The Glass Cannon Podcast - Gatewalkers Episode 20 – Close Encounters of the Bird Kind

Episode Date: February 2, 2024

A strange omen leads to a break in the case. Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/apxPB94i3rY This episode was sponsored by Demiplane, Foundry VTT and Norse Foundry. Check out Demiplane's Pathfinder Nexus and character creation tools at https://bit.ly/GCNOfficialTools See why tabletop gamers everywhere have made the switch to Foundry Virtual Tabletop at https://foundryvtt.com/gcp Visit https://nordvpn.com/gcp to get 4 extra months on the 2-year plan with a 30-day money-back guarantee. For more podcasts and livestreams, visit glasscannonnetwork.com and for hundreds of hours of exclusive shows and benefits, make your membership official and join Glass Cannon Nation today by becoming a subscriber at jointhenaish.com. Watch new episodes when they premiere every Thursday at 8PM ET on youtube.com/theglasscannon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You are listening to the Glass Cannon Network, the premier source for role-playing game entertainment. Last week on the Glass Cannon Podcast. It's not often that city folk venture all the way over to Thin Lance Farms, especially lately where it's gotten so dangerous out there. As you say, there is a threat. We have been tasked by the Oak Stewards of Seven Arches to handle that threat. We've had a couple people as of late, past month or so, went off, never came back. One of them was a married woman. What was her name?

Maybelline. What's the husband's name? Gerald. Might we speak to your children? Asta sits on the ground to get, like, to their level, and she says, I like your drawing. It's one of Mommy's birds. Did your mommy draw birds, too?

Yeah, she'd draw birds. And sometimes they just weren't right. They weren't right. They weren't... She looks at Jim and he goes, Worthy. Okay, interesting. So you go back to the inn, Buggles. You see something in the middle of the room.

A dead bird. And its wings have been, like, elaborately and purposefully broken. Artistic, maybe? It's horrifying. He's going to start drawing exactly the bird as it lays before anybody touches it. You're looking at this, and you realize that this bird is a map. It's also a clock pointing to a very specific time. The adventure

continues now. Thank you. Hello everyone and welcome back to the Glass Cannon Podcast. I don't know if I've said this publicly, but if you've listened over the years, you could probably do the math as to what our ages are. I'm 45 years old. I was born in 1978. September 4th, 1978. Feel free to say happy birthday on social media once in a while.

But anyways, I'm 45. I like to think I'm hip. I've got three kids now. I'll learn to be hipper as they get older. Remember how hip you thought 45-year-olds when you were in your 20s? That's how hip you are. Well, you know what's weird?

It's like when you sidetrack. You're exactly. You're exactly that hip. Do you ever see like the cast of Cheers and they're like, these people were all in their early 30s.

Oh, yeah. George Wendt. George Wendt. He was like 33. Things have changed. Oh, God. I'm going to start a list of adjectives

you've used to describe yourself. Hip is going to be one of them. The other is technologically savage. I know. to start a list of adjectives you've used to describe yourself. Hip is going to be one of them. The other is technologically savage. I know I have a different conception of what those words mean, but it's a little tongue in cheek. I understand that I'm, I'm,

I'm lost on the younger generation. I'm not hip. I'm a different kind of hip. However, I'm trying, I'm trying to learn. I'm trying to keep up with the times. You're going to be dead soon anyway.

What does it matter? That's true. The valleys live forever. It's in our blood. What was I going to say? Living forever is in your blood. One of the things I'm trying to get better at is social media. We should study you. We stink at it.

I think it's one of the reasons nobody knows who the hell we are. We're not good at it. We're trying to learn. We're trying to get better. But just when I think I know what's going on, a young whippersnapper like Kate Stamos lets me know I have no idea what's going on. I wish the cameras were rolling 10 minutes ago because we'll never be able to recreate the conversation and the way it went down. But you said something to the effect, should we talk about which side of tiktok we're on and

sydney was like they don't know about that that's immediately what she said the boys don't know what that means and that was correct kate said it and the studio went silent yeah you guys looked at me like i had seven heads it was just like crickets and i was like this isn't you can't explain you can't teach this old hip dog new tricks but But then when she said next, clarified it all. I gave an example of one of the sides of TikTok that I'm on. And you said that, which side are you on? Some of y'all might know it. Some of you might not.

Hamster gym, AKA hamster rave TikTok. I cannot get off of it. To which I replied something to the effect of like, is there only one other side? No, there's two sides of TikTok. And one is hamster gym. And then you said, I guess I there only one other side? There's two sides of TikTok. And one is, you said, I guess I'm on the other side. Whatever the other side is, I guess by default I'm on it.

Hamster rave TikTok is. Let's back the Brinks truck up one more block. Are there only two sides? No, listen. There are so many. TikToks, many-sided. That looks into your brain and it shows you what you are. Yeah.

Back at you. And you're like, this is who I am. And part of who I am is I love. Like a black mirror. I love watching live streams of tons of hamsters running. Running on wheels while like house music plays. Hey, just send me that. This is your, and there's a lot of this.

There's a lot of different people that put these clips up. There's multiple hamster gym live streams and I get them all and I watch them all. I like, I watch them. Do you, clarifying question. Do you say,

you know what I want to do right now? I've been, you pull out your phone and you go to these or this, something like that. I don't ever go to them. It shows you stay on my, on my for you page on page on my fyp okay you guys have heard of the algorithm talk to me like i'm four years old you got you know tiktok basically has one of the best algorithms out there it knows what you want to see and it serves it to you on a silver of course i've been i understand that

concept but that's all you want to see no No, no, no, no, no, no. Listen, listen, listen, listen, listen. I've been waiting for this topic and I have an ongoing notes app list so I can explain to you. So Hamster Gym TikTok, Little Chef, which is the guy in the creepy demon costume with long limbs and he just cooks food. I still have to go back to hamster jam. Are you on Jasper the doll? Jasper the doll something too.

But are these just people you follow on TikTok? I watched a live stream once of a guy running a marathon, but it was just him running back and forth in his apartment and he did 3,872 laughs. That's a side too. How many sides does this shape have? Is it really infinite? Infinite.

Infinite. It's like looking into the void and having it look back at you. It's a fractal. For instance, my side of TikTok, a lot of what I get shown, that's what I mean when I say my side of TikTok. A lot of accidents. A lot of really

bad accidents. People being hurt? You don't even know. You don't know if they survive. You don't really know what's going on. They're out of context and they're scary. That's one. Two. Hang on. Is this out of context and they're scary. That's one. Two. Hang on. Is this because one time you searched for that? No, no, no.

One time I was shown it and I watched it for a little too long. And she watched it for a second before going. I watched it for a little too long. Oh, you are twisted. Second thing I get shown, mysteries. You know, the Loch Ness Monster, mysterious buildings. Who got hurt in this accident. Yeah. They're kind of in the same.

Gatewalkers clips? Kind of in the same vein, yeah. Who got hurt in this accident. Yeah. They're kind of in the same- Gate Walker's clips? Kind of in the same vein, yeah. Which bones were broken. Yeah, yeah. It's fun. I get shown a lot of mysteries, a lot of folklore and legend stuff, and that's really fun. And then right back to a really bad motorcycle accident. Wow.

I just scanned through 20 videos on my FYP page. There was no connecting tissue between any of them. Because it doesn't know your FYP page. It doesn't know me. It doesn't know yet. It's like saying ATM machine. My FYP,. There was no connecting tissue between any of it. Because it doesn't know your FYP page. It's like saying ATM machine. My FYP page. I'm a little... You're so stupid.

You said FYP. FYP. Your FYP. The P is the page. The P is the page. There's nothing. Here's a gopher being stood up in a shower. Here's comedian Louis Black doing a gopher being stood up in a shower. Yeah, if you watch that too long. Here's comedian Louis Black doing a set.

A plus-size model. I have... Doc Holliday. Golden Retrievers just standing still in pools looking down at tennis balls. A lot of money is passed. They never get them, but they just look at them. Well, should we do an experiment? Should we all commit to just checking out TikTok for a week?

No. Yeah. I do not. You're afraid. Yes, I am. I don't want to look into checking out TikTok for a week? No. Yeah. I do not. You're afraid. Yes, I am. I don't want to look into the void and have the void stare back. I don't want to look into his void either. But then you can see something so beautiful, like 20 hamsters running in different wheels

in the dark with lights glowing and house music. Tunnel Lady. I'll watch it on Kate's phone. Tunnel Lady. When you said hamster rave, I in no way thought an actual hamster would be involved. Yeah, no. It's like live streams inside of a hamster. Some of it is so precious and benign and silly.

