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The Mechanics Guild Ep. 10: "Summons and Secrets" · The Mechanics Guild

• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: Oh hi, everybody.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we begin the final stage of the trials at the Mechanics Guild.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: Oh boy.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_05: It feels so heavy.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, like it's taken us.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_05: It's taken us so long to get here.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_05: And also like.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_05: It's been a journey.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_05: It's been emotional.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_06: Oh my gosh.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_06: I feel 40 years old.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: The fun thing is, this is the prologue.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: We know that you want to live here.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_05: This is the shit that we already knew how we did.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: This is the tricky party done.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: And uh it's, you know, as we say, we're in the pit of despair.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but we're coming out.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: We're in act three.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: We're coming out.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna finish this all out.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: I wanna want to.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: Anyways.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know what else is coming out?
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: The rising sun that is glistening uh through the windows.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: A very warm reminder that the events of yesterday, hazy memory though they may be, were in fact very real.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: That you have, in fact, made it to the final round of the trials of the guild, and that you are in fact being rewarded with the finer comforts that this stronghold has to offer.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: Impressed by your performance, or perhaps curious of something else indiscernible, the expectations of the guild now weigh upon you, like the thick quilts laid across your sturdy wooden bed frames.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: Your rooms are now slightly larger, more decorated, and yes, have windows carved into the side of the mountain, exposing you to the first time in months a real look at the outside sky.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: Despite the sense the larger quarters, however, a sense of claustrophobia or surveillance still creeps in.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: You know that your every move is being watched and scrutinized.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: In the communal living space, you find creature comforts, tea, snacks, comfortable seating, parchment and writing utensils, shelves stocked with journals and guides, a sparring dummy.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: Beyond this, however, no missives yet.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: No instructions, no indication of your next step.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: Only your new teammates and a front door that is, for now at least, locked from the outside.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_06: Not an escape room.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_06: Not an escape room, just surveillance.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_06: She's saying you don't have to get out.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_05: Wait, well, yeah.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_05: When you say locked from the outside, you mean we're locked in?
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_06: Uh-huh.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_06: Yes.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_07: Yes.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_07: Oh no, they're locked in here with me.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_07: That's why I'm like, oh, escape room.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_05: Whatever.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_05: Okay.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_05: Um, Argo has not tried the door upon first waking up.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_05: When everybody else, I imagine he's an early riser.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_05: Do you think anybody else here wakes up earlier than Argo?
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_05: Because maybe Darius with the Okay, yeah, great.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_06: Especially with the natural light now.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_05: Sure.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_06: That's probably.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_06: Honestly, probably all of us are probably like, what the fuck?
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, we're jumpy.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_05: We gotta be jumpy.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_05: Darius, you're the first one up, most likely.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_05: Uh what are you up to first, if you don't mind me asking?
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_09: Uh great start.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_09: Yes.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_09: Very confused.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_09: Um, I don't think I do anything.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_09: I think I'm always in a state of like soft.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_09: Like, I think uh I am not I am up, I am sitting, I'm meditating, I am eyeing my surroundings.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_09: I don't know if I'm up on doing anything, right?
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_09: Tea of choice?
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_09: Oh man, you have to assume I know anything about tea.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_09: Uh what's the what's a strong tea?
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: Like a black tea?
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: A chai?
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_09: Yeah, yeah.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_09: Something with like a yeah, yeah, like a chai.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_09: Spicy, black.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_09: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_09: And something that's like milk or no milk?
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_09: No milk.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: Straight straight.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_09: No milk, no sugar.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_09: No.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_09: It has to be like like a peel something.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_09: Yeah, the Turkish style, you know what I mean?
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_09: Like, and there's probably like stuff in it.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_09: So it's not just like put into the like tea bag, it's like they put other stuff into the tea.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_09: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, the tea version of a Turkish coffee.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_05: So it's just like literally floating fully in there.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_05: You straighten it with your coffee.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_09: Put it in.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_05: So Argo wakes up to come out and see this fucking mad lad sipping fully loose leaf tea out of a cup and goes, um, good morning.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_09: Good morning.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_05: So I oh, I I was I was looking at the etching that you carved onto my bed.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_05: Thank you very much for that in advance.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_05: Uh, or again, by the way, um, I was taking a closer look at it.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_05: I made a bit of a relief, and I was running the runic structure of it against uh other languages, um, some of which I'm I'm only slightly familiar with, but it it seems like there's there's a lot of overlap.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_05: Do you know where the the runes like originally come from uh etymolog etymologically?
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_09: They're my mom's runes, which came from her mom and her mother and her mother.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_05: So it's a family language.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_05: Okay, interesting.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_09: That gives me uh that gives me some some some room to to um I sip my tea and I give uh I my eyes dart towards the door and I tell Argo the door's locked.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_05: Which the door out?
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_05: The door out?
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_05: I nod Sure.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_05: Sure.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_05: Okay.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_05: Um do you think wait here one second.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_05: Argo hurriedly tiptoes over um and presses his ear against Liv's door.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_06: Um, how early is it?
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_05: Uh apparently later than Darius, which does make sense, but he's probably like like 8 a.m.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_05: is sleeping in, you know?
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_06: Mmm, gotcha.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_06: Um, I think Liv in her life of leisure and also nights out, um, you know, sneaking out.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_06: She's a she's a night owl, so she probably sleeps until 9 30.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_06: So she's probably asleep.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_05: Okay.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_05: Um, she's not up.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_05: Shoot.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_05: I felt like she would be the perfect.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_05: Have you tried uh have you tried picking it?
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_05: I feel like she'd be good at that.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_09: You did just look at him.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_09: I just don't even react.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_09: I'm just waiting for you to like Okay, right.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_05: Let me let me rephrase this.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_05: Um I'm the ideas guy, I guess.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_05: So here's my first idea.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_05: Let's try picking the lock.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_05: We can either do it ourselves or wait until she wakes up.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_05: I don't wanna wake a girl up.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_05: It doesn't feel right.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_09: Sounds like we gotta do it ourselves.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_05: Okay, easy.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_05: That's fine.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_05: That's fine.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_05: I can do that.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_05: That's fine.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_05: I can break and enter.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_05: Well, break and leave.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_05: That's fine.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_05: That's allowed.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_05: Uh, Argo's gonna hurry over to his pack and like heave out into the communal space his duffel bag overflowing with like wrenches and half-built machinery and stuff, and go uh uh sifting through that looking for.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_05: I've got tools proficiencies.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_05: I've got wood carvest supplies.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_05: Oh, and I've got tinker tools.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_05: Perfect.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_05: Oh, I have do I have thieves tools proficiency?
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, because I'm an artificer.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, I just have a ton of tool proficiencies.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_09: So I've got uh You're saying all this You're saying all this, right?
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_05: Do I do I do I know how to pick lock?
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_05: Oh wait, yeah, I took these tools proficiency, but I made my class.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_05: I mean um Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_05: So like as he's pulling out this duffel bag, uh like a lockpick set falls out and he goes, Oh, I forgot that I made that.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_05: Oh, I hope it still works.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_05: Um and he's gonna pick it up and uh shuffle his way over to the uh um whenever Argo, like when he's not wearing shoes, he just like slides his feet everywhere.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_09: Oh, he would be one of those.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_05: When he makes his way over to the to the door, he's gonna crouch down and give this his best fucking shot.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_05: Is this hands?
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, okay, great, great, great, great.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_05: Um do I do I add anything because I'm proficient in thieves tools, or do I just not take a penalty?
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: You just don't take a penalty.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_05: Okay, cool.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_05: Um that's a natural two coming up with the big four.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: All right, you put the uh homemade uh thieves tools into the lock.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: You feel a little bit of pressure um with the tumblers, and I think that you are proficient enough to clock this that they are being held in place magically.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_00: And you feel a snap and your tool breaks in the lock.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_05: Um This is gonna take more than this.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_05: Oh, shoot.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_05: You don't uh Darius, you don't know how to dispel What am I thinking?
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_05: No, of course not.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_09: Okay.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_09: Um I just look at him.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_09: I'm glad he answered his own question.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_05: Darius and Argo's relationship to me feels like a computer programmer and his rubber duck.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: And his rubber duck?
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_05: The full expectation is that questions will be asked and no response will be made, and he will continue a one-sided conversation.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_05: Listener, I hope that's entertaining for you.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_05: Um It's magically delicious.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_09: How are we gonna can I uh look around the room to see any other escape routes?
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_09: Like what give me my my sort my soldier martial survivalist look around.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: Roll me a perception.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_09: A perception?
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: Or investigation if you're like actively getting up and looking.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_00: I am definitely around the room than investigation.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_09: No, I'm definitely doing perception.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_09: Uh I'm definitely doing perception.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_09: Not because it is not because I have a higher bone, not because barely I would be sitting there and uh figuring it out.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: Siving saving your tea.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_09: Yes, of course.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_09: Watching because I know I'm being surveilled.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_09: Perceiving.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_09: Uh one second.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_09: Alright, here we go.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_09: Oh my god, my digital dice are angry today.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_09: Um stop.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_09: It doesn't even surprise me.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_08: Oh, I got a two! Yeah, plus a three or five.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_00: Both of you are getting twos.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: Alright.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um to give you on a five.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_05: Sarah just sighed like we're letting her down.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: I just I want to help you.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: I want you to.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_09: I just want to just get Liv to wake up and save us.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_09: Somebody wake up, Liv.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: That is the next step.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: Wake up Lives Way to make way to make the woman carry all the um yeah.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I think especially just sitting and looking around the room, this room does not look uh that different than the quarters you had been in before.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_00: You can tell, like, especially with the windows built into the side of the mountain, there is only one route in, and it is where that door is.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_05: What is the composition of this door?
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_05: Its material makeup.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_00: It is sort of a combination of um the stone of the mountain and wood.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_05: Sturdy.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_05: Sturdy door.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_05: Sturdy door.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: How about that y'all are so focused on opening this door when that is not the point?
