Latest / WarHams - Narrative Declaration / A Chaos Odyssey – Ep. 8 – The Palace of Mirrors

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A Chaos Odyssey – Ep. 8 – The Palace of Mirrors · WarHams - Narrative Declaration

• he knows my weakness i love gambling why do so many texans want to talk to me who wants to be cursed by the dark gods tell me a story i think autism exists in the in the star wars universe it's called the force yeah have you seen all the somehow palpatine returned i set you up for the layup and you got the dunk good job yippee we win hey easy started off oh look i digested early welcome back everybody for another episode of a chaos odyssey yay welcome back everybody fight dinosaurs at some point we should we should they do exist what do you think oh man that's like the most loved horus heresy book the book where they take an entire book out of the heresy to have ironhands fight dinosaurs also i'm not joking yeah i was about to say i haven't read the books do they actually fight dinosaurs oh yeah here here i'm gonna show you the cover just to prove just to prove that i am not fucking lying this is this is one of the most reviled chorus heresy books just because it suddenly is like oh and by the way you're you're fighting dinosaurs the damnation of pythos of people which is written by david annandale who is a treasurer i actually really enjoyed the book but it's 416 pages of the iron hands fight dinosaurs during the heresy and this was their 30th novel in the series sorry for party rocking i guess yeah apparently this this is we don't we we need to wait longer for this other thing to be done do you got an idea for a book for a release schedule and he's like i got it and they did such good cover artwork yeah that is kind of baller you know i gotta give that to them how many of them died from the dinosaurs like spoiler for the damnation of pythos everybody okay okay if if you need to block out the next little bit zurn will put up i don't know something on the screen easy put up a spoiler warning put up a spoiler warning okay so the damnation of pythos is about a group of iron hands raven garden salamanders who escape istvan five and like regroup on a shitty fucking death world filled with dinosaurs and weird ass chaos cultists and then the emperor's children show up um at some point to fuck them up and um then the end of the book is everyone dies man these guys just can't catch a fucking break istvan to dinosaurs to fucking dead yes yes they fucking all die and the only through line is that the fucking like demon that ends up killing them takes their ship and like basically fucking demon flies it and goes into space he later shows up in a future book by the same author to go tempt sanguineous there there's yes you're telling me that the demon is the only survivor and he carjacks a ship that he does not need because demons just get to go with the warp he just took it for shits and gigs now correct me part of me wants to be really mad for setting up an entire book of characters that you then annihilate so you can have one unrelated thing happen to go and further the plot of an established lore character that would make me spit blood that's grimdark baby and like it's a fucking great horror book but if you're someone who's like in love with the heresy you're like why the fuck is this happening what what is going on it's a fun little this is a this is a pro damnation of pythos uh podcast let's see yeah yeah yeah not anymore and it's preceded by a real banger of a book too which also heavily features the emperor's children so i don't know that they got a good one and a bad one but of course that was the damnation of pythos thanks for listening to our warhammer podcast now we get to watch the damnation of lithos welcome back everyone it's another 10 out of 10 exactly that's right so and you if you really like our show you want to see all the episodes before they get released for free for podcasts and youtube and stuff you can sign up to our patreon patreon.com forward slash narrative declaration or you can be a youtube membership where you also get to see them early before they go live but patreon gets the most latest and up-to-date episodes as possible then it goes to youtube preview guys and then it goes to you guys for free uh but of course we have a bunch of amazing adventure stuff happening i think last time if i remember right i think llivos bought a space wolf or are we after that it's been a bit you were on ور after that we were after that we were after that we missed one fucking week look dude i'm busy all right oh there's a lot okay a lot all right all right we're attacking each other already all right it begins i'm the speaker shoot earned l with a plasma gun now we're on this thank you remember we're on a ship translated through through oh that's right i was annoying the hell out of the lady the entire time it's coming back to me now i was annoying the hell out of her just being as awkward as hell yeah we took we took the arvis later down to the surface and then uh evgeny was the only one flying it and nearly crashed us that's right you had to kickstart your heart playing yeah we were in an awkward position where cephas had to lean through the door and shoot furies as they attempted to crash through the windshield to kill evgeny excellent we're tracking down our dark apostle friend on a world that was segmented into the four gods of chaos plus big stripes of dead zone in between them uh we saw a vision of um one of the battles that took place during the horse heresy that we were present for um uh um and and and and Then funny ship things happened But we managed to land Because we love Evgeny You see, this was my psyop the entire time If I just get it wrong, everyone else Wants to be right and does it right for me So I don't have to do the recap Oh, so you're studying The same school that I studied at Yes An expert ploy to get me to do what I want To do anyway Hello, Bee Hi, Bee, everyone say hi to Bee We love Bee Hi, Bee Now as Bee has joined us on the Arvis lighter It has plot armor, it can't be harmed Yeah, we can't destroy the Arvis now It's already landed Yeah, Thurston What adventures do you have for us today? Well, I believe That where we left off was There was a Vast castle Off in the distance A tower comprised Of mirrors That you saw From, from where you landed It was sort of looming in the landscape ahead You'd come out of the Arvis lighter To see this site What are you doing? I reload my bolt gun Okay Slaneshi Absolutely My false will turn To Byzante What do your special eyes see? Yes Yes Well, wouldn't you like to know? All right, I will go and as requested Make a perception or awareness Yeah, give me, give me awareness Very good I will be making it at plus 30 Thanks to my off specs Are there any other penalties? No, just, just a challenging check Just plus zero Okay Oh Hello? Hello? Oh That's really bad However, because I have an off specs Even though I rolled a 96 I do get to reroll Okay That's better All right With a 59 That's three degrees of success You can see that the structure is Not entirely comprised out of mirrors As it seems But it seems that there are Rock formations That despite this sort of Structure There are Some Some Some Some Some Some Some Some Some Some Some Some Some Some Some Some Some Some Some Some Some Some Some Some Some Some Some Some Some Some Some Some Some Some Some Some Some Some Some Some my good my good good friend um give me everybody's favorite willpower test at minus 10 oh boy well really changing it up there all right minus 10 willpower for a 37 and only one degree of failure okay alas um you you stare into this and it's strange you feel as though things are peering back at you in some odd way can you roll me 1d 100 please yes absolutely i can um that is going to be a 52 okay um excellent excellent excellent um you you managed to break your eyes uh clearly nothing bad has happened i'll turn and take a look at lithos i'm gonna make another willpower minus there it is excellent there it is yes all right well lithos would you like to know what i saw oh lithos seeing the bait knowing from all the years i've known him as i says i've as lifos has noticed by xanthi has been looking at this thing and getting all the information seeing that his head didn't explode and nothing weird has happened to him he'll go okay the first trap has been passed he didn't die now i shall science science i just ignore him and then i looked through the warp and try to gain any perspective on this castle see if there's anything uh that i can find that could be passed by companionship fable eyes please give me a what a load of yeah absolutely this will be challenged again so no no no sure thing looking for 48 degrees of success sir awesome roll me a d100 let's see if light lithos's head blows up yes you're about to die oh okay no that's a good rule though um give me one sec here one second by xanthi his fingers are to his temples there is eldritch lightning that scores a great deal of damage to the temple and that's what we're looking for is this supposed to be the end of the world me that would be it okay well what about the other side of thehd i mean you can see it's over there it's still like that as well oh it's still there that's it okay all right so um we're going to get to that and then i'll see you next time see ya bye bye you want something else too? oh my god yeah young people won't know what that is now that depresses me the young people won't know about the 2010s meme oh it's true well no I know they won't we're not fucking playing this game no I'm putting a stop to this now like my old ass can't take this kind of hip hop yeah holy fuck guys you know how many times I've been assailed lately over like I'm fucking the young person in the room and I am not the young person in the room I'm not dealing with the reverse not here not now back in my day we used to have Neon Cat and I wish I was a hero I'm taking that fucking hero point back you son of a bitch give it give it give it to me I'm taking it back Alice this is what I am hearing of the Eldritch speed back I am getting of like something about hero points massive headache Lithos will turn to Byzantium and oh I got an 83 but I'm not bound by anything weird anyway Byzantium did you just roll a willpower did you fucking roll a willpower to stop me I love speaker yes good good excellent black eye just twitches slightly let me willingly give you this affirmation