need?
Ali: Oh boy.
Austin (as Cerulea): Have you found any good loot?
Ali: Have we? I don't know.
Keith: The gem loves loot.
Austin: The gem does love loot. That is her expertise.
Keith: Gems are loot.
Ali: It’s not that…
Austin: But she specifically. That is her thing specifically.
Ali: What is the Gorgon’s Brush? When did I take that?
Jack: Oh, from the little apartment, right?
Ali: Oh.
Jack: The Imago apartment that we went into?
Austin: Yeah, you went into, like, the painter’s studio after the big party, after the masque.
Ali: Okay, yeah. Yeah, I saw it on my accessory list, because it’s 0 asta and does not have any other information. I was like, “When did I even…? The fuck?” [Jack chuckles]
Austin: Oh, okay, yeah. Yeah. 
Jack: And I have that crown that I took from the sandy room.
Austin: You do have that crown, yeah. And Veile has the wings.
Ali: Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I know about those. Those are just from the…
Austin: Oh, okay.
Janine: And I have a unicorn plushy. [Ali and Jack laugh quietly]
Austin: And you have a unicorn. You did get that unicorn plushy.
Jack: Oh, yeah.
Austin: So do you not know what the Gorgon’s Brush does?
Ali: I have no clue, yeah.
Austin: Interesting.
Ali: I think that Veile is going to pull it out of her bag and say,
(as Veile): Well, I found this, and I was compelled to take it, but I suppose I don't understand what power is drawn to it.
Austin: Yeah. You don't have any Fabula Points, right?
Ali: Sure don't.
Austin: Okay. So you can't— I'll say, in this case, it’s just going to work, but normally— It’s going to work because you've summoned her with the special machine, right?
Ali: Oh, because usually I have to spend a, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Austin: But normally you can spend a point to call on her as a Trait to identify stuff. She specifically is an expert in loot and gear. Other gems have different specialties, right?
Ali: She can be used in place [cross] of a Trait with a Fabula Point, and I only have 10 times to do it. 
Austin: [cross] In place. That’s right, yes. Yes, and if you do that 10 times: question mark, question mark, question mark.
Ali: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah.
Austin: But in this case, she says,
(as Cerulea): Oh, of course. That’s the Gorgon’s Brush.
Austin: And what it does is… I’ll post it here. Oh, that's a Spell Orb. I've copied the wrong damn thing. The Gorgon’s Brush, you have to equip it as an accessory, but you gain the spell The Gorgon’s Gaze. 10 MP; it’s an attack spell; one target; no damage. Summon a snake-headed creature to stun a target with its gaze. 
Ali: Whoa.
Austin: The target hit by this attack suffers Slow. If it’s already Slow, they must success on a DL 7 Might + Willpower Check or be turned to stone.
Ali: Whoa! I can cast Slow.
Jack: Sick.
Austin: You can cast Slow. Yeah.
Ali: Wow. 
(as Veile): Is this something you recognize—
Austin: This is— Yeah, go ahead.
Ali (as Veile): —from your world?
Austin: Again, a kind of confused look.
Austin (as Cerulea): [struggling] No. I know it somehow. It must be from a different planet than the ones we've been on, but maybe it’s just in my data banks. Why can't I remember it?
Ali (as Veile): You travel to different planets where you're from?
Austin (as Cerulea): Of course. Have you only ever lived on this one?
Ali (as Veile): Uh, well, yes.
Austin (as Cerulea): [sighs] We'll have to take you traveling!
Ali (as Veile): Mm-hmm.
Austin (as Cerulea): You'll love it. I know how much you love adventuring and seeing new places.
Ali (as Veile): Uh…well, yes. In the future, the cycle will be dealt with, and you'll be out of your gem, and, uh…
Ali: Kind of doing, like, a half-assed kind of cheers gesture with the cup of champagne in her other hand. [laughs] Just kind of like a hurrah, the future will be happy, and nothing will be wrong, and everything I'm saying is true. [Jack sighs]
Austin (as Cerulea): The cycle.
Austin: She says, as she’s locked onto you saying this.
(as Cerulea): You're trying to break the cycle too.
Ali (as Veile): Oh, well yes, of course.
Austin (as Cerulea): Well, Gail and I figured it out, but we couldn't quite…
Sylvia (as Caoimhe): You figured it out?
Austin (as Cerulea): We thought— we thought we had an answer, but I guess… Oh, Gail.
Ali (as Veile): Well, had you been to the White Lectern?
Austin (as Cerulea): The what?
Ali (as Veile): I'm to have the power to stop it, uh, but I have to seek the White Lectern.
Austin (as Cerulea): No, I've never heard of that.
Ali (as Veile): Well, what was your answer?
Austin (as Cerulea): Oh, the… We had a wormhole to go to.
Ali (as Veile): Huh?
Austin: You've never heard of a wormhole in your fucking life! 
Ali (as Veile): A hole for worms?
Jack: Worms. [Keith laughs]
Janine (as Brontë): Sounds gross.
Sylvia (as Caoimhe): The ground.
Austin (as Cerulea): If we could breach the wormhole, we could confront the Dark Mater.
Ali (as Veile): The Dark Mater?
Austin (as Cerulea): The Dark Mother. Mater, mother, you know.
Janine (as Brontë): The matter of the cycle. You know, the subject.
Austin (as Cerulea): No, no, no.
Keith: M-A-D-E-R? 
Janine: [chuckles] Like Rose Madder.
Austin (as Cerulea): It’s in a different language, but it means “Mother,” and I guess she’s like an evil cosmic goddess, and she was going to threaten everything, and if we could stop her, we could maybe stop the cycle. That’s what we thought anyway, but I… Oh, I guess it… Oh…
Austin: And it’s starting to dawn on her.
(as Cerulea): Veile, you have to stop the cycle.
Ali (as Veile): Well, yes, of course.
Austin (as Cerulea): We tried our very best, but we didn't do it. I guess we didn't do it.
Ali (as Veile): Uh, well, uh, I suppose that’s the reason we met, because we share the same goals.
Austin (as Cerulea): We both like helping people.
Ali (as Veile): Yes. [quietly] And the cycle and all that.
Austin (as Cerulea): I wish we’d done it. You've never really been on a ship? You've never seen another world?
Ali (as Veile): Oh, um, besides this strange tower, I've…
Ali: Does the continent we are from have a name?
Austin: Tidaline.
Jack: Yeah, Tidaline.
Ali: Oh.
Austin: Yeah, Tidaline. I don't have one for the eastern continent, but I've named the western one. I don't think we've ever said an eastern one out loud, so.
Ali (as Veile): I've never been beyond the shores of Tidaline.
Austin: She’s, like, scanning her internal data banks.