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_05: Oh no! It's the first thing.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_05: It's the first thing.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_09: The brains of the operation are gone here.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_09: How dare you! There's like there's like things they've hit or like a bad.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_07: You can call me the brains when Argo's not in the room.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_07: Otherwise, we both we have an understanding.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_05: How uh Argo feels a bit of divine inspiration indicating that the door is not the thing.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_05: Thanks, uh let's let me can I look around the room and see if there's anything else that might uh illustrate why this is happening?
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_05: A next step, a clue.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_00: Uh yeah, you can you can okay, here's two.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: I'll actually give you two options here.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um you can investigate and see if there are any clues around.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_00: Or based on what you know of the trials thus far, you can hold insight.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_04: Not that insightful.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_05: Okay, good.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_05: Much better than a two.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_05: That is an 18 for investigation.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_00: For investigation, yeah.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_00: So you go over to those shelves that have um all the books and the journals and things like that, and you find uh a lot of journals from for like current mechanics who went through, again, not trials like this, they haven't done anything quite like this before, but who have gone through the training process.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_00: And that is where you begin to pick up the way that this section of the trials is going to be run.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_00: Specifically that isolation moment, that that idea of they want you just with your teammates, they want you to feel what it is going to be like when you go to other verses and have no one else to depend on.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_00: So the door being closed is not to test you to get out, it is keeping you here until the guild has something for you.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_05: The waiting is the thing.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_05: Darius, there's nothing for us to do.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_05: You just have to sit there.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_05: Keep uh drinking your tea.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_00: No, we didn't hear it.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_00: There we go.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_05: That's gross.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_05: I guess I'll read.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_05: Oh, I have time now.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_05: That's nice.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_05: I'm gonna just keep moving, pouring through these, uh, I'm just gonna keep pouring through these these old uh uh uh diaries from from current McKinley.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_00: In addition to the journals, Argo, there are incredibly detailed accounts of verses that are not available in the Live Woldian.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_05: Sorry.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_05: No, that's probably Argo having a reaction too.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_05: Uh there's an audible gasp on one side of the room near the books.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_05: Uh, and Argo just starts piling them into his hands and takes a seat opposite Darius and then starts piling books onto the table where the tea stuff is, like accidentally sloshing some out of the pot.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_05: And he goes, Oh, oh, sorry, sorry, sorry.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_05: These are for me.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_05: I need these.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_00: Liv, I think you'll probably hear Argo's little outburst there.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_07: Nothing like a high-pitched shriek delivery from asleep.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_07: Ah.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_06: She kind of stumbles.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_06: You kind of hear a little bit of a thump in her in her like corner of the room.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_06: She opens the door.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_06: Is everything okay?
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_07: What's what?
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_07: Ah.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_07: Everything's great.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_07: We're locked in.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_06: Liv does not like that.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_06: What do you mean?
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_05: The door's locked.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_05: We just have to wait.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_05: This that's it.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_06: What do you mean the door's locked?
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_07: She shuffles over in her slippers to the door.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_07: Just to the handle.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_07: There's a Wait, wait, hang on.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_00: What do Liv's slippers look like?
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_06: Um Okay, so my first thought was they're um they're definitely fuzzy.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_06: They probably have like like feathers on the on the top.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_06: They're like little peep toe slippers, and they kind of have like they're little peep toe fuzzy slippers.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_06: I think she's just across the floor.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_00: Like her cloven hose or little peep toe.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_07: Yes.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_07: I know.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_05: Oh yeah, yeah.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_05: It's it's locked.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_05: There's an arcane uh uh manifestation or something like that.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_05: It's probably arcane locked, but I don't have I don't know how to do dispel magic.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_05: It might be in one of these books.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, so if there is something for me to figure out, I'll figure it out, but we just have to hang out.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_05: Isn't that cool?
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_05: Um We're like rubies!
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_06: She definitely jiggles, she goes to jiggle the door a couple times.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_06: Anyway, just to make sure, just to make sure.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_06: Confirm, you know?
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_00: Confirm that it is locked.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_06: Incredible! She takes a deep breath, her uh claustrophobia, uh just keeping it at bay.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_06: Okay.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_06: Okay, okay.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_06: Um, Darius, do you by any chance have any chamomile?
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_09: I diligently go through the the uh tea collection and pull the exact one that they need, and I begin to brew a new one.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_06: Incredible.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_06: Just you know, let's let's calm down.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_06: Let's all calm down, alright?
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_06: I think everyone's freaking out.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_06: Calm down!
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_09: Yeah, let's all calm down after an abnormally long silence, I ask.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_09: I look towards Argo and I go, did you talk to your friend?
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_05: My oh.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_05: Do you mean um do you mean Arrow?
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_09: Yes.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_05: No.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_05: No, of course not.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_05: And we can't talk to We can't talk to anybody anyway, you know that.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_05: We're d It's just us now.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_05: And that's for the best.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_05: That's it's better that way.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_09: I turn over to Liv and I go, did you talk to your friends?
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_06: How would I have made that happen?
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_09: I'm quiet a little bit, then I go.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_09: I don't know if we're gonna see them again.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_05: Why would you say that?
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_05: I wasn't worried about that before.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_05: Why would you say that?
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_09: I nod towards one of the books at the in the library and go like I read some of these already.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_05: You've been awake for a while, huh?
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_09: Take a sip of my tea.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_03: Is that why half of these are dog-eared?
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_03: You shouldn't do that.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_03: It's bad for the pages.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_09: I find that in moments like these, it's better to step towards them with an unburdened heart.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_05: So you're saying we should somehow manage to detach from all of our relationships in the next couple of hours, like you have.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_09: No, I'm saying don't leave with regrets.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_09: We're a squad now.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_09: Whether it was destiny, choice, an evil plan, or the sheer dumb roll of a dice, we are now together.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_09: And I need to know you have my backs.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_09: Because I can promise you I have yours.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_09: And I sip my tea again as though this was the most nonchalant thing to say in the world.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_06: You know, Darius, for an old curmudgeon like yourself, you actually have moments of pure inspiration.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_09: They must put something in the tea.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_09: And I s uh you see a soft edge of a smile on the edge of my face.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_09: For some reason, Darius understands the relationship of a squad.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_09: Like he understands that partnership.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_09: And so there's some you can see him loosen a little bit to it.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_09: He's not quite there yet.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_09: But he's loosening a little bit.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_09: If he's gonna die or fail with these people, then he wants them to know who he is before the house.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_06: Um, Liv shuffles over and will take the tea that you've been making her, hold it in one hand and place her other hand on your shoulder.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_06: And kind of like a s like squeeze it a little bit in a silent vow in that moment, um, and then takes it and starts shuffling around the room to see what else, what other Good goodies there might be to be found.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_05: If you got my back, I got yours.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_05: But you gotta trust me.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_05: I'll do all I can, I always will, to keep everybody okay.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_05: Everybody, not just you guys, but I know I don't know as much as you.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_05: It really bothers me to say that.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_05: I don't That's not actually not true.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_05: I don't know less than you.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_05: I haven't experienced as much as you.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_05: But trust me on the stuff I know.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_05: Like like like for instance, let me see your armor.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_05: I can make it better.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_05: I promise.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_09: I look at him, I lean back into my chair, and I take my whirl god pauldron.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_09: I remove it carefully, and I extend it over to Argo.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um you have never seen something this high-quality material before, this pauldron.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_00: It is made of the finest metals to a point that you cannot quite even tell what metal it is, because the alloy is so refined and specific.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_00: This is clearly some of the best armor you will ever see in your life.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_05: Oh.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_05: Argo takes it like he's been handed like a Tiffany vase, like something made of pure delicate crystal.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_05: And he moves a couple of books over so that he can lay them atop it and says, Thank you.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_05: I will not let you down.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_05: Runs back over to that duffel bag, pulls it back further.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_05: More more gears and wrenches and shit are falling out, and he uh pulls out a visor with like a flip-down magnifying glass on it, um, and starts getting to work infusing it.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_05: Uh he'll he'll give you one of his artifa artificer infusions.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_05: Um, so as long as we have the time for this, Sarah, uh, which like I think it's just a couple of hours of him working on it, I'm not sure.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_05: Uh I'll infuse it with um uh enhanced defense and raise your AC by one.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_00: Cup scrambles over and is like holding a soldering iron for you.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_05: Thanks, bud.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_09: I as this whole thing is happening, I look towards Liv with a sort of silent but meaningful gay thing.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_09: Did I fuck this up?
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_07: Liv is crying.
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_07: Liv is crying dirty.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_07: She is so proud of you, and she's trying not to make she's trying not not to do that thing where you point out men's vulnerability.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_07: So she was just over there like that was good, that was good, that was good, it's good to me.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_00: You feel a little like nudge against your calf, and like part of Cups has come over and like is is butting you.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_08: Me?
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_08: Oh cups.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, I'm good, I'm good then.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_06: Take the sleeve of my robe.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_00: Uh Liv, you said you also wanted to look around the room.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, sure.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_00: Is there anything specific that you're looking for?
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_06: Well, there are books.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_06: Um, lots and lots of books.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_06: Um is that the only thing?
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_06: There's tea.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_06: There's tea.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_06: I can look at all the tea.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_00: No, I mean, this is like a very well-stocked living quarters.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_00: It is very clear that they want you to live comfortably here.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so whereas your pledge bunks in the past were very barren and like first level of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, this is like, and we're also gonna give you some comfort.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um, like I said, it is it is more well decorated.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_00: There are a lot more quilts and pillows, the seating is more comfortable.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um, there's that like sort of sparring area.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_00: There is enough room to do some sort of training and combat and whatever physical activity you want to do.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um, there are some plants, uh, mostly for decoration, but I think that you would probably recognize them as things you could do something medicinal with.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but this is it is sort of like a very cottage-y feel almost of you're gonna be here for a while, but they're trying to make that feel both comfortable and productive.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_06: Um, down to do plants, also um down to look at any of the books that might be specifically about languages.