that I've now surmised about our target there's an Eldritch streak across the sky it is focusing in this one point a sorcerer or something who knows its way around the warp who knows its way around the magics of this world he is inside there so we must be cautious I will do my best to protect us but if you notice anything stranger then we usually deal with out of sorts protect your mind or it will take you oh I have no doubts Lithos you'll do everything in your power to overcome this Eldritch streaking why? you're the best streaker I know oh why thank you he like flips his keg ignoring the obvious insult he's just glad he's like I'm glad you recognize my greatness in one of many things then let us get this over with quickly I prefer not to deal with this sorceress shit cephis? uh yes? Yes, brother. What is it? I do worry about your charge, and also of Yevgeny. If anything psychically powerful, only when your war charges begin, I risked, at least in case of Yevgeny, his exposure. I would like for him to choose his way, instead of being forced. Would your companion be, well, a shield? For him, when called upon. But it is not from my say. It is yours, as I make this request. You are right to ask for my permission first, for my own, well, for my attendant's life, as it were. But yes. Lucid Tricks, I'm already ready for it, Lord. You have your answer, Lyphos. Good. Lyphos will address the rest of the group. Maybe like, Be careful as we enter. I'm unsure if Byzante found an alternative way inside, instead of just marching through the front gate. But, I assume if he did, he would begin to go on his own whim. As he just looks at Byzante. Likish! Byzante has a Devil and an angel appear on his shoulder. Both look like Byzante. Okay, okay, so, One of them has cherubic wings, the other's, like, kind of bat winged, I guess. Both look like Byzante, but they're both little tiny demonettes. And one of them, the one in the angel costume, goes, Pyzante, now is your chance! You can regale them all with your antlers! all with your expert skills and have them awash in your incredible competence. And then the devil speaks, but Byzante, this motherfucker doesn't care about you. He's only looking to grandstand himself. What would really piss him off is if you led everyone in the opposite direction of where they're supposed to go. I'm gonna interject. There's a third angel that appears on your head who's just hooded and says, but Byzante, you have many secrets. I agree. I agree. Byzante will just say that out loud and then begin walking towards the tower siding with the third angel. Good bit. As we are, I presume we're following Byzante now, now that Byzante is just going towards the tower. I let him go. I believe it was ahead of us by a chunk. And then I follow. Yeah, so this is going to... Sorry, go ahead. So long as we go forward. Alright, that is the plan. You know, I can pathfind and all, but truth be told, I'd be most pleased if we had the wizard up front to handle wizardry. Oh, I can mistreat from behind. You need to protect me from any other prince. Yes, after I've been... Yes, after I've been... Yes, after I've been... Yes, after I've been... Yes, after I've been... Yes, after I've been... After I've been pulverized by an errant doom bolt. I say you take the lead. Don't worry. I'll be right behind you. Is this going to be a thing where I get in front of like, no, after you, and then you get in front... No, after you. Cephas, Cephas, Bethael, Yevgeny, and Lucitrix sitting at the back, watching the two of them constantly like, I think you should go first. I think you should go first. I think you should go first. I think you should go first. I think you should go first. I think you... I think you should go first. I think you should go first. I think you should go first. We're going to keep doing this all day. Like, how about we go together, brother? How romantic. And he extends a hand to him, like his left hand. Oh, what joy. And I'll hold his hand and begin skipping forward merrily. I begin to write a description upon his palm into the emerald that he has. Sorry. You, bitch, you do what? Hey. Hey, fan fiction writers out there, come with me into my office. No. Thurston, have you not looked on Tumblr? You really should look on Tumblr. Oh, the people are rejoing out. The people are rejoing out. I've been seeing the art they've been putting in. They've been doing fantastic. It's really good. It's so good. We love it. They are very thirsty for the chaos polycule. Regardless. As the two of them head forward, uh, Cephas is going to lean to Bethael. You know, I'm getting the feeling that despite the two of them being particularly, not antisocial, more just untrustworthy, they seem to put a lot of stock into each other. I'm so glad they have each other. Lucifix goes to Evgeny. And I'm glad we are back here. Any closer and I would get a headache. Okay. Frankly, I'm happy to not have the whispering in my head. Uh, Evgeny, Lucifix walks up to you. Good news, brother. I've been selected to die for you. That's what? And now the, um... I'm assuming, I'm assuming that you mean that you've been selected to pal along with me and be my buddy for this buddy system that we're doing? Not that you're actually going to sacrifice yourself for me. No, not, not intentionally. I'm just more likely to do so. You seem very, um... You are the one who is supposed to live. I have been selected to be your meat shield, brother. So congratulations. Nurgle provides. And she does a little prayer bow towards you. Horrible grin on display. You know what, Lucy? I would be more than happy if we all made it back home after this adventure. Uh, that you didn't have to die for me and I lost another unit within my charge. That would be awesome, actually. Oh, no. Recalling being sent and left to die and watching all his comrades-at-arms be consumed by the chaos autism creature. That's right. Uh, very well. Brother, I'll do, I'll do my best to not needlessly throw my life away. But you recognize that I must follow the orders of my superior at being my lord. Cephas? It's, I mean... Yeah, I'm not wanting to step on your dynamic between you two, but why follow orders from anybody? I mean, it's... Isn't that kind of what Lifo said? We are the masters of our own destiny now, except with as long as that destiny... ...aligns with whatever the ship has in line for us. She, she leans, like, really close, and you can get the repulsive scent of formaldehyde coming off of her. Uh, I would not listen too carefully to what this ancient has to say. They're terribly untrustworthy. Are they? You know, I didn't think that I... I didn't think that he was terribly untrustworthy. Maybe a little forceful, with shoving me into a locker, dragging me around like a cut of meat. But not untrustworthy, more like a... a bully who works out at the library. I would bid both of you to not besmirch the name of my brothers. Lucitrix, I appreciate you attempting to sway Evgeny to our cause. Please do so charismatically and not connivingly. Of course, lord. Apologies. Apologies. Evgeny, you may listen as you wish. Just... We had best get going, or we're going to lose them. They're already going towards the door. Or whatever approximation exists. Yeah, I can see that, aren't there... Yes, they're skipping. They're skipping and holding hands. Sorry, they kind of really made that. I wanted to be... I wanted to be... To propose something to your speaker, can Byzantium just be skipping and so joyful about like... And Lyphos is just walking normally? Like he's holding his autistic kid coming down? Just really holding... No, he's floating and he's just being dragged along like a balloon. Yes. The important thing is that you're embarrassed. Byzantium's skipping walk cycle is significantly slower because Lyphos is not moving at any level of speed, so it just looks like he's slowed down like he's in Baywatch. Right. We go to the entrance, I suppose, Thurston, to the front of this Prism Castle. Yes. As you approach, you can see that the doorway is not a door in a traditional sense, but it's an aperture that is made difficult to pierce because there are so many interlocked mirrors around the area that it's giving off this incredibly disorienting sense as you approach. You can see that these mirrors are at odd angles. Some of them are some of these rocks. Some of them are actual mirrors that have been set up. It gives a very, very vertigo-inducing feeling, even to those of you with Astartes physiology. Can I get everyone to give me a ... challenging toughness test? Oh, hang on. Oh, wait, so that's going to include my ... Oh, hang on a second. This is going to be funny. Let's everyone roll, and I'll go down the list and call your names. Just challenging, right? Yep. I think we need one from Yevgeny now. You do. It's just taking a second. That's very funny. I need to also roll for Lucy. Give me a second. I'm going to roll for Lucy. Give me a second. This is not going to go well for her, I don't think. Neither. What is, as Hokey's getting his roll, what is her toughness? Her toughness is her highest stat, 30. Okay. I'm only 9 over her. Could be worse. That's ... Well, she's also Nurgle-infused, which is why I pumped that so high. Alright, let me call everyone top to bottom. Lifo's got a 55 with 3 Degrees of Failure. Byzanty got a ... 