And you just see the little butts running so, so fast. And it's just like, oomph, oomph, oomph. Skid, what would be yours on TikTok? What do you think? I don't know. Cape. Something with capes. Probably.

Is there a cape side? Yes. Oh, there definitely is. I'm on the capes? Probably. Is there a cape side? Yes. Oh, there definitely is. I'm on the cape side. For audio listeners, I found my cape. And I'm wearing it. Is it warm? Yeah, it's nice.

It's wool. Do you walk here in that? No. I would go outside wearing this. If it gets cold, do you bring it up over your face? I could, totally. I want to go like... The shadow knows.

It's a really nice cape. It is a nice cape. I like that. It is. Yeah. Also, like TikTok made in China. That's where Nick Sheltney ordered it from China. It's true.

Yeah. Well, I'd like to learn more about this. I want to know who's on the Glass Cannon podcast side. That's a side. Right. You don't want to know, Ron. I follow it on TikTok. I am.

I get shown everything. I get shown everything, yeah. Are you getting more hamsters than Glass Cannon? Wait, what's the difference between TikTok and YouTube Shorts in terms of like your side like if if youtube shorts is sending me stuff that's like kind of that i see over and over again is that a similar vibe or is it is it just the algorithm's not as good like i think before you answer i have two things to say about this one is that i also would like to know the answer to that question and two is that you sound so old i know i went into that being like should i say this because it's gonna sound so old. I know. I know. I went into that being like, should I say this?

Because it's going to sound so old. But then when Troy started the episode, my first thought about 45 years old was being in my early 20s or late teens, early 20s and playing basketball in public courts. And when a 45-year-old guy

came to play in knee pads and stuff, I remember thinking they looked so old. Like bald and almost dead. And I was like, good for them for like trying. They weren't 65, like they were 45.

And so I was like, I just got to commit to this. This, this is who I am. I think the difference, and this may not even be true, but I think the difference is more people are putting more content on TikTok.

So you get shown a wider range and more of it because people are constantly uploading. I think too with YouTube, you're mostly just getting stuff that you're already subscribed to or channels you're subscribed to, which is not – it's what you think you want, not necessarily what you actually want. Yeah, what you don't even know you want. That's what TikTok is. I would also like to state for the record that Kate and I are the same age. Who are you stating this for? Wow. Yeah, what you don't even know you want. That's what TikTok is. I would also like to state for the record that Kate and I are the same age. Who are you stating this for?

Wow. Yeah, whose record? The record that thinks I'm so old and that- Well, you were born older, George. I know. It's like this ongoing trope that Sydney and I are so much younger than all of you, and I just know that you, Matthew, and I are the same age than all of you and i just know that you matthew and i are the same we graduated in the same year from high school right yeah

uh also 2005 it's not it's not records anymore it's cds i would like to state for the cd it's like an mp3 now it's like they don't even use cds anymore you should say mp3 I would like to state for the CD. It's like an MP3 now. It's like they don't even use CDs anymore. You should say MP3. Get with the times. It's the 90s.

Yeah, for real. So, Sydney, you're the youngest. Yeah. But at least you're a high-powered attorney. Yeah. She's the youngest, but she's not. High-powered attorney by day. She's dressed for the age she wants to be. I just took the bar for the 12th time. That's not. High powered attorney by day. She's dressed for the age she wants to be. I just took the bar for the 12th time.

Maybe lucky number 13. 13 times the charm. I play an attorney on TV. Why won't they give me my license? I was just looking up that meme three days ago. What meme? I'm not a doctor, but I play one on tv that whole bit because i forgot because i remember that commercial like being on but i didn't remember like what the commercial

was for and it was for vick's nasal spray i think and the doctor was this guy he it was a the actor played a doctor in general hospital and then he had like some huge scandal uh right after that and they replaced them and i shouldn't have started this story because i don't remember the end that was a commercial to begin with because then it became uh it was one of the first memes it was it was an early meme like where's the beef or whatever what have you really aging yourselves yeah where's the beef where's the explain where's the beef to my son the other day. He walked out of the room. I don't care about your beef.

One of the most famous books on advertising is about the where's the beef. It's called Hey Whipple, Squeeze This. Hey Whipple? Hey Whipple. Whipple. Whipple. Yeah. Squeeze the Charmin.

Yeah. Basically, it's like looking at campaigns you think are annoying but are actually really effective. Yeah. Among other things. It's also about the creative process. It's a good book. Well, I know what side this banter falls on. The first part of the episode. We'll be back after.

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Our link will give you four extra months. On the two year plan. There is no risk with Nord's 30 day money back guarantee. And you'll help support your good buddies. At the GCP. The link is in the episode description box. it out see what you think we're back we're on the other side of this episode just keep digging deeper just keep digging dipper dipper dig and dipper dig digging dipper. Dig and dipper. Dig and dipper. Dig and dipper. Dig dip. Can that go on your business card?

Drill of Alley. Professional dig dipper. Dip digger. I want to thank our sponsors. Demi Plain. Foundry VTT. And Norse Foundry. Skid.

What about Norse Foundry? For all. Norse Foundry. Skid, what about Norse Foundry? Norse Foundry for all your fuck. For all your random number generally. For all your fuck. We have the giggles today. I know. We haven't recorded together in a while, so we haven't hung out and it gets a little silly and not always funny for an audience to watch.

Fun to be here. Fun for us. Some of the false starts were quite scary. Glad we weren't recording. But we're here now, and very excited. This is actually our first recording of the year, even though you guys have already watched four or five episodes. But we're going to be in Toronto next month at the Great Hall. It might already be sold out by the time you're watching this. Glass Cannon Live Tour is raging through the new year. First stop in Canada is in Toronto

on March 16th. And also, something I don't mention enough on this show is we have a subscription service. Go to jointhenash.com. It is your one-stop shop for all things Glass Cannon. Check it out. We have content you can only get on jointhenash.com. But I want to talk about last week's ep because I kind of want to hear it from your point of view, what you've learned over the last few eps. As I know, in my ivory tower back here, what's going on. I know you guys are still putting it together and maybe even frustrated by that, but this isn't about your opinions. This is about, like, the facts.

What do you know? Just the facts, ma'am. Just the facts. The more I know, the less I know. Yep. Kind of thing. Yep. The more you know, the less you know.

Yeah. The more Troy will call us stupid for not knowing. I would never. In so many words i mean i think the most the central kind of mystery so far is the missing the missing moment this is kind of the the time that we've lost like as a result of this like these gates opening these these time that we we can't remember that's the main thing that we were sent out to investigate at the beginning which it's funny because like stuff like that can kind of get lost over the

span of like the months that you play a game and you get involved in like the minutiae like you know this on the way but that that is like as a reminder like that is like the thing that we're really supposed to be looking into yeah and that's what led us to Seven Arches, right? Because we're looking for, we're under the instructions of Dr. Riddleson. We're trying to find out more information about the missing moment. Similar occurrences, research the Ayodhara, and that led us to Seven Arches. Which led us to the Oak Stewards who protect the area. Well, it essentially led us to Bolan who was a gate walker and came back changed.

And was an oak steward. And became militant against all humanity, basically. Except for humans, I think. Except for. No, no. All sentient life, essentially. Yeah. Like preferring only animals and plants.

Like let them all live, but no one else. Because everyone else is ruining nature by just their very existence. They've been radicalized in his missing moment. Yeah, he was radicalized in his missing moment. But he's the only other gate walker we know about, right? With the missing moment. Besides all the people we know that aren't villains or masterminds. Like, we discovered that the Ayudhara and Seven Arches weren't the real ones.

And that, like, this mystical figure, Kanipo, I always want to call him Kanipo. That's fun. Kanipo was like the original person who like made the obnubulant curse and like maybe is the person who like caused the Ayudharas to open. I don't know if my brain just jumped there or if we were that. Well, this is a key thing, is this is the reason Riddleson brought you here in the first place, why he gave you his most promising lead, the Glen Gary leads, is because this obnubulate curse. It doesn't bode well for us.

You can't have that. And you, Matthew's character. Can't have that. You know, the obnubulate curse is this curse that's been around forever. It's like you come close to Seven Arches

and you're an elf, you shrivel up and die. But something that tied in to the Night of the Missing Moment is the curse was was lifted and so he wanted you to investigate that as you've investigated that you found out a little bit more about this curse and that somehow this fey figure may be tied up in it and that you made a good point that we tested the seven arches they're not the real gates that's why we went into the Wildwood and we found where the actual gates are. We had one task, but it's all like unraveling into like all this other stuff.