• 26:37
  unknown: Okay.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_06: Um, because um talking as like the player, I have a couple language proficiencies I never filled in.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_06: And I think for Liv it'd be very interesting to be like, well, what like core languages might be helpful?
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um, go ahead and roll me.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_00: I think this might be just a straight intelligence check.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_06: Boo!
• 27:04
  unknown: Okay.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_00: Um, with four, what I will say is again, in these very detailed guides of these verses, um, they do speak a little bit about languages.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_00: You also get a sense that um the guild is going to assist you with interpretation and translation.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_00: You can't quite identify how they're going to do it, but it seems like in these journals that some folks are a little bit less concerned about being fluent in these languages.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I think you also know internally that there is value to be fluent in a language, even if you are being aided, because that could fall through, and or people might trust you more if you are speaking their language as opposed to through a translator.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um so I'll say that you see a couple that maybe seem important to focus on, but you don't totally understand them quite yet.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um, one verse would be Lorewill, which is the first verse that a doorway was established between.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so that is something that like Solara has maintained a very strong relationship with this verse.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um, they are close allies, they are very alike in intelligence and ambition and diplomacy, like they're very kind of similar.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um but so so there's like a lot of relationship to be had there, but it is a very different language, so it is something that you would really need to study.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_00: Of course.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um and then I think another one that is interesting to you is that Bastion um speaks the same language as Solara, even though it is a completely different verse.
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_06: Love that.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_06: Um, I think to piggyback off of that, noting what languages any of the council members might speak.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_06: Because I know there were some from other verses.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_06: Maybe something like that.
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, I think that's the same, like they're gonna speak the language of the verse they come from.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_00: Gorgeous.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_06: Oh, well, yeah, that's yeah, duh.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_06: But I yes, no, correct.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_06: And just making sure I know which verses don't have.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_06: You know what I mean?
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_06: Because when we Yeah, I think I can't fully give you that on a floor.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_06: No, of course, of course.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_06: No, no, no, I know.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_06: But I remember when we were having the um the dinner, you were like, some have verses have council members, some don't.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_06: So it'd just be like, oh, well, which ones do like certain, you know, yeah.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think that information is um probably a different check because this is a little bit more like a world guide here as opposed to current events.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_00: So I I think you might even clock this that some of the ambassadors that are mentioned in these world guides, you know, are not actually the ambassador anymore.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um they these might be a little outdated.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_00: No, thank you.
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_00: So, yeah, after about a week of you three in this place learning the ins and outs of being roommates together.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, yep, I believe that is a correct face, Carolina.
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we're all sharing a bathroom.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_00: Me and these boys are all sharing a bathroom.
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_00: Sharing a bathroom.
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um obviously there's no plumbing here, so because we are in you know, fantasy times.
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_00: Uh fantasy toilet.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_05: Um long ago in fantasy times.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_00: Long ago in fantasy.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_06: Um fast forward three days in, Liv is just yelling, get your fucking boots off the coffee table, I swear.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um you there is like in the in the area that had tea, like there is a a cooking fire and utensils, and there are you know some um some rations.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_00: You you are not given meals in this time.
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_00: You are truly stuck here in this space.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you all get the sense that they are testing you on your patience and on your durability and your ability to care for yourself.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it is a much cushier environment than some of the ones you will be going into, but they are beginning to make sure that you can handle that both physically and mentally without going crazy.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_03: Hey Liv.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_05: No reason, but like something something Darius asked back in the uh uh he looks around checking for scrying crystals in this room, but understanding he's probably still being watched, goes, back from before, it's just kind of stuck with me in my head.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_05: Um I get it for him, and I get it for me.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_03: Why are you here?
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_06: I'm here to pave a path for me that otherwise there wouldn't be.
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_06: Toward Freedom.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_09: I I do a David Beckham lean in through the door, and I go, is it an escape path?
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_06: Well, I don't know if you can consider this much of an escape.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_06: Look that door pointedly.
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_04: Derogatory.
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_06: But it is one of the only things that would get me out of my familial obligations without selling their name.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_06: When expect when greatness is expected of you, you either rise to it or fall.
• 33:17
  SPEAKER_05: Or a secret third thing, which is kind of done, which is hey, same but different.
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, yeah.
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_05: So if you become a mechanic, I mean, even if even if we don't accomplish great things, I'll say, you still did something heroic.
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_03: That's very clever.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_06: Thanks.
• 33:42
  SPEAKER_06: I know you mean it coming from you.
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, I'm bad at lying.
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, we do have to work on that.
• 33:53
  SPEAKER_06: Actually, darn can you I think we actually might need to do a not lying, but a subterfuge boot camp about like how to keep your face straight sometimes and maybe how to keep the ins the thoughts inside on occasion.
• 34:09
  SPEAKER_06: Just on occasion.
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_05: Oh, I don't think I'm gonna be good at that ever.
• 34:12
  SPEAKER_06: No, but training must must begin.
• 34:16
  SPEAKER_06: Okay.
• 34:21
  SPEAKER_05: I think we just I'm not Argo.
• 34:31
  SPEAKER_00: Cups looks very confused.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_05: You believe me?
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, cups bison.
• 34:38
  SPEAKER_05: Cups bison.
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_06: He both stop you're not Argo.
• 34:45
  SPEAKER_06: No, I think I think I do do I do what I can because we love honesty and earnestness in our friends, but in you know, in the wild, it might not always be to our benefit.
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_06: So I think I do try to explain and or um make examples for how to weave around questions and how to keep some things to yourself.
• 35:12
  SPEAKER_04: Love that.
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_04: Absolutely love that.
• 35:16
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, because Argo's he's certainly never going to be any better at lying, I imagine, but uh learning from Liv sort of how to lie by omission, dance around a question, still leave stuff up to her.
• 35:31
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, that's that's doable.
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_06: Because Liv one thing one thing I would like them to know now is that Liv never lives lies if she can help it.
• 35:41
  SPEAKER_01: Hmm.
• 35:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_06: And lying to her is one of the greatest acts of disrespect.
• 35:53
  SPEAKER_06: But if you cleverly skate around the lie, respect there.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_06: One of the highest forms of respect.
• 35:59
  SPEAKER_04: Interesting.
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_04: That's fascinating.
• 36:04
  SPEAKER_00: After about a week, you wake up one day and there are three scrolls sitting on the table in the communal area, one each addressed to each of you.
• 36:16
  SPEAKER_06: Thank you for saying that they are addressed to us.
• 36:18
  SPEAKER_06: I was about to be like, noz goes.
• 36:20
  SPEAKER_00: No, no, no.
• 36:21
  SPEAKER_00: Each one is there's one address to each of you.
• 36:23
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 36:24
  SPEAKER_05: So after Argo wakes up and comes out and sees Darius already reading his.
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_05: Uh-oh.
• 36:31
  SPEAKER_05: What uh what do they say?
• 36:34
  SPEAKER_05: He asks as he's already opening up his scroll.
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_00: Each of you have been summoned to a different location.
• 36:43
  SPEAKER_00: Darius, you have been summoned to the Vitalis Collegium.
• 36:48
  SPEAKER_00: Liv, you have been summoned to the chapel.
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_00: And Argo, you have been summoned to the Traversium.
• 36:56
  SPEAKER_05: Great.
• 36:57
  SPEAKER_05: Oh, that's exciting.
• 37:00
  SPEAKER_05: Nerve-wracking at the same time, because now we've been together for a while and I'm not sure I know.
• 37:07
  SPEAKER_05: It's only been a couple how long has it been?
• 37:09
  SPEAKER_05: A couple weeks?
• 37:10
  SPEAKER_05: It's been a week.
• 37:10
  SPEAKER_05: Okay.
• 37:11
  SPEAKER_05: In a week's time.
• 37:12
  SPEAKER_05: In a week's time, he hasn't forgotten how to be around other people.
• 37:14
  SPEAKER_05: But he has.
• 37:16
  SPEAKER_05: I've started, you know, this feels this is good.
• 37:20
  SPEAKER_05: This is okay.
• 37:21
  SPEAKER_05: This is it's not bad.
• 37:22
  SPEAKER_05: Right?
• 37:23
  SPEAKER_05: Right?
• 37:26
  SPEAKER_06: Can't be bad.
• 37:28
  SPEAKER_06: We're getting out.
• 37:28
  SPEAKER_06: Can I go to the door, please?
• 37:32
  SPEAKER_06: It is unlocked.
• 37:37
  SPEAKER_06: Doors doors unlocked.
• 37:39
  SPEAKER_06: Oh, thank God! Incredible.
• 37:43
  SPEAKER_09: I take a couple of bags of tea, pack them up for the roads.
• 37:47
  SPEAKER_09: Uh yeah, are we getting ready to like leave this?
• 37:51
  SPEAKER_06: No, I think we're coming back.
• 37:53
  SPEAKER_09: Okay.
• 37:53
  SPEAKER_09: You're just ready.
• 37:54
  SPEAKER_09: I just need tea.
• 37:55
  SPEAKER_00: I bring all of my stuff with me.
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_00: Darius has developed a dependency on tea.
• 38:01
  SPEAKER_09: I realized that if you like put enough tea, you could block out Argyle's like white noise in the background.
• 38:08
  SPEAKER_05: If you're drinking coffee, go for it.
• 38:10
  SPEAKER_05: It's probably also something soothing for him.
• 38:12
  SPEAKER_05: Like, I know personally, the scent of uh dried tea is very calming.
• 38:18
  SPEAKER_05: And Darius Darious needs calm.
• 38:21
  SPEAKER_05: He's got demons.
• 38:22
  SPEAKER_00: Just pressing the demons down.
• 38:24
  SPEAKER_05: Just deep, deep down.
• 38:29
  SPEAKER_00: If you all leave, the mountain is eerily empty.
• 38:36
  SPEAKER_00: You do not pass anyone else on your way to your location.
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_09: They're all dead.
• 38:42
  SPEAKER_09: They're all dead.