97. Beth, my hoe, got ... I got a 49 for 2 Degrees of Success. So no, Byzanty got 6 Degrees of Failure. Steffis got ... I rolled a 16 for 7 Degrees of Success. Yevgeny got ... a 59 with 3 Degrees of Failure. And ... Lucy rolled an 8. Lucy rolled an 8. Lucy rolled an 8. There you go. Thank you. Lucy rolled an 82 for what I believe is ... Thurston, that's 5 or 6 Degrees of Failure with a toughness of 30. Uh, so she rolled an 82 with 30, that'd be 5. So 5 Degrees of Failure at an 82. Hmm. Okay. Alright, it was a good show. Yeah, give me a sec here. Sorry, my PDF is being a bit weird. Okay, um ... I hit it. I am hitting it. Okay. So, for those of you who all, uh, just failed, uh, you are all going to get one level of Fatigue. Okay. Oh, goodie. So Fatigue is, uh, you can take a number of them equal to your toughness bonus, um, and they basically give you a minus 10 penalty on all checks. That's rough. Gnarly. It is. That, uh, that sucks. Not right. As this place is just, like, disorienting you incredibly as you are trying to walk through it and find this aperture, which, you know, I think Byzantium almost, by instinct, lets go of Lyphos' hand at this. Once again, face to face with a scintillating uncertainty. What's your problem? This. The terrain of this mimics unreality rather than reality. It makes it an enjoyable distraction and hazardous to navigate. I can think of one solution. Bet that I was gonna walk up to the nearest, um, you saw that, you said that some of the stones were, like, polished to a mirror machine and some were, like, actual mirrors that have been set up. Yes. Uh, Bet that I was going to kick over one of the mirrors as hard as he can. Ooh, give me a strength check. Alright. Ah, perfect check for the Coronate. Yeah! 99. Oh, that's, uh... Almost got a hundred there. I know, Jesus! That's an eight for eight degrees of success. Alright. Oh my god. There is a shattering of glass as you do so, um, or as you, as you, as you shatter this glass with your armored boot. Uh, there is a discordant sound that rings around as though the sound is being mirrored by all of the mirrors. Um, the, the aperture and the area around all get this kind of crunched in, uh, appearance as all the glasses break and emulate the break, though it's not real in that it's just a reflection of the other break. This, this is sort of a strange moment for everyone, because anyone who has fatigue has to give me another toughness check. You got it. Okay. Helping! So it's a minus ten for... Is it a minus ten, or is it just a challenging? Uh, it's gonna be challenging, but you have your minus ten from the prior. Ah, true, true, true. I did roll. Even with a minus ten, I still succeed, so thank goodness. Nice. Yeah. So... Oh, I got a thirty! Yeah. Lifo's got a twenty-eight, two degrees of success. That's bad. Uh, Lucid Trick's got... Sorry. Oh, sorry. Uh, and Lucid Trick's got a seventy-eight versus her twenty, which would be, uh, you know, seven degrees of failure. Okay. Um, if any, uh, for those of you who failed here, um... Ooh. Ooh. Evgeny. Evgeny. Great, the humans are fucking exhausted. Yeah, you now have two degrees. Uh, uh, you now have two levels of fatigue. Great. Wow. Cool. What is, um... What is, um... Lucid Trick's uh, toughness bonus? Uh, it would be three normally, so she's down to one. She's down to one. Okay, perfect. She's not unconscious. Not yet. Okay. Don't worry, she's gonna get there if this shit keeps up. Oh, yeah. I am already tired of this trickery. We haven't gone anywhere. Ugh. You're telling me. It feels like we've been here for... Oh, God, like... five hours. Like I've been slogging uphill for five hours. Oh, you... Oh, God. Ah, it's... It feels like I've come down with attacks here. Before you decide to wreck anything else, how about you learn what it might do to you first? What it might do? It didn't do anything. It broke. You have no idea when magic might bind this place. You already feel it, don't you? The oppressiveness. The weakening feeling this place is giving us. It's a disorientation. You do not know what you trifle with, Berserker. Uh, Lyphos, I cannot say that I feel a particular level of exhaustion at present. I suppose you are taking it better than some of us. Don't you feel a bit weaker, Byzanty? Oh, yes. Indeed. Uh, uh, uh. Where was that roll? Come on, now! Bullying him! Sorry, sorry, sorry. Just the way fucking... Uh, uh, uh. Say the magic word! Just so you know. You don't know if you have to say the magic words. Holy shit. I'm telling you to stop, because I'm being a fucker about it. Um, there's been ever so often So, Byzanty, information, and I just wait for you. The worst part, the worst part is is with that level of fatigue, now it's worse. Oh, no! Well, he did succeed on his second, so he still has one. Yeah, yeah, so he's only minus ten. Thurston, the way you frame that, you're sounding like he is fighting his... His inhibitions allow him to tell us secrets, not the inverse. No. With that failure, I think, uh, my best recourse is, hey, um, real quick question. Yeah, yeah, yeah. When, um, our berserker friend decided to go all, uh, corn style on the big crystal tower, are there any shards of glass that might have shattered off? Oh, yeah, yeah, there's a few. And you are perceptive enough to pick them up out of the, like, cacophonous visions that are around here. Yeah, I'm going to collect as many as I can. Okay. I've got plans. We'll leave it at that. When do we ever go beyond that? Lyphos takes, uh, Bethael's microphone and brings it closer to you. What? Sorry, I'm very close! When do we ever go beyond that? Let me see what the wolf can see. I would like to cast the Psychic Power, Glimpse. Now, it's mostly used... Okay. Mostly used, like, for its description. It's basically, the Psychic receives every flash of insight from the immediate future, granting a momentary but significant advantage on the next action. Basically, what the rest of it is, is that I do my psi rating times five, and it helps me with my evasion stuff. Helps me dodge, right? That's more of a defense thing, but I would like to use this as a way of, like, let me look into the future real quick and be like, okay, if I took this path, what would happen? If I did this, what would happen? Like, what's going to kind of happen later on? Let me kind of get a good feeling, because I'm basically wanting to use this as a way to be like, hey, can I, like, is this... Do I walk through these mirrors to enter inside? Like, how do I get inside? I'll let you do it, but at a plus twenty... Or sorry, a minus twenty. Sure thing. Yeah. You apologize. Type it in all this stuff. Oh, not a good roll. Uh, eighty-seven with four degrees of failure. Uh, I do not succeed, unfortunately, on getting any of that. You feel it in your bones that, you know, you clearly weren't pushing enough to get the answer you needed. Oh, fuck you! Come on, now! Oh, sorry, guys! Let me go all out on this one! I cast again. Will you allow me to cast again? Oh, good. Gooood. I will do it unfettered, so we can let it gamble. Do you still do minus twenty on it? Gamba! Uh, you know what? Unfettered, I'll give you a straight roll. Okay. Let's go gambling! Yippee! I go unfettered. Awww. Awww. None. No. Well, Nando. Uh, it's one degree of failure. I know from the stats and stuff. But it's still not enough, because unfettered, unfettered is only on doubles, right? Yeah. Only on doubles. You have a third opportunity. Oh my god. Please don't. I gotta know! I have to know! He knows my weakness! I love gambling! Yes! Yes! It opens a psychic's phenomenon loot box! So, I'll say I'll roll it. I'll roll it if you give me a plus twenty. Deal. You know what? We've got negative twenty. We've got plus zero. Going all out. Plus twenty. Sure. You know, something that's really funny is that, theoretically, Thurston is also gambling because he knows that if something really bad happens and we spawn a manifestation of something, he's going to have to waste time with us fighting it. But you at home and on patreon.com would love that. True! You want to see the whatever the fuck happens here just as much as I do, really. Alright, let's do it! I'm pushing! I'm going all in! Alright. Sixty-two on the die. A hundred and seventeen. Yeah, that's going to be. Six degrees of success and eye perils, obviously. Roll it. Yeah, I roll my phenomenon. Okay. The earth protests. The ground suddenly shakes and everyone, including the psycher, within a five to ten meter radius must make a routine plus ten agility test or be knocked down. So I'm imagining as he's like he's trying to push through like something is blocking him from like making it through this for some reason and he's just like, no! I am the great life force! You will not deny me! And as he's channeling his power, the ground begins to shake and everything begins to kind of like just shift and everything like it's a small earthquake and let's see if he falls. It's a plus ten. I want to question about something because it says routine plus ten. Routine in the drop down is plus twenty. Do I go by the ten or the twenty? It should be plus ten. Yeah, just do plus ten. So ordinary. Got it. I'm going to roll for Cephas. Oh no, because Lucidrix just fails, so that's fine. Yeah. Oh, ninety-two. Awesome. Oh. So let's see what we all got. Byzantium, you got a I got a fifty to four. With one degree of failure of Beth Iago got. I got a forty-two for one degree of success. Lifeforce got a ten with five degrees of success. Cephas got. Nice job. I got a ninety-two for six degrees of failure. And Yvgeny got one. Whoa! What? Hey! Yvgeny is so dexterous. He's fallen over enough times. Byzantium, when you fall, you fall amidst the mirror shards which pierce some of your face. Giving you a most exquisite feeling. Okay. I have a question. An important question. Yes. I have no problem. In fact, if I get positive sensation from this, I will jab more crystalline shards into my face. Yeah. My question is can I get a semblance of understanding perhaps as to which god holds power and sway over this place? It's very odd in that you haven't seen a clear, like mirrors are often associated with Slaanesh, but in this case you haven't seen any of the trappings or like symbols or anything you would expect from a worshipper of Slaanesh. Yeah. Byzantium and I guess myself, you know, mirrors are very closely related to Slaanesh, true, but so is crystal to Tzeentch, and this is a magical place. I want to keep track of that. I don't want to ignore that we are entering into a place that is sacrosanct to a rival power. Absolutely. Alright. With that, you stand up. Lyphos, your power, however, gives you the ability to navigate your way in. And it's less like, it's less that there is some secret path, it's more just that the mirrors compounded over each other create this just eternally spiraling vision that you're sort of having to do strange steps and crouches to make your way through. You're able to lead your companions in. This goes on for about ten minutes, wandering through a maze until the image starts to change to like a darkness filled with like a single point of flickering light. And eventually, Lyphos, you find yourself emerging into the interior of a structure. It appears to be a cave that has been carved out expertly with chandeliers above and like lanterns, sorry, like torches that are on marble pillars. And you come out into a room that is cyclopean. Darkness consumes most of it. But there are these little points of light around it. What do you do? We have made it in. I mean, I'm assuming you narrate that we all went in to move on, right? Yeah, yeah, for sure. I'm assuming we all