Well, so then there is the Shadeweather key, which Bolan wanted to use in some ritual that we found out was maybe inspired by Kanepo and that Kanepo probably has this key, right? Yeah. You found out that Kanepo instructed Bolan to get the key. And so you were hoping you'd find Bolan and find the key, but it appears that Bolan gave the key to Canepo. And it could be used for very nefarious purposes. In fact, we're concerned that that's about to happen, like, today, right? Yeah, you are on a ticking clock.

It's the elders. The clue we got is a clock. Yeah. Don't jump ahead, Skid. I'm sorry. We're still on episode 14. But yeah, you were told by Lemma Feldthorn that the Elder Oak stewards determined from what they learned in Bolan's journal that you had probably three days and three nights

before this was going down. There were sentences and thoughts. Before what was going down? We don't know. Something awful? Or maybe something kind of specific? Maybe a localized apocalypse look like like a tear in the space-time continuum right there they fear that with the shade wither

key in the wrong hands if this figure really does exist and everything they know about this um that this could all go down in three days and three nights and could be apocalyptic. Is this because this place, this area is so sort of tenuously clinging to like material reality, it makes it vulnerable to something like this. Yes. Well, now that you've spent some time in the wildwood, you do know that the first world influence there is very strong. And so that is probably what leads the elders to believe we can't fuck around

with this. We need people to go and help us out. And so you've been doing that. You started by going to a Gorga victim's house, Pa Mosby, had a conversation with Pa Mosby that was semi enlightening. But more importantly, you learned that both he and his son had this feeling of a figure always sort of judging them throughout their life. Worthy or not worthy. Trying to deem what their worthiness was.

The little boy thinks that a devil is trying to take him to hell. Brother Ramius talked to him and kind of dug a little bit deeper. He's just looking for James Worthy. It could be that he's looking for former Los Angeles Laker. One possibility. James Worthy. And then we went to Thin Lens Farms. We found more people had disappeared, including this woman, Maybelline.

And on your way there, you meet a man named Malkior who was looking for his friend who has also disappeared. So there's this feeling of there's disappearances going on. You get to Thin Lands Farms, which up until the point you had got there, it was kind of like, maybe I've heard of that. Maybe that place exists. I don't know. Other people were like, oh, yeah maybe I've heard of that. Maybe that place exists. I don't know. Other people were like, oh, yeah, I've heard of that. But nobody ever goes there. You get there and it's like a Red Dead Redemption town, except everyone is gorgeous and like timeless.

Clearly, the first world influence has infected this area in such a way that it gives everyone this sort of fountain of youth appearance. Now, question for clarification. So Thin Lands Farm is in Thin Lands, which is a place? It's unclear. Unclear. So then my other question is, Nighthold is surrounded by Lightline. Nighthold is a first world place. Lightline is a first world, John?

The Lightline is the demarcation between the night world and the material. It was a series of lanterns that served as a focus of enchantments to keep the realm, the night hold, versus the dark realm of the first world from expanding. So from our understanding then as characters, Thin Lands Farm is close to night hold. That's the sense that you're getting. If not close to Nighthold, at least like close to perhaps this fissure between the worlds. The Thinlands. Thinlands, which is on another plane.

Right? And within the Thinlands is Nighthold. You get the sense from Bolan's journal that Kniepo's domain is the Thinlands. Is the Thin land. Okay. That was my question. That must be a – maybe that's what he calls it. So then we investigated.

Maybe when his parents talked to her family, it turns out she constructed like a true-to-life diorama of the town and had traced – And forest. And the surrounding forest and had traced all of these paths on there. And we walked a path and nothing happened but it was we think that she had walked this path when she disappeared and then when we last night at we went back to sleep at the saloon well right before that we discovered that the the paths that she's walking are in the forms of birds and bird wings well her drawing her drawings of birds are similar to the paths yeah whatever. They cross over.

So it was very bird heavy. And she made her children draw birds. It was a whole thing. And they also had to be worthy. The drawings had to be worthy. And then when we woke up the next morning, despite his setting a watch, we had been delivered some sort of message. an artistically, as you put it, making air quotes,

disjointed broken bird that upon closer inspection revealed itself not to be just a map, but also a clock. Yeah, and I don't want to put salt in recent wounds, but it sounds more like something Lucky would have done just because she's a cat. Right, so you should think of it as a gift.

Yeah. Maybe it is from Lucky. Lucky would have wanted you to have this. Yeah. Well, I, I, as I said at the end of the end of last episode, didn't make the cut.

I don't know, but it was, uh, I think it's Maybelline or someone similar trying to communicate with us. Uh, despite your very rude rejections. That's a great idea, Matthew.

Thanks. I thought I said that. In fact, when I, when I brought this up before we recorded, Joe tried to pretend like he did say that. That's how I remember it. So this is what you've got so far.

It's a lot of disparate things, but it seems like now you're going to- Where is the Thin Lands and where is Nighthold? What plane? Is it in the Shadow Plane? You believe it is a realm in the First World. Oh, that's right. Is the First World a realm like the Cel world. Oh, that's right. Is the first world a realm like the celestial

plane, the shadow plane, the first world? Is the realm of the what we learned from the tree. The first world is a realm of the fae. It's an inner sphere, a god's first draft of a plane that would later split into the material plane and the shadow plane.

It is a transitive plane. Are you Googling? Did you just Google that? You have the jacket on. And then the word after, I don't even know if I know that word, but I'll say it anyway. Did you LexisNexis this?

It is a transitive plane cotermianus with the universe. I'm a lawyer. Own it, own it. As a lawyer, you should know it's a transitive plan. Yeah. Before you say anything, it's a transitive plan. As your attorney.

As your attorney. All right, well, let's take you back to the room here, and you're all, you set a watch, and somehow this bird just appeared there. No one saw it come in. So I imagine you're all examining this, trying to determine where it's leading you and when it's leading you. But maybe as you're, as you're looking at,

I suggest something. Yeah. This may not fit in with the narrative, but maybe Buggles had the last watch and he drifted off to sleep even for, but a few moments as, as this was happening. He failed at his job. Are you trying to fall on your sword so that Asta isn't really embarrassed?

Yeah. Well, I mean, someone had to lose their vigilance for at least like a split second for this thing to appear. Otherwise, it's like, whoa, I'm looking at the spot. There's a bird there all of a sudden. So that would be my suggestion. Yeah. I would say if you were the last one up, that could absolutely have happened. But imagine you're just looking over at the table, and you look there, and then just a couple seconds later, you look, and it's there. Yeah. So you think, wait a minute, did I just miss that when I fell asleep? And so that might

be something you carry with you. You blame yourself. Well, whoever did have the last watch, I'm saying it would be Buggles. It would have happened on their watch. Right, right. So it leaves you feeling, yeah, let's say it's you then, canonically, and it must leave you feeling like, did I screw this up? Yeah, he's just like, wow, how did I miss this? What happened? Did I fall asleep?

What's the deal? Especially as someone who's dealt with missing memory. Yeah. As we all have. I mean, this has got to be worse. Is this a symptom of the return of the obnubulent curse? Right. The first symptom, perhaps?

Well, as you're examining this and you're taking it all in, I like to think maybe Zephyr is off to the side, a little away from the others. If not fully physically, at least mentally. Maybe something outside the window is catching her eye. A flower, an orange flower. And we can see in her eyes that she's disassociating a little bit. And we can see in her eyes that she's disassociating a little bit.

And as she does so, maybe she moves ever so slightly, and in the silence of that moment, we hear a little clamor from the urn attached to her belt with Lucky's ashes. Instinctively, she rests her hand upon the urn to quiet it, and as she makes contact with it, her jaw clenches. We just slowly come in on her, on her eyes, and then we come back out. And then we come back out. As we come back out on those same eyes, we see a younger Zephyr. She looks to be a teenager, maybe. It's tough, even with half-elves, to tell.

Her eyes are a little lighter now. Her jaw no longer clenched. And maybe she's humming to herself as she scrunches her face a bit and focusing on something that she's making. We see that she's in the woods just outside a place called Silver Strand Harbor. She has a bunch of orange lilies on her lap and an open book at her side.

Looks like she's making an intricate necklace out of the lilies on her lap and an open book at her side. Looks like she's making an intricate necklace out of the lilies, and the book at her side is open to a page that describes the significance of the orange lily, especially to this place during the springtime. If we zoom in on the page, you see the passage describing how the orange lily is used as a gift at the Awakening, capital A. It's an annual festival that's held in Silver Strand Harbor every spring. Looks like people give an orange lily necklace to someone who they wish to dance with during the final celebration of the festival. She's working hard, scrunching her face. She finishes it, holds it up to the light

to survey it, and smiles before putting it in her bag and heading back into town. We then cut to another scene at the center of this town. It's very lively.