• 38:42
  SPEAKER_09: They killed them.
• 38:43
  SPEAKER_09: They're all dead.
• 38:44
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my god.
• 38:46
  SPEAKER_05: He says to himself, because we're all going off in different directions.
• 38:49
  SPEAKER_05: In my inside voice.
• 38:52
  SPEAKER_05: Don't do this to me.
• 38:53
  SPEAKER_05: It does make sense that Darkus would go straight to everyone's dead.
• 38:55
  SPEAKER_05: I mean everyone left alive.
• 38:57
  SPEAKER_05: Everyone's dead.
• 38:57
  SPEAKER_05: It's only me now.
• 38:59
  SPEAKER_00: Uh can you all roll me a d20?
• 39:02
  SPEAKER_09: Oh, okay.
• 39:03
  SPEAKER_09: Solo fighting.
• 39:04
  SPEAKER_09: Do we fight ourselves?
• 39:06
  SPEAKER_09: Is it gonna be like like Star Wars where like we walk into Dagobom?
• 39:10
  SPEAKER_00: Figuring out what order we're gonna do the scenes in.
• 39:12
  SPEAKER_00: My god.
• 39:13
  SPEAKER_09: Jesus.
• 39:14
  SPEAKER_09: And then like Darth Vader comes out.
• 39:16
  SPEAKER_09: It's Mervina, but she's wearing a mask, and under the mask is my own face.
• 39:20
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know, it depends on what you rolled.
• 39:22
  SPEAKER_00: Darius.
• 39:24
  SPEAKER_00: How have the shakes been?
• 39:27
  SPEAKER_09: They've been okay.
• 39:28
  SPEAKER_09: I think I get flashes of nightmares every now and then, and I think I've had a pretty bad one that requires intervention.
• 39:35
  SPEAKER_09: Um but I would say that it takes uh a lot of willpower to make sure they don't go pretty nuts.
• 39:47
  SPEAKER_00: So you are ushered, not ushered, you are summoned to the Vitalis Collegium.
• 39:56
  SPEAKER_00: You've been here before.
• 39:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um as a world guard, this is where all of your uh recovery happens.
• 40:04
  SPEAKER_00: And you know it is a combination of um apothecaries and clerics and other healers um who have specializations.
• 40:18
  SPEAKER_00: And when you arrive, um you are ushered without a word to one of the private rooms, the private uh recovery rooms, where you are met by a cleric who you do recognize.
• 40:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um this is a cleric who focuses primarily on arcane like degradation and things that are being broken down because of magical reasons.
• 40:46
  SPEAKER_00: And you know this because a lot of world guards see this, cleric.
• 40:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um and he greets you and says, Darious, good to see you again.
• 40:59
  SPEAKER_00: This is all standard procedure.
• 41:01
  SPEAKER_00: We just I think it's important to run some physical tests to ensure that you are fit to continue.
• 41:08
  SPEAKER_00: Sure, that won't be a problem.
• 41:10
  SPEAKER_09: Not at all.
• 41:13
  SPEAKER_00: And he goes over and starts to poke and prod and mumble a little bit, and as he's doing it, just sort of asks you, uh, so anything to report?
• 41:24
  SPEAKER_00: How have you been feeling?
• 41:26
  SPEAKER_09: Nothing new.
• 41:28
  SPEAKER_09: A little rusty.
• 41:29
  SPEAKER_09: It's been a while since I've been out, lots of training.
• 41:34
  SPEAKER_00: Now your partner you know he had to retire.
• 41:42
  SPEAKER_00: Do you know why he had to retire?
• 41:48
  SPEAKER_09: I think the life just got to him, no?
• 41:55
  SPEAKER_00: Roll me an inside.
• 41:56
  SPEAKER_00: Damn it.
• 41:57
  SPEAKER_09: Okay, uh, nine plus Oh no, plus three, great, twelve.
• 42:01
  SPEAKER_00: Great.
• 42:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you say that of life just got to him, and you see um uh this cleric's name is Sportath.
• 42:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you see in Sphorath's eyes, he just sort of like nods at you with a very knowing, I know you know, but is not going to necessarily address that further.
• 42:22
  SPEAKER_00: And he says, and how is life getting to you, Darius?
• 42:27
  SPEAKER_09: Still got a couple of years in me yet.
• 42:37
  SPEAKER_00: You know why you're here.
• 42:39
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 42:42
  SPEAKER_09: Just a physical checkup.
• 42:46
  SPEAKER_09: I look at him square in the face.
• 42:49
  SPEAKER_00: Call me deception.
• 42:51
  SPEAKER_09: Damn it! No, not deception.
• 42:55
  SPEAKER_09: What a like athletics.
• 42:59
  SPEAKER_08: Once again, he's asking for athletics.
• 43:03
  SPEAKER_08: Uh I stopped conversing with him and I do jumping jacks.
• 43:07
  SPEAKER_09: I'm like, distract him with my muscle.
• 43:09
  SPEAKER_09: Um, 12 minus one, eleven.
• 43:15
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 43:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um he looks at you again and and uh you can see again that he doesn't believe you fully, but isn't going to press too much conversationally.
• 43:28
  SPEAKER_00: And he says, Any symptoms?
• 43:35
  SPEAKER_09: None to worry about yet.
• 43:40
  SPEAKER_00: Well that is good to hear.
• 43:44
  SPEAKER_00: You're one of our best, Arius.
• 43:45
  SPEAKER_00: It would be a shame if something brought you down.
• 43:50
  SPEAKER_00: Wait here one second.
• 43:52
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just gonna go run a test real quick.
• 43:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um and he walks out of the room.
• 43:58
  SPEAKER_00: This is clearly his.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_00: Like private room, he is the one that operates out of here.
• 44:04
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, as you look around, you see that there is one table specifically with a lot of research materials, some um, I don't want to say urns, but like they are clay pots that are covered and you can't quite see inside of them, and you see a stack of folders next to it.
• 44:25
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and they're mostly you mostly can't read what is in there, but there is one paper that is jutting out slightly.
• 44:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and you see on there um primary specimen, status destroyed, cause of decomposition, inconclusive, identity match confirmed, and then you can't see the rest of it.
• 44:50
  SPEAKER_09: My slide FM must be so bad.
• 44:51
  SPEAKER_09: Can I sneak the can I like there?
• 44:56
  SPEAKER_09: But there's nothing, that's not true.
• 44:57
  SPEAKER_09: There's always somebody in the room.
• 44:58
  SPEAKER_09: This is a fucking like this is like the the guild, man.
• 45:01
  SPEAKER_09: Like, there's some scrolling crystal, there's like this is a test or something, right?
• 45:06
  SPEAKER_09: Um, fuck them.
• 45:08
  SPEAKER_09: Um I don't know how I feel about the guilds though.
• 45:15
  SPEAKER_09: No, I feel like fuck the people, but like yes, the guild.
• 45:19
  SPEAKER_09: Um, so I'm gonna try and pull that hand that to pull that paper out.
• 45:25
  SPEAKER_00: Or pull the paper out?
• 45:26
  SPEAKER_09: Yeah, or lift the folders enough.
• 45:27
  SPEAKER_09: You know what I mean?
• 45:28
  SPEAKER_09: Like, yeah, I don't want to pull it out and hold it in my hands.
• 45:30
  SPEAKER_09: I wanna be like, shh.
• 45:31
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, are you trying to do it stealthily?
• 45:34
  SPEAKER_00: I am.
• 45:36
  SPEAKER_00: No.
• 45:39
  SPEAKER_09: Oh, natural 23.
• 45:44
  SPEAKER_09: I want those folders to disappear inside my armor and merge with.
• 45:49
  SPEAKER_00: I think that you yeah.
• 45:52
  SPEAKER_00: You stand up from the chair that you were sitting on to be examined.
• 45:58
  SPEAKER_00: You clock where the scrying crystal is here.
• 46:02
  SPEAKER_00: You are able to walk around the room as if you are stretching your legs to a point where your body is shielding the table from the scrying crystal.
• 46:12
  SPEAKER_00: So whatever you do in front of you is not captured by what is happening.
• 46:18
  SPEAKER_00: You open the folder, and there are three different files that catch your attention.
• 46:26
  SPEAKER_00: The first one says Fulmer, status deceased, element VFD present dormant, revival or recomposition chance, none, stored for observation.
• 46:39
  SPEAKER_00: Fulmer is the um druid pledge who became the necro boy.
• 46:46
  SPEAKER_00: Necroboy! The second one says Vostra Eren, status unconscious but stable, element VFD present, malignant, maintaining in force stasis to control spread in an attempt to preserve patient.
• 47:05
  SPEAKER_09: Wait, guys, what is element VFD?
• 47:08
  SPEAKER_05: What a good question, Ati.
• 47:11
  SPEAKER_09: Somebody I hope read this in a book.
• 47:13
  SPEAKER_09: Store in Brain for Argo.
• 47:15
  SPEAKER_09: I'm sure Vostra is like the the the one who we drained all their life force from.
• 47:20
  SPEAKER_00: Vostra was the fighter who's who all of his like his max HP became zero.
• 47:26
  SPEAKER_06: Verse, verse fracture disease.
• 47:30
  SPEAKER_00: The third file that you see is the one that you saw poking out, which reads primary specimen, status destroyed, cause of decomposition, inconclusive, identity match, ambassador Dennis Tarin, revival or recomposition chance, none.
• 47:49
  SPEAKER_09: Wait, does that mean that like the weird like white thing wasn't the ambassador?
• 47:55
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe.
• 47:55
  SPEAKER_09: Which ambassador?
• 47:57
  SPEAKER_09: Who is this person?
• 47:58
  SPEAKER_00: It continues.
• 48:00
  SPEAKER_00: The molecular degeneration of the original sample is consistent with that of Pledges Fulmer and Vostra, assigning label element VFD for homogeneous strains.
• 48:10
  SPEAKER_00: Substance is unidentifiable, but appears to contain both arcane and divine properties.