(as Cerulea): I've never heard of that one. Oh, I'll have to update the Cyan Star’s— [quiet upon remembering] Oh. Right.
Ali (as Veile): Ah, hm…
Austin (as Cerulea): It’s okay. Don't— It’s okay. I'd like to be in the gem for a little while.
Ali (as Veile): Oh, of course.
Austin (as Cerulea): But just a little while. I want to help.
Ali (as Veile): Well, yes. I mean, you need your rest, regardless. I'll, you know, ping you again soon. [Ali laughs]
Austin: Oh, okay.
(as Cerulea): DM me. [Ali and Jack laugh] My calendar’s up to date.
Ali: Uh huh.
Austin: She does not say her calendar is up to date. That’s not… 
Ali: [laughs quietly] I think “DM me,” though is really funny.
Austin: Uh huh.
Ali (as Veile): Yes, okay. [Ali laughs]
Austin: And she does a little, like, goodbye, and it makes like a little goodbye chirp, like she’s logging off, you know?
Ali: Mm.
Austin: Bam bow. [Sylvia chuckles] And a little emoticon of someone waving shows up, like a holographic animation of someone waving shows up next to her, and then she turns off like an old TV set. Yeah, diamond message, Janine. Yeah. [Ali chuckles]
Sylvia: Caoimhe pushing up her glasses and being like,
(as Caoimhe): There's so many different types of magic in this world. [Austin and Jack chuckle]
Janine (as Brontë): What the hell was that?
Ali (as Veile): Uh…
Janine (as Brontë): What just happened? Who was that?
Ali (as Veile): Well, we've kind of gone into this, but… [Ali laughs] Me and Elena were fighting jellyfish or something on the beach that seems insignificant now, but we found these gems, and I discovered that the gem could speak to me, and that was the person inside.
Janine (as Brontë): Yeah, that was a whole person, though. I thought they were just talking gems. I thought they were just jewel— You know, sometimes stuff talks.
Ali (as Veile): Oh. No.
Janine (as Brontë): There's a person inside of it?
Ali (as Veile): Yeah. She seemed quite distressed, the first time we interacted.
Janine (as Brontë): Yeah! [Sylvia laughs]
Ali (as Veile): Yeah.
Sylvia: “There's a girl in those gems! We gotta get her out!” [Austin, Janine, and Ali laugh]
Janine: I think, in Brontë’s mind, I think the conclusion he’s starting to draw is that every gem could potentially have a person trapped inside of it. [Austin chuckles] 
Jack: Oh no.
Janine: And as a royal, it’s freaking him out a little bit. [Ali laughs]
Sylvia: Oh, yeah, that would freak me out too.
Austin: Yeah.
Janine: He’s a little stressed. Because I think he understands every gem probably doesn't have a person in it, because then he would have heard of this happening before. 
Austin: Yeah.
Janine: But every gem could have a person in it, and that’s scary, because sometimes… I don't know.
Keith: Some people have more access to gems than others.
Janine: Sometimes you put your crown on the night stand and you undress. Like, I don't know. [Austin scoffs] You behave in ways where you don't want someone being in that gem. [Ali chuckles] It’s concerning.
Austin: I see. I thought you were concerned that you had a—
Keith: What is Brontë doing around gems? [Janine laughs]
Austin: Sorry, I thought your concern was “we have a vault filled with people.” 
Keith: Yeah.
Austin: But your concern was “the people might see me naked.”
Janine: I mean, also that. Yes.
Austin: Okay, okay, okay. [Sylvia snorts]
Janine: You can be afraid of multiple things. It opens up a door of possibility where there's a bunch of repercussions that are concerning.
Sylvia: Yeah.
Janine: Including: we could have a vault full of people.
Austin: Right, okay.
Sylvia: Sorry to derail, but that’s really reminiscent of, like, how Jerma will constantly talk about how he has nightmares about being naked on stream. [Ali, Janine, and Austin laugh] Brontë’s just worried that the people in the diamonds are seeing him nude.
Ali (as Veile): Well, I suppose now you understand why I didn't want to trade it before.
Janine (as Brontë): No, I understood that part before as well.
Ali (as Veile): Oh.
Janine (as Brontë): I just didn't— The extent. I'm wrestling with the extent.
Ali (as Veile): It’s quite shocking, when you think about it. [sighs] I suppose the—
Janine (as Brontë): Did they do a crime or something? [Jack laughs quietly] 
Ali (as Veile): Oh. You just heard her.
Janine (as Brontë): Nice people do crimes.
Keith: Mm.
Ali (as Veile): Uh. It seems as though she didn't understand the fate of her world, and I regret not asking that masked man the circumstances of all of this and why this space is designed needing these people, or these objects at least. But I don't know that straight answers are their…you know. Who knows how much we can trust? But I mean, unless anybody has anyone else they want to put in the computer. [all laugh]
Analyzing: Dragon Scale [1:00:40]
Sylvia: I had two ideas for this, and now I'm, like, really torn, because yeah, talking to the gem would be cool, but I was going to put my dragon scale in there.
Austin: Ooh! What’s your dragon scale? You got it from the…
Janine: Mole. Dragon mole.
Sylvia: From the mole, yeah.
Austin: The fight, the dragon mole, yeah. Mm-hmm.
Janine: Yeah.
Austin: Yeah.
Sylvia: There's nothing in my sheet about it. I just know I have a dragon scale.
Austin: Yeah. It was worth money, and it is a thing—
Janine: Worth 1000 asta, in fact.
Austin: I think that’s right. And then also you can use it as a, it’s like a crafting material. We just have to figure out what that is.
Sylvia: Yes. I think that’s why I held onto it.
Austin: But it would do the asta check thing that we just did, right? In the sense of, if there's other dragon scales around, it would tell you.
Sylvia: Yeah, that’s kind of why I was…because those are usually attached to dragons. [Janine chuckles]
Austin: They are normally attached to dragons. It’s true.
Sylvia: Yeah. Yeah, fuck it. Let’s go. I'm going to pop this scale in.
Austin: All right. Give me 5 HP.
Sylvia: Okay.
Austin: But Veile, are you going to keep driving the computer, since you're the one who knows how to do it?
Ali: I can, like, assist if Caoimhe wants to do her own Study?
Austin: Roll. Okay, yeah. Give me a Study Check, Caoimhe.
Sylvia: Sure.
Austin: Let’s start with just yours, because it’s funny if you fuck it up and then Veile has to swoop in to be like, “No, no, no. You gotta—” backspace, backspace, backspace. [Ali laughs quietly] Well.
Sylvia: Well.
Austin: That’s 6.
Ali: Oh my god.
Janine: Hmm.
Sylvia: I'm doing a hunt and peck type. [Jack chuckles]
Ali (as Veile): Oh, um… I'm sorry, I've just used it twice before.