Everyone's getting ready for the festival. Vendors are putting out stands to sell or showcase their goods. Games are being set up for children and teens. There's a stage in the town square being constructed for live entertainment. Plenty of space around it to dance. And we see Zephyr again with a boy about her age.

Another teenage boy. They're walking together, chatting and laughing. Maybe he's the same. Maybe he's the same height as Zephyr. Fair skin, short, dark hair. How tall is Zephyr, by the way? Like 5'10". To me, she's tall.

That's tall. He's 5'10 and a half. He's wearing lifts. He's wearing lifts. He's 5'10 and a half. He's wearing lifts. He's wearing lifts. And he's talking to her and he says, Remember that time, what was it? Five years ago when I dared you to let the pigs loose before the pig rankling competition? Yeah, I can't believe you dared me to do that.

I can't believe you did it. It was pure chaos. There were pigs everywhere getting into all the food, knocking over Miss Evelyn's pottery display. And then Miss Evelyn saw us laughing and then started chasing us screaming, Ollie Zephyr, I knew it was you! And you were so scared.

I was not. You should have seen your face. And then she finally caught up with you after you tripped and fell. And you were like, oh, oh, the dogs, I swear. Like the dogs can open pig pens. Maybe she playfully nudges his shoulder and he just smiles and rolls his eyes.

Well, they canceled the pig wrangling competition after that. I wasn't going to take the fall by myself. He tries to nudge her back, but maybe he misses and like nudges her bag. And when he does, the orange lily necklace falls out onto the ground. This boy picks it up, and his eyes go wide. Whoa, Zeph. This is nice.

Zeph maybe tries to grab the necklace back, but this boy taunts her. Shoots her with two arrows. My fucking necklace. Get back my necklace! Zephyr maybe tries to grab the necklace back, but this boy taunts her. Shoots her with two arrows. My fucking necklace. Get back my necklace! They're playing like keep away a little bit. He's just kind of pulling it out of reach. And he's like, whoa, hey, come on, around his back.

Someone must have really got your attention, huh? You must have spent ages making this. Who is this for? Give it back. Come on. Not until you tell me who you're feeling this type of way about. Maybe Zephyr finally just grabs it from him, takes the necklace back, and she looks down.

Haunts him in the throat. Spitting up blood. Gouges out one of his eyes. See you in hell. End of scene. She takes the necklace, she's like flushed. And he's like, Zephyr, I didn't realize you were so soft on the inside. He's still trying to needle her.

He pokes at her and she kind of shrinks. And now he realizes he's making her uncomfortable. He's gone too far. And he's like, I'm sorry, Zephyr, I was just giving you a bit of a hard time. He puts his arm around her and gives her a little side hug, and they just keep walking in silence. After a while, he's just kind of looking at her. So...

Who's it for? No one. I was just practicing. Come on. I know you didn't spend all that time making it for fun. You'd sooner join the church choir before you... It's for you. They stop walking, and... Holly, this boy, looks surprised and just stops smiling. I... I made it for you.

What? No. Seth, you're like a sister to me. Hi. And I can't dance with you at the festival. You know how my parents feel about half. Well, I mean, what would they say? Just forget it.

She just throws the necklace on the ground at Ollie's feet and walks away. Zebra, wait! Come back! She's breathing harder now as the weight on her chest gets heavier. Her vision is growing blurry from the dampness emerging from her eyes. The sounds of the weight on her chest gets heavier, her vision is growing blurry from the dampness emerging from her eyes. The sounds of the people around her are getting louder and surround her, threatening to suffocate her as she searches for a way out.

Her face threatens to betray her as the tears build up. She clenches her jaw to prevent the emotion from boiling over, and all these calls just dissipate as she finally reaches the woods. Now maybe some time passes, and we see young Zephyr again, but now with a more neutral face, jaw still clenched, eyes still glossy. Eyes still glossy. As we pull out from her standing there, she's surrounded by people all dressed in black.

Most of them are either weeping or have their heads bowed, and we hear a voice of a man somewhere in this scene saying, Death comes for all of us in the end, some more sudden than others, sometimes unfairly. Ollie Harrison may have succumbed to the fever, but not before bringing us so much joy and light to all of us. And that voice continues and gets echoey for a moment. Then as it becomes clearer again, the voice is the voice of Brother Ramius. Oh, whoa.

Talking at Lucky's funeral. And yet again, we see Zephyr neutral, jaws clenched, eyes threatening to tear up. And she walks up to the pyre where Lucky lays Jaws clenched, eyes threatening to tear up. And she walks up to the pyre where Lucky lays and places a single orange lily on her chest. The pyre lights and we see the fire reflecting in Zephyr in the room with all of you, Zephyr, you just hear this chatter of them trying to figure out this puzzle. Someone notices that Zephyr isn't quite there with you.

Who's that person? Where's Zephyr? Zephyr? Zephyr? Pick up something and throw it at her face. What? An iron. A computer.

An iron. A fire iron poker. What, the bird? The bird, yeah, it's really creepy. Did you even see it? Did you examine it at all? It's a map, and it indicates the time. It's a clock. It's also broken unnaturally. So strange. Yeah.

Are you alright? Oh, yeah. Wake up. See a dead bird in the middle of the room. Now let's go figure out what it means. Zephyr, is something wrong? You seem to have lost your passion for the adventure. Are there too many clues without enough conclusions? You sound like you've seen an orange flower.

It's very specific. He is a psychic. I'm a psychic. I'm seeing an orange flower. I'm seeing an orange flower. That's like a classic skid joke construction. It never fails. It never fails to get me.

What was the one? Oh, I'm trying to think of it. Oh, it was like, you look like you're thinking of my dead friend. You like all that look. You're thinking of my friend Scott Parker. We're friends in the pub. We were sent in. We were looking for a guy named Scott Parker.

He just walks in. Cut right to the investigation. I know that look. You look like you're thinking of my friend Scott Parker just walks in. Cut right to the investigation. I know that one. You look like you're thinking about Scott Parker. Sorry. I was just emailing with Seth. That was just a great guy. It was a fun game.

Back to Zef. Okay. She's not there. Do we need to talk about anything? I think that the wings are a time right yes that's what we're talking about what time what time so how like what about it the shape of it makes it look like a claw is it the way the wings are pointed like the yeah so you kind of like mr burns on the clock you've kind of... Like Mr. Burns on the clock? You've kind of established that the bird's wings and whatnot were a map. That's what led you to start to explore the woods. You see that construction again here, and you realize that it's pointingjointed, there's also another part of the wing that looks like hands on a clock.

And it points to what you would think would be around 9 p.m. Yeah, so I'm pretty sure we might have done the right thing last night. We just need to do it at a certain time. You said that. You said that yesterday. Excellent, Zephyr. Well done. Asta is looking at Zephyr. Because Asta, she's in her kitsune form, and she's like looking at the bird with the broken wings,

sort of from a natural perspective, a nature perspective. What type of bird is this? Is it local to the area? Like that kind of thing. But then she just starts looking at Zephyr, and she, like everybody else in the room, just knows that Zephyr is sad, and just can feel that energy, like black hole in the room, just knows that Zephyr is sad and just can feel that energy,

like black hole in the room. And you just hear in your head, take these broken wings and learn to fly again. Learn to live so free. And then she starts not looking at Zephyr and she's kind of bopping her head. And we're here for something.

But no, she looks at Zephyr. And when everybody is back looking at the bird, she walks over. I'd like to talk to you today if you are available. What the hell just happened? Zephyr pulls out her planner. The death look that Kate just gave me

as Zephyr made me take pause as a player and as a character. Maybe she doesn't want to speak. Sounds like no. I'd like to talk to you today. Okay. Maybe now. Okay. Hey, maybe now.

Sure. Okay, hey, why not? Do we need to leave? We're all just watching. We're all just watching. I've been playing Baldur's Gate 3 right now, and they have these kind of intimate conversations with some of the other people in your party,

but in all these shots, all the other people in your party are standing behind them. Damn it! Especially the horniest remarks, conversations with some of the people in your party, but like in all these shots, like all the other people in your party are standing behind them. Especially like the horniest remarks and then your whole party is just standing there. And I have a mod, so I have like six people in my party. So it's like this gang like looking in. It's just like, what's she going to say next? Okay.

So yeah, we turn around. I'm going to walk with Zephyr for a moment while you examine the bird further. We're done examining the bird. We finished. Excellent. Perhaps we take it to what's-his-face's house. Gregor. Clegane.