• 48:15
  SPEAKER_00: Difficult to tell if both are present at conception of the strain or if one has invaded the other.
• 48:21
  SPEAKER_09: So my brain is trying to go like, but it might need some chicken.
• 48:26
  SPEAKER_00: You remember that this is you talked about this with Mervina.
• 48:29
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, Ambassador Denneth was the ambassador of Atla.
• 48:32
  SPEAKER_09: That's what I thought.
• 48:33
  SPEAKER_09: Okay, great.
• 48:34
  SPEAKER_09: Yes, yes, yes.
• 48:35
  SPEAKER_00: So the Wraith that was saying die, Atla, was the ambassador of Atla.
• 48:42
  SPEAKER_09: And Argo killed him.
• 48:45
  SPEAKER_00: You hear the door open, and Sworth comes back in, uh, sees you standing, doesn't necessarily clock at being strange.
• 48:53
  SPEAKER_00: He knows that guards are often antsy and prefer to be on their feet and are not going to simply sit and wait.
• 49:00
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, looks at you and goes, Alright, Darius, I think we have what we need.
• 49:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know it is your responsibility to tell us if something is wrong.
• 49:12
  SPEAKER_09: And if something was wrong, I would tell you.
• 49:15
  SPEAKER_00: I believe you would.
• 49:21
  SPEAKER_00: Good luck.
• 49:24
  SPEAKER_09: Never had it.
• 49:26
  SPEAKER_00: But you might need it.
• 49:29
  SPEAKER_00: Argo! Yeah.
• 49:31
  SPEAKER_00: You are summoned to the Traverseum.
• 49:33
  SPEAKER_00: A room you have never seen.
• 49:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 49:36
  SPEAKER_00: A room that has been guarded very closely, but lives in legend.
• 49:44
  SPEAKER_00: You know that Darius used to guard the Traverseum.
• 49:47
  SPEAKER_00: You know that something happened in the Traverseum in the past, which, you know, caused Darius to be reassigned to the World Guard.
• 49:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and you know what Darius has told you that when he went there the night of the feast, that some of the lights seemed black or dark or disconnected.
• 50:06
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, so I'm looking forward to seeing if that's changed at all when I'm there.
• 50:13
  SPEAKER_00: You come to the Traversium.
• 50:15
  SPEAKER_00: It is large double doors.
• 50:17
  SPEAKER_00: They are closed when you arrive.
• 50:20
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, knock on the door.
• 50:22
  SPEAKER_00: As you knock on the door, they swing open.
• 50:25
  unknown: Oh.
• 50:26
  SPEAKER_05: Uh, take a quick look around.
• 50:28
  SPEAKER_05: Is anyone here?
• 50:30
  SPEAKER_00: There is one navigation wizard standing a little bit in with their back to you, looking down at the map.
• 50:42
  SPEAKER_05: Uh I'm gonna shuffle my way over.
• 50:48
  unknown: Okay.
• 50:49
  SPEAKER_05: And take a look at the room.
• 50:50
  SPEAKER_05: Shuffle your way over.
• 50:51
  SPEAKER_05: I want to.
• 50:52
  SPEAKER_00: Traversium is magnificent.
• 50:57
  SPEAKER_00: It is again, we are in this mountain, it is carved deep into the mountain, but it is multi-level.
• 51:05
  SPEAKER_00: You shuffle in, it seems like just a normal stone room at first with stairs that go up, although there are also you can see portals, like trans arcane portals, really at several places.
• 51:18
  SPEAKER_00: The wizards who work here don't come in through that door or leave through that door.
• 51:25
  SPEAKER_00: They need immediate access here that is uninterrupted.
• 51:31
  SPEAKER_00: So there are ways into this heart that go places that you can't go, and that get these navigation wizards in and out without a commute or having to be seen or intercepted.
• 51:48
  SPEAKER_00: You think that it could be a safety precaution.
• 51:51
  SPEAKER_00: You think there's also probably some urgency to other areas there, specifically because these portals are are more powerful than I think you've ever seen before.
• 52:06
  SPEAKER_00: Something is powering them that is not natural.
• 52:13
  SPEAKER_05: Not natural is in from somewhere else, maybe.
• 52:16
  SPEAKER_00: From somewhere else, or just like an intense power source.
• 52:21
  unknown: Okay.
• 52:23
  SPEAKER_00: If you go up the second floor, it is an observational deck, and you walk up those steps, and I think what you see, I'll let you decide how you respond to it, but it is breathtaking.
• 52:37
  SPEAKER_00: Layer upon layer upon layer of what almost appears to be shards of glass, but they are a light with glittering almost stars and swirls of magic, and it is in a way that does not make sense dimensionally.
• 53:00
  SPEAKER_00: It is not just like flat, it is almost four-dimensional somehow.
• 53:06
  SPEAKER_00: You can't quite focus on it.
• 53:08
  SPEAKER_00: If you try to look at something and make sense of it, suddenly it is turning and shifting into something else constantly.
• 53:17
  SPEAKER_00: It is almost like this physical embodiment is also fluid and wave-like, and being able to grasp onto any of it is incredibly difficult.
• 53:32
  SPEAKER_00: There are observation decks higher up that look out into it.
• 53:40
  SPEAKER_00: There are strands of light floating off from it constantly.
• 53:46
  SPEAKER_00: The movement is constant and chaotic and beautiful.
• 53:55
  SPEAKER_05: Argo thought when he was younger that he wanted to become one of these wizards, one of the rulers of the Traverseum, or at least its protectors.
• 54:08
  SPEAKER_05: And am I correct in believing it's very hard to find information on how the traversum works, like outside of the guild?
• 54:16
  SPEAKER_05: Or even inside of it?
• 54:17
  SPEAKER_00: Even inside the guild.
• 54:18
  SPEAKER_00: The traversium is the best kept secret.
• 54:23
  SPEAKER_05: So he will.
• 55:35
  SPEAKER_00: In a lot of arcane study, things fall very neatly into categories.
• 55:40
  SPEAKER_00: What type of magic is being used?
• 55:42
  SPEAKER_00: Is it arcane or primal or divine?
• 55:45
  SPEAKER_00: Is it conjuration, abjuration?
• 55:47
  SPEAKER_00: Everything can be categorized and classified.
• 55:52
  SPEAKER_00: This represents something that someone or something is trying to categorize and classify and divide and make sense of.
• 56:05
  SPEAKER_00: And the multiverse itself is fighting back against that concept of being put into buckets.
• 56:28
  SPEAKER_05: There's another guy who's up there right next to him, right?
• 56:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 56:32
  SPEAKER_05: I think Argo can't help but say something if he hasn't noticed him already.
• 56:40
  SPEAKER_05: Which is it almost seems like it's in pain.
• 56:50
  SPEAKER_00: The wizard next to you, uh, who is an elf, without looking at you and continuing to just look at the map itself, says Beautifully maddening, isn't it?
• 57:05
  SPEAKER_05: It's um Well, yes, I couldn't have described it better.
• 57:10
  SPEAKER_05: I I I sorry to uh uh interrupt your your work, sir.
• 57:15
  SPEAKER_05: I I received this Yes.
• 57:19
  SPEAKER_05: Is this what I'm supposed to see?
• 57:24
  SPEAKER_00: What do you see?
• 57:28
  SPEAKER_05: Argo looks out and tries to affix a meaning to this thing that defies logic uh in the way that I think all humans do.
• 57:41
  SPEAKER_05: We we find something that we can grasp and we apply that as a template onto it.
• 57:47
  SPEAKER_05: And so when he's seeing all of these universes rising and falling, this many panes of glass and stars like crashing together, I think what he says is it's like the sea.
• 58:05
  SPEAKER_05: I see I see the waves, only I'm used to seeing the ocean from a ship or from the shore, from the surface.
• 58:19
  SPEAKER_05: It's one flat thing, but this is many, many layers.
• 58:24
  SPEAKER_05: Front, back, sideways, up, down, left, right.
• 58:27
  SPEAKER_05: It's I'm seeing the inside and the out of of everything, and it's it makes me a l a little uncomfortable if I'm honest.
• 58:42
  SPEAKER_05: It should.
• 58:49
  SPEAKER_05: Did I pass?
• 58:53
  SPEAKER_00: The wizard points to a spot on the map that is a little bit brighter than everything else.
• 59:03
  SPEAKER_00: It has a slight blue glow to it.
• 59:06
  SPEAKER_00: And if you focus on it, you can see this one in particular has a lot of strands of light coming out of it.
• 59:17
  SPEAKER_00: And he says, Do you recognize that?
• 59:22
  SPEAKER_05: Um.
• 59:25
  SPEAKER_05: Is there any defining feature that would allow me to recognize it?
• 59:29
  SPEAKER_05: It looks like if I may just guess before you tell me if there are many strands coming out of it, if it's if it's the one that has the most strands, is it ours?
• 59:38
  SPEAKER_00: That is us.
• 59:40
  SPEAKER_05: That's well, uh it would be easier if there were a sign that said we are here, but we are there.
• 59:49
  SPEAKER_00: We are there.
• 59:52
  SPEAKER_00: Do you see how we are the center of everything?
• 1:00:01
  SPEAKER_00: Perhaps not by design, but by production.
• 1:00:18
  SPEAKER_00: And if you keep looking past it, you see a light that looks like it has burned out, but there's still a remnant that almost looks like death.
• 1:00:34
  SPEAKER_00: And he says, And what do you see there?
• 1:00:40
  SPEAKER_05: The image of that, um the image of that necrotic beast that attacked us in the Livolian flashes into Argo's uh eyes and he says death Decay something gone.
• 1:01:04
  SPEAKER_05: Is that Sir, is that a whole verse?
• 1:01:10
  SPEAKER_05: That's not just disconnected, but Oh Did um did we do that?
• 1:01:24
  SPEAKER_00: No.
• 1:01:25
  SPEAKER_00: No, we did not do that.
• 1:01:29
  SPEAKER_05: Okay But could we have done anything to help?
