Latest / Dad’s Bedtime Stories / The Crystal Mines and the Super Slimes - Wizard Craft 3.0 #16 - A Video Game Bedtime Story

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The Crystal Mines and the Super Slimes - Wizard Craft 3.0 #16 - A Video Game Bedtime Story · Dad’s Bedtime Stories

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Hello friends from across the nation and around the world.
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: I'm Martin, and you are listening to Dad's Bedtime Stories.
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: And tonight, we're headed back into the world of Wizardcraft for, uh, well,
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: this suggestion.
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: Hi, Martin.
• 0:23
  Speaker 3: I'm Eleanor, and I would like a WizzyCraft 3.0 story
• 0:27
  Speaker 3: idea where you get a new mine area where all
• 0:32
  Speaker 3: types of crystals are, and each one has a different
• 0:36
  Speaker 3: power it gives you, and there's slimes involved, but instead
• 0:41
  Speaker 3: of fighting you, they help you. And if you find
• 0:44
  Speaker 3: a girl... called Eleanor made them and she got lost
• 0:50
  Speaker 3: in the mines at a young age and survived ever
• 0:53
  Speaker 3: since then and you bring take her back to the
• 0:57
  Speaker 3: village with you and she's great help with the village
• 1:01
  Speaker 3: she even named it she calls it Royal Hillsville and
• 1:07
  Speaker 3: you agree I love your podcast.
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: Thank you for the awesome suggestion, Eleanor. Oh, and speaking
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: of wizard craft, since we're doing that tonight, I completely forgot,
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: because I hadn't checked my comments in a while, but
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: I am told that Willa was the original person who
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: suggested the No World. So shout out to Willa. Thank
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: you for coming up with that idea. I know I'm
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: a couple episodes late figuring it out. But again, I
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: just forgot to check the comments, so I'm sorry. If
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: you like the podcast, don't forget to rate it and
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: review it wherever it is you're listening. If you want
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: to support us, you can do that on Patreon, or by,
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: you know, purchasing one of the products we have available,
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: including the brand new Cards of Power card game. Including
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: Cards of Power cards. It's available through print-on-demand from Game Crafter.
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: It does take quite a while to get the game,
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: so if you're hoping to have it any time in
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: the near future, you might want to think about doing
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: it soon. Mine's not coming until November 3rd, for example,
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: and I ordered it earlier in September. A couple important
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: notes on the game. Number one, we did use AI
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: to do the artwork, because we didn't have a resident artist,
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: but I think it turned out pretty cool. And number two,
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: it's not made for super little kids because there are
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: little pieces and stuff like that in it as well
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: as cards, you know, just to make the game work.
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: So just keep that in mind if you're deciding to
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: buy it or not, parents. I have just added all
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: the links to dadsbedtimestories.com so you have an easy way
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: to find them and link to GameCrafter. And while I
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: was at it, I put all of my books up there,
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: including the latest one, my first graphic novel attempt, Kid Spaceship,
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: which is the first ten chapters of my spaceship book.
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: But enough about me. I think it's time to move
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: on to the story, after a possible word from a
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: possible sponsor, of course. Time to close your eyes. Get
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: as comfy as you can in that bed and imagine
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: yourself doing what the kid in the story does. You
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: wake up to a familiar set of words floating in
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: front of your eyes. Wake up? You mentally select yes
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: and the world slowly forms around you. You're lying in
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: your bed inside your house in the still somehow. unnamed
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: mountain village. Beside the bed, your emerald cat golem is
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: curled up in a little green ball. Outside, you hear
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: the familiar sounds of the village waking up. Golems marching
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: through the streets, hammers striking wood, people talking, and somewhere
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: in the distance, a whoosh sound as Something rattles against
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: your window. That can't be good, you say. But before
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: you can investigate, the all-knowing voice speaks. Congratulations! Character progress
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: summary available. Current player level. Level 10. Unused skill points. 1.
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: Current skills unlocked. Lockpicking. Level 3. Ninjutsu combat. Level 2.
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: Arcane Engineer. Level 3. Cyborg. Animal Control Skill. Level 3.
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: Dominance Breaker. Current Wizard Abilities. Advanced Wizard. Current Spells Unlocked.
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: Stone Golem. Copper Golem. Iron Golem. Golden Golem. Diamond Golem.