fell over, we had to have everyone get up. Yeah, I'm just making sure. As Lyphos kind of goes through, I like to do a science science, and that's okay. Just to kind of get a good status of the room. It's basically, I'm kind of using it instead of like awareness of me looking around trying to do the wizard detect magic type of deal of let me check this room and see what significance and what hold this place has. The help specifically so you can give me a better answer instead of being super broad. I'm looking to see if there's like what alignment, I think Speaker did a great observation, what alignment of God there could be. And is there something particular, I don't even know the particulars, I'm being broad, I apologize. You can give me whatever. Okay, give me a challenging sign of science just to see what you detect here. That'd be minus 10 because I'm still fatigued. Oh, I saw that 20. That's a failure, sir, of 84, 6 degrees of failure. You are having difficulty here. It's very where the mirrors were strong psychic resonance. In this place, the immaterium is fairly weak. You walk through with your companions, though all of you very soon after you enter and begin looking around this area, you start hearing footsteps in the dark distance. Bless you. I'm so sorry. I've been trying to mute these. I got I got an itchy in the nose. You're good. You are so good. I was so trying. Yeah, easy. Keep that easy. Edit all of that in. Give me three more of those in a row. Remix the sneeze into a song. Yeah, it's going to be weird because like the Patreon is going to get the raw thing, but then like the public version, it's going to be like a remix. Yeah. Okay. All right. You don't have to do a remix easy. Anyway, continue, my bad. As we're navigating, Bethael is going to be looking for more mundane things. With which to kind of ground their path to kind of see if there are any like physical signs of like where these footsteps are coming from, what ways our paths branch out, what things are trickery and what is true. All right. All right. What kind of check do you want to give me for that? Well, I would say survival, but that's probably more like nature stuff, so I will leave that in your hands. I'll allow survival, sure. Okay. I see what you're doing. I'll allow it. You understand me. You understand me. Yeah, yeah. Where the hell is my survival? It'll be at minus ten. Watch out. Let's see here. So, first of all, let's double check here. You should have a survival skill. Yeah. Yep. I got it. No dice. I will give you two degrees of failure. All right. So, you are looking around. Instead, the footsteps are getting louder. You start to see something in the darkness, like a fainter smaller light, but then several lights kind of blooming together further in the darkness. The footsteps on this stone floor getting closer. We're still surrounded by mirrors, right? You've come out of the mirror. You're in this, like, big, cyclopean, like, almost imagine like the Khazad-dûm scene from Fellowship of the Ring. It's this, like, massive pillars around, but there's, like, torches and chandeliers, but you don't see, like, it goes off into darkness in all directions except the mirror tunnel that you came in from. I see. I'll call out ahead. Oh, no, no, no, no. No, you go first. Okay. I'll call out ahead. To whoever's approaching, designate yourself friend or foe to the dark gods. Stepping into the light some distance away, though, Evgeny, you don't see this, because your eyes are shit compared to those of your companions. You see a hunchbacked creature with multiple, you're not sure if hands is the right way to even describe them, appendages. Milky white eyes, and in each of these appendages, this hunchbacked humanoid clutches the light. It has a different style of mirror. It's maybe two-thirds the size of Evgeny. What is that? You! The mirrors all kind of come together in front of its face, as all of its appendages move to place them there. Identify yourself. It's like an offensive. The mirrors slightly part to reveal this balded humanoid face with a, like, pulled-back, almost horsey nose, a row of kind of slacked-backed teeth, uh, milky white eyes that stare. I am the usher of this place. You are guests here. Where is the dark apostle? There is no apostles here. Only the patron. Then where is the patron? The patron. The mirrors all kind of, like, move out at odd angles. It starts to shift them around. Around us. Then let them greet their guests. I have sent you first. You have come here in search of something. In search of power. Perhaps so. Can you offer it, little thing? Oh, the patron can. The patron is wise and knows all. But before that, you must tell me of yourselves. Ooh, I'm gonna make a willpower check about that. Yeah. Bye! As you're making your check, I'm so, I'm so, it's so ingrained in me now that every single time you said patron, that I'm just like, oh, we don't have to go through three lanes and fight each other now, do we? His patreon. That was a funny joke for me to roll a 99, Derek. Oh! Well, luckily, all you have to do is not say anything. I have many secrets. You have no secrets here by Sanjito Misfit. The coward of Scalathrax. Coward! We should bring that guy with us. He'd talk for you. Come on, now! He knows all your secrets, you're right. I think it only works in the towers, unless we take the tower with us, which would be a very funny thing to put on a battleship. Lucifrix, take the tower with you. Carry it, please. Okay. She picks up the whole tower and just, like, puts it into the trunk of the Arvus lighter. Can I just put this tower in my inventory? Yeah, sure. Now, kids, be cool. If the Arvates pull us over, we have to be real cool about it. We don't have anything in the car. At Faizanti getting fairly frustrated at the hunchback mirror wielder, Cephas is going to step up with him. I will tell you of, um, myself in this situation. Usher, is that correct? Is that the title associated for you? Yes, you may call me that. What will you tell us of? Will you tell us of the Hulk? Will you tell us of the Caracass? What will you tell us? I will tell you a portion of my time during the Colar Cross Crusade. However, I need an assurance from you that your patron is not here to harm us, as we have so politely entered and very definitively passed by the already destroyed mirror below. I'm going to roll a charm. Yeah, sure. Give yourself a plus 20. Hang on, I clicked the wrong button. Well, click the right one. No, I accidentally made it trained. I was trying to roll it. I was like, let me just increase my numbers. Eighty-four. Three degrees of failure. You are most welcome here. You have nothing to worry about from me, though the patron is very unimpressed by your desecration of the outside beside the failure of Scalasrax. Then I will give him something to be impressed by, you worm! Brother, calm. We are guests. Guests? I am very impressed by you. I have seen much in the visions of the mirrors. I saw when you took your brother's chestplate and mashed it with your hammer. How did it feel? To break his chest open like that? Or when you had a hammer? Come on, though! This guy's attacking you emotionally. I know. Bethael is gunning the chainsword like he is starting to rev it and just... The creature like wins his back and brings all of the mirrors together which just like reflect visions of all of you kind of distorted slightly as it like winces. No, no, no, no. I simply am someone who speaks what is on my mind. I am sorry. I cannot control it. Thurston, is it possible for one to snap your fingers while you're wearing a power armor gauntlet like trying to be like, hey, pay attention over here. Grinding, yeah. Like the wet metallic slapping noise of him like snapping his thumb and index finger. Little one, little one, here. Do not antagonize the coronet. That would not work out well. I will tell you of my time during the Colocross crusade, but only a portion of it. Oh, then you may begin. All of you should sit and listen. Yes. Must we do it in this hallway? Surely we can do so elsewhere. No, it must be here! And like all of the mirrors kind of like go out at different angles, its hands sort of moving, almost like in a cheerleading motion. Cephas looks deeply unimpressed, but he always kind of does, I guess. Very well. It was during the Colocross crusade, on the final assault, on the... It's been such a time. I believe it was... The final defense was being held by the excoriators. The legion of the damned had descended from... What knows where at this point. They mainly descended in their vessels, surrounded us, fought us back, and even through the power of my lord at the time, as though I was merely an aspiring champion at the time. In service to the Chaos Lord, wretched scum curse. In service to the cleaved. He and his retinue had fallen to the legion of the damned. And, seeing our fate closing in, I resolved to go out as my lord, Nurgle, had decreed fitting for me. But then an inkling showed, as I tossed a grenade errantly. I felt something stir in my mind. A recognition that this was not my final location to die. My appointed fate, as it were. And I saw the grenade bounce at odd angles, skidding through the muck and landing at the feet of an approaching flame wall. It burst beautifully, rending those loyalists asunder. It was through this providence, through this primordial fortune that Nurgle seemed to grant me. That we were able to breach the line successfully, forcing our way through the encroaching fire wall, and take both I, my aspirant brothers, and a handful of the remaining traitor guard and cultists that were attempting to escape, back to our landers to freedom. It is why I am so content in fate. Very good, yes. So good. What a riveting tale. I would clap were I not holding mirrors. Life force. Yes, lovely usher. Yes. Tell me something. Tell me of wolves. No. He crosses his arms. It sort of skids back. You must not say that word here. The entire cavern rumbles slightly. Life force stays unfazed as he crosses his arms and goes, I will not talk about those mongrels. Brothers, we are guests here. You show no decorum. Am I the one doing this? I am the one tracking muck across the floor seeping from my armor. Surely you can show some decorum here. Why should we? Because we are guests. And you're a terrible host to demand such answers from us. I thought you must speak of wolves. It holds up a single mirror towards you, which just reflects your skull back at you. If you must know