• 1:01:34
  SPEAKER_00: We tried.
• 1:01:36
  SPEAKER_00: That is what we are here to do.
• 1:01:38
  SPEAKER_00: We are here to try and expand and protect even that which we do not know.
• 1:01:51
  SPEAKER_05: Getting lost in uh this sea of stars and verses.
• 1:01:56
  SPEAKER_05: Argo can't help but get a bit overwhelmed, too, and says, I always knew I was small, but oh never really felt it quite like this.
• 1:02:10
  SPEAKER_05: Can um can we even really make a difference?
• 1:02:20
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's up to you.
• 1:02:23
  SPEAKER_00: To see.
• 1:02:26
  SPEAKER_00: Do you think you can?
• 1:02:30
  SPEAKER_05: He smiled big.
• 1:02:33
  SPEAKER_05: I know I can.
• 1:02:35
  SPEAKER_05: If I have the opportunity.
• 1:02:40
  SPEAKER_05: Oh, um w was there something else I was supposed to do?
• 1:02:45
  SPEAKER_00: No.
• 1:02:46
  SPEAKER_00: Just wanted to see where your head was at, where your eyes were at.
• 1:02:53
  SPEAKER_05: Thank you, sir.
• 1:02:54
  SPEAKER_05: Oh, uh I'm sorry, I I should have introduced myself.
• 1:02:56
  SPEAKER_05: I know you know my name, but I I should have asked for yours.
• 1:02:59
  SPEAKER_05: I'm I'm Argo.
• 1:03:01
  SPEAKER_00: Your I'm Vince.
• 1:03:04
  SPEAKER_00: I am one of the navigational wizards here.
• 1:03:09
  SPEAKER_00: I found that one.
• 1:03:10
  SPEAKER_00: And he points to like a little light that is shining.
• 1:03:14
  SPEAKER_05: You found that one! That's so cool! Oh wow.
• 1:03:19
  SPEAKER_05: You guys get to find these before we even go there.
• 1:03:24
  SPEAKER_05: Or do you find it in the going?
• 1:03:26
  SPEAKER_00: No, we find it first, and then you go.
• 1:03:29
  SPEAKER_05: Okay.
• 1:03:30
  SPEAKER_00: And maybe you come back.
• 1:03:34
  SPEAKER_05: Right.
• 1:03:37
  SPEAKER_00: I hope whoever goes there comes back.
• 1:03:39
  SPEAKER_00: I'd love to know what is where I found.
• 1:03:44
  SPEAKER_05: Argo stands up a little bit straighter and says, I will let you know.
• 1:03:50
  SPEAKER_00: I hope you do, kid.
• 1:03:53
  SPEAKER_05: Uh, a pleasure, Vince.
• 1:03:55
  SPEAKER_00: Good luck.
• 1:03:56
  SPEAKER_05: Thank you.
• 1:03:58
  SPEAKER_05: Do I have to go home now, or can I stay here longer?
• 1:04:01
  SPEAKER_05: You shouldn't stay here too long.
• 1:04:02
  SPEAKER_05: Okay, okay.
• 1:04:04
  SPEAKER_05: Oh.
• 1:04:05
  SPEAKER_05: Too long.
• 1:04:06
  SPEAKER_00: Does it does it make you Beautifully mad?
• 1:04:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 1:04:14
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 1:04:15
  SPEAKER_05: Okay.
• 1:04:19
  SPEAKER_05: Argo starts walking away and then he stops and turns around and he says, There was a point when I was um.
• 1:04:26
  SPEAKER_05: I realized I.
• 1:04:28
  SPEAKER_05: I thought I wanted to do what you do.
• 1:04:33
  SPEAKER_05: I met this guy.
• 1:04:36
  SPEAKER_05: He's in my squad.
• 1:04:38
  SPEAKER_05: I think I'm very happy that I get to do what I do.
• 1:04:46
  SPEAKER_05: Thank you for your time, sir.
• 1:04:49
  SPEAKER_00: Nancy just nods and turns back to the map.
• 1:04:54
  SPEAKER_00: As you leave, roll me a quick perception check.
• 1:05:06
  SPEAKER_05: Thirteen.
• 1:05:08
  SPEAKER_00: Remember that rumble from the feast?
• 1:05:10
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 1:05:11
  SPEAKER_00: You feel it a little bit.
• 1:05:22
  SPEAKER_05: Argo walks back down the hall, fucking hitting himself in the head, going, I should have got, I should have written questions.
• 1:05:29
  SPEAKER_05: I should have known.
• 1:05:29
  SPEAKER_05: I should have known.
• 1:05:30
  SPEAKER_00: Liv, you've been summoned to the chapel.
• 1:05:33
  SPEAKER_00: Have you been here before?
• 1:05:37
  SPEAKER_06: Ooh.
• 1:05:38
  SPEAKER_06: No, I can't imagine a reason Liv would have.
• 1:05:41
  unknown: Yeah.
• 1:05:44
  SPEAKER_00: The guild is full of many beliefs.
• 1:05:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um, one of the core tenets is uh accepting anything and everything.
• 1:05:55
  SPEAKER_00: Each verse has its own pantheon.
• 1:05:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so it is a Little bit hard to say what is you know, this is true faith when there is so many.
• 1:06:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it's a very polytheistic understanding here.
• 1:06:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um, there are some gods that maintain uh existence across all verses, those are that are like on the very, very high planes, but especially the common deities change from verse to verse, and this is, I think, well known.
• 1:06:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um so there are a lot of paladins and clerics and and devout folk who are mechanics or are a part of the guild in some way.
• 1:06:40
  SPEAKER_00: There is a very interesting dichotomy of um like education versus religion because there is so much study and research with the arcane, um, while also accepting the importance of the divine.
• 1:06:57
  SPEAKER_00: And the chapel here is small, um, but very open to all.
• 1:07:02
  SPEAKER_00: There are shrines to um the big three, but then other than that, it is sort of just open prayer for whoever you um need.
• 1:07:13
  SPEAKER_00: There are, you know, six, five or six rows of pews.
• 1:07:17
  SPEAKER_00: It is very warm and inviting.
• 1:07:20
  SPEAKER_00: There are stained glass windows that again are likely magically illuminated because this is not actually getting natural light.
• 1:07:30
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of candles around.
• 1:07:31
  SPEAKER_00: It is very warm and inviting.
• 1:07:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and you come in and you see one, there's only one person here who is sitting in one of the front pews.
• 1:07:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I think you recognize him immediately.
• 1:07:44
  SPEAKER_00: This is Askin.
• 1:07:50
  SPEAKER_06: Um, he's sitting there.
• 1:07:51
  SPEAKER_06: Does he look in any form of prayer?
• 1:07:56
  SPEAKER_00: He does not look like he is in prayer.
• 1:07:59
  SPEAKER_00: He looks like he is maybe, you know, sort of like calmly meditating, but he does not seem to be uh in a state that you could not interrupt him.
• 1:08:10
  SPEAKER_06: Um I enter and I sit in what I would deem the pew behind him, a little bit off to the side.
• 1:08:22
  SPEAKER_06: And I just make my presence known in that action.
• 1:08:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:08:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um see Zaskin look up slightly, as if he is finishing something, and then slightly looks over his shoulder.
• 1:08:39
  SPEAKER_00: He does not fully turn around to you, but Ed acknowledges your presence here as well.
• 1:08:47
  SPEAKER_00: Ed says, Miss Oslock.
• 1:08:50
  SPEAKER_00: I keep meeting.
• 1:08:54
  SPEAKER_06: At least this one seems to be in better circumstances.
• 1:08:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 1:08:59
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I couldn't help but notice uh your desire to lift your fallen brethren up to the powers above.
• 1:09:05
  SPEAKER_00: It was very impressive.
• 1:09:07
  SPEAKER_00: Would you like someone to pray with?
• 1:09:13
  SPEAKER_03: Always.
• 1:09:25
  SPEAKER_06: You know with so many truths to the world, sometimes I prefer my faith to be a little more personal.
• 1:09:37
  SPEAKER_00: And find your power within.
• 1:09:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 1:09:45
  SPEAKER_00: It's a powerful thing to have someone or something to believe in.
• 1:09:51
  SPEAKER_00: Wouldn't you agree?
• 1:09:53
  SPEAKER_06: Very much so.
• 1:09:56
  SPEAKER_00: And other than yourself, what is it that you believe in, Ms.
• 1:10:00
  SPEAKER_00: Oslick?
• 1:10:06
  SPEAKER_06: Um Liv kind of takes a breath in and thinks about it.
• 1:10:12
  SPEAKER_06: I think so much of what she does is in interpersonal relationships and the times that she is introspective aren't really asked about too much.
• 1:10:26
  SPEAKER_06: I think in that moment she says, I believe in family, I believe in friends, I believe in goodness, I believe in truth, I believe in effort and empathy, and I believe in the people who would do best for others.
• 1:10:56
  SPEAKER_00: And what guides you to what is best.
• 1:11:06
  SPEAKER_06: That is truly subjective.
• 1:11:09
  SPEAKER_06: Um, and I think in this she begins like just idly, like playing with her jewelry, her rings, her bracelets, and eventually the little crystal on her bracelet or on her hand chain.
• 1:11:22
  SPEAKER_06: Um, and she says everyone's moral compass is slightly different, but for the most part, people can agree where North is.
• 1:11:38
  SPEAKER_00: That's interesting.
• 1:11:44
  SPEAKER_00: You come from Lerwick, Tevrohada, the goddess of death.
• 1:11:51
  SPEAKER_00: Do you believe in death?
• 1:11:59
  SPEAKER_06: That sets her on her back heel.
• 1:12:07
  SPEAKER_06: Never more than in these months since I've been here.
• 1:12:14
  SPEAKER_00: What makes you say that?
• 1:12:19
  SPEAKER_06: Mortality is something often left to the end of one's life, especially when you are raised, knowing that most struggles are easy to pay away.