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: Laser Golem. Emerald Cad Golem, Netherite Golem, Cloud Golem, Fire Magic,
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: Level 4, Telekinesis, Level 3, Earth Magic, Level 2, Lightning Magic,
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: Level 2, Animal Control, Level 2, Current Equipment, Iron Sword,
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: Sword of Stolen Skills, Flying Diamond Golem Mech Suit. Upgraded
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: Armored Car. Current Mounts. Giant Hawk. Young Void Dragon. Flying Nimbus.
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: Current Active Settlement. Unnamed Mountain Village. Current Known Enemy. Gary
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: the Golem King. The screen flashes again and the voice
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: appears again. Congratulations! Your continued magical development, exploration, and the
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: growth of your settlement have increased your level. You have
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: reached level 11. New skill point awarded. You now have
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: two unused skill points. Two, you say? For a moment
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: you consider spending them, but then you remember the dinosaur
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: and all those other times it became way more useful
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: to keep them. You dismiss the menu, deciding to leave
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: them for a time you actually need them. Come on,
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: you say to your emerald cat golem. It opens its eyes. Yes, master.
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: The cat stretches and follows you outside. Immediately, whoosh! A
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: blast of wind tears through the street. The hat flies
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: past your face. My hat! Someone yells. A villager runs past,
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: chasing it. You turn toward the town square. Your cloud
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: golem is floating happily above several buildings, spinning slowly in
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: the air. Another gust blows through. A sheet flies off
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: a clothesline. Someone carrying a basket of bread grabs it
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: with both hands before it can tip over. You head
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: toward the town hall. Gus is standing outside. His hair
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: is blown almost completely to one side. Good morning, you say.
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: Gus stares at you. Is it? Another gust blows past.
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: Gus's coat flaps wildly. You look up at the cloud golem. Ah, yes,
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: Gus says.
• 8:25
  Speaker 3: Ah, yes.
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: Has he been doing that all morning? Most of the morning.
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: Yesterday as well, actually. The baker opened his door approximately
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: twenty minutes ago and covered half of the street in flour.
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: You try not to laugh. Apparently, one of the villagers
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: has chased the same hat across town three times now.
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: The man from before runs past again. Four times, he yells. Okay,
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: I'll deal with it. You mentally call your cloud golem.
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: A moment later, it floats down in front of you.
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: What are your orders? Could you maybe stop making giant
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: gusts of wind unless somebody specifically asks you to? The
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: cloud golem pauses. Yes. Great. I believed the wind was pleasant.
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: It probably is when you're made of clouds, but not
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: to the other people. The golem thinks about this for
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: a minute. Understood. Then it floats away. Gus smooths his
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: hair back into place. Thank you? No problem. He gestures
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: toward the town hall. Now, unfortunately, here is... weather conditions
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: are not our only concern. You follow him inside. J.D.
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: is already sitting at the large table. So, you say, Gary?
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: Not specifically, Gus answers. But we would be foolish to
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: assume the Golem King has abandoned his ambitions simply because
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: we defeated him once. I agree. You mentioned discovering additional
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: islands in the sky yesterday. Yeah, there's one that I
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: got trapped on, plus that giant floating castle. There could
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: definitely be more, and, well, come to think of it,
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: even more stuff in that giant floating castle. Perhaps, Gus says,
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: and I think they are worth exploring. He pauses. Eventually. Eventually? Well, yes.
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: You see, I believe something considerably closer to home has
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: been ignored for far too long. JD smiles. The mines.
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: You look at him. The mines. The mines. Gus nods.
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: You explored the diamond level. You found the dungeon realm portal.
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: You fell into that strange netherite cavern, but we still
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: haven't properly explored the mine level below diamond. And frankly,
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: none of the workers are going to go down there
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: without you. You think about it. He's right. Every major
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: level of the mine has produced something useful. Copper, iron, gold, diamond, spells, golems, weapons,
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: and probably a whole bunch of problems. All right, you say. JD?
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: Already ready. The two of you go and collect your
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: mech suits, pulling them into your inventories for now. No
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: point walking around in giant mechanical bodies through narrow tunnels
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: if you don't have to. The two of you make
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: your way up the winding stairs at the back of
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: the village and enter the mine. You take the elevator down,
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: through the copper levels, the iron levels, the gold levels,
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: all the way to the last level of diamond. Finally...
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: The elevator doors open onto the lowest level you've officially unlocked.
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: You step into the enormous diamond cavern. The old dungeon
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: realm portal still swirls on one side. The staircase leading
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: deeper into the mountain waits on the other. Alright, let's
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: see what's next. You and JD descend. At first, the
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: walls are ordinary dark stone, but soon something begins to glow. Blue.