they are butchers. They are betrayers. They are the worst thing to have ever happened to this entire galaxy. They have no, no apathy, no reliance, no loyalties, no brains to understand the intricacies of war, intricacies of politics. They have no reason to exist in this world but to die for a wrong cause. To be led by the leash. By a false emperor. To be ordered like bullets from a gun. They are nothing. They are simple. They are inferior. And they deserve not death, not peace, but suffering. Eternal servitude. To know that they should be ground down into the very depths of the hellish planets in the war. Tell us where they must tour you. To repay for what they have done. To repay for other innocents they have slaughtered. That is how I talk of wolves. And like all of the mirrors kind of come inward though the arms are at odd angles to accomplish this display. Can you tell me of your shadow crusade in Ultramar? Ultramar. Bethael is going to kind of grit his teeth. I know you read a book, Odo. I know you read a book. I did read a book. I read a book. Does Bethael remember? Is my question. Bethael would have been there. He would have been there? He would have been there? Bethael went the whole way. Istvan, Shadow Crusade, Terra. The full eight year fucking heresy. I remember burning through the five hundred worlds. And he's going to kind of uh with a fist on the side of his head kind of knock into his skull a few times as if to rattle the memories loose. I remember the way the nails spit down on armatura. I remember the waves of cobalt blue as their precious world fell one by one by one. I I remember I remember the way their armor cracked and burst. After Kalth, they chased us down. And and still they fought for some some thought of courage honor I I I I I I I remember I I remember the bodies of my brothers piled high enough to let me see the carnage we wrought together. I I I I I I I remember I remember I remember I remember the ecstatic feeling of blood on the teeth of my armor. I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I He enters the prince's palace, but the patron serves no single god. Then move. We will find him. The chamber is quite large. You can easily move around me. He is right about that. He is very smart. Go and shove past him. It, like, meekly brings him up in the ears. There is so much room. You just want to shove somebody. She is like, out of my way, as your voice echoes through Khazad-dûr. I don't want to move. I want to stay right here. Cephas and Lucitrix are going to follow Bethael. But as Lucitrix passes by the usher, she, like, rears back and spits on one of the mirrors. Blessings of Nergal upon you. Eeeeee. That's the sound I make when someone sneezes next to me. Well, she means that. She means that very politely. I assure you. Bethael is going to be stalking forward, looking around, kind of, like, tasting the air. If we follow the stench of whatever his drug of choice for today is, we will find him. Thurston, I want to ask a question that's going to be really stupid. Okay. Have you listened to this show? Would you allow? Okay. No. Okay. Listen, fucker. Zoran, go into Redil's office. All right. Amen. No. No, here's the thing. I do like to supplicate the GM because he's polite. A little bit. Unless he's pissed me off, which case I will say, Thurston! But in this situation, I got a dumbass for you, Thurston. Yes? Thurston, not Usher. Oh, okay. Yes. Yes. Me. Hello. Hello. Hello. I'm going to bleed for her. May I roll a fellowship to try and recall, because I know Byzante a reasonable amount, what this particular day's drug of choice might be? Oh, no. What's he on? What's he on today? Sure. Sure. You know, and you know each other so well. You've also, like, tended to him when he was, you know, wounded in the infirmary on the carcass after Bethael's attack. You can give me that with a plus ten. Okay. I got target of 54. Let's see if I can flip this coin. Okay. You're goddamn wrong. I can't flip that coin. 69, two degrees of failure. Nice. Cephas doesn't recall. It's, it's, uh, it's like, it's like, uh, um, the one that makes you feel good. Fuck. Uh. Yeah. Well, you know the one. Yeah. What do I use? What do I use to track this guy? Okay. And the camera cuts away to, like, this, this elegant manor hall, wood paneled wall. Mirrors every foot or so. I think the background of this is probably, like, Pachelbel candidate D, um, as, you know. Boy, that's lasted a while. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. As, as Byzantium is just walking. Oh, he's walking in a more fucked up way than that. He is walking covered in the shards of glass that he cracked from, that were cracked. From the side of the tower by Bethael, uh, that he has adhered onto his armor through his own blood as, like, an adhesive, while staring point blank at the beguiling gem and trying to navigate the halls through hearing alone. You hear your own voice that, like, rebounds back to you. Ah. Ah, Byzantium, you're so beautiful. Oh, Byzantium, the perfect sun. Oh, Byzantium, you, you will find, you will find it. Byzantium, Byzantium, Byzantium, Byzantium, Byzantium, Byzantium, Byzantium, Byzantium. I wonder what accent that last one was. To give you the effect, coming all. I was waiting for the same thing. Coming all the way. All to start saying Byzantium in different ways. Please, go ahead, everybody. All right, three, two, one. Byzantium. Byzantium. Byzantium. Byzantium. Byzantium. Byzantium. Byzantium. Byzantium. Byzantium. Byzantium. Byzantium. Byzantium. Why do so many Texans want to talk to me? Byzantium. Byzantium. Byzantium is sitting there. He's fucking sitting there. He's trying to strangle the Texans. I started playing Pachelbel during this, which is just beautiful. You can't be Texan. I killed every Texan. I killed all of Texas. Is that what you did during the Siege of Terra? Did you just go to Texas and end them? The emperor's children did that during the siege. There are no Americans in 40K. You may all go to hell. I will go to Texas. We need to get 15 more. You need to solve this. You need to yes. Explain your please. But not becoming an Archmage after all. Anyone. I love you. It is not. Myいくъo manъqüo Goongüye! over the table do that easy you know easy and it's hulky yeah yeah sure all right i didn't think it was possible but i'm beginning to become tired of hearing my own name and like as as shouts um you feel a presence directly behind oh who could it be could it finally be oh okay yeah i'll turn and look like it's the usher standing there with mirrors stretched out all pointing at you at like weird like angles what i thought like this would have talked for longer in fact i wanted to mention that i just stuck with the usher at the start but didn't want to interrupt everybody because he was like well they're going to go that way i'm staying with this guy oh you're still with the usher okay cool so unless it's somewhere the elders think but there's one there this is the other another one you're still with the usher by zancy you see the usher with its many mirrors pointing yep i shan't he uh you went to the darkness darkness you left your companions hmm yes i suppose they would all be lost without me wouldn't they no no by shanxi you went off alone into the darkness now you're here in my hall of mirrors so now by saying she so now by saying she so now by saying she misfit you're going to tell me a story let me see if my whims have changed you can give yourself a plus 30 for this check because your body desperately wants you to actually talk to this entity please roll 100 damn it 30. merry me you want to hear a story you little wretched thing tell me a story by zanki very well i'll tell you a story i shall tell you a story of the little witch the little witch of the little witch littlest acolyte there once was a small little boy huddled and cold wrenched from the masses of chemos and this small little child had been chosen to become an angel but alas the wings he were gifted had been dented and that besides the form that they would be brought to was so tiny and insignificant it was a dreadful tragedy and annoying irritation for the littlest acolyte struggled where others thrived where champions would be born from blade the littlest acolyte needed all within them to carry half the burden their betters carried with ease oh it was so dreadfully sad but a littlest acolyte never gave up even when it would have made far more sense to you and wouldn't you know it one by one larger would disappear would vanish oh make not the littlest acolyte as engaging in unfair play no the wings that they had been adhered to were so beautiful and free and great as the tripping on but they were held together with the most much-needed chemos of all the gods the most monotonous mixture of pink glue and wax and as they rode closer to the sun how the feathers would air and fray before seeing them plummet into the darkness of abject insignificance where the littlest acolyte so often lived but the littlest acolytes weaned on a diet of chemo smog with broken and tattered wings they were adhered by the most unsightly of rooster flesh they would be unseemly in such fine palaces but when all around you shrivels in the light and i am so humble in threshold as the littlest acolyte truly so high and so they did and so they would until even as an elder elder man a warrior of countless battles even now their wings stay solidly in place while their so-called graters melt in the majesty of the sun but someday someday the littlest acolyte someday the littlest acolyte will rule the sun itself so The genny and Leifos are once again by you, along with the usher, holding up the mirror. Well, hello, everyone! All of you heard that tale. There. Was it truly so hard to tell a story? I think I tell quite an excellent story, you miserable little bilge rat. Like retreats back, holding up its mirrors defensively. There. You've heard your four stories. No. No. There is a fifth story. There's a fifth story. You! And the usher turns to Yevgeny. You! And he flips all of the mirrors. Upside down. You! Which one was the best story? Which one was the best? I suppose that's entirely subjective. Oh, you must pick your favorite now. No. Oh. Well, I'm not sure if I'm being given truly a choice of the best story I could tell you, but if I had to pick one, I would think of my deployment on Plato's folly. No! All the mirrors get a snap of, You must pick from one of the four stories you heard from your companions. You