• 1:12:35
  SPEAKER_06: Money doesn't buy happiness, but it surely does buy a roof over your head, food on your plate, fine clothes that have anyone looking at you with respect.
• 1:12:47
  SPEAKER_06: But none of those things are respected by death.
• 1:12:55
  SPEAKER_00: And what if you could conquer death?
• 1:13:01
  SPEAKER_00: Would you?
• 1:13:06
  SPEAKER_06: Why do you ask?
• 1:13:10
  SPEAKER_00: Curiosity.
• 1:13:13
  SPEAKER_00: It is an interesting thing to be a man of the cloth and understand how the divine interacts with our world and perhaps how we can interact with the divine world.
• 1:13:30
  SPEAKER_00: With you.
• 1:14:12
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes the poles are off.
• 1:14:17
  SPEAKER_00: I would recommend knowing what your north is.
• 1:14:19
  SPEAKER_00: You may not have guidance.
• 1:14:25
  SPEAKER_06: Thank you.
• 1:14:27
  SPEAKER_06: Wise words.
• 1:14:30
  SPEAKER_00: Before you go, uh I almost forgot I have this note for you.
• 1:14:33
  SPEAKER_00: And he hands you a note.
• 1:14:36
  SPEAKER_06: Take it.
• 1:14:39
  SPEAKER_00: Good luck.
• 1:14:42
  SPEAKER_06: Um, with that, I'll kind of like give a little bow of my head and rise.
• 1:14:48
  SPEAKER_06: Um take one moment to revel in the the rainbows strewn by these stained glass windows.
• 1:15:03
  SPEAKER_06: Just breathe in the solitude and reverence for a moment, and then I will leave.
• 1:15:19
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, it is in code.
• 1:15:21
  SPEAKER_00: Damn it! It is in your thieves.
• 1:15:23
  SPEAKER_00: Thieves can't code.
• 1:15:25
  SPEAKER_00: Good.
• 1:15:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um.
• 1:15:29
  SPEAKER_00: Uh it says slick.
• 1:15:31
  SPEAKER_00: I hope you're okay.
• 1:15:32
  SPEAKER_00: I'm giving this to Declan in hopes that it gets to you.
• 1:15:36
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I got Kaylin in an uh an apprenticeship in the Treverseum.
• 1:15:44
  SPEAKER_00: If one of us makes it through this, we can keep an eye on her.
• 1:15:48
  SPEAKER_00: Sign J.
• 1:15:53
  SPEAKER_06: I stop and I look over my shoulder at that.
• 1:16:00
  SPEAKER_06: And I almost go back, but I decide not to, and I keep walking.
• 1:16:05
  SPEAKER_00: Time has passed.
• 1:16:07
  SPEAKER_00: In this time, it has been a combination of those weeks of isolation with your squad, learning how to live with each other, learning how to fill the time, how to touch each other.
• 1:16:24
  SPEAKER_00: Stop.
• 1:16:25
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 1:16:26
  SPEAKER_06: Emotionally.
• 1:16:28
  SPEAKER_00: Oh.
• 1:16:28
  SPEAKER_00: Emotionally, mentally.
• 1:16:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um given puzzles of um sort of these written almost mad libs of you arrive in this area, this is what's happening.
• 1:16:52
  SPEAKER_00: What do you do?
• 1:16:54
  SPEAKER_00: You write out answers.
• 1:16:57
  SPEAKER_00: Once you have finished them, the scrolls disappear.
• 1:17:01
  SPEAKER_00: You don't really know where they go, or who is reading them, or for what purpose they are, other than the guild trying to get inside your mind, essentially, trying to figure out how you would solve problems.
• 1:17:13
  SPEAKER_00: You have physical training sessions.
• 1:17:16
  SPEAKER_00: You don't have many more of those like individual questions uh or conversations with folks.
• 1:17:23
  SPEAKER_00: It seems like those field trips were an early thing that happened.
• 1:17:28
  SPEAKER_00: Anytime you leave, it is always at the behest of the guild.
• 1:17:32
  SPEAKER_00: And every time you leave, you see no one else there.
• 1:17:37
  SPEAKER_00: It is almost like they are arranging schedules so that only one trio is released into the mountain at a time.
• 1:17:46
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, they're intentionally staggering us.
• 1:17:55
  SPEAKER_05: Months passed.
• 1:17:56
  SPEAKER_05: I don't like being manipulated.
• 1:17:58
  SPEAKER_05: It's not a good feeling.
• 1:17:59
  SPEAKER_00: Is this affecting Argo's view of the guild at all?
• 1:18:02
  SPEAKER_05: Well, I think it makes sense to him, but from Clay's perspective, he's been in relationships like this.
• 1:18:10
  SPEAKER_05: It's not a good feeling.
• 1:18:11
  SPEAKER_00: Not a good feeling.
• 1:18:12
  SPEAKER_00: We don't like it.
• 1:18:17
  SPEAKER_00: Liv, do you do anything to respond to that note?
• 1:18:21
  SPEAKER_07: Would love to.
• 1:18:24
  SPEAKER_00: How would you like to respond to it?
• 1:18:27
  SPEAKER_06: Um can I assume that Zaskine is down to clown if I gave him something?
• 1:18:42
  SPEAKER_00: Essentially.
• 1:18:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so yeah, the note you you infer that Jax gave it to Declan is who he named.
• 1:18:48
  SPEAKER_00: No, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 1:18:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um, Declan is is one of his trio, and you know that Declan is also a cleric of Isin.
• 1:18:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um so that's uh probably why there was that connection.
• 1:19:00
  SPEAKER_00: Zaskin is probably kind of like Declan's mentor in a way.
• 1:19:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so you could try to get a note to Zaskin and ask him to give it to Declan.
• 1:19:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but yeah.
• 1:19:15
  SPEAKER_06: Um, do I know who the his third party member is also?
• 1:19:21
  SPEAKER_00: Uh yeah, you would have seen the list.
• 1:19:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um all of you could have seen the whole list.
• 1:19:25
  SPEAKER_00: Uh it's Declan, Jax, and Ravanya.
• 1:19:31
  SPEAKER_06: Do I know anything about Ravagna?
• 1:19:33
  SPEAKER_00: You know that Ravagna is um, she is a mage.
• 1:19:37
  SPEAKER_00: She's specifically like a spell sniper.
• 1:19:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um so very aggro with magic.
• 1:19:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um she is also an aquas, which is this uh species that is kind of like a merfolk, right?
• 1:19:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but and so they they don't have legs.
• 1:19:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um they sometimes undergo this procedure called landwalker procedure, which is a very painful procedure that gives them legs, gives them legs, essentially, like splits their um their tail into legs, effectively.
• 1:20:10
  SPEAKER_00: And it's a very like it is done often, but it is very drastic.
• 1:20:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um and it is because like they're dying out.
• 1:20:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it is a primarily aquatic species that is that is dying out, and so this is something that they can physically do to try and establish themselves in the above world.
• 1:20:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so that is something that she did to come to the guild and try and you know, do uh establish herself somehow.
• 1:20:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um so she is very uh she's a little odd because you know she's still adjusting to the culture, but um yeah, basically the way she fights, she has a bow that delivers bolts of either destructive or restorative magic.
• 1:21:00
  SPEAKER_00: Love that.
• 1:21:02
  SPEAKER_06: Um first first thought is I know we're taking meals separately.
• 1:21:08
  SPEAKER_06: Um, I imagine.
• 1:21:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean mostly you're mostly in your room.
• 1:21:11
  SPEAKER_06: Mostly in our room, you're right, you're right.
• 1:21:14
  SPEAKER_06: We're not going to mess hall.
• 1:21:15
  SPEAKER_06: Okay.
• 1:21:16
  SPEAKER_00: Because anytime they let you out, they also like make everyone else in the guild stay inside.
• 1:21:20
  SPEAKER_00: And so they don't have to do that all of the time.
• 1:21:22
  SPEAKER_00: They're really doing it during your excursions.
• 1:21:26
  SPEAKER_00: So you're mostly in your in your bunk eating.
• 1:21:30
  SPEAKER_06: Wow.
• 1:21:30
  SPEAKER_06: Well, I guess I could I could try to do something creative, but if I know there's an avenue that works, I'll just use that again.
• 1:21:38
  SPEAKER_06: Um, yeah, I'll just at some point, whenever I can't get back to the chapel, I guess.
• 1:21:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:21:48
  SPEAKER_00: The guild would always allow you to put in a request for prayer.
• 1:21:51
  SPEAKER_00: Like that is that is not something that they are going to deny you.
• 1:21:55
  SPEAKER_06: Chill.
• 1:21:57
  SPEAKER_06: I would like to pray.
• 1:22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Motion to pray! Motion to pray.
• 1:22:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, anytime you do that, um, the chapel would be empty when you are there.
• 1:22:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um so you kind of have free reign of it.
• 1:22:12
  SPEAKER_06: Um I would do what I can to like like the place where he was sitting when I met him.
• 1:22:23
  SPEAKER_06: Um, I want to leave a message under on the tape on under that um pew, and then like etch in the corner, like a little like symbol.
• 1:22:36
  SPEAKER_06: Um can do the symbol of his specific god, yeah.
• 1:22:41
  SPEAKER_06: He told me.
• 1:22:42
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 1:22:42
  SPEAKER_06: Or actually, even better, can I do of the uh Lurewith goddess of death?
• 1:22:47
  SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah, Teverhada.
• 1:22:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 1:22:49
  SPEAKER_00: You can definitely do that.
• 1:22:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um yeah, that's like these three circles.
• 1:22:54
  SPEAKER_00: They're making sort of a pyramid.
• 1:22:56
  SPEAKER_06: Gorge.
• 1:22:57
  SPEAKER_06: Um, I would leave that there, and then I think you might be able to infer it is from me.
• 1:23:04
  unknown: Okay.
• 1:23:04
  SPEAKER_06: In the same manner.
• 1:23:07
  SPEAKER_00: You do that on one prayer excursion, on the second prayer excursion.