What the hell's the guy's name? What? The guy with the kid? Gerald. Gerald. Oh. Yeah, because we need to, like, compare it to the map. Yes.

Compare it to the diorama. Oh, to her. Okay, yeah. Fantastic idea. We should walk in that direction. Yes, let's go in and re-traumatize his children. Buggles. Suggestion.

Not an order. All right, yes. Well, Talitha will gather the bird very delicately and place it in some sort of box or something that she fashions so it doesn't lose its shape or orientation. Well, Brother Amos also has drawn it. Oh, yeah. In its orientation and everything.

Are you a good artist? Can you draw good? Yeah, roll for it. It doesn't really matter. Can you draw good? He's not drawing like a 3D. You're doing a body outline. A trace?

No, he's tracing the bones as they relate to the map and then the nine o'clock. He's doing the bones? What do you think, crafting? Anatomical? It's just drawing anatomical birds. I want you to draw it right now live. Draw what you imagine in your brain. Draw a bird right now from do this draw any bird i'll

describe it from my memory any bird from troy's memory you're like wingspan do it i know as soon as you oh get out oh my god as soon as you said i was like he doesn't even know what kind of bird he is. It's true. All right. Oh, here's the thing. You guys come downstairs to go head to Gregor's. No, Gregor. I said Gregor, too. You keep drawing while I do this. This is so ridiculous.

And you see Malkior. Malkior. Gerald. Gerald, yes. Gerald of Riviera. You see Malkior, and he accosts you, and he's like, how is your investigation going? Have you heard any mention of Varna?

Oh, sorry. So Malkior, this is the guy we found on the way. Right, that you're suspicious of. He's looking for a friend of his, Varna. The Oaksteward. Wooden septum piercing. You've found out that Varna is an Oaksteward. You don't know what their relationship is, and he seems very concerned. He

came with you to Thin Land's farms and just kind of has drifted off to the background, asking his own questions. But now he's talking to you. Picasso over here. Joe is having a great time. We're so confident. We're so confident.

For the listening audience We've invited Joe with a notebook and a pencil And he's sketching Laughing maniacally as he sketches It looks like I'm drawing a guy Dancing Doing the YMCA dance It's like

Oh my god. It needs to be available for auction. We should auction that up. This would be a great use in our investigation. We should just make a t-shirt of whatever you come up with now. Like, drawn exactly like that. Really shitty. Any news of Vonna?

Since we spoke last night before going to bed. Yeah, because I knew you were going to speak with some townspeople. Did anyone mention Varno that they'd seen? No, there was no mention of Varno. I spoke to people here and no one saw him as well. Stop laughing! He's furiously drawing still. But it has become clear

to me that this idea of disappearing people is not uncommon here. There were these two people from town, but I get the sense that this is a common problem in the area. Yes.

We've heard similar things. Who have you heard that has gone missing? Just the two people that you said, but they said that there were other people that came into town looking for people and then left. So while only two people from this town have disappeared, I think other people, in looking for their lost loved ones, have maybe stumbled into Thinland's farms.

What I'm saying is it seems like these disappearances are an epidemic. It may well be true. We cannot say for certain right now. We have a few leads to follow. Perhaps let's schedule a time that we can come back here and compare notes. Refer to the birds that say nine o'clock. I'll keep asking around.

Everyone is ultimately pretty friendly once you get to know them, even though they seem standoffish. Maybe you could provide us with some more information about Varner. Perhaps if he was acting strange before he left or spoke of anything that seemed odd at the time.

Let me get back to you. I'll think about that. But just if you do hear his name mentioned, please, just let me know. We'll make note of it. Yes, of course. No stone unturned. No. We'll reconnect at 9-0 bird. Alright. I'll see you

then. That'll make sense later. Alright, so now you want to go back to Gerald's house. Dunk, dunk, dunk. Oh, wait. On the walk, though. I'm still drawing this fucking bird. On the walk. While he's drawing. Let me know wait. On the walk, though. I'm still drawing this fucking bird. On the walk. He's still drawing. While he's drawing.

Are you done? Let me know when we're at Gerald's house. You're there. You're at the door. We're about to do a scene. I want to talk to Zephyr on the walk. Oh, okay. He's going to keep drawing, though.

Keep drawing. I'm sure you could improve. You can keep drawing. Wow, you haven't even seen it yet. It's only getting worse with each passing minute. I was going to say, the more you... It's like a scab. Stop picking at it. So excited.

While we're walking, Asta had clearly noticed that Zephyr was grabbing the urn, the container. And they're walking behind everybody. And she turns to Zephyr and she says, I know what you're thinking. I know what you're all thinking. What am I thinking? I didn't...

I didn't kill your friend. I didn't, but I didn't stop it either. And for that, I am, I am so, so sorry, Zephyr.

When I, sorry, go ahead. Well, she's not talking, but she's just like doing what I'm doing right now, which is, like, looking up in a way. Avoiding my eye contact.

Looking up in a way, like, maybe still holding the urn and just, like, really tense and tight and just trying to breathe, listening to Utah. When I saw... When I first saw your group, it was by the Ayodhara, the gates. I saw the Oak Stewards. I wasn't sure what your intentions were. I wasn't sure what the Oak Stewards were doing. The Oak Stewards are good, kind people. I didn't understand. I'm sorry. I should have intervened

I should have stepped in Your friend's blood was spilt Due to my inaction And for that For that It is unforgivable And she takes out her katana And holds it out in front of her

And hands the blade to Zephyr. Wow. What? What? What am I supposed to do with this? You can spill my blood. It's not just your fault. It's all of our faults. I mean, that, that was an that whole situation was a mess.

I failed. We all failed. We all failed, Lucky. Lucky. Well, it is still tradition. You must spill my blood. Otherwise, I will not be able to forgive myself and she thinks about it for a second

and like slowly takes the katana and like looks at it and I hold up my arm um just like anywhere just like a little just like a cholesterol Cut it off Just like anywhere Cut it off Just like a little

Just like a Like a cholesterol Like a full Cholesterol Two handed swing Anything will do Whatever you think is necessary Roll to hit

Three fingers for Roll to hit You don't need to do this I don't Hate you We didn't to do this. I don't hate you. We didn't have time. There's no time to like...

This all just happened. I don't know you. What, now I'm gonna get to know you? And maybe you'll die? There it is. Get to know Talitha more. What if Buggles dies? What if...

We lose a lot of lives. Brother Ramius. I'm Brother Ramius. It's nice to meet you, Zuz. The worst. If he dies... That guy. That guy.

The guy who can barely draw birds. The dude. Not to mention he. But, I mean, if you insist, she's having a little fun. She's not going to, she's just a little boop. You just poked me. Just a little.

How big is that a little prick some further away uh so you prick her and she goes it is done she takes the katana back she eats it i feel better don't you yeah we could wrestle? Yeah. I always did that with my siblings. Our parents said to get the ya-ya's out. Ya-ya's. All right.

I mean, I would just love to practice with someone. I can't practice with anyone else here. Perhaps not now. The muggles is too small. Far away. Yeah. I do have the Titan wrestler feet. Oh, no. So I can...

You can wrestle us. I can grapple creatures up to two times my size. We must wrestle. Yeah. Okay. As you're chatting about wrestling in the town square, you do notice that the others have gotten ahead of you and they are starting to walk up the porch to Gerald's house.

I'd like to see the bird. I think it's time. I think we should see the bird. I think it's time. I think we should see the bird before we go in the house. Joe, anything we need to know about this? Any context? Well, I started off and I wanted to make sure I captured, first of all. No excuses. I wanted to make sure I captured the species of finch.

That was my first thing. I wanted to make sure it was recognizable as a finch to any common viewer. And then I started worrying about the mapping and the clocking and stuff like that. So here it is. That's 9 o'clock, alright. That's a 9 o'clock finch. That looks like a man wearing a finch's costume.

It looks like a man dressed as Big Bird dancing at a disco. Run over by a car. It looks like a man dressed as Big Bird who's been run over by a car doing one of the chicken dances from Arrested Development. I was going to say the San Diego chicken doing like a tribal rain dance. Bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop It is kind of chickeny. It looks better than I thought.

Good effort. There was a level of detail there that I was not expecting. It is horrifying looking. Yeah, I was going for scary, too. I wanted to capture the unnaturalness of the shape of the body. Like what happened to its eyes. Joe, you definitely have more artistic skill than I do. Yeah, for sure.

It'll make a great t-shirt. Yeah. I mean, I'm going to trace that and make a t-shirt out of that exact part. Do it with the lined paper and everything. Yeah, yeah. Yellow shirt. Yellow. The lined paper.