must pick your favorite now. Oh. Well, from none of them to the last one. So why don't you pick one? Ah. I see. I'll get you to pick a side early. Please. Old war stories. Half-remembered. Doesn't matter. That is not the real test. No. Every one of those stories is misdefined by our own traumas. We ourselves are unreliable narrators, as it were. Having to pick which one of your own failings, your trials and tribulations would be my favorite would be saying, Ah. Which puppy? And did you like seeing annihilated the most? Which horrible demise really resonated with you? It's all war. No matter whose story, we were all dogs at the end of another chain. Do you pick none? Every folly that my comrades-in-arms have experienced, in some vein or another, I am but un-augmented man. I have relished in my own share of misery and failure. I choose none of them. No. I know them only as they are now. The deeds and the damnation that define them. Roll me 1d5, Hulki. Exciting. That's how many times you die. One. Excellent. Oh no, that's Malal. You... Oh no. Um... Alright. You gain... For not choosing... You gain... One infamy. And three corruption. Ooh. Oh no. Excellent. Do you go over a threshold? You go over a threshold? I call him Mr. Undivided. I do go over a threshold. I am at 11. Corruption. Yay! So... So... I would like you to roll me a d100. Okay. What do we think he's all gonna get, fellas? I'm... Going... Weird feet. Uh... No! Why feet? Why feet? I think you're gonna get... All in on... All in on... All in on... All in on... What is it? Oh god. It's fucking the demonic instability or whatever it's called. Uh... All in on tail... Oh no! Again! Grotesquely fat! Grotesquely fat! No! Don't give me grotesquely fat! I don't want to be merciless! Yeah... Fuck! I don't know... I don't know the table that well, so I can't pick anything, but I'm going to err on the side of one that will force him to make a roll if he wants to do something... Banal. Roll the d100. I'm gonna roll the d100. Fuck. Super Mario, here we go. I bleat. Super Mario, here we go. I bleat. Super Mario, here we go. I bleat. I bleat. I bleat. Goguy. I bleat. I bleat. 62!? No! What is that, Thurston? 62 is I have the table open, as well... Oh, yeah, you... Yeah. You ready. You ready. Yeah, you do, don't you? You want to... You... You just want to read the fucking title of that one? I do, but we'll come back to the outcome in a second. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. The unknowable powers of the War claim one of the character's limbs, leaving behind nothing but a healed stump. Most find that the lost limb still feels like it is there, while others claim to feel the pain of its slow dissolution somewhere in the depths of the Empyrean. The character loses one randomly determined limb. Oh no! Now, that's a good one. You should keep that one. Thurston. Yes! What's your infamy score, buddy? My infamy, presently, I believe is, I accidentally reduced it to one. I believe it went up to seven, because it was just a gain of one. Oh, okay. So I've got good options, because when I was doing pre-gen for the character, I thought that, by virtue of the character itself, I had pre-gen corruption, so I had to roll for two mutations. I did not appear, however, I planned for this. Now I have two different options before me, one of which I actually incorporated into the end game. The original draft of Evgeny, funnily enough, and that either, actually, funnily enough, both of these I have planned for in different ways. Now, I don't know how this one would pan out, but I can either spend more to get a visually cooler one, or a narratively cooler one. I'm just reading the descriptions. Thurston. Uh. Should I just read off my other two options? One will cost me two infamy, one will cost me one? Or would you rather I keep it secret till I decide? So, so no, because you can only modify, because, because the way this works is, you can only modify your result based off the first digit of your infamy score. Really? Which is, yes. But I have good news for you, Hulki. No. You picked the unaligned choice. So because you picked the unaligned choice, you get to roll a second time on the table. Right. So you can roll the another 1d100. Gotcha. And then because of that, do I get to pick a favorite of the options? You will get to pick one of the two. You will get to pick one of the two. You will get to pick one of the two of these. So it will be limb loss or. Okay. Or? Or. Come on. 96. Oh, shit. Oh, no. Okay. All right. Oh. Let's see what this one is. I'm scrolling up here right now. I see it, man. Oh, no. Oh, no. All right. So, Hulki, which limb are you losing? So. So, a 96 on the table, making sure that I did read it correctly, because I want to make triple sure, a result of 96 corresponds to warp touched. Those who pursue glory by walking the path of chaos are all but immune to what mortals call madness, for they have already seen and done things that would shatter the frail minds of the Emperor's lapdogs. Yes. Yes. Some are afflicted by such capricious and contrary natures that they appear all but insane to others, expressing themselves and pursuing goals all but impenetrable to many around them. The character must roll on the disorder table appropriate to the character's alignment. If the character is unaligned, the GM chooses a disorder table to roll on. So, wait, wait, wait. I want to point out that this Urndale invoked this, because Urndale is like, I want you to roll something banal. That will mean, like, you can't interact with the party over banal. And where does that come from? It comes from the disorders table. That it does. So, Hulky, which limb are you losing? Okay. Hold on. Hold on. Okay. You want to know the disorder, don't you? I do want to know the disorder, but do I still have the option of modifying with infamy? No, because you can only do it with the first digit of which you don't have a first digit. Your first digit is technically... Technically zero. Zero, because you're only seven. Oh, I see. Yeah. Thurston, what disorder? Roll me a d100, please. Four tables. I'm going to do a fun little mini game here. Okay. Tell me Ash the home store for four fucking tables. 27. Okay. I see that. I see that. I see that. They're really funny. Okay. Secretive. Come on. 278 by the way for you, Hulky. I'm... Yeah, I'm going to DM you something real quick, Hulky. Oh, okay. I'm scared. I'm going to DM you, Hulky. You're the best, Ash. I am the best. i'm scared i will you're scared i'm scared i am not going this is not me putting my finger on the scale but i do want you to know that i am imagining the scene in which you say they are all equal and then suddenly your leg vanishes it isn't funny you know it's like the tenacious deep you guys are lame come on come on you're coming with me maybe i'll just start doing a guitar and just banding what do you what do you think of that one oh god uh because if you take that one i think there's some props nearby that will let you uh utilize that he's got a mental disorder with props possibly course carrot head is a great he's still doing las vegas apparently yeah is it really yeah he's still living life man we're with that tritcon he's still going well god damn thurston all right i also liked the background music right now i don't know if this is intentional it has like a bit of like that intense moment of who wants to be a millionaire answering the questions which is perfect anyways uh who wants to be cursed by the dark gods yeah limb loss or the mystery box that only you know the answer to yeah all right let's see what hulky got okay all right all right helghi thurston i have made my decision yep what are you what are you going what what do you do once you've made your decision what are you going yeah what are you going what what are you going what do you do uh you're asking me what's your name once, once this occurs. I have no need to choose of my comrades' struggles. Our scars are entirely our own, but in our misery, perhaps even a mortal like me can share the weight of those scars. And Evgeny walks over to Byzantium, scampers up just a little bit, and yanks one of the flecks of myrrh out of his face. Well, that's an interesting way. And begins pressing it into the exposed flesh above his collarbone. Oh yeah, and like blood kind of oozes out from the cut. As he winces. That's my lot in life, as it always has been, is to bear the weight of others' sins. Congratulations, Hulki. Your character now has the disorder of self-mortification. As soon as you keep seeing scars and stuff and doing the thing, it's a good thing we don't have webcams, right? Because you go to see my space scrunch and try to hold it in, because I'm just waiting for you to go, I am my scar. I am my scars. This glass is not yours to take. I am my scars. I am my scars. I am my scars. I am my scars. It is mine. all right Yeah. As Yevgeny I'm like winced seeing this one. As Yevgeny begins, like, carving himself up, he just hear like a very, It's a nurgle disorder. You begin hearing a very light wet clapping from behind as Lucifer is like, yes, good, good, good, good, good. You. You disarm me, Yevgeny. You disarm me, Yevgeny. Yes. You disarm me, Yevgeny. Yes. what beautiful art you make on your flesh you you know I forgive you and he'll put a hand on his shoulder I forgive you for not picking my story I think you're ready now you're ready to see the patron then make it quick alright and all of the mirrors come up at once and as they do the usher drops them and they all shatter on the ground and the usher takes a step back kind of mewling as the shards that scatter around the floor from the mirror begin to vibrate and then float up they take on impossibly large sizes some of them larger than the mirrors that the usher dropped to form them and these shards kind of form together in a semi-oval fashion looming over to each of you but each section reflecting yourselves in the most twisted ways I am the patron of visions you come to my abode you have given the gift of stories you come to my abode you have given the gift of stories to me now I shall talk to you of what you seek I shall talk to you of what you seek I shall talk to you of what you seek you do you do you do you do you regale us then mighty one show us what you will show as each of you look into it there are these disturbing images of yourselves by Santi it's your face face even further mutilated and distorted and pulled back and carved up life oaks the skull is mutated