• 1:23:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you see that the letter that you left is gone.
• 1:23:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um, what is your favorite flower?
• 1:23:16
  SPEAKER_06: First thought, I think Liv loves like a forget me knot, like a small but vibrant flower.
• 1:23:23
  unknown: Yeah.
• 1:23:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um you see that carved in next to Teverhada's symbol.
• 1:23:29
  SPEAKER_00: And I think you know that like Saskine wouldn't know that.
• 1:23:33
  SPEAKER_00: But somebody else would.
• 1:23:40
  SPEAKER_07: Please cut that sound off.
• 1:23:42
  SPEAKER_07: That's just me having a lot of emotions.
• 1:23:45
  SPEAKER_09: We're gonna leave it there.
• 1:23:47
  SPEAKER_09: We're gonna leave it there.
• 1:23:48
  SPEAKER_09: We can assemble it later.
• 1:23:50
  SPEAKER_06: It does a very normal.
• 1:23:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um, yeah, so there's no there is no return note to it, but I think with that etching, you know that Jax has received it and is uh trying to communicate in a way that he can of like, hello, I miss you.
• 1:24:19
  SPEAKER_00: No, we're not gonna get that.
• 1:24:23
  SPEAKER_06: It's fine.
• 1:24:24
  SPEAKER_04: Leave it all in.
• 1:24:25
  SPEAKER_06: Cool.
• 1:24:26
  SPEAKER_06: Um, well, I feel energized.
• 1:24:28
  SPEAKER_06: What are we doing next, Mary?
• 1:24:30
  SPEAKER_00: What are we doing next?
• 1:24:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um, months passed.
• 1:24:35
  SPEAKER_00: You wake up one morning and there is a single piece of parchment on the table.
• 1:24:42
  SPEAKER_05: Darius, what does it say?
• 1:24:47
  SPEAKER_09: Um, I go and I open it and I read it out loud.
• 1:24:56
  SPEAKER_00: Report to the training grounds.
• 1:24:58
  SPEAKER_00: 12 Kong.
• 1:25:00
  SPEAKER_05: Any interest in formulating like a battle plan or strategies that we could execute when needed?
• 1:25:11
  SPEAKER_05: He says, glancing at Darius.
• 1:25:13
  SPEAKER_09: Do you know the enemy?
• 1:25:16
  SPEAKER_05: No.
• 1:25:17
  SPEAKER_09: Do you know the terrain?
• 1:25:20
  SPEAKER_05: No.
• 1:25:22
  SPEAKER_05: But I know you and me and her, and that's all we'll ever know.
• 1:25:27
  SPEAKER_09: Stay behind me, kid.
• 1:25:29
  SPEAKER_09: Aim true.
• 1:25:30
  SPEAKER_06: Okay.
• 1:25:32
  SPEAKER_06: So, yeah.
• 1:25:34
  SPEAKER_06: I would love not to be in the front.
• 1:25:36
  SPEAKER_05: Yes.
• 1:25:38
  SPEAKER_06: Of any conflict other than verbal.
• 1:25:43
  SPEAKER_05: I'll stay behind you, big guy, and you live.
• 1:25:48
  SPEAKER_05: Stay behind me.
• 1:25:49
  unknown: Perfect, thank you.
• 1:25:51
  SPEAKER_05: Great.
• 1:25:52
  SPEAKER_05: And if all else fails, stay close to cups.
• 1:26:01
  SPEAKER_00: Twelfth gong rolls around.
• 1:26:05
  SPEAKER_07: Boom.
• 1:26:07
  SPEAKER_00: You head to the training grounds.
• 1:26:09
  SPEAKER_09: Boom.
• 1:26:13
  SPEAKER_00: You are not the only pledges there.
• 1:26:16
  SPEAKER_00: Every other trio is assembled there as well.
• 1:26:20
  SPEAKER_08: Hunger Game style, let's go.
• 1:26:23
  SPEAKER_08: Battle Royale!
• 1:26:24
  SPEAKER_05: I'm worried that's what it is.
• 1:26:29
  SPEAKER_05: Uh glancing around uh Argo's eyes dart looking for um for Errol.
• 1:26:37
  SPEAKER_00: Errol is there.
• 1:26:39
  SPEAKER_00: Alongside her two uh squad mates.
• 1:26:44
  SPEAKER_00: Hasmin Varillis.
• 1:26:45
  SPEAKER_05: Or where's where's it's I mean, no, it's not a big deal.
• 1:26:48
  SPEAKER_05: I don't I don't even care, but where is she looking?
• 1:26:49
  SPEAKER_05: Is she looking at me?
• 1:26:55
  SPEAKER_00: No.
• 1:26:56
  SPEAKER_09: Oh, Argo.
• 1:26:58
  SPEAKER_00: That was that was a one.
• 1:27:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yep, yep, thank you.
• 1:27:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 1:27:05
  SPEAKER_00: I got your back.
• 1:27:06
  SPEAKER_00: She is she is hyper-focused.
• 1:27:08
  SPEAKER_05: Fine, me too.
• 1:27:09
  SPEAKER_00: And I think you can read like really focusing on being hyper-focused and not being distracted.
• 1:27:21
  SPEAKER_03: Cool.
• 1:27:24
  SPEAKER_03: That's so cool of her.
• 1:27:28
  SPEAKER_06: Um I find Jack's in the crowd, obviously.
• 1:27:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um He is looking at you.
• 1:27:36
  SPEAKER_06: Stop! Sorry, cool.
• 1:27:39
  SPEAKER_06: Um how the turn.
• 1:27:42
  SPEAKER_06: I gave him I gave him a hand signal that we used to use when we were doing like little cons on the street.
• 1:27:49
  SPEAKER_06: That just means like, hey, okay, time to go.
• 1:27:52
  SPEAKER_00: He returns it.
• 1:27:57
  unknown: Betrayer.
• 1:27:58
  SPEAKER_09: Betrayer.
• 1:28:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um as the twelfth gong finishes ringing, you see ten different doors materialize.
• 1:28:22
  SPEAKER_00: And names in an illuminated script appear above each door.
• 1:28:28
  SPEAKER_00: Each door is assigned to a different trio.
• 1:28:32
  SPEAKER_09: What does Artur say?
• 1:28:34
  SPEAKER_00: I mean it says Margo Dario.
• 1:28:37
  SPEAKER_09: Oh, it was like a I thought it was like a world.
• 1:28:40
  SPEAKER_09: I thought it was like Oh, I thought it was another verse.
• 1:28:43
  SPEAKER_05: I didn't know.
• 1:28:44
  SPEAKER_00: No, no, no, no, no.
• 1:28:45
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, it is it is the names of your party members to say which door to go through.
• 1:28:50
  SPEAKER_05: I love that.
• 1:28:50
  SPEAKER_05: I didn't know that Darius is like looking at his own name above the door, going, which one's out?
• 1:28:58
  SPEAKER_08: At one point, I think at one point I was like, you can't read, and then it keeps and then she took like the minimal pause, and I was like, I'm just thinking that my character can't read.
• 1:29:08
  SPEAKER_08: You can't read it.
• 1:29:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, you can't read above.
• 1:29:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so you see these doors, you see the names above it.
• 1:29:13
  SPEAKER_00: You also check, like, if you look behind you, um, if you remember from the dragon trial, there were these like observation boxes that a lot of the guild members were in.
• 1:29:23
  SPEAKER_00: The entire training ground is circled in these now.
• 1:29:28
  SPEAKER_00: And there are probably a hundred people filled into these.
• 1:29:34
  SPEAKER_00: Each room has a like scrying crystals that are sort of like in Morvina's office.
• 1:29:40
  SPEAKER_00: There was like that wall that was showing what all the crystals were seeing.
• 1:29:43
  SPEAKER_00: That is in these observations.
• 1:29:45
  SPEAKER_00: So they are watching what is going to be happening in all of these.
• 1:29:50
  SPEAKER_09: So this is squid game.
• 1:29:51
  SPEAKER_09: Cool, cool, cool, cool, cool.
• 1:29:52
  SPEAKER_05: This is quid hunger game.
• 1:29:53
  SPEAKER_05: We don't know.
• 1:29:54
  SPEAKER_05: We don't know.
• 1:29:55
  SPEAKER_05: Let's walk towards the door.
• 1:29:56
  SPEAKER_06: Great.
• 1:29:56
  SPEAKER_06: In order.
• 1:29:57
  SPEAKER_06: Darius first.
• 1:30:00
  SPEAKER_09: We walk towards the door in order.
• 1:30:02
  SPEAKER_09: Hell yeah.
• 1:30:02
  SPEAKER_06: Wait.
• 1:30:04
  SPEAKER_00: You walk through the door?
• 1:30:05
  SPEAKER_09: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 1:30:06
  SPEAKER_09: The only way in through.
• 1:30:08
  SPEAKER_09: The only way.
• 1:30:09
  SPEAKER_09: What's the thing?
• 1:30:10
  SPEAKER_09: The only way out the through?
• 1:30:12
  SPEAKER_00: You open the door, you walk in, it almost feels like a vacuum seal pulling you in to a little bit of darkness.
• 1:30:22
  SPEAKER_00: And then you see surface after surface of gleaming reflection, mirroring arcane sigils and descriptions and wards all around massive wooden doors with their own sigils and wards.
• 1:30:44
  SPEAKER_00: Darius, you are in the infinite hallway.
• 1:30:47
  SPEAKER_05: The Mechanics Guild is lovingly created, produced, and played by Sarah Davis Reynolds, Taylor Fagans, Carlina Parker, Ian Prince, Atelio Rigotti, and Clay Westman.
• 1:30:58
  SPEAKER_05: The theme song is composed by Arcane Anthems.
• 1:31:01
  SPEAKER_05: Follow us on all of our social pages, including at the Mechanics Guild Pod on Instagram, so you can stay up to date and we can keep breaking the rules together.
• 1:31:11
  SPEAKER_05: Oh bye!