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: A little further down, red, then green, purple, white. By
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: the time you reach the bottom, you're surrounded by light. Wow,
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: JD says. The staircase opens into a gigantic cavern unlike
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: anything you've seen in the mines before. Massive crystals grow
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: from the floor. Others hang from the ceiling like glowing icicles.
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: Some are taller than buildings. Crystal bridges stretch over deep openings.
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: Whole clusters of tiny crystals cover the walls like glowing flowers.
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: Red crystals radiate heat. Blue ones drip tiny streams of water.
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: Green crystals have vines and moss growing around them. White
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: crystals seem to have little spirals of air constantly moving
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: around their surfaces. This might be the coolest level yet,
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: JD says. I was thinking the same thing. Then something
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: moves behind a crystal. You summon your sword. A blob
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: slides into view. A slime. But unlike the copper, iron, gold,
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: and diamond slimes you've encountered before, this one is bright
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: blue and almost completely transparent. Of course. Another one appears.
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: A red one. Then a green one, a brown one,
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: a white one. A purple one. Soon, dozens of differently
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: colored slimes are slowly moving out from behind the crystals.
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: JD forms a fireball in his hand. Same plan as always?
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: Same plan as always, you respond. The blue slime attacks first.
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: It opens its mouth, and a blast of water shoots
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: towards you with enough force to knock you backward. Water slime.
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: The red one launches itself into the air. Its entire
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: body catches fire. Fire slime. You roll aside as it
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: crashes into the ground. A brown slime hardens into something
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: that looks almost like rock and then charges at JD.
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: He barely jumps aside in time. Earth slime. Do we
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: really have to yell all of their names? You ask. No,
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: but it helps. A white slime compresses its body and
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: releases a blast of wind that sends both of you
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: sliding across the crystal floor. Air slime, you mutter. See,
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: you're doing it too. The battle explodes around you. You
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: blast the fire slime backward with water pulled from one
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: of the blue crystals using telekinesis. The water slime lunges.
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: You answer with lightning. There's a crack and electricity flashes
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: through its transparent body. Then, pop, the slime disappears. A
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: green slime slams itself against the ground. Vines explode from
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: cracks in the cavern floor and wrap around your legs.
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: Nature slime. You slice through the vines with your sword.
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: Immediately pulling it from your inventory, JD sends a fireball
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: into the green slime and, pop, it disappears. You turn
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: just in time to see three crystal slimes launching sharp
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: purple crystal spikes through the air. You raise a telekinetic shield.
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: The spikes freeze inches from your face. Okay, that's new.
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: You reverse the force and the crystal shards shoot backward.
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: The slimes dodge in different directions. The air slime attacks again.
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: You get blown halfway across the cavern. Enough. You gather
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: mana in both hands. Fire blooms between your palms. But
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: instead of forming an ordinary fireball, you slam the flame
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: into the ground. Inferno. Fire spreads across the stone, a
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: huge wall of heat rises in front of you, and
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: the air slimes scatter. The nature slimes retreat from the flames.
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: JD blasts a crystal slime with lightning. You use earth
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: magic to launch a pillar beneath another and send it
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: slamming into the ceiling of the cavern, instantly causing it
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: to despawn.
• 18:27
  Speaker 3: Then.
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: Your shoulder suddenly gets hit by a blast of water,
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: causing you to spin around. Alright, blue guy. You grab
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: the slime with telekinesis. It floats helplessly in front of you.
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: You pull back your sword, and then... You freeze.
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: JD freezes.
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: The slime continues floating in the air and, well, crying.
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: You slowly lower your sword and look at JD. JD
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: looks at you. Is... is it crying? I think the
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: slime is crying. The slime sniffles. You.
• 19:21
  Speaker 3: you scared me.
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: You stare at it. then a JD, then back at
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: the slime. You can talk? Of course I can talk.
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: The slime's body jiggles as it cries. You came into
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: our home and you started exploding everybody. You release your telekinesis.
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: The slime drops gently onto the ground. Oh, JD looks
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: around at all of the floating loot. Ah, yeah. You
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: suddenly feel considerably less heroic. Ah, you put your sword away. Sorry,
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: I didn't know you were sentient or whatever. We just
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: kind of thought you were attacking us. Every slime we've
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: ever encountered in these mines has immediately tried to destroy us.