and cracked revealing an orb of darkness within Bethael your face has become insectile and monstrous with the spines peeling back Saphis your helm is now this sackcloth the singular oculus growing and weeping even further and Evgeny it's a tortured scream of your cut and bruised face distorted with strange black soulless eyes that reap of familiarity in the darkness of the place you've been I am the patron of this village and I now you have come to the hub to learn about what is held here yes show us lead us you must understand that where you must go is to the pit is that what an uncle waits the apostle the apostle is no longer here he came long ago or was it yesterday but no longer here but he did not search through the pit did not find the treasure the wealth the beauty the war that lives there where else did he look besides the pit what lead do you have for us he came here to speak with me about you us yes you then you tell us a story mirror what did he ask about why he wanted to hear the stories you just told me then great patron of visions i will kneel out of respect i beseech you give us a delicious morsel in turn and tell us what story he told you he told me that he traveled with you three of five and he left you then came here he waits for one more then he will have his apotheosis well i don't know whether to wish him luck or to pluck his eyes from his still screaming skull the latter well no reason we can't have a bit of both in the pit you will find out where he has gone the old one will tell you fine we go to the pit then i have no desire to waste any more time here you must wait now there is one more thing one more thing what what the mirror shards start like spinning around um but as they do so the images in them don't move so it's kind of just like going like like like a almost like a weird record that's spinning with holes in it to reveal an image you could have my boon but there is a price what price what is this boon and all of the images kind of cut to reveal the screaming face of yevgeny will you tell me a story leifels will put a hand in front of uh yevgeny and goes don't pay for something you don't know what you're getting nonsense you're getting power do not look in the mouth of it without power you are nothing yevgeny take it in your hand and claim this boon i do not disagree with achieving power but understand what ties are all to it understand what cage you enter for glory i believe the mortal should do as he wishes it is his choice he must warn our good friend will it provide us a path forward we have a way out through we have what we have came for through the pit itself whether we will guarantee victory or not it is the gamble we take it is up to you if you want its power no matter what it offers you can take whatever power you want with your own bloody knockers yevgeny he already has the creature wants the right choice careful of what you give everything comes with a price no one gives everything for free i have no need for additional boons but if a story is what you want then i will leave my mark just the same what gash will you reopen for me it spins tell us story you told tell you the story i told who me told who now me the story you tell me now me the story you tell me now tell me now the story the story i would have told you before plato's folly my first deployment the first one where i felt like another soldier someone worth feeling I was dispatched to rout an incursion on Plato's folly. I was assigned into the retinue of Inquisitor Laudosa. It was a simple task. Find the insurgent forces. Bring them to light. Let the Arbides or the Inquisitor herself execute judgment. Find out what they know. And don't ask questions. It was a squad of sixteen. We were dispatched into the hard blocks surrounding a manufactorum at that time. We swept them little by little, going off the scarce information that we'd had. That somebody was sabotaging the machines within the manufactorum. Ammunition would come out. Not wrong. The presses would break down far too regularly and far too completely to not be some act of sabotage. The Arbides couldn't rout anybody. They gained no information in the sweeps that they had done. So they called on someone higher. Someone suspected the stink of chaotic taint. It was my first run-in. But not my last. I overturned the homes of probably several dozen families in the sweep that my team, my sub-team, had let. Until we got to the cowering families of one. Abraham Carcis. Carcis was a foreman on the factory floor. Someone who rose to his position because of his intimate knowledge of the machines all across that sector of the manufactorum. After all, nobody else within his employ or working under him would have such a complete understanding of the fault points within an ammunition press that one could push or prod. And I'm not sure if that's true. I'm not sure if that's true. I'm not sure if that's true. I'm not sure if that's true. I'm not sure if that's true. I'm not sure if that's true. or break one to not rouse as much suspicion as the average low-minded laborer no no no no he was deliberate he was careful and he thought that he'd covered all his tracks but as soon as the inquisition caught wind of a potential sabotage that was not simple worker uprising of schemes that transcended average mortal design he was already facing the wall and i was the first to enter his home and i found him there cowering in his kitchen whispering something didn't sound like gothic no some kind of language i've never heard before that kind that itches at the back of your mind like a rat gnawing into a cardboard box and i did as my training taught me to i'm outshoulded my rifle in with one las bolt i put it straight to his head and shut him up we didn't need to ask questions we saw what we needed to see and we executed our duties and as i swept through his home and tried to find any kind of documents any kind of documents any kind of documents any kind of belongings that the inquisitor herself might find of interest i found his husband and daughter cowering in a closet i probably wouldn't have noticed them if not for the faint cries of a doll the just barely audible skittering of hands trying to shut it up but i already knew that they were there the second it made a sound and i don't i didn't know if they had known anything what their father had done i didn't know if he knew what his husband had done if they were in on it it was just a matter of time until they found out what their father had done my training was just the same a long time ago but it was just irrelevant uh my training was just the same whatever they may think to hide be sure that the emperor in the inquisition would find it out if there's any suspicion of chaotic taint be sure that the emperor in the inquisition would find it out if there's any suspicion of chaotic taint it was to execute our duty Any questions? And Evgeny fiddles with one of the skulls at his neck, braided into his hair, and he thumbs around in the dirty knotted lump that has been tied onto this skull for quite some time, and within a small cord of yarn, he made all of his graying hair. I went back to my inquisitor. I let them know that I'd routed the insurrection. She had informed me that I had done exactly as expected, and commended me for my service, before decimating the labor force of that manufactorum. And I was proud, because I did exactly as I was told to. And that gnawing, rat-like doubt... ... ...quietly passed from my mind, as any good soldier should. I have never stopped thinking about that doll to this day, and I carry her with me, because a part of me knew it wasn't a trophy that I took, but a penance. ... ... Because like any good rat, it stays hidden. ... But it would come out, and gnaw and gnaw and gnaw. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... I shall speak no more on this. You have your story. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...� ... ... ... ... ... ... We go. Wait. What of the boon? You promised a boon for Yevgeny. I don't need the boon. Very well. ... . . . . . ... . . .. . . . . . . . . He's made his choice, as he should have. . . . . He should, uh, Lifeforce begins to walk, uh, away and S begins to go away. Uh, he goes like, the same way we came in, I assume. And all of the glass falls to the, to the ground, um, like it shattered heaps, uh, which has the usher scurrying over to pick up the, the, the shards, bleeding his hands as he does so. Yes, go through the cave. It will be easier on your way out. Won't you usher us out? That way. He points. That is all I need. Lifeforce will nod and be like, this motherfucker sucks as a motherfucker, damn. And he will begin to walk out. Uh, he'll, he'll begin the, um, basically escorting everyone because he remembers the way in and out. Um, and as, and I assume at this point, we all, all together walk out. Yeah, and as you do, you see that it is a cave no longer filled with mirrors. Oh, sorry, Aaron. No, it's all right. I was just, it was just Cephas, like, ushering them along. Yeah. And you, you come out and what you come out is just like a nondescript cave. Uh, that emerged. It emerges back into the wastelands of this planet. Um. Hey, uh, Hulk, I'll make you read this one. Cool. Bargaining with the demons of change. is a pact that gods extend to the faithful. They offer mastery of destiny. Realms, bent by will and flesh, remade by sorcery, yet demand thy every certainty be dissolved into ceaseless flux. When the last mortal trace perishes, the Changer of Ways proclaims thee living mutation, unbound to shatter the false emperor's stagnant realm. Excerpt from the Ninth Testament of Zol Ananki. All right, so you emerge from the cave into the wasteland. Uh, the the Palace of Mirrors is gone. Instead, there is only this this cavern. Um, you can see that the Arvis Lighter is off in the distance. But that's it. Laphos begins to walk forward, uh, and you'll kind of look at Byzantine and goes, I'm very surprised you gave him a story. What? I had no issue giving him a story, provided that it fit my whims and amusements to do so. Besides, who ever said that I was the littlest acolyte? I don't think anyone questioned it. I questioned the willingness to give, to play with it, to give it what it wanted. Well, I don't mind giving, and I don't mind taking either. And even for you, Bethael... Hm? You usually hate things of this sort. ... I do. I do. But what remains of my memories of Armature and the Calf and the many burning