Sylvia (as Caoimhe): [cross] Please, be my guest.
Ali: [cross] Like, gently shoving Caoimhe’s hands away. [Ali and Austin laugh]
Sylvia: Oh my god.
Austin: Wow! [Janine laughs]
Sylvia: Brutal.
Austin: Is that what you're saying? You're actually like, “Can I just, really quick? Can I just…” Give me a Study Check, Veile.
Ali: Okay. I also have to…
Austin: You do. You have to get a 10 now, in order to give Caoimhe a 1, which would bring you from a 6 to a 7, which would be just enough to get anything out of this thing.
Sylvia: Yeah.
Ali: But this is still an Insight + Insight?
Austin: It is, yeah, [Ali: Okay.] because you're doing the same roll, because it’s a Group Check. Or you're helping, you're supporting.
Ali: And that’s an 11.
Sylvia: Hey!
Austin: That’s an 11. There you go.
Sylvia: You rolled a 1 and a 10.
Austin: That’s pretty funny. Yeah. You can help Caoimhe figure this out enough to get some result here. You get the first, you get the key of like, “This is a dragon scale,” you know? It is extremely hard. It can be used to increase the, like, Defense or Damage of…or enough of them can be used to increase the Defense or Damage of an object. And then it pings for them, it does the big radial ping like before, and you instantly can see that there is the big dragon, the big dragon owl out front to your south by quite a bit. And then it does ping another dragon, uh, I'd say to your immediate north, like all the way north, towards the very top of the map.
Sylvia: Okay. Good to know.
Austin: I will reveal it in a second.
Sylvia (as Caoimhe): Oh, we've got to be careful going up that way, then.
Analyzing: Game Piece [1:03:51]
Jack: This has given Elena an idea. While I could talk to Violet, my last encounter with Violet was psychically upsetting.
Ali: [quietly] God.
Jack: And I'm already in a kind of bad way. What I do have—just open this up in my journal—is White Dragon 1, an exceptionally rare piece of the game pieces scattered around Perpetua. [Ali gasps]
Austin: You do. Yeah.
Jack: I also have a bunch of small pieces that don't count as, like, full pieces, because my count is currently at seven. 
Austin: Oh, okay. Have we been picking them up along the way?
Jack: No, no. You said, I think when I got the White Dragon, [cross] you were like, “There are some small crappy ones that aren't really worth anything.”
Austin: [cross] Oh, I see. Right. Yeah. Yeah.
Jack: And then there is White Dragon 1.
Austin: Yeah.
Jack: Which I'm going to put into the thing.
Austin: Give me 5 HP, and give me a Study Check.
Jack (as Elena): Ow!
Jack: Okay. That’s the 5 HP, and let’s try this Study Check.
Austin: Okay, that’s an 11.
Jack: Okay.
Austin: All right. That’s a normal level of success for an open Check like this. It identifies it as a non-magical… Did we decide that they were magical, or are they only magical in…? They're valuable.
Jack: Well, they're an ancient game scattered across Perpetua.
Austin: They are, and I think what you—
Jack: Is that magical?
Austin: I think what it recognizes it as is, like, a unique spell component which only functions [Jack: Mm.] in proper configuration during certain states with other similar components. And then it says, “Such components can be found,” and it does the ping, and there's like 28 of these things in Gnova’s [Jack: Whoa!] observatory to the south floating around in that room.
Jack: [chuckles] Oh. Okay. Cool. Well.
Austin: They collect them.
Jack: Gnova collects them.
Austin: Oh yeah. Gnova collects a lot of things.
Jack: It may have come up briefly when we were hanging out with Gnova, but I think I was too mad.
Austin: I don't think it did. I don't think it came up.
Jack: Okay.
Austin: But if you had been like, “I want to look around. I want to find a game piece,” I would have been like, “Oh yeah, for sure.”
Jack: There's, like, 28. Well, I'm glad they're all in the same place.
Austin: Yeah, but there's, like, hundreds of things in there. You know what I mean?
Jack: Yeah. But I mean, Gnova can presumably pluck items out of his collection.
Austin: Their collection. Sure. They know where they are, yeah.
Jack: Yeah. Okay.
Austin: For sure.
Jack: Well, if we see them again.
Austin: Yep. Do a little piece trading. But there don't seem to be any other ones throughout these places.
Jack: Well, I'm holding onto that one for Onyx.
Austin: You are. That’s true. That’s true. That’s what you said, anyway.
Jack: Yeah. Or it’s what Onyx said. Onyx said, you know, “When we meet again, [Austin: Yeah.] I'll make a good deal,” and I think Elena is still going backwards and forwards on that, failing at one of the great trading card mantras, which is becoming paralyzed by the thought of who to give it to.
Austin: Right. You know, the thing saying, like, this is a spell component that triggers in certain configurations does make you think, “Oh, if I was in a certain, like, game state with these, would a magical effect happen?” you know?
Jack: Right, yes. I mean, the dream thought for someone like Elena is, well, if you get all the pieces, something magical will happen.
Austin: But that’s not what it says. Importantly, it does not say that.
Jack: No. It’s more like semiotics, orc semiotics.
Austin: It kind of is, yeah, yeah, from Hieron, right? It’s specifically that, like, oh, if you… Yeah, yeah. It’s that style of like, if you can get the knight in check, you know, then it does— or, we can't do that, because that’s not how chess works. If the knight can put the king in check, does that summon some sort of dark rider, you know, a horseman or something, you know? 
Jack: Right.
Austin: Except it’s a very complex game with hundreds of parts, so many different combinations could possibly exist.
Jack: Yeah. 
(as Elena): Hmm. Okay. Not quite the result I was hoping for, but I'll take it.
Jack: Takes it out from the slot. Puts it back in my bag.
Austin: I think, you know, the machine… Yeah, the machine can keep working, because it can keep eating. I was like, “Maybe it powers down, so we can end this scene smoothly,” but I was like, no, because the thing that powers it is your own lifeblood, so I can't… [laughs] 
Janine: Brontë’s not going to put anything in there. I'll save you the trouble.
Austin: That’s what I figured. Yeah.
Janine: Brontë, yeah. He’s never met the jewel person before in his jewel, and I don't think he…
Austin: Yeah.
Janine: Like, etiquette-wise, royal-etiquette-wise, this isn't the place for the introduction. 
Austin: Right. Right.
Janine: Like, this isn't how you do— [Sylvia laughs] You know, he wants to talk to the gem so badly.
Austin: Yeah. [Jack chuckles]
Janine: But like, to him, this is not the way to do it.
Austin: Yeah.
Janine: This is like showing up uninvited to someone’s house and you don't even know them, and like…
Austin: Yeah.
Janine: You need to send a card first. You gotta do something.