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: We were just trying to protect ourselves. Yeah, you glance
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: at JD. That makes sense. We're nice slimes. I'm starting
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: to gather that. The slime looks toward the pile of
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: loot left behind by the slimes you've already defeated. You wince. And, uh,
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: I'm really sorry about your friends. The slime stops crying. Oh, them? Yeah,
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: that's no problem. You blink. No problem? Problem? They've probably
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: already respawned at their place of creation. The slime turns.
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: You follow its gaze. Several familiar slimes are slowly approaching
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: from behind a giant green crystal, including the water slime
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: that you recently electrocuted, the nature slime JD exploded, and
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: the crystal slime you launched into the ceiling. Every single
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: one of them is staring at you, and none of
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: them look particularly impressed. The water slime narrows its eyes.
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: You raise one hand. I, sorry about the, uh, despotting thing.
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: It makes an angry bubbling sound. JD leans toward you.
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: I don't think they accepted the apology. Yeah, I'm Getting
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: that impression, you respond. The crying slime brightens. Come on,
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: you should meet our mother. You look at JD. Their mother?
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: The slime begins bouncing deeper into the crystal cavern. Her
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: name is Eleanor. You and JD follow, and as you
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: pass the group of recently respawned slimes, Every single one
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: turns to keep staring at you. You clear your throat. Again, very,
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: very sorry. The fire slime bursts into flames. You walk
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: a little faster. The little blue slime bounces ahead of
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: you through the crystal cavern. You and JD follow, still
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: getting occasional suspicious looks from the slimes you recently, uh, well,
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: accidentally exploded. Sort of accidentally anyways. The further you travel,
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: the stranger the cavern becomes. The crystals stop looking random
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: and start looking organized. Green crystals grow in perfect rows
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: beside little gardens. Blue crystals drip water into stone channels.
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: Red crystals glow beneath cooking pots. White crystals spin slowly
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: above the ground, pushing air through the cavern like little
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: magical fans. And everywhere, slimes are working, rather than just
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: sliming themselves around. One green slime carries a basket of vegetables.
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: A purple crystal slime rolls past with several glowing shards
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: balanced on top of its head. A water slime fills
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: a stone pool by spraying water into it. JD looks around. Okay,
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: this is actually pretty amazing. Yeah. The blue slime turns around.
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: This way. You follow it around a massive crystal column
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: and then you see the settlement. A whole little village
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: has been carved and grown into the crystal cavern. Buildings
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: made from clear and colored crystals surround a wide central area.
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: Crystal lamps glow everywhere. Gardens fill the spaces between the houses.
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: Little bridges cross streams of perfectly clear water. And at
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: the center stands something that looks like a small palace
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: made almost entirely out of crystal. Whoa, you say? A
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: woman steps out through the entrance. Several slimes gather around
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: her feet. The blue slime bounces excitedly toward her. Mother! Mother!
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: We found people! The woman looks at you, then at JD,
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: then at the group of angry-looking slimes following behind you.
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: Her eyebrow rises.
• 25:26
  Speaker 3: I see.
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: You point awkwardly behind yourself. So, there was a misunderstanding.
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: The water slime makes an annoyed bubbling sound. I gather that.
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: I'm really sorry. Every slime we've ever encountered in the
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: mines before has just sort of attacked us and we
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: thought they were doing the same thing. The woman smiles.
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: No permanent harm done. You glance at the respawned slimes. Apparently.
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: They respawn here, she explains. This is the place of creation.
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: As long as the crystal cores remain intact, they'll eventually return.
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: JD looks relieved. Well, that's good. One of the fire
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: slimes bursts into flames while glaring at him. Although I
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: don't think they've forgiven us yet. Fair enough. The woman
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: extends a hand. My name is Eleanor. You shake it.
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: You introduce yourself and JD. So you created all of this?
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: Most of it. She looks around the cavern. The slimes helped,
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: of course. How did you even end up down here?
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: Eleanor pauses. I fell into the mines when I was
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: very young. You stare at her. Like fell down the mine? Unfortunately,
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: nobody came looking for you? They did, at least I
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: assume they did, but The tunnels had collapsed behind me.
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: At first, I thought I wasn't going to live down here.
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: Didn't think I'd survive long. She places her hand against
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: the crystal. But then I discovered what these crystals could do.
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: The green crystal begins glowing brighter. A nearby plant suddenly
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: grows several inches. JD's eyes widened. Nature magic? Something like that.