worlds of the Sons of Gilliman... ... I suppose those are cherished memories. I am unafraid to share. I just didn't understand why he called me a coward. The coward of Scalathrax, was it? Let's try not to remember. Miphos will shrug and make his way to the Arbis later. Yeah, at that point, Bethael does give Byzantium like a long, uneasy look as they... The mirror mentioned Scalathrax for the both of them. Sure did. Sure said one was the coward and one was the failure. Not exactly a well-ordained planet for you or I. And the less said about it, the better. Bethael kind of looks down and folds his arms uncomfortably. For once, I agree. Oh, I fucked up. Evgeny, Evgeny, as you approach the Arbis later... Uh-oh. Oh, shit. Ah, fuck. Evgeny, as you approach it, you... You now have training in aeronautical craft, right? That's true. Okay, so you've also kind of like... I'm so confused if you're in pain or if you're like, oh, fuck, he's gotta fly. Oh, I am in pain. No, I'm in pain because I realized something that I'm just about to explain. Okay, okay. Evgeny, as you approach the Arbis later... Oh, no, this is actually raw emotional pain because I'm trying to think of a solution now. No, no, no, it's good, it's good. This is raw, thirsting pain being translated. I did it into the game. At the end of the prior session, Evgeny was in shock of what happened. Chaos swarms, Cephas with the bolter, shooting the bolter through the cockpit window, taking out the creatures. Evgeny, now that you've had time to collect your thoughts, maybe, you know, add a bit of self-mutilation to your repertoire, you approach the Arbis later, the transorbital shuttle, and realize that the canopy glass is entirely shattered. Oh. So, Cephas. Yes? How do you feel about piloting the Arbis lighter back to the ship, entirely by yourself? Poorly. But? Because, uh, I happen to not have a void suit, or a pressurized covering, or a canopy for which to survive space decompression. Because I could fly that with a respirator the entire time for the sky, for the sky, for the sky, for the sky. For the rest of this planet. But I will not survive the transit to the ship. Yes. I had thought of this as we were descending, and I thought it very lucky that they chose to attack us when we were actually within breathable atmosphere. However, in this instance, we are not wholly, hmm, ruined, as it were. I am certain if we were to reach out, we could find some conclave somewhere of dark tech creatures, beasts, or what have you, who would be more than willing with a, an even hand, and another containing a fair bit of threat, to assist us. Hmm. You think there's another ship on this damned place? I think there are a great many things here, just as a matter of finding them. I can't imagine that it's just this tower. Well, this is ridiculous. Evgeny, can't you just use, and then, uh, Byzantium is going to take a look at, uh, Lucretia, or whatever her name is. Lucitrix, yeah. Lucitrix. And, uh, just take a look at her being disgusting, and presumably, like, hawking a loogie, or whatever, just covered in slime. All right. We'll have to go to another settlement to get Evgeny some proper rebreathing gear. Either avoid suit or repairs for the Arvis Lighter, since neither him nor Lucitrix can breathe in the void of space. You know, this is why I've always said we never should have thrown that warp smith into that black hole. You did say that right after I heard that. Add that to a future Echoes episode. I was going to say, Byzantium, because you were the one who was instigating that particular issue. I didn't think you'd fall in. Byzantium, I understand that a great many things are within your grasp, but the gravity well of a black hole seems to evade you. You know, if he didn't want to be there, assigning blame to me, of all people, you'd be the one who would have to pay for this. It's simply ridiculous. It was clearly Bethael's fault. Me? You're the one that killed the... You caused the whole pileup in the black hole. If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't have been in this system. Echo, it was your fault. For once, I was not the one who killed that guy. That was all you. Yeah, but that's what some people say. Anyway, the point is, we need to get going because I'm getting bored of being here and you wouldn't like me when I'm bored. We don't like you already. You will like me even less. Damn. Why do you ever... I'd like to propose something. Yeah. Before I even say it, I don't want to say it. You can't do that. He's like, well, I'm dumb. The idea, I want to take Lypos the Skull, put it on top of Yevgeny's head, and then as his body sits in the back of the Arvis lighter, he will do psychic... And basically psychically try to give him a... Like a psychic void suit where he kind of like, you know, pressurizes his head and stuff like that and, you know, tries to keep him alive, basically. I mean, there's still the atmosphere, but of course... Or she wants to do psychic stuff to be like... There's still lucid tricks, but, you know, I get it. She can just... We'll just sail the back. Good luck. I mean, the front doesn't need to be... I mean, the front could be locked up. We also could just go to try and see if there's anyone around we could coerce. In the waist? I will also say, you know, you can still fly atmospherically, no problem. No. True. I want to be a wizard. I want to do it. You can be a wizard. I'm not... I'm not taking this from you, but you could use the auspex on the ship to scan for the pit. Fine. I'm going to say, SkyJane, we'll go to the pit. He's perfectly good at popping my minion. We do need to find the pits, though. No, we can't go and find repairs for a pit. You can get a new one. No, I can't. I would have to spend infamy to do that. You can get lucid tricks, too. That's going to take... It'll take a while for the cleave to send me another one. Two citrics. Yeah, two citrics. Don't you start with me. True citrics. Lucid tricks. Two. All right. Swipe her on the ground like a rotten football. Lifehose will take the suggestion, and he will go like... We don't need to go to our ship yet. Just simply take the helm, Evgeny, and let's find the pit. Yes. Sounds good. Never had a bad time in the pit? And when we're on our way, relay information to the ship up high to hopefully send an escort. So when we do need to leave, we have it ready. Sounds like a good plan. You don't? Um, I mean, if we had the second one, would we be in the harvest land? That's fair. That's fair. God, our ship sucks. No, brother. You were really excited about being in it at first. Brother. Before I realized that it was a... Sounds everything! Cephas pats Byzantion on the shoulder, and he attempts to soothe him. Brother, our ship does not sucks. It is merely under-equipped. When it is re-equipped, it will be filled. We will be the scourge of the emperors. What piteous little workers. And I'd love to believe you, but I'd like to start seeing it in action. Patience. Okay. So you've got any... Are you going to pilot this at least in the atmosphere for now? Is that sort of the plan? Oh, yeah. Absolutely. Because, like, what are we going to... Like, yeah, I'm going to use my know, fucking void ship experience with this. None of us are at this. He's just going to get a very good breeze. Okay, give me a plus 30 check for your piloting. Sure, sure. Plus 30 check? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, the pit is actually a very, like, basic Auspex can find it. Absolutely. Okay. Thurston, I want to preempt any horribleness happening by saying that Lucitrix and Cephas are sitting by the front, ready to engage anything that comes through the window. You're behind! Don't... We're fine! You know, Urndale, my target's pretty high. As in, I have to roll a lot of things before I hit the uh-oh zone. And eight is my lucky number for a reason. Drill. Ooh, fuck. You got really close to the uh-oh zone. I got a 76 for two degrees of success. All right. So with that 76, you managed to get the damage driver slider up. Obviously, you have to take it at a brisk, not a fast pace, to ensure that you're not damaged during the flight. But, you know, with some of the protective gear inside, it's enough to keep you relatively safe with this. In fact, maybe you like some of the, like, high-velocity debris that maybe occasionally mars your skin right now, because you're into that. Yeah. You pilot for about... about... a better part of an hour. Maybe a little bit more as you traverse the wasteland, kind of keeping to this equatorial band onto Hob, where the vast kaleidoscopic storms are just out of reach. Eventually, you come to the edge of what is the pit. Pit itself is like an eye in the ground, a great gouge that is exactly what the name describes, a deep pit with no bottom. However, as you get close, you can tell that above the pit is a roiling storm of actinic thunder and lightning that blast around, attracted to any particulate matter. Meaning, you're easily able to tell this is not something you can fly your Arvus later into the pit. It will not survive. Which makes sense, and you kind of pull back to look around at other nearby landing spots, which is when... something catches your eye. Along the tan surface of Dahab, near the pit and the roiling hills, is a strange color that juts out. A strange shape. If any of your companions are peering through the back, likely Cephas, but others may as well. You see the distinct form of... A Legion attack craft, a Thunderhawk gunship... In the vibrant orange... Of, the renegade warband known as the Endless Conflagration. They have set up shop... Near the edge of the pit. That, is where we will call today's episode. Ah. Yippee! Yay! good job everybody good episodes good episode good storytelling everybody good storytelling very good and of course if you guys listening really like the show and stuff like that really want to help support it because without you we don't exist uh you can go to patreon.com forward slash narrative declaration or narrative declaration to find out all about us and all the various places you can also find all of our lovely cast members and all their projects they're working on and of course all of everybody who helps work on the show and of course where you can go and support us either through merch patreon listen to us on youtube podcast all that other fun stuff thank you guys so much for your support and listening to us and we will see you next time so long farewell goodbye everybody