It's a mechanical pencil like off to the side. Just make the shirt yellow and lined. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Beautiful. Don't sign it. Don't ruin it by signing it. I want to take this page and I want to lay it over the diorama

from his journal I'm going to kind of cut to the chase here because we've been meandering and just get you up into that room you want to role play 17 minutes of his art the kids are at school let's leave them out of this as well he brings you upstairs and he's like

have at it and you compare your drawing, your memory of the bird. And, you know, obviously you've drawn this, but the wings are broken in such a way that they're broken in multiple different places.

So it's zigzags. But the general feeling is 9pm ish and a route. And so you compare it to this diorama of the town and the surrounding area. And you know where to go. And you know when you have to be there.

And we'll be back after this break. By now it's probably 12 30 we didn't talk about breakfast um i couldn't eat couldn't possibly eat where is it breakfast it is it is uh within the forest to the north we were there it was where we were no no it's like you could see a path to do that, but remember that path was circular. It brought you back into town. It was like she was exploring. I just watched Willy Wonka, Charlie and the

Chocolate Factory with the boys yesterday. It's like you've got to go backwards to go forwards. It's that same feel. There's a circuitous route to get there, but now you know exactly where to get there. You have the piece of the puzzle. So it's short, walkable, north of town. Yeah, north of town.

I don't know if we would have any way to know this, but was she, like, looking for a path to get to this spot, or she was just looking for the spot? You almost get the sense that either she was wandering to try and discover it on her own, or she was being deliberately led all around, maybe even tested. But this isn't like a ritual. No. You have to go in this particular direction. No, in fact. It's just a piece that we didn't have.

This is pointing right there. And also this, sorry, this last, when we put this, the shape of the bird into the diorama where it belongs and find this spot, are any of her drawings or pathways in this area at all? Yeah. You can see one of her latest drawings,

if you were to consult with Gerald, kind of led close to that direction. Whether she was able to figure out the end pieces of the puzzle or not, you don't know. She never returned. Zero. So yeah, who left the bird and are did they finish the puzzle are you going to get there and there's not going to be anything there um

some did someone you just don't know but you do have a location and a time so is there anything you want to accomplish between now and 9 p.m and is it your intention to be at that spot? This is my question. Should we be planning on being there beforehand or do we need to arrive at 9? Do we get the sense? I think we should be there beforehand. On time is late, Matthew. That's what I tell him. Also, I'm almost tempted to walk

the path in the daytime just to see. To get there. Sure. To scout the area. Let's do lunch. Yeah, we'll do typical Matthew. This is not Talitha, this the area. What's there. Well, let's do lunch. Yeah, we'll do a typical Matthew. This is not Talitha. This is Matthew. Guys, we need to make sure we do lunch. I don't want to be around any of you if you're hangry.

Yeah. I also think maybe Asta says this to Talitha. Talitha, do you think it would behoove us to look into Henry Buckets? The man who went missing, who lived alone? Perhaps search his house? Did we not do that? I thought we, didn't we go there? No, I think you spent your time.

It was all at Gerald's. Oh yeah, we could, let's, I had to stop. Lunch, then Henry Buckets, then out to the woods. Yeah, if you go back and. The big question is, do we want to take Malkior with us? Absolutely not. Yeah, I don't trust him. Okay. Alright, so

go back to the inn, or wherever you find Alderwoman Abelina Choi, because you can't just go break it into this guy's house. I assume you want to ask for permission, or you want to just sneak in? No, no, no, I want to ask her. We need a warrant. Maybe easier to ask for forgiveness?

Well, that's up to you. I shouldn't lead you. Well, she showed us to Gerald. She didn't care. We can go to the man. And she says, no, absolutely not. Perfect. I'm glad you brought this up.

You definitely cannot do that. And if I find out you do, you will be imprisoned. No, she's like, sure, here's the keys. Yeah, that would be fine, I suppose, if you feel like it's going to help your investigation. He lived alone. He was a bit of a shut-in. I'm not sure what you'll find.

They say he was a collector of things, so you might have trouble finding anything in the mess that was left behind. We didn't spend too much time looking. He was an old man, prone to wandering off. This time he just didn't come back.

But you're welcome to it. May I ask, Elder Woman, your abilities? Fascinating. May I ask, older woman, your abilities fascinating They relate to people Can you direct this sense of truth that you have toward places

Objects Animals You seem to have this sense of truth that's coming from a person. I'm curious if this is a ability you can direct toward an object or a place. Could you tell if a place was the epicenter of something terrible or something great? I suppose I could. Perhaps it would leave a resonance of some kind that you could sense. I did notice as a young girl sometimes being in places where I didn't feel right.

Maybe my parents didn't tell me that those were places where bad things happened. As I got older, I just sort of shrugged it off as, uh, just mood swings. But, uh, I suppose I do have that ability. Why don't you accompany us, then, to his house? You all right, Brother Ramius?

I'm all right. I'm not feeling well. I need to eat something. That's all. All right. I suppose I could. When do you plan on heading out? Now. As soon as possible. After lunch?

After lunch. Yes, sir. Of course. Eat something. I'll go move some things around and I'll be right back. She leaves and Malkia comes up. Any news of Vahna? Oh, no.

We'll tell you. We'll tell you if we hear anything. Guy's getting lunch. Oh, my God. Did you happen to... Brother Ramius is like, yes. All of us are like... Did you not eat, Malkia?

I haven't eaten yet. Then you should join us. We were going to eat on the go. We had to leave. Okay. We already ate. Murr. Ramius is looking. What the fuck is wrong with you?

Alright, table for five is ready now. Or will it be six? The maitre d' comes in. It'll be six. The saloon maitre d'. The saloon maitre d'. There was multiple tables. Of course you can ask. Saloon Maiderding. The Saloon Maiderding. There was multiple tables that needed to be bussed

and now yours is ready. So we have an awkward lunch with Malkior. Yeah, six deer sausages, please. And we're like, all right, gotta go. And we leave. Oh, Malkior,

did you think of anything? I thought of many things, but in relation to... To the question I asked. Oh, to the question you asked. Silly dilly. No, Varna, even though we were... Would you say your best friends? Yes, in a way.

We were very close, but Varna kept things from me. His work in particular, I always assumed it was the work, but as time has passed and I haven't seen him, I wondered if perhaps there were other secrets. Did he work for anyone in particular

that you could remember? A name? He answered to the elders in Seven Arches. I don't remember. There were many names. Did we ever ask him if he worked for Bolan?

I can't remember. I don't think he knew Bolan. I think we did talk to him. He did. Okay, he didn't know Bolan. Right? He was not a guard. I think we asked if he was

not a guard. I think we did. I couldn't remember. Okay. Alright, should we get to the house? We must go. Alright, maybe we can do lunch next time. Tomorrow, you mean? Again?

We just did. Oh, that was the whole lunch? Yes. Wow, you weren't kidding. You could have ordered more than a salad. This was the lunch. This was the lunch. Can we do separate checks, please? All right. Well, we'll talk tomorrow.

If you think of anything. I'm going to walk around town and just see if anyone knows anything. Don't disappear. Okay. Just joking. All right. So you want to go to Henry Bucket's house.

Yes. Yeah. Okay. So you go. Abelina takes you. Henry is right up here. His parents lived in this house with him until they passed at an old age. And so old Henry grew up in this home, and I think his parents suffered from the same maladies that he did. As I said, he was a collector and so the house is a bit unkempt. Honestly, it's been an item the council

and I have been discussing for a while what to do with the house and frankly we've talked about just raising it because it would be more work to clean than it would to just start over but anyways here we are and she takes the key out and she opens the door and like as she pushes the door open she's just pushing

like collected items everywhere he's a hoarder and there's a stink in there of bodily fluids. It's dark and she's like, have at it. I'm going to go around to the

back and open up the back door. Maybe this crosswind will make this scent, but you should be careful. There could be illnesses in here. Just be careful. I'm going to go with you to the back door. Sure.

Come on. And she goes around to the back. We'll follow the two of you. Talitha's going to fashion like she's going to rip a piece of fabric from an old shirt or something and make a mask to help deal with the smell. Can anyone detect magic?

Yeah, Brother Ramius. Can you do it once you're in? Can you do a detect magic for us? You go around back and she pushes a gate. Same thing. There's so much shit in the gate. It looks like a junkyard back there. And she's like, oh, buckets.