West [1:08:36]
Next Room
Austin: Antistrophe, Nicky, and Jonathan. When we last left you, you had left behind the Gallery of Agonies, but don't worry, you brought the Agonies with you. [laughs] 
Keith: Mm-hmm.
Austin: And you were heading towards a big door.
Keith: Now everywhere we go is “Of Agonies.”
Austin: That’s right. You're about to go into the—
Keith: Hallway of Agonies.
Austin: Yeah, you're in the hallway, you're in the Stairwell of Agonies.
Art: Our close personal friends, the Agonies.
Austin: Yeah. And I think I mentioned that there was warmth on the other side of this door.
Jack: Are the Agonies with them in person, or did they sort of, like, blend into transparency or something?
Austin: They are…depends on which one, right? Because, like, there's the one that’s invisible.
Jack: The piano player.
Austin: The piano player. Yeah, the piano player troll friend. No, I think that they are generally there, but, you know, it’s a real, like, when no one’s looking, they become the thing they were.
Jack: Oh, yeah.
Austin: So Wan, who is the painting of a sick child is just always hanging on the wall, you know? [Jack chuckles] Every time, you know, you do the shot reverse shot or you cut, Wan is just in the next shot, like, further down the hall, you know? 
Jack: I like the Agonies.
Austin: The Agonies are great. I'm a big fan. Which also means there's a strange, like, ballerina mannequin just above you constantly on this stairwell.
Jack: This is what it feels like to play Repo.
Austin: Yeah. [Dre laughs] So yeah, you're at this door. Who’s heading in?
Keith: I'm heading in.
Art: Yeah, yeah.
Austin: You're heading in. Give me a Travel roll as you head into this room. This is a d8. Not too bad. Well, that’s an 8.
Keith: Great. Yep, that’s an 8.
Austin: As you open the door, there is smoke that billows up and into your lungs. It blows the door backwards. It’s so funny you said the thing you said before. I need you to take 30 poison damage and Poisoned.
Dre: Jeez.
Keith: I cannot do that.
Austin: Why not?
Sylvia: Holy shit.
Keith: I have a cape that prevents me from being poisoned.
Austin: There you go. Well, no, you can still take the 30 poison damage. You just can't get Poisoned.
Keith: Okay. Oh, right.
Austin: Yeah. Damage is— Unless you have immunity to poison, which I don't think you do.
Keith: Yeah, it’s immunity to— Well, hold on. Uh, I'll read exactly what it says, you so that I don't get it wrong.
Austin: Yeah.
Keith: Where is it? Runic… The Palm Leaf Cape. Where is that?
Austin: Oh, it’s here.
Sylvia: Is it under…?
Austin: I got it. I hit the button. 
Keith: You are immune to Poisoned.
Austin: You are immune to Poisoned, not to poison damage. Yeah.
Keith: Right.
Sylvia: Ohh.
Keith: Right. Okay.
Austin: Yeah. So you still, you know, it doesn't feel good to suddenly breathe in this huge— And it’s not regular smoke. You know this immediately. Your studies. You know what different smokes smell like, you know?
Keith: I think this is the most damage I've ever taken. 26, because I lose 4 damage because of one of my skills.
Austin: Sure. And yeah, it blows you backwards. There seems to be some sort of fire coming from this room, question mark? And it’s super smoky. It’s hard to tell what’s going on in here. What do you do?
Keith: Ah, that’s a great question.
Dre: Hmm. None of these Agonies have— I'm trying to remember everybody, but none of them have, like, a cool water power or something, right?
Austin: One of them might be… No, I think one of them might be icy. One of them might be iced out.
Dre: Okay.
Keith: Let me look at…
Austin: I'm double checking. Yeah, Wan is iced out. Yeah, but not water.
Dre: Yeah, okay.
Keith: Ice will soon be water.
Austin: It’s true.
Keith: When on a fire.
Austin: That’s true.
Keith: Sorry, did you say that there is visible fire?
Austin: There is also visible fire, but it’s like, it doesn't… It’s spreading into the kitchen that’s in front of you. It doesn't seem to be from the kitchen itself. It seems to be coming from this little—
Keith: The only thing that’s coming to my mind is something really stupid.
Austin: Uh huh?
Keith: Which is using my big shields as a fan, like waving them to blow the smoke back to try to get a better look in there.
Austin: Uh, there's nowhere for it to leave. Like, part of the reason that it all rushed up this way is because it seemed to be stuck in there.
Keith: Okay.
Austin: It seemed like it was not able to leave whatever the proper place it should be leaving.
Keith: Okay. I don't know. I mean, I really feel like we've hit a dead end, but I know that we haven't.
Dre: Mm-hmm.
Austin: It seems like— I'll just repeat what I said. It seems like wherever the smoke is normally supposed to go isn't working right.
Keith: Yeah. Well, maybe we'll— Maybe I'll just go in there and open the other door or a window or something.
Dre: Turn the hood on.
Austin: Yeah, there's— You can head in there at this point. You know, this is probably some sort of Might + Willpower roll or something to, like, endure the smoke and move properly and push through.
Keith: Yeah.
Austin: Opening up the other door— There's a northern door. This southwestern thing is more like a, this brown thing is not a hard door. It’s like a push door. Not a push door, jesus.
Dre: A saloon door?
Austin: It’s like a saloon door into a pantry is what it looks like.
Keith: Okay.
Austin: Yeah. And in fact, that seems to be where some of the fire is coming from.
Keith: And, sorry, that’s the one to the—?
Austin: Southwest.
Keith: Okay.
Austin: Where the other side had noticed money magic happening.
Dre: Mm!
Keith: Yeah, the place called Money Magic.
Austin: Yeah. Well, it was a marker saying Money Magic. What it actually is is the Black Iron Kitchen Pantry.
Keith: Okay. Yeah, I'm happy to roll a sort of, you know, Might resist roll.
Austin: Yeah, what are you trying to do specifically?
Keith: I want to just kind of, like I've got the sense of what this stuff feels like, because it blasted me in the face.
Austin: Yep.
Keith: And so I'm just going to, like… It can't surprise me anymore. I know what I'm getting myself into. You know, walk through it, kind of bracing myself.
Austin: Yeah. Yeah, you can do that even without a roll, if you're careful.
Keith: Okay.
Austin: You know, you're looking around in here. It’s very smoky. You have to be very careful.
Keith: Mm-hmm.
Austin: But like, yeah, you know. There is fire spreading slowly. It clearly came from that other room and then is spreading through this kitchen and isn't, you know, it isn't clearing, except for up into the space that you just opened up, but that’s not enough space for it to, like— You know, it’s still burning, so.
Keith: Right.
Art: A kitchen should have a fire extinguisher. Let’s just find the fire extinguisher.
Keith: That’s a great point.
Austin: This seems to be a kitchen from—
Art: Even, like, pre fire extinguishers the way we think about them. It should have something.