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: Eleanor pulls a small crystal from a pouch. These crystals
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: don't work quite like normal spellcasting. You can push mana
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: through them and produce a very specific effect. She holds
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: up the green crystal. Nature crystals encourage growth. Then she
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: points to the blue one. Water crystals create or manipulate water.
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: A red one. Fire crystals create heat. White crystals create air.
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: Brown crystals control the earth. Then she gestures toward a
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: transparent crystal growing from the wall. And those can store
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: mana or back up your own. You walk toward it.
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: Your arcane engineer skill seems to almost activate on its own. Suddenly,
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: you can see the thing differently. Energy moves through it.
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: Through tiny little magical pathways. A battery. These are like
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: power cells. Eleanor looks at you. Exactly. JD looks impressed. Nope.
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: figured all this out by yourself? I had a lot
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: of time, Eleanor smiles. At first, I used the nature
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: crystals to grow food. Then, I learned to combine water
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: crystals with channels like these. She points toward the small
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: streams running through the settlement. Eventually, I learn that crystals
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: could be encouraged to grow into certain shapes. She touches
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: the wall of one of the houses. The crystal's surface
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: shifts slightly, so I built a home. You look toward
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: the crystal palace. A pretty nice one. It took some time,
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: but I didn't have much else to do. A slime
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: bounces past, and then I got lonely. I discovered that
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: if I push mana through certain crystals while adding a
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: tiny amount of my own life force, something happened. She
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: reaches down and pats the blue slime. The crystal energy
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: mixed with the slime materials naturally present in the caves.
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: You mean, you created slimes? Yes. The blue slime grins.
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: Mother made us all. Well, the first one was an accident,
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: Eleanor says. But after that, I learned how to do
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: it intentionally. She gestures around. Different crystals create different kinds
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: of slimes. A fire slime bounces toward her. Fire crystals
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: produce fire slimes. Green ones nature, and, well, you probably
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: get the picture. The more you look around, the more
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: impressed you become. Eleanor hasn't just survived, she's built an
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: entire little world. Then you notice something familiar. A purple crystal.
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: Not exactly the same as the one in the mysterious
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: machine beneath the mountains, but close. Wait, you point. What's
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: that one? Eleanor looks toward it. A portal crystal. You stop.
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: Portal crystal? Yes, very rare, I'm told, but I've found
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: a bunch of them. Your mind immediately jumps back to
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: the day before. We found a machine inside the mountain,
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: and it had something like that in it. Eleanor looks interested.
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: What kind of machine? It was like a block with
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: a button, and one of those crystals was in it.
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: When I pressed it, it teleported me into the sky.
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: JD stares at you. You still haven't explained that entire story,
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: by the way. Oh, yeah, later. Eleanor walks closer. A
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: machine using a portal crystal could certainly do that. Did
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: you build it? No. Do you know who did? No.
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: She examines the crystal thoughtfully. But whoever built a stable
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: teleportation device using one of these... Must understand crystals far
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: better than I do. You look at JD. Great, another mystery.
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: At least this one isn't trying to eat us, JD says. Yet,
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: you reply. You look back at Eleanor. You know, you
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: don't have to stay down here anymore. The elevator works now,
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: the mine levels above this have been cleared. Eleanor says
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: nothing for a moment. You could come back to the village.
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: The village? The one built into the mountain. Her eyes widen.
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: There's still a village there? More than still, we rebuilt it.
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: Eleanor slowly smiles. I haven't seen Royal Hill in years.
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: You blink. Royal Hill? Royal Hill Village. JD stares at you.
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: You look at JD. A familiar screen suddenly appears. Settlement
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: information discovered. Original settlement name. Royal Hill Village. Would you
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: like to officially name your settlement Royal Hill Village? You
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: mentally select yes. Congratulations. Congratulations. UNNAMED MOUNTAIN VILLAGE HAS BEEN
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: RENAMED TO ROYAL HILL VILLAGE. YOU GRIN. WELL, APPARENTLY THAT'S
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: WHAT IT'S CALLED AGAIN NOW. ELENOR LAUGHS. GOOD. IT ALWAYS WAS.