And goes to the back door, opens it. Same thing. Pushes the door open. Horrible stench. She's like, if there's anything I can help you with. I should say, you were the one that asked. I do have an uneasy feeling, but who doesn't? I know it's rather unpleasant in there,

but could you accompany us? I suppose I could. I should do this anyways. Normally I'd have one of our workers do it and report back to the council, but... Sure, and she just kind of holds her shirt up over her nose. That's... Were you aware of Henry living like this?

Everyone was sort of aware. Henry would come out from time to time and get some... That is shit. That is a very horrible smell. Henry would come to the saloon and get some drinks from time to time, but he kept

to himself and would sometimes just rave on and on about stuff, and people just left him alone, and eventually he'd come home. We assumed the worst, but it's worse than we ever thought. There is an illness here. It's evident. Yeah, well, it's crazy to think this could be something passed down from parent to child. I don't know. I think that it could be something passed down from parent to child. I don't know. I think that it could be related, though, to what we're... And then we'll meet up with the rest of you kind of in the middle of the house.

Your perception? He'll start with a detect magic. Yeah, let's do that first. You detect magic and you let it linger for a while. And you do detect some magic coming from a cupboard in the kitchen area. Okay. Yes, Talitha, there's something over here. And he will walk toward the cupboard.

You open it up, and you find four elixirs of life. Nice. Two lesser. Major. Major, wow. Nice. True? Do you say true?

Two lesser, two moderate. Guys. Whoa. Oh, wait, moderate. Is moderate like 5d true? Two lesser, two moderate. Guys. Whoa. Oh, wait. Moderate. Is moderate like 5d8 or something? 5d6. 5d6 plus 12.

That is wild. All right. So, sorry. Two lesser, two moderate. Two lesser, two moderate. Cool. All right. That's huge.

I'll take a lesser. Maybe you guys take the moderates. Sure. I'll happily take a moderate. Yeah. I'll take a mod. And you take a lesser? I'll take a lesser.

You can heal yourself. Well, you know what? Why don't you just give him to me, or at least... Oh, boy. Because, look, at the end of the day... Right? Let's think about it. If I recall, my last character died because nobody healed me.

Yeah. I'm like a frontline fighter now. I know, which means you should spend more time fighting and less time pulling shit out of your... What are you going to do? Throw it at me? Well, I can give it to you. You know what I mean? If you're down.

You can also get it off your belt. Unless I'm ranged. Do you want to take the moderate? Take the moderate then. I don't know. I'm just trying to think. I don't know either. Take the moderate and joke and think about it later.

Okay. I'll have it for now. Okay. All right. Can I just do a perception around the house, see if I see anything interesting? I'd like to do one as well. Okay. Same.

Same. Oh! Natural 20! Oh! I'm back, baby! 15. 15. It's 24.

All right, so it is a disaster in here. There's stuff everywhere. There are little pathways, though, in the trash so that he could get around. You see that there are very deliberate pathways. You know, there's like his chair that had everything. There was a place to go to the bathroom. There was a place to like hold food. I mean, it's just magazines, whatever they are.

The Pathfinder equivalent, the Galarian equivalent of magazines, like books. Piles of Pathfinder journals. Piles of like APs. APs got like all first edition APs. He was a GM. A GM with no players. Do you know how much knowledge you would have if you were living in Galarian and you had all the APs? Farmer's almanac from every year.

You'd be like the most powerful man what i'm trying to say is not just books they're like pamphlets and like things that you would be like you'd walk into an inn and he collected the like everything coupons coupons yeah uh free guitar lesson thing um and uh so that's what uhsta and Talitha notice. But Zephyr, maybe you weren't disassociating so much while they were examining the bird because you see a pattern in this nonsense. A pattern not only on the floor, but a pattern in the way things are stacked and moved. You know, it's ultimately indiscernible. You'd think you'd have to spend a lot of time to try and figure it out.

But if anything, the sort of prevailing thing I want you to think of is like this person was trying to figure out something or being led to something as well. Interesting. And disappeared. So found it? Question mark? It's like close Encounters. Yeah. Yeah, I was thinking of Close Encounters a couple days ago in relation to this.

Yeah. Building the devil's tower with mashed potatoes and everything. Yeah, it's like they came to us to model. Describe it. Yeah. Yeah. That obsession. Mm-hmm.

That unshakable kind of thought. But there's no connection. Like, this is what drives me nuts about this stuff. You say there's a pattern. What's the pattern? We don't know what the pattern is. It feels like it's like... Deliberate.

Well, deliberate, but also like the insanity of these people of maybe it's not a pattern that makes any sense. But then how do you know it's a pattern? You can see it. Does it relate to something? The way that things are placed, I guess. It's kind of like, well, why is the hoarder placing things in this particular way? It seems like intentional.

Yeah. A stack of... Well, I'm not really asking you. I'm asking you. Like, if the pattern, is it related to the diorama at all? He doesn't know the answer to this question. Sorry for trying. I think there's no answer.

What I'm saying is, like, I get the concept. What I'm saying is like, how does Zephyr see a pattern that is in any way relevant to what we're doing? So next, go ahead. I feel like you guys are all like looking around the room and I'm like looking at it as a whole maybe. Like that's how I imagine it playing out. You see certain things connect. If next to his armchair is a stack of galarian magazines it's very deliberate a little mini commode very deliberate but then there's things that are stacked on top of each

other that don't make any sense there's no reason whereas some parts of the apartment like there's like uh sort of metal stuff all in one area this there's things stacked on top of each other that that are unsafe and you realize that there's there they're there. There's a reason for this. So he was seeking the same sort of thing that, um, the wife was, but there's no information from this. Uh,

no, because it doesn't say anything about like the place that we're going. It, it doesn't, it doesn't match up to the bird at all. And then in the shapes or Maybelline's didn't match up to the bird either. Yeah. You see very,

very similar discoveries that Maybelline found. But nothing in common. Some in common, but like, you already have the final piece of the puzzle in the bird, you hope. Yeah. I feel like this is the horror movie where everybody's drawing like black spiral circles, and it's like, that means nothing but the fact that everybody who

has experienced this is doing it. You know what it's kind of like is, it made me think of the movie Prisoners. Where it's like he keeps drawing the maze. Like every one of these people that was involved in this thing, like they keep drawing the maze pattern. Like Westworld. Sure.

Like that show Prison Break, when he tattooed it on his back. I don't see movies, but I see TV. Yeah, the maze in Westworld. So I think maybe that's... You haven't seen any of the movies we asked if you've seen Westworld's a great show I'm not saying it's not but I

it's just like a lot of time I know and your big complaint is the time I know it's different it's different also Westworld

is not a great show the first season's good no it isn't I really liked it you didn't like it I liked it it's not good I like that actress

I did not watch season 3 but I liked I didn't watch season 3 I liked 1 and anyway do you think this is all we can get should we head out to the woods yeah yeah I liked it. It's not good. I like that actress. I did not watch season three, but I liked it. I didn't watch season three. I liked one. Anyway, do you think this is all we can get? Should we head out to the woods? Yeah.

Yeah. All right, so you're walking back. You see Malkior, and you guys duck down an alley so you can avoid him. Just fuck him. I've never seen Sidney dislike an NPC so much. You all hate him. It's not just me. He doesn't really dislike me.

Evelina Choi wishes you luck. And do you tell her what your plan is? So what are you up to now? Still searching for your pockets. They're right here. Buckets. Your pockets of reality shifting. I should warn you, many people have searched for those pockets.

And those are the type of people that don't come back, so just... Is that a threat? I'm kidding. Just Josh and you, Councilwoman. You seem like kind enough people. Just take care of yourselves. With any luck, you'll never see us again. That is my hope.

Well, I... You are to me what M. That is my hope. You are to me what Mouthgeor is to you. Oh, really? Wow. Did you feel that way before we took you into the shithouse? Yeah, making me do that

has given me a different opinion of you. All right, you leave her and you go into the woods around, you want to get there around 830, 845? Eight.

Make sure we're there. Eight. Let's say eight if we get there by 815, that's okay. You also said earlier you want to get there around 830, 845? Eight. Make sure we're there. Eight. Let's say eight. If we get there by 815, that's okay. You also said earlier you wanted to check it out during the day. Yes. I'll say that you have that time to do so.

You go out there and there is nothing there. Just woods. Just woods. No clearing. Maybe there's a hint of a clearing and you're like, well, hopefully this is it. But you don't, there's nothing. I'd like to do a survival check. Yeah. like, well, hopefully this is it. But you don't. I'd like to do a survival check.

Yeah. Just for any tracks or anything like that. And I'll do perception. I'll do nature. 15. Perception? Yeah. 20.