Austin: Right. Yeah. What are you looking for? What’s the thing that you—? Yeah, give me a Study Check, like an Insight + Insight, looking for some sort of anti-fire device. [Keith laughs]
Art: That’s a critical fumble.
Austin: A critical fumble. [Jack chuckles]
Dre: Ruh roh.
Keith: We've made two rolls, and they've both been the worst possible roll to make.
Austin: That’s true. Yeah. They really…
Jack: You find more fire.
Sylvia: I'm feeling a lot better about our luck on the other side now.
Austin: They really are not good here, huh? Wow. Okay. Well, you're going to take Poisoned immediately and I think also take a big— You don't take as big of a burst, because you didn't just, like, open the door into it, you know what I mean?
Keith: Right. It didn't, like, explode at you.
Austin: Yeah, exactly. But I am going to roll 2d10. Take 10 poison damage and Poisoned, as you kind of try to dig around for some sort of anti-fire, you know, some sort of appropriate fire extinguisher for this kitchen, which seems to be from Ichoria, that place that you fought the blood monsters. Remember the blood monsters? The starving ones?
Keith: Yeah.
Austin: It seems like a kitchen from that place. That’s the vibe of it here. You do not find any sort of fire extinguisher here. If there is one or was one, it has been hidden. It has been moved. It has been destroyed. Who knows? I just don't think they have one. Yeah. But the critical fumble, that’s what you're getting. Jonathan, what are you doing here?
Dre: Hoo, that’s a good question. Um…
Austin: Again, this is a big sort of medieval kitchen with an emphasis on, you know, sort of cast iron cookery, and there's a big stove. There is these saloon doors into the pantry where the fire seems to be coming from. There are, you know, bags of grain. There are, you know, there's some vegetables up on a big butcher block that have, you know, that are maybe not burning but the block is burning.
Dre: Oh. I guess I am going to go back into this area here, if that’s where the fire looks like it’s originating from.
Austin: That is where it’s coming from. What are you trying to—? Yeah. You know, if you push through those pantry doors, you can see the fire is coming from a big pile of money [Dre: Hmm.] that is in the middle of a sort of spell circle on the ground, and it seems like something went wrong, and the money is, like, emitting constant magical fire, in a way that’s like, it’s as if someone cast, like, “make me an eternal terrible poison fire.” And next to it is a guy who I think looks kind of like… [sighs] He’s in military uniform, but the military uniform has undoubtedly some kind of religious iconography in it. It’s like the people you saw out the window before, from the military church that you saw out the window before. It’s one of those people, and he’s knocked the fuck out! He was also not ready to breath in all this smoke.
Dre: Mm-hmm.
Keith: Sounds like he tried to do some money magic.
Dre: Yeah.
Keith: Got himself poisoned.
Austin: Yeah.
Dre: Did you say there's a spell circle?
Austin: Yeah, there sure is.
Dre: I'm going to try to break the spell circle.
Austin: Do you know how to do that?
Dre: I mean, I literally just mean trying to, like, scuff it up or like…
Keith: De-circle it?
Austin: De-circle it. Yeah, totally.
Dre: Yeah.
Austin: I still think there's probably some— I think this is probably, like, an Insight + Willpower, right?
Dre: Oh, sure. 
Austin: I think difficulty 13 to do this. Let’s actually say it’s difficulty 10 to do it at all and a difficulty 13 to not take fire damage doing it.
Dre: Okay.
Keith: I'm here with Jonathan. Can I assist?
Austin: Totally.
Keith: I can't remember if that’s…
Austin: It’d be Insight + Willpower again.
Keith: Okay.
Austin: Same roll as the main one.
Keith: So I would go and then see if I help.
Austin: You got it.
Keith: And then Jonathan. Okay, yeah.
Austin: We're kind of letting it go either way generally, as long as everybody is available, you know, this season.
Keith: Yeah. And I don't have anything with Jonathan. That’s okay.
Austin: Oof.
Keith: So close.
Art: And if I'm not still too busy being hurt and poisoned, I will, of course, also help.
Austin: I think you, coughing, coming back in works just fine here. Hey, there's a help. So that’s +1 from Nicky, but also how many Bonds do you have with Jonathan?
Art: I have two.
Austin: So that’s a +3, which, hey Jonathan, is enough to make that 7 a 10.
Dre: Mm-hmm.
Austin: Do you want to Fabula it and try to get it to a 13, or are you happy with the 10?
Dre: Ohhh…yeah, let’s Fabula it.
Austin: All right.
Keith: That 2 is ripe for the rerolling.
Dre: Yeah, it sure is.
Austin: It is ripe for the rerolling. You rolled a 2 on a d10, so.
Dre: Okay, so that is rerolling my Insight.
Austin: Mm-hmm.
Dre: Well.
Austin: Well, that’s a 3. 
Dre: That’s a 3. 
Austin: [laughs quietly] That’s worse, unfortunately!
Dre: Well, no, it was a 2.
Austin: Oh, it was a 2. Right, I'm sorry. I thought it was a 5.
Keith: Yeah, it’s 1 better.
Austin: Okay, it’s 1 better. Okay. That’s not so bad.
Dre: Yeah, so it goes up to 11.
Austin: That’s not so bad. And that was your only Fabula Point, unfortunately, right?
Dre: Yep. Mm-hmm.
Austin: Okay. Well, let’s just give you a quick [typing] 5 fire damage, Jonathan.
Dre: Okay.
Austin: As you wipe away part of this sigil that has been, you know, chalked into the ground, it sparks up at you and burns your hand as you break the circle. But as you do, the fire stops. The smoke still has nowhere to go, so you all have to be very low just to, like, not be constantly breathing it in. You have to figure out how to get the smoke out of here. There are no windows in this place, as far as you can tell.
Keith: But there's that other door.
Austin: There is the other door. Yeah.
Keith: That would at least, you know, get two doors open.
Austin: Totally. Do you go back over and open that other door?
Keith: Yeah.
Austin: All right. And you can see immediately that there's another doorway north of here and then a hallway to the west, and the smoke does start to filter out. Between the two doorways being opened, it does begin to filter, but it’s still just, it’s not pleasurable to be in here.
Dre: Mm-hmm.
Austin: You're breathing in smoke, you know?
Keith: Yeah.
Austin: It’s AQI low in here. But you're not going to take immediate damage.
Keith: Mm-hmm.
Austin: If you tried to live in here, you would, but. [Dre laughs] You know.
Keith: Good. That was low on my list of what to do in that room, so.
Austin: You don't want to move in? That’s not the end of this campaign for you, [Dre: Mm.] is just Antistrophe decides to stay in this smoky kitchen?
Keith: No. Yeah, I was interested in this whole end of the world thing. I was interested in what’s happening to the magic.