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: YOU SPEND A LITTLE MORE TIME HELPING ELENOR GATHER A
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: FEW THINGS, NOT THAT SHE HAS MUCH TO BRING OTHER
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: THAN CRYSTALS AND SLIMES AND STUFF. MOST OF WHAT SHE
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: OWNS SHE GREW WITH THE CRYSTALS ANYWAYS. Then, the whole
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: group heads toward the elevator. You, JD, Eleanor, and about
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: 20 slimes. You look at the crowded elevator. Are all
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: of them coming? The blue slime answers, yes. Of course,
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: of course, don't worry about it. The elevator groans and
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: rises through the mine. Finally, the doors open. Eleanor steps outside.
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: Sunlight hits her face and she freezes. For a long
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: moment she doesn't say anything. Then she slowly walks toward
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: the village. Royal Hill Village. People stop to watch as
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: Eleanor and her small army of colorful slimes emerge from
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: the mine. Gus comes hurrying towards you. You're back. Yep.
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: He looks at Eleanor, then the slimes, then you. I
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: assume there's a story here? A pretty long one. You
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: introduce Eleanor. When Gus hears who she is, his expression changes.
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: I remember your family, and I remember when you went
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: missing in the mines. It was just before the village fell.
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: We couldn't do anything to find you. Oh, please tell
• 36:21
  Speaker 1: me you're coming to stay. We'll find you a nice place.
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: Eleanor looks uncertain. I'd like to stay, but... Well, this
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: all doesn't feel like home. You think about her crystal settlement.
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: Then build something that does. Eleanor looks at you. You're sure? Absolutely.
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: We'll find you a place you can build whatever you want.
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: As you approach the bottom of the stairs, you point
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: in front of you.
• 36:56
  Speaker 3: See?
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: There's a huge open space there. Why not take that? Everyone,
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: she says to the slimes, let's build. The slimes immediately
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: spring into action. Eleanor pushes a crystal into the ground.
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: Mana flashes through it, and crystals begin spreading outward. A
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: foundation grows directly from the earth. More crystals rise and
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: walls form, windows, columns, a roof. The crystal slimes help
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: shape the structure. Earth slimes pack and level the ground.
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: Water slimes create a little pond beside the house, then
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: the nature slimes bounce around behind it. Every time one
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: touches the ground, green crystal energy spreads through the dirt
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: and plants start to sprout. Vegetables and flowers start to grow.
• 38:00
  Speaker 1: Within minutes, Eleanor has a beautiful little crystal palace standing
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: beside the rest of Royal Hill Village. Not nearly as
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: big as the one underground, but definitely pretty cool. JD
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: stares at it. Okay, that's pretty awesome. Eleanor stands in
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: front of the palace surrounded by her slimes. This feels better.
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: You smile.
• 38:30
  Speaker 3: Good.
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: Oh, one more question. Eleanor looks at you. Have you
• 38:37
  Speaker 1: ever explored below the crystal caverns? She simply laughs. Not
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: even close. You look toward the mine. What's below? I
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: don't even know. You never went down? No. She looks
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: slightly more serious. The crystal caverns gave me everything I needed. Food, water, shelter, friends...
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: The blue slime bounces happily. I never had a reason
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: to go deeper and, well, I was kind of scared too. Well,
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: I guess that leaves more places to explore, you say,
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: looking over at JD. He nods in agreement. But for now,
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: I think it's time to head to bed. You all
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: part ways, Eleanor waving goodbye and heading into her crystal palace,
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: JD and Gus heading back to their respective houses, and
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: you opening the door to your own. You immediately collapse
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: into bed. A familiar prompt appears. Sleep? You mentally select
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: yes and your body relaxes. Your arms and legs sink
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: into the mattress. With each breath, you let go of
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: a little more tension in your body. Your arms sink
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: into the mattress. Your shoulders sink into the mattress. Your
• 40:18
  Speaker 1: legs sink into the mattress. Your neck relaxes and your
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: face softens into a nice half smile. With each breath,
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: you sink a little deeper and the deeper you go,
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: the better you feel and the better you feel, the
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: deeper you go. until your mind begins to wander off
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: to thoughts of new dreams, new levels of the mind,
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: and new adventures to come. Good night, everyone.
• 41:27
  Speaker 2: Thank you. Thank you.
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: Thank you.
• 44:18
  Speaker 2: Thank you.
• 45:00
  Speaker 1: Thank you.
• 45:54
  Speaker 2: You Thank you. Thank you.
• 49:27
  Speaker 1: Thank you.
• 51:26
  Speaker 2: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
• 55:40
  Speaker 1: Thank you.
• 56:34
  Speaker 2: Thank you. Thank you.
• 59:13
  Speaker 1: Thank you.