Dirty 20. Dirty 20 survival? Survival. Well, the natural one on nature. You guys turn around. Asta is not there. She could not follow you into the woods. I got stuck in a belly. Asta is standing in front of a fallen log, just unable to get around it.

Don't know what to do. You're trying to look for patterns that aren't there. Zephyr and Talitha, you do see some tracks, but they look like animal tracks. Nothing really jumps out. But the Ramius, you're really digging into survival, not just basic what you see with your eyes. And you do see

a pattern. You see trees. Shoe prints. That's meaningful. You see shoe prints. Okay, so they're a track. Going every which way. Off from the clearing. Like, oh! Maybe they're back. Look at this, Talitha.

There's no tracks in, but these tracks leading out. Perhaps someone came through from the other side here, right here. How French fresh are they? They are not very French. How French are they? It's American food if I've ever seen one. Are they boots or shoes as opposed to barefoot? Cloven hoofs. Boots.

Boots. Heavy, a heavier person or a smaller person? Were they running or were they walking? They were walking and it's hard to tell their weight. And it's not like approaching and then disappearing. It's appearing. It like comes into this clearing and then leaves the clearing. Oh, so we see them.

Yeah, and if you follow for a little bit, it goes like into the woods and then just stops. All right. Okay. It's rained, but they just stop. How fresh are they? A couple weeks. Less than a month. Less than a month.

Okay. So it's a roll of trash. So let's set up and wait in the clear, the pseudo clearing until night. Until night. Okay. You come back at nighttime. Nighttime.

Let's just hang out. Can we just hang out? Yeah. Should we tailgate? Yeah. Yeah. Bring a couple just hang out. Can we just hang out? Yeah. Should we tailgate? Yeah. Yeah. Bring a couple brewskis. A couple folding chairs.

I brought a bunch of deer sausages. Oh! Come on. Fuckles, you genius, you. Can we wrestle while we wait? Yeah, all right. I dump the sausages. Oh!

Threw them all on the ground. Okay. Guys are eating deer sausage and wrestling for a few hours. It's a real tailgate. I'm going to pull Asta aside at one ground. Okay. Guys are eating deer sausage and wrestling for a few hours. It's a real team game. I'm going to pull Asta aside at one point. Okay. Also, Asta has been

in her kitsune form like all day. Okay. While they're wrestling or eating deer sausages. Okay, Buckles. Come on, let's go. Okay.

And you're beating the shit out of me. Like I do, I have to. I'm wrestling with you nice where it's like, it's technical, but like we're not

like actually hurting each other. So it's like Boromir. This is not for you. It's for everyone else. Like Boromir sparring with the hobbits. And by everyone else, you mean everyone else. Everyone else. In this room and watching on YouTube.

Remember? I did see all those movies. Or listening on the podcast. So you remember Boromir sparring with the hobbits? I don't remember. All right. So you guys do that. You pull Asta aside. Asta in her kitsune form.

Asta, may I have a word? Of course. I have a request of you. You are not what you seem. You would say that's a fair assessment. Sure, I've heard that many times, as I'm sure you have as well. Now, this is what I wanted to talk about.

Let's sit. Oh, okay. And she sits cross-legged on the ground. Just on the dirt? Mm-hmm. All right. Come sit. Makes a little neat spot with her coat.

You may know this about me, may not. I am not what I seem either. Are you familiar with hags? You've encountered one in your travels. Asta squints her eyes no but I've heard of them powerful casters

and their children are arrived at in an unsavory fashion let's say but for those of us who are a child of a hag, there is a certain pull.

I feel it. I felt it getting stronger as we come out here. I've begun to question. I've approached my life with this knowledge and tried with an intense focus on rationality to complicate or mitigate that, but I feel it now. With this knowledge and... Tried with an intense focus on rationality to... Complicate or mitigate that, but... I feel it now.

I felt it since... Since the missing moment, really, but then when we encountered Bolan... I did something. I'm not sure. My request of you is this. Keep an eye on me. If I start to act in such a way that would hurt our friends,

betray the party, your blade, you know how to use it? Sometimes. As we've seen. Yep. Or not. It's how they say, a roll of the dice, Sometimes, as we've seen. Yep. Or not.

It's how they say, a roll of the dice, if I can be of help. But I understand. You understand what I'm asking you? Of course. Do not wish that to be my destiny. And I am choosing. I will not go down the path of evil. I understand.

It's a difficult decision to make for yourself. You are very brave. I cannot ask the others. It would be... But you are... Well, there is safety in not knowing someone. They don't know then. I have not told them. Well, perhaps we can both keep secrets for one another.

Do you have the ability to create a potion of disguise? I have never done it. I'm out. I had a few left. And I can no longer... I can no longer look human. I'm stuck as this. Not that it matters, I guess. Everyone knows, but...

Sometimes it's good to be unknown. I understand. Allow me some time to study. survey my chemical materials and see what I might do. I appreciate that. Of course. And this isn't to say that I do not want to be who I am. I love who I am. It's for others.

Those who judge. You understand? I understand. Those who judge. You understand? I understand. This is nice. Yes, it is nice to discuss one's end, isn't it? Well, hopefully it won't come to that. Hopefully. I'm gonna go wrestle.

Okay. I'm gonna stand up. Okay. And you gonna stand up. Okay. And you wait in the clearing, having conversations about worst-case scenarios, wrestling, eating sausage, wondering if this is all just a wild goose chase.

9 p.m. comes. And nothing happens. You wait with bated breath, like... But we need to walk the path, right? You wait for, like, Y2K. Just nothing. Brother Ramius smashes his head into a tree. Perhaps the hands were off.

Just wait. Asta says, I know one. I know two. I know three. Now it's ten past nine. Around quarter past nine, I imagine there's this feeling of like,

what the fuck are we doing out here? There's Gorgas. There's other beasts. We should go back. And all of a sudden, you hear this humming sound. You look around the clearing and don't see anything.

But off in the direction of where those footprints went, you see the air over there look ripped open like a curtain. It's like a curtain

that's been torn wide and all crumpled at the edges. And through the tear, you can see on the other side what looks like another forest. A twilight. It's black trees as thin as the cardstock cutouts in a pop-up book. as thin as the cardstock cutouts in a pop-up book. Everything beyond the tear looks completely drained of color, just painted in, like, shades of shadow.

And from the point where this tear touches the ground, you see a footpath winding beyond into this scene. What do you do? Well, we've all passed through one kind of portal. Shall we? Let's go.

Yeah. Are there ramius? He's just frozen in fear. Let's go. Yeah. Are there rameons? He's just frozen in fear. He's terrified. Bleeding from where he banged his head. Perhaps that was a bit hasty. A lot of leaf. Ten minutes seemed like a long.

Fifteen minutes. An eternity. In eternity. He's looking through at that land and... is... sure that... that it's very real that he would never come back. He would go through there and die. And that's all he can think about.

But he sort of shakes out of it. Well, this is what we came for. We pledged to do. We don't know how long it'll be open. If we don't go, we won what we came for. What we pledged to do. We don't know how long it'll be open. If we don't go, we won't know. No, we must. Buggles, are you okay? Um, yes, I suppose.

Uh, you're all coming too, yes? Of course. It's just you. He grabs Zephyr's hand. Yeah. It's just you, Ephraim. See you there, Buggles. Run!

Wait, no! Report back. Brother boy. Brother Ramius, please. I think we all have to go. Of course. Just stay close, Buggles. All of us, stay close.

And Seletha will, can I do a, can I investigate the tear? I'll just kind of like walk up to it? Walk up to it and look behind it. You look behind it and you just see the forest that you're in. There's no back to it. 16 perception. You look through and now that you're closer, everything, while devoid of color

you can see color within but it's just so muted and dull but there is a faint color you see mountains in the distance and other like ruins and just this little pathway

that does not exist in your world just right where this tear touches the ground. Does it, apart from the lack of color, does it otherwise look geographically like the forest we're in? Or like a completely different forest? A completely different world. All right. Shall we?

Who steps through first? T'Litha will. Second? I'll go second. I'm with you. I'll go second. I'm with you. I'll go next. Shove Brother Ramius in and then run away. Brother Ramius looks back at the town in the distance.

One last look. Looks at the footsteps that walked through before. And then watches all of them pass through. Just keep up guide us and steps through you step through last

and all of you turn back and see now that you're in this place a new tear in this place that looks back on the world you were just in. And as Brother Ramius steps through and turns to look as well, you watch as it just shimmers, fades, and disappears. And we'll see you next week. Here we go.

How do you get back? Nobody can get back yet. We're playing the game. This is our new life in the black and white forest. Yeah. That's scary. The house will be nice. I'll be servants of Nighthold forever.

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