Austin: Yeah.
Keith: But this place seems to survive no matter what, so I'm just moving in.
Austin: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Gotcha.
Dre: Fair.
Austin: Great. Well, you're in this kitchen now, and there is, again, a soldier priest guy who’s been knocked out next to the bad money circle, the fire money circle, and otherwise it seems to just be kind of a kitchen. I guess, actually, it’s a kitchen. Do you want to do an ingredient check, Nicky? [Jack chuckles]
Art: [reluctantly] Yeah. Yeah.
Austin: No, just, like, get some, you know?
Art: Oh, just get some, okay.
Austin: Yeah.
Art: Not the one where we fight crabs for 40 minutes?
Austin: Your regular travel roll. Yeah, no. Your regular travel one.
Art: Yeah, let me find that.
Austin: Certainly something has survived, you know? Normally you might get a lot of them, but here, you gotta, like, pick through some stuff.
Art: All right, so I get four ingredients.
Austin: Love that.
Art: Let me…
Keith: Did we all check the moves that we got from our new friends the Agonies for, like, wind thing to blow smoke out of here? Just to make sure. Because I double checked mine, but I didn't have anything, but I don't remember what all the rest of them were.
Art: No, I have the ice one and the fear one.
Keith: Okay.
Art: And of course I have to look up these…
Keith: Dre, what were yours?
Dre: My what?
Keith: Your Agonies’ power.
Dre: It is, let’s see. Connie: she slams into a foe and electrifies them. They suffer high roll + 25 bolt damage. Damage is doubled against a target who is dazed. 
Keith: Oh, you didn't get two?
Dre: I think I just got Connie.
Keith: I thought we all got two.
Dre: Oh.
Austin: No, someone has Melo. Somebody. Who has Melo? 
Keith: What’s Melo’s?
Austin: The little elephant. Trumpet Toss.
Keith: No. Sorry, oh, I have Melo, yeah.
Austin: Well, that’s the air one.
Keith: It is? Oh. See, I read this, and I was like, “Ah, it’s not right,” because he releases a blast of air from his trunk, sending me flying across the battlefield.
Austin: Yeah. Yeah.
Keith: And I was like, “I don't need to be flying across the battlefield right now.” Totally didn't even occur to me. It was the first thing I did was check, like, “Oh yeah, I have that trumpet guy. Doesn't he do something?” and I read it, and it didn't…
Austin: Didn't even click that he—
Keith: Didn't even read as an air power to me at all.
Austin: Right, yeah, yeah. He’s the one who has an air.
Keith: It read as an anti-air power, because I can attack ranged foes with it.
Austin: Right. I see.
Keith: I'm going to use Trumpet Toss, please.
Austin: Sure. Where are you trying to push—?
Art: While we're, just before we get too far, what kind of food’s in here? What’s the flavor of these ingredients I'm taking?
Austin: Great question. So, this place is like, genre-wise, is like dark fantasy gothic. Like Sangfielle except make it more, like, dirtier? Like dirtier. Like what if your group of characters in Sangfielle were like, [laughs quietly] “No, this is too gross for me here. I don't want to be here actually.”
Jack: Wow.
Austin: Yeah.
Art: All right.
Jack: And we were in that town covered in wax.
Austin: You were in that town covered in wax. Right. That’s exactly it, though, Jack. That was a town covered in wax. That wasn't a town covered in flesh. That wasn't a town covered in blood. That wasn't a town covered in piss, you know?
Sylvia: Jesus.
Keith: Let’s go to piss town.
Jack: And if you would like a town covered in piss, check out Crypt Worlds! The legendary Crypt Worlds. [Dre laughs]
Sylvia: Yo, true.
Austin: You know, this is a—
Art: Well, I'm not taking flesh or piss, but I'll figure something out. [laughs quietly] 
Austin: You'll figure something out. You know, this is a charred world. This is a world— and like, not charbroiled. This is a—
Keith: Like the vegetable?
Austin: [chuckles] Like the fish, you know? [Jack laughs]
Keith: Swiss chard?
Austin: Yeah. This is a world where everything has burnt badly, including the blood. Sangfielle, the blood was still flowing, you know?
Art: Sure.
Jack: You might say that was the problem.
Austin: In some ways, that was the problem.
Dre: Mm.
Austin: In some ways, there wasn't enough blood flowing. Anyway. Yeah, you want to Trumpet Blast. Where are you Trumpet Blasting the air to?
Keith: You know, I was maybe thinking I could ask Melo, like, 
Keith (as Antistrophe): Hey, the best place to put this is back in your, like, gallery, but I don't want to put this there if you think that that’s bad.
Austin (as Melo): We live there.
Keith (as Antistrophe): Yeah, but it might be all dissipated by the time we get back to it.
Austin (as Melo): Isn't there, like, a chimney or something?
Keith: I look for a chimney.
Austin: There's, like, a flow or a pipe attached to the stove and a big, you know, thing.
Keith: Okay. Is it like blocked or anything?
Austin: It is, in fact, blocked.
Keith: Can I unblock it?
Austin: Yeah. Yeah. Give me a Might check, Might + Might, difficulty 7. It’s doable, but you know, something has purposefully blocked this.
Keith: That’s a 14.
Austin: Take 600 asta. Someone blocked this with a bunch of money.
Dre: Ooh!
Keith: Nice.
Jack: 600 asta?
Austin: Yeah. A huge bag of money.
Keith (as Antistrophe): Whoa! 
Keith: Well, there's three of us, and I learned about sharing from the other team, [laughter] so I'm going to offer 200 to everybody.
Dre: Sure. 
Austin (as Melo): So like, do we get a cut?
Austin: Asks Melo.
(as Melo): I'm kind of the one who—
Keith (as Antistrophe): Do you need money?
Austin (as Melo): Do you need money?
Keith (as Antistrophe): Yes.
Dre (as Jonathan): Yeah.
Austin (as Melo): You do? For what?
Art (as Nicky): Yeah.
Dre (as Jonathan): Yeah. You gotta spend money to make money.
Keith (as Antistrophe): He’s gotta buy a gem back from a pawn shop.
Austin (as Melo): Why’d you sell it to the pawn shop? [Jack laughs quietly]
Art (as Nicky): To buy a knife. [Keith and Jack laugh]
Sylvia: Hell yeah, man.
Austin (as Melo): Yeah, okay, that makes sense. Was it a cool knife?
Art (as Nicky): Yeah, check it out. Oh, I'm sorry, it’s the giant fork. 
Austin (as Melo): Okay. [laughs] I thought he was the one who smoked my stuff. Yeah, it’s a cool fork, man.
Art: Look, I was trying to figure out if the number on my sheet was a 3 or a 5, and I couldn't tab over to… [Austin laughs]
Austin (as Melo): Uh, my man, that’s a fork.
Art (as Nicky): What? [Jack chuckles]
Austin (as Melo): You said it was a knife.
Art (as Nicky): Oh no!
Austin (as Melo): Yeah. I think you got robbed.
Art (as Nicky): Ahh.
Austin (as Melo): Yeah.
Art (as Nicky): Oh, sorry, I misspoke. I used to have a big knife.
Austin (as Melo): [baffled] Cool. That’s cool.
Art (as Nicky): And I got this thing, the Flaming Skewer.
Austin (as Melo): You guys are a riot.
Art (as Nicky): Should probably be careful with that in here.
Austin (as Melo): Yeah. Anyway, I guess I don't need the money, but I thought it would be cool to ask, you know?
Keith (as Antistrophe): It was really cool to ask, yeah. Do you want, like, 10 asta?
Austin (as Melo): Yeah, just, let me hold 10 asta.
Keith (as Antistrophe): Yeah, here. [Dre laughs quietly] You can keep that.
Austin (as Melo): Yeah.
Austin: Like, grabs it with the trunk and slides it onto the— I described him as being, like, floating on a little…?
Keith: Yeah, on a little cloud of smoke?
Austin: A little cloud of smoke, yeah. He slips it into the cloud.
Keith: Nice.
Austin: As if it’s like a, you know, a gaseous pocket and just leaves it in there. He’s like, 
(as Melo): All right.
Austin: And climbs back on and falls back asleep.
Jack: God, I want to know what that little elephant has got in his pockets. [Keith and Austin laugh quietly] 
Austin: All sorts of stuff.
Dre: Yeah, for real.
Soldier [1:29:57]
Austin: You guys do anything else in this place?
Dre: Oh. Should we wake up this guy?
Keith: Did we officially blow—? Yeah, can we—?
Austin: Oh, once you cleared it, it does begin to, you know, the smoke does begin to clear.
Keith: Okay. Great. We don't actually need the trumpet. 
Austin: You don't need the trumpet. 
Keith: Okay.
Austin: It’s going to take a minute. You know, the trumpet would do it quick.
Keith: Sure. But it’s already not hurting us, so.
Austin: Yeah, yeah.
Keith: Yeah, I guess we should maybe— Can we ask about this guy to the Agonies?
Austin: Yeah, who do you ask?
Keith: I don't know. Who seemed like the smartest one?
Austin: Oh, that’s such a tough question.
Dre: Hmm.
Keith: The scary one that I think Dre has, maybe.
Austin: Miss Mephitic?
Keith: Yeah, Miss Mephitic seemed smart.
Austin: The weird plant creature who lives inside of the ballerina?
Keith: Yeah.
Dre: Mm.
Austin: The big ballerina mannequin thing that’s, like, standing just right at the doorway, blocking the doorway out.
Keith: Yeah.
Austin: Do you ask her?
Keith: Yeah. [Dre laughs]
Austin: What do you say? 
Keith (as Antistrophe): Hey, are these like those guys that we're trying to help you get rid of?
Austin: Takes a beat, and then roots and vines begin to slowly emerge from the ballerina’s mannequin skin again. Does the whole long, you know, transformation. Wraps up the body until it’s this kind of knot of plant life.
Keith: It’s way faster to talk to Melo.
Austin: It’s way— Well, which is funny, right? But yeah. Finally, remember she has these, like, flower heads of petals and fangs?
Keith: Mm.
Austin: Those start to move as if they're mouths, basically, and she says,
(as Miss Mephitic): [sighs] They're from the Oracle of Creed. Or the Creed of Oracles.
Austin: I forgot that. Austin forgot that. She didn't.
Keith: More like the greed of oracles.
Austin (as Miss Mephitic): Yeah, the Creed of Oracles. They're the people who’ve moved through this place, displacing us. We're not big fans.
Keith (as Antistrophe): Should we just leave this guy here, or should we…? I mean, should we talk to him?
Keith: I'm sort of asking everybody at this point.
Dre: Mm.
Keith (as Antistrophe): Do we need to, like, find out what he knows?
Austin (as Miss Mephitic): Men like that think they know a lot.
Dre (as Jonathan): Welp, then it sounds like we should talk to him, see what he knows. Let’s, uh…
Austin (as Miss Mephitic): I didn't say he knows a lot.
Dre (as Jonathan): Well. Okay.
Austin (as Miss Mephitic): I just want your expectations in order.
Keith (as Antistrophe): Okay.
Dre (as Jonathan): I'm expecting him to know something that we don't.
Austin (as Miss Mephitic): Well, fair enough. Would you like me to wake him up?
Keith: Sort of tap him with my boot.
Keith (as Antistrophe): Oh, if you can do that, yeah, sure.
Austin: She, like, caterpillar crawls her, you know, root body over there and then extends out one of the flowers, like the flower thorn fangs, and seems to, like, pull the poison out of his body. And then kind of crawls over to the corner, and when she’s in the shadows, she like lifts herself up and thumps herself against the wall. Imagine someone in, like, a body bag falling over. It’s like the opposite. It’s like seeing that in reverse, kind of lifting herself back up.
Art: A guy in a body bag standing up.
Austin: Yeah, a body bag standing up, pushing itself up and then, like, flopping into the corner. Yeah. And in that shadow, you kind of still see the ballerina shape. But this guy on the ground coughs a bunch and starts to come to, seeing you all looking down at him.
(as soldier): [coughs] Who the hell are you?
Keith (as Antistrophe): Uh, we're just passing through the castle, and we wanted to know what is going on. Why were you in here with poison dollars?
Austin (as soldier): [groans weakly] Poison dollars, I don't… Ough. Oh, my head! Ugh.
Dre (as Jonathan): Yeah, that’s on account of the poison dollars.
Keith (as Antistrophe): Mm-hmm.
Austin (as soldier): I must have gotten the spell wrong. I told them I'm not a pyroclastic. I don't know how to do this. I'm just a chef.
Keith (as Antistrophe): What were you trying to do?
Austin (as soldier): [sighs] Who are you? Wait, who are you?
Keith (as Antistrophe): There's no way for me to answer that in a way that would satisfy.
Austin: I think he gets up, a little afraid, and begins to, like, back to the far corner of this pantry.
(as soldier): Stay away from me. I don't want any trouble.
Keith (as Antistrophe): I'm a teacher.
Austin (as soldier): You're a teacher?
Keith (as Antistrophe): Yeah.
Austin (as soldier): What type of teacher?
Keith (as Antistrophe): Magic school.
Austin (as soldier): Magic. Magic. Are you with the Creed, or are you with the Windborne Church?
Keith (as Antistrophe): Neither.
Austin (as soldier): Then who—? I don't understand. Are you from a different part of the castle?
Art (as Nicky): He did say that would happen.
Keith (as Antistrophe): Yeah, I mean, I tried to tell you that it wasn't going to help to know who I was. It’s not going to help to know who I am.
Austin (as soldier): Who are the other—? Who are you two? Why are you a turtle?
Dre (as Jonathan): That’s rude as hell. Why are you so rude?
Austin (as soldier): I've never seen nobody like you before.
Dre (as Jonathan): Well, I never seen someone who was a dumbass enough to light a fire and then fall asleep next to it. [Sylvia laughs]
Austin (as soldier): People sleep next to fire all the time.
Art (as Nicky): [quietly] Yeah, that’s not as strong as you think it is. It’s pretty…
Dre (as Jonathan): Not poison ones, but fair point.
Keith (as Antistrophe): And not in a locked room.
Austin (as soldier): I didn't… All right, fair enough. I'm a dumbass. Will you let me go, or are you keeping me captive? What are you?
Keith (as Antistrophe): We're not keeping you captive. We just want to know what you were doing with the money.
Austin (as soldier): I don't have to answer that.
Keith (as Antistrophe): Then we're keeping you captive.
Austin (as soldier): All right, well then, I declare my right to flare.
Keith (as Antistrophe): I don't know what that means.
Austin (as soldier): [frustrated] Oh my… Am I or am I not an official captive?
Keith (as Antistrophe): No, you're an unofficial captive.
Austin (as soldier): So you're breaking the treaty.
Keith (as Antistrophe): Ugh. You're not a captive! Just tell us about the money.
Austin (as soldier): No.
Art (as Nicky): Why was it poisoned?
Austin (as soldier): No. I'm not going to talk to you.
Art (as Nicky): Did you poison it? Oh my god.
Keith (as Antistrophe): [sighs] This guy’s so annoying.
Dre (as Jonathan): [sighs] 
Art (as Nicky): Let’s show him some Agonies. 
Dre: What’d you say?
Keith: Show what?
Art: Show him some Agonies. [Jack laughs]
Keith: Oh. I thought you said— You cut off a little at the end, so I thought you said, “Let’s show him some egg.” [laughter] 
Austin: Yeah.
Art: [faux threatening] I'm going back in that kitchen.
Austin: [faux threatening] Let’s egg this guy.
Keith: [faux threatening] All right, buddy, look at this!
Austin: Yeah, look at this!
Dre: [faux threatening] You like ‘em scrambled? [Keith laughs]
Austin: Showing the chef the egg.
(as soldier): Yeah, I know how eggs.
Keith: Get a look at what happened to the last guy who crossed us.
Art: He’s eggs now!
Keith: [laughing] He’s eggs now!
Austin (as soldier): If I'm officially captive, then take me to some open air and let me use my flare. If I'm not—
Art (as Nicky): There's no open air.
Austin (as soldier): Sure there is.
Art (as Nicky): No, we're inside.
Austin (as soldier): Take me to some open air.
Keith (as Antistrophe): Also, we're not part of whatever group you think we're part of. We don't know what you're talking about.
Austin (as soldier): Okay, well then, leave.
Art (as Nicky): No, something weird happened here, and I want to know about it.
Austin (as soldier): Too fucking bad!
Art (as Nicky): [aside] Can we hit this guy?
Keith (as Antistrophe): I really would like to, but I think it would be mean.
Art (as Nicky): He’s being mean.
Austin (as soldier): I'm not being mean. I'm here in an official capacity. You're in my kitchen.
Keith (as Antistrophe): We saved your life.
Dre (as Jonathan): Wait, you own this place?
Keith (as Antistrophe): Where’s some gratitude?
Austin (as soldier): I'm lucky to be alive. Thank you.
Art (as Nicky): All right. And, you know, if you want to walk us to some open air, I'd love to see it.
Austin (as soldier): [suspiciously] Yeah, sure, I'll walk you somewhere. Come with me.
Austin: And pushes past you.
Dre (as Jonathan): Hmm. That sounds vaguely threatening.
Art (as Nicky): Wait, wait. I said one thing, and then you said something different.
Austin (as soldier): I'll take you to some open air.
Austin: And tries to walk past you back into the main part of the kitchen.
Keith: Okay. That’s fine.
Austin: And then starts heading north, towards the north door.
Keith: This is where we were going anyway, so whatever.
Art: Yeah, we were going this way anyway. All right.
Dre: This seems bad. This seems like a bad idea, letting a potential enemy soldier just walk away.
Keith: He said he was a cook, so I'm not that scared.
Dre: Mm-hmm.
Keith: Uh, no offense. Present company excluded.
Austin: Uh huh. [someone snorts]
Keith: While I'm thinking about it, I would like to give my fig to Nicky.
Art: Your what?
Keith: I have a fig.
Art: Oh.
Dre: Mm.
Sylvia: Can you say that?
Keith: It cures poison.
Austin: Yeah.
Art: Oh, great! I'm Poisoned!
Keith: Yeah, you're Poisoned. I have a poison-curing fig.
Art: I just eat it?
Keith: You just eat it, yep.
Art: All right, I eat the fig.
Keith: I'm also going to take 2 IP to take a tonic to recover my Slow from last…
Austin: Mm-hmm.
Keith: Actually, since I can't have my die reduced below 6, would it be—? It would make more sense to, instead of curing Slow with a tonic, to drink a health potion, right?
Austin: You're looking at me?
Keith: Yeah, I'm just making sure that that makes sense. It’s true that if my die is already 6, it can't go lower.
Austin: Yeah, I don't think you can go down to a d4 in this game.
Keith: Okay.
Dre: Mm.
Keith: So I'll leave that for now, and instead I'll consume a third IP to heal for 50.
Austin: So wait, you've done tonic? 
Keith: I didn't do— 
Austin: Oh, I see, you're not doing tonic. 
Keith: Yeah, I—
Austin: You're just doing a remedy. Got you, got you, got you. Yeah.
Keith: Right, yes. Yeah. Keeping Slowed but healing back to full health, 74.
Austin: That makes sense. All right. He leads you up to this northern door. He puts a key into the door, opens it, and leads you in.
Keith: All right.
Austin: It’s a big round room filled with soldiers. You are in the Creed of Oracles Barracks. And one of them goes,
(as other soldier): Fares, where the fuck have you been— 
Austin: And then sees you, and you hear the sound of, you know, eight soldiers drawing their weapons and pointing them at you.
Keith (as Antistrophe): Uh…
Art: Should have hit this guy.
Dre: Mm-hmm.
Keith (as Antistrophe): Hey, whoa! Hold on. We're cool.
Art (as Nicky): Yeah, we just saved your man here.
Keith (as Antistrophe): Yeah. He was gonna die.
[“The Castle Eschatonica” by Jack de Quidt plays]